#I did not expect something so strange to turn into something so freaking sweet

[kidney9-9]

Having Twins with Them - Loki, Stephen, and Bucky

@stygianoir asked: For loki, Bucky , and Stephen (seperately ) Where their wife is pregnant and how are they before and after the baby comes Fluff plz

Hi Kitty, I hope you enjoy! Thank you for sending this in :) Please read the warnings.

Loki x Reader, Stephen x Reader, Bucky x Reader [Fluff] Warnings: Pregnancy, details about giving birth, and crying Word Count: Loki: 656, Stephen: 700, Bucky: 703

-

You were feeling a bit strange for a little bit before you suspected you were pregnant.

You called a friend one morning, freaking out about whether or not you were pregnant, and she brought over some tests for you to take. You were happy to find all the tests came back positive. You and Loki had been trying for a while, but you expected it to take a little longer to become pregnant.

When you revealed to him you were pregnant, he raised his eyebrow at you, then asked, “You’re joking, right?” Then quickly laughed and gave you a big hug, pulling you in close and twirling you around in a circle.

“You’ve given me something I wished and dreamed for, for years. Thank you, my love. We’ll take special care of our young one.” He murmured into your ear after he set you down.

He started to appear happier the farther along you were in your pregnancy. He’d always compliment you, give you gifts, and kiss you at random times. He would gaze at your stomach lovingly, and lay kisses on top, whispering sweet promises and lullabies to the baby.

During your delivery, he appeared as calm as ever, but secretly he was freaking out. You insisted on delivering in a hospital setting, and he was so confused about all the doctors and nurses around you. He went pale when he saw one of the tools the doctor was using, and hoped that for your next pregnancy (yes, he very much wanted more children), you would deliver with the help of Asgardian techniques.

It was so shocking to the family when you revealed you had twins, but Loki was smug. He was confident and happy that you two had healthy twins. The boy was named Salem and the girl was named Lilith. Loki and you adored them so much.

He dotted on them so much when they were first born and was the one to catch Lilith accidentally summon a demon. Yes, it was a very weak demon, but it was still very impressive and surprising. Salem soon after froze his crib after having a meltdown. Loki was so delighted in their magic and powers and soon started to document everything they did.

When they started talking, Loki was so excited. He’d talk to them in multiple languages and would smile brightly when one of them repeated his words. Salem was the first to say “Momma, Daddy”, and Lilith soon followed with calling you two, “Mommy, Papa.”

You healed up after the delivery great, and Loki surprised you by introducing some traditions with new moms from Asgard. They were so helpful, and it was a lot different than the techniques from Earth with healing after giving birth. There was a special tea he made for you, enchanted with some magic. It always made you feel more energetic after drinking it, and it helped with sleeping all those odd hours the babies were asleep.

When you were fully healed and ready to get back to doing your normal routine, Loki had come up to you one morning and wrapped his arms around you from behind. You grinned at him as he kissed your cheek.

“Mm, what are your plans for today, honey?” You asked him softly, your voice quiet so the babies could continue sleeping.

He chuckled slightly, “I was wondering if we could have a date night tonight. Maybe we could spend some time in our library, like last time.”

Your eyes shot wide open, and you turned around to face him, “You seriously cannot be saying you want to impregnate me again. So soon? Lilith and Salem haven’t even turned one!”

He pouted playfully, “Aw darling, but I would love to have more children with you. Maybe triplets this time?”

You laughed into his chest, “Maybe in a few years, after we get a hang of this parenting thing, right?”

He nodded thoughtfully, “Agreed.”

-

Stephen had a feeling something was off when you had come home one day, smiling a bit too often. He didn’t know what was going on though, so he kept extra quiet about it and just observed you to see if he could guess what was going on. When you noticed how quiet he had gotten that night, you pouted at him.

“Stephen, is something wrong?” You asked him somewhat nervously as you unconsciously placed a hand on your stomach.

“I just noticed you’re hiding something. You usually don’t hide things unless it’s a good surprise, so I’m wondering what it is.” He responded, grinning at your shocked expression.

“No fair! I wanted it to be a complete surprise for you tomorrow!” You objected, laughing at how quickly he caught on.

“You can tell me now and we can celebrate tomorrow?” He suggested, still completely wondering what it was that made you act like this.

You smiled brightly and scooted next to him. “I’m pregnant! I think I might be a bit later than I thought, since my stomach has been growing a bit faster than I expected. I took the test this afternoon.” You explained, mumbling, and rambling a bit because you were nervous for his reaction.

He gaped momentarily and then rushed over to you and picked you up and twirled you into a hug. You laughed in surprise at his reaction, not expecting this. He was usually so reserved and quiet about things, mostly reacting with humor!

��Sweetheart.” He murmured to you as he set you back down and pressed his forehead against yours. “I love you so much. You know how much I’ve always wanted children. This is a dream come true.” He whispered.

You smiled at his words, “I love you too, we’re going to be great parents!”

After he scheduled you an appointment with one of his old friends, he started buying so many prenatal vitamins and foods that would support your pregnancy. At the appointment, it was confirmed that you two were going to have twins! At first, he didn’t believe his friend, then looked at the ultrasound machine and saw the two little babies.

The next few weeks, he spent time coddling you and reading up on pregnancies involving twins. He researched so much and practically became an expert about twin pregnancies. He read so many books on parenting and baby proofed everything even though you were only three months pregnant at the time.

By your third trimester, he had everything set up for your due date. He personally vetted everyone who was going to be involved in the birthing process and supported you on your decisions on how you’d like to give birth.

The only things that were left up in the air were the names of the babies. You had been calling them, ankle biter one and two as a joke, and every name you two actually came up with hadn’t been agreed upon. Stephen would randomly speak to your stomach, saying random baby names and then would look up at you, and ask if those names would be good.

One day he came up with the name, Rose, while you were eating some rose ice cream. It was all you wanted to eat for three days, and the entire pregnancy, you had been craving rose flavored foods. Almost immediately after he said the name Rose, you agreed.

“She’s our little Rose, so cute.” You’d say as you’d feel one of the baby’s kick. For the boy, you two finally agreed with the name Philip, and a few hours later, you went into labor.

Stephen was on top of it, fully calm and ready, and supported you the entire time.

A few months later, you two were unconventional parents, amazing, nonetheless. Stephen used magic to parent all the time, and you would always be so surprised at all the magic he did. The best magic he had done during the first few months was to always have a bottle of milk ready to go – it automatically refilled itself.

How he did it? You never found out how, but whenever you asked about it, he would mutter something about arrogant entities.

-

You were a little nervous and worried when you found out you were pregnant. Bucky had always been a little upset when you’d mention family because he didn’t have any family in today’s world. Technically he only had you as his spouse for family, but you knew he missed his family from years ago.

But you knew you had to tell him, so you grabbed your positive pregnancy tests and walked into the bedroom. “Hey sweetie? Can I talk to you about something?” You spoke up nervously.

Bucky turned around and smiled softly at you. “Of course, you can. Don’t have to ask about it, either.”

You shrugged back sheepishly, “I know that, but this is something kinda serious and we have to talk about it.”

His expression changed to something stormy, and he pressed his lips into a line, “Are you safe? Is someone targeting you?”

“Oh no! Not like that! It’s – I’m, uh, pregnant.” You stumbled over your words and pushed the pregnancy tests in front of you, to show him. He blinked in surprise, his expression going momentarily blank before a happy one replaced it.

“Wait really?” He whispered, walking closer to you, and holding onto your hands. He gazed down at the multiple pregnancy tests you took.

“Mhm, there’s a baby in here I think.” You chuckled nervously and gazed down to your belly. He smiled brightly as he leaned down and kissed your stomach, making all your worries disappear. He murmured a sweet hello to your belly, then got back up and hugged you tightly, causing you to drop the tests to the floor. You laughed in surprise and hugged him back.

When you started going to appointments, Bucky drove you to each of them and attended all of them, holding your hand through exams to make you feel comfortable. It was the second appointment where you two found out you were having twins!

“Oh god! Twins… we need to get a new place. We need to buy two cribs! We have to go get supplies like right now!” Bucky started to ramble, eyes wide at the thought of two kids. You were in shock as well, asking the doctor to check again to make sure. You really didn’t expect to have twins.

Bucky seemed to be extra romantic as you got further along in your pregnancy. You’d notice it in the way he’d always lovingly kiss you longer each day before he went to the compound, and the way he’d come back with gifts for you both to enjoy. He’d light your favorite candles and prep your favorite foods, and at times you’d feel like you could melt in a puddle by the adoration you’d see in his eyes as he’d gaze down at your belly.

You both decided on the names rather early in your pregnancy. Scout was the boy’s name and Melody was the girl’s name. Bucky and you discussed it for about a week, agreeing quickly about the names. He used Steve’s name as Scout’s middle name and his sister, Rebecca, as Melody’s middle name.

When you went into labor, Bucky freaked out a bit and fainted when you squeezed his hand harder than you’ve ever had before. When he came back to, he apologized and put on a tough face and sat by you, supporting you the entire time.

“Look at our babies, sweetheart.” He murmured to you, holding them both in his arms and handing Melody to you. You two cried happily at the sight of both your children.

He sung lullabies to comfort the babies and he’d always be holding at least one of them. Scout was the first to say his first words, which was funnily enough, “No!” and “Momma”, when you served him some broccoli with rice.

Melody quickly said her words a few days after that, when Scout had accidentally bumped his foot into something, “Scout owie”. It was so adorable that you and Bucky had both awed out loud at the sight.

When you and Bucky had alone time, he’d take you out to your favorite date spots. You two spoke about all the memories you shared, and how sweet and special it’s been, having twins together.

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

"Its cold you should take my jacket" with krobus mayhaps? I just think its a cute mental image BVNJ

Maybe theyre goin outside durin winter, and sure shadow people probably arent as effected by the cold but maybe it could still be a sweet gesture (the reader is going to freeze to death mild mistakes were made unless they're just the kinda person to go out in the winter shorts/joke)

-salt anon

YEAH Krobus time <3

Notes: Farmer and Krobus are established as roommates.

................

"The crocus are blooming nicely this winter...oh! Hello, little worms!"

Standing just a few feet away, you kept an eye out for any villager who might be walking around at this late hour, acting like a bodyguard for Krobus.

The last thing you wanted was for someone to freak out at his mere existence on the surface.

Ever since befriending the lonely shadow monster from the sewers, your perspective on his people (as well as most other monsters) changed drastically, opening up your eyes to the truth: that not all of them were violent brutes and assassins armed with crossbows and dark magic.

He was the first peaceful one you've come across, and he became the reason you try to avoid fighting any shadow people in the mines. Even if they became aggressive, you knew they were only acting defensively, never turning hostile unless you approached them first.

Of course, if you saw a human come charging at you with a sword or hammer...you'd be scared for your life, too. And if you had the means to protect yourself, you'd use them.

Krobus was once a fighter himself, until he decided to abandon those ways after the elemental wars, finding displeasure with his life beneath the surface. No longer could he find sanctuary in a place so terribly hot and miserable, fearing that an adventurer or Dwarf assassins will come slay what remained of his people. Thus, he laid down arms and took up becoming a humble merchant, living quietly and waiting patiently.

What he was exactly waiting for...he didn't know at the time.

But after you somehow found his little shop, checked on him after a fight with one such Dwarf, and presented him with the void ghost pendant....he finally realized what he wanted all along.

Companionship.

Something that he didn't expect to find in a human, of all creatures.

Yet on that fateful day, things changed for him yet again.

They were bigger, better, and the type of change that he needed for so long.

He never thought you'd like him as a housemate. After all, his existence alone was frightening to humans. He thought his wares would creep you out, or his strange habit of eating all the houseflies. He thought he'd be a burden on days where he wanted to help around your farm, but the humidity wasn't quite right and the air was a tad bit too dry for his skin. And he was convinced that touching your chickens and slimes would infect them with void energy and "ruin" Yoba's image of them.

There was even a time when he stood in front of your grandpa's shrine the night he moved in, asking aloud if he'd approve of this "living arrangement".

A year later, you two were still happily together, on the eve of the Winter Star festival, searching for the perfect crocus to put into his room's garden pot.

How he managed to order that online on your farm computer was beyond you..although he did mention Dwarf lending him a manual on how to operate such a device.

It seems they were finally willing to put the past behind them, albeit at no point did they ever mention fully forgiving each other, which was understandable.

"May I?" Bringing out the hoe, you looked to Krobus, who nodded and quietly shuffled away from the worms. You scraped the ground with your tool, unearthing-

"Another creepy doll, great.." You picked up the dirty, snow-covered toy. Its blue shirt and brown pants had only a few tiny tears in them, and the beady black eyes were seemingly staring into your soul. "Why do the people in this town leave these everywhere? Is it some ritual for them to be buried around the valley and found years later?"

"Hmm..I couldn't tell you." The shadow monster chuckled a little. "But they do bear resemblance to the dolls Dwarves have made for their children. Maybe they'd appreciate it as a gift......or it may be a grim reminder of what they've lost in the war..." His curl drooped a little.

"I gave them a green doll once, and they liked it. So it could be a good gift." You placed the doll in your bag, before turning back to Krobus. "Speaking of which...we could try attending the feast together. You could come in your usual disguise and-"

"I can't."

"......"

"Sorry, that sounded harsher than I intended." He meekly spoke, looking down at the snowy ground. "But going to the movies with you was nerve-wracking enough. Some of your friends were there..watching me, wondering who I was. To attend a festival with all of their eyes on us...I...I'm just afraid. If the guild master spotted me.....oh, Yoba."

Unwilling to finish, Krobus shuddered and hugged his body self-consciously. But at that same moment, the wind picked up, making him shiver a little bit more.

It made you frown, wishing he didn't look so distressed...and cold.

Poor thing.

Then an idea sprung on you, and you realized you could solve one of those problems right now.

He heard rustling and looked up, confused as to why you were shrugging off your jacket. "Huh? Why are you shedding....?"

"It's cold, you should take my jacket." Smiling, you wrapped it around his shoulders, seeing that it didn't totally envelop his body like his trenchcoat disguise did.

Almost right away Krobus picked up familiar scents on it: horseradish and pumpkin. Two of his favorite things.

Despite the smells being pleasant, he was absolutely bewildered by your kind gesture--and it turned into grave concern as he noticed the goosebumps already forming on your arms and legs. "[Y/n], my people are used to temperatures of either extreme. But yours aren't..are you sure you don't need-?"

"Krobus, I think we can both agree that I'm not like most of "my people."" You laughed gently, shaking your head. "I've worked outside on the hottest summer days and the coldest winter nights. I've been inside the ice castle of the mines and at the top of the volcano dungeon. This cold doesn't bother me anymore. I'm wearing shorts for Yoba's sake. I'll survive without my jacket for a few minutes as long as it helps you feel better. Is it...helping you?"

"...as a matter of fact, this does help. Thank you, my friend." He smiled back, feeling more at ease knowing you weren't gonna freeze to death at his expense. "I'll admit that the warm sewers have made me less accustomed to the chill of winter, but when it comes around..I try to sneak outside as often as I can."

"Maybe one day, you won't have to sneak around anymore, and everyone here can see you've been a great roommate of mine." Patting his head with your gloved hand, you chuckled as he perked up. "And...hopefully our blacksmith can stop asking me to beat up your skeleton friends. I'm starting to think he's running into them on purpose."

"It sickens me how many times I've seen that advertisement." He scowled. "The Skeletons don't make the mines dangerous...it's their home! They just want to be left in peace, with the riches they've guarded in life and now guard in death." Then he relaxed his shoulders, looking to you. "Thank you for not accepting anymore of his contracts."

"Of course, but..what about the wizard's contracts? I had to put some Ghosts to rest because he claims they're "upsetting the balance of the elements". I know they must be your friends, too."

"That's different..if an overabundance of creatures threaten to upset the elements, then they should be taken care of." Krobus nodded, still looking rather grim. "It's unpleasant, but necessary to ensure one species doesn't dominate the rest. Killing monsters so it's "safer" to strip the mines for gold and gems...is not necessary."

"I see." You nodded, looking around and spotting a nearby holly on the ground. Picking it up, you smiled and showed it to him, hoping to lighten the mood. "Another human tradition during this season involves holly. We hang it above our doorsteps, and whoever is under it should kiss. But...I don't think people in this town are familiar with it."

"Ah, how fascinating..." He looked at the plant in your hands, watching you stow it away into your backpack. "I never knew so much about humans until you came along, [y/n]."

"There's a lot to us. We're a..very complex species." You shrugged, before checking the time and realizing it was almost midnight. "Shoot. We should head back soon. I still gotta find something for my secret gift-giver."

"Maybe I can help you." He offered. "It's the least I could do, since I sadly cannot attend."

"I would enjoy it more if you could come, but I'll bring you back some pumpkin pie. And maybe we could...do our own little secret gift-giving?"

"That would be wonderful." Krobus beamed, feeling you wrap your hand around his clawed one, huddling close as you both headed back to the farmhouse..

Your home, which was now his home as well.

He thanked Yoba everyday that he got to share it with you.

[mika-no-sekai-blog]

Mirror, Mirror

Word count: 3700+

Warnings: dark, unhappy ending, mentions of blood, wound, masturbation, depression (?), maybe bit of obsession - I can't think of anything else, so let me know if there is something

This was on my mind for quite some time and I was debating with myself if I should write it or let it go, but why not to write it. I admit, it's little bit too dark even for me and I really hate to torture my sweetheart Azriel, but maybe there is somebody who will like it. Hopefully next time I will get some nice, sweet idea instead, because he really doesn't deserve this

All started just by an accident. Azriel was passing a small mirror in his room when he noticed something bright out of the corner of his eye that definitely didn't belong there. He returned few steps back to look in the mirror properly this time, just to find out it wasn't some kind of a random illusion. It was really there.

He was looking into a delicately furnished bright bedroom that was nothing like his dark one. As he looked around he noticed somebody small curled up in a ball, resting on the bed. He carefully touched mirror's surface with tips of his fingers. He didn't know what exactly he expected, maybe he merely hoped for some kind of a portal to another world, but he was disappointed to find out it's just a normal, ordinary mirror.

The person moved, slowly sitting up on the bed and stretching out arms above her head. She stood up and sleepily walked to the mirror. Her beauty stoke him straight to the heart, making him forget how to breathe. She stepped to the mirror and Azriel backed further to his dark room afraid she would catch him stalking on her and freak out. But she didn't seem to see anything except of her own reflection.

