#I’m actually really proud of this I might shove it into canon story one day

[hyrule-kingdom-updates]

🌼 any of them

Whoops, wrote a fic

Describe one of your OC’s worst nightmares.

An optimist would look at the world of divination with wonder. The universe is a but a magnificent hall of tapestries, beautiful pieces of art woven into anything you could imagine. Tapestries where you are a hero, tapestries where you are royalty, tapestries where your people live with riches, tapestries depicting your eternal victory over your enemies. The universe is endless and bountiful, for in the future, all futures are possible.

This is how Astor usually can depict the good fortune tellers from the worse.

If they’re an optimist, they’re most likely a faker.

The only true divinator that he had met that was even a bit of an optimist was his mother, and even then, he had always had the sinking feeling that she hid a deeper sorrow behind her simple shoes of colorful flames and shining moon and starlight. No, it was quite hard to stick to true, unfiltered optimism in this field, as while it was true that all futures and choices were possible, that freewill ran its course through all who walked the vast possibilities of the universe, the issue came in the fact that you could not travel it to and fro.

There are futures where you live, there are futures where you achieve your wildest dreams, timelines where your childhood is happier, and timelines where you find true love and satisfaction.

But you aren’t in those timelines. The future you have is this one, and it is set in stone.

Walk all the roads you want, say all the words, read all the stories, but when a seer analyzed exactly what world we live in, exactly what end is destined for this string of the universe, there will be no holding back. There is only the unfiltered, raw, typically pessimistic truth of the end. Savor it.

“In truth, Elane, I hate my job. Fear it, even,” Astor set his teacup down, looking out the balcony towards the inky, midnight view. “I fear one day I will find the prediction—the true, ultimate glimpse into the night, that seals in the fact that we’re doomed.”

The Queen only cocked her head with a smile. “Well, I’m flattered that there’s still a ‘we’ in this scenario. Good to know I’ll be joining you in the lockup when my mother find our contraband cucco nuggets—“

“I’m serious, Elane.”

She only laughed quietly, before leaning back in her chair, and gazing out into the pleasant evening. “I know...”

There was a quiet between them, not quite awkward or stiffening, but quiet in the way that you might hold your breath after someone embraces you warmly. Quiet in acceptance, quiet to make room for the sounds of something rare and fickle.

“I swear, I might retire early,” Astor finally said. “Quit while I’m ahead. Head off to Hateno or Mabe and bury my head in the sand.”

“You might want to try Gerudo then, if sand is what you’re searching for. I’m sure Urbosa would be thrilled.”

“Tsk. I am inclined to disagree.”

Elane chuckled again, and she let the quiet embrace her for a moment.

“Eternal doom aside, for a moment, I would posit that there’s hardly anything to fear. You’ve foreseen my daughter’s growth, analyzed the future livelihood of the kingdom, and predicted our victory over Ganon. I’d say it’s hard to bargain with that.”

“Maybe, but I could be wrong.” Astor circled his finger on the lip of his cup. “It happens, people make a prediction, but miss one star, or slip up one word...or perhaps one cow suddenly dies, or one ember quickly fades, and suddenly we’re actually in an entirely different timeline than predicted.”

“Didymos Astor? Wrong about something? Oh my, I never thought I’d see the day...” Elane smiled to herself again as she lifted her cup for another sip.

Astor clicked his tongue. “Well. You should hope I’m not wrong about anything. If someone of my skill makes an incorrect prediction, it would probably be disastrous for everyone.”

Elane winked as she set down her cup. “Well, good thing you’re a prodigy, then.”

“Good thing, indeed.”

Quiet keep their third company once again. Astor still had not sipped from his cup, but Elane was already heading for her fourth refill, no doubt begging for any energy after tucking her daughter to bed. A young toddler with enough energy to power a Guardian army, Elane has always found it quite odd that she used up a lot of her energy to annoy the Royal Seer. It was charming to see him get put off by a Mallory’s boundless curious aura, but mostly relieving in the sense that the Queen could get a moments rest and trust little Zelda would be alright.

Elane looked back inside through the half open door, and smiled at a bundled sleeping figure, surrounded by an army of stuffed animals. She then turned back and finally noticed Astor’s continued silence on the next refill.

She sighed. “Although I would be saddened to see you leave,” she began, “If a retirement would make you happy, Astor, I would loathe to do anything to stand in your way.”

He looked up at her, analyzing her body language and expression. She was genuine, of course, as she always was in these sorts of talks. Astor finally let himself exhale in peace, as he smiled and shook his head.

“Unfortunately I don’t think it would do me much good, anyways. Location won’t let me escape my own thoughts and visions.” He took a sip of his tea—a bit citrusy this evening, a hint of apple—and relaxed. “I’d imagine His Majesty would miss me dearly, and I simply wouldn’t want to leave him in distress.”

“Ha! Oh yes of course, Rhoam would be crying tears if you left us...” she replied, sarcastically. “Tears of deep, deep sorrow.”

Astor looked out into the night in silence again, not touching his cup.

“But I’ll tell you what Astor,” Elane began again. “If you ever receive that world dooming prediction, whatever may happen that may instigate your view of the deepest hells,” she raised her cup. “You come find me, and we’ll have a drink.”

He raised an eyebrow. “A drink? What sort of drink?”

She shrugged. “Whatever you like. Tea, wine, beer, water or juice if it’s your fancy. Whatever will keep your spirits high.”

Astor smirked, solemnly. “I don’t think you understand just how severe and dreadful certain predictions can be. When we say ‘all futures are possible,’ we do mean all possibilities.”

“And I understand, dear seer. I truly do.” She tilted her head as she kept her cup in the air. “But the way I see it, is that with divination or not, doom and hell come into people’s lives one way or the other. But it hasn’t really stopped the majority from loving their lives now, has it?” Her eyes twinkled like starlight. “Dearest Astor, if our destined doom is predicted one day, I command you to at least smile through our tea party.”

Quiet.

He finally sighed, the corners of his lips perking. His protests drowning in her expression.

“I suppose if you’re the one pouring, it’d be difficult to refuse.” He raised his cup and clinked it with hers.

She was dead eight days later.

With her death came the final factor. The final star.

“Your daughter is destined to fail us,” he said again. “The Calamity shall rise and consume us all, and she won’t stop it in time.”

Rhoam slammed his fists on the desk, but the seer did not flinch. “We’ll train her hard, we’ll start now, even! I’ll get those clerics from the temple to teach her the starting prayers!” he yelled.

“It won’t work.” Astor replied, simply. “Perhaps she might attain them down the line, but she most certainly won’t awaken her powers by Ganon’s rise. It’s over.”

“You told me we could do this!” Rhoam pointed a finger, accusingly. “You saw our prosperity, our victory!”

“That was what I initially saw, yes. But unfortunately we live in world where the Queen of Hyrule is dead, and thus the threads of our future weave accordingly.”

“You’re a liar!” Rhoam bellowed again. “You saw her death, saw our end and lied to us since the beginning, haven’t you?!!”

“Don’t you think that if I knew Elane would die, I would say something?! That I would give ample time for her to say goodbye to you and her daughter??” Astor finally raised his voice, met with equal silence. “I failed to correctly analyze our timeline the first time around, and for that I am sorry. But I can not control what pieces of the future fate allows me to see. It’s not an open novel for you to give me a bad book report grade on. It’s a museum of endless tapestries, of which I am task with analyzing one stroke at a time to identify which is woven to a singular man, and the fact that I have given you a complete enough answer now is a gift within itself, so don’t even try to accuse me forgery and lies.”

The two men clenched their jaws, staring angrily at each other.

Astor finally whispered. “Overtime I might gather more specifics, but overall—this is over.”

Rhoam balles his hand into a fist. “We’ll start a new schedule for Zelda first thing in the morning—“

“It won’t work, it’s futile—“

“We’ll make it work—“

“This is set in stone, this is the world you live in—“

“Well what if you’re wrong again?”

“I’m not.”

“But what if you are?”

“I’m. Not. I’ve read the signs again and again and again, in fact I’ve been reaching the same conclusions repeatedly for the last four weeks. It. Is set. In stone.” He tapped his finger on the wood with each syllable to emphasize. “Perhaps the futures of prosperity are accurate for the Rhoams and Mallorys that live in a different time, but unfortunately for us, we live in one where Elane is dead. This is our reality and you’re doing no good denying as such.”

Silence.

Rhoam made his way towards the door. “You’re a liar.” The seer scoffed. “You’re a liar and you don’t know what you’re saying! Borderline treason if I’m being honest! You’re pathetic, and a rotten fake—“

“If it pleases His Majesty to confirm the integrity of his humble subject,” Astor cut in, sarcastically, “It might be good to know that also I’ve predicted you won’t imprison me, or exile me, or execute me, given you’re still ever reliant on my uncontested skills for more personal matters. That, and you wish to try and keep me around to hopefully prove me wrong, in which you can then tell yourself you’d be in the right to truly punish me.” He stared the regent dead in the eyes. “But don’t worry, you won’t.”

Rhoam slammed the door shut as he stomped off.

That night, Astor has another dream. Or perhaps it was a vision, he wasn’t sure, as the details were so surreal and horrific and captivating that it would have surely been a blessing to chalk it up entirely to vivid imagination.

There were screams and the sound of rocks crumbling. Bones were cracking and monsters were squealing and shrieking. And be felt his arms burn, and he felt his soul drain, and he looked down to see his skin peeling into dark flakes, his muscles, sludge. And in the distance, a young woman with golden hair laughed at him, but her eyes were hollow and gold. And she laughed and laughed as his body was slowly broken to pieces, bones torn asunder, skin burned to smoldering malice, senses vivid until the final moment when he woke.

But the good thing about nightmares, was that...that was it. There was no where else to go. There was nothing left to offer. No more pain to fear.

It made sense of course. Of course, of course. He never went to the funeral, he never offered his sympathies. There was no longer anything to mourn, as he allowed himself to view the world in its true, disgusting form. The people were doomed, and the dead, well...perhaps they might have deserved it. Yes, that was the only way this all made sense, of course. He even stopped trying to warn other folk after a few too many dozen harsh rejections to his character. No, now in complete isolation and resignation of his path, there was nothing else that could possibly drag him back to—

“How do I die?” Zelda Mallory Hyrule asked, one day.

At first, he was confused, and he turned in his chair. “What?”

She was seven at the time, and it was truly an odd and concerning thing to be coming from a seven year old girl’s mouth. Or perhaps it wasn’t, given the circumstances.

“How do I die?” she said again. She was laying down on his worn carpet, fiddling with the frilled edge.

Was she truly that bored? Already out of other questions? Hmph, he had always warned her to stay away, as a seer’s office wasn’t really meant for childish entertainment. Yet still she always came and asked to hide away from her father, and, well...anything to spite that man...

“Why do you ask?” he finally replied. Had someone said something to her? A threat? He clenched his jaw. I swear, if that fool tried to force her powers by—

“You’re always going on about how I’m wasting my time with praying and stuff...but father says I still gotta to stop the Calamity or else we could all die.” She didn’t look up from the bits of carpet string she was playing with (and contemplating on popping in her mouth), “So I figured if you tell me how I die we can settle the debate for good!”

Astor just sighed. “Well, of course you d—“

He stopped himself, but not for the reasons a more put together person, might. Not because of the generally frowned upon action of telling a child how she dies, no, that was not exactly beyond him. No, Astor cut off his sentence simply because it had crossed his mind that—

“...I’m not entirely sure...” he whispered.

He suddenly stood. Walking towards the other end of his office, carefully stepping over the child. “E-Excuse me a moment.”

Why had he never considered this? Of course, he had seen the signs clearly enough, the visions, the stars. A girl cries over a corpse, a light vanishes in the night. Malice plagued the sky and dooms the day. But did the Calamity actually kill her? Does she drown in rubble and malice like the others? Slain by a demon or monster perhaps? Or if not, then, would that mean...?

The princess soon forgot about the question by the next day, and the next, and the next, and the next, and the next.

Astor spent nearly eight sleepless nights into finding an answer.

But he never truly did.

These things happened more times than one may think, when it came to predictions. Vagueness was commonplace, but specificities and straightforward answers were about as rare as a green sunset. Of course, he knew she would die, goddess blood or not, she lived the life of a mortal. But how? When? While it certainly wasn’t impossible to predict a person’s death, but whatever the circumstances of Mallory’s was made the process was infuriatingly impossible.

It was possible she would die of malice or suffocation under rubble, even circumstances where she dies at the Ganon’s hand himself. But then there were clear visions of her living, walking through a grassy field, ruins in the distance covered in leaves and moss, her turning and calling to a friend to keep up with her pace.

But no, nonono. She would die during the Calamity’s rise, that was the majority of what the futures offered to her were. That was the probable outcome.

But the factors and visions and signs and alignments were so fine and minuscule in difference, that Astor truly couldn’t a true statement, a true prediction, a true answer to the question. What timeline did we live in?

It taunted him.

Maybe it was better if the question was put to rest, did it even matter?

“Mallory?” he asked. “That’s a stupid name.”

“What?! No it’s not!” Elane laughed and shoved his shoulder. “Please, YOU’RE not one to talk.”

“Well as a victim of stupid first names, I think I’m qualified to speak accurately on the subject.”

“Aha! But it’s not technically a first name.” Elane tapped his head. “It’s a middle name, her first name would be ‘Zelda,’ of course.”

“Yes, and that is also a s—“

The queen shoved his shoulder into the wall before he even finished the sentence. “Oh would you shut up...”

He laughed, unconventionally carefree. Her Majesty’s happiness these days truly was contagious. Or perhaps that was a side effect of pregnancy? Did all expecting mother’s give off this aura?

“I think it’s a wonderful name.” Elane said. “Reminds me of a cute little duck, like a mallard!” She tucked her arms and flapped her elbows to imitate as such. “Quack, quack!”

“This is further adding to my argument actually”

“Hmph! Ok then Mr. Overseer of all names” She tapped a finger to his chest. “If it’s such a stupid name, then when she starts getting bullied for it around the castle, I shall expect you to take care of her in full.”

He scoffed. “Oh, I’ll be sure to do so. She’ll definitely need it.”

Elane pecked his head with a kiss.

“Good! I grant you my blessing lovingly tease her, as well. And I expect the best from you, Astor!”

His face suddenly warmed for some reason, and he couldn’t form words.

“What?”

“.....W...”

He was suddenly whack in the head with a rolled up piece of paper. Astor sprang awake from his desk. “...W...What...?”

“Morning, Mr. Astor!!” Princess Zelda-Mallory beamed. “And happy birthday!!! Sorry I woke you up early, but I needed to give this to you before the winter solstice festival later and—“

She continued to ramble on and on, but Astor simply opened the rolled up paper she had handed to him. It was simply filled with dozens and dozens, arguably hundreds, of hand drawn stars. In the corner was written, “You always look at the same stars so here’s some new ones!” in crude purple crayon. At the time, he failed to notice the accompanying note on the back that read “One for each year of how old you are!” Thankfully he was too busy looking through the different stars, with varying degrees of sparkles and smiley faces.

He finally looked back at the princess, who was still rambling on and on about her day, and her father’s day, and her newest stuffy dress, and her latest adventures with her stuffed toys, and—

“Why are you always here, Zelda?” Astor finally said. She stopped talking, looking at him, quizzically. “I mean...” he grumbled, “You know I don’t really like you, right?

“Eh, I don’t care. I think you’re neat!!” She held out her arms as she zoomed around his circular office. “Your room is so cool! And you got fun books!”

“Necromancy isn’t necessarily what I would consider ‘fun’ reading material—“

“Plus your outfits are cool, and you’re super smart, like my mom.”

He blinked.

“Plus, you’re the only one that’s not mean to me about my dumb powers. But really that’s just a chair on the top!”

“Do you mean cherry on top?”

“No! I meant chair! Watch me!! I’m gonna do a backflip off of this—“

“NO.” Astor immediately stood up, and snatched the girl off of the wooden chair. “NO. No backflips.” He set her down on the rug and pointed to a side of the room which held a broken table, stool, and a few old chairs—the victims of the princess’ previous acrobatic attempts.

She crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue. “You’re no fun!”

“I’m running out of furniture, is what I am.”

“But I’ll let this slide since it’s your birthday! Hmph.”

She started pulling at the loose threads of the carpet. “Don’t know why you had to stop my birthday backflip! Who cares if I get a little scratch?”

“I do—“

“YOU DO?!” Mallory was immediately up and clinging to his robes.

Astor sputtered, instinctively waving his arms to free himself from the child’s grip. But then he finally processed her question, and...

“I...” He looked at her starlight eyes. She had that stupid, naive grin that he always remembered from her mother. A stupid, pathetic, horrible, terrible, optimistic smile.

He finally scoffed. “I just can’t have you getting hurt on my watch, as otherwise, I’d probably be a dead man. That’s all.”

The princess lifted her hands in a “hooray!” fashion, and yelled the exclamation, accordingly. She then resumed her zipping and zooming around the room, much to Astor’s unexpected relief.

That night, he visited the question again.

Why? He didn’t really know.

The question wouldn’t offer him anything, it wouldn’t relieve him of anything—in fact it really did just the opposite. If he found that died miserably, it would be another scream in the nightmare, another nail in the comforting coffin of despair. But if he someone found that she lived, that there was a day after the Calamity, where even a child such as her could possibly prosper...

Having hope and seeing it fail anyway would probably be the most torturous of all.

Again, he had a dream, of a world tainted by blood and malice. But this time he was floating. He was floating and watching the end of it all.

Castle Town was nothing but ruins and ash, and no colors existed but red, black, and grey.

He couldn’t hear anything but a shrill hum in his ears, but he knew there was screaming. He looked to his hand, expecting to see malice or blackened skin, but instead found a strange floating device in his palm. It spin slowly, pink constellations drifting across its surface.

The hum in his ears turned into a groan, and then a whisper. It said something familiar, but he was sure he had never heard it before.

It is time.

The next night he had a dream of a girl standing in a green field, calling out to her friends somewhere behind her. She rested under the ruins of a collapsed pillar, and ate a homemade sandwich with a memorable smile.

Astor reached a conclusion.

In most futures, the girl dies horribly. He wrote in his journal. To be expected, I would assume the rise of the Calamity isn’t exactly easy to survive from.

But what I have discovered is a very specific set of circumstances that lead to a more favorable outcome, at least for her.

I have no way of knowing if it accurately depicts the comings of our time, or another. There are too many variables and specifics. Too long I have spent trying to discern our fate, but the probabilities and possibilities for doom are so interchangeable that it really go either way. The only truth I know is that she lives if—

He paused, tapping the dry quill to the desk again in thought. He dipped it once more.

I’ve decided that if I ever find myself in the scenario where I can solidify her a more favorable destiny, I will take it. I can only hope dare to alter my existing nightmare into something different, there’s really nothing left to lose, is there?

Astor leaned in his chair for a moment, savoring the silence of his office. He looked out the window and took in the night. The stars were gorgeous this evening.

Although if it fails I hope it kills me.

Call it arrogance, but I don’t think I can handle being wrong again.

The seer sighed, then suddenly flipped to the next blank page, angrily.

If I had never met her it would have been fine. If I had just minded my own damn business and continued to work in being resigned to our fate, at least then I could have—

There was a soft knock at his door.

He knew who it was.

Astor pinched the bridge of his nose as he opened it. “It’s past 2am, Princess, what could you possibly have to tell me?”

She looked down and shuffled her feet. “I had a nightmare...”

“Yes, people do have those sometimes.” He immediately closed the door.

Another knock.

After a moment, Astor opened it again. “Don’t you have guards outside your room, how did you sneak up here?”

“Secret tunnel!” She grinned, proudly, as she replied with a sort of sing-song tone.

“That’s nice.”

The door slammed shut again.

She knocked once more. There was the longest pause.

“FFFFFFine!” The world was out of his lips before he even fully swung open the door, and Mallory happily scrambled inside. “But no touching anything, I’m working.”

“It’s ok, I just wanna stay up all night and read your books!” She was already scrambling for the necromancy section, again.

Astor sighed, and went to slump back into his desk. The princess was already sprawled across the floor, distracting herself with another stack of wondrous, ill-recommended book. He didn’t really care.

I don’t really care. He wrote once again. I know there are futures where I dedicate myself to the Calamity, and she dies anyway. I know it doesn’t really matter, I know it’s hopeless to care, and that’s why I don’t.

He looked back at Zelda, he saw her slowly blink back her tiredness. He knew in a few hours or so, he’d have to drop her sleepy figure back off to those useless guards, and berate then for letting her wander off again, as it always was.

If I do this and it’s all for nothing, he began, I fear it will be worse than if I had just stood to the side and perished. It’s already doomed, and this pathetic, foolish optimism might cause me to turn this nightmare into something even worse.

He sighed, and the hours passed as he just sat with his thoughts.

Zelda was using and open book as a pillow.

Astor opened the door, and went to pick her up.

I’m not living through another nightmare. He thought, as he descended the stairs from the observatory. The girl’s breathing was steady as she wrapped an arm by his shoulder.

If it fails I hope it kills me before I see it. He repeated again.

I can’t handle being wrong again.

[enigmaticvariation]

Who’s the traitor?

Here’s a legitimate analysis of who I think the traitor might be instead of me just being nostalgic for SMP Earth. The only thing we have to go by right now is that it’s a person who’s siding with Pogtopia and it would be surprising. I will be going through all the relevant people and ranking them from least to most likely, (in my opinion.)  Let’s get started.

Quackity - This is objectively the worst option. Quackity’s entire arc is about how he just wanted to make a change and improve society but instead got trapped in a toxic relationship where he was mistreated and not taken seriously. He’s left that behind and is trying to move past it, so to just have him go back to his abuser would just be shitty writing and kind of gross. 

Eret - This just makes no sense. He’s already betrayed L’manberg once and he clearly regretted it. He’s been very vocal about wanting to fight against Schlatt, and it would just be out of character.

Ponk, BBH, Awesamdude - While these guys are slowly becoming more plot relevant, I seriously doubt it would be any of them. The traitor is almost certainly someone with more plot relevance and emotional ties to the main characters. if any of them betrayed the main characters it wouldn’t feel much like a betrayal.

Niki - Niki has been one of the few characters in this story who has opposed Schlatt all along. She has been incredibly vocal about this, and has rebelled against him since the moment he took office. It would be surprising sure, but incredibly out of character.

Wilbur - I feel like despite being such a loose canon of a character, he would be a fairly unlikely option. I was watching from his perspective and he seemed genuinely surprised when Dream was talking about the traitor, and really annoyed that Dream wasn’t on his side any more. It also wouldn’t be that good of a twist, considering his constantly fluctuating sense of morality.

Fundy - This would make sense character wise. Fundy’s been scorned and shoved aside by his father his whole life. He was spying for Schlatt as a way to make his father proud, but when he gave his father the materials to defeat Schlatt he was shoved aside once more. He’s bitter. Also, he’d probably rather side with his fiancee who loves and respects him rather than his shitty dad. The only reason he’s so low down is because it seems to expected. One of those things Tumblr and Twitter predicted 2 months ago. While I wouldn’t necessarily mind this, I feel like there’s a better option.

Tommy - Tommy has a lot of reason to betray Wilbur. He’s been treated pretty badly and his opinions have been ignored. I can easily imagine a world where he would make a deal with Dream and help him as a way to get L’manberg back. He could also be trying to get the discs back, which is ultimately one of the things he cares about the most. I’ve seen lots of great analysis on this. It would also be a good, surprising twist, the scorned hero turned to the dark side. I’m not convinced it’s him though because he is a very black and white thinker, he firmly believes in good and evil. While he has a lot of reason to, I don’t know if he would actually betray his friends. 

Technoblade - This is one of the most likely options but simultaneously one of the worst options. Wilbur has been convinced that Techno was going to betray him since day one and Techno literally said that he wouldn’t hesitate to betray Pogtopia just to make the final battle a fair fight. Every single person in mcytblr instantly predicted that Techno was going to betray Wilbur and Tommy, literally the moment he joined the server. It’s very likely, but it would be a bad twist. Dream said that the traitor would be the person we would least expect, so while Techno is a very likely option, it would be very much expected. I really don’t want him to be the traitor. I would take almost anything over him, I want a good twist.

Philza - I know a lot of people are saying that it’s stupid to think that he’s the traitor when he isn’t even whitelisted, but hear me out. We all want Phil on the server, we want him to beat some sense into Wilbur and save Tommy and Tubbo from the war zone they had been trapped in. Imagine though, if he joined the server and immediately sided against Wilbur. It would make sense though, he’s been very resistant against Wilbur’s actions. I think it would be most likely if he was the traitor along with Technoblade. It would be a nice call back to SMP Earth and Phil and Technoblade are an incredibly chaotic duo when they come together. It’s a bit unlikely, but it would be the best twist and a great opportunity to get Phil on the server.

Tubbo - Tubbo is the most likely traitor in my opinion. Despite his common front of being a sweet and naive person, he is one of the most morally grey characters on the smp. He will not hesitate to mess with people, destroy things, and is generally a pretty good liar. It would also be very in character. He’s been manipulated and pushed around by practically every person on the server, and he’s surely about to snap. He’s been treated just as bad by Wilbur as by Schlatt. He also lied about having the discs, which was quite suspicious. One of the few reasons why Tubbo might not be the traitor though is Tommy. Despite being morally grey and also lying about the discs I’m not sure that he would betray Tommy.  They made a pact that they would always trust each other and generally have a very codependent relationship. That is why I think that the true traitor is not 1, but 2 people.

Tommy and Tubbo - I said Tubbo was the most likely traitor, but I think that Tommy and Tubbo together would be the best option. Dream said there was a traitor, but as far as I know he never explicitly stated that he was talking about just one person. They would probably make a deal together with Dream either for the discs or to get L’manberg back. It would also be very likely that they would work with Dream but betray him as well. It would be a Good Omens situation, Tommy and Tubbo being their own side and not strictly aligned with the already established sides. This would be good, Tommy and Tubbo were thrust into a war zone at a young age. They’ve spent the entire story being lied to and manipulated by the adults in their lives, and I think they deserve to go apeshit and fuck those guys up, you know, as a treat.

[pagesofsanity]

A Thousand Words Couldn't Explain This

Part 1

Pair: Alpha!Reader/Omega!Bakugo

TW: Non-Consensual claiming. Canon Typical Violence

CW: SFW

18+

Author's Note: Hi Guys. So this is the first big project for Tumblr. It is cross posted on AO3 and a lot further ahead. I don't know how many parts/chapters there will be. As a pantser, I let the story take me where it wants to. I'm aware that the trigger warning and the content warning are at odds with one another, but I want to clarify anyway. I specified claiming for a reason. This chapter is safe for work, but that being said, later chapters will not be and I do not want minors interacting with this story. Each part/chapter will come with its own set of warnings. The first several chapters will be safe for work with minimum warnings.

But please, if you feel that a chapter has a warning that I did not think about, don't hesitate to tell me.

I also wanted to say, in this story I try not to describe Reader too much in this, however, she is Izuku's twin in this. The only description I really out right said is that she shares her hair colour with her brother. I don't think I mention it more than once and I try not to describe her too much for the purposes of immersion.

Age: Three days before the twins' Tenth birthday

You made three mistakes that day.

The first was going to look for Izuku.

He had been late. Something he never was unless something happened in class or he ended up with class duties because he had shitty classmates. You had waited with a classmate. She lived in the same vicinity as you did and often walked home with you and your brother. You could honestly say, which was probably terrible, that you had no clue what her name was. You knew she was a classmate. Knew that she liked to talk and she did enough of it for the both of you, apparently never needing you to respond to whatever she was saying so you didn't pay attention anyway. To say you were incredibly anti-social was an understatement. You preferred either your own company or that of your brother. Too many people made you uncomfortable and riled you up.

And at that moment, you missed your brother's company something terrible.

The girl usually didn't say a single word when Izuku was around. At first you had thought it was because she was shy, but eventually you figured out that it was because she thought herself better than him. Societally, she probably was, but only because she was an Alpha. And as far as Alphas went, you didn't think she should think herself so much more important than Omegas. Especially not if said Omega was your brother. But if it meant she would keep quiet on the walk home, you would let her think whatever she wanted.

“You should go on ahead,” you interrupted her babbling. She seemed mildly surprised, but by this point another fifteen minutes had rolled by without any sign of Izuku and you were starting to get annoyed, “I'm going to look for Izuku.”

Her eyes widened. ''In the Omega Building?” she asked. You raised a brow at her as you slung your bag back over your shoulders. “I just mean, we're not allowed in there,” she said sheepishly.

“I'll make sure to be quick,” you said dismissively.

You were walking away before she could say anything else. It wasn't that she was wrong, you just didn't care.

Students were split between three buildings depending on their secondary genders. Children generally presented very early in life. Around the same time their Quirk manifested. In the case of your brother, he presented on the same day you did. However, unlike you, he didn't manifest a Quirk. You had been lucky. You had presented as an Alpha. Part of you believed that if Izuku had presented as an Alpha his life would've been a lot easier. Hell, at times you felt intense guilt for being the one to manifest a Quirk. Instead, he presented as an Omega and a Quirkless one at that. Something that was screamed at the world by the black collar with the bright blue stone around his neck. Your mother had a similar collar, but because she had a Quirk and was married her collar held a bright green stone instead.

You understood the collars. What you didn't understand was why it had to indicate whether an Omega had a Quirk or not. You've heard a thousand stories, actually had classes entirely dedicated to Alpha Conduct, where an Alpha forced Omegas into situations they didn't want to be in. Some Alphas ran into the charming destruction of a powerful Quirk, getting put in their place. Not that such situations ended well for those Omegas anyway, but at least they were safe. There was no need to give overzealous Alphas (or actually, just disgusting human beings) a clue as to which target would be the easier one to deal with.

When you reached the Omega building you hesitated for all of a second. It didn't last beyond the point of reaching out and shoving the door open. The scent that lingered in the building was vastly different from the one you went to school in and for a moment you felt the overwhelming need to leave. Instead you pushed on, the tap of your shoes echoing through the quiet corridor. Every once in a while a head would pop out of a class, students still finishing class duties, before ducking back inside with a squeak. Your scent giving you away before the lack of a collar did.

The moment you reached Izuku's class, you threw the door open rather violently. It bounced in it's frame. A girl cleaning the blackboard shrieked, the sound echoing through the room. You simply stared at her with a frown. Her eyes widened when she recognized you, your braided green hair probably giving you away as Izuku's sister. You ignored her, eyes sweeping over the otherwise empty classroom. Izuku's bag was still at his desk. The only reason you even knew it was his was because of the stupid All Might key chain.

“Where is he?” you snarled, a new sense of urgency sweeping through you.

You knew about the teasing. Or rather, you knew that Izuku called what the kids in his class did to him teasing. You also knew that you had every power to walk into that class and make every single one of those little brats cower in fear, but Izuku has never made it an option. You had asked once, while cleaning marks on his back that looked like he had been burnt with something, if he wanted you to talk to his classmates. He had said no. Had said he would take care of it himself. You had hummed in agreement and just continued cleaning the small wounds and bandaging what needed to be bandaged.

Izuku's pride got in the way more often than not. Anyone who looked at Izuku and didn't think he was prideful didn't know him even a little bit. You were almost convinced that his pride would be what gets him killed one day.

“Where?” you growled.

She squeaked again, pointing at the windows. Your bag dropped with a heavy thud. You shot towards the window and threw it open, gaze sweeping the courtyard beyond it. A snarl caught in your throat the moment you found your brother. He stood in front of another boy, hands raised in awkward fists as he faced off against three boys. You can't hear what's being said, don't feel the need to. Izuku is bruised, worse than he's ever been before. The sight of his face has blind rage flashing through your veins. You were not thinking clearly when you step on the sill or when you're stepping out of the window. The landing is jarring, rattled through every single one of your bones right up to your brain. Felt like it snapped the last bit of your control.

With your blood rushing in your ears, you don't know what is being said nor when it is being said. But you do see, with such clarity that it was almost funny, the moment Bakugo Katsuki has the audacity to step forward, fire flashing in his palms as his Quirk activated.

Your second mistake was to touch Bakugo Katsuki.

You don't remember moving. You just remember the feeling of your fingers curling into the back of his collar, brushing against the nape of his neck. Your hand tightened and with the assistance of your Quirk you brought the boy over your head and slammed him into the ground. The collar came off too easily. His scent overwhelmed you the moment it did, fire and smoke and caramel. He reeked of aggression. He was winded, but not for long and not enough. Sharp red eyes shot up to meet your own as he pushed to his feet. You were momentarily frozen, staring at the collar in your hands, the bright red gem glinted in the sun above.

Alphas were not allowed to touch an Omega's collar without their permission, much less remove it.

You threw the collar to the side, focus settling on the blonde in front of you.

“Why,” you whispered, more in an attempt to reign in the violent rage coiling through you than anything else, “do you insist of being such a jerk?”

Bakugo smirked.

His scent changed, angering you even more. You couldn't understand why this Omega had the audacity to challenge you. You've been told countless times to start acting more like an Alpha. That you acted far too much like an Omega for your own good. But now, now you wondered if the people who said it would be proud. If your father would be proud at the pure Alpha aggression burning in your heart and soul, because you wanted to rip this boy's throat out with your bare hands for hurting your brother.

You have never thought much about this boy before. You knew he was a friend of Izuku's, or assumed that he used to be one at this point. But beyond that you had never spent much time with Izuku's friends as children and he never talked about having friends any more.

You were vaguely aware of Izuku yelling at you, telling you to just step away.

You don't really get the chance to focus on him. Bakugo moved with the blink of an eye. You had never met someone who moved fast enough to be barely stopped by one of your barriers. You had inherited your mother's Quirk to a degree. Instead of just being able to float small things towards you, you had manifested telekinesis. Barriers were easy and thoughtless. Lifting things with your Quirk was another matter all together, required actual concentration. Moving things with your Quirk was not something you were capable of, yet.

Bakugo Katsuki moved just slightly slower than you could bring barriers up. Even at the age of ten the boy fought well, moved well with his Quirk. For every attack you stopped, he landed three after you dropped the barrier to land attacks of your own. Most of them he brushed away, burning your wrists or legs every time he did so.

Five minutes in your nose was bleeding, your lips was split and your head felt like it was going to explode. You've never had to actually use your barriers, never had to bring them up to avoid being attacked. And you were getting angrier and angrier with every hit Bakugo landed. The boy, on the other hand, remained mostly unharmed. A slow blooming bruise the only time one of your punches actually landed against the Omega.

“The fuck,” he commented as he bounced off one of your barriers, “I thought you'd put up a better fight than Deku.”

“Deku,” you echoed through breathless pants. “What is a Deku?”

Bakugo's laughter coiled through your body as he pointed at something behind you. You glanced back and frowned. Izuku had a blush dusted across his cheeks, not meeting your gaze. It took you a moment. You couldn't understand the disappointment and disgust in your brother's features or how it pertained to what the boy had said.

It clicked the moment you noticed Izuku's fists.

And the moment it clicked you snapped. You were not angry at the connotation of being weaker than Izuku. You were not angry because you were compared to Izuku. You were angry because of the insult aimed at Izuku. An insult he seemed to have heard so often in his life that it no longer seemed to fully affect him, but it did affect him that you would be swayed to think the same thing.

Your scent bloomed into the air. Bringing every single Omega in your vicinity to a full stop. Pure rage snapped through the air. You were moving before Bakugo fully grasped what was going on. In the resulting tussle, your scent overwhelming him enough to stop him from using his Quirk against you again, you manage to pin the boy to the ground with a hand against the side of his face, pressing his head into the asphalt beneath you to expose his neck and your weight on his stomach.

You make your third mistake then.

His scent completely consumed you then. Your mind went blank of every other thought. All that remained was a little voice that told you there was a way to control this Omega, to make this Omega stop hurting your brother. All you had to do was follow the scent.

So you did.

You are not sure when your hand slipped from his face or even when his hand clenched into the back of your school blazer. All you were able to focus on was the way his scent filled the air around your head when your teeth sunk into the space between his shoulder and neck. How the scent thickened when a sharp pain shot through your own body where his teeth made their mark.

It was only when the two of you had been pulled apart by adults (adults you didn't even hear coming through the rush in your ears) that you even realized the extent of the complete and utter fuckery that had gone down.

[2manyfandoms2count]

Alix's rom-com night

The June event of the @mlwritersguild was to create bonus content for one of our fics - I decided to seize the opportunity to finally sit down and write one of the bonus scenes of You can count on me (I will be there for you), and to do draw a bit of fanart to go with it (4 panels, including a Marichat piece)! Let me tell you that the Burrow is a pain to draw, but I'm actually quite proud of the result :)

About YCCOM: It's an aged-up, one-sided reveal with "fake" wedding fic, based on Sallteas' art. The fic is 9 chapters and 20k words long. It was written before season 4, so it's no longer canon compliant in terms of who knows who's identities at the beginning.

Synopsis: Ladybug's identity is compromised, and somebody is after her. After a lot of pondering, she and Chat Noir come to the conclusion that her best bet is for her to marry Adrien Agreste. It breaks her heart that she is not marrying Chat Noir, but she knows that she's buying them time to figure out who is behind the anonymous letters she's been receiving, and hopefully to find Hawkmoth. Whatever the situation might be, her wedding day should provide a moment of respite. And maybe it would have, had Chat Noir refrained from coming to visit her just before the ceremony...

About Alix's rom-com night: it's a one shot that's chronologically set before the main fic, but I recommend reading it after reading the latter since it contains spoilers for it. It follows Alix (obviously), and includes Ladybug revealing her identity to Chat Noir and the set up of their "fake wedding" plan.

Hope you enjoy!

---

Alix opened her door and dropped her keys in the bowl as she kicked off her shoes with a satisfied sigh. Home, sweet home.

Her studio apartment wasn’t very big, but then again, she didn’t need a huge surface when she had a whole extension waiting for her just a transformation phrase away. She’d mentally thanked Marinette more than once for choosing her to wield the Rabbit Miraculous, rather than somebody else, just for the savings she made in rent.

She whistled happily as she made her way to her kitchen area, grabbing a bag of popcorn out of a cupboard and shoving it in her microwave.

