#I NEED to see his skull cause there’s no way he can chew naturally

[veryartsyfish]

I wanna know his workout routine cause how tf is he so built in the chest but has arms that look like they belong on a little Victorian child.

[zackcrazyvalentine]

I hope i'm not late for the screenshots thingy!

Here's who i got!

(i got lucky cause Epel and Idia are my faves LMAO)

And for the theme, maybe them reacting to MC cooking them meals from their world? Or maybe them visiting MC's world with them? You choose!

(romantic btw!)

LET'S GET THIS BREAD!!! I'm sorry it took some time to get out

I'll do a half and half~

Let's go!

~ Other Worldly ~

With: Epel Felmier, Idia Shroud, Vil Schoenheit, Jack Howl, and MC

Them reacting to MC cooking food from their world, and visiting MC's world

--

First off, let me start by saying that a good 3/4 of these characters are super picky(? with their food, Vil and Idia being the most critical (according to what Master Chef events tell us)

Hope you have some super cooking skills and/or premium ingredients at hand! ^^''

Some headcanons didn't come out too romantic orz

🍎 Epel Felmier 🧹

Foreign dishes

Epel noticed the peculiar cooking going on in Ramshackle after visiting one time

While he may be critical of ingredients and overall resulting taste, Felmier is curious to try new things (specially if it's in big portions, unlike Pomefiore's dinners)

He approaches MC shily, asking if he could have a taste of what they were eating at the time

"Sure, no problem! In fact, let me cook some for you fresh!"

Before he could even protest to get them to stop, the Prefect already got to work

He tries to help, but MC shoots him down and tells him to patiently wait

Epel's appetite and curiosity are increasing with every second

Once the food's ready to be savored, he digs right in! And will provide some feedback about what he liked about it, what it reminds him of, and if needed be points out what he thinks it lacked

Eager to try out more of the food MC was accustomed to eating back in their world!

Visiting a far away land

EPEL IS PUMPED!!! FIELD TRIP TO A LAND HE'S NEVER SEEN OR HEAD ABOUT, UNLESS IT'S FROM MC'S MOUTH!!

He's eager to visit all the places his love adores! Make some memories and have a blast discovering the place such a wonderful person comes from

He wants to know how their two worlds differ, how a world without magic unfolds before his eyes

Let's be honest: this boy right here is excited to wreck havoc in supermarket and fast food places' parking lots. Y'all probably woke up at 3am once and decided to go scream and mess around at your nearest McDonald's parking lot

Please show him vine compilations, I'm positive Epel will love to get to know the humor of this world (although he once used a vine reference when talking with a cashier once, thinking it was common knowledge for everyone in MC's world)

Out of the four guys here, Epel is the one most open to improvised plans

Eager to try out any strange fruits and vegetables, interesting snacks and bizarre cookie flavors that catch his eye

"How can your world have such specific flavors? Rosemary garlic jalapeño bread chips? How???"

💀 Idia Shroud 💙

Foreign dishes

MC probably brought some of their homemade food over to Idia's dorm after getting concerned that this boy's diet heavily relies in junk food and sweets, and when he does eat it's a very small portion

So in MC comes and asks Idia if he would like to try some food they prepared, one of their favorite dishes

At first, Idia is very reluctant, saying how he doesn't feel hungry

But the Prefect has a trick under their sleeve: a crestfallen expression with an adorable pout

Seeing them having a meal on their own while occasionally sighing sadly has the flaming haired boy debating what he should do

Then a memory of Ortho's voice resounds in his skull: "Meals are typically shared between people to develop or strengthen a bond. If you want to win [Name]'s heart, you should take them out for dinner."

That and he can't deny the contents of that container in their hands look appetizing

Shroud finally accepts and brings you over to Ignihyde's kitchen to grab a couple of plates

He's hesitant, but takes a nice first bite of food. Chews it carefully as he analyses the taste, texture, consistency

"I've never tasted something like this before. What is it?"

"One of my favorite dishes, [food name]!"

Silence followed, "Huh? I-I'm afraid I have... never heard of it..." He said

"Yeah, Ace and Sebek said the same when I introduced them to it. Makes me believe this is something only seen back in my world."

A nice chat develops and, before they know it, the food's gone and Idia himself ate a nice amount of it

It's in the walk back to his dorm, when they're enveloped in a nice comfortable silence, pinkies entwined, that MC confesses they purposefully did all that out of concern for how much he eats

It ensues some light pushing-and-pulling around and tickling, him saying how that was a tactic well taught out, but also saying how he eats just fine and they shouldn't worry about that. You know, light banter between a loving couple

That dish ends up in Idia's list of favorites. He has asked Mc to bring it with them a couple of times when they hang out together and play games

Visiting a far away land

Frankly, he's curious and very nervous about this trip

MC of course is aware of Idia's dislike of crowds and being out in public, so they prepared a nice and calm trip for him

Visiting the less frequented parts of town, quiet cafés (cat cafés!! because those normally have controlled influx of costumers for the kitties' safety), couple of history museums, supermarkets late at night for snack runs, lots of staying at home to play a plethora of videogames and watch many anime series and movies

He's amazed at the variety of games MC's world has, and is also surprised by how some titles are similar to those he likes to play. Same goes for some anime series

While he appreciates how the Prefect tries to show him what their world and society there is like, he much more prefers their stay at home time

He gets to cuddle with them in their room! Their actual legit room with many memories of their life!

He may not look like it, but Idia likes to snoop around and ask what this or that photo, a toy or poster is about and what memories they hold

Honestly, Shroud came over to his lover's world to know about their life, not so much to learn about the world as a whole

Baby pictures, photo albums, the occasional video of their childhood, diaries and old Valentine's cards, he looks through and reads them all!

He will treasure every bit of information he learns about his partner and their life in this world. Probably takes one of their baby pictures with him back to Twisted Wonderland

👑 Vil Schoenheit 🍎

Foreign dishes

Vil is the hardest to convince to try your food out of this group, no doubt

He does know MC cooks, and knows that some of their dishes are uncommon, but the model has yet to asked them for a taste

It takes one brave "Do you want some?" for the model to finally have a taste of the food

He's very hesitant, you can see it clear in his expression, but it all fades away after the first bite

He will openly state if he likes it or not and why

"Perhaps you have other dishes that suit my fancy better? Come on, I want you to show me more."

He genuinely does want to taste more of those unique dishes

Visiting a far away land

Eager to take a little vacation to a world full of opportunities

I see Vil as someone who would like to visit the most prestigious places (though MC will have to tone it down and remind him they don't have an unlimited amount of money to spend)

Art museums and a couple theatre plays are his go-to, along with nice restaurants, popular cafés, and lovely parks to have a picnic on (he jumps into the idea of attending one of those outdoor cinema projections, those are probably his favorite because he gets to cuddle with his lover under the night sky while a movie plays)

He will want to learn about the history of MC's world and the way society, politics work there

He gets word of the horrible things that happened and the threat of climate change, human rights violations and he will want to take action to protest against it

Okay, but Vil will get along so well with the Prefect's younger siblings and mother/aunts/fem guardian if they have one

Get ready to have him judge favorite makeup products. Prefect better lead him away from the beauty and skincare sections of farmacias and supermarkets

All in all, having Vil over to their world allowed MC to visit many nice fancy-ish places and allowed them to enjoy some simple things they forgot

A wonderful person to have by your side in any world and universe~

🐺 Jack Howl 💛

Foreign dishes

With his fine sense of smell, Jack detected the food MC was preparing for their little date was something unfamiliar

"What's that? Something new?"

Yet MC tries to keep the surprise until the plates are presented and served

Seeing the smile on their face, Jack can't help but think that this dish will taste wonderful due to the love shining on their face

"This is [dish name], one of my favorites back in my world. Haven't seen it offered in the cafeteria, so I decided to try my hand and prepare it for you, Jackie!"

First bite, fluffy tail wagged. He compliments their cooking with a smile before diving in for a couple morsels

Jack isn't too picky, he enjoys food truthfully

I think he will be curious about the story behind the dish and why his love categorizes it as a favorite. Ingredients, techniques, tell him all about it!

I'm sure this boy will be happy to try more of the unique dishes found in a world ways away from his!

Visiting a far away land

A visit to his partner's world, huh? Well, Jack is certainly excited to see what sort of outdoor activities and exploring can be done in this new place!

Dates with Howl in the Prefect's world will consist of visiting natural parks, gardens, forest trails, perhaps do some fishing or bird watching

Jack grew up with snow as a constant. He would like to explore the winter sports scene in this foreign world (if MC lives somewhere with snow/with designated paces on which to practice said sports)

Aside from these outdoor sporty visits, the wolf would like to attend concerts or maybe a local team's game

However, he soon finds out these events aren't suited for his acute hearing (poor baby 😭)

So he's content with spending time inside MC's house, get to know their family a little, look through their family pictures, and have pleasant late afternoon walks in the nearby park

Something as simple as going out for icecream is tremendously pleasant with Jack by your side

(but poor MC if they aren't athletic or into nature because this big puppy will drag them to loooots of nature watching dates asdfg)

-- --

Ngl, this prompt was a little hard to fulfill. I'm well aware this isn't the most romantic, but hope it was enjoyable

Thank you for your request!

and sorry again for taking long

[lonely-lost-soul]

Under The Floorboards (Pt. VIII)

(Technoblade x Reader) First Part: Pt. 1 Latest: Pt.VX

(Feel free to play this while listening to this chapter! Full credit to @Alexx-Kun on Wattpad for suggesting this gorgeous song)

https://youtu.be/kCV4JUqGr64

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 1: Forgiveness

Step one you needed to find a venue, you had assigned Ranboo as your honorary maid of honor. The young boy was just as thrilled as he was confused, did you not have any other friends? You were Technoblade’s perfect match if that was the case. Ranboo had no problem voicing that to you and you pouted at him, you argued that everyone who lived with Techno was antisocial. He reluctantly agreed and you smiled proudly, he rolled his eyes and shoved your shoulder with his hand. You laughed, glad you were sitting down, or else you would’ve for sure fallen. Technoblade and you had decided to split the jobs for the wedding between the both of you. You were in charge of the invitations and flowers, basically anything to do with decorating and interacting with other humans. Technoblade meanwhile was in charge of the venue and the official rings, it’s not that you didn’t trust him with more duties it was more that he didn’t trust himself. That and he also believed that you both could just get married in the woods. You at least wanted a small wedding with a few people you cared about, you rubbed your pointer finger and thumb together with a frown.

    “You alright?”

     “Just thinking about the invitations. Who will come...stuff like that.” Ranboo glanced over at the minuscule stack of letters by the table, it was clearly small, but Ranboo hand wrote them for you in swirl print. They better show up, Ranboo would be pissed if they didn’t, he put a lot of work into those invites.

    “They’ll come.” He nodded his head picking them up with his claws, one was for Tommy, another was for Ghostbur, and Ranboo also suggested an invite for Captain Puffy he figured the both of you would get along considering you both had a habit for adopting misfits. You also needed a female friend. “We can deliver them and search for flowers, then tomorrow we can search for a dress for you that sounds okay right?”

    “For someone with such a bad memory, you’re surprisingly good at planning,” You watched the boy preen at your compliment.

     “Thank you, I also figured we can use the stasis chamber so you only have to walk one way with your ankle.”

     “Smart boy.”

    “Why thank you,” Ranboo smiled proudly over at you reaching out his hand for you to take. You grabbed it and he pulled you to his feet, he kept his hand interlocked with yours, it was minuscule in comparison to the half enderman’s. “Ready?”

     “Ready.”

Slowly but surely the two of you made your way over to the nether portal and into the once-great country. Ranboo placed his hand on your lower back and helped guide you through the rubble of the city. He knew much better than you did where everyone resided, even if you didn’t meet them face to face you’d make a chest and drop it off. Ironically the first person you ran into was the woman Ranboo insisted you meet, Captain Puffy. She’s gorgeous, was your first thought, she was some form of a sheep hybrid dressed like a pirate, two of your favorite things, sorry Technoblade you might’ve met your new wife. You talked with her well into the afternoon, she was just so easy to talk to,

    “Can I just say I feel like I’ve known you forever,” She gushed, taking your hands within her own and squeezing fondly. “I’m so happy Ranboo has found someone to watch out for him,” Ranboo flushed in response but didn’t argue against Puffy’s words which warmed your heart.

     “I’m happy too. I just want to help these kids in whatever way I can,” You smiled a little forlornly thinking once again of the obnoxious blonde. “They just don’t deserve all the shit they have to deal with, they’re kids you know? They should be living their lives.”

    “Yeah keep talking like I’m not here,” Ranboo mused over your shoulder which caused you to laugh with a shake of your head, “no need to stop please continue.” Puffy smiled at the both of you,

     “She’s right though Ranboo. You should be out causing mischief or getting into trouble, not fighting in a never-ending war.”

    “Oof getting into trouble? No thank you, I just wanna tend to my pets and go on adventures with my friends.”

     “You’ll get to do that I promise. Once my ankles healed we’ll go woodland mansion hunting, I’ve been to a few in my time. They’re a lot of fun.”

     “Really?”

     “Yeah of course!” You beamed and Ranboo smiled right back at you, he brought his journal out of his bag and quickly scribbled something down in it. In the end, Puffy ended up accepting the invitation with a blinding smile,

     “You’re going to be a gorgeous bride. Could I bring my girlfriend Niki? You’ll love her!”

     “I don’t see why not. I can’t wait to meet her!” You assumed Technoblade wouldn’t mind one more person, especially because he’s never mentioned Niki which was a good thing in your eyes. Usually, if Technoblade talked about you, it was because he wasn’t a fan. You all said your goodbyes, you felt warm inside you couldn’t believe you were about to have TWO friends who are girls.

     “Soooooo?”

     “I love her.”

     “Told you so,” Ranboo smirked. He was proud of himself for forcing someone else to socialize so he didn’t have to. Ranboo was relieved that list of people to invite wasn’t long; considering Technoblade had more enemies than friends. The only thing that rubbed him the wrong way was he didn’t even know that you had invited Tommy in the first place.

So if Tommy did show up, your wedding might be a bloodbath.

You and Ranboo stood outside of Tommy’s house, he glanced down at you and watched your hands clench the envelope. He brought his hands over yours and rubbed them gently, you looked up at him with wide eyes.

     “Deep breath and relax okay? He’s Tommy so I won’t say he won’t flip out at you, but I can say you’re a wonderful friend, you’ll be fine.”

     “I can’t believe Mr. Panic Room is telling me to relax.” You let out a nervous laugh, he made an offended face.

     “Ya know what, never helping you again. You can walk home.”

     “Ranboo it was a joke!”

     “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” you stuck your tongue out and headed up to Tommy’s door and knocked. You already knew Tommy might not even be home, the boy was a wanderer by nature. Yet, much to your surprise, the door opened with a loud BANG, and in the doorway stood Tommy looking better than you’ve seen him in all the time he spent with you and Technoblade.

     “Hi, Tommy.”

     “(Y/N)?” He blinked looking surprised before he steeled his face, “What’re you doing here wench!” Tommy pointed an accusatory finger at you and you raised an eyebrow,

Wench?

That wasn’t going to fly.

    “Try again.”

Tommy sputtered as you narrowed his eyes accusingly, his eyes trailed down to the netherite sword at your side. His entire demeanor changed when he spotted it at your side,

     “(Y/N)! My friend! Good to see you! How’ve you been? Good? Good!” The boy rambled wrapping an arm around your shoulder with a big smile, there’s the Tommy you remembered. “I’m sure you’re doing good fo’ sho’! Now what do, I owe this pleasure women!”

    “I wanted to invite you to Technoblade and I’s wedding,” Your voice was soft and hesitant, holding out the invitation out to him. The teenager blinked a few times before taking it from your hands, he flipped it over confusion was etched deep on his brow.

    “You’re getting married? To Technoblade? He’s going to have a wife and I’m not?”

You blinked a few times trying to process what Tommy said, was he more mad at the fact that Technoblade was getting married in the first place? “Well yeah, considering I’m his fiance and all…”

    “That motherfucker! He gets to have a wife! I want a wife! (Y/N) acquire me a wife!”

You let out howling laughter at his response, tossing your arms around the boy, he went silent and a confused look came across his face. His ears turned red as he looked over at Ranboo with a face that screamed help me, Ranboo simply looked away holding up a prominent middle finger at the boy. “Okay, okay! Enough hugs,” Tommy ranted shoving you away from him with a huff, “I don’t know what’s so funny about me needing a wife.”

    “You’ll find a wife eventually,” You couldn’t help but smile as he frowned down at you. “So? Can you make it?” Voice quiet as you looked up at him, the nervousness from before creeping back into your body, he chewed on his bottom lip while looking at you. Tommy wasn’t about to be soft while Ranboo was standing less than a foot away so he did the next best thing which was whacking you on top of the head.

    “I-well-...” Tommy rubbed the back of his neck looking nervous for the first time in his life, “I can’t.” He saw your face fall and he grabbed your shoulders tightly, “Not because I don’t want to! I… I guess you’re not TERRIBLE.” He admitted begrudgingly, “Tubbo and I...we have some unfinished business we need to deal with before things get any worse for people.”

     “I don’t know what you mean Tommy.” You suddenly grew very concerned, “You don’t have to hold the entire world on your shoulders.”

     “Yeah, I do,” Tommy responded with enough seriousness to shake you to your core, you didn’t know about his past with the discs fully, but you knew enough to know this situation was about that. “Just know I’m happy for you, seriously I am,” He gave you a sad smile.

    “Stay safe Tommy. Please don’t be stupid.”

     “I’m never stupid you BITCH!”

     “Call me a bitch again you BRAT!”

     “MAKE ME!”

You frowned, hitting him in the side so he would double over, while he gripped his stomach you pulled him into a headlock and began digging your knuckles into his skull. “Apologize!”

     “NEVER!”

Ranboo looked sheepish as he stared at the scene, his shoulders slumping forward. “(Y/N) we have a schedule-” Reluctantly you released Tommy and he stumbled back, he huffed dusting off his shirt. You smiled slightly over at the boy,

     “See you soon raccoon boy,” you gave him a proud salute.

     “Hasta La Vista Miss Blade,” Tommy responded, saluting you right back.

You turned away from the boy and headed back over to Ranboo’s side, “You ready?” You nodded in response with a little smile on your lips. “Good. Next, up is Ghostbur right? We need to find him.”

     “If we can locate Friend we can locate him.”

It took a while, but eventually, you and Ranboo found Ghostbur and Friend wandering around a forest nearby the crater. Immediately spotting you a bright smile spread across the ghost’s face, “(Y/N)!” He shouted, throwing his hand in the air with a wave, “How’re you doing darling!”

    “I’m good Ghostbur! Have you met Ranboo?”

     “Briefly. Nice to see you again!”

     “Ugh, ditto,” Ranboo responded with a shy smile shuffling a little behind you.

You smiled and pulled an envelope out from your bag, you held it out to him.

     “You and Friend good sir, are invited to Technoblade and I’s wedding.” He gasped loudly, eyes lighting up with pure and utter joy,

     “Technoblade getting married! Oh my god, that’s phenomenal! You’re going to make the most beautiful bride,” he praised excitedly as your face turned red at the compliments, “Gosh, you two are so lovely together, I wouldn’t miss this for the world! Do you have a dress? You have to show me!”

You rubbed the back of your head, rocking on your heels, “Well...about that.”

     “Do not tell me you don’t have a DRESS?” He practically yelled crossing his arms, “I’m disappointed in you!”

      “It’s in two days Ghostbur! I had no time! I’ll make do with something. I’m sure I have an old dress somewhere-”

     “UNACCEPTABLE!” He grabbed at your hands, “I’m getting you a dress. I’ll meet you at Technoblade’s tomorrow, just hold on!” Ghostbur ran his hand through Friend’s wool with a smile, “You’re going to be one of the most gorgeous brides, only second to Sally.”

     “Well I’m honored, I’ll see you then.” You smiled adoringly at the little ghost as he floated off his sheep buddy by his side.

    “Do you think he’s getting you a dress?”

     “I have no idea,” You responded with a shrug, “It’s sweet he’s willing to put in the effort though.”

      “Or creepy.”

     “It’s sweet you jerk,” You nudged him with your arm Ranboo smiled,

    “I’m just glad it’s off our to-do list for tomorrow.”