He leaned back to the mirror admiring her beautiful features. But in the moment he raised his hand to touch her, caress her, the scene disappeared and instead he was staring at his own reflection. Disappointed he shut his mouth which he had to open at some point. All excitement suddenly faded away, leaving him with painfully throbbing heart. Who was she? Where was she? He wanted to know more about her, but no matter how long he gazed into the mirror, the vision wouldn't return. After few minutes he gave up and left.

Since that day every time he was passing by mirror, hope raised in his chest and he had to check it out. He became so obsessed, that everybody had noticed his strange behaviour and Cassian wouldn't stop making jokes about his 'sudden narcissism', but Shadowsinger didn't care. The beautiful girl occupied his mind 24 hours a day even though he tried to stop thinking about her. After few days he was really frustrated.

"Why did you show me that girl if you planned to never let me see her again?" Azriel punched the frame of mirror in his room so hard that it almost broke. "How am I suppose to find her now? I have no idea who she is or where she lives. I want to see her again. I have to."

Shadowsinger abruptly turned around and ran fingers through his silky dark hair, closing his eyes to calm down. He felt so silly behaving like this because of some stranger he saw only for a minute or two. Decided to put the mirror away, he turned back to it. His mouth fell open and eyes widened as soon as he spotted that bright room again.

Surprised he took the mirror to his scarred hands and sat down on the edge of the bed. Quickly he looked around that bedroom, but the girl was nowhere to be seen. He sighed in disappointment, but he decided to seize the opportunity and take better look around.

The bedroom was furnished with light coloured wood furniture with touch of white. There was a massive bookcase full of books, next to it stood beige armchair with fluffy white pillow. Sheets on the bed were also in beige and white colours.

Opposite the mirror on the left side of the bed there was a big window and curtains were open. But the sight it offered was totally unfamiliar to him. He had never seen such high and tasteless grey buildings and neon billboards. His brows furrowed in even bigger frustration. This definitely wasn't world he lived in. His hope went out like a burnt candle.

Azriel jumped up and the mirror almost fell out of his hands when the girl appeared in front of it. He didn't hear her to come, but when he thought about it he didn't hear any noises now nor before.  

The girl sat down in front of the mirror and spreading some cosmetics around she started putting makeup on. He watched her with interest, examining her features closely. Her face seemed to be even more beautiful than he remembered.

“Who are you?” Azriel whispered to himself, with pain in his deep voice. “Where are you? How to get to you?” He gritted his teeth. For moment he considered to put the mirror down because what's the point of watching such beauty when he couldn't get close to her and make her his. But he couldn't take eyes off of her. This had to be some sort of spell.

He kept watching her, jumping from one mirror surface to another. He wasn't sure how it worked, but he felt so peaceful and relaxed while watching her prepare meals, go for a walk, read and paint that he didn't want to stop.

She had to be an artist just like Rhys' mate. Feyre was one of the best artists he knew, but this girl.. Her paintings were so realistic, so lively as if they were about to start breathing and moving around at any moment. He had never seen such kind of art. It was mesmerizing.

Azriel completely lost track of time and before he knew, he spent entire day watching her in the mirror. She stood up, putting paint brushes aside and he followed her as she moved to the bathroom. She began preparing the bath and while water was running, she washed off makeup and started to undress. Blushing Azriel put the mirror down. But even though the heat was consuming his cheeks he couldn't stop peeking at it. He bit down on his lower lip so hard he drew blood. Closing eyes he sighed deeply and picked up the mirror once again.

The girl was already in bathtub so far away from the mirror that he couldn't see more than her head and shoulders. However they disappeared, too, as the mirror in her bathroom fogged up. His shoulders slumped as he released the breath he didn't know he was holding.

'What a pity,' he thought ashamed. Shadowsinger forced himself to put the mirror away, placing it downwards on the nightstand and stretched on the bed. He felt excited and tired at the same time. His thoughts were still swirling around the girl until his pants began to feel too tight. He tried to resist his needs, but it only got worse. Reluctantly Azriel reached down, squeezing and fisting his cock until he found release. However it wasn't enough and he had to repeat it several times to feel completely satisfied. And only then he was able to finally fall asleep, dreaming about her.

A week passed while Azriel stayed shut in his room, holding the mirror and watching the girl day and night. He became obsessed with her. More he watched her, more he needed. He longed to touch her, to speak with her. He wanted to bring her to Velaris, show her his world while spoiling her and loving her. If she asked him to fall to his knees to the dirt and worship her, he would gladly do so. His heart ached so much, he choked, unable to breath without her properly.

A knock sounded on the doors. Azriel's shadows twisting around his arm whispered to his ear that it's Cassian. Again. He and Rhysand were trying to find to him. Cassian stopped at his door several times a day, but when no answer came from inside he eventually left. Rhys' claws were rubbing against his mental shields, at first just asking, but now demanding to let him in. Azriel didn't want to talk with them nor see them.

This time Cassian was more persistent and knocked again. Azriel ignored him, watching as the girl sat down to her lunch. Meal she prepared looked so delicious that he wanted to devour it all.

“What are you doing here?” Cassian was standing in open door, leaning against the frame with arms crossed on his chest. He looked irritated and worried at the same time. “Disappearing like this without a single world. Can you imagine how worried we all are. We were looking for you everywhere. Can you explain why you didn't answer me before? Or why you ignore Rhysand?”

“I have something important to do,” Azriel snarled back at him. “Get out, Cassian.”

“And can you tell me what is so important that you sit closed in your room and ignore our every attempt to contact you?”

“That doesn't concern you. It's my private thing. I have right to have some privacy and life out of the family. And now leave me alone.”

“Hey, bro,” Cassian sighed and tried to be nicer. “Have you even seen yourself? You look horrible. What's wrong? Something happened? Is it some girl? C'mon, talk to me.”

“There's nothing to talk about. Just leave me alone.”

Cassian gritted his teeth, his fingers curled into fists. “As you wish. You know where to find us when you decide to get out of here,” he muttered, visibly pissed off and left slamming the door behind.

Azriel exhaled, putting the mirror aside he leaned against the headboard and closed his eyes. He felt like a stranger in his own body. What's wrong with him? Why he couldn't stop thinking about the girl? Why he couldn't stop watching her? Nothing made sense to him.

That evening standing in bathroom Azriel was brushing his teeth while watching the girl getting ready for bed in the mirror above the sink. Suddenly girl raised her hands up in defense, her face a picture of dread. She backed into the corner closer to the mirror. A man with knife in hand came into view. Azriel instantly stopped everything he was doing, his nails dug into the mirror's frame.

“No,” he hissed through clenched teeth. He was immediately consumed by fury. If he could he would fly in there and kill that man right there on the spot without mercy. But he couldn't and that enraged him even more. A lump formed in his throat as the man got closer to the girl and stabbed her to her abdomen.

“No!” he bellowed, but that was the only thing he could do. The girl fell down to the floor with her back leaning against the mirror. Azriel pressed both of the hands to the mirror, desperately wanting to catch her, to get her to safety. “Please, let me in. Don't make me watch her die before my eyes. Please.. please..” he pleaded with the mirror, pushing against its cold surface.

Surprisingly the mirror gave in and Azriel's fingers dipped into something similar to cold thick liquid. So thick he had to push with all his strength to get through it. Finally his fingers touched still warm soft flesh. He gritted his teeth and pushed even more against the resistance of mirror until his arms were wrapped around girl's waist. Getting her to his side was even harder. His legs were slipping on the smooth stones of the floor, so he pressed one of them against the sink and continued pulling. Slowly, very slowly her body began to emerge from the mirror's surface. She groaned and hissed in pain.

“I'm so sorry. Just hold on a little longer,” he growled through gritted teeth. Finally her entire body got to his side and both of them collapsed to the floor. Azriel groaned in pain when she fell onto him. Without wasting more time he swiftly laid her down to check her.

The girl was unconscious and the blood rushed from her wound already creating a small pool beneath her, but she still breathed.  Azriel took two towels, pressing one to the bleeding wound and using the other one to secure it in place. Carefully he quickly lifted her up in his arms and rushing to the closest balcony he flew out. As soon as he got out of the wards around the House of Wind he winnowed straight to Madja's house.

Petite female jumped up when he so suddenly appeared in the middle of her living room, but when she saw the girl in his arms with blood soaking through towels, she immediately guided him to small medical room attached to her house. Azriel laid girl down on the bed.

“She is human and already lost too much of blood,” he said breathlessly still recovering from fight with the mirror and the fall.

Madja just nodded, hands full of bandages and tinctures as she returned to the bed. She put it all down on small table next to the bed and pulled girl's shirt up. Azriel watched as she cleaned the wound and stitched girl up without asking where he found her or what happened. When she was done she poured some medicine to the glass and made the girl to drink it.

“She should be fine for now, although the wound will take some time to heal. I will give you a tea to relieve the pain and medicaments for blood supplemental and..  anti-inflammatory. She needs to take it four times a day. Because of the massive blood loss, she will feel dizzy and cold. Make sure she is warm and drinks enough,” she instructed him while she was preparing vials with medicine and pack with tea to which she attached all necessary instructions.

It took entire week until the girl woke up and became able to sit up for a while. During the whole time Azriel had never left her side. Every time she shivered with cold even though the House heated Azriel's room so much it was almost unbearable, he scooped her into a tight hug wrapping his wings around them, hoping his bodyheat would warm her up. Thankfully it really worked.

There in the dim light getting through the membrane of his wing, he told her about himself, his family, the city and this world, even about the mirror and watching her. She couldn't respond with more than a light press of her fingers to his arm, but he knew she was listening to him.

Meanwhile his shadows were lurking around, afraid to touch her with their cold fingers, bringing in whatever they needed. They also made sure there was always hot tea on the nightstand.

Azriel let his brother in and told him what happened. At first Rhysand was really angry and gave him a long speech, but together with Cassian and Feyre they made sure to stop by several times a day to check on them.

Soon enough healthy colour returned to girl's face and she became strong enough to leave bed. Every day Azriel took her on a short walk around the House. And as she grew stronger, he began to take her down to the city showing her around. She was all smiley and cheerful, looking around in amaze and Azriel loved to watch it. He loved her so much there weren't enough sufficient words to describe the depth of his feelings. Seeing her good mood he felt like smiling, too, and often he really did. He didn't mind even her touch. He craved it and sought for it.

Despite his fear that she would mind touch of his scarred hands, the girl always leaned into it, seeking him just as much as he did. She would hold his hand, fingers entangled together, lightly tugging on it when she spotted something new or interesting. He offered her to move to own room, but to his delight she decided to stay in his, snuggling to his side every night. They grew together and lived as any couple in love would, because they were the couple deeply in love.

Azriel tried to learn something about her, but no matter how many times she tried, no voice came out. Even Madja couldn't find out the cause and fix it. The girl tried to write her answers, but every time she picked up the pen, she froze on the spot, blankly gazing on the sheet of paper in front of her, unable to write a single letter down. It was too frustrating for both of them, so they stopped trying it and rather enjoyed each other.

Despite this she still could paint and she did. Her paintings were just as beautifully surreal and so alive like before and even better. They were full of light and colours, sometimes capturing scenes she saw in the city.

However most of her pictures captured Azriel in different moments. Looking at them he felt like he was looking in the mirror. Very strange mirror. He recognized himself, but at the same time it was hard to believe it's him. Azriel on the pictures looked so handsome, happy, relaxed and attractive, everything the real Azriel had never associated with his person. It was hard to look at those paintings, but even harder was to not to look. This is what she sees when she looks at you, his shadows whispered and hearing those words his heart even more swelled up with love.

Everything seemed to be like a perfect dream. Azriel was happy, too happy. It was too good to be real. For some reason he expected something to happen. And it really did.

Two weeks after she got well, she began to change. At first it was hard to notice it. She would stop for a moment, her gaze grew distant and smile disappeared. But as soon as he asked what's wrong, she returned to her usual self and shaking head she smiled.

Another week later he found her looking longingly in the mirror. It seemed she was in some kind of trance, her hand reaching up and slowly moving to its surface. Feeling a sudden anxiety Azriel ran to her and tugging her to tight embrace he turned her back to the mirror. It took few seconds until she recovered. She seemed to be disoriented, having no idea what she was doing. Since then Azriel watched her more closely. He was afraid that she would return to her world, if she touched the mirror. Just in case, he put all mirrors in his room away and asked even House to do the same with the rest.

But everything got just worse. Day after day she was becoming sadder, her healthy colour was fading away before Azriel's eyes. Eventually she lost her appetite and turned into a ghost, too weak to stand up from bed. Nobody knew what was wrong with her. Madja gave her some medication, but it didn't work at all. Azriel stayed with her day and night, pressing her to his body and telling her stories. He felt so helpless. He wanted to scream to the world and beg Mother and all gods whose names were forgotten to help them, to save her.

Once in the middle of the night Azriel sat on the bed with sleeping girl curled on his chest. Lately she mostly just slept. His fingers were shaking as he lightly caressed her along the spine, his nose pressed to the crook of her neck. Inhaling her fading sweet scent he silently cried. She was so weak. His head already knew what his heart refused to admit. These were last moments they had.

A silent knock sounded on the doors and Rhysand peeked inside. His brows furrowed when he saw them. “May I?” Azriel just nodded, his eyes still closed as another tears ran down his cheeks. Rhysand came to the bed, sat down on its edge and squeezed his brother's shoulder.

“I met with Helion.. I'm sorry.. He can't do anything for her,” Rhysand said in grave voice. Azriel just nodded. He already knew it. “Helion also shares my opinion. I'm really sorry for what I'm about to say.. it isn't easy, you know.. but we both agreed that she most likely needs to return.. back to her world..”

Azriel shook his head and more tears fell from his eyes. “I was thinking about it too.. and came to the same conclusion.. but I just can't..” he sobbed, his voice failing him. “I can't let her go.. I can't live without her.. I don't want to..”

“I know,” Rhysand squeezed his shoulder. “Nobody wants her to go.. but it's for her own good..” Azriel didn't answer, instead he held the girl tighter. Rhysand watched him for a while, trying to soothe his pain.

The dawn was coming. Girl's breath became shallow. It were her last moments. The both of them knew it.

“Do you want me to do it?” Rhysand asked gently. Azriel just silently nodded. A tall mirror appeared right next to the bed. Holding the girl Azriel stood up in front of it. He looked at her face for the last time. He kissed her with all his love, bidding his last goodbye to her.

“Please, let her return back,” he sobbed, voice full of raw pain. “Let her get well.. Let her live...”

Mirror's surface rippled in answer. Azriel took girl's hand and pressed it to the mirror. She melted away like a morning mist and Azriel remained standing there empty-handed. Scream full of pain broke through his pursed lips and he fell to his knees. Rhysand was immediately there, enclasping Azriel's shaking shoulders. With his free hand he stroked his back.

Meanwhile the girl on the other side sat up. She was pale, but instantly she felt much better and stronger. She looked around in confusion, recognizing her old bedroom. She was back in her world.

Quickly she turned to the mirror behind her and her nails dug into its frame. Instead of her reflection she could see a broken man with wings kneeling on the floor. Azriel was looking back at her, tears rolling down his cheeks while Rhysand next to him was trying to calm him down. She shook her head and tears wet her cheeks. That was the last time she could see him. The mirror rippled and all she could see after that was her own reflection.

“Goodbye, my angel,” she whispered feeling his taste mixed with salty tears on her lips and crying she curled into a ball on the floor.

[riddler-green]

I fell in love with your writing omgg:0 so Edward finds out that the person he likes (with whom he is obsessed lmao) is a fan of riddler and even has a crush on him 9v9

Te observo.

Summary: Edward discovers that you are a follower of his alter ego.

A/n: hheeeeeeeey hi! how are you?? after a long pause I'm back! in Mexico it's semana santa holidays! sooo I finally have time to catch up with the requests! besides, yesterday I sprained my ankle but that gives me more time to write and I'll be better soon. (´ ε ` )♡

by the way i hope you like it! and thank you very much for the request! I think I got carried away so I'm sorry if it's not what you expected. (*^.^*)

warning: swearing, obsessive behavior, Fluff!

Words: 3,800

Edward played with one of his feathers, pressing the feather spring to relax from his growing anxiety. He knows that looking at you for a long time is strange but he can't stop doing it. From the first time he saw you, he was completely immobile with wonder, every day he delighted in seeing you. He thought you never knew of his existence, because despite being co-workers and practically working in similar jobs, he was too shy to even speak to you, so he assumed you never even glanced at him. In his mind, he had these innocent little fantasies that someday you would pay attention to him and he would gladly see you without guilt or looking like a freak. But he is a coward, a man who fears what he already knows will happen at some point.

That's why he doesn't try, he doesn't want to face that rejection that already hangs on his forehead, yet he still thinks of you, even in his dreams you appear as a sweet reminder of his memory. He sighs with love for the mere fact that you existed. 

"Hey, I need this document by Monday" Zach interrupts his admiration with an authoritative voice, Edward coughs falsely to distract himself from the fact that he was watching you instead of working "yeah, um, of course" he replies to Zach and the man in the blue suit out of his sight without saying goodbye.

Edward contemplates the files in his hands, sheets after sheets of payrolls that in a couple of hours, he would solve all, back in his mind he wonders if you like numbers too, well, it's not like he could ask you, he arranged the files in alphabetical order and before he started working a scream stops him.

"It's official!" a voice Edward doesn't know speaks again, when he turns to see who it is he looks at a human rights employee pasting a sign on the bulletin board "It is officially forbidden to talk about The Riddler and The Batman!" The employee speaks loudly drawing the attention of the other employees, others ignore him but saw the sign, and others stared at him still processing the news.

Edward gasped, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry, did they just ban them from his office? He does not know how to take it, is he considered a danger to the company? His face does not reflect the emotion he keeps inside, Batman and he have taken relevance in the city, as new icons of justice, although the Riddler remains a sensitive issue for many.

"May I know the reason?" he flinched at the sound of your voice, he saw your figure approach the statement already taped to the board and you examined it completely, uh, that surprised Edward, as far as he remembers you were always a model employee, you don't generate problems, your sign in and out sheet is flawless (it's not like he's seen it) your documents are just as good, but seeing you now he worries, why are you angry?

Edward watches as you chat with the human resources employee, apparently not a pleasant chat, as you return to your seat with an angry look on your face. He can't take his eyes off your scowl until you turn up to type something on your computer.

Edward sighs, so many repressed things he has inside his being and unfortunately, it's not something he can get it out, the love he has for you is one of those things he can't undo (he doesn't want to), as for him, it feels like a small stain on his office.

