#By evening everyone's been sighted in at least two locations at the same time and the jl is whipping themselves into a frenzy before he

[thefanficmonster]

Heavy Metal Lover

PART 2

Colby Brock x Reader (Female)

Warnings: Smoking, Brief Choking, Mentioned Past Suicides (at the location they're exploring), Suggestive Content, Arguments, Swearing

Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Romance, Very Slight Smut, RPF (Real Person Fic)

Summary: Sam's best friend and Kat's best friend have been tangling antlers since the moment they met. So much for the couple's hopes of setting the two up.

NOTE: Sam and Kat are still together in this fic. This detail is not meant to be disrespectful to Sam's current girlfriend in any way.

"Why do we keep trying?"

Sam's question comes out as an exasperated sigh as he slouches further into the leather couch him and Kat have settled onto. Their rooms aren't ready yet, seeing as how their flight arrived way earlier than their calculations had suggested.

The hotel lobby is busy. The noise on any other day would be too much for the two to ignore and tune out but right now it's much more alike white noise. Jet-lag has really done them in this time. They'd been running away from it for long enough - hopping from plane to plane filming Hell Week is the same every year. But alas, by the fourth location they'd always shut down as has been the case since they stepped foot out of the plane and into the Las Vegas airport.

The only reason they're staying awake is so they don't get robbed blind. Well, that and to make sure the other two people on this trip don't murder one another.

"Because I still believe there's something there."

Y/N and Colby had successfully made it through the whole boarding process and flight without a single fight. Hell, Sam can't even recall them exchanging a single word until they arrived at the hotel. Maybe that's why it took them less than thirty seconds to break out in their usual bitter back-and-forth in the middle of the lobby. The only reason voices remained leveled was because they are indeed in public and they have appearances to upkeep.

The couple managed to subdue the perpetual assholes, convincing them to 'take five' which they thankfully went to take in opposite directions - Y/N headed for the parking lot to grab something she allegedly forgot in their rental car while Colby immediately clocked the patio across the lobby and quickly disappeared out of sight.

Kat watched them both, as if on cue, pluck their packs of cigarettes from their pockets on the way out.

That's what she means when she's trying to convince Sam of that something she sees. She can't explain it without the reasoning sounding like wishful thinking but she knows there is something. Something in the explosiveness in their interactions, the 'hatred' in their glares whenever they are tangling antlers over the smallest inconvenience, the way they look at each other when the other isn't looking.

Y/N and Colby are to Kat what the paranormal is to Sam. She wants to prove it to everyone, but mostly herself. Prove she didn't spend years poking holes in their apprehension for one another and pushing them together when the holy force clearly didn't want her to.

Or maybe that's what has been driving her.

Either way, she's truly grateful Sam is going along with her antics. Whether he believes what she's preaching or sees what she's seeing is up for debate, but at he's still supportive.

He'd never tell her this, but he isn't exactly trusting of the process. He more than anyone would want to see his best friend in a happy and healthy relationship. Does he believe that him and Y/N could have that? No. Not at all. Does he have faith Kat will succeed in her endeavors? Nope. Not even a tad. Even though she's stubborn and dedicated to this cause, he's never met a person more hard-headed than his best friend. Or at least he hadn't until he met Y/N.

You know the whole 'opposites attract' notion? The reason Sam and Kat's experiment subjects won't give the results they're hoping for is because they're too alike. In sync even - as the cigarettes instance that happened less than ten minutes ago would confirm. They're on the same wavelength headed in opposite directions. They're permanently heading for a collision - a fight equal to a ticking time bomb. Sam and Kat have to put out the fire the explosion of said bomb causes but that is a small price to pay to keep the two in each other's proximity.

"I don't know, babe...." Sam's shoulders slump downward, his arm automatically wrapping around Kat when she leans into his side. Hesitant as he may be, he's willing to go along with it. How is it any different from all the times Kat agreed to visit abandoned and haunted places with him. Hell, that's why she's here. She had no problem hopping on a plane to Vegas on such short notice just because she knew how much it'd mean to him. So...what's a little matchmaking in return? "But I believe your romance instincts." Looking down at her, he can't help but smile when he sees her absolutely beaming at him.

"I will not let you down."

She may try her best, but their subjects are two particularly unruly chess pieces.

Y/N, for example, is still out in the parking lot, getting antsier by the second. Anger refuses to let her stand still. Her jaw is still set, hot blood pumping through her veins. So many words she didn't get to spit out due to the public constraint are still stuck in her throat. Colby's words are replaying in her head, their edge causing her to dig her nails into her palms.

She needs to get some air, she just doesn't know where to find it. Maybe at the top of a mountain where she could scream her lungs out in peace. That's not really an option now, though, she she just settles for walking around the hotel, giving herself a couple more minutes before she rejoins Sam and Kat inside.

Eventually, she's made her way around to the side of the hotel that spreads out as an open patio, basking in the all-too-warm sun rays of this fine September day. Last year, the high temperatures were not such a problem while putting up with the fast paced dynamic of Hell Week because they actually filmed it in late October. This year, however, they chose to get it out of the wat sooner because their schedule would be packed all October. Kat's been working on a new album, Y/N has a deal with Crypt TV to make a horror movie and Sam and Colby will be doing Sam and Colby stuff. I don't think there is any other way to sum up what those two are doing.

Not that Y/N really cares what they do. The only reason she's versed into their schedules is because she lives with them. Yes, that is correct - much to her dismay, she found herself forced to live with the guys and Kat after an unexpected and unwarranted eviction from her apartment.

She exhausted all possible options long before caving and accepting Kat's offer to move in with the three. She was welcomed into the house with three different reactions: her best friend squealing with excitement; Sam offering her a warm welcome and helping hand in moving her stuff to her room; and last, and certainly least, was Colby who gave her nothing more than a 'hello' in passing.

None of them can really recall when this endless butting of heads started or how or why. Sam and Kat would equate their attempts at getting the two to get along to pushing same charges toward one another - the harder you push, the harder they push apart.

It's truly baffling where Kat found even an ounce of romance between the two.

Y/N wipes a few droplets of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand as she climbs the few stairs to reach the bar out on the patio, hoping to gulp down a glass of water after the cigarette she tossed a few minutes ago coupled with the intense heat.

"Hello there." The bartender greets her with a smile, his gaze trailing over her with zero subtlety. "What can I get ya?"

She chooses to ignore it, "Hi. Just a glass of water, please."

The man chuckles, reaching for a tall glass "You know, it's Happy Hour somewhere."

Despite his attempts at flirting - which Y/N is aware is part of his job - she finds herself letting out a small laugh, "Yeah well, not here. And not for me." She gratefully accepts the glass of ice cold water with a nod.

Before the guy can reply, a third voice butts into the conversation, "Yeah, definitely not for her. She's a raging alcoholic."

Stunned, Y/N turns to see a pair of electric blue eyes piercing her with a blank look that contradicts his extremely fake smile he's pinned on his face out of nothing more than politeness.

For a moment, due to their glaring match, they completely forget about the man they've roped into their mess. Thankfully, he speaks up, reminding them of his presence before he could witness any potential brawl, "Oh, um, I'm sorry to hear that."

Momentarily, Y/N drops the torch, tearing her gaze from Colby to acknowledge the bartender directly, "Yeah, no big deal."

Her teeth grit together in absolute rage when she hears the asshole beside her snort something alike a laugh, "Tragic, really. Can I get a vodka cran?"

Y/N busies her hand with holding the glass so she doesn't give into the idea of punching him, "Someone clearly follows that Happy Hour rule."

"I'll have you know..." Colby turns his whole body to face her now, as if challenging her, "...it's not for me." The tilt of his head directs her gaze to an attractive brunette sitting alone at a table, scrolling through her phone.

"Lovely." She spits the word like poison on her tongue, "I'll go tell her to blink twice if she needs help."

"You need help." The lack of bite to his statement stuns her more than if he were to yell it at her. It's an effective throw-off considering she doesn't immediately jump back or smack his hand away when he reaches for the pocket of her shorts, swiping her lighter, "Mine's out of juice." He explains, sticking it in his back pocket before turning to the bartender once more, handing him a ten dollar bill, "And lemon iced tea for my friend here, she's looking a little parched."

With that and a brisk nod in Y/N's direction, Colby excuses himself from the interaction and heads back to the model of a woman who's quick to flash him a bright smile when she notices him approaching.

A sickening feeling settles in her gut. She can't believe any woman gets wound around his finger so easily. She might be biased but she just simply doesn't see it. She can't understand what gets girls within a five mile radius of him swooning.

That smile so many deem charming she finds cynical and fake. His eyes, although a pretty color, are hollow apart from the twinge of evil she sees every time they glare at her. His flirty, charismatic words could make her puke if exposed to them for an extended period of time. In short, she finds him repulsive.

Had they gotten off on a better foot maybe she would've even ended up in his bed on a few occasions by now. As they stand now, she'd rather sleep with Satan himself.

Still, she takes the iced tea, mostly out of curtesy but also because she is indeed dehydrated. She spares the table Colby has now taken a seat at a brisk glance just to find her eyes met with a pair of piercing blue ones once more.

She could strangle him, theoretically, but she won't. Not with this many witnesses around. Instead, she heads inside, looking for Sam and Kat in hopes of getting the last fifteen minutes out of her head.

* * * *

"What's up guys, it's Sam and Colby! And today we'll be investigating the Oasis Motel in Las Vegas. Known for its dark and unexplainable past and the reputation that precedes it today." Sam explains as they begin filming the intro to their video.

The group is currently standing outside the aforementioned motel. The exterior they were met with upon arrival was enough for Kat and Y/N to exchange a particular look. It's in an area off the strip, the surroundings accentuating the atmosphere and amplifying the creep factor.

"Unfortunately, we won't be able to stay at the hotel. They haven't been renting rooms for close to a decade to avoid any potential casualties. And by that I mean - suicides." Colby says, reciting the notes he both wrote and memorized on the car ride here.

"Yeah, this motel is known for two specific suicides that happened here. Specifically in room 20." Sam adds, listing the sightings that have been allegedly witnessed by staff and guests alike before the motel was shut down for business.

The place now just stands ominously as a haunted attraction of sorts. It's meant to honor the memory of the two people who took their own life there but it's clear they have purposefully added to the fear factor to attract more people like Sam and Colby.

That still doesn't take away from the fact that just looking at the building settles an uneasy feeling in Y/N's gut.

She's always been curious about the paranormal but never went out of her way to seek answers. The only reason she's been joining the gang for paranormal investigations is because Kat often begs her to. And she's always had a hard time turning down her best friend, about anything.

So, here she is, sighing as she follows Sam and Kat inside the barely lit lobby of the motel where the staff member who's gonna be giving them a tour is waiting for them.

Before she can fully cross over the doorstep, she feels a finger trail over her arm, running over the very prominent goosebumps that have appeared on her skin.

"Aww, is someone scared?" The mockery in Colby's voice drains any sort of fear or uncertainty she was feeling before.

She whirls around to face him, nostrils flaring when she sees his coy smirk, "Get your fucking hands off me before I knock you the fuck out." She snarls between clenched teeth.

His smile only widens, becoming a tad more genuine now, "That's more like it. Don't be a pussy."

She's about to retaliate with a string of insults that's make a sailor blush when Sam, thankfully, interrupts her, "Guys! Come on!"

The fucker was saved by divine intervention this once, but Sam won't always be there to shield him from Y/N's wrath - he's very aware of that. Time and time again they've screamed their lungs out at one another just to storm off to fill them with nicotine for a potential round two.

In a way, that is a love language too, right? Well, if you ask Kat, that is. Though she isn't completely wrong. The opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. And these two are most definitely not indifferent to one another.

Speaking of Kat, she doesn't fail to sneak a peek at the hostile interaction between the two. She nudged Sam's ribs to point it out and smacked his arm when he put a stop to it. Although that was the best course of action to prevent Colby losing any teeth tonight, curtesy of Y/N's fist.

Ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration.

She may have spit a million threats his way over the many year they've known each other, but never once did she go through with them.

"Hi, guys. I'm Scott, and it's an honor to be welcoming y'all to the Oasis." The man, who they now know as Scott, introduces himself as he turns on an old tall lamp by what used to be the front desk of the motel. "I hope you're ready to capture some great footage tonight. We're giving you a time frame till 2 AM which is an exception we rarely make, but this one over here is a smooth talker." He says, smiling slyly over at Colby who was the one that placed the call to the motel before they added the place to their itenirary.

Colby, in turn, shrugs, a grin plastering itself on his face, "I mean..." He chuckles, causing Y/N to roll her eyes, "No, jokes aside, I can't thank you enough for bending the rules for us."

It baffles her how charming he can be. She can't help but wonder at times why she wasn't deemed worthy of this pleasant side of him. Not that she hasn't grown somewhat fond of their dysfunctional dynamic - not that she'd ever admit it - but she still wishes she knew.

And she hates it.

Instead of dwelling on it, she busies herself with the fear that's still lingering on the backburner. She'd much rather be scared of whatever's waiting for them in this motel than what she might find if she keeps digging in her mind.

* * * *

"What is your fucking problem?!"

The tension has been building all night, both between Y/N and Colby and from the paranormal aspect of it all.

Glares thrown in from across the room. Light, supposedly accidental touches, some even meant to startle her. Lingering behind her or always looming close to her, reminiscent of her literal shadow.

He's rarely so bold with his proximity to her. He respects her personal space and tends to keep himself at an arm's length regardless of the place they're in. But for some reason, not quite clear to him yet, he's been keeping himself close to her the whole night. Either it's from a certain need to protect her or an inherent need to annoy her into continuously acknowledging his presence, he can't tell.

But by now it's reached a boiling point.

What pushed the situation past Y/N's tolerance threshold was getting scared out of her skin by Colby who, by design of the challenge, wasn't supposed to be anywhere near her. They were less than five minutes into their solo investigations - Sam, ever the challenger, took room 20; Kat is in the restaurant, Y/N is in room 33 and Colby was supposed to take on the attic.

However, he didn't quite last long.

At the first sound of mild panic coming from room 33, which is directly underneath the attic, Colby immediately took off down the stairs, nearly taking the door off its hinges and scaring the ever-loving daylight out of Y/N.

That is what provoked this reaction from her. And now that we're up to speed...

"I thought you were in danger." He explains, quietly shutting the door behind him as he approaches the bed where she's sat.

"Jesus, Colby, you gave me a heart attack!" She groans, squeezing the bridge of her nose in frustration, suddenly antsy in her seat, "I'm not new to this shit! I've been doing this for years with you guys! I get that you may not see me but that doesn't mean I'm not there!" Her heart is still racing, her breathing shallow. Her chest is heaving despite the hand she's placed overtop it in an inefficient attempt at calming herself down.

A few steps closer on his part make her even more uneasy. She gets up to her feet to level the ground between them somewhat. There is something so vulnerable in sitting down with him standing over her. Dare I say, intimate.

"I see you." He says almost bitterly, "Oh, I fucking see you, Y/N. You're always there, always in my viewpoint. Always just a step out of arm's reach. And I hate it. Or try to. You piss me off so bad I can't even put it into words without sounding fucking insane!"

He's close, too fucking close. The chain hanging from his jeans brushes against the exposed skin of her thigh, sending chills all over her body. It makes her wish her shorts were longer. Makes her wish she could push him away, keep her guard up, keep up her mean front.

But when fingers tangle in her hair, his hand cupping the back of her head, she knows it's too late for any of that.

Their lips are barely an inch apart, the two practically sharing the same breath. Still, her pettiness dies screaming with one last whispered, "Fuck you."

With that, all barriers, both physical and metaphorical, come crashing down as their lips collide with the force of seven years worth of tension. Seven years of denial masked as aggression and annoyance. Every word spat out in anger, every glare, every passing touch, every 'flirty' moment. It's all condensed into a hostile collision of lips, biting teeth and battling tongues.

Y/N's hands intertwine at the back of his neck while his travel down to her waist, pulling her impossibly closer. Their connection is airtight, the heat between their bodies increasing the need to pull back to breathe, though that's the last thing they wanna do. It's been far too long for it to end this soon.

Her legs threaten to give out. It's all too much too fast and too unbelievable. Thankfully, Colby seems to feel the same.

He softly pushes her down on the bed, smiling in the kiss at the zero complaints he receives in response.

"You're so sweet when you wanna be." He pulls back for just a second, his hand cupping her chin.

She's quick to smack it away. He expected nothing else. "Shut the fuck up."

He chuckles almost darkly as his hand now settles around her throat, "Adorable." He's aware he's pushing his luck, but then again it's always a gamble with her. This time, he might just luck out.

Their lips have no time to reconnect though, much to their dismay.

"Colby! Y/N! Where are you guys?!"

Sam's voice reaches them from the lobby downstairs, forcing them apart instantly. A deer in headlights look flashes across both their faces as they hurry to create as much distance between them as possible.

Colby swears he sees any hope he had sink right before his eyes. He watches the realization of what just happened dawn on Y/N. Now that the heat of the moment has evaporated, it becomes all too real and all too clear to her what a mistake that was.

"Guys?!" This time it's Kat's voice bouncing off the walls, coupled with the sound of footsteps on the stairs.

He's panicking, not really sure as to exactly why. Whether it's because he'll have to explain this predicament to his friends or because he can see Y/N starting to regret said predicament in real time, he's not sure. Either way, he needs to come up with something, fast. If his brain can kick back into gear after his whole world was briefly thrown off its axis.

"Go." It comes out as a whisper but it bounces around in his head like an earthquake.

"What?" His tone mimics hers, afraid that a single note higher would ruin what little tranquility they've managed to maintain while there's full-on storms raging in their minds.

Her eyes are trained on the floor, hollow with a thousand yard stare. She can't look at him, unsure as to why. She just knows she can't. "Go. Get out. This never happened." When she finally wills herself to meet his eyes she can feel the burning of tears at the back of her throat, "Forget this ever happened."

Footsteps grow closer but they still have leeway to get away with it with just a white lie.

"Go. Now!" She repeats, a bit more fervor in her words now. She gives him no room to reply as she ushers him away but he isn't capable of stringing words together right now anyway.

So, he obliges, going against all his instincts telling him the opposite. And he does so on time as well, shutting the door behind him just as a tear rolls down Y/N's cheek.

What a fucking mistake, they once again sync up, sharing the same exact thought. Though they silently agreed to forget everything that just happened, they're both well aware it won't leave their brain for the foreseeable future.

If ever.

[upon-a-starry-night]

Number Neighbors Pt. 18

Natasha Romanoff x Fem! Reader

Natasha Masterlist Series Masterlist

Word Count: 1.3k

Warnings: Implied torture?

Summary:  When you catch sight of the newest trend going around you know you’re all but bound to at least try it, it was harmless anyway. What could possibly stem from something so little?

----

Nat had let a small amount of relief fill her when you answered the phone only for it to vanish when all she heard was a startled “umph” before the phone hung up. 

She tried not to assume the worst. She’d been in situations ten times as dangerous and intimidating so why did this feel like the most stressful situation she’d ever been in?

Was it because she couldn’t do anything but sit and hope Peter got to you on time?

With nothing but frustration and anxiety coursing through her Nat began beating herself for not being able to help you. She let her adoration for you cloud her reason and now look at you?

What if the person following you was one of her enemies? She’d been taking every precaution in keeping you a secret from everyone but Clint but maybe she’d slipped up. It was just so easy to forget that she was an Avenger when she talked to you. Easy to forget her past and her duties. 

She felt this overwhelming warmth and excitement about you. It scared her but at the same time she figured it was about time she let herself have something good. Something to look forward to after every mission. Something to worry about, to care for, to spoil. 

A profuse longing filled her heart as she thought of you these days. An urge to wrap her arms around you for hours on end. To run her hands through your hair. To hear your laugh and be the one causing it.

She wanted to take you on better dates than Leon and spend quiet nights talking in the dark about nothing until the two of you fell asleep.

Maybe she’d even slow dance with you like Steve always talked about.

But she might not ever get that with you.

For the first time in years, she felt a profound fear overtake her. Her blood running cold and her heart pounding so hard it was all she could hear. She felt scared and frustrated at the same time. 

Her throat felt so tight she felt like she might choke and tears threatened to form in her eyes.

Taking a deep shaky inhale she shook her head and tried to clear her mind.

She pressed the call button again, hoping to whatever God Steve believed in you picked up.

Your phone went to voicemail immediately.

She let out a defeated sigh just as Peter’s contact photo popped up.

She hit the accept button with the anticipation that he’d found you and you were safe.

“Tell me you’re there Peter.”

“Uhm,” his breathless voice came through “ I lost her phone’s location, it must have shut off or something but Karen remembers where it was and I’m almost there”

Shit, so your phone did turn off. There’s no way you would’ve voluntarily turned it off at a time like this. 

“What is- Hey!” Nat could only listen as Peter shouted and his body thumped as he hit the ground

“Peter? What’s going on?”

“There’s someone on the ground over here”

Nat nearly choked, running another hand through her tussled hair she shook her hands a few times to try and get rid of the numbing that was crawling up her arms.

“Is it a woman?” she tried her best to keep her voice even, she didn’t need Peter to know how terrified she was.

“Uhhhh-” Agonizing seconds drew on as the sound of Peter’s heavy breathing was all she could hear. The sound of an older man’s voice was distant on the other side of the phone “No it’s a guy, smells like he’s drunk” Nat could picture Peter scrunching up his nose in disgust. “There was a girl here earlier though but she ran when she heard me”

Nat let herself relax a bit, checking her phone she saw that a police station wasn’t too far from your location. You would undoubtedly go straight there.

“Uhm Miss Romanoff I think you should see this”

Her phone pinged with a photo and she sucked in her teeth when she saw it. 

The photo was a picture of a darkened street, a grocery bag with a pint your favorite flavor of ice cream was melting on the ground and a few splatters of blood decorated the space around it.

She hoped it wasn’t yours.

“Oh shit! Miss Romanoff this guy’s bleeding. It looks like he was stabbed”

Surprise filled her at the revelation. Had you fought back and managed to get the upper hand? Was that his blood splattered on the floor?