     “True that means you can sleep in,” You teased as his multicolored eyes lit up,

    “Hell yeah.”

~~~

Day 2: Ghostbur’s Gift

You woke up to sleepy kisses and tender touches, one of the loveliest ways to wake up if you might add.

    “Morning big guy,” You cooed fondly as he made a soft purr-like sound in his throat. You turned over to face him and he immediately pressed a kiss to your lips. The voices couldn’t help but point out how cute you looked in the morning.

    “Helloooo...How’s your ankle?” He asked his thumb brushing against your cheek, closing your eyes you let out a soft,

    “Much better.”

    “Good, I heard from Ranboo Ghostbur’s supposedly stopping by today. Any particular reason?”

     “He says he has a dress I can wear for tomorrow.”

    “How does he have a dress exactly?”

    “No idea, but I’m going with it.”

     “If you’re sure. Just don’t look bad.” You frowned and bonked him on the side of his head, “it was a joke!”

     “It better be a joke or I’m leaving your ass. I look good in everything so fuck off.” You hissed as Technoblade groaned,

     “Heard you loud and clear Princess. Scouts honor, you’re the most beautiful girl to me you know that.”

    “I do. Just don’t joke around like that, makes me feel bad okay?”

He frowned a little and moved to hover over you, his hair framed his face and fell past his shoulders. It tickled your cheeks and you ran your hands through it meeting anything but his eyes suddenly feeling very self-conscious. Technoblade kissed the tip of your nose,

     “Hey, Princess look at me.”

Turning your head towards his voice, the two of you locked eyes, a sense of calm washed over you, the only thing in his eyes was pure, unadulterated love.

     “You’re the most beautiful girl in the world to me. No matter what I’m always going to think that you are, you could grow a third eye and I’d still want to marry you tomorrow. I’m sorry I made you feel bad, it was a joke but I won’t make it again. I swear.” You felt your eyes water as you tossed your arms around his neck, the sudden movement caused him to fall forward crushing you beneath him.

    “I love you too bubba. Thank you for listening to me.”

     “That’s part of my job idiot.”

You smiled against his neck and held him tighter, Technoblade reciprocated the hug and decided the both of you could stay in bed just a little while longer. The two of you shared soft kisses, every once in a while Technoblade would reinforce how precious you were to him, eventually, it all got to be too much and you shoved your hands in his face.

     “Enough is enough! I’m embarrassed now.” Technoblade laughed at your flustered expression and pressed a fond kiss to your lips, obviously you kissed him back, your fingers threading through his hair.

      “Princess…” He let out a pleased sound in the back of his throat, “you’re making it hard to get out of bed. I still have some stuff set up for tomorrow and you gotta look out for Wilbur.”

     “Or hear me out. You can stay in bed with me all day, and keep giving me kisses,” You pressed your lips to his own before whispering in his ear, “Anywhere you’d like.” You nipped teasingly at his earlobe and suddenly felt the heat radiating off his face. As you expected his face was a deep red color and you felt his head fall against your shoulder,

    “You’re going to kill me.” You only laughed in response, finally pulling away from him you swung your feet over the side of the bed, “you can’t just say that and walk away.” He whined loudly with a little pout on his lips, “Especially since I won’t see you until the wedding.”

     “Suck it up buttercup,” You stuck your tongue out at the man “I’ll just be at Ranboo’s if something goes wrong I’ll be within reach.” He reached his hand up and threaded his fingers through your hair, you sighed pleasantly at the physical touch, “I love you.”

      “Love you too, see you tomorrow.” You gave him one last fleeting kiss before standing up leaving the warmth of the covers and your half-naked fiance behind much to your dismay. You tossed one of Technoblade’s old shirts over your head, it came down past your knees and Technoblade let out a happy sigh from behind you. You let out a little laugh, looking at him over your shoulder his eyes were half-lidded as he stared at your now bare legs. “Hold on don’t change just yet I wanna stare a little bit longer.”

     “Perv.” You snickered ignoring his wishes and sliding on a pair of pants, afterward, you tied a corset around your waist. He responded with a ‘heh?’ of disagreement before he groaned loudly and flopped over in the bed, “see you soon Bubbas.” You leaned over and pecked his forehead before sliding down the ladder and out of the house. Ironically your timing was perfect as you greeted Ranboo right outside Technoblades cabin, “Good morning!”

     “Morning, you and Techno sleep okay?” You nodded with a bright smile, “Good Wilbur should be stopping by any minute now by the way. He sent me a note earlier this morning that said he’d be around this time.”

     “Works for me, wanna wait by your house?”

     “You just wanna pet my bunny,” You smirked and laughed,

     “Can you blame me?”

     “I suppose not. Whatever makes you happy.” Ranboo sighed but there wasn’t any real defeat in his tone, “Let’s go.” Ranboo and you walked a little ways away to his humble little shack so you could play with Ranbun. You were set up in Ranbun’s pen holding him in your arms and cooing softly at him, Ranboo joined you after a few moments of jealous staring. The two of you spent the next hour playing with his bunny and feeding him lots of treats, he was one happy bunny. Ranboo was the first person to see Ghostbur coming through the trees, a large box in hand, had he actually managed to get you a dress?

     “(Y/N)! Ranboo!” Ghostbur shouted excitedly floating over to the both of you, “I managed to find the dress I promised you! So long as it fits of course.” Your jaw fell open as you stumbled out of Ranbun’s pen,

     “How the hell did you manage to find me a wedding dress?”

     “Oh! It was Sally’s.” A fond smile spread across the ghost’s face, both you and Ranboo looked at one another brows furrowed. Ranboo put a hand to the side of his face and whispered loudly to you,

     “I thought Sally was a fish.”

You whispered back in the exact same manner,

    “Me too, but at this point, I’m too afraid to ask for clarification.”

Ranboo nodded seriously and stood back up to his full height, you stepped forward and took the box from the hands of the ghost he stared at it longingly like he was afraid to let it go. You chewed on the inside of your cheek for a moment before speaking up,

     “Are you sure?” Your voice was barely above a whisper but it was still as tender as ever, the ghost of Wilbur snapped his eyes up to meet yours. He seemed to be reading the expression in your eyes before smiling almost fondly, handing the box over to you officially. He pulled out a small patch of blue and fumbled it around in his hands, like a nervous tic,

    “I’m positive love. I trust you to take good care of it and Sally would want you to have it, she was wonderful like that. Just please take good care of it.”

    “I’ll protect it with my life. I promise you.”

     “I know you will, you’re going to be a beautiful bride, my dear.” He somehow took your hands and pressed a faint kiss to them, “Go on then try it on.” Your eyes sparkled in delight and he turned to Ranboo,

     “Well go on, we’ll still be here to judge you immensely.”

    “Oh fuck off.” You laughed heading into his shack to change, you managed to find an area not completely out in the open. The only nerve-wracking thing was you didn’t have a mirror so you had to pray you looked alright and that Raboo and Ghostbur wouldn’t lie to you. You opened the box and pulled the dress out, Sally really knew how to pick a damn good dress; the dress was stunning, you definitely wouldn’t do it justice. The dress fell past your feet and pooled a little ways behind you, it was more of an off-white creme color, and was made of soft lace. It was sleeveless so the winter wind gave you a chill, you hoped Technoblade picked a place that wasn’t freezing cold. You took a breath to hype yourself up and stepped out of the shack, the dress trailing behind you, you had left the veil in the box figuring you didn’t need it right now. The first person to spot you was Ghostbur, who gasped loudly bringing his hands up to his face after spotting you. You shrunk in on yourself a little bit and your cheeks turned a light pink in response, “That’s a good expression I hope.” You meekly laughed as Ranboo turned around and let out a shaky break of surprise. He reached forward with his claws to touch the soft fabric,

     “It’s perfect! Fits like a glove.” Wilbur hummed happily floating around you, “I was right by the way, you look beautiful. Techno’s going to pass out.”

    “Shut up I can’t look that good.”

    “You do though!” Ranboo shouted excitedly, “It suits you perfectly not that I had any doubts or anything.” He jumped a little on the balls of his feet, he pulled out his memory book quickly scribbling something down inside it, as he did so he muttered “I’m the best honorary maid of honor ever.”

     “You definitely are.” You praised the halfling who only seemed to grow more excited at the praise, Ghostbur cleared his throat, was he looking for a compliment too? “Ghostbur you’re a lifesaver, if it wasn’t for you I’d be walking down the aisle in Netherite. Thank you.” Ghostbur seemed to preen a little as he smiled proudly,

    “I know. I’m pretty great aren’t I? I basically saved the day.”

    “You certainly are.”

    “Oh! Just return the dress the next time I see you after the wedding okay?”

     “I will have no fear, it’s in safe hands.” The ghost nodded, “I can’t wait to see it in action tomorrow.”

     “Me too,” you sighed lovingly, doing a little twirl in the dress you could only imagine the look that would appear on Technoblade’s face when he saw you.

You hoped the voices would approve because Technoblade was absolutely going to short circuit and go feral, you could hardly wait.

Day 3: The Wedding Day

The night before the wedding Technoblade couldn’t sleep his body was buzzing with nerves, which was a foreign feeling to him. He was worried about you not sleeping by his side, this was the first time since you’ve officially gotten together that you weren’t there. He didn’t realize how much he missed your presence and warmth, he pulled the pillow you usually used close to his chest. He felt like a love-struck teenager cuddling the pillow of his missing girlfriend because that’s basically what he was, except instead of a girlfriend it was his fiance. The voices didn’t help his longing either; they were roaring in his head asking where you were and when you would come back.

Where’s (Y/N)? I miss her! Can Ranboo protect her if something goes wrong? What if Dream gets ahold of her in the meantime and you’re up here sleeping? I wanna squeeze her thighs again right now. E. That’s disgusting, stop, don’t sexualize her like that. B U T T. Can I get a big pog for butts? Thighs for the thigh god.

His entire face went a deep scarlet, “What does that even mean guys.” Technoblade let out a loud groan of embarrassment, some of the voices laughed, some others rumbled with anger. “I just want her by my side is all, I miss her. I miss her touch...I don’t know when I became such a sap. I hate that I care about her this much, but god without her I’d be lost.”

SIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMPSIMP

     “You shits.”

The morning rolled around and Technoblade woke up as soon as the sun shone through the windows. He fell asleep around three in the morning, tired as shit, bees buzzing around in his stomach.

Today’s the day! Gotta get ready as soon as possible, you’re gonna look so handsome! I bet (Y/N)’s gonna be equally as beautiful! Don’t fuck it up. Celebratory murder spree pog? She’ll think you’re so hot covered in blood. No! E. Normalcy is key!

He shook his head to get rid of the nagging voices rattling around in his head, he knew what he had to do, and listening to the voices wasn’t one of them. Phil was going to come soon and Technoblade had to look presentable so they could head to the venue and Phil could set up some last-minute decorations. Techno would say he felt bad making Phil do most of the work, but he honestly didn’t, especially since he was so inept at romance in the first place. Never one to wear a suit Technoblade decided his best outfit would be his arctic retirement one, a suit would be too constricting. After all, what if it was attacked and he needed to jump into action, Phil had told him that he was absolutely not allowed to bring weapons which he was not happy about at all. Although the man did reassure him that he would be armed and have an extra weapon just in case something was to occur, he guessed that was FINE. With a soft huff, the man stood up from his bed and pulled out his outfit, the soft blue made him yearn for the days before they found Tommy living under the house. In a way wearing this symbolized a time in their relationship before he was forced into bloodshed once again, plus he knew you loved the fuzzier outfit.

Putting on everything, he brought the fur cape around his shoulders, his crown glittering on his head in the light. He looked regal, he would say he looked like a king but he hated all forms of government so he just looked like his usual badass self. In his closet sat his wedding gift to you, it was a gold tiara that matched his crown in his own way finally solidifying the both of you as a blood god duo.

Turning away from the tiara he grabbed a hairbrush to tame his wild hair, he wanted to do something different with it. It spilled around his back and down to his waist, he managed to tame the frizz with some product that he ‘borrowed’ from you. In the end, he had two small braids framing his face, he grabbed both of them and pinned them together on the back of his head. A half-up half-down look almost made him look like a Viking, he liked it. Technoblade placed gold earrings along with his ears and added some gold accents on his wrists and fingers, none overshading his engagement ring.

His ears twitched hearing the door open downstairs, Phil was here, it was time.

     “Hellooo!” Technoblade called from upstairs and Phil responded with a cheerful,

    “Hey mate!”

As Technoblade descended the ladder, Phil smiled fondly at his old friend, he immediately adjusted the cape on his shoulders. Technoblade huffed a small laugh, “Was that really necessary?”

     “Obviously. I’m the married one, I know what I’m doing.” He shot back snickering, “You ready to go?”

     “As I’ll ever be I suppose.”

    “I’m proud of you man,” Phil responded with a fatherly smile “You’re never going to forget today. It’ll be the best of your life.”

    “Ehhhh I don’t know about that. Spawning those Withers and blowing up a country really gave me a rush.”

     “Oh fuck off,” Phil howled with laughter while shoving the snickering piglin. “This’ll be an entirely new feeling, I would know.” His wings puffed out happily remembering his marriage fondly,

     “Didn’t you marry a fridge?”

    “You’re literally the worst.”

Technoblade smirked just happy he steered the conversation away from any of that mushy crap. He was going to get enough of that as it is in a few hours, oh look at that the bees are back. Phil gave him a pat on the back and the two of them left the house side by side. The spot Technoblade picked out for the wedding was one both of you would like, a snowy taiga, it was warm enough that you wouldn’t freeze to death but still had the beautiful powdery snow that Tecnhoblade loved. Phil had done an amazing job of setting everything up, on the arch, there were beautiful blue flowers interspersed with white roses (both of which you picked out prior), they stood out beautifully against the wooden trellises. There was a carved stone pathway leading the way up to the arch and a few wooden benches decorated with light blue silk so whomever (Y/N) invited could sit down. He knew most of them would only be there for her, he was okay with that, all he needed was Phil and Ranboo and he was content. Next to each booth was a stone pillar, on top of them sat a bouquet of white and blue roses.

     “You really outdid yourself, thank you.” Technoblade whistled,

     “You know I’d do anything for you mate. Glad I could provide, I do have one last little decoration though.” Phil mused reaching into his bag he pulled out a small gold bell similar to the one he had inside his house. He placed the bell above the arch so it would chime softly when the wind blew against its side. Technoblade smiled fondly at the sight and wrapped his arm around Phil’s shoulder.

     “I love it. (Y/N)’s gonna love it too.”

     “Thanks, man.” Phil said softly bumping against the blade, “Do you know who’s going to show up by the way?”

    “Absolutely no idea.”

     “Guess we’re gonna find out, look.” Technoblade stepped away from Phil and looked in the direction of his friend, cresting over the hill seemed to be two girls, Technoblade was immediately confused because he didn’t realize you had friends who were women. Phil let out a small laugh, “Oh it’s Niki and Puffy, Ranboo must’ve introduced (Y/N) to them.” Technoblade only nodded his lips twitching into a frown, new people...gross.

     “Hi, Phil! Technoblade!” Puffy chirped brightly, her hand intertwined with Niki’s tightly, “Congratulations to you Mr.” She lightly tapped Technoblade in the chest he blinked in surprise,

     “Thank you?”

     “I may have just met (Y/N), but just know if you do ANYTHING to hurt her at all I will slaughter you.”

     “Darling please…” Niki sheepishly smiled, “you realize you’re threatening Technoblade right? Not the best idea.”

    “It’s alright. I admire your gumption,” Technoblade gave the both of them a thumbs up in response, “I’m glad (Y/N) has someone else like that looking out for her. But, just so you know. The same to you.” He eyed the both of them with a sharp look in his eyes, Puffy let out a nervous laugh and Niki narrowed her eyes warily.

     “That’s fair.”

     “Anyway!” Phil cleared his throat, “let's not ruin this before it even starts.” He led the two girls over to their seats with a small smile, “(Y/N) will be super happy to see you both by the way. Thank you for coming.”

      “Of course, (Y/N) and I are soulmates after all.” Puffy swooned happily as Niki giggled fondly at her antics, “Technoblade better watch out. Niki and I will steal her heart.”

    “I’ll be sure to warn him,” He snickered, glancing over at his friend who was sniffing at the flowers in the pots. “If you need anything don’t hesitate to ask, Wilbur should be here soon then (Y/N) and Ranboo will come and it’ll start.”

    “Sounds good,” Niki hummed playing with the sleeves of her blue dress “I’m super excited to meet her.”

While Puffy reassured her that she would, Phil noticed his son floating over to the area. “Hello, Phil!” The ghost’s eyes lit up seeing all of them, “Oh wow everything is so beautiful!”

    “Thanks, Ghostbur.” Technoblade hummed walking over to Phil and the ghost,

     “I’m proud of you too Mr. Engaged!” He snickered as Technoblade’s nose scrunched up in distaste, “Who knew the big, scary Technoblade would settle down with a wife, maybe start a family eventually.”

     “I’m going to pretend that I didn’t hear any of the cringy nonsense that just came out of your mouth; so I can enjoy today in peace.”

    "Boo! I’m just happy for you!” Ghostbur huffed in annoyance, “I was telling (Y/N) yesterday that marrying Sally was the best day of my life! I’m so making fun of you when you get all mushy.”

     “IF I get all mushy, which I won’t.”

    “Sure you won’t man,” Technoblade glared at his friends in frustration if this teasing was going to continue. He was kidnapping (Y/N) himself and getting married to her elsewhere.

     “I do love all the blue though!” The ghost of Wilbur swooned happily at all the flowers, “This just makes the entire day even better!-”

However he didn’t get to continue as Ranboo cleared his throat rather loudly, the enderboy looked dapper as always, a rose was pinned on his lapel, obviously from (Y/N).

     "Ready Techno?” Phil looked over at him, the pigman’s frustration and confidence fell from his face all at once. Even Ghostbur was shocked at the way Technoblade tensed up and fumbled with the soft fluff on his cape, “Techno?”

It’s time. Holy fuck! She’s going to be stunning, he’s going to be a husband! HE’S GOING TO BE A HUSBAND? Oh fuck.

     “Techno mate you alright?”

     "Yeah. Yeah, I’m good. Let's do this.” Technoblade took a deep breath walking over to the altar with Phil, Phil was obviously officiating the wedding. He didn’t want anyone else doing it, Ranboo smiled at the two of them as he walked down the aisle throwing little flower petals everywhere before standing on (Y/N)’s side of the altar. He gave him a happy little nod, Technoblade nodded back at him in a sign that he was happy to see him. Music began to flow through the air, Technoblade just knew Wilbur had managed to bring a jukebox, but he didn’t mind it was fitting.

He turned towards the rich sound and for once in his life the voices...stopped.

Technoblade could hear the music perfectly, he heard the chiming of the bell every time the wind blew, everything seemed clear and for all the sounds that were playing around him without the rancorous voices, it all seemed deadly quiet.

The true reason the voices stopped though was because he saw you.

Elegant. Magnificent. Royalty.

The words spun around in his head, because god you looked angelic as you walked towards him. He wished your face wasn’t obscured by a veil, he wanted to see you, to cup your cheeks and pull you into a desperate kiss. He wasn’t worthy to marry you, he was barely worthy to breathe the same air as someone so pure. Technoblade bit down on his tongue rather harshly, for once in his life he wished the voices would speak up so he wouldn’t feel so small in his head.

     “Hi.”

Your silvery voice snapped him out of his thoughts, he drew in a shaky breath and looked at you.

     “Hi,” His voice cracked a little and he flushed all the way up to the tips of his ears. He reached out to squeeze your hands tightly, he felt you squeeze back and he knew that everything was okay. Fuck, he was tearing up a little and he hasn’t even seen your face yet, fuck...Ghostbur was right. He was a mushy gross mess, you giggled a little at his flustered expression.

     “You look handsome,” You whispered softly tilting your head to the side.

     “You’re Aphrodite herself.”

    “Take it back. Take it back right now.” The teasing tone your voice took made him relax considerably, you were still you. His lovely almost wife who’d he got to spend the rest of his life with, it was perfect, you were perfect.

    “You know I do, even if it kills me to retract the statement.” His hand reached forward and gently pushed the veil back over your head.

Fuck.

It took all his strength not to kiss you senseless. Phil cleared his throat and smiled at the small crowd of people who came to the wedding, Puffy seemed to already be emotional, Niki rubbing her back with gentle circles. The both of you barely paid any attention to the introductions and the little details too engrossed in one another to truly listen to anyone that wasn’t each other. They both snapped to attention when Phil spoke their names with a tender smile and their wedding rings were in his hands.

     “Your wedding rings are the outward and visible sign of the inward and invisible bond which already unites you two hearts in love. Groom, place the ring on Bride’s finger and repeat after me….I give you this ring…”

     “I give you this ring.” Technoblade swallowed thickly listening carefully to Phil’s words as you smiled adoringly, the pink spreading across your cheeks was adorable. He shakily slid the diamond ring on your finger,

    “Wear it with love and joy.”

     “Wear it with love and joy.”

     “As this ring has no end, My love is also forever.”

    “As this ring has no end, My love is also forever.”

    “Good job man.” He winked teasingly at Technoblade breaking character to complement his friend, “Bride, place the ring on Groom’s finger and repeat after me….I give you this ring.”

     “I give you this ring.”

     “Wear it with love and joy.”

     “Wear it with love and joy.”

     “As this ring has no end, my love is also forever.”

     “As this ring has no end, my love is also forever.” You breathed softly staring into Technoblade’s eyes and right into his soul. No doubts, only love. Phil continued on,

     “May the wedding rings you exchanged today to remind you always that you are surrounded by enduring love and so now by the power vested in me by...me, it is my honor and delight to declare you husband and wife. You may seal this declaration with a kiss.” You didn’t need to be told twice as you threw your arms around Technoblade’s shoulders smothering him with a kiss. He let out a breathy laugh against them, before kissing you back just as passionately. Technoblade’s hands rested on your lower back and he held you like you were a perfect porcelain doll. “I am pleased to present the newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs… ugh Blade! We’ll go with that.” The man laughed as you pulled away from Technoblade to join in his laughter, you pulled Phil into a hug and motioned for Ranboo to join in, both did so, although Ranboo’s was slightly reluctant.

     “Thank you both for everything. My sweet Borealis boys.” You cooed, Phil only laughed and Ranboo’s entire face flushed deeply at the nickname.

     “We love you obviously,” Phil hummed “You don’t need to thank us. Right Ranboo?”

     “Do I really have to say it?”

    “Yes.” Technoblade spoke gruffly, “If you don’t she might cry.”

     “Yeah, Ranboo don’t make me cry on my wedding day.”

     “Oh, Christ...Fine! I love you too…thank you for giving me a home. Caring for me...all of that. You don’t know how much that means to me.” Ranboo looked up at you and you immediately wrapped him in another tight hug, he let out a little whimper and buried his face in your hair.

     “You’ll always be welcome here Ranboo. We’ll always be your home so long as you’ll have us.”

     “Shit,” He laughed a little wetly pulling away from you, “I’ll have to write that down.”

    “You mean you’ll forget it? Rude.” It was Technoblade who chimed in this time and Ranboo flushed in embarrassment once again. He hunched in on himself before sputtering,

     “No, no, no not what I meant! What I mean is like-”

    “Ranboo you’re fine mate.” Phil snickered, reaching up to ruffle his hair, “loosen up a little.”

     “(Y/N)!” You turned towards the shouting of your new friends and your face lit up,

    “Puffy!” The two girls threw their arms around you in a warm hug, even though you didn’t know Niki yet you’re never one to turn down a hug.

Your final conclusion of the night: Niki was absolutely lovely and she and Puffy were relationship goals.

~~~

Candles were littered around the room as you and Technoblade swayed gently to soft music in your bedroom. The both of you were finally alone, and officially married, the first thing Technoblade wanted to do was have the first dance with you. It surprised you that a dance was that important to him, but you came to the conclusion that he just wanted to hold you as close as possible. “I have a gift for you,” Technoblade spoke up rather suddenly and you frowned,

     “We said no gifts.”

     “When have I EVER listened to authority Princess?”

     “Touche,” You snapped your fingers in his direction and he snickered. He pulled away from you and you flopped down on the bed, you watched him walk over to the closet and pull out a medium-sized velvet box. “Bubs what the hell…” You murdered as he placed it into your arms, “please tell me you didn’t go too crazy.”

    “I didn’t. I made it by hand,” Technoblade urged you to open it. You did so pulling off the top, jaw-dropping onto the floor. He knew that reaction was positive and pride swelled in his heart, he knew his girl well. He watched as you lifted the golden tiara out of the box, it was littered with gems that matched his crown, your thumb brushed against them in awe.

     “You made this?”

     “Just for you Princess. Thought you needed something to fit your name.”

     “I’m so in love with you.”

     “Good thing you're my wife then,” he felt his stomach swoop happily and by the way you gently caressed the crown, he knew you felt the same about him. “Put it on Princess I wanna see how it looks on you.” Your face turned red as you did as he asked, his eyes grew half-lidded and he kneeled down in front of you, “Stunning.” He kissed the inside of your wrist, his voice turning gruff, “beautiful.” A kiss was placed on your forearm, “gorgeous,” On your shoulder, “My princess. My good girl.” Technoblade pressed a hot kiss to your neck, you leaned back your breath hitching in your throat.

     “Techno…” You whined softly, “I love you.”

      “Love you more.”

     “Love you most,” He purred, capturing your lips in a heated kiss.

~~~

The dogs' rapid barking stirred you from your rest, Technoblade grumbled beside you as you sat up in bed letting the covers fall from your shoulders. The air nipped at your bare skin and you frowned, you couldn’t help but wonder what bothered the dogs so suddenly, “Go back to bed.” Technoblade demanded his hand caressing the small of your back, you leaned back against the warm touch but you couldn’t shake away your worry.

     “I’ll be back in two seconds.” You leaned down to kiss the top of his head, he only hummed in response. Big guy knew you could handle yourself just fine, n’ that’s why you loved him. You slipped on a robe and your slippers before making your way to the dogs, stepping inside you heard quite a few of them whining, they just seemed genuinely bothered. “What’s going on huh guys?” You cooed scratching them behind their ears, sensing your comforting presence they seemed to calm down considerably, “What’s got my fearsome guard puppies so spooked.”

      “That’d probably be me.”

You jumped halfway in the air, whipping around you came face to face with the hollow white mask that Dream commonly wore.

    “Fucking shit Dream what the hell?” You pressed your hand to your heart, your dogs growling lowly all around you. “You scared the shit out of me!”

    “My bad.” He smirked in a way that showed he wasn’t at all sorry, “I’m a little disappointed I didn’t get an invitation to the wedding.”

     “Would you have even shown up?” You raised an eyebrow as he stepped closer to you, Nightmare was at his hip making your bad vibe senses light up like a wildfire. He hummed thoughtfully rubbing his chin,

    “Probably not. But, I decided I’d drop by and give you my congratulations.” He was close enough that you could smell him, he smelled like burning wood and dirt; like a little pissbaby worm.

     “Well thank you,” You wrapped the robe tighter around your body like it suddenly dropped ten degrees. “You can go now-” You started before you were pressed up against the wall, his fearsome blade Nightmare at your throat. The dogs began to bark and howl at the man’s heels but they couldn’t do much without a direct command, but you hoped it would be enough to draw Technoblade out of the house.

     “Clearly Technoblade cares about you much more than I had originally calculated. It’s kind of pathetic if I’m being honest. Someone like you who's so small, so pathetic, could bring Technoblade, the fearsome blood god himself, down like that. Make him soft. We can’t exactly have that now, can we? We need him...How do I say this...a bit feral, unhinged.”

     “You realize you kill me, you can count on him hunting you down and slaughtering you right? I can’t say for sure the ‘favor’ is completely off the table but he’ll half-ass it that’s for sure.” You snarled right back in Dreams face, tempted to spit in it.

    “Oh, I’m not going to kill you, babe.” His voice dripped like honey, its sickly sweet tone made your stomach churn. “But we’re going to get really comfortable with one another, for the time being, you’re under my custody.”

     “What the fuck does that mean you freak-” He hit you on the back of the head with Nightmare, successfully knocking you out. That caused one of the dogs to absolutely lose it, jumping up and tearing off a piece of Dreams bright green hoodie. He snarled at the dog and jolted when he heard Technoblade call for (Y/N), it was close. He quickly messaged his accomplice and was teleported out of the situation, via his own stasis chamber, appearing back in his home base. He smiled wickedly under his mask, as Enderman noises could be heard behind him. He adjusted the girl in his grip, the next few days were going to be a lot of fun.

: )

~~~

Leave your comments below and I hope you enjoyed! Memes and fanart is also always welcome your girl is thirsty for any scrap of content. 

[cacoetheswriting]

hell or high water

pairing: bucky barnes x fem!reader warnings: angst, possible tfatws spoilers, swearing, dealing with emotions / comforting, mutual pining, a lil fluff, & mentions of john walker [yes, i’m adding that as a warning] word count: 1.5k summary: unexpected, and rather devastating news, bring you and bucky together.