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"Damn KMTJ, don't they know they are doing them a favor?" you whisper to yourself angrily, abruptly typing the last report of the day, there was no need to forbid talking about a certain topic, you stopped typing for a moment. 

Remember the first time you saw him, your idol, yes, that's right, your idol. If someone found out that you were part of that select radical group of Riddler's followers they would probably send you on an all-expense paid trip straight to Arkham, but do you care? No, honestly no, the admiration you have for the masked man is something genuine and devoted. In the past you only engaged with him, you only had ears to hear about events happening in the city and you couldn't agree more, his speeches moved you so much that you never missed any of his videos, and you even participated in some clandestine demonstrations with the significant question mark sign.

Until one day he unknowingly broke your heart.

You stared at the monitor screen as you remembered the precise moment when your heart broke in two, those seconds when The Riddler declared in one of his lives, that he fell in love.

You cried that day and the day after that, and the day after that, your life turned into a mess for the simple fact that you Riddler already set your eyes on someone else. In your darkest thoughts, you wanted that person to reject him or disappear from his life, even though you wouldn't stand a chance anyway.

But then came another problem named Edward Nashton.

The first thing you saw in him was his sad eyes covered by the lenses of his glasses, such melancholic eyes that you only wanted to give him affection and love. But then you notice that glow in his person, a shy and helpful glow that at all costs wants to help others, a caring soul that does his job excellently and brilliantly since then Edward flits through your mind as a reassurer of the suffering that the Riddler left you.

But still, you didn't dare to talk to him, when you watched him walk in the door in the mornings you shrank back in cowardice, you didn't want to suffer another brutal rejection from someone else, oh please Edward must already have a bunch of suitors, you crudely think starting to work again to distract yourself from your frustrating love life.

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One day, Edward received a message from his computer specially made for his other job, a homemade laptop with other computer parts, and a private message from his forum as it happened every day.

>> Hi! This, um, Mr.Riddler I admire your mission and your vision of what you want for this city, I know you probably don't know me but I just want to say that I want to be a part of your mission toward a safer Gotham for the future.

Edward's first impression from you is a, mmhm, another message from a random supportive follower, he noticed another message in the inbox.

>> Extraclassified Documents.zip 

>> I got this information for you, I don't doubt you are a great hacker to find this information on your own, but um, I just want to help you.

>>I swear, this is official information.

>>From KMTJ.

What?

Edward was puzzled when he read the final message. Maybe it was his imagination playing a joke on him, maybe he was too tired from the hours he hasn't slept but he was sure he read it right.

>>From KMTJ.

>>From KMTJ.

>>From KMTJ.

Fuck, is that what he thinks it is? He opens the document and it is what the file name says, it's not a virus as he expected, it's case files that have to do with the renovation, signed by Mr. stone, his fucking boss.

Edward turns away from the screen extremely surprised and puts his hands to his head touching his hair, a mole, there's a mole in his company and damn it, he's helping him.

He tries to figure out who it could be from his colleagues, these files are only possessed by the accountants in his section, which is almost a dozen people including you. He thinks of random names and shakes his head, no one in his office has shown empathy for his alter ego, so, it probably must have been another hacker who wants to help him.

He scratches his neck nervously, this puts him on edge because when he looks at the documents his follower gave him he notices the signatures of all his classmates, including his and yours.

Ha, ironically he thinks how nice your signature and his would look on a marriage certificate.

He leans back in the seat re-reading the documents, should he take this as a threat to his identity? No, he protects all his data like gold, this is probably a coincidence. But then an uncomfortable feeling arises in him, you are also included in these files, and your identity could be at risk.

He types heavily on his computer trying to find out the data of the follower who gave him all this, but he found nothing, a fake VPN, fake data, his follower is smart, mmm, not bad.

How did you get this?

His follower responded at that instant.

>> I...

>>I work there.

Holy cow, his head explodes with anxiety, but little by little he becomes proud of the influence his words have on others, he is not as alone as he expected. 

>>? who are you?

He didn't think when he wrote that, silly Edward, do you think he will answer you, obviously his follower didn't answer.

Edward started printing the newly discovered files while contemplating the board above him, so many things were put on that board it was hard to concentrate on one, he saw the pictures of the corrupt he killed and the next ones on his list, he sees the pictures of Batman and he also sees your pictures, he put them in his work center to calm down when he had seizures. 

Oh, he doubts you'll notice him someday, but dreaming is free.

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Mr. Stone kept a straight face stroking his beard and looking at the leaves in front of him, Zach, Edward, and you waited patiently for him to say his next orders, Edward started sweating from nerves and shyness, as he stood next to you the whole moment he was almost sure he could smell you and god, you smell so good.

"The Riddler has been a kick in the ass for this company" stated Mr.Stone rudely turning his eyes away from the sheets to focus on the three standing behind his large desk "You are the best accountants we have in the section, tell me how the Riddler could have so much information on the renovation?" Mr. Stone asked the air and Edward swore he was already shaking, easily excused but all this overwhelmed him, the hard look of his boss, you being so close to him, he can't stand it.

"Thank you for your confidence sir, but believe me I have no idea how that happened" Zach opines smoothing his blue suit, and Mr.Stone does not respond.

"The Riddler is smart sir" you started to speak and Edward turned around surprised by what you said "I fully understand that you think there is a mole in our company, but most likely the mole has infiltrated our system" you explain formally and Edward gawks at what you say You think The Riddler is smart? That strokes his ego.

Mr. Stone takes a moment to respond, he sighs tiredly leaning back in his chair "Yeah that's the same thing I thought, I just wanted to know what you guys think" Mr.stone started to speak again but Edward had already disconnected from reality by then, you flattered him, well, you flattered the Riddler and that makes his cheeks heat up. 

Edward knows he's getting closer and closer to the mole, it's not Zach, he barely knows it's a prime number, however you...

Hahahaha, no.

You came out of your thoughts when you heard Mr. stone say goodbye to the three of you, Zach came out of the office first with phone in hand to call someone as soon as he left, the second to leave was you, with your head held high and making Edward admire you closely, you turned to see him when he closed the door of Mr. stone's office.

"Hey, Edward, right?" you raise your hand in greeting and he quickly accepts "um, yeah, it's me" he clarifies nervously but was glad he didn't look stupid when you spoke to him.

"Do you have any idea who it could be? You know..." you start walking and Edward follows your step listening carefully to what you are going to say "the mole?" you finish your question going down step by step towards the first floor, the glasses man takes his moment to answer "I don't know who it is" he finds it very intriguing as with Mr. Stone you said it was probably someone else in the company but now you ask him this and it only confuses him more.

"Me neither but" you chuckle, maybe lying to your office crush is harder than your boss, you stop looking at Edward, "I think it's a one-time thing" you assure returning to your seat before waving goodbye to him "See ya, Eddie."

He doesn't say anything, but it's impossible not to hear how his heart beats, he was probably having a heart attack or he gets nervous next to you, but hey! You don't think he's a freak.

That's fine with him.

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Edward doubted what he is doing right now, he knows it is wrong, and he knows that anyone could come and catch him looking at the file history in his own office. But really, his curiosity gnaws at him, that feeling that won't let him sleep, there is a follower near him but he doesn't know him nor he follower him, if only he could know, who is helping him?

With the lamp on his phone, he lit up the file history sheet, on that sheet he saw all the company's files, who requests them, what documents were requested, and when they are requested in the pile of file cabinets that are used to store information for generations, he managed to find with a little effort, he saw the last person who entered and left the file room.

It was you.

What?

He almost dropped the phone in shock, he laughed with hesitation, this couldn't happen, you, the mole?

No, this cannot be true.

He read your name again and even saw your signature. You came to that place the same day the information was sent to him. He took a picture of the sheet and quickly started saving evidence that he was there.

It has a lot to think about.

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Edward slammed his door shut, his raincoat barely left him dry as his hair got wet from the rain, he didn't mind the wet feeling on his body, living in Gotham has gotten him used to rainwater not bothering him, he must admit he is in a state of euphoria still, all the way from KMTJ he kept stopping at what he discovered, he kept repeating himself and it didn't tire him, this was better than winning the lottery in his opinion. He could easily shout from the rooftops that he knows he exists and not only that, you also support The Riddler. He had no idea how to continue, yes, you want him, but do you want Edward Nasthon, the other half of him?

It frustrates him, it frustrates him too much when he doesn't know the missing piece of his mental puzzle, in this instance what do you think of him. should he move forward as Edward? should he move forward as The Riddler? He doesn't know what to decide.

He could go on for hours thinking about those little details so he won't end up ruining anything, he took off his blue raincoat and placed it on his chair, he needs to work, someday he will come up with an answer but he needs to get organized. 

You are one of his followers, you, the person he admires from afar every day and feels fulfilled when you smile, you understand it too, you are smarter than many think.

He wrote down everything he had in mind on a whiteboard, brainstorming helps him decide on something.

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You yawned as you took a seat in your work cubicle, it was the first hour of the day and you wanted to go home, to re-watch the recent video of the Riddler, but you need to work, those donations you make are not free.

but before you could start working a card appeared in your files, a green card, you grabbed the card and picked it out, and hid it in your lap to read the contents.

I know who you are, I know you helped me, find me and you will know who I am.

My goodness gracious, it's a miracle you didn't feel a heart attack from whatever is going on, there is no doubt this letter is from your Riddler, you hold the urge to scream from the rooftops that he will deem you worthy of his attention, he wants you to meet him!!!! 

What has hands, but can't clap?

You read the riddle in the letter, written in the same alphabet he invented, and left messages to his followers with that same code.

On the other hand, Edward spies on you from his cubicle covering his smile with his clasped hands, he didn't know how to tell you that he knew, so he planned to let you know with riddles, his specialty. watch you get up from your seat to look for the object of the riddle.

Let the treasure hunt begin!

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There were many clocks in the office, and you inspect them all, from the receptionist's clock to the desk clock your cubicle neighbor has, until you find a new clue on the second-floor clock, the one outside Mr. Stone's entrance. you looked behind the clock and found a note.

 What kind of mail can a mouse send?

You laughed at the response. You grabbed the note and ran back to your desk, went to your work email, and found a new message from an unknown email address.

I am close to you

but I know you don't know the truth

I am among your coworkers

and I know you can solve my clue

you look around for anyone looking at you, but everyone seems absorbed in whatever it is they're working on, you go back to focusing on the message.

What can you catch, but not throw?

this riddle is a little hard for you to figure out, what it has to do with the office, until the light bulb in your head goes on, from afar Edward sees you approaching the cubicle of the coworker who missed today because he has a cold.

you are happy to see another note under your co-worker's keyboard, you take the note and go back to your desk, you thought that this search will be more difficult or more dramatic, but you are having a lot of fun, even though you may be in a state of danger.

last riddle, but I haven't finished

look for me where the cleaning is located, even if it's narrow I keep a lot of things.

You raise an eyebrow - the cleaning room? Is that what he means? Without a doubt the answer, you quietly make your way to the elevator, looking for the cleaning room.

Edward gets up from his seat and heads for the elevator as well, waiting until you've already left to look for you.

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Edward clenched his hands looking at the door of the cleaning room, he was almost a minute daring to come in to see you, but he is still anxious, too nervous to even be surprised, you love the riddler, but will you be disappointed if he were him? would you tell on him and leave him alone? would you be ashamed?

In his mind, he convinces himself that you are not like that, that you will love him as he is.

but he doubts it.

On the other side of the door you are in complete darkness, standing in the middle of brooms and mops, with your nerves on edge you wait patiently for the person who sent you all those riddles, you smile remembering all the adventures you had to do to get here, you look for the light switch but with so much darkness you can't find it.

They open the door and you are instantly startled, you look at the person who opened the door, the light from outside made Edward look like an angel, someone so beautiful that you were fascinated to behold him. 

"Edward?" you ask confused but at the same time ecstatic, he gives you a nervous smile entering the small room and turning on the light switch. the room gave a yellowish glow and the light from the bulb is not that strong, but the warmth in the place made you more nervous. 

Edward stood at the other end of the room, across from you, as the room is small there is little space that separates you "umm... surprise!" Edward gives an unconvincing laugh, his already hot cheeks coy him, his cowardice starts to work and he doesn't know what to say. 

"you are?..." you don't finish your question, you slowly approach the bespectacled man, Edward starts sweating, feeling cornered he looks at the door he came through but you are so close to him that he can see the details of your face "It's you right?" you want to clarify one last time, he nods his head slowly and looking at you appreciatively.

you shout in joy, and in a fit of euphoria, you hug Edward "oh! it's you! it's you!" you repeat and move closer to him with the hug, the brown-haired man receives the hug in disbelief. 

"It's me!" he smiles accepting your affection, clinging in your arms to feel your presence and soothe him, but before he can get used to it you pull away from him to look him in the eyes "you did all that?" he didn't know what you meant but he agrees with you anyway "yes, I did".

"Oh, Edward!" you close your eyes hugging yourself again "I'm such a fool!" you exclaim with annoyance.

"Why do you say that?" he asks you surprised, for the first time he is so close to someone he is so comfortable in your arms. you laugh softly hugging him "there is a lot I have to tell you" you murmur to him, this was like winning the lottery, you dreamed of razing the riddler to death and then you started dreaming about Edward, but now you are with both of them, you feel that gratification of life.

"Okay" speaks Edward happily, the two continue to function, it doesn't matter that they are both in the small cleaning room, you forget everything else when you are with Edward, this situation feels so intimate and sweet that you just want to hug Edward.

It was worth the treasure hunt.

Edward closes his eyes to calm down and just focus on your touch, the insecurities that plagued him gone.

Thank you very much for reading! And sorry for the mistakes! *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧.

[nescaveckwriter]

Paintbrushes And Romance

Part 2 🥰

A/N: So excited for this, not sure how many part's there's going to be, but I'm sure excited to see where it goes... Embrace the journey with me .. 🐞🥰

Warnings:

The vibration and ringing of a phone breaks your concentration on this sketch, looking at the caller id, you smile, its your mom! Hey my dearest mommy bear, you jokingly answer, Hi my love, you hear your mom's kind voice on the other end, oh the love you have for her, she'll probably never realize, she has helped you overcome some difficult times in your life, honey, she says did you forget about meeting up with my friend for the mural piece she wants done? Comes the question, oh Shit! Mom I'm so sorry I got lost in this, well this piece I'm working on you say a blush creeping on your cheeks, I'll tell you all about it later, you always tell each other everything, I will be there in a little while mom , I promise you, sorry I totally forgot, regret clearly noticeable in your voice. Oh honey you are so forgetful, she says laughing a little, see you soon honey, be safe, love you. Love you too mom, see you in a few.

....

Black velvet from Alannah Myles, playing interrupts Dean and Sam talking about the case he can't seem to catch a break on. The music playing comes from the corner you sat in, wow okay, he said thinking that, classic rock didn't really suit the, softness and gentleness that you were beaming out, a smile tugging at his lips, you are quite interesting he thought to himself, seeing you packing all the stuff in your bags, he's heart sank a little , will it be the last time he ever saw you.

Seeing you stand, you must be about 5 foot 2 if he guessed, quite shorter than he'd expected, but adorable looking. You definitely carry yourself with confidence, but also not thinking too much of yourself, he is good at reading people but he can't quite put a finger on you. She's probably got some damn lucky guy in her life, he thinks to himself.

Usually he would go and chat you up a little, get your number, spend the night, but something tells him your not that kind. His thoughts get interrupted by two kids running into you, probably going to the playground he saw over there, waiting for you to freak out and get angry, but instead your voice sounds like honey , all while you ask them if they got hurt, your voice not high pitched or too low, just well just sweet, he'd probably listen to you talk all day not ever getting tired of how you sound. Watching you, sort off in a daze, Dean catches what looks like a sketching book, slightly showing what looks like a man's face, if he didn't know any better, he'd say it was him, ha! Yeah right she didn't even notice me, he thought to himself, while reading the title of a book lying on top of the sketch book "Burning Rose" author "lady bug" seems strange , dark cover with a red rose covered in flames, she quickly grabs everything, throws it in, and for a moment time stood still, you look up into his eyes, Dean could've sworn he was drowning in your eyes, he can't help it, with a smile as wide as the county he looked at her, seeing her cheeks, turning to a light rose color, she shyly smiles back, that gave Dean a glimpse of what heaven probably looks like. He wanted to get up say something, maybe even just kiss you right then and there, but you left, like a little hurricane out by the door, a hurricane he wouldn't mind being caught in, he thought to himself.

..........

You get out of the cab, at John, and Mary Winchesters home, humbly looking house but still big, amazing garden, this is so much fun, you love doing murals, feeling comfortable, walking in, You've been busy for almost a week with this piece, looking at the wall of the front entrance, its all coming together, the green of the leaves and the white of the magnolia flowers , complimenting the decor of, the entrance, filled with neutral tones aswell as splashes of dark green and bright yellow.

Good morning darling you hear a kind voice say, morning Mrs W, how are you doing this fine morning you ask cheerfully. Oh good dear, John had to go on a business trip again, so I have the house all to myself, she says, not looking really happy about it. I'm so sorry, why don't you and my mom go doing something fun, drink coffee, maybe even a bit of wine, just don't get to tipsy now, you say teasing her! Oh really honey, you hear your mom's voice behind you, tipsy, ha! We are classy ladies, we don't drink wine this early, but no one said there's something wrong with Irish coffee, you all three burst into laughter. Come on Mary lets leave her alone in her art world, while they walk out you hear your mom laughing and saying I love you honey, you too mom, you say while picking up the brushes you need and sticking it into the back pocket of your jeans , climbing up the ladder, already humming to whatever classic rock song is playing, into your earbuds, knowing this is what you are meant to do with your life.

..........

It's about three in the afternoon, and he still haven't returned the pastry dishes to his mom's house, damnit, like I have time for this, letting out an irritated sigh, driving into the drive way, with his black chevy impala, he'd name her baby, all while a song of Led Zeppelin is playing, he gets out, grabs the clean dishes out of the back seat, he walks towards the front entrance , puts down the dishes on the table right by the door way, looking at the picture in front of him, a woman standing on a ladder, hair braided loosely, with a black t-shirt and jeans on, covered in paint, humming and swaying to what sounds like a Bon Jovi song, while admiring the view, she loose her balance, tumbling down, Dean catches her, wide-eyed and confused she looked at him, its her, the coffee shop angel.

