#SORRY FOR THE AAAANGST

[nouverx]

Day 5 and Day 6 of Radiostatic Week

Free day (Picture) and one sided attraction. Seems like purple doesn't suit Alastor...

[leiawritesstories]

blood-soaked gown

*clears throat nervously* Welcome to this You're On Your Own, Kid-inspired oneshot! (@house-of-galathynius it's angst monster playtime)

word count: 2.5k

warnings: language, Arobynn, business talk, drunkenness, violence, blood, miscarriage, angst

enjoy (?)

I looked around in a blood-soaked gown

And I saw something they can't take away

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

"Remind me why exactly we're here again?" Aelin Whitethorn Galathynius whispered into her husband's ear, slipping him a covert little wink.

Rowan's lips twitched with the effort of keeping his polite expression in place. "The usual--workplace expectation, family expectation, you know the drill."

"Ah, the perils of being born into a disgustingly rich family," Aelin murmured, squeezing his arm. "First chance I get, though..."

"I'll be right beside you," her husband promised. "Gods, I might hate these damn parties worse than you."

She chuckled. "That's because you weren't brought up to schmooze, Ro."

"Poor me," he whispered, his voice dropping low. "Having to sip drinks and serve as arm candy for my gorgeous wife all night long."

"You've got a few more uses than that," she teased, winking.

His smirk set fire to the embers pooled low in her belly. "Allow me to show you just that, my love."

"After the dinner, buzzard," she reminded him, giggling softly at his frustrated grumble.

"Fine," he conceded. "But if this thing drags on...we're leaving."

Aelin grinned. "I'll make my excuses." Smoothing one hand down the fine, lustrous silk of her formal gown, the deep pine hue perfectly paired with her husband's eyes, she redirected Rowan over towards the beckoning circle of her parents and a few of their business associates.

"Aelin!" Evalin exclaimed warmly, welcoming her daughter into the cluster of elegantly dressed, fabulously rich business aficionados. "You look stunning, my dear."

"Thank you," Aelin smiled, painting a charming smile across her face despite the faint nausea lingering in the back of her throat and pit of her stomach.

Probably because Arobynn Hamel was there.

A longtime business associate of her parents', Arobynn had long been known to have near-infinite wealth and almost as much affinity for eyeing young women. Aelin had first been introduced to the red-haired man at a gala she'd attended with her parents when she was fifteen. She'd immediately internally recoiled from his oily leer and the way his hand lingered on hers a little too long. And each time she came to a business function, she grew a little more disgusted by the man.

But his apparently endless wealth was well tied into Ashryver-Galathynius Realty, so she gave Arobynn Hamel the same cool, professionally detached treatment she gave to every other business partner and client with whom she met.

"Congratulations, Ms. Galathynius," Arobynn purred, tipping his whiskey glass at her. Aelin's blood froze solid for a moment, until he continued. "Closing that deal with the Cortlands is a remarkable achievement."

Right. The Cortland deal. Aelin inclined her head, smiling modestly. "Well, after enough time, even the Cortlands realized how much of an asset to their business it would be to partner with us."

The Cortlands were an old-money family who'd long been established in the banking business, and they had been Aelin's clients for several months as they looked into purchasing a new property in the sleek new business district in South Orynth. The only catch? They had been trying their very best to swindle one of the company's associates into buying the property for a ridiculously low price, until Aelin stepped in and told Sam Cortland in very few words where he and his dynasty could shove their offer.

Nearly seven months after the Cortlands had approached AG Realty, Aelin had closed a deal on the property, shaking hands with Sam and restraining her triumphant smirk to a pleased smile. That had been a mere week or so ago, so of course the firm and its associates would be hearing about it.

"I'm sure the Cortlands will be a wonderful asset," she added, flicking a knowing glance at her parents.

Rhoe grinned. "My fearsome daughter."

She chuckled. "Hardly, Dad. People are just scared of a woman who knows what she's talking about."

"Quite the threat indeed," Arobynn offered, his gaze a few shades more than could be considered polite.

Aelin restrained herself from stepping on his foot with her stiletto heel as she made her excuses, noticing Elide beckoning her from a short distance away. "Thank you," she murmured to her friend, giving the petite brunette a quick hug.

"Anything to save you from that creep," Elide returned, flicking the blonde a knowing glance. "Having fun, Whitethorn?"

"Shut up," Rowan mumbled, taking a larger-than-necessary swallow of his drink.

Aelin chuckled, sliding her hand back around her husband's arm. "He always has the time of his life at these lovely little parties." She pecked a kiss onto his cheek. "Love, will you get me a drink?"

Thankful to have something to do besides pretend he could tolerate anybody except his wife and the few friends in the room, Rowan strolled over to the bar, pouring Aelin a glass of sparkling cider. Why she preferred to drink something nonalcoholic at these functions, he didn't entirely know.

Though he suspected it may have something to do with how tense she always was around Arobynn Hamel and his disgusting roving eye.

"Here you are, love."

"Thank you." She stole a quick kiss, making Elide flutter her lashes and coo.

"Aww, look at the lovebirds!"

"Quiet," Aelin laughed, "you and that hulking brute of yours are just as bad."

Elide snickered. "It's not my fault Lorcan's a big old softie."

"Bet that's not what you call him in bed," Aelin smirked.

Her friend's face went scarlet. "Aelin!" she whisper-shrieked, smacking the blonde's shoulder. "No!"

"Girls' night never lies," Aelin crooned.

"And what happens at girls' night stays at girls' night," Elide retorted.

"All right, all right." Aelin raised her drink in concession. "I won't say anything else about you and Salvaterre being all sappy." Out of the corner of her eye, she caught yet another senior business partner motioning to her, and sighed. "Once more unto the breach."

"Do you--"

She shook her head, squeezing Rowan's hand. "It's just Darrow and a few of his associates, you can stay here and keep Elide and Lorcan company."

"Thank the gods," Rowan mumbled.

She just chuckled, kissed his cheek, and strolled over to meet Darrow and the few men with him, greeting the man who'd been her business advisor for many years affectionately. "So you need some young ears, hmm?"

"I'm not a fossil yet," Darrow fake-sighed, the lines around his eyes crinkling as he smiled at her. "We just wanted to congratulate you on the Cortland deal."

"Ah, don't make such a fuss about it," she smiled.

The older gentleman shook his head wryly. "Always downplaying your achievements, young one." He patted her shoulder. "Mrs. Whitethorn Galathynius here managed to rope the Cortlands themselves into a deal with AG Realty, can you believe it?"