-

The calm before the storm - a period of unusual tranquillity and stability that often foreshadowed grave and difficult times.

The calm before the storm. That’s how you would describe what was happening during this moment, as you propped yourself up on the chair, silently observing Bucky for any sort of reaction to the breaking headline currently being shared on every single news channel.

John Walker. The new Captain America.

Bucky’s face was blank, although by now you’ve gotten to know him well enough to understand what the expression, or lack thereof, meant. He was irritated - no - he was fucking pissed. And truthfully, he had every right to be.

“I liked that what I was doing would make people feel safe. Steve Rogers was the kind of guy who could do that, he gave me hope. Even though I never met him, he feels like a brother.” John Walker’s voice sounded through the shitty speakers.

Bucky’s heart sank at the words. He smacked his lips together and exhaled.

“Hey, uhm… are you okay?” You asked in a hushed tone, eyes glued to the side of his face, nervously chewing down on your bottom lip. It was a really stupid question since you already knew the answer. Of course he wasn’t okay. Far from it, actually. In your eyes however, it was always better to check anyway. 

Especially since the man sitting on the cool ground only an arms length away from you wasn’t one to open up freely.

Bucky grunted in response, followed by a deep sigh.

“Just… peachy.” He huffed, before switching the tv off and sliding a hand down his face, wiping away any lone tears that may have escaped.

His response caused your heart to clench inside of your chest. You wanted to ease any pain the unexpected news caused him, but you weren’t exactly sure how. You felt extremely helpless, and from where you sat you could tell he was feeling the exact same - however, for different reasons.

His powerlessness was primarily fueled by anger.

And Bucky was aware the dangerous emotions circulating through his veins was undoubtedly stemming from heartbreak. Sorrow for everything he lost. Grief for the only family he had left.

Prior to meeting you, Steve was the only person that accepted him for who he was. Cherished him despite the many flaws and mistakes he’s made over the years. The only person in this whole damn universe who could easily separate him from his dark and troubled past. The only person who didn’t just see him as The Winter Soldier, a ruthless killing machine.

No.

Prior to meeting you, Steve was the only person who truly and earnestly believed Bucky was a good person.

And now Bucky had to witness Captain America being formally replaced. As if Steve Rogers was nothing. As if he meant nothing.

Which is why, as the dark-haired man stared at his own hollow reflection in the blank television screen, he was glad you entered his life when you did.

His gaze trailed to the outline of your silhouette and a small smile circled his lips. Knowing that you were here for him. Knowing that it was no longer only Steve who wholeheartedly believed he was genuine and kind… He felt better.

You could see him looking at you through the black display. You could see the miniscule smile present on his features, and you couldn’t help but return the expression.

Soon enough you were up on your feet, gracefully moving from the rather uncomfortable chair to the even more uncomfortable floor next to Bucky. You placed your head on his shoulder and his whole body instantly relaxed at your proximity, at your gentle and soothing touch. His eyes locked with yours through the monitor and you could clearly make out the gratitude, the adoration.

Yes. For a brief moment, a split second, Bucky felt better.

“I’m sorry.” You mumbled, bringing your knees closer to your chest and wrapping one arm tightly around to hold them in place. “I’m sorry this is happening. I know it’s not what you wanted, and… I know it’s now what Steve wanted.”

“Don’t apologise.” Bucky was quick to contravene.

You just shrugged, your head still resting against him. “Well, the people that made this decision, the people that should apologise most definitely won’t, and it seems like something you need to hear. A simple apology.”

He huffed lightly, once again feeling grateful he had someone like you to ground him. God, if you weren’t here… No. No. He stopped himself and shook the disturbing thoughts away. It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter because you were here, and you weren’t going anywhere.

He swallowed.

But he was. He had no other choice.

“I- uh… I need to go, y/n. I need to find Sam. I need to talk to him and get some answers.”

“I know.” You stated simply, however there was a detectable hint of sadness in the tone of your voice. Bucky picked up on it immediately and he shifted in his position, so that he was now looking down at you.

His gaze burned into the side of your skull, lip quivering as he searched his mind for what to say next because he hated this. Hated it came to this. And you hated it too.

You began to feel guilty. If you weren’t in his life, he wouldn’t have this problem. He wouldn’t have you to worry about. He wouldn’t need to explain himself. There would be nothing holding him back.

Fuck, you thought, life was just starting to get easier.

Swallowing the growing lump at the back of your throat, you mustered up enough courage to face him. The amiable look in his eyes caused the butterflies in your stomach to flutter momentarily.

“But you’ll come back.” It wasn’t a request. It was a fact. Corners of your lips twirled into a timid smile, yet all Bucky could focus on were the tears you were trying really hard to fight back.

Slowly, he nodded his head. How could he not come back? All you did these last few months was make him a little bit happier. He could only dream to one day return the favour, because as smart as Bucky Barnes was, he had no idea he already made you the happiest you’d ever been.

“I’ll come back.” He reassured.

“Alive.”

He chuckled softly before repeating, “Alive.”

Lifting your hand, you tenderly brushed your fingers down his cheek and across his jawline. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that he leaned into your touch. It shouldn’t have, but it did. Because as you held his face in the palm of your hand while he studied every inch of yours, the uncertainty of when you would see each other again gradually settling in, you realised you’ve never been this close to one another.

You thought perhaps you should pull back, that this was a little too close for comfort, but you found yourself unable to move. Frozen. Completely captivated by the handsome man situated in front of you.

It should have felt weird, the intimacy of the moment. It should have felt weird. Why, why didn’t it feel weird? Bucky was your neighbour. He was your friend. There was nothing else to your relationship. Nothing… more.

But as you stared deeply into his eyes, taking note of the warm expression he was presenting as he continued to scan your face, the air hitched in your throat. 

It felt natural.

Bucky sensed it too. He sensed the change in the atmosphere around the two of you. Unfamiliar, yet not unwelcoming. Quite the opposite actually. It drew him in. He found himself slowly leaning in, and like a magnet, you followed suit.

When his mouth eventually slanted over yours, your heart skipped a beat.

The kiss was gentle at first, as if Bucky was indicating you could stop him at any given time, if you wanted too. It wouldn’t take much to push him away and end this now. But you didn’t want to stop him. Instead, you closed your eyes at the desirable sensation igniting every single cell in your body.

Any boundary the two of you had previously unspokenly set was crossed, broken. However, it didn’t seem to matter to either of you.

The hand previously cupping Bucky’s cheek, was now gripping at his hair. Both of his hands were now holding your waist - not applying too much pressure, but making it known that they were there.

You wanted to comment how he very rarely touched you with his metal arm, always weary that he may somehow hurt you, and now he was latched onto you in a way that suggested he would never let you go, but his tongue wound its way between your parted lips, breaking you away from your thoughts.

After what felt like a blissful eternity, you pulled away simultaneously. Equally flushed and equally breathless. Smiling at one another like a couple of love-struck idiots.

“Hmm.. We can continue this when you’re back.” You whispered against his puffed lips, before pecking them softly.

Bucky smirked. He lifted his right arm and gently brushed loose strands of your hair behind your ear. “Don’t you worry, y/n.” He began, “Come hell or high water, I’ll definitely be back.”

-

masterlist

[familyagrestefanblog]

Just been thinking about the scene in "Gorizilla" where Adrien jumps off the skyscraper and Gabriel is forced to show some emotions while writing another post and I... I just-

Gabriel you selfish dick, what the hell??

I was just as glad as everyone else to see Gabriel expressing genuine concern and fear for Adrien, it hit especially hard BECAUSE he was being Hawkmoth at that moment. But this

THIS???

I just noticed how much of a bastard thing this was of him to say.

Think about it. This situation came to be because Gabriel completely disregarded Adrien when he just wanted to ask his father the short but very important question (which Adrien made known) of getting to see his mothers film in the movie theaters and send him away to his room when he noticed Adriens ring again which led to him suspecting Adrien to be Chat Noir. Gabriel wanted to confront Adrien about it but because Gabriel literally treated him like shit Adrien run away to see it anyway to which Gabriel reacts by sending the Gorilla after him (go after him yourself jerk,YOU fucked this up). The Gorilla can't catch Adrien though so Gabriel chews him out and immediately akumatizes him so Adrien has to reveal himself to free himself so he can help Ladybug deakumatize him.

Well, things escalate eventually leading to Adrien jumping off a skyscraper at the same time Ladybug gets caught by Gorizilla leaving her unable to save him from certain DEATH and here we are now

Adrien is falling to his death and Gabriel as Hawkmoth is literally BEGGING him to transform if he really indeed is Chat Noir.

....

....

Do you also see whats so genuinely fucked up about this scenario here? Let me repeat it:

Gabriel, the man who is not only the cause of all of this but also the one and only person involved who's is in complete control here, is begging ADRIEN, of whom he doesn't even know for sure if he really is Chat Noir, to transform to de-escalate his own fall to his death.

Gabriel Garbage Agreste, how DARE you start begging as if you were any kind of victim in this?!

Let me break it down just how much is wrong with all of this:

Even though Gabriel is fully aware that HE is the person in control here and is NOT sure if Adrien, who is literally about to die in mere moments, even has a definite way of saving himself, he's still putting the active "decision making" on ADRIEN. Who, let me remind you, can NOT hear Hawkmoth/Gabriel begging him to transform! Gabriel is making ADRIEN the one responsible for the outcome of this situation right now even though there is still the very real possibility that Adrien has no possible way of knowing that Hawkmoth is counting on him to transform BECAUSE HE MIGHT NOT BE A MIRACULOUS HOLDER IN THE FIRST PLACE!

It doesn't matter at all that Gabriel was correct with his suspicion because he's just immediately throwing all the responsibility he holds for this entire situation right off of himself, playing poor bystander father, when HE is the one who holds all the power and therefore should be the one immediately taking action in HIS chaos for which HIS SON is about to lose his life!

In addition to that point, let's talk about the ridiculous amount of time Gabriel let Adrien fall while just standing there waiting and begging.

Because Gabriel is not only asking Adrien to transform once, he's asking TWICE.

There are 31(!!!) seconds beween Hawkmoths reaction to Adrien jumping and Ladybugs yoyo-string reaching Adrien and even though one certainly can make an argument here that the show time does not translate into the “real” time as well, but even if, there is no way in hell these 31 insane seconds would ever realistically come down to a number that isnt unforgivable long concidering the circumstances. And even then he's only letting Ladybug go to catch him because he hears Ladybug call to an absend Chat Noir for help, finally getting it through his thick skull just how close he is to having his own sons blood on his hands.

Gabriel was willing to let his own, possibly innocent, son fall to his DEATH for this long for the off-chance of him revealing himself to be Chat Noir because Gabriel is unwilling or simply incapable of taking on the obvious responsibility he holds until things reach such unspeakable limits that he has to face reality for a moment so not everything goes up in flames.

But I'm not done yet. Oh no, definitely NOT.

Because even after waiting for so long he’s forced to let Ladybug go, this is still not the moment that convinced Gabriel of Adriens innocence. Its only after Wayham doubles as Adrien while Adrien transforms into Chat to join the fight that the sight of Adrien and Chat Noir at the same place eventually convinces him.

Look at his face here and dare to tell me he wasnt still 100% convinced that Adrien could very likely be Chat Noir. Also dafuq kind of reaction is “Well, thats for the better” with THAT expression? That is NOT anywhere close to the relieved expression he SHOULD have had here! How much horrible stuff has already happened to Chat Noir at this point of the show? And THIS is how you react to the for-any-somewhat-resonable-parent GODSEND (but false) news that it wasnt your own flesh and blood you did this to? Yeah, you truly care Hawkbitch. Can someone please just call child protection services already?!

So even after this IMMENSE risk Adrien was not yet save from his supervillain father and neither was he Gabriels actual priority after “finding out” that Adrien is NOT Chat and he just put his CIVILIAN son through all of THIS. Which is exactly what happened in "heros day" part 1 and 2, where in part 1 he once again tells Gorizilla to protect Adrien, he is his "number 1 priority" but in part 2, after Adrien escaped from his akumatized bodyguard, Gorizilla is one of the giants Hawkmoth calls to himself but Gabriel has nothing to say to that. It was literally like he totally forgot about Adrien all together which is only made clearer by Hawkmoth later on straight up calling himself "a man with nothing to lose".

Fuck you Gabriel, Adrien was literally never an actual priority for you and you proof it over and over again.

And apparently even a situation that proofs someones innocence in every possible factor will not be proof enough for Gabriel to accept that he was wrong if it was HIM who had to back down and take the needed action to de-escalate the situation and not someone else. Any situation that forces "weakness" of him and doesnt end with an undoubtable proof that 100% satisfies/clears his previous intention holds no worth in credibility for him, no matter how irrational or contra-productive it is to still cling onto it. Because Gabriel/Hawkmoth refuses to be the one having to back down and to be out-stubborned by anyone else. If he isnt the one tricking the others his paranoia and ego stop him from thinking clearly. Especially concering Gabriels and Adriens always worsening relationship, this is a bloody dark red allert for the future.

But besides that, lets talk about just how much of an selfish, self-centered and irresponsible thing is it of him to ask ADRIEN to pull the sacrifice in this moment?

Adrien didn't refuse to transform for no reason. If he were to do it not only everybody in Paris would see it but HAWKMOTH as well and Adrien has no way of knowing that Hawkmoth at this point is not as much his enemy as he rightfully thinks and actually just wants him safe and sound right now. Adrien is perfectly aware that the moment Hawkmoth finds out about his identity he WILL take advantage of it, endangering his loved ones, friends etc (naturally including Gabriel himself as Adriens father as a big priority) and going after him mercilessly until he gets his ring. Adrien didn't refuse to save himself for nothing and that's important as hell!

Because here is Gabriel now begging Adrien to pull that exact sacrifice even though HE could stop this whenever he wanted, saving Adrien himself.

But he doesn't right away

And do you know why he doesn't?

Because stopping it required letting go of Ladybug and that could possibly lead to him losing the chance of getting her miraculous.

So this rotten insult to fatherhood wants to tell me now that he's a poor, poor father who fears for his dear sons life while basically asking ADRIEN to be the one to pull the bloody heavy sacrifice that will lead in Adriens eyes to horrible and devastating consequences for all of his loved ones and himself.

Just so Gabriel himself doesn't have to do it!

This is Gabriels default reaction by instinct. Gabriel are you FUCKING kidding me with this bullshit? How come I only noticed the fucked up second face of this scene now? I went so long actually giving Gabriel some legit credit for this but in reality this is beyond 7 stars of awful.

Once again, I applause Miraculous for this nuanced charactersation. This is what I will forever and ever love this show for and its fine to portray this because it obviously leads up to something

So let me say this with every inch of my heart:

FUCK. GABRIEL. AGRESTE!!!!

[lucemferto]

Hey girl, don’t mind me, I just quickly went and rewrote Dream SMP Season 2.

I’m focusing on the big plot stuff from Season 2, which makes it really easy for me to make it good, because I don’t have to contend with all the hard parts like dialogue and scene pacing and stuff. As an additional challenge to myself, I try to change as little as possible. If I don’t mention stuff (like the Egg-Arc) then that means I’m fine with them the way they are.

I wrote this in an hour, so don't expect it to be good, pls.

Whether you agree or think this is trash, I'd be so interested to hear your thoughts!

ACT I

Fundy’s early arc with Ghostbur, Eret and Phil is great and should stay the way it is. It sets up the character relationships and potential for conflict that we can explore in the future.

Similarly, I wouldn’t change too much about the conflict during Exile with one exception: Both Tommy and Quackity don’t want to include Technoblade. Instead, they believe that they can take one Dream by themselves – this is important for Techno’s, Tommy’s and Quackity’s personal journey later on. In this rewrite, Quackity also didn’t found El Rapids, but instead recruited George & Sapnap to L’Manburg – because his stated goal is to make L’Manburg the strongest nation on the server, so why would he make a rival nation with a plotline that goes nowhere?

What’s also important is that it’s revealed that Dream has a spy in L’Manburg around here. Maybe Tommy confessed his burning of George’s house during a cabinet meeting and word still got out to Dream. Who knows, but it’s important for later.

Something big that I would change about this Act I is that I would give Techno an actual B-plot. As it stands, Techno’s early plotline was just “Grrr, I’m angry that Tommy would use me like that! Someone killed my cows and robbed me! L’Manburg will know my wrath”

3 weeks later

“Nevermind, I’m a pacifist now and live in the arctic”

Instead, we pick up where S1 left off. Techno is intent on destroying L’Manburg and instituting anarchy. During that time, he comes into conflict with Quackity’s henchmen (Fundy, George, Sapnap, etc.) to establish that L’Manburg could be an actual threat to him.

We also have some conflict with Phil. They’re old war buddies, but Phil’s son built L’Manburg and Phil himself is unofficially Tubbo’s advisor. I think them reconstituting their friendship will take up this early part until Tommy’s exile – it makes for a nice foil to Tommy’s and Tubbo’s friendship falling apart.

Technoblade also tries to recruit people like HBomb and Niki to his cause, but they’re hesitant, because, you know, he sent Withers to destroy their home. Not the best first impression. Techno is hurt, but convinced it’s because of L’Manburg propaganda and they don’t want to work with him, because they don’t see him as useful.

ACT II Part 1

Exile-Arc basically stays exactly the same – with one notable difference. When Technoblade comes to visit Tommy it’s not to mock him – it’s as a final attempt to convince Tommy to join him. It’s a first culmination of Techno’s character journey so far: His previous interactions with the citizenry of L’Manburg has left him shaken, but not shaken enough.

Tommy truly does need “The Blade” right now and he has no reason to further believe L’Manburg’s propaganda. So, by Technoblade’s inner logic, Tommy should accept.

But he doesn’t. Tommy viciously rips into Technoblade and gets very personal (he’s in a bad space, understandably) – Techno can play it off nonchalantly, but either the cinematography or some later moment shows us that he was hurt by this.

Nevertheless, he gives Tommy a compass that points to his HQ, showing us that he cares about Tommy, like he did during their early days in Pogtopia.

This is where we implement some big changes. The story of Technoblade and the Butcher Army becomes the A-plot, while the Exile becomes the B-plot.

It makes perfect sense. The Exile-Arc is a very inward-focused, almost a character study of Tommy and Dream. It doesn’t have a lot of big narrative movement – so the perfect time to execute on that narrative movement in the storyline that has a lot of moving pieces.

So, after Tommy chewed him out, Techno is hurt and meets with Philza. Techno then explains that for him anarchy always was the natural order of things – to fight for a world where only the strongest survive – but pursuing anarchy like that has left him empty. Philza then explains that anarchy should be more about helping people and building an equal community.

We’re all but stating a major thematic conflict of this storyline: Fighting those who wronged you vs. Helping those in need. All this while also exploring the philosophy of anarchy with Techno and Philza serving as symbolic stand-ins for some different thoughts on the matter.

So, while Tommy’s Exile is going on, Techno refines his approach. This goes hand in hand with Quackity using his henchman to turn L’Manburg into a totalitarian police state in order to root out Dream’s traitor (told you it would become important later).

This will be the main conflict here in the first half of Act 2. Quackity and Philza will play shoulder-devil and shoulder-angel respectively for Tubbo and Fundy, pulling them in different directions. Ghostbur also hangs around L’Manburg – a constant reminder for Tubbo of the most sanitized version of President Wilbur and the lofty ideas he stood for.

This is another big thematic conflict for this storyline – externalized in part through Ghostbur’s presence: When do the ends no longer justify the means? It also feeds into the motif of Tubbo and Tommy becoming like Schlatt and Wilbur respectively (even if that’s still mostly superficial).

During this political turmoil, Niki is getting into Quackity’s crosshairs. She opposes his policing and brutal methods. So Quackity really focuses in on her and she has to live with constant surveillance, searches, etc. Niki tries to talk to Tubbo about this, but he says it’s necessary to keep L’Manburg safe. Slowly, Niki grows disillusioned with L’Manburg.

It is during this time that Niki gets into contact with Techno and the two start to form a bond and helping the citizenry hold out hope during this time (I don’t know who would be the citizenry, probably people that don’t have their own storyline going on such as HBomb, Vikkstar, Lazarbeam, etc.)

And we can have a few lorestreams like that, where the conceit is that Techno’s sneaking into L’Manburg to help people and there’s actual tension.

All this culminates in Hog Hunt. Fundy sees Phil, Niki and Techno team-up. He confronts them after Techno left and Phil begs Fundy to not out them – but their divide has grown too deep (and we’ve actually shown that during Fundy’s streams this time).

Quackity has Phil and Niki incarcerated (L’Manburg has a prison now, it’s not as good as Pandora’s Vualt). Tubbo is deeply disturbed that Philza and Niki would betray him by working with the man that took one of his canon lives and finally gives the Butcher Army his presidential approval. Quackity was already prepared and the events of Hog Hunt play out as we know them.

ACT II Part 2

Again, plays out relatively similarly, except for one major difference: Tommy comes to Techno with the explicit purpose of asking for his help. Exile has left him really hardened, probably more so than we have currently.

This would a.) make Tommy a bit more proactive in his partnership with Techno and b.) actually gives some weight to Techno’s later beef with Tommy, because now it’s based on more than just some flimsy phrasing during S1.

Otherwise, this plays out relatively similarly – Techno and Tommy maybe share a few more character moments, just to drive home that Techno cares about Tommy. Also, none of that dumb keeping it a secret whether or not we destroy L’Manburg – that’s some contrived nonsense and I hate it.

Tommy knows that Techno wants to destroy L’Manburg and while he’s conflicted, he ultimately goes along with. Once he gets his discs back, everything will be over after all. The destruction of L’Manburg will have been worth it.

Part of the rising action will be breaking Phil and Niki out of prison instead of the petty bullshit about Techno’s items that he doesn’t need. This is where we have the initial confrontation between Tommy and Tubbo (and Techno doesn’t ruin the moment by being his worst self).

Other plot points include: Techno receives the Wither Skulls over the course of him and Tommy working together by some mysterious benefactor. This is after he and Tommy confronted Dream. He doesn’t tell Tommy who the benefactor is, even though he knows (spoilers: it’s Dream).

Meanwhile, Tommy, Techno, Niki and Phil are secretly rigging New L’Manburg with TNT a la Wilbur, just to really drive that comparison home. Niki is getting really angry; she has suffered enough and she’s really gonna get revenge.

One of her big moments of terrorism before the Green Festival is burning down the L’Mantree (maybe we can include some character conflict Fundy, so we have these two people who were once really close friends now so warped and torn apart by these two sides at war).

Meanwhile, Quackity has figured out that Ranboo was the traitor and is pushing for Tubbo to execute Ranboo for the greater good of L’Manburg. Tubbo is hesitant, but as there’s no moderate voice in the cabinet anymore, he concedes to the idea.

Finally, the Green Festival is here. This part is really … tough to rewrite, because you have to accommodate so many different character arcs, but I’ll try my best.

In a move not unlike during the Red Festival, Ranboo is revealed as the traitor and put in the execution cage (because those parallels). Tubbo feels really bad about it.

This is when Tommy and Techno start their assault and unleash the whithers. L’Manburg is under attack and we have the big fight between Tubbo and Tommy. We get the big shout-out “The discs were worth more than you ever were” and the ensuing epiphany on Tommy part.

Techno’s calling for him to explode the TNT, but he doesn’t do it.

Quackity is calling for Tubbo to execute Ranboo, but Tubbo has an epiphany himself and refuses. Both their personal conflicts are resolved here. Also, we have some nice parallelism between Quackity and Techno as Tubbo’s and Tommy’s respective bad influences.

Techno – understandably this time – feels betrayed and hurt. He and Tommy have their shouting match. Quackity tries to attack Techno, but during their match they accidentally trigger the TNT. Quackity’s hunger for power has created the grave of his ambitions.

(Niki is also pissed at Tommy and Fundy is fully distraught, because L’Manburg was everything he had left from Wilbur).

Dream steps out of the shadows and reveals that he was Techno’s mysterious benefactor. He gets his hands on the second disc and gloats to Tommy. The scene from Doomsday plays out only that Techno shows some stings of remorse for helping Dream accomplish what he wanted. (Quackity flees the ensuing chaos).

Dream tries to goad Tommy with the discs, but Tommy doesn’t bite, because he has resolved his Want vs. Need now. Dream is frustrated, but retreats for now.

ACT III

In the aftermath of ACT II, I think it’s very important to hammer home that this wasn’t a win for Techno, Niki or Phil. For that to work I think it’s important to make clear that Tommy’s and Techno’s bond was genuine and that they really cared for each other during the Bedrock Bros thing. Neither of them is happy for how this turned.