Fudgesticks up a fudge tree Dean hears her say, what? He looks at her while still holding her in his arms, the feeling of her so close to him its electrifying, oh sorry she says laughing a little, I try not too swear to much. Not making the effort to get out of his tight grip, he puts her down, seeing the black shirt she has on is a Guns n Roses paint splattered shirt. Well thanks for saving me from, ending up like humpty Dumpty she smiles. Oh my pleasure, he wanted to ask what's she's doing for the rest of her life, but his phone rang and he had to answer since he is the Sheriff of the town. Yeah, what is it he asks with the irritation back in his voice,? There's been another victim boss, says the young deputy, okay Jack I'm on my way, just hold on , he closes the phones speaker with one hand, looking at the beauty in front of him with paint all over her, even on her even on her face, all he can say is good day miss and he starts walking out the door, not waiting for a response.

.....

Arriving at the scene, there he sees it again, this damn killer is toying with them, its one big game to him, like a treasure map, they need to find, he placed the dismembered body all over, the dogs and coroner is already on scene, working. The almost gifted wrapped torso on the park bench. Dean is looking around the scene for clues as to how he chooses his victims, thinking, he doesn't have a specific type, so to say, some has light hair with light skin, some have dark hair with olive skin, its victim 8, its been 8 months since this case came to his attention, but still no clue, how he gets his victims, since he seems to toy with his victims for 3 to 4 weeks all sedatives maybe used, is already out of there system.

Waiting for the coroner, what seems like hours, he finally gets the call, Sheriff Winchester you can come and look at the body. Yeah on my way, before going in, Dean inhales a deep breath, not so much for the smell, but more for the courage to see another life taken, someone's, daughter, sister. He is a rough man, but sometimes the stuff what he sees can also take its affect on him. Shaking off whatever he just felt, walking in, he sees the women neatly placed on the cold steel table, every body part pieced together, looking at her face , she can't be older than 20-25 he thinks, while listening to the coroner telling him, how she has the rope burn bruises like all the other seven vics, the dismembering is clean, like it's done by a professional, no signs of sexual assault, the coroner goes on to say, she's been washed in some sort of alcohol almost like sanitizer to remove whatever traces of DNA there could've been. But I did find something odd by one of the cuts, the coroner said. Yeah well get to it doc, Dean says, okay jikes! Its another piece of meat, most likely beef, but its getting tested and I will let you know. Good, Dean said thanking the man, giving one last look of the woman lying there. Hell sometimes I hate this job.

....

The stars clearly visible in the dark skies, while sitting on his porch, whiskey on his breath, a worried look on his face, thinking about the day, the case, the parents of the woman he had to let know that they found their daughter, but she didn't make it, how they had to ID her and the damn tears and despair afterwards... Taking another sip of his whiskey, thinking about the coffee shop angel he saw again and how happy and carefree she is like she doesn't have a worry in the world , not a inch of sadness he detected in her eyes or her sweet honey filled voice.

Wondering why he haven't seen her around in this old town, contemplating what he already knows about her, she doesn't really like to be seen, she likes classic rock, she doesn't like swearing, clearly she likes fudge, and she must be an artist, he can't help it but he starts smiling when he remembers her laughter filling his ears, oh yes and she likes to read remembering the book he saw, quickly taking out his phone he does an internet search of this author "lady bug" three best selling novels, there's the one with the rose, he reads the review and then the ending, of the book because he ain't much of a reader so his not going to read the whole thing!

Wait, what! This book its, clearly one of those steamy romance books but its also a thriller, okay , she is something else, he reads the ending of the book again. "Like a burning rose he ignites your soul when his lips come crashing to yours, flames of passion dancing in your eyes, hands and body intertwined, his love for you burning away all the thorns of past heartbreaks and mistakes, knowing his touch is crumbling your walls and with the thought of knowing your safe with him, you give into the flames engulfing your soul."

[corawritesthings]

lock and key (pt. 1)

chishiya shuntaro x gender neutral!reader

disclaimer(s): spoilers for season 2 of aib!! canon-compliant violence, not graphic.

summary: you and chishiya, new to the waters of a relationship, find yourselves seeking shelter in the jack of hearts game after being attacked by the king of spades. 

a/n: FIRST FANFIC, HELLO? i’m planning on writing multiple parts for this one you guys, so let me know if you like!! (or if i should stick to headcanons...LOL) love you all xoxo

you didn’t quite know what to expect walking into the jack of hearts game.

hearts were your game. you were a hearts player, through and through. and yet you still couldn’t help the shiver that crawled up your spine as you and chishiya walked through the gates and let them close shut behind you.  

“not creepy at all,” you murmured sarcastically as the echo of the gates rung across the empty space.

he hummed; his amusement was evident in that smirk of his as you both stared up at the building. “can’t say i ever predicted a place like this being our new safe haven.”

“i think ‘safe haven’ is a bit of a stretch,” you said, raising an eyebrow. “let’s just see what happens.”  

the truth was, you were a little freaked. the king of spades’ sudden attack had you rattled, and prisons didn’t exactly scream safety to you. but, then again, neither did very much in this world. 

chishiya was eyeing you—something he did often, as if he were reading you like an open book. he always could read you, even back at the beach. it was something that had annoyed you at first, but you found it comforting in an odd way.

he sighed, then held out his hand towards you. an open gesture. it was sweet, you realized, that he was trying to offer you comfort at a time like this.

but, of course, you couldn’t make it too easy for him.

you stared at his hand and blinked, as if you had no idea what he was doing. “did you...want something?”

it caught him off guard—you could see it in the eyes, in the way he paused. it was as if a record scratched in his mind, and it took everything within you not to laugh at his reaction. still, he caught himself quickly. he took his hand back and put it in his pocket, turning away from you. was he embarrassed?

“no,” he denied coolly. “come on, already.”

he started walking away from you. you couldn’t help it—you busted out in a laugh. “hey! stop walking!” he stopped and turned to glare at you. you giggled as you held out your hand. “i was just messing with you. c’mon, give me your hand.”

“no.”

“please?”

“no.”

“i am in dire need of comfort. give it.”

chishiya made a show of rolling his eyes, but eventually gave in, reaching for your hand. your fingers entwined as they have a million times before.  

and so, together, you walked into the unknown.

-

twenty minutes later, you found yourselves in the middle of a prison walkway, collars wrapped around both of your necks. you’d spent the time watching the other players so far. some, like a strangely placid girl in a long blue dress, were calm and collected. others were panicking and sweating; the stress of the second stage must have already been getting to them, if they’d made it this far only to be this frightened.

still, you’d keep an eye on blue-dress girl.

finally, a man walked in, which alone wouldn’t have been much to catch your attention if he hadn’t been the last player necessary to register. that, and the way chishiya leaned in towards you the moment he caught sight of the man.

“that’s banda sunato,” he said, quietly. “a murderer they showed on the news. i heard he escaped, but i never thought he’d show up here.”

you tilted your head with a hum. at closer examination, there was something off about him. the way he carried himself, experienced with the games or not, set off warning bells in your head.

“that spells trouble, I'd think,” you eventually said. “regardless of what the game is, we should be careful.”

he nodded in agreement. then, the phones you’d been holding in your hands lit up, as did the main television screen that was mounted on a wall. the game was going to begin.

“difficulty level, jack of hearts,” the voice stated clearly. “game, solitary confinement.”

you huffed. hopefully, this wouldn’t be the kind of game that meant you’d be stuck on your own. you’d be fine if it was, it was just...inconvenient. plus, you didn’t like the idea of you and chishiya being separated during a hearts game.

“rules: guess the card suit that appears on the back of your collar. however, you may not look at the symbol yourself.”

several people began to try twisting their collars around. you and chishiya shared a glance. how silly- you’d just been told that you can’t see it yourself. what good would it be to get yourself killed before the rules were even read off?

“the time limit is one hour per round,” the voice continued. “in the final five minutes, enter your cell and disclose your symbol.”

at that moment, the previously darkened hallway came alive and lit up, exposing cell after cell leading down the hallway. it seemed there would be one for each player.

“if you do not answer with the correct symbol, it is game over. the collar will explode, and you will die. the symbol on the collar will reset and change for each round.”

this seemed to frighten some of the other players. however, another glance at blue-dress girl gave you no hint of fear or apprehension on her end. in fact, there was a hint of a smile on her face as the general majority of players subconsciously reached for their own collars.

“wait a sec,” a young boy with a bright yellow shirt and overalls interjected. “so that means we just have to ask each other what our symbols are. that’s easy, huh?”

“i wouldn’t be so sure,” chishiya replied smoothly. “they haven’t told us what the conditions to win are yet.”

“the solitary confinement game is about how much you can trust your fellow players. be aware that your opponent, the jack of hearts, has already been placed among you.”

ah. there it was.

“oh, that’s good,” chishiya murmured.

you clicked your tongue. “why am i not surprised?”

“so one of us,” the boy stammered, “is the jack of hearts?”

the players glanced around at one another, suspicious of who could be the ‘big bad’ within the confines of this prison. 

“how to win: rounds repeat every hour. you win the game when the jack of hearts dies. prohibited actions: looking at your symbol with a reflective surface is cheating. players may not use weapons or violence to kill fellow players.”

you sighed. so ‘weapons and violence’ wouldn’t be the problem here. no, you’d be dealing with a much more fatal kind of danger. the human spirit.

“this means that the only way this game will ever end,” chishiya deduced, “is if the jack gives the wrong answer. so, basically, no one here is getting out alive, unless they lie to the jack.”

“there is no limit to the number of rounds.”

and there was the kicker.

“enough food has been provided,” the voice continued. “while participating in this game, no days will be removed from your visas.”

if no one lied to the jack, and if the jack happened to lie to no one, that would mean only one thing. you’d be stuck in here for however long you would be able to survive in here. however, odds were that people would start getting antsy, and fast.

including the jack.

“so we need to start lying, find the jack of hearts, and kill them off, or we’ll live out the rest of our days in this prison. solitary for life.”

the notion was nothing short of disconcerting, 

“the game will now commence,” the voice finally concluded. 

the players looked around amongst one another, frozen in place. eventually, though, people finally started coming alive again, slowly moving towards one another. they were beginning to form groups. you noticed chishiya lean slightly towards you.

“allies or strangers?” he asked, his voice low. the close proximity startled you for just a moment, for several reasons that had your stomach doing flips.  

to clear the blush that flushed your face, you focused on what he had asked—if you would be outright allies in this game, or if you would pretend not to know one another.

“allies,” you eventually answered. you ticked off the points in your mind. “the no-violence rule means no one can try and kill one of us to get to the other. and besides those two,” you gestured your head towards the businessman and the woman, “it doesn’t seem like anyone has any pre-existing relationships in here. trust will mean survival in this game. and unfortunately for me—”  

you sighed, turning to face him. chishiya raised an eyebrow, silently prompting you to continue.

“i already trusted you with my life before we walked in here,” you finished with a smirk.

the corners of his mouth tilted upwards. to anyone else, you know he’d appear as unfazed and emotionless as ever, but you? you saw how his eyes always softened around you. he just was softer around you, and it was a privilege you felt lucky to have.  

“excuse me?” the boy from earlier—ippei, you recognized from the screen—stammered apologetically, popping the bubble you two had momentarily found yourselves in. “do you think I could work with you both?”

you eyed the boy cautiously. he appeared genuinely frightened and nervous, if the way his hands shook was anything to go by. there was a chance he could be the jack, but it was awfully slim. 

you had bigger suspicions at the moment: namely two. first being the literal murderer for more than obvious reasons, and the second being the girl with the blue dress.

“if you’re trying to survive,” chishiya began, “i would examine all the people here a little more carefully. make sure you keep the ones who don’t lie close. for all you know, one of us could be the jack.”

you held in a snicker. sure, what he was saying was true, but you also knew your boyfriend had a flair for the dramatic, even if he didn’t show it often. you could tell he was revving up for a long one.

he jutted his head towards the group of people who began splitting off into groups. “you see? they all started breaking off into groups. everyone wants to know who’s trustworthy and who’s not.”  

“and most people here are going to be untrustworthy, at some point or another,” you interjected, crossing your arms.

“take those two.” chishiya pointed towards the couple, who were making no move to join any of the groups. they stayed practically glued to each other. “before the game started, you wanna know what they were doing?”

you shot chishiya a warning glare, which thankfully stopped him from crudely elaborating on what exactly that couple had been doing. however, the implication was enough.  

ippei’s eyes widened, the poor boy. “what?”

“that guy wants to control everything she does to exert power over her,” chishiya continued. “so that she can’t interact with any of the other players. which is smart, in the long run.”

“i don’t know if ‘smart’ is the word I'd use for it, but he does have a good point,” you said.

“a great point,” he corrected, much to your chagrin. then his eyes met yours. “because if you’ve got someone you can trust that much, that’s how you can win the game.”

you felt a grin form on your lips as you realized that was his way of returning his sentiments of what you had said earlier.  

I already trusted you with my life before we walked in here.  

it was his very own chishiya brand of romance, and you couldn’t ask for more than that.

then trace bits of a particular conversation reached your ears, and you turned to look at where it was coming from. two men—the murderer, banda, and another with long bangs that almost covered his eyes, were talking downstairs. 

chishiya followed your gaze and fell silent as the two of you listened in on their conversation.

from what you could gather, the man with bangs had approached banda with an offer of partnership, and banda had completely torn him apart with an awfully offensive kind of psychoanalysis. truly, insult after insult. and yet, somehow they walked off into the sunset with a formed partnership.

what you didn’t understand was why. why would someone willingly work with someone like that? a renowned murderer? there was the chance that the man with bangs didn’t know, but after a little monologue like that...

scratch your former suspicions. now, the man with bangs was a giant walking red flag. and one look at chishiya told you he was thinking the very same thing.

“you’re thinking...?” you trailed off.

“mhm.”

you nodded. now you had a new target.

around you, the group that blue dress girl had created became larger. she waltzed over to where the three of you were standing with her hands tucked behind her back, the picture of innocence. something about her irked you greatly.

“hey, do you guys want to join our group?” she asked. you noticed how sickenly sweet her tone was, and you certainly didn’t miss the way her eyes lingered on chishiya. 

you weren’t jealous, of course. there was nothing to be jealous of.  

still.

“it’s not that I don’t want to,” ippei replied awkwardly as he looked to you both with widened eyes.

as much as you didn’t like the idea of ‘joining a group,’ there was a higher chance of figuring out exactly what you were dealing with if you were around the general public. you and chishiya shared a glance that spoke a million words and he understood your message clearly.

“okay,” he replied brightly. “we’ll join your group.”

she gave you a saccharine sweet smile and wandered off, probably to collect more members. she was going to be a threat, and you knew it.

chishiya must have seen how you stiffened, because he reached down for your hand and squeezed it just once before returning his hands to his pockets. “come on,” he murmured, “let’s get something to eat.”

-

“shuntaro, if i'd’ve known that you would be a walking commercial this entire time, I might just have stayed outside with spades psycho.”

he grinned at your deadpan expression. “it’s not my fault your tastebuds lack any structure or diversity.”

you clutched onto the bag of biscuits you’d grabbed—also, admittedly, the first batch you saw—and scoffed. chishiya, of course, had taken his precious time choosing a snack, and would not leave you alone about your ‘savage-like behavior.’

“these are just the same as any of the other ones,” you retorted, crunching aggressively on one of the biscuits as if making a point. “so could you dial it back?”

he shrugged. “your loss.”

“you’re annoying.”

“and yet, you’re still here.”

“yep. for reasons completely unknown, even to me.”

he laughed—actually laughed. (which wasn’t something that happened all too often, but god, if it didn’t make you want to say something to make him do it again.) he put his arm around you, pulling you in closer to him from where you two were sitting on the benches.  

“you know,” he started, smirking at you, “if I wasn’t so secure in our relationship, I might start to get worried when you say things like that.”

you rolled your eyes. for all your talk, you were head over heels for this man, and you both were well aware of the fact. “oh, please. as if you actually have anything to worry about.”

the look he gave you told you everything you ever needed to know. he was just as head over heels for you.

and then, of course, because the world tended to show you just how much it hated you, urumi - blue dress girl - chose this very moment to waltz by.

“oh! are you two together?” she asked, her voice ridiculously high pitched. you couldn’t help the clench of your jaw as she practically ignored your presence altogether, choosing to direct the question at chishiya. and then, like lightning, a wicked idea struck you. and once it did, you knew there was no stopping the words that would come out of your mouth next.

“yes, we are, actually!” you said, raising your voice to be just as high as hers. the falsity of it all was almost enough to make you cringe, but you smiled brightly at the girl anyway. 

you reached for the hand that was wrapped around your shoulders, but you definitely would not look at chishiya, lest you lose your nerve. 

“we’re engaged. seven months in a few weeks.”

she gasped, finally looking at you. “oh, that’s so sweet!”

“he proposed on my birthday. isn’t that romantic?” you giggled, then leaned in as if sharing a secret with an old friend. “the ring alone was almost reason enough to say yes. I only wish I hadn’t lost it when we got here.”

you knew you’d sold the story. you finally glanced over at chishiya, who had the most unreadable expression on his face. you gave him a look that you hoped he could decipher: please just go along with it.  

“oh, don’t look at me like that, sweetie,” you said, praying he could read between the lines. “i’m only teasing.”

finally, to your relief, he reanimated. he squeezed your hand and gave you a little hum. “you know i promised I'd get you another ring, sweetheart.”

“i know. anyways, it’s just a shame is all.”

urumi nodded sympathetically. “i’m sorry to hear that.”  

you could almost believe her sincerity. but the sharp look in her eyes told you otherwise. you weren’t worried, though- you had some tricks of your own. “i just hope we find the jack soon,” she sighed.

“you and me both,” you said, matching her tone. “though, as long as everyone stays in the group, we should be okay.”

she nodded again, this time approvingly. “i should go get something to eat. we might be here a while. hey, are those any good?”

she pointed at the biscuits in your hands. you grinned wickedly. 

“only the best.”

(a/n: did we like? did we hate? somewhere in between?)

[authorautumnbanks]

The Christmas Wish (4)

"We want to go to the shrine," Megumi said, no, demanded, with his bag packed with what Satoru assumed to be toys, snacks, and maybe an extra pair of clothes. Who knew what ran through the mind of Megumi?

Satoru scoffed. He'd opted to sleep over at Megumi and Tsumiki's apartment last night because it was late by the time they left the Higurashi residence and because he was certain that Megumi would sneak back over to the shrine. Though truthfully, Satoru slept over at the apartment more often than not because the children needed someone watching them. He kept his apartment for obvious reasons.

"We're going regardless," Megumi announced, bending down to slide on his shoes. Tsumiki frowned, but slid on her coat and a pair of mittens.