She deserved the treat. She’d been running around all week, trying to slide letters to her targets without being spotted, spending hours on end to find the perfect stationary, and then staying up at night to get the wording exactly right, a delicate mix of subtlety and threat to elicit some sort of response from them. It had taken a lot of trial and error, especially for Ladybug. Her friend had always been surprisingly oblivious on many fronts, and it seemed that her honeymoon phase with Chat Noir reinforced her optimistic ability to brush ominous details aside. It had taken three letters for her to start freaking out and to promise Tikki she would talk to her partner about them, whereas Hawkmoth had started the analysis phase upon the first one he’d received.

Alix had only been mildly surprised by the identity of their nemesis when she’d decided it was high time she knew who they were facing; it was all too fitting that the man who leached off Paris’ most intense negative emotions should be the most embittered person she knew, and the one who, in retrospect, had been the cause of many an Akuma (she still shuddered at the what-could-have-been of Chat Noir’s akumatisation).

The microwave dinged, bringing her thoughts back to her timeline. She took the bowl out and called for her Kwami.

“Fluff, clockwise! Burrow!”

A white portal appeared in the middle of her living space and she walked through it, emerging in the ovoid room covered in screens. She made her way to the furthest point, hung her umbrella up on the coathanger she kept in there, and grabbed a folding chair. It was a director’s seat which supposedly had belonged to a rising name in the cinema world before their career had been shot down for obscure reasons, but she didn’t really care about its story; she’d bought it for a very low price at a yard sale, and that was all that mattered to her.

“Right, where are you…” She muttered, scrutinising her surroundings, until she found the screen she was looking for.

She unfolded the chair, zoomed in on the empty (for now) rooftop, propped down in her seat and threw a fistful of popcorn into her mouth, waiting for the show to start.

Unsurprisingly, Ladybug was the first to arrive on the scene. She paced around, mumbling to herself as she wrung her hands together. Alix felt a pang of guilt as she watched her rehearse how she would break the news to her partner, but reassured herself that the ordeal would soon be over.

Finally, Chat Noir landed beside Ladybug, and she flung herself at him, holding him so tight he had to untangle himself from her arms to breathe.

“Well, well, well, my Lady, I know I couldn’t make it to patrol last night, but I didn’t think you’d miss me this much,” he chuckled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

Alix rolled her eyes at just how lovestruck he looked as he did so. How could her friends be so sappy, and yet still be at square one in terms of knowing who the other was?

Some might have said that it was romantic, that they loved each other regardless of who they were; but those people did not have to deal with the constant end of the world threat.

“What was so important that you couldn’t just text me?”

Ladybug took a deep breath. Her fingers slid along his arms as she relaxed her embrace, taking his hands in hers at the end of the line. “Somebody knows my identity,” she said quietly, looking down. “And I don’t know who they are.”

“What?!” Chat’s voice detonated in the previously peaceful quiet of the evening, making a couple of pigeons take off in a loud flutter of wings.

“I’m so sorry, I must have been careless when I got home one night, they must have seen me, I bet it was last week when I was tired and I-”

“My Lady, no offence, but I don��t care about the when and why, just... are you okay?” He tilted her chin up, gently turning her head to each side, checking for any signs of injury.

She placed her hand on his, making him stop, and gave him a soft, sad smile. “Yes, Chaton. Just a little rattled; you know you were the first person I wanted to reveal my identity to. Not including Bunnyx, although technically I never told her who I am.”

“And technically, I’m still the only person who knows who you are,” Bunnyx smugly commented between two handfuls of popcorn. “Now come on, I want to see how you react when you reveal your identities to each other.”

“How do you know somebody knows, though? And do you have any idea what their intentions are?”

Ladybug’s expression darkened. “I received some letters. They’re not signed, but they’ve got enough butterflies on them to make me think that even if they’re not from the biggest pest in Paris, then they’re probably from somebody who’s up to no good.”

Chat Noir swore under his breath, then regained his countenance. “So, what do we do now? Do you think we can hunt down the bugger?”

“We definitely will, but…” Ladybug bit her lip, and Alix leaned forward in her seat. This had to be it. “Chaton, I think the time has come for me to tell you who I am.”

“YES! Finally!” Alix cheered, almost spilling her popcorn bowl.

“Are you sure, my Lady?” Alix didn’t have to be on site to tell that Chat Noir’s heart was beating faster than usual; the corners of his mouth twitched as he repressed a smile, as though his excitement could make her change her mind.

“Yes.” She nodded. “I really want you to know.” In case something happens to me, Alix was pretty sure her friend had left unsaid.

“Okay, okay.” Chat Noir took a deep breath, buzzing with anticipation, so much so that he apparently missed the whole subtext of her previous words. “Do you want to do this now? And how do you want to do it? Do you want me to close my eyes? Are you going to write it on a piece of paper for me to read? Are you going to detransform? Should-”

“I was thinking the latter, and yes, now,” Ladybug said timidly. “Up to you if you want to look or not.”

“For some reason, I feel like I shouldn’t.” He took her hands in his and kissed her knuckles without breaking their eye contact, then took another deep breath and closed his eyes, a blissful smile on his lips. “Ready when you are, my Lady.”

“Ok, here goes.” She let out a shaky breath and called off her transformation. The soft pink glow engulfed her and receded, her suit melting away to reveal her true appearance.

“Wow, Marinette, you actually broke out your favourite dress for this? Glad to see all of this isn’t affecting your ability to think straight.” Alix smirked. If her friend had gone home after a long, stressful work day, and found it in her to change and doll herself up to make a good impression on Chat Noir, things couldn’t be that bad. She had to agree that her dress, simple, white, with little red hearts embroidered on it, was perfect for the occasion, though.

“You can open your eyes now, Chaton.” Marinette gave his hands a squeeze.

Chat Noir obliged, blinking slowly as he took in her appearance, her identity, her. Marinette squirmed under his gaze, his expression not giving away any of his thoughts.

“H-Hi,” she stammered when she couldn’t take it anymore. “I, erm, I guess I should introduce myself? We’ve run into each other before, when we were younger, and even if you actually had lunch with my family that one time, I guess it’s been a while… My name is-”

“Marinette. Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” Chat’s smile finally broke free, spread from ear to ear, almost literally illuminating his face. Alix wondered if anything could ever wipe it off. Love and admiration twinkled in his eyes as he picked her up and started spinning her. Marinette wrapped her arms around his neck, giggling giddily, before Chat Noir closed the gap between their lips.

Bunnyx modestly looked away, allowing them to have their moment. Her eyes landed on a rerun of Plagg putting an end to the dinosaurs’ reign.

“I should have known that it was you, Princess.” Chat panted slightly as he carefully set Marinette back on the roof. “Everything makes so much more sense now, I-”

“Before you finish that thought, I can’t know your identity.” She placed her index finger on his lips. “Yet, of course.”

“What?” Chat froze, and so did Bunnyx, her hand pausing midway between the popcorn bowl and her mouth. “But why?”

“I don’t know what might happen to me, but I don’t want to put you in any danger.” Marinette cupped his cheek. “And I don’t want to lose my memories of you. Of us.”

“Oh for Kwami’s sake.” Alix rolled her eyes. “Boo!” She threw a fistful of popcorn at the screen as her friend continued to list all the reasons Chat couldn’t reveal his identity.

“My Lady, Marinette, if you’re worried about your safety, maybe we should do something about it. I could move in with you, or in a flat nearby, maybe, stay transformed or wear a mask at all times so you don’t know who I am, we can figure it out… Of course I know you can protect yourself, but I could stand guard while you sleep, or...” Chat raked his hand through his hair as he thought.

“You know I love you, Chaton, and that’s why I can’t let you do that! You can’t live like that, I can’t ask that of you. Not to mention how difficult it would be for me, do you really think I could resist having you so close, and not trying to get a glimpse of who you are?” She joked, trying to diffuse the sudden tension.

“Then we need to get you a bodyguard,” he insisted.

“I thought about it, but… Well, I can’t really afford it, and how could I justify suddenly needing personal security? I’m just a designer, and nothing I’ve ever done has been avant-garde enough that I should be worried about my safety.” She shook her head.

“Damn, I knew I should have targeted Chat Noir,” Alix swore under her breath. “He would’ve had to reveal his identity, and she definitely wouldn’t have been a pushover on her kitty’s protection matter. Come on Adrien, do something.”

She could tell that he was up to something just by looking at him. He’d been silent for a little too long for it to be natural. Cogs turned in his head, making him squint. He let go of her completely and paced around the roof, almost pulling his hair out as he did so. Alix sensed that whatever was on his mind was going to be big. She leaned forwards in anticipation.

Finally, Chat Noir came to a halt in front of Marinette, the fever in his eyes and his dishevelled hair making him look slightly unhinged.

“Buguinette, I think I’ve got a solution,” he whispered.

“You do?” Marinette’s voice was full of hope, although she looked slightly concerned about him.

“You’re probably not going to like it,” he warned her, lifting a finger.

“Beggars can’t be choosers.” She shrugged, taking a step forward.

“Right.” He gave her one last look, an opportunity to stop him before the words tumbled out. She nodded encouragingly. “Okay, here’s the thing. I have it on very good authority that Adrien Agreste is being pressured into getting married by his father.”

“I see Gabriel’s just as delightful as always,” Marinette shook her head.

“Unlike good cheese, he definitely doesn’t get better with time.” Chat smiled bitterly, eyes losing focus a little.

“What’s it got to do with us, though?” Marinette prompted, placing a hand on his arm.

“Oh, Agreste, you absolute genius, I think I know where this is going.” Alix took another handful of popcorn.

“Oh, yes, right.” He cleared his throat. “See, Adrien’s not dating anyone at the moment…” Right, Alix snorted. “And he’s not really planning on starting a relationship with his father breathing down his neck, but, well, he happens to owe me a favour, and I’m sure that he’d be more than happy to put his security detail to good use…”

“So you’re suggesting that I marry Adrien.” Marinette deadpanned.

“Well, er, I actually thought you could just date, but thinking about it… It would be less strange for you to request a bodyguard if your relationship was more serious…” He trailed off.

Alix was impressed by how well he concealed his emotions. His poker face was truly exceptional.

“And you think Adrien would be ready to marry me because of a favour he owes you?” Marinette crossed her arms over her chest, pursing her lips and squinting at him as she tried to pick at his lie.

Alix winced for Chat. Maybe he should have waited a bit before blurting out the (as it turned out) probably only sane option in that situation so he could work out all of the details for himself. Marinette was very good at trying to shake plans to see how solid their foundations were.

“Please. Adrien had a crush on you when you were younger, if anything I could probably smuggle it as another favour, given how perfect the fake scenario would be. Although I guess that since you also liked him… It might just cancel out.” He tapped his lip pensively.

“Adrien had a crush on me?” Marinette frowned. “Oh, you must mean Ladybug. I think Nino mentioned it once.”

“Well, yes, but he also had one on you, Marinette.” Chat stepped forward, mischief twinkling in his eyes as he poked her on the nose.

“Really, now,” she muttered to herself.

“The main reason he didn’t act on it was that he thought you loved somebody else.” Chat smiled ironically.

“Wow, what a pair of idiots.” Marinette chuckled.

“You don’t know the half of it.” He kissed her forehead.

“But you know what?” Marinette didn’t pick up on her partner’s comment. “I’m actually glad we didn’t get together. It probably would have delayed us getting together.” She pressed a peck to his lips. “If we’d gotten together at all in that timeline.” She smirked.

Alix snorted. Out of all the timelines she’d watched unfold in an attempt to keep things in check, there wasn’t a single one where Marinette and Adrien, Ladybug and Chat Noir, didn’t end up together, and not just because of her interventions to help them, and the rest of the planet, stay alive.

Marinette’s face fell at Chat Noir’s lack of response. Alix knew her friend didn’t particularly believe in soulmates, but she understood that she would have liked a sappy Chat Noir special comment on how he’d told her he’d grow onto her anyway, and that she would have soon discovered that the Agreste boy had nothing on him. She assumed that he was too busy restraining himself from saying the wrong thing.

“Actually… What about us, then?” Marinette cleared her throat and looked up at him, eyes glistening slightly in the half light.

“My Lady… If you really think that you being a divorcée will spur me away…” Chat Noir looked down at their entwined hands, locks of blond hair falling in front of his eyes, concealing his giddy smile from her. You sneaky cat, Alix thought.

Marinette followed his gaze, letting out a long sigh as she watched their hands sway lightly. Alix knew her brain was probably trying to find all the flaws in the plan. She crossed her fingers, hoping that it would be enough for her friend to accept. It was perfect, whether they got their act together and figured everything out before the event, or not.

“Fine,” Marinette finally said with resolve, making Alix mentally thank whoever was out there. “I’ll do it on two conditions.”

“Anything, my love.” Chat let out a sigh of relief.

“Firstly, we’re honest with Adrien from the get go. No lying about anything.” Chat nodded along. “Secondly, we get cracking on finding Hawkmoth, and after we do and the divorce is settled, if we even get that far with Adrien because obviously if everything is settled before the wedding we won’t be going through the whole plan…” Chat smiled fondly as she took a deep breath. “After all that, we are getting married.” She gestured between the both of them.

“My Lady, are you proposing to me right meow?” Chat Noir all but purred.

“I guess so.” Marinette shrugged, a smile and a blush spreading on her cheeks.

“Wow, then, I’m definitely putting Adrien in charge of the proposal planning,” he replied with a smirk.

“Chaton!” She stomped her foot, her mildly amused smile cancelling out her frown.

“What?” He teased her.

“Will you? Marry me?” She held his gaze.

“Do you even have to ask?” He chuckled. “You know, my Lady, I’m pretty sure that, in my head, we’ve been married since that speech you gave on the Eiffel Tower during our very first fight. Well, I’ve been married to you; you do whatever you please.”

“You’re such a dork,” Marinette laughed, brushing her nose against his and throwing her arms around his neck.

“And yet you still love me.” He pulled her closer.

“Unfortunately, I do,” she sighed dramatically before pressing a kiss to his lips.

Alix dismissed the screen. She’d seen what she wanted, and it seemed like a good place to stop; a happy, sappy ending. Also, she’d finished all of her popcorn.

Everything was on track, her friends would start their Hawkmoth hunt, and soon everybody in Paris would be able to live without fear of their own negative emotions.

(Of course, that was the theory; she’d soon find out that she’d underestimated Adrien’s will to organise the perfect wedding for Marinette, and that, my friends, was no small oversight.)

[babycracker]

Fire Meet Gasoline: Chapter 6

chapter rating: teen & up story rating: explicit pairing: morgan/m!oc (tanner drake) & farah/f!oc (sadie kennedy) word count: ~2.7k chapter warnings: none story warnings: eventual smut, canon-typical violence, au - canon divergent a/n: as you can see, pairings have changed and i've added some warnings for the future bc this entire story has taken an unexpected turn and it's going to be much bigger than manner now. please don't hesitate to let me know if you wanna be taken off of the tags!

read it on ao3 here

--

Sadie was sure that she'd have more time than this. Six months isn't long, after all. Well, technically four months. She's been basically on the run for the last two.

She'd had four months to enjoy being twenty-one before the Agency had contacted her about signing the treaty, and for the two months since not so politely telling them to shove it she'd been dodging the bounty hunter that she'd evidently been assigned to.

He was an idiot. A troll, she was sure of it. Big and imposing and clumsy and menacing… but stupid. She hasn't seen him in a few weeks though, and she's starting to relax, fairly sure that she's lost him.

So, for the first time in the week and a half that she's been in this city she's daring to leave her room at the hostel and check out some of what could well be her new home. She pulls her hoodie on, reluctantly pulling the hood over her head and eyeing the bland grey of the fabric with disdain for a moment. Dreadfully boring, and dreadfully cliché - a banshee roaming around donning a grey hood - but she still needs to keep a low profile. Just for a little bit longer.

Everyone's heard about the supernatural bar in the city, such things are not exactly common, though no one seems to know where it is. It would seem the only way to find out is by word of mouth, and unfortunately she doesn't know anyone here, and she can't exactly go up to random people and ask them where the local supernaturals hang.

It would really be preferable; at just over 4'3 she doesn't exactly fit in with humans, but she supposes she'll just have to make do as she heads down the street. She sticks cautiously close to the buildings, avoiding the laughing groups of people and curiously looking around at the bright and colourful nightlife.

She could get used to this.

But for now, she resigns herself to something less flashy, a not quite as cheerful and slightly shabby bar with a bright green neon sign shining from its façade reading Shakers.

Looks good enough for now, so she steps inside, a grin spreading across her face as she takes in the atmosphere. God she's missed being around humans, and this place is packed with some of the rowdiest ones she's ever seen. Her favourite kind.

There's no dancing space as far as she can see (disappointing) but the bar is huge and there are booths lining every wall, the space in the middle filled with several pool tables.

She weaves her way through the crowd, thankfully remaining largely unnoticed, and slips up onto a stool at the bar, breathing out a sigh of relief now that her height is less obvious. She spins around on her seat, leaning one elbow on the bar and watching a group of guys at the closest pool table, trying (unsuccessfully) to gather some kind of hint at how to play the game, when a voice from behind distracts her.

"What are you drinking, pretty?"

She turns, expecting to find a bartender but instead there's a man on her side of the bar and uncomfortably close, a charming and yet slightly unsettling smile on his face. She forces one to her own to keep her frown away, the eerie sense of this guy being bad news creeping through her mind and making her thoughts slightly foggy.

“I’m really not much of a drinker, thanks anyway.”

He’s good looking enough, blonde hair, bright blue eyes and dimples in both cheeks on proud display as he grins at her. But her advanced senses are ringing every bell inside of her, warning her not to trust him.

“C’mon darl, no one comes to a bar unless they want a drink,” he presses, reaching out and letting his fingertips brush against the sliver of bare wrist peeking out from the sleeve of her hoodie.

She gasps and recoils too fast to be able to reign it in, her face twisting into a frown as she pulls her sleeves down and clutches them in her fists to cover her hands entirely. She really should've worn her gloves.

Demon.

He lifts both hands in front of him, a kind of peace offering, and takes a slight step back. “Woah, take it easy. I didn’t mean to overstep.”

“It’s fine,” she clears her throat, hoping it’ll take the obvious rasp out of her voice as she struggles to get any words out at all. He grins and slides onto the stool next to her.

“If I promise not to touch you again, will you come and join us?”

She eyes him carefully for a moment before letting out a resigned sigh and giving a small nod. He seems nice enough, respectful enough. And she’s never been given any kind of guarantee that her perception is always one hundred percent accurate. Maybe she gets it wrong sometimes. Maybe she’s been disregarding people her entire life based on what she sees of them on the inside, and some of them didn’t deserve disregarding.

She’s been on her own since she ran away from home after her parents’ relentless persistence that she signed the Agency’s treaty became too much, she could do with some friends. Maybe now she can’t afford to turn down every single person that gives her a slight dishonest vibe. Who is completely honest these days anyway?

He grins again and gets to his feet, nodding towards one of the pool tables as a gesture for her to follow him. “I’m Axle.”

“Sadie,” she replies, reluctantly slipping off her seat and noticing the way he immediately arches an eyebrow at her height. He’s a demon, a supernatural, he’s probably already worked out that she’s not human and she just about winces as she waits for the inevitable questions.

They don’t come, however. He’s either much more polite than she’d expected, naïve and just thinks that she’s short, or he’s already worked out what she is and is choosing to stay quiet about it in this public space.

She follows him over to the pool table where a group of five other men are standing around playing a game, and a brief wave of panic surges through her when she realises that they’re probably all demons. They usually hang out with their own kind, and it would mean that she’s heavily outnumbered by a group of supernaturals far more dangerous and powerful than she is.

They barely spare her a glance though as she comes to stand at Axle’s side, and he barely offers an introduction in turn, instead waving his arm around the group and simply referring to them as “the guys”.

It’s probably for the best. She can handle one demon, should the need arise, she can slink away from him unnoticed, but once she has the attention of an entire group of them she’s not exactly sure how she’d get away if she needed to.

--

For someone that doesn’t talk a whole lot, Morgan sure spends a lot of time on the phone. Tanner hadn’t expected her to be so… clingy. She seems to really miss the rest of Unit Bravo now that she’s stuck away from them, which seems strange to him given that he’d assumed she wasn’t so different from him and would enjoy the break and getting to do her own thing (apart from having to work with him, of course) for a while.

But she’s on the phone again. Granted, she’s talking to Adam about their mission, but still. The number of questions she’d had about what they were supposed to do had been alarming to Tanner until he’d realised that she was most likely just coming up with the need for so much clarification as an excuse to speak to someone from her team.

Whatever her reasons though, he’s bored. He gets bored quite often with her, he realises, and he finds himself watching her on the other side of the room from where he’s kicked back on the couch, obviously and shamelessly checking her out as she paces and speaks in a hushed voice into the phone. Maybe it’d be different if he worked with her a little more; in regard to both her flirtation and their current job. At first, it’d been fun to irk her and get on her nerves but it’s already starting to get old - even for him - and he decides that maybe he should make more of an effort to be agreeable if they’re going to be stuck together for now. Or he could at least sleep with her. That might relieve some of her tension and get her to stop being such a hardass, at least.

She runs a hand through her hair and turns to face him, scowling when she notices his attention and lifting her middle finger at him before turning away.

He grins and sits up straight when she finally ends the call and turns to face him again.

“They want us to go to that bar tonight,” she tells him before he has a chance to say anything, and he groans dramatically and slides down to a slouching position, throwing his head back against the back of the couch and closing his eyes.

“It’s all work with you,” he complains, opening his eyes again when he hears her moving and watching her cross the room and start to pull her jacket on.

“We are on a job at the moment, so yeah, it’s all work.”

“You know this place isn’t gonna be like Mickey’s, right?”

She pulls a face, only small and only for the briefest second but he catches it anyway and for the first time sees how uncertain she is about having to be in that kind of environment.

“You gonna be good?” he adds, trying to sound at least a little sympathetic.

It actually surprises him how much he cares about how much this is going to affect her, and not just for the job. It’s going to be a pain in the ass, definitely. Having to keep an eye on her and make sure she’s not overwhelmed while trying to do his job at the same time, but more than that, whenever he thinks about how painful this is going to be for Morgan his stomach twists slightly, churning uncomfortably and making him feel… he doesn’t even know. Worried? Is this what worry for somebody else is?

Probably not. He’s probably just dreading having to babysit her.

--

He can already practically hear her teeth grinding by the time they get to the door of Shakers, let alone inside. They can hear (to be fair, godawful) rock music as well as the noise of what sounds like a pretty big crowd through the door, and he casts a glance in her direction. Her jaw’s clenched, brow furrowed, and eyes narrowed as she stares at the door before turning to the side and meeting his gaze.

“What? We going in or not?” she snaps, and he shrugs and waves a hand at her, gesturing to her general demeanour.

“I dunno, are we?”

She rolls her eyes and steps away from him, but he sees her shoulders rise and fall as she takes a deep breath before pushing the door open.

It’s loud. Really loud. Not too bright at least, but even he immediately catches the faint scent of alcohol, cigarettes and weed in the air. He can only imagine how strong it is to her.

His concerns for her are quickly overshadowed though when it takes less than a minute for his eyes to land on a group of men playing pool near the back of the room. He recognises them straight away, which means that they’re going to recognise him straight away and they’ll be gone before he and Morgan have gotten anywhere near them.

“Shit,” he mutters, ducking his head and turning to face Morgan more so as to turn himself away from them.

“What?” she snaps, glaring at him and not seeming to realise that something’s gone wrong, too caught up in trying to distract herself from the sensations bombarding her.

“I know them,” he answers distractedly, looking her up and down for a moment before casting a quick glance around the room in search of somewhere quieter. Something that doesn’t seem to exist in this bar.

He grabs her hand and pulls her over to the bar, nudging her to sit up on one of the stools and standing beside her, draping an arm over her shoulders and leaning in close to her. The close contact seemed to work the previous day when she was starting to become overwhelmed on the street outside, there’s no reason to think that it won’t work again in here.

“What do you mean you know them?” she asks, her voice a little less impatient as she leans back against him slightly, and he doesn’t miss the soft sigh of relief she lets out as he feels her body start to relax a little.

He doesn’t know why physical contact with him, of all people, seems to help her out but he’s going to count it as a bonus when it means that he’s able to set her at ease enough for her to function in these situations.

He glances back towards the pool table, but looks away again just as quickly, leaning down closer to Morgan to hide his face when he sees that the group are starting towards the door.

“They know you?” Morgan finally seems to click on, looking quickly towards the group and then back at him, and he only just realises how close he’s gotten to her when her nose just about brushes against his when she does it.

“Mhm,” he distractedly hums in reply, and she studies him for a moment before a small smirk crosses her face.

“I’ve been trying to get this close to you since we met, and now you’re telling me all it would’ve taken was a few demons to scare you?”

This bitch. He frowns at her, his arm dropping away from her shoulders as he straightens up again and moves away from her, temporarily forgetting that he’s trying to hide himself.

“I am not scared.” He spits indignantly.

Of all the things for her to say. Scared.

“You sure, sweetheart?”

Condescension drips from every word and his frown deepens into a glare. “Fuck you.”

“They’re going to see you,” she ignores his insult and nods behind him, and his eyes dart towards the group that have thankfully already moved past him when he remembers that whatever she thinks about him, them seeing him would be a disaster and if they knew that he was after them they’d be looking for them for weeks.

He subtly watches them go, waiting until the last two people are through the door, a blonde guy and a freakishly short girl, and then grabs Morgan’s hand and pulls her off of the stool. “Come on.”

He practically drags her out onto the street, making sure to keep a fair distance away from the group without losing sight of them through the crowd until he realises where they’re going.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Morgan mutters from beside him, obviously realising the same thing at the same time, and he stops and watches them step through the doors of the same motel that they’re staying in.

He grins and looks over at her, letting go of her hand. “Our job just got a whole lot easier.”

“You think?”

He doesn’t bother answering, just heads towards the motel once he’s sure that they’ve had a chance to get to their room and he’s not about to run into them in the lobby.

He’s stayed here countless times, he knows pretty much the entire reception staff, it shouldn’t be too hard for him to find out what room they’re staying in and pay them a visit when they’re not expecting it. Then all he needs to do is convince Morgan that he doesn’t need her help with his next job, they can go their separate ways, and everyone will be happy.

--

tags (let me know if you want to be added or removed): @admdmrtn @masonsfangs @homeformyheart @mmerengue @agentsunshine @bravomckenzie @freckles-spangledvampire @mistyeyedbi @kelseaaa @fhauvilles @amlovelies @forestcreatures @maraudern05 @kat-tia801 @alyssalauren @agentnolastname @utterlyinevitable @masonscig

[cryptidofthekeys]

Yandere Chase x Reader (An Average Day in Hell)

TRIGGER WARNINGS: YANDERE BEHAVIOR, KILLING/BEATING TO DEATH, DEATH, SLIGHT MANIPULATION??? (unintentionally and intentional technically speaking), MENTIONS OF A CAR CRASH BUT NOTHING TOO IN DETAIL OF THAT, ALSO DIVORCE MENTIONS, AND SOME SLIGHT ABUSE AT THE END PLEASE KEEP THESE IN MIND BEFORE READING

im not good at titles either also this one is like SUPER fucking long as well- so a keep reading is 100% needed also probs gonna tag it with long post just to be super safe

also wanna interact with the yandere egos? Well, shoot me an ask and I’ll post a link to the sideblog on my main (not gonna copy n paste that here, it took a good few minutes to get this story off my docs n shit lmao)

You were out for a nice walk on one of the trails nearby your house, it was one of the trails you could walk on without worrying about running into anyone, and you liked it that way… You’d rather not deal with a lot of people, you continued onward, taking in the beautiful scenery of the trees, the forest surrounding the area was so beautiful this time of year… The trees were all turned to such pretty colors, that doesn’t mean they weren’t pretty before of course, they just became even more beautiful than before that’s all. You were so distracted you hadn’t even noticed the man that was suddenly walking next to you, you were so fixated by trees until the man coughed into his sleeve and this made you jump and stumble backwards until you were suddenly on your ass.

The man looked down at you and he almost seemed panicked “Oh shit dude! I’m so sorry! I didn’t like, mean to spook ya!” He extended a hand “Are you alright, bro?” You looked at the man for a moment, he had a dark gray heather shirt on, black denim jeans, combat boots, and his hair was a grassy green color, and he wore a baseball cap of sorts with a skull on it, his eyes were a bright ocean blue, overall he looked like a pretty average dude, an average bro some would say (that was the stupidest thing thats ever come outta my mouth imma shut the fuck up now), you realized you had been staring at him for the past few moments, to avoid making this any more awkward, you took his hand and thanked him for helping you get to your feet.

The man grinned happily “No problem, I mean, it was my fault after all, I scared the absolute fuck outta ya” There was a pause before he cleared his throat “My name’s Chase, Chase Brody!” He offered a hand for you to shake, of course, not wanting to be rude you returned it “It’s nice to meet you, Chase… My name is (Y/N)... I uh, don’t think I’ve ever seen you around here before?” You questioned which made the man chuckle a little bit “Yeah, I uh, I’m new here technically, I just like, needed to go out and get some fresh air ya know, that’s all… I take it that not many people use this trail here, yeah?” You nodded “Yeah, it’s rare to see ANYBODY on this trail, well, except for me that is, I always use this trail for that reason” You smiled, this man was at least friendly enough… The two of you continued walking up the trail, might as well at least have someone to converse to while you're walking “Sooo…” The man began “How long ya lived in these parts, because it’s like, really beautiful!” You nodded “Yeah, it’s one of the reasons I moved here actually, because of the beautiful scenery…”

Chase nodded at this “Same, I mean, don’t get me wrong, where I lived before?” He paused, rubbing his shoulder rather awkwardly “Aha… It had SOME beautiful areas but nothing compared to this!” Chase looked as if he were about to say something else but he must’ve decided against it because he just paused for a few moments, trying to think of something else to say “So uh, what do you do exactly? Like, do you have a job? Orrr any hobbies?” You shrugged “A few things here and there, as for a job? Uhh, well… I work at that old timey family diner in town actually” Chase’s smile widened “Oh damn, that sounds cool, I don’t think I’ve been to that one yet, I have explored a little bit of the town though…” 

You nodded “Well, I mean, there’s always time to check it out!” Chase nodded and looked up towards the sky and frowned “Ah shit, it’s getting a lil late… I need to like, go pick my kids up from school n shit, you know how it goes”

You blinked in surprise “You have kids?” Chase nodded “Yep! Two boys and one girl!” Damn… You didn’t expect that, but then the man began to run off, he turned back to wave "Gotta hurry n go! I’ll seeya sometime maybe!” You gave him a wave back and just like that he was gone… You smiled, that was a nice conversation at least… Even if you usually liked to be alone on this trail and not to talk, in fact this time it was the exact opposite… You hoped you’d see him again, truth be told ...Maybe one day, for now you focused on getting through the rest of the trail, and maybe then after this, you’d head into town if you still had time for it… Eventually, you did manage to get through the trail, it took a long while, longer than you would’ve liked but you still had some time to kill for the day, so you headed back and then off into town you went, you’d just browse around for the day… Seeing what was at the shops today and such as that.

You headed into one of the bookstores to see if they had anything you’d be interested in reading or purchasing, you looked around each aisle and looked at each genre, you found a book called an 'An Average Day in Hell' ...You inspected the book and skimmed through some of the pages, it was about a man ironically enough named Chase, you snorted at the title, the dialogue and narration was just... "...This all sounds cheesy as fuck..." You then put the book back and finished up in the bookstore, nothing really caught your eye so you then headed for the next shop, it was a clothing store, maybe you could find some cute outfits in there! You headed inside and glanced around at all the options, this store had a lot of things... There were fancy suits, casual clothing, etc. As you browsed around the shop you suddenly paused and shivered, you had a feeling... A weird feeling, like someone was watching you... You casually turned around and saw that nobody was there ...Maybe you were just imagining things.

(this is future me at past me while breaking the fourth wall there: ...Hm, not the WORST but definitely not the best use of fourth wall breaks, im, not proud of that part okay moving on)

You shook your head and continued to browse around, you pulled out one of the outfits that had particularly caught your attention, and went into one of the changing rooms, you tried on the outfit and examined how it looked on you, you liked this one, you liked it a lot ...You just needed to make sure it was within your price range before you actually bought it, you looked at the price and it was... Way too much for you to afford unfortunately, you sighed and took the outfit off and put your original clothing back on, you then put the outfit back on the rack and went on your way, you headed for one of the ice cream shops, some ice cream would cheer you up for sure! You were about to head inside before three kids rushed into the shop, practically pushing you aside, a very familiar voice called out to them in a scolding manner "Now kids! It's rude to push people like that! No ice cream until you apologize!" The man turned towards you and was about to apologize for his kids before... "No way... (Y/N)? Is that you?" 

You smiled and turned to face Chase "Hey Chase! Takin' the kids out for some ice cream?" The man grinned and nodded "Yepperino!" The kids came up to you "We're sorry for shoving you (Y/N)! Very sorry!"

You shook your head "It's alright, I imagine you were just excited for the ice cream, yeah?" The kids eagerly nodded and were about to run off again before their father stopped them "Now now, don't just go runnin' off! Ya need to meet daddy's friend!" The kids came over and Chase pointed at the eldest son "This is Trey" then to the second eldest, the daughter "This is Chelsea" and then finally to the youngest son "And this is Greyson...!" 

(looked on wiki for the potential boys, so two potential canon names and one I just bullshitted til I got a girl-esque name in my brain)

Greyson hid behind Chase, the boy seemed pretty shy... Meanwhile Trey and Chelsea greeted you instantly "It's nice to meet you (Y/N)!" You smiled "It's nice to meet you too kiddos!" Greyson grabbed Chase's shirt who knelt down instantly "What's up kiddo?" Greyson whispered into Chase's ear who smiled "Greyson says it's nice to meet you too..." Chase stood back up and whispered to you "He's a very shy kid around strangers, he'll get used to you eventually" You nodded and with introductions and such out of the way, you all proceeded to get some ice cream, Chase insisted on buying you some but you refused, you were not going to make him pay for you like that.

Eventually after defeating Chase and getting him to relent from his actions... All of you then sat down to enjoy your ice cream, Trey got some vanilla, Chelsea got some strawberry, Greyson got some chocolate, Chase had gotten some cookies and cream, and you had gotten your favorite as well 

(i'm not gonna specify that, i mean y'all know what ya like)

 As you were eating some of your ice cream, you sighed and set the cup down for a few moments, Chase noticed this and he looked concerned "Is somethin' wrong (Y/N)?" You looked up at Chase before leaning in to whisper, you didn't exactly want the kids hearing this "I dunno... It's just... I was browsing in the clothing shop near here and I just... I got the feeling someone might've been watching me..." Chase's concern grew at this as he whispered back "Oh? Did ya like, manage to see anybody...?" You shook your head "Not at all... I dunno, maybe it was just my imagination playing tricks on me or something..." Chase shrugged "I'd hope it's just your imagination... I'd be pretty spooked if someone was followin' me for sure..." Chase then paused to...

...No, no, he did not just do that... He did not do what you think he just did ...Oh my god he did, he did the absolute thing you thought he did, it's evident in the ice cream... ...Chase just bit. Into. His. Ice. C r e a m... You cringed at this "Chase, Imma be honest with you, if you do that again in front of me, I WILL get up and leave this table" The man grinned and let out a little laugh "Aww c'mon bro! Don't leave me!" ...His tone sounded off there, maybe his voice cracked, because it definitely sounded like a bit of one, either way you couldn't help but giggle "I'm kidding, but please, resist from biting your ice cream like that" Chase chuckled "Okay, okay, I won't bite my ice cream again ...Maybe..." You gave him a playful glare to which he just grinned and finger gunned at, the rest of the evening was spent cracking jokes back and forth, Chase threatening to bite into his ice cream again and then threatened to bite yours, to which you responded by holding the cup near you and muttering out a 'my precious...' in a low raspy voice.

The way you said that and the sheer silliness of the situation caused Chase to practically burst with laughter, you joined in as well, it did turn a few heads but the two of you didn't seem to care, his kids had finished their ice cream a good bit ago and were just sitting there, they seemed... Really happy at the scenario right now... Eventually you looked out the window and your eyes widened as you immediately stood up, this caused Chase to pause before tilting his head "What's up?" You sighed "As much as I've enjoyed our evening... I really need to get going... It's getting super late, and I just, I hate walking home late at night..." Chase nodded "Ah yeah... I should get the kids home too, if ya want, I can drive ya back to your place" You smiled "Oh no no, I don't wanna trouble you..." Chase reached out and gently grasped your hand "(Y/N), I promise, it isn't any trouble at all, you didn't let me buy ya any ice cream so at LEAST lemme do this for ya" You sighed, you couldn't argue with this one and you nodded "If you insist"

Chase smiled and nodded, standing up and getting out of the booth, motioning for his kids to come on which they did, you all headed out and hopped into Chase's car, he cranked it up and then off he drove, in the direction of your house, there wasn't much talking in the car, as both Chelsea and Trey had fallen asleep, Greyson was in the seat twiddling with his thumbs, eventually Chase did make it back to your house, he pulled into the driveway "Welp, here we are, home sweet home! Er, for you that is I guess" You smiled and turned toward Chase "...I just, thank you Chase... Really, you know... I had a lot of fun tonight, that's the most fun I've had in awhile..." The man smiled "Honestly? Me too... I uh, I'm glad you had fun..." You nodded "...If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to do it again actually..." Chase's face flushed immediately and his eyes were wide, he turned towards you in shock "R-Really? You... Want to... Meet up again?" You nodded "Yeah, I mean, er... If you want to do that!" Chase had the biggest and happiest smile on his face "YEAH!!" He shouted, startling his kids awake and then he cleared his throat and spoke much softer to his kids first "Sorry...!" And then he reiterated what he said before "Yeah, I'd love to meet up with ya again...!"

You smiled “Hmm… Ice Cream shop meet up again?” Chase chuckled and nodded “It’s a date! ...E-Er, wait no… I didn’t mean it like that, I-I meant…” He was getting nervous to which you responded by resting your hand upon his “...It’s a date, for sure, I’d like to get to know you better actually! So how about… Six PM?” Chase’s breath hitched, whether it be at your hand upon his or your words, but he had the biggest smile on his face “O-Oh… Ye-Yeah… Yeah, okay…!” You then hopped out of the car, thanking Chase for the ride home, he gave you a thumbs up and then you headed quickly inside your house, it took Chase a few moments before he pulled out of your driveway and headed off. You smiled to yourself, Chase was such a sweet man, sure, it hadn’t been too long ago since you had met him but you already wanted to hang out with him again, this time, you wanted to get to know him a little better… Calling it a date out of the blue like that was weird, but you… You were beginning to really like the guy! 