Niki is plagued by nightmares and sleeps in a prison cell like in the current canon. She stands in symbolic for the emptiness that vengeance brings. Phil is shaken from his talk to Ghostbur and he’s the one who brings up that maybe what they did wasn’t for the best.

Then Techno and Phil have a discussion about the nature of anarchy again, calling back to that earlier conversation at the beginning of Act 2. Techno also feels empty – his vengeance and the destruction he wrought left him no happier.

Meanwhile, Punz and Tommy are actually spending some quality bonding time. Thanks to the medium, they could simulate that pretty well. Punz actually gets attached and when Dream mentions his coup-de-grâce, the cinematography shows that Punz isn’t too happy about it.

Tommy and Tubbo prepare to fight Dream on their own terms. They know, they have to stop him lest he hurts the people they care about (this makes both of them a bit more proactive in the finale). Punz (as per Dream’s orders) tells Tommy where Dream is hiding. Tommy thanks him, oblivious that Punz is a traitor, but Punz feels bad. He has grown attached to Tommy.

During the Final Disc War we actually get two perspectives: One is Tommy’s and Tubbo’s as we know it (only without the constant “Your discs or Tubbo”-stuff) and the other is Punz’s. He has decided to help Tommy even though there’s nothing monetarily in it for him.

First, he goes to Quackity, but Quackity says that Tommy has betrayed him and L’Manburg and that he gets what’s coming to him.

In a last-ditch effort, he goes to Techno. Here’s where we resolve that thematic conflict (Vengeance vs. Charity) for the Techno-Butcher Army storyline: Quackity has chosen to perpetuate the cycle of vengeance (because he will be the villain in S3), but we want some nice character development for Techno.

Niki is against it and stays put, but Techno and Philza ultimately decide to go with Punz and the others to help Tommy.

Finale plays out the same. Stuff’s still awkward between Techno and Tommy/Tubbo; they haven’t resolved all their problems, but it’s a first step. Some good set-up for S3.

And that’s my basic rewrite. It’s long and probably not the best.

[wrestling0neshots]

Cocky - Undertaker

Interefering at the wrong time gets you in a whole lot of trouble. A whole of trouble which leads to quite the opportunity. Orignally posted on Archive Of Our Own --------------------------

You watch from the gorilla as the Undertaker continues to annihilate your partner, Raven. The match hasn't been going on for very long, and you don't think it will go on for much longer with the way Raven is looking, and so you decide that now is the time to go give him a hand.

Silently you creep out onto the main stage, catching sight of Undertaker recovering from having his head slammed into the ring post, dodging Ravens next attack and forcing Ravens head into the barricade. You wince, breaking into a jog and making your way towards the pair.

You manage to get to them once they are by the announcers table, Undertaker still dominating the match. "HEY!" You shout as Undertaker runs Raven into the ring post. Undertaker drops Raven and turns his attention you to.

"Get out of here" he demands. You shake your head, glancing at Raven who hasn't moved. "I said get out of here" his voice is a low growl and you consider your options.

Help Raven or help yourself. You decide it would be best if you were to help your partner rather than be the one that walks away, so you find your voice. "No" Undertaker takes a step towards you, and naturally you take one back.

"You better leave by yourself or else-" "Or else what, deadman? You going to hit a woman?" You ask. You know taunting him won't land you any place good but what other choice do you have? Raven is barely up on his feet, let alone prepared to attack.

"No, I don't hit women, and you're damn lucky I don't. Get out of here before I make you" You walk backwards, Undertaker watching your every move. You hold up your hands in surrender, Taker finally turning his attention back to Raven, who still doesn't know what he's doing.

You walk over to the announcers table, pulling the spare chair towards you, picking it up. You fold the chair, trying to be as quiet as possible as you sneak over to a preoccupied Undertaker.

You raise the chair high, ready to strike him in the back, when he turns around, anger immediately appearing in his eyes.

He snatches the chair from your hands, using it to crack Raven in the spine before throwing it to the ground. Undertaker once more turns his attention to you, and you now decide to go the opposite direction, walking backwards as fast as you can, determined to escape the grasp of the phenom if you can.

But you find he is faster than you, catching up with ease. You go to turn around and run but he already has a hold of you, your hair wrapped around his hand. He pulls you to him, causing you to wince from the pain searing through your skull.

"What in hell made you think going to hit me with a steel chair was a good idea?" Undertaker barks. You shrug, not effectively as you had wanted due to your body stiffening in fear, but he understood what you were trying to do. "You don't know. That ain't good enough. How about I give you one more chance, you can either go backstage and watch your dearest Raven get his ass handed to him, or I can finish him off and deal with you after" you stare blankly at him, not fond of either idea. You're here now, you've come this far.

You take in a deep breath, "You don't tell me what to do" a quick swing of your hand tells Undertaker all he needs to know. He pushes you up onto the apron and into the ring with such force you roll into the middle, the lights taking a moment to focus.

By the time you're back on your feet it's too late, Raven bleeding from his forehead and completely out of it. You silently roll out of the ring, heading towards him, a hand catching your arm. "And where are you going?" You don't turn to look at Taker, you're in enough trouble as it is.

You swallow your fear, "backstage." A low chuckle comes from the taller man. "Would you prefer I deal with you backstage? It would save you the humiliation, although I would have to make up for that." You look around at the WWE universe. "I don't care if you have to make up for it. Not in front of these people. Not in front of Raven."

He lets go of your arm, gesturing for you to lead the way. You look back at Raven who is still very much out cold.

Once backstage the cameras don't follow you, you half expected them to but no one comes. Undertaker leads you to his dressing room, pulling a chair from a stack at the side. He places the chair in the center of the room. "Sit."

You don't hesitate, taking a seat. "Now, I don't know what sort of fool you are running down to that ring for someone who is already defeated and no way to defend yourself. But I'm going to tell you right now not to pull that shit again."

You shrug. "I don't have to do what you tell me." Undertaker stands with his back to you, silent.

He seems to be mulling over his options, wondering what exactly to do with you. You know you shouldn't be giving him attitude, you know the mans reputation, but you're also not afraid to stand up for yourself. You went out there and attacked him, ain't no chance you're gonna stop running your mouth now.

"You've got a lot of nerve, I'll give you that much." He says, "a lot more than Raven is worth." "Don't you speak a word about Raven." You state.

"I'll say whatever I damn well please, you do. Tell me, Y/n, what does Raven do for you?" His eyes meet with your now, he towers over you under normal circumstances, and even more so now with you being seated.

You shrug, not knowing what answer to give him. Your time paired with Raven has been long, complicated. Through multiple companies, over numerous years.

"He's a good guy, good at what he does. He's got a way with words and he's a fighter." "That's not what I asked. Answer the damn question." Taker demands.

You chew on the inside of your lip. "He taught me to be the same." "He taught you to be reckless. Just like him. You've run down to the ring to defend him with no way of protecting yourself. You've run your mouth when you should have kept it shut. Now you're here all alone with The Undertaker, and I know you know who I am, and you are still running your mouth."

"So what if I am?" You ask, pushing his buttons even further. "You're cocky, stubborn and loyal to a fault." "Depends who you ask." You reply, crossing your arms.

He gives you a questioning look, wanting you to elaborate. And you do. "Let's just say the decision to work with Raven was my own. I needed someone who could teach me how to go further. I got that. And I'd do it again."

Now you have Undertaker's full attention. "You would leave Raven for a better opportunity?" He asks. "For lack of a better phrase, yes. I suppose I would. It's not like I'm contractually obligated to work with Raven."

You can see the idea come to his mind. You hadn't planned this, not at all. Usually you would see that Raven's opponents were taken care of when he couldn't handle his own. That hadn't happened this time.

In reference to his earlier statement yes, you do know who he is. The knowledge and power in his possession. You'd be a fool not to try.

"You want to learn, Y/n, I'll teach you. But it comes at a price." Of course it does. This is The Undertaker. "Obviously." You voice your thoughts.

He looks pissed for a second at your reaction, his expression returning neutral quickly. "I train you, you help me out-" "Deal." "I wasn't finished yet, Y/n. And you'll hear it all before you agree to it. As I was saying. I train you, you help me out. You'll help when I need help, no matter the situation. You'll tone down your attitude towards me and you'll also have the loyalty, contractually."

You rise to your feet, no expression on your face. "Deal." You hold out your hand.

He extends his own and the two of you shake on it. "There's no going back on it now, Y/n. You've made a bargain with the deadman and you might not be so happy that you did." He chuckles.

"I'm sure I'll be just fine, Taker. You've not got anything I can't handle." His look says he doubts your words, no surprise there. "Give it time. We'll see."

[lin-nin]

Tribulation & Tenderness - Chapter 2

Ship: Main Technoblade x Reader, some Dream x Reader

Plot: You're a princess in a Kingdom suffering a years long famine. In a desperate attempt to help your people, you accept one simple offer: Marriage to the crown prince of a neighboring kingdom. Anything to help your people survive. Surely it can't be too bad, can it?

Chapter List: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Disclaimer:   Cross-posted on Wattpad (discontinued) and Ao3. This is based off of everyone's CHARACTERS. I do not write fanfic based off the actual people.

Chapter 2: First Impressions

< | Previous Chapter

The castle was in an uproar. Hell, the entire kingdom was. What were they to do? Royalty from another kingdom visiting. A kingdom they had very little intel on. They were panicked. You could see it in the faces of the servants. They worried about what would unfold. You supposed you couldn’t blame them. You weren’t panicked about what would happen, but definitely nervous. You couldn’t necessarily be excited about it. Not with so much uncertainty lying ahead of you.

The week leading up to this was definitely something to question, in a way. Word had spread fast through the kingdom. It always did. Just like any other piece of gossip, though, the story got misconstrued along the way. There was a rumor that if you had not been handed over for marriage that there would be war, and that’s why it was going so fast. Of course, far from the truth. The sooner things were secured for your people, the better. You didn’t mind going so soon, anyways.

Some of the servants fretted about ‘savages taking their princess’. You would simply smile and assure them you would be fine. Dream was moody, torn between spending every moment at your side or completely disappearing. George seemed worried, but assured you that if they tried anything he would raise hell for you. You appreciated all of the sentiment. You would have been far more worried going into this if so many hadn’t expressed their clear concern. It was reassuring, in an odd way.

You stood in the throne room now, hands folded neatly in front of you. Beside you stood your mother. Beside her was your father, and beside him was George. The room was silent, really. Anticipation. You had received word not too long ago that a couple of carriages had crossed the border, and it was clear who they belonged to. Everyone had quickly prepared then, gathering where they were needed.

You closed your eyes, exhaling slowly. This was… nerve-wracking. You didn't even know what to expect from the prince. From your fiancé. Your stomach rolled at the thought. How quickly things changed in a week. Who even knew how quick they would push for the marriage to go through. You didn't want to think about it right now. You didn't want to worry about differing customs. 

A hand gently rubbed at your back, causing you to turn your head. Your mother's soft gaze was focused on you. Kind as loving as it had always been. It was a reassurance, you naturally found comfort and solace in it. It truly made you want to reach out and hug her. She had expressed over the past week how proud of you she was, and how she would always be only a letter away. You couldn't help but appreciate that.

The moment was interrupted by the doors creaking open, followed by the heavy clunk of boots. Your gaze sought out every unfamiliar face, digging through their guard. Until you finally found the first face of what you assumed was importance. The man was tall and blonde, a ornate crown atop his head. The king, you could only presume. His face was set neutrally, and that alone was intimidating. Brown eyes seemed to hold no warmth, and it made you want to shrink in your shoes. Was this why they had the reputation they did?

You eventually managed to tear your eyes away. Not before you noted the sword at his hip, though. Terrifying. You suppressed a shudder, allowing your gaze to fall to the figure not too far behind him. Maybe this one was even more intimidating, somehow. Your breath hitched, heart plummeting to your stomach. That was your fiancé?

His pink hair was a shock, a braid to one side, tucked behind an ear, while the rest of his long locks were pulled into a loose ponytail. The most jarring thing was his mask. A skull, lacking its lower jaw to expose his mouth, which was set in a straight line. The tusks of the beast curled up, reaching towards his scalp. Brown eyes bore into you, and you didn't choose to hold eye contact for long. You couldn’t.

A circlet, still ornate like his father's, was perched on his head. Definitely the prince. His pageantry gave that away. The fur that framed his shoulders, the golden chains and jewels decorating various parts of the outfit. Not one, but two swords bounced at his hip. He could probably take you out in a second. The thought was terrifying alone. He was terrifying.

You brought yourself back to full attention, trying to stand taller. To seem like you weren't absolutely scared. The way your fingers had curled into the fabric of your dress probably gave that away. You longed to search out comfort, whether it was from Dream or your brother right now. They managed to drag you out of your fears so easily. Though, you were glad Dream wasn't here to see it. He probably wouldn't be all too pleased with how your fiancé looked.

You craned forward to peer around your parents, looking at George. He was straight faced. Which… wasn't exactly good. You supposed that a straight face was better than whatever emotion he was feeling about this. Your father's face was much the same, though there was a slight purse to his lip. You supposed he was unhappy. Your fiancé just marched in here with swords at his hip and a skull strapped to his face. Not exactly the pomp and circumstance expected.

You hesitated to look at your mother. You could see the whites of her knuckles. She had always been fiercely protective. An inane smile sat on her face, worry in her eyes. You had a feeling this fiancé wasn't the one they were expecting. What was his name, even? They'd told you before but you couldn't recall it now. It'd be repeated back to you at some point.

Unable to help yourself, you looked back towards him. Completely ignoring the talk between your fathers. The skull on his face was off putting, especially when paired with the tilt of his head. You nervously chewed on your lip, trying to take in as much of the man as was visible. Which wasn’t a whole lot. You could see a few jagged scars on the right side of his face, disappearing beneath the skull. You wondered briefly how he got them. Though, you supposed you would have more than enough time to ask him about it. If he was open to it.

You had to ponder what the man beneath the mask. What he was like. Was he as terrifying in person as he seemed from up here? What did he even look like under there? Why did your parents seem so displeased too?

Next Chapter | >

[babbushka]

I love Beyond Reasonable Doubt! Lawyer Kylo is just the best Kylo! Could you please use this prompt with him for Sinday? Flip or another Kylo would be fine too if you like.

“I don’t get how kissing in the rain could be romantic. It sounds horrible to me.“ "Well it’s raining right now - I bet I could prove you wrong.”

Thank you so much for requesting! Please enjoy this bantery bickery fluffy ficlet! :)

1.2k, no warnings just fluff

“Alright, what the fuck is your problem.” Kylo huffs in a snappish sort of tone. It’s not so much a question as it is permission for you to start complaining in that way that you always sort of wait for him to give you.

You’re both curled up on the couch in your living room, a rare day off. You both should be getting ready for your next cases, court wasn’t too far away now, but the weather outside made it so difficult to be in the mood to get anything done.

You had invited Kylo over for some Netflix & Chill – much to Kylo’s annoyance when you actually had a movie queued up.

“What are you talking about?” You pause said movie, and give him a hard glare.

“This is the third time you’ve sighed – are you crying?” Kylo suddenly notices the sheen to your eyes, the way you keep subtly wiping the sleeve of your sweater against your cheeks, sniffling up your nose.

“Fuck you no I’m not.” Immediately on the defensive, you snap at him, and Kylo can only throw his hands up in exasperation.

“How can you be crying nothing sad has happened?” He demands to know, and you roll your eyes and wipe at your face again.

“I’m not crying because it’s sad you moron, I’m crying because it’s sweet.” You say it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, gesturing to the screen that is frozen right as a man and woman lock themselves in an embrace out in a field somewhere, “Have you not been paying attention this entire time? It’s the most romantic part of the movie.”

Maybe he hadn’t been fucking paying attention to the movie, maybe he had wanted to blow your back out instead. He doesn’t say that, but he doesn’t anticipate what he does say to have such a dramatic reaction.

“I don’t get how kissing in the rain could be romantic.” He shoves some popcorn into his mouth, talks around it as he chews, “It sounds horrible to me. You’ll catch a fuckin’ cold. Do you know how freezing it must be out there? I don’t fucking think so, if you want a kiss you ask for one inside where it’s warm and fuckin’ dry.”

“Well, it’s raining right now – I bet I could prove you wrong.” You suddenly challenge, and Kylo can only blink.

“What do you mean?” He swallows around the popcorn, scowling as thunder cracks outside.

“Go walk down to the end of the block.” You instruct, and he’s not so sure you’re serious.

Kylo gives you a look, but you only look back at him, and does as he’s told. Getting off the couch, he spares a withering glance out at the torrential downpour that has cleared the streets outside your apartment, puts on his raincoat, and out the door he goes.

When the elevator doors open on the ground floor, and the doorman of the building offers him an umbrella, he politely rejects it, much to the doorman’s confusion. No one in these movies had umbrellas after all. He puts his hands in his pockets to keep them from shivering. He wishes he could light up a cigarette, but the rain would just put it right back out, he knows that. So instead, he stands near a lamp-post to provide him with some light, turns his collar up against the rain, and waits.

He isn’t so sure what he’s even waiting for, and is about to storm back inside and snap at you for playing a cruel trick on him – when he sees you all the way down the block.

The streets are empty, no one out in this kind of weather, so he knows that it’s you. In the time that Kylo had made it to the corner, you changed your clothes out of sweatpants and into something much more…theatrical. You’re drenched to your very bones, hair whipping out behind you as you run and run and run, your feet splashing in puddles so deep that it soaks through your already soaked billowing dress.

“Kylo!” You call his name with a desperate sort of urgency, your voice cutting through the thick downpour of the rain like lightning, and he doesn’t know how or why, but suddenly his feet are carrying him away from that lamp-post and he’s running too.

Drawn to you in that moment, Kylo forgot all about the rain, he forgot about the world around him as your bodies collide right there on the sidewalk, as he wraps his arms around your waist as if it were the most natural thing in the world. You’ve practically jumped up against him, his arms supporting your hips, meaning you have to lean down for once in your life to kiss him.

And kiss him you do -- your lips crashing down onto his, lips parting for his tongue, hot and wet, everything is so wet. Kylo clutches to you, holds your body so tightly as the rain beats down on the both of you, streams of water down your cheeks like tears, and for a moment, when Kylo kisses you back, he thinks you may be crying, that maybe the weight of your emotion is so heavy that it has caused the sky itself to open up.

Your hands cradle the base of his skull, and you gasp against his tongue, eyes pinched shut, looking for all the world like you’ve been wanting to do that your entire life. Looking like one of those women in those movies, reunited at long last with her lover. Maybe Kylo is dreaming, but the way your fingers curl and cover against his cheeks, the way your thumbs rub soothing circles just beneath his eyes, he feels more tenderness in these touches than he has ever known.

But then, as soon as it had started, seemingly the kiss was over, and Kylo has to put you down. Except…except he doesn’t want to. He wants to hold onto you forever and ever, and he gets it now, he understands now, why they’re all like this. He would never admit to it, but he understands.

“Were you acting?” You ask, panting ever so slightly as your feet touch the ground once again, head dizzy and heart racing.

“No.” Kylo whispers, because he never is when he’s with you. In fact, he thinks you might be the only fucking person on the planet that he doesn’t have to act around. Anxiety spikes through him then, and he feels the need to ask in return, “Were you?”

The fear is fleeting, for you’re shaking your head ever so slightly, gently, and Kylo lets out a breath he hadn’t realized that he was holding.

“Do you want to finish the movie?” You whisper back, voice hushed, barely audible over the rush of the rain around your bodies.

“I have a better idea.” Kylo grins, before he’s leaning back down with his eyes closing, his nose rubbing against yours, to kiss you once again, and then again, and then again.

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

Tagging some Kylo lovin' friends! @mochabucky @sacklerscumrag @artsymaddie @bitchydecisions @direnightshade @reyloaddict55 @thembohux @kylorenswhxre @sunflowersinthesnow @babayagakeanu @safarigirlsp @rennasiance-mama @steeevienicks @mousemakingjam @the-unmanaged-mischief @materialisthicc @slut-for-harri @littleevilme13 @erys-targaryen @leillaa @lovinghufflepuffgirl @hswritingrecs @han68000 @rosi3ba3z @chapterhappygirl @schopenhauerdeathsquad @loverofallthings @groovetoob @bxnnywriting @glassbxttless @angel-bxby3 @smallgirlbigpersonality @cowgirl1234 @lovelyyy-luna @2000andwhat @raddo1975 @cornmousequeen

[comfortwriting]

Never Alone - The Marauders

Masterlist, Posting Schedule, Requesting Rules, Writing Prompts, navigation

The Marauders x Fem Reader x Marlene McKinnon

A/N: As someone who was bullied in highschool for my sexuality and slandered by members of my family, this was somewhat therapeutic yet hard for me to write as I’ve never spoken about it. If you need a helpline, etc please scroll to the bottom of my navigation <3

Requested/About: The reader is dating Marlene McKinnon, once their relationship is made public, other students decide to be openly homophobic towards her. Her cousin, Sirius Black and his best friend James Potter find out, going after the students and comforting her. 

Warnings: Homophobia, Homophobic Slurs, Mention of conversion, Swearing.

“Are you sure you want to, you know, go public?” Your girlfriend Marlene asked.

You felt your heart speed up, sweat already forming in your palms, you sighed.

“Yeah... just give me one more day” you swallowed hard and looked into her starry eyes “I’m tired of hiding who I am, I’m tired of hiding us - but I’m scared.”

Marlene smiled sympathetically from ear to ear, talking your hand in hers.

“It’s never going to be easy, Y/N, but we’ve got each other and that’s all that matters”

You nodded again and held onto her hand tighter, squeezing it as you often did when you were nervous.

Sharing a kiss, the two of you stood up and walked across the school grounds.

Before you could reach the doors to be engulfed by the delicious mouth watering meals, you heard foot steps behind you.

Two boys in the year above you in Raven Claw had closed in on you, they were glaring but the corners of their lips curled up slightly.

“I never would’ve thought Marlene was a dyke—“

“Leave her alone!” You hissed and the taller student, pushing yourself in front of your girlfriend to shield her.

The two boys shared a glance and started laughing.

“You’d think that being a witch you would fix yourself, make yourself normal.” The other boy spat at you.

Your throat went dry and started to feel tight, boiling blood flowed through your veins and you felt like you could throw up or faint, you wanted to scream, to say something back but you couldn’t.

Tears filled your eyes and your vision went glassy, every noise around you turned into muffled nonsense, you were trapped in a vice with your own thoughts and the disgusting comments from other people, torturing yourself and toying with your mind.

Why can’t I be normal?

Am I disgusting?

What are my family going to think?

Sirius won’t be able to look at me

Whilst drowning in your thoughts, Marlene pushed herself out of your shielding and stood up to the other students, arguing back, yelling and getting out her wand.

“You talk a lot boys, why don’t we settle this another way?”

But Marlene wasn’t as good as she thought, the two boys simply laughed at her, disarmed her and walked away, threatening to spill the truth to whole of Hogwarts.

“Y/N?” Your girlfriend called out softly “Y/N”

Blinking away the tears, you slipped out from your vice and felt as if you had been thrusted back into reality.

You looked up at Marlene and felt ashamed for not doing something.

“Marlene, I’m sorry, I love you.”

She shushed you softly “hey, it’s okay.” Her fingers traced your scalp, holding you in her arms “I love you too... let’s just get ourselves sorted out and head off for dinner.”

Wiping away your tears with your sleeve, the two of you walked into the great hall.

You cousin Sirius waved and ushered you to come over to sit with him and his friends.

James Potter and Lily were away with the fairies, giggling.

Remus Lupin looked a lot better than the previous week and the scratches on his face were starting to heal nicely.

You sat next in between your cousin and Girlfriend. Staring at your plate, too scared to say anything incase the boys had already blabbed to them.

“Well, aren’t you going to eat something?” Sirius asked, taking a sip from his goblet.

You nodded “right, yeah” and stabbed some turkey, piercing it with your fork and stuffing it into your mouth.

“You aren’t usually this quiet” James butted in as Lily left to go to the toilet.

Marlene gave James a sad look and started to eat, hoping the subject could be dropped.

“He’s right, Y/N.” Remus said softly “is everything okay?”

You could hear the intrusive thoughts and comments rise in your head again, the vice getting tighter.

You put your head in your hands and started to cry, you wanted to stand up and run but you were too afraid, you were terrified people would make a big deal and would end up finding out the truth.

“Nothing is okay” you wailed.

Sirius wrapped his arm around you and bent his head next to your ear.

“Can you just try your best to explain what’s happened?”

You shook your head even more and continued to cry, wanting to throw up the food you had worked so hard to chew down and swallow.