“That fucking bitch tried to kill me!” The distant slurred voice spoke up again and Natasha’s jaw set. An icy cold rage overtook her once again as she thought of all the ways she could kill this guy. It helped ease her mind.

“What should I do Miss Romanoff?” A breathless boyish voice questioned

“Bring him in Peter.”

Peter agreed and told her he’d be back as soon as possible before hanging up. 

Nat set her phone down and slumped on the edge of her bed. Staring at her gray sheets that you guessed correctly all that time ago. Your phone must have gotten roughed up during whatever happened and that’s why you couldn’t pick up. Still- that grunt that you let out before your phone turned off… she hoped you were okay.

Now that she knew you were on the path to safety she switched back to spy mode and tuned in to the police radio.

“Requesting immediate medical attention, I need an ambulance to Station 314. We have an unconscious injured female. Laceration on the shoulder and bruising on the arms, she’s lost a lot of blood” 

Nat reached over and grabbed her laptop, opening it up to follow the ambulance that was headed your way.

You would be fine. The police could handle your wound until the ambulance got there. She didn’t know when you were stabbed but the time between when she called and when you arrived at the police station allotted enough time for you to not lose too much blood. The shoulder was a better place to be cut than the stomach or other vital organs. But she wasn’t happy that you were even hurt at all.

For the next 20 minutes, she listened to the ambulance arrive and transport you to the hospital. Tapping into the paramedic's phones and then the nurses as they rush you to a room. She ensures that a doctor will treat your wounds immediately and then switches the information over to her phone when Friday tells her Peter is back.

On her way down to the interrogation room she re-opens the tab with your favorite flowers that she never dared to purchase and clicks the order button. She has them scheduled to be delivered to your room just as the elevator dings on the underground floor of the compound.

Peter is standing there rocking on his heels and he waves when he spots Nat. 

“Thanks, Peter”

He smiles and bobs his head once before turning to look at the guy in the holding cell.

“Do you need me to stay, Miss Romanoff?”

She shakes her head and checks her phone again. The doctors deduce you’ll need 6 stitches for your wound which means the knife cut at least an inch deep. 

Nat clenches her jaw and tightens her grip around her phone, barely looking up she speaks to Peter

“You should probably get back on patrol before Stark throws a fit.” 

The Young Avenger agrees and heads off with a quick ‘good luck’. She finds it cute that he thinks she’s the one who needs luck.

Typing in the code on the keypad, she checks your condition one last time before entering the cell.

Face blank and demeanor cold she thinks Peter really should have wished this guy good luck. 

Pt.19

A/n: Nat is about to fuck this guy up- anyway I have the ending for this story planned out and I promise their first meeting is literally right around the corner!! ~ Starry

---Taglist--

@marvelwomen-simp @cd-4848 @wandanatlov3r @rebeltombraider @ctrlamira @fxckmiup @aliherreraaa @natsxwife @la-douler-ne-finite-jamais @romanoffsgal @moistblobfish @natashaswife4125 @elenimoris @how-to-disappearrr @screechcat @toouncreativeforausername @ordelixx @autorasexy @blacklightsposts @vmpnano @jono723 @sylencr @saraaahsstuff

[chiefdirector]

Missing | Tim Bradford | The Rookie

Tim Bradford was known to be many things. Hardass, stickler for rules, vengeful, angry. Words like these had been tossed around tirelessly to describe him. They would say how unfortunate it was for his rookie to be stuck with a Training Officer like him. If anyone met him today, they would think he was born stuck in his ways, a man destined to be encompassed by the negatives in life. 

But, contrary to popular belief, he wasn't always like he is now. In what seemed like many lifetimes ago, Tim used to be full of joy and light. He used to joke around with his coworkers and enjoy the things life had to offer. That life was long gone, all of it a forgotten memory; all of it except the golden wedding band that hung on a chain around his neck.

Despite it going against the uniform policy, Tim never took the chain off. He tucked it under his uniform, keeping it out of sight. Sargent Grey had caught him with it once and tried to reprimand him but stopped himself when he saw the ring hanging there. He knew what it meant, and what it meant that Tim was still wearing it. It meant that he hadn't given up.

(Y/N) Bradford had disappeared on the job nearly two years ago. Despite the presumption not being legally binding, everyone said she had probably been taken out by the cartel she had been hunting. She had made quite a name for herself within the LAPD for her ability to disband gangs and negotiate for them to stop their business, or at least reduce it.

Nobody was surprised when she disappeared, nor her partner when they vanished at the same time. They had tried with all of their might to track them down, SWAT teams busted multiple suspected locations but to no avail. It was as if they had disappeared off of the face of the Earth. Tim had tried to lead as many searches as he could but Grey had intervened, saying that he was too close to the matter to think rationally. He was right, Tim was on a rampage, he would not stop until he found her, no matter what, or who, got in his way.

He never gave up, even when every intuition and gut feeling he had told him to stop, he only pushed harder. He dedicated every free moment he had to following up leads. The detectives on her case were useless, he couldn’t trust them, he couldn’t trust anyone bar himself.

But life went on, he woke up every day, he went to work, he went home. Little changed, he got a new rookie, Lucy Chen, and he continued on the way he always had: one day at a time. Lucy pried the information of (Y/N)’s case out of him on the second anniversary of her disappearance. Tim had finally snapped, hopelessness coursed through his veins as he knew he was no way closer to finding her than he was two years ago. What he hadn't realised though, was that having a rookie meant that he had a fresh pair of eyes on a case, eyes that could see details that he had missed.

Lucy had taken what Tim had told her about (Y/N) to heart. She knew how hard it could be to be without the one you loved, she knew how much this must have hurt him. She had requested to see the case files, it took an exorbitant amount of favours and promises but she managed to get copies of the records.

She could see why Tim seemed resigned to the fact that he would never get his wife back. All of the leads took her nowhere. She would have to explain to him why she had taken the files out, why she had gone behind his back, and it would all be for naught. Gathering up the files, Lucy began to head back to the records room when a post-it note slipped out of the file. She crouched, huddling the rest of the paperwork to her side in hopes that it wouldn't fly everywhere, and picked up the paper. Lucy hadn't noticed it the first time around. On it was an address on the outskirts of LA, she had seen the area a few times when BOLOs had gone out.

——————

“Just hear me out, please!” Chen begged, rushing along behind Tim as she tried to keep up with rapidly increasing pace as they headed towards their shop.

“About what?” Tim stopped and turned around to face his boot. “How you went behind my back to go through that file? About how you went to that address? Alone might I add. About how you endanger your life, and potentially hers too? Is that it, or am I forgetting something?”

Tim was right, he had every right to be mad; she had done all of that stuff. But she couldn't give up, not now, not now that she knew that-

“Well?” He snapped.

Lucy stood her ground. “Her partner was there.”

A beat passed as she watched Tim pale.

“What?”

“Her partner was there.”

“What about- was she…?”

Lucy took a step forward, reaching her hand to her Training Officer’s arm, trying to bring some form of comfort but he recoiled. “No, but he said that they had spoken. The last he heard, she was near the Mexico/Arizona border. He said that he would try to speak to her.”

Tim felt like the world had come to a stop. All this time, all this time and she was so close by. He could have been there for her, he could have stopped all of this hardship and hurt. He could have brought her home, back to LA, where she belonged. He could have brought her back to him.  Questions spun through his mind. Was she okay? Was she safe? Did she know that she was declared missing? Had she had any contact with anyone else? Did she know that he had waited all this time for her? Did she wait for him? Tim tried to ground himself. She was alive, and that would be enough for now.

She was alive and he could live that.

| Part Two

Series Masterlist | Masterlist

[aettuddae]

hole in one. — 141. it'll be heaven.

⌕ synopsis: at one of the most prestigious universities in the country, where everyone is battling to be the center of attention, yu jimin is just a regular. people want her because of her beauty, but all she cares about is sharing her freaky stuff with her friends and passing her subjects. although there's one thing that might push her out of her comfort zone, revenge. when nakamura kazuha, one of the richest and most well-known students of NCU, starts to spread gossip about her for thousands of followers to see, jimin decides to get back by taking away the thing kazuha cares about the most: her perfect girlfriend, the young golf star, kwon haru.

masterlist | prev

[written chapter]

"guys, i ran out of battery on my phone." reported seungkwan from his seat.

"i told you to charge it before you left." reproached yunjin.

"i got distracted by leveling up in candy crush and forgot." defended the boy.

"how many students are there?" questioned minhyuk with an irritated tone. "i'm hungry."

"me too, i didn't have breakfast." shared juyeon.

"why didn't you have breakfast?" asked ningning.

"i didn't have time." explained the older keeping her eyes on the stage where students continued to pass by to receive their graduation diplomas. "minhyuk was supposed to go wake me up, but the bastard showed up fifteen minutes before we had to leave." she reminisced in frustration.

"at least i remembered to come get you." said the jock.

"no, it's okay, i already know you, i should have predicted it." dismissed.

"excuse me? we're all entitled to one last chance." he lashed out with mock offense.

"you never got anywhere early in your whole life, you're not starting now." replied eunseo.

"i can change..."

"... uchinaga aeri." the voice of an older teacher echoed through the auditorium where the graduation ceremony was taking place, grabbing the attention of the entire group of friends and thus interrupting their conversation.

"up, up!" commanded juyeon.

everyone stood up and began to applaud their friend as she was taking her diploma. haru, minhyuk and juyeon with their phones held high recording the whole process as if they were three proud parents, the last two even shouting some chants of pride and love to the japanese girl, who wanted to die of embarrassment and made countenances at them telling them to shut their mouths. they were genuinely happy for their best friend.

aeri received her certificate, had her picture taken with it and then proceeded to walk off the stage towards her spot again and let the event continue with the next students.

haru was in a good mood that day, of course she was. her best friend was graduating, and in the same class was the girl she loved, who she would finally have in the flesh next to her after agreeing that they were going to be fine. it was a good day.

the golfer followed giselle with her eyes until she was in her chair, and then she tried to locate jimin among her classmates, but it was such a large group that even if she tried to look for them alphabetically, she wasn't being able to find her.

as her eyes wandered around the place in search of her favorite human, she came across someone she hadn't expected to see at all,

nakamura kazuha.

the girl was standing next to an empty seat, presumably hers, at the edge of the small aisle that formed between the student area and the guest's, trying to get a better view of the proceedings.

it had been almost as long since she had last seen kazuha as it had been since she had seen karina before the wedding, so the girl was a particular sighting, to say the least.

kazuha was still living in seoul and playing golf at the rottary club, as usual. the last kwon had heard, she had joined a professional team.

kazuha possibly felt the watchful eye on her, as she turned to look for the reason why she felt observed, finding her ex with a dumbfounded and slightly goofy expression. as they made eye contact, they both gave each other a shy smile and the younger girl raised her hand, waving it and greeting haru.

the sudden feeling of familiarity came over her, and the eldest began to walk past her friends until she could step out of the small place where their seats were and approach the girl.

"hey." greeted her, somewhat hesitantly.

"hey." returned the chestnut with a big smile on her face.

"hey." repeated letting out a nervous giggle, then looking to the side and giving a nod to sakura and eunchae, the japanese girl's mates, who were accompanying her.

"i didn't imagine you'd come over." she shrugged.

"how can i not approach when i haven't seen you in years?" she settled in next to her, both of them with their eyes towards the scenario.

"well, it's not like we were splendidly two years ago." she remarked. "how have you been?" she wondered looking sideways at her.

"bad," kwon went silent, contemplating her answer, eliciting a frown of concern from the girl. "but i'm fine now." she assured her.

"are you sure?" she put her hand on her back to show reassurance. "what happened?"

"don't worry, i'm serious." she nodded her head, reinforcing her words. "i don't know if you know i moved..."

"of course i know, haru." she cut in, her tone carrying a hint of sadness.

"well, it was the moving, the new town," it was obvious she wasn't going to mention the main reason for her pain to her former girlfriend. "i couldn't play golf for a long time." she added, downplaying her words. "you know, it was hard." she concluded. "but i'm fine now, really, how have you been?" she rested her gaze on her, expectant for an answer.

"i've been fine." she assured calmly, removing her touch from haru's body. "i'm on a team, my teammates are good, they are talented. we will prepare to participate in the championship next year." she said defiantly.

"oh, then we'll be rivals." she cocked her head confidently and stretched out her hand for kazuha to shake. "may the best one win."

"you say that because you're the best." she narrowed her eyes, judging her. "and aside from golf..." she folded her arms, thinking. "i don't know, not much has happened." she sighed not knowing what to tell. "i graduated last week." she commented. "you didn't come." chastised kazuha, as an innocent comment.

"sorry." haru lowered her head, an ashamed smile on her lips. "you went to mine even when we had been broken up for months, i should have go since i was in town."

"don't worry, haru, just kidding." she gave her a gentle nudge with her elbow. "you didn't have to come." she understood. "it's enough that you came over to talk to me now." she brought her hand to the back of her neck and squeezed from both sides playfully to comfort her, causing them both to laugh. "you came to see aeri?" she changed topics, returning to the situation they were in.

"yes, obviously, we all came." she took a glance at where her friend was sitting. "and well, jimin too." she admitted, feeling out the younger girl's reaction.

"oh." her mouth hung slightly open and her eyebrows raised as she processed what she had just been told. "so, you two...?" she raised her index finger to point at her, then wagged it around as if trying to finish her sentence with her gestures.

"it's complicated." she sentenced. "we met again recently." she didn't want to give away too much information.

"sure." she took a moment. "i hope you two do well." she encouraged, seemingly sincere.

"thank you, zuha."

"tell her that..." she took a big breath of air, gathering courage to let her pride go. "that i'm so sorry."

both pairs of eyes met for the first time in the entire talk, and haru saw in her a glimmer of the kazuha she once loved. a kazuha who could become tender and sensitive, a kazuha only she seemed to have known.

"i know it's not going to change anything." her hands danced in the air illustrating her attempt to explain herself. "or maybe after all this time it doesn't matter anymore." she closed her eyes for a second, recomposing herself. "but if you can, and want, tell her i'm really sorry." she lifted her eyelids, letting her guard down.

"i will."

haru felt something inside her stir, the memories. seeing kazuha in that place felt surreal to her, but apart from that talking to her brought back a feeling that mixed both the familiar and the unfamiliar. she could never hate her, after all, haru had always been one of the few people who couldn't do that at all. seeing her there, being a bit of who she once was, blinded something in her brain, and her first instinct was to lean in and hug her.

"it's good to see you." she whispered, her chin resting lightly on her shoulder. "and it's good to hear you're sorry." she moved her hand along her back.

"i want to apologize to you too, haru." at that moment, she finally dared to raise her arms and reciprocate the woman's gesture. "sorry for ruining that nice thing we had." her voice sounded a little shaky.

"i don't need you to apologize to me." she shook her head even if the girl wouldn't see it. "i chose long ago to keep only the good parts of your time in my life."

the older girl stood up straight, breaking the hold they had on each other. she arranged her locks behind her ears and connected their gazes, which were flooded with nostalgia and affection. between the two of them, there was no more romance, but there would always remain the deep adoration you have for someone who was once your confidante and security.

"... yu jimin." this time it was a female professor's voice that announced the name, interrupting the moment. again kwon had not heard the introduction.

"oh shit." exclaimed kazuha in surprise. "your girlfriend." she centered her focus on the student body area. "go!" she put her hands on her arm and began to push her back into her seat.

"kazuha, it was good to see you-"

"yeah, yeah, we'll meet again when we compete, now go, jimin is graduating." she didn't let her finish, rushing her.

"wow, you've changed."

"go!" she insisted, ending in both of them letting out a few laughs at the interaction and haru returning to her seat.

the athlete took out her cellphone as she had done with aeri, and pointed it at jimin, who was walking up to the stage. with great joy on her face she took a few photos of her as she received her diploma, then locked the device and put it away so she could applaud her and watch her personally.

when karina stood for her picture with the certificate that she had finished her studies, by coincidence, or a bit because she was looking for it, she found haru in the audience, and couldn't help but stop and admire her as she was happy for her. so in the final image she was not even looking at the camera, but to the side, full of love.

the ceremony was over and the group of friends had ventured out in search of the new graduates, parting in each other's close circle.

minhyuk, eunseo and haru were with giselle and her parents, showering the girl with hugs, affection, congratulations, and taking pictures of her. each one posed with her individually for the camera, and then they did it all together, then with the parents. they would have enough documentation of that moment to fill an album so they would have to forget the picture they had taken of her earlier where she was begging her friends to keep quiet.

minhyuk even cried, claiming he couldn't believe that the youngest of the group had already finished her college years. they had met when they were just teenagers, and now they all had degrees and their futures planned.

jimin was first greeted by her family, who warmly congratulated her on her achievement, and then her friends arrived, who, of course, started a magazine-worthy photo session in the middle of the auditorium. seungkwan even lifted up ningning, who was holding a phone with the flashlight on, in order to properly illuminate the picture that winter was taking of yunjin and jimin.

after, they became involved in a hyped conversation, but the girl could not stop diverting her interest to the group surrounding the uchinagas.

she had already been welcomed and showered with compliments for what she had accomplished, she just wanted to run to haru and have her close finally. but over there, they kept crying and hugging each other sentimentally.

it was while her loved ones were talking about the different job offers karina had on the table for her future, that she turned to see what was going on in the other gathering of people and noticed a bored haru, as they were not doing anything in particular, she was distracted scanning what was going on in her surroundings.

she took the opportunity as her own and excitedly ran towards the oldest, who noticed her approaching her euphorically and opened her arms waiting. jimin's body crashed into haru's, with enough intensity that the latter slightly lost her balance and had to take a few steps backward, dragging yu.

"how is my favorite graduate?"

she wrapped her arms around jimin, with one holding her body tightly and one hand wandering through her hair subtly. the younger clinging to her waist as if there was a hurricane around and the girl was the only thing she could hold on to.

"actually, that offended me." giselle's voice was heard from behind.

"you're my favorite too." she detached her hand from the blackhaired's back to point her finger at her friend.

"you can't have two favorites." aeri held her waist and brought all her weight to one leg as she judged with her gaze.

"later you discuss it." karina made a rambunctious gesture indicating for them to be quiet. "hello." she whispered, as she pressed her forehead together with the haru's.

"hello." she replied in the same volume, just for her to hear, showing all her teeth from the joy she felt. "i'm so proud of you, princess."

"thank you, baby." they stared at each other stupidly for a few moments. "i missed you." she added, finally being able to say it to her face.

"i missed you too." she lifted herself up a little, getting to the height to leave a delicate kiss on her nose. "you look good." she exclaimed in amusement taking a few steps back so she could observe her full body, their hands enlaced.

"don't i?" she took one foot off the ground giving a short hop and cocked her head to one side with a cheeky expression. "i'm the most adorable economist." she ran her hair making it fly back, continuing the joke.

haru's smile spread even wider and her eyes, or what could be seen from between those cavities that formed moons as they narrowed, sparkled as they followed karina. the girl could no longer contain the wave of beautiful emotions beating against her chest, and she walked briskly to catch the younger girl again and lift her into the air, spinning around, accompanied by her giggles.

the golfer slowly stopped, but before she set her down, jimin took the chance to use the hold on her neck and the closeness to her ear to murmur to her, in a tone that mixed melancholy and absolute happiness: "being like this with you seems like a dream."

"don't worry." she released the girl once her feet were on the ground. "it's not." she caressed her cheek tenderly. "i'm really here, and i'm happy to be." she reassured, comforting the girl.

jimin stopped to admire her. even with her words, she found it hard to understand that she was real. she felt like it was an angel in front of her. she loved her, in such an overwhelming way that jimin thought it escaped from her heart and took over her whole body, leaving no room for her blood, organs or veins. she loved her with all that she was.

"come!" the younger girl exclaimed abruptly after remembering something, startling the sportswoman with her sudden change of attitude. she took her hand and then started walking quickly.

they approached where jimin's acquaintances were standing, stopping short in front of them. haru felt a little shy since she had never met the girl's parents. off to the side, her friends watched the scene proudly, after all they had accompanied her through in those two years.

"mom, dad, this is my girlfriend." she held out her hand to the girl, who bowed as a greeting of respect to the elders, but looked a little puzzled. seeing her reaction, yu realized the label she had used and felt nervous. "my thing." that wasn't good either. "my haru." she corrected herself. "this is haru."

"so you are haru..." the man said, taking in the person in front of him.

"the golfer!" the lady recalled.

"that's what people know me for." agreed kwon, extending her hand to the couple.

"jimin used to make us watch your matches when she was at home." commented the father, causing the named one to cover her embarrassed face. "you know, i really like golf too..."

to no one's surprise, everyone got along well. haru was incredibly likeable after all, and it filled jimin's soul to see the most important people in her life excitedly engaged in conversation.

a few minutes later, giselle approached them to remind that they were all going to eat at a restaurant later to celebrate. there was a reception for all the graduates, but they preferred to go with their best friends.

they had been there for at least two hours, but they had only started eating. although everyone had been drinking and chatting since they arrived.

it was amazing how the two groups had found each other and managed to get along, despite the things that had happened between them.

at one end of the table were seungkwan and minhyuk, the latter had his arm around the back of the other's chair, wrapping it around him. they were distracted in a debate about whether fries tasted better with ketchup or cheese, and it was endearing to see how the chef never stopped laughing at anything that came out of his boyfriend's mouth, while the golfer gets fascinated listening to the things he told. they had a nice relationship, they understood each other in humor, and had similar tastes, they were boyfriends and friends at the same time.

the rest of the girls were sitting one on each side, across the table. it wasn't an abysmal distance, but they were still carrying on an almost shouting conversation, laughing uproariously, with eunseo leading the chatter they were engaged in, which was largely gossip. to one side of the oldest redhead, minjeong was quiet and smiling, drinking her beer and stealing loving glances at her now wife.

and in one corner, haru and karina were in their chairs next to each other. the older one's hand rested comfortably on the graduate's leg, who was brushing her fingers along the other's body in search of contact. both were attentively listening to what the others were saying and would let out a giggle when someone made a funny comment. sometimes starting short exchanges of words only between them, but mostly just enjoying the moment.

juyeon was trying to explain something to yunjin, who was looking at the others with bewilderment as she didn't understand what she was hearing. the girl's expression was funny to her friends, even to jimin, who burst out laughing when she saw her and leaned on haru for support. once it passed, she stayed in that position, with her head on the golfer's shoulder, and after a moment, she wrapped the arm that the girl had holding her with her own, clinging completely to her.