Wonderful.

Even Tsumiki was following in Megumi's defiant behavior

"You can't just invite yourselves over," Satoru argued. "You sure you don't want to stay home, and I can call the babysitter?" Satoru was in too good of a mood last night to fire the woman and people make mistakes, so he figured he could give her another chance to prove herself.

"Kagome-san can be our new babysitter..." Megumi trailed off, scrunching his nose. "Nanny."

Nanny?

Satoru's eyebrows shot up behind his bandages. "You want her to be around full-time?"

"Shippo said he wants a dad, and we want a mom."

Satoru crossed his arms. That was the second time Megumi inferred Satoru was a father figure. When did that happen? What happened to the boy that demanded Satoru to keep his distance? "You said you wanted her as a nanny and now you want her as a mom? Which is it?" Not that Satoru did not have the money to afford a nanny, because he did, but there was also the matter if Kagome wanted to be a nanny.

"The nanny part is just a trick," Tsumiki answered, lowering her voice to a whisper. "We'll be on our best behavior and then she'll never want to leave."

"So don't get our way," Megumi commanded, puffing his chest out.

Unbelievable. The brats were trying to convince Kagome to be their mother by asking her to be their nanny first.

"What if I don't want Kagome?"

Megumi's lips twisted back in disgust. "No one asked what you wanted."

"Megumi," Tsumiki admonished. "Gojo-san is lying."

Satoru palmed his face and exhaled. What was going on? He was certain there was something in the hot chocolate last night. Some kind of concoction to turn sweet, always agreeable, never talked back, Tsumiki against him. "You, two, listen—"

"We need to get gifts!" Tsumiki exclaimed, bouncing up and down. "We can't spend Christmas together and not have gifts." They turned to Satoru with expectancy.

"I have work," he reminded them, but the two shrugged him off.

"You always have work. Take us to get gifts and then take us to the shrine."

"Did you even ask Kagome if she wants to be bothered with you?" Satoru was at his wit's end. Megumi was always a sassy child, but for Tsumiki to join in, left Satoru dumbfounded. Where had he gone wrong? Too many sweets? Too much screen time? Damn, it was probably the screen time. Shoko was always going on about the effects of it, though he had blown her off because who listens to someone that cheated their way through medical school?

Strangely, though, to Satoru's confusion, he felt a pang of regret fill his body and nestle deep in his heart at Megumi's words. Who else would do missions if not him? Of course, he could slack off like Tsukumo, but then what? Spend his day knowing that he could have taken a mission or two and hope no sorcerers died because he could not be bothered.

Megumi stared at him for a beat and then pointed at Satoru's pocket. "Call her." When Satoru took too long for Megumi's liking, he tried to breach infinity to retrieve the phone himself.

Satoru planted a hand on Megumi's head and kept him back. "Alright. Damn, I'll call her. Freaking gremlin." Satoru pulled out his phone and called Kagome. It was simply a coincidence that he had her number in his phone. It's not as though he was hoping to have another reason to call her. And it was not because of Megumi's words. And he only insisted on getting her number last night because he would need to retrieve those items from the shed eventually.

On the third ring, Kagome answered.

Satoru turned to the side. She sounded breathless, and his mind went to the gutter.

Damn it.

"Good morning, Satoru. Is everything okay?"

"Uh... everything is fine." He cleared his throat. "The brats... uh, Megumi and Tsumiki wanted to see you and Shippo today."

"Tell her we want to spend the night!"

"I'm sorry. What was that?" Kagome asked. "Thought Megumi said something."

"Oh, he's just talking to himself." Satoru shook his head. Megumi needed to cut it out. They were not spending the night.

"WE WANT TO SPEND THE NIGHT!"

"Oh, that's fine if it's fine with you," Kagome said. "Though I'm not at home yet. I'm out getting gifts for everyone."

"Even me?" Satoru joked as his fingers tightened around the phone.

"Sure, we could build a fort in the living room and camp out."

His throat went dry. Oh, he was just saying shit, but she answered sincerely.

"See, I told you Gojo-san likes her," Tsumiki half whispered behind him. "We should move with Plan B."

Satoru looked over his shoulder at that. Plan B? He turned his attention back to the conversation. "We need to get gifts as well... just let me know when you're home and I'll drop them off. I gotta work, but I'll be done tonight."

"HE WON'T GET DONE IN TIME!" Megumi shouted. Satoru turned and held a finger to his lips, but Megumi stared back defiantly.

"Oh? Is it something I can help with? It's with the curses, right?" Her voice was husky and far too sensual this early in the morning. "I don't mind, so you can enjoy the holiday. Unless you prefer to work alone?"

He wanted to work her. She teased him all night. Every time they touched one another, accidentally on her part, her energy flared, and he swore it was like getting a hit. He left the Higurashi residence frustrated and annoyed that he had to share her with everyone else.

Satoru coughed. "But what about the kids?"

"WE'LL STAY WITH GRANDMA!" Tsumiki shouted this time.

Satoru sucked in a breath. Perhaps he should have put Kagome on speaker. His eardrums were shot from all this yelling.

"I guess that's settled," Satoru said. "Sure, you can come along. I'm curious how you took out that special grade, anyway."

"Mmm okay," Kagome said. "I'll call you when I get back home." She ended the call, leaving Satoru with a strange churning in his gut.

He wanted to talk to her longer.

He wanted to end the call as quickly as it had started.

"Alright, you two," he said, sliding his phone back into his pocket. "We'll pick up some gifts and if Kagome isn't back by then, then you two can hang out in the car while I do some missions."

"That's fine. We need to wrap the gifts." Megumi reached for the doorknob. "Let's go before everything good is gone." Megumi paused. "Pick out a ring."

"Now hold on," Satoru huffed. "A ring? I am not—"

"Then I'll propose to Kagome-san, myself."

"Oi! Watch it."

"Megumi, that's Plan S," Tsumiki said, waving a finger at him. "We got to stick to the schedule like Shippo said."

"... What schedule?" Satoru asked, but the two ignored him and continued to converse with one another about how plans needed to be modified depending on the circumstances. "Oi! Don't ignore me." Satoru squished Megumi's spiked hair. "What schedule?"

"Don't worry about it. You don't know what a schedule is."

As much crap as Satoru received from his fellow sorcerers, no one ever took the time to compliment him on his patience. Truly, his ability to keep his control was something that should be studied. A master class. No one had more patience than him.

"Keep it up and I'll make you do your missions today," Satoru threatened, but they both knew it was an empty one. Part of Satoru's workload was taking on Megumi's missions. He'd complete the missions and pass the money to Megumi's account to sit there. The kid had several commas in his account, but Satoru never asked him or Tsumiki to pay for anything.

"I won't share the list of things Kagome-san likes then."

Satoru frowned. They had a list? Why didn't he get a list? "Let's go before I change my mind." Another lie, but the brats never called him out on it, instead they happily ran up a bill and left him to foot it. He instructed Ijichi to drive them to the closest shopping center and though Ijichi cried about freaking schedules, he did as he was told. Honestly, why was everyone so concerned about schedules today?

Ijichi's eyes grew two sizes when he saw the sheer number of boxes and bags they came out with. Satoru closed the trunk and blew out a breath. While he did not purchase a ring, much to Megumi's annoyance, he picked out a bracelet that was still thoughtful and far less romantic than what Megumi urged him to buy.

"You just met her yesterday," Satoru sighed. "Not every woman you meet is going to be your new mother."

"Uhhh..." Ijichi tried to get a word in, but the trio talked over him.

"Kagome-san isn't every woman." Megumi crossed his arms, looking more like a pouty hedgehog. Satoru shook his head and pulled his phone out, pretending to be busy. "You said you liked her."

"Those words did not come out of my mouth."

"Then why did you keep touching her last night?" Tsumiki asked. "And she touched you too! You don't like it when people touch you."

"Guys..."

"And you laughed at her corny jokes."

"They were pretty bad," Tsumiki agreed.

"Her jokes weren't bad."

"He also helped clean the dishes," Megumi pointed out. "Before he left to get you, he and Kagome-san went somewhere alone for a long time. InuYasha grumbled that Gojo-san was trying to—"

"ENOUGH!" Satoru pinched the bridge of his nose. Kami, that was the first time he had to yell at those two, but for fuck's sake. "Do not repeat what InuYasha said. I can only imagine what he had to say."

"... He just said you were trying to rut her or something."

Satoru choked. "I just said not to..." He sucked in a breath. Being a single parent was not easy. Which was bullshit, because Satoru was a genius, and everything came easy to him. Ijichi shot him a look from the driver's seat. "I wasn't trying to..." Satoru huffed. Okay, he was tempted. Sue him. Kagome was hot, witty, powerful, and somehow the nicest person he has met. Yeah, he would have loved to sleep with her, but that's not why he went to the shed with her.

"Gojo-san, were you trying to... ummm... were you trying to?"

"Spit it out, Ijichi, you're a grown man." Satoru scoffed. "No, I wasn't trying to do that." Now had he and Kagome been alone, like at his apartment, then hell yeah, he would have felt the waters and made a move. But last night was not the right time or place for him to hit on her... should he have hit on her?

"Is Kagome-san home yet? We're tired of being with you."

"Oi!" Satoru turned around in the seat and pulled the white bandages down. "Keep it up and I will return all these gifts."

"Even the 10-million-yen bracelet?"

"... Megumi shut up before I ground you." Satoru turned around and dragged his hand down his face. Was there a manual or a guidebook to this parenting thing? Because why was Megumi so damn sassy? There was no way Satoru was like that as a child. He was a saint. Everyone loved him and his big personality. But Megumi? That brat was rubbing off on Tsumiki, too. She used to be sweet. "Just take us to the closest mission. Kagome hasn't called yet, so that means she's still out shopping and you two will have to wait until she calls. Until then, you are stuck with me. And I outta make you do some missions because of your sass, Megumi."

"If I get hurt, then Kagome-san won't talk to you."

"Why would I let you get hurt?"

"Because you're mean."

"This is slander," Satoru groaned. "What did I do to deserve this?"

"Well..."

"No one asked you," he snapped at Ijichi, who let out a whimper. Satoru blew out a breath and crossed his arms. He kept silent for the rest of the ride and ignored Megumi when they got to the mission site. It wasn't Megumi calling him mean that set Satoru off, but Megumi's claims that he would allow him to get hurt on his watch. One day he won't be able to go on missions with Megumi because the brat would need to know how to defend himself, but that day was not today. Not when Megumi had a whole childhood ahead of him. It was not until the third mission that Satoru felt himself calm down, just in time for Kagome's phone call.

Perhaps it was stupid of him to leave Megumi and Tsumiki with a family he did not know and one that also housed a demon fox, but the older Higurashi female, Himari, was kind and had the look of a woman desperate for grandchildren. So, when she shooed him and Kagome out of the house and into the car where Ijichi waited, a part of Satoru felt as though he had done a good deed for the day.

"Do you normally fight in a skirt?" he asked, throwing an arm back against the seats. Satoru opted to sit in the backseat with Kagome so she would not feel alienated, and he did not want to look at Ijichi's ugly mug any longer than he had to.

"It's a Christmas dress," she quipped, unbuttoning her coat to reveal the red dress with the faux white fur. Satoru was not ashamed to admit that he barely paid the dress a second thought, not when her cleavage practically winked at him. "And yes, I normally fight in a skirt, but all my clothes are dirty." She huffed as she re-buttoned her coat. "Shippo got too excited about Christmas and somehow got all my clothes dirty or shredded except for this one." Her brows furrowed together.

Satoru coughed. His fingers brushed against her arm. "That's uh... some morning you had."

"Tell me about it," she groaned. "It's fine. I got some clothes in the washer, and I can always buy more later. Shippo was just... I don't know what he was doing or thinking, but it's fine."

It occurred to Satoru that he could bring up the trio's plans, but he did not want to share such news with Ijichi around. Perhaps if he had shared a bit of his troubles with Ijichi, then Ijichi would have felt compelled to share Plan M with him and Kagome, but Satoru was a proud sorcerer and an even prouder man, so he kept his concerns over what Megumi and company were planning to himself, and Ijichi did not share that he was instructed to leave Satoru and Kagome behind at the next mission site.

"So, what made you pick out a Santa's helper outfit?" Satoru asked once they arrived at the site. He frowned when Ijichi sped off after putting up the veil, which took longer than usual. He wondered at the time what that was about, but later discovered it was a part of Plan M.

Kagome shifted her bow from her shoulders to her hand. "Well, Shippo saw a movie and thought it would be more festive if we all had Christmas outfits. Maybe that's why this one didn't get ruined?" Kagome sighed. "Or maybe he was acting out? I don't know."

Satoru nodded and pretended as though he was not checking out Kagome's legs. This was a mission, not a date, and he needed to think with the head attached to his shoulders. "They may be planning something. The kids," he added as he opened the door to the abandoned school. He held up a finger for her to wait for him to go in first. He paused and then hummed to himself. "Any chance you could mask your energy somehow? Not that the curse can get away because of the veil Ijichi put up, but..."

"Oh, is my energy scaring them away? That explains a lot." She smiled, and the loss of her energy was devastating. Satoru clenched his fists. Sure, he asked her to do that, but he was not prepared for how empty he would feel at not having her energy simmering so close to him.

This was a problem.

***

A/N: Happy Sunday! With FFN going down for three days, I learned that the app and website don't really sync. So if you messaged me on the app, I'm sorry for not seeing it until now. I mainly hang out on the web because it's easier to upload stories that way.

I don't know if anyone would be interested in having a discord, but I was thinking about creating one. If I do, I don't want it to be centered around just my stories. I would want it to be like an actual community. Just something that came to me while FFN was down.

Take care! Make sure to get plenty of rest and drink your water. Also try to stay vigilant when you are out and about. Always good to be aware of your surroundings. Stay safe!

[a-crack-in-the-universe]

Cursed Love

@cotrk-events

Dorcas Loom had a secret. She was in love with Gabriel Silk, the famous concert pianist. But there was a small problem—she was cursed.

It had started with her illustrious ancestor Ifalda Loom, who had gotten herself into an affair with a married French Lord. Unfortunately, that lord had a powerful witch for a wife, and once she found out about the affair she became enraged and cursed poor Ifalda to never find love. She also cursed her husband—she turned him into a toad.

Sadly for Dorcas, the curse was inherited by Ifalda’s descendants, particularly her female descendants. Dorcas only found out about it on her eighteenth birthday, when she came of age and her longtime boyfriend broke up with her suddenly for a very vague and strange reason. It was the curse, her parents told her when they revealed the truth to her. The curse had driven him away. This was to be her fate, for the rest of her life.

Dorcas was understandably distraught. She would never be able to find love, and all because some stupid ancestor had pissed off a witch. It was outrageous, it was unfair! For years she lived in denial and tried to circumvent the curse—she pursued countless men (Dorcas had never been attracted to women) but once they got to the engagement stage the men would either suddenly drop dead, disappear or break up with her. None of her relationships lasted.

It had to be the curse, working its magic. After years of this, Dorcas had to accept that it was real and that she would never find love. But then she fell in love with Gabriel Silk.

Gabriel Silk was an old friend from her school days. They’d gone together to Bloor’s Academy, but she hadn’t thought much of him then. He’d always been so moody, depressed and odd. Plus, she’d also put him into a coma once by enchanting a cape he tried on—something which she’d assumed he wouldn’t forgive her for. After all, she wouldn’t forgive anyone who did that to her.

More recently, however, she’d reunited with him in a coffee shop in L.A. where they were both working now—he as a concert pianist and her as a fashion designer. And as he said hello to her and smiled, she found herself blushing and stammering like a schoolgirl. Oh my god, she realized, Gabriel Silk is hot!

Unlike herself, who was still as pudgy and plain as she’d been as a teenager. But Gabriel didn’t seem to notice that and just said that she looked great.

They got into talking to each other and found that they had quite a bit in common. They exchanged phone numbers, since they had to get back to their jobs right then, and Dorcas almost swooned as Gabriel wrote his on a paper napkin and gave it to her with a sweet smile.

‘I’ll see you later, won’t I?’ he said. There was hope in his eyes that warmed Dorcas’ hollow heart.

‘Yes, definitely,’ Dorcas breathed out.

‘It was only after he left that Dorcas remembered about her curse.

Their first coffee date was a huge success, and so they arranged another one, and then another, until they had to admit that they liked each other a lot. So they started dating. At this point, Dorcas knew that she should tell Gabriel about her curse, but part of her was reluctant—what if Gabriel broke up with her, and wasn’t their relationship doomed to failure because of the curse anyway?

Still… she had to tell him at some point. It wouldn’t be fair to him otherwise. She just had to wait for the right moment.

The right moment, it turned out was months later, right when he was about to propose to her.

‘Wait!’ she screeched, as he knelt before her with a rockstar diamond ring in his hands. ‘You can’t propose to me yet! I’m cursed!’

Gabriel looked at her incredulously, but listened as she told him her story. She expected him to freak out and run away from her, but once she’d finished speaking he only took her hands and said, ‘I’m sorry you had to go through all of that. You still want to marry me, right?’

‘Of course I do!’ Dorcas said. ‘More than anything.’

A steely determined look filled Gabriel’s eyes. ‘Then let’s break your curse so we can get married and live happily ever after!’

Dorcas didn’t have his optimism, but if it did work then she’d be able to be with her love forever, so she smiled and agreed.

Their first step in breaking the curse was research. Dorcas knew how the curse had started, but not how to break it. It took months of searching and a visit to a magic library and a witch doctor, but they finally discovered the three key ingredients—a Mafia’s tears, a pearl lost in a crocodile-filled swamp, and a True Love’s Kiss. The True Love’s Kiss was a very special kiss and could only be done when the couple in question were so in love that nothing could keep them apart. Also, one of them had to be dying for it to work. Yadda, yadda, something to do with the tales of Sleeping Beauty and Snow White and how their princes had woken them up from a death-like sleep with a kiss, Dorcas read.  

Ugh. She didn’t want either of them to almost die so that they could be together. But if it was the only choice, well, they would have to deal with it when they came to that point.

For now, they had to get the Mafia’s tears. Luckily for them, one of Gabriel’s best friends from Bloor’s Academy, Lysander Sage, was now a Mafia mob boss. Dorcas had no clue how that happened, for hadn’t Lysander gotten into a law degree at some prestigious university back in Britain? Gabriel shrugged. He didn’t know either. He’d lost touch with Lysander when he moved to L.A. to become a famous musician.     