"Impressive." Dorian Havilliard's dark brows shot up. "And you managed to do this in under two years?"

Aelin laughed quietly. She and the younger Havilliard--a brilliant civil defense attorney--had been friends since they were young. "Seven months, give or take a few days."

Dorian whistled. "Congratulations, then!" He raised his glass to her. "I argued a case for old Cortland several years ago, and let me tell you, the amount of demands that man had almost drove my partners insane."

"Oh, stop flattering me," she laughed, but raised her glass anyway. "Thank you, Dorian."

He winked. "Anything for the future of Orynth's commercial real estate."

She chatted with Dorian, Darrow, and a couple of others for a short while before Evalin came and stole her away to speak with the senior associates of AG Realty. Aelin caught Rowan's eye as she walked with her mother.

Need me? his raised eyebrow asked.

I'll be fine, she returned. Keep Lorcan from drinking too much, yeah?

Will do, Fireheart.

So Aelin sipped on her sparkling cider and chatted with the senior associates and her parents, discussing a few upcoming clients and whether or not they should accept some of the offers that poured in daily. Most notably, Arobynn Hamel was considering buying yet another property in the industrial district.

What that man wanted with so many warehouses, Aelin couldn't even begin to imagine.

"I don't see any reason why we shouldn't move forward with that deal," Rhoe mused. "He's always been a credible buyer, never misses payments or defaults on anything."

"What about the..." Evalin lowered her voice, keeping their conversation private. "What about that article?"

Two weeks ago, the Orynth Journal, which was admittedly a tabloid at best, had published an article that almost instantly went viral. In it, they claimed to have evidence linking Arobynn Hamel and his holdings in the industrial district to an international drug trafficking ring. Of course, since it was tabloid journalism, the reliability of this "evidence" had to be questioned, but still--was there any truth to it?

When privately questioned, Arobynn had--of course--denied all of it, maintaining his sleek professional exterior and, apparently, putting AG Realty enough at ease that they decided to dismiss the rumors as the workings of the tabloids. Aelin still had her suspicions, given that the man was a certified creep, but she deferred to her parents' judgment. She wouldn't raise too many questions, not unless some new information that cast true suspicion onto Arobynn came into light.

"We agreed that was all tabloid nonsense," Darrow reminded Evalin, though there was a hint of concern buried in his keen gaze.

"I know," Evalin sighed. "Very well, then. We can negotiate the deal with him when--"

"FUCK OFF!" The slurred yell completely shattered the elegant mood of the evening.

Horrified, everyone whirled around, finding Arobynn Hamel with a half-empty bottle of Scotch clutched in his hand, a glazed sheen of obvious drunkenness in his eyes and a sneer on his face.

His yell had been directed at Dorian, who held up his hands in a placating gesture. "No, Mr. Hamel, you misunderstand! I am not--I would never accuse you of anything illicit without proof!"

"Fuckin' lyin' lawyers," Arobynn growled, anger flaring in his posture.

Slowly, Dorian backed away from Arobynn, careful not to say anything lest he set off the drunk man's rage. Just as slowly, a few others approached Arobynn, gingerly offering to make him another drink, to get him some water, anything to defuse the situation.

"Don't fucking offer me water, you cock!" Arobynn snarled, whirling sharply about to rage at Darrow, who'd made that offer.

CRASH!

In his clumsy turnaround, Arobynn smashed the bottle of Scotch against the bar top, littering shards of broken glass atop the bar and leaving him with a broken bottle top clutched in his hand.

"Mr. Hamel--"

As if realizing he now held a weapon, Arobynn brandished the broken bottle at Darrow, all semblance of sanity drained out of his wild eyes. "Fuck off, Darrow."

"Arobynn." Aelin broke into the tense standoff, matching the drunk man's crazed look with her steel will. "Put down the bottle, gods dammit!"

"Don't tell me what to do, bitch," Arobynn snarled.

Aelin's glare intensified. "You want your new warehouse, don't you?"

A brief, charged moment of silence.

"Bitch," Arobynn hissed, but he released the bottle.

CRASH. It shattered all over the floor, shards splintering up into the air and clinking in discordant symphony against the polished marble flooring.

Aelin winced as something bumped into her stomach--probably just a stray elbow as everyone around Arobynn collectively rushed backwards, out of range of the glass. Behind her back, she gave the prearranged signal to her parents, clasping her fingers together.

Call security.

The building's security personnel were in the room only minutes later, swiftly and efficiently subduing Arobynn and escorting him out, most likely to spend a night in the loving embrace of the Orynth Police Department.

"Everyone all right?" Aelin asked, brushing her hands against her gown, feeling the oddest sticky-wet sensation. Huh. Probably liquor from the mess.

Nods and murmurs of "yes, I'm okay," rippled through the guests.

Until Dorian gasped sharply, his sapphire gaze trained on Aelin's stomach. "Fuck!"

"What?" She glanced down at her gown, wondering what the hell had gotten into her friend.

And gasping, the color draining from her face.

Apparently, it hadn't been an elbow bumping into her, but a stray shard of broken glass.

Her breath breaking, shuddering, Aelin touched her fingertips to the warmth spreading over her stomach and pulled them away slowly, almost unable to believe the dripping crimson stain. Blood, some faraway part of her brain realized. My blood.

And as her legs quavered and failed beneath her, Aelin Whitethorn Galathynius could only form one thought. Her eyes shot across the room to a lock onto the pine green gaze latched onto her, her heart constricting at the sheer depth of shock and pain etched into her husband's eyes.

“Rowan…”

The only thing she could think, the only thing keeping her rooted to the ground as she splayed one hand over her stomach, over the thick dark pool of blood welling there, the scarlet stain seeping into the fine silk of her evening gown.

“Rowan….I’m pregnant.”

And then everything went black.

~

Aelin blinked awake slowly, like she was rising up from a bath of molasses, her head fuzzy and disoriented. Slowly, the room around her came into focus--an IV coiling out of her arm, the steady beep of machines tracking her heart rate and pulse and oxygen level, the slightly uncomfortable bed, the cotton fabric against her skin, the firm warm pressure of Rowan's hand in hers.

She was in the hospital.

"Rowan," she croaked, her voice a bare rasp, turning her head to meet his broken gaze. "Ro..."

"You're going to be okay, Fireheart," he rasped, not bothering to try and mask the tears choking his face, his voice.