Marlene sighed and asked Sirius to come over, Sirius got out of his seat and crouched next to Marlene.

Marlene looked at you, the two of you making eye contact, emotions spinning in the air, your hearts running a marathon, this was it - you couldn’t hide anymore.

“Please can I tell him?” Your girlfriends eyes were pleading more than they ever had in their life.

You nodded and cried even more, holding onto her hand for support.

Marlene let out a shaky breath and looked into your cousins deep eyes “me and Y/N, we’ve been together for awhile now and it’s been kept secret but” she sighed again, her voice wobbling “two boys from Raven Claw spotted us and—“

“They think it’s okay to just toss out a homophobic slur like it means nothing, they think it’s a choice and that magic will make me normal” you wailed, too scared to look your cousin and his friends in the eyes.

James’s eyes widened and Lupin looked horrified, he stood up and walked over to your side of the table.

Sirius had never been so infuriated in his life, his veins were bulging out of his skull, his eyes burning with fury, his teeth gritted.

“Who” he growled.

Marlene looked across at the Raven Claw table and pointed at the two lads who were whispering to one another, grimacing and laughing.

Sirius stood up with his hands balled into fists “James—“

“You don’t need to tell me even once.” His best friend replied, pushing back his glasses.

Lupin pulled you into his arms, Marlene still holding your hand.

“I don’t want them to get in trouble—“

“They can’t get away with this, Y/N” Lupin replied softly “it’s bang out of order.”

Sirius stormed over to the Raven Claw table with James, both of them focussing on one lad each. In synch, they pulled the lads up by the back of their collars, dragging them out of their seats.

“Think you’d get away with it, did you?” Sirius seethed.

The lad stood up and stared Sirius down “want to take this outside?”

Sirius didn’t budge, James still holding back the other student.

“Don’t see why I would” Sirius spat “Homophobes don’t deserve to kept in the dark - protected. You disgusting scum bags shouldn’t be allowed here at Hogwarts!”

“And you expect your cousin to be accepted for who she is?”

The professors got up from their tables and hurried over to the unfolding scene, you could hear the rising in whispers and chatter from the other tables around you.

“It’s going to be okay” your girlfriend reassured you.

“You have nothing to be ashamed of” Lupin said softly “you’re perfect the way you are.”

Dumbledore glided over, staring at James and holding Sirius back from launching at the boy. He knew what James and Sirius were mischievous, yet good natured and kind hearted - he knew the was a reason behind this outburst of rage.

“Can the four of you make your way to my office”

James let go of the other student and followed behind Dumbledore.

“Only if you make that dyke normal—“

Sirius turned around and socked the student in the face, causing him to fall on the floor with a bloody nose.

You hid your face into the crook of Lupin’s neck, everyone now knowing your secret.

“Everyone get out!” Dumbledore yelled, everyone instantly leaving the hall in a hurry.

Dumbledore flashed Lupin a look and nodded.

The three of you were sat in the empty great hall for what felt like hours, your stomach doing flips and you couldn’t stop shaking, Lupin and your girlfriend constantly reassuring you and trying to cheer you up.

Sirius and James walked back into the hall, Sirius ran over to you and picked you up into his arms, the two of you crying.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

You shook your head “no but I will be.”

“You don’t ever be ashamed of who you are” Sirius cried “it doesn’t make you any less of the person you are, we all still love you.”

“Are you okay, what happened, I—“

“Those two pricks have been expelled, they’re packing immediately” James smirked, rubbing your back.

You felt part of the weight on your chest had been lifted, James engulfed you into a hug while Sirius talked to your girlfriend, thanking her for being there for you and for treating you nothing short of perfect.

Dumbledore called out your name, asking to speak to you in his office.

James and Sirius smiled and nodded towards Dumbledore, you swallowed another forming lump down your throat and followed your head teacher.

Sitting down in his large and warm office, your eyes were glued to the gorgeous Phoenix sat in-front of you, batting its eyes at you.

“Sirius isn’t in trouble is he?”

“Not at all.” Dumbledore replied “Y/N, I want you to know, you will always be accepted here at Hogwarts and we won’t stand for Homophobia or discrimination of any sort.”

You let out a sigh of relief and nodded, thanking him, not knowing where to look you continued to stare at the Phoenix.

“You shouldn’t be ashamed of who you are but I can understand it takes time, it took me awhile too.” Dumbledore smiled softly.

You looked through his half moon spectacles and into his eyes.

He nodded his head, and held out his hand for you to hold.

“You are never alone, Y/N.” His eyes filled with tears, the two of you finally feeling free.

[cleololax]

Lotto | A | Chapter One

MafiaBoss! UndergroundCriminal! Yoongi x Strugglingwaitress! Y/N

Word Count - 3,210

Yoongles has his silver hair in this one 👌🏼. Smut will be in future chapters. Enjoy !

The smell of grease and bacon has your brain pounding in your skull. A normally pleasant smell can get old after an 8-hour work shift, 5 days a week. Dave rings the bell once again and you zig-zag between the tables trying to get there, refilling empty coffee mugs and fetching missing condiments on the way. Another day, another measly dollar.

By noon, your feet need a rest and you need a break. The sneakers squeeze your feet so much it feels like they might bring you down a size permanently. Marla comes from the back, chewing that cheap gum that’s bought wholesale. You hand over the paper tab and fill her in before heading into the back room. Lunch is spent eating a stale sandwich with stale lettuce and softening tomatoes that can leave an unpleasant aftertaste. Mentally, there’s a reminder set to see what they have at the food pantry this week.

Hopefully, your brother ate his lunch. It’s not like he likes it anyways and you can't blame him for it. Anxious thoughts are interrupted when Mina opens the door in all of her cheerfulness.

“Y/N, someone is asking for you.” She must see your furrow brows cause she continues.

“Says he needs to see you, it’s been a while. Is he a bad ex? Should I get rid of him?” Her worry makes you inwardly smile and you head to the sink. “No, it’s ok. I’ll be right there.” She leaves with a nod. The smile drops the minute she does. What could he possibly want now? Something uneasy stirs in your stomach. It could be the food just devoured, but there is something more pressing at the moment. The dim hallway is empty and you carefully walk out, counting the black and white tiles. With your head held high, you walk towards the booths.

The blue hair peeks out from the top of the divider. He always sits in the left corner of the room, drinking a lemonade. Always at the same time. Always on time. You walk towards the table and sit down. Taehyung offers a small nod of his head in acknowledgment. Or at least that’s what he says his name is. The first time he had waltzed in, he turned heads. A beautiful man in a crisp Armani suit isn’t exactly discreet. You came out to greet him and asked if you knew each other when he uttered one word. Your father's name. From then on you knew whatever came of this interaction, it wasn’t going to be pleasant. That bastard had ruined your family and still, it's not enough. He continues to cause destruction, long after he’s been gone.

Taehyung's tan skin and blue hair are a striking match. Chocolate eyes study the way you clench your hands together on the table, steadying shaky fingers. Pretending to hold it all together.

“Hello, Y/N.” He asked for your name the first time and you refused to give it. Years of watching sketchy people walk in and out of your apartment teach you to be wary. By the next meeting, he had it on his tongue in greeting. Perhaps a show of how much they really knew and were able to find out what they wanted.

“I have a note for you from Mr. Min. It’s appropriate to now set up a formal meeting. Tonight.” The previous suspicion is proved correct. This elusive Min wants to meet and it has your heart sinking.

“I have my brother to pick up from school.” Demons may thrive and bath in the night, but the rest of us don’t have that luxury to choose.

“Sorry, but you’ll have to make arrangements. We could send one of our men to do it... if you want.” Absolutely fucking not. You may be bad at surviving, but stupid is not in your nature.

“I’ll work it out.” It's the first time you keep eye contact with him since he arrived. While he notices the sudden determination, you notice the prominent mole on his nose. He’s handsome in a catalog type of way. they must have to be, to make the jobs easier. His tan skin glows, even in the gloomy shadow that the grey skies cast into the room.

“There will be a car parked outside your residence to pick you up.” Being in a car with these people doesn’t seem like such a good idea, either. The next words are painful to say.

“It’s ok, I’ll walk.” He quirks a brow and looks sideways at the droplets sliding down the window.

“It’s going to be raining heavy tonight, though.” His deep voice fills you with dread. Especially because there is an underlying tone of sympathy in it. On cue, lightning roars from somewhere above the popcorn ceiling. Hopefully, it’s enough to distract him from the fidgeting.

He gets up to leave but not before looking down at your slumped form, trying to ignore how tired and pitiful you look. Deliver and leave. That’s the job as a messenger. All of the five times he has come here have made him wonder who you are. What put you in the sights of a man like his employer. You are young, but there is so much sadness already. Ironically, he knows how you must feel. Against his better judgment, he fixes his collar and is gone as quickly as he came. Don’t ask, don’t get involved with the debtors. It’s easier that way. All you can do is place your head on the table and zone out for a little. It’s the go-to self-care these days. Just to pretend that you don’t exist in this form in time, that you can blend in with the background and disappear. Not for the first time, you curse your luck, family ties. What have I been roped into?

When the sun sets, your legs are already carrying you down the street before Lina can change her mind. Thankfully, it isn’t pouring down yet. Closing the diner is normally your job and it is a dreaded task. Anything can happen in that timespan and it keeps the adrenaline constantly flowing. A girl alone in a diner with a cash register is a golden opportunity. It’s hard to feel like beyond the windows there aren’t eyes, waiting in dark street corners. After a couple of blocks, the old orange apartment building comes into view. At one time it must have been nicer and that's hard to picture. Mr. Shihan is playing cards with another older man on the sidewalk when you come up to the gate. Their concentration is fully on the game and he doesn’t give his normal greeting. He’s a sweet man with a terrible habit. The courtyard is empty. There are barks and kitchen sinks running, loud televisions that have no consideration. Unfortunately, there are no stairs and after long days, it’s hard not to just want to sit down on the dirty, concrete floor and fall asleep. Before you reach the 5th floor, you wait at the entrance to the hall on the 4th. It’s taken time for you to stop caring what others think of your situation, the disapproving comments, and glances from the teachers at your brother's school and almost anywhere you go. Too young, give him up to the state. Can’t take care of him, look how skinny he is, look how tired. People who look from the outside and have the luxury to judge. You are old enough to take care of him and he belongs with you. You’re the only family you two have left.

It’s only when you need help that it kills you to see Mrs. Litska. She’s an old woman who was able to babysit your brother while you are at work. With one knock, the door opens and you are met with a frown on her crinkled face. You don’t have time to say much, you just give her the envelope of this month’s pay and step inside. Your brother is asleep on the brightly foiled couch in the dim living room that smells of baked bread. The sound of Vivaldi comes through the ancient radio on the side table. His little fingers hold tightly onto the Spider-Man plushie picked out at the thrift store a while ago. It’s seen better days, but they are insuperable. Placing the stuffed item to the side, one arm loops around his shoulders to him up to place his head on your shoulder. The kid could sleep through anything.

The both of you head upstairs into your own living quarters. The lights don’t turn on when the flip is switched and you sigh as you try your best to remain close to the wall.it proves to be hard with your body ready to give out, but you ultimately make it to the room and place your brother into the squeaky bed. The candles are pulled from the drawer and each one settles into every corner of the space nicely.

Finally, you take off your partially wet clothes and put them into a pile by the tub. At least the water is warm as your body slowly leans down into it. Suddenly, the room is quiet and it’s hard to let yourself float away. It’s eerie and not comforting at all. It never is. There is no next destination besides a dreaded one, no way to work yourself towards, hanging on through the blissfully hard distractions that take up your life. They allow you to not stop, to not think about where you could be. Staying busy saves you from reaching into yourself too much.

Minutes tick by, a full half-hour before your skin is soggy and the water is cold. Still, it's better to be here than think that in another hour you could be trafficked and the little boy in the other room sleeping peacefully would have no one left. Mother dead, father gone, sister missing. It brings a chill to the room and it’s suffocating. Once you’re dressed casually, you check in on your brother who is still tucked in, his breathing mellowed out. Here’s to hoping he stays asleep and doesn’t wander through the place at three in the morning to an empty apartment. You kiss his forehead and bring his plushies within reach. They crowd the space around him, cocooning him in.

With one last safety check and blowing out the candles, you lock the door from the outside and move along the hallway down to the stairs.

Your neighborhood is wet and dark at this hour. Thankfully, you are prepared with a switchblade and pepper spray bought last week. It’s three blocks to the main streets where more people walk with umbrellas. Men in suits getting home and families hurrying to their cars. The shop lights flash, shop windows showcasing fried chicken and ice cream. Your stomach automatically grumbles.

Your umbrella holds up for the most part until the lights start to separate and the streets once again turn dim and dirty. The sudden gusts of wind fold it in and it snaps. Soda cans and bags of junk food litter the edges of cement. Shops on this side are all closed, bars and steel curtains drawn. Every little sound has the back of your neck standing up. A tabby cat pops up from under a beat-up truck and it has your heart momentarily stop. Hopefully, it’s around the corner. Your hands shakily open the worn piece of paper to try and locate the street. Luckily, it’s one street down. Once you turn the corner, you head right into a narrow alley. The pepper spray is held onto tightly with clammy hands.

The situation is starting to look sketchier as you go on. Once you reach the dead end, something to the left catches your peripheral vision. Off to the side is another narrow path, much shorter than the one you just went through. It leads directly to a steel door with a neon sign right above. The letters that read Welcome bathe the entrance in blue and red. When you come closer, you notice a little plant to the side. As if it can hide the strangeness of it all when all it does is highlight. Still, the harshness of the surroundings doesn't reach this corner. For a while, you stand there as the rain continues to patter. The sign buzzes and flickers. Your clothes get more soaked but you refuse to move forward. I’m a bad bitch, I’m a bad bitch. I got this. There is vibration coming from the floor beneath your feet. The door opens and a big muscular man gestures for you to come in. This is how it starts. A cliche buff bouncer opening the rope to the gates of hell. He stares and steps aside, gesturing again. Maybe you could have made a run for it before he appeared. Not now. It would be useless. They will come looking. These people always collect. You’ve seen it before. Ultimately, the decision has been made by someone else. There's more to lose if you don't and with a tug of your bag, you trudge forward.

What you had been imagining this past week was apparently absurd compared to the vision that lay in front of you now. There was no blood, no people begging for you to help them escape. No blindfold, just plenty of men and women holding down handles at the slot machines that showed them all the wrong symbols. You walked through the desperation into another area of green felt tables and cards being dealt. The air is stuffy and it smells of smoke and alcohol. Apparently, no one else is bothered. Ahead of you, a tall man is pressing on something in his ear with a meaty hand. Darting your eyes around, you take in more. Before confusion settles in on where to go you find the answer. From the second floor, Taehyung holds onto the railing, looking around. Your eyes meet and it’s strangely intimate. Too intimate. It must not be hard to be found when your clothes are wetting the floor beneath you.

He walks towards you with a small smile. His cobalt blue suit stands out and there’s a dangly earring hanging from one ear. His appearance is much flashier than it was the last time you saw him. With one look behind you, he leads you both up the stairs. On the way, you internally chide yourself for wearing what you are now. The wet clothes make you feel like a little sewer rat. You feel like ratatouille and the confidence that brought you here is dwindling. Instead of a shoddy warehouse that was expected, you are venturing deeper into a maze of halls with red carpeting and gold-rimmed mirrors. Eyes remain forward, but your mind tries to remember every sharp turn, every step that takes you further away from an exit. It is not hard to conjure up terrible, gruesome images and they flash a mile a second. There is only silence and you do not expect anything else. Finally, Taehyung comes to a halt and you almost bump into his back. The door is red and for some reason, it hits you know what big of a mistake you have made. You feel like you’ve been personally delivered to hell’s gates. No one knows where you went tonight. They could get rid of your body and no one would look. It would be easy. Just a poor, young person who could have been tossed or thrown into the river. Another cold case, another victim. He knocks on the door in a pattern of sound and pauses. Must be a code of some sort. Loud noises and laughter get closer until the door opens abruptly and an older gentleman with peppered gray hair greets the man next to you.

“Tae, my boy. Yoongi was about to cheat again.” Tae? Yoongi? This stranger’s excitement has you even more on edge. Your palms are now sore from clenching and cutting at them with overgrown nails. Taehyung moves forward and he smiles as an arm is put around his shoulder. There’s conversation but you don’t hear any of it. Somehow you get yourself inside the room and the door shuts right after. There’s even more smoke and laughter and a champagne bottle being popped somewhere. It all whizzes by. On the outside, your face must seem neutral but the inside is ringing with alarms and warnings. It feels like there’s a hole in the pit of your stomach. Somewhere along the way, the older gentleman named Lee went off to talk to some people on a chase couch against the wall.

There is a long gambling table at the end of this well-sized room and it seems to be the destination. When you get closer, there are about eight people around it. Mostly men with frowns. It must be the small number of chips in front of them. That doesn’t matter a second later though. Not when you catch the sight of the man sitting at the head of it. There’s a force that seems to be pulling everything in space to him, everybody. Bluish Silver hair catches the lighting of the small chandelier above as he gets up with a flute in between pale hands. His fingers grab a couple of chips from his pile which is no doubt the biggest of them all. They twirl in his ring-clad fingers. The veins line them and it’s hard to not stare. The robe that hangs off his lean figure looks decadent and expensive, so much so that it would stop the question of why he is wearing it entirely. There’s so much to take in. His face is gorgeous. His gummy smile numbs the feeling of panic that set in before. He gets closer, or perhaps you do. The two of you walk up to him. Realization dawns in then. Fuck My life.

“Mr.Min, this is miss Y/N.”

[artzychic27]

An akuma with reality powers, The Artist Family and the canon Art kids (maybe the other classmates too) meet each other

Their reaction? Chaos?

Another day, another Akuma for the Malevolent Miraculous team

This one is named Alterna, and they’re a scientist who got Akumatized because their alternate universe theory was rejected

They have the power to open portals to other dimensions

While fighting, Alterna grabbed Black Widower’s whip and used it to ensnare the team before flinging them into a portal

Once they land, they find themselves... In Paris? Only, something feels off, very off...

Since there doesn’t seem to be any danger, they detransform

They look around while getting weird looks from people. (Imagine the ‘Going into town’ scene form the Addams Family 2019 movie)

Nathaniel Artist: Everyone’s dressed so... Conformist. *Sees a magazine with Adrien on the cover* And what happened to Adrien’s new look?

Rose Artist: Is this one of the universes where his dad is a jerk?

Alix Artist scares off a few people by throwing a brick through a few car windows.

Marc Artist: Alix, don’t be rude. Let the others have their turns.

Manon approaches Marinette Artist and asks why she’s wearing dark colors

Marinette Artist: Manon, you know I despise all colors.

A few more minutes of walking, and they see Marinette Dupain-Cheng running to school

Marinette Artist: *Checks her watch* School has begun three minutes ago. She’s not very punctual, is she?

The Artist Family follow her to the alternate DuPont to see what’s going on, then they bump into Mme. Bustier, who was making her way to the teachers lounge.

Mme. Bustier: Marinette? But I just... I saw you, all of you in the classroom. And Marc, shouldn’t you also be in class?

The Artists rush to their respective classrooms and find their alternate sleeves, much to their shock

Nathaniel Kurtzberg: ... What the fuck?!

Nathaniel Artist: I could ask the same about your outfit. Must you insult my eyes with such a color combination?

Chloé: Ha! You just got burned by yourself, tomato head!

Marinette Artist: At least he doesn’t go out looking like a clown gave him a makeover.

Chloé: I’m telling daddy!

Marinette Artist: Yes, let your father get involved with petty teenage drama. That will get him more votes in the upcoming election. Now silence.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng: ... Thank you, me?

They explain what happened, (Leaving out the part about them being superheroes because this universe’s Lila will no doubt run her big mouth to Hawkmoth who they’re sure she’s working for), and the art club is not sure how to react

Alix Kudbel: So we’re basically the Addams Family?

Lila: Oh! You know, my great great grandfather actually inspired Chauncey Addams to create the Addams Family!

While the class eats it up, the art club and Artists just glare at her

Marinette Addams: It’s Charles Addams, idiot.

Lila: Oh, you guys hate me too? *Cue bitch crying*

Juleka Artist: *Waves a skull in front of Lila* Luxor, nexor, burst and burn!

Lila: What’s she doing?

Juleka Artist: Just a curse that will make your pants burst into flames every time you lie.

Lili: *Whining* Why are you all trying to hurt me?! I never lie! *Her pants bursts into flames and she runs out of the school before she’s left in only her underwear*

Alya: *To her Marinette* My sincerest apologies.

Suddenly, screams are heard, followed by Mme. Mendelive and her students running past the classroom. Marc Anciel and Artist walk into the classroom while being trailed by a clutter of spiders

Marc Artist: Well that was quite rude, wouldn’t you say?

Marc Anciel: In their defense, spiders are a little... Horripilante.

Nathaniel Artist just stands there, trying very hard not to kiss the alternate version of his boyfriend and wondering why his alternate self isn’t going kissing his Marc madly with passion

The Artists explain to the Art Club during lunch about their situation and tell them that they’re Miraculous holders in their world, much to Marinette’s shock since she’s never heard of the Malevolent Miraculous

The art club let their alternate selves stay with them until they can figure out a way to get back, but Nathaniel and Marc Artist insist that they stay together

Alix Kudbel and Artist volunteer to let them stay with them. (Cuz they ship ‘em!)

Marinette A is stunned to see her alternate parents, and when they welcome her with open arms since her own parents were always so distant.

Even when she shows her dark nature, they still treat her like family. She tries very hard not to show any emotion

When they’re alone, Tikki and Screech reveal themselves. Tikki explains that there are alternate realities with different Kwamis with similar powers to the Kwamis they’ve alternate versions of. Screech is her alternate self

Marinette A questions why Marinette DC’s Ladybug suit is so skintight and insists that she change her suit which Marinette DC doesn’t mind doing

Marinette A tells Marinette DC about her boyfriend, Damian, confusing DC a bit. What about Adrien?

Marinette A: Adrien wasn’t able to satisfy my needs. Yes, he’s quite attractive, but I needed someone who could keep up with me, worship me, be my love servant and follow me into the underworld.

Marinette DC: ... So who’s this Damian?

Nathaniel K insists that Nathaniel A spend some time away from his Marc so they can talk without them making out every five minutes

Nathaniel A: How is it that you have not gouged out your own eyes?! Your Marc is miles away from you, and you believe you have the right to live?!

Nathaniel K: ... We call each other.

Nathaniel K is starting to regret letting his alternate self live with him since he keeps starting fires! He had to hide all of the matches and anything flammable. And if that’s not bad, Chompp keep chewing on his sketchbooks

Once all of the fire causes were hidden, they bonded over their love for painting and sketching

Nathaniel K: So, your paintings are actually cursed?

Nathaniel A: Very much. One caused the mayor to stumble down the stairs and stay in intensive care.

Nathaniel K: *Thinking of all the ways he could torture Chloé and Lila with his art* ... Teach me.

Marc Anciel is trying not to scream every time one of Marc Artist’s spiders crawl on him, not wanting to seem rude

Marc Anciel: *Shudders* Oh, and that’s a black widow in my hair.

Marc Artist: They’re my favorite. It’s why I chose the name Black Widower.

To release some of the tension, Marc Anciel suggests they read each other’s writing... He will not be sleeping for a while after reading Marc’s Artist’s stories. He asks why his alternate self wrote eulogies for his Nathaniel

Marc Artist: I want others to know of the love we shared together before he’s put to rest. And who better to write my love’s eulogy than the one who knows him best? The one who has loved him, tangoed with him, stabbed his heart.

Marc Andiel ignores the last part and actually considers writing Nathaniel’s eulogy.

Alix K and Alix A are having an awesome time together

Alix A and Duuo throw grenades which Alix K dodges while skating until Alim tells them to do this away from the museum

They outrun the police, prank Kim by putting itching powder in the pool, and watch their Marcs and Nathaniels make out

It’s all fun and well until Alix A meets this universe’ Jalil. Her Jalil sold her out since there was a reward to turn her in, forcing her to run from the authorities and she’s never forgiven him

Jalil K assures her that he’d never do that and reminds her that family always comes first. Alix A is resisting the urge to cry and instead lights a firecracker in his jacket

Juleka A CANNOT stop staring at her alternate self’s Luka. She can actually see his face and body. And he can talk!

Luka: Hey, are Marinette and I a... Thing where you’re from?

Juleka A: She has two hands. Soon to be three when she takes Damian’s in marriage when they’re of age.