They travelled to Lysander’s Mafia group’s secret hideout in San Francisco, where Lysander said they could meet when Gabriel had contacted him. When they did meet, Lysander embraced Gabriel with tears in his eyes, which was very unlike him. ‘He’s high on weed,’ one of Lysander’s minions said. ‘It’s his favourite drug.’

Since Lysander was a Mafia boss and he was already crying, Gabriel asked him, ‘Hey Sander, can I have some of your tears? We need them to break Dorcas’ curse so she can marry me.’

Lysander sniffed and said, ‘Yeah, sure.’ And so Gabriel took out a small bottle from his pocket, uncorked it, and held it underneath one of Lysander’s eye and five drops of tears dropped into the bottle.

Dorcas sighed with relief. That’s one ingredient down. Now two to go!

However, just before they could leave, the hideout was invaded by another Mafia group lead by none other than… Dagbert Endless!

‘Dagbert?’ Lysander stared, surprised. ‘What’re you doing here?’

‘Hey, babe,’ Dagbert said to him. ‘My Mafia minions have come to take over your turf and destroy everything you’ve built. While they’re fighting do you want to go get married in Vegas? I’ve got a car waiting up front for us.’

Lysander thought for a moment, then shrugged. ‘Sure, why not?’

He and Dagbert kissed and ran off while their minions were shooting at each other and dying. Since Gabriel and Dorcas were heading in the direct of Las Vegas anyway, they decided to join Lysander and Dagbert in the car. Dorcas thought this may have been a mistake, since the whole way to Las Vegas Lysander and Dagbert kept kissing with their eyes glued to each other and didn’t stop even when Dorcas threw one of her shoes at them.

In Las Vegas, the two lovebirds got married. Gabriel was Lysander’s best man and Dorcas was Dagbert’s maid of honour. The best thing about this wedding, Dorcas thought with some satisfaction, was that Lysander and Dagbert were both rich and paid for whatever bridesmaid dress she wanted to buy. So Dorcas bought and wore a pink Cinderella style dress with matching high heels and had her hair done up like Marilyn Monroe. She felt like a queen and Gabriel said that she looked gorgeous.

After the wedding, Lysander and Dagbert went back to their wedding suite to fuck and Dorcas and Gabriel used that to their advantage to steal their car. After all, it was a long way to New Orleans.

It took them an unknown number of hours to reach New Orleans—mainly because this author is not American—where their second ingredient was. A pearl trapped in a swamp surrounded by crocodiles. It sounded like a suicide mission, but they would have to try if they wanted to break Dorcas’ curse.

So they bought some good swamp clothes, boots and weapons against crocodiles and headed into the swamp. The swamp was really icky and smelly and disgusting, but hopefully they would be out of there quickly. If they didn’t get eaten by crocodiles first, Dorcas thought grumpily.

They managed to reach the location of their prize fairly easily. It helped that the pearl was shining like a lighthouse beacon, guiding them toward it as if it wanted them to find it. The problem now was that it was surrounded by a ring of hungry crocodiles.

“Oh grief, oh mum!” Gabriel screamed and almost fainted. He did collapse, though.            

Dorcas wanted to scream as well, but since Gabriel had collapsed, it probably wasn’t a good idea if she did too.

‘Hey, you!’ she snapped at the crocodiles. ‘I need that pearl, so you can skitter on out of here!’

The crocodiles turned to look at her, and Dorcas was reminded that they were very hungry and she probably looked like an appetising meal to them.

Then one of the crocodiles spoke. ‘Uhh pearl? We don’t care about that,’ it said. ‘We’re just lying here so that someone will feed us if they come searching for the pearl.’

‘Then you won’t mind if we just take it?’ Dorcas asked.

‘Only if you feed us,’ the crocodile said.

Dorcas rummaged through a bag Gabriel had brought with them and lo and behold, she found the leftovers of the wedding feast she, Gabriel, Dagbert and Lysander had eaten way back in Las Vegas. ‘Catch,’ she called out, and dumped the whole lot of it in the middle of the ring of crocodiles.

She and Gabriel watched for some time as the crocodiles ate the feast. Once the crocodiles were done, she said, ‘Now can you please let us pass? We need to get that pearl.’

‘Sure,’ the crocodiles said. ‘That feast was nice. Thanks!’

Polite crocodiles. Who would have thought it? The crocodiles moved to let Gabriel and Dorcas through and Dorcas collected the pearl, which glowed between her fingers. Thank god, she thought. Now they could get out of there. She hated swamps.

Now, there was only one ingredient left—the True Love’s Kiss. Dorcas wasn’t looking forward to that at all. She and Gabriel drove all the way back to the witch doctor they’d first visited ages ago, for surely the witch doctor would have something they could use to induce a death-like sleep.

Thankfully, the witch doctor did have needle that would put one into a seemingly deadly coma upon being pricked by it. Much to Dorcas’ annoyance, the doctor insisted that she must be the one to be pricked by the needle, for ‘in the tales it’s a princess who falls asleep and is kissed awake by the prince’.

'What kind of fucked up sexist shit is that?’ Dorcas snapped, outraged.

Dorcas didn’t hear the witch doctor’s response, because while Dorcas was distracted the witch doctor had stabbed her in the arm with the needle and Dorcas fell over unconscious.

‘There,’ the witch doctor said to Gabriel. ‘Now kiss her and you can be together forever!’

‘Here?’ Gabriel asked doubtfully.

‘Hmm.’ The witch doctor thought for a moment. ‘No, you’re right. The setting should be a lot more romantic than this.’      

And so they moved the unconscious Dorcas to a clearing filled with sweet-smelling flowers in a forest and laid her down gently on her back. Then it was time to do the thing. As Gabriel gazed down at his love, he hesitated for a moment, for the idea of kissing an unconscious person felt a bit weird. Was it considered assault if his lady wasn’t awake to say yes? But then he remembered that the whole point of this was to break Dorcas’ curse so that they could be together, and so he leaned his head down and kissed her gently, softly on the lips, and willed with all his heart that she would awaken and be free of the curse so they could get married and be together.

It took a few moments, but Dorcas stirred, came awake and kissed him back ardently. The witch doctor cheered.

When they were done kissing, Gabriel asked the witch doctor, ‘Now that we have all the ingredients, how do we break the curse?’

‘Oh,’ the witch doctor said, ‘the curse should already be broken now. All you really needed was the True Love’s Kiss.’

‘What?’ Dorcas glared daggers at the witch doctor. ‘We went to San Francisco and to that horrible swamp for nothing?’

‘You’ve made me rich,’ the witch doctor said. ‘That’s not nothing. I can sell the pearl at a great price and get out of this hellhole. And I can use the mafia’s tears to give my greatest enemy Hanahaki Disease.’

‘That’s… great?’ Gabriel said, bewildered, while trying to hold Dorcas back from gouging the witch doctor’s eyes out. ‘Well, we’d better get going. How will we know if the curse is gone?’

The witch doctor shrugged. ‘If you get married, I’d say it’s been broken.’

‘Great, thanks!’ Gabriel dragged a still-angry Dorcas away and toward their car. After all, it was a long way to Las Vegas and they had a wedding to do.

Dorcas and Gabriel arrived in Las Vegas to find Lysander and Dagbert still there, as those two had decided to stay and party after realising that their car had been stolen. They were rich, after all, and didn’t need to worry about how much it would cost. Upon being told about Dorcas and Gabriel’s upcoming nuptials, Lysander and Dagbert enthusiastically agreed to be their best men.

And so Dorcas and Gabriel were married in a beautiful Italian Roman-looking chapel in Las Vegas. Gabriel was dressed in the most handsome black tuxedo, and Dorcas in a Hollywood-style fluffy white wedding dress with so many layers people wondered how she could walk in it. She had a tiara in her hair, because it made her feel like a queen. Petals were thrown into the air, vows were spoken, and she and Gabriel kissed, and neither of them dropped dead. It was a dream come true.

After the wedding, the newlyweds ran off to their honeymoon suite to fuck. Meanwhile, Dagbert and Lysander took this opportunity to steal back their car and journey to places unseen, for after all it was originally Dagbert’s car in the first place and they wanted to give Dorcas and Gabriel a tiny bit of their own medicine. But they did leave behind enough cash to allow the newlyweds to get out of Las Vegas when they were done fucking, as a wedding gift.       

THE END

[naquey]

soooooo I was wondering if you could do the No Way Home cast reacting to asking their pronouns???? I've seen quite a few tiktok videos ab smth like that with like the avengers

I personally really love No Way Home, it has to be my second favorite Spiderman movie right next to The Amazing Spiderman (because Andrew Garfield)

I have seen quite a few of those videos around lmao, and everyone always has a different take on the character which is pretty cool! No one marvel fan thinks they act the same, maybe except for either Loki or Bucky and it's a refreshing change from smth like the Marauders of Harry Potter fandoms! The movie itself has a huge cast, but I think I'll narrow it down to the ones who have *a lot* of screentime just for safety! (and to keep length a little shorter)

Peter Parker: Earth-199999

bro was flabbergasted

he was in the middle of science homework

"Hey, Pete, what are your pronouns?"

it was the first time he'd gone silent all day

it took him a couple of seconds to snap out of it and then his face tinted red

"The boy ones???"

Oh, sweet, poor boy had no idea

He thought there was only one right answer

"Are you coming out to me, right now?"

He went into panic mode as you tried to stifle your laughter

"No, no! I'm not coming out to you! but if I was, would you be mad?"

"What? No!"

You left the conversation as that and turned back to your math homework, which freaked him out a little more because you weren't telling him what was wrong

He was satiated once he realized everything was okay

Peter Parker: Earth-96283

you and Peter were going over the photos he submitted for the daily bugel

it was pride month and JJJ wanted to catch Spider-Man doing something heinous during a time of celebration, but it wasn't different from any other day of the year

"What are your pronouns?"

Initially it fell out of your mouth from looking through a pile of discarded headlines that painted the vigilante as a homophobe

"Excuse me?"

He was raised by Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and had no capacity for rudeness, especially towards his friends

He also knew what you meant but was very much caught off guard by the question, dropping some of the photos he was looking through

"I.. Uh... He/Him is fine. Those, are the right ones, yeah?"

It's not that he was confused, just that no one ever really bothered to ask nor was he prepared to answer

He's comfortable with the pronouns people use for him regardless

Peter Parker: Earth-120701

Gwen has asked him quite a few times

The answer never changes, but he's learned to expect it more often than not

Just not from you

So, when you asked while you were painting a banner for the school together

He accidentally knocked over the paint can

"Pronouns? Why would I need those?"

His voice rose and octave and he tried to joke it off

"You don't have to- "

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I was just kidding! He/Him, please- I think?"

As soon as you deflated like a balloon he was quick to fix his mess and take back what he said. He doesn't want to make you sad.

After all, you're the only other person who gives him the time of day after Harry and Gwen, so he needs to keep you around longer

Michelle "MJ" Jones

"She/Her and maybe They/Them, but honestly who needs labels?"

After all, she is the one who fights for people's rights and is always laidback compared to Peter and his constant worry

you're also sitting in the loners corner of the cafeteria, and she doesn't give a crap about how other people feel

Ned Leeds

Like his bestfriend he is so confused, but supportive!

"Are pronouns like, the colorful flags???"

Okay, maybe even more confused than Peter

Albeit, he's the man in the chair and can figure things out pretty quickly so a google search answers it for him

"Oh! Yeah, He/Him please."

then he pauses and his face falls

"Shit! Did I miss the part where you come out to me??"

Dr. Stephen Strange

Bro's a doctor, or used to be

He's dealt like patients who have talked to him about their pronouns all the time before

And in the medical field it his number one priority to make a patient feel comfortable

That being said, he knows what pronouns are and understand their use, but

"What are your pronouns?"

The pages of the book stop flipping on their own

He is rendered speechless

Bro was not prepared

"He/Him/His, please and thank you."

Then he goes right back to what he was doing

"Oh, and one final note. I would like you to know that no matter who you are, or who you want to become is not a problem to me or anyone in the Sanctum."

Then when he realized you teared up he got all awkward

Dock Ock: Earth-96283

Before fixing the chip in his head connecting him to his tentacles, he is not a happy camper

"What are your-"

"I'm tired of your questions!"

It's not that he doesn't care he made you feel foolish or small, but it's more of the tentacles not giving a fuck

*After* the chip gets fixed, he's much calmer

"To answer your question from before, I'd like the males ones only."

My guy is set on what he wants, and even pats your shoulder

It startles you a bit because he had just yelled at you, but his niceties take some getting used to

Green Goblin/Norman Osborne: Earth-96283

He's a scientist, and a doctor

But

It depends on who you ask

"What the fuck are pronouns?"

"My son Harry said a girl he fancied asked him the same thing, tell me, what are they?"

You can either be hit with the rage of Green Goblin, or your question answered via another question with Norman

It... can be hard telling who's who if you haven't spent quite some time with him

but either way you'd... have to teach him

he understands the concept pretty well, but he's got bigger things to think about

like killing peter parker

like trying to make a supercollider!

Dr. Cutis Connors: Earth-120701

Another scientist with a doctorate

yet another man who understands the concept

and employs it well!

his office is pretty inclusive, and most of the badges with their names on them have pronouns on them too!

Just because he turned himself into a lizard doesn't mean he's a monster

He just wanted his arm back!

In the same vein he wants to make anyone around him feel the most comfortable in their working environment

(it says He/Him/His) on his name badge

Max Dillon: Earth-120701

He's just happy you're talking to him

Max was essentially a nobody working for Oscorp, so it's surreal that you're talking to him

He isn't hearing a word your saying until you pause for an answer

and he's standing there like a deer in headlights

"Come again?"

"What are your pronouns?"

Oscorp no longer required pronouns on their ID badges

"Oh, those... Is that like... a social media? Do you want to follow me on social media?"

"No, what should I call you?"

"Max, my name is Max."

"No- "

It's like pulling teeth, but once he finally gets it you prompt him to put them on his ID badge just so he can remember what they are

Flint Marko

"I fought for this country, I don't give a shit what you want to be."

Truer words have never been said

He has no idea, and he doesn't want to know as long as it makes you happy

"I'm a man, just refer to me as a man."

Sure, he used to be a bunch of Sand because of a supercollider but that didn't change how he felt one bit!

As long as you're happy he's happy

and as long as you don't hurt anyone he's even happier

May Parker: Earth-199999

"What are your pronouns?"

"Oh, Peter told me about these last week."

She gets really excited, her eyes light up and she's drumming her fingers on the table as she thinks

It's almost as if she was waiting for someone to ask her

coughPetercough

"She/Her/Hers!"

and like her nephew she waits for you to respond back to her

She's expecting you to say that you're coming out to her

Already has a speech planned in her head

Cannot stop from her eyes welling with tears

You come out a second time, just for her because she's so happy to be seen as a safe space for her nephews friends

[echantedtoon]

Dragon's Treasure Ch17 Epilogue

(Hey everyone. I just wanted to thank everyone who read this far and liked my story enough to read it to it's end. I had a lot of fun writing it and it makes me happy knowing some people loved it enough to read it fully. If you liked this consider checking out my other works. Thanks to everyone for reading this, faving it, or leaving a nice comment. And thank you to Nintendo and Game Freak for creating such wonderful characters and giving me the opportunity to make this wonderful story.)

"What do you mean he went off somewhere again?''

Sebastian shrugged in front of you. "He left a good number of days ago. I thought you already knew that. Didn't he tell you anything?"

You shook your head wide eyed. "No. I didn't even have any idea he was gone! How long has he been missing?"

" About two weeks now. Said he had to take a quick trip to pick up something. Not sure what though. But I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"And how do you know that?"

"He called me this morning. Said he'll back by tomorrow noon."

"...Oh."

That was strange. You hadn't seen Raihan for almost two weeks by now because you both had been so busy lately. You had gotten more hours at the cafe and Raihan was the top gym leader so you hadn't seen Raihan lately but only assumed that was because he was busy with everything he had on his plate. But..he had left without telling you? That was very much unlike him. Where did he go? Why didn't he tell you? Maybe he's been so busy and stressed that he had just forgotten? You'd just stop by to see if he wanted to join you for lunch that day and was hit with the news when Sebastian answered the door. Well you'd soon find out what he was doing anyways since he was returning tomorrow. The next day came faster than expected and you were in the middle of work too. Your boss and yourself were in the front restocking some napkins and condiments to tables when a man with a smile on his face walked in and you paused in your tracks, eyes widened, and the napkins you were holding fell onto the table as none other than Raihan himself walked through the door sending the little bell above the door ringing.

"Piers!?"

"Hey, Sassy," he said with a smile on his face turning towards your wide eyed look. "I'm back."

"Where have you been!?," you asked turning from the table and frowning at him. "You took off for two weeks without telling me! You couldn't have given me a heads up?!"

He held up an empty hand. "I know. I know. But I promise I can explain. Can I talk to you outside for a sec?"

..You looked to your boss who nodded. "Go ahead. I'll just finish up the restocking."

Well that settled it. With that being a yes you went ahead and followed Raihan back outside just in front of the cafe with the bell dinging away behind you. Once outside he stopped and looked at you silently smiling for a moment however you were still confused. It was only after another second or two you opened your mouth, but was stopped when he held up his other hand. You weren't sure how you didn't notice but the entire time he was holding something, that something happened to be a simple pokeball wrapped in a red ribbon. You stared at it, then at him, then back at the ball, and after a moment of silently staring at it, slowly it from him to which he then lowered his hand back.

"...What's this?"

"It's a pokemon."

"I-..W-Well yeah. Obviously. But why?"

"J-Jut' open it," he stammered hand shakily reaching up to rub his neck ocean eyes looking away. "I w-went through the trouble of getting it for you."

You still stared at him for a moment before looking back down at it. Raihan..got you a pokemon? Well that was an unexpected gift but not a bad one! That's actually really sweet of him to do so! With a smile you immediately pulled off the red ribbon and gave the small red and white ball a toss to summon out whatever it was inside. A bright white light popped out from it and the small critter came forth but the sight of it made you pause. It was a pokemon alright and one you HAD seen before...But by accident. When Gloria accidentally gave it to Hop so long ago. The small pokemon had the small body of an apple with eyes poking out at the top where the stem would be and a small green tail behind it. It blinked before looking around and stopping at you. Giving a curious peep towards yourself.

...An...Applin???

IT WAS AN APPLIN!! A FREAKING CUTE LITTLE APPLIN!! RAIHAN HAD GIVEN YOU AN APPLIN!! you continued to stare at the small pokemon for a silent wide eyed moment for a moment before looking at Raihan.