Ignoring the agony that sliced through her whole self, she gripped his hand and swung herself out of the bed, suddenly desperate, flattening her other hand atop her stomach. "Our baby, Rowan," she gasped.

Her husband's veneer of calmness cracked, splitting down the seams, and his shoulders heaved with a choked sob. "They--Aelin, they said you--miscarried." He could barely get the last words out.

"No." She shook her head, dropped his hand, wrapped her arms around her middle reactively, protectively. Her whole body screaming with the effort, with the pain, she took one searing step after another until she reached the mirror over the sink and stared into her pale, shell-shocked reflection.

Familiar heat bloomed at her stomach, her disoriented stumbling having torn her stitches, letting the deathly rose of her blood bloom across her abdomen. The blood seeped through the bandages, through the thin cotton hospital gown, soaking her hands with the heat of her own life.

Words failing her, Aelin stared at herself in the mirror, captivated and horrified by the broken, bleeding woman who stared back, a chasm of unspeakable pain yawning in her eyes.

And as the nurses who'd come rushing when Rowan pressed the call button caught her, murmuring soothing words into her ear, and injected something that slowed her pulse to drugged sleep into her IV drip, Aelin tilted her head back and released a scream that clawed up and out of her throat from the shattered coffin of her womb.

They can't take my child. The last thing she remembered thinking before the pull of the sedative claimed her.

They will never take my child.

~~~

A/N: if you thought bit at the end resembled Rhaenyra in HOTD no it didn't ;))

~~~

TAGS (please lmk if you want to be added/removed!)

@charlizeed

@cretaceous-therapod

@clea-nightingale

@autumnbabylon

@nerdperson524

@fireheartwhitethorn4ever

@morganofthewildfire

@rowanaelinn

@wesupremeginger

@stardelia

@shanias-world

@mybloodrunsblue

@swankii-art-teacher

@wordsafterhours

@cookiemonsterwholovesbooks

@violet-mermaid7

@holdthefrickup

@goddess-aelin

@rowaelinismyotp

@dealfea

@irondork

@elentiyawhitethorn

@live-the-fangirl-life

@darling-im-the-queen-of-hell

@chronicchthonic14

@lovely-dove-zee

@sweet-but-stormy

@hanging-from-a-cliff

@jorjy-jo

@rowaelinrambling

@thegreyj

@silentquartz

@backtobl4ck

@throneofus7

@elizarikaallen

@llyncooljones

@booknerdproblems

@julemmaes

@earthtolinds

[itlogarts]

xenia has me writhing screaming sobbing but like not in that way

[squiddokiddo]

Continuation from this post here:

I'm so glad y'all liked the first part, hopefully this one will be good too, it's angst with some hurt/comfort, sibling fluff and 100% feels.

Thanks to @tracybirds and @mrmustachious for looking it over and beta reading it for me.✨

𖦹*⊹.𖦹*⊹.𖦹*⊹.𖦹*⊹.𖦹

It wasn't long before a light knocking broke their spiral of doom.

"Hey Squirt, you ok?" A cheery voice called from the other side of the changing room door, the one they'd been dreading, the first and last voice they wanted to hear.

"You seemed a little upset back there, and I just wanted to check in with you. Can I come in?"

They knew they wouldn't be able to avoid him forever.

"Yeah..." Squirt's response coming out a lot more mangled and scratchy than they'd hoped.

Gordon pushed the door gently, laying eyes on the sopping wet, chlorine covered mess that was his little sibling, squished up against the wall. The kid was so ashamed, they didn't even look up as he entered.

Grabbing the big bath towel from the bench, he made his way over, draping it over Squirt as he plopped down on the floor, wrapping his little bud in a soft cocoon. His hands remaining clenched to the fabric, he tried his best to meet Squirt's gaze under all those soppy strands of red hair.

"Hey." He started firmly. "I know what you're thinking..."

Squirt's eyes darted away anywhere they could escape their brother's, they started to well up again.

"I'm sorry..." They whimpered, tears spilling over their cheeks. "I let you down, I- I- you- I mean..." They stumbled over their words, searching for the right ones to patch up the damage.

Gordon pulled his sib a little closer, still clutching the towel like a big net to prevent the little guppy from escaping.

"You were amazing."

Suddenly, the weight lifted, the air was clear and they could breathe. Squirt lifted their head to look at their big brother, wide eyed and relieved. As another batch of tears slid down their cheeks, Gordon released Squirt from their soft prison and took their face in his hands, gently wiping away the damp around their eyes.

"Third place?? That's awesome!!" He beamed "I'm so proud of you, kiddo!!"

Squirt sniffled. "But, I- I should've done better. We trained for months, I'm an IR aquanaut, my coach is an olympic champion, how..." They trailed off. "You've given me so much and I failed."

Gordon sighed. "You're also still learning. How old are you? Twelve?? You were up there with fourteen and fifteen year old kids, they should have had a huge advantage but you still beat 7 of them!!"

Squirt shifted uncomfortably in their towel.

"And it wouldn't matter what happens, you could never let me or the others down." Gordon tilted Squirt's gaze towards him to drive his point home. "I am proud of you."

Here came the tears again...

Gordon pulled Squirt into a tight hug and just let them cry it out for a moment, their face buried in the crook of his shoulder, rubbing their back gently. They needed it.

"I love you, you dork." He muffled, his face smushed into the towel. Squirt replied with an incoherent mumble but Gordon knew what they meant.

"Right!!" Gordon released from the embrace, grabbing the towel and pulling it over his sib's head. An outburst of protests and giggles came from underneath as the aquanaut ruffled up the kid's hair with it. Squirt emerged from the makeshift guppy trap, a mess of wildfire now occupying the top of their head.

Gordon, sensing the possibility of revenge, had already gotten up and made his way towards the door again. "I'll let you get changed." He blew a mock kiss as he backed out of the room. "I wuv you!!"

Squirt scowled but couldn't help cracking a grin. "I love you too, weirdo..."

𖦹*⊹.𖦹*⊹.𖦹*⊹.𖦹*⊹.𖦹

[loganlermanstanaccount]

Just to kiss me (Part 4)

pairing: Finnick Odair x reader

(AO3 mirror)

Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Five, My Hunger Games Masterlist

summary: You take care of Finnick, in the aftermath.

warnings: mentions of drug use, depictions of a psychotic breakdown, hurt/comfort, emotional hurt comfort, aaaangst, fluff.

required reading: The song "We'll never have sex" by Leith Ross <;3

a/n: a short but sweet chapter, I hope. Calm before the storm, etc etc

wc: 2k

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

It was simple, it was sweetness

It was good to know

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

“....Are you mad at me?.” Finnick winces as you dab at the cut above his eyebrow.