… You then paused your thoughts, that dude must’ve been a single father, you didn’t see a wife or partner of any kind around, maybe he has been divorced or he divorced someone, you don’t know how someone could divorce someone who seemed so sweet, so loving, so kind! Then again, you also didn’t know the full story... Divorces and stuff can be a tricky mystery, it’s not really any of your business anyways so either way, you headed off towards your bedroom and got changed and ready for bed, tomorrow was going to be an eventful day, you had to get some sleep for sure, you flopped down onto your bed and closed your eyes, slowly drifting off into dreamland…

And then it was morning, you slowly opened your eyes to the sun shining brightly on your face, you squinted and slowly rose up from bed, rubbing at your eyes and looking around at your room, you looked at the time… 10 AM… You slowly got up and opened your closet, for now you’d put something comfortable on… You were going to save your best outfit for tonight! You smiled at the thought of getting to see Chase again, for now you had to make yourself some breakfast and then clean up around the house, really just so you can get that out of the way but also to kill some time today, after putting on your outfit, you then went to the kitchen, fixed yourself some breakfast and then got to cleaning for the rest of the day, you had some extra time so you freshened up a good bit and then put on your favorite outfit.

And with that you headed out the door, rushing off to the ice cream place, you had to admit while there was a nervous feeling building in the pit of your stomach you were also very excited for this… In your excitement you had arrived at the shop a little earlier than you intended, but either way, you took a seat at one of the booths and waited for Chase… When the clock hit six, he had practically rushed through the doors, a smile on his face as well, he looked just as excited as you were, he scanned over the shop but he didn’t see you which worried him for a moment… You then waved him over and he strode over towards you immediately, he didn’t have the kids with him this time “Hey (Y/N)!” He greeted you and sat down, he then took a proper look at you and he looked surprised “Woah… You look… Awesome…!” You smiled and blushed at his comment “Thank you Chase… You look awesome as well…” You looked at his outfit, it uh, was the exact same one he usually wore but you liked his main outfit, it was cute and fitting for him.

Chase was blushing as he suddenly pulled a box out and slid it over to you, it was a fairly large box and it was wrapped so neatly, you looked up at Chase who was rubbing the back of his head awkwardly “I got this for you… I hope you like it…” You looked down at the gift and slowly began tearing into it, once you got the wrapping paper off you opened the box and gasped at what was inside… ...It was an outfit, but not just any outfit, this was the EXACT same one you had wanted at the clothing shop nearby! ...You looked up at Chase in shock, you then bit your lip “O-Oh jeez… This is the EXACT outfit I wanted... Chase… I… I didn’t even get you anything in return… And this was… So expensive… H-How?” Chase smiled and laughed “Don’t worry about gettin’ me anything! And besides, I thought it’d look good on you!” You reached over to hug him from across the table which surprised him, Chase’s hands twitched for a moment before he slowly reached up to hug you back… This felt… So good to him…

“So… Warm… And soft…” Chase muttered, you blinked and pulled back from him “What was that?” Chase’s eyes widened, he had a blush on his face,  before he shook his head and just smiled “Oh nothing… I just… Was saying thank you for the uh, hug…!” You smiled and nodded “No problem!” Chase nodded and then he realized “Oh uh, we should, probably like… Get some ice cream, if ya want of course” You grinned “I’m always up for some ice cream!” Chase and you had gotten up from your seats, getting in line to get some ice cream, when the two of you got to the counter, Chase was absolutely refusing to let you pay this time, you sighed in defeat after a moment of bickering but gave him a smile nonetheless, a stubborn man this one could be… Either way, he got a milkshake that the both of you could share and you headed back to your booth, sitting down and enjoying the milkshake together. You took a few sips before pausing and looking at Chase “Soo… Were you, uh, married at one point…?”

Chase frowned suddenly and sighed “...Yeah, I uh used to be… I’d… Rather not talk about what happened of course, I’m sure ya understand…” You gave him a sympathetic look and nodded “Of course, we uh, don’t have to talk about it… Sorry for bringing it up” Chase shook his head and gave the milkshake another sip before continuing “Nah, don’t worry about it…” You sipped on the milkshake as well, trying to think of another question to ask, something that… Wasn’t, a marriage themed question… “So, why did you move here exactly? Aside from the beautiful scenery…” Chase looked as if he were in thought for a moment “Eh, to be honest? I just needed to get away from it all… Where I lived before was alright but like, I needed something new, something fresh! I got so used to seeing the same ol’ same old… And the kids did too… They were getting bored of the old place… I do feel a little bad because they did have some friends back there but… They don’t seem to mind at all, in fact, they’ve made more friends here actually”

You smiled at this “Well… That’s good, at least they have made new friends here, the people of this town are… Pretty friendly, I’ve made a few friends here myself actually” Chase seemed to perk up at this “Really? I mean, like, I wouldn’t be surprised because you’re an awesome person!” Chase paused for a moment before getting embarrassed “I-I mean…” You shook your head, not giving him time to finish his sentence “Thank you… I’m glad you think so…” You then paused and sighed “...I am worried though… I haven’t heard from one of my friends in awhile… I hope they're doing alright…” Chase gave you a nod “I’m sure they’re just fine… Maybe busy with some stuff, I’m sure they’ll call ya soon enough” You looked at Chase, he was so sweet… “Yeah… I hope so” And then there was a pause, the two of you taking the time to enjoy the milkshake in silence before you looked at Chase “What do you do for a living exactly?” Chase shrugged “Meh, I’ll take what I can get really, gotta support the kids ya know… I mostly do youtube stuff of course but I gotta do a lotta other shit, I don’t want… I don’t wanna risk them going hungry or some shit” You gave him a sympathetic look “Sounds really rough… I’m sorry…” Chase shook his head “Don’t be, there’s not much you can do about it anyways, it’s not your fault”

You nodded and offered Chase the cherry after finishing the milkshake to which he shook his head “Nah, you have it, I insist” You shook your head and used one of the knives at the table to cut it in half and you offered one half to Chase “We’ll just share it then, how about that?” Chase gave you a smile and took the half of the cherry, the two of you clinked your halves together

(listen, i know i said its an ice cream shop but they have knives there for some of the other desserts, its not just specifically ice cream, just- sh- sh, let the plot advance okay?)

“Cheers” and then popped it in your mouths, giggling slightly at the silliness of that situation before you stood up and stretched out and looked out the window “Hm… We still have some time left, is there anything else you had in mind for the night?” Chase shrugged “I mean, if ya want, you can come back to my place and we could hang out, I got some video games we could play together!” You grinned and nodded “Sounds like fun!” Chase smirked at you and stood up “Just be warned though… I’m one of the best gamers around! Although, I could let’cha win at the very least” You chuckled “That’s very bold of you… And very naive to think I need or want you to let me win, do NOT underestimate me, Chase~” The two of you exchanged a playful glare as you headed out of the ice cream shop, hopping into his vehicle and heading back to his place.

Once Chase pulled into the driveway, you looked at his home, it wasn’t.... Too terribly big, in fact rather small to have three kids in but you wouldn’t say that, it wasn’t really any of your business anyways, and besides maybe it was bigger on the inside than you thought, looks can always be deceiving you know… Chase hopped out and you soon followed, he gently opened the door after unlocking it and it wasn’t as small as you thought it’d be inside but it’s definitely not large either “I uh, it isn’t… Much, but at least it’s a roof over our heads, ya know?” You nodded at the man’s words, you then both turned around upon hearing the kids voices call out, they immediately ran up and hugged their father and gave you a smile and a wave, then another voice called out “Oh! I didn’t expect you to be back so soon, Mr. Brody!” Chase nodded “Well we didn’t have much else to do in town really, so, (Y/N) and I decided to come back here and play some video games” You assumed this was the babysitter, they approached and smiled “Ah, so you must be (Y/N) then, actually… The kids have been talking about you nonstop tonight…” They extended their hand for a handshake, you smiled and exchanged a handshake with the other, meanwhile Chase had bit his lip and looked away and toward his kids, who seemed preoccupied and happy they’re father was home.

Chase then grabbed his wallet from his pocket and paid the babysitter who then waved goodbye to the kids, Chase, and you as well and headed out, you noticed Chase staring them down as they went out which made you raise a brow, you gave him a nudge “You okay?” Chase looked back at you and smiled “Oh uh yeah, just… Thought I saw something out there?” Oh, maybe you were quick to assume he was staring at them then… Either way, you were excited to play some games with him! You quickly grabbed his arm which he gasped at, he barely had time to react as you dragged him off to the couch, the kids giggling while following the two of you. He had quickly gotten the game set up and tossed a controller your way, Chelsea had a grin on her face as she read the title of the game once it popped up “Oooh daddy’s really good at the super smash bros games! He’s gonna kick your butt (Y/N)!” Trey then interrupted “Yeah he’s the king of these games!” 

You chuckled “I hate to be the bearer of bad news kiddo but… Your daddy’s about to lose that crown of his~!” Chase raised a brow “A very bold claim your makin’ there, eh (Y/N)?” He had a cheeky grin on his face, you challenged his grin with a playful glare “I don’t plan on losing tonight Chase, you might as well kiss that crown goodbye” He chuckled at that “Alright then, whatever ya say… We’ll see what happens” And then the game booted up, Chase chose a character called Ridley (I like to imagine he has a few mains but you know he be choosin that one especially) and then you chose Isabelle (listen I’m sorry if this ain’t y’alls main but just trust me on this one okay? It’ll be worth it in the long run and I know the match up itself is… a lil silly but just shh) Chase couldn’t help but snort at the selection you made, although Chelsea seemed happy enough, she must’ve liked Isabelle a lot! And then the game began, before Chase did anything he paused it and looked at you “Ya need any tips or you good for this one?” You shook your head “Nah man, I’m good, I’ve got this… What, you scared to lose your crown?” Chase snorted “Not a chance, ya really are full of yourself sometimes (Y/N)” He unpaused it and then the fight began.

The fight… T’was an epic battle of skill and wit… This battle was like no other, the children cheered with each punch thrown, each move made, and to Chase’s surprise, you were REALLY good at this game, you were almost giving him a run for his money! BUT the fight wasn’t over yet, he was still on the stage and kicking, at first there was some banter, some swearing under your breath so the children wouldn’t hear, but now? There was nothing but pure silence and concentration, complete focus and even the kids had fallen silent now, watching in sheer awe at how good you were, and now… It was time for the ultimate end game, as you hit the buttons and watched Isabelle unleash her Final Smash and this caused Chase and the kids jaws to drop to the floor, you all watched as Isabelle delivered her move and then it was endgame… You sat the controller down, crossed your arms and had a wide smirk on your face as you looked over to Chase who wasn’t even mad, he merely looked over at you and solemnly tipped his hat to you

“Damn (Y/N)... That was e p i c… You’re really good at this!” He grinned and he seemed happy enough, which you were glad of, you nodded “I told ya, not to underestimate me, that’s what’cha get!” Chase nodded “Yeah, I did kinda do that, didn’t I?” he chuckled nervously, to which you only gently punched at his shoulder “No hard feelings of course!” The kids were clapping, Chelsea was practically beaming “Wow!! (Y/N) that was so amazing!! I’ve never seen anybody as good as dad!”

Trey nodded “Yeah, that was awesome!” You smiled at this, and then Chase was looking up at the time and then he stood up “Alright, it’s time for bed kiddos” And at this the kids pouted “Aww dad, do we have to?” Chase nodded “It’s a school night, gotta get a lotta rest so you can be ready for tomorrow” And despite the kids not really liking this reasoning, they agreed and headed off to go get ready for bed, you looked at Chase “Hey, uhh, where’s your bathroom?” Chase pointed down the hall “At the very end of the hall and to the right” You nodded and headed down that way, upon getting halfway down the hall you felt a tug at your shirt and looked down to see Greyson, you knelt down and looked at him “What’s up buddy, need somethin’?”

Greyson twiddled with his fingers and looked down, keeping eye contact with the ground before suddenly reaching out and hugging you “...T-Thank you…” He stuttered, you raised a brow at this “Uh…” You paused before carefully hugging him back “Why are you thanking me exactly buddy?” There was a pause before Greyson pulled back “D-Dad… He… He um… He seems m-much more… ha… uh… He seems to be m-much happier… Ever since… h-he fir-first… me… first met you…” You were… Shocked by this…  “Greyson’s right you know” Chelsea called out, a smile on her face, Trey was also smiling as he began “Yeah! Please… Don’t tell dad we told you this… But, we’ve noticed he didn’t seem as happy as he used to be… The last time he was happy was before… Before…” Chelsea interrupted, a hint of sadness in her voice “...Since mommy left…” You felt sorry for the kids and for Chase but even then you didn’t know the full story, and you sure as hell weren’t going to ask why, it wasn’t in your place to just ask about personal things like that… You only smiled “Well… Hey, kiddos… I… I’m glad I’ve made your dad happy at least, I’ve had a great time with him, really, he’s a sweet man and he seems to care a great deal for all of you… I’m sure things’ll be just fine, yeah?” Chelsea nodded “I hope so, just um… Please don’t tell daddy about this, he doesn’t like talking about mommy or the past really… Don’t tell him we told you” You nodded “Don’t worry, I won’t” The three kids hugged you tightly and then ran off to go to bed.

You smiled at this, they really did seem like such nice kids…  They just wanted their father to be happy again, you would try your best to help them out with their little wish, you headed to the bathroom finally to do your business and then finally back to the living room, you saw Chase laying there on the couch scrolling mindlessly through his phone, upon noticing you he gave a friendly smile and a peace sign “What took ya so long dude? Get lost down there?” You glanced back to the hallway before laughing “Nah, nothing like that… It was just that… The kids were still amazed at how I beat you at the game like I did~” You grinned to which Chase scoffed at “I let you win just so you know, just to be nice…” You laughed at this and walked over, moving his legs out of the way so you could sit down “Mmmhhmmmm suurrree you did, you just can’t admit or accept defeat can you?” Chase cheekily grinned as he rested his legs over your lap now “Nope, I can’t and won’t admit defeat, not ever, you might have won the battle but you won’t win the war! You’re going d o w n next time” You rolled your eyes at this “Yeah right” you tried to push his legs away and off of you but he seemed content just leaving them in place “C’mon Chase, get your legs off me, don’t be salty just because you lost” This made the man playfully glare at you and then he went back to looking at his phone, ignoring you for the time being as you tried to push his legs off, he was a stubborn one for sure.

Although you knew he was just messing with you, it was nothing serious, nothing serious from you either, honestly… You were having a lot of fun tonight with Chase… You sighed, you felt content “You know, Chase… I’ll be honest, I’ve been having a lotta fun with you tonight, it’s the most fun I’ve had in awhile actually” And that made Chase smile, a genuine smile… “I’m glad, I was worried I’d bore you or some shit ya know? I uh, don’t consider myself to really be any fun to hang around with” You looked at Chase and shook your head, placing a hand in his which made his breath hitch in his throat “That couldn’t be farther from the truth! Ya don’t need to be so hard on yourself Chase, you are a really sweet man, you are kind, caring, and-” And then you were trailing off, your face turning bright red as you realized what you were saying to him… 

“I uh, I mean…” Chase only smiled at this, his face also a bright red “Hey… Uh, (Y/N)...? I actually have something I’ve been wanting to ask you…” He began rather nervously, and you were curious as to what he was going to say before your phone buzzed in your pocket “Oh uh, hold on a second, then you can tell me” Chase nodded at this and watched as you pulled out your phone, he watched your eyes scanned through whatever it was and he could see the look of shock and worry on your face “...(Y/N)...? I-Is everything alright?” You immediately got up from the couch and looked at Chase in a panic “O-One of my friends is in the hospital… I...I fuck… It sounds serious too, they were in a bad car crash!” Chase’s eyes widened at this statement, while he didn’t like to see you so stressed, he didn’t like the fact this little nuisance had interrupted his confession “I mean, maybe they’ll be fine? I… I mean like, I’d hope so anyway is what I’m trying to say!” You barely registered his words and quickly shoved your phone back into your pocket “I’m sorry Chase but, I gotta go! I promise you can tell me what you wanted later, but right now, I need to go be with them, I just… oh god, fuck... ” There was a pause before Chase nodded, he wanted to clench his fist but to avoid suspicion he stood from his spot “I’ll drive you over there, you’re panicking too much to drive by yourself right now, what I want you to do is take some deep breaths while I get stuff ready” He gently placed his arms on your shoulders for a moment.

“Can you do that for me, babe?” You slowly nodded “I-I’ll try…” Chase smiled “Good, just, stand here and take some deep breaths for me, I’ll be right back” And with that he was off, he had to go get a pencil and a piece of paper JUST in case the kids woke up, he didn’t want to worry them if he wasn’t back in time… He quickly wrote a note, putting his eldest in charge until he got back, mentioning if they needed anything, they had the babysitter’s phone number and his as well, it was extra precaution, and then he grabbed his keys, looking back over at you “C’mon (Y/N), let’s go” you immediately came running over and the two of you headed out the door, quickly hopping into his car and then speeding away, he knew how to get to this particular Hospital, after all, you can never be too careful when you have children, and knowing how to get to things like that is very important, the drive was mostly in silence, until you looked over to Chase and you wouldn’t deny, something about him seemed… Off…. He had a darker look in his eyes “...You, uh… Okay…?” Chase looked over to you, that darkness quickly fading “Oh uh, yeah, even though I don’t know ‘em personally, I’m still worried about your friend and I know your worried sick too” Ah, so that was what the weird look in his eyes was for, Chase was so nice…

He cared about his family, friends, and you as well it seemed, hell, even people he didn’t know, complete strangers he had a great deal of care for, he was such a sweet man, and it felt like no time at all had passed and then you were both at the Hospital, Chase got out quickly as did you and he let you lead the way, you knew what room they were in so it’d probably be for the best if you led him there, one of the nurses had came over and stopped you both “Excuse me, are you (Y/N) by any chance?” You nodded quickly and pointed toward Chase “He’s with me as well” The nurse nodded and began to escort you both to the room “Your friend really desperately wanted you here with them, you two must be very close”

(i know thats probs not how it works in hospitals, they probs dont let’cha visit like that but listen, its just for plot- just s h h-)

You nodded at this “Yeah, we’ve uh, always been pretty close” Meanwhile Chase’s eyes darkened momentarily, he didn’t like the sound of that but, nonetheless, he just needed to calm down, before something v e r y bad happened… Eventually you both reached the room and immediately you ran over to your friend’s side “I’m here (F/N)! I’m here” (just give them whatever name ya want) Your friend looked at you and shakily reached out a hand to grasp at yours “(Y/N)... F-Fuck… Everything hurts like hell, th-that accident really did a number on me, one of the nurses just gave me s-some pain meds though” They laughed a little dryly, they looked to be in pretty bad shape “I just, I’m glad you’re alright, er, well, I mean not dead or anything… Jeez, what the hell even happened to you?” Your friend sighed “Some shithead wasn’t p-paying attention to… To where they were… Were going… I don’t even… I don’t even fucking know wh-what happened to them…” Your friend then turned over toward Chase “Oh? Who’s this guy?” You looked over and then back to your friend “Oh uh, this is Chase, we’ve uh, just been hanging out today ya know, had some ice cream and then went to go play some video games” Your friend then gave you a look and a weak smirk “Oooh~ So (Y/N)’s got themselves a lil date, yeah?~” Your eyes widened and you blushed a little “W-Well uh, I dunno if I’d call it that…”

Your friend then grinned “C’mon, (Y/N), really, your literally blushing…! It’s gotta be a date if your going that red faced over my simple question…!” And then a pause before a genuine smile crossed their lips, or well so you thought anyway “I uh… I’m… Really glad for you… Glad you found someone you like to spend time with…” Even though you couldn’t really see it, Chase could, that was no genuine smile… They were hurt… And for what? It’s not like you would have ever fallen for them, you two were just friends! ...And yet, the thought of them taking you away made Chase clench his fist and his breath hitch, he jumped however as you called out to him “You okay over there?” Even the nurse had looked concerned who was in the room, mostly checking to see if everything was still okay with your friend, Chase stood up and awkwardly chuckled “Oh uh, yeah I’m fine… I uh, I feel a bit awkward just idling here so Imma step outside, give ya some alone time with your friend…” And with that he stepped out of the room, pulling out his phones and earbuds, he leaned up against the wall and placed the earbuds in, although he definitely wasn’t planning on listening to music, he was just going to pretend he was so he could listen in on your conversations with t h e m…

Once the nurse had deemed everything was in order, she had left the room, on the way out she gave Chase a look who only flashed her a peace sign, and with that she walked away, you looked at your friend who was staring out of the room and you looked at them confused “...Uh, why are you just… Staring…?” Your friend looked back to you with a concerned expression on their face “Just, just be quiet for a few seconds…” You were confused but you did as told, staying quiet and for a few moments that’s all it was, except for the, well, the sounds of the Hospital, and then your friend turned to you “Just… Thought I heard something… That’s all…” There was a pause before you spoke “Are you like, okay…? You’re acting a bit weird…?” 

Your friend only smiled “I’m fine, I swear, don’t worry so much (Y/N), I just genuinely thought I heard something, that’s all but I guess it was nothing, aside from that, I do gotta ask… Are you REALLY on a date with this uh, Chase guy…?” You shrugged “I mean… I dunno if I’d call it that…? I uh, I mean, I do like him honestly, he’s very sweet and kind…”

Your friend looked down at this “...I just, listen, I know this might sound outta place, and hell, it’s probably not even my business… But, I dunno about the guy… He gave me some, strange vibes… How did you two even meet?” You looked at your friend, a little offended at that statement but you’d carry on for now “Well, he bumped into me while I was out for my usual walk on the trail” Your friend looked over at you “...On the trail… That nobody but YOU usually goes on, yeah?” You didn’t like what they were trying to imply but you needed to keep your cool “(F/N), I mean, come on, there’s other people out there that walk the trail I’m sure of it” They only looked at you quizzically “...Have you ever seen these people…?” You were about to argue with that but then you thought about it and your friend did have a point at that, you really never saw anyone out there… However before you could speak out against them, they continued on “Like, what if he was stalking you or some shit?” And that’s when you narrowed your eyes “...(F/N), I really don’t like what you're implying here… I’m sure there are other people who walk the trail aside from me, I just so happened to run into one of them and that was Chase that day”

Your friend looked at you, almost glaring “I just, I dunno I don’t trust this dude… There’s something off about him” You looked offended at that “(F/N)...! I don’t exactly appreciate you saying that, Chase is a lovely man, he’s so sweet, kind, and honestly very caring” Your friend rolled their eyes “I dunno I just, I just don’t think he’s good for you…!” You glared at them and crossed your arms “I don’t think this is really any of your business, he’s treated me so nicely so far, and I think if there was something off about him I woulda noticed…” Your friend shook their head “I just, like, dunno about him! ...During your date or even before, did anything strange happen?” You were surprised by your friend’s sudden change in behavior, you didn’t understand this at all and honestly, you were beginning to feel a little hurt by it before you began remembering something… “...Well, before the date, I was just browsing through the shops, and I…” You paused, pondering for a moment before you frowned “...I… I DO remember getting a sensation of being watched while going into the clothing shop though now that I think about it…” And then the more you thought about it… Your eyes widened as you realized something “...And… And I was looking at one thing in particular… And, then I left because I couldn’t… I couldn’t afford it…” Your friend was looking more and more intrigued and concerned “And then what happened…?”

You looked up at them “...I remember Chase giving me… The… The EXACT same outfit…” You then shook your head “But there’s no way, he would NEVER do that” Your friend only sighed “How do you know that though?! You don’t KNOW him as well as you think you do, I guarantee he’s got some dark weird shit to hide…” Meanwhile outside, Chase was clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, he immediately stepped away and headed off to the bathroom, he had to… He couldn’t explode right there because then he’d scare you off… Eventually he found his way and slipped into the bathroom and he snarled, looking at himself in the mirror “...They're trying to take them away from me…” He muttered to himself.

He took his cap off and ran a hand through his hair, gripping it tight and tugging at it, he was s o fucking angry… How DARE they… First they interrupt him from telling you that he loved you, he was SO fucking close to FINALLY making a proper move… But nooo, that dumb b i t c h just HAD to get in his way… … He stared into the mirror for a few moments before glaring and punching it, he didn’t put enough force to break it but it definitely made a noticeable crack “...I need to take care of them… Before they take (Y/N) away from me,  before they convince them with their shitty little ‘assumptions’... I… I just…” And then his eyes went wide a bit, he began shaking not only out of anger but also, there was fear, fear of losing you… Fear that you’d believe them, fear that you’d… You’d fucking h a t e him “God, oh god… Fuck, I can’t… I can’t lose them… I can’t lose them like I lost h e r…” 

He tugged at his hair again, heavily breathing, he slumped to the floor, dropping his hat and mumbling over and over the words of ‘I can’t lose them’ mumbling all kinds of things, all the things he would do to your friend… But you’d never know about it, oh no, god no… Chase would never want that, he’d never want you to be scared of him, he loves you so much and he just… Needs to show you his love, that’s all… Needs to prove your friend wrong with the assumptions about him... After a few moments of panicking, he took some deep breaths, trying to calm himself down and focus, he knew what he had to do... He then picked his hat back up and stood up, placing it back on his head and storming out of the bathroom, he knew his plan, he’d come back when you weren’t here, that’s when he needed to strike… Meanwhile, back inside the hospital room, you and your friend had gotten into a heated argument, you not being able to believe that Chase would stalk you or be weird like that.

“Fucking hell (Y/N)! Are you that fucking dense?! There’s NO fucking way he got you the EXACT same outfit you were JUST looking at just, fucking randomly like that! He’s a fucking stalker! He was stalking you on that trail too I GUARANTEE it!” You shook your head “You don’t know that!! I… I just…” And that’s when you broke down… You were crying now, falling by their side and just sobbing, you just… Couldn’t believe this, you didn’t know if you should… They WERE your best friend, they always looked out for you, but… You really liked Chase so far, he seemed so genuine, so sweet and caring and just… Your friend’s gaze softened and they put a hand on your shoulder, maybe, maybe they took it a bit too far this time…  “I… I… …(Y/N)... I’m sorry… I just, I’m scared for you… I don’t want you to get hurt, especially not when I can’t fucking be there to protect you… I… I’m sorry for calling you dense, and being so hostile… Please, just, be careful around him okay? Stuff just… Doesn’t add up with him…” You nodded, still face down by their side, all this had made you feel sick… Your friend patted your shoulder a bit “I mean, I’ve always looked out for you, usually I know what’s best and I just… I dunno, he gives me bad vibes… ...I-I’m not, just, look I’ll be honest… I was a bit jealous of him at first but-” Before your friend could finish you roughly pulled away from them and stared at them in disbelief.

“...You…. Your jealous of him…?” Your friend had realized perhaps that was a bad time to say that but before they could speak again and clarify, you glared “No, just fucking s t o p… I’ve heard enough from you, I don’t NEED your fucking ‘protection’ I see exactly how it is… THAT’S why you’ve been acting so weird since you saw him! You’re only protecting me because of jealousy” You paused before shaking your head “Listen to me, we’re JUST friends, I’m sorry… I just, I’ve never felt THAT way about you… And I NEVER will… I can’t fucking believe you tried to fool me into thinking Chase was a bad guy! When really YOUR the bad one here!” You yelled, standing up and then storming out, ignoring your friend calling out to you, you bumped into Chase who looked confused now “(Y/N)...? What… What’s wrong? You look angry…” You only looked at him then back at the room “Go ask them, I’m going back to the car okay? Just… Whenever you get ready you can come on…” 

And then you left without another word, before Chase could even say anything, the man bit his lip and then wandered into the room, looking at your friend who laid there, sniffling just a little bit “I...I’m sorry…” They mumbled, and now, if you had been calm they might would have gotten sympathy from you, but from Chase, there was never going to be any fucking sympathy from him, he casually sauntered over to where your friend lay and startled them once he sat down in the chair “Care to explain to me why (Y/N) was so pissed? Like, damn, I’ve only known ‘em for awhile but still, ain’t seen ‘em that angry even yet”

Your friend only glared at Chase “Shut the fuck up… This… This is all y o u r fault… You sick fuck, you were following them, weren’t you? You were fucking stalking them! Nobody else but me and (Y/N) has ever walked that trail, and the EXACT same outfit they just so happened to want?! That’s not a coincidence, listen to me you shithead… I might not be able to get up and go with them right now or anything like that, but when I get out of here, I swear… I’ll p r o v e to (Y/N) that you’re a sick bastard, I’ll fucking p r o v e it to them” Chase’s eyes darkened, however there was a sly smirk playing on his lips “...Aren’t you the jealous type? Fuckin’ hell dude… And I thought I could be jealous sometimes… But you? You are really ridiculous…!” Chase leaned closer, causing them to try and lean away in case the man tried something “...What makes you think even for a second (Y/N) would even believe you…? You really shouldn’t have admitted your jealousy to them, that’s such a rookie mistake…!” Your friend’s eyes widened “You...You fucker! You were listening in on our conversation! I… I…” They immediately tried to sit up and Chase grasped at them, not too roughly of course, he didn’t want to hurt them ...Yet… However at that, they immediately smacked him in the face “GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!” And that made Chase yell for one of the nurses who quickly came running in “What’s going on here?!” Chase feigned innocence at this “I… I don’t know…! Something’s wrong with them…! They were trying to get up and walk outta here and then when I tried to stop them, they hit me…!”

(I thought for a moment that i fucked up but Chase, had probs come back from the bathroom and was right there as they admitted jealousy maybe? Idk, just- gonna cheese this part n say that- also I really dont like how the friend fight went, if I had time or patience, I’d genuinely probs try to re-write it but you gotta understand, this is already a LONG ass story so thats a big oof, and a big goof on my part so yeye)

The nurse was shocked by this, and even your friend was shocked by this, damn… He was good… Real good… They tried to explain as the nurse got the doctor and then they came over with a needle, they struggled, trying to kick at the doctor’s and nurses, trying desperately to explain that Chase was lying… But they didn’t believe it for one second, just thinking they were in pure hysterics, they gasped as Chase took a hold of them and smiled so sweetly

“Don’t worry (F/N)... I promise you, I’ll take EXTRA good care of (Y/N) while you’re here...” And with that, the doctor managed to FINALLY sedate them, the last image running through their mind before passing out was of you, of Chase doing so many horrible things to you… Chase then sighed deeply “Phew… I don’t know what happened… I just didn’t want ‘em tryna get outta here, I uh, know a thing or two when it comes to bein’ in hospitals, and in their case, I guess it’s like, really important to get rest n stuff like that” The doctor nodded “We do appreciate your help and for you notifying us Mister…?” Chase smiled and extended a hand “Just call me Chase, dude…” The doctor nodded, returning the handshake “Of course, thank you very much Chase” And with that the doctor began looking over the other’s vitals, and honestly, he seemed to be pondering what on EARTH could have caused a reaction like that…? The nurse came over to Chase and looked at the bruise forming on his cheek “Sir, would you like me to help you with that…? They must’ve slapped you pretty hard…” Chase shook his head “Nah, trust me, I uh, I’ve been through worse… Imma go, (Y/N)’s waitin’ for me in the car… I should… Definitely get them back home” The nurse nodded, waving as Chase left the room, he was turned to where they couldn’t see but he had a pleased smirk on his face, he’d be back for them tonight…

There’s no way he could just let them live now, they knew too much, they’d get in his way… He had to eliminate them but first things first, getting back to you so he could comfort you, after all, the fight you two had must’ve been pretty severe… The thoughts of your friend upsetting you in such a way only fueled his anger and hatred toward them even more as he made his way into the parking lot and to his car, he saw you through the window, he could tell you were crying and his gaze softened, a frown on his face, that fucker… They made you c r y… Oh the t h i n g s  he wanted to do to your ‘friend’ more than likely former friend after all that’s happened… He wanted to just strangle them, beat them to death with his bare hands even, he wanted to feel their blood on himself but given they were in the hospital, he needed a quicker method, luckily… He had something but, not now… He took a deep breath and hopped into his car, noticing how he startled you “Sorry! Sorry…! I just, uh, had to use the bathroom…” You looked at him, not caring if he saw your red and puffy eyes really, because you had noticed on his cheek, a large bruise forming “What happened to you…? Did you get into a fight in the bathroom?” Chase looked down “Not… Exactly… U-Uh… I just…” He took his cap off and ran a hand through his hair before putting it back on “...Your friend, was like, trying to escape the hospital and shit like that… And I just, didn’t want ‘em hurting themselves more than they already were and then they hit me… They called me a sick fuck, a stalker, all kinds of things… I just… I don’t, understand… Did I do something wrong...? Why do they hate me already?”

You gently placed a hand on his cheek, making sure not to apply any pressure to the bruise “...No Chase, no you haven’t… They were just fucking jealous, and I don’t even know w h y… I don’t like them, not like that, but… Now, I’m not sure I like them at ALL… Not even as a friend anymore, they literally just fucking HIT you…! And for what?! Because they were jealous?! That’s NO excuse to hit anyone!” You sniffled, and at that Chase pulled you into a hug “(Y/N) just, sh… I… I… I’m sorry… I didn’t… I didn’t mean to come between you and your friend… I… I never wanted to do that…” ...Well, part of that was technically a lie, Chase couldn’t care less about coming in between you and t h a t friend in particular, they are too much of a hazard…

He knew, if they had continued to live, the moment they got out of the hospital, they’d try taking you away from him ...N o t. This. Time… He might have slipped up and let h e r escape but not you… No n o… You are so much more special to him than she was anyways at this point… You wrapped your arms around him “C-Chase, please… It’s not YOUR fault… I just… I dunno about them, g-god if they hit you… Oh jeez, what if they hit me…? What if they tried to hurt me…?” Chase gripped you tighter, that thought not sitting well with him at all “...I wouldn’t let them, not ever” You couldn’t help but smile at those words, your friend was wrong, so wrong about Chase, he wasn’t a creepy stalker, he was a nice caring man, it was THEM who was bad, hell, for all you knew excluding the outfit THEY could have been the one stalking you earlier… You just didn't know… This was all too much for one night “Can we, uh, go back home…? I… I don’t wanna be here anymore…” Chase nodded “Uh yeah, I do have something to tell you though… I’ll make it quick I promise” You looked at Chase, a bit confused by this but then you remembered earlier “Oh yeah, go ahead and tell me, what’s up?” Chase bit his lip and he was shaking suddenly, it was now or never… He took your hand gently in his “(Y/N)... I genuinely care so much about you, I’ve needed to get this off my chest for a while now… I love you, with all my heart, you mean the world to me… And I… I just, uh, do you… Feel the same way…?” He looked so nervous and scared, you had honestly felt bad for him but you simply smiled and placed a quick peck on his cheek “...Despite what my ahem, ex-friend had to say… I don’t think you're a bad guy, you’ve been nothing but kind and sweet to me… And, if I’m being honest, I’ve had a wonderful time with you so far, so what I’m trying to say is, yes, yes I do feel the same…”

And that’s when Chase could swear, had it not been something cartoon-y or in drawings, his eyes would have formed into hearts right there (cursed thought: Chase doing the very stereotypical yandere pose and you know he’d have them heart eyes motherfucker) he had so much adoration and love for you, he really did… He then pulled you into almost a too tight hug and began sobbing into your chest “I… I was so…. I was so scared… Scared yo-you’d say no, scared… You wouldn’t… Love me back…” You were a bit shocked by that but you only held him back “Chase…” You spoke, your voice soft “I promise, to love you, forever… You’re the sweetest, kindest man… It’s okay hun, I promise, I’ll always love you no matter what” (-eyes reader nervously-) That made Chase smile “...Thank… Thank you… I’ll love you too… Forever and always… I promise, I’ll take good care of you…” And with that Chase let go, wiped some tears away and cranked up his vehicle “C’mon, I’ll get you back to your place, it’s uh, been a l o n g ass night…” You nodded and the ride was mostly in silence, apart from you leaning over onto Chase’s shoulder, the man smiled at that, he seemed so happy… So much more happier now that you had both confessed your love for each other “Go ahead and sleep a little babe, it’s gonna be a pretty long ride back to your place from here…” You nodded and yawned, nuzzling into his shoulder which he blushed at, that happy smile never leaving his face.

You then slowly fell asleep, comfortably nuzzled into Chase’s shoulder, now… Chase hadn’t forgotten what he had to do, but first thing was first, getting you home safe and sound… Blissfully unaware of the man’s intentions and he’d try his damnedest to keep it that way… Eventually he pulled into your driveway and looked over at you, he nudged you a little and you stirred slightly, rubbing your eyes and looking around a bit disoriented “Mm…?”

Chase then carefully hopped out of his car and made his way over to your side, opening the door and scooping you into his arms bridal style, he was careful to not jostle you too much “Don’t worry (Y/N) my darling… I’ll take ya inside... I put my kids to bed all the time, so this is a piece of cake” He grinned, and you only grumbled at that “I’m not… nng, a kid… I’m a gro...grooowwwnnnn asssss…. Adult…” You slurred, making him chuckle a little bit “I know babe, I know…” He made his way inside, furrowing his brows a bit “...Honey, you need to remember to lock your doors next time… No tellin’ what kinda freaks and sickos could get in here…” You only nodded, half-understanding what he said, he made it to your bedroom finally and laid you down carefully into your bed, letting you get into your most comfortable position and then proceeding to tuck you in, you mumbled a soft goodnight before passing out once more and Chase only softly chuckled, leaning forward to brush his fingers against your cheek before giving it a quick kiss “Goodnight babe… Seeya tomorrow…” He whispered, and with that, quietly made his way out of your room and out of your house, he crept back into his car and pulled out of your driveway carefully, his car… Wasn’t the MOST silent on the planet but he was sure it wasn’t enough sound to wake you up.

Now, before he headed home… He had one more thing to take care of, the night was going to be over soon so he had to act fast… He drove back toward the hospital, he kept thinking about your little friend or as you said earlier, former friend… But even then, that wasn’t enough because he knew, deep down, that if your friend had made it out of that hospital then they would definitely take you away from him, the thought of them trying to take you away made him grip the steering wheel tightly in anger, no… There was no fucking way he was going to let that happen, no one would take you away from him, not EVER! And with the last thought going through his head, he sped up, luckily he had the perfect weapon in the back of his trunk, perfect for this particular occasion… Eventually… He reached the hospital, slowly getting out of his car and retrieving said weapon, he looked toward the building in question, a sick grin spreading across his face “...Let’s take care of ‘em before they become a b i g g e r problem…” He muttered to himself, heading toward the building in question, he knew his way around this hospital so far, it wasn’t too terribly hard to navigate the place, and of course likewise he knew exactly where their room was now…

He headed toward the back of the building, it’d be easier to enter from there and he also wouldn’t be spotted too easily, however upon getting back there he saw your friend limping away, looking back at the door and around to make sure nobody was around to see them, however when they locked eyes with Chase their eyes widened, they immediately limped over “What the fuck are YOU doing here…?!” They half-whispered, not wanting to draw any attention to themselves, Chase only raised a brow at this, a small smirk on his face “I could ask you the same question bro, what’cha doin’ sneakin’ outta here?” They shook their head “None of your business, now get the fuck out of my way, I’ve got things to do…!” They tried to move past but Chase only shoved them back, they glared at him but he only chuckled “Now see… I can’t let’cha do that dude… I KNOW exactly what you’re gonna go and do… I can’t let you take (Y/N) away from me, I love them t o o much for that…” He paused before grinning “And besides… They k n o w what you did, they saw the bruise on my cheek, and now…”

He paused for a few moments, the weapon in question he had pulled from his car earlier was a baseball bat, he revealed it to the other and their eyes widened, suddenly their confident demeanor had changed and Chase seemed to get a chuckle out of that “They’re afraid of you… Afraid you’ll hit ‘em or do some other awful shit, I promised (Y/N)... I’d never let you hurt or take them away from me… ...And I came here to make g o o d on that promise…” They backed up as Chase came closer “...You… You are fucking insane… No w a y (Y/N)’s afraid of me…! I… I would… And I’d NEVER fucking hit them…! They don’t know what you said to me, if they did, they’d understand WHY I hit you then…! You manipulative piece of shit…!” Still had so much spite, despite their confidence going down the drain “...They even said you were their former friend now, it sounds to me like (Y/N) doesn’t wanna associate with you or be around you anymore…” Chase spoke and that made them pause, their eyes wide “...They… You… No, NO! You’re fucking lying!” They paused for a moment, even though Chase had a bat and the crazy bastard probably wanted to kill them, they still had one trick up their sleeve “I’m not going to let you manipulate and hurt my friend like this…!” Chase only smirked and tilted his head “I would n e v e r wanna hurt (Y/N), you ain’t gettin’ it through your thick skull are you? I l o v e them with all my heart, I just want to make them happy… I just want (Y/N) to be happy, with me… And besides, just how exactly are ya gonna prove to ‘em what I said? They’ll NEVER believe you now…”

A pause before he continued “They’ll never believe ya if you told ‘em I was listening in to your conversations, they’ll never believe you if you tell ‘em I stalked them on the trail and of course at some of the shops, but ya know… I’ll go ahead and admit to ya right now, seein’ as they’ll never believe shit you say… Oh and of course, the fact that I’m gonna kill you... I w a s stalking them… They were just so beautiful… I needed to know what (Y/N) liked, what they wanted, and from the very first moment I laid eyes on them I knew… They were the one for me… They were m i n e… And I just had to have ‘em” They only glared at Chase as he spoke, wrinkling their nose in pure disgust, before they suddenly grinned, this caused Chase to raise a brow “...I’ve got proof… At least now I do… See, I figured you would come back… I KNEW you’d want me outta the picture so you could be with (Y/N)...” They pulled out their phone and showed him it had been recording all this time and now it was Chase’s turn to lose his confidence, his eyes widened as he watched them put it back in their pocket “...And once I get out of here, I’m going to let them hear e v e r y t h i n g you said… The part about you stalking them, you listening into our conversations, even you threatening to kill me! I’ve got it all recorded, your ass is as good as gone when they find out, they’ll leave you, they’ll never want to be around you EVER again!”

((BTW: Here’s the fight/beating/death part, just as a reminder to you all okay?))

Chase hadn’t accounted for this… For them to plan this far ahead, if he didn’t get rid of them right now… If he didn’t finish them off right now, they really WOULD be able to take you away from him… Slowly, he began to spiral, the thoughts of losing you to anything really made his heart hurt and his eyes then darkened, he clutched his bat and immediately lunged for the other, knocking them down on the ground, their eyes widened and they pulled a scalpel from their pocket, raising up to cut into Chase who grunted and then backed off to avoid anymore cuts, despite being small, if he let them, that scalpel could do a hell of a lotta damage if he wasn’t careful, all he needed was a good hit with his bat and it could stun them or maybe even…

Kill them immediately… However, that’s not really what he wants, he wants to drag this out for a bit, he really wants to make them suffer, suffer for them for getting in his way so much, for trying to tear his beloved (Y/N) away from him, eventually they made a move and tried to get past him, not really wanting to fight him or even kill him, they just needed to get back to you with the evidence before it was too late, however… Chase saw the opportunity and swung the bat at them, hitting them in the back mostly but it was still enough to knock them down and then the scalpel had unfortunately fallen out of their hands and onto the ground, before they could manage to crawl over and get it, Chase had stood his boot onto their ankle “No, no ya fuckin’ don’t…! I’m NOT letting you take (Y/N) away from me! You just can’t STAND us being together! And for what?! Because you’re fuckin’ jealous or some shit? Lemme make it VERY clear for ya… (Y/N) is not and will NEVER be interested in you…! They are MINE…” He snarled, venom lacing every word he spoke as he leaned down to spin them onto their back, he then raised the bat up and proceeded to hit them over and over, repeatedly, as they screamed for help he leaned down and roughly slapped a hand over their mouth “Shut the fuck up…!” He spat, giving them a harsh punch with his hand, then he raised back up and continued his onslaught with his bat, making sure to deliver heavy and harsh hits to the other.

They coughed up some blood and looked up at Chase, their vision blurring as they whimpered and cried out “P-Please… I… I… I won’t… I’ll leave… you… alone… Just… F-fuck…” They groaned in pain, their eyes staring up into Chase’s “Please… Please don’t kill me…” They begged, but Chase only laughed at that “No way…! After ALL the bullshit you’ve tried to pull you HONESTLY fuckin’ think I’m going to spare you ANY mercy…?” He lifted the bat high above his head, a sick grin spread across his face “Go to hell!” He yelled, slamming the bat down hard on their head, blood splattering all over the pavement, the bat itself, and even over Chase, with that last hit they fell limp, no life detected in their eyes whatsoever, just to be sure however… Chase leaned down and checked their pulse, checking for any breathing as well, he smiled to himself when he heard nothing, not even the faintest sign of breathing, he reached into their pocket and grabbed their phone, looking over the recording and sighing, he dropped the device to the ground and smashed it underneath his boot, no way in hell was he going to let that thing stay in tact… Now however, came the big problem of getting the body out of here, and just where the hell was he going to put this thing…? Before he could even decide, he heard someone coming up and his eyes widened, he made sure not to leave his bat behind and ran off into the darkness, he needed to get back to his vehicle and quickly before someone caught him.

He could hear the scream in the distance as he made his way back to his vehicle and hopped inside, placing the bat in the back underneath one of the seats, luckily the blood was beginning to dry, well, okay no, that wasn’t THAT lucky… Considering he wanted to clean the bat later but oh well, he then sped off into the night, not even glancing back at the Hospital, he smiled to himself, very pleased with his work, at least they wouldn’t ever come between him and you anymore… No more worries, all he needed to do now was get home and- ….THE KIDS! His eyes widened as he sped up a little more, while, preventing them from becoming a nuisance was very important, he still cared about his kids, and oh god… He didn’t want them to see him like this, not with blood all over his clothes, how would he ever even explain that to them…

Eventually, he made it back home and slowly opened the door, looking around to make sure his kids weren’t awake yet, it was almost time for them to get up given it was a school day so Chase quickly crept off to his own room, firstly he put the bat into his closet, outta sight outta mind he thought before grabbing another shirt and jeans, he didn’t really care what he put on so long as it WASN’T bloodied… He went to the bathroom and looked over the wound from the scalpel, frowning slightly, he had a med kit, okay, well… A few med kits lying around, he wanted to be extra prepared just in case, he then began cleaning the wound of any blood, disinfecting it which made him hiss in pain, damn… Stab wounds are a bitch to deal with, after making sure it was disinfected properly he wrapped it up with some bandages, he then ran some water and scooped some up in his hands to splash on his face, cleaning himself up just a bit more, once he was finally free of any and all the blood stains he put the new shirt and jeans on and smiled “That’s better…” He then headed out to go wake the kids up, even though they didn’t really want to but really what kid ever wants to get up that early…? ...Eh, either way… He fixed them some food, helped get them dressed, and then waited with them until the bus arrived, he then kissed their foreheads and waved them off as they headed off to school. Now… He needed to do some laundry, get those bloodied clothes outta the way…!

Some time later in the day, you woke up with a groan and looked around, you remembered what had happened the other day and you honestly still felt like shit because of all that… You wanted to just relax for the day… Maybe later you would go and visit Chase but for now you just slowly got out of bed and headed for the shower, taking a quick one and changing clothes just to get freshened up a bit, which honestly had helped you feel just a LITTLE better… You then went off to grab some cereal, taking it to the living room to watch some tv, you had turned on the news not… REALLY to watch the news portion of it but you just wanted to know the weather for today before planning anything, as you were watching for a bit and eating your cereal slowly, your eyes widened slightly as the headline read ‘’(Friend’s full name) was found last night by one of the nurses, the reports say what likely caused their death was more than likely a baseball bat and a very nasty blow to the head, there is no information on whom the killer may be at this time but we’ll keep you up to date with any new information.’’ you stood up and accidentally dropped your bowl, it came crashing to the floor, bowl shattering and the rest of the milk and cereal pieces splattering everywhere, you were shaking as you raised a hand up to cover your mouth, tears beginning to pool around your eyes, you… Despite claiming they were a former friend just the other day, th...that was just out of anger!

You didn’t want anything BAD to happen to them! You DIDN’T want them to fucking D I E! You had broken down into sobs and almost borderline screaming, you whispered your friend’s name a few times, muttered so many apologies to them and wishes that it wasn’t them… Why did it have to be them? Why couldn’t it have been YOU instead?! You regretted the big fight you two had, you regretted calling them a former friend, you regretted it all… You wondered if they had regretted it, you wondered who could have even done such a thing?! Who had it out for your friend?! ....It… No... You didn’t want to start thinking like that… Besides, Chase would NEVER do something that cruel, that horrible! He’d NEVER fucking murder someone in cold blood!

You just wondered… Who could have done this? You just… You couldn’t… You continued to sob and wail, the grief was overwhelming, you didn’t even hear the door open… Chase sighed “Again, babe, the do-” before he could finish his scolding, his eyes widened when they landed on you on the floor, practically bawling your little eyes out, a broken bowl and a mess on the floor, he immediately dashed over and was going to reach down to pick you up but then he paused “H-H-Hey… hey baby, darling… What’s wrong…? Can… Can I touch you…? I wanna, like, help you up outta the floor…” He needed to be sure, once he got your nod he carefully picked you up and placed you on the couch, he noticed you had gotten some milk and remains of the bowl on your pants, he’d deal with all that in a moment however, first and foremost… He sat down beside you, placing a hand on your back and rubbing in soothing circles “Honey… What’s gotten you THIS distraught…?” You continued to sob, your throat was growing hoarse and you felt like vomiting, you couldn’t even manage to tell him what was wrong, you just pointed to the tv and Chase looked over, since it was still fairly early and it hadn’t been too long, the news, weather, and all of that repeated, the same story you saw about your friend came on and Chase’s eyes widened, he figured this was the case…

He would have hidden the body where no one could have found it had he had the time… He hated to see you this upset and distraught “O-Oh… Fuck… Babe, I’m so sorry for your loss… I-I know, you both had that big fight… And just… That makes it… just, fuck… C-Come here, do you want me to hold ya? I-I mean like, is… is that okay dude?” You slowly gave a nod and Chase leaned over, gently taking a hold of you and embracing you in a tight hug, it wasn’t tight enough for any discomfort, quite the opposite actually, his arms around you and being this close to him was what you needed, you sobbed into his chest and he began slowly stroking your hair  “Shhshhshsh… It’ll be okay…” He paused before whispering little reassurances into your ear “I...I know how it feels… To lose someone close to you… I-I mean, I don’t… I don’t know if she’s dead or not… But… My… My ex-wife, she left, a l o n g ass time ago, left me, the kids, all by ourselves… And it, it still hurts even to this day… Just, not as bad as it USED to... Grief… Look, I’m no expert, but grief can come in many forms but eventually… you’ll… You’ll get through it, eventually, it, it won’t hurt as bad ya know? And baby, listen, Imma be right here with ya every step of the way, I promise…” He smiled slightly, pulling you a bit closer, you listened to his words and you didn’t have the ability to speak at this point, your voice was hoarse from all that sobbing but you slightly smiled at that, you were… Glad he’d be there for you… The one thing you managed to utter out was a “sorry… about… the shirt…”

Chase chuckled and shook his head “Eh don’t worry about it, I have plenty more shirts where this one came from… Now just… Here, lemme get this cleaned up for you and then I’ll getcha some water, and then we’re gonna head over to my place, or if ya wanna stay here at home that’s fine too, I just gotta be back before my kids get home from school today though…” You looked at Chase and he could tell you were about to argue with him “Before you even try to say what I think your going to, please baby, I insist, I’ll clean this up for you, it isn’t a problem” You then sighed and just let him do what he wanted, first and foremost he grabbed some water, tossing it your way and he was surprised when you got it “Nice one babe!” He called out from the kitchen proceeding to go and look for the tools he needed.

He came back over, proceeding to sweep up all the bowl shards, he didn’t know whether to be lucky that the milk had dried up or not but either way, he managed to get the shards into the dustpan and then he began mopping up the milk, eventually he managed to get it all cleaned up and threw the shards into the trash can, and then he came back over and looked at you “So… You wanna stay here, or head on over to my place? Ya… Ya don’t gotta speak if ya don’t wanna, just hold up one finger for your place, two for mine” You smiled at how thoughtful he was being, you then took a few sips of water and held up two fingers to which he nodded at, he then scooped you up “Welp, c’mon then, let’s go chill for awhile, take our minds off all the bad shit!” He grinned and carried you out the door to his vehicle, opening the door and putting you inside, you slowly managed to get buckled as he hopped in the driver’s seat, he had really wished he had time, time to hide that body, time to prevent you from seeing that tragedy on the news, from making you bawl your eyes out, part of him felt guilt, not for killing them, oh n o… The bitch deserved it, but… You didn’t deserve to see that, you didn’t deserve to hear them announce their death, you shouldn’t have even known about that in the first place…

That was the only reason for guilt but at least you didn’t know he was in fact the one that did it… Nothing could get in his way now! Nothing could come between you, nothing could ruin this day! The drive back to Chase’s place was mostly in silence aside from Chase cracking a few jokes, he really was trying his best to help you feel better, and you won’t deny some of the jokes definitely made you crack a smile, as he pulled into his driveway, he hopped out and helped you out and inside, he sat you down on the couch and then grabbed some controllers, he handed you one and then turned on Minecraft “Let’s uh, play a more chill game this time around, yeah?” You smiled and nodded, watching as Chase created a new world for the both of you, he kept it on survival mode but he then set the difficulty to peaceful “Next time if ya want, we’ll play in easy, normal, or hell- hard if you’re feelin’ brave enough! But for now, let’s just gather supplies, food, and have some fun” You nodded, still not really wanting to talk, you didn’t want to wind up straining yourself… So you two sat in silence, just gathering up some food, supplies, and various other items, honestly this was pretty relaxing, it was really helping you de-stress… You even managed to find a good amount of diamonds which Chase seemed proud and impressed by “Guess the seed we spawned in is a pretty damn good one ain’t it, babe?” You nodded at his words.

You two played Minecraft for a long time, it was more than likely hours actually, minus getting up to fix some food or grab a snack or something to drink, eventually you got tired of playing Minecraft and cuddled up next to Chase who smiled at this, he placed an arm around you, pulling you closer to him, the embrace felt so nice… Your eyes fluttered shut as you leaned in a bit more, snuggling up close to him, you were just beginning to get comfortable before your eyes opened “...Annnd I have to pee…” You groaned in frustration and shot up from your spot and you heard Chase snickering as you walked down the hallway, you looked at his room and noticed the door was cracked open, now… Going into someone’s bedroom all of a sudden without their permission was… Pretty bad to say the least, but something in your head was telling you to go satiate whatever curiosity that had just sparked in your brain…

(it's the writer astral projecting curiosity onto the reader bc he needs them to go into that room to advance the plot- im kidding ofc but still tho)

You quietly crept toward the door, looking back to make sure Chase wasn’t there, you didn’t… Really want to upset him by doing this, all you wanted was just a quick peek and then you were done… Upon pushing open the door your nose scrunched up, you smelt something awful… It smelled… Metallic… It was an absolutely rotten stench that had plagued your nose, you looked over toward his closet, whatever the smell was it seemed to be coming from that direction, you were thinking now that maybe you shouldn’t have come in here, for some reason… The Closet had given you an unnerving feeling… You felt as though you should just turn back now and forget you ever came in here, however… It was too late to turn back now, your curiosity was too strong, just… One quick peek and then you’d forget the whole thing… You stepped closer to the closet, your body growing tense as you shakily reached out for the knob, you then pulled the door open and your eyes widened at what you had seen on the ground… It was a baseball bat… Your mind flash-backed to this morning, the reports on the news had said the weapon was a baseball bat… ...No, just no- There was no way… Chase would never- this had to be a coincidence, you noticed some dried red stains on the bat, the closer you got the more that smell overwhelmed you, you knew that scent, after all… Blood, even when dried, is a hard scent to mistake…

You slowly backed up from the closet, eyes wide and in shock, how… why… Why would he?! There’s no reason, this HAS to be a misunderstanding surely, you jumped and almost screamed when you heard a small tsk sound come from behind, you spun around quickly and looked Chase in the eyes, he was leaning on the doorway, arms crossed and a neutral expression on his face, he didn’t look angry but then again he didn’t look happy either “(Y/N)... Hasn’t your parents ever taught ya not to snoop through people’s shit…? We all have our private stuff dude, that’s so not cool…” You looked at Chase then back at the bat then back at him “Ch-Cha...Chase…” You whispered, this seemed to catch his attention and his expression softened a little bit “...Babe… I’m just, look, I’m not mad I promise… I AM disappointed however” He was scolding you, as if you were like a child… “Cha...se… did…” You took a shaky deep breath, your hands and legs beginning to shake, you… You just needed to know “...Did you do it…?” The man still had a smile on his face as he tilted his head slowly “...Did I do w h a t, baby…? Are you… Trying to accuse me…” And then there was a pause before slowly he stood, still blocking your exit “...Are you seriously trying to accuse me of murdering your friend…?” There was some hurt to his voice but something was off, he didn’t have that loving and caring aura around him anymore, you felt… Nervous… More nervous than you should have ever felt around someone you had come to love.

“You… You di….You did, didn’t you…? I….I… You… You got mad… That they hit you… d-didn’t you? You killed them didn’t you?!” You suddenly yelled and Chase looked taken aback before he frowned “...Babe, I think you’re overreacting and jumping to conclusions here… I didn’t touch your friend, I swear…” You shook your head “How...How can I trust you, how can I believe you? That bat has fucking dried blood on it!” Chase shook his head “It’s just a design!”

You then glared at him “IT EVEN SMELLS LIKE BLOOD, CHASE!” You shouted, tears welling in your eyes, this wasn’t… This couldn’t be happening right now, this wasn’t… You couldn’t… Just… Chase seemed to notice your panic “H-Hey… Heyy… Sweetheart… Please, just… Calm down, it’s alright… This is all one big misunderstanding… I promise you…” He tried to step closer and you immediately backed up “S-St...Stay away from me, Chase… Just… Just stay away… I… I don’t… I think… I-I just…” You were breathing heavily, staring into his eyes “I...I just… wanna go home… I just… I just need some rest I think ahaaa… I-It’s been a long day already and just…” Chase nodded “C’mon then, I’ll drive you-” You interrupted him “NO!” You shouted but then coughed and shook your head “I-I mean, no, no… I...I’d rather just walk…” Chase’s eyes darkened and he clenched his hand into a fist, the next sentence he seemed to grit his teeth as he spoke “Then how about I walk ya home, s w e e t h e a r t…?” You shivered as he stepped a little closer “I… I… C-Chase please-” He interrupted you “Baby, I don’t know why you're acting like I’m some kind of monster, I told you already… I didn’t do SHIT to your little f r i e n d… And b e s i d e s… Just…” He took a deep breath and looked at you, pure adoration in his eyes “Baby, I love you, so much… I’m not a monster, I didn’t kill your friend… I would n e v e r do that… Please, you have to believe me…” You looked at him, you just… You thought back to what your friend had said.

“...Maybe they were right about you… Th… Oh my god…” You had just realized something “...They told me they had a bad feeling about you, I thought they were just jealous…” Chase then tried to interrupt “Because they w e r e honey, they were jeal-” You shook your head and cut him off “No… No they weren’t just jealous, maybe there was something there but… They… They’ve been my best friend for as long as I can remember… They’d never lie to me… I… Fuck, I’ve made a mistake… I just, Chase, I just… I don… I don’t think… It’s going to work out between us” And that made Chase snarl, he reached out and gripped your arm tightly, this made you cry out in pain “(Y/N)... No, don’t you d a r e say that… I just- Listen… I have TRIED my damnedest here… But if this is how your gonna be... You wanna know the truth? Do you REALLY wanna know the truth? About EVERYTHING?” You looked at him confused before your eyes widened, the sudden grin on Chase’s face made your stomach churn “...I did it… But, I didn’t do it to hurt you… Baby… They wanted to get in my way… In OUR way… They were going to get out of that hospital and try and take you away from me… I just… I couldn’t, I couldn’t handle the thought of losing you… I… I know what I did was wrong, I know… But I just… You have to understand, I do NOT want to lose you…”

(Another BIG reminder: Abuse is bout to happen!! Chase is about to do something he regrets MORE SO than forgetting to expose that bat fkjdslfdjsl)

You felt sick, you felt absolutely sick and disgusted with what you heard “...Chase… You fucking killed my BEST friend! YOU FUCKING KILLED THEM, YOU FUCKING BASTARD- JUST LET ME GO- I DON’T WANNA BE WITH YOU ANYMORE!” You began thrashing in his grip, trying to get away from him, but suddenly out of the blue, a fist had came crashing down on your cheek, it wasn’t hard enough to break a bone but it was sure gonna leave one hell of a mark, your eyes were wide and so were Chase’s as he let you go for a second, you stumbled and fell onto your ass and held your cheek, tears beginning to well up in your eyes as you stared up at Chase fearfully who looked… Regretful, looked shocked even, he placed a shaking hand over his mouth as he stared down at you “I…” He began, but then paused, what could he say now…?

He knelt down and tried to get closer to you only for you to back up in fear, your heart beating out of your chest right now as tears ran down your face, little sobs escaping your form as Chase shook his head “No… No no no… Babe…. That… I didn’t… Please, I’m sorry… Really I am, I didn’t mean to hit you… I just… It’s just, you… You promised to be with me forever, you promised you’d love me no matter what, and I just got angry and just… Please, c-come here, let me see…” He reached out to grab you again and you went stiff even if his touch was gentle this time, he moved your hand from the bruised area and gently and ever so carefully ran a finger down it “F-Fuck… I did the one thing I said I was never going to do… I s w o r e I’d never fucking hurt you… I’m such a fucking idiot…” Tears were now in his eyes as he thumbed over the bruise “J-Just… Come with me… I’m going to take care of this…” You were like a deer caught in headlights as he pulled you up and along with him, he wasn’t being as rough or forceful this time but you were fucking terrified, terrified he was going to hit you again if you tried anything or said anything… You flinched away as he began doctoring the area he just hit, you really didn’t want him touching you, you really didn’t even want to be around him anymore, but you had a funny feeling if you said that again… Well, there’s no telling what he’d do, after he finished doctoring the area he leaned in and kissed it better, you cringed in disgust at his actions.

“T-The...There… All… All better now… I… I, (Y/N)... I know you don’t believe me right now… I k n o w you probably even fucking hate my guts right now but l-listen… I… I genuinely d o n ‘ t want to hurt you, my anger just… Got out of control but I can promise you, I can and WILL control that from now on, I won’t ever hit you again… I swear, I...I know it’s hard to believe me right now, but I’ll show you… Jus-Just, just please, give me another chance? Whatever you want, I’ll give you the fucking WORLD if I have to just… pl-please… oh god, please… Please don’t leave me… Please don’t…” Tears fell from his eyes and sobs racked his body, he… He really did regret that, but you said nothing… You just let him hold you there, too frightened to move or say anything… But Chase only looked at you, a pleading look in his eyes “...(Y/N)...? I… I can be good, y-you just… Need to trust me again… Th-That’s it… I… Look, if I could have I would have just hidden your friend, that way, you didn’t even have to see that tragedy on the news, besides… Y-You really don’t understand j-just…” He let out a heavy breath as he stroked your hair lovingly “Just how much I love you… Th-They were literally going t-to… to… Take you aw...away from me… I can’t lose you… I had a fucking panic attack in the hospital after I heard all they said… I just…” Your heart twinged at that but… N-No! NO! You… You shouldn’t feel sorry for him, he killed your best friend and then he fucking HIT you! ...T-There was no way you’d feel sorry for him…

Yet… There was something… About it… He seemed so genuine, so genuinely desperate and guilty… It made you feel… Conflicted… Chase then pulled his shirt down a little to expose a bandaged wound “This, is what your friend did to me last night… They stabbed me with a scalpel, t-this wasn’t like… This was b e f o r e I did what I did…” Chase looked as if he were about to say something before he heard the front door open and his kids all scream for their dad, they sounded so worried and both your eyes immediately widened “...(Y/N)... Please… Don’t tell the kids… A-After all… A-Ahh… Haa…” He chuckled dryly before continuing, his tone reeked of panic and desperation as he spoke.

“Y-You wouldn’t wanna upset the kids, yeah? If you tell anyone about what I did, if you expose me… Y-You’ll make these kids lives a living hell… You’ll hurt them, and I’ll be honest (Y/N)... While I love ya, I won’t allow you to hurt my kids… Nobody gets to hurt them… So please, for me, but more importantly… For the kids, please… Stay…” (despite being a yandere Chase does truly care about his kids and he won’t ever let anything bad happen to them or do anything bad to them, he’s still a monster but not THAT kinda monster) You swallowed, hard, your throat felt dry but you nodded at his words, the thought of breaking these kids hearts was too much… You remembered how happy they said you had made their dad, reluctantly you finally spoke “O-Okay Chase… I- I promise, I… I won’t… I won’t tell anybody…” Chase then looked at you quizzically “...Annnd…?” Your eyes widened “A-And I won’t leave you!” You quickly added in fear he’d get angry at you again but then he smiled, just then the kids burst into the room and saw you two there, they noticed the bruise on your cheek and Chelsea was the first to speak up “D-Daddy?! Wha...What happened to (Y/N)!? Who hurt them?” Chase only smiled nervously “U-Um…” You quickly spoke up then, the fear of the kids finding something out too much to bear, the kids didn’t deserve to have their father ripped away from them, they seemed to care so much about him “I had a little accident kiddos but, I-I’m… I’m fine now…!” You sounded strained unfortunately but the kids still seemed to believe that part “A-And yo...your dad… He was just, um… Helping me! Yeah, I’ll be fine, I promise”

Chelsea smiled “Oh…! That’s good then” Trey spoke up next “We just got worried when you weren’t at the bus waiting for us, Greyson almost started crying” And Greyson frowned at that and turned to Trey “D-Did not…!” Trey looked at him and grinned “Did too!” And oh boy, you and Chase both knew where this was going… Chase quickly spoke up “Kids, now, come on… That’s enough, how about you go, wait in the living room and I’ll be right there with you, okay?” The three nodded and went off, you both could still hear Trey and Greyson arguing albeit a bit more quieter, and then you and Chase looked toward each other, you wouldn’t deny, you were definitely still afraid of him, but you had every right to be! ...But you just, you couldn’t hurt those kids like this… and Chase, you could see it in his eyes, he was desperate “...(Y/N)...” He began and you couldn’t help but flinch as his hand reached out which he quickly retracted back “S-Shit, sorry… Sorry… Listen, I know… You really don’t like, believe me and shit right now… But, I...I promise, it’ll get better… I just… When you said you didn’t wanna be with me anymore… It just, it really fuckin’ pissed me off… but, th-that… That’s not an excuse, and I know that…”

Chase paused and looked at your arm, he winced at the bruising he seen there too “F-Fuck… We’re REAL lucky the kids didn’t see that but I-I’ll get to that in a second…. Just, look… (Y/N), I promise I will NEVER hit you again… I don’t want to hurt you, I genuinely don’t… I just… I just wanna be happy together, I want to be with you, and I don’t want you to like, be with me out of fear and shit, I genuinely want you to love me… I’ll... In fact, actually... I’ll prove to you that I’ll NEVER hit you again! And… Listen, y-your friend… I’m… Just, I was just so scared they’d get in our way, scared they’d take you away from them and y-ya know they say f-fear… Fear can make… Can make you do some crazy shit… Y-Ya know…?” You looked at Chase and bit your lip, damn this man… Even after all this bullshit, your heart can’t help but twinge, he sounds so genuinely upset and sorry… Your head was a mess of emotions and thoughts, it honestly made your head hurt…

You felt an overwhelming sense of exhaustion even, then Chase looked into your eyes “B-Babe…? Pl-please… Please talk to me…?” You sighed and there was a brief moment of silence before you spoke up “A-Alright Chase… I...I’ll stay… I… I won’t… I won’t leave you…” You shouldn’t be saying that, you shouldn’t but really, what would happen if you said no again, what would happen if you had denied him and told him you wouldn’t stay here? ...The thought of that made you shudder, you weren’t… Secretly, deep down, no, you weren’t… You were NOT doing this because you felt sorry for him, you didn’t feel any pity for him, you were doing this for his kids… You were doing this to protect the kids, and… It’d break their hearts to see their father so unhappy, just… You could get through this, yeah… I- Maybe… Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, you flinched as Chase started bandaging your arm up next “T-Thank you… Thank you so much (Y/N)... I promise… I’ll make it up to you…” And then he smiled and gently took a hold of your face, his hands were definitely shaking as he touched you and then he gave you a gentle kiss “...I promise… We’ll all be one big happy family… You and me, together f o r e v e r… And of course don’t forget the kiddos… We’ll all be happy, okay?” You nodded at his words and he seemed ecstatic “Love ya babe… I really do” You glanced at Chase, together with him forever… Christ, this… What the hell had you gotten yourself into? You did regret not listening to your friend when you had the chance but it was too late now, it was f a r too late to turn back “...I..I… Lov… Love...you too…” That made you want to retch but Chase seemed so fucking happy.

...This truly was going to be hell, your hell, and honestly, you didn’t see any ways out of it, you were trapped in a bad situation, between a rock and a hard place, you were going to be stuck here, with him, forever… If there were ever a next time, you would definitely listen to your friend instead…

(An Average Day in Hell? More like an Average Eternity in Hell amirite? Lmao anyway this shit is long and honestly I never intended it to be- And I know y’all probs wanna finish this and be done with it already so lemme clarify a few things here, 1: I completely forgot how I was supposedly going to like end this thing, I forgot a few plot points and I just went in the direction my brain told me too and now we got this. 2: In the Yandere AU I have here technically speaking, these are NOT his canonical kids names, I ripped some of these from a wikipedia page I saw, the only canon name I MIGHT keep for one of his kids is Greyson bc that’s fitting, I just needed some names for the story, im sure y’all understand.

3: Im not gonna defend Chase, but I will say, he can be… Well, hm, how should I put this… I mean sometimes im sure he can do it intentionally, but half the time his manipulative tones and the shit he says is by sheer accident, and him hitting the reader? Well, I can absolutely say this would be the only time EVER Chase did that, he genuinely means it when he says he doesn’t want to hurt ya, but you see… Rage in the wrong hands, in a person’s hands who’s heard those exact same words from a certain… OTHER person can definitely be a potent and fatal combination… Aside from that shit tho.

He genuinely just like, wants you to be happy, he wants to be with you because he really does love ya ….but, the shit he can do can make loving him a bit… Difficult to say the VERY least.

Anywho I feel like that’s enough explaining how this process went, just one more thing and I promise it’s the last thing then you can go do what’cha wanna do n shit yeah? There was going to be an alt ending but I’ve got too many other stories to do already so I present you with the alt ending summarized p much

1: Chase successfully hides the body, now on this path you probs would still find out on the news or some form of device that your friend is missing but, it’s like a 1 in one million chance you’d find out Chase did it so bam, happily ever.  Alright, im done)

[imaginepirates]

Wanted

For @myleghasfallenasleep, who requested that I write about a non-binary pirate! reader. The reader ends up taking James into their crew after Jack leaves him with them. Because this is my first time writing a nb character, please tell me if I’ve provided accurate representation. If not, please bring it to my attention.

~3500 words

@emdrabbles @tesserphantom @paljonkaikenlaista @viper-official @wordsinwinters​

~~~~~~~

          Ah Jack, you mused. Always dumping your problems on me. You’d been a friend to Jack Sparrow for years, and though you were fond of him, he never failed to dump things on you. Currently, he was leaving you with a drunken addition to your crew. You wouldn’t have minded, but as it sat, you had your suspicions about this man.

          “If I recall correctly, you’re in desperate need of men right now.” You stood with your arms crossed, staring at Jack from across your desk.

          “Not as desperate as this, lass.”

          “Why? He’s a drunk, sure, but so are you.”

          “He vomits everywhere he walks.”

          “I seem to recall you doing that on several occasions.”

          Jack grimaced. “I hoped you’d forgotten that.

          “Don’t change the subject.”

          “Fine. Bad blood. Used to be in the navy.” Jack made a face, sticking his tongue out.

          “Don’t see what difference that makes. Loads of pirates come from the navy. Do you know how bad their wages are? If they were looking for money, though, I don’t know why they’d go to you.”

          Jack pretended to take offence, but you ignored him. You’d only seen the man Jack wanted to dump on you once, when the pair had first boarded your ship. He was tall, with dark hair and piercing eyes, but he stumbled as he walked, and he looked green with sickness.

          “What’s so bad about this man that you need to get rid of him, Jack?” You were deadly serious. Jack got into all sorts of trouble with the wrong type, and you weren’t going to take on some merman, noble’s son, or warlock without knowing about it first. “I’m not getting into trouble on your account Jack. Not this time.”

          “You won’t. I promise.” He flashed you a smile, and you laughed.

          “Words are wind, Jack.”

          Jack sighed. “The problem I have with him is personal. It won’t hurt you to take him for me.”

          “Why not hand him over to Jones?” By now, you knew all about the problems Jack was having with Davy Jones. Serves you right, you thought.

          “I don’t think he’d last that long.” Seeing your unimpressed expression, he continued. “It’s not just me, love. It’s the crew.”

          “And by ‘the crew’, you mean those two you met in Port Royal?”

          “No.”

          “Lately, they’ve been involved in all your issues.” You moved around to the front of the desk, sitting on the edge. “If you won’t tell me, fine. But at least assure me that you’re not leaving me with a curse looming over my head.”

          “None.”

          “Good. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a crew to attend to and a new member to meet.” You swept right past Jack, pushing the double doors to your cabin open wide. The fresh air was welcome in comparison to the stuffy air indoors, and the smell of salt filled the air.

          You were still at port, but you planned to leave before the day was done. Fishers on the docks called the day’s catch, and merchants sold their wares near the wharves. There was the ringing of church bells and the enticing smell of cooked meats, all reminders of the city around you. Some of your crew were carrying out tasks onboard the ship while others were out in the streets. Those in the city would be back soon enough.

          It was easy to spot the newest addition to your crew. He stood out in the crowd. His clothes were shabby, even by pirate’s standards, and he had a way of standing that indicated he was too relaxed for a naval man. Men from the navy didn’t lean casually against railings, they didn’t have beards, and they didn’t smirk. All around, you considered this man a rake.

          You approached him, leaning against the railing beside him. “Do you have a name, sailor?”

          “James,” he said, looking down at you.

          “James what?”

          “Just James.”

          “Well then, just James, welcome to the crew. I expect that as a sailor, you know what you’re doing, and I don’t want any trouble on my ship. If you have a bone to pick, wait ‘till shore leave.”

          “Yes sir.” His voice was mocking, and upon further inspection and some confusion he added, “Ma’am.”

          “Captain, will suffice. I want to see my reflection in this deck by tomorrow morning. I suggest you get to work helping.” You gestured to the crew scrubbing the deck.

          He shoved himself off the rail after taking a last look at you, grabbing a mop and soap from further down the deck. He was the type to start problems, you could tell. You could only hope he wouldn’t.

          In the coming days, you were shocked to find that he was a capable worker. Though he had a tendency to make snarky comments, he did everything that was asked of him. You were glad for it. You didn’t enjoy dealing out punishments, and you didn’t want a reason to do so. James was good at what he did; it seemed he had more years of practice than many of the other men.

          An influencing factor in his behavior was lack of alcohol. You’d taken the rum away from him within the first day and told the crew not to give him any more. James had been surprisingly willing to let the drink go. He’d looked disgusted, but you had a feeling he wasn’t disgusted with you. Disgusted with himself, more like. I would be, too, if I were vomiting everywhere and stumbling around. There was more to it, you could tell. There was a whole story in every man, but this man seemed to contain a story-and-a-half. You’d learn, someday. For now, you had to be content with what Jack had already told you.

           You surveyed the deck one day to find James helping the younger boys tie their knots. James wasn’t quick in the rigging like the children, but he was surefooted, and he was willing to teach the boys from the ropes. He was doing it then, leaned against a railing with a length of rope in hand. He was showing them how to tie it to a rail with a clove hitch. The rope was passed around, and each boy tried it for himself.

          “I see you’re teaching the boys well.” You walked up to him, watching the kids tying their knots. “I’m happy to see it.”

          “Somebody has to do it.”

          “If I wasn’t mistaken, I’d say you’ve done this sort of thing before.”

         “You’re not.”

         Ah. An officer, then? Though his coat was a good indicator of his previous station, it didn’t fit him well, and you figured it might have been stolen. Perhaps not. It would have fit someone who weighed a little more, and you figured that James had lost weight in the time he spent drinking instead of eating. “Would you like to enlighten me? I have a feeling you’re a bit more than ‘just James’.”

          He pushed off the rail. “I wouldn’t, actually.”

          “Forgive my curiosity,” you called after him. “Here, you don’t have to be anyone you don’t want to be.”

          Something sad flashed behind his eyes, and he swallowed. I don’t want to be anybody, he seemed to say.

         You’d heard that often enough. “We’ve all left someone behind us,” you assured him. “Even me.”

        He nodded and walked off, and you couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him. He was lost and unsure of what to do with himself. Stuck between who he had been and who he would become.

          Not two weeks later, you found him in the surgeon’s cabin, applying salve to a boy’s back. The green paste stuck to the boy’s skin with an eerie hue, but you knew it treated burns better than anything else.

          “What did I tell you about keeping a shirt on?”

          “I know, it’s hot out, is all.” The boy shifted in his seat, squirming whenever James touched his back.

          “I don’t care how hot it is. A loose shirt is better than nothing. I won’t do this for you again, so don’t rub this off,” James warned.

          The boy took little heed. “I won’t,” he said, slipping off the table and putting on a shirt.

          You were left alone in the room with James. “You really are good with kids.”

          James shrugged.

         “Maybe there’s nothing so bad about you after all. I wondered why Jack dumped you with me; he usually gives me cursed men and witches. The undead, even.” You got no reaction. “You’re not any of those things, so why would he leave you with me?”

          “I’m not wanted.”

          “You are here.” You gestured at a space outside the cabin. “The crew likes you well enough. Especially the boys. You look after them.”

          “Would that I had my own.”

          “Your own?” You briefly wondered if he had children.

          “In the navy. My last voyage, we sailed right into a hurricane. I was… one of the few survivors.”

          “I’m sorry. There’s nothing you can do about a hurricane.”

          “You can avoid sailing into it.” He sounded miserable, voice thick with emotion.

          Could it be? You had a sinking suspicion you knew who the man was. That doesn’t matter now, you reminded yourself. He’s part of my crew, and he hasn’t shown any signs of treachery or ill-will. “Every man has moments they’re not proud of,” you said. He nodded tensely, and you took it as a sign to change the subject.

          “I’ve been meaning to ask,” he began, a few minutes later. “You dress like a man, but you seem more like a woman, if you don’t mind my saying.” He looked thoroughly embarrassed, but he continued. “I tried to discern, earlier, but…. What did you mean by ‘Captain will suffice’?”

          “I meant that I don’t identify with either of those things. I’m not a man, nor am I a woman.” You looked him in the eye, gauging his reaction.

          He looked surprised, but didn’t remark, only nodding. You left it at that, and your conversation went in other directions.

                                                               ~~~~~~~

          The thundering of canons roared across the deck. Pieces of the ship flew off where you were hit, wooden splinters the length of your arm flying in all directions. You were glad to have led your crew in gunnery drills; they might have died without them. You survaid the deck, watching each gunning team load and fire. Smoke clogged the air between ships, but you still had a good view of your opponent.

          A Spanish brig had appeared on the horizon not hours before, a pirate vessel from the Cuban area. You didn’t like fighting other pirates; firstly, it was a better cause to fight the navy; and secondly, pirates were ruthless in a way others were not. You never knew what tricks pirates might use on you, even as a pirate yourself. There was always some curse or new technology that you found yourself facing, putting you at a disadvantage. You didn’t have the luxury of magic aboard your vessel.

          The sails of the ship were a dramatic red, and a dark squid adorned their pirate flag. The ship was beautifully painted, but that was all you could say for it. There was an air of wealth about it that had probably served it well in Spain, though perhaps less well in the Caribbean. Though it might look intimidating and well-styled to a merchantman, it was only a brig, and was thus lightly armed. Brigs were common pirating vessels, but not in the Caribbean. The New World demanded tougher stock.

         You had the advantage of guns, but no fight was to be downplayed. You could have had all the guns in the world, but you’d still be careful about every move you made. There was always room for something to go wrong.

          A cannonball hit the railing next to you, destroying it in a shower of wood. Stop blowing holes in my ship! You hated having to make repairs, but you’d have to, in this case. When you looked out at the deck again, you were glad to see that none of your crew seemed seriously injured. A few had shrapnel stuck in various places, but nobody looked to have stomach or head wounds.

          You boarded the Spanish ship not long after. They’d been ambitious to fight you, and by the look of their rich clothes and shimmering jewelry, they had money. You smiled to yourself through the fighting. You still had to win the deck fight, but you were confident that you would. Then, it would be smooth sailing with a ship loaded down with gold.

         The glint of light on metal shook you from your thoughts, and you raised your sword to block a blow from your side. After dispatching your attacker, you took a look around. It was hard to tell your men from theirs, but you caught a glimpse of James fending off two adversaries. You might have gone to help him, but you were soon caught up in a fight of your own.

          The deck fight didn’t take long; twenty minutes at most. With the fight won, you ordered that the other crew be split between the brigs of both ships for the time being. You wouldn’t keep them as prisoners forever, but you needed to subjugate them for the moment. You met the opposing captain on the deck of his ship.

         The captain looked up at you from his knees, his eyes screaming malice. Lace spilled from the sleeves and collar of his coat, which were the same wine red as his sails. A gold earring hung from one ear, and colored powders adorned his face. You found him almost comical- the stereotype of a wealthy pirate. It was so unrealistic, you couldn’t believe your eyes. Obviously, the man hadn’t known the true lifestyle going in.

          Someone had to remove his sword belt and give it to you; he wouldn’t do it himself. You were half tempted to pitch him overboard for his arrogance. It wasn’t like he had much to be proud of. Sure, he had a beautiful ship, but it’d hardly lasted a half hour against your assault. Your boarding party had made short work of his crew. Those that were left were easily subdued, and you ordered that they be taken to the brigs of both ships.

          You put your first mate in charge of the other ship. You were proud to have a little fleet, no matter how small. The thought made you smile. Eventually, you had the captain sent away too, though you’d have to speak with him later. Just the notion of having to talk with the man dampened your mood. He probably wasn’t the most respectful type.

          Exhaustion took over, not letting you dwell on it. The fight had been fast, but hard, and you were ready for a moment of rest. You climbed the stairs to the helm and sat down by it, barely registering the person sitting next to you. You were asleep within minutes.

          When you woke, you found your head resting on someone’s shoulder. You sat up to find James next to you, an amused smile on his face.

          “I was wondering when you’d wake up,” he teased. “You slept for a while.”

          You blushed, not quite sure how to respond. “Did I wake you up?”           “No, don’t worry. I’ve only been awake a few minutes.”

          You couldn’t tell if he was speaking the truth, but you didn’t press, instead changing the subject. “Are you alright? I hardly saw you during the fight.”

          “I’m fine. And you?”

          “Right as rain.”

          “Your men are enjoying the victory.”

          “Are you?” You asked. “You’re one of them.”

          James stared a moment before answering, turning his away from you and towards the sea.  “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a victory over a ship. Months. Fighting pirates is an odd thing, when you’re one of them. Still, it reminds me of… simpler times.” His lips turned down in a tight frown.

         You laid a hand on his arm. “Don’t dwell on it too much. Come with me, will you? I have a captain to talk to, and I don’t think he’s going to make for amiable conversation.”

          You made your way down to the brig. The captain and his mates were being held in one cell together, the rest of their crew being split between cells. You treated them with every hospitality you could give them, helping treat their wounded and providing them with food and water. This, however, was too little to keep their captain satisfied. Your men had informed you that the captain mocked you for not talking to him. He called it cowardice, apparently. It mattered little and less to you, but you had to speak with him at one point or another. It was only courteous.

          You gave a nod to one of your guards, and the cell door swung open. The captain was ushered out, unshackled. He posed no threat as a single man; even if he tried to attack you, you could easily overpower him. After all, he didn’t have a sword.

          “So, you finally deem me worthy of your attention,” he drawled. His accent was exaggerated enough to make you roll your eyes. He spat, though he had enough sense not to spit towards you. Still, the insult was clear.

          “I attend to my own men before I see to anyone else’s. With my crew taken care of, you have all my attention.” You could already tell the conversation would be riddled with insults, though none of them would be clever.

          “Seeing to your men is admirable,” said the captain, “though I can’t tell with you: you dress like a man, but there’s a little woman to you, too.” He smirked.

          “They are a captain and you will call them such.” James stopped dead in his tracks, reaching out to grab the man’s arm. Though the captain tried to pull away, James’ grip was iron. “Remember your place.”

          Fear flashed across the captain’s face, but only for a moment. “I’m shocked to hear you say that, Commodore. After all, your place has changed so much.”

          Your hand flashed out, striking the man hard across the face.

          “How dare you?” he screeched. “I am a captain!”

          “Not anymore,” you said dryly. “You’re nothing more than I make of you, and now I’m considering turning you into mincemeat. You might consider being more careful with your words. I would have asked for your name, but I don’t think you’re worth knowing. Perhaps more time in the brig will see to your behavior.”

          The Spaniard protested the entire way, but he was quickly shut in with his officers again, and you set a brisk pace back to your cabin. James followed you, and you let him. Once you got to your cabin, you slumped into a chair. You were thoroughly disgusted by your encounter, but you knew it meant nothing. The man was arrogant, that was all. And James was the infamous Commodore that hunted pirates for years.

          That didn’t matter now, either. James was kind to you, and he was good with the crew. His past was just that- his past.

          “You didn’t have to defend me.” You filled a cup with brandy. “I could’ve done it myself.”

          “You shouldn’t have to. And I owe you. You were right, in the surgeon’s cabin; I’m wanted here. I owe you for that, at least. You kept me when nobody else would.”

          “Don’t feel like you owe me anything.”

          He sucked in a breath. “And I’m sorry for not telling you who I was.”

          “I understand,” you said. “It doesn’t make me trust you any less, and it doesn’t make you any less wanted. I can look beyond a man’s past.” You rose from your seat, putting a firm hand on his shoulder.

          “I think I’ll stay with you, if you’ll have me.”

          You were surprised, at first, that he didn’t want to return to his old life. That he didn’t have any ambitions to be the man he used to be. He doesn’t want power, you reminded yourself. He wants company. “Of course.“

          “Thank you.” Hesitantly, he grabbed your hand, lifting it to place a soft kiss to your knuckles.

          For a moment, neither of you moved. Then, cupping his cheeks, you kissed him softly, embarrassed that you would even think of kissing him, let alone do it. He returned the favor sweetly. He kissed you a bit harder, making you squeak.

          “Perhaps you’re just as much of a rascal as I initially thought,” you told him, smiling.

          “Maybe I am.” He wore an infuriating smirk.

          You pushed him away playfully, only to pull him right back. “If you were still wondering, James, you’re wanted here. Thoroughly.”

[jinmukangwrites]

Whumptober Day 3

Forced to their knees | Held at Gunpoint

Warnings: Canon typical violence

Ao3

-o-o-o-o-

Jason wakes up to a hand pressing down on his shoulder. Immediately, he's awake. His eyes fly open and his hand snatches the gun he keeps under his pillow like the cliche paranoid lone-wolf characters always do in the movies. Except Jason does it unironically. There’s been many times he’s woken up to an unfamiliar and leering face. A gun normally forced them to back off.

And this time is no different. Well, except the face that backs up this time, hands raising in the air in surrender, isn’t one of ill intentions. It’s of familiarity. Of goofy, lopsided, apologetic smiles and familiar eyes.

"Dick," Jason grumbles, letting the tension fall in his frame as he lowers the gun ever so slightly. Not all the way. Dick should know better than to wake Jason up so suddenly, especially if Jason's crashing in one of his safe houses in the bad parts of town like he’s doing now. Jason won't shoot him, and the idiot knows that there were only rubber bullets filling the chamber of his pistol, but it’s the thought that counts. right?

Within moments, his sleepy, adrenalin filled find catches up to him.

Dick is in his room. Dick.

Holy crap.

"Where the heck have you been?" Jason hisses, throwing off the layers of his blankets to stand up. The chilled morning air hits his bare chest, but thankfully he previously decided to hit the hay in sweats. "It's been three weeks since anyone's heard from you."

Dick shrugs, lowering his arms and keeping his stupid bright, wide smile consistent as he leans nonchalantly against the wall. "Here and there. Secret stuff, ya know?"

Jason scoffs. Yeah. He knows. Stupid Grayson and his stupid undercover missions he doesn't bother to tell anybody about. And the worst part is, Jason was actually worried about him. Everyone was. Even Bruce, seemingly, even though now Jason suspects the old man is in on it.

Fuck. Jason thought they were fine with this undercover crap years ago, after the Spyral escapade and all that shiz.

Well. Apparently, not. A swell of anger enters his throat. He lifts his weapon.

"Are you gonna elaborate on that? Or are ya just gonna stand there and watch me shirtless like a creep?"

"That's actually why I'm here, Jay," Dick says with a sigh. "To elaborate. Something… came up. I need your help."

Jason now decides to lower his gun, dropping it onto the rumpled sheets above his now depressingly-empty-of-his-sleeping-body bed.

He would love to tell Dick to go screw himself and then go back to bed. The entire family has been busting their butts with worry, trying to figure out where he's gone off to, and of course it just ends up being a super secret undercover mission. If Jason had half a mind, he'd punch Dick then drive to the manor and lock Bruce into the manor’s barn with Tim's dirty laundry for the rest of the day.

Tim might disagree, but everyone besides him has come to the conclusion that Tim's body odor is the worst . Yes they rank each other's body odor. They're boys and Cass , what do you expect? Jason holds the record of best smelling body odor and Duke can shoot his urine off the roof of the manor the furthest. It's known facts of the family.

Anyway, he gives Dick an unimpressed glare, his blood beginning to boil at the sheepish look on his face. How can he stand there knowing that everyone's been frantically looking for him and look sheepish about it?

"Go tell Daddio then, I'm not interested to deal with your bullcrap," he grumbles. "You're in this together, dig yourself out of whatever hole you've fallen in together."

"Bruce can't know," Dick says quickly. Too quickly. Sharply like he's... worried. That grabs Jason's attention. The golden boy… doesn't want to tell Bruce something?

Jason lifts an eyebrow and Dick sighs, his smile finally dropping just a bit as he reaches an arm up to rub the back of his neck. "There's a new smuggling group in town and I was put in charge of going in undercover to get information. The thing is, they found out that there was a mole. They don't know who it is, but they also don't think it's me. They trust me. But there's a woman who works with them who they do suspect. I haven't seen her in three days."

"And that means you can't go to Bruce… why?"

Dick gives him a look like Jason's not understanding something. He scowls, sighs again, then sticks his hands into his jean pockets. "They're cracking down on the signals we're putting out now. Checking our phones and such. I can't call Bruce otherwise they'll figure me out. And I can't drive to the manor because there's a higher chance of me being tracked."

"Payphone, then."

Now Dick doesn't bother to hide an annoyed expression. "Look. You're the closest and the easiest to contact. And… and this is my mission. Mine alone. I can't…"

He can't fail it.

Jason gets it.

He hates that he does.

Jason exhales sharply, already deciding he's going to regret this. "What's the plan?"

Dick's bright, plastered smile returns along with a glint in his stupid blue eyes. "I overheard some higher-ups talking about an abandoned lot by Gotham Bay, and I saw a boat covered in a tarp in one of the warehouses they use. I think they're going to drop her in the bay. We just need to get there and take them out in a way that won't lead to suspicion. Just Nightwing and Red Hood saving a girl about to be drowned out of the goodness of their hearts."

"Bold of you to assume I have a heart," Jason grunts, "but sounds solid enough. Anything about these guys I need to know about? Names? Titles? You're being awfully vague."

"Sorry, Jay-lad," Dick says smoothly, and the nickname rings in Jason's ears. "Can't have the bats catching on."

-o-o-o-o-

Jay-lad.

Jason launches himself over a two story roof down towards the empty roads lining the bay. Sometimes, during the summer, there'll be parties and picnics in the parks circumferencing the ocean, but they're few and far between. Never that much fun. Especially when it starts to rain for the twenty-billionth time that day and a dead body washes in on the shore.

Jay-lad ?

Nightwing lands besides Jason. All smiles and perfect teeth like always. The brightness of his smile shines even in the dim, harsh light of Gotham's half-assed lampposts. Ahead of them is what definitely could be described as an abandoned lot. In Jason's opinion, it looks more like someone tried to build a department store on the shore and forgot the tide exists. It's half submerged, walls rotting and the roof caved in. Graffiti of all kinds litter the walls, no attempt by anyone to ever clear it up.

Did Dick really call him Jay-lad ?

To the side of the building is a boat, floating softly right where it's just deep enough to do so. It's tied to the building though, not going anywhere for a little while longer.

Dick's never called him Jay-lad before. That's… that's Bruce's thing. Jason's always been Little Wing, or Jay bird . Names he's always hated, but might have been secretly proud of a few times in his life. Names he’s always hated, but they were Dick’s nicknames for him.

"They might be in the building trying to get last minute information out of her," Dick says, his voice still way too happy. All smiles. Perfect teeth. Jason didn't think it was odd a few hours earlier, but now it's grating on his nerves in such a specific way that he can't help but search for all the little things that's bothering him about Dick right now.

For one, the nickname.

For two, the happy go lucky attitude. The guy is optimistic, sure, but he knows when business is business . Business includes saving a woman wrongfully accused of being a spy in a group of criminals he was spying on. He should be full of guilt and anger right about now. Dick's a martyr, and he hates it when people are being hurt for something he's done.

For numero three, the way he flips over the roofs. Or well, the lack of flips. Jason didn't see him flip once . Just jump, land, jump, land, keeping up pace with Jason and not making any useless chatter along the way.

Dick's been gone for three weeks, and he comes back with a vague excuse with holes and acts… wrong.

It must be in Jason's head. It has to be.

"So we go in through the windows and get her out before we have to swim to get her," Jason says and Dick nods his head.

"Let's go," Dick says, rushing forward just like that. No jokes, no verbal announcements of why they're doing this, no keep safes .

Let's go. Just that.

Something is wrong.

Something is wrong and Jason can't figure out what.

So he goes along. Follows Dick towards the building and watches the dim windows for any movement. There's none. Which is strange. Normally, when a Gotham villain wants to get rid of a mole, they do it rather dramatically and over the top. Gotham criminals are rather proud of that status, and when someone enters their ranks pretending to be one of them they take it as a personal offence.

Regardless of that, when Dick chooses a window closest to the shore and begins wading through the water, Jason trails after, his hands twitching for the guns on his hips.

By the time they make it to the window, they're mid-thigh deep in chillingly freezing water. Dick makes a signal for Jason to stay put for a second, looks in the window, then opens it to climb through. Jason waits in the ice-cold water for Dick's signal, trying not to think about what the salt water is going to do to his pants but also definitely thinking about what he's going to do to Dick if his pants are ruined.

"Clear," comes Dick's voice after a solid minute of waiting. Jason releases an uneasy breath, ready to get out of the ocean but also still feeling like something is very, very off about this entire situation.

Jason shoves the doubts to the back of his mind, grabs onto the ledge of the window, then hefts himself up.

The first thing he notices when he enters the room is that it's dark. Empty. Dust lingering in the air. The next thing he notices is that Dick is nowhere to be seen.

The third thing is that Dick is, in fact, here, but he makes himself known by jamming a fist into Jason's throat and grabbing the collar of his leather jacket. Before Jason can recover from the attack on his neck and catch his breath, he's shoved against the far wall, away from the window.

Away from escape.

Anger puddles in Jason's gut.

"What the hell ," he snarls, his voice scratching, as he ducks under another swing. Dick's fist rams into the wall, resulting in the wall gaining some shining new cracks. The force of the punch was definitely enough to break fingers, even if properly thrown, but Dick doesn't even flinch. Just reals around with a frown on his lips and a downward, furious tilt to his brow. Jason grabs his guns, aiming them at the man he's just begun to consider family again. Dick stops in his tracks at the sight of the weapons being aimed at him and glares.

"This isn't anything personal, Jay-lad," Dick says slowly, but he doesn't make any moves to back off or surrender. He just stands there. Heartless milky eyes staring through his mask.

"There ya go again, calling me that," Jason hisses, keeping his aims steady towards Dick's chest.

"I always call you that," Dick says, and Jason almost sees green.

"No you don't," he growls. "You've never called me that. And you've been acting weird all night. Off. And now you're attacking me? What the fuck is going on?!"

And for the first time in a very long ass time, Jason watches the one expression that doesn't look pretty on Dick pass on his face. Frustration. Annoyance. Rage.

It's an expression Jason hasn't seen in years . Not since Jason was still in his early teens and still believed Robin gave him magic. Not since Dick and Bruce were at each other's throats whenever they were anywhere near each other for whatever reason. The downturn to his lips, the crinkling under his eyes, the scrunching of his nose, the sneer. It's not a good expression on Dick.

It's a terrifying one.

"You'll have to find out, wontcha, hoodie?"

And Dick charges. Teeth bared, fists clenched. Jason just manages to block the next punch with the back of his arm. He lashes out with his free hand, the one holding the gun, and attempts to toss a pistol whip. He succeeds, smacking his cheekbone with a crack . Dick's cries out, stumbling back a step before charging again, fire in his normally cool eyes.

Jason tries to hit him again, but Dick anticipates the move, hitting Jason on the inside of his arm with enough force for Jason to accidentally let go of the weapon. The gun goes sliding across the weathered floor, clanking against the far wall. He doesn't go for it, just shifts to a more hands on approach to take care of this. He throws his fist, hitting Dick along the jaw, but Dick retaliates by throwing a leg up and kicking Jason right in the gut. Jason gasps, pissed now that his breath has been knocked out of him two times now, and immediately kicks back.

The fight continues. Hits here, kicks there. There's no quips. No banter. Just the sound of panting breaths and the dull thuds of blows being exchanged.

Jason goes to smack Dick's ears and disorientate him, however he doesn't get to finish his blow. Dick ducks under his arm and slams his entire body weight into Jason's stomach. Arms wrap around Jason's middle, sending them both to the floor. He shouts when his back lands roughly on the ground and his head thunks in the inside of his helmet, but he immediately begins to shove Dick off from him.

He succeeds in that regard. But Dick almost rolls off of Jason himself, getting to his feet in a blink of an eye and sprinting for the other side of the room.

Jason realizes why the moment Dick bends down and snatches up Jason's lost weapon.

The gun.

For a second, Jason almost believes that Dick will smile, drop the weapon, and say this was all some huge test or spar. But then, Dick lifts the gun, aims with accuracy, and squeezes his finger on the trigger.

Jason has a blink of an eye to roll out of the way of the first bullet, but the second one hits him right in the thigh.

And he knows he has rubber bullets. They're not meant to be deadly.

But they sure as hell are painful.

Immediately, it feels like someone took a baseball bat to his leg. He tries to stand up, but his leg persistently wants to buckle. He manages to scramble to his feet, using the wall as support, but then there's another blast from his stupid fucking gun and he stumbles. Next thing he knows, a hand grabs his shoulder and pulls him down, slamming his stomach against a bony knee heartlessly. He falls to his knees, gasping for air, hardly aware of the hand that goes to the hidden latch at the back of his helmet until there's a hiss and air hits his skin.

The barrel of his own gun presses against his head as the hand still on his shoulder squeezes. Jason sucks in air, then glares up at Dick who's wearing a triumphant smirk.

"Not so tough now, are ya?" Dick says, and Jason snarls. He goes to stand up, but the gun presses harder against his skull. A rubber bullet is still a bullet when at point blank. He stills.

"What the hell is going on?!" He growls, and Dick smirks.

"You've been raised by the world's greatest detective, right?" Dick asks, his voice singsong. "Figure it out."

And Jason hates that. Everything Dick is saying. Doing. Acting. It all feels fake. Practiced. Like he's playing a part but not playing it completely. Like the backup actor for when the lead one calls out right before a performance.

Acting. Fake. Practiced. Wrong. Different.

Holy shit.

"You're not Dick," Jason acuses, the realization slamming into him like a truck. This isn't Dick. It's so clear now. He's so dumb for not realizing earlier. It's all been some sort of set up. And maybe it was easy to look past the strange actions because he was, dare he say it, relieved that Dick was okay and alive and standing in his bedroom after three weeks of being missing. Three weeks and counting now. "Who are you?!"

The fake laughs, twisting the barrel of the gun against Jason's head. Jason has no doubt he'll shoot it. "My name isn't important. What is important is that I'm wearing the face of the most trusted guy in the superhero world. You were the field test, Hood. Looks like besides a few hiccups here and there, I'm ready for the big league."

Jason stills. Hiccups ? This guy, whoever he is, knows things that he shouldn't. Secret identities. Nicknames. Personalities. He's had to get his information from somewhere. And three weeks seems like a pretty realistic timeframe to get that kind of information.

"Where's Dick. The real one. He in a room like this too?"

Because he can't be dead. He can't be.

"Course he is," the fake replies, "have him stuffed away somewhere you'll see soon. Seems like there's information he got wrong and left out, enough to get you suspicious of me. That's fine though, he was pretty tight lipped at first. He loosened up after a few days. We'll just keep trying on the both of you. I think I'll be able to fool Batman himself soon enough."

And shit. If that isn't a scary thought. Because it seems… true. Believable. Like Bruce can actually be fooled by this man that looks exactly like Dick.

"This isn't going to work," Jason says, instead of voicing his real thoughts.

The fake's grin widens.

"It already is."

Then, he brings the gun back, smacking it against Jason's forehead with a snap.

Jason goes down hard, and he wonders as consciousness begins to fleet, how long it will take the rest of the family to realize something is wrong.

With the chirping of laughter that sounds so familiar to Dick's that it makes Jason's stomach churn, his eyes shut against his will, and darkness embraces him warmly.

-o-o-o-o-

Reblogs and comments are greatly appreciated!

[vyther16]

wip wednesday: murder turtle edition

more wen!wwx au, this time with that barely mentioned Qin Su portion from before. Idk what canon this takes place in. probably some unholy mishmash of novel and cql with emphasis on cql. if it’s unclear, murder turtle refers to the Xuanwu of Slaughter

for context of the au, wwx ended up kinda adopted? by the Burial Mounds after his parents died, and then Wen Ruohan’s wife found him and took him in. blah blah blah wrh evil blah blah blah demonic cultivation blah blah blah handwavey magic stuff. that’s why wwx is already a “demonic cultivator” during the murder turtle sequence

“What are we fighting?” Jin Zixuan asks, and Wei Wuxian would be proud of the character development the Jin Sect Heir has obviously gone through if the resentful energy in this cave weren’t so cloyingly thick.

He presses a hand to his forehead, then focuses his attention inward, to the steady thrum of his golden core.

“Wei Wuxian?” Wen Qing murmurs, coming to walk next to him. Wen Chao is prattling on to the other sects’ disciples. The resentful energy resolves itself into screaming.

“It’s loud,” Wei Wuxian says finally. It’s not as loud as Yiling was, as the Burial Mounds were, when he was smaller. The voices here aren’t calling for revenge. 

They’re just screaming.

Wei Wuxian is brought back to himself when he’s shoved down the side of a cliff. That’s inside of a cave. He wants to laugh at the irony, except the voices are louder down here.

He thinks about screaming himself, but then someone is pulling him to his feet.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan says. “Are you alright?”

He nods. “Yeah, Lan Zhan,” he says, because he’s perfectly fine physically. The only thing the voices are doing is screaming. They aren’t actually hurting him.

Lan Zhan frowns, eyebrows drawing closer together, but before he can say anything, the rest of the guest disciples come down. 

--

“They’ve cut the ropes,” Jin Zixuan says, throwing the limp ropes back down. Some of the Yao disciples start bickering about their parents. Wei Wuxian wants to scream, because half the disciple here still won’t trust him, his core is sealed indefinitely, Wen Zhuliu took Suibian, and the resentful energy is still screaming at him.

“There is an exit,” Lan Zhan says, voice steady. Wei Wuxian turns to look at him, hissing when even the small movement pulls at the new brand on his chest.

When the other disciples look apprehensive, Lan Zhan turns towards the Xuanwu’s part of the cave. “There were maple leaves,” he clarifies, and Jiang Wanyin nods.

“Yes, there must be an opening. If someone can distract the Xuanwu, I can swim down and find it,” he offers. Lan Zhan hums an affirmative.

Wei Wuxian winces as they get closer to the Xuanwu. The energy is thrumming with resentment, focusing in on... “There’s something in the turtle,” he says suddenly, and Lan Zhan and the other sect heirs turn to stare at him.

“What do you mean, in the turtle?” Jin Zixuan snaps, and wow, Wei Wuxian really underestimated the other boy. When he’s not being an arrogant peacock, he really is quite smart. He might even one day be worthy of Yanli-jie.

“There’s a-- a focal point for the resentful energy in its shell,” Wei Wuxian tries to explain, but it’s hard to think around the headache that has formed to explain something he just instinctively knows. “The spirits are-- they’re attached to it.” He drives more focus towards the point, and then all the voices scream in tandem, and Wei Wuxian’s hands go up to his ears as he stumbles back, hitting into other disciples, but he can’t find it in himself to care because it’s so loud. He might be screaming with them. He isn’t sure.

The Xuanwu rears up, roaring, and then something black shoots through the top of its shell and the turtle collapses into the water.

Wei Wuxian barely has time to register that before the world slips away from him. He hears Lan Zhan cry out his name and then he is aware of nothing more.

--

“What the hell did he just do?” Jiang Wanyin demands, and Lan Wangji finds he has no idea either. Jin Zixuan picks up one of the fallen torches and throws it at the water, but the Xuanwu doesn’t react.

“He killed it,” a Jin disciple says, her voice high and wavering. Wangji remembers her fighting in tandem with Jin Zixuan in the earlier skirmish.

“How?” A BalingOuyang disciple pushes to the front of the group. “He said resentful energy, then something about spirits?”

“His core was sealed. Was it demonic cultivation?” a Jiang disciple puts forth.

“Who cares how he did it; the thing’s dead!” a girl shouts. “Are we going to try to get out of here or stand around and prattle on like it’s a discussion conference!” She shoves her way to the front of the crowd, flanked on either side by older disciples from her sect. “Jiang Wanyin, you said you could swim down to find the opening the maple leaves came through?”

The Jiang Sect Heir looks properly cowed. “I’ll get on that, Qin-guniang,” he says, undoing his belt.

Once everyone is properly outside of the cave, Qin-guniang takes charge with relative ease. 

“Everyone form up by sect,” she calls, and her order is echoed by her disciples down the crowd. Wangji stays where he is holding Wei Ying, because he is the only Lan disciple here, and Wei Ying is the only Wen.

Jiang Wanyin and Jin Zixuan stand by Qin-guniang. She did not attend the lectures at Cloud Recesses; he does not know her name, even despite the fact she is obviously her sect’s heir. The Qin sect is very small; he cannot recall having learned anything about them aside from the fact that Jin Guangshan favours them.

“Now, Lanling is the closest great sect that is still standing; Yunmeng is a few days further, but more likely to accept all of us. Jin and Jin subsidiary sects can drop off at Lanling if they feel so inclined, but my sect is going to Yunmeng. They’re more likely to be amenable to retaliate against this blatant disrespect and violence from Qishan than Jin-zongzhu ever will be.” Qin-guniang folds her hands primly in front of her. 

“A’Su,” Jin Zixuan starts, but Qin-guniang makes a silencing motion with her hands.

“Don’t you A’Su me, Jin Zixuan, you know it’s true. Your father won’t step up until Wen Ruohan burns down Jinlintai like they did Cloud Recesses,” she snaps. Jin Zixuan looks properly chastised, but several Jin disciples look ready to start a brawl at the slight to their sect leader.

new game: count how many times I used the word scream or a variant in this snippet. 

i’m not really sure how wwx is already a demonic cultivator at this point in the story, but it’s got smth to do with the burial mounds taking him in as a child, bc i’m nixing the yin iron plot from cql. i think it’s dumb and pointless and i don’t want to deal with it. let wrh be evil without magic evil rocks. let xue yang be a street rat with no history. let wwx make an evil amulet from a magic sword that’s just a magic sword with no creepy nursery rhyme to go with it

(i’m keeping lan yi and her cave, just modified bc ancient lesbians and sacred ribbon ceremonies)

anyway, hope you enjoyed. next week will likely be hcs again, but for mdzs/cql ocs instead of jol/qyn characters. who knows. maybe it’ll be smth else.

[mybeautifulbeautifuleternal]

i couldn’t utter it, i couldn’t whisper it (my love for you was silent); iii

Chapter Three - Bad Luck This Family Has

rating: its a gen fic for The Umbrella Academy

words:3.8k

chapter:3/10

First / Previous

warnings: canon typical for tua

AO3

a/n: I blame @sam-writes​ for pretty much all of this!

Summary: In one world, the young teenager hid when she abruptly found herself pregnant and she gave birth in secret, left the baby on a random doorstep, and never looked back. Unfortunately, this isn’t that world. In this world, Reginald Hargreeves finds her and takes her baby. It doesn’t end well.

Vanya was heading home from practice — still riding the high she got from the successful run from today’s piece. She was crossing the street on her last leg of the journey when the window display from the bookstore caught her attention. It wasn’t the Umbrella Academy Comics - she had seen them all when they first came out — they weren’t all that special really.

No — what had caught her attention was the bright red typewriter sitting above them. It was an idea that had been brewing in her mind for a while — something her therapist had said to her.

And seeing it sit above the stories of her siblings — she decided she was going to do it. She was going to tell the world her story. She wanted to finally be heard.

*

Charlie was laughing at Zara, a common occurrence nowadays, when the bookstore caught her attention. She paused her walking, allowing Zara to outpace her for a moment before he doubled back.

Vanya’s young face stared back her from a hundred copies of a book — that she apparently wrote.

Charlie stepped inside the store and bought four — she’d drop off ones for her brothers before she went home for the evening to start reading her own.

*

Charlie ended up throwing the book across her apartment. How dare Vanya write that that that awful crap! She had dug deep into their childhood and had thrown every dirty little secret that the Academy had to the wolves.  

The only things that weren’t in her little book were the things that she didn’t know — mission statements and one on one conversations. But all the little tortures from their childhoods — the casual cruelties — were now being read by anyone who picked up a copy of her book.

All of the ways dad used to train them, the ways he’d set them up against each other, the way he was never actually proud of them regardless of the show he’d put on for the cameras…

But how was Vanya to know about any of that…she had never been included enough to know that dad was a massive dick, even to his supposed favorites.

The more that Charlie thought about it, the more she realized she couldn’t actually be mad at her sister. The Academy had almost 10 years of the spotlight but Vanya was always in the shadows. She had no way of actually knowing the damage she was doing.

It didn’t make anything she wrote any better but Charlie knew she’d reserve judgment till after she’d talk to her.

She owed it to her sister — even if they weren’t giving the same courtesy.

She just hoped she could talk some sense into her brothers — they weren’t going to like any of this.

*

Charlie woke up to the sun streaming across her face from her living room. She had stayed up late waiting for Five — she needed him to catch her up and his plan for the End. It seemed like she fell asleep on her couch waiting for him to come home. She wasn’t surprised — the couch was comfortable and she felt safe with the Green around her.

She stretched on the couch a little more and settled in. She didn’t feel like getting up right away. As she closed her eyes, she angled her body to get some more sunshine, allowing it to warm her to her bones. As she did, she smiled a little. It was a small joke from their childhood — that Charlie could be nourished by the sunlight like her plants were.

Mom had told her she just had poor circulation so she was always a little colder than her siblings. Charlie had solved that issue by staying in the sunshine whenever she could — and when her siblings found it funny, she leaned into it. It was just a small thing but it made her siblings happy. She’d do anything to make them happy.

Eventually, she gave a deep sigh and heaved herself from her spot. She knew she would have a busy day and needed to get a start on it. As she was getting her breakfast ready for the day, she frowned out the window - she didn’t think it was supposed to rain today but the weather forecast had been wrong all week.

As she locked up her apartment, she went down to the main floor to gather some food. If she knew Five at all, he would be running on almost empty and while dad had prepared them to fight in sub-optimal conditions like that — he was now dead and couldn’t control them anymore. She went into the back room and grabbed a backpack from her Homeless Bags, shoving some children’s clothes for Five. She’d never tell him that they came from the kids’ section of the store but they’d be the only ones that would fit.

It was completely ridiculous that he was still running around in the Academy uniforms. Charlie knew that only Luther still kept his — the rest had destroyed them on their way out the door.

She brought the bag back out to the Tree and filled up the empty space with baggies of nuts and some loose apples and carrots. They were Five’s favorite when they were kids and she hoped he hadn’t changed enough that he wouldn’t eat them now.

Finally packed with everything she thought she’d need for a day of dealing with Hargreeves Family Bullshit, Charlie left the Flower Shop to track down Five.

*

Allison was frowning down at her plate. After her discovery the night before, she and Luther spent most of the night going over the tape again and again and again. She was tired of trying to find ways to either blame Mom for what happened to Dad or to absolve her of her actions.

They had left the security room to find Mom, trying to get some answers about that night.

And Mom couldn’t give them any of the answers they needed. Instead, she was more focused on making them so breakfast - which looked delicious.

“We need a family meeting. We need to decide what to do with Grace.” Luther interrupted her thoughts.

“With Mom.”

Luther sighed but agreed, “with Mom.”

“Well, you can collect our brothers and I’ll gather our sisters.”

“Why do you get the easy job?” Luther was almost whining and Allison didn’t blame him but no way was she going to try to track down their brothers if had a different option.

He shut up quickly at her look.

“I guess I’ll be looking for our brothers. Any suggestions on where to start?”

“Well Five did stay here last night and I think Klaus might have as well. So 2 out of 3?”

He just sighed again. She laughed at him but didn’t offer to go after them herself. She was going to enjoy the time she had with her sisters this morning —  much less annoying.

*

“Do you seriously still not understand the chain of custody? If you touch it, I can’t use it.”

Diego smiled to himself just the smallest bit. As much as he loved helping people, Eudora made his day so much better whenever she appeared — even if it was only to yell at him.

The smile fell off his lips at the sight of the bullet though — that particular kind was manufactured in the 1960s so he was confused why it was in a recent shootout in 2019.

He lifted his hands to show off the gloves he carries with him — Diego didn’t like the Police Academy, but he remembered much of the policies and procedures they had drilled into his head. And he made sure to follow them whenever he was working closely with the police. He didn’t want to ruin Eudora’s career as much as he believed she’d like it so much more doing it his way.

“Let me save you some time running ballistics. These nine-millimeters haven’t been manufactured since 19-”

“1963. Odd, I know. Matching casings were found at a murder scene last night. Ishmael’s Towing.”

Diego followed Eudora as she started to move away from the crime scene, focusing on what she was saying.

“The driver?”

“Found him hanging from the ceiling. Looks like he must have known something after all.”

“It’s a shame nobody told you to go talk to him,” Diego tried not to brag too much but it was hard not to sometimes. He knew that the driver would have important information and he had told her as such — if only they would listen to him occasionally. He smirked at Eudora’s look of irritation.

“In the span of 24 hours, I’ve had attacks in three different places across town. Whatever this is, whoever this is, they’re not slowing down. So, if you really give a shit and you’ve got any fresh ideas, I’m all ears.”

Diego had to give her a fond look at that. He loved her for her heart. She adored the city so much she’d ask him for help — even if he didn’t follow the rules.

“The guy’s kid, in the doughnut shop?”

“I’ve got units tracking the extended family in case anyone goes after him.”

“Well, this place must have surveillance footage.”

“No, it doesn’t exist. The first unit on the scene clocked two shooters fleeing the premises, wearing, get this creepy kids’ masks.” Eudora sounded completely done with the case.

Diego gave a deep sigh. He didn’t know when the city decided to go completely crazy but he was worried. He wondered how much extra time it would take if he added Charlie’s shop and Vanya’s apartment to his route. The rest of his siblings were staying at the Mansion and were protected there but not his sisters. He absentmindedly decided to do a daytime run of the path as he answered Eudora’s non-question.

“This city is really going to shit, huh?”

*

Five grimaced as he ran the needle through his arm. He couldn’t believe that he let those two get the jump on him like that. He really was getting old if Hazel and Cha-Cha got the better of him. And of course, the only band-aids that were in the house had childish trains on them. Trains! Of all things.

6 more days then he’d be dead or drunk.

He wiped the blood off his wound, dressed once more in the awful Academy uniform, finished packing his back, and opened his window. Normally he’d either Jump or take the front door, but he needed to conserve his energy and that meant no Jumping or aggravating talks with his siblings. He just knew that they’d have a load of stupid questions for him that he didn’t have the time to answer them.

Of course, it was his luck that Klaus was dumps- dumpster diving?!? Why was this his life and why did he want to come back and save his siblings again?

A flash of Luther’s hand outstretched to pull him up; the glint of Diego’s knives killing the men attacking him; the feeling of Allison holding him up when his repeating Jumps left him weak; Klaus’ babbling a comforting background noise; he and Ben curled up in the library together; the flicker of Vanya’s uncertain smile; the sight of raspberries growing up between his bed and the wall when Dad was being stingy with the food as a lesson.

He sighed deeply. He could try lying to himself all that he wanted to but of course, he was going come back for them. They were the only things that kept him going all those years.

He ignored that thought — again — and proceeded to ignore Klaus’ inane muttering as well. Five didn’t have time for him right now.

“I’d ask what you’re up to, Klaus, but then it occurred to me…I don’t care.”

“Hey!” Klaus laughed as he moved to the edge of his dumpster, “you know there are easier ways out of the house buddy?”

“This one involved the least amount of talking. Or so I thought.”

“Hey, hey, hey, so…You need any more company today? I could, uh…clear my schedule.”

“Looks like you’ve got your hands full.”

“Oh, this? No, no. I can do this whenever. I’m just-”

Five rolled his eyes when Klaus slipped and fell back into the trash.

“I just misplaced something. That’s all,” Klaus’ voice echoed out from the dumpster. “Oh! Found it! Thank God!”

Five grimaced slightly as he watched Klaus take a bite of a half-eaten bagel. He was completely certain that that bagel wasn’t Klaus’. He couldn’t say too much, however. He’d eaten much worse in the apocalypse.

He had saved Charlie’s food for as long as he could — her fruits and vegetables always lasted longer than normal — but eventually, he finished them and had to struggle to find food.

Now, though? Klaus had the option to not eat that but decided to do so anyway.

“Delicious.”

“I’m done funding your drug habit.”

With that, he turned and walked away. He didn’t need Klaus for what he had planned for today and he knew that Klaus had the singular habit of extending conversations to longer then they needed to be.

As he walked down the alley, he spotted a large van parked at the end. That was exactly what he needed.

He thought about picking Charlie up as he started the engine and made his way out of the alley — he wanted some intelligent conversation and maybe a second set of eyes.

*

Klaus ignored Ben’s judgmental stare boring a hole in the side of his head as he spat out the bite of bagel he’d taken. He’d had enough of that through the years that it was second nature.

What wasn’t second nature was ignoring the peach growing into existence right in front of him.

He beamed though! Only one person could do that and right now she was his favorite sibling. He turned and spotted her coming down the alley from the opposite direction cranky Five had left in.

“Schwester! Beloved Charlie, you’ve blessed me with a delicious peach but do you think I could get some apples as well? I’ve been having the craziest cravings for them lately and-”

His sentence was cut off when Charlie, the darling dear, grew some apples and shoved one in his mouth. He just took a bite from it, chewed, and swallowed. He may not have been the smartest of the bunch but he knew better than to anger Charlie girl. He remembered Spring of ‘03. Plus he wasn’t going to waste an apple. He hadn’t been lying when he said he was really craving one. He packed up all the newly grown fruit and stored it away in his various pockets. He wasn’t going to waste any of the food that she grew — she had a talent for it, after all the practice she had when they were young.

As he was chewing, he flapped his ‘hello’ hand at her and felt warm when she repeated the gesture.

“As much as I love you dear schwester, I can probably guess you’re looking for snarky little Five?”

When she nodded, Ben’s comment of “why isn’t she actually talking? I haven’t heard a word from her yet,” was only barely heard as he gave Charlie directions on where their smallest brother left to.

When she left to follow Five, she first leaned over and gave him a faint kiss on the cheek.

What a treasure she was. He finished up the apple and turned to continue his dumpster dive.

He had to find that stupid book.

*

Five made it to the end of the next block before the passenger side door was opened and a bag was tossed at him. He had spotted Charlie’s distinctive hair when he glanced right earlier so he was too worried about what was in the bag but he still winced a little when it hit him. He reached into the bag as he made a right turn and laughed a little when he grabbed an apple. He shot Charlie a glance and a small smile, which she returned before he focused again on the road. He wasn’t going to try having a conversation with her until he could give her his full attention.

As he pulled up across from Meritech, he sat back a little in his seat and fully opened up the backpack. It was stuffed full of easy to eat food that Charlie had Grown for him as well as a change of clothing in his size.

“Trying to tell me something?”

Just that you look like an idiot roaming about in that stupid Academy uniform.

“Well tell me what you really think, then.”

Tell me what to watch for and go change in the back.

He made sure she could see him roll his eyes but started to tell her about Meritech and everything he had managed to find out about it yesterday. He was startled when he heard a croaking sound come from the front seat. His head popped out of the pullover and glanced at his sister. She was laughing. Huh. He finished changing, glad to be out of the uniform, ignoring the warm feeling that was growing in his chest.

They spent a couple of minutes catching each other up on what happened since he left her at the Academy when he left with Klaus before Charlie shifted to look fully at him. He gave her his attention and waited for what she had to say.

I’m gonna head home. There’s a couple of paperwork things that popped up yesterday that I need to deal with, then I might make my way back here or to the Academy. I have a feeling that the house is going to be the center for everything this week. Make sure you eat everything I packed for you, ok?

“You know I’m older than you right? Like decades older than you?”

Like that’s gonna stop me.

She reached over and grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze that he reciprocated before she left the van.

Five watched her walk away for a while before he once again focused on his mission. He would only admit it to himself but damn was he glad to be home.

*

Vanya didn’t really know what she was doing here — visiting Leonard at his store. Being with Leonard at all really. But as she gazed around at all the beautiful wood carvings, she gave a slight smile. They really were gorgeous. She took a closer look at the smaller figurines he had placed on the shelves.

One of them took her back to her childhood. It was a small bench with some flowers placed at the base of it — it was nothing too special but it reminded her strongly of some of the happiest days she could remember.

Charlie was always found outside, whenever she had the chance. Mom had even joked sometimes that Charlie was more plant-like then they thought — that she could gain her energy from the sun in the same way her beloved plants could. The seven of them laughed at that a little but it was true. She was at her happiest when she was outside surrounded by the Green she grew and the sun that nourished them.

The one memory Vanya was thinking of though — it was all of them outside. They were probably thirteen years old and Dad was away on a business trip — he’d even taken Pogo with him so it was just the eight kids and Mom. They had free run of the house and light schooling, no training to speak of. That particular day, Vanya remembered, it was blue skies and sunshine. It was special because the rest of the week it had been pouring buckets — they had been stuck inside and left to entertain themselves with what they could find in the various corners and cracks that the mansion had. But that day; the sun was shining, the breeze was blowing, and the birds were singing. Mom had let them sleep in and had agreed to allow them to eat outside for both lunch and dinner.

And during the afternoon, Charlie had Grown the most beautiful garden the rest of them had ever seen. There were flowers bigger than her head with colors she didn’t think possible. And the smells! Oh, every next step brought a new smell and they were all glorious. Charlie had Grown the various flowers into amazing shapes and structures but Vanya’s favorite were the benches found right in the middle of the garden. Created from some sort of vines and trees, there were four of them big enough for three people each. Charlie had also grown their favorite fruits and veggies, even branching into nuts, all over the backs of the benches so they could snack as much as they wanted too.

As much as Mom loved them, she had a strict order to not feed them too much. But with Dad and Pogo gone, Mom had taken to turning the other way so she never saw it when Charlie Grew them more and more treats to eat.

The eight of them had laughed and played and joked with each other all day, showing off their powers — they’d even convinced her to bring down her violin to play for them. Vanya knew she wasn’t very good yet, not at that age and only having been playing for a couple of months but when she played that afternoon…she was on top of the world. It was the best concert she’d ever given and she didn’t think she’d ever be able to top it.

They had fallen asleep outside that night, under the stars with blankets made of grass, curled up together.

It was one of Vanya’s most cherished memories — she didn’t even place it in her book; she didn’t want anybody to be able to ruin it.

And one little wood carving managed to bring back that sense of happiness and contentedness that had been missing from her life — only weeks later Five disappeared and the home felt a little more like a house.

She left Leonard’s shop that day with the little violin player and the garden bench.

[echotovalley]

so because I’m taking a writing break but still super needy

I figured I would post this outline for a pokemon au that I’m never going to write. it’s basically notes from a conversation I had back in early 2018? Imagine my surprise going back now and realizing this might read much like Detective Pikachu - cubone is just my favorite pokemon

***before we get into anything please know that while I play pgo and I’ve learned LOTS of new pokemon, I’m still the most familiar and attached to the og 150 + 1. I also probably get a lot of canon pokemon rules and history wrong but my heart is in the right place

reblogs appreciated! | come talk at me about your thoughts or literally anything

premise: keith might not be a pokemon person

but pokemon are definitely a keith person

- for unknown reasons keith docks in cuba, he's kind of just been getting work and moving moving always moving because one place never works out for long. pokemon are everywhere but it's not his thing.

it never happened for him besides why would he make an animal be saddled with him? there's no stability there. and again, he's always moving. through so many different regions.

he doesn't have the heart to yank a sandshrew onto a barge across the atlantic or a charmander up the northeast coast of the US. he can barely take care of himself. and it's weird by now. to not have a pokemon by now. they were everywhere and so normalized.

they were part of everyday school curriculum and even in hospitals and rescue stations. which is another reason why he never stayed in one place very long because not having a pokemon didn't incite people to trust you.

bc even team rocket (team rocket still sounds so much better than team galra but team rocket is the galra) had pokemon that bonded and trusted them.

he gets a room and some horrible job on the coast and basically just gets by. tries not to cause trouble or get caught or encourage rattatas or a caterpie to follow him home because they could still smell half the lunch he didn't eat tucked in his bag

- i'm plotting by the seat of my pants but what really kick-started all of this was the thought of Keith finding a wounded cubone in the middle of the night.

it's too dark and raining to tell what animal or pokemon attacked it or if it was a person that fractured the skull he wore enough for a piece to break off along the jaw

the cubone sustained a mean looking scrape to its face and this is not what keith needs right now but he can tell the cubone's crying and kind of just accepted what's happened and it keeps pawing at the missing piece in the skull and keith may not actively interact with pokemon but he doesn't hate them and he still has a heart.

he's docked in cuba and his spanish just gets him by to get food and money and not anger anyone

he didn't think the barge's docking region through all of the way so he's got a cubone to help with rudimentary spanish that sucks on the best day but he's going to try and get the cubone help

he starts rushing through streets and people's yards because he could have swore the town had a gym he passed but in the dark and rain it takes him a full hour to find the gym.

- duh it's closed but he's at least going to bang on the doors and hopefully it's going to set off an alarm or something

the police will show up or someone will be able to take the cubone where it needs to go. his hand is numb from knocking as hard as he could before the door is whooshed open and someone is spitting rapid fire spanish like venom and he thinks he manages to get out that he can really only speak english and shoves the cunbone into their hands.

before he knows it, he's being yanked by his collar into the gym and down hallways and finally into the blinding lights of the pokemon center on sight.

there's more spanish and faces that look so similar that its clear it's a family that runs the gym.

- beep beep guess who's family owns and runs the gym

the pokecenter is actually a rehabilitation center founded and run by the McClain family for several generations

he gets questioned after the cubone is taken back behind the doors and it takes someone repeatedly snapping their fingers in front of his face to get him to come back to the conversation.

his name's keith, he's from the US, he just found the cubone - no he doesn't know if it has an owner, doesn't even know if it’s wild or if it has a nearby pack or how it got hurt or how long it’s been hurt.

but keith,

keith is his name and he can at least answer that.

he stays there over night and finds out that Marco is the one that answered the door. Veronica is the one to actually examine him because he looks like he's about to pass out.

their mother is the one to assure him the cubone would be fine - her daughter Rachel attends to injured pokemon and gets another son Luis to show Keith to a room in their house and keith passes out the second he stumbles to a bed.

- in the morning, when he goes to the bathroom and is in the middle of washing his hands, another son is banging on the door for Marco to get out of the bathroom and that's the first time he meets lance

when Keith yanks the door open he tells him to freaking stop because he's clearly not marco.

an older man, probably come to break up a fight, stops and blinks at keith before shouting over his shoulder about not remembering having or getting another kid (arthur "and who are you???" weasley style)

(our boy Lance has a minor panic about the cute random guy is his bathroom at 8 a.m.)

Keith gets shoved down at a table covered in food for breakfast and can't keep up he definitely has a headache and is ready to throw himself through a window when he's asked about his pokemon and if they need help too

he doesn't have pokeman and never has had one and isn't really interested and this family has centered their entire lives around it

- he sees the cubone again, in recovery and it paws a little at his hands in thanks

over the next few days, he stays with them and somehow gets roped into doing chores around the facility and given an assigned seat at their table for meals and he's just T H R O W N

they literally have an arbok taking a nap in a hammock in their backyard and a pod of seadras in an olympic pool in the gym just hanging out (doing little races between each other or chasing each other)

a vulpix he learns belongs to one of the McClain siblings (Rachel) sunbathes and sniffs at his feet while he’s working in the yard

and there's a persian destroying blinds in the living room window and a charizard in the kitchen

and some random small children he learns are marco's are throwing or shooting across the floor fridge magnets as a game with a magnemite

- begrudgingly on McClain’s part, keith’s assigned to Lance for being shown around the rehab center

lance takes him to the beach and out into the middle of the ocean on a boat

Keith: "this is where you feed me to a gryados"

Lance: "close"

and a freaking L A P RA S pops up out of the water and clicks at lance and makes little waves in his direction and they do a damn forehead touch he's crazy this is crazy

Keith: "YOU HAVE A LAPRAS???!!!!" - because even keith who doesn’t do pokemon knows what the heck a lapras is

Lance "I don't have a lapras. Nobody owns her. We just give her her room and protect or heal her when she needs it"

- the next few weeks see lance having to admit keith isn’t so bad and that just because he doesn’t have a pokemon, it doesn’t mean he actively dislikes them

the cubone is attached to keith - despite his bad attitude, lance says

this is the initial thought that kicked this off: keith asks if they have a 3D printer and once the cubone's injury is fully healed, he makes a mold for the missing piece and fits it in place

lance denies crying

"you've done one (1) good thing, kogane"

- then the real plot kicks in when the lapras is captured and taken from the beach by team rocket

lance blames keith because of the timing, because of keith's vague answers on where he's from, why he has no friends or family, no pokemon

insert painful, raw, yelled, "I TRUSTED YOU"

keith convinces him he's not part of team rocket and the main story starts where lance and keith leave to go after the lapras and return her to cuba.

- before they leave, rachel throws a pokeball at keith "i think your cubone might like this one"

and lance's eyes get huge because he knows what it is and then a pokemon is coming out of the pokeball

and it's a marowak

the cubone very carefully and slowly approaches her and the marowak just watches and waits. the cubone brushes its bone across the marowak's foot and then approaches and okay keith's eyes definitely water as he watches this marowak kind of take in the cubone.

(THE CRITICAL HIT COMES WHEN THE CUBONE EVENTUALLY EVOLVES. I like to think maybe through poke-magic the skull fixes itself when he evolves and the cubone hands the 3d mold back to keith and gets keith to put it on a chain safe for his skin to wear the 3d mold piece still)

- obv they get the lapras back,

they find out keith's mom was a double agent ofc for the team rocket faction that took the lapras

they meet hunk and pidge and allura and coran and romelle and others along the way to take down team rocket because what’s a pokemon au without the power of friendship

- keith and lance wait at the airport in cuba

it's for shiro, he had let keith travel because he saw that keith needed to find room to grow and find who he was

obviously keith is not 10. he and lance are 17.

anyways he rushes keith and pulls him into a big hug and tells keith how proud of him he is

the first thing lance tells shiro is about the time keith almost stepped on an exeggcute and how they chased him

or the time he almost sustained a skull fracture from a taurus and the time a seel thought keith was its mom

there was also that time with a magby-

keith: “OKAY LANCE WE GET IT THANK YOU”

BONUS:

keith being mildly terrified of the pokemon hanging around the McClain properties

Lance: "if you want to lay in the hammock just move him"

Keith: "just move him?! it's an arbok not a lap dog"

a nest of torchicks gets laid in the backyard and follows keith for two days after they hatch and lance laughs so hard he cries because keith can't shake them and he winds up tripping and they all jump on top of him

keith might not have been a pokemon person

but pokemon are definitely a keith person

[coppercrane2]

Hiya! Curious about 12, 13 and 17 of the Behind the scenes fic ask :)

You sent a message with a few others (thank you so much!!) so I’ll do those here, too!

5. What is the perfect environment for you to write in?

Quiet and alone, with no work stress. And access to wifi. Also, there needs to be tea somewhere. XD

12. Is there a trope you haven’t written yet but really want to?

There are so many, but ‘there was only one bed’ is probably the one I’m most keen on at the moment. I am also the biggest fan of enemies to lovers, and one of the couple being a super-intense badass and the other one being a ray of sunshine... which might explain a few things, really...

13. Is there a trope you wouldn’t write if it was the last trope on earth?

Incest. Because... why???

15. A Hollywood producer tells you that they want to film just one of your fics. Which fic would you want it to be?

That’s a toss up between the Shakespeare fic I’m working on (purely because I would die fo the costume porn, especially the ones drawn by elianthos) and either the R/J SilMil fic I’m working on or the Viking AU I mentioned (the former because I would love to see R/J slumming it in a Jovian jungle temple, and the latter because there would be *vikings*). 

17. What fic are you most proud of?

I would say ‘The Other Princess Bride’. Because it’s actually complete. 

Having said that, the one I’m most proud of currently is my Viking AU - although I am still working on that...

22. Have you cried while writing a fic?

From despair because I’d written myself into a corner? Because I didn’t know where I was going with it? Because even after all this time, it’s still not finished? Uh... no... definitely not. 

30. Tell us an idea for a longfic you want to write in the future.

Oh no... why would you ask that???? Now you’ll have to wallow through all my nonsense! 

1. A Shakespeare fic which started out as a crack ficlet where I was supposed to use Italian fashion houses for actual houses, has turned into a massive fic incorporating as many Shakespearean plots as I can shove in there. 

2. Cursed - where the inner senshi and shitennou are cursed beings who keep avoiding the lifting the curse of the sleeping kingdom because they’re just not ready. 

3. Nainowale Ne - SilMil, Rei’s on a temple retreat on a Jovian moon, Jadeite is accidentally portaled there. They’re both stuck on this isolated, romantic location - and they fall in love. There’s also a sequel to this, which is plotted out, too.

4. Ottoman Fic - Ottoman AU where Jadeite is a Janissary. Endy is the Sultan, Rei is the sultan’s sister and Kunzite is the sultan’s vizier. Jadeite probably won’t survive this one but at least he’ll die heroically. This idea is all @apsaraqueen’s fault. I think she should write it instead. 

5. A Vampire Apology - A comedy M/K vampire fic I wrote waaaay back for the shitennou ficathon, it’s much longer now, but I’m still trying to get over some seriously pesky issues, but it’s getting there!

6. Basilisk - Basically SM characters in the Iga/Kouga, Romeo/Juliet, war of ninja tribes tragedy thing. I’ve had this baby plotted out for years, but I’m still not 100% happy. Everyone will die in this one. I mean, of course they will, it’s a Basilisk AU...

7. The Crys-T Series - A continuation of ‘An Evening’, ‘Trauma’ and ‘American Honey’ I have another 5 or 6 one shots planned, including explaining the affair Ami and Jadeite had, as well as the group gradually healing over time. 

8. The Cold Path - written for a ficathon, but it never saw the light of day, it’s a canon-divergent fic where a teen Endymion is caught about to abandon earth for his moon lover and Kunzite kills him in an attempt to stop him. It’s supposed to end with Kunzite becoming king in order to prevent Elysium from devolving into all out war. It’s nowhere near complete. 

9. Hooligans. 

10. A sister fic to the Viking AU, focussing on Ami and how she got from Japan to Denmark. It would involve her being sold as a slave and kind of making her way into freedom while on the way learning about the ancient world she’s travelling across. 

11. Serenity - A Firefly AU (which I started and plotted but never got past the first chapter). It’s basically the Out of Gas episode but with Serenity being Endymion’s permanently comatosed wife on board the ship, and the found-family members of the ship talking to her about their problems and how they ended up on the ship named Serenity.

12. Hush - A 1950s noir detective story where Rei’s sister, Beryl, is murdered and Jadeite & Nephrite hunt for the murderer. Makoto’s a madame, Kunzite’s a slightly unstable enforcer, Mina’s an aspiring actress and Zoisite’s a detective in Vice. 

13. Wrestler - having recently discovered that women’s pro-wrestling is a thing in Japan, I would love to write a fic of a slightly canon-divergent Makoto. While looking for a job after high school, she watches a wrestling show with Usagi and decides to try out for it, getting the job. The fic would not focus a huge amount on the wrestling itself, but would look at how she grows from a teen to a young adult to middle age, how she copes with her life as well as being a Senshi, how she meets Nephrite and finally opens that flower tea shop she’s always wanted. 

14. LAST ONE I PROMISE I AM SO SORRY I’M SPAMMING YOU WITH ALL MY TERRIBLE FIC IDEAS, BUT YOU DID ASK, SO... REALLY, THIS IS YOUR FAULT, LYRHIA. - basically a fav headcanon of mine is that after the Serenity/Endymion suicide in the SilMil, the war between the SM and the Youma continued for another two decades (until Selene releases the crystal’s power). The fic would be about that part of the war and how it eventually comes to an end, focussing on the Senshi and Shitennou sort of ruling and trying to save those left behind in their crumbling civilisations, while also still kind of fighting each other, and trying to deal with the fact that they’ve failed in their divine purpose (protecting S&E).

[cooltrainererika]

Alt-talia x Evillious Chronicles: The Key to Zorn (Part 1 v. 1)

Couldn’t come up with a better title. 

This is for Alternate Universe/AU, or Angst, it can qualify for both. 

Okay… so… holy hell. 

This is the longest fic I’ve ever written. And it isn’t even finished. 

I thought “Superbia” was long. But… I outdid myself. Over FORTY FREAKIN’ PAGES IN GOOGLE DOCS. And again, this is not finished, I’m splitting it so I at least have the hope of releasing something! With two routes! This is a novel, folks!

I’m probably going to repost this for the Christmas event since I want as much people to see them as possible. Because there are some Christmas elements here. So yeah, you can take this as an early Christmas fic too.

This will be a movie, folks. Grab a seat and some popcorn. 

Also, look, it’s goddamn Ludwig torment again! For the fourth time in the span of a month! And this might just be the most elaborate way I’ve tormented the poor guy yet. But I didn’t really have many options. 

So I wanted to enter Mirror Week, but in the main canons write in, Alt-talia and Hetalia Emblem, I haven’t come up with any use for 2Ps, and in the former case I can’t see how I could use them. 

However, there was one Alt-talia spin-off AU I had been thinking they would exist on; I didn’t know whether I wanted to release media to it so early, and due to a reason I will explain in a moment, I was reluctant to release media about it in general. But… I went with it. 

This is my Evillious Chronicles AU. Yes, an AU of an AU. What about that. 

Basically, the Evillious Chronicles is what started as a series of Vocaloid songs telling a much larger story; it has since ballooned into a vast, tangled network of light novels and other such media. It’s as confusing as it sounds. Some of you may have heard of the songs “Daughter of Evil” and “Servant of Evil”; those were the first songs to be released in that series. Those two songs weren’t self-contained, oh no. 

The thing is, for this AU I wanted to write just based on the seven sin songs (and Servant of Evil), with accompanying Hetaloid covers, and leave the rest of the story up to the audience. I’m still planning on that. However, I still wanted to enter the event, so here I am presenting a version of events for one of the arcs; however, it is merely the route that hews closest to Evillious canon from what I can gather of it. So yeah, NONE OF THIS IS HARD CANON. Especially since I wasn’t sure on the roles of some characters here. 

Also, if I somehow ever get to publishing my main Evillious x Hetalia fics sometime in the future; first of all, hi. But more importantly, please, I implore you, do not read this before reading The Muzzle of Ludwig. Especially the second half. I tried to avoid spoilers, but someone becomes extremely obvious with contextual clues. 

Also… it’s not like I wanted to write Ludwig torment again. But he was basically my only option, since he was the only one whose sin most likely overlaps with… well, it’ll become clear as this goes on. Ludwig’s story here is based on Nemesis Sudou’s story. Though since Nemesis and Ludwig are vastly different characters, there may be some plot holes, unfortunately. 

And THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: for those who have read none of my other works yet, Alt-talia has often vastly, vastly different characterizations. I based most of these characterizations off of their late 19th century to very early 20th century personalities in Alt-talia. Special OOC warning for the following characters: Austria, Hungary, and Prussia. Minor OOC warning for Germany. I used @askimperialludwig ‘s version of the character as a reference, along with my personal perception and research. may add more later. 

Also, credit to my friend @tomboyjessie13 , my Evillious consultant, for helping me through this!

I can’t let this be too long, since the fic is long already. Let’s go!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(Also... people who read my fics, please reblog them. I work hard on them, and want many to see them!)

And since I forgot to add this above the cut; this canon is also one of the few times Nyotalia characters canonically exist as their own entity in my works, if not the only one so far. It’s kind of necessary, since otherwise it’ll turn into a complete sausagefest. However, as I have no set personality for them in main Alt-talia canon, I basically write them the same way as I would their male counterparts, with maybe some minor changes. I do have some ideas for Nyotalia characters in “what if” stories for main Alt-talia canon, but since this would be an Alt-talia spinoff, most of my theoretical audience would be there for the Alt-talia characters who appear in most Alt-talia media. Not to mention male stereotypes for countries are usually more fun anyway. However, in this universe two counterparts of the same character can co-exist. I try to avoid that though. 

Also, a character named “Arendt” is briefly mentioned; this is Brandenburg. He isn’t really that important though, and really I’ve barely fleshed him out, so that’s all you need to know.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Key To Zorn

In a certain continent, there was a forest.

A serene, peaceful forest, where inside one could almost feel mystical energy in the clear, unpolluted air.

Until, under the evening sky, a gunshot sounded.

Ludwig Beilschmidt, a boy of merely 8 with innocent, cornflower blue eyes, ran through the forest he knew so well, a basket of wild berries and herbs in his arms and a small sack over his back.

Soon, in his view, among the trees and wild cornflowers was the only place he had known all his life, the little wooden cottage he called home.

The boy immediately checked his old, somewhat rusted mailbox, a look of anxiousness on his face - one which immediately turned to disappointment upon finding there was nothing there.

He sighed.

“Nothing today either...”

He reached up somewhat, twisting the doorknob and opening the wooden door.

“I’m home!”

No one answered back.

As per usual.

He didn’t expect one anyway.

Ludwig went to the dining table, setting the basket and sack, as well as his small, old-model pistol, down on his side of the table. Inside the sack was a small rabbit; the poor little thing. He hoped it didn’t struggle for long after he had shot it.

He prepared dinner as he always did, the bubbling as the ingredients stewed the only sounds other than the cries of the wildlife outside.

And he ate in silence by the light of the lamp, staring at the empty, vacant other side of the table, the light of the sun dim and faint.

“Mutter, is it good?”

Nothing.

Ludwig sighed again, going back to shoving the stew into his mouth.

——-

Ludwig tucked himself into bed after a bath and a change of clothes, now in his old, almost too small pajamas, having finished the book in his hands an hour ago - while he had reread it and others several times already, it was a window into a world different from his, where friends supported each other and families told stories in front of the fire - but now that it was over, here he was, once again, stuck in loneliness, on his own, within the cold, dark walls of a small cabin.

Once again, it was quiet. All too quiet; except for the sounds of the forest.

Now as he had nothing to distract him, every rustling of the underbrush, every animal cry made him bristle. The forest was his comfort by day, almost a second mother, but by night, it was dark, feral. 

He pulled his blankets up to his face, curling up, shaking like a leaf. He felt any moment, a beast could break through the walls and tear him to shreds.

He missed his mother so much, oh how he missed her. Her harsh but protective voice, her calloused hands squeezing his wrists. He missed his onkel Arendt, who told him stories of the battles he and Mutter had been through.

She’s dead. She’s dead, accept it.

No, no she wasn’t.

She couldn’t be. She had to be alive.

She was too strong to die.

She would come back. She always came back. 

His mother wouldn’t want to see him like this anyway. He was being pathetic.

“Einz, zwei, drei...”

He took a deep breath. He was stronger than this. 

Imagining his mother was standing by his bed, staring at him with disapproval at his fearful behavior, finally his shivering started to lessen ever so slightly.

He needed to make it so that when she came home with another medal shining on her chest, she could come home to a son she could be proud of, after all.

“Good night.”

He said to no one in particular, as he let the faint moonlight be his comfort, finally closing his eyes.

Lu li la la lu li la la la...

A soothing, calming melody played in his mind; Ludwig didn’t know where he knew it from, but as it surrounded him in soft, almost familiar gentleness, the shivering stopped, his muscles loosened, and he was finally lured into the welcome embrace of sleep.

Lu li la la lu li la la la…

Lu li la la lu li la la la...

———-

“FIRE!”

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Birds flew away in massive numbers, disturbed by the sudden noise.

Ludwig blew the steam off his pistol, seeing that the bullets had all landed near-target. Almost there.

Not bothered by the recoil anymore, he lined up the shot again, swearing he would get it right this time.

Every two days he did this, before 10 sets of running, marching, and every parallel bar routine; this wasn’t how most children his age passed their time, willingly anyway, if the books he read were any indication, and surely he felt sorry for the animals who had to hear such things, as they were the closest things to friends he had. But it broke the silence. 

And most of all, he could almost sense his mother beside him during these practice drills; he could feel her hands on his arms guiding him in his aim, and hear her voice shouting in tandem with him as he shouted “FIRE!”. In fact, sometimes he swore she actually was there, by his side.

He took a deep breath and aimed again.

“FIRE!”

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

When he came home, he once again saw a basket of supplies.

They always puzzled him. They came at such random, unpredictable intervals, filled with food, a few bottles of milk, several cartridges of bullets, and even occasionally a book, toy, bar of soap, or other extra, but by the time he found them no one was ever there.

He should be grateful. Though he wished someone would explain to him.

Oh well.

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

Days passed, then months.

Once again, on the night of his 9th birthday, Ludwig laid alone, the weak moonlight unable to brighten his gradually deepening pit of despair.

The silence was maddening. He craved for any touch, for any warmth of another person, for anything. But even that simple wish was too much to ask.

He bunched up the worn blanket, the cold, frigid winter air seeping into the cabin.

Every day, he wondered if he was slowly going mad. 

Holding a cornflower and his mother’s black cross necklace to his chest, looked out into the moon, to the night sky peeking from a clearing in the trees.

A star shot through the night sky, and Ludwig was quick to make his wish.

I hope Mutter will answer my letters soon.

She had always told him that believing in such things was foolish.

But what was the pain in hanging onto the little light he could find?

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

Now’s your time.

Alright. I’m going in. See you. 

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

One cold, chilling day, towards the final days of the year he turned 9, Ludwig stepped outside to check his mailbox again.

Snow lightly dusted the ground, softly landing on his old, worn coat.

He had checked his homemade calendar; Sancbruma. Such a lovely holiday. But now, just yet another cold, freezing, lonely day. Oh well. He had known Pater Natalis wasn’t real for years to need confirmation.

But this day, after creaking the old thing open, he found something.

His heart almost stopped.

Immediately, he ripped the envelope often, his heart pounding in his ears, his breath quickening, and he immediately glued his focus to the words, written specially to be understandable to a child.

Ludwig Beilshmidt, we are sorry to inform you that…

Time seemed to stop. He swore his heart stopped.

Dread shot through his body like lightning.

He read on, clinging onto the little hope that still remained with him all those years as they escaped from him, flying away as he fell deeper.

…

…

Tears fell from his face.

She was gone. 

She was really gone.

Finally, suppressed despair replaced dread, filling every corner of his mind and body, every nerve, every muscle. 

But mixed with it, and eventually almost overpowering it in the concoction of emotion, was wrath. 

Pure, unbridled wrath.

He tore the paper and screamed, his screams piercing the serene forest air.

Tears fell from his eyes like a burst dam as he cried into his hands, cursing whoever had killed her, her fate, the cruelty of the gods.

If only he could get his hands on whatever bastard killed her, he would strangle them, he would gouge out their eyes, he would shoot them in the leg and watch them bleed to death, how dare they take his mother away!

He had always been told the best came to those who were patient.

He was proven wrong that day.

All those years, waiting, hoping, hoping for nothing.

Nothing. 

His mother was never going to come back. Ever. 

Grief, anger, and sadness gripped his small frame as he shook, on the ground, his young brain besieged with intense emotions and reality, dreaded, painful reality.

Don’t cry. How pathetic. Is that how I raised you?

Ludwig forced himself to take deep breaths, desperately fighting his tears and holding back the flow of the concoction of emotions any further. 

No, his mother wouldn’t want to see him like this. He couldn’t let her be honored like this.

“Einz, zwei, drei, einz, zwei, drei...”

He took a breath with every word, forcing his emotions back and attempting to lock them away, until finally once again he could think somewhat coherently.

It was here he noticed something wet poking his hand.

There was something in front of him.

A dog.

A medium-large dog with pointy, perky ears and snout; a magnificent, beautiful coal-black Fernirhund, its bright, intelligent eyes a rare violet. 

He didn’t notice it before in his panic, but now the dominant emotion in his mind was confusion.

As he sniffled, the dog nudged him again with its nose, looking up at him with its soulful eyes.

“...A dog?”

The dog stared at him back.

Ludwig’s mind immediately jumped back to the beginning of the year.

I hope Mutter will answer my letters soon.

“Are… are you from my Mutter?”

Silence.

Immediately, he embraced the dog, making it yelp, crying into its fur.

“It’s adorable! I love it Mutter! Thank you!”

It let him cry into its fur, as the boy’s short arms wrapped around it in the first living thing it had embraced, nay, touched, in years.

He was actually holding something living. Oh, it had been so long. Oh so long.

He had almost forgotten what it felt like to hold life in his arms, to feel its warmth, to feel its gentle rising and falling, to hear the subtle sounds of another’s breath in his ears.

For the first time in years, despite the unforgiving cold of the winter morning air, warmth reached Ludwig’s heart, happiness brewing with and overpowering now subdued despair and rage.

<Sure… Whatever makes you happy, kid.>

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

“Oy vey… I was too late again.

...This world is fucked.”

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

Ludwig put a saucer of stew in front of the dog, which surely enough it soon started lapping up.

“It’s good right? What should I call you… I’ll have to give you a name.”

He stared at the dog, deep in thought.

“Oh, I know… Schwarzchen!”

The dog looked at him.

“You like it? Then Schwarzchen it is!”

<...I didn’t say anything. ’Blackie’? You cannot be serious.>

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

That night was different from usual.

Ludwig nestled his head in Schwarzchen’s fur, holding onto him like a stuffed animal, running his fingers through his soft coat. It had seemed reluctant at first, clearly not used to such close contact but as Ludwig begged it to stay, as if it understood him, it decided to stay with him. 

The dog’s breathing neutralized the deafening silence he had gotten so used to, its warmth protecting his small body from the frosty air.

It was like heaven.

Oh, he almost forgot something.

He took his mother’s necklace from his bedside table, putting it around the dog’s neck like a collar.

“There. Perfect. It suits you.”

He barked.

“Good night, Schwarzchen.”

That night, sleep came to Ludwig easier than usual, as he was surrounded by his new companion’s soft breathing and warm fur.

----------

“Hallo. Kid. Wake up.”

Ludwig awoke, his eyes fluttering open.

Once his eyes focused, he almost yelped in shock.

He was somewhere he didn’t recognize, some formless void; Schwarzchen was nowhere to be seen, nor were the walls of his cabin or even his forest, all that remained was his bed.

In front of him was a man clad in what seemed to be a long white lab coat and some type of mantle, or at least Ludwig assumed, his clothing style almost resembling that in illustrations in one of his novels, ostensibly chronicling ancient legends; but not just any man. 

A man who looked almost exactly like how one would imagine Ludwig would look like when he was older, save for his unnatural purple, almost magenta eyes that shined with a calculating glint, a scar under his left.

“H… hallo?”

“Don’t worry, I’m not here to hurt you.”

“I… Who are you?”

The man smiled at him softly; despite his harsh features, it calmed some of Ludwig’s nerves, just a little.

“That isn’t important. But you’re lonely, right? And it’s causing you pain, yes?”

His voice was deep; much lower than Arendt’s, the only other reference he had for an adult man, surprising Ludwig a bit.

The boy nodded.

The man dug into one of his pockets, taking out a key.

“Here. I’ll be your friend; all you have to do is take the other end of this key, and you won’t feel any of that loneliness and pain any more…”

Tentatively, Ludwig took it.

The boy gasped as he suddenly felt something overwhelming and indescribable other than energy blitz between him and the strange man through the key; it was painless, in fact almost manic energy, bright lights flashing in his vision.

Ludwig woke up.

The boy laid there, his eyes wide, his mind mulling over what he had just seen.

“A dream… it was a dream… Who was that man?”

He turned, and there Schwarzchen was. 

“Never mind… Good morning, Schwarzchen.”

<Are you really going with that name?>

Ludwig blinked.

“...Did you just…”

<I thought children were supposed to be creative?>

Ludwig’s eyes widened. He held his head; it seemed to be coming from within his head, like a thought, instead of from his ears.

“...Schwarzchen? Is that you?”

<Yes, this is the dog. And I have a name.>

Ludwig took a few seconds to process the information.

“...What? ...Mein Gott, I’ve really gone crazy…”

<No. This is real. I’m speaking to you through something called telepathy. Speaking to you through your mind. I could explain all the intricate details but it would probably short-circuit your child brain.>

“I know what it is. But it’s just like in the stories! Wow! I didn’t know they really happened!”

<Well you could say that.>

Ludwig sat up on the side of his bed.

“You keep insulting my naming sense. So what is your name?”

“Schwarzchen” looked him directly in the eyes.

<Well, well, it’s the same as yours, funnily enough. Ludwig.>

“We have the same name? What a coincidence.”

 <But I know that is confusing. Just call me Lutz. That is what everyone calls me.>

“Alright… Lutz it is. ...I liked ‘Schwarzchen’ though.”

<...Whatever, kid.>

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

Like that, Ludwig and Lutz became friends. 

His 10th birthday had been the best birthday he had in years, even if it was just the two of them.

Over time, Lutz taught the boy how to use telepathy; and without him saying a word, he became a third hand to him.

...Sometimes. Other times, the dog merely yawned, telling him to “Do it on his own.”

Ludwig wondered if all dogs were like this. But even then, he didn’t mind. Even if Lutz was a cold, snarky jerk sometimes, it didn’t matter.

Every day, they ate together, went hunting together, bathed together, and at the end of the day slept together.

He could almost forget his loneliness, and the fact that his mother would never return.

Almost. 

——————

As Ludwig braced himself on his bed, he once again counted his breaths. 

The wrath he felt that day; it was coming back. From within, it seemed to spread to his entire body, to the point it was unbearable. 

He would never forget that pain. He couldn’t. But mindless rage was for the foolish. 

He wouldn’t forget. But he would remember, silently. 

When he looked to Lutz, Lutz didn’t seem afraid at all. He merely stared at him with those violet eyes. 

Ludwig embraced Lutz, not letting go. 

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

Lutz stared at the young boy as he slept, his chest rising and falling.

<How cute.>

It was easy.

A bit too easy.

What did he expect from a child though.

<Still, would have liked a bit more of a challenge.

Oh well. Sleep tight, kid.

...Though why do you have to use me as a pillow?>

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

Over the next year, Ludwig grew. Now on the cusp of puberty, he became stronger, he could run faster and further, and he could shoot with more and more accuracy.

On the morning of his 11th birthday, Lutz presented him with a query.

<Kid.>

“Huh? What is it, Lutz?”

<Now that you know that your mother isn’t coming home…>

Ludwig froze.

<Don’t cry on me.>

“I wasn’t going to”

<Yes, yes. In anyway, since you know you mother isn’t coming home, what’s the point staying in this place anymore?>

The boy pondered it.

<I’m a dog and even I think it’s pointless waiting for someone if they’re clearly dead. Well maybe I’m not the one to talk here.>

He was right.

“But… This is all I have ever known.”

<Don’t worry about it. You’re smart. I think. You should find out what to do soon enough.>

“...Jawohl. I don’t know what my purpose is being here forever too… It’s not like this place will disappear either. And it’s not what Mutter would want me to do. ...We’re leaving tonight.”

————-

Ludwig opened his drawer.

There it was; the notice he had torn up all those years ago. 

Why did he still have it? 

Just so he would never forget, probably.

Ludwig sealed the notice into a pouch before the rage became too much to bear, stuffing it into his bag, going to fetch his clothing. He had a sailor suit saved up for “special occasions”; he hoped he hadn’t outgrown it already. 

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

Ludwig looked behind his back one last time to the small cabin, the cornflowers, the trees he had known for his entire 11 years of living. 

It felt so odd to know he would be away from it. 

He quickly ran back, Lutz grumbling behind him, and picked a few flowers, pressing them between the pages of a book. 

<Are you done now?>

“Jawohl. Coming, coming!”

-----------

When Ludwig entered the capital, the little truly important belongings he had on his and Lutz’s backs, he was in awe.

It bustled with energy, with people, rickety, clanking automobiles and trolleys spewing steam or smoke that made him cough if he went to close, radio commercials resounding through the air, as well as delicious smells the likes of which he hadn’t known in years, some never before, but mixed in with the inexplicable smell of whatever was coming out of the automobiles. 

Ludwig wasn’t quite sure whether he liked it or disliked it, but most accurately he would describe it as a strange mix of the two; but more than anything, everything was so new.

He marveled at the sight of a trolley passing by, when he heard honking behind him. 

“Get out of the way brat!”

Ludwig stepped back, hopping back to the sidewalk, and an automobile clunked on, its driver looking at him irritated.

But its movements fascinated him, how the machine seemed to move magically, how it seemed to have a life of its own.

“...Where should I even start?”

<Well? Do you have any relatives?>

“Not that I know of.”

Lutz pointed in the direction of some other children, in a way much like how a pointer or setter dog would.

<You could try living on the streets like them for a few days. See where it gets you.>

“...Oh.”

Ludwig sighed. He may as well. 

————-

“Shoo! Shoo!”

“No money? We aren’t a charity, sorry.”

“Outta the way!”

————-

Ludwig slept in an alley that night, huddled in his old blanket, snuggling against Lutz, who had gotten used to the close contact years ago. 

He was so tired. He just remembered he hadn’t slept for an entire day, and it was finally catching up to him. 

He had gotten some attention due to being cleaner-looking than the rest, though Lutz was far more charming in their eyes. But more often than not, the overwhelming message in the air was clear; he wasn’t welcome here. 

“Lutz?”

Lutz looked up. 

<What is it, kid?>

“Why didn’t you tell me I needed money for everything?”

<Didn’t you read about it?>

“I didn’t know it was this necessary.”

<I can’t hold your hand all the time.>

“...Lutz?”

<...What now?>

“There’s so many people here. But I still feel so alone.”

<Well at least you got some to get through the night. Don’t be choosy.>

“Jawohl… Good night.”

————

Seeing no reason not to, Ludwig had decided to explore the city a bit more the next morning, after having helped himself and Lutz to a piece of bread and some beef jerky he had bought, plus the miscellaneous items he had been given the day before.  

After a long while of walking, taking in the different sights, from the historical landmarks and building to new projects, some even in the midst of being built, neatly separated or together, working in at times harmonious and at times chaotic tandem. Every so often he saw stray animals run about. After some time he started to see schoolchildren, some about his age, run to school with their friends, adults dressed in suits on their way to work. 

Until, Ludwig started to feel the air change. 

It felt somewhat... sticky? The breeze seemed stronger. And inexplicably salty. 

For he had reached the city harbor. Birds, they were called seagulls he believed, cawed above. Fishermen had far since left the dock, and in the distance, trade ships were being loaded to go who knows where. And they were floating on a vast, open field of water, water, nothing but water.

“Lutz... is this...”

<The ocean? What, you don’t even know what the ocean is?>

He had heard his mother’s stories about the ocean; while she had never been a woman of the seas per se, she was in the army, not the navy after all, he had heard her describe growing up near it. It was odd thinking that she, too, had been a child once like him.

This ocean was to her like the forest was to him, quite possibly.

She had also spoken about a rumor; a rumor that a wish put into a bottle and cast into the sea would, eventually, be granted. She had dismissed it as childish of course. And she did say that she much preferred the land after growing up.

Though according to Onkel Arendt, she would at times, despite this, just go to her childhood home, staring out into the eternal ocean.  

He wondered what she had thought as her red eyes stared out into the distant horizon, the salty breeze flowing through her silver-white hair.

It was strange, imagining his mother like that. The sea was so free, almost careless; the complete opposite of her. But maybe that was exactly what drew her to it.

Ludwig started running along the dock, letting Lutz chase him, the briny wind rushing past him and through his hair. People had started to come to swim, and the city was starting to fully come to life. 

Even if life was hard, at least he had some way of entertaining himself when everything was so brand new. 

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

One day, a duo of teenagers spotted Ludwig.

And being the thugs they were, Ludwig suddenly found himself in confrontation with two kids much larger, older, and stronger than he; even if Ludwig was tougher than most 11-year-olds, these two seemed to be about 14 at least, if not, and probably, 15.

“Hey street rat, where’s your mutti?!”

Ludwig tried not to pay them any heed, even if he bristled at the rude words. 

“...What business do you have with me?”

The shorter one grabbed him by the collar. 

“I asked you a question, shorty!”

After the initial shock and fear, Ludwig felt a flash of anger. His fists clenched as he tried to struggle his way out. And worst of all was that he couldn’t do anything. 

<Kid. Listen.>

“What?!”

<Listen to me. Tell me to “Intimidate”. Now. Don’t ask questions.>

“Of course! ...Intimidate, Lutz!”

————-

Ludwig stood there, dumbfounded at what he had just witnessed, as the teenagers ran away, screaming “DEMON DOG! DEMON DOG!”.

And there Lutz was, looking terribly bored, as if nothing had happened. 

“How… how…”

<I’m a Very Amazing Dog, you could say.>

————

A week passed; Ludwig counted, as he always valued timekeeping, no matter what. The other street children left him alone, eyeing him strangely. Occasionally, he heard extortionists threatening some unfortunate soul. 

That was when, however, Lutz told him something vital. 

<Hey. Have you ever considered asking the police if you have any relatives?>

Ludwig looked at the dog, puzzled.

“What?”

Lutz pointed at a building.

<There. It says “POLIZEI”. Can’t you read?>

“...Why? Won’t they throw me in jail or something?”

<Actually they have records too. They might have your mother’s family on file.> 

Lutz looked up to see Ludwig’s dumbfounded face staring back at him. 

“...Why didn’t you tell me that, you mutt?!”

<Thought it would be interesting to observe you. Also don’t be too loud. Everyone will think you’re a crazy person. 

Ludwig took a look around, and indeed there were some passerbys staring at him. 

Ludwig loudly sighed, his palm on his face. 

“...Fine. Thanks anyway.”

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

“Your name?”

“Ludwig Beilshmidt.”

The officers looked at him for a few seconds.

“...As in Julia Beilshmidt? General Julia Beilshmidt?”

“Jawohl.”

They were in shock.

“...Excuse me? Is something wrong?”

“Erm… We apologize. Ja.”

“Do I have any relatives? I need some place to stay.”

“...Ja. We will search immediately. Please wait here. But it may take a while.”

————-

“Hallo? Is this the police? Why must you be calling?”

“Well, you see, sir… It appears that a relative of yours has suddenly shown up out of nowhere. ...He claims to be Beilshmidt’s son.”

“...Mein Gott. Julchen did say she had a son… I knew she wasn’t the type who should be able to take care of a child. I will be there as soon as I can.”

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

<This is boring.>

“I know, Lutz. Shut up.”

Lutz yawned.

“He should be here soon-”

It was then that the door to the police station opened with just enough force to be noticeable without slamming. 

Standing there was a dark brown-haired gentleman with a large, curly cowlick, probably in his thirties, most likely affluent from his clothing.

“Excuse me, I hear there was someone waiting for me here?”

Ludwig stood up, and their eyes met.

“Hallo. ...You are Ludwig?”

He adjusted his glasses, then his tie.

“Ja?”

He looked him over.

“Ah, I can see some of the resemblance. Though you’re actually somewhat adorable, unlike her.”

“...Is that an insult against her?”

Realizing his mistake, the man cleared his throat.

“Ah, sorry.”

He outstretched his hand.

“I am Herr Roderich Edelmann. Your mother’s cousin. Nice to meet you. I’ve heard about you, but it is nice being able to see you with my own two eyes.”

Ludwig took the hand, shaking it. 

“Ludwig Beilshmidt. Nice to meet you, Sir.”

Then, suddenly, Roderich’s formal facade dropped and he pulled the boy into a hug.

“You’re so precious! You may call me Onkel Roderich! Don’t worry, we will take great care of you!”

Lutz looked on in amusement as Ludwig’s cries of shock became muffled in the man’s chest. 

Ludwig was flabbergasted. It had been so long since he had been hugged. He only could relive them in his memories, and they weren’t frequent, but here he was, feeling it yet again, surrounded by warmth; he didn’t know how to process it. 

But if there was one emotion he was certain about as the man smoothed his hair and cooed over him, it was that he felt loved.

————-

Ludwig held on tightly as the automobile rocked around them. Roderich didn’t seem to mind it whatsoever, but Ludwig had only heard of an automobile once, and had seen, much less ridden, none. Roderich was happy to make him comfortable next to him though, warning him whenever a bump or “pothole” was coming up. 

“I forgot to ask… what is that dog doing with you? A purebred Fenrir no less?”

Lutz was lazily sprawled out in the back seat behind them, his ears pricking somewhat at the mention of him. 

“Oh, that’s Lutz.”

“...Lutz? As in…”

“Jawohl.”

Roderich looked puzzled. 

“Erm… Mutter named him.”

Roderich huffed.

“Ah, Julchen, of course…”

“He was my last Sancbruma present from her before she died.”

Roderich quieted for a few seconds.

“Oh… I see. We will accommodate him too. Do not worry. ...Also, no need to ‘jawohl’ around me.”

“Jawo… ja.”

—————

Onkel Roderich was a renowned musician; he was a master of many instruments and even knew how to compose, but his main forte was the piano. He was sought after for his talents across the land.  

And he had the house to show it as well. 

“Welcome to your new home, Ludwig.”

Ludwig took it all in; the house was already larger than average compared to others in town, and as a boy who had grown up in a small log cabin all his life, it seemed especially enormous. 

A woman with long, light brown hair came up to them, looking from Roderich to Ludwig. 

“Ah, Erzsébet! This is my nephew, Ludwig. He will be staying with us from now on.”

Roderich bent his knees so he was at Ludwig’s level. 

“Ludwig, this is Erzsébet, my wife.”

“H… hallo. Nice to meet you, Tante Erzsébet.”

Ludwig outstretched his hand. 

The woman merely eyed him for a few seconds.

“Hallo. I guess.”

She said, gruffly, with a distinctly foreign accent.

Roderich sighed. 

“Erzsébet, why do you have to be like this?”

“Why do we have to take in this ratty-looking kid?”

Ludwig scowled. 

“Hey!”

Roderich held Ludwig closer, glaring at her. 

“Erzsébet! He’s a child! Have you no heart?!”

“Fine, fine.”

She shook his hand, roughly. 

“But the dog is cute though. And wow, a Fenrir?! Hallo, come here!”

Lutz merely yawned. 

Ludwig couldn’t help but snicker as an unamused frown crept across Erzsébet’s face. 

“...Whatever. Make yourself at home I guess.”

She walked off. 

“Prepare the bath and extra room for the boy! Come on now!”

Roderich commanded, and soon after servants bowed and quickly ran upstairs in single file. 

“Don’t mind my wife. She wasn’t exactly enthusiastic to hear from you. But she will warm up to you eventually. Though… you are in need of new clothes, aren’t you?”

He gave the boy a once-over, making Ludwig look down to his old, beaten-up and washed out child-sized military uniform. 

“Sadly, we do not have any clothes your size as of now. I will have a servant hire the tailor immediately. Meanwhile I will order them to wash what you have now.”

<He’s awfully happy to see you, isn’t he?>

“Ja… he seems like a nice person.”

————

That might, Ludwig had the best dinner he had ever had. 

He could only marvel at the dishes in front of him; even those he had heard of before looked so refined. And there was so much of it! The variety of bread available was amazing.

But he couldn’t let himself forget his discipline. Even if it took all his willpower not to start gorging himself on everything like he had been possessed by some demon of gluttony. 

“Onkel, what is this?”

“A chocolate torte, you see. A type of cake.”

Ludwig remembered actually having a cake a grand total of once. He still remembered its sweetness so well and it was probably the best thing he ever had eaten. And then there were two other things he had only read about before. 

...And Lutz seemed unusually interested in it.

He couldn’t blame him though, it’s aroma was mesmerizing to Ludwig’s senses.

“Chocolate? Is that what the brown is?”

“You have never had chocolate before?! Mein Gott, Julchen, What have you done?”

Ludwig was quick to take a bite, and he froze. 

The mellow, deep sweetness melted on his tongue, spreading throughout his mouth in such an indescribably perfect way, a tinge of bitterness within that instead of detracting from the experience, somehow harmonized with the sweetness in such a heavenly way. 

“...Ludwig?”

“...It’s amazing.”

Roderich seemed somewhat amused by how floored the boy was. 

“Even your mother was quite a fan.”

<Hey, hey. Kid.>

Ludwig was surprised by the unusual agitation in Lutz’s thoughts. He didn’t think he had ever heard anything like it before. 

“Lutz? What is-“

<I need it. Now. Don’t ask questions!>

Ludwig almost panicked, giving a piece to the impatient dog. 

“Ludwig!”

“I… erm… It was unfair to have it to myself!”

“...Wasn’t chocolate poisonous to dogs?”

Erzsébet questioned. 

“Wait wha-“

<Don’t worry. ... Ahh, bliss...>

Ludwig smiled nervously. 

“He’ll be fine.”

The couple just stared, confused. 

“Erm…”

“Trust me! I know him well. ...Can I have more? Please?”

“Absolutely.”

His face absolutely lit up at that, and in the corner of his vision Ludwig saw quite possibly the most genuine expression of joy he had seen from Lutz in all the time he knew him. 

“Why’s it that everyone in your family loves chocolate so much?”

Erzsébet asked as her husband took another piece. 

“Why don’t you is the better question.”

“...Actually, yup, you two definitely are related. Leave some for me though!”

————

Roderich doted on the boy; he made sure he had the nicest clothes and the nicest food that he could afford. 

He had made sure the room was in absolute best condition, that his pillows were always fluffed and bed always made, even if Ludwig insisted he wanted to do it on his own. 

He taught him everything about the basics of civilization, how to read more complex sentences, how to play the piano and the violin, even how to dance. He took him with him to work, across the city and sometimes even country to places he had at best read about and to meet so many new people.

His next Sanctbruma and 12th birthday were the most extravagant he had ever had. 

Yet…

Yet something was missing. 

Despite the man’s kindness, he felt something wasn’t right. Ludwig couldn’t put a finger on what, and he felt awful about it to be sure; he did so much for him, what more could a boy ask for?

But yet…

Sure, Erzsébet never completely warmed up to him; even if she wasn’t as cold to him, according to Lutz she was merely tolerating him. And the same was true for many of the servants. 

But that didn’t change the fact that Roderich himself was nothing but loving towards him. Even if he had curfews and other such rules, he never had trouble with rules. His mother raised him to obey rules. And while he was often busy, he still tried his best to spend time with him.

Finally, he actually had someone who resembled a parent after all those years. He should have been thankful. 

But he wasn’t doing anything wrong. 

Someone had to be doing something wrong. 

At times, he still lay awake at night, those lonely days and nights and that fateful Sanctbruma playing back in his mind; as well as the accompanying emotions of pure hatred and wrath. 

Once, Roderich has entered the room at an inopportune time to Ludwig curled up in his bed, seething, growling at him to leave him alone. 

While he didn’t say anything about it at dinner, it was obvious he was disturbed by it. 

“...Lutz. Why can’t I be happy? I still feel alone, but I don’t even know why.”

<Maybe you’ve been alone for too long. You’re past the point of return, kid. Maybe you should come to peace with it.>

“At least I have you.”

<Whatever.>

———

“Ludwig.”

“Ja, Onkel Roderich?”

The man sighed.

“It has been over a year since you started living with us. What is it with your standoffish behavior? Is something wrong? I will listen to it.”

“...I just can’t, Onkel.”

“Excuse me?”

“I… Something just doesn’t feel right. I don’t know why.”

The man looked so disappointed.

“I try my best to make you happy, Ludwig. I really do. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to satisfy your needs.”

“Nein. It isn’t that.”

Roderich shook his head.

“As I was saying… the chords for this piece are…”

—————

Ludwig continued to do his practice drills whenever possible, even if they had taken a different shape; makeshift targets became proper shooting galleries, improvised exercises became possible using an open space between buildings and proper equipment. And as he grew more and more by the day, his physical abilities took leaps and bounds above what he had been capable of before. He just wished he could go more than weekly. At first, Roderich objected, but it didn’t take long for him to cave in. 

After all, he had to keep himself in shape, especially as he now had access to all the candy and chocolate that could be plausibly afforded. 

After a while, Roderich started to continuously try to ask him to consider other options in this weekly time slot. He was never too forceful, however. And after a while, as Ludwig expressed his clear annoyance, it finally ceased just as it had begun. 

There was another episode that irked Ludwig.

One night, as he went to get a glass of water, he had seen Roderich, seemingly sneaking away from his room. 

“...Onkel?”

The man bristled as soon as he turned on the lights. 

“Erm… Ludwig, I didn’t expect you to be awake..

Then, Ludwig saw it. 

In his hands was his mother’s necklace. 

“...What are you doing with Mutter’s necklace?”

He immediately stuffed it inside his pocket and turned around, a fake smile on his face. 

“What necklace, my dear Ludwig?”

“I know you’re hiding it.”

The man sighed, taking it back out again. 

“I… I wanted to put it in a place it will be safer in.”

Ludwig tried not to grill him further, even as he felt something fueled by doubt start to boil within him. 

“I’m sure it will be safe with me. It’s been so for all the years I’ve had it. Can I have it back now?”

“...Ja.”

Ludwig swiftly took it back, going down to get his glass. He really needed one. 

“You could tell a servant to get it for you?”

“No. I prefer to do it on my own.”

When Ludwig had returned to his room, he had quite the things to say to Lutz. 

“Lutz. Why did you let him take it?”

<I was sleepy, kid. Why do you care about that thing so much?>

“It’s from Mutter. You should know. ...Lutz. If anything, protect this with your life.”

<Oh come on now.>

“I’m serious. It’ll be the last thing I ask of you.”

<Alright, alright. Whatever.>

“You aren’t sincere, are you?”

<What do you want from me? Good night.>

——————

One day, as Ludwig overheard some servants speaking to each other in hushed voices, glancing at him every so often. 

He was able to catch two things; “Miss Erzsébet” and “barren”.

He wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. But for whatever reason he didn’t like the sound of it. 

That night, after some shouting, once again Roderich stormed out of the master bedroom, telling Erzsébet to “Get a hold of yourself already, you indecipherable woman!”, to his own separate room, as Erzsébet shouted some words back that sounded really angry and probably inappropriate. 

<There goes the lovely couple.>

Lutz thought, as Ludwig tried to sleep. Lutz, meanwhile, had no trouble. 

————

13-year-old Ludwig stood outside of the bar, alongside Lutz, as always, and other members of his gang. 

It was in a seedy, rough part of town. And it was where their rival gang frequented most often. 

It wasn’t the most well-to-do of bars, to say the least; as soon as they entered, the air smelt pungently of alcohol, and ambiently of various nasties. 

<Ergh. Try coming here as a dog.>

They immediately saw their target; the offending gang’s leader. 

Their leader went up to confront her rival, fists clearly ready to fly. 

“Hey! We know ya killed him!”

“Who?”

The rival boss said, with a cheeky grin. 

“Ya know who!”

The two continued to escalate their argument, until they became close to blows.

“Enough yammerin’! Get ‘em, boys n’ girls!”

Suddenly, they were grabbed by the rival gang bangers, including Ludwig, who held back a yelp. 

“We didn’t kill one of yer ratpack, asshole! Now get out or we’re gonna force ya out!”

“...You better tell us.”

Ludwig said, tersely, utilizing his now lowering voice and copying his mother’s tone. 

The rival boss laughed.

“Or what, kid? What are ya gonna do, huh? Man your recruiting standards have gone down!”

His boss smirked. 

“Ya better listen to the kid.”

“Or what?”

They laughed uproariously. 

“Lutz. Restrain.”

Their laughing instantly stopped, their faces going sheet white, all the other bar patrons, the bartender, and staff turning to gawk. 

For they bore witness to the gang boss being pinned down, on the floor, between the claws of a giant, terrifying hellhound, its eyes glowing, its fangs bared, its breath in the unfortunate gangster’s terrified face. 

Ludwig walked up to the rival boss with measured steps, the gangsters holding him having let go out of sheer terror, the thumping of his feet the only sounds other than his companion’s breathing and the squeaks and sputtering from bystanders and rival gangsters, and pulled out his old pistol, aiming it at the thug’s head, glaring daggers so sharp that they could gouge eyes out. 

Show your enemy no mercy.

Once again, he thought he felt his mother voice in his ear. 

“Tell us the truth.”

The rival boss sputtered, shaking like a leaf, looking awfully smaller than the much younger boy. 

“We… we… d-d-di…”

Ludwig cocked his pistol.

“Speak in a real language!”

The rival boss flinched, and the rest of the rival gang huddled, terrified. 

“W-we didn’t do anything! I-I swear! I swear!”

Ludwig lowered his pistol slightly. 

“...Really?”

“J-ja! I swear! I swear by both the Heavenly and Hellish Yards! P-p-please let me go, Sir!”

“...Alright. Lutz, release.”

The dog shrank back down to size, returning to his original, fluffy, cute self. 

His boss grumbled. 

“Whoop. That was pointless. Lud, let’s get outta this dump.”

They turned to leave, the other people in the bar still staring at them. 

“W-Wait.”

Ludwig and his boss turned back to the humiliated rival boss. 

“We might’ve not killed ‘im. But I-I have a good idea who might’ve.”

———-

“So, Lud. Good job today. We’ve got ourselves a lead.”

“Jawohl.”

Their boss patted Ludwig on the head and gave the group a once-over. 

“Ok. You’re all dismissed.”

Ludwig was quick to leave, the others staring after him.

“What’s it with him? I swear, it’s like he doesn’t wanna be associated with us.”

“He said something about a curfew.”

“Really? Kid still follows curfews? What is he, 10?”

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

When Ludwig came back, Roderich was waiting for him. 

“Ludwig.”

“Onkel Roderich?”

Roderich’s expression was serious and stern. 

“...What have you been doing?”

“What do you mean, Onkel Roderich?”

Roderich held Ludwig’s shoulders. 

“Let me state this plainly.”

He took a deep breath. 

“You’re involved in gang activity, aren’t you?”

 Ludwig was in shock.

“How…”

Roderich shook his head, his hand on his forehead. 

“Ludwig. I am sure even Julchen taught you to obey rules.”

“I… I don’t want to depend on you for everything. I feel like a leech.”

Roderich was shocked.

“You’re only 13, Ludwig! It is alright! It isn’t worth putting yourself at risk like this!”

“I don’t know how to do anything else.”

Roderich shook his head.

“Don’t say that. You could deliver newspapers, or use those piano skills I taught you-“

“And they’re my friends.”

“Friends?! I care for you, why do you need them?! Do you even know any of their names?!”

“...” 

“You’re going to get into trouble eventually, young man.”

“I… I know!”

Roderich flinched. 

Ludwig looked down and stormed back into the house, Lutz running behind him, into his room, throwing himself onto his bed. 

“Hmph, teenagers...”

Erzsébet mumbled. 

—————-

“Ludwig?”

Roderich opened the door to Ludwig’s room that night, peeking in.

Ludwig couldn’t bare to look him in the eye. 

“I’m sorry.”

Roderich sighed.

“Is it because I’m not Julchen?”

The boy felt a pang of guilt. 

“I’m sorry! I don’t hate you, I’m thankful for what you’ve done, and-”

“I see. Just try to forget about her, alright?”

Ludwig froze. He felt like someone had stabbed his heart. 

“But…”

“I do so much for you. I give you everything. What was it that she had that I don’t? I’ve been a far better parent than that stone-hearted, cruel, cold-”

<Oh no. You’ve done it now.>

“DON’T SAY THAT ABOUT MY MUTTER!”

His voice cracked terribly, but he didn’t care. 

Roderich stumbled back, his face pale, horrified. 

Silence. 

“Ludwig… I’m sorry.”

Ludwig buried his face into his pillows. 

“...I’ll tell the servants to bring you dinner. I’m sorry. I really am.”

“Leave me alone!”

“...I’m happy with any path you want to take. Just please stay safe.”

Roderich sighed and closed the door. 

From that day on, Roderich started informing Ludwig of where police may find him, and locations of stations across the city. Anything for his safety, he had said. 

But from that day on Ludwig knew; he knew that his suspicions were true, that all this time he was trying to make him forget about his mother. He couldn’t let that happen. It was only confirmation when he heard him brutally disparage her one night in a drunken stupor during one of his binge-drinking sessions.

Once again, Ludwig could trust no one.

And once again, wrath simmered within him.

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

Their boss summoned Ludwig and the rest of the gang to a gathering; to sort out their clues, they had said. 

Ludwig was appreciated for his abilities; but outside of the action, he sat somewhat removed from the rest. He couldn’t connect with them much either. 

His mother had despised lawbreakers; “scum”, “rats”, she would call them. If she knew what he was doing now, she would have caned his palms until they were raw and bleeding. She would have told him he was better than this. He never would have imagined he could stoop this low too. After all, he was his mother’s only son. He should have been destined for greatness.

Quite honestly, he didn’t fully understand what he was doing here either. How did he even get here? Was it just a business affair? Were they really his friends? 

Maybe it was because this was the closest thing to military service he could find. Even if it were on the other side of the law. 

A girl a year or so older than him, the second youngest in the gang, came up to him attempting to speak to him. Ludwig hesitated, but in the end continued to be fascinated with the clues they had and Lutz. 

“Hey give up on Herr Stick-In-The-Mud already! Bet he’s never even kissed a girl!”

A gangster said, using the nickname they often used when ribbing him.

“What’s with him? He to good for us?” One of them muttered when Ludwig refused a drink.  

“Ja. Imagine being one of us and caring about drinking ages. Never can understand Herr Stick-In-The-Mud.”

“Ja. Where was he raised, His Majesty’s Elite Imperial Barracks?”

“Hey, hey, did you hear that Boss might have the hots for him too?”

“Why don’t you fuckwits shut the fuck up?” Their boss barked at the last one. “The kid’s basically an infant!”

<You’re the most rule-bound gangster I’ve ever seen.>

“Why do they treat it as a bad thing?”

<You’re the one who joined a street gang, genius. They’ve got different rules.>

Ludwig looked at the bottle of cheap moonshine he had been offered again, sighed, and took a gulp. 

He immediately gagged. 

The last time he’d had booze was when Roderich had allowed him to try beer, and even then he had basically diluted half of it with water and it definitely didn’t taste like... whatever this bottle of horse urine was. 

“Ack! This is awful! ...I did it, are you happy now?”

“That’s the spirit!”

“Doesn’t count! He gagged!”

Ludwig took a deep breath.

“Let’s get back on topic. We are discussing the murder of a fellow comrade. This is no time for inane chatter.”

Finally, the air became solemn.

“Ja, reasonable, I guess…”

“Now, onto the information Scout 2 gathered...”

—————-

Ludwig, more than anything, considered himself a logical person. 

He and his mother both despised vagueness. It seemed pointless, really, all the dancing around the true meaning of your words in the name of “politeness”. While apparently many in this part of the continent were considered similarly blunt and practical, it seemed even then he was exceptional. 

So his own emotional turmoil, how he could never seem to explain himself, frustrated him more than anyone else. It angered him. 

But one thing he knew for sure was that he looked forward to stopping by the library on the way home. Thank goodness Roderich had taught him to read to a level more appropriate for his age; it was difficult at first, but he was also fortunately a fast learner. 

He always had taken a fascination with the sciences. They were at first glance unpredictable, but once broken down and observed, logical. They made sense, they were rational. Recently, he started finding them more investing than fiction, in fact. And his new reading skills finally made the higher levels of it beyond simplistic drawings attempting to explain the laws of physics and magic accessible.

Which was why today he sat outside the library in his usual spot, looking through a medical encyclopedia, munching on one of many bars of dark chocolate and a small loaf of bread.

Lutz licked up pieces of chocolate Ludwig had given him, peeking from under him.

“HERS?”

<Hereditary Evil Raiser Syndrome.>

Ludwig looked to Lutz in shock. 

<A rare genetic, psychiatric disorder with no known cause. Those afflicted by Hereditary Evil Raiser Syndrome, a Hereditary Evil Raiser, or HER, is said to be at their core an incarnation of malice, "programmed" to destroy the gods, everything they created and everything related to them. Therefore, as a natural prerequisite, they typically show extreme cruelty and having the compulsion to increase their own kind and ensure the continuation of their "mission" to spread malice by any means necessary, taking immense pleasure in doing so. Currently there is no known cure, though in high-functioning individuals it may be managed, and manifest in lesser ways.>

“How…”

<I have my ways.>

“Though… Hereditary Evil Raiser Syndrome? Who names this stuff?”

<Hey. They probably had their reasons.>

“Why do you care? Did you come up with it?”

<Maybe. Plus, that’s rich coming from the kid who literally named me “Blackie”.>

Ludwig sighed. 

“I... Fine. And wait... are you reading with me?”

<Yeah, I can read. I never told you?>

Ludwig continue to stare at him.

“I... I just didn’t think you would...”

<Turn the page already. I already know this.>

"Maybe you could try reading a novel, Lutz?”

<Don’t care. Why should I care about what you flesh-apes think, much less fake ones? No one in the world knows what I’m thinking anyway.> 

Ludwig closed the encyclopedia. 

“You mean you feel that no one understands you, right?”

Lutz looked up, his ears erect.

His words struck him like a spark of lightning. 

“That makes two of us”

An awkward few moments passed. For once in his life, Lutz had nothing to retort back. 

Why was he so shocked? 

Ludwig blinked, confused. 

“Lutz? What’s wrong?”

<...Nothing.>

Lutz didn’t know what he had just felt. 

“That makes two of us”

It should have meant nothing, coming from this brat. 

But yet...

Whatever. It probably still meant nothing.

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

“We’ve got our guy! Rich bastard’s not gonna know what hit ‘im.”

Their boss said, confidently, gesturing to an assassin she had bought into their abandoned factory hideout. 

The assassin looked across the crowd of gangsters.

“So. Which one of you brats wants to come?”

“Actually, we’ve got a good clue already for who’s gonna be a good fit for this mission.”

Ludwig waited, anxiously. He would gladly take the job of avenging his fallen comrade, of course. 

“Ludwig!”

Ludwig stood to attention.

“...You’ll be providing nice clothes for us to blend in!”

Ludwig was speechless.

“How… Why?”

<Turns out you aren’t as tough as you thought. Better luck next time, kid.>

But when all had left, he went up to his boss. He needed answers.

“Why am I excluded?”

She looked at him as if he was stupid.

“I don’t think ‘Giant Enemy Dog’ is a viable weapon to use on a cruise ship.”

“But… I can shoot well too! You said I was a great marksman!”

“You’re good. Gotta say that. Still, don’t know about your skills in stealth yet. Can’t risk it. Now, see ya.”

Then, she abruptly cut him off and left.

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

Three days later, Ludwig and the rest of the gang not chosen for the plot awaited at the dock. 

Soon, they spotted the assassination party, coming towards them. 

One person was clearly missing. 

“Hey! Boss! ...Boss? And where’s...”

Her face was dire.

“Shot dead. ...He spotted us.”

“He saw all our faces. All of you are fucked. We’re all fucked.”

More silence.

“...WHAT?!”

Silence immediately gave way to panic.

Ludwig stood, frozen.

“How… Why…”

He clutched his head, overwhelmed.

“But it can’t…”

Emotions swirled inside the boy, overpowering all of his senses, all of his thoughts. 

What was going to happen to him? His friends? 

“No, no, no, nonononononono…”

<You know what to do, kid.>

Suddenly, he bolted. 

Along the harbor, he ran. 

Then, in a burst of emotion and without much thought, as if on instinct, he acted immediately as Lutz took a running leap into the sea. 

“SIC ‘EM, LUTZ!”

He didn’t even bother with the telepathy. 

Everyone could only look on in shock and horror as Lutz became an utter behemoth of a beast, seemingly not completely solid and with a godlike glow, his tail alone twice the size of the ship; to those who were watching from afar, it would have looked as if a demon dog had risen out of the sea itself. 

The ship was no match for the beast. Before anyone could fully comprehend what was going on, the ship had been sunk, every single person on it with it.

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

Ludwig walked back to the gang, who all stood staring at him, utterly horrified.

Finally, someone broke the silence.

“...Holy shit.”

Another turned to him, their eyes wide.

“...Lud? Did you just…”. 

The boy’s mind was blank. What could he even say?

He had killed all of them. Every single one of them.

But in the end...

“Mission accomplished…?”

“Am I trippin’?”

“Did we just witness a massacre?”

“...What the fuck?”

Ludwig took a deep breath.

“But we accomplished our mission. ...I did what I had to do.”

“Ja, but… Holy shit.”

“In anyway…”

Their boss cleared her throat.

“Let’s… Let’s go with this loot before the cops find out.”

The rest could only muster a “Ja” in unison.

Lutz trotted up to Ludwig, as unbothered as always.

“Lutz…”

<Just did as I was told. Don’t complain to me. Here.>

In the dog’s jaws was a doll; an eerily faceless, unusual, porcelain-ish doll of indeterminable gender.

<Here. I brought a present.>

“What is…”

<Have it. Since I can’t give you Sancbruma presents, here it is, months early.>

“It’s… it’s probably from a dead child, Lutz!”

<Don’t be ungrateful. Oh, and your buddies are waiting. You should go.>

“...Ja. I did what I had to do. We killed him. That’s all that should matter…”

————-

The news of the shipwreck was all over the radio. They had listened to it in their hideout, huddled around the device. 

“The perpetrator is currently unknown. However, many claim to have heard the voice of a boy or young man scream for the dog to attack…”

————-

When Ludwig came home, Roderich was standing in front of the door, in shock. 

“Ludwig…”

“Onkel?”

“...It was you wasn’t it?”

Ludwig looked down to his feet. 

“Lutz, specifically…”

<Hey.>

Roderich pulled him into a protective embrace. 

“You could have put yourself in so much danger! What if the police find out about you?! Don’t you dare do that again.”

"...”

Roderich pulled him in. 

“Now, come in before someone recognizes you.”

—————

Roderich rarely ever let him join the rest of the gang since that day; it was too dangerous, he had said. 

He went out in mostly in a dark hood for a disguise, at times without Lutz, for over the radio, one expert had identified the beast as “a black Fenrir transformed with powerful magic.” 

Later that year, a month before Sancbruma and two months before his 14th birthday, he had heard something unusual. 

<Ludwig… Ludwig…>

“Huh?”

Telepathy. But Lutz wasn’t with him; it came from the doll in his bag. 

Ever since that fateful day, Lutz had told him to carry it for some vague reason he couldn’t understand; his alleged simple explanation was “It’s amusing to see you carry around a girly doll like that.”

<Ludwig...>

He took the bag off his back and looked in.

<Someone is after you. You have been found out. You must run.>

“What?! How do you…”

<Do not ask. Please, please run… you must.> 

He slung it back over his shoulder.

“Lutz!”

He had to get Lutz. Now. 

But by the time he had gotten home, it was too late. 

“No, Sir, he is not here. You will not find him here…”

“There he is!”

Two figures stood with Roderich; two figures he didn’t recognize. 

A tanned, sturdy-looking man in a black suit, probably from the south of the continent, turned his attention away from Roderich, and pointed at Ludwig, gun in hand. 

“Ludwig Beildshmidt! You are under arrest!”

Ludwig’s eyes widened. Emotions and stress once again blitzed through him. 

“Lutz! Restrain! ...Lutz? Lutz?!”

His eyes darted next to the man to the other figure, what Ludwig thought to be a long-haired, somewhat tall foreign woman in eastern attire, her dark, raven hair pulled back into a ponytail; seemingly holding Lutz back without touching the dog, but clearly struggling. 

“Hurry!”

She shouted, in a foreign accent Ludwig didn’t recognize. 

Ludwig bolted. 

“Don’t you dare, you-“

“Herr Edelmann! Stop, or you will be arrested as well for interfering with police procedure!”

“Don’t touch him!”

The mysterious man finally shoved the weaker-looking man off him and gave chase, but Roderich grappling with him had given him some extra time...

“Ludwig! RUN! RUN!”

But before Ludwig could escape, all of a sudden he was blindsided by a third person, jumping on his back and pinning him down, the boy’s small body no match for the adult. 

“LUDWIG!”

“Let me go, LET ME GO!”

That was the last thing he remembered saying before he had been slammed on the back of the head. 

Ludwig blacked out.

To be continued in part 2...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Author’s notes:

So I had to split this thing in half since it became much longer than I expected. Wow this is a monster. You will see the parts listed here after I write them. Parts, because this will have two different routes! Hopefully! Then again it seems like no one read this... 

Also, the scene with the sea is even more ambiguous “canon” in this already ambiguously “canon” story, but I wanted to write it in because I liked it, having seen the idea that Prussia has some kind of connection to the sea before and liking it. I wish I could find it now. I think Alt-Prussia would have grown up with the sea when he was younger, and while he would stay very strictly a land fighter (in fact the Prussian navy was never all that good, being mostly a merchant fleet. Even the German navy, while it did go through a growth period in the 1880s in competition with Britain I believe, by WWII at least their Kriegsmarine kind of sucked. It’s why the invasion of Britain never happened, their navy would have been laughably curbstomped), and I still associate England, Netherlands, or Portugal way more with the ocean, maybe the North Sea has some kind of soothing effect on him. 

Also adorable child!Germany is adorable. Why do I love this kid so much? Why is he so damn cute?!

[composereggwrites]

Love will not break your Heart (but dismiss your Fears)

Chapter 1: Plant Your Hope with Good Seeds

Fandom: The Magnus Archives

Rating: T

Characters/Ships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims, Georgie Barker/Melanie King, Alice “Daisy” Tonner/Basira Hussain, Gerard Keay, Gertrude Robinson

Additional: Reincarnation AU, Soul Bond, Team as Family, Autistic Jon, Post-Canon Fix-it, Childhood Friends, Hurt/Comfort

They stand in the Panopticon, fire raining down from the sky, as the Eye stares down at them.

Jon takes Martin’s hand in his.

Jonathan Barker-King wakes up and goes to class. He works under Gertrude’s rule at the university archives, and subs in when his coworkers at the library, Sasha and Tim, are out sick.

It’s on one such day that he reconnects with his old childhood friend. The one he hasn’t seen in 11 years, ever since their houses burned down. Martin Hussain-Tonner.

An Undone-Apocalypse reincarnation AU.

Ao3 or Below!

Jonathan Sims Barker-King sits at the checkout desk of Oxford University, and curses the flu for taking out both Tim and Sasha in the same week. Abandoning him to cover their shifts, when he should be down in the archives today, learning the ropes from Gertrude.

It’s not a hard job. Arguably, working in the archives is harder. But it’s also midterms season, and that means dealing with an influx of students who’ve realized they need to actually study, and he’s running this place short-staffed.

There’s a lull around 4:30pm, and he breathes a sigh of relief as it hits. The 4pm rush is typically the last of the day. No more beeping of the scanner, no more arguing with patrons about the fines they’ve accrued, and no more dealing with the incompetent people who don’t even know how to use a basic search function.

Maybe now he can work on his own homework. He’s got two essays and a test to study for, after all.

Just as he’s settling into the flow, typing the words into the document at a decent pace, someone approaches the desk once again.

“What do you need?” he snaps, most of the sharp edge tempered down with years of practice, before looking up.

The person who stands before him is easily 6’5, with wavy ginger hair, round glasses, and is absolutely built like a bear. But more importantly–

“Jon? Is that you?” he asks, grin on his face and light dancing in his eyes.

Jon laughs, still staring. “Y–Yeah. Holy–” he bites his tongue, no swearing on the job. “Martin? When the hell did you get so tall?”

Martin Blackwood Hussain-Tonner rubs the back of his head, laughing too. “Oh, you know. Hit a couple growth-spurts as a teen. Fifteen, sixteen, really shot up like a tree. What about you though? You’re so…”

“It’s alright, you can say small,” he says with a roll of his eyes. “Unlike some people, I didn’t get height genes from my mysterious spawners. Mum still delights in being able to pick me up.”

“Oh I’m sure. She was absolutely fearless, wasn’t she?” Martin asks, and Jon nods.

“It’s almost terrifying at times. I mean, I’m 23, and she comes swooping in and carrying me around like it’s nothing.” His brain presents him with a mental image of Martin doing this, like he is now, and then he shoves that thought into a dark, locked box. Nope, not doing that.

Jon almost keeps talking, but some of the students with books piled higher than their heads are starting to glare, so he sighs. “I’m still on shift for another hour, but we should catch up, yeah? It’s been ages.”

Martin nods. “Sure! There’s a nice cafe on campus that we could go to, not too far from here, and I’m free tonight.”

He smiles. “I think I know the one. Sounds good to me. Meet you there?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

___

It takes three years to find them.

Daisy and Basira chose to look for Martin, while Georgie and Melanie search for Jon. Because these foolish boys decided to stop the apocalypse together, and die together.

They’d left a tape behind, of course. Static layered over the words.

“We’re going to do something. If you’re hearing this, I’m going to assume it worked,” Jon had said. “We’re undoing the apocalypse. Both Martin and I.”

“The thing is,” Martin said, false-confidence in his bold voice, only a hint of a waver, “We’re not making it out of this… Well, not alive. Not how we are now, at least. But it’s okay! We’ll be coming back.”

Then Jon again, slipping into a neutral voice, steady as he explains. “Time is going to get a bit weirder than normal, and this is going to open the door for a lot of people to get second chances. Anyone touched by an Entity who stays alive will still remember everything that happened, but for the rest of the world… It’ll be like a mass hallucination.”

“You don’t need to find us,” Martin murmurs, softer now. “But… You can if you want. Jon doesn’t think we’ll remember anything. Definitely not at first, maybe not ever. We’re just going to be little kids, after all.”

“Take care of yourselves, alright? Georgie. Melanie. Daisy. Basira. This is a chance for freedom for all of you, too. We’re burning that wretched institute to the ground, with Jonah inside of it, and getting out.” Jon sighs, a hint of compassion leaking into his voice. Such a struggle for The Archivist to feel anything, and yet he feels more than ever, nowadays.

“Be safe, all of you. Maybe we’ll meet again someday.”

After a bit of debate, Melanie had scoffed and said, “Obviously we’re gonna find those idiots. If we don’t, then Jude’ll hunt them down and burn them or somethin’. Might as well make sure that don’t happen.”

Easier said than done, of course. Daisy had managed to track down Martin a couple months ago, using some of the Hunt, before diving into a few rounds of Halo to shake the rest of the energy off. (That had been Basira’s idea, what better way to channel the Hunt than through violent video-games?)

Stepping into this orphanage, at first Georgie thinks it’ll be no different. It’s not a bad place, pristine and clean, but there’s no soul. Just another cluster of kids, too alone and small, who need homes that they can’t give.

Until she spots a child with too-big too-familiar eyes staring at them.

When they make eye-contact, the kid stands, and stumbles closer. She kneels down, and this child states, matter-of-fact, “You’re looking for me.”

“Oh, are we now?” she asks, raising an eyebrow. “What’s your name, then?”

“Jonathan. They don’t call me that, they call me a girly name. But I’m Jon.” There’s a hard edge, determination, as if prepared for anything but acceptance.

“Of course you’re Jon,” Melanie says, careful to kneel, careful as she reaches out. It takes a moment, but she finds his hair, and ruffles it. Tenderness wiping away the gleam of fear in his eyes. “Why do you think we’re looking for you?”

He leans closer. “I just know. I know things. I’m very smart!” he says, with what’s almost a proud grin.

She laughs, and leans close to Melanie, so she can whisper, “Mels, he’s so small!”

Melanie, predictably, laughs at her, and keeps talking to Jon. “Well, you certainly seem very smart. And you’re right, we have been searching just for you. It might take a bit before you’re able to come home with us, but I think you’re just the one we’ve been looking for, Jon.”

So they sit there, and talk with Jon. Playing games and reading stories with him. It’s not long before he gets tired, and crawls into Georgie’s lap, tuckered out.

She leans against Melanie’s shoulder, as they both relax.

“He’s such a child,” Melanie says, voice low.

“He really is. But I mean, we expected that, yeah? He’s three, if anything, he seems smarter than the average three-year-old.” Georgie says back, still carding her fingers through Jon’s hair. She had thought it’d be weird, seeing her ex-boyfriend/old friend as a child, and it was, a little. But he was so endearing. A little kid, free from the stress he’d been carrying.

“You don’t think…”

She shrugs. “He might be, I don’t know how all that super works. But from the way he was speaking on the tape, I doubt it. Maybe it’s just… After-effects?” Either way, she’s prepared to raise a weird kid. Had been ever since she and Melanie realized they might have a future together (because there’s no way they were going to be raising someone normal).

“I hope that’s all it is.”

Some of the other kids have been watching them. Georgie’s noticed this. Watching as they play, as they hang out with Jon. Maybe it’s just jealousy, maybe it’s not. It makes her hold him closer. Protective anger like acid on her tongue, ready to burn if they try to hurt her boy.

One of them walks closer now, and narrows his eyes at them. He looks to be older, maybe eight or so. “Why would you choose him? He’s weird.”

Melanie scoffs, and Georgie takes her hand, to keep her from fighting an eight-year-old. “Maybe we like him because he’s weird. A better question is why you want to be mean to a three year old, kid.”

“Listen. You don’t have to like him, but we do,” Georgie says, glancing up at him. Skinny, fists clenched and shaking. Scared because every time someone else gets out, he must stay. “Just… Don’t be mad at him, because he’s going to leave and you aren’t. Maybe someone else will like you the way we like him, some day. Being mean to him isn’t going to make that happen sooner.”

It’s a long process, of course. Adoption is complicated. But they manage to pass the inspection, and bring him home. Home to a newly-bought house with three bedrooms, right next door to Daisy, Basira, and Martin.

The look on Jon’s face when he sees his own room, with a ceiling-high bookshelf stocked to the brim, and toys aplenty, is one Georgie will treasure forever.

(She’s made sure that there weren’t any Leitners.)

___  

Martin sits at the cafe, fingers tapping against his leg, grin on his face. The setting sun is shining in from the window to his right, and the soft scent of coffee fills the air.

He’d just seen Jon.

It had been eleven years, and Jon had remembered him.

He sips at his tea as he waits, anxious nerves swelling in his stomach. Which was ridiculous, because this is Jon. They’d been friends ever since Jon had moved in with his moms. Three year olds sitting together and playing with Legos. Jon reading books to him all the time. Going on adventures through their backyards.

They’d both had to move when they were twelve, though, and, in the chaos, had lost contact with each other. Martin hadn’t stopped missing him, even as lonely fog rolled in.

His moms did their best. But it was hard to make friends at school, when his anchor wasn’t there at his side. Cast adrift in a sea of unknown people.

(The pride club in high school helped a lot, but he still felt out of place. Alone even as he had friends to laugh and chat with, even as he started figuring out who he really was).

With his pencil to the paper in front of him, he tries to focus on some of his homework, and not think about Jon.

He ends up with lines of poetry written in the margins of his textbook instead.

When the bell to the cafe rings, he perks up, and grins as Jon walks in. He gives a wave, and Jon smiles and waves back. Once he’s retrieved his own drink, he walks to the table.

“Hey,” he says.

“Hey yourself,” Martin replies.

Silence settles around them, and suddenly it dawns on Martin that he has no idea what to say to someone he hasn’t seen in over a decade. Sure, they’d been friends, but that doesn’t mean their interests are the same.

“So… What’s your major?” Jon asks, and Martin lets out a sigh of relief.

“I’m studying literature right now, actually! All the classics, poetry, you know. I’m considering a few different options, but I figured I might as well study what I’m interested in while I ponder career choices.” He could ramble for hours about some of the things he’s studying, but not right now. “What about you?”

Jon leans back in his chair, and runs a hand through his hair. “I’m actually in a grad program right now. Working on a degree in information sciences with a focus on archival work. I double-majored in the History and English course, along with parapsychology.”

“Parapsychology? That’s the study of weird stuff, yeah? Paranormal events?” Martin asks, leaning forward.

Jon nods, and some of the awkward air slides away. “ESP, ghosts, near-death experiences, and reincarnation. All that fun stuff. It’s really interesting, actually. I did a lot of research on the apocalypse, the one that didn’t happen?” He waits for Martin to nod, before continuing.

“There’s bunches about it. Stories are still being collected. Everyone’s got something to say. I mean, an entire year’s worth of memories? Of events that didn’t happen? I don’t know why more people aren’t fascinated by this!” His hands dance through the air, punctuating his sentences with a flourish. Poetry in motion.

Martin smiles, watching Jon as he starts to ramble, sipping his tea. Jon has always been so full of words and energy, if given some encouragement. Infodumping about whatever has caught his interest now. It used to be books and stories, regaling Martin with the plot.

“I’m not in statement collection, of course,” he says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “I don’t really get to manage those, though I do read them sometimes. Wrote a paper about all the different ways to classify some of the weirder aspects, because events seem to fall into certain categories.”

“That’s really cool! It sounds like you’ve done a lot of research into it, and I’d love to hear more later. You could send me your paper, if you want?” He asks, a tingle running up his spine at the idea of being able to contact Jon whenever.

“O-oh, sure! What’s your email? Or phone number? We should exchange those, yeah?” Jon starts taking out his phone, and Martin does too.

“Sounds like a plan. I’d like to stay in contact this time,” he says with a snort. “No more disappearing for eleven years on me, mister.”

“It’s hardly my fault both our parents decided to move at the same time,” Jon mutters, mock-offended as he plugs his number into Martin’s phone.

“I know. I’m more annoyed that our moms didn’t help us keep in contact. It’s weird, I swear they kept in contact, but I guess I didn’t think to try and get your number, and I know we pretty much ended up on opposite sides of the country.” He shrugs, handing Jon’s phone to him and taking his own back.

He smiles when the text of ^Hello, this is Jon.^ comes through.

“I asked mom once. She told me no. Said it’d be hard, or that it was complicated for some reason. I let the matter drop.” Jon fidgets with one of the napkins, folding and refolding it.

“Maybe I’ll ask my mum about it sometime,” Martin says. “Mom is still kinda busy.”

“She’s still a professional gamer, yeah? I’ve kept up with Miss Daisy’s career.” Jon laughs. “It’s still great watching a fifty? Sixty? Year old lady destroying all the other competitors.”

He laughs, nodding. “Yeah, she’s sixty four now, and still absolutely crushing them. She’s brutal. She’s told me some stories from when she and mum were police, and I gotta say, I think I prefer the gaming.”

“I’ll have to get these stories out of you sometime, I’d be very interested in hearing them.” A grin lights up Jon’s face, and Martin has no doubt that he’ll be able to pull those stories out of Daisy and Basira.

“I’m sure they’d both love to regale you with them.”

All the tension of the room has eased now, as they laugh and joke. Falling back into old patterns so easily. Martin hadn’t been aware of how much he’d missed this until he had it back. Years of withdrawal making it easier to adapt to the empty ache in his chest when Jon wasn’t by his side. Like he didn’t know he’d been living without oxygen, until he could breathe again.

But now Jon’s here. For the first time since he was twelve, his lungs work, and the pain is gone. Gone somewhere, a burden lifted from him.

Maybe he’ll be able to keep it at bay, and keep Jon close, in the coming years.

___

Gertrude Robinson sits in her office, looking over the edge of her computer at the boy who has just walked in. Glasses sit sharp on her face, as she scans him.

Still in his goth phase, with black on black on black, dyed hair, and tattoos peeking out from under his sleeves. Oh-so-familiar, but she doesn’t know if her face is familiar to him yet.

“Can I help you?” she asks, steady and ungiving of an inch.

Gerard stares back at her. No doubt about it then. She’d changed her last name back to what it should properly be, as a signal, just for this. It’d be nice, maybe, to be a woman not so alone with her memories.

“Gertrude?” He raises an eyebrow at her, arms crossed over his chest. “Don’t play dumb with me. Your crotchety old grandma trick doesn’t work as well when you’re barely over thirty.”

She laughs, and leans back. “You’ve caught on then, I see. Good ole’ Gerard Keay.”

“Gerry Delano. I’m not using her last name,” he bites out. “Tell me, what have you been up to here?”

“Oh, this and that. Not much to do in the way of battling the Fears, these days. I hear your friend Jon took care of that for me.” She’d listened to the tapes. Found them hidden away in the ruins of the Institute. The rise and fall of the apocalypse, and Jonah being such a fool. As if he really thought Jonathan Sims wouldn’t find a way to undo the hellscape. The mark of the Lonely was brilliant, but it gave him the key to becoming a savior, not confined to be an Archive.

“They’re still out there, though,” Gerry replies.

She gestures for him to take a seat across from her, and he does. Less stubborn, this life. “Yes, I know. Don’t think I’m unaware of their movements. I’ve been keeping a close eye on the remaining Avatars. I’m not a fool. Jude is still on the move, looking for those two. Mike Crew is still throwing people off buildings–in France, right now I believe. But they’re all weak. Low on power and morals, and there’s not going to be another ritual–not in my lifetime.”

With a shrug, he seems to relent. “I guess. Are you really content, then? To just sit here and work as an–an actual head archivist? For an actual, not-spooky institution?” His words are clipped, not harsh, but pointed.

“Don’t you think I’ve quite earned my rest?” she fires back. “I’m not caught in the Beholding this life, and I’m not involved. Not yet, at least.  Perhaps if the Web decides I need to be pulled back in, I will, but not now.” The Mother of Puppets is not one she can predict, but dancing to its strings is hard to resist. “Besides, it’s not like all my work here is boring. We’re still working on collecting statements from the apocalypse and filing them away.”

“The thing most people still think was a mass hallucination?” He laughs, and steals one of her pens to fiddle with. She’ll let him keep it. This is better than him using her desk as a footrest.

“Everyone wants to tell their story, and it allows me to travel around as much as I like to collect them. It’ll be a whole genre, I expect. A thousand years from now, and everyone will have their favorite stories. There will be fiction invented about it. Maybe some will even get it right.” She smiles, that smile of hers which he’s called bland but terrifying. Equal disinterest in everything, but with her own plot at play. It’s fitting, in a way.

“Well, you have fun with that. I’ll be keeping a lookout for trouble, and I’ll let you know if I see any. But I’m not here to help you with this,” he says, equally blasé.

“No, you’re here because you’ve said you can get Mr. Jonathan Barker-King, your roommate, an in to the archives here. Because you know me. You placed a lot of stakes on the fact that I remembered, didn’t you?” She chuckles. “You were right, for what it’s worth, but that was quite the gamble.”

“Well, if anyone were to remember, it’d be you, Gertrude.” Gerard shrugs, and she has to concede that he makes a point. “You’ll let him have the job, then?”

“Of course. Tell your friend that if he submits and application, he’ll likely get in. It’d be nice to have someone else around with an Eye for the finer details. Now, if you don’t mind, I have work to do.”

Gertrude turns her attention back to the files on her desk, and expects Gerard to show himself out soon.

He lingers at the door, but says nothing more.

[quilleth]

7, 14, 38

Yay! thanks for asking! ^_^

7) Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

“Oh hush up and read you great nuisance! Or I might decide to shove you back in that sarcophagus— puzzle box, map, and all!” Elisabeth snapped, feeling her cheeks warm.

Laughing, Noah held his hands up. “Alright, alright. Let’s not be too hasty here!”  He peered over her shoulder and together, they began reading, quickly getting absorbed in the texts.

That’s from my Mummy 7kpp AU, and it’s one of my favorites because it is the most ridiculous, self indulgent, frivolous things I’ve decided to write. I generally tend to stay within the canon setting and pretty close to canon events, so to write something like a total AU and actually post it is a pretty big accomplishment for me. Plus it just makes me smile

14) What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever come across?

Don’t use adverbs: Adverbs help give people clues as to the tone of a scene and can help with characterization IMO, so I have to disagree with this for the most part. Except for when the advice is tempered by explaining that an adverb like “she ran quickly” isn’t effective when you could use something like “she dashed” or scurried, hurried, sprinted, etc. That’s good advice, but sometimes there just isn’t a replacement verb for an action and sometimes the adverb gives more emphasis.

Don’t use said as a dialogue tag: Sorry not sorry but most people don’t tend to think of speech outside of more common dialogue tags like said.  Said works perfectly well, and other, more unusual dialogue tags break reader immersion IMO.

Write what you know: This is probably a controversial one, but for me, personally, write what you know is a little limiting. I don’t know a fantasy world; I have to create the world building for it to function, and doing that is scary enough, without me worrying that I’m not doing it well enough because it’s not something that I know. At the same time, while I know a lot about historical settings, sometimes those aren’t the right setting for a story whereas that fantasy setting might be.  Or, for example, I have a story I want to write with a trans girl as the main character. I’m not trans, so I don’t know what it would be like to be trans. But I can do some research, and I do know and remember what it was like to be a teenager. So i can write a story where the main character happens to be a trans girl, as long as the story isn’t about her being trans. And if people don’t include characters whose experiences they aren’t familiar with on a personal level, then stories and media diversity won’t continue to grow.  I think it should be more along the lines of write what you’re willing to learn, instead of just stick to what you know.

38) Talk about a review that made your day.

Honestly, every comment I get makes my day! I keep all the kudos and comment emails I get from ao3, and I often come back to my posts here on tumblr and reread the comments and tags people have left, especially when I’m feeling down or not confident with my work and it cheers me up. And I’m always reduced to a happy wiggling gremlin when I get comments and nice tags on things! As for a more specific example: @awaylaughing left a really lovely comment on said Mummy au fic that really cheered me up and made me excited to work on the fic more! because even though it is such a self indulgent thing, it’s nice to know other people might enjoy it too, and it can be disheartening when it feels like you’ve just tossed something into the void with no reaction.

[soaringlanddormitory]

Title: The Risks [1/?]

Summary: A supposedly new head of the family quits his role to make his own gang. It was his choice to make, and this was the path he decided to take.

Word Count:  2756

Notes: 

A bit gorey in a way for like some parts !!

This will most likely be a multi-chapter thing because I noticed that making it one whole story would be too much kjbg this is about Kaoru’s gang, and this chapter will focus on canon characters!! Also his first gang which he wasn’t the leader in [+ his first recruit when he actually became a leader but they break it off quickly]

The next chapters in order will probably be [Masae/Emile - Hanako/Tetsuji - All of them together] !! It could change though jkfdbf Basically they may appear in other chapters but in this order, they’ll be the main focus!!

I hope you guys enjoy the first multi-chapter thing I’ll make !!! <3 <3 Comments are appreciated uwu !!

It wasn’t a surprise that there were Yakuza members even in schools. They could be spotted anywhere, but you wouldn’t be able to identify that they were a part of such a thing. They could be your closest friends, and no person would be able to tell unless they finally open their mouths to reveal the truth.

A horrible truth that was hidden from such a tainted world.

A male caught the attention of the school once he was facing against a grown man. “Who the fuck do you think you are?!” The grown man shouted at the teenager in front of him who only smirked and placed his hands in his pockets. “Brats like you should just die! Thinking that you’re all great just because you’re a fucking kid!”

The younger male closed his eyes, a smirk still plastered on his face. “I think I’m a mere human who has the moral decency to know that women should be treated right.” He insulted the man, before he opened his eyes to glare. “Objectifying a woman is never correct. And saying people like me should just die? That’s such a stupid insult!” He shook his head. “I thought someone looking so angry can do better than that.”

The older man threw a fist at the male and some students gasped or screamed out of worry for their fellow schoolmate. Some even covered their eyes, worried that they’d see a bad injury on his face.

Much to their surprise he dodged the hit, and he dodged all the punches that were supposed to make him bleed. “Try harder than that, sir. this is getting quite boring. I’ll give you 5 more tries before I hit back, got it?”

He lifted up a finger each time the man tried hitting him again, and once all his fingers on his right hand was up, he went close enough to punch the man’s solar plexus hard enough to knock him down. “It’s over.” 

“Atitarn.” Someone called his name and he only turned around before going back to his happy demeanor.

“Oh hello there, Miss Kinokuni.” A large grin appeared on his face and he got a paper handed to him, and he only began sighing. “A warning?”

“Even if you did this to protect a fellow student, violence is prohibited inside school premises.” She gave a cold glare before turning around and walking away again. “You have 2 warnings left before you’ll be suspended, 7 more before you get expelled. Take note of that.”

The male slipped in the paper in the pocket of his shirt before he eyes the girl. She didn’t know it yet, but there would be people who’d be aiming for her. Maybe not this year, or the next... but knowing how the Yakuza is, they’d probably be make her a target. She was from a rich clan, and she would be the new head in a couple of years.

He folded his arms before observing her stance, whispering to himself. “I do respect you with my entire being, but I might not be there if they finally aim for you.” He gritted his teeth. “My father wouldn’t allow me to protect a schoolmate or risk our name for this. Hopefully any other Yakuza family will be able to protect you.”

“Kaoru!” A familiar voice was calling his name and he instantly turned around to see a male who he was pretty close to. “You were talking to yourself... Are you mad at Nene for giving you a slip.” He asks, a bit worried. “Please don’t be, she’s only doing her job as a Student Council member.”

“Sir Isshiki, you’ve got it wrong. I was only talking to myself, no worries. No hate, I swear.” He smiled at the fellow student before he flicked his forehead. “I’d never look at a woman with hate... At least I hope I don’t.” 

He was also worried that this person may be a victim for a quite similar reason as the girl he was thinking about. He might have been hard to aim for, since he did seem like he was hiding something- a talent. But he couldn’t help but overthink about the situation.

He didn’t want any of them to be hurt.

This scenario? Happened years ago back in middle school.

“Kaoru.” A male with dark hair and green eyes called out to him. He was quite similar in terms of appearance, but he looked much more strict. His eyes were filled with worry despite how he was expressing it.

“Yes, dad?” Kaoru looked up from the gun he wielded. He was cleaning it up after an incident he was in. He shot a couple of people dead together with “Contanti” and “Dragon”. His father got the gun from his son and it only made him a bit surprised by his gesture. “What do you want to tell me?”

“I respect your decision. You know that well.” 

“I do, dad.”

“But I still want you to be careful. Even if you cut off your ties with our own family Yakuza gang, I hope you know making one yourself is much more dangerous.” He paused, before continuing. “You’re going to be a leader, everyone is going to aim for your head. One mistake could kill you, son.”

Kaoru became quiet for a moment and the last word did hurt him a lot. He was the only child of his mother and father, and they were always so protective over him. “I know the risks, dad. But I want to gain my own name with mother’s, since Chankul is known around the whole Thailand and even Japan.” He grinned a bit. “Plus, I’ve got the talent of the most amazing man in the world, I’ll survive.”

His father hid the tears really well, but he was definitely proud of him. “I believe in those words. Be sure to drop a message every week.” He handed back the gun to his son. “Be sure to shoot those fuckers dead.”

“Yes, I will.” He laughed a bit before winking. “I’ll make sure that they’re down before they even lift their gun at me.” 

“You better.” His dad playfully slapped his back and there was a woman’s voice ringing in both of their ears.

“Sakda, Kaoru. It’s time to eat dinner.” She peeped from the door, her gold eyes filled with tears and her silver hair all messed up in a bun. “We should be sure to have a feast before our little boy starts his little life by... by...!”

“Mom, please don’t cry over this...” Kaoru smiles sadly as he approached his mother. “I’m going to be renting a little house for now, I’d not immediately start this whole life yet with a single finger. Contanti and Dragon wouldn’t be down to kill every single say, you know?”

“But you’re in high school!” Her mother yelped. “The last year of high school! You’re still a minor in my heart and knowing that you’re growing up so fast-!”

“Mom...” He knew he’d miss her. He knew he’d miss the dinner she’s make every day. The smile she had the moment he came home and the sweet hugs she gave every time it was time for him to go to his bed.

In the house he rented, he wouldn’t be able to have these, and he’ll miss that. 

“I’ll be okay.”

His mom hugged him tightly and began crying on her son’s shoulder and his dad finally allowed himself to cry and he patted the back of Kaoru, sadness yet happiness in his tears at the same time.

He’d miss his dad giving him playful remarks and the tiny bickers he has with him He’d not see the grin on his face every time he lifted up a test result. He’d not hear the loud voice of his father, telling the world he had the best son in the world.

Kaoru gave up, he couldn’t handle it. A smile was present on his face and he began crying with his parents. “I love you so much, but I’ll come back... I’ll make you both proud.”

There was a trio in an empty house and they were drinking different things. One was drinking coffee, another was drinking tea and the last was drinking whiskey.

Yesterday, they were able to perfect practice and eliminate 20 people inside the most wanted criminals. They decided to celebrate with a tiny party of drinks and a couple rounds of gambling.

“Are we going to do anything today, Kaoru?” 

“No. I think Eizan doesn’t want to deal with you right now.”

“I don’t want to deal with him either! Why can’t we like... you know, shoot people together? Without that...” He went closer to whisper. “Greedy Shit.”

“I heard that, you midget.”

“Hey... What the fuck did you say?!”

Kaoru was currently sitting on a chair, and he sipped his tea while the other two were glaring at each other. “I know you two hate each other, but we’re practicing to be leaders all together.” He sighed. “Shoot each other once we’re done with our training.”

Right before they could draw out their gun at each other, the male who tried to deal things peacefully already stole it from them. To his annoyance, they brought out their knives. “For fuck’s sake...” He slammed his mug on the table, and it was strong enough to break the mug. 

“Oh. Red Hair Clips is mad.”

“Atitarn, don’t take this personally.” Eizan stared at the man who broke his own mug. “But it would have been a miracle if that was this stupid man’s head instead.”

“Why the fuck would he take it personally?! He wasn’t the one being insulted now was he?!”

“If you weren’t so easy to insult, then maybe I wouldn’t make fun of-”

Kaoru shoved a cigarette stick inside their mouths before lighting it up.  “Both of you calm down, if you guys don’t kill each other first, you’ll probably both die by fucking high blood.” He walked away from the two of them. 

Kuga spat the cigarette, and he cringed at the taste of smoke while Eizan accepted it and only puffed out smoke. 

“We only need 3 weeks left, and we’ll stop being with each other. You two won’t need to deal with each other anymore. So please just... try to control yourselves in that span of weeks.”

“Fine then, Red Hair Clips.” Kuga jumped on the table before sitting on it. “Three weeks and I’m out of here. I’ll miss you.” He turned his head to Eizan. “But nooooo way am I going to miss you.”

“Well, I’m not surprised because I won’t miss you or your height either.”

Before they could fight again, Kaoru brought up a question.

“Who are you two protecting once we’re finished with this, if I may ask?”

“Not so sure yet.” Kuga replies before he crossed his arms. “My parents still hasn’t thought of anyone I’d be assigned to yet. They want them to be at least pretty independent.”

“And you, Eizan?”

Eizan didn’t give an automatic response, but he blew out some smoke once again. “I don’t have anyone to protect yet either. They should be worthy before I even try and protect them. It should be a good exchange.” He eyed the only one person left. “And you, Atitarn?”

“Don’t know, really.” He laughed. “Because all I want to do is make my own gang first.”

“I expected that from you, Atitarn. You never mentioned being the next head of your family’s clan.” Eizan pushed up his glasses before noticing the smile plastered on the man’s face. “You could have been richer if you chose to stick with the Chankul name.”

“He doesn’t care about the money, Greedy Shit. He’s out here trying to bring a lighter name to the Yakuza, remember?” Kuga cleared his throat. “A vigilante.”

“That’s my original plan, but who knows. It’s possible for it to change.” Kaoru shrugged but poured tea into a new mug and lifting it up in the air. “I know that you might not be in the mood, but since you owe me a ton of favors, can I use it now?”

“What the fuck are you planning?”

“What do you expect I’ll say, Eizan? My favor being get a girlfriend? I mean, yeah, I’d day that, but you know- not now. I better be there on your wedding by the way but-”

“Shut the fuck up, get to the point.”

“Simple. I want to have a glass for the three of us... You know, “cheers”, if you may?”

Kuga laughed a bit before jumping off the table and pouring whiskey into his mug. “Sure! It’s a stupid request, but why not?”

At first, Eizan hesitated but he ended up sighing. “This isn’t a truce for the night. I only hate being in debt. Money or not.”

“Thank you.”

Once the three glasses made a sound, the three said one simple word- with different tones and expressions.

“Cheers!”

It’s been some months after getting his first recruit but he didn’t know it’d break so easily but he believed it was for the best.

“Aroon... Aroon... Kaoru... Masae...” A ginger was shaking Kaoru, who had his eyes dull. “She... She’s...”

“Dai... I know.”

“Fuck! Fuck!” There were several punches that could be heard, and he only punched the wall harder. “My mother may have died, but God shouldn’t be cruel enough to get Masae too!” He yelled before curling up to a ball. “Her family... Murdered... In such a humiliating way...”

Kaoru thought that his best friend since childhood was safe. She was protected by a gang but they turned against her and her own family. It hurt him too much because her family was his second family.

Valdez Milas. Her father. He was tortured to death with a knife and some burns. Right before he was killed by blood loss, there were evidences that the bite marks all over him belonged to dogs. His body was found and it was barely identifiable because of the bones seen.

Kaori Milas. Her mother. There were burns on her body, but this was not caused by fire. Detectives leaned in to the possibility of getting electrocuted and she was tied to an electric chair. Her body was found in frozen water and some guessed she could have also been drowned to her death.

Saniya Milas. Her sister, the youngest. Her body was not found during the crime scene, but she was missing in action. People believed that she was buried alive, but there are no evidences proving that this can be true.

Masae Milas. Their friend. A scar all over her back and stomach. She was found bleeding on the ground, and she was trying to drag herself to her parents, but she fainted before she could reach. Her life was spared, but maybe this was worse than death.

Kaoru began clutching his chest, his eyes being filled with tears and that was the night where he could only scream and throw objects around. Some of the bones of his hands were broken because of so much hitting and punching but the last thing he did was stay in a corner and tremble in sadness and anger.

Dai, despite how much his heart pounded with guilt because he couldn’t do anything about it approached Kaoru and placed his hand on his shoulder. He had no words to say but once his supposedly leader faced him, there was only one thing present besides tears. It was hatred. 

“We’re breaking this gang.”

“What do you mean-”

“You make your own gang, I make mine.” He slowly stands up, but his hands were clutched tightly. “... We’ll need to work faster.”

“Kaoru...”

“We have to eliminate them. We’ll kill them. We’ll be the leaders of our own gang, and get revenge...”

“Is this for her?” 

“Yes.”

“You already know my answer...”

They’d do anything for her.