Juleka C and A bond over their love for the macabre and witch culture. She even teaches her a few spells to use against Chloé and Lila if she ever shows her face again

They work! Chloé broke out into a terrible rash, and all of Lila’s pants are on fire

Rabbid also may or may not have chewed up the rest of Lila’s clothes, forcing her to spend all of her money on new clothes

Rose A tries to get used to her alternate self’s love of bright colors and Disney movies, but it’s a struggle. So, she exposes her to the darker side of Disney.

Rose L is horrified but also a little excited.

They do a dark Disney marathon and watch all of the movies Disney tried to hide from audiences.

Rose A even changes up Rose L’s look so she looks like a badass punk Princess, which gives Juleka C a slight nosebleed

Rose L is still her bubbly self, but now also has a love for the darker things in life

The Artists stay in this universe for three more days, starting another goth trend in the alternate Paris by giving Adrien a makeover, introducing Marinette to Damian via pen pal program, teaching Nathaniel and Juleka how to curse their enemies, setting Lila’s clothes on fire a couple more times, introducing Marc to a more gothic style of or writing & Rose to a punk style of clothing, and teaching Alix all of the stunts she’s never even thought of doing that involve explosives

They also have a little fun with Nino and help him pursue his dream of traumatizing Gabriel Agreste

This involves chloroform, a coffin, and a walkee talkee. Gabriel is forced to listen to Nino’s voice for 12 whole hours, telling him to be a better dad to Adrien, fire Lila, and to give him $1000 dollars

Gabriel gives Adrien more freedom, fires Lila and burns all of the magazines with her face and name in them, and gives Nino $1000 dollars. Then he passes out

Nino: *Hugging the Artists* I... I love you guys so much. I don’t ever want you to leave. You have made me the happiest man alive!

Then Alterna shows up

Nino: NO! DON’T TAKE THEM! TAKE GABRIEL!

Adrien: Hey!

Nino: I’m just kidding... Not.

The Artists and Marinette transform. The Malevolent Miraculous team are shocked to see Chat Noir but are even more shocked when they immediately recognize him as Adrien

They’re able to defeat the Akuma even though Lila (Who’s being a brat because she got fired) keeps interfering by whining about her broken leg, this time in a skirt. (Loophole) And she keeps trying to snatch their Miraculous whenever she gets close to them

Jaws: *Uses power to make his teeth sharper* Keep crying and I’ll give you a real broken leg. *Lila shuts up and lets them work*

They defeat Alterna, and Ladybug and Nocturna use the Miracle/Malevolent cure to remove all of the portals opened by the Akuma and put people back in their respective dimensions

They start to disappear and head back to their dimension as the Bats and Ladybugs swarm around them

Nino: NO! TAKE ME WITH YOU! *They disappear* DAMNIT!

Alya: You have them. *Points to the Art Club*

Nino: Can they murder Gabriel or frame him for a crime?

Juleka: We can try. There’s six of us, one of him. Nathaniel and I now know how to curse people.

Nino: I’m in!

Alya: And while you go ruin Gabriel’s life, I’m gonna go kill Lila.

Back in the Artist’s Dimension!

Juleka Artist: Are we back? Is this our dimension?

Nino: Oh, thank God you’re back! Gabriel was starting to gain consciousness again and Adrien is becoming suspicious. I think he knows I’m keeping him in my basement.

Marinette Artist: *Sighs* Yep. This is our place.

[littlefreya]

The Way to Hell - Part 13

Summary: Post Mi6, Alternate Canon. August escaped Ethan Hunt with his face intact and just won himself the title of being the most dangerous man on earth. Brooding as he is, August is unwilling to back down on his murderous agenda he plots to continue where he was stopped.

Series Completed: Previous Chapter | | Chapters Masterlist | Next Chapter

Pairing: August Walker x OFC (Ingvild) 🖤

Word count: 5k

Warnings: Mentions of sexual encounters, child neglect, betrayal, hinted physical abuse,  foul language and lots of angst.   

A/N: I thought chapter 13 will be the last one, but I didn’t want to rush the ending or have a chapter too long. So for those of you still waiting, hang in tight! Many thanks to @agniavateira​ who’s my muse and my editor, to @raspberrydreamclouds​ for this amazing cover and to those who’s been asking me about the chapter, means a lot to me. I am going into my usual Way to Hell posting panic attack. So bye for now.

*No permission is given for reposting my work, copying it or parts of the source material and claiming it as your own*

Please comment, review and reblog.  💖

Title: Paradise lost

There cannot be peace before first a great suffering.  There cannot be love without first a great tragedy.

~*~

Opaline droplets of sweat form on his forehead. In his ears, a constant buzzing rings wretchedly as if an angry hornet is caged inside his skull. What was long buried abruptly awakens, stabbing at the back of his head. Red flashes sear through his eyes while images of Ingvild dissolving to ashes play in his mind, her bloodsoaked feathers crumbling to the ground.

“Why did you go?” August mutters under his breath, wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. He crumples the little yellow note with sheer frustration before throwing it on the bed. 

‘I told her not to go, I commanded her!’

The air in the room grows thick like the pit of a stygian forest. Tentacle-like branches appear behind his eyes creeping closer, clutching his limbs. Even though lost and abandoned in the thicket of his mind, her angelic scent still lingers on his skin, impossible to wash off. Sniffing at his biceps, he inhales the mixture of their union on his flesh;  what begins as euphoric mirth quickly meets the sharp edge of rage and hatred.

She’s gone and it gnaws at the dark matter of his brain. 

He hates it. 

Hates her for being absent.

Frowning deeply, August reaches a rigid hand for his clothes, forcing himself to get dressed. The very first memory of her hinges on his mind: An icy woman with silver-moon eyes who refused his pursuit. 

‘Did you think the two of you are going to ride toward the sunset together? That’s not you.’

Letting out heavy gasps, he shakes his head. “She’ll be fine,” he whispers dismissively, pulling on his trousers and hastily buckling his belt. 

The new world order awaits, so close he can feel the fresh sun sitting on his open palm. It is his vision, his legacy: bigger than whatever it is Ingvild and him have together. 

There was no her in his plan, to begin with. 

The Devil never had a queen. 

‘You know what they’ll do to her…’

Another ray of daytime terror cuts through his thoughts: her wings plucked from her back, threads of flesh tearing from her naked body. Her screams die in silence.  

“She chose to leave, I asked her not to!” August yells into the empty room, frowning at no one but himself as he grabs the used shirt which hangs from the tall mirror. Turning to his reflection, he tenses at the sight of his body. Crimson valleys lead down his back, courtesy of her claws branding deep into soft tissue and toned muscles.

‘Do you know what is the probability of finding someone like her? A woman who wants to see the world burn with you? Who believes in your cause of building a new one?’

August swallows hard and combs his fingers through his hair with haste, attempting to act normal through the intensifying drumming in his ears. Being completely methodical, he pulls his long trench coat over his shoulders and collects his belongings into his black duffle bag on the bed. With a heavy painful breath, he forces his thoughts away, zipping the bag with urgency and reciting in his mind everything necessary for his trip. Time is scarce, the end and the new beginning are nigh; the smart thing to do is to forget her, erase her existence from the chambers of his heart. 

He doesn’t have one anyway. 

His hand secures the gun in its holster and harsh fingers lace around the black straps of his bag as he stretches himself straight, ready to leave this bedroom. That’s when his eyes fall again to the crumpled yellow note. 

‘You’ll never see her in Kashmir, you’ll never see her again.’ 

~*~

‘Amazing,’ the silver-haired wolf muses while scratching his bristly jaw. For 13 years the evil spawn’s eyes remained exactly as they were the day he picked her from the orphanage. Grey crystal orbs so naive, clueless, and oh so hungry for validation. A child desperate to prove herself worthy to someone, anyone. 

It was her single flaw and his greatest advantage.

Even now in the bloom of adulthood, the pale, scrawny thing standing before him is nothing but a lost little girl who wants someone to hold her bony hand. 

‘How can someone be so smart yet at the same time so blind?’

The cheap motel room smells like mildew and rotten wood. Speckles of dust float between the handler and his prodigy, cascading over his glance that seems rather alien and naked as glass. It pierces through her muscles - this sudden sense of peculiarity and estrangement.     

She chews the inside of her cheeks and sways slightly on her spot, arms hanging loose at her side. Ingvild lifts her chin to look at Liam, her eyes round with what can only be guilt. It makes her look like a child who broke an antique vase. 

“Thank you for answering my call,” she begins, wrapping her fist around a disposable phone before throwing it on the tidy bed.

Liam scoffs and shakes his head, ridicule spreading on his face. “You’ve gotten yourself into trouble over a boy, child?” He stares up and down the young woman, noticing the obvious change in her posture.

‘So, she truly is a woman now; how did I not see this one coming with her constant chatter about how handsome he is when I handed her the dossier?’

“Please don’t tell me you need money to get an abortion.” 

Ingvild frowns with disgust and shakes her head right away. “Never. No, it’s not what I’m here for.”

Displeased as always, Liam emits his usual grunt. He slowly shakes his head at his asset while running his fingers through his lanky grey hair. This is not how he imagined this mission to end. Her lack of emotions was a key element; Ingvild could have had a few good years running several missions for him, but what tipped the scale was for her to run into the wrong psychopath.

“Then tell me Ingvild, why should I listen to a failed assassin such as yourself? You’ve been weird about this mission since day one. Acting discreet, irresponsible, and reckless,” the old man’s Adam's apple bobs up and down in his throat as he speaks. Taking a small stride, he moves closer to get a better look of her diamond irises. So sharp and so strange, they’ve always irked him. As a child she downright looked like something out of a horror movie. 

“You’ve had 445 successful missions, not even 30 years old. Yet here you are a failure, and for what? For a boy?”

Shame traps her tongue and her glance drops to the floor. Failure stings like a rod of hot iron piercing her beating heart. Yet her mind races to the night at the pit where August finally claimed her, the memory of his lips sets glowing embers through her veins. On her skin remains the evidence of his embrace. Microscopic cells, tinted by his DNA. 

She doesn’t want this feeling to go away. 

Liam clears his throat, tearing her away from memories that turn from tar to honey the longer she dwells on them.

“You know why your mother gave you away, Ingi?” Liam asks, giving her a ghastly sardonic smile while cocking one eyebrow.

‘Liam never smiles.’ 

A small frown sets creases above her freckled nose. “I asked you many times before and you always said you don’t know.”

The Dane scoffs at her, his smile widening, exposing cigarette-and-coffee-stained teeth. The rot around his gums makes her curl her nose slightly and flinch as he leans closer. 

“You were a rape baby.”

The words send a pang through her muscles, like stepping on glass. She shakes her head with protest and steps back, yet Liam nods knowingly, standing in front of her.

“You’re lying.”

His small hazel eyes burn holes through her skull, his smile sinister and impish. “Your father was a savage, a rapist. He left your poor mother half-dead and impregnated in the forest you love so much. Who knows, maybe that’s why you kept going there as a child, reconnecting with your true nature.” 

Refusing to listen, she shies from his piercing glare. Liam reaches a coarse hand to cup her jaw, forcing her face back to his. “Your mother hated you. Your very existence reminds her of the most terrible thing that ever happened to her.”

For a child with such a limited emotional range, Liam finds that the muscles of her face are capable of stretching thoughtfully with spite. Pent up hatred creases her brow, her silver eyes turning to hot, molten gold. She bites on her tongue, keeping a vow of silence but he can read her face just the way an assassin would. 

“Nothing but a mistake, disowned by your own mother. So why would this man, this... mass murdering psychopath love you?” Liam shifts her head from side to side, inspecting the healing cuts and bruises that decorates her pale skin. “He saw an opportunity and seized it, used you…”

He pauses, moving away from a stare colder than icy lake water, “just like they will.”

Ingvild parts her lips with wonder, glaring at the person she knew all her life with disbelief. In the glossy reflection of Liam’s honey-brown eyes, she sees several black, long rifles pointed at her head.

Liam curls his thin lips with an utter lack of remorse and shrugs indifferently.

“She’s yours.”

*~*~

If colours had sound then the pale blinding white would be a continuous high-frequency hum. The tunes and shades of death. Like angry flies feasting on a corpse. 

‘Is this Valhalla?’

A small groan escapes her mouth, her eyes hurting from the sickly radiance of the narrow fluorescent lamps hanging from the ceiling. Her wrists feel numb as they’re pulled behind her back in restraints. 

“No,” she opens her mouth to speak, her throat burning, her voice a hoarse whisper. “Definitely not Valhalla...” 

‘You need to be a hero to enter Valhalla, stupid girl.’

Stupid didn’t even begin to describe it. August would never let her hear the end of it.

Loud, angry steps tap on the white marble floor, growing louder as the person approaching enters the room. Ingvild blinks, peering at the silhouette when a smile of comfort paints her drowsy face. Like a god, her lover strides toward her with his usual confidence. His ocean-blue eyes beam at her sight, his palm spread open to embrace his tiny Valkyrie. She chuckles at the mischievous, charming grin on his face as it reminds her the day they first met. 

Oh, she wishes to nibble his stupid chin right now and brush her fingers along his thick moustache.

But as she blinks again, large brown almond-shaped eyes replace the ocean-blue. A panther of a woman stands before her: confident, strong, and impossibly beautiful. Her dark, succulent lips are pressed together and concern shines through as she observes the small woman who has her arms cuffed behind her back and her feet shackled to the metal legs of the chair. 

With her head still heavy, the assassin turns her face from side to side. She quickly observes the armed guards at the entrance, the tall, greying agent standing nonchalantly against the wall awaiting orders, and lastly the sickly-looking, lean man who is positioned at the fore of a metal desk with his fingers laced together. Anticipation is written all over his line-riddled face. 

“Erica Sloane,” Ingvild calls knowingly, the ghost of a wicked smile dancing on her chapped lips as she turns her head to face the CIA director. Dressed in a black power suit and crimson pumps, the director is drenched with big dick energy.

“August told me so much about you, but he didn’t mention how fuckable you are.” Ingvild drawls, fluttering her lashes as she scans her from head to toe. 

Tilting her head, Erica grabs a white plastic chair and places it in front of Ingvild. She then takes a seat, crossing her long smooth legs together. Kindness and motherly concern pours from her dark eyes, expressions Ingvild never received from anyone in her life.

“Poor child, I imagine August Walker filled your head with many stories.”

“No…” Ingvild swallows, trying to dampen her sore throat. Noticing her struggle, Erica snaps her fingers and the greying agent rushes to bring her a plastic cup of water like a loyal dog. Focusing on the translucent beads around the cup, Ingvild flicks her tongue over her lips. “August was too busy filling other parts of me.”

The intrepid woman begins to laugh at her own joke, her voice dragging groggily while Erica rolls her eyes and shakes her head.

“I imagine so.” She answers and then carefully tilts the cup to Ingvild’s lips, offering the drink to the girl who sips with desperation as if she walked the desert. “August was my best agent,” she explains, watching the stream of water that rolls down Ingvild’s chin as she gulps with an incredible thirst, “a really proficient assassin, ranked high in every mission I sent him to. My golden boy. Even though that shit-eating attitude of him was something else...”

Withdrawing the cup, she looks into Ingvild’s cold silvery stare. “Those snarky, arrogant remarks and him going through the whole department like a fox in a hen coop I could overlook. But that fucker had us all fooled, Ingvild, as he fooled you.”

Ingvild flutters her dark lashes and tips her chin up. Her defined cheekbones sharpen even more as a snake-like arrogance poisons her face. “August told me what you did,” she utters sincerely, while Erica commands the agent to refill the plastic cup. Loathing melts her beautiful sullen glaciers as she focuses on Erica. 

The CIA director narrows her eyes at her in return, and curls her lips downward as disdain fills her mouth. “I am not the one who made Walker murder Agent Hartmann, if that’s what you’re implying.”

“You deceived him,” Ingvild retorts calmly and sucks in her bottom lip, collecting the remaining droplets of water onto her tongue. “That’s what you and your little agencies do to people like us. Set up traps for predators and pretend to act surprised as they eat the bait.”

Holding the cup, Erica stares at the young woman thoughtfully, the burning hatred in her eyes reminding her so much of Agent Walker: An entitled spoiled brat, thinking he can wind the world to the direction only he sought to be right. 

“You can’t blame a predator for following its nature, and you can’t expect him to behave otherwise.” 

“Is that how you see yourself?” Erica asks, moving the cup away, though she can see the thirst on Ingvild’s gaping bottom lip. “August poisoned your mind but I assure you, you are not the monster he is. You never had the choice that he did.”

Erica’s voice suddenly becomes soft, and her big brown eyes become round with care that only a parent can express. But the only form of parent Ingvild ever had was Liam, and he was never much of a father, was he? It took less than a few hours for him to give her away. 

She wonders how long it took for her real mother.

Her gaze drops, peering at Erica’s shiny crimson shoes as they counter the lifelessness of the floor like blood in the snow. Memories whisk her away again, a man in pursuit of a woman deep in an icy forest. She should have died that night and yet here she is, shackled to a chair. The voice of the man who saved her echoes through her head with a fair warning: ‘Liam never gave a flying fuck about you.’

Sharp as a needle, it pricks her heart.

“I know what Icarus did. Moulding you into the perfect assassin, depriving you of the childhood and the life you deserved.” Erica’s voice cuts into her trail of thoughts, making her raise her gaze back to the beautiful woman. “Now, I don’t know what twisted fantasies August may have offered but I can assure you, they are empty just like him. You read his file, you know what he’s capable of. Looking at your scars and bruises I assume he hurts you for his own sick pleasure, taking advantage of a woman who only wants to be loved.”

‘She doesn’t know him like I do, the way he drank my lips and called me his angel, the way his fingertips beat the warm blood in my arteries.’ Ingvild shuts her eyes, soaking in the remnants of his touch as it still ghosts across her body.

Erica’s kind, tepid hand wraps around the young woman’s jaw, lifting her pale face with the cautiousness of a human tending a wild creature. Grey and dark-brown collide at the seams as they share a silent stare.    

“If you’ll give us his location, we can arrange for your freedom and protection.”  

Ingvild breaks away from Erica’s grip, pushing herself back in the chair as much as she can. The screech of metal against marble makes the guards cringe. Slow and cold, a sardonic chuckle begins to burst from Ingvild’s lungs. The laughter echoes off the walls while she shakes her head with disbelief. 

“Do I look like a dumb bitch to you? Even if this was true, do you think I’m willing to be a slave to another government? Kept ignorant and tabbed? I’d rather rot in this cell while my beautiful monster dismantles your old world order.”

Drops of water splash at her face as Erica squashes the plastic cup in front of her, sulking with fury. Her eyebrows knit together and she purses her lips as if this young woman is something sour on her tongue. 

Evidently, Liam was right; the girl is far too gone, living in the little fantasy world August built for her. 

“If you think he ever cared about you for a split second, then you are a dumb bitch. No matter how this plays out, you and August are never going to end up happily ever after.” Erica spits, holding her finger at Ingvild’s childlike frown. “He’s never going to come for you. You were nothing but a toy, a plaything for him to pass the time.”

Ingvild scoffs and rolls her eyes, refusing to let these words cut into the beating muscle in her chest. 

`Stick and stones may break my bones...’

Solid, slender fingers wrap around her jaw, squeezing around her cheeks like a big spider. She is met with Erica’s long lashes, while those deep brown eyes slice into her soul. 

“You might think you know him, but I’ve worked with August long enough to know that he never loved anything other than his precious ego. So I would consider this as your final chance little girl, because if you don’t talk right now - this nice fellow here...” Erica pauses and gestures her head to the scrawny man who begins to hum a blissful tune while cracking his knuckles. Twisted excitement shines through his beady eyes as he glances at the set of sharp surgical tools lying on the desk.

“He’s going to make you sing like the precious bird you are.”

Fear shies from Ingvild’s stoic, icy face. The well-lubricated gears in the labyrinth of her head begin to work, observing the possible escape options and scanning every cavity, crease, and man in Erica’s lovely torture chamber.  

The door suddenly bursts open. A man in his mid thirties with bright red hair and a freckle-covered face rushes in, huffing heavily. His pink skin glistens with sweat, the strands of his fiery hair sticking on his large forehead while his hand holds onto his chest with distress. 

“Sloane, there is something you need to see…” he opens his mouth breathlessly.

“Not now!” Sloane snaps at him, looking at Ingvild with contempt. There is nothing she wishes more than to avoid torturing a young woman, especially someone as misguided as this poor porcelain doll. All she needs is to make her see the truth, that August never cared for her, that she was just another pawn in his grand scheme. 

“Director, I am sorry, but you really need to come and see this.” 

Agitated, Erica snaps in her chair to look at him. “What is it, Agent Louis?”

“It’s John Lark’s manifesto, ma’am…” he sighs, shoulders slumping, “it’s… it’s everywhere.”

A shivering hiss escapes her mouth. The shiver that graces the rail of her spine is like a shower of icy water, making her slowly rise from her chair. August’s harmful “poetry” is released into the air like toxic gas, contaminating every fragile little mind in an already unstable world.  

“Do you like my little surprise?” Ingvild asks, making the baffled woman turn to gaze at her. There’s a malicious little smile dancing across her eyes, her brows lifting with an arrogance that strongly resembles Agent Walker. 

Swallowing hard, the CIA woman takes a step back, tugging her jacket straight and looking at the torturer who lifts a small hammer between his pliable fingers. 

“Break her, until she talks.” 

The harsh tapping of her heels dies down and her silhouette becomes smaller until it disappears behind the shutting door. 

“Pretty girl...” The man’s voice is brittle and thin as he is, every word ending with a slight snake-like hiss. He moves to scrutinise her from head to toe, flicking his tongue over his bottom lip with a prying nature. 

“You know August used to mock me…”

“I can see why,” she spits out, looking back at him with both fearlessness and utter disrespect. She killed men bigger than him, hell, August’s kneaded her to submission and his torture was nothing but sweet. 

She can take him on, she can take all of them on.

The lean man beams at her, holding up the small shiny hammer and running his finger over the rim pervertedly. The dead skin around his nails rouses disgust in her gut, yet she rolls her eyes and fakes a yawn.

He chuckles at her theatrics and kneels in front of her with one unstable hand pressing onto her thigh. His revolting fingers scratch gently at her denim, making her shiver. If August knew another man was laying his finger on her… 

But August is not here.

“Well… shall we begin, little bird?”

***

‘When this world ends and the new one begins, what will be of your little Valkyrie? Merely bones and rotting flesh laid in an unmarked grave in the middle of nowhere and mourned by no one. Won’t you be jealous of the insects feasting on her narcotic tissue?’

Cold air seeps through his nose as sharp bullets of hail hit the ground with the fury of angry gods, shattering onto the ruins of an old bridge with a loud, clattering noise. Sheltered from the rage of the heavens, August stands beneath the wreckage, facing the men who came to make the final exchange. 

Blue and green ferns have grown over the decaying surroundings, climbing over rusted metal. Nature reclaiming its place over man’s occupied space. Justice and beauty in decadence and rot. 

‘Memento mori.’

“The plutonium,”  August demands, his thick brows shadowing his eyes in a battle to remain composed. Those same parasitic visions of sheer terror burden him like a daytime nightmare: pale as porcelain, she sinks to the bottom of a lake thick with blood. His hand reaches out for her, fingers trying to grasp whatever he can but she slips away. 

‘How far do you think Erica will go this time?’ 

A rogue droplet of sweat glides languidly down his temple, crossing over a bulging tendon. Unfortunately quite apparent to the three men who scrutinise him with wonder: two well-paid bodyguards and a slimy-looking slug, wearing a dark business suit that does nothing but emphasize his fragile masculinity. 

“The money first!” The businessman whines, attempting to make a tough face.

‘A cock and two balls.’ August jests and does his best to remain indifferent while anxiety threatens to claw its ugly talons in his throat. The seller’s receding hairline is thick with dandruff, his dull green eyes attempt to mimic confidence, as a beta male would do when facing a pure alpha, trying to compensate for lost dignity.  

‘I don’t have time for this,’ August huffs, his chest puffing and the immense shoulders stretching even wider, exhuming his natural overpowering dominance. His patience runs brittle as a dry twig. A restless throb thunders between his ears like a scab, latched inside his brain. 

The slug pries his mouth open to speak, yet his voice becomes dull as if the world just went underwater.

‘Do you think she’ll go as far as to let her men touch her? You know, not just the usual torture they put interrogated suspects through, but the type of touch only you are allowed to.’

‘She doesn’t have the balls, she won’t do that to another woman.’ 

‘Won’t she? It’s personal this time. Erica knows what you are capable of. And your Ingvild, she’s an apostle too now, an enemy of the world…’

Fever burns at his sweaty forehead and his lungs gradually collapse. Visions he can’t even bring himself to imagine attempt force their way into his mind. The yapping of the man who stands in front of him goes on and on; while August can feel himself speak in response, the words spouting from his lips are on autopilot. 

All he can think of is her, stripped naked, torn to shreds by dark shadows.   

‘She holds back a lot, but when she slips, aren’t her screams so beautiful? Her pleasant little voice, stretching so melodically, like skin over bone, thin and light.’

“Shut up!”

All eyes lift to August in silent bewilderment. His fists tighten, nails digging into his coarse palms as the will to rip someone to shreds beats through his blood. These men will be no more than a casualty. 

“Do you know who I am?” He asks in a deep, menacing tone, his hand but a second from reaching his holster. By measured calculation, he already anticipates how quickly he would shoot them one by one without so much of a scratch on his cheek.

“I’m John, fucking, Lark. My apostles are awaiting orders this very instance,” he reaches for his phone, ignoring the flinch in their posture as he draws it from his pocket and shakes it in his hand on display, “and you want to stand here in this shit weather and measure dicks? Spoiler alert,” he takes a stride in front of the little man, careless of his bodyguards who reach for their weapons, “mine is far bigger.”   

The seller peers at him silently, noticing the icy crust of rage in August’s glare. His pale eyes cut like diamonds while the shadow of his brooding figure falls upon the small man’s face. 

“You will get your money once I get to see the plutonium and confirm it’s authenticity,” August calls out assertively, each word distinguished, each syllable emphasised and sharp as a blade. Death is no longer an enemy to August Walker but an old friend, and those trolls under the bridge are a mere joke to the inferno he’s been basking at his entire life.

‘Limb by limb, feather by feather, while you waste your time...’

‘She wanted me here, she wanted me to secure the plutonium. If I don’t do this, it will all be for nothing.’

‘So now you are doing this for her?’

Not saying another word, the seller nods and snaps his fingers. Agitation is evident on his face yet the violence emanating from August forces him to bite down his pride. One of his henchmen approaches with a suitcase and opens it up to show August the orbs.

Thunder rips through the sky and the hail turns into a symphony of wrath. Icicles break across the construction site above, splashing water everywhere around them. Staring at the platinum spheres, August sees his own reflection dulled by the dirty silver curve. 

A dormant thing. But when set into motion, ever so deadly. 

He presses the beryllium rod to test the authenticity of the material and a sigh of relief pipes itself through his nose at the sound of the radioactive note on his testing device. Celebration blooms in his weary heart but the festivity is deemed achingly empty and dies out right away. 

‘Stop thinking about her, she’s gone. Focus on the cause, you’re almost there, just keep pushing through the doors.’ 

~*~

The blizzard melted into shy rain. The soft little drops dampen his hair, perming his large curls with the assistance of the cool winter breeze. Standing with the suitcase on the side of the rural road, August awaits his ride taking him to the helipad to proceed to Kashmir. It has been so long since he last met his true colleagues, since his departure from Lane in Norway. Avoiding any risks, contact was kept only necessary for the last stages of their tasks.

Doom’s day.

Securing the plutonium should have brought him relief, yet his chest continues to sink into his spine as if it’s being filled with coals. August Walker threaded through life alone, yet this sudden solitude is suddenly harrowing, making him feel like a gutted fish. Looking to his empty side he the ghost of her appears, giving him a bratty smirk. 

“Go away,” he chides, refusing to think of her. Of that stupid mouth talking back, tormenting him with sweet saccharine and cinnamon-like kisses. In his reminiscences, the softness of her lips still hinges. Tenderness meeting the bristle of his neck as she lay gentle wet markings up his coarse jaw. 

His fingers press to his mouth trying to harness the memory. 

A large car drives into the side of the road, speeding up and braking right next to his legs, missing August’s foot by an inch. Frowning at the careless driver, he grunts and brushes his hair before opening the passenger door.

“Took you awhile,” he grunts as he slips into the seat and peers at the driver. A bulky man in his early 40s with dark short cropped curls and thin lips. He shoots August a glance and turns back to the steering wheel.  

“Not my bad, you made a fucking mess, Lark.” The man answers and begins driving right away, careless of the fact that August didn’t put his seatbelt on and that he is holding radioactive material. 

Throwing the seatbelt over himself and fastening it, August growls and carefully secures the case on the side of the driver seat, his index finger remaining on the brim. He gently caresses the hard black leather. “What the fuck are you talking about?” 

The driver peers at him oddly before looking down the road, driving fast and passing a large log truck. “Releasing the manifesto. MI6 and the CIA are all over the place,” he says and turns the radio on, letting August hear the news on his own. “I get why you did it now, it’s brilliant to cause another distraction but you’ve made shit a bit harder with those cunts running around. They tracked it back from London and have been surveying the entire area.”

“I didn’t release the... “ 

August stills, his muscles shriveling up as realisation quickly hits him. 

‘Oh angel, what have you done?’

Drawing out his mobile phone, August immediately begins to search the newsite, his eyes an ocean of panic, fluttering back and forth. It’s everywhere, news about an anarchist manifesto, spreading like a virus through every social media outlet, leaked by codename “Jane Lark”. 

“Fuck,” he hisses, reading his own written word as he goes through an article posted on the BBC’s newsite. But she changed the last verse, added a little piece of her own:  

“Valkyries mounted onto beasts,  We will ride eternal to the sun. The blazes will sear us but we will not back down,  United by our cause of just war, Unflinching we will scour the earth, Until humanity comes together in tranquil and harmony.”

‘She loves you, you see? The way she lets you bleed her, use her, spill all your pain inside her. The way she held onto you just a night ago, your name falling from her lips, her body pressing into yours to take all of you. She’s the only one. The only woman who did and ever will. 

And you left her to die.’

________________________________

Disclaimer: I don’t own Mission Impossible and August Walker

[jacqcrisis]

more lumberyard monster stuff including characters and monster anatomy. putting under read more cause LONG

characters: 

Sixer: monster man. no idea what he is or where he came from, only that he doesn’t want to go back. is generally playful, lazy, incredibly quick to learn, curious, and a trouble maker when he’s bored. loves his tv, the dog, eating, annoying Dale, sleeping, and Alvin. 

Alvin: lover boy. Tony’s nephew. Started working at the lumberyard not long before they found Sixer. is kind of quiet, gentle, relatively down to earth, clearly beat down already even in his mid-twenties, not helped by his verbally abusive and manipulative girlfriend who eventually becomes his fiancee as he doesn’t know how to get out of the relationship. loves working with him hands, modding/fixing things, old cars, all kinds of music, and chilling with Sixer.

Tony: the dad guy. first generation American. mom immigrated to U.S. from Mexico. loves motorcycles, making people smile, and his wife. is second pony to the owner, runs the saws, and is basically the lumberyard’s HR department. has four kids and is all-around a nice guy. see’s the yard crew as a second family. Named Sixer for his six limbs and is very proud of that fact. Thinks of him as his ‘buddy’.

Charlie: bull dyke owner. Took over the yard from her father. is happily married to a law professor. loves bourbon, her motorcycle, and her dog. used to smoke, has the smoker’s voice and laugh, and chews nicotine gum like her life may depend on it. is tough but fair. pretty no nonsense with most of her workers, but Tony who is both a family friend and her second in command and Sixer, who she dotes on in her own way.

Dale: Shitty guy. Hates paying child support. Just the worst. An HR nightmare before Sixer came along to keep him in place.

Brian: Alvin’s friend who also works at the yard. Likes to drag race, pick up chicks, and kind of instigates Dale even if he doesn’t mean to. Is kind of ambivalent to Sixer but likes the novelty of having this weird monster at the yard

McKenzie: cashier girl/secretary. Doesn’t work in the yard itself, but spends all day inside answering the phone and cashing out orders. Single-mother in her early twenties and Charlie allows her to bring her kid to work when she can’t get a babysitter especially with Sixer around cause he likes watching the kid. Kind of stuck up, kind of a party girl, but is fun to be around.

Scruff: Is a dog. Some kind of large shepherd mix. Loves to follow Sixer and is the one who initially found him on a rainy afternoon, injured and hiding behind the saw mill.

Angela: Charlie’s wife. visits the yard from time to time. Tony calls her the big boss because everyone watches themselves when she’s around. Is beloved by all save for Dale. Sixer has some kind of crush on her.

Monster anatomy bits: 

- Sixer is a strange mixture of ape, panthera, and reptile in body shape, while gait swaps between felid and simian depending on the situation. is capable of sitting on his haunches to get a better look around and capable of walking for a limited time on two legs, though very awkwardly. hips generally sit lower to the ground than shoulders while walking on all fours as forelimbs are slightly longer than backlegs. is capable of reaching speeds of 35mph for an extremely limited time and can leap up to 30ft horizontally though is capable of walking for days on end if needed.

- is covered in large golden brown plated scales that are smooth to the touch. from the shoulder to just before the hips are large thick black spines ranging in length that can be raised and lowered at will to be flush against the back or stand straight up. spines are used to sense vibrations and temperature changes in the air to make up for piss poor hearing. also has some very vibrant neon blue markings that show up after his winter shed during the springtime along his back and sides and that fade by mid-summer. 

- skull and face shape is vaguely human in that it is forward facing and very flat though with noticeable differences. face is covered in smaller thinner scales. eyes are larger, green-yellow in color with round pupils and has two sets of eyelids, one for blocking out light, the other for blocking out dust, debris, and water while still maintaining sight. nostrils are almost flush to the face and also large, covered by sensitive receptors that are activated by a chemical in his saliva, excellent at smelling. brow has bumpy ridges that stick out instead of eyebrows. jawbone is bisected and each side is capable of limited independent movement. has no lips. tongue is long and teeth are more ape like. has no external ear and is genuinely not great at hearing unless someone it talking directly at him. has a crop of black hair/fur on top of head that never grows longer than inch along with a few more psuedo-horns around the crown that are dull.

- six limbed. two hind legs and four arms, each ending in a foot/hand with four digits. one set of arms is slightly larger than the other and has larger claws and are used primarily for locomotion, climbing, and fighting/hunting. other set used for more delicate work. scales on the palms of smaller hands are notably thinner and more sensitive to touch for tool work, affection, and object manipulation. Tony jokingly calls the larger arms his ‘fightin’ arms’ and the smaller ones his ‘doin’ arms’

- from head to tip of tail, Sixer is about 12 feet long and from shoulder to ground when on ‘all fours’ stands at about 4 feet tall. tail makes up 30% of body length, is neither stiff nor prehensile, and is capable of a limited amount of wagging closer to the tip, generally used to signal mood though can be used to whip antagonizers.

-he sheds twice a year, the process taking about two weeks from start to finish and these have been dubbed as ‘hell weeks’ by the crew because they have a massive grumpy snappy itchy monster who rubs himself on every rough surface up to and including the buildings, forklifts, the lumber, any unfortunate cars, the fence, and Alvin for 12-16 days. the best way to deal with it is to hose him down twice a day or provide a small pool for him to soak in and give up on trying to get the garage broom from him which he uses to brush himself.

- opportunistic omnivore that can eat almost anything. to lead a healthy diet, requires 70% meat/organ/bone and 30% veg. while svelte, he actually gains a little extra belly cause of the access to a local deer/rabbit overpopulation and the crew just giving him food all the time. 

- has a range of vocalizations and i still haven’t decided if he’s capable of speech or if it’s severely limited and the crew teach him to use asl cause it would make sense if he couldn’t form most words given mouth anatomy and I like it better than unexplained telepathy. i’ll probably go with that.

- genitalia are internal and male in nature. 

monster man and the lumberyard extra bits i thought of:

- Tony gives Sixer a T.V. but it’s only hooked up to local channels so at night he watches a lot of bad television and soap operas.

- Sixer starts crushing on Alvin very quickly, but does not understand how to romance Anyone, so he tries to do a mixture of whats instinctual for him and what he sees on bad T.V. Alvin brushes it off for years, thinking Sixer is Just Like That. it takes him a bit to realize he’s catching feelings because while he is book smart, he also is, regrettably, a himbo

- some sneaky government thing is looking for him. so is a local cryptid hunting group. They get alerted cause some hunters find the remains of deer who’s wounds look nothing like something a local predator could do. no one suspects to look in the dusty lumberyard, of course.

- for holiday parties and get togethers, either Charlie or Tony always hand off a bunch of food to Alvin, telling him to go give it to the ‘old man next door’ so he can get away from his fiancee for a bit and so Sixer doesn’t miss out on the festivities

[chaseatinydream]

pirate king (35) || atz

You’re standing on the forecastle deck of the ship, watching as bow slices through the waves.

The ship skims over the choppy waters smoothly, but you’re so lost in thought you don’t even notice how some of the boys are lingering at the forecastle deck stairs, glancing at you worriedly as they speak in hushed voices.

You haven’t said a word since you woke up from unconsciousness a day ago, heading straight to Captain’s cabin and begging him to let you travel to the spot the map indicated. Hongjoong hadn’t hesitated to agree, but he couldn’t help but be concerned at the heavy look on your face, as if there was a massive weight on your shoulders.

Confusion settles on your mind like sea fog that refuses to lift. You have so many unanswered questions that confuse you to no end.

Golems were supposed to be made out of clay, but you were made of flesh and blood. You didn’t know how it was possible, perhaps the heart that the man had given you in your dreams did truly change you into a human being, but then why would he do so?

He warned you about something… How they didn’t understand? Who was they? You remembered from your dreams your previous self had said something about not telling them because they wouldn’t understand, but who was they and why would they not understand? Why would they think you were trapped?

What was the plan he had been talking about? Did your previous self agree to something with him? And why was he so happy that you had gotten a name? Your previous self must have had a name as well. How did he make you forget what he was? He…

Then you pause in confusion at your own train of thought.

What he is… not his name.

Why did you think such a weird thing?

“Chin Hae?”

You’re startled out of your thoughts to see your master standing at your side, Yunho and Wooyoung trailing behind him like lost puppies. The air is starting to get cold, you realise, and you shiver a little. Wooyoung takes your hand and puts it in his pocket, fingers stroking soothingly along the back of your hand.

“Thanks, Wooyoung-hyung.” You say. The head gunner is obviously worried, but he forces his face into a cute pout as he looks at your unbound hair flying with the wind, one hand reaching up to brush the errant strands from your forehead.

“You’ve stopped wearing the hairpin.” He says a little sadly as his hand falls back to his side, the shackles on his wrists jingling slightly. You feel guilty for a moment, fingers brushing the hairpin where it’s secured in your belt once more.

“Yeah… after that kid stole it, I’m not sure I dare to wear it in my hair. I can’t afford to lose it.” You tell him and he gives you an uneasy smile, torn between understanding why you want to keep it safe and wanting to see you wear it. Before he can say anything more though, Yunho glances at the expanse of sea before you.

“We’re reaching soon, aren’t we?” His voice is unusually grim. You can see the sky starting to darken, way too fast for it to be any sort of natural storm. The sea waves are starting to get more choppy and rough, and the deck is pitching and rolling more dangerously than what you’re used to. San almost loses his balance at one violent heave of the deck but Yunho catches him with the reflexes of a cat, sharp eyes focusing on what lies ahead.

Sharp, rocky outcrops break the horizon just slightly, black shapes jutting out from the sea. You swallow nervously as you glimpse the lightning flashing above head, before the rolling thunder startles you into a jump. Wooyoung steadies you by the arms before you pitch yourself into the sea in fright, wincing himself against the volume of it. It sounds like cannonfire right next to your head and for a moment, your ears ring as if there are bells swinging back and forth in your skull.

San gulps as he looks forward. “So… that’s the sea witch’s lair, huh?”

“Yes.” Yeosang answers from behind and all four of you whirl around to look at the navigator, who’s just joined you on the forecastle deck, boots stepping unevenly on the deck as he fights to keep his balance. He grips the railing tight, surveying the jagged rocks before you with a grim expression. “I can��t believe that map was right. No one has ever made such a detailed map of the sea witch’s lair before.”

You chew your lower lip as you recall who exactly had given you the map. Who on earth is that mysterious man? How did he know where the sea witch’s lair would be? How can he change form, from a man to a boy? What exactly is he?

“Only people in great desperation can find the sea witch, as her lair lies hidden in a magical realm of the sea in which mortals cannot find. The entrance is rumoured to be off the coast of several uninhabited islands in the Atlantic, guarded by the sirens and fierce tidal straits rip through the waters, smashing any ship that dares pass through.” Yeosang recites from memory, fingers tightening around the bulwarks. You can see the muscles in his shoulders wound tight from nerves. “Well… this definitely fits the description.”

You’re terrified too.

Wooyoung squeezes your hand tightly. We’ll be fine.

You nod, trying to calm your racing heart.

I hope so.

The island draws closer and suddenly tumultuous winds are whipping around the ship, unbridled and unchecked like wild horses, causing the ship to heave to the side. Your heart drops in your chest as you hear the creaking of the main mast and you whirl around to stare at it in horror.

“Wooyoung, Yunho, Chin Hae, to the ropes! Lower the mainsail before our mast breaks!” You hear Mingi shout over the storm gale, and just when you open your mouth to answer him, you taste rainwater on your tongue.

You glance upwards in shock and the heavens open, rain slashing down upon you and drenching you to the bone in mere seconds. The ship pitches and rocks side to side like a toy boat being tossed about on the waves, but Wooyoung manages to catch onto the bulwarks, pulling you into his chest.

San isn’t so lucky, however. Your mouth opens in a scream as you watch your master nearly get tossed over the side to the waves before Yunho catches him by the back of the shirt. Relief floods you, but you know this storm is far from over.

“Thank you!” San screams over the sharp whistling of the wind, but Yunho shakes his head grimly, sopping wet hair plastered to his forehead.

“Don’t thank me just yet.” He says in a sombre tone, face just as dark as the sky above him. He turns to you and Wooyoung. “Can you two manage the sails while I make sure San and Yeosang get to the sickbay safe?”

Wooyoung nods, body swaying with the violent movements of the ship. “We got it.”

You see the navigator clinging onto the railing, much like you and Wooyoung are, shivering from the freezing winds. Yunho grabs Yeosang by the scruff of the neck as well, holding two humans under his arm as he drags them down the forecastle deck stairs.

Then the ship pitches wildly once more out of nowhere and you hear a crash on the main deck, followed by shouts of pain and surprise from Yunho, Yeosang and San. You wince in sympathy.

“Ouch.”

Wooyoung shakes his head, yanking you forward by the arm. “Now’s not the time to worry about that!” The two of you dash across the deck, slipping and sliding on the wet floorboards and struggling to stay on your feet from the bucking motions of the ship, but you eventually reach the main mast, panting for breath.

Your partner glances back at you as his hands secure themselves tightly to the rigging. “You alright, Chin Hae-”

But before he can finish his squestion, the ship is rolled by a mountainous wave. A wall of water crashes into your body and you feel as if you’ve been punched by a giant fist, for a moment you briefly wonder if the ship has already capsized as you’re submerged in the sea. Through the chaos and unearthly, ghostly screams you hear, your fingers cling on tight to the rigging, refusing to let go.

If you do let go, you’re dead.

Then the water falls away and you’re gasping for air like a fish out of the sea, completely exhausted from the experience as you wipe your eyes with the back of your sleeve and spit seawater from your mouth. The deck floods and foams with water and you see several other of your crew mates struggling to gain their bearings as they recover from the massive wave.

“The sea witch’s magic must be interfering with Captain’s blessing.” Wooyoung spits, before he reaches over and shakes you. “Chin Hae, we need to get to furl the mainsail! Hurry!”

You snap out of your shock from the near death experience and immediately begin scaling the rigging as fast as you can. Hand over hand, you fall into the familiar motion of climbing the mast, even if this time the ropes are whipping around beneath you. Wooyoung is much faster, sliding up the ropes with so much ease he looks like he’s gliding, but even you can see the way his knuckles are clenched tight, the tight set of his jaw shows you the strain he’s under.

When he reaches the top, he reaches down to help you up, and then the two of you are clinging to the main mast as it swings about violently in the wind.

If you thought the deck had been pitching around like mad, it was nothing compared to the top of the mast. For a moment, nausea crests in you and you nearly throw up, but then you force it down and glance at Wooyoung.

He shouts something, but it’s lost over the roar of the storm. You see another wave crest over the ship and sweep across the deck, nearly washing a man overboard. Your captain stands at the wheel, battling the fierce undercurrents as he fights to keep the ship on course.

The sea is black and boiling beneath you, white froth outlining the massive waves as they pummel the ship from all directions. You’ve never seen the ocean act this way in all your time at sea, but then again, this must be the fearsome work of the witch.

“-hin Hae! Chin Hae!” You hear Wooyoung’s voice and glance at him, his face is pale and bloodless but his jaw is set in determination. “We’ve got to undo the ropes! You take one side and I’ll take the other!”

You nod grimly.

Then the two of you move to the halyards, knowing that you have to unsnag the ropes caught there to drop the sail. The wind howls in your ears, blocking out all sound, but you focus on your goal and continue inching towards the block and tackle, drawing a short knife from your belt to cut the rope free.

Your fingers are numb from the cold and from terror, but you put the blade’s edge against the rope and saw as fast as you can. The wind tugs at you and your clothes, a thousand invisible hands trying to pull you into the sea. You can only brace yourself the best you can and continue your work, to your elation, you feel the fibres snapping one by one beneath the knife.

Finally, the rope splits and the yardarm drops, the sail furling of its own accord. You and Wooyoung meet each other’s eyes and exchange sighs of relief, but it’s short lived.

Because the ship is hit by another massive wave, bigger than the first two, and you’re jerked off the yardarm.

For a moment, you’re suspended in mid air. The ship. The sky. The sail. The sea. They all swirl around you as you plummet down, and in your ears, like a distant cry, you can hear Wooyoung scream your name.

“Chin Hae!”

Then something catches you roughly by the shirt and drags you into the rigging, which your hands instinctively grab onto, your heart racing a million miles an hour as you try to snap out of your shock.

“You’re lucky I caught you!” Yunho shouts over the roar of the wind, clinging onto the ropes right next to you. You barely manage a nod, still lacking the capacity of mind to form words to thank him properly for saving your life. You’ll be grateful later.

“Let’s get down.” The battlemaster calls and you nod, desperate to get back to the relative safety of the deck. You slide down the ropes as fast as you can, holding onto them desperately. Your feet touch wood and it takes every ounce of self control not to kiss the deck out of sheer happiness.

Then Wooyoung is next to you and pulls you into his chest, arms wrapping around you tightly as you finally start to sob, your tears mixing with the rain until you can’t tell which is which, he whispers soothing words into your ears as his hand strokes your hair. Yunho joins the two of you, hugging both of you to his chest, glad that you’re both alive.

All of a sudden, the storm stills.

It’s as if someone has cut off everything. The rain stops instantly, the wind stills, the sea is no longer trying to capsize the ship, even if they are still battering it from all sides. For some reason, this unnerves you more than the storm itself, because who could possibly have the power to control the seas at their mere will?

“What’s happening?” Yunho breathes, letting go of the two of you to survey the surroundings for a moment. The rocky island is growing ever closer, and from here, you now see it’s the entrance of a massive cave in the middle of the ocean.

The sea witch’s lair.

There’s murmurs of relief around you as the crew almost collapse onto the deck, exhausted from their battle against the ocean. They’ve only survived because of the ocean’s mercy, not because they were strong enough to be victorious over it.

The ocean is truly terrifying.

You hear the click of your captain’s boots as he descends from the quarterdeck, studying the seas before them. His mullet is plastered to the back of his neck from the rain and his red jacket is soaked, but his eyes are still gleaming fiercely as he fixes his eyes on the island. A scowl twists on his face.

A curse escapes him.

“Why the long face, captain?” Yunho nudges him worriedly. Usually the battlemaster says that as a joke, but he can feel the tension in the air even without his captain speaking. Hongjoong clenches his jaw and you lean forward, wanting to know exactly why your captain is so on edge.

“Yunho, go to my cabin and get the earplugs.”

At that, Wooyoung stiffens behind you as he glances at the sea in horror. You whirl to face him, utterly confused at why you would need to plug your ears. “Wooyoung, what is it?”

You don’t think he could look more venomous if he tried.

“Sirens.”

Yunho runs back to his captain, distributing all the earplugs in a small bag. Wooyoung takes his, turning to explain to you fully as he puts one earplug in. “We’ve encountered sirens once, before you joined us. They’re dangerous creatures, with seductive bodies and fish tails that lay in wait for sailors on rocky shores. They don’t usually physically attack people, but they sing with hypnotic voices to entice people into jumping overboard and swimming for them, before the sea pulls them under and they drown.”