You’re perched on his kitchen countertop, between his legs as he stands and leans towards you. Due to the height difference, it was the easiest way you could get to his injuries; the contents of his first aid kit strewn onto the marble. Still thawing from the cold; your fingers clumsily swipe at the wound. Your eyes are red-rimmed from crying; more out of frustration and exhaustion than anything. Your arms hurt, your back aches, and you’ve got a pounding headache. Finnick almost died and he’s barely fazed; giving you a lazy grin in the soft light of the kitchen.

Admittedly, you didn’t know what to expect from his house. It certainly wasn’t this: a modest home at the Capitol’s edge. You’d expected the sterile white and marble that you’d seen a thousand times over. Instead it feels like a home: warm lamps and clutter and throw pillows. It looks like someone lives a life, here. 

You chewed your bottom lip on the way there, silk slip dampening the leather of the car seats. You were worried; eyes darting between the road and him - looking for jittery hands or glazed eyes. Every bump in the road puts you on edge; you can barely feel the warmth of the car’s heater - sitting in dull cold despite it all. Even Finnick was quiet, bundling you up the stairs and into his room with few words. When he hands you a sweater and joggers, there’s nothing to be said except in the brush of fingers; I’m sorry it hurts. The words die in your throat.

His fingers brush the soft fabric, his hands flat on the countertop. Pressing cotton heavy with disinfectant to his temple, Finnick hisses softly. He takes your hand in his to stop you, momentarily.

“I’m sorry.”

You can’t help but laugh. It’s insensitive, sure, and makes you look insane. The first time you’ve so much as smiled in the past couple hours, and he has no idea why. 

“W-What are you-” You’re still laughing, soft and melodious in the hum of lights. “-What exactly are you sorry for?”

“Uh..” He cocks his head. Despite the circumstances (he thinks you’re delirious from the adrenaline of it all), your smile hurts him in a way he didn’t think possible. “For… everything. You didn’t have to do what you did.”

“You weren’t awake for what I did, Finnick.” And then, softer. “I thought you were dead.”

“I know.” 

You tuck his hair behind his ear. Dirty blonde locs, curled from the spray of lake water. 

“You keep surprising me.”  

“Surprising you? How?” Cradling his cheek now, he waits with baited breath.

“Hmmmm,” you titter, pretending to think. “You’re funnier than I thought you would be.”

He smiles, crooning. “...Yeah?”

“Yeah.” His hand is still on yours. “And you’re perceptive. You see everything with those freaky green eyes of yours.”

Lidded, his eyes flit down to your lips. He’s in a trance, unable to think of anything but the way his heart swells when you talk to him like that.

“And you’re kind. You were kind to me, on the balcony. You didn’t have to stay, or remember me but you did. And… when you talk to me, it’s like I’m the only person in the world. You’re good at that; making people feel wanted. Making me feel...”

“I like you.” It tumbles out of his mouth, wincing at how desperate it sounds. Suddenly, he’s barefoot on the shores of District 4, gap-toothed and sunburnt. He’s stretching sticky fingers towards the other kids, trying to make friends. To be seen.

“I like you too. I-” you swallow, imperceptibly. He notices the quiver of your lip. “I know it’s not my place. You’re a grown man, and you don’t need a lecture - but whatever you were taking; you need to be more careful. I need you to be more careful-”

“I can’t sleep. That’s why I was taking them.”

“Okay.” Your voice is soft, free of judgement. You’re not satisfied with his answer, but it’ll do, for now. You don’t want to push him away. Gently, you nod. “You scared me.”

“I know. M’sorry.” He presses his forehead to yours.

“Stop apologising, Finnick.” You close your eyes, and lean into his touch. 

You stay like that for a little too long; basking in the warmth of each other. Slow steady breaths to remind the other that you were both alive. When you separate, you brush light fingers at the apex of his cut. It stopped bleeding long ago, split and angry red on his flesh. Peeking out from under his sweatshirt, you see the dull mauve of bruises; older, they couldn't have been from today. Finnick looks as exhausted as you feel. 

"You need stitches." He nods, resigned. 

They're serviceable - likely to scar, but serviceable. His grey-green eyes follow your hands, your lips, the tilt of your head; and suddenly, you're grateful that you've learnt at least one thing from your years with the Junior Peacekeeper Scouts. The rest, you've learnt from your years around the capitol's elite: how to hide shaking hands under scrutiny. You're tying the knot on his stitches when you hear soft creaking coming from the stairs. 

From the kitchen, you see a pale hand wrap around the bannister. Annie, in a nightgown and robe pads onto the hardwood. Her hair flows down her back as she steps into the warmth of the kitchen - like a ghost in sheets. 

"Lucas?" Her eyes are wide and glassy - wet-rimmed like she's been crying. Again, she squeaks. "Lucas?" 

His body language changes, but Finnick doesn't miss a beat. Slowly, he closes the gap. "You ok, Annie?" 

Her voice cracks. "T-think I had that dream again."

You see his Adam's apple quiver. Hoarsely, he swallows. "Okay. Let's get you t-"

"No!" She clenches her fist and stumbles backwards, into the counter. "Please don't- I can't- please don't make me…. Lucas-" 

"-to bed." He says, impossibly soft. You've fallen away to the sidelines as they are framed in lamplight. He throws a glance to you over his shoulder, unreadable. "Annie, let's get you to bed."

He stands in front of her, hands at his side. Hesitating? No, asking for permission. When she pulls at his shirt, manic, he wraps her up. The woman's eyes are frenzied; her breathing speeding up and hands clawing at her wrists and throat. He's gentle when he takes them and places them in his own; whispering something you can't hear. She stills, breathing erratically, but calmer by the minute. 

"Finnick… F-Finnick, I can't-" 

"I know… I know,"

"-where did y-you go? Finnick, I called for you and you weren't t-there. Where di-" 

"I know… and I'm sorry," He soothes. She still can't see you. They make their way up the stairs; where you can hear the dance of their voices. Finnick: low and calm. Annie: frantic, strained. 

You're left feeling bare in the aftermath. Like you've just seen something you shouldn't have. Her face is etched into your mind's eye - terror you've only ever seen on a screen. A voyeur, looking in through a dirty spyglass - gripped with the shame of getting caught. You look around, and reality slams into you at full force. You shouldn't be here. 