"W-What's all this about?"

He gave the shakiest most nervous sounding sigh you had ever heard him say. "Y-Yeah...I know I've always been straight forward wi-with you about everything a-and I've always meant what I said. Y/n..I really do love you. And I want you to be in my life." He still looked to the ground feeling more butterfrees in his stomach. "I'm not joking around when I say you're everything I never expected a-and everything I love in a partner. You're kind a-and brave and not afraid to treat me as a person instead of an idol...And the first ever person to treat me in ways no one else even considered. S-So...I'll accept it if you say no, b-but would you consider wanting to be with me permanently?"

He got his answer when you wrapped your hand around his own and smiled. "Yes."

[pokeexehasstoppedworking]

Diamond In The Rough Ch17 Epilogue

(Hey everyone. I just wanted to thank everyone who read this far and liked my story enough to read it to it's end. I had a lot of fun writing it and it makes me happy knowing some people loved it enough to read it fully. If you liked this consider checking out my other works. Thanks to everyone for reading this, faving it, or leaving a nice comment. And thank you to Nintendo and Game Freak for creating such wonderful characters and giving me the opportunity to make this wonderful story.)

"What do you mean he went off somewhere again?''

Elsa shrugged. "He left a good number of days ago. I thought ya already knew that, Mate. Didn't my big bro tell you anything before he left?"

You shook your head wide eyed. "No. I didn't even have any idea he was gone! How long has he been missing?"

"About two weeks ago. Said he had to take a quick trip over somewhere to pick up somethin' after Sonia told him about it. Not sure what tho. But I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"And how do you know that?"

"He called me this mornin'. Said he'll back by tomorrow noon."

"...Oh."

That was strange. You hadn't seen Gordie for almost two weeks by now because you both had been so busy lately. You just assumed he was spending time with his family after spending so much time in Pasio. You'd been busy yourself seeing about setting up your new home and bakery. So you hadn't seen Gordie lately but only assumed that was because he was busy with everything. But..he had left without telling you? That was very much unlike him. Where did he go? Why didn't he tell you? Maybe he's been so busy and stressed that he had just forgotten? You'd just stop by to see if he wanted to join you for lunch that day and was hit with the news when Elsa answered the door. Well you'd soon find out what he was doing anyways since he was returning tomorrow. The next day came faster than expected and you were in the middle of work too. Your were in the front restocking some supplies when a man of blonde hair and a smile on his face walked in and you paused in your tracks, eyes widened, as none other than Gordie himself walked through the door sending the little bell above the door ringing.

"Gordie!?"

"Y/n!," he said with a smile on his face turning towards your wide eyed look. "I'm home!"

"Where have you been!?," you asked turning from the shelf and frowning at him. "You took off for two weeks without telling me! I thought you said you were done with traveling for a long while."

He held up an empty hand. "I know. I know. But I promise I can explain. Can I talk to you outside for a sec?"

..You rose a brow. "Alright. I can finish stocking up in a minute."

Well that settled it. With that being a yes you went ahead and followed Gordie back outside just in front of the bakery with the bell dinging away behind you. Once outside he stopped and looked at you silently smiling for a moment however you were still confused. It was only after another second or two you opened your mouth, but was stopped when he held up his other hand. You weren't sure how you didn't notice but the entire time he was holding something, that something happened to be a simple pokeball wrapped in a red ribbon. You stared at him, then at him, then back at the ball, and after a moment of silently staring at it, slowly it from him to which he then lowered his hand back.

"...What's this?"

"'S a pokemon."

"I-..W-Well yeah. Obviously. But why?"

"J-Just open it," he stammered hand shakily reaching up to rub the back of his neck. "I w-went through the trouble of getting it for you. T-Took a bit since I lost my way twice..three times if you count losing the way to your house."

You still stared at him for a moment before looking back down at it. Gordie..got you a pokemon? Well that was an unexpected gift but not a bad one! That's actually really sweet of him to do so! With a smile you immediately pulled off the red ribbon and gave the small red and white ball a toss to summon out whatever it was inside. A bright white light popped out from it and the small critter came forth but the sight of it made you pause. It was a pokemon alright and one you HAD seen before...But by accident. When Gloria accidentally gave it to Hop so long ago. The small pokemon had the small body of an apple with eyes poking out at the top where the stem would be and a small green tail behind it. It blinked before looking around and stopping at you. Giving a curious peep towards yourself.

...An...Applin???

IT WAS AN APPLIN!! A FREAKING CUTE LITTLE APPLIN!! GORDIE HAD GIVEN YOU AN APPLIN!! you continued to stare at the small pokemon for a silent wide eyed moment for a moment before looking at Gordie.

"W-What's all this about?"

He gave the shakiest most nervous sounding sigh you had ever heard him say. "Y-Yeah...Look. I jus'-....*ahem* I-I-....*sigh* I didn't know how else to ask. Alright?" His head rolled to the side as he nervously rubbed his neck. "I-...I know we h-haven't really t-talked 'bout being together-together or anything official or nothing...So I-...I-I remembered what your mate said about the Isle of Armor. I talked to Sonia about it and found out there was a ton of these lil guys living over t-there in secret. So I just..." He sighed again closing his eyes gesturing to the small apple pokemon who made a peeping sound. "I wanted to get you one and ask-..W-Well it-it's only natural I'd a-ask and make it o-official at least. I-I MEAN! Only if ya want to. W-What I'm asking is....Y-Y/n. W-W-Would y-you m-mind..being m-my..p-partner-" His body flinched feeling a touch on his hand and he snapped his eyes up towards you.

He got his answer when you wrapped your hand around his own and smiled. "Yes."

[natsukoshono]

chapter one

Suguru grumbled sulking as if he were a child, being scolded. “All that Gyudon gone to waste” he muttered clearly not happy, His large fingers pressed deeply into his head, almost threatening to break it with the amount of pressure he was using. Amongst all of Suguru’s groaning he didn’t hear the girly snickers from above him, before a torso hung low from the ceiling. Scaring the young prince, as the color drained from his face.

It was a teenage girl who was clearly a teen. They had dark blonde hair with red tips(both of these seemed to be clearly dyed) that had been badly curled at the bottom frying it. her hair was let loose, but had multiple layers. She wore a white button up shirt, with a gold crest on it being the symbol of a rose., A gray skort, tights, paired with white Leg warmers and had a blazer wrapped around her waist

Suguru let out a loud high pitched scream that made the teenager cringe, her ears hurting at the loud frequency. “Delinquent!” Shouted Suguru as he shook in terror, a yellow spot appearing on his white underwear. Making the girl Gag, turning her head quickly. 

“Eww! Disgusting!” The girl squealed, dropping off the ceiling? And somehow landing on her two feet. Suguru shook as he backed away from the girl, pleading with her not to hurt him, causing her to roll her olive coloured eyes clearly annoyed at him. 

“Are you Suguru? I’m Mitsuki by the way” Mitsuki asked, before introducing herself to the man-baby, she was about to offer him her hand until he blew snot all over his own hands before he freaked out and began to shake his arms in the air, trying to throw it off of him.

“Disgusting, utterly disgusting” She muttered to herself, she was surprised when Suguru suddenly stood up, his back straightened acting as if he were the most respected man in the world. “Yes! It is me! Kinniku Suguru! Aka Kinnikuman! Awesome hero, and a prince! The future King of Kinniku Planet” The chojin boasted before he began to pose.

The Gyaru, raised an eyebrow before she got something out of her pocket, they were sweets, the chewy kind. They unwrapped it, before quickly swallowing it whole without chewing. Suguru sweatdropped at this. “You’re a weirdo, you’re supposed to chew your food, not swallow it like a snake!”

“Why would I listen to you? You literally just peed your pants-” She threw another sweet in her mouth, swallowing it before licking her lips. Suguru shivered, she really did remind him of a snake. The piercing she gave him, like a snake that looked at Mice before it pounced. The fact she could just swallow the sweets too, and didn’t need to chew, sure they were just weird quirks but it felt so off.

Suguru began to stare at her more, something didn’t make sense even to him. She didn’t Look like a chojin, but the way she acted was definitely off! And the more Suguru wondered, the more he realized, how the hell did she get back here? Normally Suguru would use these hallways to run away from Meat when things got tough. Their hallways were all twisted, long, and branched off so it was perfect. But how did she get here? She didn’t seem rich, she was a school kid for god sake. Suguru figured she must have snuck in.

“You do know this is the backstage for the elite of the elite right?” 

“Then why are you here?”

Ouch. Even a delinquent like Mitsuki, didn’t even seem to respect Suguru.Suguru, Sulked sitting in the corner of the room, his knees to his chest. How could Mitsuki not even know that he was a good fighter? Surely his face had to have been plastered everywhere? And yet Mitsuki didn't seem to care about that, as their face tightened, their lips turning into a scowl as they rolled their eyes. They didn’t want to be near him any more.

Suguru titled his head up giving a small “huh?” as he watched her turn around and walk away,seemingly ignoring his very existence. Now that was strange. Oh well, he didn’t expect to see more of them anyway.

hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter! any question’s feel free to ask! hoping to post more of my ocs soon

[afterschool-labyrinth]

Afterschool Labyrinth chapter 2

When Alix woke up, she felt strange.

Opening her eyes, she found herself staring up at the hall's ceiling, with the bright lights shining in her face.

Wait... I was in Room 12A before... And why's the power on?

As she picked herself up off the floor, she looked around, searching for the others. They were nowhere in sight.

Where is everyone?

Even standing up, Alix felt so strange. She looked down at herself... and let out a yell of shock.

"W-What the?!"

Her body wasn't human anymore. Alix looked frantically around the empty building, soon settling on using the nearest window to look at her reflection.

What she saw reflected in the glass could only be described as a humanoid dolphin, with shiny black eyes and a single blowhole in place of a nose. Looking past the reflection to the outside, all Alix could see was stars.

A noise behind her caught her attention, a sound like the clop-clop of a horse's hoofbeats. Alix turned around, just as something rounded the corner.

She felt the blood drain from her face. Standing there was an impossibly long-limbed humanoid being, pale and bony. It seemed female, clad only in a brown top and loincloth, and stringy dark hair grew from its scalp in patches. Its body was twisted around in an unnatural position, allowing it to walk on its hands and feet.

It was like every nightmare Alix had had of being confronted by some horrible thing, being unable to scream or escape. All she could do was gurgle in horror and stagger back, only to fall backwards onto the floor on her backside.

The thing approached, allowing her to see its glowing red eyes set in pitch-black sclerae, and its mouth opened.

What happened next was not what Alix had expected. The creature actually spoke, and it was Gale's voice she heard. "Alix?"

Alix's jaw dropped. "Gale?" she gasped. "What... What the heck is going on?"

"I have no idea," Gale replied in puzzlement. "One second we were in Room 12A, the next..." She looked around at their surroundings. "I don't think this is the same school."

"So, wait," Alix scrambled to her feet. "The ritual actually worked? But why did we turn into these weird things?"

"Well the spell did say something about 'changing our forms'," Gale pointed out, as she led Alix down the hall. "I guess it really meant changing us into monsters."

"Geez..." Alix groaned. "I never thought I would get isekai'd for real!"

"Yeah, but you gotta admit," Gale looked over her shoulder at the 9-year-old. "It is more interesting than our regular school."

"That'd be a lot more convincing if your knees weren't shaking." Alix pointed out Gale's trembling legs.

"Look, I'm excited, okay?" Gale defended.

"Hey! It's me, Ethan!"

Ethan's new form looked like a cross between the Grim Reaper and the Ghost of Christmas Future, a floating figure in a tattered brown sleeved cloak. All that was visible under the dark hood was his now glowing yellow eyes. He floated towards the girls, accompanied by a porcelain doll in a blue dress, with her hair in a messy cut. It wasn't hard to tell who this was.

"Look at me!" Dolly gave a little twirl. "I'm a real dolly now! Look at my new dress, too!"

"She's been enjoying this since she got a good look at herself." Ethan admitted.

"At least she's happy." Gale said. "Where's Manny?"

"Over here." Manny called out from a fair distance. He now looked like his twin, with the brown loincloth and long-limbed, emaciated form, only his irises glowed white and his skin was fire-engine red.

As he approached, he noted "Looks like everybody got turned into freaks of nature, huh?"

"We don't know that," Ethan said hopefully. We still haven't found Shawn, Sammy and Wynn."

"OH, SWEET MOTHER OF GOD!!!" A familiar voice echoed from one of the classrooms.

"That would be Shawn." said Gale as she turned in the direction of his voice. The others followed her.

They soon found him in a room devoid of anything but an old TV set on a wheeled stand with a videocassette and a VCR player. Shawn's new form looked like a clown, but his head was now a giant left ear. Beside him was what looked like a pale blue mask with large eyes seemingly floating in midair.

"Bro, calm down!" Sammy tried to reassure Shawn. "It could be worse!"

"How could it?!" Shawn protested. "My head's a freaking EAR! How am I still talking!?"

"Hey, I'm a weird thingy too," Sammy pointed out. "I don't see why you're complaining."

At this moment, Shawn noticed what the others had become, and his voice seemed to rise an octave. "GAH!"

"Shawn, it's us!" Alix reassured.

"Wh-" Even with an ear for a head, Shawn was still capable of a double-take. "Guys?!"

"Yup," Manny confirmed. "Apparently, we've all been mutated into monsters."

"What about Wynn?" Gale asked. "She's still missing."

It was then that Ethan heard movement behind him. He turned around...

His high-pitched scream startled everyone but Wynn, who simply tilted her now-large head. "You look funny." was all she said.

Wynn's new body was perhaps the biggest of the group's, with her form that of a massive snake, albeit with skin instead of scales. Her head was vaguely humanoid, with skeletal features, a wide mouth and bulging eyes. No wonder Ethan was spooked, which was an understatement.

"God, Wynn!" Ethan gasped, shaken. "I could've just died here!"

"Sorry," Wynn apologized.

As she slithered into the room, Manny spoke up. "Well since we're all together again, what now?"

"Obviously we find a way back home, and outta these bodies!" Shawn answered. "What else?"

"Yeah, but how are we gonna do that?" Ethan asked. "We don't even know what kinda world this is."

While they were talking, Wynn took notice of the videotape and VCR. "Maybe this?"

She just managed to grasp the tape with the tip of her tail, and insert it into the player. As she turned on the TV, Dolly perked up. "Oh, are we watching a movie now? Cool!"

"I don't think now is the time to-" Ethan began, when the video began to play. A cheerful voice narrated over images of the school.

"Welcome to Xaginda Academy, located right at the heart of Dimension Arc! Here, our goal is to mold young entities, both humanoid and non, into wiser beings ready to face the world head-on. For help or complaints, please take the issue up with our Teacher Unit. If you see a student acting out of line, please report to our Hall Monitor."

"Well, at least this school has some sense." remarked Shawn.

The tape continued. "If it's you acting out of line, well, then may Lady Otryla have mercy on your pitiful soul. If by some unforeseen circumstance you crossed realms to here unintentionally, simply find the special golden key back to Dimension 3."

"The key..." Alix realized. "'The key home shall be our goal', that's what we need to do! Find the golden key."

"However, if you are unable to find it in any of the Academy's rooms, then it's probably in the hands of the Principal. To consult the Principal, locate the Principal's office. Thank you, and good luck!" With that, the video ended.

"So, before we go searching in any of the other rooms here," Gale guessed. "We need to check the principal's office, right?"

"Yeah, if we can find it." Manny replied.

Wynn seemed to perk up, before she slithered back out of the room. "Where're you going?" Shawn asked.

"Think I saw it before..." Wynn answered. At this, the others followed her.

After a few minutes of searching, Wynn suddenly spoke up. "Found it!"

"Alright!" Manny grinned.

"Finally!" Shawn bolted for the door. "I have a few choice words for this school's principal."

He knocked on the door. No answer.

"Wait, Shawn, think about this," Ethan cautioned. "What if the principal here's some hideous abomination?"

"Look, we've all been turned into abominations, right?" Shawn responded, as he opened the door. "There's probably nothing here that can-"

He was cut off when he walked right into a brick wall. Falling flat on his back, he yelled out "OH, COME ON! SERIOUSLY?!"

Sammy looked at the wall. "Man, that's kinda messed up putting a wall here." he noted.

"What is even the point of doing what the video told us if this is here?!" Alix exclaimed in exasperation.

"Unfortunately, the Principal is not here at the moment."

At that voice, the children turned to see some sort of retro-looking machine with arms moving towards them. "Whoa, you're a robot!" Dolly marveled.

"Are you new here?" the robot spoke in an electronic yet feminine voice. "If so, then allow me to introduce myself: I am CODEX, Xaginda Academy's Head Teacher Unit."

"So..." Manny summed up. "Definitely a robot."

"What do you mean the principal's not here?" Alix asked CODEX.

"Sometimes the Principal leaves the office to wander about the rooms." came the reply. "Until the Principal's return, the Hall Monitor is currently in charge."

"Well, maybe this hall monitor can tell us where your principal is," Shawn reasoned. "After all, we're here in these bodies against our will."

"That might prove difficult," CODEX explained. "The Hall Monitor is incapable of speech. His only directive is to enforce the Academy's rules."

If Shawn still had even any semblance of a face, that would have fallen. "What kinda hall monitor is he any-"

A low growl rumbled from one of the hallways. The children slowly turned their heads to see something massive emerge from the shadows.

What they saw had the bodily shape of a doberman, yet it stood upright on two legs. Its fur was dark grey, and it regarded them with flaming scarlet eyes.

"Perfect. Just what we need," Manny stated, trying to keep his cool, even though his body was no longer human. "A school mascot that can kill people."

[tim-writes-a-lot]

Oh No! Nalfeshnee!

The hapless bard walked slowly through the forest, a mighty plastic long sword gripped tightly in his sweaty hands. Hey, what did you expect? He usually just carried the weapon for show.

Why was he so nervous? This hero thing can't be so hard, thought the bard-turned-sellsword. Besides, how bad could a Nalfeshnee be? Such a garbled name must come from a fairly weak creature.

But this beast had attacked a small group of travelers on the nearby trail. So when the cute barmaid at the ale house had twirled a finger in her hair and tilted her head just so, he couldn't help but say yes to whatever she asked. In this case it was to go take care of whatever had tormented and apparently even killed several unfortunate wanderers. Besides, after two weeks of performing at this bar he needed something new to bring a bit of excitement to his life.

After a half hour of walking back and forth from the trail and through the forest all that he had found so far was boredom. This Nalfeshnee thing must have seen him coming and became scared and ran off. He aimlessly stepped into a forest clearing for the fourth time already today.