You shudder at the description of them as you place one earplug in. “And so these earplugs are to stop us from hearing their voices?”

Wooyoung nods grimly. “It’s going to be difficult to sail the ship like this, but it’s miles better than having us drown.”

You glance at your captain, who strides over to you and Wooyoung. “Are the two of you alright?” He checks in with the two of you, eyes softening slightly as he glances over your exhausted faces. Wooyoung nods when Hongjoong pats him on the shoulder gently.

“We’re fine.”

You realise he doesn’t have any earplugs of his own and fear runs through you at the thought of your captain being lost to the waves. “Captain, what about your earplugs?”

At that, Hongjoong manages a small smile, shaking his head. “Maybe it’s my blessing… but the sirens’ calls don’t affect me. Don’t worry about me.”

With that, he turns and moves back to the center of the deck.

You swallow nervously, glancing up at the brewing black sky above you. The deck is pitching back and forth violently, the waves beneath you brutally battering the sides of the ship as if trying their best to sink you and drag you to the bottom of the sea.

But that’s the least of your worries.

“Remember, everyone!” Your captain shouts over the howling of the wind fiercely, eyes stony with determination. “No one is to remove their earplugs until I give you the signal, alright?”

“Yes captain!” The crew responds with a resounding agreement before all of them plug their ears and move to man their stations, all intent on surviving this sea against all odds.

You glance towards the sea before you, right before the earplugs block out all sound from your ears.

A jewel green tail breaks the surface of the water, right before it disappears once more beneath the waves. They might look beautiful, but they remind you of sharks circling their prey right before a kill.

Fear seizes your chest as you clutch onto Wooyoung’s hand tightly.

I’m scared.

He doesn’t respond, pulling you into him and burying your face into his shoulder.

I know.

You can see them now, men and women with jewel toned tails flickering in the seas, diving beneath the waves and splashing around playfully. Their faces are ethereal, inhumanly beautiful, their vibrantly coloured hair pinned back with delicate seashells and pearls. Their sheer beauty is out of this world, and when they open their mouth, part of you just can’t help but wish you could hear such gorgeous creatures sing.

But Wooyoung grips your hand before you can move, shaking his head and snapping you out of your daze.

No.

You exhale nervously, nodding as you hold on tight to the ropes. You realise how dangerous these sirens actually are, you couldn’t even hear their voices and yet they were already seducing you to your death. Yunho pulls on Wooyoung’s shoulder to get his attention and gestures to a tackle that is trapped against a mast, causing the sail to flap unevenly in the wind.

Wooyoung nods once, before glancing at you in concern.

Can you handle yourself?

You nod determinedly. You’re on guard now. You’ll be fine.

Wooyoung reluctantly lets your hand go, before moving to scale the mizzenmast with Yunho to fix the sail.

You close your eyes against the sight of the beautiful sirens before you, resolute on not moving an inch until this entire thing is over and your captain comes to get you himself. There is no sound in your ears, nothing in your sight, and for a second, you’re relieved.

Nothing can possibly get you here.

Come back to us.

A voice, as sweet as sugar and as smooth as silk echoes in your mind. You jump a little in shock, eyes flying wide open as you glance about you, searching for whoever had said those words.

Please, we miss you so much.

A shiver runs down your spine. It’s another voice this time, just as honeyed as the voice before, caressing your ears gently like a lover’s kiss. You know that voice. You know all of their voices.

But Wooyoung and Captain said-

Who’s Wooyoung? And a captain? You bow to nobody.

Warmth seeps into your bones despite the freezing winds and it’s as if every thought in your mind has been erased into nothingness.

Everything fades into a gentle, pleasant haze as you await their next words.

Take off those human things and hear our voices in the air, love.

As if in a trance, your fingers rise to your ears.

The ocean roar fills your ears once more, the sound of the waves and the sky swirling above you like a reunited friend. You see the sirens in the ocean before you, smiling with the richest, most beautiful smiles you have ever seen, their mouths opening once more.

“Come to us.”

“We love you.”

“Return to us, our pearl.”

“Our queen.”

“Our treasure.”

Their voices blend together into an unearthly harmony, so beautiful and rich that it sinks into your mind and empties out every other thought. They call for you so desperately, with so much longing and yearning, you can feel yourself being pulled to them.

Wait, you want to tell them as they sing once more for you and only you. I’m coming.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

You walk towards the side of the ship in a daze, boots tapping lightly against the floorboards. The earplugs falls to the deck and roll away under your feet, but you don’t care.

“Come.”

You hear someone behind you cry out ‘Chin Hae’ faintly, but it doesn’t register in your head, merely blowing across your ears like the wind. You merely falter a little in your tracks, pausing slightly.

Chin Hae?

“No such human name is worthy of you.” The voices shift and rolls like the gentle waves of the sea, beseeching you to continue to move forward and you do.

You reach the railing of the ship, swinging one leg over the balustrade as the sirens swimming under you smile so sweetly. You hang from the railing, feet just balancing on the outer hull of the ship as you sway with the wind, staring at the sea beneath you.

“Chin Hae!” The voice is louder, more desperate this time, but your eyes are fixed on the sirens, their hypnotic jewel like eyes drawing you in.

“Jump.”

And you do.

[halothenthehorns]

All in the Family

Chapter 172: A Place to Hide

The crash of pots and pans falling straight onto them from above may as well have caved in all their skulls at one time. The resulting noise caused just the faintest of shouting from above, but whether their own trapped magic or the age of this mansion, the door blocked out the majority of the foul language their landing had activated in the decrepit house.

Frank was the only one who landed under the table somehow, and he got the book in his face for his troubles. He'd crawled out from under the heavy wood only to see James hitting the door with a cast iron skillet, spurred into the insane task it seemed by Walburga Black’s voice loudest of all calling nobody all sorts of shite once more above them.

"Um," Frank rubbed at his forehead in concern, only for the last kettle to come tumbling down as if waiting for its victim.

Alice and Lily came over to help get him to his feet while Remus and Sirius continued to watch in mild concern as Regulus told Peter, "welcome back to my place."

"The locket," Peter realized, eyes flickering to the ceiling. "Prongs-"

"There's, no, f'ng way-" he grunted as he kept fighting with the nothing, "we're sent back here, only to not, grab it!" He slammed the metal down so hard on the handle there was an actual ringing left in place and finally stood there panting in frustration.

"Why is Harry here?" Lily agreed as she watched his face grow steadily more red. "If the Ministry collapsed, this isn't exactly the first place I'd run to."

"Oh but it should be," Sirius grimly corrected as he looked around every crevice in disgust. "They were fortifying this place for their own nefarious ideas back during the first war when Voldemort was gaining power. It's only gotten worse since then, this is probably one of the most heavily guarded homes in Britain even before that messed up Fidelius Charm."

"But Snape can get in here, Harry knows that," Frank needlessly recalled as Lily pursed up her lips.

"Guess we should find out what's going on then," Sirius said slowly, eyeing the book with distaste as any number of awful possibilities could have led to this. Had Harry been taken here, was this Voldemort's new stronghold? It would be fitting.

Then his eyes settled on Regulus, who had an old familiar look on his face Sirius recognized in an instant. He was chewing on his cheek, rotating an old copper pot nearly the size of him slowly. "First though," he called grandly, as if his parents were in the room to be distracted, "we need snacks! Reg, where does Kreacher hide the good biscuits?"

His face brightened in an instant, he stopped rocking it and went jogging to the cupboards, his small frame struggling only for a moment to get himself onto the high counters. "Mum still doesn't know I can reach," he told with a familiar impish grin to Peter, but only because it was Sirius' natural state when they were planning something, it was rare to see him carry it. "Kreacher will tell me if she has him doing something that'll take a while,” he opened up a cupboard door that creaked ominously and barely had to wobble or duck under it to stand completely and reach the top shelf, but he did have to put his foot on the lowest section to reach up, “so I can sneak in here and grab, aha!"

The dusty old tin didn't look like much, it was ancient and black with the Black family crest impressed in silver on the top just like every bloody thing in this house, but the lid came off with ease, and inside was an assortment of ginger snaps, chocolate fingers, and shortbread that still smelled fresh.

Sirius was the last to reach for one, despite this being his idea. That tick of his little brothers was still in full swing as he plopped on the grimy counter and enjoyed his treat, and he wished so bad he could ask. That he hadn't ruined things so badly between them it wouldn't feel manipulative to steer the conversation right into Regulus asking why he hated this place so much, if his brother would even believe it of the parents he adored so much. Maybe he was being as arrogant as he accused them of being anyways, assuming whatever question he was pondering was even about this place, them, him, and not something else on his mind.

He glanced at James, still tapping his wand restlessly on the door as Frank sat at the table, getting crumbs all over the pages as he read out A Place to Hide. Remus was hovering right behind him as usual again, playing with the cuff of his sleeve and eating his third chocolate finger. Sirius passed his, only one bite taken out of it thank you, to him and murmured softly, "go check on Prongs, yeah?"

He looked startled, and then just a bit relieved. “So it’s not just been me? You know what’s up?”

"He's annoyed at you," Sirius gave him a little push, at least he could fix something around here still. "Go talk to him before he decides you're hiding that horcrux." Prongs had been making faces at Remus since Sirius had told him they were sleeping together, and Moony needed to explain himself to James already.

Remus huffed and popped the rest of the biscuit in his mouth, but cringed as Harry and Hermione ran desperately through the wedding looking for Ron, passing every person he cared about in danger and knowing it could be his last. He swallowed around the suddenly stale tasting sweet as he was mentioned with Tonks, throwing up shield charms, staying behind to help.

Sirius leaned against the counter as he went over, only watching for a moment before tipping his head back, an oddity to have to look up at Regulus, still sitting back straight somewhere Walburga would whack him head over heels for if she found him up there. He did care to get involved dammit, he just didn't know where to start anymore. Baby steps? "Going to the Quidditch game when we get back?"

Regulus gave his brother a scandalous look. Did he even know he was on the team? "Of course! It's the finals!"

"Right," he huffed, this kid could get offended about anything. If only they knew what had spurred him into getting that locket, they could harness that into a destructive weapon.

Regulus considered him for a moment before adding, "might even be lucky enough to play."

"Yeah?" Sirius sized up the third year in surprise. "Didn't poison someone to get in there did you?" It was mostly a joke, but he wouldn't have been surprised to hear otherwise.

Regulus shoved at him to go away, expecting Sirius to laugh and join his mates and ignore him as usual after making an arse of himself for the insult, as if he couldn't get in on his own merit. He didn't though, just reached over for another biscuit and winced at the fight in the muggle shop where Harry and his friends had to defend against two Death Eaters appearing out of nowhere and just, stayed in place. He glanced at Peter, but he was sitting on the floor, being weirdly quiet as always whenever Sirius was around.

"Um, no," he finally answered his big brother. "The idiot Seeker’s been going back and forth to the hospital wing for the last week because some girl shoved a toad in his ear, Madam Pomfrey hasn’t figured out how to get it out yet. Keeps laying its eggs, mess has been getting all over the common room. Don't ask what he did to deserve it, I don't know, but if he wasn't cleared by classes today I was getting off reserve to go in."

"Congratulations!" Sirius, actually meant that. He couldn't hear a trace of sarcasm in him. "Don't expect us to go easy on you though," he added with that patented superior smirk.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he promised.

Remus wished he'd thought to bring a biscuit over to him, he probably looked like an ass and kept scratching at the crumbs on his lips. "If you're that eager for a bit of Voldemort's soul to possess you, I know this lovely fool, perfect for a good pretend stutter, he'll give you all sorts of advice over it."

James looked at him in surprise. "You think Qurriell knows about these things? Now?"

"You're not the only one trying to stop all this Prongs," he reminded. "He's worth looking into," he shrugged, "at least to find out where he is now. Why he'd travel to Albania. It struck me as strange back then and even now I can't imagine what was going on to instigate Voldemort being there."

And there it was. James gave him such a weary smile. "Planning on a trip Moony?"

He hesitated and looked back at the ample space of everyone else still at the far end of the room and couldn't imagine why Prongs wouldn't just tell him. "You've been annoyed at me Prongs," Remus finally couldn't take it anymore. "Please tell me."

He looked about denying it for one more second before finally sighing and saying, "was trying not to show it, sorry."

Remus snorted a laugh in surprise. "Well, you were doing a passable job, but please, out with it before the next catastrophe. Even Sirius has started to notice, the oblivious idiot," he said fondly, but then watched as James' mouth tightened in that now familiar way. "Oh bollocks," he muttered.

"It's not because you're sleeping with him prat," James said instantly, lowering his voice just a tad and still watching him from the corner of his eye, but it was still a bit menacing with that heavy metal in his hand. "No, I'm annoyed you didn't want to tell me you wanted to! I know it was you, not him."

Remus swallowed, he hadn't been expecting to be the one on the hot spot here, but tried to soothe his friend, "I didn't tell anyone, you heard us before. Not spoken a word of it ever." James didn't seem to believe this anymore though, puffing up his cheeks like he was physically holding back words and giving the skillet a toss into a corner. Remus frowned in his own bit of hurt. "You don't believe me?"

"I just, don't get why you didn't," he shrugged. "Apparently I was the last one to figure it out, but Merlin, I still don't get why you couldn't have told me."

"It was nothing personal Prongs, honestly. We did not know the others noticed. Okay, maybe Peter," he lightly amended, "we suspected he knew, but he's a twitchy idiot who watches everyone and we were trying to be subtle. At least I was, for the most part," he finished in exasperation, still a bit in wonderment he'd given up on that and could have gone over to kiss Sirius now if he wanted to.

James was still watching him, kind of scrutinizing him a bit like this still wasn't the answer he wanted. "Okay, so I'm an oblivious idiot, but, why were you keeping it a secret at all?"

Remus watched him in just as much confusion back, not following one bit. "My excuse for not telling was still the same as when we started, I had a crush on him and didn't want to admit it. I never thought he'd go for dating me, even you didn't. He didn't have a problem telling you from the beginning though, that was all me."

"Did I do something to make you think you couldn't tell me?" He finally flat out demanded.

"No, James," he promised at once. "There's nothing that I wouldn't tell you that I wouldn't tell Sirius." He ran his tongue over his teeth again and sighed. "Hell, sometimes you're a little more sane to talk to, I think Sirius has a bit of a blind spot on me and I might need your help to remind him sometimes we don't know everything about werewolves no matter how much we like to pretend out in our Forest."

"Oh," James looked appeased enough with that answer and seemed happy to let it drop, but Remus started playing back some of it now. Sirius had only asked about telling James again back in the alleyway after he'd kissed him that time. He'd gone very overtly touchy after that as well, when before he'd been a lot more subtle.

"Huh," he muttered in wonderment, chancing a glance back at him again. Maybe Sirius had started reciprocating a crush even sooner and even Padfoot hadn't realized it, he sure as hell hadn't thought to notice the change as all over the place as he'd been. He looked back at Lily and gave her a smile of thanks, now he was very positive she'd been right. She caught his eye and gave him a little smirk back.

James reached out spontaneously and gave him a little thump on the chest, his heart slammed into his ribs like Prongs had slugged him. He'd never done that to anyone but Sirius. James just walked past and finally stowed his wand away, throwing himself into a chair at the head of the table and tried to get Alice's attention, but apparently that wasn't happening while Frank was reading, she was curled into his side and listening contently even as the trio came to the uneasy conclusion this was the safest place to hide out for now. So he found himself talking to Lily. She cupped her chin on her hand and the two began an easy report of different healing charms and their varying levels.

Remus shifted restlessly and glanced at the ceiling, he couldn't decide if he wanted Harry to have the same revelation they had about the possible locket being here. He should have wanted it, but none of them liked the idea of any of the trio wearing that thing anymore than them. He went over to the table and sat by James, watching the story wearily.

Sirius gave Regulus a little pat on the knee and waited for him to smile again before jogging over. Moony sat at the table like a normal person while Sirius sprawled out nearly across three seats, leaning across them all and resting with his back on him, wiggling around, and then picking up his arm and using it as a cushion instead, draping it over the back of a chair so he could lean farther into him.

The Dusty Dumbledore was clearly giving Padfoot the creeps more than he'd admit, or Sirius was trying to distract him, both were working wonderfully. "What's the first thing you want to do when we get back?" Sirius asked out of the blue.

He let his fingers trail along Sirius' arm, just lightly over the blue sweater so Sirius would lean further into the contact, which he did. "Send a letter to my dad," he admitted, "ask if he always knew about Greyback and didn't tell me."

Sirius huffed, but when he didn't continue he prompted, "and then?"

"Don't know," he admitted. A meeting with Dumebldore would be needed, but he'd definitely prefer that to be private. Sirius would respect that, but he'd assume it was for the wrong reason until he came back with an answer. He didn't want to leave school, just maybe something else to keep him in check besides an easily pokeable tree. "Sort of jammed on that a bit, I don't even know what I want him to say. I don't even know how I'm going to say it, can't exactly go around spontaneously spouting that can I? And you," he said quickly, more than happy to change the subject.

"Send a letter to Andromeda," he sighed, still watching his brother out of the corner of his eye. The muffled rant of his mother just under the book had not dimmed one jot and somehow gave him even more punctuation. "She's been having issues with her own parents for ages. I don't know when things go bad exactly, not even sure if she's met Ted yet, but I'd like to talk to her."

"It'll be so weird when they have Tonks," Moony said with that same odd tone in his voice Sirius couldn't begin to guess at as he tipped his head back to see himself being watched. He didn't respond, and Remus rolled his eyes and added, "wonder why they only stopped at one kid."

It was barely perceptible, a wistfulness as he spoke of something more concrete in this future finally. Sirius heard it though, and sat up in surprise.

A wash of jealousy slammed so hard into him he wouldn't have been surprised if he glanced down and saw himself green. It was exactly that feeling though, he was completely confident of this even if it was the first time he'd ever felt it. The idea that Tonks, that others could give Remus something he couldn't hadn't even crossed his mind until this moment. "So that's why you keep bringing Tonks up?"

Remus seemed startled for only a moment, before flushed and looked at his lap. "And also why I still wasn't very convinced you, um, knew full well what a commitment even was, let alone would date me." He sheepishly agreed. "I just found it weirdly hard to believe you had no problems at all with the idea of me being with others, mister I'm so overprotective I don't care how many detentions I get for someone using the word werewolf in my presence." He quickly tried to soothe, "I kept telling myself though it was just more of your, ah, separating sex and feelings thing though. Sorry."

Sirius tipped his head to the side and thought about that for a moment, though he'd hardly been concerned, or jealous of Tonks. He wasn’t exactly one to judge if Moony even had past lovers, or sideways alternate lovers in some other future, the oddball. Remus was probably right though, if they had gotten back to school and he'd found out Moony was sleeping with someone, he well might have gotten possessive and not even registered it correctly, as much as he'd been getting frustrated at Remus pulling away and hadn't even known how to put that feeling together yet. He very much doubted their keeping it casual would have lasted at any rate now.

No, he was flummoxed at the idea Remus wanted kids. Shit, should he have known that already? He certainly didn't, the idea of just being the fun Uncle and passing them back to James was more than enough for him.

"Um," he certainly wasn't going to put this off, if this was going to be a problem he definitely needed to say so now. "You and Tonks though, I, err, we don't exactly have the right equipment. If you're being, literal I mean, and I don't really, want any of my own."

"Oh," Remus went bashful rather than upset at least, rubbing awkwardly at his face, he even rotated his mouth around like he was fighting back a yawn. "Well that's perfect then, isn't it? I'd never even, Merlin, the idea of passing my affliction on to a child like that," he seemed plenty upset now, but at least Sirius got this one and reached up to gently touch his face, he could feel a ball of tension right where his jaw curved into his cheek, and felt it through his skin this time as he seemed to lick his teeth.

"We could always take one of the Weasley's kids when their parents aren't looking," Sirius teased, and at least this did sound slightly more bearable than handling an infant. Loud, smelly things that they were, why would either of them want that? Chasing after a toddler was absolutely in his wheelhouse at least. "Like Charlie, get some sanity into that dragon trainer kid before he loses his marbles. Hell, I'm kidnapping the twins on principle, you must have known that already?"

"Right, of course," Remus grinned and relaxed back at once. "I'm so sure Arthur and Molly won't even notice."

"You're always so sure of what you want," Sirius said in amazement, trailing his hand lightly across his cheek. "Do you really have your life just all planned out?"

"I'm trying," he admitted with a sick feeling growing all the time as he thought about what kind of life he had to go back to as he flexed his jaw in disgust.

Sirius heard that too, his brow ruffled up in concern as he felt the knot return under his hand and fully meant to ask just what he was still holding back, but then they were warned the chapter was almost over.

Regulus finally crawled off the counter and sat on the floor next to Peter, still a bit in awe Sirius had really been sort of trying just then, but also still hugging the biscuit tin to his chest and not quite believing he hadn't tried to run off with it.

"You two always bring out the worst in each other," Peter told him as he reached over for a short bread.

"I noticed," he agreed, "it's like it's his life mission to find everyone's breaking point and see how far he can push after that." He took out the last ginger snap and wistfully thought of maybe next time asking Kreacher if he could help to make these. Mum would have a hippogriff he was sure for trying to help the servant, but she'd see it was just in fun, right? His eyes flickered in unease to the magically sealed door and wondered if he was still a coward for not having to confront that again just yet.

He snapped it in half and offered it to Peter as he said, "I have this theory Sirius is still looking for every one of the ways to piss off our parents, but I want to try something else with them." At least he wouldn't be so blunt as outright asking, he could just subtly start doing little things and easing them into the idea.

Wormtail froze with a look on his face Regulus now belatedly recognized as the same one he'd had when he'd been keeping his mouth shut about what Sirius and Remus were up to, but not quite right. This was no indulgent silence for not saying his friend's business, as Sirius was over there sprawled half in the guys lap, but he couldn't imagine what Peter was choosing not to say.

Peter was looking guiltily back and forth between the two Black's, he had zero desire to get in between them for any reason and already knew he was probably stepping on Sirius' toes never to be forgiven for befriending the kid he'd never spoken of and kept out of his life and clearly now regretted that to some degree. He absolutely would not just sit back and say nothing though, he'd held his mouth shut before when James couldn't even get Sirius to say what all those parents of theirs had done to punish Padfoot, he didn't think he could stomach the same ignorance befalling Regulus if he really went through with that. "What, ah," he stopped and looked longingly to where Sirius was, but he was obviously having some kind of conversation with Moony not to be interrupted as he got him to blush. He didn't know how to stop where this was heading. "Sirius never, um, mentioned, well, you never wondered why Sirius hated them so much?"

"Figured it was James and Remus' influence more than anything," Regulus shrugged. "He was weird when we were younger, sure, but he still talked to me sometimes. It got even worse that first summer of his back.” He’d tried so hard to play peacemaker between their parents and Sirius, doing everything right to get their praise and then trying to make Sirius smile. It was like a balancing act, tiptoeing the line between what mum and dad would smile at him for and made Sirius scowl and pick another argument with them over the silliest things like their parents didn’t know what they were talking about.

Okay, so maybe they didn’t know everything like he’d always thought, that line was now blurred along the edges, but he still wanted to help his brother see it wasn’t so bad here. He could never have both, he knew that now, Sirius just didn’t want any part of this place that he felt intrinsically tied to. “I guess now I sort of get it, having a werewolf for a friend and someone like James who wouldn't tolerate any part of this, he doubled down on those stupid arguments he'd pick with them."

"Arguments," he repeated grimly, that's all Regulus ever referred to them as and he'd never questioned it, it's not like he could judge Regulus for staying out of them, but he wasn't going to not get some clarification on that now. "You know how those arguments got resolved?"

"I told you," he muttered with the first hints of shame for being so useless. "Just avoided them."

"Right," he sighed, he'd known that too. The littlest Black wasn't just going to do that again, there would be no going back once this started. "Regulus," hell, there was no easy way to say this. "If you go back and do anything remotely like that, there's a good chance they'll shut you up the way they did him until they think you're repentant enough not to do it again. You keep asking, thing's will, get worse."

Regulus just looked at him for a long time with an unreadable expression. He'd once promised the future wouldn't affect their friendship over the act of murder, but maybe his past wasn't as easy to trifle with to him. He wasn't going to pander him though. To lie about this would be letting him walk into something blind, a stolen gift of their future he wouldn't condone on anyone.

His solid black eyes got steadily wider the longer he watched him, and then finally he looked from Sirius, back to him, and the most concerning paleness crept across his face, his jaw went slack like he'd been rendered thoughtless, and he strangled out an, "oh," as the tin fell out of his hands with a noisy clatter.

Well, at least he believed him.

Then every door in the house banged open at once, and Regulus screamed.