You clean up, close to tears. 

It's almost an hour before he comes down again. You've cleared what's left of the first aid kit from the counter, and curled up onto the sofa. Before you know it, you've passed out like that; knees drawn into yourself between plush cushions. Finnick finds you there, wading in fitful sleep. You look peaceful; in his clothes, in his house, nestled in his couch. It feels right, he thinks. 

You start awake, blinking back sleep. You're met with Finnick above, arms full of blankets and pillows. 

"Shit. Didn't mean to wake you." He sighs, collapsing onto the sofa. 

"S'okay." You mumble. Stretching, you move to get up. "It's probably time for me to get going anyw-" 

"-No! I-I mean…" Exhaustion creeping in, he rubs at his eyes. "You must be tired. Sleep, even for just a little bit." 

And then, quieter. "Stay. Please." 

You lean your head back and look at him, tilted 90 degrees. Even from this angle, his puppy-dog eyes claw at your heart. 

"You can take my bed?" He adds, hopeful. 

You scoff. "And where will you sleep?" 

"Down here's just fine…"

"No, no. Absolutely not. Finn, you need rest - in a proper bed with back support, and silk sheets and-" 

He cuts you off with a snort. It's cute, he thinks. When you get passionate and a little mad, you shake your fists at him like a fairytale villain. He shrugs."Haven't been getting much sleep anyways. S'how we got into this mess in the first place."

You purse your lips. There's a grab made at the pillows in his lap, but he snatches it away just in time. You feint, elbowing him playfully, before going for the blanket by his other side. Successful, you ball it up crudely, and stretch onto the sofa. Makeshift pillow under your head you fake a yawn, pointedly (smugly, he thinks). 

"Goodnight." He rolls his eyes at your dramatics. The white woven blanket, the one that had been with you both for the night, ends up on your back. Finnick leaves the extra pillows at your feet, before turning off the lamps. He gives you one last look, before heading to bed. 