Maybe I'll work on my new song a bit more while I waste my time...

"I woke up one fine mornin'

And what did I see?

That cute little barmaid

Was sleepin' with me.

I had courted her with poems

I flirted and she laughed

I sang her a sweet tune

And then made a slick pass

Took her back to my place

She was a ball of fire in bed

Made my mind go a reelin'

She gave the best...HOLY SHIT!"

He was not sure if he sang the words "holy shit." He was dead certain that it wasn't the lyric he had intended to sing. He was also sure it didn't matter much right now. He was also pretty sure he now knew what a Nalfeshnee looked like. Especially since it stood snarling before him. He was not sure at all whether he had soiled his pants, but the odds that it had actually happened were currently running down his leg.

What stood before him was best described as a cross between an ogre and a wild boar but with wings that seemed way-too-small to be useful on its back. It was drooling worse than the seamstress he had taken to bed a few months back in the village of Charcoal Cross. It was also much uglier than the local he assumed was not fully human that he had slept with while passing through the town of Mossy Oak three weeks ago. In other words, even a bard with such questionable standards would not have slept with a Nalfeshnee. It was just gross. Oh, and very angry, we can not forget the angry part.

He held up his plastic sword, which strangely enough, looked like a large butter knife. The demon standing before him almost looked happy to see the bard try to defend himself. It swung a powerful clawed hand and shattered the blade instantly, sending bits of white plastic flying everywhere. A hoofed leg then kicked the helpless pretend-sellsword to the ground. Was it laughing at him or does this freaking thing just sound like this when it breathes?

What the bard thought were his final thoughts began running through his head. Why did he let the cute barmaid talk him into such a quest? Well, because she was a lot better looking than the people that usually enjoyed his talents as he skipped from town to town bringing laughter, catchy rhymes and really way-out-of-key singing. Maybe she was not all that she seemed, could it have been a spell, or some potion? He should have suspected as much, no one that pretty usually talked to him, not even after his best performances. His next thought was that maybe he should have stuck with what he was good at, or at least halfway decent at... or maybe just acceptable at... but you know what he means, right? Fighting an angry Nalfeshnee wasn't exactly in his upper skill set, entertaining townsfolk that were rarely sober, that was more in his comfort zone.

He looked up and watched the beast open its pointy-sharp-toothed jaws wide and swing its clawed hand back for another swipe. The air around him seemed to begin crackling. A bright flash caused him to close his eyes. He thought: Is this what happens when you die? But he then heard a sound from the Nalfeshnee that was more one of surprise than crazed anger.

He opened his eyes to see the beast writhing in pain, then out of the corner of the bard's eye he saw her. She was glorious. Dark flowing hair that seemed to twinkle as if it was made of strings of black opals. Soft dark skin, how was it glowing? Was she glowing? Is this an angel, come to save me? Her ears were pointed and jutting through the black opal hair on either side of her head. Her flowing outfit concealed much of her form, but the stunned bard knew he would never see anything more beautiful in his entire life. How much of that life was left, he wasn't sure of. He let his eyes close again as the sounds of a very one-sided battle ripped through the forest clearing.

Minutes later? Hours later? Lifetimes later? He didn't know, he just felt a soft hand on his cheek and heard a voice. He slowly opened his eyes and saw her leaning over him. He croaked out a few words “My angel, my savior...”

“Oh, shut up, you silly fool, I'm no angel, you should see me in a library.” She seemed to laugh at some sort of inside joke before speaking to him again. “Consider yourself lucky I could not only hear, but could also smell that foul wretched beast from the nearby trail. Otherwise you may have become that demon's lunch.”

He kept staring at his savior and mumbling “Angel, you are... saved me... thank... the goddess Meilikki herself has protected me... so beautiful...you are...”

“Goddess may be right, but the name is Zelpha. And you are crazy, and most-likely have a concussion, not to mention various other bruises and lacerations. I will get my mount and get you to a village for care and rest. Please don't play the hero again. The next time you may not be so lucky.”

The banged-up bard continued to babble about the pretty dark angel elf that lit up the sky with fire. Finally, after about the twentieth time he thanked her and said she was beautiful, she glanced around quickly to make sure no one was watching and then cast a Silence spell on the deranged adventurer. “That's much better,” she said and went about the business of getting this half broken man to a village.

He woke up in a soft bed at the inn of the next village along the trail. He had been dreaming of fireballs and pretty elves and foul smelling demons. He opened his eyes for the first time in three days only to be disappointed. The old motherly face of the inn keeper glanced back. Oh how he wanted to see another face, a prettier face... a... “Glad to see you finally awake, good Sir. The lady that dropped you off left a few coins and dealt me a good bit of persuasion to see to your recovery. Rest up, lad, you are safe now.”

Several weeks later he found himself in a country pub, performing and entertaining and bringing laughs to the townsfolk. Had he learned a lesson? I would say so. He sung his latest song to the sparse crowd. Laughter, at his own expense, but hey, it was a living, which is much better than a dying!

“One fine spring day

I ventured into the woods

It was time to be a hero

To deliver the goods

But a demon arrived

Put me in a fear-filled trance

Broke my favorite sword

And made me piss my pants

But a goddess came along

Cast spell after spell

Knocked out the demon

And sent him back to hell

She was glorious and pretty

Saving my soul and my life

I just wish I could thank her

And sing this song to her some night!”

As applause and laughter rose from the crowd, he spied at the back of the pub a figure so out of place he could not miss it. It was her... she still looked like she was glowing to him, but he also noticed she was laughing. She was laughing!

By the time he got to the back of the pub she was gone. At least he felt like, in his own strange way, he was finally able to thank her, even if it was with a silly song.

[feeling-weirdy]

A fluffy prompt, as a break from all the angst! Wanda has a nosebleed? Bc fretting/anxious Vision is really quite endearing, and I can imagine him being the sort of partner who would be catastrophising and wanting to do anything possible to stop it, even if it was actually caused by something quite minor?

TW; mention of blood?  I guess?  nosebleeds?

“Wanda, I-”  Vision turned the corner, walking in through the door to her bedroom to find her hovered over a strange machine next to her bed.  Purified air shot up from the nozzle, spreading a thin mist throughout the rest of the room.  Wanda had herself hovered over it, allowing the air to envelop her face.  “Are you alright?” 

“Huh?”  Wanda sat up, a dazed look on her face as she sniffled.  “Oh, I’m fine.  Sorry, I thought I had closed the door...I just had a nosebleed.” 

“Your nose bled?”  Vision crossed the room with large steps, lifting her face gently with his fingers as he inspected the area.  Her face seemed to be in order, nothing out of the ordinary jumped out at him other than the small red liquid trailing down her nose.

“Yeah...It’s the humidity and the air and the-”  Wanda sighed, knowing her explanation was nowhere going to be good enough.  “I’m sorry, it’s just really gross.  It happens, rarely, but...I just have to sit with the humidifier for a few minutes and hope it goes away.” 

“Allow me.”  After learning the intensity of human sickness and the many varieties of it, Vision had quickly spent a good deal of time on how to properly care for those who fell ill.  While this wasn’t exactly a sickness, Vision knew how to help her take care of it. 

Vision knelt in front of her, gently pulling her face in his direction.  Despite the awkwardness of their meeting, it was hard to ignore how warm her cheeks turned as he held her there for a moment.  He forced her to lean forward slightly, tilting her head even more so. 

“W-what are you-”  Her eyes widened as he pulled her forward, her lips parting as she watched him.

“Just trust me,” Vision retorted, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he focused on his actions.  Placing his thumb and index fingers on opposite sides of her nose, Vision pinched carefully forcing Wanda to open her mouth to continue breathing.  He chuckled softly, pushing the soft part of her nose towards her face slightly.  “I have to stay like this for a few minutes, but it should help stop the bleeding.”

“And where exactly did you learn this?”  Wanda smirked, trying to keep herself still.  Clearly a difficult act with how fast he could hear her heart beating.

“The internet is a curious place.  I hadn’t expected there to be so much useful information.”  Vision said quietly, situating himself in a more comfortable position.  “Though...I think I prefer books.”

“You’re not the only one,” she snorted.  A hush settled between them as Vision kept his fingers around her nose.  The red hint never left her cheeks as the two sat dangerously close to one another.  His eyes trailed down to her lips, two pink puffs sitting delicately just below the place he held.  This hardly seemed the time to kiss her, but he couldn’t help but think how beautiful she looked even with the small streak still falling from her nose.  The thought had certainly entered his mind before, but the tension that seemed to develop between the two of them always gave him pause.  Their relationship had undoubtedly deepened since their first meeting, but to push it to that next step...

Vision cleared his throat.  “Just so you were aware...”  He started, desperate to find something different to talk about besides where his mind had been heading.  “Your humidifier helps prevent nosebleeds, not cure them.  You should probably be turning it on before you fall asleep if you suffer from these regularly.”

“Ah...well, I guess that’s why it never really worked, huh?” 

“I’d say so,” he chuckled softly.  His attempt at moving the conversation along faded, inviting the calm quiet to fall back over them.  

Wanda’s eyes fell, her blush fading from her cheeks the longer they sat like this.

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t exactly expect you to do all this.”  Her words were quiet, barely a whisper as she peeked over at the still open door.  She must have really wished she had closed it behind her.  Not that a closed door would have stopped him.

“Wanda, I am here for whatever you need.”  Catching her attention, Vision smiled at her.  “I’m not human and therefore cannot be nauseated if that is what troubles you.  You have nothing to worry about.”

Wanda’s face fell, pushing her lips together pensively as she remained silent for several moments.  “I wish you’d stop talking about yourself like that.”

“I speak only the truth.  I don’t see why it shouldn’t be said.”  Vision spoke plainly, curiosity surging within him.  Her face always contorted in such a fashion whenever he breached the subject of what he was.  He never could quite understand why it seemed to trouble her.  The fact remained true no matter how upset she became so worried about it seemed like a waste of time.  Yet here she was. 

Wanda paused, reaching a hand out to trace the lines in his face with a delicate touch.  Her warm fingers ran along the coolness of his cheeks, sending a strange sensation to well up in his cheeks.

“Because you’re more than that and you know it.  I’ve told you that before.”  Her fingers dropped from his face, gripping onto her arms as she forced herself to remain still.  

Vision sucked in a breath, stopping himself before the question breached his lips.  His interest in her answer got the better of him, however, pushing the query forward.  “Does my being not being human bother you?”

“Absolutely not,” she stated without hesitation.  The hitch in her voice caught her by surprise, but the concern that shown on her face remained constant.  “You’re Vision.  That’s all that matters.”

His head cocked to the side.  “Then why does the revelation bring you so much concern?  Wanda...”  Using his free hand, Vision placed it on top of the tight grip she had formed around her elbow.  “I am a synthezoid.  I can try to be human until my systems shut down, but I could never obtain that goal.  I’m curious as to why that truth upsets you.”

“There’s more to being human than what you think."

“Please elaborate,” Vision requested.  Wanda remained silent, chewing on her bottom lip as she scanned the ground for answers and came up empty.  Once it was clear he wasn’t getting an answer, Vision let go of her nose.  Inspecting it one last time, he smiled once more before pulling his hand back.  “I believe enough time has passed.  Your nose should be fine now.  How do you feel?” 

“Much better.  Thanks...”  She trailed off, gripping her hands.  Without meaning, he had upset her.  Guilt settled within his chest as she struggled with the answer to his question that never seemed to come.

“Wanda, I-”  Vision started, immediately getting cut off by her sudden hop off the bed.

“I should probably clean this up.  Could you hold on just a second?”  She trotted off to the bathroom, quickly closing the door behind her.  Even from the bedside, Vision could hear the sink turn on, water running down the drain, and splashing against her nose and face.  Pushing himself to his feet, he walked over to the humidifier to turn the knob causing the mist to fizzle out.  

After a few moments, the water shut off and Wanda walked back into the room.  The look on her face told him she wanted to continue their conversation, but no words came to help her flesh out her thoughts.  

“I should probably get going,” Vision finally said, making his way back to the door.

“Vision.  Wait.”  Wanda grabbed onto his arm, stopping him mid-step.  He turned, forcing them face to face once again. 

The distance between them closed in, leaving them with nothing else to do but gaze into the other’s eyes.  Despite the countless amount of research he conducted as he spent time with her, Vision discovered he still had many difficulties in trying to understand her.  He had hoped with time that those instances would be made clear, but the complications only became...complicated.

The fact that Wanda saw him as something more gave him a great sense of pride.  Their companions saw him as a tool to be used, but Wanda...somehow saw him as an equal.  Almost human.  An intriguing notion that never really crossed his mind outside of her outbursts.

Vision watched her carefully, only being met with her cerulean gaze.  The disappointment in herself for not having the answer he wanted was evident.  Perhaps he had overstepped his boundaries upon asking for more information.  Yet, he couldn’t help but want to prod her mind.  She was the most intriguing human he had come into contact with and he absolutely wanted to know more. 

Finally breaking eye contact, Wanda looked down, fiddling with the edge of her shirt.

“T-thank you,” her quiet voice filled the space between them creating a tension that the pair had become all too familiar with.  The corner of his lips tugged upward as he nodded.

“Of course.”  His chest tightened as he walked out of the room; his curiosity only growing with each moment.

Check out my other drabbles here or feel free to request some!

[headkiss]

Happy Tuesday! :) Could I possibly request something where Eddie is trying to gather the courage to confess his feelings to the reader? Maybe Wayne or the Hellfire boys hype him up and help him practice what he’s going to say?

hi! happy tuesday to you too and yes you can!! i hope u like it and that it’s kind of what you were thinking! enjoy :D | 1k words and fem!reader

Eddie had a crush.

A big, fat crush that all of his friends, even his uncle, knew about. He thought about it all of the time. He wanted to go on dates and take care of someone and be fucking soft. How strange was that?

He had a crush on you.

You were the prettiest girl he’s ever seen, the kindest smile and eyes that he wanted on his. You were never mean to him, never called him a freak like everyone else did. In fact, he’s heard you defend him multiple times.

“You don’t even know him.”

“He’s a good person.”

“If you actually knew him, you would never say that.”

What’s even worse is that you’re even kind when you try to be stern, your voice soft despite the conviction in your tone. He thinks you’re really, really cute.

He considers you a friend, but he knows he wants more. He wants to kiss you and hold you and walk around with his arm around you so the assholes at school stop looking at you.

“Dude, you’re staring again,” Gareth snaps Eddie out of it.

“Shit, sorry. What were you saying?”

He tries to pay attention this time, he really does, but he hears you laugh and he has to turn his head to see it. It’s sweet, the soft cloud of cotton candy if it was a sound. God, he has it so bad.

“You should just tell her,” Gareth doesn’t bother with his story anymore.

“She won’t feel the same. No way.”

“Do you hear the way she talks about you? And when you two are around each other. Come on! It’s so obvious.”

“Maybe.”

The two boys make their way to Hellfire, Eddie listening to Gareth go on and on about how he should just be honest and talk to you, but he can’t. He’s too scared. You’ll turn him down and then he won’t get to talk to you at all. He prefers the moments he has with you already than that.

The night's campaign goes as usual, some yelling, some laughing, and Eddie having way too much fun getting to DM for it all. It’s his favorite thing to do, an escape, really. And things only got better when Dustin, Lucas, and Mike joined. He saw himself in them, especially Dustin, and they were great additions.

It goes as usual until the door opens and everyone’s heads turn to see you standing there.

“Oh my god. Sorry,” you turn around and shut the door, embarrassed as you lean against the wall.

Eddie’s eyes are wide, and he doesn’t say anything, simply stares at the door where you just stood. He’s itching to get up, to go after you and talk to you and tell you it’s okay, you’re welcome anytime.

“For god's sake just go ask her out,” Dustin says what everybody’s thinking, though he says it in that tone of his that makes him sound annoyed, which he probably is, at this point.

Eddie’s been talking about you forever and they’re all sick of it, as great as you seem. The whole of Hellfire agrees with Dustin, chanting ‘do it, do it’ until Eddie shushes them and finally stands and pushes his way out the door.

He startles you, and you startle him. He wasn’t expecting you to be standing right next to the door with your head in your hands muttering something to yourself that sounded a lot like ‘stupid, he doesn’t like you’ and he can’t stop himself from hoping you want him to like you. You weren’t expecting anyone to come out and look for you, and you can’t help but stare at Eddie while he does the same to you.

You’ve liked him since you met him. He’s energetic and charming in his own, unique way. The way he spoke drew you to him, the way his eyes were always shining and sweet like a puppy. His long hair and his rings and tattoos. He was, to you, perfect.

“Oh. Hi,” Eddie says it quietly, like he’s nervous.

“Hi. I’m so sorry for walking in, I forgot Hellfire was today,” you’re looking down, feet kicking back and forth against the ground.

“No, no. It’s okay.”

“Okay.”

You wait for him to say something else, because he looks like he’s going to, but he doesn’t. So you turn to walk away with a small ‘bye, then.’

“Wait!” He stops you, a hand around your wrist. You like the way it feels when he touches you, even the slightest bit.

“I wanted to ask you something.”

“Yeah?” You look at him, eyes roaming around his face and the way he licks his lips and takes a deep breath before talking again.

“Do you want to maybe go out sometime.. with me?”

“Seriously?”

He’s even more nervous now, because he doesn’t know if you’re surprised that he asked you out in a good way or if it’s negative.

“Um, yeah. I really like you. A lot, and I want to take you on a date if you’ll let me. I’m sorry if I just sprung it on you but I had to get it out.”

You surprise him this time by taking his face in your hands and forcing him to look at you.

“Hey. I like you too. I’d love to go out.”

“You would?”

“I would,” you nod.

He can’t stop himself, he kisses you then. Your hands stay on his face and his hold your waist. He feels like he might be dreaming because you’re kissing him back and it’s even better than anything he ever dreamt of. It’s broken up by your smiles and giddy laughs, but it’s amazing, nonetheless.

That night, after he kissed you some more and said goodbye and left you his number, after he finished Hellfire and tried to stop himself from blushing (and failing) when they all cheer after finding out a date has been secured and feelings have been returned, he goes home the happiest he’s been.

Wayne notices.

“What’s got you all smiley, boy?”

“Got a date.”

“With that girl you never shut up about?”

Eddie nods, his face heating up because he never realized he talked about you that much. He thinks it might only get worse after tonight. He knows how you kiss and he won’t ever forget it. The smile is still on his face.

“Yeah, she likes me, too.”