#I dont know why I hadnt reposted this here yet but

[inviral-a]

I  have  a  lot  of  messy  ADHD  thoughts  right  now  & I’m  gonna  talk  about  em.  So  like !  I  really  dislike  William’s  fanon  ??  These  thoughts  happen  when  I  go  looking  for  content   & wind  up  in  old  parts  of  the  fandom  like  from  DeviantArt  lol. Like  he  was  always  an  unpopular/overlooked  character  which  is  totally  understandable  despite  his  massive  role  in  the  background  of  things.  But  like,  I  really  don’t  feel  like  what  little  fanon  exists,   or  what  fanon  I  know  of  that  was  the  thing  “”in  my  day”,”  so  to  speak,  is  anything  close  to  who  he  is.

Because  I  do  actually  play  him  so  differently  to  the  “fanon”,  which  is  what  I  would  assume  to  be  people’s  expectations  of  him.  In  my  eyes.  To  me  he’s  not  a  real  villain.  More  an  anti-villain  if  anything.  I  know  a  lot  people  have  a  terribly  low  opinion  of  him  due  to  said  fanon  but  again,  I  interpret  him  very  differently.

I  understand  kinda  WHY  people  see  him  the  way  they  do  though  of  course.  In  all  his  existence,  game  wise  he's  had  maybe  2-3  minutes  screen  time  NOT  as  a  mutated  monster  & only  a  handful  of  canonly  spoken  lines  as  a  result.  A  lot  of  ideas  of  him  come  from  his  apparent  all  consuming  “obsession”  with  G,  which  is  kind  of  emphasised  by  the  original  re2  but  you  know  what  I’m  calling  it ?  Bad  writing.  Not  that  I  bash  the  original  game  at  all  like  man  I  love  it   & I  mean  it  was  1998 !  Like,  early  RE  games  weren't  exactly  known  for  having  fantastic  scripts  or  even  decent  voice  acting,  point  being. Which  is  why  I  do  love  so  much  of  the  remake  because  I  think  it  really  brought  to  life  what  was  always  meant  to  be.  Despite  the  some  things  I  don’t  use  or  care  much  for.  I  digress  though. My  take  on  William  is  not  really  villainous.  Its  perhaps  true  that  he’s  not  entirely  a  good  person  but  hes  not  exactly  a  bad  guy  either.   I  do  find  William  to  be  supremely  sympathetic  just  personally.  Perhaps  one  of  the  most  sympathetic  characters  in  the  series,  again  just  for  me  personally.

I  mean  when  we  really  think  of  it  William  was  only  a  little  kid  when  he  was  consumed  by  Umbrella.  He  was  heavily  groomed  by  Umbrella.  He  spent  most  of  his  life  with  Umbrella  &  we  know  what  horrible,  horrible  garbage  Umbrella  was.  Its  perfectly  understandable  for  William  to  be  less  than  a  good  person  with  that  in  mind  but  I  don’t  think  that  attribute  is  inherent  to  him.  It  was  simply  ingrained  into  him  by  his  time  with  Umbrella,  groomed  to  absorb  their  twisted  ideals  &  ethics,  which  was  explicitly  the  point  of  the  Umbrella  training  facility  that  William  attended  as  a  kid,  not  to  mention  the  bizarre  hyper  competitive  atmosphere  among  umbrella’s  staff.  ( something  encouraged  by  the  higher  ups.  Everything  Umbrella  did  was  so,  so  very  insidious  on  so  many  levels  & it  was  all  very  calculated  & intentional )

I  could  even  make  a  case  for  Wesker  being  at  large  like  he  is  for  the  same  reasons,  but  those  are  other  posts.

Among  all  the  Umbrella  based  characters  though,  William  to  me  remains  the  most  human  &  the  most  “normal”  for  lack  of  a  better  way  to  describe  it  for  me.  He  could  hardly  help  what  he  was,  most  of  the “”villainous””  aspects  of  him  were  implanted  into  him.  Being  with  Umbrella  had  naturally  warped  his  morals   &   desensitised  him  to  so  much.   A  thing  that  strikes  me  about   William  though  is  his  love  for  his  family  &  thats  one  of  the  major  things  that  popular  fanon  goofs  on,  as  well  as  his  most  major  redeeming  quality.  William  wasn’t  a  bad  husband  or  a  bad  father  per say.  He  loved  his  wife  &  he  loved  his  daughter  to  such  an  extent  that  they  were  obvious  driving  factors  in  trying  to  escape  Umbrella  which  was  MASSIVE  given  what  Umbrella  was  &   how  engrained  in  William  it  was.  He  was  neglectful  but  in  no  way  out  of  malice.  Despite  his  flaws   & his  mistakes,  I  can  never  see  him  as  ever  wanting  to  hurt  them,  only  the  opposite,  which  I  think  is  displayed  canonly.

Which  is  another  thing  I  found  interesting  about  William.  I  don’t  interpret  him  as  neurotypical  in  any  way  which  I  draw  from  the  few  “descriptions”  of  him  /  his  behaviours  from  other  people.  What  I  interpret  from  them  feels  very. . .  Relatable  & I  really  do  think  William  is  something  like  ADHD  or  Autistic  or  somewhere  in  those  areas,  maybe  be. (  I’ve  been  portraying  him  very  much  as  the  latter ). My  most  major  source  of  reference  for  him  comes  from  Wesker’s  report  2  which  is  one  of  the  few  glances  into  his  character  we  actually  get.  Wesker  has  great  admiration  for  William  &  notes  William  is  quite  humble  &  unassuming,  if  not  a  little  odd.  In  the  novels,  if  I  remember  right,  Chief  Irons  notes  that  he  likes  William  for  these  qualities  as  well. &  I  think  both  of  those  could  easily  explain  a  lot  about  William  &  not  only  his  “””obsession”””  with  his  work  but  the  descriptions  of  him  essentially  coming  across  as  very  space-y  &  distant / non-interactive  with  things/people  that  aren't  part  of  his  major  interests.  He  was  able  to  easily  work  for  24  hours  straight  &  forget  important  things  like  his  wife’s  birthday.  Not  for  lack  of  caring  but  because  that's  where  his  head  is.  It’s  doubtful  in  the  times  when  William  did  crazy  overtime  that  he  even ��knew  how  much  he  had  actually  done.  Annette  writes  a  letter  to  him  apparently  expressing  this  &  I  think  William  might  have  been  surprised  by  how  long  it  had  actually  been  since  he’d  properly  been  home  with  her  &  Sherry.  This  wasn’t  him  avoiding  his  family  in  any  way.  It  wasn’t  intentional.  Annette  seems  to  have  to  remind  William  how  to  function  outside  of  living.

Further,  people  might  have  interpreted  William  being  stuck  up/scornful  of  others/having  some  kind  of  superiority  complex,  which  adds  to  this  “douchebag  villain”  aesthetic,  but  I  don’t  think  that's  true  because  again,  Wesker’s  report  also  noted  that  William  wasn’t  actually  boastful.  He  was  obviously  proud  of  himself  & his  achievements,  which  he  had  every  right  to  be,  but  it  was  not  a  point  of  any  kind  of  actual  conceit  for  him.  Wesker  notes  that  William  doesn’t  boast  about  himself,  but  that  he  was  deeply  troubled  by  the  extreme  fuss  surrounding  Alexia. Another  part  of  the  fanon’s  poor  interpretation  of  him  I  think  comes  from  the  same  source  surrounding  the  Alexia  ordeal.  I’ve  read  all  the  different  translations  & what  I  practically  note  about  the  whole  ordeal  is  not  that  William  hated  Alexia  because  he  was  a  conceited  jealous  brat.  He  didn’t  hate  her  just  because  she  existed.  His  jealousy  came  from  a  very  understandable  place,  IMO. A  lot  of  William’s  anger/jealousy  didn’t  come  from  her  just  existing,  it  wasn’t  as  malicious  &  immature  as  that,  though  it  could  easily  come  across  that  way,  however  it  came  largely  from  the  way  he  was  treated  by  his  colleagues  as  a  result  of  her.  Its  pretty  well  noted  by  Wesker  & something  he  himself  took  similar  annoyance  with.  It  was  the  way  the  other  researchers  not  only  ENDLESSLY  praised  Alexia  but  the  way  they  began  to  deject  William  as  a  result.  William’s  problem  wasn’t  just  simple,  childish  jealousy,  it  was  hurt.  She  wasn’t  just  being  praised,  he  was  being  scorned.

Which  would  have  been  VERY  hard  for  William  for  so  many  reasons.  Not  just  because  he  was  proud  of  his  position & his  achievements  up  until  then  but  because  literally  Umbrella  &  his  workplace  was  his  whole  world.  Also  keeping  in  mind  how  young  William  still  was  at  the  time.  He  was  only  19.  I  don’t  cringe  at  19  yr  old  William  being  angry  about  10  yr  old  Alexia  as  much  as  I  cringe  at  shitty  30-40+  year  old   men  who  put  these  kids  on  these  ridiculously  high  pedestals  in  the  first  place   &  actively  pitted  them  against  each  other.  They  enjoyed  making  competition  &  animosity  between  researchers.  With  William &  Alexia  &  even  Albert  being  so  young  they  seemed  to  particularly  target  them  due  to  their  own  jealousies  &  the  expected  vulnerabilities  of  people  that  age.  Not  to  mention  failing  Umbrella  could  actually  mean  death  &  not  just  rejection. 

Another  thing  of  note  being  that  its  canonly  mentioned  there  was  attempts  to  flame  a  “”vicious””  rivalry  between  William  & Albert  that  seemed  to  mostly  fail.  Rather,  in  the  toxic  ass  environment  of  Umbrella  with  so  many  douchey  old  men,  William  & Albert  were  just  drawn  closer  together.  I  also  like  how  Wesker  noted  William   &   him  seemed  to   be  subject  of  a  lot  of  “dislike”  which  I  think  was  pretty  obviously  due  to  their  ages &  their  relative  status. &  I  also  think  that  feeds  into  the  Alexia  problem.  Though  William  wasn’t  exactly  a  stranger  to  a  bit  of  workplace  animosity,  in  the  past  it  didn’t  effect  him  so  much  because  the  truth  was  that  he  &  Wesker  had  achieved  things  as  teenagers  that  the  old  assholes  around  them  hadn’t  managed  to  achieve  in  their  whole  careers.  Very  water  off  a  ducks  back  at  the  time.  That  &  the  fact  he  didn’t  pay  too  much  attention  to  anyone  else  anyway  but  the  Alexia  issue  forced  him  to  pay  attention  &  gave  all  those  jerky  older  colleagues  actual  ammunition  to  use  against  him. This  is  a  lot  more  serious  than  I  think  the  fandom  comprehends  because  William  was  essentially  a  “survivor”  of  Umbrellas  training  facility  as  a  chid.  

The  executive  training  programme  in  the  Arkley  mountains  where  William  started  out  was  basically  an  Umbrella-focused  boarding  school  where  young  minds  were  picked  by  Umbrella  to  become  their  top  researches. The  problem  was  they  were  also  using  the  kids  as  research  material.  Doctor  Marcus  routinely  tricked  students  into  infecting  themselves  so  he  could  torture  them  as  part  of  his  experiments  into  the  T-virus.  Students  became  ill  &  went  missing  all  the  time. How  William  &  Wesker  made  it  out  of  there  is  never  really  touched  on.  We’re  left  to  imagine  that  its  because  they  remained  top  of  their  classes  &  Dr. Marcus  took  a  weird  liking  to  them  but  then  then  it  might  have  just  been  luck  given  Dr. Marcus  was  also  noted  as  a  miserable  old  bastard  who  didn’t  seem  to  like  anyone  very  much  east  of  all  gifted  kids  who  could  have  rivalled  him.  There  is  also  an  implication  that  Spencer  convinced  Wesker  &  Birkin  to  steal  a  sample  of  Marcus  T  virus  in  order  for  them  to  gradate  &  become  top  researchers  at  the  Arkley  facility  &  this  is  what  I  work  with. 

This  was  normal  for  Umbrella,  though.  They  routinely  made  research  subjects  out  of  their  researchers.  if  someone  was  “accidently”  infected  the  protocol  wasn’t  really  to  help  them  but  to  cover  it  up   &  use  them  as  a  fresh  specimen.  The  real  fear  William  must  have  felt  in  losing  value  to  Umbrella  was  very  well  founded  &  understandable.  In  my  Headcanon  William  truly  believes  he  wouldn’t  have  escaped  the  training  programme  if  it  wasn’t  for  Wesker  &  his  insistence  in  including  him  in  Spencer’s  plan  to  steal  a  T  virus sample.  But  moving  on  or  moving  back  to  talking  about  Sherry  &  Annette.  I  think  yeah,  obviously  one  of  the  major  motivators  in  the  attempted  divergence  from  Umbrella  for  him  was  them.  I’m  pretty  sure  theres  a  note  or  a  journal  entry  from  Annette  or  William  himself  somewhere  that  implies  a  desire  to  be  better  parents  &  a  more  conventional  family.  I  know  the  general  idea  is  that  William  wanted  to  leave  Umbrella  STRICTLY  because  they  wouldn’t  promote  him  but  I  think  not  only  was  this  something  he   &  Annette  had  spoken  about  at  length  &  were  already  considering  doing  but  the  whole  no  promotion  thing  kinda  played  on  WIlliam’s  constantly  pre-existing  fear  that  they  were  gonna  do  him  just  like  they  did  Marcus,  so  while  it  was  def  a  factor  its  not  the  only  thing. 

Not  only  is  that  a  scary  thought  in  general  but  Marcus  had  no  family,  William  did.  A  family  he  expressed  being  incredibly  concerned  for  because  he  knew  Umbrella  wouldn’t  hesitate  to  outright  eliminate  them  or,   an  even  greater  fear,  turn  them  into  someone’s  test  subjects.  So  while  not  being  promoted  was  like  “the  straw  that  broke  the  camels  back”   at  that  particular  time,   it  was  in  no  way  the  only  reason  for  William’s  attempt  to  leave,  &  even  if  he  had  been  promoted,  again,  it  seems  him  &  Annette  did  have  plans/aspirations  to  move  away  from  Umbrella  anyway.  I  think  this  seed  was  planted  in  William  as  early  as  the  assassination  of  Marcus.  I  mean,  though  William  didn’t  have  a  lot  of  love  for  his  mentor  it  was  still  daunting  to  think  you  could  be  so  much  to  the  company  &  still  get  thrown  away  like  that.  It  should  also  be  noted  that  I  think  the  reason  William’s  promotion  fell  through  was  because  William’s  plans  for  G  was  not  ultimately  to  weaponize  it.

Thus  I  don’t  exactly  portray  William  as  having  that  all  consuming  obsession  with  G.  It  was  more  that  he  just  didn’t  want  to  flush  his  entire  life’s  work  down  the  drain  &  being  so  close  to  finishing  the  project  just  made  “leaving”  Umbrella  without  it  feel  absolutely  undoable.  Actually,  it  would  be  literally  undoable  because  he  would  have  no  bargaining  chip  to  assure  his  families  safety. So  ultimately  I  think  William  is  very  sympathetic  despite  his  faults.  His  behaviours   &  motives,  I  think  are  very  understandable  &   are  so  much  more  than  the  idea  of  him  just  being  some  crazy  douche  bag  obsessed  with  a  virus  he  discovered.  I  believe  infecting  himself  with  G-  although  insanely  ill-advised,  was  understandable  considering  this  was  a  wild,  impulsive  move  made  during  a  time  of  high  emotion/stress  &  in  the  face  of  death  being  the  one  other  option. William  didn’t  think  too  hard  about  his  wife  or  his  daughter  when  he  infected  himself  but  once  again  this  wasn’t  out  of  any  malice  toward  them.  He  wouldn’t  have  had  the  TIME  to  give  any  in  depth  thought  to  his  actions.  He  did  it  out  of  desperation  in  the  thought  it  would  save  him  & in  tern  save  his  work  &  family.  That's  NOT  how  it  went  down,  none  of  William’s  attempts  to  do  these  things  went  how  they  were  intended  to  go  &  that's  the  tragedy  of  it  but  overall  his  intentions  were  pretty  good   & in  his  mind  I  think  it  was  really  a  case  of  ends  justifying  the  means  for  William.  Again, G  was  also  important  to  William  not  because  of  this  wacky  obsession  with  the  research  as  such  but  because  it  was  also  his  literal  bargaining  chip.  Prior  to  the  outbreak  William  didn’t  have  any  reason  to  be  offered  Asylum  from  Umbrella  without  it  &  Umbrella’s  really  not  a  place  you  just  “quit”  from  as  detailed. I  don’t  think  William’s  position  as  a  father  is  considered  very  much,  if  ever  by  the  fanon  but  I  do  think  its  an  important  thing  that  does/can/will  affect  his  thoughts/opinions/behaviours  in  a  lot  of  ways.  I  think  essentially  William  had  a  lot  more. . . Maturity  &  maybe  more  of  a  sense  of  like. . .  Decency   to  him,  so  to  speak,  than  what  we  got  to  see  canonly   &  what  the  fanon  gives  him ? Like  I  know  as  far  as  baddies  in  the  RE  series  go  the  bar  is  sooo  low  given  they’re  mostly  just  apeshit  but  I  think  William  deserves  some  props  for  being  one  of  the  few  who  wasn't  just  an  egotistical  fuck  who  wanted  to  control  the  world.   Back  to  William  &  Annette’s  intentions  for  G:  they  did  not  see  it  as  a  weapon,  they  wanted  to  utilise  it  essentially  for  medical  reasons. My  final  thought  is  that  I  think  G3′s  design  is  kind of  reminiscent  of  this  in  some  way.  There  is  a  clear  likeness,  at  least  ‘shape’  wise,  to  an  angel  in  G3.  I  do  kinda  think  this  is  intentional  &  is  kind  of  symbolic  of  William’s  apparently  good  intentions  turning  out  so  evil/wrong.  This  monster  that  has  the  shape  of  an  angel,  humanoid  with  what  looks  to  be  enormous  wings  sprouting  from  its  back,  while  the  creature  itself  is  so  demonic   &  twisted,  brings  to  mind  the  saying  “the  road  to  hell  is  paved  with  good  intentions.” To  me  that's  somewhat  an  overarching  theme  with  William.  Because  again  I  don’t  believe  he  was  truly  evil  & out  of  all  the  Umbrella  based  folks  William  +  his  wife  are  the  most  “normal’ /  human.  He  doesn’t  appear  to  have  any  particular  megalomaniac,  sadism,  narcissism   or  hatred  of  humanity.  For  William  he  wasn’t  in  it  for  those  things,  he  wasn’t  in  it  for  some  warped  shot  at  world  conquest,  he  was  just  there  for  the  science  itself  & for  the  idea  &  fact  that  the  work  he  was  doing  could  be  used  for  good  as  much  as  it  could  for  evil.  William’s  interest  in  the  B.O.W’s  wasn’t  using  them  to  wipe  people  out,  it  was  simply  collecting  valuable  data  that  could  obviously  be  used  for  other  things  such  as  defence,  control,  prevention  etc.  Just  like  Wesker  noted,  researching  B.O.W’s  & researching  B.O.W  counter  measures  are  the  same  research  & William  very  much  has  that  mentality.

The  whole,  weapons  aren't  evil,  evil  is  all  up  to  the  hands  that  wield  them.  Well  that's  really  in  line  with  William’s  thoughts  /  opinions  on  science  &  his  work. To  him  its  a  grey  area  &  its  necessary  because  it  was  better  to  know  the  things  they  learned  in  developing  the  B.O.Ws  than  it  was  to  not  know  & have  someone  else  learn  it  instead.  It  was  work  SOMEONE  had  to  do  &  work  someone  WOULD  do  regardless  to  any  moral  complaints.  But  yeah,  again,  I  think  its  pretty  apparent  if  not  directly  canon  that  William  & Annette  didn’t  intend  G  to  be  a  weapon,  they  were  focusing  on  the  medical  properties  of  G.  G  could  have  been  utilised  medicinally  to  help  fight  illness / diseases  +  improve  humans  lifespan  &  mortality.  ( this  is  also  why  Spencer  Initially  approved  the  project  as  he  was  old  &  sick  &  thought  G  could  be  ultimately  useful  to  him )  

[getbacktoworknovice]

🐎Snarky, Handsome Devil

[an AU in which you are a summer time employee who works at a riding ranch for kids and have a massive crush on one of the instructors Jacob Frye~ (this is part one of a series (reposting some older Ao3 stuff~)]

You always looked forward to summer.

A chance to get away from school, your siblings and your parents for three glorious months. Not that you didnt love your family of course, it was just a nice break from the reality you were stuck in nine months out of the year.

Every summer, ever since you started high school, you worked part time at the Frye Riding Ranch, a sort of summer camp for underprivileged kids to get a chance at taking care of and learning how to ride horses.

The people who ran it, Ethan Frye and his twin children, Jacob and Evie Frye, were very generous being that they only charged the families one dollar for the three month camp and in some cases, they let children join for free.

Apparently they had come from hard times as well.

You yourself were an actual hired hand, hired on by Ethan your first year at high school and kept on as he seemed to like your personality. You were hoping he would, after all, you loved kids AND horses and this was like a dream come true to you.

Kids were always so much easier to deal with than adults and they adored when you did your funny little voices, especially the British one as the owners whole family were Brits. Adults tended to give you odd looks.

Especially Jacob.

But then he would just give you that annoyingly charming half smile of his and go back about his business as if he hadn’t been looking at you at all. He rather loved kids too (which was part of why you found him so attractive) and even referred to them as his little “Rooks”.

He was kind with the horses as well. You’d caught him before as he was giving one a bath, talking to her sweetly and patting her lovingly as he got her cleaned up. It was the cutest thing you ad ever seen. Though you were certain he would deny he ever did such a thing if you asked him.

To be perfectly honest he had annoyed you at first. On your first day he had paired you with the worst horse they had to “break you in”, he’d doused you several times with the power hose and made you shovel so much manure you couldnt smell anything but for three days after.

You definitely hadnt had much of an appetite your first week, making Evie worry for you and then give Jacob a harsh telling off when she found out what he’d done. He wasnt a bully, she assured you, he was just…a pain.

Needless to say you’d avoided him for a month afterward but towards the end he came around. Apologized even. Which surprised you. You didnt realize you had a crush on him until you came back the next year and he gave you a big hug…

and you could feel every muscle he had.

He was every inch the rugged cowboy you’d seen on many a cover of romance novels. Muscled, rough around the edges, wild hair and eyes…and that damn smile of his! Yes indeed to you every inch of him was rugged and wild…and you loved it.

You just wished you were able to tell him. He was four years older than you and you just figured it was a passing fancy. You’d get over it. Yet every time you saw him and tried to still your beating heart it never worked. He would smile and nod at you, or say something that made you laugh, or stand too close to you when you saddled the horses for the kids.

He was the sweetest asshole you’d ever known.

You actually looked forward to getting up in the morning.

Today was turning into one of the funner days you’d had in the last three years. It was the day before graduation and to celebrate they always had a giant bonfire and a mini rodeo of sorts where the kids got to show off what they’d learned and earn a “badge of honor” for their efforts.

They were just cheap plastic sheriffs badges, but to the kids they might as well have been solid gold trophies. They got the biggest smiles on their faces and your heart just melted at the sight. Even Jacob took it a bit easier in terms of joking around, taking the event as seriously as the kids did.

You were in charge of getting all the firewood ready for the bonfire the next night as well as making all the certificates the kids would be receiving along with their badges. You were sitting at one of the tables in the rec room with Evie, writing out all the kids names neatly on their certificates, while Evie printed out the pamphlets for the parents.

“I do hope it doesn’t rain.” She was saying as you finally finished with the “S” names, rotating your wrist a bit to work out the soreness in it. You loved calligraphy but it hurt. Looking up when you heard her words you gave a curious gaze out the window, noting it was a bit stormy looking.

“Maybe it’ll blow over.” You said hopefully as you didn’t want it to ruin the kids’ fun. “If not I suppose we could hold the ceremony in here.” She said just as rain started to pelt outside. You gave a bit of a groan as now you’d have to go and cover up the wood with a tarp.

“Shit…” You grumbled as you grabbed up your coat and headed out the door. Te bonfire pit was a good ways away from the rec room and cabins so you had to book it to the barn to grab up a tarp. By the time you made it to the bonfire it was pouring down rain.

Quickly you began tucking the tarp into the corners of the pile, doing your best to get the wood covered so it would actually burn tomorrow, but it was getting windy and every corner you managed to get covered would pry itself loose by the time you got to the other end.

You were about to lose it when you felt someone grab the other end of the tarp to assist you. Giving a relieved sigh you looked over to see it was Jacob. You felt your heart begin to beat wildly again and you couldn’t control it. “Jacob…!” You started but he only yanked on the tarp.

“Dont just stand there like a fish!” He insisted as the rain pelted him without his jacket. “Move!” That snapped you out of it and you began to help him, tucking the tarp into place and covering it to help it stay safe from the rain.

With his help you got it done rather quickly and one he was certain it would stay the two of you took cover in the barn. You were both soaked but Jacob had gotten the worst of it, his black t-shirt stuck to him and his jeans were soaked through.

You were so glad you’d grabbed a jacket.

“Thanks,” You managed to say after you’d caught your breath. “I was about to give up there for a minute.” You admitted and Jacob laughed. “Wind was bein’ a bit of a bully wasnt it?” He grinned, taking off his baseball cap and wringing the water out of it best he could.

“Oh yeah, just a bit.” You teased in return with a smile that quickly turned into a blush when you saw him strip off his soaking shirt. You never knew he had a tattoo, but you turned your head so quick you didnt actually see what it was.

“What’s the matter love?” You heard him tease. “Never seen a man without a shirt before?” You felt your face get redder. “I-I…n-no…I mean…!” You were so flustered you couldnt even get a word out. “Sh-shut up!” You finally grumbled but he only laughed.

“Oh come now, you dont have to be so harsh with your tongue.” He said as he took your shoulder and leaned in close to your ear. “Your not having dirty thoughts are you?” He teased and you whirled on him to tell him off.

But stopped short as you felt his lips against the corner of your mouth.

Giving a small squeak you jumped back, your eyes wide in surprise. “J-Jacob, what the hell!?” You stammered, completely flustered. Jacob however only smiled that cocky little smile of his. “Been wantin’ to do that.” He said as he wrung out his shirt.

“Wh….what? What do you mean youve been wanting to do that?” You stuttered and he gave you a sideways grin. “Why, precisely what it means. I’ve been wanting to kiss you for a long time.” He said in plain terms.

You felt your knees buckle a bit and your heart began to thump in your chest. “R-really..?” You asked slowly. You felt like you must be dreaming. Youd had a crush on him true but you never in your life expected it to be reciprocated by him.

“Why?”

That question seemed to get to him as his cheeks actually turned a little pink. “Well…because I like ya.” He said with an honest shrug, putting his shirt back on. “I thought that was obvious but I guess I went about showin’ ya the wrong way.” He admitted sheepishly.

You gave a snort. “Yeah, making me shovel maure isnt the fastest way to my heart y'know!” You insisted with a swat to his arm. Jacob laughed aloud, a laugh you’d grown to love. “I guess I did fumble that one up a bit…” He admitted, giving you a soft look with his brown eyes.

“So…how is it you feel about me?” He asked and it was your turn to flush in the cheeks. You honestly didnt know what to say at first. “I..I mean I really like you Jacob. I’ve…I’ve had a crush on you for a while…” You hated to admit that out loud.

“I just…I feel like I’ve known you forever,” You said as you looked up at him. “I know it sounds silly but I’ve really come to like you.” You said, feeling a sense of relief at finally getting that out in the open.

Sensing your relief he gently took your cheek getting you to look at him. “Well since I like you and you like me….ya wanna try that kiss again?” He asked. He wasnt pushy about it or trying to force himself. His stance was relaxed, and his hand gentle.

How could you say no?

Leaning up towards him his lips met yours halfway, cupping your cheek as he kissed you long and deep. It was the most amazing kiss you’d ever tasted in your life. When you finally pulled away from him he rested his forehead against yours.

“So…theres only a week left of camp,” He said as he looked down at you with a bit of curiosity in his gaze. “I dont suppose you’d be willing to…let me come visit you in the city sometime?” he asked. You just gave him a smile and kissed his nose.

“You can visit me anytime….just make sure you come by car. If you ride a horse into the city people tend to freak out.” You teased. Jacob only laughed aloud.

“I make no promises.”

[saxxxology]

BITTEN - Ch.4

After getting bitten by a werewolf, Sam finds himself trying to adapt to a brand new lifestyle that brings him closer to the girl he loves, but threatens to tear him apart from his family for good.

PAIRING: Alpha!Sam x Omega!Reader

WORD COUNT: ~2200

WARNINGS: non-consensual werewolf bite (not sexual), a/b/o dynamics: heat/rut, knotting, claiming, breeding kink, angst, time hop (season 9 to 12), and more.

NOTE: Edited by @kayteonline and @kittenofdoomage - please heed all warnings and enjoy! This is NOT intended to be a dark fic, but if you read something that bothers you, it is your responsibility to stop reading, keep scrolling past it, or contact me for content clarification.

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Dean was in the kitchen when you walked up. He was cradling a large cup of coffee in one hand, and when he saw you emerge from the basement, his gaze fixed on you.

“How is he?” he asked urgently, “is he okay?”

You nodded. “It’s over. He’s fine, just hungry. Where’s Garth?”

“He went out with Bess. She’s in shock over what happened, so he took her to a safehouse out of state.” Dean watched as you pulled a pan from the rack on the wall and set it on the stove. “What do you mean by ‘fine?’”

“He’s not in pain anymore, his fever went down.” You cracked eggs into a bowl and whisked them around. “He just needs to recuperate for a few days, maybe a week.”

“Can I see him?” Dean asked.

You nodded and pulled a couple bagged chicken hearts from the fridge. “After he’s eaten. He’s gonna be stronger than normal for a while, so we gotta keep his human contact minimal.” You heard Dean exhale heavily as you started chopping the hearts into chunks. “Dean, I know you wanted to find a cure, but there’s nothing you could have done. I’ve seen people get bit and go through a lot worse. At least he’s alive. He’s a little different than he was yesterday, but he’s alive.”

Dean nodded and leaned against the counter. “You’re really intent on taking care of him, huh?”

“It’s my job to take care of my pack.” You replied, pulling four sausages from the fridge and tossing them in the pan, along with an entire pack of bacon. “Russ and Joba are gone. The Reverend’s… well, let’s just say I’m in charge of the pack, now. I care for Sam, deeply. If it were up to me I would have killed Joy myself so that didn’t happen.”

You heard Dean scoff, but when you looked at him you could see he was grinning.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Dean finished his beer and set the empty bottle on the counter. “Just… I never thought you’d actually spook over a guy getting turned.”

You shrugged. “I know when to care about someone getting bit. I wanted Sam to leave, I wanted him to forget about me, about the pack. I never wanted him to get bit.”

Dean nodded shortly. “The way I look at it now is, he could have been bitten and left to die. At least this way he’s got you and Garth and Bess to look after him, make sure he won’t get into trouble.”

You finished cooking in silence. Piling most of what you’d cooked onto a large plate, you slid one of the sausage links, a small pile of eggs, and several strips of bacon on a separate one, which you offered Dean. He accepted it gratefully, noting that you’d cooked the chicken hearts in  a separate pan. When you re-entered the basement, you found Sam sitting up and stretching his arms above his head.

“I could smell that from down here,” he muttered, turning his head to look at you, “is that normal?”

You handed him the plate and watched him begin to devour the food, shoveling a mixture of everything into his mouth with a fork that seemed comically small in his large hands. “Yeah, it’s pretty normal. And don’t worry about eating everything there, your appetite’s going to be pretty out there for the next couple days.”

Within minutes, Sam had completely annihilated the food on the plate. He tilted his head back against the wall, his lips parted as he sighed in satisfaction. “There was a heart in there, wasn’t there?”

“Two. Small ones, just chicken, nothin’ special.” You took the plate from him and set it down on the floor before snuggling into him. “How do you feel?”

Sam exhaled heavily and slipped an arm around your shoulders. “Not hungry anymore, definitely not tired… I feel strong. Stronger than before.” He flexed his arms, examining the muscles that bulged under the gray sleepshirt. He seemed bigger. “Actually, I feel like I need to run, get out…”

“There’s the punching bag.” You gestured to the slightly misshapen tool in the corner. “I can’t let you out yet, gotta know you can control yourself around humans.”

“Humans…” Sam looked down at his lap and swallowed. “That’s right, I’m not human anymore.”

You shook your head. “That’s not entirely true. You’re still human here,” you put a hand over his heart. “You’ll still be able to function like a human, your instincts are just rewired a bit, that’s all.”

Sam scoffed. “Yeah, what happens when I wolf out and go nuts?”

“That won’t happen.” You nuzzled his shoulder and stood with him as he shuffled over to the punching bag. He gave it an experimental nudge with his fist. “Want to see Dean?”

He nodded apprehensively. “Yeah, but I don’t wanna try to hurt him.”

“Sam, you won’t—”

“You don’t know that. Make sure I don’t try to hurt him.”

You bowed your head and trotted back up the stairs, closing and locking the cage door behind you. Dean was still waiting in the kitchen, and he stood upon seeing you emerge from the basement.

“You can see him, but we have to be careful,” you said quietly. “If he smells you he could try to get at you, that’s gonna be his first instinct. The cage door down there has silver on it, so if he tries anything it’ll hurt, bad, but I need you to stay on the stairs, keep your distance.”

Dean held his hands up as if in surrender. “Trust me, I’ll be keepin’ my distance.”

You led him down the basement, slowly, his boots clunking heavily on the thick wooden planks. You could hear the dull, repetitive THWACK of Sam’s fists against the punching bag, but after the basement door closed, they ceased, and the space fell silent as you and Dean came down the steps. A little more than halfway down, you motion for him to stop.

“Dean, stay here.”

He nodded quietly and waited for you to slip past the cage, locking it behind you.

Sam was standing in the corner by the punching bag, his arms folded across his middle. You motioned for him to walk over, but he shook his head. “Y/N, I can’t… I don’t want him to see me like this. I can smell him, I can hear his heartbeat.”

“You won’t hurt him.” You walked closer to him, reaching for one of his hands. “Sam, come on, I’ll be there. The door’s got silver on it, you won’t be able to get out.”

Sam lowered his voice. “What if I hurt you?”

“You won’t. Now come on.” You led him slowly over to the wire door. His heartbeat increased with every step, and you heard his breathing grow more and shakier.

When Dean came into view, you didn’t know if Sam was going to recoil or lunge at the gate. He could hear Dean’s heartbeat, steady and slow, the rush of blood pumping through his veins, traces of whiskey and cedar covering up the thick, coppery scent…

...No, stop it! That’s your brother! You wouldn’t bite your own brother!

“Sammy?” Dean’s voice was quiet as he took another step down the stairs. “Hey, it’s me.”

Sam paused, took a deep breath. “I know.” He looked down at the ground and closed his eyes, trying as hard as he could to stop from hurling himself at the wall of the cage. “How’ve you been?”

“Uh, worried, for one,” Dean chuckled in an attempt to lighten the mood, “I went out for a little during the night, tried looking for a cure or something…”

“Yeah.” Sam swallowed and clenched his fist. He didn’t know what the fuck was happening, but all he wanted to do was break out of the cage and rip his brother’s chest apart, get at the thick, pulsing muscle that was hidden behind bone and sinew, devour the warm, blood-drenched organ that kept his brother alive…

No! Goddamn it! Stop!

“I thought you’d be gone.” Sam cleared his throat as a fresh wave of hunger washed over him.

“Had to make sure you’re okay, didn’t I?” Dean caught your warning glance to stay where he was and decided not to take the last two steps down. Hell, he might be too close already. “How do you feel?”

Sam swallowed thickly as you increased the pressure on his hand. “Honestly, I feel good. I’m strong, I’m not hurting, just wanna get the hell out of here.”

“And why can’t you?” Dean shifted his gaze back and forth between you and Sam.

“Because if I get out of here I’m not gonna be able to stop myself from trying to hurt you or someone else,” Sam stated bluntly.

Dean seemed taken aback by Sam’s words. Apparently, he hadn’t considered just how dangerous Sam really was until he’d said it. “Sam, you wouldn’t.”

“You don’t know what I’d do, Dean, hell, I don’t know what I’d do.” Sam’s body trembled as he spoke, but he stood his ground. “The only reason I’m not going after you right now is that I know I shouldn’t, but if Y/N wasn’t here with me, if this happened somewhere else… I don’t know if either of us would be alive right now.”

You saw Dean swallow, saw his Adam’s apple bob in his throat, and heard Sam growl, low and deep in his chest.

“Sam, don’t say that.”

“You’re not in the place to tell me what to do, Dean.” Sam retorted. “I’m a monster, both of us know that. You don’t know how… how hungry I feel right now. I don’t have a friggin’ clue what’s making me feel this way, but if you weren’t my brother… I’d kill you, without thinking.”

Looking up, you noticed Sam’s upper lip beginning to twitch. He was starting to lose control. “Dean, I think you should go, this isn’t—”

Dean, obviously, didn’t listen. Instead, he did the worst thing he could. He took another step, closing the distance between him and his brother by another two feet.

Overcome by hunger, Sam snapped. You saw his eyes flash yellow as his instinct to attack sprang free. He snarled, his lips curling back over his teeth as his muscles bunch. He lunged forward, slamming all two-hundred pounds of his body against the cage. His long fingers were pointed in two-inch claws, which curled in the wire before he stumbled back with a yelp of pain; the silver on the wire had seared his skin.

Dean fell back when Sam crashed against the cage, bringing an arm up instinctively to protect his face.

“Dean!” You shouted, pulling Sam back against the far wall and holding him there. “Get out! Now!”

You saw Dean stagger to his feet his eyes fixed on the snarling beast of a man now ten feet away from him. He was staring at Sam with a mixture of fear, anger, and sorrow on his face. Sam took several half-gasping, half-growling breaths before reeling himself back in. He collapsed to the floor, his fingers pressing hard into the smooth concrete. He bowed his head as his body shook even harder.

“D-Dean, I’m sorry!” He gasped out. “I didn’t mean to, I couldn’t help—”

The door at the top of the stairs slammed before Sam could finish, and seconds later you heard the rumble of the Impala’s engine and the grind of her tires scraping on the dirt road as she tore out of the drive and down the road.

Sam’s shoulders heaved with a sob as he collapsed back, breathing hard as he fought to still his shaking hands. The claws had vanished and his eyes were back to hazel, but he still shook with panic. “I didn’t mean to do that,” he choked, “I didn’t—I didn’t—”

“Sam, it’s okay, he’s just gone to cool off.” You soothed him. “He’ll be back, I promise.”

Sam shook his head and reached to grip your hand as you rubbed his shoulder soothingly. “No way in hell. He saw me snap and that was it. He thinks I’m a monster.” He turned his head, and you saw tears streaming from his now hazel eyes. “I am a monster.”

You sat next to him and wrapped your arms around him as tight as you could. “Oh, Sam, it’s all right. You’re not a monster, you’re not. You’re adapting to a new lifestyle, and yeah, you have some different urges, but you’re just starting out. It’s barely been an hour since you woke up, I didn’t expect you to stay under control.” You hugged him tighter and let him bury his face in the curve of your neck. “Dean got spooked, that’s all. He’ll come back.”

“Will he?” Sam straightened his back and practically glared down at you. “How can you know that? Hm? Tell me how you know my brother’s gonna come back thinking I’m still the guy he grew up with.”

TAGS FOR THIS SERIES ARE OPEN

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[antihero-writings]

In Plain Sight –Pandora Hearts Fic for Phmonth18 Golden Trio Week – Day/Prompt 3: Friendship (Full fic)

Fic Title: In Plain Sight

Fic Synopsis: When Break hides Gilbert’s favorite Christmas ornament somewhere in the Rainsworth manor, the Golden Trio must spend the afternoon looking for it

Notes: I originally wrote this for the prompt “Ornaments” in an alphabetical Christmas prompt list my friends and I did last year. However, nobody got to read it last year, and since I didn’t get the chance to write anything for the first week of phmonth18, I wanted to at least post something, and decided this worked well for the Golden Trio! Especially since Christmas is fast approaching. I think it works best for the day 3 prompt: Friendship. I hope you like it! I had a lot of fun writing this, and am rather proud of how it turned out! I would really appreciate it if you left a comment to let me know if you enjoyed it!

I posted the entire thing here, but you can also read this on Ao3. It’s under the same title, by I_prefer_the_term_antihero

P.S. This is a repost of an old fic!

Fic:

“You’re the tallest, Gil, you should put the star on top!”

“Ooh! It looks yummy! Like a big cookie!”

“It’s not a cookie, Stupid Rabbit!”

It was a few days before Christmas, and the trio was at the Rainsworth manor. Finally, everything was ready for the holiday; a fire was dancing in its place, the stockings were all lined up on the mantle, and they had just put the finishing touches on the tree. The only one who hadn’t been informed about the festive season, was the sky outside; it had been raining for the past few weeks. There was a chill in the air, it was frosty, but snow hadn’t quite come yet. Still, they made the most of their time indoors.

“Perfect!” Oz exclaimed.

Oz Vessalius was the fifteen-year-old heir to the Vessalius dukedom, but after his escape from the Abyss that year, when he wasn’t off on adventures, and missions, he spent most of his time at the Rainsworth’s.

“It’s so pretty, Onii-chan!”

On account of the ten-year gap, Oz’s sister, Ada, was older than Oz now, but, no matter what, she would never stop seeing him as her older brother. She was on Christmas break from Lutwidge Academy, and more than happy to spend it at the Rainsworths, with her brother. She had, of course, brought her two cats—Snowdrop and Kitty—with her, (which Gilbert maintained a healthy distance from, due to his phobia of cats).

“The Rainsworths will have the best-decorated tree in town!”

Oscar, their uncle, was spending the afternoon with his niece and nephew too. He was a bearded, bespectacled man, with the same blonde hair and green eyes as the rest of his family. At the moment, he was sitting on one of the couches, with a cup what he called ‘tea’, but which the rest of them guessed probably had something stronger in it.

“I can’t take all the credit, Gil and Alice helped a little,” Oz joked.

“‘A little!’”

Gilbert was Oz’s servant; a dark-haired man, who often appeared cold and reserved, but who was rather sensitive, and a worrywart. He still sometimes acted as though they were only a year apart in age too, despite the fact that he was now ten years older than his master.

“Yeah, manservant!” Alice challenged, “More like we did all the work!”

“I was just teasing!”

“Well,” Sharon had a way of returning things to order with her calm and proper words, “you all did a wonderful job.”

Sharon was the heiress to the Rainsworth dukedom, and looked like a thirteen-year-old girl, though was really in her twenties or thirties—(they knew better than to ask her exact age). Her chestnut hair was usually tied back into a kind of half-ponytail, and, as always, she outmatched them all on style points; today it was with a dress of a wintery blue that looked as if she was trying to encourage the snow to fall. As per usual, she held a cup of tea in one hand—peppermint, she had informed them, for the Christmas season—and a pastry in the other. She was sitting at a small round table on the other side of the room, with Reim—duke Barma’s bespectacled, hard working, servant, who spent more time at the Rainsworth’s than anywhere else, with his two best friends—Sharon and Break.

“Well, I’m beat,” Alice stretched and yawned, “Seaweed-head, when are you going to make me some meat?”

Most Chains (creatures from the Abyss) didn’t look like Alice did; like a fourteen-year-old girl, with floor length brown hair, and an almost cat-like physique—(though it was a giant rabbit she often turned into). Also unlike other illegally contracted Chains, she did not have a thirst for human blood, although she did have a particular love for meat, as well as almost anything edible.

“I suppose I can make you something, now that we’ve finished,” Gil sighed.

“Oh? Have you now?” they turned to see Sharon’s servant, Xerxes Break, grinning as he poured himself another cup of tea. “Are you sure nothing’s…” he leaned back against the table, “missing?”

Break was a red-eyed, white-haired man, also much older than he looked. Even those close to him would say he was a bit of an acquired taste; his love for teasing, the creepy doll on his shoulder, and his general lack of regard for other people and their feelings, made it difficult for those subject to his mischiefs—such as Gilbert—to acquire any kind of affection for him.

Gilbert froze, turning his head slowly to the tree. His eyes immediately found the empty space where a certain ornament had been.

“Break!” he shouted, spinning back to him, “Must you do this every year?!”

“Let an old man have his fun.” Break grinned.

“I believe he must, Gilbert-sama,” Sharon answered Gilbert’s question, nonchalantly taking a sip of tea before continuing, “It has become something of a tradition.”

“I should have spent Christmas with he Nightrays this year,” Gilbert grumbled, reluctance in his motions as he began to pick up books, and other objects around the room, as if searching.

“You’re so mean,” Break chided playfully, then spoke a little more seriously, knowing Gilbert had no intentions of spending much time with his adoptive family, and real brother, “You’d rather spend Christmas with the sewer rat, than us?”

Gil gave him a death glare.

“Sorry…but what’s a tradition?” Oz asked, turning to Sharon and Break.

He wouldn’t admit it, but sometimes, especially with things like this, the ten-year gap could make Oz feel like an outsider.

“Every year Break takes Gilbert-sama’s favorite ornament,” Sharon explained, “And hides it somewhere in the manor.”

“Ooh! That sounds like fun!”

“It’s not fun, Oz!” Gilbert hollered at his master, “It’s a waste of a perfectly good afternoon! Not to mention annoying, and rude!”

Break laughed. Gil had yet to learn his outrageous reactions were what made this sort of thing so fun for the prankster.

“Don’t worry, Gil!” Ada bounded up to him, “I’ll help you look!”

Gilbert flushed, “T-Thank you.”

“What does it look like, Gil?” Ada asked.

He looked at Oz, then turned back to Ada, and explained it quietly enough that only she could hear.

She nodded, beaming, and began to look in a different part of the room.

“What’s the matter, Gil?”—Gil gasped as his master appeared suddenly at his other side—“You don’t want me to know what it is?” Oz’s laugh faded into a more puzzled expression when Gil averted his eyes, turning redder.

“It’s a secret, Onii-chan!” Ada answered for him, “You’ll see when we find it!”

He didn’t get the chance to ask anything more, because Alice broke in, having been observing all their interactions,

“Does…Does this mean I won’t get my meat?”

“Uh huh,” Gilbert sighed, “That’s exactly what it means.”

“No! I will not allow it!” Alice shook her head, and whirled around on Break, pointing at him in an accusatory manner, “Clown! Return Seaweed-head’s stupid ornament his instant!”

“It’s not stupid, Stupid Rabbit!”

“Aren’t you a spoilsport?” The Mad Hatter teased, then the doll on his shoulder, Emily, finished,

“Why should I listen to some dumb bunny?”

Alice growled, her hands clenching into fists. She spun to Gilbert, declaring as she ran up to him,

“Then I won’t rest until I find that ornament! With the great Alice-sama on your side, you cannot fail!”

“Sure you won’t just get in the way?”

She kicked him in the shin, then crossed her arms, “You’d be lost without me, Seaweed-head.”

“Don’t kick me, Stupid rabbit!” he rubbed his leg, “Now go look for it over there!” he stamped his injured foot back down and pointed to the opposite corner of the room, (to which she quickly ran, proceeding to tear her designated space apart in a matter of seconds.)

“Is this ornament really all that important, Gil? I mean, we have lots of—”

“Yes!” he answered before his master could finish, “it is!”

Oz sighed, knowing how attached his servant could get to things, “Alright. So…is us helping against the rules?” he asked, watching Alice destroy the room in search of it, Ada calmly remove things, and put them back where they were meant to go, and Gil as a mix of the two.

“Don’t you think we would have stopped them if it was, Oz-kun?”

Sharon shook her head, “It doesn’t matter who finds it, watching him search is the fun part.” Her mischievous side was showing; most of the time she was this prim and proper lady, but being close to Break had its effects.

“That’s right; the more people searching, the funnier it is when they can’t find it,” Break sang. “Though, tell me, Ojousama,” he turned to his mistress “are you merely saying that because you wagered he’d find it early—before 18:00?” he asked knowingly, sitting up on the table—(Reim gave him a look that could only be interpreted as: can-you act-any-less-like-a-servant?)

They turned to the clock—it was 15:00.

“Why do you want to know, Break?” his mistress asked with a tone of false interest, “Are you afraid your skills as a prankster have gone down with age?” she patted her mouth innocently with a napkin.

“What do you take me for, Ojousama?” he smirked, crossing his legs, narrowing his eyes at Gilbert, “He’ll need all the help he can get.”

Gilbert returned to him an even more murderous look.

“You… betted on this?”

“All part of the tradition, Oz-kun,” Break mentioned, stealing a mini pastry from Reim’s plate—(the incense was more than evident on Reim’s face, and probably why Break did it).

“It’s not money we wagered, though; If I win, Break has to swear off sweets over Christmas—as well as make me a lavish dessert full of those sweet things he can’t have. And if Break wins, I have to buy him an equally lavish amount of extra Christmas candy and sweets.”

“Nice! Break, I didn’t know you could bake!”

“He really can’t,” Sharon chuckled, “But it’s fun to see what he comes up with.”

Break glared at her.

“So… is this how you bet every year?”

“Sometimes it’s different. But it’s usually something to the effect of giving Break a taste of his own medicine…Though I seem to recall one year, I wanted Break to do this dance I had heard of in a book, if he lost. I believe it was called ‘Futterwacken.’”

“That’s a weird name for a dance!” Oz laughed, “So? How did that go?

“I suppose it is,” she smiled, “That was one of the tamer punishments, but, when he did lose, he refused—rather blatantly.”

“Really?!” he turned to Break.

“How many times must I tell you? I have no talent for dancing.”

“Truly, as a servant of the Rainsworth Dukedom, it would be better fitting that you learned,” she shook her head, then turned back to Oz, “Anyway, after that, we thought the chance to take away his candy was rather enjoyable.”

“Aw, I want to join the bet!”

Gilbert looked affronted, but before he could speak, Oz continued, boyish excitement simmering in his tone,

“Say, what if, if Break loses, I get to eat his candy instead?!”

Sharon and Break glanced at each other.

“Let me ask you something, Oz-kun;” Break set down his tea, “Are you willing to risk the consequences of such a wager?”

“Ehh…consequences?”

“Why of course. I couldn’t give little Oz-kun the chance of stealing my candy without the proper torment in store if he lost.”

“Eh…” Oz knew just how mean Break could get, and that this could very well turn into a prank war that ended in actual blood, “I think I’ll pass.”

“I always said you were smarter than you looked,” the Mad Hatter picked up his tea again.

“Maybe you could join in by helping me look, instead of encouraging them, Oz!” Gilbert whirled on him.

“Aww, do I have to?” the fifteen-year-old groaned.

“Oz!”

Oz turned to the masterminds, as if silently asking for them to give him an excuse not to.

“Hey, Oz-kun is sharp,” Break began, then Emily added,

“Probably smarter than these three put together!”

—two of the aforementioned three gave him what can only be described as ‘fight-me’ faces, and Ada looked disheartened—Break took no notice, and finished,

“So that depends; whose side are you on?”

“Well,” Oz thought for a moment, then mused, grinning, “it would be fun to see Break trying to swear of candy!”

“Is that so?” Break’s eye narrowed.

“In any case, why isn’t Reim-san helping?” he shifted the focus. “You’re not the kind of person to sit back while others are in trouble”

Reim sighed, pushing his glasses up on his nose. “While that may be true, these two are often harsher with me, than others. If I help you, I have a feeling I shall pay for it in some way later,” he shot them an icy look, “dearly.”

“Whatever do you mean, Reim-san?” Sharon asked innocently. “We thought you enjoyed our company.”

“Yeah, it’s only because you’re our favorite, Reim-san,” Break gave a fake sappy voice.

“Then pick a new favorite!”

“That’s not how it works! You have a lifetime guarantee!”

“Sharon,” it was Ada who spoke. She had been focused on searching on the mantelpiece, and inside the stockings, “Why are there nine stockings?”

“What do you mean, Ada?” Oz asked, stepping over to her.

“Well, I was just thinking; there’s me, Onii-chan, Uncle, and Alice,”—Alice looked annoyed at Ada mentioning her name—“since we’re staying here for Christmas,” she pointed at each of the stockings in turn, “and these belong to Sharon-sama, Break, Duchess Rainsworth-sama, and Reim-san, right? But who does this last one belong to?” she held the bottom of the last one, careful not to pull it off the mantle.

They turned to Break and Sharon, who glanced at each other, their mischievous grins fading into more somber, reminiscent expressions.

“It was Break’s idea,” Sharon answered.

“Well, I can’t take all the credit—“

“It’s for my mother…That has become something of a tradition as well. We just thought it would be nice, to have something to remember her by during the Christmas season.”

The tone in the room quieted; the rest of them knew that Shelly was Sharon’s mother, who had died sometime after Oz’s coming of age ceremony.

“That’s…actually really sweet,” Oz noted, “Break, I’m surprised you thought of it!”

“You think you’re cute, don’t you? And you say that like I’m cruel.”

“Well…” Oz rubbed the back of his neck, smiling nervously, trying to formulate a non- insulting answer in his mind.

“I think what Oz is trying to say,” Reim started out gently, then finished harshly, “Is that it’s high time you realized you can be a jerk, Xerxes!”

“Well, I wouldn’t say jerk’…” Oz began.

“I would,” Gil mumbled.

“My…I cant believe that you all….” Break began softly, then Emily jeered,

“Just figured that out now!”

The anger was evident on all of their faces.

“Really, why are you all ganging up on me,” Break grinned, without a hint of hurt in his voice, “when you should be focusing on the task at hand?”

“Because it’s your fault we’re in this mess!” Gilbert shouted, then ran his hand frustratedly through his hair, observing the mess they had made of the room, before demanding, “Is it in this room?!”

“Given up already, have you?” Emily teased.

Gilbert clenched his hands into fists, biting back a retort.

“Did anyone see him leave the room?!”

Everyone looked at Gilbert blankly, or up at the ceiling, trying to think if they had, realizing they had no idea, and knew full well Sharon could have used Eques to transport him when their backs were turned anyways. Gilbert put his hands on his hips, sighing at their silence “Alright. We have a whole manor to look through, it’s best we move on from this room,” he paused, turning again to Break, with malice in his eyes, “Right?”

“Sure, kiddo!” Emily replied, and he gave the fakest grin yet.

Gilbert gritted his teeth, then shook his head, directing them,

“Let’s split up; Ada, you go down the left hall, Stupid Rabbit, you take the right. I’ll go downstairs.”

“I won’t let you down, Seaweed-Head!” Alice sped down the hall, not even searching, as if she had forgotten the task she’d been given.

Ada nodded, “Come on, Snowdrop, Kitty!” she called to her cats.

Oz sighed, “Alright, fine. I’ll help too.”

Gilbert smiled, about to thank him, when Oz added,

“But I expect to be rewarded for my troubles!”

His servant rolled his eyes.

“I kinda need to know what it looks like, though, don’t I, Gil? You seemed to want to keep it a secret earlier.”

“You’ll…um….You’ll know it when you see it,” Gilbert looked anywhere but at his master.

Oz sighed, putting his hands on his hips, “Really? That kinda makes things harder, you know.”

“Oh, not up to the challenge, are you Oz-kun?” Break goaded.

“No, no, I can do it! I just feel like we’re not addressing a key part of the puzzle here!”

With that Gilbert pulled him out of the room and into the search.

Gilbert was right; it did seem like a bit of a waste of an afternoon; exhausting wasn’t the only word that came to mind after rifling through each room one by one, with no clue as to where it might be. Especially because the feeling began growing in them that Gilbert was way too attached to things, as well as that Break was, indeed, a jerk. They didn’t know how much time had passed before they met up again in the hall, everyone hanging their heads in shame and disappointment.

“What should we do?” Ada asked quietly.

“We can’t let the clowny bastard win!” Alice slammed a fist into her other palm to emphasize her point.

“That’s right!” Gilbert agreed, “For years I had to put up with his constant teasing, it’s high time we got him back!”

“I don’t think losing the bet is really going to make him stop. I mean, he’s lost before, right?”

“You don’t have to be so blunt about it!” Gilbert complained.

“Sorry,” Oz shrugged.

In the moment of silence that followed, Ada’s cat started rubbing against Oz’s leg, as if trying to comfort him.

“What do you think, Snowdrop?” Oz asked jokingly, picking up his sister’s cat, (Gilbert eyed it, a whine developing in his throat, scooching away), “Do you have any idea where it is?”

Oz gasped.

“What is it, Onii-chan?”

Tied into the cat’s collar was a ribbon, attached to a little ornament. He pulled it free and placed the cat on the floor (it meowed and padded away).

The other three gasped in turn, leaning in to get a better look at it.

“That bastard!” Gilbert slammed his fist into the wall behind him. “He knew I wouldn’t go near your cats!”

“Yeah,” Oz laughed, “leave it to Break to take the cheap shot.”

“What are we waiting for?!” Alice demanded, “Didn’t I just say we can’t let the clowny bastard win!”

“You’re right!” the others said together, and bolted down the hall.

“We found it!” Oz held the ornament high, like a trophy, as they burst through the door.

At the same moment that he held up the evidence, the hour chimed.

They each glanced at each other, then at the clock, which read exactly 18:00.

“My, my, isn’t this an interesting turn of events?” Break remarked, stretching, “It looks like it’s a tie, Ojousama.”

“It would appear,” Sharon smiled “In that case, would you please excuse me for a moment?” she gathered her dress and hurried out of the room.

“So, which one of you found it?” Break asked, walking over to them.

“I did.”

The prankster smirked, “What did I tell you?” he ruffled Oz’s hair, “Oz-kun’s sharp.”

“So… what does that mean about your wagers?” Oz tried to put his hair right. “Since you tied?”

“Just a moment Oz-kun,” he put his hand on Oz’s head, his sleeve falling over his eyes, and looked over their heads

Sharon quickly did return, a little out of breath, holding a small package wrapped in a ribbon.

“Here you are, Break!” she held it out for him.

He took it from her and unwrapped it, opening the little red box to reveal that it was filled with the the candy she had promised.

“Just the thing I needed” he patted her head, unwrapping a piece and tossing it into his mouth. “Better luck next time, Ojousama,”

Oz and Alice stared at him, open-mouthed, dumbstruck that he had beat them.

“Now I suppose I should get started on that dessert of yours,” he waited until the proper moment to add.

“Please do.”

“Huh?” Oz and Alice asked simultaneously.

“Since we tied,” Sharon spoke, as they both turned to them, “we both win.”

“So…does that mean the clown still has to swear off candy?” Alice asked hopefully.

“No—Unfortunately,” Sharon added, glancing at her servant, who rolled his eyes, eating another piece, “We both get the rewards of the wager, but no one gets the punishment.”

“More in the Christmas spirit, wouldn’t you agree, Ojousama?” he said between candy crunches.

“Since when do you care about ‘Christmas spirit’?!” Gilbert demanded.

“Better luck next year, I guess,” Oz tried to put a positive spin on it.

“Next year?!” Alice fumed, “I want to settle this now!” (Gilbert held Alice by the neck of her jacket.)

“Believe me,” Reim grunted, eyeing Break, “it’ll only end worse for you,”

“Who knows?” Break shrugged, “There may not be a next year, Oz-kun.”

Alice continued to seethe while the others glanced at each other, unsure of how to respond to such a statement.

“There you go again,” Reim scolded. “You can’t just mention something like that!”

Break dismissed him with a wave of his hand, chuckling to himself, and muttering something about his uptightness, as he made his way down the hall to the kitchens.

After Break left, Oz looked down at his hand, opening his fingers to reveal the little clay, painted oddity he was still holding. Alice came behind him and looked over his shoulder at it.

“What…is it?”

“You didn’t know what you were looking for?!” Gilbert questioned.

“Because you never told me, Seaweed-head!”

Gilbert looked away, clearly wanting to bite back, but without argument with which to do so.

Oz shook his head, staring at it. It was rather crudely made, ineptly painted. But he couldn’t mistake it for anything else—and Gil had been right, he did know it when he saw it.

Because he was the one who made it.

“I can’t believe you kept this, Gil.”

Gilbert looked away, nodding and turning red.

Now he understood why Gilbert was so intent on getting it back. This ornament had probably become a symbol to Gilbert—much like Shelly’s stocking on the mantelpiece was for Break and Sharon—for Oz himself. This ornament, through the years, had probably become tied to his faithful valet’s unending hope that his master would come back. Each year Break took it, as if teasing that perhaps he wouldn’t (and, maybe this was his roundabout way of him trying to prepare him for that), but Gilbert always got it back, as if displaying that he would never lose that hope.

“Oy! What is it?!” Alice demanded again, upset her ‘manservant’ wasn’t focusing all his attention on her.

“It’s a bird, Alice,” Oz answered simply.

“Really, how do you figure?”

“Yeah, it doesn’t look very good does it?” Oz laughed.

“Seaweed-head, why would a crappy ornament like this be your favorite?”

“Oy! You don’t see me criticizing your bad taste!”

“Bad taste?! I have impeccable taste! I eat meat every day!”

“That’s not what—”

“Its because I made it for him,” Oz answered her question quietly.

“You?” Alice laughed, slapping him on the back, “You have pretty poor skills, Oz.”

“Give me a break! I was a kid!”

Oscar laughed, walking up to them, “You’re still a kid, Oz. Yes…I can’t remember how old he was, but he made me, Ada, and Gilbert ornaments,” he laughed a little, putting his arm around Gilbert, “I remember how offended Gil was at his master making him a gift.”

“Yeah,” Oz laughed, they all looked up at Gil, who got steadily redder the more they spoke, “We had to force him to accept it.”

“Why are you surprised he kept his, Onii-chan?” Ada asked, “Uncle and I kept ours. They’re back at the Vessalius manor. But! we could bring them over here if you want!”

“That’s okay, I believe you! Still… Like Alice said, they don’t look very good.”

“But, like you said, you were the one who made them for us,” Oscar ruffled his nephew’s hair.

“What were the ornaments you made for them, Oz?” Alice asked.

“Well, I made Ada a little cat, and uncle Oscar a camera. I didn’t really know what Gil liked, so I just made him a bird. Funny, how your chain is Raven now.”

“How come you haven’t made me one, Manservant?!” Alice hit Oz on the head.

“Hey! I’ve been busy!” he rubbed the spot where she hit him.

“In any case,” Alice turned to Gilbert, jumping quickly to the next subject, “now you can make my meat, Seaweed-head!”

“Break’s using the kitchen, Stupid Rabbit!”

“Then let’s go to the market! I’m starving!”

Gilbert sighed into his hand, “Fine. Let me get my hat and coat.”

“Can I come with you guys?” Ada asked—Alice looked peeved, but Gil and Oz had already welcomed her.

“I’ll go check if Break needs anything!” Oz ran off towards the kitchen.

As Oz arrived, he saw that Break had changed out of his white coat and purple shirt into more casual closing—likely so he wouldn’t ruin his normal outfit. He had rolled up the sleeves, and was wearing a pink apron Gil sometimes wore when he cooked for them here, but which probably belonged to Sharon’s grandmother, or mother. He had already begun to make a mess of things; flour was all over the counter, chocolate was on the walls, somehow there were even ingredients in in his hair.

“You need some help?” Oz asked, half-jokingly.

Break looked up.

“Oz-kun,” he noted, then grinned, “You? Help me? Gotten bored of Gilbert-kun, and Alice-kun already?”

“Nah. I just wanted to know if you needed anything. We’re going to the store.”

Oz knew that Break could have asked for help from the staff, or Gilbert, but Sharon called him ‘Mr. One-Man-Show’ for a reason; sure, it might not taste or look all that good, but at least he would have made it himself.

“You really think I wouldn’t have come prepared?”

“But, if you won, you wouldn’t have to make—”

Oz gasped. Realizing something:

They both had bought the supplies ahead of time. Oz thought one of them would have to go to the store, depending on who won the bet, (perhaps dragging the other begrudgingly along), but they both had already bought the necessary ingredients. Which meant, either the food one of them bought would go to waste, or be used in some other way, or, regardless of who won or lost, they still intended to give each other the gifts.

“You already had the ingredients,” Oz thought out loud. “and Sharon-chan already had your candy…”

“So?”

“I would have thought one of you would have to go to the store, depending on who won.”

“What’s your point, Oz-kun?” Break pushed his hair back.

Oz shook his head, grinning like he now had some secret information. “Break, you really are a nice guy, aren’t you?”

Break put his hand on the table, turning to him, “Wipe that cheeky grin off your face before I do it for you.”

Oz put his hands behind his back, sauntering closer.

“Oh, nothing,” he whistled, “Just that, well, you do this every year, don’t you? Sharon likes to give you a taste of your own medicine if you lose, but you both use this an excuse to give each other extra gifts, don’t you? I bet it was your idea in the first place.”

“How do you know we weren’t planning to use the supplies in some other way?”

“Because you’re not considerate enough to let others use your stuff,” he grinned, “Didn’t you just say there would be punishment in store if I got your candy?”

“Well,” he smirked at Oz’s discovery, twirling the spoon in his hand, “‘nice’ would be stretching it. But maybe occasionally I’m not a complete ‘jerk.’”

Oz grinned. That was all the confirmation he needed.

As if he were brandishing a sword, Break flicked chocolate on Oz’s face with the spoon, “Now get out of here.”

Oz rolled his eyes.

“Good luck, Break!”

With that he exited the room, and ran to the front door to catch up with Gil, Ada, and Alice, who were gathered there, waiting for him.

“Break doesn’t need anything!” he called to them, “Let’s go!”

At first it may have seemed like a waste of time, but, in the end, Oz realized; an afternoon playing a game, learning that after ten years Gil had still cherished the small gift he had once been reluctant to accept, seeing how Sharon and Break found ways to bring each other joy, spending time with his friends, spending time with his real family, would never be a waste of an afternoon for him.