"Goodnight." You whisper into the dark as the sound of steps subside. No-one answers. 

~~~

In the morning, you're woken up to the smell of coffee and something sizzling in a pan. Light streams in from where you lie, bundled up in blankets and pillows. A dull ache settles in your bones, as you try to blow away the morning fog - blinking back sleep. Through the doorway to the kitchen, you see a sliver of someone's bare arm. 

Finnick stands at the stove top, dressed in a light tank top and sweats, a flowery tea towel slung over his shoulder. The tip of his tongue sticks out when he pokes at the pan with a wooden spoon; deep in concentration. You walk in and lean on the doorframe. 

"Morning." The pan nearly goes flying, Finnick almost jumping like a startled cat. His hand grazes the heat of a burner, and he hisses in frustration. Without thinking, you leap to his side, quick to guide him towards the sink and run his burn under cold water. 

"Morning," He says despite himself, leaning into your soft touch. You trace the lines of his palm under the running water.

"They say," You're careful to circle around the burn forming at its base. "…you've got your future written out in your palms," 

"And what do my palms tell you?" He says softly.

"It's not that simple, see," You huff. "Like…. roots in a tree. All mapped out before you were even born. This one," you trace one spreading the width of his hand "..is your heart line. It tells me all about the way you love the people around you. It says you give too much, despite yourself. The one below it, is your head line. Right now, it says you're stubborn and…" You laugh. 

"…pig-headed."

"Really?" Unwittingly, he's been reeled in. 

"No. Not really. I wouldn't know, Finn. Made it all up." Your lips pop at the last sentence, grinning up at him. 

"Very funny." His tone is dry, but still he smiles. 

"I've got a friend who's obsessed with it: divination, fate, destiny, all of it. She'll probably give you something a little more accurate than I can." 

He hums. "Does that mean…. you want to see me again?" 

You're standing shoulder to shoulder with him at the sink. You shut off the tap, and grab a piece of toast from a plate on the counter. His plate, most likely. Your answer comes in the form of a flash pink tongue. 

"...Maybe."

"I want to see you again." 

There it is; something red-hot at the base of your chest, spreading like a wildfire until it makes your fingers numb and face warm. You'd die before you admit how what he said made you feel; I want, I want, I want becomes a broken record on replay in your head. 

"I'd like that," You breathe, and then clear your throat. “I’d like that.”

_

_

_

taglist: @starhastoomanyfandoms

[nailbatss]

"Lie to Me"

This is another entry for @harringrovesummerbingo !!

Square & Prompt: A3 - “Lie to Me”

Rating: Angsty

Word Count: 3.1k

Major Tags: Harringrove (obviously), angst, like the most hurtful piece I’ve probably written, blood, mentions of wounds, confession of feelings, aaaangst, character death

Summary: When things go wrong in the Starcourt Mall, who’s going to be there for you when things all go wrong? Billy doesn’t have anyone, or so he thinks. That is, until things go wrong for him to find out.

Who can you count on when things go south? Who’s going to be there for you to patch your wounds when you get in a huge fight?

If you were to ask Steve, he would easily say this group of weirdos that he pulled together last minute.

If you ask Billy, he’d answer nobody. He couldn’t count on his friends back in California, they’ve probably long forgotten him. Tommy H and Carol weren’t even his close friends either. They were groupies looking for the next hottest commodity, him. 

What happens when you lose that fight?

Steve would answer he gets drugged by the Russians and forced to tell the truth about something he doesn’t even want to spill out. He was pretty sure his head would be raging about that one. It was already bad enough he got the shit beaten out of him by Hargrove and he hated him for that, but he understood his panic about Max. That part he could forgive, now his comment about Lucas? Absolutely not.

That was his kid. He wasn’t going to play around when it came to his kids. Hell, Billy couldn’t blame him for protecting his little sister. In fact, nobody could actually. He realized he lost his connection to her the moment she decided to drug him and knock him out in that abandoned house.

He lost everything.

Billy wasn’t the type to sulk about, in fact, he was going to do the exact opposite. He was going to pretend like none of this shit bothered him.

That’s why he almost had a thing with Mrs. Wheeler. Yeah, he doesn’t like to think about that. It was only for show anyway since he felt sick the moment she started to reciprocate and pretend to think about leaving her husband to be with him.

God, what was he thinking?

That night when he was driving to the motel, he was actually going to break it off. He wasn’t going to continue flirting with her since someone else had caught his eye. He had it bad for Harrington; that he wasn’t proud to admit, but it was something.

He’d stopped flirting with girls, stopped trying to pick them up, and instead, he started to lay it thick on the brunette boy. Though he was older, Billy took that as a challenge to keep doing it. He liked pushing the envelope and seeing how much he could get away with.

Crash. Squealing of brakes. Smashing of glass.

After he had wrecked by the old mill, Billy pulled himself out of his car for now to investigate what the hell had happened. Rubbing the back of his head, his sharp blue eyes scanned the area, searching for any sign of what could have made him crash. Raising his brow, Billy knew it was better not to ask who was there in the darkness. Huffing to himself, he shook his head and turned around to return to his car. 

Fwoop. Snatch!

“What the hell?!” He exclaimed as something wrapped around his ankles, pulling him back towards that abandoned factory. “Hey! What the fuck, let go of me!” He roared as he tried to kick whatever had its hold on him off of him. “LET! GO!”

His heart was racing with something he was very familiar with, fear. His screams were contained within the walls of the steelworks, his hands gripping everything in his path to try and hold himself off. His cries of anguish weren’t heard by anyone and he was sure this was how he died. Someone had him and they weren’t going to let go anytime soon.

A single tear slid down his cheek as he whispered an apology into the darkness.

“I’m sorry Steve… I’m sorry Max…”

That was all before he was dragged into the darkness.

~*~

“What are you doing out here, amigo?” He confidently strides up to Steve, playing coy for a moment. He noticed a figure in the window as soon as they started talking. Now wasn’t the time to draw attention there yet.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Steve retorts and puts his hands on his hips. Bitchy, he liked that in the man.

“My thirteen year old sister goes missing, all day. Then I find her out here with you, in a stranger’s house, and you lie to me about it.” Billy’s face contorts with an almost angered expression.

“She’s not with me, man.” Steve scoffed.

Suddenly, Billy gestures with his lit cigarette towards a window, seeing a familiar figure in the dim lighting of the house.

“Then who’s that?”

“Oh shit.”

The air was knocked out of Steve’s lungs as he hit the ground. Billy tossed his finished cigarette into the woods somewhere and he exhaled the smoke.

“I told you to plant your feet, pretty boy.” 

Then he swaggered on into the house, the door closing behind him.

Stars danced on the edge of Steve’s vision as he was once again knocked down. He couldn’t lose. Not this time.

So he pushed himself to his feet and chased after him.

~*~

Dark. Everything was so dark. Billy began to wonder what happened as he recalled that sudden memory. Was this all Steve’s plan? Did his little group of freaks crash his car and do this to him?

No, they weren’t smart enough for that.

Well, maybe the curly-haired one, that kid was freakishly smart from what Max told him.

Either way, he didn’t like this.

“Hello?” He called out as he stumbled through the dark, attempting to find a light source, anything like that.

“This isn’t funny.”

“You mean you do not like this game?” A growling voice questioned him.

There was a chill in his bones. Something didn’t feel right here.

“What the fuck? No, I don’t like this! Let me go!”

“Oh, but we cannot. We have work to do, William.” 

Yeah, Billy most definitely did not like that.

“What do you mean?” His heart rate picked up, obviously frightened by the voice and how it knew his name. His real name. Not the nickname he went by.

“You and I have work to do. These people, this place, it did not give you anything. I will make things right, you will see. Everything will be perfect.”

“Stop speaking in fucking riddles! Tell me what you want from me!”

A deep chuckle rang out, making the ends of his hair stick up on his neck. Something was deeply wrong here and he didn’t know how to go about fixing it.

“We will start by fixing your relationships with your family. Your sister will thank you for this.” 

“Leave Max out of this!”

He was met by silence, then suddenly, he was left alone it felt like.

The darkness quickly gave way to a window opening, which he seemed to realize was his body. He watched as his hands lifted up, his ring glinting in the pale sunlight as it crept through the boarded up windows.

“Oh shit.”

That wasn’t him moving anything. 

That thing was moving him.

And he had no idea where it was headed.

~*~

Hissing, the creature hated the fireworks as they hit his body, and Billy stood still, watching it all happen from inside. He was screaming for himself to wake up, to not harm anyone else. He was tired of seeing the destruction that befell his hands. He had already sacrificed Heather and her family to this thing. Now, he had to watch as it was after that girl Max was friends with.El, he seemed to recall. 

Before he knew it, his body was turning, heading towards the girl as she was on the ground. He was wrestling with her in an attempt to pick her up. Her leg was damaged and she was a prime target for that creature who was made up of their townspeople, the people who had lived in this town and he had made fun of. Soon, the monster slammed him away from the window, his body slamming into the floor. He picked himself up and he decided to sit on the nearest surface, a perfect mockup of his bed. 

He hoisted himself up, sitting down on the not so plush surface to wait. Tears were falling down his face at this point. Nobody could save him, not even himself. This creature had caused mass destruction and the town was fearful. He didn’t know if anyone was left. Or if anything was left for that matter. All there seemed to be was this stupid mall. 

Billy balled himself up and he let the tears flow, apologies flowing from his lips.

~*~

Basketball. He was good at that.

His father had found out that he wasn’t actually into girls. He screamed at him and berated his son, throwing punches left and right, beating the hell out of him to “teach him a lesson”. Blood poured from his nose, bruises were blossoming underneath his t-shirt. Neil wasn’t stupid enough to leave marks were people could see them.

That’s what made getting away with it so easy. Neil didn’t have to worry about Billy snitching to anyone because that would mean he loses the roof over his head, he loses the food that’s on the table, and he loses access to the one person who treated him like a son. 

He took beatings for Max too. She was too young to go through that.

He wasn’t going to lay a finger on her.

This one was particularly bad. He sat on his bed and wiped his nose, wheezing from the beating he took. Hearing a soft knock at the door, he didn’t even move. He knew that was Max from the pattern of her knocks. He didn’t have the strength to tell her to piss off. He could actually use the company.

“‘Min.” He muttered.

Max must have understood, or she was coming in anyway, that was a choice too. Lifting his head, Billy acknowledged her with a nod. A soft gasp escaped her as she took in the sight before her. Neil hadn’t been so careful this time and really let Billy have it. His nose was busted, his lip was too, and his eye was swelling shut. There was no way he could write that off as an accident.

The red-haired girl approached him with a first aid kit. It broke his heart knowing she had to know how to fix him up. Kneeling on the floor in front of him, Max opened the kit and immediately began tending to his wounds.

“How d’ya know how to-”

“Fix you? I’ve bandaged you up a few times.. You know, Mom showed me how to do this.” She answered with a soft scoff. “He beat the hell out of you, huh?”

“I’ll fuckin say.” Billy muttered and winced as she put a cotton ball on his forehead. It was soaked with hydrogen peroxide to clean out the wound. Damn, she’d be a good nurse if she wanted to be.

“You shouldn’t have to do this.” He said quietly, so quietly that Max almost didn’t hear him.

“What kind of sister would I be if I didn’t? After all, you took that one for me, didn’t you?”

“No… I deserved it.”

“Why?” Max questioned as she paused wiping the wound to bandage it.

“He found out I don’t play for the same team.” Billy answered somberly.

“What does that-” Max paused to process what he said, “Oh…”

“Yeah, oh.”

“I’m sorry.. I’m so sorry.” Max whispered.

“Why are you sorry? You didn’t do this to me.”

“Because you didn’t deserve it.” 

Billy’s bottom lip nearly trembled from hearing how heartbroken she sounded. After she closed the kit and stood to leave, his arms snaked around her and pulled her in for a hug. Leaning his forehead against her stomach, he swear he didn’t feel the tears start racing until she hugged him back.

One day they’d get out of there. One day he wouldn’t have to hide who he is.

~*~

“You ever think about what it would be like to get out of here?” Billy questioned one night. 

He and Steve were at the Harrington residence and smoking outside by the pool. It was a warm enough night and the pool had been cleaned since Barb’s death. He wasn’t about to let some bad juju come back while he was trying to have a good night.

Steve exhaled his smoke. “I do, yeah… Other times, I feel-” He paused to think of the word he was looking for.

“Trapped?” Billy finished.

“Yeah, yeah, trapped. That’s it.” He took another drag from his cigarette.

“You never did tell me why you called so suddenly. And what happened to you?” Steve asked as he turned his attention towards the blonde.

“My dad found out something I was hiding from him and he didn’t take it too well.”

“Shit, dude, I’m sorry.” Steve’s expression softened and his brows furrowed in worry. “Don’t hit me for this. But why did he hurt you? Like what exactly did he find out?”

Billy chuckled softly, ironically even.

“Neil Hargrove doesn’t like the fact that his son likes dick, not pussy.”

“O-Oh.” Steve coughed and he tried to recover from what he had just heard.

“Right on, good for you dude.” Steve flushed with a brilliant shade of red. “How’d you find that out?”

“I tried sleeping around, nothing ever felt… right. Not until I met someone.” He shrugged. “Not like I’m going to pursue anything with him though.”

“Why’s that?”

“I think he plays for the opposite team. He likes chicks too much.” Billy shrugs.

“Well, how do you know?” Steve questioned, sitting shoulder to shoulder with him now.

Billy took that moment to look at him. “I don’t know, Harrington, do you like dudes?”

Steve’s eyebrows furrowed inquisitively. “I- why are you asking m- oh.”

It was silent between the two of them for a while until Billy stood up. “That was stupid, forget it.” 

Before the blonde could completely walk away, Steve stood up quickly and caught his wrist.

“Hey, I never said I didn’t like dudes.” Steve smiled softly.

“You also didn’t answer my question. Just let me go, we’ll forget about it.” Billy tried to yank his hand away.

But that was before Steve caught his jaw, pulling him in for a searing kiss. 

His eyes widened before he melted into the kiss. The boys pulled away for air a moment or so later. Their eyes met; blue met brown in a clash of colors, all their feelings being unsaid, but lingering in the air. It was obvious they had a connection.

One that Billy wasn’t going to let go now that he had it.

"Be mine?"

"Fuck yeah, pretty boy. M'all yours."

~*~

The next time Billy lifted his head, he saw her standing there. That weird girl, El, her name was. He could see the 011 tattooed on her wrist. How she had one so young, he’d never know, but she was a badass in his eyes for it.

“It is time to go now.”

“Go? Go where?” He questioned. “And how are you here?”

“Go home.” El smiled. “I came to find you.”

“You mean?”

“Yes, out of here.” She extended her hand, wanting him to take it, so she could bring him home. “Back to the others, to Max, to Steve.” 

A blush creeped along his cheeks. Yeah, he wanted to go home, back to Steve, and where he felt the most comfortable. 

“Okay.” He placed his hand in hers, standing to his feet, “Take me home.”

Whoosh!

After opening his eyes, Billy’s met those concerned brown ones all over again. He was laying on top of her and keeping her pinned beneath his body. Suddenly, he felt sick, so he stood up and faced towards the loud screeching noise. The Mindflayer was extending its tentacles towards the two of them. He figured since he had been sacrificing her to it, that’s why it was creeping so slowly.

He grit his teeth together and reached out, basically pushing the tentacle’s arm away. He screamed, “Don’t touch her!”

Steve watched on with agony as Billy was doing that. “Billy stop!” His heart was pounding. Robin grabbed his hand and pulled him back. “Stop! You’re only going to get yourself killed!”

“He’s going to get himself killed! Rob let go!” He panicked and he looked at her. “Please.”

“No, Steve, I’m sorry. I can’t lose you.” Robin pleaded.

He managed to turn back, only to watch as that other tentacle impaled Billy right through the stomach. His scream erupted through the mall as he shoved the thing away from him, obviously taking back his authority.

“Fuck you! I’m not letting anyone else run my life for me!” He growled, desperately trying not to choke on his own blood. 

The next tentacle went right through his chest, making him fall to his knees. Before he could completely collapse, he felt someone cradle his head and pull him into their lap.

Cloudy blue eyes met those deep pools of chocolate.

His smile was tinted with blood, his own blood. “H-Hey pretty boy. F-fancy meeting you here.” He coughed.

“You promised me… You promised!” Steve sobbed softly.

“I-I know I did.” Billy wheezed again, staring up at him. Picking up his hand, he gently placed it on Steve’s cheek.

“Need you to do me f-favor.”

“A-Anything! I’ll do anything!” Steve sniffled.

“Lie to me, pretty boy.”

“W-What?” Steve was confused.

“Lie to me. Tell me we-we’re going to make it. T-Tell me about our lives after this.” Billy requested softly and his gaze seemed slightly far off.

“We’re going to get the hell out of here. A-And we’re, we’re going to get married. I don’t give a shit if it’s legal or not.” Steve sniffled. “I-I want a house on the beach with you. I-I want about two or three kids.” He wiped his tears away. “We’ll get a dog.”

“W-What kind of dog?” Billy wheezed.

“A golden retriever, o-or a lab. And you’ll be a mechanic to fix cars, I’ll be a teacher. We’ll just be happy, I don’t give a damn how, but we will.” Steve sniffled.

“S-Sounds good. M’tired, p-pretty boy.” Billy’s eyes were slowly shutting.

Steve knew he was losing this battle. He wasn’t going to be able to fight anymore. After all, he spent his whole life fighting. Billy had been through it all.

“Go ahead, baby, you go ahead and rest, okay?” Steve choked out.

“M’kay. L-Love you, S-Steve.”

“I-I love you too, Billy.” He stroked his cheek, getting the curls out of his face.

The gesture made Billy smile slightly before his eyes fully shut, slipping off into that peaceful warmth that he felt. His hand fell into Steve’s waiting one and a sob rang out from Steve’s chest. 

His beautiful California boy was gone. With him, Steve’s heart.

[strawberry-cowmilk]

I know requests r closed but omg I must share a thought after the mammon fic. Imagine if he didn't go after mc cus he's still defending his own honor against his brothers and MC ends up going to Lucifer after a while with that angry cry that happens n these kind of scenarios and he just ... Quiet rage. Like he will let them vent to get all the information he needs and reassure them as best possible, but the boiling blood in his is only just barely hidden enough to not worry MC.

Aaaangst

hi anon! I'm so sorry for taking so long to reply

that would be a whole drama please 😭😭 imagine mc notices lucifer is angry or something omg. plus lucifer might confront mammon about it in the kitchen or something and they start fighting while somebody is trying to use the microwave, honestly I don't know how I would end the fic if I was making a part 2 of the original one. maybe one of the worst possible endings to achieve the most angst would be mammon still not being able to admit he loves mc, which causes mc to move to the human world or something. and then both of them just kind of forget about each other over time (unlikely scenario for mammon maybe but I feel like the forgetting/ moving on would be more painful to read) maybe they even meet new people

anyways, thank you for your message! have a nice day

[iphoenixrising]

If it's not a problem I would like to see what happens when omega Tim safe words out?

I just so in love with how you wrote him and I know you've a thing with Dr Tim and safe words but I would really appreciate if you'll give me this with omega Tim

Have a great day/night

Babe asked for O!Tim safe wording out. Taking into account how much he’s been able to take so far in my fics, then it’s apparently going to be truly something for him to safe word, right?

….or is this just another excuse to have AAANNNNNGGGGGGSSSSSSSTTTTTT.

(I regret nothing, but, well, you might, babe :D :D)

**

It was just supposed to be Pack support. Just the Bats realizing they had an Omega in their ranks, an Omega who had been more on the outskirts than part of the inner circle, an Omega who had been walking a long road alone. Just the Dick and Jay trying to be good Alphas and take care of him. Just giving in to those crazy instincts.

It was never supposed to hurt. It was never supposed to break him. Not like the first time when he was essentially kicked out of the Pack, when his cape was pulled out from under him, and his place became a question mark instead of a given. (Falling from Wayne Towers because Ra’s is such a douce canoe, he’d been beaten to fuck, blood loss and a real concussion to blame when he wondered if they’d bother putting up a case with his suit, if he even mattered that much to Dick, if he ever really did…)

When he presented, when he didn’t have a hint of a Pack scent, It had taken an embarrassingly long time to feel like he could get anywhere near the city. Long after he’d sent Bruce back home, telling him everything with sparse details, why there wasn’t an R on his shoulder, why he couldn’t be Batman’s sidekick anymore. He’d left all the pain locked in his chest, keeping himself as impartial as possible to deliver the hard facts, ignoring the whimpering, cowering Omega in the depths of him crying out for someone, anyone to want him, need him, keep him.

Working his way back in hadn’t been easy. Keeping his presentation under wraps with scent blockers and suppressants hadn’t been either, but there was no way in hell he was going to let something like the fact he was an Omega be the reason they wanted him back. Fuck, no.

But it happened anyway. Slowly but surely, O called him more often about cases, wanted to know if he had any helpful intel. B dropped by the Tower, more than once, to seek him out, told him how buggy the Batcomputer must be this point, but he wouldn’t really know, Tim, because you always handled that, didn’t you? Dick tentatively showed up in one of his safe houses while he riding an undercover stint, pizza and terrible B sci-fi flicks, looked crushed when Tim closed the door on him by sheer self-preservation instinct.  Jason Todd showed up to fish him out of the middle of the Atlantic when a case of crimefighting gone hilariously awry ended up with a thwarted world-domination plot and his ass landed in the middle of, you know, the ocean and shit. Damian of all people demanded his presence in Gotham for the upcoming anniversary of Batcow’s induction into the family.

(When he’d blurted out, “why would you want me back? Aren’t you the one that wanted me gone in the first place? Well, I mean, got what you asked for, right? How about we pretend this conversation never happened.” 

He had been in no way prepared for the demon himself to come hunt him down with a vengeance. Robin seeking him out no matter where he hopped next on the fight crime, kick ass, and take names train.)

(That kid? Seriously.)

And as much as Dick had apologized after he finally made his way back to Gotham, had said no Omega in his Pack should have been alone, without a Bat safety net (reads as: mother hen), he had seemed genuinely upset Tim had presented outside of Gotham, on his own.

Worse, he hadn’t told anyone. Hadn’t come back.

(Like he thought that was an option at the time.)

It wasn’t until later, after they found out he presented, and were…upset he’d been on his own for so long afterwards, that he’d laughed at Dick’s angry expression, shaking his head.

“Come back? Why? To what? I didn’t have any Pack scent by then, and I sure as fuck wasn’t welcome, so why bother? I did what I had to do. We got Bruce back, didn’t we?”

He hadn’t been prepared for how strongly Dick’s musk flared, how the Alpha went deadly serious, had stepped back and palmed some pellets on instinct when facing something potentially dangerous – like a pissed off, feral Alpha male.

It had taken visible effort for Dick to get a hold of his Alpha instincts, which had absolutely perplexed him at the time because really? They hadn’t been partners, allies, friends for almost two years by then.

“It was…I tried to….Tim –“

He’d just waved off the helpless sputtering because by then, it hadn’t really mattered.

“It all worked out in the end. Don’t think about it all too hard, Dick. I don’t.” Which had been an obvious lie, but had at least appeased the Alpha enough not to viciously scent him or use the dreaded octopus hold until he was cuddled within an inch of his life.

So coming back was…different. