#Admittedly I know next to nothing about Green Lantern | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

retrievablememories · 4 years

Text

a strange love | yuta (m)

title: a strange love pairing: alien!yuta x black!reader genre: sci-fi/fantasy, fluff, angst, smut request: “I read a good chunk of your NCT work and really liked them. Would I be able to request a fic where a black female reader meets an alien (can be Yuta or Jungwoo) and they're both coming to terms that they're attracted to each other and have to come to terms with being attracted to someone of a different species? Can be smutty and don't be afraid to give the alien a less human biology if you don't mind.” word count: 13.1k warnings: alcohol use, cursing, near drowning experience, lots of mentions of water so this one might not mesh well with people w/ aquaphobia, non-human biology/body horror, extraterrestrial sex, lots of cum, oral sex (female receiving), tentacle dick, unprotected sex, creampie, please heed the warnings because this is an alien smutfic lmao a/n: giving the shape of water teas. i’ve actually never seen that movie 😕 but i will at some point. forgive me in advance for the nerdy references in here.

It’s funny how things happen when you least expect it. You never would’ve thought you’d be sound asleep when your entire world changed.

The night the UFO crashes in your city, you’re awoken by the tremors of its landing. The vibrations feel akin to an earthquake, and they make picture frames and other trinkets fall off your shelves and hit the floor in a clatter of noise. You jump up from your pillow at the racket, your heart pounding. You glance at the things lying on your floor and quickly register that the room—your entire home—is trembling.

There’s not much you can do at this point but ride it out, so you huddle down in your covers and hope the roof doesn’t cave in on your head. To your knowledge, your particular area isn’t known for earthquakes, which makes all of this even stranger. What could be causing one now? Is the world finally ending?

Eventually, the tremors stop. By now, your shelves have been emptied of nearly all their contents, but you’re still alive, which you’re grateful for. You wait a few more minutes to see if the shakes will begin again, but they don’t, so you climb out from the warmth of your covers to clean up your floor.

Police and ambulance sirens start blaring through the city not long after you get out of bed. That’s nothing unusual; there are usually injuries and casualties with natural disasters like these, and you expect many poor souls will be needing rescue tonight. You sigh and look at your closed blinds, watching them be sporadically illuminated by the lights of the emergency vehicles rushing past.

Once you’ve cleaned up your room and gotten back in bed, you think about checking social media for what people have been saying about the quake. There’s no doubt that the city’s residents have taken to Twitter and Instagram to document it. However, your eyelids are already starting to droop, and you’d probably fall asleep in the middle of scrolling, so you decide to tuck in and wait until morning.

Waking up the next day almost seems like a normal Sunday until you look at your blinds again and are suddenly reminded of last night’s flashing lights. Right. The earthquake. Throwing the covers back, you stumble out of bed to turn on your TV. You flip through the channels until you find a news station for your local area. You go to open the blinds, keeping your ears open for reports on the earthquake.

“Last night, we experienced unprecedented seismic activity throughout the majority of the city, caused by what appears to be an unidentified flying object, otherwise known as a UFO—”

Huh?

You turn to the TV, thinking this must be some kind of ridiculous hoax. You get ready to reach for the remote, thinking you must have turned it to one of those parody news channels by accident, but you freeze at what you see. Video footage of the city center—or what used to be the city center—plays on the screen. In place of the large historical monument that used to stand there, there’s a huge...silver and black spaceship. Or at least you think it’s a ship. It apparently sustained major damage in the landing, and now it looks more like a hunk of melted metal. The area around it has been blasted clear in every direction. Instead of green grass and pavement, there’s nothing but dirt.

The area is blocked off with yellow tape, though hundreds of people have gathered at the location to check out the object and take pictures and videos of it.

“What the fuck…” you whisper to yourself.

“We’re currently unsure where this UFO originated from, though we can confirm that it is not affiliated with any aircraft fleets owned by the U.S. military. Researchers and scientists from top universities across the country are being called in to assist in identifying this craft…”

“There’s no just way,” you mutter, grabbing your shower cap and pulling clothes out of your closet for your morning shower. “A UFO...guess that alien invasion is coming sooner than we thought.” You would like to believe it’s all just someone playing a terrible prank, but pulling off this level of theatrics is impossible.

After you get out of the shower and start making breakfast for yourself, you get a text from one of your coworkers, Alex.

10:30 A.M. Alex🍸 You seeing this shit on the news right now?

10:31 A.M. Obviously! It’s fucking wild. Do you really think it’s true? OR some elaborate government hoax? Anything’s possible. I’m betting “true,” but...

10:33 A.M. Alex🍸 I honestly don’t know. that’s why me and some of the others from work are about to head over there now. Wanna come?

10:34 A.M. The hell! I’ll pass. There could be all types of radiation n shit, I’m not tryna turn into the Green Lantern or the Hulk or somebody.

10:35 A.M. Alex🍸 lmFAO. Suit ypurself. If I gain superpowers don’t be surprised if I fly over to your house today.

10:35 A.M. You’re a mess. 💀

You spend breakfast watching more news reports and scrolling through Twitter feeds for firsthand information. People who visited the site, including your coworkers, have uploaded pictures of the UFO from various angles, inciting a frenzy of conspiracy theories and warnings that the world is about to end.

You don’t know what to make of the situation, but it stays on your mind throughout the day as you leave the house and go about completing your usual errands. The city center has been blocked off to all vehicles other than those belonging to people who’ve been called in to help, which means that traffic is sky-high everywhere else—even for a Sunday.

Sitting in a mishmash of cars, you roll down your window and sigh, looking out at the red traffic lights, and beyond that to the horizon. Things are about to get very weird for the next few weeks. Maybe months. You can only hope you’re prepared for it.

You don’t know why, but the air seems strange tonight.

It’s been 2 days since the UFO crashed. There haven’t been many more answers apart from what everyone already knows due to the ship’s destroyed state. The city has professionals out for that sort of thing, but they’re taking their sweet time analyzing the ship—though you can’t really blame them. Jumping straight into unknown alien tech seems like a death wish.

Your life has been pretty much the same as usual, though you know a few people at work who have been more directly affected by the events. One girl, Sooyoung, who lives in the neighborhood near the crash site claims the officials are thinking about having that entire area evacuate, though you don’t know why they’re beating around the bush about it if it’s true. Whatever radiation or chemicals they’re worried about has probably already leached into all the surrounding homes, and now you’re just waiting for someone to walk into your workplace with antlers or purple skin.

Admittedly, you’re morbidly curious about the case and what all of this could mean for Earth’s future, but you keep your fascination lowkey. You don’t need any of your coworkers thinking you’re the next alien-obsessed Mulder from X-Files. But then again, you’re not curious enough to visit the actual scene, so maybe you’re not the crazy one here.

You feel fine when you get home from work that day, but as you get washed up and settle into your usual evening routine, you can’t shake the eeriness gripping your subconscious. It’s not necessarily a bad feeling, either, just...foreign. Like an emotion you’ve never felt before, though you didn’t know there were even still new emotions to discover. Shaking your head, you figure maybe you should lay off the alien stuff for the rest of the week.

Before you head to bed that night, you go around the house making sure all the doors and windows are locked as you normally do. You pause at the backdoor for a reason you can’t explain, and the strange feeling grows stronger. At this point, you’re a bit frightened about what this is all about, but you can’t go to sleep without knowing. Curiosity takes over as you open the blinds and stare into the darkness of your backyard.

You don’t see anything right away. There are trees, bushes, your potted plants, and lawn chairs...everything looks normal. It’s only when you lean closer to the glass to squint that you see a figure lying in the grass. You jump once you catch sight of it, terrified that some monster or murderer has found their way onto your property. There was nothing there earlier when you closed the blinds, so whoever or whatever it is must’ve recently showed up.

You’re about ready to dial 911 when you realize the figure is curled in the fetal position and unmoving...almost like they’re unconscious. Or dead.

This is ridiculous. You feel like one of those people who always dies first in the horror movies because they went into the room the killer was obviously hiding in, but you’re overcome with the strong impulse to step outside. You grip the doorknob tightly, debating whether you should unlock it or not.

“...Fuck. Don’t let me regret this.”

You open the door with your phone in hand, the device serving as your flashlight. There’s still the screen door to get through, which you pause at for a moment. The figure remains unmoving even with the sound of the door opening.

“Hello?!” You call out to the individual, but there’s no response. Your phone’s light can’t reach them from there, which forces you to open the screen door and step out onto the porch. They’re still feet away, but from this closer distance, it seems like they’re wearing a sort of armor or full-body suit...maybe like a cosplay?

“Hope this isn’t some weirdo weeb passed out on my lawn…” you mutter, cautiously stepping onto the grass. As you approach, you can see now that the figure is likely male, though their back is to you so you can’t be totally sure. “Um, hello there? Can you hear me?” No response.

By now, you are only a few feet away from them. The person looks to be an Asian guy, with long blonde hair haloing his face. His features are angular and smooth, and he is indeed wearing some kind of body armor, its color unlike anything you’ve seen. Instead of being all one hue or even a few, it reflects the light from your phone and glows with a rainbow-like phosphorescence. The material itself looks translucent, but you can’t see through it; it creates a mind-bending optical illusion.

Your stomach suddenly drops to your feet. Is this who was in that UFO in the city center? It seems too out-there to be true, but your intuition is telling you otherwise. This can’t be fucking real.

You kneel on the wet grass next to the man and try to look for signs of life. You can hear his breathing, so he’s thankfully not dead. But he doesn’t look to be in good shape, either. He definitely won’t be able to get up on his own; he probably used the last of his energy to drag himself into your yard.

“Damn.” You turn the flashlight off and slip your phone into your sweatpants pocket. It seems like there’s no other options right now. You could call the police, but they’d probably accuse you of being in cahoots with this weird dude and drag you off to jail. Or they could cart him off for government experimentation, which sounds equally terrible. So with those things in mind, you gently maneuver his upper body until you’re able to hook your arms under his armpits and drag him towards your house.

You just really hope none of your nosy neighbors are seeing this right now.

He’s surprisingly light, and you get him inside the house fairly quickly. Once you’ve locked the door again, you pull him over to the living room so he’s propped against your couch. He still isn’t fully conscious, but his head and lips move as if he’s dreaming about something.

“What was that…?” You lean closer, trying to read his lips for some sort of clue. Surprisingly, you can make out the word water, which he mouths over and over again. “Water…” You run into the kitchen to pour a glass and bring it back to him, making sure not to spill any on the way over.

You press it to his lips, unsure if he’ll be able to drink, but to your amazement his muscles respond and he drinks quickly as you tip the glass. Soon, the water is all gone. You set the glass to the side with your palms sweating and watch as his face flutters even more.

“Can you...hear me?”

His eyes open only slightly. This movement seems to cause him some pain, though you aren’t sure why. Maybe he has a headache since he was dehydrated? You scramble to turn the overhead light off, not wanting to make matters worse. He still doesn’t try to open his eyes any wider, though.

“Who are you? Were you...did you crash here?” You feel a little bad about asking so many questions, but you’re dying for answers as to what the hell is going on.

The man licks his lips, and his mouth parts like he’s going to answer. But his throat is still dry, and it hurts to talk.

“...Shit.” You get him another glass of water and let him drink until it’s gone again. He seems a little better after that.

“Th-this...” He clears his throat a couple times and tries again. “This is E-Earth, right?”

Now you’re the one lost for words. Although you already figured he couldn’t be from here, hearing it out loud makes your blood rush and your heart race. “Um, yes...this is Earth. Was...the UFO yours?”

He sighs, and his head falls back against the couch arm. “Yes.”

“It’s destroyed,” you say, and then feel silly about it. “But you already know that.”

He doesn’t answer that. He just slowly glances around your living room instead, looking as if he’s never seen a stranger setup. The quietness is awkward, and you almost feel like he must be judging your taste for interior design. “Do you have a name?”

More silence. You decide he probably won’t answer until he finally says, “You can call me Yuta.”

“Yuta.” You tell him your name too, and he just nods, almost imperceptibly. He doesn’t say much without prompting, which makes it hard for you to know how to approach the situation. You don’t want to overwhelm him with questions, but it doesn’t look like he’s going to speak unless you do. “How did you end up here? I mean, in my—uh, my yard?”

Yuta shakes his head and then winces. “I crashed, and then...I just ran. The ship was melting. I just ran. I hid...I went from place to place, hiding. Don’t know how I got here.”

You wonder how he made it all the way from the city center to your home without being spotted, especially with that armor. You can only conclude that he must be stealth at hiding. Or maybe someone did spot him and the feds are about to bust down your door any minute. You take a shaky breath and try to push that anxious thought to the back of your mind.

Suddenly Yuta fixes you with a suspicious glare. “Will you reveal that I’m here?”

You try not to get offended, because you’d honestly be thinking the same if you were a newly-landed alien in a foreign land. “No. I don’t have any reason to do that. I just want to help. I’m not looking to be on anyone’s 6 o’clock news or cheap tabloid. You probably don’t believe me, but you can have my word for it...if that means anything to you.”

He’s quiet again, though you can tell he’s still skeptical.

“Um, do you need anything? More water?”

He sits up straighter at the mention of that. “Water.” You reach for the glass again, but he frowns. “Not that. I need…something more than that.” He looks around again, but when he doesn't see what he’s searching for, he attempts to stand only to slump down again.

“Slow down there, I don’t think you’re gonna make it like that. Can I help?”

You end up slinging his arm across your shoulder and letting him lean his body against you while you lead him to the bathroom. That’s the biggest source of water in the house, and you assume he must be wanting a bath or shower or something. Even aliens have their hygiene needs, you guess.

You turn the bathroom light on and have Yuta sit on the toilet lid as you turn the bathtub faucet. “Is...this what you meant?” He nods, and you put the plug in and let the tub fill up.

“Just water. Nothing else. I need to recharge,” he says, and before you can ask what he means by that, he starts undressing in front of you.

At first, your reaction is delayed; you’re struck with surprise when you realize the armor isn’t actually a whole bodysuit, but more like...connected panels of material that can be taken off. You don’t understand the material at all, it doesn’t resemble anything on Earth you can think of—but of course, it’s alien tech. It conforms to his body as he’s wearing it but takes on a more rigid form once it’s peeled off, like actual armor.

Then, he gets ready to take the bottoms off and something finally clicks in your brain that oh my God he’s about to get naked in front of me.

“Whoa!” You spin around and cover your eyes for good measure, glad that your brown skin hides the way your face is burning right now. You step towards the open door. “Uh, I’ll just leave, sorry—”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Um, what?”

“Doesn’t really matter to me,” Yuta says, pulling the last of his suit off. He steps into the tub and sits down in it, putting his hands underneath the stream of water rushing out of the faucet. The skin on his hands seems to ripple, like it’s readjusting itself, and the hairs stand up on the back of your neck at that. You forget to be embarrassed at his unclothed state as you watch it happen.

“What’s going on with that? And why did you need the water?”

Yuta splashes his face before answering, and he turns to look at you, the droplets of water sliding off the ends of his hair. “I’m part of a Water Race. Water is my home. Our bodies have adapted to be built for living in water, and it’s dangerous to be without it for too long.”

“Adaptation? But you look like a regular human.”

“It’s just a skin.”

“A skin?” You echo in horror, a sudden flashback to Silence of the Lambs popping into your mind. “Someone else’s skin?”

Yuta gives you a look that seems to say he can’t believe you’re asking such a stupid question. “No, it’s my skin. It’s just not my natural form.” To prove his point, he holds his hand out, and right before your eyes his human skin pulls back and morphs into something much more scaly and green. His fingers are actually more like talons, with long black nails on the ends, and there’s translucent webbing between each one.

You gasp and step back, trying to catch your breath at the sight of something so very not human. The skin reforms around his hand—you assume he has to be willing it with his mind somehow, because he doesn’t even move—and his digits look just as human as ever.

“How the hell do you hide your nails under there? Isn’t it just like...wearing a bodysuit?”

Yuta shakes his head. “No. Once the skin is on, it becomes...part of me. My hand becomes a human hand. I’m not hiding anything, it just is. It’s hard to explain.”

“Have you been to Earth before? Is that why you have a human skin, because...adaptation or some shit? This is all so wild.”

“I can shift into different skins if I want, if I gather enough genetic information on certain species’ inhabitants...but there are limitations.” That doesn’t exactly answer your question, but you figure maybe it’s best if you didn’t know. You can at least assume he’s been in contact with humans before.

“I see…” You fidget for a few seconds before speaking what’s on your mind. “Okay, one last thing...you said there are limitations. Does that mean you can’t transform into, like...a dung beetle or something?”

Yuta gives you another are you serious look and you put your hands up. “Just wondering. It was worth a try.”

You feel awkward just standing there, and you feel like maybe you should give him some privacy even if he doesn’t care much, so you leave the bathroom to find something for him to wear.

You’re not sure if you’ll find anything that fits him, so you end up settling on a light pink bathrobe and decide he’ll have to work with that for now. You slip back into the bathroom to leave it on the sink, averting your eyes from his nude form in your bathtub. “Um, here’s something to wear...not sure if anything else will fit, this is all I have for now. Sorry.” You don’t wait for him to respond— he probably won’t anyway—before slipping back out.

It’s nearing 1 A.M. at this point, which is late considering you still have work tomorrow. You sigh and curl yourself up on the couch, hoping you won’t have to stay up for very much longer.

You’re not sure when you drifted off or how long you were out, but you wake up to the sound of footsteps and see Yuta coming out of the bathroom wearing the robe you’ve given him. You have to laugh a little at the sight of him in the light pink material, though you think it suits him in a way.

“Yeah, you’re gonna need some clothes.”

Yuta raises his eyebrow. “I still have my suit.”

“Yeah, but...don’t you want something else to wear? Your ship is pretty much gone, so you’ll probably be on Earth for a while...and if you don’t want anyone realizing you’re not from here, you’ll have to wear regular clothes.”

Yuta visibly upsets at the idea of his ship’s destroyed state, even though he knows there’s not much he can do about it. “I guess. I shared which planet I was heading to before I left, but...Earth is a very big place. And my trackers were destroyed with my ship, so…”

“I’m sorry,” you say, though you don’t know how much comfort that can be. “We can look for some clothes tomorrow. It’s probably better for you not to leave the house right now, but...that’s what online shopping is for.”

“Online shopping…?” Yuta seems puzzled by the concept, but he doesn’t ask any further. Then he looks around the room again. “Is there somewhere I can rest?”

“Oh, yeah, follow me.” You get up from the couch to head upstairs where the guest bedroom is. The house isn’t huge—it was your grandmother’s before she passed it on to you—but it’s more than enough for you alone, and it should fit one more just fine. You open the door and turn on the light, illuminating the small room. “It hasn’t been used in a while, so excuse any dust. I can fix that tomorrow, but it’s getting late...” you stifle a yawn, “...so we should probably go to sleep now.”

Yuta looks at you and nods.

“Um, well...goodnight.” You wave at him from the doorway before closing it.

As you make your way down the stairs, a sudden weariness and apprehension comes over you. An alien in your home? Escaped from a recently crashed UFO? Wearing one of your bathrobes? You’re almost positive you haven’t thought this through deeply enough, but you’re in it now. Might as well see where the rabbit hole leads to.

The next morning, you prepare yourself to go to work like you usually do. For a while, the house is so quiet that you almost forget Yuta is there until you see him standing in the kitchen entryway, still wearing his pink robe, and you almost jump through the ceiling.

“Jesus, you came out of nowhere,” you gasp, holding your heart.

“Where are you going?” Yuta asks. He steps into the kitchen and tentatively sits down in one of the dining table chairs.

“To work,” you say, and then pause. Maybe it isn’t such a good idea to leave a freshly-landed alien at home alone. “Will you be okay here by yourself? I could come over on my lunch break…”

“What am I supposed to do here the whole time?” Yuta asks, sounding displeased at the thought of being abandoned for hours.

“Well...you could watch TV? There’s the on-demand channel...the fridge is available for you too, just try not to clean out my—wait, do you even eat human food?”

Yuta shrugs, crossing his arms. “Not really. It’s not a big source of nutrients for us.”

You nod awkwardly. “Huh. Well, that’s...interesting.” The stress of the situation is already making your head pound and you haven’t even left for work yet. “Uh, yeah—I think I’ll just come over later and check in...come on, I’ll at least show you how to work the remote before I leave.”

You bid Yuta goodbye once you’re about to go, though you feel more than a little hesitant about leaving him there. There isn’t much other choice, though; you can’t afford to take a day off on such short notice.

The extraterrestrial sighs, sprawling across the couch and looking at the ceiling. The TV is already playing the channel you left it on, and Yuta turns to the screen and watches as a group of humans make weird food dishes he’s never seen before.

“This is stupid.”

The rest of the week with Yuta manages to be an adventure even though he never steps foot outside the house.

Yuta doesn’t take a liking to human food, which means he opts for spending most of his time in the guest bathtub instead, claiming that the water gives him more nourishment than meals can. You don’t know how true that is, but you’re not going to fight him on it. Less food you have to prepare, you reason...although you often end up making extra anyway and getting him to try a few bites. It feels odd to not see him eat.

Living with someone from outer space is not really as weird as you expected it might be, which surprises you. Yuta stays in his human skin whenever he’s around you, and you steer clear of the guest bathroom when it’s occupied lest you walk in on something crazy.

You’ve taught Yuta about new concepts he didn’t know before or wasn’t overly familiar with. He’s particularly intrigued with online shopping, and you ended up buying him a bunch of outfits that you both thought he’d look nice in. He doesn’t seem to be big on technology, which surprises you considering how advanced his UFO looked even its ruined state, but maybe human tech is more primitive than what he’s used to. He’s quite fascinated with the microwave, though, and how it can heat anything up in minutes.

With you uncovering new bits of information each day, you continually wonder how different his homeworld must be from the Earth. You can’t pull much out of him about it, for whatever reasons he has for keeping the information close, but you try to let him talk about it at his pace without pressuring him.

You could probably get used to living like this.

Maybe not your wallet, though. You’re definitely not loving how your water bill is going to look once it comes in the mail.

None of your coworkers or neighbors know—not that it’s any of their business anyway. You don’t know how long Yuta is going to stay, or what the hell you’re going to do when his people finally catch wind of his whereabouts and land a UFO in your backyard, but you figure you’ll get to that part when it comes.

On one Saturday morning, you wake up to the sound of tapping on your door. You try to ignore it, thinking it’s just some woodpecker setting up shop outside your window, but you’re proven wrong when the door swings open.

You pull the covers away from your face for a moment to see Yuta standing there looking at you. You stare at him for a few seconds before sighing.

“Why are you up so early? It’s the weekend,” you groan, pulling the covers back over your head.

“Why do you sleep so late?” Yuta retorts, still standing in your doorway. You don’t know whether he expects you to get up and do a trick, but it’s not happening. You peel the blanket away so it’s just below your eyes and look at him.

“What?”

“It’s not fun being here alone all day, you know,” he says, crossing his arms.

“So...what? Do you want me to play with you or something?” You can’t stop your sudden laugh, but you feel bad about once it’s out. He has just lost his ride home and has no foreseeable way back until someone notices his absence. Plus, needing to stay hidden and cooped up like a criminal can’t be enjoyable.

Yuta rolls his eyes at your response and starts down the hallway again, but you jump out of the bed and follow him. “Wait, Yuta, I’m sorry. That was stupid. I know it can’t be easy living like this. I’m not sure if I can make it better, but I’m willing to try.”

Yuta pauses in the hall and turns back to look at you. “I’m tired of being in here all the time....no offense. But there’s only so much I can take. I know I’m supposed to be in hiding, but it’s not like anyone can tell the difference. Even you couldn’t. Can’t we go out for one day?”

You think about it for a moment and figure he’s right. You both were trying to be overly cautious at first, but there’s no real way anyone would notice anything unless he shifted. “I guess we could...as long as we don’t go anywhere with a lot of water.”

“I have more self-control than that,” Yuta scoffs, though his words trail off as he’s already heading back to his room to get dressed.

You and Yuta walk around downtown for a little while, although you can’t shake the lingering nervousness you feel. You both decided not to head back to the city center any time soon; there’s not much left of the broken ship anyway, with scientists carting off pieces of it for research. Just as you thought. It’s too big to transport all at once, but you’re sure the remaining parts will be gone within the next couple weeks.

Yuta is continually surprised by how many new and unfamiliar things he spots along the way—things he actually gets to see up close and in detail. Kinda hard to focus when you’re running and hiding for your life.

Eventually, Yuta slows down as you walk past a small and colorful restaurant. “What’s that?” he asks, pointing up at the sign. You stop to turn around and see what he’s gesturing to.

“That’s just a hamburger joint...you won’t wanna go in there,” you say, raising your eyebrows. Because you don’t eat food. Despite that, Yuta still seems curious about the restaurant and he hesitates to walk away. Realizing that you aren’t going to get anywhere, you go to stand next to him and peer inside. There are a few people already inside, sitting at scattered tables and eating their food. “Do you want to go in, or…? ‘Cause you have to eat something if we do. This is your idea.”

“I’ll eat, let’s just go,” Yuta says, grasping your hand and pulling you into the restaurant.

You wave at the person behind the counter who greets you as you walk in, while Yuta is busy scanning every inch of the place. You let him look over the menu for a little while, but with so many options available he isn’t sure what to get—especially when he’s not sure if he’ll like any of them—so you end up picking for the both of you.

When you finally get your food, you take it to one of the tables. You watch attentively as Yuta takes the first bite of his hamburger, and you try to stifle your giggles as you watch his face go from nonchalance to bewilderment to shock.

“This is actually...good.”

“Wait, this is really the first meal you’ve liked? Are you saying my cooking is bad? Damn.” You chuckle, shaking your head.

“I’m not answering that.” Yuta laughs along with you, which is probably the first genuinely happy expression he’s shown since he’s been here.

Yuta has a very pretty smile, you realize. You’re a little taken aback by it. You haven’t seen much of it since you met him, but it’s here now and striking in its genuine quality. It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside...which you mainly attribute to the satisfaction of doing something nice for someone else. Of course. Who wouldn’t enjoy a nice meal they didn’t have to pay for?

Things go smoothly for a while as you both eat and pretend to make boring small talk since you can’t talk about him being an alien in public. However, you feel sweat on the back of your neck when you see your coworker Alex walk through the door with his boyfriend. This city is too small for its own good sometimes.

You try not to call attention to yourself and Yuta, keeping your gaze on your food, but he spots you anyway and waves enthusiastically. Alex gestures for his partner to go ahead and order while he comes over to your table.

“Hey, Y/N! It’s great to see you! Too bad we missed you at the UFO wreck today, though; we went out again one last time before they take the whole thing away,” he rushes out in one breath. Yuta’s eye twitches at the mention of his ship, and you’re suddenly on edge, hoping the situation doesn’t turn sour.

“Oh, uh, wow, that’s...cool!” you choke out, pinching your straw between your fingers. Before you can think of a way to divert the subject, Alex turns to Yuta.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Alex! Who’s this? Your boyfriend?” The last few words are directed at you. Alex gives you a playful grin, and you toss him an embarrassed smile back.

“Uh, no, he’s my friend! Yuta.”

“Nice to meet you,” Yuta says, though you can recognize his tone is a bit dry.

“Pleasure’s all mine!” Alex’s boyfriend calls him from the other side of the restaurant, and he turns to respond before taking his leave. “Ah well, looks like we’ll have to cut it short, but it was so great to see you guys. Enjoy your lunch!”

You let out the breath you were subconsciously holding once he leaves.

“Boyfriend…” Yuta murmurs.

“What?”

“That would be really weird. Wouldn’t it? We’re not even the same species,” he says, lowering his voice. It’s not like you don’t agree, but you admittedly don’t appreciate the way Yuta screws his face up at the thought. You prickle with embarrassment.

You scoff, taking a sip of your drink. “Well I’m not exactly eager to date an overgrown fish, so…” You almost expect Yuta to fall into another one of his moods at your words, but he actually chuckles a bit, which surprises you.

“Then it’s mutual!” Yuta sticks his tongue out and you roll your eyes.

The warm and fuzzy feeling, you soon find out, is not a one-time thing.

You don’t quite know what to make of that. You wouldn’t like for Yuta to go back to his initial broody state, of course, but you’re starting to believe this feeling can’t just be attributed to your charitable actions. You can’t stop thinking about the more playful side of Yuta you saw at the burger place that day, and the way he’s been gradually more open with you since then.

Yuta usually spends his nights splashing around in the guest bathtub, but one night he wanders into the living room and sees you putting your afro in plaits. He becomes weirdly fascinated with the process, watching you carefully and asking occasional questions. Amused by his interest, you answer all his questions and even offer to let him do one section.

“It’s probably not the same, but I used to braid my friend’s hair often…” he says wistfully as he settles in behind you. “We did a lot of things together.”

Your ears perk up. “Oh? You sound like you were very close,” you say, resting your chin on your knees.

“Really close,” he affirms. His hands are gentle in your hair, as testament to his words. You close your eyes and relax into the sensation, and before you know it, that warmth is spreading through your chest again. You even allow yourself to wonder what it’d be like for him to do this all the time, tending to your hair and telling you about his homeworld, before you open your eyes again and quickly pull yourself out of that reverie. You probably shouldn’t get too used to this, you reason with yourself. “I think she’s what you’d call a mermaid...except the look is a bit...different.”

“Different?” you echo, wondering if you’ll get an explanation.

“They don’t have human arms or anything like that...it’s more like tentacles.”

“Ah,” you try to imagine that, though it’s hard. “That’s certainly unique.”

“Maybe you’d like it...my planet, I mean.”

“You think I would? Why?”

“I dunno, just a feeling…”

“If only I could breathe underwater,” you laugh. “You’d take me back, though? Hypothetically, of course. I’m not too human for you?”

“Will you ever let that one go? It’s probably the least I could do after setting up residence here. Maybe we’ll get you an alien costume, though, so you’ll fit in.”

“How nice of you to think of me in all my humanness. God, the universe is something else…”

You start when Yuta’s hands leave your hair. “I think I’m done?” he says, sitting back on his feet. You grab the mirror from the coffee table and look at the braid you let him do.

“Oh wow, it looks good.” You purse your lips to hide the grin about to break across your face. “Do you wanna do the rest?”

“If you’ll let me.”

“Go ahead then, my hands needed a break anyway.”

You sit back and let Yuta finish the rest of your hair, listening quietly as he tells you more about his friend from his homeworld. Her name is unpronounceable to you, but it sounds pretty all the same. They grew up together, he says, and have been on lots of adventures over the years, though he still keeps that same vagueness he always has when describing his life. He ends up getting you to tell him more about your life, which you do; you figure he probably doesn’t know a whole lot about you, either.

Yuta hands you the mirror when he’s done, and his head pops up next to yours in the reflection. “Good?”

“It’s great!” you say, and you really mean it.

You discover that, strangely enough, Yuta has an affinity for sci-fi movies. Go figure. He especially seems to like the campiness of alien films; then again, everything is campy to him because of how different it is from how extraterrestrials actually live.

You are in the middle of watching The Fly when it comes to one of sex scenes, and you try not to sweat. It’s always a little awkward to watch sex scenes with other people, but doing it with an alien gives the whole thing an extra layer of weirdness.

“Human sex is so funny,” Yuta says out of nowhere. You just barely avoid choking on your drink.

“Uh, o-okay. Do I want to know what that means?”

Yuta only shrugs and leans farther back onto the couch, looking completely unbothered about what he’s just said. “It just is.”

“...I’m sure your people must procreate some kinda way?”

“Yeah, but it’s not quite this. But when I’m in this form, I can do it as humans do.”

That makes you pause, and you’re not sure what to do with that information. Actually, your mind has already decided for itself and is trying to go to a place you don’t want it to, and you’re mildly horrified by that revelation. There’s no real reason why you should be curious about it. And yet...

“Hummm...have you done it before? In this form?” You keep your eyes glued to the screen, which is now showing a shirtless Jeff Goldblum doing acrobatics—but that’s still less awkward than looking over at Yuta right now.

“There was one time.”

There is a twinge of something in your chest. Fascination? Sure. Revulsion? Maybe not that. Dare you call it anything close to jealousy? You immediately throw that one out the door, sink further into your seat, and try not to think about what your life has come to.

“Okay, since you still won’t tell me directly if you’ve been here before, at least tell me this; did it happen here on Earth? With a human?”

Yuta shakes his head. “Some other aliens have weird fetishes. I only did it because she asked and was really adamant about it.”

“Ooookay, you know what…” You get up from the couch and walk to the kitchen, laughing awkwardly all the way. You don’t have any particular reason to go in there, but you have to do something with the nervous energy that’s about to make you jump out of your skin. You pretend to shuffle around in the fridge for a minute so you don’t look too silly getting up for no reason.

After taking a moment to calm down, you turn back to Yuta. “Okay. Hypothetically, if you wanted, could you actually…? With a human? In your natural form? Or would the parts be incompatible, or...”

“Maybe...I’m not sure. It’s not like I’ve ever tried. Why?” Yuta gives you a look that’s partway between curiosity and incredulity, and you wave your hand in dismissal.

“It’s just a question.”

Yuta leans forward on the couch, barely concealing his own amusement at whatever he’s cooking up in his mind. “Are you saying you want to try it with me?”

“You’re not funny,” you sigh, trying to ignore the way your skin is burning at that suggestion. “Remind me not to ask you anything like that again.”

When you get home from work one weeknight, you roll your eyes at the mass text sitting in your inbox, forwarded to you from Alex. Another after-work party, which means another event where someone will run through the sprinklers naked and everyone will pretend like they don’t remember it the next workday.

You don’t know how you’re going to get out of this one, especially with Yuta, who will likely want to go if he finds out, so you decide to just come out and say it and see what happens.

“Hey Yuta…” You slide up behind him where he’s sitting on the couch. “I just wanted to let you know I won’t be at home for a few hours on Saturday. I’m going to a party this weekend. It’s a friend’s party, someone from work.”

Yuta looks at you forlornly. “The same person we met at the restaurant?”

“No, but he’s gonna be there too. Look, I know what you’re thinking, but I really don’t know if it’s safe for you to go…”

“That’s not fair, the last time at the restaurant went well,” Yuta argues.

“Yes, but this guy has a pool and he’s a dickhead who likes to push people in and what if you get caught off guard and change unexpectedly?”

Yuta’s response is as straightforward as you expected it to be. “Then I’ll punch him in the face.”

You laugh at that and shake your head, coming to sit beside him on the couch. “Ugh. As satisfying as that sounds, I don’t need the extra stress of dealing with the aftermath. I don’t know, Yuta...do you think you’ll be okay? God, I feel like an overprotective mom or some shit.”

“Y/N, it’ll be fine, stop worrying. I can take care of myself,” Yuta insists, putting his hand on your shoulder and looking into your eyes. He’s a little closer than you anticipated, which makes your heart rate increase a little. You chalk that reaction up to his invasion of your personal space and shift away, groaning.

“Fine, I’ll bring you. But if shit goes down, I can’t promise an easy way out. Let’s just keep things lowkey, alright?”

“Of course I can do that! I’ve been doing it so far haven’t I?” he says, but somehow you’re not entirely convinced.

The party is filled with people you know from work and a slew of unfamiliar faces, probably your coworkers’ friends. It’s mostly a backyard party, like you already knew, although there are some people mingling within the house.

There are already a few people lounging in the pool. In any other scenario, it might be inviting to you, but now you just look at all that water with a looming sense of anxiety. Yuta sticks close to your side, saying nothing but studying everyone around him.

“Y/N!” your coworker David shouts from the backdoor of his house. He holds up his beer in salutation and you wave back at him, mildly annoyed that he’s brought everyone’s attention to you both. He hustles over to you and claps you on the back strong enough to make your bones rattle, and you wince. “Hey dude!” He reaches across you to pull Yuta into a handshake, and Yuta also winces when he grips his hand a little too tight. “Make yourselves at home, I’ve got everything you could ever need—including the booze and babes!” You both nod awkwardly before David goes off to greet someone else who’s just pulled up. You roll your eyes once he’s gone.

Yuta’s eyebrows draw together. “That was…”

“Annoying,” you finish for him.

“You don’t seem to like him. Why did you decide to come?”

“Workplace politics, if you’re the only one who doesn’t come it’s awkward, ugh. It’s just bullshit. Let’s not get into it.” You walk towards the house and Yuta follows, and you nod at a few people you know along the way.

You find Alex in the kitchen, where he offers to make drinks for you and Yuta. You cast a glance at Yuta, wondering if he’ll take up the offer; you have no idea how he’ll react to alcohol, or if they drink any equivalent of it on his homeworld.

“Um, I think I’ll pass.”

“Oh okay, straight-edge guy! That’s cool too,” Alex grins, making just the one drink for you. As you and Alex talk, the girl from your department whose neighborhood was about to be evacuated sidles up to your little group.

“I’ve never seen you before. What’s your name?”

“Oh...it’s Yuta.”

“Yuta? How cool, I’m Sooyoung.”

Little did you know that that one introduction would expand into them having a half-hour long conversation right there in the kitchen. You really don’t know how Yuta is pulling this off without spilling the beans, but then again, you do; he’s good enough at manipulating the conversation to make it seem like he’s sharing personal info when he’s really not. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that he throws in things you taught him every so often.

Alex notices your changing demeanor and follows you as you walk into the living room, finally exhausted with playing third wheel. “Hm, someone seems a little spicy.”

You cough. “I’m fine, it’s just cramped in there, David should really invest in a bigger house..this place could use a remodel.” You throw a glance around the living room, not wanting to see the mischievous look in Alex’s eyes.

“Well, remodel aside, it’s not really my business, but you certainly seem to have a little green monster brewing here.”

You give Alex a long look. “Don’t. He’s my friend. He’s not even—” You have to stop yourself before you expose anything, and you shift nervously on your feet.

“Not even what? Your type? I don’t know, he’s handsome enough to me. You can’t go wrong with a pretty boy. Don’t tell Xavier I said that, though.”

“Lord, let me get the hell out of here…” You leave Alex to cackle to himself while you go out into the backyard again, holding your drink and mulling around the edges of the activity. Too busy wrestling with your own emotions, you don’t realize how close you’ve drifted towards the pool.

“Hey, Y/N?” David says from behind you.

“Yeah?” You go to turn towards him, but before you can, you feel a huge shove from behind and the next thing you know your feet are off the ground and you’re in the pool. It all happens so fast that you can barely catch your bearings, and for a terrifying moment you’re convinced you’re about to drown.

The seconds feel like minutes, and you can’t even open your eyes to tell up from down. The next thing you register is an arm around your waist, and somehow you’re being pulled up even though you’re too panicked to even control your limbs. Your head pops above the water and you cough and sputter loudly, trying to take in air. You try to blink the water out of your eyes, though it drips off your hair and makes it even harder to see.

You’re still not sure what the hell is going on until you’re hauled out of the water and sitting on the ground. Someone hands you a towel, and you hear a female voice saying you’re such an asshole, David.

You wipe the water off of your face and then you’re finally able to see; Yuta is crouching in front of you, just as soaked as you are and staring at you with a worried expression. You look back at him, disoriented and a little dumbfounded at his still-human state.

“You didn’t…”

Even though you’re still trembling with the fear of almost drowning, you’re unable to look anywhere but at Yuta for that moment—at the pure concern on his face.

“Nice going, David,” someone else says sarcastically.

“It was just a bit of a prank! No hard feelings guys, come on. Y/N?” You realize David is standing on your left, and he tries to come closer, his hands open in an apologetic gesture. You jerk away from him, holding the towel to your shaking form.

“Get the fuck away from me. You’re a fucking idiot!” you shout. “All you do is ‘play pranks’ and then you wonder why no one likes you!” That draws a few barely concealed laughs out of the people standing nearby, though you don’t think any of it is funny. David steps back, unsure how to respond and looking truly embarrassed for once in his life.

Filled with anger, you try to get to your feet but you’re still unsteady. Yuta puts his arm around you again, lifting you up and encouraging you to lean your weight on him.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you.”

You don’t have much to say on the way back home. You insist on leaving right away even though Yuta suggests you sit and wait until the tremors subside. He obviously can’t drive you back home, so it’s all he can offer, though it doesn’t make you feel much better.

The silence itself isn’t particularly awkward to Yuta, but he is uncomfortable anyway because he knows it stems from your own discomfort. At a red light, he turns to you.

“Are you okay?”

“Not really.”

He’s quiet for a few moments, and then he speaks again. “I know you’re mad about the pool, but...it seems like there’s more than that. Did...you not like me spending so much time with Sooyoung?”

You scoff. “You can’t be serious. I don’t care what you and that girl do.”

“You’re not a very good liar.” You’re too worn out to argue, so you merely give him a sidelong glance. Yuta sits back in his seat and watches a few cars zip past, their tail lights looking like clashing stars against the night. He’s not used to so much...manmade stuff. There was his ship and his trackers, of course, but he still has a hard time adjusting to be surrounded by so much iron and steel. His own planet is ruled by nature, by the vast oceans in all their unpolluted original essence, but Earth—or at least this portion of it—is much, much different.

He means to glance back at you, but his eyes linger for a while longer than intended. He’s not sure why. Maybe it’s because your outfit is a pretty color, or because the coils of your hair look shiny reflecting the light. He’s never put much thought into human beings before, and his limited experiences with them were mostly better left unremembered. Taking a human form was no huge deal for him; just a move that was necessary at the time.

But now, he’s seeing humanity—and most specifically, you—in a different light, and he’s uncertain what to do with this realization. People have feelings, thoughts, and dreams, like his own species, or like any other. He’s beginning to care what you think of him, how you react to him, even though he doesn’t know why this matters.

“You look pretty,” Yuta says. The compliment is the last thing you expected from him. It seems especially random after what happened at the party; here you are, soaking wet and incredibly uncomfortable. You’re a little late to put your foot on the gas pedal once the light turns green, and someone behind you honks.

“Pretty? I thought humans were weird to you.” Your mind goes back to The Fly and the subsequent conversation you had, and your hands tighten minutely around the steering wheel.

“You are. That hasn’t changed.”

“Good to know.” You don’t want to laugh, but this does make you crack a smile. “But...thanks. And...thanks for that, at the pool, you know. I should...probably trust you more.”

The rest of the ride is a little more talkative after that, and Yuta is happy that he could lighten your mood if even a little bit. Although he wouldn’t tell you, he’s becoming accustomed to your smile, and he’s more displeased than he thought he could be when it’s absent.

The thunder booms so loudly that it makes your window frames shake. It almost reminds you of the day Yuta’s ship fell out of the sky. You pull the covers tighter around yourself as if they alone could protect you from the storm’s fierceness. Storm clouds have been brewing all day, but the skies didn’t open until you and Yuta went to bed. Now, the rain and lightning is in full force. The rain pounds against your window, sounding more like hail or even bullets.

You’re startled for a second time when there’s a knock on your bedroom door.

“Come in?”

The door opens slightly and Yuta appears in the small sliver of space. “Sorry, but...can I sleep here? The storm...” He gestures to the window, where a crack of lightning strikes right after. He’s wearing a sleep shirt and loose pants, and his blonde hair is disheveled.

“Uh, sure.” You shuffle over to make room for him. “I guess this isn’t your type of water, is it?” He huddles underneath the covers with you, facing you with his arm tucked under the unoccupied pillow.

“Not when it’s so intense like this.”

You hum in acknowledgment. “It’s scary. Does rainy weather make you think of your homeworld often?”

“Often,” he repeats. “But...I think I’d be worse off if I weren’t here.”

“Here...on Earth?”

“I mean, here with you.”

“Oh,” is all you can think to say. It’s a surprisingly personal confession, though you are grateful you’ve become someone so important in his life already, even if it’s only because you’ve given him shelter. That familiar warmth spreads through you again.

Warm and fuzzies = gratefulness to a friend, the feeling you get when you pet a cute puppy. Right. It’s not the sensation you get when you think you might have feelings for your extraterrestrial friend, you try to convince yourself. “I’m...glad you’re here. Maybe not under these circumstances, but still.”

Yuta nods without speaking, but he doesn’t take his eyes away from you. You think he must be waiting on you to say something else.

“What?” you ask quietly when he keeps staring at you. “Take a picture, it will last longer.” Your joke does little to clear the air, and the tension keeps rising. You should probably be the first one to look away, to end whatever weird game this is and go to sleep, but you can’t. It’s unexplainable.

Yuta props himself up on his elbow, and you’re about to ask him where he’s going when he slips his hand onto your bare shoulder. You’re already covered by the blankets, but you suddenly feel even hotter with his hand on you, sliding up from your shoulder to the side of your face. “Y-Yuta…?”

You don’t know what to say or do, but you don’t object when he leans closer. Your faces are only inches apart now, like he’s hesitating and wondering if he should cross the line. The thunderstorm is intense, but this moment feels much more suspenseful than that could ever be. And then, it’s suddenly satisfying when his lips are on yours.

The kiss starts gentle. He’s careful as if he’s afraid to hurt you or make you feel uncomfortable. It’s soft and sweet. Things get more heated when his tongue prods against your lower lip and enters your mouth. You don’t know when his hand made it from your face to your side, but he pulls you close with his fingers pressing into the flesh just below your breasts, and you tremble at the proximity.

When you pull away, both of you are breathing harder and unable to look each other in the eye.

“Should we be doing this?” you whisper.

Yuta shakes his head. “I don’t know. But it feels good.”

At those words, you pause for a moment before moving to kiss him again. His lips respond deftly to yours, his body crowding you in and making you feel hot and enraptured with desire from where you still lie under the covers.

His hair is very soft when you slide your hands through it, though you can’t push away the thought that suddenly manifests in the back of your mind. This isn’t really his hair, or his lips, is it? It’s all a mask to cover whatever is underneath, which is something you still don’t entirely know, yet are increasingly curious about.

Yuta’s hand drifts up just high enough to caress the underside of your breast—all still over the cover of your clothes. Abruptly, that thought forces its way to the front of your mind, making itself unavoidable, and you have no idea how to reconcile it. This is all so...very unfamiliar. And undeniably scary.

You pull away from him, your face creased with conflict, and his hand stills on your body. “S-sorry, I…um...this is...”

Subsequently, he pulls his hand away from you, though some part of you doesn’t really want that to happen. “I-it’s fine.”

You both settle back into the sheets, the tense aura from before replaced with one that’s thick with unease. The storm continues on outside, unknowing and uncaring of anything else but its own nature.

Though you would like to pretend it isn’t so, things become strained after the night of the storm.

You and Yuta don’t talk about the kiss. You expected him to say something about it that morning after, but he didn’t acknowledge it, and so you figured you just forget about it, too. What are you thinking, anyway? You’re literally from two different worlds. You don’t have the first clue about what a connection would look like between you, whether it be just sex or a relationship.

Why couldn’t you just fall for a coworker and have a bit of office drama like everyone else? Even that would be simpler.

Why did you have to let your thoughts get the best of you? You don’t have any answer for that, except for maybe your own need to come to terms with your attraction. People have never been very skilled at accepting others different from themselves, you know that much. But that usually counts for people of different ethnicities or cultural backgrounds, not two entirely different species.

You spend the whole week afterwards tearing your mind up with this monologue and trying to figure out what you should do next, because you’re quickly growing weary of coming home to a tense atmosphere. Alex can only give so much advice—not that you’d really tell him the entire situation—without knowing just how complicated everything is.

Where he used to hang out with you and help you with your hair, Yuta spends more time up in the guest bathroom again. You wonder if he thinks you’re disgusted by him. You’d probably think the same if he reacted the way you did.

Unbeknownst to you, Yuta is facing the situation with a similar amount of inner turmoil as you, wondering if he’s gone too far. He’s done many silly things in his life, but he doesn’t know how to undo this mistake. The mistake of kissing you? The mistake of seeing you as more than just another human? The mistake of knowingly flying in a faulty ship? Maybe all of it.

He feels guilty about freezing you out and pretending as if nothing happened, especially with all you’ve done to make him safe and comfortable in your home. But, at the same time, he is equally frightened to face you and discover the real reasoning for why you pulled away that night. Because you’ll never see him as someone you could like? Or maybe even love?

If that’s your truth, he’d rather leave it unsaid.

There aren’t many choices left but to face it. Whether this idea is smart or not is yet to be seen, but you suppose you don’t have many solutions left. And you are sick of being cooped up in the house.

“You sure this is safe?” Yuta asks as he stares at the scenery whizzing past. “You were all freaked out about me being near water before...now you want to go to a lake?”

You glance over at him. “Yes, it’s my parents’ lake property. It’s private, Yuta. No one will be there but us. I think we could both use a mini vacation this weekend, yeah?”

“I guess, sure.” Yuta shrugs. His demeanor is more closed off than it was before that dreaded kiss, but you can still tell that he’s interested in the idea of getting access to a bigger body of water, even if he doesn’t outwardly express it.

The lake house is two hours out of your city. It hasn’t been used much in the past few years with both you and your parents being busy with work and life, but if there was ever a good time to use it, it’s probably now. You just hope there aren’t any squatters of the furry variety; the last thing you need is to be fighting raccoons or squirrels after stepping through the door.

Luckily, there’s really no one but you two once you reach your destination. The lake is big and pretty like you last remembered it, sparkling under the sun and throwing the rays back in your eyes. Yuta is automatically captivated by it.

“Here it is!” you say, walking along the sand and spreading your arms out towards the body of water. “It might not be much compared to your homeworld, but I hope it’s enough.” You carry your bag up the stairs to the house and turn back to Yuta, who’s still standing by the shore gazing across the water. “You can go in, you know? Get comfortable!”

That seems to snap him out of his trance, and he turns back to you, following you up the steps. “Not right now...I’ll go later.” You’re a little disappointed at that, but you simply nod and open the door to go in.

You spend the day getting increasingly more restless as you and Yuta hang out together. You go on the pier, walk around the entirety of the lake, and even take your dad’s boat out on the water, but he still doesn’t get in.

You eat dinner together later that night, although you’re the one doing most of the eating, and there isn’t much conversation to be had. You’ve both run out of things to say that don’t center around the kiss or why he refuses to get in the water.

Yuta spends a few more moments watching you push your food around your plate before leaning forward. “Why did you bring me here?” he asks.

You sigh heavily. “Do you not like it?”

“No, I do, but…” he hesitates. “Can you answer my question first?

You raise your eyebrows. “Okay, well. I brought you here because...I don’t know. I figure you deserve to have somewhere bigger to swim around in than my guest bathtub.” You laugh nervously.

He seems unconvinced. “Is that it?”

“I’d say so! Why won’t you even take one swim, is the better question? I want you to relax and be yourself.”

He furrows his eyebrows as if he doesn’t know how to reply. “You...aren’t you...repulsed by it? I just figured you wouldn’t want to see me in my natural form. Especially since…” He trails off at the end, and your palms sweat a little.

“No! I know I was weirded out at first, but...I-I guess that was the point of this whole trip, to show you that…” You grapple with your words for a moment, unsure if now is the time to fully confess what you’re feeling. “Look, I want to try, alright? I want to see it at least once. I want to accept you as a whole being, and that means, you know...all of you.”

Yuta smiles gradually at that, and you feel swept up with a sudden wave of affection you weren’t expecting. You are still a bit scared, but you don’t want to turn back now. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” you reply, clasping your shaking hands together.

Yuta nods and stands up from the dining table, gesturing for you to follow him. It’s late now, with the moon shining brightly and the last vestiges of dark blue sky giving way to black. The air outside is cool, but not uncomfortably so. You follow Yuta to the pier and watch timidly, your stomach flip-flopping, as he sheds his clothes, leaving them on the wooden deck. Then he slips into the water, disappearing underneath its still surface.

You crouch down, looking intently at the rippling water and anticipating whoever is going to resurface. The sounds of croaking frogs and crickets press in from every side, ringing in your ears so loudly that it’s hard to think straight.

You gasp when Yuta lifts from the water, his human skin gone and completely transformed into something that’s more...amphibian, if that’s any accurate way to describe his appearance. His skin is still scaly and green like you saw that first day, but in the moonlight it seems to glitter and reflect a spectrum of colors like his armor did. There are two fins on the either side of his face, translucent and shining a pale green. They slowly move back and forth as he treads on the water, as if they’re conveying an emotion to match whatever he’s thinking, and you watch them in fascination.

Yuta floats on his back in the water, the long gills on either of his sides catching the moonlight. You watch in fascination as they move with his breaths. Using the pier post to keep yourself stable, you reach out to touch them. They’re slick under your fingers, but not in a slimy or gross way. Your hand drifts to the rest of his skin, across his torso and along his sides, and every portion has a strikingly smooth texture. His alien eyes stare at you silently as you do, glittering big in the moonlight.

“What do you think?” his voice is quieter than you expected, as if he’s afraid of your reaction. He doesn’t break his gaze, though, studying your face carefully.

“You’re...amazing,” you say breathlessly. “Incredible.”

His lips, which are green like the rest of him, form a small smile, and then he dives underneath the water. He does a few laps as if he means to impress you, his lithe marine form sparkling just below the surface of the water. You keep your hand suspended over the pier as you watch him, your fingers sliding against his body every time he passes by. You smile at his display, a laugh coming out of you at his impromptu performance.

When he’s finished, Yuta climbs up onto the pier with you and kneels in front of you, much like he did that day he saved you from David’s swimming pool. His feet are webbed like his hands. Droplets of water slide off of them onto the wooden boardwalk while others linger on the clear webbing like tiny jewels. Your hand is magnetized to his face, drawing across the scaly skin and tracing over his lips, which are just as smooth as the rest of him.

Before you can think twice about it, you lean forward and capture his lips with yours. Did you expect it to be fishy? Maybe. But it’s not that at all. He still manages to taste distinctly like Yuta, even though you’re not sure what that taste is. It’s a flavor that makes you feel...held. Yuta is surprised for a moment, but he responds to your kiss, one of his webbed hands inching close to your face. He doesn’t touch you at first, a little reluctant and yet wanting to let you lead the pace so he doesn’t scare you off.

You welcome his touch, carefully brushing your fingertips across his hand and bringing it to make contact with your skin. His own skin is still a bit cold from the water’s temperature, but it doesn’t bother you much.

The kiss soon grows more intense, and a mounting desire makes itself known in you. You won’t pretend like you’re 100% confident about all of this, but you don’t want to shun it anymore, either.

Yuta’s hand drifts to your neck, his long nails pressing into your skin ever so slightly. You dare to explore his body more, sliding your hands across his chest and over his side gills, feeling the way they contract under your hands, and farther down still. You haven’t looked down there yet, and you’re nervous over what you’ll find. But you keep going until your fingers meet something slick and hot and throbbing, seeming vaguely like a regular penis, though you quickly realize it’s more of a tentacle.

Yuta shudders and draws away from the kiss, and you feel alarmed, wondering if you’ve gone too far without thinking.

“If we’re going to do this, I should...probably shift back—”

“Don’t,” you blurt out. Yuta looks at you questioningly. “I...you should if it makes you comfortable. But...I don’t mind.” He’s quiet for a few seconds—seconds that feel much longer than they really are. You’re apprehensive of what he’ll say, but you keep your eyes on his face.

“Okay,” he agrees. “If you’ll accept me like this...okay.”

Neither of you bother with moving to somewhere more comfortable like the lake house or even the sandy shore. Instead, Yuta peels your clothes away right there on the pier, covering every new bit of flesh with his strange and lovely mouth, his head fins ghosting across your collarbones and breasts like moths’ wings.

You tremble and grow wetter under his soft caresses, which are much gentler than you’d initially expect with his sharp black nails. His hands leave streaks of water across your body, which cools your burning hot skin.

Yuta carefully maneuvers your lower body at the same time as he bends his graceful head, bringing your sex close to his mouth and licking deeply into you. Your back presses hard against the pier, the wood scratching your skin as you cry out into the night air.

“Oh God, Yuta!” You soon realize that his tongue is much longer than any human one, and it reaches to a spot deep inside of you that makes you twist around in his grasp, your fingernails scrambling for purchase on the surface below you. He uses his tongue to pleasure that spot continuously, drawing moans and ever more wetness out of you as if he were controlling the waves in the ocean.

You find yourself coming apart on his extraordinarily long tongue, your legs shaking and then going limp with the pleasure flooding through your body. Your breaths come fast and hard. Yuta lifts his head from between your legs and pulls you carefully into his lap so his slick tentacle is pressing against you. It’s not hard like a dick would be, though it is clearly responsive to your body, and you momentarily wonder if it can even go inside you.

“Is this gonna work?” you ask, a tremor in your voice.

“It will work,” Yuta replies, and you’re not sure how, but you decide to trust him on it.

It does, to your surprise. With your legs crossed tightly over his lower back, Yuta presses into you, wet and warm and very unexpectedly soft. It doesn’t feel like anything you’ve ever experienced before. It’s not a bad sensation, though—far from it. His tentacle is similar to his tongue in how it flexes and throbs inside you, pressing tight against that spot again and making you shiver in his arms.

You both quickly find a rhythm that works, your bodies moving together in an otherworldly combination of two beings, two species, two souls.

Yuta’s long nails scrape gently against your skin as he holds your back, guiding you on his sex and pushing his hips up into you. You sigh into the juncture of his neck and shoulder, feeling the cool scales underneath your lips. You seek a firm grip on his slick skin, bringing your body as close to his as possible.

“Yuta…” You moan his name. His hand slides to the back of your neck so he can bring your face to his again, kissing you deeply. There’s a wet squelching sound as your bodies connect, Yuta’s tentacle slipping in and out of you and pleasurably stroking your walls.

“Y/N…” Yuta whispers into your soft hair, pushing into your spot repeatedly, his thighs tensing under you as his pace increases. You grip his arms as you feel your orgasm swelling up in your abdomen. You tip your head back and Yuta’s mouth goes to your neck and farther down, his heavy breaths warming your skin and making you overheat from the inside out.

You tighten and cum around him, your voice stuttering out of you in broken gasps as he keeps thrusting into you, drawing your climax out. He pulses inside of you, which sends little shockwaves up your spine; you know he’s probably close, too.

When Yuta comes, there’s a lot more of it than you expected. His cum overflows and drips out of you with a consistency like syrup and a transparent color like precum. It makes the inside of your thighs sticky and shiny.

Yuta pulls out, and more of his cum spills out of you, leaking onto his lap and staining the pier underneath you.

“That’s not gonna get me pregnant, is it?” you say quietly, half-jokingly.

“Probably not,” Yuta chuckles.

“Probably!?”

Yuta carefully gathers you in his arms and stands to his feet, walking you off the pier and back towards the lake house. Your clothes are still on the pier, but you’re quickly getting sleepy and aren’t very worried about it; you’ll get them in the morning.

“What happens now?” Yuta murmurs as he walks up the front steps. You already know he’s referring not just to your relationship in this present moment, but to every event that will make up your future. Does he need to continue hiding, or is it really safe? How long will this last?

You close your eyes, resting your head against his chest. “We stay together.”

Yuta’s arms tighten around you as a silent affirmation of your words.

267 notes · View notes

twsted-tales-of-scheherazade · 4 years

Note

Hello! Glad to have another twst blog to follow. May I request a scenario where Sebek discovers he has a secret admirer who actually likes his brash personality?? G/n is fine!

It all started one day when Sebek spots a letter on his desk. At first, he thought it was just litter that a careless classmate had left. He was about to crumple the paper and throw it out (before giving the offender a piece of his mind)…until he saw his name written on it. Curious, he takes a closer look and his eyes narrow in confusion as he reads every word.

Dear Sebek,

I would just like to say that I admire you very much. I think your drive and hard work is inspiring. Not many people are as passionate as you are. Even with your faults, I think that Malleus is lucky to have you as a vassal. Please always remain who you are.Your good traits far outweigh your bad ones, and I’m sure you will continue to improve with time.

--[Initial of your first name]

Admittedly, the message had caught him off guard, but he didn’t dwell on it too much once the teacher arrived. He folded the letter and placed it in his pocket. It was time to focus on his studies. If he got distracted by something so trivial, then he’s not worthy of calling himself his lord’s vassal.

However, that wasn’t the end of it.

Every other day, he would get new letters placed on his desk, always filled with encouragement and praise for his efforts. He won’t admit it out loud, but they do stir up something within his heart. It’s not often that his work is acknowledged after all. He would feel lighter whenever he read them. Such a strange feeling it was. He didn’t know something like that could have such a drastic effect on him. Sometimes, he wonders if a spell was put upon those messages, even though he knew otherwise.

His mood changes didn’t escape the eyes of Malleus, Silver, and Lilia either.

“You’ve been quite spirited as of late, Sebek. Care to share what has made you so cheerful?” The ancient fae asks one day as they were having lunch.

“It is nothing of importance Lord Lilia. I’ve just been receiving these anonymous letters.” Now that caught the interest of everyone at the table.

“Anonymous letters?” Silver inquired, momentarily placing down his utensil.

“I have just received another one this morning.” Lilia’s eyes scanned the letter that was handed to him before his expression turned delighted. “How wonderful! You have a secret admirer. Oh, to be young…” He sighed wistfully.

“Pardon? What is a secret admirer…?” The green-haired fae asked, blinking in confusion. This time, it was Silver that answered, “A secret admirer is when a person likes you but doesn’t have the courage to talk to you face to face, so they send anonymous gifts like these instead.”

“You should meet them, Sebek. This person definitely wishes to get closer to you.”

“I-If Lord Lilia says so. However, I have not even caught a glimpse of this person.”

“Fufu…leave that to me.”

A few days later, you nearly had a heart attack after the ancient fae appeared behind you…hanging upside down from the ceiling. You were thankful that there were no people nearby at the time, considering that your scream was rather loud. Lilia caught you before you could stumble and fall, steadying you with a gentle hand.

“Apologies about that little one.” You didn’t know if that apology was even sincere with that amused smile on his face.

His eyes studied you for a moment before chuckling. “Sebek would like to meet this afternoon at Diasomnia. I do hope you can come.”

...And you did. Lilia already knew your face. What is the point of hiding anymore?

Now, you were fidgeting in your seat as the green-haired fae poured you a cup of tea. He eyed you for a moment before taking a seat across the table. “Human. You are my...secret admirer?” Even now, the term was still quite foreign on his tongue. His eyes narrowed once you answered his question with a quiet “Yes.”

“Then, I ask you, what is your goal for sending those letters? Are you perhaps trying to get me to let down my guard with your words? If you are trying to soften me so that you can get close to the young master-”

“N-No!” You shut him down immediately.

You should have expected as much. Leave it to Sebek to become suspicious of everything…

“I...I really do like you! This has nothing to do with Senior Malleus!”

“You must call him the Great Malleus Draconia! Anything else would be disrespect!”

“Yes, of course. I’m sorry.” You didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this point.

“But, Sebek. Please, listen. I like you. I really do. I don’t have any ulterior motives. In my eyes...you’re really amazing. You always, always work so hard. You’re sincere, you speak your mind...you look towards your goals. I admire that about you. Believe that, at least.” Your eyes never broke contact with him as you said these words. And although he loathed to admit it, he felt his heart skip a beat.

A few moments later, he snapped out of his stupor and cleared his throat. “I-I see. My apologies. Do forgive me for disrespecting your feelings. Your letters are...not bad, human. They are a great source of motivation.”

Before you can say anything else, he puffed out his chest and sent you a smug smile. “N-Naturally, I must give my best at everything! Listen, serving Lord Malleus is-”

And he’s back to talking about Malleus. You sighed, half-fond, half-exasperated. Well, this side of him is rather charming too.

After that day, you had no qualms about approaching Sebek anymore. It was safe to say that you’ve become friends. Although...maybe someday, you can take the next step and turn your friendship into something more?

...Unbeknownst to you, the Sebek is starting to feel more and more strange as the days pass. He wonders why his heart beats faster whenever he recalls your shining eyes and your sincere expression that day. The blush on his cheeks darken, and yet, he refuses to acknowledge it.

And so, the first tale has been told. I do hope you enjoyed it, dear traveler.

Credits for the images used on thispost:

Border: https://pngtree.com/freepng/vector-title-frame_3573975.html

Lantern decorations: https://pngtree.com/freepng/ramadan-decorations-luminous-ramadan-lantern-moon-and-star_5356170.html

Divider: https://pngtree.com/freepng/european-border-curtain-pattern_4068944.html

#Alf layla wa layla #Sebek Zigvolt #twst #Twisted Wonderland #twst Sebek #Twisted Wonderland Sebek #Reader Insert #Sebek

44 notes · View notes

internalsealpanic · 4 years

Text

Hug Tutorials

summary: Constantine is stuck baby sitting. Not exactly his area of expertise. So how is he supposed handle a feral 8 year old? Help comes from an unexpected source.

A/n: I am pretty new to the Hellblazer fandom so forgive the characterization. I own nothing except Ruta (in all his bratty glory) and the plot. Maya belongs to the wonderful @birdy-bat-writes who is a wonderful human being. This thing is kind of part of a crack au me and Riya have been brain storming. I will probably edit or rewrite this later. Yes, I need a better title.

warnings: awkward hugs, implied child neglect, and a lot of swearing

word count: 1,709 (This is actually really short.)

Ruta knows it hadn't started out like this.

He remembers when his mother used to try and help him read. She tried her best but the shapes on the page just made no sense to him. Not the way it did for Raffie or Mimi.

He tries memorizing the words she said to him and parroting them back to her. It works! For awhile...

He also remembers the walks to the park and how they'd listen to him about transparent people.

They probably think he's too young to notice the change.

His mom's slowly cut back on their nightly reading sessions opting for game night with his siblings. They were playing monopoly and that required a little too much reading for him to play.

They haven't read together in months. Maybe he's the only one keeping track.

He still tells them about the transparent people and now he tells them about the shadowy people but now they simply nod out of time with what he says. They used to be better at pretending and nodding in time with what he said.

His dad got mad at him once when he started crying about the shadow people when they were at the market. He shook him, just a little, just enough to make him feel woozy, looking red with embarrassment. Ruta felt bad about it. He felt really horrible about embarrassing his dad that he decided never to mention them again even when they got too close.

The good news is he now had Count Von Bon Bon who listened and read aloud to him. He wasn't allowed inside the house because he was such a big bird but when they went outside he kept the shadow things away.

He doesn’t need anyone else. He’ll be ok.

-------------

If you asked John Constantine how on Earth he found himself in the mess, he'd likely give you a dumbfounded look, shrug, and mumble something about being too sober.

But in all honesty, how does one find themselves watching their 8-year-old charge about to throw hands with not one but two Green Lanterns who should know better?

Ruta stood , small and imperious, with his little arm crossed and his head thrown back after a great laugh. "I'd like to see ya do it, dumb carrot headed shit!"

Guy, looking as red as, well, Sinestro, looks like he's about to deck the kid. "Oh, I'm gonna,"

John with all the good sense he's got fumbles over to the tiny terror. "Sorry 'bout that lil' Ruta 'ere's just a bit nippy from 'avin' to wake up early. Yanno 'ow kids are,” He grabs the kid by his sweater who makes a little squawking noise not too different from his devastatingly posh familiar who would have been really helpful right now. The kid wriggles a little, trying to claw John's hand away from the sweater. He pauses and John thinks that maybe, just maybe, the kid had gotten some sense knocked into him.

Unfortunately for him, John Constantine is one unlucky bastard.

With the smarmiest grin plastered on his little face, Ruta slips out of the, admittedly, ill-fitting sweater. The kid basically sprinted back toward the lanterns who, by the way, still looked pissed as all hell.

"Oh for the love of-" John is honestly going to pop a blood vessel. He grabs the kid's arm since the kid despite his speed hadn't made it far.

Ruta did not have the expected reaction. He froze. Breath seizing. Body going rigid. John thought about letting go but thought better of it.

"Ruta-"

Ruta begins to thrash violently and make petulant noises. John rolls eyes even as the kid snarls a few colorful words. "Yer gonna hafta do bettern’ that lad if-"

CHOMP

"Sonuva! Zee, a little help would be appreciated, love,"

"Sorry John, I’ve got no clue about how Maya usually gets him to settle down,"

Well, that helped.

Justice League members gather in bewilderment as they watch Constantine let out a string of curses as he tries to pry Ruta off his arm. The kid's teeth were actually digging into his flesh. John is pretty sure he would rather be fighting off all the demon's he's encountered over the years than be here, right now, getting his flesh torn.

Bats and Supes enter the room. Now, John normally didn't give a rat's ass what those two thought but there was a special kind of embarrassment that comes with a tantruming child. He now had a little more sympathy for people with kids in grocery stores.

The next few seconds are hard to process.

Bats discussing something about Earth's defenses with Supes wordlessly walks over to John, pats Ruta on the head, the kid- miraculously- relinquishes his death grip on John's arm, and in a disturbingly fluid motion Bats scoops him up into his arms, settles Ruta on to his hip, walks back to his conversation as if nothing happened.

The kid makes a brief distressed noise and a weak attempt at fighting before huffing and wrapping his wreathy little arms around Bats’ neck as Bats rubs circles on his back.

God, the kid looked so small all of a sudden. Had Ruta been that tiny this whole time?

He looked a little relieved aside from his face which was red and screwed up like all his effort was being devoted to trying not to cry. His breath is still uneven but it was settling down. He’s limp against Bats. For once, he looked like he wasn't about to turn tail and run or to tell someon to fuck off or bite someone's face off.

Fuck, when was the last time the kid looked so relaxed?

The newer league members watch with a mix of awe and confusion while the older ones shake their head and murmur something about not seeing that in a while.

It takes a few minutes, the entire conversation actually, for Batman to realize that all his kids are too big for him to comfortably carry like this even with his size. He panics thinking he accidentally kidnapped a young child. It takes him a moment longer to realize who it is.

"How the fuck did you manage that?" John finally stiffles out, awe clear in his voice.

Batman glares at John for cursing in front of the kid.

"Wot? He’s said worse,"

"That’s cus you’re a fucking cunt," Ruta mumbles his cheek still smooshed into Bats' shoulder. Bats looks as stone faced as ever but from the frown tugging at his lips he seemed mortified but he made a grunt that sounded more nostalgic than reprimanding. Batman adjusts his hold on the kid looking like he was honestly debating on whether to keep carrying the kid around and keep working or give him back to the clearly inexperienced Constantine. He decides it was probably best to give him back to Constantine but a part of him just really wanted to keep holding the little one trembling in his arms. When was the last time he held someone this small. It kind of reminded him of when Jason was small right down to the fowl mouth.

Ruta clearly also doesn't want to let go. Bats is sturdy and surprisingly warm. He looked like he would cry if he let go. The kid’s knuckles were white from gripping Bats’ cowl for Christ’s sake. Sadly, Igris, his annoyingly posh familiar, shows up from who the fuck knows where.

"Little prince, this is no way to behave," He admonishes in an eerie vernacular that was only barely understandable due to exposure. Ruta's face grows hot from embarrassment and with a nod he extricates himself from the caped crusader's arms.

The kid definitely looks like he's about to cry but he mutters a glum ‘Yes, Count Von Bon Bon’.

"Where the bloody hell have you been?" John asked. God, he needed a smoke.

"I've been watching over Maya as the little prince had asked," John gives him a questioning look. "I got bored" The bird adds, shrugging in an oddly human manner.

Ruta extricates himself looking sheepish but mostly tired. Kid has probably been stressed and on adrenaline for a while. The sudden feeling of safety just made him crash.

John hesitantly wraps his arms around the kid. The kid freezes but hugs back hesitantly. John tries to lift the kid but the kid stiffens. John honestly had no idea how to hold this kid. He maneuvered his hands clumsily around the kid. Ruta made no objections but he was clearly uncomfortable.

"No. You have to support both of his back and legs. Sometimes you have to lean back a bit to get them to so he leave into you- yeah just like that," Bats instructs, sounding oddly gentle. His usual gravel absent. It kind of scared John, to be honest, so he did his best to follow along.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

At some point, Maya shows up after her ‘date’ with Damian- not much of a date when there are a bunch of people watching you- and finds Bruce coaching John on how to hold a tired elementary schooler who was drooling on John's favorite beige coat. She tried her best to stifle a laugh. Thankfully, she didn't have to try too hard.

"EXCUSE ME????? B, since when were you a child whisperer?" Dick exclaims as dramatically as humanly possible. Damian and Tim radiated second hand embarrassment while Jason just plays it like he doesn't know his older brother. Maya guessed that if Bruce wasn't used Dick he would be cringing too.

"Nightwing, I've had more than 5 children. I believe I know how to handle children,"

"Uhuh- sure, B. Whatever you say,"

Bruce makes a neutral grunting noise.

"Please tell me you're not adopting that one,"

"Of course no-"

"Yeah sure, B,"

"He's- He's Constantines,"

"Tt, father, you are a terrible influence,"

It is a spectacle to watch Bruce's kids team up on him.

Maya shakes her head and laughs before heading over to John.

“Well, bring me a biscuit and call me Christy Bats’ was right” He mutters rocking the feral child. Ruta’s little arms wrap around him a little tighter.

“‘Course he is, Christy. He’s Batman,” Maya drawls smiling innocently.

"Please never leave him with me again,"

"Dunno, Christy. Looks like you're doing fine,"

tag list:

@idkmanicantenglish (You said any DC content)

@birdy-bat-writes (You enabler)

#john constantine #dc fanfiction #DC comics #parenting #ocs #batman #batfam #good parenting #bad parenting #angst #my wriitng #robins #zantanna zatara

56 notes · View notes

fivenightslaughter · 4 years

Text

Wicked Serpentine (Part 3)

pairing: draco malfoy x femravenclaw!oc

summary: slowburn enemies to lovers fic, multiple parts. <3

warnings: use of m*dblood, bad parents, swearing

word count: 2,882

taglist: let me know if you’re interested in being added!

We had taken boats to the towering school. It was admittedly even more grand from the inside, which was almost shocking. I was led forward by just “Hagrid” as I noticed others had called him, along with a straggle of first years. I felt out of place amongst them, rightfully so.

We arrived upon large doors into an even bigger hall, abustle with candor and joy, as well as the welcoming scent of food. A woman in a rather large hat stood, gently moving us apart into a more organized group. I could feel a few eyes on me but tried my hardest to ignore them. Not much was spoken, except for a few welcoming words from her and a large, white-bearded man.

I’d heard about this next part from brief conversations between first years on the boat, and I feared it. I feared how little I knew and what my “sorting” would tell of my personality. My body felt frozen in time as it had before I willed myself to leave the train. Would this feeling ever go away?

I breathed slowly, painfully, awaiting my turn as I watched small children walk up to a chair near the front middle of the room. Did this really have to be such a spectacle? I heard my name and nearly choked on my own spit.

“Eris Woodwork!” It was the woman who had spoken when we entered the hall, beckoning me to the front. I heard faint snickering that sounded unpleasantly familiar. It was for the better, though. I now felt my resolve steel a bit, sure that regardless of wherever I ended up, I wanted to be nowhere near that impudent blond boy and his lackeys.

I sat in the chair, my back finally no longer to what now seemed to be a still and curious audience. I’m sure there were a myriad of questions, one of them I recall I heard murmured as I stood with the first years a moment before. It was simply “where did she come from?”

Blond caught my eye now that I faced the full hall, and I noticed him sitting among a table of green. I silently pleaded to the brown burlap hat in the woman’s hands to put me anywhere but there. I didn’t even like the color green.

For a moment, I heard nothing but blood and my heartbeat in my ears as I replayed that request over in my mind, willing the hat to hear my thoughts.

I was shocked out of my deep concentration as the hat now waited restlessly atop my head, sounds of decision coming from it, when finally it perked up, shouting a resounding,

“RAVENCLAW!”

I felt my heart swell with pride, telling myself it was my skills of mental pleading that had won me a good house.

A long table of students cheered, dressed with some sort of blue, minus the first years in inconspicuously black robes. I breathed a sigh of relief and hopped down from the chair. I scurried over to the table, quicker than I’d meant to. Snapping back to reality, I had noticed Luna at the table as well. What I hadn’t noticed before was her dark blue and white striped tie on the train.

I sat immediately next to her, glad I wasn’t a completely aimless fool. Thankfully, I was the last to be sorted and now came food. My stomach gave a growl and I remembered I hadn’t eaten since the day previous due to sheer nerves.

The food was hot and extravagant and there was much more than I’d guess there would be for a hall of teens. The tensity in my muscles had eased as I ate, hearing forks clink and amicable conversations around me. For the first time since I had learned of magic, I finally felt joy. Pure, unbridled joy. I was sorted like a real wizard and I was eating and laughing among them. I was meant to be here, “mud blood” or not.

It was quite late into the night, although hard to tell with the hundreds of lit candles that floated in the dining hall. It was lit brightly, but the night’s darkness still crept up the glass windows. Eating and talking had slowed as people had their fill of fun and socialization. Tiredness creeped the same as the darkness did, but I’m sure it was due to a homely feeling rather than exhaustion.

I glanced at Luna, a weird set of glasses perched on her head and her face trained on the same upside-down magazine I’d seen her with earlier. Without even looking up at me, she traced her fingers on the cover and spoke.

“You’d like to see the rooms.” She spoke dreamily, her voice always seemed thick with distraction, despite being more focused than anyone I’d seen so far. I nodded and she stood, floating off in the direction of the door we had entered through. I felt a few glances in our direction, but not more than few. Besides, something told me that they weren’t exactly looking at me, as Luna seemed to be even more peculiar than my presence was.

We walked through the lonely halls, lit by torches and candles and I prayed I could remember this path for later. We arrived at a door and she swiftly turned to me. Her eyes seemed less ghostly in this darkness as she spoke.

“The other houses have passwords… But here, you’ve got to answer a question,” she was ready to continue but I immediately halted her.

“What if you get it wrong?”

She waited a beat before turning to the raven knocker.

“Well, you have to wait for somebody who gets it right,” She said. “That way you learn, you see?”

She rapped on the door, startling me as the noise bounced and echoed off the walls.

A soft, musical voice escaped the knocker in a question, a riddle.

“Which came first, the phoenix or the flame?”

Luna paused thoughtfully, turning to me.

“Would you like to answer?”

I shook my head quickly, panning through possible solutions in my mind. I wasn’t sure, but I waited for Luna, as I’m sure she had something bubbling in that eccentric mind of hers.

She hummed to herself for a few seconds before she parted her lips, glancing up at the large beams leading to the high, vaulted ceiling.

"I think the answer is that a circle has no beginning."

The door creaked open and a smile lightly painted my face. She was truly an enigma, in the best ways.

I took in the beautiful common room, blue and white splayed everywhere. The ceilings were just as high but instead of bareness, they were lined with volumes of books. There were stairs leading up to a floor that wrapped around the room, overlooking down inside. There were more shelves of books and beautifully grand windows, the stars twinkling softly against the glass panes. There were dark blue velveteen chairs and soft looking blue carpet of the same material, large oak tables with lit lanterns illuminating the space. A lit fireplace could be seen on the far side of the room, crackling quietly.

My own eyes couldn’t do the beauty of the space justice, really.

A marble statue of a beautiful woman appeared to tenderly gaze through the window at the stars, as if she could see them at this very moment the same way I could. A plaque at the bottom read, “Rowena Ravenclaw”. She must have been as important as she was beautiful and regal.

Luna waited patiently as I absorbed the huge space, her face resting in a dazed smile. I was sure it was impossible for her to frown. When it was clear I soaked up as much as I could for now, she began to walk towards a set of large, dark blue drapes on the left of the room. Opening them to allow me through, there was a set of stairs that led upwards in a spiral. I slowly began to ascend, trailing my fingers on the rough stone of the walls.

I faintly heard Luna’s retreating footsteps, as it seemed she wasn’t ready to sleep just yet. Or rather she was giving me space to relax and get to know the castle on my own.

I finally came to a door and pushed it open quietly, wondering if anyone else had come to bed already. I stepped through the doorway and quietly gasped to myself, again marveling at the intricacy of my new living space. This room did well to mimic the grandiosity of the common room below, with watery blues and soft whites. The room was circular with three four-poster beds with sky blue silk eiderdowns and blue curtains. The deep blue of the room was cool and elegant looking. It struck me with the same regality as the statue of Rowena.

The four poster beds had two shelves at the back of the bed, an owl perch on one side, a small carpet next to the bed and a wooden nightstand at the end. There was a wooden table in the centre of the room with a stack of books with an hourglass on top of them, an open book with a Self-Writing Quill, parchments and a plant in a flower pot on it.

In the dim light of the room, I recognized my trunk that one of the Weasley twins had loaded onto the train. I felt my mouth go dry as I realized I had lost track of it without even realizing until now. I squeezed my eyes shut, grateful my stupidity hadn’t had any real consequence this time. Opening them, I started towards it. It lay at the end of one of the beds, neatly and unopened.

I continued to eye over each of the beds. A blue upholstered armchair much like the ones in the common room sat on one side of each, near the nightstand and the windows that wrapped symmetrically around the room.

I lifted my case unto my bed, pausing as my body nearly melted into the soft blue downs. My hands rested on the cold metal of the latches on each side for a few seconds before I flipped them up, their simultaneous clicks nearly making me flinch as I finally realized how quiet this room really was, aside from the light wind rubbing the windows.

I pushed the top open, sitting cross legged in front of the only belongings I now owned.

My parents hadn’t been supportive or helpful except for vague locations. Places they sent me off to alone, too afraid to assist their daughter into the world they tried so painstakingly to escape from. Much like King’s Cross, they had given me a general location; A pub called the “Leaky Cauldron”. I had found myself at another dead end before the barkeep had assisted me, noticing me the same way the two Weasley boys had. I had wondered if it was magical ability that allowed them to do that, or if ‘hopelessly lost’ was just written on me at all times. He led me through a very sketchy backroom that led somewhere that shouldn’t have been possible. And he called it, “Diagon Alley”.

I tried to snap back to the present, looking into my folded clothes. I fished through them for a slender stick that scared me to hold more than I’d like to admit.

I found the memory I’d pushed away taking over my brain, now that I finally had time to sit down and mull.

Just days ago, my parents were frantic. They were afraid, more than I’d ever seen them. They were apprehensive and suddenly, they were cruel. I tried to convince myself that they tried to push me out of their minds so it’d hurt less if I met the same unfortunate fate as whoever they had known years ago.

Attempting to discuss the letter I’d received from an owl set them on edge. They were jumpy and antsy and snipped at every question I had. I’d gotten so fed up at going without answers that during one of their arguments in their room about me, one of the many that permeated the thin walls of our house, I snapped. I had knocked on their door and before my knuckles could rap the door a third time, it swung open.

Much to the surprise of all three of us as they sat on either side of their bed, nowhere near where I stood. There sat a box between them but it didn’t catch my attention nearly as much as the now self-autonomous door. They shared a look and my father pursed his lips. My mother had begun to wring her hands in her lap. Their argument had ceased with my arrival.

My heart was fluttering in my chest as I spoke softly, my anger dissipating into confusion. “Did I do that?”

My mom looked up at me, her face akin to petrified stone. My father’s face hinted at an angry redness as he began.

“Magic doesn’t exist, Eris. We ought to cart you off to a fucking loony bin, you know that? You’ve become a crazy little girl. Owls and magic school? Wands? “Robes”? Have you completely fucking lost it? Do you need to be medicated?”

I saw tears well in my mother’s eyes as she looked back down at her hands in her lap. I hadn’t expected the harshness of his voice. He’d never swore at me until this very moment.

Looking to him, a pit of fire erupted in my stomach, spreading in winding tendrils up through my ribcage and finally wrapping around my heart. My face felt red and hot as if I were fighting off tears. How could he speak to me like that? Where did my loving father go? I felt like everything was spinning and yet completely still. I had closed my eyes without even realizing it, the sound of my blood rushing to my head was the only sound in my mind.

My eyes snapped open when I felt an unsteady shake beneath my feet and I’d realized the whole house was wrecked and shivering. Lights, shattered and broken, things had tossed themselves from the shelves. The curtains windblown to the floor, despite the closed windows. The very foundation of the house was shaking and my parents could only gape at me in fear. I knew this time, from the waning pit inside me that I really had done this. I knew from their faces they could no longer deny that they knew it too.

My mom gingerly reached for the box on the bed. Slowly, as if she might alarm a wild animal. I felt her fearful and scrutinizing gaze as she picked it up and rose just just as slowly. My father’s hand shot out and gripped her wrist, his eyebrows drawn in concentration. She pulled herself away from him, easier than I’d expected.

“Eris, please just… Take this. And go. Your father and I have much to discuss, okay?” She crossed the room towards me and tentatively placed the box in my hands. I backed up, outside of the threshold of their door unintentionally, my legs nearly buckling backwards. My mother had slowly closed the door and I heard the lock click gently.

The only thing that had snapped me out of my daze was feeling the wall against my back and the box in my hands. I rushed to my room with a sudden determination. I palmed through it on my bed, finding a few curious things. Little gold coins and some weird letters from someone named “Lily”. They were insanely old and written on such yellowed paper it was a wonder it didn’t crumble at her touch.

They read like a schoolgirl conversing with her best friend, written in a rather mature cursive.

“Dear Amelia,

It’s wonderful! It’s all so beautiful here! Things float and soar and it’s such a vast world of color! I bought a wand from this little shop called ‘Ollivander’s’ and it’s breathtaking- can you believe it? A wand of my very own. It only cost seven galleons. That’s what they buy things with-they’ve got a completely different currency here, Mel. I’ll include twenty with this letter, so you can see them for yourself. Maybe even treat yourself to a visit to Diagon Alley sometime. I have my very own owl now, too, and no doubt he’ll be how you receive your letters from me from here on out. I can’t wait to see you again. Lily”.

I let my fingers travel over the edges and designs of the gold coins. Galleons.

The other letters had detailed Lily’s travel to King’s Cross and to the platform, as well as to the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley. These letters from Lily to my mother would serve to be my only guidance for what I should do next. I’d follow in her very footsteps as best as I could.

One thing I chose to ignore in the box was the bone-white parchment in the bottom of the box, one addressed solemnly to my mother containing the details of one "Lily" Potter and her untimely death.

13 notes · View notes

tarithenurse · 4 years

Text

Stolen - 9

Pairing: Loki Laufeyson &/x fem!gifted!reader Content: Angst. Feels. Plot. References to other MCU events. A/N: Thanks for reblogs, comments, and likes <3 It has honestly made me get through these last two days. If you want on the taglist, just send an ask or reblog.

9. Irresponsible Hate Anthem

… Reader …

At least Loki has allowed you to sit down, and good thing too considering that today is the most you’ve done since pushing yourself and your limits by healing the priestess. He has also brought you something to drink and some grape-like fruits. All in all: he is procrastinating and it’s making you awfully nervous.

“Loki.” The god scurries off to fetch you a blanket. “Loki!” you call after him. “Just get your ass back here and start talking!”

Whirling towards you, his jaw clenches and eyes darken with fury...but he stops himself and does as asked. “This is the last time I will allow such insubordination, mortal.”

“Fine.” Ramping up the sarcasm, you clasp your hands and plead, “Oh, mighty Loki. Bestow your wisdom upon me!”

Silence stretches. If he hadn’t been completely stone faced then you might have feared you’d gone too far. As it is, however, the Asgardian simply sighs. He and the others...they should be immortal but he looks old now. A smidgen of discomfort wiggles into your chest, sending tendrils out to legs and arms with the urge to fidget, to tap an unsteady rhythm with a foot, anything to ease the tension you are feeling. At the same time, a self-empowering annoyance is nudging your mind from the other side in an attempt to point out the next issue. I should not feel sorry. He’s a bad guy.

“There are influencing factors to the events that have led to this point.” Loki speaks softly despite a strain to his voice that tells you he is holding back. “In a manner, of all this started many thousand years ago by your time...but what is of relevance to you is the understanding of why your realm was beset by the Chitauri under my command. Who I served by doing as I did.”

“It...it wasn’t your decision?” The wine in your glass is sloshing subtly so you set it down with a clatter.

The green gaze wanders from hands to face, wordlessly binding you to anything he is about to say. “I did not propose it...but I did not oppose it.” Sighing again, he shrugs. “Explaining why will take more time than we have available. Suffice to say that I found myself in the questionable service of a being, an entity, called Thanos. The Mad Titan, is another of his monikers...and quite descriptive too.”

“Titan? Like...Greek myth titan?”

“...no. I would almost suppose the Midgardian titans of old would be preferable. Thanos is powerful in more ways than you can imagine and my fear is that his plan is much worse than even I suspect. Wherever he goes, only half of the population survives to struggle through a ravaged realm, slowly dying from the blows he has dealt them.”

Liar! “But Earth survived! You didn’t even kill half of New York, and now you want to tell me there’s a dude that could end half a planet worth of people? Pfft!”

Loki’s cold hands wrap around your fingers. “Don’t be foolish. Conquering Mi- Earth was not his main objective but a bit of fun to test the strength of the forces, the defences.” Hesitating, he focuses briefly on the way he has grasped your hands. “What Thanos wanted – and still wants – from your realm is an object with immense power. That object, the Tessaract, is one of six and all together they will make him unstoppable.”

“The Avengers stopped you...him,” you try slowly, “they’d caught you. So...you didn’t get that...Tessa-thing to him. Right?”

“No, Thanos does not have the Tessaract,” he agrees before meeting your gaze again, “but he will try again. And he will have me hunted down for leaving his side...for failing him.”

There was a time, when someone claiming the epitome of evil from space would arrive to ransack the Earth they would be considered clinically insane. The problem is that every human watched the news footage from New York and saw the aliens pour out of the sky to follow Loki. Can there be someone worse than him? It stings to admit it, but you don’t doubt for a second it’s possible.

Looking to the god, you fight to keep the fear at bay. “We gotta warn them!”

“They have been and they are preparing.” He still holds your hands, grounding you in an inexplicable way. “After having fought the Chitauri, the heroes of Earth know what’s at stake.”

It’s all too much – worn out from the walking, dazed by the information, and frustrated with the situation you’re in – you slump into the seat in silent despair. “Then...but...nowhere’s safe?”

He draws you in by wrapping an arm around you and you don’t even care to bother about it. Of the two evils seemingly available, Loki is by far the lesser if he is telling the truth.

“One. One place might be safe for you although...it’s a long shot,” the god mutters into your hair.

... Loki ...

Night has fallen, enveloping the temple in velvety silence. Watching from the balcony, Loki sees the lights of the guards’ lanterns follow the same predictable pattern as always and he knows that for the moment, his frail mortal will be safe, so he retreats to the shadows of one of their rooms to use the Tessaract once again.

When the blue haze releases him, it’s into a cold world under the grey light of dawn. Crystalline particles are shoved around by gusts of wind, worn from the rock and ice that covers the ground as far as his eyes can see. Admittedly, the view is rather impeded by craggy cliffs to three sides and crumbling ruins to the other, but the Jotun knows what awaits him past the remnants of the civilization that dwelt here. My people. Scoffing at the thought, he stalks towards the open.

Between the castle ruins and the very precipice of a deep canyon stands a circle of Alfheim’s druids hand in hand along the precarious edge. Where Loki’s hair is whipping around his face, his cloak tangling in itself and his limbs, the Älfir seem untouched by the raging of the cold elements. At least none of us are freezing, a thought jeers in his mind.

Only as Loki comes to stand behind them can he hear the song. It’s almost as though he can see the words through the corner of his eye like a shimmer dropping into the darkness below but there is nothing to see when he focuses: no sign of the magic...and no indication that the efforts are working.

Crouching, fingers digging into the icy snow, a part of the god seeks to tether itself with the realm he came from. He can feel it. Or rather, he can’t. The frozen core should echo the songs of the Jötun of forgotten ages, reduced to a whisper before he himself silenced them forever. There is nothing. For a week now, the Älfir have done as promised and poured their living magic into the deadly wound Jotunheim suffered yet despite the constants efforts nothing has changed.

It is a lost cause. Loki knew from the beginning this was a possibility. Not all damage can be undone. Not all wounds heal.

This was never my home! Then how come an icy splinter which has been gnawing at his heart now grows and digs its own canyons until, with a painful snap, something breaks? Screaming out his rage, the agonized howl is swallowed by the wind, echoed by the haunting echoes from the depths below.

... Reader ...

You’re not sure what has woken you up. Lying perfectly quiet, the song of nightingale – maybe, you don’t really know what sort of bird it is – floats in through the open window and almost lulls you to sleep again.

Wait...there it is, the sound that doesn’t belong. Sitting up, it takes a moment before you figure out which direction the staccato creaks and huffs come from and you’re in two minds about what to do when you recognize the universal sound of a sob that someone attempts to stifle.

Loki?

There’s no doubt it’s him. He’ll kill me, if he realizes I’ve heard this.

70 notes · View notes

arotechno · 4 years

Text

The Heartless: Chapter 5

Read on Inkitt

First | Prev | Next

Chapter V: in which the proverbial dam breaks

We stayed with Esther for three days. We’d spend the daylight hours working in the field, and in the evenings we’d sit outside and listen to Esther’s stories while the sun sank into the far-off horizon and gave way to the cool summer night. Sometimes, she’d help us in the garden or sit by the back door with the baby; other times she’d spend most of the afternoon in the house, and we’d see her carrying out crates of old-looking memorabilia, like our hard work had inspired her to finally clear out the detritus of an old life that she didn’t lead anymore.

Over those three days, we razed the overgrown garden rows, trimmed back the bushes, and cleared the creeping vines from the side of the house with the old rusted garden tools from the dusty, cobweb-laden wooden bin by the back door. There were several moments where I considered disappearing overnight, dragging an unwilling Petra back home with me before something could go horribly wrong. But every time, the thought of sleeping another night in the treetops and the mental image of Esther waking up one morning to find us gone convinced me to stay, at least until the work was done.

On the morning of the fourth day, Petra and I gathered up our measly belongings from the stable and bid our goodbyes to Esther and the baby, standing between the freshly shorn raspberry bushes with the whole truth sinking into the sun-baked earth unspoken. I began a thousand sentences in my head without finishing any of them, but thankfully, Petra picked up the slack.

“Thank you so much, ma’am, for everything,” she said with a polite nod.

Esther returned her thanks with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Of course, dear. It was nice to have some helping hands around for a few days.”

Petra went in for a quick hug, and if I’d had a heart, I believe it would have leapt into my throat and stayed there, permanently, until I choked on it and died. Instead, I found myself suddenly frozen to the ground where I stood, a thousand panicked thoughts buzzing under my skin until I saw Esther reach her free arm towards me and took a practiced step backward, a trillion possible endings to a million possible nightmares playing out in my head in that one instant.

“Thank you,” I choked out, startling Esther out of the bewildered expression that had crept onto her kind face. “Sincerely, I’ll never be able to thank you enough. More than you will ever know.” I gave her a polite nod to match Petra’s and turned to go, but when we were halfway to the road, she stopped me.

“Ace!” Esther called after me.

I turned around to see her look of confusion soften into something bordering on sorrow.

“I don’t know what it is, and I don’t expect you to tell me,” she began, “but whatever it is, no matter how bad you think it is, it doesn’t matter. You’re always welcome here, if you ever decide to come back. That’s a promise.”

“Please don’t make a promise I can’t expect you to keep, ma’am,” I answered honestly, and then I turned to go, Petra marching solemnly alongside me with her hands clutching the straps of her now full bag.

“You’re good kids, both of you!” Esther shouted, her voice carrying her desperation through the raspberry field down to the road’s edge. “I really mean that!”

I said nothing in return, and looked back only once, to see the baby reaching that chubby hand out toward me from afar. As the tiny house and Esther’s slowly shrinking form began to disappear at our backs, I thought quietly about the argument Petra and I’d had amongst the too-tall weeds that first day, and was left wondering which of us was right.

* * *

Bertrand greeted me with cold indifference when we finally arrived back in the Village of the Heartless. The house was stuffy; it felt more oppressively stark and empty than I remembered, as if I’d been gone for months instead of less than a week. It didn’t seem like Bertrand had eaten much, unless he’d managed to get more food in my absence—the more likely scenario was that he’d been brewing away at failed cure after cure in his study the entire time I had been away. It wasn’t as though he did much else when I was home, for that matter.

The sweltering summer dragged on, slow and sticky like pulled taffy. The weeks passed in much the same way as the ones that came before; Bertrand and I rarely spoke, and I spent long afternoons in the shade of the forest grove having target practice with Petra. She and I had taken to doing odd jobs for the neighbors in exchange for food or supplies, scrubbing kitchen floors on our hands and knees or picking fresh vegetables for the summer harvest until the sun had dappled new freckles across our noses and the tops of our shoulders. Whenever I couldn’t sleep at night (which was often), I’d climb to the top of the oak tree by the village gates with my bow and arrow and wait for someone to show up. No one ever did, aside from Petra—though her escapades were admittedly few now that our days were occupied by work.

Eventually, the days began to grow shorter and the summer heat faded into the crisp early autumn. The leaves on the big oak tree lost their green hue and the air grew drier day by day as the year commenced its twilight march to the cold, dark winter. The mounting tension in our tiny house came to a head on one cool autumn night, when my tired bones finally gave in to the deceitful throes of sleep.

* * *

My parents were very good at hiding the fact that I had no heart in my chest, and they had to be—harboring a Heartless child was against royal decree and would likely get them imprisoned, or worse. The people of Swallow’s Point didn’t suspect a thing, and I was content to keep it that way. I saw no reason to ever be discovered; I was living an ordinary childhood simply by pretending to be ordinary, and it was working.

It was just a beautiful, average day; the neighborhood children were out playing in the grass. In an act of heroics, Basil climbed atop a tree stump, wielding a stick like a pretend sword. We were playing knights, like we always did.

“I’m going to be king!” Basil declared gleefully to our group like a ruler addressing his people.

I turned up my nose and protested, “Basil, we’re all supposed to be knights! That’s the point of the game!”

Basil frowned, fists landing on his scrawny hips. “No, stupid, I mean in real life! I’m going to be king someday!”

"Sure you are,” retorted a kid who reminded me of Knife Boy. “You have to be related to the king to do that.”

Basil shrugged. “Maybe I am.”

“I don’t think so. You’re too weird to be related to King Brutus,” Marcus taunted.

“Don’t speak that way to your future king!” Basil joked, hopping down gracefully from his stump. He landed with a soft thud, worn-out shoes kicking up a cloud of dirt. The dust coated his face and clothes as he and the other boy began play-wrestling in the dirt road where we lived, laughing all the while, and warning bells resounded in my head. I could sense the impending danger from a mile away; it was an instinct I had been honing even throughout the most carefree years of my life, in case I ever needed it.

"Basil,” I muttered, hoping he would hear me and no one else, “maybe you shouldn’t—”

I stopped short, choking on my own breath as the group went dead silent. Marcus had gone to push Basil away and in doing so had placed a hand to Basil’s empty chest. He froze that way, eyes wide, and Basil paled considerably, realizing the gravity of what was happening. The moment cemented itself in my mind’s eye as tension soaked into the air, heavy and still.

“Why were you tricking us this whole time?” Marcus grumbled in a voice too low and too angry to ever come from a child. “You’re cursed! You could doom our whole village!”

“I just wanted friends,” was Basil’s whispered reply, so quiet I almost didn’t hear him. I saw him take a deep breath, chest rising, and then he spoke again, this time louder, bolder, “It shouldn’t matter! We were all friends until just now when you decided something was wrong with me! But that doesn’t change what I’ve always been!”

The entire group of children, save for myself, turned on him in an instant.

I backed further and further away from the scene but couldn’t look away, and in my mind’s eye their pretend-sword sticks became distorted until they resembled Knife Boy’s grimy dagger. I reasoned with myself, assuring myself that he was spry enough, light enough on his feet to escape. But poor, ten-year-old, Heartless Basil who had just declared himself king stared me dead in the eyes with a look that told me to run. So I did. He was foolish to let his guard down, I told myself. It was his own fault for becoming complacent. I almost convinced myself it was true.

“Ace! Ace, wake up!”

I jolted awake, the residual terror warping the shadows cast by the lantern light into something macabre. It took a moment to will my body to move; my limbs had been reduced to lead, like if I played dead whatever demons haunted my sleep could not hurt me.

“Fuck,” I finally choked out, the hoarseness in my voice making me realize I had been screaming. I hadn’t woken up screaming from a nightmare in years, and it was at that point that I at last noticed Bertrand hovering beside my cot, the soft light from the lantern illuminating his stony features. There was something genuine in his expression—I realized belatedly that it was concern, and for some reason, it made me uncomfortable. Bertrand did not admonish me for my language, but instead stared at me patiently, expectantly, and somehow that made it worse.

"Sorry," I rasped. "For waking you."

Bertrand shook his head. “I was not asleep,” was all he said.

It occurred to me that Bertrand was the only living soul to whom I had ever told the details about Basil’s disappearance and the day I left Swallow’s Point. I had spilled to him one night as a child, the first time I woke him in the middle of the night with my screaming. He hadn’t said much, but he’d made me a cup of hot tea and let me lay my ten-year-old soul bare to him despite the ungodly hour. It had helped at the time, but it didn’t feel like an option now. I tried to steady my breathing, but I couldn’t, not with him looking at me so earnestly like that; it was as though my blood itself were vibrating just under my skin.

“I need to take a walk,” I said, swinging my legs over the side of the cot and reaching for my shoes. I met Bertrand’s gaze, daring him to challenge me, but though he said nothing, his expression softened into a sort of resigned understanding.

“Are you sure you’re in any condition to do that?” he finally asked as I was putting on my cloak with trembling limbs.

“No,” I responded shakily, walking out the door unarmed.

Once I was outside, the fresh air immediately took some of the edge off, and I walked a short ways before my legs gave out like a newborn deer’s and I flopped backward onto the grass. I inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, in and out several times until my breathing began to steady into something approaching normal.

This couldn’t go on any longer. I needed answers, some form of closure, someone to tell me straight to my face to get lost or die for all they cared, something more tangibly final than the memories that haunted me.

That night, I made a rash decision: I had to return home to see my parents.

When I eventually struggled to my feet and headed back inside, Bertrand was nowhere to be seen, but there was a mug of freshly brewed tea waiting on the table, the kettle still steaming on the stove as the crackling fire slowly burned out.

#the heartless #aro #aromantic #aro writing #aro writers #aspec writing #aspec writers #writeblr #op

35 notes · View notes

iamvegorott · 4 years

Text

Salt of the Sea Ch. 4

Night Talk

Yandere and Bim were talking to each other at the front of the ship. They softly giggled and were standing close to each other. Yandere placed her hand on the edge of the ship and Bim gently placed his own on top of hers, face burning red in the dim lights that the lanterns gave off. Yandere flipped her hand so that they could entwine their fingers. There were more giggles as they pressed their foreheads together.

Bim yelped and Yandere went stiff when they heard someone clear their throat. They were both blushing hard when they say Dark standing a few yards away, hand behind his back and looking unaffected by catching them.

“We-We were-uh-”

“You’re dismissed. Have a good night.” Dark stated in a flat tone.

“Good night.” Yandere took Bim’s wrist and the two ran off. Dark could hear the giggles returning when they went into the lower part of the living quarters.

Dark now took their place, staring off into the open water and he inhaled deeply, holding it for a second before letting it come out between almost closed lips. It was going to be a bit until the twins got up for their watch and that should be plenty of time for Dark to gather himself and recover from that...dream.

He knew there was a chance of those memories coming back up in his sleep due to their current ‘deal’ with the Sirens. Dark had hoped it would have been at least a little subtle, but it seems like nothing was going to be easy for him for the next year by the looks of Google’s charts. The ship’s Guidance System was showing that it would be at least a week until they reached the next marketplace. Dark decided that he was going to buy a keg of beer for himself and lock himself in his quarters with it until it was gone.

Dark glanced down into the water right beneath him, knowing that the Sirens were down there. They were close and were going to stay close until the deal was done. Dark tried to see if he could remember what the looked like and was their names were. If he was going to be stuck with them, he might as well be able to tell them apart.

The gray one was Chase. The green was Marvin. The purple was Robbie. The light blue was Henrik. The gold was JJ. The black one was-

“Hello?”

Anti.

“What?” Dark didn’t look towards where Anti was.

“What are you up to?” Anti was floating on his back next to the boat.

“Watching.”

“Watching what? The water? Do you see some fish?”

“What do you want?”

“I’m bored.”

“And that affects me, because?”

“Can I come up there?”

“What!?” Dark finally looked towards where Anti was. The lack of lighting and the water actually made Anti look like he was just a human going for a swim. His eyes were closed as he laughed and his chest moved with each sound that was made. Anti’s laughter was strangely...soft.

“Can I climb up the chain and sit with you?” Anti asked, eyes opening and the sight of deep, black eyes snapped Dark out of his thought of human-like qualities for Anti.

Dark was going to say no, to keep the Siren as far away from him as he could. But some disturbing curiosity clawed at his chest. A sick need to see the Siren closer, to be able to know the full detail of the creature. He wanted to see what could so easily kill him.

Dark didn’t speak, he only nodded his head and that was enough of an answer for Anti. He could hear the chain clanging as Anti climbed and Dark gave himself a note to pull that anchor up all the way from now on so that the Sirens couldn’t come on board whenever they pleased.

“That’s close enough,” Dark said, seeing that Anti was only a few feet away from him, sitting on the ledge of the ship with his tail bending as if there were legs under the scales. Dark found himself staring at the tail. Why would the tail need to be able to bend in such a way? Sirens didn’t have knees, so why did it look like they bent as if they did. The tail itself was admittedly very beautiful. The green scales softly reflected the light and almost looked to shift into different shades of green with each small movement it made. It wasn’t enough to change the whole tail’s color, but it was somewhat fascinating to watch and the black markings almost looked matte in comparison to the scales, as if they had been painted on rather then being a part of the tail.

“My eyes are up here.” Anti’s giggle, once again, snapped Dark from his thoughts. “You can touch it if you want.” Anti saw Dark’s hesitation. “Here,” Anti reached out towards Dark’s hand. “You need to go with the-” Anti stopped when Dark jumped back and was now pointing a knife towards Anti’s face. “Really?” Dark stayed silent. “I thought you were one of the smarter humans. You know that we’re not going to hurt you or your crew. We literally can’t. Or has your ‘expert’ not explained how a debt work?”

“A debt?” Dark slowly lowered his knife.

“Yes. A debt.” Anti crossed his arms and looked out into the water.

“How are we to know you won’t break the deal as soon as you’re hungry and not in the mood to go look for other humans?” Dark asked, not expecting Anti to look at him as if he just said something extremely offensive.

“We do not break deals.” Anti spat out.

“You kill humans, breaking a deal isn’t far off from that.”

“When Sirens kill humans we are doing it to eat and survive when humans kill each other you do it for greed.” Anti’s hand went to his neck. “And at least we’re quick when we do it.”

That was when Dark finally noticed what was on Anti’s neck. There was a thick scar traveling across it as if someone tried to slit it. As if someone tried to kill him and make it hurt. Dark glanced at his own body and saw his scars and he remembered how he got most of them. Anti wasn’t wrong about human greed.

“I’ll go.” Anti used his hands to push himself off of the ledge and he dove into the water before Dark could even open his mouth.

“Dark? You out there?” Wilford called out.

“Yeah,” Dark called back.

“Are you okay?”

“I...yeah.” Dark turned away from the water and went back towards the living quarters.

------------------------

Tag List: (let me know if you want added) @takethepainawaybae @shadowkitten0321 @adverseflyer909 @constantgaycrisis @m0th-goo @rainymae523 @rukus-kiss-my-lips-platonically @robot-intestines @phonenix @vociferous-chaos @batsam19 @bapbee @walking-mess25 @voonespelle @madallice329 @grnpurplgrmln

#danti #siren!au #Siren Tales Trilogy

36 notes · View notes

smalltowndetective · 4 years

Text

31 Days of Wayhaven-Strong

@31daysofwayhaven

Admittedly kind of nervous of posting this one, hopefully it turned out okay!

(The Fae as showed here are likely wrong. I have been digging through Sera’s asks for more information about them, but at the current moment, there is just not much that is known about them. I tried my best to show them in the best way possible, so I hope that it worked out!)

Ao3 Link

Title: Quiet Strength

Pairing: Felix and Thea

Words: 2.5k

It was a wonder to Thea how she ever became a detective.

Back at the police academy, she was known for being a bit of a weakling, the “little flower” of the cadets, and it did not help that she was the shortest out of all of them. Thea hated everything to do with any amount of blood and gore, and while she learned how to use a gun, she never had (and likely never would) shoot at a live target with it, and to add all on top of that, she had no combat skills whatsoever.

She was not half bad at the deduction courses, anything about knowledge and critical thinking coming easier to her, but where Thea really shined was her skill with people.

Not so much with interrogations, unfortunately, the stress of the situation often getting to her, and the fact that she was probably the least intimidating person in existence, but with the people that came into the station. Thea was the one that the officers sent all of the grieving families toward, saying that she always seemed to know the right thing to say, but she never felt like she did. She just gave them a shoulder to cry on, and did her best to stay calm when they were not as receptive, knowing that she was seeing them on what was likely the worst day of their life.

Thea had been told constantly that she would never fit in with the big city cops, but she never let that bother her, because as soon her training was complete, she knew she was going back home to Wayhaven.

Her promotion to detective was a complete surprise to her. She had assumed Tina would get it because she had been there longer, or they would bring someone new in. Thea was only two years older than Douglas, and she had not been an officer for an incredibly long time. Part of her wondered if she had gotten it just because of her father, but at first, she was able to push this away, trusting that she got it on merit.

Then Unit Bravo came to town, and the doubts started to settle in more and more. What was she going to do against an angered supernatural, talk? Thea had poured herself into research about the supernatural world, but even with all of the knowledge she had acquired, she never felt like she belonged in the team. All of the others had their own specific skill sets that all added something, but Thea did not feel like she had anything to offer to the team.

Which is why she was surprised when Adam asked her to do the first sweep of the mission with him.

Felix had been against the idea of the two of them separating, and truthfully, she was as well, but she decided to go with Adam’s plan anyway, curious as to why he would ask her to go with him.

So now she was here, outside of one of the run-down houses in the woods in Wayhaven, freezing, following Adam through the dark. Thea was out of her normal sundress, with a sweater and jeans instead, but it did not do much against the chill of the night. Her small flashlight was the only light she had, and she supposed she had Adam’s night vison as well, trusting him to lead the way through the dark.

Thea tried to look at the house with the little light she had. It was half crumbling at this point, and the owners of the land no longer lived in Wayhaven, so here the house stood, in the middle of the woods, with chipping white paint and black shutters starting to look crooked from the passage of time. They had been notified of a potential hostage situation in the area, which is why the team decided not to send all of them at once, but Thea was not quite sure what she would offer over one of the others.

“Detective”.

“Yes?”, she called back, going to stand next to Adam, who had stopped just outside the front steps.

“Be as cautious as you normally are”, he said, “We don’t know what we are walking into”.

Thea gave one last look behind her, almost hoping to see a pair of amber eyes gleaming in the dark, “I will”.

Adam nodded, seeming satisfied with her response, and they strode off to the front door, quickening her step to keep up with him.

The front door was unlocked, which is struck her as odd, and even if the grip still felt foreign in her hands, she grabbed her gun, despite knowing it would not do much against the supernatural, and they made their way inside.

The owner of the house had left shortly after his wife died, and the house was left to sit as it was. Light blue curtains had become shredded over time, with the furniture full of scratches and water stains, the wooden floor rotting in some places. It was probably not safe to be walking through the house with these conditions, but there was not much else that they could do.

“I’m going to look down the hallway”, Adam said, “You take the main room”.

“Sounds good”, Thea said in response, and started looking around the room. In most parts of the room, everything was covered with a layer of dust, but she noticed the kitchen table did not. In fact, it looked like someone had put something on top of it recently, making almost a shape, but it was hard to tell what it was in the dark, and the electricity had been cut to the house ages ago.

She continued to look through the kitchen, opening the drawers to see if anything was there, but Thea did not find much more then normal kitchen appliances, and her chest fell.

I guess whoever was here took everything they had with them.

A loud crack of wood, followed by a scream that was definitely not Adam broke through her thoughts, and she raced back to where he had gone.

Thea found Adam outside of the very back backroom, a heavy lock on the ground, broken into two, the wood splinters from the door all over the ground, his knuckles bruised, but healing as she ran up.

“What’s going on?”, she asked him, turning her flashlight to face him in the dark, and when Adam did not answer, seemingly in disbelief, she looked inside the room with the now broken door.

Inside the dingy back bedroom, the room empty besides a single blanket and camping lantern, was a little girl. Though Thea was not quite sure, she looked like some sort of fae, with bright green hair that fell to her shoulders, her eyes completely blue, with a small shimmer of white ,her skin almost having an orange tint, and she was dressed in tattered hides that were similar to the ones that Felix was wearing in the memory from the carnival, and her heart tightened at the thought. She looked about four years old, but there was really no telling how old she was due to how supernaturals aged differently them humans. Thea looked back at Adam, who the first time in the time she knew him, seemed at a lost of what to do.

“Hey”, she said, smiling sweetly and kneeling down to her eye level. Thea them realized she might not know English, and while she knew several other languages, the native language of the echo world was not one of them, but she continued anyway, “My name is Thea, and this is Adam. We’re here to get you out of here.” She used Adam’s name, even though she knew that he would not likely appreciate that in order to create some level of familiarity with her.

“Out?”, she asked, her voice barely above a whisper, looking back at Adam with frightful eyes.

“Yes”, Thea said, “You never have to come back here. I promise”.

“Is there anyone else here?”, Adam asked.

The girl said nothing is response, seeming even more on edge after he spoke.

“I think whoever was here is long gone by now”, Thea said, turning back to Adam, “But we need to get her back to the others”.

Adam nodded, “I can. I still haven’t checked the master bedroom, and it seems to be best if you did.”

“I want to go with you”, the little girl’s voice cut in, moving closer to Thea and putting her hand on top of hers.

Adam shook his head, “Fine. I’m going to wait to process the rest of the house until the rest of the team gets here. One of us needs to stay behind in case they come back.

Thea nodded, and she got up from off the ground, and offered her hand to the girl, who took it, and she carefully led her out of the house together.

As they walked onto the porch of the house, it struck her just how dark it was, and how the small flashlight she did have was barely doing anything to light up the vast expanse of the forest.

“I’m scared”, she heard the girl mutter, who started hanging onto her leg, and Thea gently brushed her hand through her hair.

“It’s okay to be scared”, Thea said, “But I’m going to be here every step of the way”.

She picked her up, letting her head rest on her shoulder, as she trudged through the forest, trying hard to fight the urge to run, instead taking careful steps, keeping the flashlight steady, and thinking about seeing the team again after this moment of fear, especially one in particular.

Thea finally made it to the main road where the rest of Unit Bravo was waiting, the streetlights adding some warm amber glow to the surroundings, and let herself breathe as she saw the others.

“Thea!”, said a voice that never failed to make her smile. Felix stopped pacing, and almost ran up to her, and she could feel the girl move her head at the voice, “You’re back!”.

“I am”, she smiled, and both Nate and Mason came walking up to her as well.

“Where’s Adam?”, Nate asked.

“Still back at the house”, she replied, “He wanted me to get the rest of you before he finished processing”.

“Any sign of anyone else there?”, Felix asked, “And I’m guessing she’s the hostage we were told about?”

“Someone was”, Thea said, “But they are long gone by now. And as far as hostages go, she is probably one of them, but there is reason to believe there may be more than one.

“Why would they leave her behind?”, Nate said, looking worryingly at girl in her arms, and he gave her a smile.

“I don’t know”, Thea sighed, and she slowly set her down on the ground, her still holding onto her leg.

“We should get going”, Mason interrupted, and Nate nodded in response, then turned to Thea.

“Are you staying behind with her?”

“I am”, she said, looking back at the girl.

“Can I stay with Thea?”, Felix asked.

Mason snorted, and opened his mouth to say something, but Nate got there first.

“Yes. It’s better if none of us are out her alone”.

Felix beamed at that, and as Nate and Mason walked into the woods, he walked up to her, throwing an arm over her shoulders.

“Glad to see you’re okay”, he grinned, and even though it was said lightly, it was meant more serious than he had intended.

“The same to you”, she said, trying to fight down a blush on her cheeks.

He smiled at her again, a softer one this time, and then looked down at the girl, “What’s your name, kiddo?” He then paused, and then repeated his question in echolian, and Thea noticed that he frowned slightly as did so.

“Arethusa”, she whispered, and Felix smiled back at her, before turning to Thea.

“So, what happened?”

Thea went through it from the beginning, and told him the story, describing the house and finding Arethusa, and he stayed silent and listened to her, which surprised her a little, expecting him to say something, and it started to worry her about how quiet he was being.

“Do you think she’s from the echo world?”, Thea asked him, and he could feel him tense at the question.

“Probably”, he shrugged, not meeting her eyes, and Thea gently grabbed one of his hands, and at the gesture he grinned back at her, but it struck her as a masking one.

“Are you okay?”, she finally asked, and Felix gave a small laugh.

“Of course, I am”, he said, giving her a smirk, “When am I not?”

Thea could feel herself raising an eyebrow at the statement, which caused Felix to sigh.

“I’m okay, Thea”, he whispered, “I promise”.

She did not fully believe him, and not quite sure what to say, she ran her thumb over his wrist the same way that he had down the same for her countless times, and he gave her a genuine smile that never failed to fill butterflies in her stomach, letting herself get lost into his amber eyes.

“When are we leaving?”, Arethusa suddenly said, and it jolted Thea out of the moment, feeling awful for forgetting about her for a second.

“Whenever the rest of my team gets back”, she said, looking back into the expanse of the trees, as if expecting them to turn up then.

“And when will that be?”

“Hopefully not much longer”, Thea responded, not sure if she was saying that for Arethusa or for herself.

And to the luck of the three of them, it was not long afterwards that the rest of Unit Bravo came through the trees.

“Anything?”, Felix asked as they walked up.

Nate shook his head, “No. Someone was using the master bedroom as a base of operations of sorts, but they were careful enough not to leave anything behind.”

“What’s going to happen to the girl?”, Mason’s voice cut through, sharp, and Thea could feel Arethusa’s grip tighten around her leg at the sound of it.

“We’ll take her back to the Agency”, Nate said.

“She can ride in my car”, Thea brought up, “We’re all going back to the warehouse after all”.

“What’s going to happen to her?”, Felix asked.

“We’ll figure it out later”, Adam said, “Let’s get back first”.

Felix gave her hand a reluctant squeeze of goodbye before going to the others, and she heard a voice that she never expected to hear say her name.

“Thea, can I speak to you?”

She turned, to find it was indeed Adam, her name from him seeming foreign to her. He had never called her by her first name.

“Yes”, she said slowly.

“You did good work”, he stated simply, “It would have been hard to complete the mission without your help”

“Uh, thanks?”, she responded, never would have expected that to come from him.

He nodded, and then turned to go walk back to the rest of the team, as if that was all that needed, and as Thea thought about it, she decided that it really was.

Arethusa climbed into the backseat of her car, and Thea drove off, following the Agency car where the others were, and she allowed herself to smile, finally starting to feel at ease with the fact that maybe there was something she had to offer this team.

#the wayhaven chronicles #wayhaven chronicles #twc #detective thea holland #felix hauville #felix x detective #f hauville #31 days of wayhaven

10 notes · View notes

aaaa-mpersand · 4 years

Text

OCtober Day 6: Luxury

Thank you @oc-growth-and-development for the prompt, as always. This is three bros, two of them roasting Pacific Rim to hell and back. I’m a big fan of this movie I swear. This is a continuation of the Exy AU, following Finley (from OCtober Day 2: Mercy). He’s in a new team, and he doesn’t need friends, they disappoint him. Very Regrettably for Finley, the friends don’t agree. Fluff with some mild angst at the end. We stan found family. Kaspar and Finley are my characters, Mantis/Margot is @statistical-improbabilities character. I also named dropped @statistical-improbabilities Mya and @carry-on-my-wayward-brain Dusk.

“This is absurd,” Finley said, watching the robot on screen slam a cargo boat into the monster’s face with a deafening crunch.

They were sitting on the floor of Kaspar’s room, rough carpet under their legs, Mantis’ laptop in front of them as an action movie flashed on screen. Finley watched the big robot slap the godzilla-like thing repeatedly in the face, only for the creature to grab them by the tail and rip their boat-made-baseball-bat into half. He vaguely wondered, not for the first time that night, how he’d even gotten here.

“I don’t know about that,” Kaspar said, a tub of ice cream in his lap as he put another spoonful of it into his mouth, never taking his eyes off the screen. “It looks pretty realistic to me.” “Please,” Mantis said next to him. Or Margot. She’d introduced herself as the former, but Kaspar used the latter almost exclusively. Finley had simply avoided calling her by name. “I’ve seen Green Lantern movies with better CGI effects.” “Touche,” he said, but didn’t sound the least bit insulted. He ate another scoop of ice cream. With a certain degree of fear, disgust, and strange admiration, Finley saw he was almost done with the tub. “Shhh, guys, the next part is my favorite fight scene.”

Mantis fell silent, so Finley turned back to the screen. The monster was now playing hide and seek with the robot. How anything as tall as a skyscraper managed to hide, even in a metropolitan like Tokyo, was beyond Finley’s comprehension, but he’d never been to Tokyo, so he stayed silent.

A flashy action shot of the monster, oh so surprisingly, ambushing the protagonists. He let the lights flash from the screen as he thought about what had gotten him here. After spending hours on schoolwork in Mantis’ room, he’d been dragged along to dinner with the two of them. Kaspar suggested they all go to his room to relax before he and Finley went to the gym to do extra practice that night.

Finley hadn’t been pleased.

“Come on, Finley, a little fun never hurt anyone,” Kaspar had said. When Finley had stared back, wholly unconvinced, Kaspar merely smiled fondly and rolled his eyes, as if he’d seen that same look hundreds of times before. “I’ll stay an extra hour to help you on overhead drills.”

“Dusk or Mya are going to get there first,” he muttered, but followed anyway.

Finley watched the monster beat its previously unnoticeable wings and lift the robot into the sky. Tension was supposedly rocketing as fast as that 500 ton beast could fly, which was apparently a thousand miles a second. He was owed a lot of overhead drills for this.

When the protagonists looked like they were about to die, all hope lost, the solution was found in a dramatic twist. The robot fell unceremoniously to the ground from an altitude of 50,000 miles above sea level. Everyone was unscathed.

Kaspar paused the movie.

“Thoughts?” he asked, a smile playing on his ice-cream coated lips as he glanced over at Finley.

“If this movie wanted any shred of my respect, they should’ve both died right there,” Finley said. Despite the fact that he knew Kaspar had a good temper and couldn’t kill a fly, he glanced over to watch his reaction.

“Exactly what I’ve been saying,” Mantis said. Finley blinked in surprise “At the very least, the whole Jaeger should’ve fallen apart. It was way too big to have gotten out of that with just scratches.”

“Yeah, but then it wouldn’t have been as cool,” Kaspar said, leaning back lazily. He seemed completely undisturbed by the fact that both Finley and Mantis had been insulting what he had introduced as his ‘favorite movie of all time’ for the last hour. Mantis, who had evidently watched it a few times already, had said something sarcastic, but sat down to watch it all the same.

In the last 57 minutes, she’d pointed out the main male lead’s horrible haircut, roasted his fashion sense, and cut into three major worldbuilding flaws. Finley joined her cringing, covering his eyes like a vampire in sunlight, when the female lead accidentally walked into the male lead’s room while he was shirtless. “Proper physics is cool,” Mantis said. She reached for the bowl of popcorn, and popped a few in her mouth, before washing it down with an energy drink. Finley didn’t want to know what that tasted like. “This whole thing doesn’t make any sense,” he said, irritably.

“What about it doesn’t make sense?” Kaspar asked. Finley glanced at him. He seemed relaxed. Happy, even, with a content smile on his face. “Everything. Why are giant robots the best weapon in this scenario? They’re going to be rebuilding that place for years with the footprints it left on the roads, let alone the infrastructure damage. Second of all, how do the kaiju keep following the scientist guy around?” “Because he mind-melded with them,” Kaspar said, “The Kaiju are a hive mind.”

Finley snorted. “Why the fuck would anyone mind-meld with a hive mind race of monsters?”

Kaspar shrugged. He tapped his spoon against his chin for a moment, thinking. “Science?” He said, almost to himself, and turned to Mantis questioningly. Finley pulled a look so skeptical he could’ve made Newton doubt whether gravity was real. Mantis, however, thought only for a moment before she nodded, “Science.”

“This is stupid,” he huffed. “To quote,” Mantis pointed out, matter-of-factly, “it’s either the most awesome dumb movie ever made–”

“–Or the dumbest awesome movie ever made,” Kaspar said, almost gleefully, as he pressed the play button. Finley sighed.

He stayed for the rest of the movie.

---

He waited for Kaspar outside the dorms while the other man was grabbing his things to go to the court to practice. It was late by now, the sky ink black save for the few stars visible through all the light pollution. Cold wind made the chilly temperatures just that much colder. Finley waited under a street light, his things all ready, a change of clothes, water bottle, and a pair of gloves in his gym bag. With a sigh, he unzipped it, pulled out the gloves. They were black and maroon––ravens colors––and the only pair he had.

He wrapped his arms around himself. Though years of playing exy had even him lean muscle, he was still scrawny, and not the biggest fan of the cold. Glancing at the door of the dorms, he waited. The two hours he spent watching a dumb action movie indoors would’ve been a luxury unheard of in the Ravens. Siobhan had never been a fan of movies, anyway, so there would’ve been no one for him to watch it with. For that, he was almost grateful; the movie hadn’t gotten better in the second half.

Still, the image stayed in his mind. Kaspar and Mantis, exchanging quips and inside jokes. Mantis didn’t glance over for his reaction when she criticized the protagonist’s haircut to hell and back. When she had run out of her energy drink, Kaspar had promptly pulled another one out and passed it over to her.

He tried to picture himself and Siobhan in those shoes. Finley didn’t have a favorite drink, and what Siobhan said was never a joke.

But they had stood next to each other for so long. A menace on the court, the two of them. An impenetrable defense and an unstoppable offense. It had never been perfect. Admittedly, nothing in The Ravens had been, but still, he sometimes tried to find Siobhan’s triumphant grin on the faces of his new teammates. Her iron will in Kaspar’s eyes when he swung his racquet.

He sighed, staring up at the night sky. In another life, perhaps, though he doubted that concept was anything more than an impossible wish. “Hey, sorry that took awhile,” Kaspar said, stepping out of the dorms. He had obviously rushed, his shoelaces untied, and the horrible orange color of his hoodie clashing with the gold and red of his Trojans track pants.

Finley merely huffed, and stalked down the path without him.

#exy au #aftg #kaspar reveiro #mantis/margot mckinley #finley merrick #pacific rim #oc-tober #my ocs #my writing #siobhan kennely

5 notes · View notes

maribatshipper · 4 years

Text

Trollhunting Lantern Chapter 3

Previous part:

“This is incredible.” Oriel whispers.

Scarlett nods, “Yep.”

“Woah.” Crystal gasps.

“Pretty much.” Bracha smiles.

“Trollmarket is home and hearth and sanctuary for all good trolls.” Blinky smiles.

Scarlett tries get a grasp of all the beauty within Trollmarket.

“This way, ladies. There is much to see.” Blinky smiles.

Oriel said, “And I thought caves just had normal stones. Not giant awesomeness.”

“Stay close, ladies. Trolls haven’t been the most kind about humans being around. They have grown used to Claire and Tobias; no others have been in Trollmarket.” Blinky warns.

Claire nods, “Yeah, they’ll grow used to you after they find out about you being the Trollhunter.”

Scarlett sees a book in a stall and sneaks a peak at the cover, seeing a dragon on it. She plans to ask Blinky for some books later.

“Hey, Scarlett, look at this!” Oriel exclaims.

Scarlett runs over to her sisters and sees Oriel looking at a living, breathing gnome.

“It’s so amazing!” Oriel smiles.

Crystal sighs, barely amused, then suddenly, the gnome bares incredibly sharp teeth.

“What on earth?!” Oriel exclaims and jumps back.

Blinky stamps near the gnomes. Crystal is now excited.

“Scum of the earth!” He yells.

“I want one now!” Crystal smiles.

Scarlett exclaims, “You want anything that ends up being dangerous! Blinky, what exactly was that?”

“Gnomes are vermin. Pickpockets, scum of the earth. We only tolerate them for their grooming services.” Blinky frowns.

Claire mumbles, “Chompsky wasn’t.”

Bracha raises her eyebrow, but ignores the sentence and plans to ask about that later.

“I’m not even gonna ask if you groom like apes or humans.” Crystal mumbles.

Bracha suddenly takes notice of the biggest crystal in the cave.

“What’s that?” She asks.

Claire smiles, “That’s the Heartstone, the lifeforce of Trollkind. I’ve been here so long that I have grown… attuned to the effects it has on trolls. I’ve been told that it’s the means that keeps trolls from crumbling to stone. It’s also a source of light and sustenance.”

Scarlett stares at the Heartstone. She walks closer to it. Bracha tries to scan the Heartstone without anyone noticing. She looks at the results of the scan. She sighs and puts away the scan. She’ll look over it with her friends later.

“What are more Fleshbags doing here?!” They hear a troll exclaim.

Scarlett asks, “Is Fleshbag an insult?”

Blinky ignores her as more trolls complain.

“Puny humans!”

“Where’s the Trollhunter?”

Crystal sighs, “We attracted paparazzi.”

“There is no need to be afraid, friends.” Blinky exclaims.

Another troll exclaims, “You brought more humans! It’s a disgrace! Why were you made leader again?!”

Scarlett clears her throat and smirks, “Probably because he was one who was a very close acquaintance of the previous Trollhunter, and therefore has a right.”

All the trolls shut up. The human girl had a point. The previous Trollhunter had done some questionable things, but they turned out being the right choices in the end.

“Now, we must start her training, for this young girl is our new Trollhunter.” Blinky smiles.

The trolls stare in shock. One of them mutters “Bushigal” as they all part and let them through. The girls and troll walk through.

“Okay, so what as that about? Why don’t they like you?” Scarlett asks.

“They have always persecuted me for my intelligence, although it has lessened after I have become the leader.” Blinky replies.

Crystal giggles, “So you’re a nerd.”

Scarlett scolds, “Crystal!”

Crystal sighs, “Sorry.”

Scarlett then realises something.

“Wait a cotton-picking minute!” Scarlett exclaims.

“I am unfamiliar with that term, Lady Scarlett.” Blinky frowns, confused.

“If you have all this in New Jersey, and have to protect the Trolls in New Jersey, why were you in Australia in the first place?” Scarlett asks.

Blinky pauses, clearly not prepared for this question.

Claire answers, “You see, when we were in the previous Trollmarket, the Heartstone there was kind of killed by Gunmar the Black. So we heard talk of a Heartstone in Australia, and we went there-”

Scarlett then interrupts, “So you could prepare a new Trollmarket in Australia if anything ever happened to the Heartstone in New Jersey!”

Blinky and Claire stare in shock.

“Yeah, she does that a lot.” Bracha smirks, clearly used to it.

Blinky shakes his head and smiles, “Well, you are correct, Lady Scarlett, but now is the time for your training.”

***

“This is our new Hero’s Forge!” Blinky smiles.

The girls stare at the stadium-like place in front of them. They look up, and sure enough, there are places for people to stand and watch. Scarlett notices some statues being put on pedestals inside the Hero’s Forge. She looks carefully, and something inside tells her they aren’t statues.

“Are those-?” Crystal asks.

Claire sighs, “Trollhunters. Your predecessors. Actually, it took us forever to move them here away from Arcadia. We’re lucky only Unkar got broken.”

Suddenly, a giant arm falls right next to Bracha. She wipes dust off her face and moves away from the pedestal she started leaning against.

Blinky smiles, “They are a line of heroism that reaches back to the age of Merlin,” He then mumbles, “before he came back.” But it was too quiet for the girls to hear. “This is the final resting place for Jim, the Gunmar Slayer. One day, there will be a statue of you here, Lady Scarlett. One day far in the future, of course.”

Bracha smirks, “Nice save.”

Blinky ignores her, “We must start Lady Scarlett’s training now. Step back, please.”

Scarlett walks backward, grabbing both her sisters, and noticing some pillars are not ones for placing Trollhunters, making her go back a little farther than necessary. Blinky pushes a button and giant blades come out of the Forge. The girls scatter, dodging the swinging axes. Oriel and Crystal immediately rush to Bracha, who has a giant force-field around herself. She opens it to let the sisters in. Scarlett runs over to Blinky.

“Excellent reflexes, Lady Scarlett.” Blinky praises.

“Yeah, I don’t know how troll physiology works, but being hit with a giant axe is not ideal for a human!” Scarlett exclaims.

Suddenly, Blinky sees something and turns off the Forge, much to the siblings and Bracha’s relief. A human man walks up to Blinky and Claire.

He frowns, “So, he’s gone, isn’t he, Blinkous?”

Claire frowns, “Yes. But not that it’s any of your business, Merlin.”

Bracha and the siblings stare at each other, then towards the man, then back towards each other, then back towards the man.

“MERLIN!? You mean the guy that was a wizard a thousand years ago and was with King Arthur and his knights at the round table?!” Crystal exclaims.

Oriel nudges Crystals ribs, causing Crystal to stop talking.

“Yes, I am he. I’m also the one that created the amulet that your sister now possesses, young one.” Merlin smirks.

Scarlett stares in shock.

“Wait, back up. There is no way you’re Merlin. A human’s lifespan is quite short, we only live a hundred years, if we’re lucky. Admittedly, that was different a thousand years ago, but you shouldn’t be alive according to any human lifespan. Unless you were put into a stasis chamber or something, because if you’ve been asleep with nothing around you except air, you would’ve decomposed ages ago! It’s basic science you learn as a child!” Scarlett frowns.

Claire stares at Scarlett in shock, then realisation, then facepalms.

“Trollhunter, I got other magic users to cast a spell around my body, so I never decomposed.” Merlin replies.

Scarlett mumbles, “Spells wear off.”

“So, my amulet chose not just a human, but one with attitude. Maybe she’ll end up like Unkar, Blinkous.” Merlin frowns.

Scarlett turns to Blinky, waiting for an explanation.

Claire sighs, “Blinky trained a different Trollhunter. Unkar the Unfortunate.”

Bracha asks, “Do I even want to know?”

“His first night out, he got torn… Limb from limb.” Claire finishes.

Merlin frowns, “Remember what Vendel did for the previous Trollhunter? Maybe we should do that.”

Claire and Blinky glare at Merlin.

“Lady Scarlett hasn’t had a minute’s training!” Blinky exclaims.

Scarlett puts her hand on Blinky’s shoulder and smirks, “I’ll be fine. I just need to know what to do.”

Merlin points right in front of him on the floor, where Scarlett sees a place for Troll feet. She puts her feet there and brings out her amulet. A giant statue-like thing comes out of the ground, and it looks much like a Troll head with shark teeth in the mouth.

“This is the Soothscryer. It will judge your true spirit. Insert your right hand.” Merlin smirks.

“You mean in the mouth with rows of teeth?” Scarlett asks.

Merlin nods. Bracha comes over and uses her willpower to make a platform for Scarlett to stand on so she can reach to put her hand in. As soon as Scarlett gets high enough to put her hand in, the mouth no longer looks like a shark’s, but a Whispering Death’s mouth because the teeth are spinning. She throws her hand in, and the Soothscryer clamps around her hand, seeming to squish it. Her face contorts in pain, and she doesn’t scream, but let’s out a yelp in surprise. Bracha makes green pillows underneath Scarlett, and the Soothscryer finally lets go of Scarlett, causing her to fall on the pillows. She checks her arm.

“Well, I was hoping I wouldn’t lose that. That would’ve been the biggest lie to make up.” Scarlett jokes.

“You aren’t in pain?” Claire asks.

Scarlett giggles, “Life is pain, Claire. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.”

Crystal walks forward and asks, “Well? What’s the giant stone say?”

Merlin shrugs, “Inconclusive.”

Scarlett stares at him, then groans, “Do I have to do that again?”

“No. There’s only ever been one human Trollhunter. It needs time to render its judgement. Let’s hope you live long enough to see.” Merlin replies.

Scarlett imagines throwing something at him.

***

“What have we gotten ourselves into?” Scarlett asks as the girls walk home from the portal.

Crystal smiles, “Something that can take us from Australia to New Jersey in 5 seconds flat, Trolls, underground city, shiny stuff, am I missing anything?”

“Yes actually. The risk of death.” Scarlett frowns.

Bracha smiles, “It’s not that bad, Scar. I have the risk of death every time I go into space. My ring could go flat while I’m up there if I don’t charge it, thus exposing me to the vacuum of space.”

Scarlett nods, “You’re right. Besides, if Blinky fails to train me well, you can train me. I may even use my sword as a baseball bat. But we’re gonna do it all in your house. Mum will get suspicious of a punching bag hanging from the roof.”

Oriel frowns, “Mum and Dad are home.”

Scarlett looks at her phone. 9:47 p.m.

“We are so dead.” Scarlett frowns.

“I’ll tell your mother that it was my fault. We say we went shopping for clothes for me and I needed your opinions, and we’re just exhausted and trudged back, and that’s why you’re so late home. Besides, I need to put some info into your computer.” Bracha quickly plans.

“How do you always come up with good excuses?” Scarlett whispers, glad she went through with this plan before they went into the house.

They open the door, and immediately, Scarlett apologises.

“I am so sorry we’re late home, Mum!” Scarlett exclaims.

Heather walks towards the girls and smiles, “I’m just glad you’re home. Ahh, miss Gilthoniel, what are you doing here? You know what, never mind, come in. You can tell us later. Aaron is here.”

Scarlett suddenly looks behind her Mum to see that Aaron is indeed sitting in the loungeroom. He has been a family friend for years.

“Please tell me he didn’t bring his kid.” Scarlett whispers.

Crystal rolls her eyes.

“Jonas isn’t here. Just go say hi.” Heather whispers back.

The girls walk forward.

“Hi, Aaron. What’s up?” Scarlett asks.

Aaron smiles, “There’s a singing competition coming up. I know how much you three girls love to sing. Besides, if you all go separately, you get more chances to win. Even if you’ll only go in to show them some old songs.”

Scarlett smirks, “Like Ego Is Not A Dirty Word?”

“Exactly.”

Michael laughs, “My daughter has the best songs in mind for the perfect occasion. For arguing with her brother, she’ll have a song. For doing the dishes, she’ll have a song. For sword fighting, even! I’m sure she’ll have the best songs that exist in that talent show.”

Oriel lists, “Do What You Gotta Do from Descendants 3, Something Better from Muppets Treasure Island, and Bad Reputation. In that order.”

Scarlett nods, “Yep, I just need to change the words slightly for that first one. Other than that, it’s inconceivable for me to not have a song for arguing with my brother.”

Heather exclaims, “Don’t you dare!” to Michael.

Michael ignores her. He suddenly speaks in a Spaniard accent.

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” He says in the accent.

Everyone has a good giggle.

“Princess Bride is the best movie.” Crystal smiles.

Suddenly, the door opens and in wobbles Nicholas. Scarlett grabs Crystal before she can punch his face out again. He wobbles to his room, not speaking to anyone.

“I should be going. Have a lovely evening, Atkin Family.” Aaron smiles.

Scarlett smiles, “Have a great night, Aaron!”

Aaron walks out the door and Heather turns to the girls.

“So, full story, girls.” Heather frowns.

Scarlett smirks, “You want the fun story, or the normal story?”

Michael hasn’t heard Scarlett say this for years and perks up, ready to hear the fun story.

“Fun first!” Michael says excitedly.

Scarlett says, “We were chased by an evil troll! I fought him off with a sword while Crystal was playing Bad Reputation from my phone! Then he was crushing me, Bracha body-slammed him, we ran into a portal, where a good troll was ready to protect my sisters, and we hopped into a giant hamster ball and went to New Jersey at Flash speeds, then we came home!”

Bracha stares, wondering why Scarlett’s telling her parents this.

“And the normal story?” Heather asks.

Scarlett turns to Bracha.

Bracha sighs, “It was actually my fault we were late. I dragged the girls shopping for me and I needed their opinions. I didn’t want to look bad, and some clothes you just can’t tell anymore until someone else looks at it.”

Heather raises her eyebrow, then looks at Michael.

“Only one of those stories is true. You pick which one.” Crystal smiles.

The girls walk upstairs, and Bracha whispers, “What was that?! You basically told them everything!”

Scarlett sighs, “When I was younger, when I did something wrong, I always asked if they wanted the fun story or the normal story. It became… a tradition. Dad loved fun stories. Of course, mum hated that I made up that a velociraptor came into the kitchen and broke the ceramic plates I was putting away. But she was proud that I did tell her the truth afterwards. I found a way to tell them everything and give them a story they’d believe. Now, if something happens and they find out, they’ll know I have told them.”

As Scarlett puts away most of her things, Bracha raises her eyebrow, never hearing this story before.

“You serious?” Bracha asks.

Crystal sighs, “Yeah, I followed in her footsteps. Dr Seuss helps me come up with good stories.”

Bracha shrugs and smiles, “Well, that explains that.”

“Pizza’s here! There’s even some for your friend!” Michael yells.

The girls exchange glances, then Oriel and Crystal run downstairs. Bracha and Scarlett just laugh and walk down to eat something.

***

Meanwhile, in Washington

“Listen to this, guys! According to these readings, there have been strange magical energy spikes in Australia, Queensland. The exact location can’t be tracked, though!” a guy in a red suit and a lightning bolt symbol on the front exclaims.

A man in a bat costume frowns, “Has Zatanna had any shows there, Flash?”

“Nope. No one we know of has been there, Batman. Plus, the magic readings are different. It reads as ancient magic, like Captain Marvel’s, but different.” Flash replies.

Batman frowns, thinking, “And it’s around the same place that Bruce Wayne will be judging a talent show.”

A man with a similar outfit to Bracha’s walks over and frowns, “That’s around the place one of our lanterns lives. I’ll check in with her this evening.”

Flash asks, “Why this evening, Hal?”

Hal responds, “Time difference, remember? It’s night-time over there right now.”

“Well, I’ll be visiting Australia anyway, I may as well check what’s going on.” Batman frowns.

Hal asks, “Should I get Martian Manhunter?”

Batman doesn’t respond as he walks away, leaving the room to assume his secret identity.

“Yeah, I’ll get Martian Manhunter.” Hal frowns.

***

Morning in Australia, but in New Jersey

"Wider stance, keep your frame." Blinky corrects Scarlett's fighting stance. "No, that's good, that's good. All right, fine. That's better. Raise your sword, Lady Scarlett. Head up, chin out, stomach in.'

Scarlett has her armour on with her hair tied up, but one strip of hair escaped and is hanging in front of her face in a ringlet. Her sisters, Claire, and Bracha stand off to the sides.

"Can she get that stomach in any further? If it gets much smaller, she won't have one." Crystal jokes.

Oriel bumps Crystal, making Crystal shut up. Claire rolls her eyes.

"The Trollhunter lives and dies by three rules. Rule 1, Always be afraid." Blinky explains.

Scarlett nods, "That makes sense. I don't think it'll be much of a problem. I just- woah!"

Scarlett dodges as Claire throws a rock towards her. Bracha catches the rock, quite surprised.

"See? Fear is good! Keeps us alert! Keeps us on guard, makes us vigilant! A hero is not he who is fearless, but he who is not stopped by it." Blinky smiles as he throws rocks at Scarlett.

Scarlett sighs, "Well, if you let certain people up there know you're scared, they will do everything to make you so scared you quit. So, be scared, just don't show it. How's that?"

Claire and Blinky blink in surprise.

Claire smiles, "That actually makes sense. Anyway, rule 2, Blinky?"

Blinky nods, "Of course. Rule 2, always finish the fight. An opponent must be given no mercy."

Suddenly, Bracha, Oriel, and Scarlett pale. Crystal raises her eyebrow in confusion. Scarlett dodges more rocks.

"Uh, okay then. My sisters are not allowed on my missions then. They can only watch me train." Scarlett immediately orders as she dodges.

Oriel says, "That's OK with me." At the same time Crystal asks, "Why not, Scarlett?"

Scarlett doesn't answer but gives Bracha a signal to cover Crystals ears. Bracha covers both siblings' ears with green soundproof earplugs.

"First off, I don't think it's appropriate for my little sisters to see me... dispose of my enemies. It could ruin their lives worse than it's already been ruined by my brother. Plus, with Crystal having autism, she won't be able to understand that you can't go around killing things. Mum's even gone so far as to not let any of us watch any international news while Crystal's nearby because of all the people going around getting rid of people in other countries. Plus, I'm not very comfortable with it. Even pretending some troll or other thing is a rodent, like a rat or I'm hunting an animal to eat may not help me. Especially if the thing looks humanoid." Scarlett frowns.

Blinky sighs, "Our's is an unforgiving world, Lady Scarlett. I understand you will have hesitations, but you will need to vanquish your enemies. Hence, the third rule: When in doubt, always kick in the gronk-nuks."

He makes a move, raising his foot up, and Bracha gets rid of the earplugs.

"Gronk-nuks? That's a new word for them. That is a rule we can all use in self-defence." Scarlett smirks. "So, a third of being a Trollhunter is kicking someone... there? Easiest rule to follow."

"Ahh, so the New Trollhunter's training begins!" A troll exclaims.

Scarlett looks at the troll, confused as to why the troll cares when training begins.

"I thought the great Trollhunter might accept my services as a sparring partner. Part of your training regiment, isn't it?" He continues.

Scarlett quickly analyses him. He stands well above her, purple stone skin, giant spikes on his back, horns on his head, and a nose-ring. She knows that if she were to go against him, he could easily win. Blinky looks like he's about to say something, but Scarlett speaks first.

"Well, as much as I would love to learn how to dodge a troll much bigger than me and quite obviously would have the advantage, given size, strength, and how long they've been fighting the troll way, I have to decline, because I am not experienced enough to go up against someone who has been in glorious battles, while I have been in none." She tactfully refuses.

"Why wait?" Merlin's voice echoes.

Scarlett looks up to see him standing in the stadium-like seat part.

"I am eager to see her demonstrate her mettle." Merlin continues.

Scarlett mentally facepalms. Did he not just hear what Scarlett said?

"Let them spar!"

Scarlett gulps and grabs her sword, following Blinky.

"What do I do now, Blinky?" Scarlett asks.

"Hit him as hard as you can." Blinky says.

"I can't do that. He's made of stone. If I hit him hard, I'll break my hand! He'll only feel a tickle! Does he have any weaknesses?" Scarlett frowns.

"Only that of a normal troll." Claire answers.

"Not helping."

"You fought Venjo, although quite briefly, and it was glorious!" Blinky responds.

Scarlett facepalms, "I was using moves from dancing and spy movies, and they don't actually teach you how to knock your enemy out by just touching their necks!"

"Exactly! The fight is within you, Lady Scarlett. Trust yourself. One hit!"

Scarlett growls, getting ready.

"Begin!" Merlin’s voice orders.

The troll growls and suddenly rolls at her, spikes digging into the ground.

"HE'S BLOOMING SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!" Scarlett thinks as she dodges his attack.

He rolls to attack her again, and without any thought, throws her sword towards the incoming spike ball. He hits the sword, unrolls and grabs her chest, bringing her over to the seemingly bottomless pit. She then grabs his nose-ring and pulls as hard as she can. If Scarlett can't punch, she can certainly give this troll some nasal discomfort. He groans in pain and drops her, only being saved by the nose-ring she still has a grip on.

"Let go!" He grumbles.

She tightens her grip and frowns, "Only if you walk back onto firm ground. I'm not letting go until my feet are at least 5 feet away from the edge, Rocky!"

The troll grumbles and pulls back 3 troll feet. Scarlett lets go and takes a gasp for air, something she hasn't had a chance to do yet. She gives the troll a glare as he walks off, the spar over. Scarlett holds her chest in pain, the armour protecting her partly. She pulls off the amulet and groans, her sisters and Bracha running towards her.

"I think that's enough training for one day. I'm going back to Australia. I'm exhausted." Scarlett sighs as she walks towards the Gyre.

Bracha smiles, "So you messed up a little. Like you said, you haven't had any experience."

Blinky smiles, "I concur with Lady Bracha. You've barely had a day’s training. There's no shame in what just transpired."

Scarlett glares, and Oriel whispers, "Bad choice of words."

"I heard that!" Scarlett hisses.

Claire winces at the hiss.

"And, by the way, if you think there was absolutely no shame there, you must be blind as a bat! There was certainly some shame there! The only reason I survived was because I pulled his nose-ring! It may not have been enough to hurt him, but it was enough to irritate him!" Scarlett practically screams.

Claire sighs, "It could've been worse. Jim didn't even think to grab Draal's nose-ring. He was just dropped and threatened."

Scarlett sighs, "I don't care at the moment. All I know is that I need rest before midday in Australia. Come on girls. Claire, you can come too if you want."

Claire sighs, "I have things to do in Trollmarket. Sorry."

Scarlett just grabs her sister’s arms and drags them to the Gyre. She hops in and taps a few buttons, already knowing how to use it. Bracha jumps in a few seconds before the gyre zooms back to Australia.

***

“Okay, we try out for this competition, and go during the day, while at night, Trollhunting. We’ll just say we are practicing our singing far away at night. Unless we don’t get in. Then we’re gonna have to sneak out, or make up some gigantic stories, or tell the truth.” Scarlett explains the plan, seemingly forgetting about her previous failure.

Bracha sighs, “Let’s focus on the here and now.”

Suddenly, Bracha’s ring makes a beeping noise. The sisters sit down and watch the sky, Crystal naming things she sees.

“Hello, is this a bad time?” A voice asks from the ring.

“No, I’m just hanging out with friends. What’s going on, Hal?” Bracha replies.

“The League found odd magical readings around your location. Have you noticed anything different?” Hal asks.

Bracha pauses, Scarlett getting an idea.

“Hey, B! You got any strange rocks to add to my collection?” She exclaims loud enough for Hal to hear, winking.

Bracha gets the idea.

“It could be some strange rocks. My friend loves collecting the weirdest objects. I swear I’ve seen some Kryptonite in her collection. She told me she had a mask that turns green if put on at night. I’ll scan her objects later and send you through the readings.” Bracha smirks, actually being half honest.

“Good. I’ll check back in five hours, got it?” Hal asks

“Got it. We have a competition to enroll in, so we’ll be busy there for now. Seeya, Hal.” Bracha smiles.

“Bye, Bracha. Don’t get into any trouble.” Hal hangs up.

“Too late.” Bracha frowns.

Scarlett asks, “You serious about Kryptonite being in my collection?”

Bracha nods, “Yep. Anyway, more important at the moment what songs are you going to sing? Are you going in as 1 big team, 1 team of 2 and a solo, or 3 solos, how are we gonna do it?”

“I thought you were gonna sing with us? Aren’t we doing that?” Scarlett asks.

Bracha sighs, “I can’t do it. I can’t sing as well as you girls.”

Scarlett sighs, “Come on. You have more knowledge of music than Twisted Sister and Taylor Swift. My Dad’s exact words about her were, “She may think she can sing, but she’s rubbish.” And honestly? I kinda agree with him. If you really don’t want to be in the big picture with us, you can be a back-up singer later, and the music/tech person. Would be helpful.”

Oriel whispers, “I don’t want to be alone.”

“I have an idea! Let’s draw straws. Whoever can draw an amazing looking straw wins and chooses how many teams we have!” Crystal exclaims.

Bracha, Scarlett, and Oriel exchange glances.

Bracha sighs, “That’s not what drawing straws is.”

***

“You ready?” Oriel asks, completely worried.

“I am. Thanks for drawing the short straw and having us compete at the same time. Why are you worried, Oriel?” Scarlett asks.

“Bruce Wayne is a judge.” Oriel gulps.

All the girls stare at Oriel in shock, then look through the curtains on the stage.

“Which one’s Bruce Wayne?” Crystal asks.

Bracha sighs, “The one that has bags under his eyes, next to Jessica Mauboy.”

Scarlett sees him, and Bruce’s and her eyes lock. She doesn’t dare look away, feeling a fear go up her back and a familiar sensation covering her body. Bruce gets tapped on the shoulder, and he’s the first to break eye contact and talks to Jessica Mauboy. Scarlett closes the curtain.

“Scar, can you take off the armour? It’s not a good time.” Bracha whispers.

Scarlett looks down and jumps about six feet in the air.

“Not now. We’ve already rented costumes for this! I’m not changing my outfit choice before the show! I’ve already gone through enough stress for you today.” Scarlett glares at her amulet.

She tries pulling it off, but it doesn’t work.

“Good thing a few other people go on before us. That’ll give you time to take it off and leave the magic amulet with Bracha so it doesn’t go weird again.” Oriel suggests.

Scarlett nods and runs into the costume change room, the girls following her. She pulls outfits out of her bag. She tosses them to each girl.

“I made sure they were just right.” Scarlett smiles.

Oriel unfolds a purple outfit that looks sort of like Princess Jasmine’s animated version of her outfit. Crystal unfolds a red outfit very similar. Scarlett unfolds a blue one. Bracha unfolds a green one.

(Like this, only different colours.)

“Which one, sis, Prince Ali or Friend Like Me?” Crystal asks, not very amused.

Scarlett flips a coin, “Friend Like Me.”

Now that Scarlett’s relaxed, her armour disappears. Another person walks in as Scarlett smiles and moves into a room to change. The others follow suit.

“This is gonna be fun.” Scarlett smiles.

They all come out wearing the outfits, looking absolutely stunning. The other person stares in shock.

“What? Never seen a person dress up for a singing competition before?” Crystal suddenly snaps.

Scarlett smiles, “Sorry about my sister. She’s protective. Come on girls. It’s almost our time.”

***

With Bruce Wayne

Bruce nods politely. Most of these singers are singing popular songs, like Taylor Swifts songs. He frowns, thinking of the person who managed to make eye contact with earlier. He could tell it was a girl, her eyes said she was at least 16. He couldn’t tell much because of how much of her body was obscured by the curtains. She was hiding something. Suddenly, the lights turn down. Another singer maybe? Suddenly, 3 girls roll out as the music starts. They all stand up, and Bruce locks eyes with the one in blue for a split second and recognises that it’s the girl he saw. Looking at her, she looks like she’s 13. Suddenly, the girls start singing and dancing, being extremely dramatic. (Go crazy with your imagination here, guys.)

youtube

S: MASTER! I don’t think you quite realise what you got here!

C: So why don’t you just ruminate

O: Whilst I illuminate the possibilities!

B: Watch this. Here I go. Uh, ooh, woo! Back up! Uh, Watch out! Uh, You done wound me up! ‘Bout to show you what I’m workin’ with!

C: Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves,

Scheherazade had a thousand tales

S: But, master, you’re in luck, ‘cause up your sleeves

You got a brand of magic never fails

B: You got some POWER in your corner now

Heavy ammunition in your camp!

You got some punch

C: Pizzazz!

S: Yahoo, and how?

All: See, all you gotta do is rub that lamp!

B: And then I’ll say,

Mister-

C, S, & O: Aladdin, sir.

B: Whatever, what will your pleasure be?

C: Let me take your order, jot it down!

You ain’t never had a friend like me!

Life is your restaurant

And I’m your maître D!

All: Come on, whisper to me whatever it is you want

You ain’t never had a friend like me!

O: Yes sir, we pride ourselves on service

C & O: You’re the boss, the king, the shah!

B & S: Say what you wish, it’s yours! True dish

How ‘bout a little more baklavaaaa?

B: Have some of column A,

B & S: Try all of column B!

I’m in the mood to help you dude!

You ain’t never had a friend like me!

O: Wah wah wah!

C & O: Oh my!

O: Wah wah wah!

C & O: No, No!

O: Wah wah wah

C & O: wah ah ah!

O: Wat ba bado ah!

B: Can your friends do this?

C: Can your friends do that?

S: Can your friends pull this

C, & O: Out their little hat?

Can your friends go-

B: *Beatboxes*

C: Well, looky here!

B: I’m the genie of the lamp

I can sing, rap, dance if you give me a chance! Oh!

C & O: Well don’t just sit there, slack jawed, buggy-eyed!

I’m here to answer all your midday prayers!

C & S: You got me bona fide, certified

Got a genie for your charge d’affaires

O: I got a powerful urge to help you out

So what you wish? I really wanna know

S & O: You got a list that’s three miles long, no doubt

Well, all you gotta do is rub like so, ay ohhhhh!

B: Mister

S, C, & O: Aladdin!

B: Yes, have a wish or two or three!

C, S, & O: I’m on the job, you big nabob!

You ain’t never had a friend, never had a friend

B: You ain’t never had a friend, Never had a friend

C & O: You ain’t never!

B: Never!

C & O: Had a

B: Had a

C & O: Friend

B: Friend

C & O: Like

B: Like

All: Meeeeeeee!

You ain’t never had a friend like me!

Everyone claps, glad for something different.

“Well, it seems that everyone likes you. What are you called?”

The one wearing the blue outfit smirks, “We are known as the Lantern’s Daylight! I’m Scarlett, the one in red is Crystal, and the one in purple is Oriel.”

Bruce asks, “Wouldn’t it make more sense for you, Scarlett, to wear the red?”

The girls exchange glances and giggle.

“Yeah, if I tried to do that, Crystal here would rip off my arm and hang it above her bed.” Scarlett jokes.

Oriel frowns, upset by that comment. Bruce notices that as Scarlett hugs Oriel and whispers something in her ear.

Jessica Mauboy smiles, “I assume that you are competing together?”

The girls look at each other and shrug, “We’re flexible. As long as Oriel gets to team up with one of us, we don’t care if one of us is a solo.”

“Well, you three are through to the next round!” Jessica Mauboy smiles.

The girls hug each other and do a strange handshake.

“Hi five! Shoulder bump, hip bump, shimmy shake!” Scarlett giggles as they do those moves.

The girls walk backstage and Bruce Wayne thinks carefully about those girls. Something’s different. They’re hiding something. Bruce shakes his head. He should focus on finding the energy readings.

***

“You guys were awesome. I swear that if I had to choose a winner, it’d be you three!” Bracha smiles.

Scarlett smirks, “Aren’t you a little biased? Being our friend and all.”

Bracha lightly punches Scarlett’s arms. Scarlett pulls her hairband out letting her hair flow.

“Who cares? I say we were 20% cooler than everyone else!” Crystal smiles.

Bracha and Scarlett roll their eyes. Crystal was always so over the top.

“I’m gonna hang around here for a while longer. Could you escort my sisters’ home, Bracha? For safety reasons.” Scarlett requests.

Bracha nods, “Of course, Scar. Be careful. If he shows up, call me.”

Scarlett nods. She pulls out her phone, seeing it’s 85%.

“Seeya.”

Scarlett walks towards a tree and leans against it. Australian sun is just too hot. Even in spring near sunset, it’s too hot.

“You’re Scarlett, right?” a male voice asks.

Scarlett asks, “Who’s asking?”

“Bruce Wayne.” The voice says.

Scarlett looks over to him and notices he’s still wearing a suit.

“Don’t you feel a little hot, mate?” Scarlett asks.

She’s already changed into a shirt that says, “Installing Muscles, please wait” and some denim shorts.

“Yes, but it’s good to keep up appearances.” He responds.

Scarlett sighs, “Please, Mr Wayne, don’t. Our prime minister doesn’t always wear a suit. He wore Budgie Smugglers for crying out loud.”

Bruce tilts his head in confusion. Scarlett rolls her eyes, remembering that not everyone understands the lingo.

“Right, Aussie slang. He wore just a pair of swimming pants. Can’t say I blame him. After all Australian weather, feels too hot to be natural.” Scarlett shrugs.

She suddenly tenses. The sun is going down much faster than she’d like. She hopes she doesn’t run into Venjo.

“I actually wanted to ask you about something, Miss Scarlett.” Bruce says.

“Well, ask away, Mr Wayne.” She responds.

She then looks around and realises, she’s in a park with only Bruce Wayne nearby. She feels her fear rise, but she pushes it down. Maybe Venjo can smell fear and she may lead him straight to her.

“Are you okay? You seem to be jumpy. You’re not worried about an ex, are you?”

Scarlett sighs, “Just heard some disturbing reports a while ago. And an ex? Please! I am staying away from that kind of relationship until I’m 20 or 30. Decided that when I was 10.”

“Okay… Has anything strange been happening around here?” Bruce asks.

Scarlett suddenly looks at him and scoffs, “Please! Strange? Mate, we’re Australians. Anything that’s strange is actually pretty normal. If someone hangs from a tree like a bat, we’re ok with it. If someone likes going under bridges for the sake of it, we’re ok with that. If someone wanted a Medusa wig to totally freak people out, we’re ok with that. Heck, some of us have even had our snakes come out of the toilet. I've even seen a guy dressed up as Santa here. The whole shebang, in hot, Summer, Aussie heat, at Wet'n'Wild. You want strange, you came to the right place.”

She then realises it’s very dark.

Scarlett smiles, “Ya know, I’d love to stay and chat, but my mum’s gonna kill me if I’m not home by 10:00.”

Bruce nods, “I understand. Be careful. Wouldn’t want one of the singers to disappear right after her first performance.”

Scarlett nods, “Thanks for your concern Mr Wayne. I’m think I’ll be fine. Seeya.”

Scarlett walks off, a bad feeling in her stomach.

***

Bruce Wayne changes into his Batman outfit and follows Scarlett for a few blocks. She’s hiding something and he’s curious what it is. Plus, he picked up some of the previous energy readings on her. He follows on the rooftops. She stops every now and then to look around.

“Why follow her? Shouldn’t you be investigating the magical energy, Batman?” Martian Manhunter asks, appearing behind Batman.

Batman frowns, “She’s hiding something. I think she’s connected to the readouts. I picked up some energy on her.”

Scarlett turns around again. She has fear written in her eyes. She then looks towards the roofs of the houses. Batman ducks from her sight. She looks straight up as well, which both men found odd.

“Why is she scared?” Batman mumbles.

“It could simply be she’s broken up with someone and she’s worried he’ll show up.” Martian Manhunter suggests.

Batman frowns, “No. This is a different fear. She said she’s staying away from romance until she’s older. She’s paranoid, like something is going to come from anywhere to attack.”

Suddenly, a buff man comes near to her. He makes some suggestive comments.

“I’m not that desperate, and you’re not that lucky.” Scarlett shuts him down.

He suddenly grabs her and drags her to an alley. Batman and Martian Manhunter jump towards them.

“Leave me alone, you creepy, barbarous, brainless, cold-blooded, animalised jerkazoid!” Scarlett hisses.

“I don’t think so, pretty. We’re gonna have a little fun!” The man smiles.

Scarlett looks him up and down and says, “Dude, your and my definition of fun are 2 very different things. And I’m not gonna be a victim again! How about you go back to Hell!”

Scarlett grabs at air next to her, then facepalms.

“I think now would be a good time to intervene, Batman.” Manhunter suggests.

The man punches Scarlett, making her fall to the ground. She goes to get up and he kicks her. She groans in pain. She moves her hand to her pocket.

“You’re gonna feel more of that if you resist, worm.” The man says.

Suddenly, Scarlett turns around and gives him an uppercut, then kicks him where the sun don’t shine.

“No one calls me worm, you little piece of troll poo!” Scarlett hisses.

He growls, “You’re gonna regret that you #*&%$!”

“Wash your mouth out with soap!” Scarlett orders.

Batman decides enough is enough and throws a batarang in between the two people. Scarlett looks up and sees both Batman and Martian Manhunter. She mumbles something Batman doesn’t catch.

*From Scarlett’s point of view; earlier*

Scarlett stops and looks around. Someone’s following her. She’s sure. Her guts are going haywire. She remembers rule number 1. Always be afraid. She’s afraid now, and she swears someone’s around. Could Venjo be around? She looks to the roofs. She thinks she sees something, but it could’ve been just the shadows. Scarlett then looks up.

“Why am I looking up? Trolls can’t fly, can they? I’m gonna ask Blinky for a list of troll species now.”

Suddenly, a buff man walks towards Scarlett. He makes a suggestive comment.

“Today just isn’t my day.”

She scoffs, “I’m not that desperate, and you’re not that lucky.”

*Trigger Warning!*

The man grabs her and drags her into an alley. She struggles against him.

“Leave me alone, you creepy, barbarous, brainless, cold-blooded, animalised jerkazoid!” Scarlett spits.

“I don’t think so, pretty. We’re gonna have a little fun!” The man smiles.

“Ugly jerk.”

Scarlett looks him up and down and says, “Dude, your and my definition of fun are 2 very different things. And I’m not gonna be a victim again! How about you go back to Hell!”

She grabs at her bag, only to realise she gave it to Bracha earlier. No pepper-spray to use this time. She facepalms. Suddenly, the man punches her in the guts. Scarlett collapses. She tries to get up, only to get kicked. She holds in tears.

“It’s Nicholas all over again.”

“You’re gonna feel more of that if you resist, worm.” The man says.

Something clicks in Scarlett’s brain. She feels pure, hard anger and hatred. She turns around and gives him a good, hard, uppercut, then kicks him in the Gronk-nuks.

“No one calls me worm, you little piece of troll poo!” Scarlett hisses.

He growls, “You’re gonna regret that you #*&%$!”

“Wash your mouth out with soap!” Scarlett orders.

She’s not going to be his victim. She’s going to be her own hero. A boomerang suddenly goes in between the two. Scarlett notice the shape is of a bat and looks up and sees 2 figures. One green and one black. She recognises them as the American superheroes Batman and Martian Manhunter.

*Trigger ending*

“Bushigal.” She mumbles.

“Only spent a day with them and I’m already using Trolls words!”

The guy runs away after seeing the boomerang.

“Hey, hey! I’m not through with you, Ugly!” Scarlett calls after the crook.

Batman jumps in front of him and knocks him out.

“Never mind.” Scarlett sighs.

Batman frowns, “You shouldn’t be alone at night.”

Scarlett sighs, "Shouldn't you be in America, where all the supervillains are? Or are you on Holidays?"

Batman raises an eyebrow in what seems to be surprise.

"Why else would you two be in Australia if you weren't having a break? I don't remember the Joker being in Australia." Scarlett smirks.

"Just investigating something." Martian Manhunter replies.

Scarlett frowns, "And I suppose that you just happened to be passing by while I'm going home and just happened to see me almost get abducted by a guy like him?"

Batman deadpans, "Yes."

Scarlett frowns, "And I suppose you weren't following me?"

Batman doesn't respond.

"I had a feeling." Scarlett frowns.

"Did he pick up on the Amulet? Maybe it gives off magic radiation. That sounds silly. But maybe?"

"Okay, you know what? You can follow me home if you are so worried. And if you need to question me about stuff, like whatever you are investigating, give me a number to call to arrange a date, time, and place to answer your questions. But please bring in a girl. Being around just a guy who ya don't know is enough to set a girl on edge, ya know?" Scarlett suggests.

Batman looks to Martian Manhunter and they seem to be speaking telepathically, discussing the matter. Scarlett then gets bad memories about her brother. She shakes the memories out of head, putting her hands in her pockets, holding the Amulet in her right. Its’ cool surface surprisingly calms her.

"Agreed." Batman suddenly speaks, snapping Scarlett out of her thoughts.

"Great!" Scarlett smiles and suddenly turns to walk home.

She feels the smile fall from her face. Then it comes back, and she giggles slightly. She hums "Giggle At the Ghostly" while swaying side to side.

"There goes my logic tonight. Wonder if he's reading my thoughts?"

She looks behind her to see Batman and Manhunter have already disappeared. Probably hiding in the shadows, because Batman just walking behind her would draw suspicion. She suddenly finds herself at her house.

"That trip went by fast." Scarlett mumbles.

She goes to open the door, but it's locked. She pulls out her phone, notices it's actually 11, and rings her Mum.

"Yes?" Her mother's tired voice answers.

"I have a good excuse, Mum." Scarlett says guiltily.

Heather hangs up and opens the door.

"What happened, Scarlett?" Heather asks.

Scarlett hesitates, "I was attacked, but I got away from him."

Heather suddenly pulls Scarlett inside and checks Scarlett all over for any cuts, scratches, and bruises.

"Mum, calm down, I'm fine. Look, I'm here, aren't I? And he didn't even get far. Just a few bruises, nothing more." Scarlett reassures her paranoid mother.

"You should be more careful, honey! What would've happened if he kidnapped you, or worse?!" Heather exclaims.

Scarlett puts her hand over her mother's mouth.

"Do you want to wake Dad up? Doesn't he have a 3 o'clock start in the morning?" Scarlett asks.

Heather sighs, trying to calm herself down.

"We're talking about this tomorrow." Heather orders.

Scarlett nods, then realises she has unfinished business in New Jersey.

"I'm going to bed Mum. Seeya in the morning." Scarlett smiles, knowing she probably won't be able to wake up until midday.

She walks into her bedroom, to see her sisters still awake. She sighs and tucks them both into bed.

"We can't sleep, Scar." Oriel sighs.

Scarlett sighs and sings Aladdin's Desert Moon to lull them to sleep. She searches her pants pockets for her amulet and finds a piece of paper with a bat symbol on it. She reads over it.

3:00p.m. Wivenhoe Dam, Tomorrow.

Scarlett sighs. She's glad she only has Trollhunting training on tomorrow. When she's sure her sisters are asleep, she stuffs pillows and toys under her blanket. The girls don't have to know about this sneak out. She changes her shoes into Roller shoes.

***

"I was going to kill her, but I couldn't make up my mind as to how! Then she grabbed my nose-ring! That irritating Fleshbag. She isn't worthy of the amulet. I could've killed her then and there. But where's the fun in that?" The troll laughs.

Blinky grumbles at another table, drinking his glug. Claire sighs and rolls her eyes.

"If only Lady Scarlett had managed a single hit! She would've been changed forever." Blinky grumbles.

"All I want is to wail on that Fleshbag again!" The troll laughs.

Suddenly, Scarlett rolls in on her heels. She nudges the troll she sparred with, making him spill his drink.

"That was a wonderful spar earlier. Very enlightening. I'd love to do it again sometime! As long as neither of us die in our next spar, I'm sure we can be wonderful, glorious allies! I'm sure with some training with you, after a while, I will be a glorious warrior, fighting battles and will have the most honourable death!" Scarlett smirks as she rolls over to Blinky and Claire's table and sits down, an evil smile on her face.

"What happened in Australia?" Claire asks.

"Let's just say, I gave a jerk what he deserved." Scarlett smiles, still looking evil.

A few trolls move away from the table, and Blinky and Claire stare in shock.

"Changed forever." Claire whispers.

"Oh, by the way, I never got his name." Scarlett asks.

“Yavo.” Blinky says, still in shock.

#Trollhunting Lantern #Trollhunters #Green Lantern #Crossover

2 notes · View notes

carewyncromwell · 4 years

Text

Hi, everybody! So the Adventures in Curse-breaking side quest was...absolutely wonderful. The prize is fantastic -- the animation of the dragons is awesome -- the new preserve location and the interior of the tent have the most wonderful ambient music -- and it features love for Charlie and Bill, who as most of you know are two of my favorites! I might’ve switched out Penny with Liz (given that, like Barnaby, she’s so into magical creatures and we could use more material for her in the game), but even with that nitpick, I think this quest may be one of my favorites so far, right up there with Chiara and Talbott’s friendship quests.

It is, however, a very dialogue-heavy quest with a good chunk of filler in between the awesome stuff, and writing full roleplaying posts for the entire thing would take up a LOT of time. So just like with my Meet the Malfoys quest post, I’ll be writing this in a more condensed, fic-like format. Because there’s so much more material to work with compared to the Malfoy quest, however, this post will be broken up into four parts all tagged “Adventures in Curse-Breaking”, complete with screenshots and gifs from the game, as we follow my MC Carewyn Cromwell, her honorary brothers Bill and Charlie, Barnaby, Merula, and Penny to the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary!

Hope you enjoy! xoxo

Bill’s second meet-up with the sixth years ended up being more of a question-and-answer session about Cursebreaking and Defense Against the Dark Arts in general rather than a set lesson. Charlie had half-jokingly whispered in Carewyn’s ear that it was likely Bill was still in the process of drawing up lesson plans, and although Carewyn thought there was a good chance of it, she didn’t think Bill opening the floor for questions was a bad idea. After all, Merula had expressed interest in being a Cursebreaker, and any anti-Dark Arts information would be helpful to a future Auror like Tonks. (Carewyn once again thought of trying to coax Talbott to join Bill’s sessions too. She knew he preferred to “fly solo,” but she wanted him to become an Auror just as much as he himself wanted it!)

It was only toward the end of their session that Bill -- mostly to poke at Charlie for getting distracted whispering to Carewyn -- brought up his next mission, which his boss Griphook had said would involve dragons.

Of course Charlie’s ears had perked up like a puppy’s at the mention of dragons, and he immediately was interested in accompanying Bill on his mission. The eldest Weasley son, however, turned Charlie down, clearly regretting that he’d brought it up at all. He quickly dismissed the sixth years and excused himself from the classroom, but Charlie wasn’t having it. Agreeing that Bill could use some help if he had to deal with a bunch of dragons, Carewyn quickly changed clothes and accompanied her unofficial twin to Diagon Alley.

Carewyn hadn’t ever been to Gringotts without her mother before. The wizarding bank had always felt so massive to her, not just for its mile-high, vaulted ceilings, but in how the voices of the goblin tellers and witches and wizards in front of the counters echoed seemingly endlessly up toward the ceiling. Despite the ethereal light emanating off the lanterns on every desk and the sparkling diamond chandeliers overheard, the chamber still never felt completely lit. Shadows clung to every pillar and window frame, and the light of the lanterns pooled off the dark, patterned marble pillars, making them resemble rippling, murky green water as you walked past them.

Bill was very surprised to see the two gingers there. He’d tried to reproach them for ambushing him at work, which made Carewyn feel a bit guilty -- Charlie, however, felt no shame at all.

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t have run off in the middle of a conversation like that,” he’d said dryly. “Then we wouldn’t have had to chase after you.”

Carewyn offered Bill a kinder look. “I know you’re working, Bill -- but if your next assignment involves dragons, you know we can help.”

Bill’s boss, Griphook, took in the exchange with dry interest. Keeping a beady eye on both Carewyn and Charlie, he explained the mission more clearly to Bill. The goal was to recover a golden egg created by the goblin Urguff the Unwary and stolen by a dragon that mistook it for one of her own and was now suspected to have settled in the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary. The goblin then encouraged Bill that if “these two humans” could assist him in researching dragons, then it might be wise to accept their offer of help. Bill agreed, and the three gingers met at the Hog’s Head to research the various breeds of dragons one might encounter at the Romanian Sanctuary. Bill was stubborn, however, in keeping their meeting focused solely on research.

“I appreciate you helping me study up on dragons,” he’d said firmly, “but I’m sorry, I’m not taking you on my mission.”

Carewyn would’ve respected Bill’s feelings on the matter, given that this was his job and he deserved to do it his own way...but she knew how much Charlie wanted to go with him, and admittedly she was worried for Bill’s safety, going to a preserve full of dragons all by himself. Charlie himself was just as bullheaded as Bill was, but in the opposite direction.

“If you’re going to that sanctuary, then I’m going with you -- no arguments,” he’d shot back.

Seeing the impasse the two brothers were at, Carewyn immediately moved into “compromise” mode. Bill had already said that he’d have to cancel one of his sessions at Hogwarts in order to complete this mission, and facing so many dragons alone would be way too dangerous, even for a full-grown wizard...so why not kill two birds with one stone by having Charlie, her, and a few other sixth-year students come with Bill to help him find the egg? That way, if Bill needed to stun a dragon at any point, there would be at least two other people shooting Stunning Spells with him.

“Dragons can only be taken down with multiple Stunning spells,” Carewyn reminded him. “You wouldn’t be able to take one down on your own, if you got cornered. I only got lucky with the one in the Vault -- that one was already in bad shape before I faced it. These dragons...they’re in a preserve. They’ll have been treated well. And because they’re protected by Wizarding Law, you probably wouldn’t be allowed to use any spells that could really hurt them, like the Conjunctivitis Curse. Half the reason the dragon in the Vault didn’t kill me was because it couldn’t see me.”

Bill clearly hated how much sense Carewyn was making. His protective big brother instincts fought with his interest in completing his mission, but at long last, he relented.

Carewyn and Charlie got Barnaby, Penny, and Merula on board, and the group visited Hagrid to borrow his camping tent and get some general camping advice and Kettleburn to get some instruction on dragon safety. That Friday, the five sixth-years gathered at the Training Grounds to meet Bill.

It had been so eerie to meet Bill, Charlie, and Merula at the Training Grounds so they could leave Hogwarts via Portkey. For a second, Carewyn felt her shoulders tensing up and her blood freezing as if she was going back into the Portrait Vault. It was only seeing Barnaby and Penny’s faces instead of Rakepick and Ben’s that made her feel the least bit grounded again, even as she took hold of the Portkey and the six of them were flung off their feet and spun around faster and faster and faster --

When they arrived at their destination, Carewyn felt her breath still in her throat.

There were massive trees as far as the eye could see -- dramatic cliffs and mountains dotted the horizon -- the air was so fresh and light, dusted with the scent of pine and burnt oak -- and then overhead, soaring with their wings wide right over them, were dozens of massive, majestic dragons.

It was beautiful.

Carewyn grinned from ear to ear seeing how happy Charlie was. She’d always thought dragons were cool, but her admiration of the creatures had nothing on what her fellow Fireball thought of them. Carewyn had always loved listening to her friends talk about their greatest passions, and Charlie was no exception.

It was quickly decided that it would be best to set up camp and start searching for the golden egg the next morning. As safe as Carewyn thought they’d be with the defensive magical wards she’d put up, she and Bill both thought that searching a dragon preserve at night was still riskier than it was probably worth. Soon the group had set up camp and -- on Barnaby’s suggestion -- started roasting marshmallows over a roaring campfire.

Barnaby immediately proposed sharing scary stories. Penny was reluctant; Carewyn herself didn’t love being scared herself and she didn’t want to upset Penny, but she reassured the blond Hufflepuff all the same.

“Sometimes it’s fun to be a little scared -- especially when you know those things aren’t real and can’t hurt you,” Carewyn had told her. “I mean, you’re with your friends. You know we wouldn’t let anything hurt you.”

Merula gave a sharp bark of a laugh.

Her voice was noticeably softer than normal, which startled Carewyn. The Slytherin Prefect hadn’t really included Merula in her mind when she’d said that, but...the look on Merula’s face made Carewyn feel almost guilty that she hadn’t. She was very glad that Barnaby started right into his scary story about the Bloody Broom.

Carewyn was actually getting really into Barnaby’s story before the roar of a dragon flying a mere four feet over their heads made the entire group duck, even as the defensive wards around the camp effectively kept the dragon’s tail or claws from touching them.

“Let’s go inside,” Carewyn said quickly, trying to will down her own heart rate as she looked over her companions’ identical white faces.

To Be Continued...

#adventures in cursebreaking #carewyn cromwell #jacob's sibling #hphm #hogwarts mystery #charlie weasley #bill weasley #merula snyde #barnaby lee #penny haywood #griphook #dragons #gifs #gameplay #roleplaying #my writing

12 notes · View notes

renaroo · 4 years

Note

17, JLI

A/N: I literally squealed with delight, it would’ve been embarrassing if I was embarrassed by my passionate love for these losers lol

Best Boy

She has a childish instinct to try.

That, more than anything, is what Ice thinks is her ultimate downfall. Ice has allowed many things to happen to her, happen to the League, all in the name of making solid attempts toward something bigger and better. In this childish hope and dream that when all things are equalized, she can push their rather infamous luck toward being something greater than it used to be.

And Ice really wants this to work. She wants it to work more than she wants the recent photoshoot. She wants it to work more than she wanted her date with Guy to work out. She wants it to work more than she wants to see what Booster and Beetle have planned when the reruns of Next Generation hit too many same-old notes.

Most of all, Ice wants to be able to keep him in her room, too. If Martian Manhunter allows it.

***

It starts as a team-up with Green Lantern ironically.

No, not that Green Lantern. And not him either. And she’s never met that one.

She doesn’t say anything about it when she initially leaves the embassy with him because Guy is always strange about any of them hanging out with other Green Lanterns. It’s rather cute in Ice’s opinion — he likes being their one and only Green Lantern.

But this Green Lantern, the first first one, reminds Ice of her grandfather in some ways, he mentions that he likes her advertisement pictures and that he has a daughter of his own in the industry. So how can Ice not help him out with a mystery involving the fashion industry?

When Fire gets back from her European shoot, she’s going to be so jealous that Ice got to be both a superhero and supermodel in one single adventure.

It doesn’t take that much detective work — nothing to call Elongated Man or Batman about — but at least part of that is because of their help.

Ice, being from another country, has never heard of having a super pet before this adventure.

His codename is Wonder Dog and his civilian name is Streak.

He is the best boy in the world and Ice, in fact, loves him.

Which makes it easy for her to answer Alan Scott’s last-minute request to provide supervision for his furry partner while he goes on a business trip.

***

She goes to Blue Beetle first because, if anything, she figures Blue Beetle has the most experience trying to cover up things from the rest of the League.

He’s sitting cross-legged on the ground, arms folded to his chest, starring intently at the short, furry corgi like it owes him money.

Streak licks Blue Beetle.

“Yeah, I’m a cat person,” Blue Beetle says.

Ice decides immediately that Blue Beetle is no longer someone that should ever be trusted.

Aghast, she pulls Streak into her arms and twists away from Blue Beetle.

“Do you know how many artificial potted plants that thing is going to pee on in this building?” Blue Beetle asks. “At least ten! That’s ten spots of urine stinking up the embassy alongside whatever smells are coming out of Guy’s room.”

“Wonder Dog would never!” Ice gasps. “He’s a… he’s a good boy!”

Blue Beetle holds up his hands and pulls a face. “Hey, it’s your funeral when J’onn finds out.”

“If you tell him, I’m going to tell him about the diet Chacos!” she hisses at him.

Immediately, Beetle puts a hand to his heart. “You wouldn’t!”

“I will!” She promises. “Anything for Streak.”

She receives a lick on her cheek and she knows, at that moment, she will die for this dog if she must.

***

When Guy scoops up Streak and cradles him like a baby, Ice feels her heart melt. He even rubs the good boy’s stomach and nuzzles nose to nose with the Wonder Dog.

Beyond pleased, Ice practically hugs herself and looks at Guy.

“I always knew you were good, Guy,” she informs him happily. “And look at his little face, Streak agrees! And is happy!”

“Sure he is!” Guy says back, full of bluster. “I grew up with dogs. My sister and I always took care of them, couldn’t count on the ol’ man to. Just as well, huh, li’l guy?”

No matter what others say about Guy, no matter what Ice even knows about Guy, she has always seen the goodness there beneath the surface. She feels so validated and warmed to see the evidence of it so clearly on display before her now.

“Will you help me keep him in the embassy until Alan gets back?” she asks sweetly.

Guy, immediately, stiffens and looks at her. “Alan? Who’s Alan? Are you seeing him? How tall is he? I bet I can fight him.”

Ice huffs, rolling her wrist at Guy’s antics. “You know Alan! Alan Scott. He went on a business trip and needed someone to watch after Streak.”

A strangely judgmental look grows over Guy’s face as he looks down at Streak. It hardens. “This is Alan Scott’s dog? The first — unsanctioned, mind you — Green Lantern who uses the Starheart instead of an Oa issued ring?”

Frowning, Ice tries to make sense of Guy’s serious tone and expression. Is this the more serious side of Guy she’s always known was there? The one that trains in the Green Lantern Corps and acts as an officer of the peace in space? To be frank, she’s never been acquainted with him.

“I don’t know about much of any of that, but Alan seems very nice and noble and Streak helped us solve a mystery last week,” she explains.

For a moment, Guy nods and that seems to be the end of whatever interrogation is happening until Guy lets go of Streak. The dog yelps but is caught by a bright green construct that looks and is emerald green cuffs and chains around the dog’s paws and tail.

“Yeah, I’m taking this guy in for questioning,” Guy says.

Working on instinct, Ice lets out a shriek and blows Guy back with a gust of wind, freezing his ring hand until he drops the construct.

“You will do no such thing!” Ice declares, scooping up Streak and stomping out of the room.

“OW! Ice! TORA! It was a joke, are you kidding me!?”

Ice, though, is not kidding. And she doesn’t look back as she marches through the embassy to her next stop.

***

Fire is her best friend and, when she’s not blowing her top, she’s the closest thing Ice can find in the embassy to a voice of reason.

She’s back from a trip that went well, so Fire isn’t really near blowing her top. But she is skeptical and standoffish toward Streak.

Ice finds this rather insulting to her newfound canine loyalties.

“Is it going to be tearing up the furniture and,” Fire lets out an exasperated noise as she waves her hands, “my clothes or something?”

“He’s a Wonder Dog, Bea,” Ice admonishes. She lowers to her knees on the floor and pampers the corgi. “Of course he wouldn’t.”

Immediately, Streak hones in on the scrunchie around Ice’s wrist and begins timidly grazing his front teeth on it. Then, after a few misses, he grabs the scrunchie in his canines and pulls it off of Ice’s arm entirely. It’s one swift motion, very well-rehearsed.

There’s not enough willpower within Ice to resist the giggle that bubbles to the surface as a result.

Once again, Fire looks unimpressed. “You’re just going to let him tear that up?” she asks.

“It’s his scrunchie,” Ice answers.

“Oh, really? For how long?” Fire presses, bending over enough to get a full view of Streak viciously shaking his head, scrunchie in tow.

Using a babying tone, Ice wiggles her shoulder at Streak playfully. “For as long as his little heart has wanted it!”

Groaning, Fire pinches at the bridge between her eyes. “This isn’t going to end well, and considering I’m still paying off the fire damage I did to my room, I do not want to be roped into this,” she informs Ice. Like a traitor.

“Then you will not be his Auntie Bea,” Ice says, pulling Streak into her arms to the dog’s playful dismay.

“Somehow I feel like we’ll both live with that,” Fire rolls her eyes.

***

“Should it be in the kitchen?” Booster Gold asks over the loud blender.

“He,” Ice corrects.

“What?” Booster yells a little louder over the blender, though he doesn’t stop mixing his shake.

“He not it!” Ice repeats.

Post-workout Booster is sweaty and not wearing his signature goggles, so Ice gets to see his squinting confusion at her. At long last, he turns off the blender and then points at Streak who is patiently sitting right on top of Booster’s feet. “Dog. Should he be in the kitchen?”

“Where else would he eat?” Ice asks pointedly.

“Probably your room under the bed in hiding,” Booster jokes, pouring the contents of the blender into his awaiting glass. “Protein shake! You want some?”

“I am now vegetarian,” Ice says, staring seriously at Booster and completely ignoring the angry rumblings from her stomach.

Licking the sides of the blender for the drips of shake, Booster smirks at her. “Since when? You had bacon yesterday.”

“This morning,” she says, crossing her arms. “I will never harm an animal again! Wonder Dog has shown me the light!”

“Okay,” Booster snorts. “The carnivore inspired this?”

“I thought you were complaining the other day about twenty-first-century diets,” Ice argues. “You said it was weird that we ate so much meat.”

“It’s weird because of what it did — is doing,” Booster quickly corrects himself, “to the environment at the level you — we — make it. That was my point. And grease. You guys ruin things with overcooking. But we need protein. And it’s weird that you guys made fun of me saying meat-farming is going to go away, but you meet one admittedly adorable dog and you’re completely changing your lifestyle.”

“It’s just meat,” Ice says, hugging herself to muffle the growls.

“I meant your lifestyle of not being homeless since J’onn is definitely going to throw both your adorable butts out on the street when he finds out,” Booster jokes. He pats Streak on the head and Streak humors him by acting appreciative.

That’s okay because Ice knows that Streak knows to pee on Booster’s bed later.

***

Really, it’s only a matter of time before she opens her door and sees the Martian Manhunter on the other side.

Ice still dares to think it should have been longer, but then again J’onn is a telepath.

And also not a fool.

“May I come in?” he asks, red eyes already honed in on the corner of Ice’s bed where Streak is curled up napping.

Puffing out her bottom lip, Ice steps aside and watches as the martian crosses her room and rather quickly begins patting on the dog. She folds her arms self-consciously and watches.

“He’s a good boy,” she defends unsaid accusations.

“Perhaps,” Martian Manhunter agrees and looks back to Ice almost softly. “I know of this dog, he belongs to the original Green Lantern.”

Perking up, Ice steps forward. “Yes! He is Wonder Dog! Mister Scott needed someone to watch him while he had business out of town! And we had just teamed up together and got along so well…”

He stands tall, towering over Ice as he looks down at her. There isn’t the darkness and fear that Batman inspires but Ice does feel a large dose of anxiety wash over her.

“Ice, we cannot keep animals on the property permanently,” he informs her.

Deflating, Ice bites nervously on her nail. “I know.”

“However, taking into account the considerable merit of our current houseguest, and the temporary status of his stay, it is only fair to amend the rules,” J’onn says kindly.

Ice squeals as she throws her arms around him. “Thank you!”

“It seems only right, considering the rules are basically meaningless in this embassy by now,” he says more grimly with a sigh. “I believe we will have more luck house training Wonder Dog than Beetle, Booster, or Guy Gardner.”

***

When Alan Scott comes, Ice isn’t ready. In fact, she’s the furthest thing from ready. She considers freezing her bedroom door shut and staying inside with Streak forever.

Fire assures her that, if that happens, Fire will be forced to burn the ice away and it could hurt their friendship. Even Streak isn’t worth that, Ice decides.

The boys are all lined up in the foyer with Alan Scott, Beetle has popcorn, like they’re anxious to see some big production.

The moment Ice walks down the stairs with Streak, she can feel the little guy struggling in her arms.

Lowering herself on the bottom step, Ice feels her lip quivering and she holds Streak even tighter. “You are such a good boy, and I know you’re gonna miss me just as much as I miss you,” she begins to say.

Wonder Dog earns his name with a well-placed kick to Ice’s chest, twisting himself like a noodle out of her grips, and barking as he races down the foyer to his owner who is happily awaiting him. Ice isn’t sure if she’s ever seen a tail wag so much before.

“Thank you, Miss Olafsdotter,” Alan says, chuckling as he bends over and latches an old fashion clip leash onto Streak’s leather collar. “I know Streak was on his best behavior — it’s the only mode he has — but it was good to feel assured he was with good people.” He gives skeptical glances to the snickering trio beside him and grips the leash a little tighter. “Mostly good people. I’ll send you a check for your troubles.”

“Whoa, check? She gets paid for this?” Booster pipes up.

“We have dog sitting services, too, y’know,” Beetle begins selling as he follows Alan out the door.

Beside Ice, Fire puts a hand on her shoulder. “Okay, he’s gone now, you don’t have to keep up the brave face.”

Before Fire is even done, Ice bursts into tears and flings her arms around Fire’s waist.

“Oh, boy,” Fire says, patting Ice’s head.

“Aw, Tora, don’t worry, I can get you a better dog,” Guy says, attempting to stroll up while avoiding Fire’s direct line of attack.

Martian Manhunter’s head snaps in Guy’s direction. “No more pets in the embassy.”

“Okay, but what if we’re cutting you in on the dog sitting business?” Beetle asks while Booster is already looking through craigslist.

“It doesn’t matter,” Ice sobs, “there is no better dog than Wonder Dog.”

“Okay, that dog slept for eighteen hours a day and wouldn’t even eat scraps on the floor, only in his little silver dish,” Fire reminds her. “It was the most bourgeois dog ever.”

“And I loved him,” Ice continues, rubbing at her eyes.

Martian Manhunter actually looks pained by Ice’s crying. “I will take another look at our leasing agreement,” he mutters.

#JLI #Justice League International #Tora Olafsdotter #Streak the Wonder Dog #Beatriz da Costa #Ted Kord #Michael Jon Carter #Guy Gardner #J'onn J'onzz #Alan Scott #dc fic #writing #secretlystephaniebrown #ask and you shall receive

22 notes · View notes

onstarsandiron · 4 years

Photo

This is a master post of all the settings for Heart of Iron and Soul of Stars!

As always, let me know if there’s something here that you’d like added/dug up!

Hope the picture quality isn’t too bad, it is admittedly a screencap via my laptop

[Image description: A black and white map of a solar system labeled “The Iron Kingdom” with the sun on the left center edge. Each planet is set on a dotted line indicating its orbit. An area indicated to the lower right of the sun is labeled as “The Starpass”. The closest planet to the sun is Eros, a dark circle with a marbled texture; there is a leader at the top of the planet indicating Resonance, as well as one at the bottom left of the planet indicating Neon City. Around the planet circles its two moons, Juniper and Luna, the latter of which has a leader pointing to its lower right indicating The Iron Palace. To the right of the orbit of Eros’ moons is a small dotted line indicating the orbit of Nevaeh, represented as a dark hexigon. The next planet is Iliad, a dark circle with a cloudy texture and a ring of stars just inside its bounds. A leader at its bottom right indicates Zenteli; Iliad has no moons. The third planet is Cerces, a dark circle with a water-stained texture. Cerces is orbited by Calliope and Palavar. Beyond Cerces is a dotted band that indicates the asteroid belt that encircles the Iron Kingdom, upon which Xourix, a dark pentagon, lies. Between Iliad and Cerces, but lower on the page than either of them, is a cloudy area marked “Haven’s Grave”. End description]

The solar system is as described above. We’re not really given much information about the orbit rates of the planets or the moons or anything aside from Ana’s (originally Erik’s) coronation day being the day all three planets align in what’s known as “Holy Conjunction”, which just so happens to be the thousand-year-anniversary of the Iron Kingdom. The story starts exactly one week (presumably 7 24-hour days, though it is unclear how they keep time standardized in the Iron Kingdom) before this event.

It’s implied that the planets are broken up into districts and ruled over by Ironblood families (consistent with the classification of the system as a Kingdom) by the line, “The Valerio family was the wealthiest in the kingdom and ruled over twenty-three districts on Eros and Iliad, and a mining continent on Cerces, so they were expected to present themselves with a certain flair—especially at parties.” (HoI, I: Iron Thief, Robb)

Erosians are seemingly distinguishable from Cercians, though if it’s just due to Cercians’ tribal markings or if there’s further physical traits that distinguish the two, it’s not made clear. It’s implied that there is no life native to Iliad, but the Solani people all hail from Zenteli, as that’s where their ark crash landed 1,000 years before the story’s beginning, though they have of course since spread to the other planets and intermarried with the Erosians and Cercians.

Eros

The planet closest to the sun, this is where the Valerios evidently hail (Robb is often characterized as having an “Erosian” accent), as well as the location of the Academy of Iron and Light, the tomb where the goddess was buried, and Neon City. Heart of Iron says Eros has three moons, but the map in Soul of Stars only indicates Juniper and Luna. “Eros took up most of the starshield, a blue-and-green planet wrapped in layers and layers of bone-white clouds.” (HoI, II: Iron Ships, Jax) Siege has, “…knockoff tapestries of the rolling landscapes of Eros…” (HoI, II: Iron Ships, Ana), and it’s said to typically have a, “Dreamy, green landscape.” (SoS, I: Starship, Ana). Robb’s blue eyes are described as “Erosian blue” many times, implying either that Eros has a very particular blue compared to the other planets, or that the other planets have sky colors other than blue, which would indicate different atmospheric conditions between the three.

Neon City: Located on Eros, it’s noted as distinctly not like the rest of the planet. “Located in the southern quadrant of the planet, Neon City constantly smelled like damp cement, sewage, and fresh rain, but from a distance the city was beautiful—outlined in lights that reflected in the puddles and through the mists that drifted along the streets. Buildings jutted up into the sky like piercing daggers, slick and glittery with rain. It gave the city an eerie, haunted radiance. In the outskirts where Ana walked, darkness clung to the streets.” (SoS, I: Starship, Ana). It’s implied that it’s always raining in the city. It’s full of dive bars, cement buildings, and steel sky scrapers. There’s a lake somewhere nearby named Lake Leer.

Resonance: A town nearby the Academy of Iron and Light and right by the tomb of the Goddess. “Koren Vey raised her hands again, and up from the ground came hills and valleys that reminded Robb of the backs of those scaly lizards Erik used to put in his bed as a child to scare him, but then he recognized the strange-shaped pool of water in the valley. “Hold on. That’s Lake Myriad. And that pass in the mountains is the Rigid Bone. I know these landmarks. It’s in the Bavania Range”—Robb motioned to the mountains—“because that’s the valley near …” He went very quiet. “The valley near … ?” Ana prodded. “Near the Academy.” (Sos, II: Starless, Robb).

Luna

A moon of Eros, Luna is the location of The Iron Palace. Nothing besides the palace is mentioned to be on Luna, but that doesn’t mean such is so.

The Iron Palace: “The Iron Palace looked like a shard of black glass against the otherwise pale landscape of the moon, a gloomy fortress. The North Tower looked like the other three, but it stood as a hollow shell with burned insides. It had never been rebuilt, and instead the doors were locked – the halls never to be trod in again. The rest of the palace, however, was immaculate in its marble walls and golden trim - the pinnacle of opulence. Surrounding the palace lay terraformed gardens blooming with moonlilies, and in the largest garden stood the kingdom’s first Iron Shrine. … Royal Captain Viera led them into the palace gates and through the empty square, the palace towering over them like a shard of black glass. The palace doors opened into the great hall, lined with pillars as thick as three men.” (HoI, II: Iron Blood, Robb) The palace is largely lit by floating lanterns that fill the halls and rooms, though most likely there are other lighting options such as lamps, overheads, etc.

The palace is also described as a real maze for those who don’t know their way, with identical hallways that Ana only found her way around once she learned which vases and paintings were in which halls. There’s also a system of servant passages that allow servants to move seamlessly through the building and attend to matters unseen. These passages are used by Robb to visit Ana, Malifare as she poses as Ana’s handmaid, and Ana when she was lured into the North Tower.

Messiers stand at every corner, in the gardens, and at the palace doors. They by-and-large don’t do much.

Bonus: The Iron Throne: “The throne swallowed the [Grand Duchess]. Large steel beams spiked out from the chair’s back like sun rays, and she the center.” (HoI, II: Iron Blood, Robb)

Nevaeh

Nevaeh is a space station city whose orbit lies between Eros’ and Iliad’s. “The cityscape of Nevaeh passed below, a grid of grimy, dilapidated buildings. Nevaeh had been the only safe haven from the Plague twenty years ago, so everyone who was not infected had moved here – including Ironbloods, who created the gardens to separate themselves from the citizens. An extra layer of protection from the Plague. But soon the space station fell into disarray, with too many citizens and too little space and no money left to buy land on-world on Eros or Iliad after the Plague was eradicated.” (HoI, I: Iron Theif, Robb).

Astoria: Astoria is the Valerios’ garden estate. As stated above, the Ironbloods took refuge from the Plague in Nevaeh as everyone else, but installed for themselves floating garden estates which hang above the city. Astoria is filled to the brim with exotic flora, including hedge mazes, thorny bushes, and plenty of room to host events.

Shrine: There is a large, prominent shrine on Nevaeh in which Ana’s adventure begins – attempting to steal the coordinates to the Tsarina from Robb – and ends – in a fight against Malifare that is eventually won by her, Di, and Siege. “At the head of the shrine stood the statue of the Moon Goddess, seven men high, her arms oustretched as she looked to some distant point in the domed ceiling, where murals of the Moon Goddess’s story, the kingdom of shadows and the girl of light, were painted. The entire space station of Nevaeh felt empty in the shrine, as if the world only existed between the alabaster pillars and stained-glass trappings, so quiet she could hear the electric hum of Di’s wires and functions, as soft and soothing as a song.” (HoI, I: Iron thief, Ana)

There are 999 candles lit in the shrine, representing the 999 years of the Iron Kingdom (one (1) additional candle is added after the 1,000th anniversary). Even the statue of the Goddess was covered in candles, Ana having to navigate them to get to the heart in the Goddess’ hands. In Soul of Stars, the shrine’s tomb has been damaged and the shrine itself set alight during Malifare’s search for her heart, but efforts to reconstruct it were already evident when Ana came back to retrieve the heart from its hiding spot.

Iliad

Iliad is the second planet from the sun, the only to be described as having rings, and hosts the city of Zenteli, where the Solani ark crash-landed 1,000 years prior to the story. Iliad’s cities are said to be “Crime ridden” (HoI, I: Iron thief, Ana). Not much is known of Iliad other than it having fighting rings where Lenda fought and Di – and presumably the rest of the Dossier – was shot at by mercenaries there once, earning him a ding to his chassis. Iliad is also where Di visited a mechanic and found out his memory core was malfunctioning, a malady for which there was no fix.

Zenteli: “Zenteli was a city unlike anywhere [Robb had] ever been before. It shone alabaster white in the sun, almost indistinguishable from the clouds surrounding it. The city was one of the last safe havens away from the HIVE and Messiers, because of an age-old treaty with the kingdom that barred kingdom influence in the Solani city. Located on the peak of a mountain range near the northern pole of Iliad, it should have been cold, but the sunlight kept the city warm and comfortable. Beneath the mountain was a valley where the original Solani ark had crashed over a thousand years ago. As the Dossier broke through the clouds, the sight of the ruined ship was monstrously large—more like the carcass of a living creature than a ship at all. … While the outer walls of the city were made of sandstone, most of the buildings built into the top of the mountain were made of marble. The city was clean and well kept, far older than most cities on Eros. It also had one of the only Iron Shrines that still stood untouched, a shard of white blending in with the rest of the buildings.” (SoS, II: Starless, Robb)

The most impressive feature of the city is the Shining Spire, which appears to function as a Solani palace. The Spire is multi-purpose, being the place where Jax was taken to the med bay, the crew were kept in prison cells, and the Elder counsel met. The spire features a lovely garden that overlooks the ark’s valley, which would have been lovelier if they’d visited when Jax wasn’t actively dying. Inside the spire, “Cloudy crystalline walls separated one room from another, the doors clear as glass. It was so bright, [Robb’s] eyes watered. The medical ward looked more like the inside of a star.” (SoS, II: Starless, Robb) On every wall in the Spire are etched names, presumably of Solani who have died – perhaps only Solani royalty or those of importance, but that’s unconfirmed – and also Jax’s name, carved when he was on his deathbed.

The Ark: Called the allahlav in the Old Language, “It had taken only an hour or so to get down the side of the mountain, with the help of a few pulleys and antiquated zip lines hidden in the foliage. The last bit of the trail was a hilly descent into the valley, and the ark already looked impossibly big. It had once housed hundreds of thousands of Solani—but Ana hadn’t realized how big it was until she was halfway down the mountain and the bones of the ship stretched from one side of the valley to the other, like the skeleton of some great beast of lore. It wasn’t a natural valley, but a crater made from its impact.

The ancient ark stood in all its ghostly glory. It was so much larger than Ana could have anticipated, its crystalline structure reminding her more of fossils found in the earth than a ship at all. Great vine-covered pillars curved inward, reaching five hundred feet in the air to make a sort of rib cage for a great beast. The ark spread out in both directions, so long it faded into the trees on either side. It was like nothing in the Iron Kingdom because it wasn’t made of iron or copper or gold. It was ivory and ancient.”

The ark was like a cool giant sky whale but also a controllable ship – even Elara isn’t entirely sure on the details – and was the last of its kind, transporting the last of the Solani from their galaxy to escape the Great Dark that sought to consume them.

Haven’s Grave

It was a graveyard of sorts, halfway between Cerces and Iliad, where derelict ships congregated through some strange cosmic magnitism, and in the center of the graveyard was a waystation only a few knew about.” (SoS, IV: Starcrossed, Ana)

Cerces

Cerces, third from the sun, is a desert planet infamous for its mineral mines, and features two moons: Palavar and Colliope. Imprisoned people outfitted with vox collars – to prevent unions and uprisings – mine the gem-rich world until they die. “It was a planet of deserts, and underground cities built of topaz and emeralds, and the infamous prison mines that supplied rare jewels to the rest of the kingdom.” (HoI, II: Iron Ships, Jax) It’s also home to the Cercians, though little is described of them except that they wear markings – presumably tattoos – that indicate which clan they belong to.

Palavar

Cerces’s dark moon. It orbited around the third planet from the sun in such a way that it always fell into the planet’s shadow. No light reach it – and that meant no energy. Ships couldn’t function for long, tech would power down.” (HoI, II: Iron Ships, Jax) There are mentions of ruins being on the moon, hinted at being over 1000 years old, perhaps in an age when Cerces was in a different location compared to the sun the Palavar saw light.

The Tsarina

Known later as The Murder Ship, the Tsarina was the only ship docked in the moonbay that wasn’t accounted for after the Rebellion. “The Tsarina was a Class-4 Armada retired thirty-four years ago for private use, but it did not show its age. On its side, in royal purple, was the Rasovant family crest, a nine-tentacled octopus.” (HoI, II: Iron Ships, Di)

“The halogen lights popped on one at a time, illuminating the long corridor. It was white, lined with silver doors glowing with red keypads. Locked. At first glance, the ship looked immaculate, but there was a thin layer of dust on the tiled floor, showing their boot prints as they traveled down the corridor. … The Tsarina could easily fit five Dossiers. At full capacity, the ship could house two, maybe three hundred people. She’d never been on a ship this big.” (HoI, II: Iron Ships, Ana)

The Dossier

“The Dossier was a ship of beauty.

The Cercian-7 transportation vessel was from an era before Metals and Rebellions. Close to a century old, the black-and-chrome girl was retrofitted, so it looked like a patchwork of old parts and new spares. Too many firefights had run its three black solar sails ragged, and still it kept sailing like a dead man in the night. The ship wasn’t as fast as newer models, but it was quiet and durable and its solar engine purred sweet as nectar. It was finicky to fly, so most pilots couldn’t handle it properly, but Jax flew it like a dream.

The cargo bay could fit a skysailer and crates for goods and their latest haul, connecting to an infirmary and an engine room. Up a rickety set of rusted stairs was the crew’s quarters, the galley, the captain’s room, and the cockpit where Jax spent most of his time. The ship constantly hummed from the golden solar energy core at its heart, a sweet and low song that Ana couldn’t sleep without, and the ship always smelled like recycled air, rust, and gunpowder.

There was never enough privacy, the showers were always colder than the darkest recesses of space, and you could hear someone whisper from anywhere on the ship. But her bunk was warm, and her mattress lumpy to fit her curves, and the crew was like her—forgotten, exiled, orphaned, refugeed. Her family. Home.” (HoI, II: Iron Ships, Ana)

#heart of iron #hoi #sos #reference #settings #soul of stars

1 note · View note