"i love you." said the blackhaired, leaving a kiss on haru's cheek.

"i love you." she reciprocated, turning her head so she could look at her face.

"sorry for introducing you as my girlfriend to my parents today." she casually mentioned.

"no worries, i guess i will be at some point anyway." she shrugged with plenty of attitude.

"oh? so that's how you think..." she gave her a playful pinch. "if so, then why aren't you right now?" she bit her lip expectantly, embarrassed that her heart was pounding at the inquisitions of what she had said.

"you haven't asked me yet." haru explained without giving it much thought and then leaned over to pick up her glass and take a swig of her drink.

"do i have to ask you? i was waiting for you to ask me." she pointed a finger at herself.

"no, clearly you have to ask me." she sipped again, looking defiantly at her over the glass.

"would you be my girlfriend?" karina asked hurriedly, so fast the words were barely understood. her eyes painted with anticipation.

"you're asking me here? with minhyuk present?" she exclaimed ironically.

"what did i do now?" questioned the boy across the table.

"you don't care." the girl dismissed him without even turning to look at him, getting him to throw his hands up in the air in disbelief.

"you must have done something." eunseo accused him, triggering one of their silly arguments.

"come with me." jimin got up from her seat and started walking. haru obeyed and went after her.

"where are you going?" the sportsman vociferated.

"you don't care." repeated her best friend.

"kwon haru, i'm not liking your antics!" he complained offended.

the two girls continued on their way, jimin sure of where she was leading and haru, a little lost, behind her. they arrived at an almost completely unoccupied side of the restaurant, from the main hall of the place you couldn't see clearly and there were few tables, at the end of it, a double glass door that the now economist opened to pass through, the one who was following her also passing by it.

behind it, there was a rather small backyard, which was blocked by trees and bushes. beyond the decorative forestation, there was a concrete wall that could not even be seen among so many leaves and trunks. lights hung from the tops and branches, and there was even a small bench on one side. haru presumed that this place was specially designed for smokers, but at that moment it was empty.

"how did you find this place?" kwon inquired, her eyes on the small lamps above her.

"when i went to the bathroom i got the wrong direction and ended up here." she laughed shyly.

"it's pretty." she lowered her eyes, turning back to jimin.

"like you." she returned witty.

"and you." she added roguishly. "and you brought me here to...?" she raised an eyebrow mischievously.

"kwon haru," she put her hands behind her back, feet together and puffed out her chest, pretending to look like a prince about to make an announcement. "would you do me the honor..."

she paused to search her pockets for something, observe her fingers, and then surveyed her surroundings. she dropped her gaze to the ground, turning only with her upper body so that she could analyze behind her back. she leaned over and held a cigarette butt between her fingers, then extended it toward haru.

"is it antiromantic if i ask you to be my girlfriend with a cigarette butt?" she pouted. "i don't have a ring to give you."

"wait." haru was now the one digging through every crevice of her clothes looking for something that would work. she picked up her wallet and checked it. "is it any use proposing to me with a bill?"

"that's even less romantic than the cigarette." she dropped her arms on either side of her body listlessly.

"a picture of my mom?"

"haru."

"my id?" she continued without stopping checking.

"put that down, put that down." she approached her and pushed down the girl's hands holding her billfold.

"i didn't find anything either, sorry." she put the object away and made a regretful grimace.

"would you like to be my girlfriend?" she said again, unexpectedly.

"don't you need a ring, then?" the woman caught her face between her palms, creating an eye contact that exuded sweetness.

"i'll buy you one for our first anniversary." she promised, her voice soft, only dedicated to her. "and on the next one, and the one after that, and when i ask you to marry me." she held haru's waist. "although i'm so sure you're the love of my life that i might ask you to marry me before any anniversary."

"one step at a time, princess, we're here now." stopped the older one, laughing adoringly at such ideas.

"be my girlfriend." she asked again. "i love you, i don't want to not have you by my side, and i swear i will never ever again do anything to take you away from me. my place is with you."

"of course i will be your girlfriend." haru accepted.

upon hearing the answer, karina bounced on her feet on the spot because of the exhilaration that exploded inside her. she fleetingly pulled the girl from the back of her neck so they could join in a kiss to seal the pact.

it was the first kiss they had shared in two years that carried no pain behind it. all it brought was new beginnings and love. it was safety, and light. the promise that from now on, they both had a place to return to and a refuge for when everything got rough.

jimin's lips caressed haru's with affability, taking the exchange calmly, wanting to express all the stunning chaos she unleashed within herself through that gesture. the opposite held her figure gently, holding her as close to herself as possible as if trying to keep her from leaving again.

they broke the union carefully, still remaining over each other, their noses touching, their lips no more than an inch apart, "haru, let's move to busan." she suggested suddenly.

"what?" she frowned in surprise after hearing what the younger girl had just said.

"or come back to seoul." she added without thinking about what she was saying. she didn't have to as it had been on her mind for days.

"what are you talking about?" she let the girl go and walked a bit away.

"or i can move to incheon." she continued.

"wow, stop right there." she pointed her finger at her signaling to calm down. "what?" she reiterated.

"is that," she gulped in a breath of air, her grimace turning desperate. "you don't live here." she burst the bubble. "and i know we've been avoiding the subject voluntarily, but in two days you go back home, and then we'll be apart again." she began biting her nails.

haru was silent. she knew that what karina was telling her was the inevitable reality, and that they would soon have to part ways one more time, but she had chosen not to worry about it and somehow managed to forget.

"haru, i love you." she affirmed again. "and i'm tired of losing you, so if you tell me that in incheon you're happy, i wouldn't hesitate for a second to move there so i could be with you." she was sure of what she was saying. "but tell me the truth, is incheon for you? do you live the life you want there?"

the golfer knew she didn't. she had two friends in that city, one of whom was juyeon. she played on a team with people she didn't care about. she didn't feel full on her drive in the mornings to go to her training, she didn't even go for a walk in the streets like she often used to do in seoul.

what was there in Incheon for her? what was there in incheon that was hers?

she left seoul because it generated sadness in her, but if she had to be honest, thinking about incheon also made her feel miserable.

"busan?" she blurted out hesitantly after a moment in silence.

"weren't we happy when we were in busan?"

yes. the answer was clearly yes. depending on how you wanted to look at it, it was the place where it all started. where they admitted they felt things for each other and gave those emotions a place to be explored. despite being surrounded by people, it had felt like only they had been there. together. their own universe.

"just you and me?" she hesitated.

"well, we can take juyeon if you want, but she won't live with us." she said jokingly. "oh, and a cat." she finished seriously.

"you, me and a cat?" a smile began to tug at the corner of her mouth.

"what do you say?" she inquired hopefully, unable to hide that she was already excited.

"busan." she shook her head up and down, saying yes. "you and me."

karina let out the highest pitched squeal she had ever projected in her life, she ran towards haru almost as if flying, not even noticing how she came to be held to her girlfriend like a koala bear, her legs clinging to her waist, haru holding her tightly, contentment present in every part of their beings.

"and a cat." she stated again.

"yes, my princess, us and a cat." she guaranteed.

"and we will never separate again." jimin pulled away a little so she could look into her eyes.

"never." haru backed up her words, then moved closer and joined in a kiss.

— the end.

#

[a/n: thanks to everyone who read, 141 chapters wouldn't have happened without the support this story had. ♡]

(!)

— taglist: @runawaymazola @chaenniefirst @livelaughchoerry @rinapomu @jeindall777 @petruchiosstuff @sewiouslyz @yvesismywife @vvyuqi @aeriniee @chaewoni3

[aealzx]

By the time Raphael reached Don at the main computer the alarm had already glitched out several more times. To the point that Don had disabled the sound aspect and just had the reports  populating on screen. He’d barely started pulling up various live camera feeds when Raphael leaned on the back of his chair. “So what’s the noise about?”

Giving a huff of amusement, Don tapped through the points that were triggered. “You know I’m not that fast, Raph,” he chastised, still analyzing what he was looking into.

“My bad. I meant, ‘what have you found so far’?” Raphael snorted, having forgotten Don could be slightly too literal sometimes. “Do Leo and I need to go on a patrol?”

“Leo’s not going anywhere for at least another five hours,” Don declined quickly. “Just because he got an antidote doesn’t mean his lungs are miraculously healed. Same with the other two.”

Raphael gave a small snort at the eye roll Don gave to emphasize his point, but reigned his words in for a moment. He wanted something to act on, and it was hard when there wasn’t anything yet. “Fair enough.”

Giving a moment of silence to see if Raphael wanted to say anything else, Don started vocalizing what he was finding. “Something is triggering our perimeter alarms. But there’s nothing showing on the camera feeds, and the points being tripped are…. Inconsistent,” he explained, touching a few parts of the screen to bring up a map of which perimeter locations had been notified. It was something Raphael could understand easily enough when it came to reading it. But what he saw definitely explained Don’s confusion. The map almost looked like someone had just thrown a bunch of red dots on it randomly. Or, near randomly. Looking at the timestamps and locations of the alarms, Raphael frowned. “... Is it just me, or is it getting closer?”

Don didn’t vocally answer, but he didn’t have to. Not when the alarm message displayed on the screen changed from ‘perimeter breach’ to ‘intruder detected’, flagging Raphael’s room first. With only a glance at each other, two more messages popping up for different rooms in their lair, Don and Raphael grabbed their weapons.

—----

The bubbling of broth in the pot Mikey currently had on the stove was accompanied by him humming random songs. Leo had already checked in on him, so he was content to know that all of the medical treatment was at least almost complete. Now he just needed to finish cooking so they could have a warm meal to unwind with. It was a habit he’d picked up years ago. He wasn’t much help with medical knowledge, so after getting sick of being the one stuck doing nothing he’d started cooking for everyone after missions. Provided he wasn’t the one that was injured of course. Today’s choice was a thick chicken stew, with plenty of beans and other vegetables. Leo had mentioned the new Donnie’s main ailment was blood loss, so Don wanted something high in iron, with orange juice as a drink. They weren’t sure when Donnie would wake up, so it was best to have it ready, even if they had to warm it up later.

His current task was the reason Mikey hadn’t moved from the kitchen even after the broken alarms had gone off. They had only been cautionary alarms, so he had deemed it acceptable to focus on finishing the food. And yet it seemed someone wanted to stare at him without announcing themselves. That slight prickle at the back of his neck that caused Mikey to pause, turning to look up where he thought the new presence was. The fact they were in the ceiling, and the quick sight of blue made Mikey briefly think it was Leo pulling a weird prank on him under the guide of training. But the eyes were distinctly not warm chocolate brown, and were also accented by curved red markings. Mikey knew they both knew each other knew they were both there, but he didn’t have anything to say before Don’s voice came over their intercom.

“We might have an intruder. Location unknown. Keep a lookout.”

“...Huh,” Mikey voiced, continuing to stare at the newcomer. He barely had time to connect the dots between them being there, and Don’s announcement before his instincts caused him to dodge towards the door with a yelp, silver blades swiping through the air where he’d been. Looks like the intruder decided to give up hiding. “Hey guys, I found the intru-EYAH!!” Mikey started to call out, cutting off with a startled shriek and darting into the main room when the figure came at him again.

“MIKEY!” Raphael’s responding yell was louder than usual in reaction to Mikey’s panicked scream. Darting towards the kitchen, Raphael caught sight of Mikey attempting to use the ladle he had to block an incoming attack, only to have the utensil sliced in half.

“HEY! That was my favorite- EEP!” Mikey protested, ducking his head while covering it with his hands, then swinging a lazy kick towards the intruder. His attack was definitely half hearted, but that didn’t prevent him from being shocked when he hit nothing but air. The intruder had just been in front of him as Raphael reached them, but in a blink he was gone in a haze of blue energy that fizzled out in less than a second. It was only after Raphael let out a startled noise, and the clang of blade hitting sai resounded that Mikey realized what happened. “Guys I know how he got in!” Mikey blurted, half keeping an eye on the others and half looking for a proper weapon.

“He teleports!?” Raphael sputtered, his own attack whisking through completely vacant air. Chasing his surroundings with his eyes, Raphael opened his mouth to warn Mikey as he caught sight of the intruder apparating behind him. It was too late, but at least Mikey was able to turn and block the kick with his forearms instead of taking it to his shell. He still got knocked back slightly, and the intruder vanished once more.

“That explains the glitching security,” Don realized, taking his own turn to block a series of slashes from dual swords. This newcomer was fast, but with Don’s skill level he was able to keep up with the exchange, the blades thumping into the reinforced wood. It should have been easy for Don, but there was something unrefined about the newcomer’s fighting style that added a strain of unpredictability to his moves. Especially when a flicker of blue light came from underneath Don, and his feet immediately lost the ground they were on to sink into the newly appeared blue disc.

“DON!” Raphael sprang forward on instinct, crashing into Don midair and sending them tumbling for a moment before they both twisted to their feet.

The intruder was once again in a different location, back to Mikey. “Don’t get caught by those! I don’t know where they lead to.” Don warned, extremely grateful Raphael had saved him from a first hand experience to find out.

“This is- SO COOL- but also- AHH!” Mikey sputtered between blocking more blows. An upward swipe smacking the hand holding the sword off course, foot sliding back as he turned slightly to get in the way of the intruder getting behind him, stepping forward and raising a hand to block an incoming kick towards his head before the intruder disappeared again and an abrupt slash came towards Mikey’s skull.

A lunge forward from Raphael to try and grab the intruder only earned him empty air, and a swift kick to the back, causing him to stumble forward into Mikey. Giving a slight growl, Raphael whirled around, fists ready. “Rrrgh! Enough tricks! Come fight me face to face!” he belted, sick of the popping in and out of sight the newcomer was doing.

Don wasn’t sure what in the last few seconds had triggered the change, but the next attack towards him was notably different. A faltering course forced into a last second adjustment, and backed up by a sudden increase in force. It was alarming, but also concerning in a different way. There wasn’t venom behind the attacks. Just…fear? It was hard to get any words out around the new barrage of borderline frantic attacks. Was the kid panicking? The shifts in location had increased in frequency to all of them, to the point none of them could get any words out around their focus on reacting to the attacks. It felt like a stalemate, but only because the three of them were holding back. They didn’t think this was an actual enemy. More just a misunderstanding. But it was hard to get a good look at the newcomer when they were always moving.

The battle ended up shifting when Leo joined them, launching from the infirmary stairs and almost crashing into the intruder if it weren’t for them disappearing milliseconds before. “You picked the wrong home!” Leo shouted, skidding on the tile in a crouch next to Mikey.

Unexpectedly, the response to Leo was a sudden stretch of silence in place of where they had come to expect the intruder showing up in someone’s blindspot. After a brief consideration that the intruder was elsewhere in the lair, a ring of blue swirled into a diagonal disc above them. But instead of a figure appearing from it Don’s eyes snapped wide as a familiar chemical storage cabinet came hurtling towards them.

“MOVE!” Don snapped, hurling himself towards Mikey to get them both out of the way, being relieved to see his brothers also fling themselves to the side, and covering his and Mikey’s heads with a hand. Only now did he remember that one of the recorded breach points was their chemical storage room. A fact that was emphasized by the crashing containers inside the large cabinet causing materials to mix violently with each other, crackling into a small explosion that made their ears ring. All Don could think was ‘What a waste of materials’ as well as ‘That cabinet had been bolted to the wall with five centimeter thick screws!’ as he waited for the reactions to stop.

“Anyone hurt?” Leo called out as soon as the deafening silence that followed explosions fell over them.

“Mikey and I are fine,” Don called back, removing his hand from Mikey’s head so they could both push themselves to their feet.

“...Where’s the other guy?” Mikey voiced, flinching and flicking his eyes all over to see if he could see where the intruder went.

“Raph?” Leo’s call came after a second of not hearing from their remaining brother.

Raphael would have responded, but he’d ended up in a minor situation. As soon as he’d tried to get back to his feet after the danger had passed his own sai was being stabbed through the soft section of the tactical armor on his calf, wedged expertly into the ground to secure his leg. Then the opposite arm was yanked behind him and hooked behind the intruder’s knee as they leaned their body weight into him, attempting to pin him. They honestly didn’t weigh much, and it would have taken little effort for Raphael to shove them off. But the cold sting of metal tapping against his throat caused him to freeze, more from curiosity than fear. Huh. This was an interesting move. At least the kid had stopped jumping through the air.

When the others didn’t get a response from him Raphael saw them skurry around the pile of fresh debris to the side he was on, only to skid to a stop when they realized why he hadn’t answered them. A small gasp escaped Don as he froze where he was, and Leo gave a small snarl as he shifted to a defensive stance.

“Dude! Not cool!” Mikey guaffed, quickly checking his options.

“...Let him go…,” Leo hissed, his entire form tense, sliding his foot forward slightly in warning.

___________________

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It was tough to decide if I should hide the pick below since it's kind of spoiler for the end. But then I just decided to keep the same format as the others. It's semi eye catching anyway

Also I'm fully aware that Leon is too small for that hold to be effective against Raphael. |D It was deliberate.

Fun fact: I had 2 scenes (more than 2 posts worth) written way back when I scribbled the first picture for this story. This one, and Donnie blowing stuff up earlier were both of them. But I did have to rewrite almost everything to fit the rest of the story X'D oh well.

[cosurmqne]

01 — a short life of trouble

[ RDR2 X fem reader , 2334 words ] — next ✶

rhodes was a quiet town at the best of times. as much as the pompous sherrif, mr leigh gray, liked to juice up his line of work, the most action this collection of run-down buildings saw was the same petty feud between two families that was seemingly everlasting. an alleyway punch up after a night of drinking, perhaps even a few shots on the outskirts of town; this was all that was worth talking about amongst its residents, whatever distracted them from their lungs filling with red dust kicked up by horses and the sun drying up their almost forgotten patch of land in the valley of lemoyne.

when dutch van der linde first rode into the town, he felt at home, a welcome sight for the conman. it was a clean slate, filled with nooks and crannies that he could infiltrate and manipulate at his will. the townsfolk were stupid, the law even more so; it was a perfect combination to have some fun. it was no surprise to the rest of his gang that in no time at all, he was already sitting pretty on the porch of the sheriffs office, hand rested on the shoulder of sheriff gray himself. and lets not forget, with a gleaming deputy badge pinned firmly on his chest.

his main confidants, arthur morgan and hosea matthews, agreed that there was an opportunity for control here, to take what they needed and disappear before anyone in rhodes knew what had hit them, or that they were to blame. they were, after all, outlaws. on the run from forces beyond their capabilities. it only took a matter of days for the rest of their gang to settle in and set themselves up once again in a temporary camp to call home, finding a location south of the town in a secluded grassy plain. it was close to town, but still hidden unless you knew the right tracks to follow.

placing himself firmly amongst the law had led to dutch walking freely around town, a feeling he had not been able to experience in months, perhaps even years. still in a state of high alert (one that never seemed to leave), he allowed himself to look less frequently over his shoulder, not analyse every face he saw or mentally count how many weapons the men around him may have on them at any given moment. occupational hazards had ingrained this behaviour into him since a young age, but at least he could leave the confines of his camp more confident than he had in a long while.

arthur and himself rode down the now familiar dirt road towards the sunbaked town, passing dry fields and even nodding at passers by. dutch chuckled slightly, “we are living it up now son! look at me, look at us!”

arthur let himself crack a smile, “yup, i don’t know how you manage to squeeze your way into situations like these but …. thank goodness. everyone at camp seems settled in, happy even.”

dutch turned to the outlaw riding next to him, “what did i tell you arthur. i have a plan. it’s working. these fools are just the beginning.” he raised his hand to gesture to rhodes, now larger on the horizon and full of morning activity. people entering the train station to the right, some riding through to perhaps visit some of the general stores throughout. the local saloon would even start filling up with its regular drunks soon enough , even this early in the day.

“now,” dutch continued, “you break off to the left here and go visit our dear friend trelawny. last i heard he’s living amongst thieves in old trailers on the outskirts of town, see what kind of information he’s kicked up these past couple of weeks. meanwhile, i’ll go catch up with our great protector.” he placed an exaggerated hand on the deputy badge his chest, chuckling once again, “this sheriff’s perhaps a greater fool than even uncle.”

arthur laughed then let out a sigh, “fine, but next time you deal with trelawny. who knows what scheme he’s going to wrap me into.” with a kick to his horse, he rode away from dutch, leaving him to continue riding deeper into town.

hitching his loyal arabian in front of of the sheriffs office, he entered the building oozing the charisma and confidence that any man would dream to have. within ten minutes, he left holding official papers and a smug look on his face. mr gray had so graciously given him a tip off about some illegal moonshiners east of rhodes, the only instruction? to eradicate the men; any means necessary, just get the job done.

this translated to only mean two things to dutch; free booze and easy money.

eager to return to camp and start planning this ‘offical raid’ with a few extra men, he jumped back onto his horse and slowly started to make his way back home. shoving the papers into the saddle bag on his left, he allowed himself to light a cigar and let out a low sigh while he held it loosely between his calloused fingers. delicious and familiar smoke filling his lung, with an oblivious town in front of him. things were looking damn good …

just as he passed the bloody faced butcher hacking at a deer, he heard the first gunshot.

instantly alert, his still-lit cigar hit the dirt road and both hands were like stone by his sides, each ready to uncap the holsters beneath them at a moments notice. he scanned the area, turning his head every which way, already looking towards the hiding places he had mentally noted weeks earlier in which someone could potentially hide. just as he was straining to hear any sort of noise, he heard yet another gunshot within seconds.

habits had made him duck closer to his saddle, his horse becoming skiddish as dutch looked around once again. the townspeople were on high alert also, most crouched or back indoors after a few shouts. seconds passed before dutch realised that the shots were coming from out of town entirely, the echoes ringing out from where he guessed was the thicker forest that stood in the distance. these past months had made him assume every gun was pointed towards him, each loud noise, bullet or not, had made him instantly ready to fight and assuming the worst.

sitting straighter and tightening the grip around his reins to calm his horse, he figured the folk around him had concluded the same, most standing up and even waving their hands with a dismissive gesture. he had come to realise that in this town, if the shooting wasn’t at your front door, it wasn’t your problem ….

‘righteous people, truly ….’ he jokingly thought to himself.

another shot ran out from the trees, causing the remaining birds in the area to fly over the canopy. flinching less than before, dutch started his horse into a gallop once again, leaving rhodes to deal with their own backyard business. whoever it was, dutch figured he would rather it be their problem than his. moving closer towards the tree line on the dirt track to camp, he did let himself wonder what all the ruckus was about…. then it hit him …. that sinking feeling that usually rested at the bottom of his chest.

arthur …..

quickening his horse, dutch cut off the path and ran towards the forest. ‘trelawny….. that damn fool.’ he thought, his mind racing towards conclusion that he hoped weren't true. ‘who knows what kind of business he put those two up too. those gunshots could have been from anybody … but ….’

breaking through the tree line, he scanned the area on horseback, looking on the ground for tracks, broken branches, blood strains, anything. moving closer to where he guessed the shots were coming from, he got down from his horse and continued on foot. each step he took was barely audible despite the dry leaf litter below, his right hand once again hovering steady above the shining revolver on his hip… he could smell gunpowder in the air, this must be the place.

“arthur? son are you here?” he let himself say aloud in shouted whisper, scanning the trees for any sign of movement. the area was thick with stumps, boulders, tree trunks and bushes, all bending and layering into a green and brown mess. it was eerily quiet, most animals being scared into running with all the noise, despite a few birds chirping as they bravely returned to their nests so soon.

eyes, ears and mind alert, ducth finally saw something, a body laying face down a few feet in front of him. he let himself rush over and sighed as he realised it belonged to a stranger. not just a stranger he realised, but an o’driscoll! ‘yes’ he thought, ‘green vest, rusty gun… missing teeth… good riddance.’

looking up he saw another body laying in a flower bed to the right. both men were huge in stature, undoubtably lacking brains, but still a force not taken on without guts and skill. looking down at the o’driscoll closest to him once again, he noticed that he had a gunshot wound, right in the middle of his forehead…. impressive. walking over to the other, he had the same. a clean and fatal shot. perhaps this was arthurs handy-work?

he stood and continued deeper into the forest, calling for arthur once again. he passed yet another dead o’driscoll, taking the satisfaction of stepping right over his body and observing yet another perfect headshot. three gunshots, three wounds, three dead o’driscolls. mystery solved.

right?

“arthur, where the hell are you boy?” he called once again. perhaps trelawney and himself were long gone, away from the scene and disappeared before the real trouble of the law or more o’driscolls showed up. or maybe they were never here at all?

dutch stood straighter and felt himself relax. whatever happened here seemed to be over, and his two men were nowhere to be seen. just as he figured he may as well leave this be and head on his way, he heard the snap of a branch behind him. turning around in an instant, hand already holding the loaded revolver in his hand, he froze as he came face to face with the barrel of a rusted repeater.

“dont. move.”

a woman was standing before him. her hair was matted, eyes wide, skin covered in who knows what but hands steady as a rock, eyebrows furrowed in fierce concentration. she was wearing a blouse, ripped and stained dark with what dutch assumed to be blood, her skirt torn and thinning. the boot she wore seemed three sized too big, a second gun on her side attached with nothing but a thin rope tied around her waist.

dutch slowly raised his palms in line with his shoulders, gun pointed upwards, “miss? i-” he started.

“don’t. who the hell are you.” she spoke stern but her voice sounded exhausted. she hid the shakiness well.

“i’m ….” he trailed off, “miss, did you kill those men back there?”

she stood unmoving. “so what if i did. those are bad men.… now answer my question.”

“oh i know,” he ignored her still, moving his right hand to touch his chest and daring to take a small step forward. “i’m glad they're laying face down in the dirt where they belong.” he paused. “thats some fine shooting you must have had.”

she looked him up and down with a quick glance, eyebrows furrowed, “what are you playing at…”

dutch dared once again to take a step forward, eyes glued to the woman with an unwavering confidence, despite the gun pointed right at his chest. “you asked who i am? my name is dutch van der line. i’m somewhat of a… outlaw around here. cast off and trying to survive….. i sense that you can relate to that.”

the woman seemed to slip out of her fierce gaze for a split second, her arms lowering slightly then snapping back into position, even taking a cowering step backwards as the stranger in front of her continued forward.

“i’m sure you're tired miss, hungry?” dutch continued. “when was the last time you laid to rest without keeping one eye open…” he moved closer still, his steps more frequent. “trust me, i’ve been there. i can help. we can help you.”

the woman stared, she didn’t know what to say, what to do, what to respond. and dutch knew it. he had her just how he wanted.

he was close enough now to raise his hand and place it on the barrel of her gun, slowly lowering it and moving in. he spoke low, calm and considerate. “miss… if you come with me, i can give you all these things. we have a camp, not too far from here. we already have a common enemy it seems,” he gestured behind him to the dead o’driscolls, even smiling slightly as he turned back, “it doesn't matter who you are, what you’ve done, just … trust me.”

the woman was staring unblinkingly at dutch, but he could tell that she had no choice, she seemed so exhausted, guessed she had nowhere to go. how long had see been alone for? was the dried blood that painted her clothes her own, or some other dead fool? “please miss, whats you’re name.”

“y/n.” she responded weakly, finally letting her arms drop by her sides. it seemed despite her unmoving position, she was struggling to hold up the heavy gun, her arms and strength exhausted. she allowed herself to let her guard down, her legs making her sway, shoulders slumped. it was all too much.

ducth let himself touch her shoulder, holding her small frame in his skilled hands as he let out a high whistle, calling his horse towards them.

“come on y/n. you’re safe now.”

[superawesome40]

Imagine this:

It starts with Bobby John. Dean can't let the baby go, he reminds him too much of Sam, way back when Sam was this age, and Daddy was always sad (or drunk), and when Dean tried to speak the words got stuck, and he could not make a sound. He can't let the baby go, so he doesn't.

Over time, they gather more. Bobby John, Ben, Joe and Ryan, Emma, Alex, Krissy and Aiden and Josephine, Magda, Claire, Jack. They find Jesse again, 16 years old and alone and scared of himself. They find Charlie and Kevin, and even though they aren't quite their kids, they treat them with the same care.

Somewhere in between the always rising tide of children, they find the Bunker. It's perfect - dozens of rooms for everyone to spread out, to have their own space. Bobby doesn't die, but he does move to the bunker "To keep an eye on ya' idjits,”. The modifications they make to the Bunker for his wheelchair are worth it to see the pride in his eyes. Linda Tran moves in, and she and Dean have an ongoing war over who's in control of the kitchen.

Of course, things aren't perfect. Chuck is still a problem, and eventually he must be dealt with. They win, but the cost is heavy. Cas and Jack are gone, and Dean... well he's as good as gone. He never leaves his room anymore, except to get a drink. Their dysfunctional family is mourning, both for those who they've lost and for themselves. Disappearing and coming back is much more traumatic than you'd expect.

Eventually, in an attempt to cheer him up, they convince him to go on a hunt. Just a small thing, a nest of vamps. They've killed a man and mutilated his wife, as well as taken their kids, two small boys. Someone (later, no one will remember exactly who) jokes that they can take in the boys. Sam and Dean leave, looking more cheerful than they’ve been in weeks.

They get the call a few hours later. Sam tells them over the phone, barely understandable through his tears, that Dean was hurt in the fight and that the doctors aren’t sure if he’ll pull through. Using the variety of cars in the bunker, they break a handful of laws and probably the sound barrier on their way to the hospital. Bobby pulls Sam aside and he explains, in detail, what happened. They wait for hours before a doctor finally enters the waiting room, asking for the family of Dean Fletcher* (Millie Winchester’s maiden name).

Dean survives, barely. Recovery is an uphill battle, and the damage done to his spine, muscles, and nerves leave him wheelchair-bound and in near-constant pain. Eventually, he’s able to move around for short periods of time using forearm crutches and leg braces, but it’s only after a few years and a lot of physical therapy. At the very least, the Bunker needs no new changes to accommodate him, having been updated for Bobby ages ago.

A year passes. The two boys from the vamp hunt are moved into the Bunker after their mother succumbs to her injuries in the hospital, and quickly adjust and thrive in the new location. Sam and Eileen quit hunting, permanently. They move to town, only fifteen minutes away, and visit every Saturday for family dinner. When they get married, Sam Winchester becomes Sam Leahy. Jody retires, and moves her hoard to the Bunker. They’ve got the room, after all. Donna follows not too long after. Miracle is officially trained as a service animal, to help Dean with his panic attacks.

One night, Dean can’t sleep. He hauls himself into his wheelchair and goes to the kitchen for a glass of water. He stops at the sight of three people sitting at the table.

The reunion is a tearful one. Dean cries from relief, and guilt, and of course the burning pain that rips through his back as a result of him temporarily forgetting he can’t stand and launching himself out of his chair. Cas also cries, sobbing apologies into Dean’s hair from where they are curled on the floor. Jack, pressed between the two of them and both overwhelmed and overstimulated, can only beg for Dean’s forgiveness. His dads wipe away his tears and press kisses to his cheeks, assuring him that he has nothing to apologize for.

The only one who doesn’t cry is Adam, sitting slightly stony faced at the table. Later, once the commotion of the reunion has died and Sam has been woken and summoned to the Bunker, the three sit down to chat.

Adam tells them that he’s not angry anymore, and begs them to explain everything to him, starting from the beginning. He is especially curious about their father, and realizes through their stories that John badly mistreated them. Dean invites Adam to stay in the Bunker, but Adam declines. He says that there’s a lot he needs to do, but hesitantly suggests that they stay in touch. Their relationship is tentative at first, but eventually he becomes a permanent fixture in the family.

Cas and Jack are filled in on what they missed. Dean pulls them each aside and apologizes privately for the things he said and did before the end. He assures Jack that he is part of the family, and always will be. He tells him he’s willing to be Jack’s dad, if that’s what Jack wants. Jack enthusiastically agrees.

He can’t quite bring himself to say “I love you” to Cas, but he says something along the lines of “maybe one day.” He also implies to Cas that John was extremely homophobic, and the combination of that and the sexual trauma he has experienced through his life (getting money for food/rent as a teen, Hell, Lydia) makes him hesitant now to form romantic relationships. Cas, understanding as always, agrees and comments on how he has improved at opening up, to which Dean replies that there wasn’t much else to do when he was trapped in bed and couldn’t escape Sam and his relentless therapy-talks.

Jack tells them as a group that he has decided there doesn’t need to be a God, and has stepped down after reforming Heaven. He says that he used his power for the last time to bring back Castile and find Adam. He confesses to his parents that the power is not gone, and likely never will be. He also says that he would like to grow up as human as possible, and promptly shrinks to the size of a toddler, much to the bewildered amusement of his parents. They discover that he no longer has his memories, and Bobby suggests that they may come back when he’s older, and that forgetting is his young mind's way of protecting itself.

As time passes, Cas and Dean open the Bunker to other hunters as a research facility and safe space to stay for a few nights. Neither of them hunt anymore, but they offer support and badly needed organization. With Charlie and Kevin’s help, they set up a system like the one Sam originally had.

When Eileen and Sam announce they are expecting, Dean is ecstatic. When they reveal the baby is a boy and that they are naming him “Dean II”, he cries for a solid hour. He’s the first, outside of Sam and Eileen, to hold the baby, who he affectionately nicknames “Junior”.

In the end, they are happy. They live together peacefully.

Would anyone be interested in reading this on ao3? I miiiight be planning to write this… also any suggestions/question/concerns are welcome! Also, if I missed any kiddos (canon only, please), feel free to tell me! I’m perfectly open to expanding their hoard.

Also, I cannot take complete credit for this story. Quite a few elements are inspired by foolondahill17’s stories, Dean Winchester’s half-way house for orphaned half-monsters (and humans), and the miracles ‘verse by the same author. Both are absolutely amazing stories, and I highly recommend.

*According to the Supernatural Wiki, Adam Glass wanted the actress Louise Fletcher to play Millie Winchester should she appear on screen.

[heeseung-min]

hi i love your writing and the creepiness of the yandere love you do for the enhypen members, would you consider doing a part 2 for this one? (police officer LHS after he murders y/n sister) i just have to ask otherwise if i can use my imagination but would love to see more of your creativity.

https://www.tumblr.com/heeseung-min/712132869712166912/1034-everyone-this-is-our-new-man-please?source=share

Hello, thank you for sending the request and im sorry for answering it late, anyways i hope you enjoy it😁 Part 1 for the story is here [10:34]

[07:34]

"So, do you have any news about my sister?"

It's been like one month since you reported about your missing sister to the police. They did investigation at the places your sister went before she went missing. However, nothing new has been discovered.

At the same time, you also made friends with the new police there, Heeseung. He will always assure you that everything will be fine. Sometimes, he will bring you to the places he need to investigate. You were grateful to have him as your friend.

"Sorry, y/n. There is still no sign of your sister. Our captain said your sister might be kidnapped by someone and got murdered. That's how usually the case will be when someone go missing."

Heeseung said with guilty on his face. He didn't say anything more and waited for you to response. You knew the police had tried their best to find your sister but when there is no any sign or clue that can be used, it's useless.

"Are you okay, y/n?"

"I- I'm not Heeseung. I just wanted to know where is she. Even if she is not alive, at least let me know how she looks like. At least I can prepare a proper funeral for her."

Heeseung pulled you closer to his body so you can cry on his shoulder. Ah, he wished he can always hugging you like this. He frowned a bit when you slowly distanced yourself.

"I will try my best to find your sister, y/n."

"Thank you so much, Heeseung."

----

You were busy studying at the library before someone knocked the table you were using on. You looked up to see your sister's classmate, Jay. Sometimes both of you talked to each other when you guys see each other.

"Are you okay, y/n?"

"Yeah."

"You must be worried about your sister, right? I'm so sorry for you."

He patted your head making your eyes tearing up a bit. You looked to him and smile brightly.

"Thanks for being caring."

"I don't like see you sad. Let's have lunch together at your favorite place."

Both of you ate and catching up with each other. You can see how Jay is trying hard to not make you think about your sister too much. He ensure that you are really okay with everything.

"Oh? What happened to your arm?"

Jay chuckled a bit when looked back to the scratches he got few days ago.

"I got scratched when I tried to feed the stray cats."

"Jeez, you should be careful Jay."

But little did you know, Heeseung saw the two of you. And he really didn't like the sight. Only him that should make you smile that wide or laugh that loud. Only him should make sure you are good and not someone else.

----

Heeseung: Y/n, we found your sister.

You rushed to the location that Heeseung sent after the text. Your heartbeats increasing and you tried to control yourself. You saw some polices and paramedics on the site. There were few people asking the polices what is it about. You looked for Heeseung and when you found him, his reaction was gloomy.

"Y/n, I'm sorry you had to find her this way."

You looked down at the body bag. Once again, you controlled your breath before opening it and there you saw your sister. Her face was very pale like she has been drowned and there were few stabs on her chest. You closed it after you finally had enough look.

"Did you catch the culprit?"

"Yes, it was her classmate Jay."

"What?!!"

You don't want to believe this. No, no no no. That's not true at all. You don't want to believe that the man who is so caring towards you will be the one who caused you nightmare. You turned around when you heard a scream.

"I didn't kill her!!!!! I swear!!!!"

"You can explain it at the police station."

"Jay?"

Jay looked at you. He was shocked and scared when he saw disappointment on your face. He can see how you were being hesitant to take one step closer to him.

"No, y/n. I will not do that. Trust me!!"

"Can I really trust you?"

You watched him became speechless and brought inside the car. The paramedics also had took your sister to the hospital for investigation. Heeseung brought you inside Jay's house to show where they found your sister's body.

"We came here to get his statement but then the dog smelled something at his backyard and begging us to dig it. There was where we found your sister."

You followed him into the house and keep walking into the basement. There, you found the room creepy. There were many pictures if your sister and few pictures of you. Some of the pictures has been crossed out on certain person in the picture. You also saw of your sister clothes. You wanted to throw up. This can't be real. There is no way that all of this is real.

"The forensic still investigating but what my team can conclude that Jay abducted your sister and killed her in here."

"I-I I can't believe this."

"I know. We were shocked too. The forensic found his DNA on your sister's nails and that made us really confirm that he is the culprit. She must tried to escape from Jay that time by scratching him."

You suddenly remember the conversation between you and Jay the other day about the scar on his arm. That made you disappointed more on him and furious.

Heeseung hugged you when he saw you wanted to cry. He let you cry on his chest for few minutes while caressing your hair gently.

"Thank you for helping me find my sister, Hee."

"Anything for you, Y/n."

Ah, he loves playing as a hero. Especially for you. Now, he finally get you and pushed everyone else from your life.

It's not that difficult to fabricate everything.

Especially when you are a police.

I hope this part do good, thank you so much to those who read my story. I really appreciate you guys. Taglist: @stacey-stonem @duolingofanaccount @huggyuvita @obsessed1with1straykids @rinbowaman

[lovinghiddleston]

I dare you ; Regulus Black

You and Regulus are academic rivals and you hate each other.

(drabble)

Gif's not mine. Credits to timotheechallamets.

Pairings: Regulus Black x fem!reader

Word count: 0,7k

Warnings: none.

A/N: oh, to be an academic rival of Regulus.

You and Regulus were enemies. Well, at least that's what everyone in Hogwarts said of you. However, the truth was that you hated each other so much that the word enemies was too soft to describe it. You really didn't like him, you hated him. His mere existence provoked your annoyance. He was always at the top of the class, just as you. Both of you were clever, you were so excited to get good grades, that what started as a simple coincidence, ended up in a competition. You couldn’t tolerate Regulus getting a better mark than you, so you did everything to work twice as hard, and then triple.

And so did Regulus.

Every time one of you got a better mark, you’d wipe the stupid smile off the other’s lips and add one more point to the invisible board. Since the year had begun, you were 4 to 5, with you at the head. The teachers knew about your stupid academic competence, they knew you hated each other so much that your thoughts were focused on each other all the time. Your thoughts boiled down to Regulus and Regulus could never get you out of his mind.

You were in Potions class when Slughorn handed you the mark for the last task he had given you. Since the competition with Regulus Black had begun, the teachers kept the arguments from going off the rails, because the two of you might have been capable of throwing spells on other occasions. You took the scroll and smiled at the sight of your mark, as you sat down, it was Regulus’s turn to rise and take his own scroll. The smile on his mouth vanished and a second later, you realized you’d gotten a better mark than he did.

You won. As Regulus took a seat and passed by your table, you smiled at him and waved your hand, just as if you were the Queen of England herself. He threw you one of his deadly glances.

Slughorn began to talk about other topics, before you were able to address the word and the class continued. While you looked at each other from the least, Regulus seemed to get increasingly angry.

The invisible board was 4 to 6, with you winning.

Once you got out of class, you rushed to walk alongside him and do what you knew how to do best, make him angry. Your interaction was based on making each other angry, competing for who was better. And so far, it was clear that you were better than him and he knew it.

"I won," you said and then made a pot, "Oh, poor Regulus. You might need help to study better."

He gave you a look that made your knees tremble. And yet, you followed him through the corridors to the dungeons where Slytherin’s rooms were located.

"The mouse ate your mouth?" you told him and Regulus turned, his face looked angry and his jaw clenched.

"I wish I could take the smile out of your stupid mouth." he said, stepping forward to you. Suddenly, the situation got denser. You felt abruptly warm and your knees trembled again.

You and Regulus Black always fought, it was nothing new. It wasn’t the first time you made it clear to him that you were better than him, and Regulus used to do the same. Many times he would drive you crazy and you blew up in front of the whole class. However, this time something felt different. Regulus looked angry, but also hungry for something. Her eyes went to your lips and without being able to stay silent for a second more, you kept doing everything to make her angry even more.

"Try to do it, I dared you." you already knew he was a coward.

However, Regulus had a different way than you had thought of removing the smile from your mouth. Just as you smiled at him triumphantly, he pushed his mouth closer to yours and pressed you against the cold wall. His mouth filled you, his tongue found yours and you moaned in the kiss. It was a kiss full of hate, anger and hunger. And damn, it was so good.

[arcann]

Haha I did finish it in time! Happy estar guars day to those who celebrate! 🤪💣💥💀

47. crave

There is nothing fun about planet hunting. Dozens of crews were given vague coordinates and possible sectors where their query could be hiding, and they were all set to figure out where it was. Some would compete and make bets (and, curiously enough, part of them would always land in the Alliance’s pockets, especially if the credits piled up and rivalries began to form). What started as a mission ended in a spectacle. Some of the participants never returned but if the location was found Command didn't complain much.

However, there was no profit if those credits begot grudges and someone began stalking and taking down Alliance ships in the same places they wished to explore.

And so a different kind of hunter was set loose. One that would search for hidden bases and secret refueling stations these dissidents could have set in nondescript planetoids with the objective of unsettling them enough to think twice before continuing. 

Or they could outright kill them, take what they had, and let their bases become a dust trail in space.

Both solutions could be justified when the only ones who left those sequestered places were of the same mind.

And so when the need arose once more, plans needed to be made, each more effort and cost efficient than the last. In the beginning six teams were sent, then three, then two, lately only one. Still, the usual commanders needed to be informed.

“And with any luck, team Blue will deal with these laserbrained idiots and we’ll all be together again in less than a fortnight.” Risha Drayen’s voice echoes across the conference hall and people take it as her way to announce the meeting is over. She was known for disliking more formal parting words. 

Diokos can easily hide his relief at the news that his team wasn’t chosen this time and approaches Blessaire, the leader of team Blue. She’s already reading the new information that had just been stored in her datapad but stops when she sees him approach.

“I have to bring a squad of no less than ten soldiers with my team, half of each faction, so everyone is pleased.” She sounds relaxed, even if her hand holds the datapad apprehensively. “The only good part is that I get to pick the ship.”

“Ten? I could do it with half that number.”

“Hey, didn’t you hear me? I have to.” Blessaire shrugs, but her mouth turns into a sharp grin. “I could do it all by myself if they’d let me.”

“You’d be fifteen in total.” He lowers his voice to ask. “So who gets to be angry this time around?”

“No one. I have to bring Vaylin. She is a permanent member of my team now.” 

“Ah.”

“Yes. Ah.” It’s her turn to mock, now that he started it.

“Stop.” 

His weak protest makes her giggle and she returns to her reading.

“It makes these situations easier, for now. At least one person in each of our teams isn’t marked as soundly supporting a side.” She glances at the entrance of the conference room, through where most of the attendants had already left. “That could change soon, but don’t tell anyone I said so.”

“Easier, you say.” Diokos frowns at that, “As if there weren’t plenty of reasons for why those two should stay in a gray area.”

“Just as many reasons to convince them to pick a side.” Her voice takes a more hurried tone. “In the most agreeable terms possible, if it were possible.”

“How could they find it agree–” Diokos starts, but the Battlemaster interrupts him, waving in his direction as she moves to his side. To him, she just walked past his left and then she was out of his sight, as if she had never been here, yet she probably allowed him to notice her as she walked away. To others, she must have disappeared completely, imperceptible to their senses and gone from their memory.

When he turns, he sees why she did that.

Vaylin and Arcann had just entered the room, awkwardly shuffling as the wary glances of those who were left fell on them, then returned to what required their attention. Vaylin’s gaze pierces him for a moment, as if she expected him to act against her, but it ends when she elbows her brother hard enough to make him flinch. With a few glances and nods, their postures change and Vaylin leaves the room in a rush while Arcann looks more secure of himself as he walks towards him.

Every time he looks at them, Diokos wonders what it would be like to share a bond like that from the beginning of his life. Even when everyone hates or fears them, those two could lean on each other and be confident that someone would be there to back them up, no matter how awkward or dangerous things would get. It made him jealous and angry at himself. No sith needed those types of bonds, especially if they required so many open shows of familiarity. But then again, those weren’t the most peculiar actions the siblings had done that shocked the Alliance members.

They used to kneel when they had reached some meters away from Diokos and Blessaire. Vaylin came close to raging in the brief time they reached the floor and some said she would hit her brother later that day, almost violently. Arcann, on the other hand, was clearly beaming behind his mask the first (and only) time they made their reverence in perfect unison. 

Nemore’xiel had told him it was the exact same distance Valkorion’s twin sons kept when they knelt in front of him. Diokos didn’t know how the cipher got that information, but if he had a credit for every time he wondered that he would be richer than any planet hunter alive. He knew even less about how he should react to the act. With shame, perhaps? Annoyance would not cover what he felt.

Soon enough though, someone ordered them to stop. Blessaire had told him Vaylin’s mood had improved much after that little ritual was forgotten, so the one who came up with it became more than obvious. 

He shouldn’t act too surprised if one of these days, when they were alone in some reconnaissance mission or the aftermath of a battle, Arcann knelt to report for no reason. As if he needed any more proof that Diokos was in fact never possessed by his father, or anyone else for that matter. 

He wishes ardently that the fallen emperor wouldn’t do it now. Not after everyone is holding their breath, expecting something bad to happen between them. He wore his armor impeccably, as if he were still ruling the galaxy from his throne. His prosthetic arm had improved even further after he joined the Alliance, modified so the plates were shaped differently, like sharpened yet refined blades to keep others away, a symbol of a warrior going to battle. Diokos heard he had another one, for more casual settings, but there would be no reason for him to see it. Arcann’s mask had stayed the same, repaired to perfection after all the damage it had received when Diokos had defeated him.

The Wrath realizes he is also wearing the armor he used to defeat the emperor all those months ago.

And once Arcann reaches him, he doesn’t kneel.

“I heard there was an opportunity for us to go out this time, my lord.” Arcann says almost melodically, as if he wanted to get on his good graces as fast as possible. “There was, but team Blue was chosen at the last minute.” Diokos answers plainly. “Ah.” Something fades from his voice, as if he was reacting to bad news. “So Vaylin was right to hunt down Battlemaster Thul.”

Hunt down… 

“Yes, meanwhile Team Red will have an open schedule for the next two weeks.” Diokos stares at him, waiting for his reaction. “Any thoughts on what to do with that time?” 

Arcann scoffs at that.

“Really? They’ll quickly think of a way to send me on a mission to the other side of the galaxy, and they’ll hope it lasts just as long as my sister’s just they can do it again. And again. And again.” Arcann waves his hand distractedly, but he stares at Diokos with much more intensity than he does. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?” 

“I wished to know what you preferred. That is all.”

Arcann’s shoulders slump, and yet his only visible eye widens at the offer.

“Very well, if you would intercede for me with Command I would very much like to go to… Nar Shaddaa.”

Diokos makes an inhuman effort to not roll his eyes, but he can’t manage to stop the temperature from dropping a few degrees. The other groups of people look warily at them and some, mostly imperial personnel, immediately take it as their cue to leave.

“I don’t even know why I–”

“If. You. Would. Let. Me. Explain. My lord.” Frustration flares in Arcann’s voice but by the end he is pleading. “During our imprisonment, Vaylin and I had a most unique perspective in some plans of the larger players of the Outer Rim and we wished to see if we could use that information.” 

Diokos can tell he practiced this pitch, but he can’t figure out why he’s selling it to him.

“For the benefit of the Alliance, of course.” Arcann adds rapidly, for once letting his eye leave the wrath’s face.

“Of course.” Diokos repeats sardonically. “One thing: you speak of Vaylin. Shouldn’t she be here for this outing of yours? What will she think when she learns you’re planning to do this behind her back?”

He didn’t need to add that last part and the guilt swarms for a moment. Diokos had been told many times to avoid causing a rift between his new allies but his bitterness won at the last moment. He can only feast on Arcann's conflicted feelings while he pauses to think.

“Have they ever let me go on a mission with my sister? You know the answer is no. Now think of how likely it would be if they knew we came up with it together.”

Completely impossible, with good reason.

“Therefore, we decided if one of us saw the opportunity to do it then we should take it, even if alone.”

“She let you tell me?”

“Of course, I trust her and she trusts me.” Diokos decides to pointedly ignore that even if the temperature drops further, uncomfortable even to other force users. By now everyone had already left and it is just a matter of when this encounter would be reported.

“Did you hide this information from Command on purpose?”

“I didn’t hide anything. They know. They have just chosen not to act.” The frustration comes up again. He’s not used to being questioned like this. “I want you to convince them… I need you to convince them.” He corrects, self awareness kicking in.

“Careful, emperor…” Diokos lowers his tone even if it’s not necessary. “Tell me, now, why did you choose me?”

Arcann’s posture shifts, as if he had finally said something right. He approaches him as if he was about to tell him a secret.

“I would choose no one else. You know exactly how we should deal with these people. Only you and I are capable of giving them what they deserve.” The Wrath thinks back to Arcann’s falling flagship, when the haze of combat disappeared and Arcann had fallen to his knees. Everything around them was on fire. He watches Arcann’s eye darken from a pale yellow that could be confused with green until it looks almost red at the borders.

“You and I? Just the two of us?” He sees it now. The fallen emperor wants vengeance. He wants ruin upon the ones that hurt him and his sister, yet Diokos’ brain grips to the same old fear.

Betrayal.

“Yes.” 

He gets his answer, thick with a feeling Diokos can’t identify. Anticipation, or awe, maybe. It’s clear Arcann’s mind is far away already, despite the pervasive surroundings the Wrath shaped just for him.

“Now tell me, what will happen when we land into that pit filled with your enemies? What will you do, Arcann?” 

“I will protect you, or I will let you take the lead. Whichever you prefer. Other people would just slow us down.” Arcann pauses, his expression unreadable with his mask. It’s similar to how he looked when he had perfected his reverence, but not quite. 

And yet, reality soon hits him and his next words sound almost disenchanted. “We will investigate, we’ll find the perpetrators, we’ll get results… We’ll return.”

“You want to return? This is not an attempt to escape then?” Diokos crooks his head, wishing he was discerning enough to understand what else Arcann wanted out of this.

Arcann stares at him, perplexed by his question.

“Escape? From you?”

Without warning his prosthetic arm reaches for Diokos and the sith stops him, fast like a reflex, just a few inches away from his face. That is completely unexpected, enough to leave the Wrath speechless. Another display of power he can’t understand from Arcann. It’s even more confusing when the fallen emperor doesn’t get the message, and he starts to fight Diokos’ telepathy with his own, his left arm insisting on staying on track, as if he craved to touch him.

Diokos doesn't want to crush his prosthesis' fingers, he knows how difficult it is for the former emperor to find repairs. His mind falters and Arcann’s hand gets closer. Everyone has told him so many times to not start fights and here he is, in a room colder than an ice planet, glaring daggers at someone he should fight side by side.

But why is he trying to do this now?

So he stops pushing him away, not knowing what would come next.

Arcann in turn falls back completely, staring at his metallic hand with wonder.

“Unthinkable.” 

The sith doesn’t know what to answer to that so he sinks in his shock, waiting for his old enemy to choose when to restart the conversation.

“I apologize, you… I got distracted” Arcann’s eyes are just as dark, even if he seems less tense, decidedly ignoring their confrontation. “I beg that you think of my proposal and tell me your answer some time soon. Thank you for listening to me.” 

That last part sounds memorized and practiced, but his voice betrays his words.

He bows slowly and deeply.

“My lord.” And with that he makes his leave.

Diokos glowers as he exits the conference room, not knowing what to think or how to act. He’s stuck in his frustration and his confusion and the walls creak as he lets his discomfort show. He wonders if that’s what it feels to be truly blindsided with the clumsiest provocations.

“What… was that?” A perplexed voice startles him, saying just what he thinks. Blessaire appears right next to him, as if she had never left.

“I… don’t know.” He answers, and he feels like he could blush if he felt healthier. 

“Did you finally give him the go?” she murmurs, her voice tinted with something like apprehension.

“I will think about it. There must be something worth looking at if he wants to return to Nar Shaddaa, but I don’t know if I will be capable of noticing it. Or maybe he’s just looking for petty revenge.”

“Oh. I didn’t mean it like–” Her eyes widen and quickly move to a corner of the room, avoiding the sight of him.  “Never mind. That could be good. For him.”

“Not so for me.” He sighs. Her gaze returns to his face at the sound of that. 

“You’re right. This wouldn’t be good for you, especially if he’s becoming so bold. Keep that in mind.” 

She gently lays her hand in his arm and Diokos is shocked by how warm it is. The feeling clashes with the freezing room which he made worse with his temper. He can’t help himself and puts his hand over hers, gripping her as if she could slip away any second.

“But I will not worry, because I trust you.” And with that he lets go of his temper, and allows the warmth to return. 

[babygirlhq]

Whispers of the Cursed

It had been nearly three hours since Tristan had descended the beanstalk and set out in the direction of the wildwoods. The sun had already set, and the looming darkness of the woods should've brought a sense of unease to the apprentice, however neither that, nor any fear could be found in his gaze. Not even a hint of alertness that would come from the common sense of a mere human in the midst of nocturnal beasts ready to prey on him at any given chance. No, Tristan Goodman was walking face first into danger, guided by naught but an excerpt from an ancient text, a page ripped out of its book with the disclaimers left behind without a second thought.

Ever since he had truly understood the significance of the rewind, the possibility of it had been racking at his brain for weeks, and he was unable to push the unsubstantiated and borderline dangerous theories out of his mind, even after the many stern warnings from the wizard. Tristan had found himself in the restricted sections of the tower of rest after hours, asking questions he shouldn't have, getting his hands on texts that were better left buried in the vast libraries of the wizard, just to fuel his delusions, his hypotheses on Cagliostro's erased and forgotten temporal magic.

Even though the wizard's continuous denial and forbiddance of the topic should've already established a growing resentment against him, Tristan found himself to be far too busy to think about anything else other than harnessing enough power to do what he set out to do, weeks ago, ever since the realization of the true meaning behind the possibility of having time itself in the palm of his hand, his and his only to do what he wanted with.

After all, if he could change anything he wanted in his life with a simple spell, to rewind time and have the chance to prevent something from happening, to save people's lives, why wouldn't he seize that opportunity for himself right away? He would bring his brother back. He wouldn't let his twin go out alone that night. He wouldn't have to watch his parents die. He would save his family. He could do that. All he needed was a bit more time. And a lot more power.

The legend of the Mordred dreamstone was merely a myth, or at least it was given the same treatment as the many other tomes and records of magical objects that were purposefully wiped out of existence in order to subdue the weak humans who dared to think that they could learn magic and get on the same level as dreamshades. At least, that was what Tristan thought, until he'd stumbled upon the very page in his hand, detailing the location of the dreamstone in a riddle he'd been trying to solve for three days now, and he still didn't have the complete answer. The Mordred dreamstone was, according to legend, one of he most potent pieces of magical objects in the world, and to everyone else, completely lost, if not destroyed already. Many speculated that it was for the better, given that the all-powerful, jet black colored dreamstone was more than probably cursed.

But Tristan would deal with that later.

The only proof of its existence laid in his hand, crumpled up and ripped at the edges. But it was real. And it would help. Tristan whipped his head in the direction of the sudden snap of wood in the not-so-far distance. He folded the paper up and tucked it in his pocket, then broke his concentration on the small ball of light he'd conjured to navigate through the woods. Instead, two trembling hands lifted up to his chest, tattooed palms rubbed together briefly before he whispered out a spell and then pressed his palms against each of his closed eyes. By the time they lowered and he opened his eyes, they flickered light blue for a second, and the encompassing darkness around him was the welcoming sight of what any other nocturnal animal would see.

The lake

He wandered through the woods with ease after that, his ambition preventing him from feeling any sort of exhaustion, or hunger, or fear for that matter. He walked until he arrived to a lake, its surface illuminated by thousands of iridescent wings of faeries dancing a midnight waltz just inches above the water. The rowboat on the shore almost felt like a trap, that was how convenient it felt. He was so deep in the woods that no other soul would come here. No one who would be in need of a boat. But common sense would not stop him from progressing in his journey.

As soon as Tristan touched the boat, each and every one of the faeries scattered away and left nothing but darkness after them. He was almost thankful for the solitude, given the fact that he did not want others to know about this location, and faeries had a tendency to gossip.

He stopped rowing once he assumed to be in the middle of the lake, then looked around. He didn't see anything. But what was more concerning was the fact that he didn't hear anything, either. To be in the middle of the woods in complete silence never meant anything good. There was a long and deep inhale taken from him before he focused his attention on the water around him. A trembling hand reached out towards the surface. And it kept reaching until his whole hand and wrist were under water. Except it wasn't water at all. His hand didn't get wet. The surface was more of a veil, and he would have to get to the other side in order to progress. And so he did.

The room

The moment Tristan jumped through the veil, he didn't fall. He gently floated down, eyes opening not to an underwater lakebed, but rather the entrance of what he could only describe as a temple. Marble floors, colossal columns with braziers lighting the place up. Above him was a chandelier floating in air under a dome made of glass. There was no door on each side of the room. No riddles, no clues, but an empty room with a funny looking floor and columns as big as ancient trees of the wildwoods.

Empty, until it was not. He didn't know what compelled him to look behind him, as he didn't hear or smell or sense anything appearing and yet, when he turned around, he was met with a table made out of the same marble the floor was, with some sort of a basin on top of it. He stepped closer, and the chilled breeze coming from nowhere he felt on his nape gave him goosebumps. A hand came up to touch his nape, feeling something unusual under his fingertips. It took him a couple of minutes to figure out that it was an ancient dwarvish rune, with the meaning of "bare". He wasn't sure where the rune came from, or what it had to do with the puzzle of the room as dwarves had nothing to do with dreamstones, but he didn't waste any more time on second thoughts. Not when he had more important things to do.

Instead, he promptly started pulling his rings off. And then his bracelets. And finally, his necklaces. Each of them holding their own respective dreamstones embedded in them, clinking into the basin one by one as Tristan stripped himself of magic completely.

The cave

Once the last piece of jewelry was taken off, the room rumbled and shook as one of the walls opened up in front of him. He walked through it, the room with the columns and the basin disappearing from behind him as he continued into the next space. The sheer brightness of the cave whose walls were completely coated in rose quartz, illuminated by nothing at first glance, but as Tristan kept walking across, he realized it was his own body lighting the crystals up. He walked for about five minutes before he arrived to a fork in the road. Each path looked the same, and without his magic Tristan was hesitant to choose without careful thought put behind it.

There wasn't anything that looked out of place. Or rather, almost everything looked out of place, crystals growing in all sizes and shapes, not pattern to them, no distinctive runes, carvings, sigils, nothing. There was a slightly impatient sigh escaping Tristan, along with a quick rubbing at his eyes to try and keep his focus up after having to concentrate for such a long time. After all, he was only human. Without magic. He took a step closer to one of the walls, their brightness enhancing the closer he got. That was when he noticed one of the crystals lacking light. He reached towards it, and he watched it be filled with darkness, until it was completely black, not even reflecting any sort of light anymore. He swallowed thickly, pushing away the innate uneasiness from anything dark, as it reminded him of the Boundary. It was just a crystal. Another step in a puzzle he needed to solve.

His fingers wrapped around the crystal, its coldness feeling almost as if he was touching a block of ice, and with one swift movement he pulled it out of the wall. The path on the right collapsed, and Tristan didn't waste any more time, dropping the black crystal and taking the left turn to keep going. No turning back.

The maze

The crystal walls reflected his frame as he walked, but they were more shadows of his self than actual mirror-like reflections. The path twisted and turned, revealing more forks along the way. Tristan continued to navigate the maze, each choice guiding him further into the heart of the labyrinth. Some chambers featured illusions that played tricks on Tristan's perception, making walls appear where there were none and disguising openings with shimmering mirages. Without the aid of magical guidance, he relied solely on his wits and his determination to finish what he set out to do. At certain points, the path narrowed, forcing him to squeeze through tight spaces between the rose quartz formations. The tips and edges of various crystals left a few cuts on his body and his cheek. Occasionally, the maze descended into areas where the floor dropped away, revealing a seemingly endless abyss below, where he would have to keep his balance across narrow bridges.

It was one of these chasms he arrived to when he noticed that there were no means of getting across. In fact, no path continued across the chasm. Once he thought that perhaps he'd taken the wrong turn and turned around to go back, he was met with the alarming sight of closed walls behind him. The path on which he came was erased. He was locked in.

His panic only started to raise when fog started to pool into the room with such a quick pace that he felt like he didn't have enough time to make the right decision. If there was any decision to be made at all. There was only one way out. And that was down in the abyss. He didn't have time, he didn't have his magic, it was a stupid idea, this was surely going to be his end, nobody's going to know where he disappeared to, his parents will be lost forever, his family will be doomed, forever, his friends, his mentor, his lover-- He couldn't breathe. He didn't know if it was the fog overtaking his lungs, of the panic setting in.

"Jump."

Air filled his lungs as he gasped, hearing the voice of his mother, a sound he shamefully thought he'd forgotten over the years already. Tears welled in his eyes as he obeyed his mother, or whatever vengeful creature it was that overtook his mind and feasted on his greatest heartbreak. And he jumped.

Mordred

Tristan woke up with a sharp inhale, as if he was having one of those dreams where he was falling from a height, and just before the impact his body yanked him back into reality. His whole body trembled as he pushed himself to sit up, eyes widening at the sight of a throne room. Everything was white in the room. White floors, white walls, ornate curtains and carpets, frames for canvases that were painted completely white. It was almost blinding. There was only one point in the room that seemed to consume all other colors into a jet black gem embedded into top of the backrest of the throne.

That was it. The dreamstone of Mordred. The very thing he'd come for. The key to power. The solution to all his problems. Blinking his tears away and catching his breath, Tristan stood up from the floor, approaching the throne, slowly at first and by the end, consumed with desperation, he ran towards it. Nothing stopped him. No one spoke to him. There was no audience for his doubts.

He stepped up to the throne, heart racing from anticipation, one hand on the arm rest of the throne to balance himself while he set one of his knees on the seat, climbing it halfway as his free hand stretched out towards Mordred. There wasn't one moment of hesitation before he wrapped his fingers around it. He didn't need to pull, or fight against it. It was neither warm, nor cold. It came out of its place with ease. As if it had been waiting, alone, to be found, to be taken, to be cherished. Tristan hardly even noticed how his shadow had stopped moving as soon as he touched the dreamstone.

What he was concerned with was the cracking of the white walls, the stretching of the cracks and the immense amount of water starting to flood inside so fast that the water level was already reaching his knees. He looked around. The jewels he'd left behind nowhere to be seen. Doors have disappeared, locking him in once more. The only way out was through the cracks, but they were too small for his whole body. He needed to break a bigger hole into the cracks. He needed enough air in his lungs to swim to the surface. He needed magic.

He glanced down at the black dreamstone in his hand. It was almost as if he could see something swirling in the center of it. He had to use it. This was what he came here for, wasn't it? He was going to use it anyway. Sooner or later. It didn't matter how unprepared for it he felt in that last minute, he water was by his chest by then, rapidly rising towards his neck. He took a breath. And another one. And an even deeper one, and he finally recited the spell to make the crack in the ceiling wider. And the ceiling disappeared completely. He didn't have time to marvel at the sheer power that came from the dreamstone as water replaced air almost immediately, and he quickly signed the spell for an air bubble tapping the runes tattooed on his torso. And he could breathe underwater.

He clutched onto the dreamstone tightly as he swam up towards the boat. He clutched onto it even as he conjured a gush of wind that propelled the boat to shore. He never let go, not even as he pocketed all his jewelry he found safely in the grass. And he would keep holding onto it when he arrived back home, just before dawn to lock himself in his study. He had a lot of research to do, and no time for sleep.

He wouldn't be aware, not for a couple more weeks, of the fact that the little voice in his head that kept telling him to push his limits, to take those risks, to miss those events, to take his frustrations out on those closest to him, that little shadow in the corner of his eye that made him paranoid in the dark, that urge to go against everything he'd ever thought to be good... that very voice would turn out to be Mordred itself, corrupting his heart, twisting his mind and using him for its own ambitions.

[eatdearth]

Timing: During Jasper's No-Face Era Location: The Magmacave, Gatlin Fields (underneath) Feat: @eatdearth & @magmahearts Warnings: Jasper's intrusive thoughts, sensory deprivation? Summary: A faceless Jasper tries to find his way out of the mines but instead stumbles into Cass' Magmacave. Cass offers to help but Jasper makes it weird.

It wasn’t exactly rare for things to wander from the mines into the Magmacave. There were a lot of entrances within the cave system that led from one to the other; Cass had made use of it herself plenty of times now, exploring both manmade and natural rock structures with excitement and vigor. But when something wandered into her cave, she knew to proceed with caution. Wicked’s Rest was a dangerous place to be, after all — she had to be careful if she wanted to avoid becoming a cautionary tale.

So when she heard something stumbling around, she approached slowly. Quietly, carefully until it came into sight. Or, until… he came into sight? At first, she only saw the back of his head. He looked lost, he looked uncertain. And then he turned around, and she saw the rest of him. Namely, the blank place where his face should have been.

She remembered this. From the cave-in, the moment when that crystalized thing spit on Milo’s face and then his face was gone. It looked just like this, and that meant it had to be the same thing, didn’t it? That meant this guy had faced the same monsters they’d come across in the cave that day. 

Carefully, Cass scooted forward. “Can you hear me?” She asked experimentally, uncertain. Milo had been able to hear, she was pretty sure, but what if it was different for everyone? Clearly, whatever had happened to this man hadn’t just happened. Maybe it was a progressive thing.

Darkness and silence. These were the two friends that kept Jasper company as he struggled to make his way out of the wretched mines. Whatever attacked him left him alive. Or at least he still feels he’s alive. There was no pain, no persisting aching or phantom longing, except maybe for what was now missing from his head. He could no longer see, so his eyes were gone. He could barely smell anything, if he even could at the moment, so his most prominent feature, the tall bridge that was the centerpiece of his face, was also gone. His ears and his mouth? He couldn’t feel them anywhere on his head. 

Jasper warily put his hands in front of him as he moved, careful to not throw himself off a cliff or into a jagged piece of protruding rock in front of him. The mines were dangerous enough when dimly lit. In absolute darkness, it was a death sentence. How surprised was he then, when he realized he was surviving for far longer than he would even expect on a good day? Despite already confirming that the entirety of his mouth, including his luscious lips and above average tongue, were gone, he still tried to call out for help, though nothing audible or understandable came out of him. Who would even hear him out there? No one in their right mind would be in the mines at this hour, at this time. 

Hear him? Jasper’s right eyebrow went up. Or at least it would have if it was still there, which it wasn’t. He tilted his head to one side, taking a few seconds to confirm, but, yes, he could still hear things even without his ears. How strange. The pitter-patter of a nearby trickle of water, not enough to be drinkable, definitely not enough to be a stream or underground river. How was he hearing things? Was it just his imagination? Or was it because it was still too early for him to lose his hearing since the attack? Or maybe it was because he had been listening to a bunch of songs on his stupid phone before he was attacked, before he lost his face. Was that even a thing? A thousand possibilities swarmed Jasper’s thoughts, drowning his mind in a myriad of scenarios, though none of which were ultimately helpful at this point in time.

Then he heard a woman’s voice. Jasper instinctively tilted his head so that the place where his right ear would have been was in the air, slightly higher than the rest of it, as if that would help him hear better. He tried to answer the question, but again, not a sound came out of him. He started to yell internally, scream as hard and as loud as he could think himself to, but again, to no avail. In a last desperate attempt, he stretched his hands forward, as far as they would go, away from his body, trying to get a hold of this person, to feel this beacon of hope, yearning for the touch that would confirm whether she was real or just another hallucination. Maybe he’d even get lucky and— Jesus freaking Christ, this isn’t a sitcom, brain! Focus!

He seemed to respond to her, in a way. His head tilted, he moved his faceless face as if he was trying to speak. No sound came out, but of course it wouldn’t; there was no mouth for it to escape from. Cass remembered Milo’s voice coming out of the thing that took his face when this had happened to him, and she wondered absently if this man’s voice was in some creature somewhere spouting out memes the way the one they’d encountered during the cave-in had been. Though… something told her that the meme thing had been mostly tied to the face that was stolen. Who knew what this guy’s face would be saying?

Arms stretched out towards her, and Cass hesitated only for a moment before reaching out and taking the man by the wrist. She tugged him forward carefully, making sure his feet avoided uneven ground and rocks that seemed like they’d be easy to trip over.

“You’re in a cave,” she told him carefully, speaking slowly and loudly. Was it hard for him to hear her? She had no idea, but it seemed like a good bet. He didn’t have any ears. “I don’t know if you knew that or not. I think you came in out of the mines, though, so maybe you started there. There’s a creature that takes faces. I think that’s probably what you ran into, huh?” He couldn’t respond to her, of course, so she didn’t bother asking him any questions that needed a real answer. Except…

He could still move his head, couldn’t he? That meant they could do yes or no questions. “You can nod for yes or shake your head for no. Okay?” She gave him a moment to ‘respond,’ then continued. “Do you know where the thing that took your face went?”

Jasper immediately shuddered, cowered, when he felt something grab his wrist, someone. Despite that, he didn’t try to resist. All he wanted was to get out of the freaking caves, get back his freaking face, and it didn’t matter how he’d do those things, who would help him do those things. This guy could be one of those serial killers or whatever and Jasper would be fine with getting abducted by him. At the very least, he’d be somewhere else, far from whatever that thing was. On the surface, outside the mines, his chances of being found, rescued, would be much better, even if he’d be found, rescued, as a victim of some stinky backwater serial killer.

Oh, my fucking god! Is that a girl? Jasper felt a sigh of relief wash over him, not unlike cold water on his bare body on a hot summer day, when he heard her voice. He didn’t even register the fact that she was telling him what he already knew—of course he knew about the mines and caves; he was an expert in that field—never mind the fact that she probably didn’t know any of that. A creature? That takes faces? She did know more about the situation than him. He had thought it was just some asshole who threw acid on his face and melted it all, but if it was a creature that takes faces, maybe he can get his back somehow?

Jasper nodded at her first question. Okay. His head was still tilted, angled, in a way that made him look like a confused puppy who couldn’t see in the dark so it was trying to listen to things that would help it survive. Jasper shook his head at the second question. There was no way for him to have known where the creature that stole his face went. He should’ve made sure to note that but it all happened so fast and Jasper has never been that kind of smart. He was book smart, could memorize rocks and shit, but common sense always seemed to elude him. A terrible tradeoff. Jasper tried to move his hands around, trying to touch the girl’s face, just to confirm that she was in fact a girl, a human, and not some other creature trying to butter him up so it could eat him when his guard was fully down. It would have to buy him dinner first.

He seemed to relax a little as she spoke, and that felt good. Like she was doing something right, like she was making his situation better. In all honesty, she didn’t know how to help him in a real, tangible way. With Milo, killing the creature that took his face had given it back to him, but Cass had no idea where the creature responsible for this man’s predicament might be. Even if she found it, she would have no way of knowing. She didn’t know what this man looked like with a face on, so she wouldn’t recognize that face on the body of one of those face-snatching beats, would she? So what were her options here, exactly? What was it she was supposed to do?

Get him to the surface. Find someone who knows him. Make him feel safe. That was all she really could do, wasn’t it? It wasn’t much, but it was better than leaving him to wander in the caves until he died. 

But there might not be much anyone could do outside of that. Her heart sank as he shook his head. No, he didn’t know where the creature that stole his face had gone. That meant they didn’t even have a place to start as far as how to take it out. She noted the way his hands were searching, figured out what he wanted and guided his hands to her face briefly. “That’s okay,” she told him, removing his hands so she could speak. “We’ll figure something out. I’m going to take you out of the cave. Do you, um… Is there someone I can call? You could… tell me their number with your fingers? Or do you still have your phone on you?” Gosh, she hoped he didn’t use face ID to unlock it.

Jasper instinctively shuddered, flinched, when his hands touched something soft and flesh-like. As if he didn’t expect to touch anything soft and flesh-like. Even though that was the whole point of him flailing his hands everywhere, to confirm that he was talking to someone soft and flesh-like, human, not something monstrous. Monsters aren’t usually soft and flesh-like. Even if they were soft, they’d usually be wet or hairy, furry, sometimes prickly. Oh, god, what if this is just a monster wearing someone’s skin?! He should be able to tell if that was the case, right? Right?

Gulping, Jasper hesitantly tried his best to remain calm, choosing to focus on trying to make out what he was in fact touching. It didn’t take him long to find a nose, cheekbones, ears, even an eye. Or at least that’s what he thought they were, considering they were where his natural protrusions and orifices would have been if his face had not been stolen. So far, so good… My fingers have not been bitten yet. Or my entire hand swallowed.

Still tilting his head toward the wrong direction, his ear—or at least where it was supposed to be—more toward her face than his eyes—or at least where they were supposed to be—should have been, Jasper nodded as desperately as he could. He tried to tell her that he lost his phone somewhere in the mines, too, but without a voice, and more importantly, without a mouth, all he could do was mime with his hands and his right butt cheek. Why does she keep saying cave instead of mines? Is this not another part of the mines? I don’t remember being in a cave that wasn’t in the mines… If Jasper could squint, he would’ve. Where was he, and why was this woman in here? What was this, some sort of Batcave? And who was she, some sort of Batgirl?

It was obvious that he was afraid. She could practically feel it radiating off of him, could feel the vibration of his desperate heart in his chest thrum thrum thruming as it hummed a tune of terror. Cass wanted to help him, because that was what heroes were supposed to do, but how could she? She couldn’t return his face to him without knowing what became of the monster that took it. She couldn’t even offer him any real answers as to what the monster had been or what it was doing with his face. Her experience with the face-stealing monster from before was so limited, so soaked in the anxiety and fear of the moment it all occurred.

But she could let him feel her face. She could reassure him that he wasn’t alone anymore, even if she couldn’t do much more than that. It wasn’t a lot, she knew; it was only one step above nothing, but that still made it better than nothing, didn’t it? Not being alone must have counted for something, even if it didn’t count for much.

He didn’t seem to have a phone on him, from what she could tell. She wasn’t really sure what he was trying to say, but if he had had a phone, he probably would have pulled it out right about now. But that was okay; they could make do. “Do you know anyone’s phone number? I have my phone, so I could call someone for you if you know their number.” He could communicate numbers with his fingers, at least. Anything more than that, though… This was hard. This was a hard spot to be in. For him and for her.

Jasper fought the urge to move his hands down the rest of the woman’s body. He wasn’t sure what she looked like but that didn’t really matter, as she sounded like a woman, so she must be a woman. Only one way to find out…NO! Stupid man brain! What’s the worst that could happen? She’d slap him? She wouldn’t even know who he was, considering he had no face on. I’d know! The Universe would know! Also, I don’t even know if she has a weapon! She could stab me! Dying would be a welcomed respite at the moment, though. It might be a whole lot better than living a life without a face.

Jasper was starting to lose his mind, it felt like. It was bad enough that he could not see anything but he probably looked like a monster to everyone else, except for this strange woman in the strange cave that he couldn’t even see. What if she wasn’t even real? Just a product of his imagination, his desperation, his sanity having been stolen by that thing, too? No, he touched her. That means she’s real, right? Just slumped on the ground, too confused to function. If only there was a way to communicate with her without speaking, if she was even real and not a trap by the mines. 

Then it hit him! Jasper had been through this before. Not lose his face to a monster, this was a new experience for sure, but be in a silent war with a woman. They did not speak to each other for weeks until their eventual break-up. But they did communicate still…with pen and paper! Turning his faceless head to where he thought the woman was still standing, he made the gesture for her to give him a pen and paper. Sure, he wouldn’t see the damned things, so his message might be less than legible, but maybe it would be easier to write his stupid ex’s number! He was so high in his “breakthrough” that he was complicating things. Surely, it’d be easier to make number gestures with his fingers.

He was doing… something with his hands. It took Cass a moment to comprehend what. But when she did — oh! That certainly made more sense than using fingers, didn’t it? She dug around in her pockets until she found a receipt, thankful that she’d actually bought something the last time she went to A Latte Love rather than just stand around and bother Wynne until they got off their shift. She found a pen, too; she was pretty sure she’d swiped it from a table in the mall, though she had no idea why she’d taken it. It had a frilly pom pom on the end. Maybe that was what had captured her attention. 

“Here,” she said, pressing both items into his hands and making sure she had a good grip on them before pulling her hands away. And then – “Oh! Let me take you over to the wall so you can have something to write against, okay?” Carefully, she led him over to the smoothest section of the cave wall. It wouldn’t allow for neat handwriting, and she imagined his presumed blindness would only make it messier, but hopefully he’d be able to manage legible.

With him in position to write, she leaned back. “Okay,” she said. “Um, you should be able to write now. So… What’s your name? That’s probably the best place to start. And, um, if you remember the date you got lost, that would probably be good too?”

To say that Jasper was an idiot would be the understatement of the year. As soon as he had the piece of paper(?) and pen, he immediately tried writing his name. Fortunately for him, his attempt was made somewhat easier when the girl led her to a wall. He took a second or two to touch the wall, his brain telling him to check if it was in fact suitable as a surface to write on. Well, at least support the paper and pen so he can write legibly. It must’ve been awkward for anyone, watching a faceless buffoon tilt his head in the wrong direction while attempting to write his name.

His first attempt came out as ‘Jasjen,’ mostly because he tried to write his name in cursive, an attempt that he expected to be much easier than what he ended up with. Fortunately for whoever was helping him, he immediately realized a contingency, and quickly re-wrote his name in non-cursive: ‘J as per.’ Close enough. The date he got lost? He wasn’t even sure what date it was at the moment. Has he been there for days already? Or was it just an hour after the attack? It all seemed the same for Jasper, as if time had stopped entirely, with days and weeks and hours melting together in a horrific torment fit for hell. Then it hit him. Of course he remembered the date he lost his face. He was, after all, a scientist, who dated his journal entries. For science. June 30, 2023, which he wrote as ‘06l3O/223.’ Close enough.

Then something else hit him. A possible cure! Remember how Jasper was an idiot? Well, considering that he already lost his face to something that science may not be able to explain, why not find a solution in fantasy, right? Specifically, Snow White. Or was that Sleeping Beauty? Heck, they all seemed the same to him now. What with their faces and stuff. Jasper quickly jotted down his stupidly desperate salvation, barely making the two words fit on the receipt, before stretching both his arms to where he thought the person was, human or not: ‘Kiss ne.’ If he had lips, he would have been puckering at that moment.

She squinted as he wrote, wondering how hard it must have been. It certainly couldn’t have been easy, because she didn’t think Jasjen was anyone’s name, especially given how quickly he seemed to feel the need to correct it. “Jasper,” she read the name written in messy scrawl out loud. That was a real name, wasn’t it? A pretty cool name, too. “You know, that’s a rock, too. An opaque variety of Chalcedony. Usually it’s brown, yellow, or reddish. You can find it all over, but usually it’s found in India, Russia, Egypt, Madagascar, Australia, and South and North America.” 

She was rambling. She knew she was rambling. Going on and on about rocks because she was in uncharted territory here. It was easier to go on a tangent than it was to let herself really exist in this situation she had no control over, to let herself acknowledge that, even if she got him out of the cave, she had no way to actually help him. She knew how to get his face back, but knowing how meant nothing if they couldn’t find the creature that stole his face to begin with. And judging by the date he wrote on that paper… “You’ve been down here a while.” How would they even track that creature down now? Was there any hope of it at all? 

Something seemed to occur to him, something exciting. She watched him scribble with some curiosity, taking a step back when his arms stretched towards her. Reading the words on the page, she made a face. “Ew, dude, I’m twenty,” she said, wrinkling her nose. She didn’t know how old he was — hard to tell, given the whole ‘no face’ thing — but judging by how he moved and stuff? He was older. That wasn’t the only barrier, of course. “Also, you don’t even have a face. And no offense, but you’ve been down here a long time, and you kind of smell.”

What the actual fuck? Jasper cringed, or more precisely, winced, moving his body inches away from the direction of the girl’s voice, as if he was in complete shock, when she started explaining what jasper the rock was. In his head, he played a memory clip of that meme where the fat dad from Family Guy—of course he couldn’t remember the character’s name right then and there—went ‘who the fuck starts a conversation like that, I just sat down’ or something along those lines. In all his times of introducing himself by his name, few ever mouthed out factoids about rocks. But that disbelief was immediately overshadowed by him being impressed by the woman’s knowledge of his own field, so much so that he had already forgotten cringing, or more precisely wincing, at her intellectual blabbering. 

Jasper nodded his head, fervently so, when she mentioned he had been down there for a while. It took him a little more while to realize the gravity of that fact. He had been down there for a while. Not a few minutes, not a few hours, but a while. No one ever says ‘a while’ unless they were downplaying the amount of time lost, especially in his current situation. He started to panic, his throat drying so suddenly. He could feel his heart race, and his hand immediately went to his chest. He felt like dropping down on the ground but instinctively reached for her to get some leverage, to balance himself, to keep his legs from failing him.

And then it got worse. She’s fucking twenty?! Oh, god. Oh, god, oh, god, oh, god. It was Jasper’s worst nightmare. He almost kissed a child! Or at the very least, one of his students! That would have been really bad. Terrible. Horrible. Catastrophic. Sure, some twenty-year-old people were cute and beautiful and fine, but that’s just being objective. He should still have his limits, his discipline, his pride or standards or whatever old-timey dudes called their—honor. Something like that. The faceless old man shook his head fervently before doing what a man of his advanced age would have done in this very situation—run! Or at least he tried to. Without eyes, Jasper was just stumbling in the dark. Painfully slow. Awkwardly slow. Even though in his head he was doing his best to scram before the FBI agents came rushing in. I DIDN’T KNOW!

She felt pretty bad for the guy. Even without a face, it was pretty clear that he hadn’t realized how long he’d been down here, that it came as a surprise to him. She couldn’t imagine what that was like, but it must have been scary. Being lost was one thing, but being lost with no face? With no ability to even see where it was you were wandering? She didn’t envy him. She wanted to help him, but… Helping him might be a little hard.

Especially because he started running. In the wrong direction. Cass sighed. She didn’t want to chase him, didn’t want to scare him more, but… subtly, she shifted the ground beneath his feet to turn him so that he was running on a straight path towards the opening of the cave. Not much, but at least it would get him out of here. And… okay, maybe she didn’t really want him to be her problem anymore. Was that so bad?

She watched him go, following along behind and changing his direction every so often until he burst out of the cave and into the afternoon light. Then, she stood at the mouth of the cave and watched as he continued. She’d look for the face stealer that got him, of course, but until then… Well. 

Good luck, Faceless Jasper.

[hilarychuff]

All the Best People See You (All the Best People Know), Chapter 7

hello it's finally time for another installment in my pre-season 4 robin/chrissy inadvertant desert hearts movie date au!!! exciting!!

“You should’ve seen the way she looked at me,” Robin sighs, slumping back against the counter for support. “I swear, for just a moment there…”

read it on ao3 here

Robin steps up next to Chrissy’s locker right as the bell rings for fourth period.

“Hey! So I wasn’t sure where you’d want to go, but I remembered you said that you don’t like to eat in the cafeteria because it gets too loud, so I was thinking maybe the bleachers outside, but then I wasn’t sure if the gym classes might bother you? I also know there’s a band room open now if you’d rather go there, but the class right next door is jazz ensemble this period actually, and even though it’s not really that loud with all the insulation, the horns can still be kind of a lot — and trust me, that’s coming from a trumpet player myself — so then I kind of felt like maybe that would not really be ideal either? But I couldn’t think of any other, uh — I can keep brainstorming, though! I’m sure there’s a good spot somewhere that’s private — or, uh, quiet or…”

It’s the start of early lunch, and Robin’s been trying to come up with good spots to eat for the last four hours at least. By the time second period rolled around, she thought she’d settled on two good options, and her plan had been to fill Chrissy in on the walk to Civics. Unfortunately, when she went to find Chrissy at her locker, Jason Carver was already there.

Robin had watched from down the hall as Chrissy’s boyfriend wrapped her up in his letterman jacket, then slung his arm around her shoulders. He’d led Chrissy away from the lockers and down the hall, and Robin had followed from a distance like an idiot, unable to look away even though the sight of them made her feel slightly sick. They were like something out of a magazine, some nostalgic ‘50s Coke commercial, and she’d tailed them right up until the moment that Carver dropped Chrissy off at her classroom door.

Only then had Robin stopped, half pretending like maybe she needed a drink from the water fountain across the way. She’d watched while Jason disappeared into his own class, waited while more students filtered through the hall, stalled practically until the bell rang to start the period. Only at that last moment had she finally ducked in to find her own seat, slipping into the room right as Mr. Strickland started the lesson.

He’d talked all the way through the next hour without leaving a single second for interruption. Even if she wanted, Robin wouldn’t have been able to get a word in edgewise. Instead, she’d just spent the entire period staring at Chrissy’s back. Staring at Jason’s letterman jacket.

When the bell rang again, it was Chrissy that turned around in her seat.

“Meet me at my locker for lunch?”

She didn’t bother to mention where her locker was. Maybe she just assumed Robin knew. Maybe she assumed everyone knew, and maybe everyone does. Chrissy is practically a celebrity at Hawkins High, after all. Maybe her locker location is just common knowledge, the same way everyone knows her name, that she’s head cheerleader, that she’s dating Jason Carver.

Robin hadn’t asked her to explain, though. Chrissy was right. Robin didn’t need her to. She’d just nodded dumbly without saying a word. Watched Jason tuck Chrissy under his arm when he met her at the door. Walked behind the two of them all the way back down the hall. She proceeded to spend the entirety of band missing cues and hitting wrong notes while her broken brain bounced between conjuring up images of Hawkins High’s blondest couple and spontaneously generating reasons why all her possible lunch locations were worse than rancid garbage.

Chrissy snaps her back to reality.

keep reading

[deathsplaything]

That's The Tea || Alistair & Mack

LOCATION: The Sugar Pot TIMING: Current PARTIES: Alistair (@deathsplaything) & Mack (@realmackross) SUMMARY: Mack stops by The Sugar Pot to give her girlfriend lunch, only she isn't there. Alistair and Melody are, though! CONTENT WARNINGS: None

_

It was around eleven, and Alistair had sent out Elora to the store to grab some ingredients they were running dangerously low on that they would undoubtedly need before the lunch rush hit in an hour. There were a few people in the store working on their computers and talking amongst themselves, but it was quiet right now. Quiet enough for Alistair to be alone at the register, at least. Melody was off in the corner counting inventory and marking things down on her tablet. Alistair was wiping down the counter when the bell attached to the door jingled, signifying a customer. 

“Welcome to the Sugar Pot!” Alistair called out with a friendly smile, setting the rag under the counter and out of sight. “What can I help you with today?” They followed up with a tilt of their head, that customer service smile plastered on their face. Melody turned to see who it was, then smiled. “Elora’s told me all about you!” She called before looking to Alistair. “It’s Mack, Elora’s girlfriend.” Melody told him before going back to her counting. Alistair slowly nodded their head. Elora did talk about her, now that Melody mentioned it. “Elora stepped out to grab some milk from the store if you were looking for her. She should be back soon, though.” 

Alistair took a step back from the register. “If you want to order something, it’s on the house.” They then spoke with a smile. “Anyone close to Elora is a friend of ours.” 

Mackenzie had felt like a shit girlfriend lately with Brody being on the brain. Valentine’s Day had come and passed and the one year anniversary of his death was lingering ever so close. And that was a conversation she had yet to have with Elora. Hey, by the way…I ate my fiance and the one year anniversary of his death is coming up…How would she even gauge that conversation? She wasn’t sure, but she did know that she was good at sweeping her problems under the rug, and instead of lingering on it, she decided to surprise her girlfriend with a nice lunch from her favorite restaurant.

This had been the first time she had been to the tea shop, and while flavors and tastes no longer meant the same thing to her, she had at least wanted to check the place out. Little did Mackenzie know, she was about to get her chance as she stepped through the doorway and was greeted by everyone, but Elora, “Uh, h-hey. I just came to surprise Elora with lunch.” Before she could further elaborate, she heard someone explain to the man at the counter who she was - that must have been Melody. She had remembered Elora talking about her.

With a warm smile, she looked between the two before turning her attention back on the person in front of her, “Oh, uh, thanks. What would you recommend that has, like, a lot of cinnamon or spice to it? I like my stuff with a kick.” She sat the bag of food on the counter and let her eyes glance around the shop. She was sure it was full or pleasant aromas, but she barely caught random scents every now and again. It was times like these, when being a zombie sucked.

“She shouldn’t be gone too much longer, and I’m sure she’ll be pleased to see you,” Melody spoke with a bright smile before going over to the counter to help Alistair prepare Mack’s drink. “Ooh, what about a cinnamon oolong tea?” The redhead suggested, as they began to set up a cup in front of them, that a sensor be placed on the side of the cup so they knew when to stop filling the cup. “There’s also a classic chai latte, of course.” They then added as they mulled through the different possibilities. After a few more moments of deliberation, Alistair finally snapped a finger and began preparing a tea bag. “Cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, and pink peppercorns.” They spoke as they worked, pulling different ingredients from different containers they read with a label reader. 

“I’m Alistair, and this is Melody. We’re Elora’s bosses.” They then spoke up, turning around for Mack’s benefit before going back to steaming the milk and placing the spice bag into the liquid. “She talks about you, you know.” He added, feeling a need to embarrass Elora a little. They had a good working relationship. He’d grown fond of the young girl. She was a good one. 

“There!” He finally spoke, placing the drink onto the counter in front of Mack and popping a lid and cup sleeve onto the drink and pushing it forward. “One Saigon chai latte.” 

Mackenzie stood in awe as she watched Alistair work to figure out the perfect option for her. It wasn’t like she exactly liked telling people that she was dead and spicy stuff was the only thing she could get some sense of a taste from. And though she didn’t want her mind to go there, she had wondered if Elora had said anything about her being a zombie. According to Alistair, they were close. Surely not though. Shut up, Mackenzie. Don’t let your mind go there. Elora loves you. You’re not going to mess this relationship up.

Ever since Brody’s death, the young actress had struggled with the idea of whether or not she had deserved to ever be with someone again, but when Elora came along and had saved her life and then saved her again, her heart was stolen, and she couldn’t help but zone out, as the thoughts of self-destruction slipped away with a vision of the red head. It was only when Alistair had announced what the tea was that Mackenzie realized she was staring into space, “Huh, oh. Sorry, I was…never mind.” She had completely spaced on acknowledging both Alistair and Melody’s names.

Looking down at the cup, the smile that had formed thinking of Elora widened as she went to pick the drink up. But without thinking to keep up appearances by cautiously sipping the hot liquid, Mackenzie turned the cup back and took a rather decent sip, enjoying the way the spices and temperature of the liquid mixed together to give her a burn she could enjoy, “This…this is amazing. You really know what you’re doing.”

Alistair smiled as Mackenzie praised the drink, and they nodded in appreciation. “Seven years of tasting things to get the perfect balance of things. I get quite a few people that appreciate a strong amount of spice in their drinks.” Whether that was because of what they were or just because they liked it that way, Alistair decided not to think too deeply into it. Of course, they were trained to know the afflictions of different undead species. It’s how they were trained. They were taught to have complete control over the undead. After all, they had the power to do so. Still, they actively fought their mother’s teachings all the time. They flashed back to that interaction with the slayer who insisted they relinquish the bezkost’s control so they could at least fight back. In that moment, their mother’s teachings had won over. But was that all they were meant to be? Alistair shook their head, dismissing the thoughts they couldn’t afford to delve too deeply into. 

Of course, zombies were always a possibility. But Alistair had actively fought to see a person first, not their affliction. “So Elora says you’re an actress. What’s that life like?” They asked with passing curiosity, moving to start cleaning out the tools they’d used to pour the tea. “I don’t have an ounce of creative talent besides my tea.” They spoke, which earned a bark of laughter from Melody in the corner. “Your singing makes Brutus howl!” She remarked, voice full of amusement. Alistair rolled their eyes. “Yeah, but at least I have fun!” They shot back playfully.

“Well you’re a true master at your craft.” Mackenzie took another sip of the drink. It was too late to feign appearances, but at this point did it really matter? It wasn’t often she found things that legit tasted good, and whatever Alistair had done to it was perfect, “You can tell Elora, she’ll probably be seeing me up here more often, if it means get to drink one of these every time.” She smiled warmly.

Finally parting with the cup, she sat it down on the counter for a brief moment. She wanted to savor the flavor and not drink it too fast. Plus, it was kind of hard having a conversation with someone while she was sipping tea. “I am. It’s…not what you would think. It takes a lot from you, but can also give a lot in return. You really have to want to be in this business, because it’s not the easiest. But I couldn’t see myself doing anything else.” It was true. Mackenzie loved acting and music and what she did for a living. But just like any profession, it could get hard. The only difference? You were in the public eye almost 24/7, and if you screwed up, the whole world would know. That’s why she was so desperate to keep everything regarding Brody private.

Picking her cup back up, Mackenzie took another slow sip, before sitting it back down, “Hey, you are masterful at your craft, and I’m sure that’s something that brings so many people joy.” She glanced over to Melody and laughed at the comment, “And having fun is what means the most. Speaking of…this magic blend, is there any way I can purchase some for home?” She grinned.

Resisting the urge to roll their eyes at the compliment, Alistair simply nodded their head instead, smiling softly at the compliment. “I appreciate it.” They spoke in reply. “I’m glad you like it! We take pride in the drinks we make here.” They added as Mack talked about coming in more often. It was always nice to find a customer that enjoyed their shop as much as they did. They began to pull ingredients with the help of their label reader. “I can get a to-go batch of loose leaf tea for you no problem.” They told the girl with a dismissive wave of their hand. A pouch was put in front of her, and then a funnel was put into it, and Alistair began to pour the ingredients of the tea into the pouch. 

“Well my son loves you,” Melody told Mack with a smirk. “So I’m sure he’ll be pleased to know that you enjoy our tea so much.” Alistair rolled their eyes at Melody talking about Tommy, knowing that the kid would absolutely lose his mind at learning that one of his favorite celebrities was going to become a regular of his family’s shop. 

“Tommy’s a real wildcard, if you see a mop of blond curls about yay high?” Alistair put their hand out to their shoulder. “Run, he’s probably your biggest fan. I’m pretty sure he’d cry.” They grinned as Melody walked over to Alistair and shoved them. “Oh, leave the poor kid alone.” She told them with a roll of her eyes, though a small smile curling at the corner of her lips gave her away. 

“That’s no surprise. Consider me a fan. And the next time I’m in, if I’ve got it within me to branch out, I’ll try something different.” She smiled as she watched Alistair go to work on making the to-go bag for her. Though Mackenzie had missed her life back in Los Angeles, small town life wasn’t shaping up to be so bad. At least not in the quaint sense of things. She could, of course, have done with the supernatural element of her life now, but it had been nice living a slower and somewhat quieter life than all the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles and the other big cities she frequented.

“Really?” Mackenzie turned her attention to Melody, “Do you have a pen and something I could sign, or, you know what? If you have your phone on you, I don’t mind making a quick video for him. Just a little hello you can surprise him with.” She really didn’t mind it. And though she was grateful for the support from people of all ages, kids did make her nervous. Especially since it had been a kid that had given her the bite that changed her life forever.

“I’m sure I can concoct something up to give you something new to try, keeping spice in mind, of course.” Alistair told Mackenzie with a lopsided half-smile. Alistair was good at separating the different aspects of their life. One minute they’re having a cozy conversation with someone about tea, and the next? Well, that was a bit up in the air right now, but they weren't just going to cold turkey stop practicing necromancy just because the ghost of his dead partner told them to. Their face fell momentarily at the thought before forcing that same polite expression upon their face.

“Don’t be fooled, he’s twelve and has an attitude to rival a god.” Alistair warned, pointing a finger in Mack’s direction, which earned a swat from Melody. “He’s just being a pre teen.” She corrected with a dramatic sigh. “Here, he’d love a video.” She spoke, pulling out her phone and handing it over. Alistair just rolled their eyes, though there was a fond smile on their face. “Tommy is basically your adopted son, the least you can do is vouch for him.” Melody mumbled with a frown, which caused Alistair to sigh in return. “I love the kid, I do. You know I do.” Was all they said in response before going back to cleaning the equipment they’d just used to make Mack’s tea.

“I can’t wait!” She really couldn’t. She was excited for what new concoctions they would soon come up with for her. Mackenzie could tell Alistair and Melody were pros at what they did. And judging by the massive amounts of tea positioned neatly around the shop, she knew she was in the right place. No wonder Elora had chosen to work here. Mack was almost tempted to come and join her, but she had loved her bartending gig at Dance Macabre. It was perfect for someone who rarely slept.

“Aren’t they all like that?” Mack laughed as she took the phone. She had enjoyed the banter between Melody and Alistair, and if Tommy was half as witty as his family, she was in for a real treat if she ever met the kid.

Flipping the camera so it would face her, the young actress hit record as she made a video message for Tommy. It had seriously felt like a Cameo moment, something she was never personally interested in. It had already felt weird having people pay her for her signature or a picture, but paying for a personal video online…it was too much. She’d much rather do it out of the kindness of her heart. When she was finished, Mackenzie closed out the video catching the time in the process, “Oh shit. I’ve gotta dip. I’ve got a shift at Dance Macabre tonight. But hey, thank you so much for getting me hooked on your tea. I’ll be back when this is gone.” She pulled out her card and paid for the bag of tea, “If you don’t mind making sure Elora gets this.” Mack pushed the bag of food forward, “Thanks again!” And with that, she was out the door and headed home to get ready for work.

[helenadurazzo]

The Lord of The Underworld and His Lady of Spring Part 1

In this story for the HPHM x Twisted Wonderland AU, Vil, Rook, Epel, Deuce, Ace, Asteria, Jamil, Kalim and Helena are talking about their recent performance at a competition and their shortcomings due to be tired from dealing with an overblot in the midst of it. However as things start to look for the better, even with Grim’s location unknown to the girls temporarily, they turn south faster than one could imagine.

Asteria belongs to @princess-of-pearls-and-stars while Helena belongs to me. These stories are Inspired by Chapters 8, 9, and 10 of Book 6

One minute, they were talking about their recent concert appearance and shortcomings. The next, Ramshackle shook in a way that Helena and Asteria were both convinced the old and archaic building was going to collapse. It had been abandoned for years after all and was a wreck when they first moved in.

Epel was the first to bring the suspicions everyone was thinking into words, “Was that an earthquake?”

Rook looked out the window in an attentive way just like a hunter, and his eyes widened when he found his target. “No it isn’t, look out the window.”

Kalim rushed over to the window and followed Rook’s eyes towards the sky with his own, “What in the world!? There’s a bunch of guys flying through the air! Are they on hoverboards.”

“Technology like that means it might be related to Ignihyde.” Asteria did her best to remain calm.

“I’ve been to Ignihyde many times to watch animes with Idia.” Helena reminded her sister, “And while I believe they have a handful of these hoverboard things, it’s certainly not that many. And those don’t even look like students.”

“That’s not possible…” Vil breathed, not really paying attention to the girl’s words it seemed not that it mattered all that much. “This school has a magical barrier to keep out intruders. And it is always up as long as we don’t have a special event going on.”

“Maybe that sound was the barrier getting breached!” Jamil theorized.

“But how?” Vil reminded him, “It is complex magic.”

“Some are coming this way!” Rook called out to alert the group, “Let’s see there is one, two-!?” He then did a 180 degree turn and faced the group, “EVERYONE GET DOWN!”

Large sounds followed as figures crashed into the structure of Ramshackle. Soon enough they were all on the floor trying to get cover. Helena barely even noticed Asteria’s protective arm around them.

“Asteria! Helena!” Deuce called out first, rushing over. “Are you both ok?”

“I-“ Helena was about to respond before she was silenced by the sight in front of her. There were at least three guard looking figures in some sort of technologically advanced armor. It was a metallic grey with a couple of its accents being a glowing blue. They appeared to be quite hostile and heartless, nothing like Ortho, well, at least when he wasn’t trying to shoot the school down with a laser beam to save Idia from a crazy ghost bride that is.

Once they regained their footing, Jamil jumped in front of his Housewarden, “Kalim get back!” He firmly instructed as he looked at the guards the same way Helena did. “I’ve never seen that kind of gear before…” He muttered to himself, although Helena could just barely hear his words and assumed others could as well to some extent.

“Hepta team coming in.” One of the mysterious intruders started, seemingly alerting their master of a discovery, “We’ve got visuals on subjects D, E, and G. Moving in for capture.”

“I haven’t the faintest idea who these people are.” Vil began as he tried to examine the guards from a distance, “but crashing through windows shows an appalling lack of manners.” He turned to the rest of the group with a firm expression, “I hereby declare this an emergency! By my authority as Pomefiore Housewarden, I authorize the use of magic on the intruders!”

“Oui!” Rook seconded as the vice housewarden.

“I do the same for Scarabia!” Kalim mustered in his most authoritative voice. “Prepare for battle!”

Vil’s eyes turned to Deuce, Ace, Epel, Asteria, and Helena, “Freshmen, stay back, and do not get involved for your own safety. Heartslabyul students, call your Housewarden!”

“Yes sir!” Deuce, Ace, Epel, and Helena said in unison, however Helena could see out of the corner of her eye that Asteria was frustrated by sitting on the sidelines. But surely she knew that their magic only seemed to work half the time in this world, right?

The same robotic guard spoke again, “Subjects D and E exhibiting hostility, Subject G showing signs of retreating. Requesting permission to engage.”

“Permission granted.” A voice over the robots intercom sounded. “Execute capture plan C”

~~~

“They’re all struggling…” Epel observed as the battle commenced.

“Those oar-looking staffs can churn out spells real quick!” Deuce pointed out with a great amount of perception.

“AUGH!” Vil exclaimed as said oar-looking staff-thing shot another intense concentration of magic.

“VIL!” Rook called out as Vil collapsed on the ground, and by the looks of it, also lost consciousness.

“Subject E is subdued.” The robotic guard sounded. “Securing now.”

“GAHHH!” Jamil screamed out as the same thing that happened to Vil moments ago occurred to him as well.

“JAMIL!” Kalim panicked.

“We have also secured Subject D, all that is left is Subject G.” The robotic guard informed its instructor or head of operations Helena theorized. “Tetra team has already captured Subject F.

Once the last capture is complete we will rendezvous then return to HQ.”

“Where are you taking them!” Kalim frantically requested, “WAIT!”

“Whoa…” Ace breathed, “The housewardens and vice housewardens went down in seconds.”

“And it’s not over yet…” Asteria pointed out, “They were talking about a Subject G, perhaps that’s Kalim or Rook? But why did they stop if that’s the case?”

“didn’t they say that ‘Subject G’ was retreating? If we assume it is someone in here then it has to be one of us.” Deuce determined.

“But who would that be?” Epel pondered.

“Heck if any of us know.” Helena snapped. “We should just stay low.”

“Tetra team has regrouped with Hepta Team.” The intruders sounded again.

“What in Tarnation!” Epel exclaimed again as he looked up, “They are hauling a cage. Wait… ain’t that…”

“LEMME OUT! GET ME OUT OF HERE!”

Helena and Asteria recognized the voice even before they saw who it came from. As they looked simultaneously through the rubble and dense amounts of people. They spotted Grim, being carried in a cage with tight bars as he attempted to escape his prison. How did he end up in such a predicament after the Shrouds helped with retrieving him earlier?

“GRIM!?” Asteria called out frantically.

“Ace! Asteria! Helena! Deuce!” Grim cried out.

“We need to stop them!” Epel got on his feet, “Come on, I ain’t doing this on my own am I?”

“Right!” Deuce agreed, “Hold on Grim! I’ll save you!”

“Dude, Vil just told us to stay back.” Ace tried to remind them, “Helena has a point you know, if we fight we will loose, we should just stay low, and come up with a plan when we can have, no offense, a stronger team?”

“Don’t be such a coward!” Asteria quickly got on her feet pulling out her wand, with Helena reluctantly following suit.

“OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!” Ace pleaded, but presumed he had no choice.

~~~

Asteria noted how the battle was practically over before it started, and somehow ending up as the last to emerge in their line of fighters despite Ace and Helena’s initial reluctance. She couldn’t doubt that it was a disturbing sight to behold.

“Argh.” Ace mumbled mindlessly. “Didn’t stand… a chance… urgh.”

“Urgh guh…” Deuce moaned.

“Dagnabbit.” Epel muttered.

Yet the only voice Asteria didn’t manage to hear, even in a soft tone, was that of her own sister. Her eyes frantically scanned the room and eventually spotted her figure. And panicked when she saw her sister not moving.

“HELENA!” Asteria frantically called out, trying to rush to her but the robotic guards beat her to it, taking her sister.

“Subject G is secured.” The robotic man sounded, “Reporting Back to HQ.”

“Lemme Go!” Grim pleaded, “I don’t want to go! Asteria!!!” He called as his paw reached out to her.

“GRIM! HELENA!” Asteria called out, practically screaming as they were taken away.

“VIL! JAMIL!” Rook and Kalim did the same in nearly identical tones to Asteria.

Rook growled then did a few meditative breaths before turning to Scarabia’s Housewarden, “Kalim, we must tend to our injured freshmen. I will take them to the infirmary.”

“But Jamil…” Kalim stammered, “Jamil’s been…”

“KALIM.” Rook asserted to get his attention. “You must calm yourself. Jamil has been abducted. You need to step up and fulfill your Housewarden duties by yourself.”

Kalim only reluctantly sighed, however it seemed to be more out of concern for Jamil than the idea of added rightful responsibility, “All right, I’ll go summon the other house “wardens.”

Ace grunted again, “…didn’t pick up…”

Asteria rushed to Ace’s side, his mumbling did not sound promising, nor did his grunting. And he seemed to be wincing from pain.

“Huh?” Rook raised an eyebrow.

Ace attempted to speak again, wincing against the pain as Asteria looked at him with widened eyes trying to tend to him and Deuce the best she could, at least Epel seemed to be in a better state, although that wasn’t saying much. “Called…Housewarden Riddle…but he didn’t…pick up…”

“Oh no!” Kalim exclaimed as realization hit his features and he turned to Rook, “Do you think?”

“There is a likely chance.” Rook determined, “We don’t have much time, we must warn whoever we can.”

[faoighiche]

When Is a Monster Not a Monster? | Teagan & Burrow

PARTNER : @closingwaters TIMING : Current. LOCATION : Darkling Lake. SUMMARY : Teagan discovers a sister at her lake. Burrow discovers a fellow monster. WARNINGS : Parental death (mention)

Burrow’s hands dipped under the surface of the water. To a bystander, they would have thought the ripples had distorted her fingers, stretching them further than they should ever be. Stretching them out into long tendrils. The tendrils searched the darkness of the lake. She could see through the rippling all the fish darting away from her intrusion. Their vigor had her smiling. Strong hosts. While they could avoid her, they could not avoid her worms. She had rescued them from a pond polluted by the ooze. She understood its tenacity for she too held a greed that could encompass all the humans and their nest. But the ooze harmed her precious ones and that would not do. Tapeworms rushed out from the tips of her tendrils. While she could not see, she could feel them. Feel the pleasure of being swallowed into their new homes. Her smile grew. 

A smile that died with the burning. A hot fire that plunged down her throat meant one of them was near. Burrow suspected this would happen. It had been so delightful how long she had gone without such an occurrence. But she had drawn to this place for its abundance of fae. She knew a damn nix would be drawn to the waters the very same. 

Burrow’s insides twisted at the sight of eyes breeching the surface. Breeching into her, the same as her worms. Burrow backed away from the shore, her body tensing in preparation for harsh words. Screaming and cursing about the horrors of her presence, despite her tending to her domain the same as the other.  Stupid, nasty things. Well, perhaps she could worm out a direction of a nest before the conversation turned sour. She tried to fix her face into something more friendly. In her ignorance of such a thing, all she could manage was a blank stare. Certainly more friendly than a scowl, at least. “... Hello.” 

Curious. All the babes in the water had grown irritable, complaints of discomfort and illness filling the whispers of the lake. Teagan almost brushed it off as some sort of change of season ailment, or maybe even a product of her two-month-long absence, but when she watched the scales of a fish turn brittle and muted, she knew there was something else at work. In her pursuit for answers, Teagan swam about Darkling, asking around and getting a feel for how everyone in her domain felt. 

For the most part, they were fine, but even she was beginning to feel the waves of illness toppling her over. The health of the lake was gradually declining. At a slow pace maybe, and it was likely nothing given the subtlety of it all, but Teagan knew she had to source out every part to be safe, especially suspicious figures digging their hands into the water with wiggling little shapes swimming about. What she didn’t expect though, was for the possible accused to send such a pleasant thrumming beneath her skin. She hummed curiously to herself, warily peeking out and only revealing her eyes. The mismatched hues bore into the stranger, but no malice could be found; only caution. After meeting a fae that hunter her kin, Teagan knew she couldn’t be too careful, but she was happy to see that she at least received a greeting. A bit muted and stoic, sure, but one could never judge a book by its cover.

“Hello, beaut!” Teagan swam forward, finding purchase with her feet. Silt plumed and puffed, dancing between each step the nix took, until she reached land and knelt next to her cousin with a kind smile. The youngin’ was up to something, she knew that much, and it had everything to do with her nature and what came out of her hands. She sighed, “Glad to see more fae ‘round. I love all my cousins.”

If the tension in the stranger’s shoulders was any indication, Teagan was inclined to believe that kindness wasn’t often given to her and what she was made to be. She wanted to be the difference, knowing rejection quite intimately. “Name’s Teagan and I take care of this here lake.” Her smiled turned into a bright grin and she clasped her hands together happily, doing her best to not let her excitement get the better of her. “Now, I’m not gonna be mingin’ and I’m not gonna bap ya—I mean you’re my cousin and family wrestle and the like, but erm…” She tapped her finger together and scrunched her nose playfully, reverence building in her eyes at her cousin. “Were ya doin’ something to the water?”

Burrow had heard that accent before. Certainly not her mother’s tongue, but the cadence was the same. Cousins, in a sense. It was the only familiarity. The fae’s energy was alarming. Of course, Burrow was well aware of the rambunctious nature of most fae. She had seen many such displays through the opening of her old room. But it was never offered to her — not before she had arrived in Wicked’s Rest, anyway. There may be something nearby that made the fae there stupid. She hoped to avoid it. Whatever it was, it could be of assistance. Yet, there was an aching in her chest where satisfaction should be. She knew this fae was merely tricking her, just like the others. That was all they were good for. A pretty smile with prettier words that meant to weasel something out of her. Well, no matter, for she intended to do the same. Hopefully the nix’s presence in the human nest was longer than her sudden arrival to the lake. Long enough to give her a hint of an Aos Sí. 

“I take care of this here lake,” Burrow was quick to correct. Despite having to look up to the fae, she spoke as one who towered. “I was here first.” Biting words of one who let territorialism blind her. Burrow had forgotten her plan. Play nice. A hiss rushed from her lips and with it took away her ire. She returned to an even tone. “My domain is not as restrictive as yours.” A plain statement. She was unaware of the potential offense. “We are everywhere.” Her arms outstretched, and if her glamour did not diminish them, they would continue evermore. But the moment was as short as those puny human arms. The crisp air bit on her wet hands, sucking out the heat like her worms to the fishes’ insides. After a flick, she buried her hands under her armpits. “We are there.” She nodded to the lake. “I am tending to them.” 

Teagan snorted, more than amused at the conviction behind the woman’s words. Moreover, she boasted her greatness, chest pumped with pride in a way any powerful fae would—and should. She’d never get tired of gazing at such beauty, she was sure of it. First thing’s first though, Teagan needed to settle a few things and know the young fae’s name. “‘Fraid that ain’t true, lass. Maybe I was indisposed thanks to that muck thrown about the town, but I’ve been here for months. All the babes down deep know me and love me.” She scrunched her nose in a playful manner, considering whistling for Vala to join as soon as she could. Last Teagan had seen kelpie friend, she was on her way to scare some nuisances off the shore. She had quite the elaborate plan going, and the nix had no doubt everything would go off well, so she continued to focus on her new friend, holding off on the kelpie. 

“Sounds to me you’ve got quite the bit of nature to take care of though if you are a ‘we’. Where does your heart lay, eh?” Teagan grinned excitedly, crouching down and clapping her hands together to show she truly meant to be a friend. She didn’t want to risk making the girl scurry off before she had a chance to really show her that they could get along, and what exactly she could do to help with her appease her side of the ever delicate ecosystem. “Hm…” Teagan hummed as she tapped her chin in thought. “We…” Pursing her lips, she gasped lightly, lifting a finger to signal she had an idea in mind. “Insects? Or…what did I see? Worms of some sort?” She sat fully on the ground, keeping herself in the water enough to feel the way the energy tilted incorrectly. Whatever the girl was, it didn’t mix entirely with Teagan’s water, but what did that matter? All fae were kin. “Oh, the many wonders we are! Tell me, no-name, what lays beneath your glamour? As you can see, plain as the sun above, I’m a nix that looks much like an axolotl.”

Burrow’s tongue turned rotten at the unintentional lie. She stuck it out, as if the air could blow the taste away. “I see…” Well, that did not change her claim to the lake. In fact, it could serve it. A nix would do well to keep all those hosts nice and strong for her parasites. The tricky part would be to continue now that her presence was known. But that was an issue better addressed in the future. The pretty wee nix had said months — the thing had been in this nest longer than believed. Good. She could be of use. It was clear the nix was eager to chat, certainly giving a similar spiel to other fae. Those dazzling eyes would have easily wormed out the location of any Aos Sí. The same sweet things that wished to coerce out her nature. Burrow wanted to spit out: wasn’t it obvious? It had been so in the past, when all had looked to her with disdain. But, no, the fae here were not the same as the ones back home. They were not as dedicated to observing their surroundings.

Burrow had so much pride for her parasites it often made her insides boil, but she would not expose them. She would keep them hidden away, as was common for the likes of parasites. “Aye. Insects, worms, and… other sorts.” Other sorts indeed. She knew deep down there was still so many yet for her to discover. Calling out to her in the outskirts of her brain, wanting to be known. “They are all so tenacious, so ambitious, so beautiful,” her voice breathed out with the tenderness of a mother looking at her children. But it was stronger. Children were only figuratively extensions of their parents, but her parasites were the truth. She was them, they were her. She wanted to stay with that precious feeling, but there were other matters at hand. “I am a great gathering of nematodes. I writhe and slither better than anyone.” If only she could show the nix the wonders of her truth. Would the nix have quivered at the sight? Would the lake have rippled in her fright? A wonderful curiosity Burrow could not sate. It was time for the question that had been clawing in her throat. “You have been in this human nest longer than me. Do you know of any Aos Sí?” Her eyes were filled with an insistent hunger. “I need a place of… safety.” 

Thoughts were swirling in that head, analytical and cautious in a way that felt as if the nix was looking at her younger sister. It was necessary for their kind when they met strangers, but something told Teagan that there was another reason for it, apart from what she began to gather from the mannerisms and particular way of speaking. As if there was a hidden wound that left the young nymph wary of anyone, even her kin. She decided she needed to move slowly and with great care. “And other sorts? That pause there is making me quite curious, lass.” Teagan raised a brow, continuing to smile excitedly as the words writhe and slither gave more of an idea of what lay behind the illusion. 

“Oh that sounds absolutely unsettling!” She clapped like a child that was filled with glee. “Please do drop the glamour. I must see, darling…!” The elation in Teagan’s voice slowly died then, when it was revealed there was no place of safety for the other nymph quite yet. Her brows furrowed soon after, eyes coating with sympathetic tears. She had no Aos Sí to offer, and was hardly a place of safety for herself, but she would try if the entomid wanted. “Not connected to any, I’m afraid. Sent out of mine in Michigan and don’t particularly fit in with most.” She inhaled deeply, sighing with a drop of her shoulders while guilt ate at her for not supplying a better answer when there was so much longing in the girl’s eyes. That’s how Teagan interpreted anyway. “I’m sorry, lass. Wish I could help, but I’m not someone even my blood kin keeps ‘round. Know a few fae, but no actual Aos Sí.”

Burrow could tell, while unsaid, the want for elaboration from the nix. Oh, how she wished to do so. She could feel the worms swimming in the duck’s insides and the leeches who feasted on their outsides.   “Yes, they are all wonderful and terrible and mine.” If the nix could prove herself to be worthy, she would consider indulging that curiosity. But she knew it would remain an if. Why would she expose her parasites to such a thing that wanted them all dead? “Och aye, it is unsettling.” She smiled: the very first of the conversation. One that hardly lasted more than a blink. While it was caution that kept the truth of her domain in the dark, it was a leash that did the same to the truth of her. Those beautiful worms, trapped behind the promise of a child. Trapped as they all were by others fear. At least she had no need for elaboration. It was time. The reason for her encounter was finally realized. 

Yet before the nix could even begin to answer that yearned question, Burrow felt the first grips of worry. She saw tears, which could not lead to anything good. She did not care to hear of an Aos Sí that was now long gone — probably scorched to nothing by the ironmongers. A dead Aos Sí was no use to any of them. She was spared such a dreary tale, but what she received was far worse. Not connected to any. A stray. Her interest dropped along with her face. She wanted to accommodate the nix’s curiosity. Show her the true magnificence of her domain and how eagerly they wished to take. Her worms would writhe under that shimmering skin until they erupted into sores. But Teagan continued, and strangely Burrow found herself continuing to listen. Listen to a melody that sounded similar to her own. The beat was different, the pitch not just right, yet there were things that hit the same. Exiled, scorned, alone. “I… have a similar Fate.” She was surprised to hear herself admit. But not as surprised as she was to find another monster. “My domain…” Her breath caught in her throat. “...it is…” It was so dizzying being met with the full force of one's own yearning. She collected herself. “Perhaps… I will show you.”

“Wonderfully terrible and beautiful, then. Must be with how much of a tease you’ve been so far.” The nix chortled at the last part, not meaning anything by it. Poking around with some humor came a little easier once she saw a true smile, a sign that a sense of comfort was beginning to surround them. Which, if Teagan were honest, was a huge relief. It meant, at least to her, that there was no ill-intention, and there may be a gap that had yet to fully express itself. 

Again, she was reminded of her sister, a woman she now didn’t know. The memory that remained though, was of a girl that was just a bit different from others. Interactions like that one were a little more difficult and took a bit of time to get used to, but the payoff was beautiful. There was always more to discover beneath the veil, and the fae in front of Teagan was no different. All she had to do was manage to take a peek.

“The anticipation does make for an exciting reveal, though!” She added with a wink. Teagan liked being playful in that way. It meant that part of Catrin, her mother, was still not lost to the withering of her damaged soul. Would it always remain? Teagan hoped so, desperate to keep her alive in some way. Unfortunately for her, the path she chose tore Catrin away more and more, but she had faith that the new road she’d paved would prove to be beneficial. Her mother didn’t deserve to die twice. 

“Did that answer leave ya a bit miffed?” Something switched, like someone turned off a light behind the other fae’s eyes, but it was only for an instant. Just as quickly, it all returned, and something akin to empathy tinged over her features. Teagan returned it in earnest, slowly making her way on her hands and knees to her new little sister. “I’m sorry.” She hadn't been the one to cause the pain, but Teagan was positive no one had offered her that sentiment. No one does when they believe they’re dealing with monsters. “You can show me.” She reached the fae, brows furrowed upward and eyes filled with sincerity as she hovered her hands carefully over the girl’s face. “It’s okay.” Her voice was soft and kind, the sorrowful tunes of them both beginning to amplify, and with it, the ache. Teagan hoped to soothe it somehow, and she’d make a promise if that’s what it took. “I won’t run.”

It was not unusual for others to approach Burrow cautiously. Even her own parents had done the same when she was barely older than a toddler. She did not care as long as it did not impede her duties to her parasites. Because that is often what too much fear led to: complete isolation. Burrow did so love to touch. It was a bridge for her precious parasites to cross. A means to an end. Or it was rough and suffocating and consuming. The kind in which you did not know where either of you ended or began; a beautiful and terrible entwining of souls. It wasn’t… gentle, like the hand hovering by her cheek. When was the last time she had been offered that? There had been moments with the humans, who wished to placate the weird child that had crossed their paths. But those too had been simply means for her infection to spread. This was different. This was a fae, one of the wonderful and knowing, who looked not just to her but into her. 

No. She was the one who touched. She was the one who infected. Burrow gripped Teagan’s wrist and forced that hand to her cheek. Yet nothing slithered out of her in secret. She had found another means for this end: the slick of skin, the drip of water, the hum of connection. It was like the velvety surface of a rose adorned in thorns. Risking spilt blood the longer she gripped. She stared blankly, no clear emotion knowing how to surface. The same as her parasites who stalled, laying in wait for the time to infect. It never came. She dropped the hand just as abruptly as she had seized it. “Strange…”

Burrow skittered past the nix. Part of her wanted to engulf the nix until those gills suffocated under her nematodes; another wanted to disappear into the trees. She found a medium of the extremes: the presence of her parasites. Her arms returned to the cold dark of the lake. The water reached past her elbow, the cold biting into her skin. But there was another she urged to bite as well. Her arms reemerged, but not alone. “Leeches.” The very things covered every inch of her arms, writhing against the joyful taste of her blood. She smiled at them. “They do not bite as humans seem to believe. They puncture or slice. These leeches slice with nearly 50 teeth going back and forth. It is all very pleasant and calming. You can not feel them.” Despite the gathering on her arms, she could only feel a growing sense of tranquility. A numbness that took away the pain from the cold. She offered an open palm, and a few tumbled off her arm and into her hand, ending their feed much too short. Of course, she would not leave them hungry. Instead, she extended that handful of leeches to Teagan. “Here.” She placed them on Teagan’s hand. 

As confusion and critique painted over the young fae’s expression, it told a story of someone lost. Someone searching for home when the world had been nothing but cruel and misunderstanding. A tale as old as time, pages worn and aged with tears staining every single one. It mirrored Teagan’s a little too well, and that in itself made her chest twinge with that empathy she could never get rid of. Not even the years of torment and atrocities could help her escape the way it made her feel when the other nymph took her hand, thus taking control. Teagan understood that need, complying with no flinch or slight reaction. Just a warm smile and a tilt of her head as she watched reverently, a chuckle escaping her as a single, confused word was uttered and no expression displayed.

She reminded Teagan so much of Rhiannon, and she was surprised that the sorrow that followed that name like a ghost only left her choked with grief briefly, allowing a new sort of joy to radiate. Even more so when she made a beeline toward the lake for some sort of goal. “Leeches?” Oh. Teagan grinned, realizing she was being shown a part of the girl’s nature. Willingly. “For me?” She quirked a brow, a mixture of excitement and curiosity piquing. Most would find the sight of so many writhing creatures unsettling, but Teagan found that sensation lasted merely a moment before she relished in the way her new sister’s nature mixed around every little body. “50 teeth slicing? How fascinating, blodyn.” The petname seemed fitting enough, what with the young fae being a unique flower in a field of monotony. 

Teagan nodded at the offer, allowing the leeches to slither and cover her skin. “Appreciated.” She replied with a delighted smile, watching the little creatures feed with joyful interest. They could have as much as they needed as far as Teagan was concerned. Well, so long as the feeding didn’t cross into something of danger. She was sure Arden wouldn’t like that. “Can I know your name?” Teagan refocused on the present and asked again, hoping for an answer that time. “That way I know the name to tell my mates back at the cabin. You’re welcome here. I know it’s not an Aos Sí, but you’ll find a home here all the same. With, ya know…a bed, hot food, and kind faces.” Her expression looked hopeful. “But, of course, it’s up to you.”

“No. They are not for you. I am letting you hold them.” Burrow corrected. The leeches were hers as much as she was theirs. Even if the leeches called the nix’s lake their home, it was to herself that they called brother and protector. She would not see that changed. Her fingers curled to nuzzle against their slick skins. She sent her fingers out further than humankind would allow, that glamour lifting with precision, so that they may nuzzle against even more. A comforting touch that let her peek towards Teagan. Despite everything, or because of everything, she was certain to see revulsion. A sight she had learned to find assurance. Her parasites were hers — every bit of bitterness thrown their way confirmed it. Except, in that moment, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to see. When Teagan simply smiled, with the same brightness she had displayed throughout their entire encounter, a tension released that Burrow did not know she carried. Right. A fellow monster. A fellow monster! Burrow spoke to her kin, in the silent way they did, urging her leeches to release their hardiest dose of anesthetic for Teagan. 

“You can. It is Burrow.” She dipped her head, for they had been properly and fully introduced. “Teagan.” As soon as the words left her tongue, it left her numb. A final breath before she sucked back in water. Drowning. This wasn’t right. She shouldn’t be making pleasantries with a fae. Pretty words were not enough to tear down those well earned walls. It was by the claws of a monster who tore, but… It was too late. As a child, she had hoped to find someone, anyone, who would look to her the way the nix did. But she was no longer a child. She knew the danger that was hidden behind even the sweetest of smiles. She could not, would not, become a victim to kindness. The frustration coursed through her, forcing her fingers into convulsions, before subsiding into nothing. Clear again. She focused on what was practical. Mates. Plural. Possibly other fae. Certainly not enough to produce a proper féth fíada; certainly not enough to make a proper Aos Sí. But, perhaps enough to lead to one. More connections, more eyes, more paths that could lead her to her new home. Teagan seemed charmed with her, and while Teagan herself had been fruitless, perhaps that charm could bleed out to the others. All Burrow needed was that pretty face on her side. She smiled: full and genuine. “That would be nice.” Nice and useful. “What is the location of this cabin? Will you promise I have a stay there?”

There was a tightrope between two cliffs, the nix walking a fine line and nearly teetering off into a realm where she wouldn’t be able to walk back. “Apologies, blodyn. I misspoke.” Teagan offered an embarrassed smile, still kindly allowing the leeches to feast. She was happily watching them when the young fae, Burrow, she revealed, seemed to be excited at the prospect of their friendship. It washed relief over Teagan, having successfully convinced such an apprehensive person to do the impossible and let their guard down. 

She understood, really. Strangers and their intentions were usually obscured by a veil of ambiguity. It was a fog that would be all too dangerous to venture into without appropriate planning. Teagan would’ve calculated all the same, likely even rejecting every request. At least at Burrow’s age she would have, and by the looks of her eyes, the nix began to gather there was still a chance for her to back away. She didn’t want that to happen, no matter how much she’d understand the need for self-preservation, the need to keep all limbs away from a viper’s reach. But the nymph had no fangs to sink, and there was a promise to make to a smile that Teagan had somehow earned.

“I have a partner, a roommate, and a cat. Now, my partner doesn’t live there…” Yet. Maybe. Teagan blinked away the thoughts. “But she’s there a lot, and she’s human. So I’ll definitely make that  promise on the grounds that you treat her with kindness and respect. If you agree, you have a stay there and can pick an unoccupied room.” She smiled, pointing. “The cabin is a few clicks west of here. Just follow straight that way and you’ll find it. Right at the edge of the lake.” Teagan scooted closer to Burrow and offered her little ones back. She wasn’t sure how long she could have them on her, but she knew it was best to not risk it. “It truly has been a pleasure meeting you today.” Her voice was genuine and bright. “I really hope you can show me more. Thinking maybe you can help me with some of my kin. Got a hunch that we can work together to find a good balance.” 

Burrow was familiar with the fae taking on human partners. A thing done for play and pregnancy and nothing more. She doubted any fae could attempt any interest of her, so she would turn to the humans when she was safe enough to make a successor. Teagan must be the same, so cast aside by their kind that one would not spend even a single night of passion. When one was a monster, the humans were ever so alluring, for they were some of the worst. A kinship that was not returned, Burrow had learned in time. One that Teagan had yet to learn, shown by her urge for kindness. Did Teagan think the human could care about her? Or were they simply struggling to be with child? A curiosity, but not Burrow’s concern. She had already succeeded in securing her needs. “I accept the deal, as long as the human treats me with kindness and respect.” She was adept at avoiding the humans. The inside of walls and rooms long forgotten were as much her domain as the parasites. She would avoid that side of the deal just as easily. But, in times when the two’s paths would cross, she would not be forced to politeness while the other was free in her hatred. No. They would both have leashes on their necks.

Burrow looked to the direction of Teagan’s finger. She did not know the measurement of clicks, but she was familiar with few. It must not be a long walk. A nix would not bear to be so far from her waters. She focused on the trees, remembering the bend of the branches and knots on the roots. Remembering so she may find them again. “Ok.” When her attention returned to the fae, she returned to reality. The reality of her role and what it meant. She heard that word: balance. The very thing that had been used to kick her out of her home. She knew what it truly meant. Balance for her kind meant absence. The same as how Teagan tried to be rid of her leeches. There was a thought to let them slither out every last drop of the nix’s blood, but she had a bind to maintain. A bind she could trust, not the kindness of the fae. Their kindness was only temporary. Teagan would not be rid of her as easily as the leeches. Burrow scooped her precious ones into her arms. They were safe again in her embrace, before she released them back into their home. “I will go and retrieve my things.” Yet, she hesitated for a moment. A silly part of her hoping to steal away one more glance of that smile. No. That moment had passed. “Bye.” Without waiting for a reply, she ran off.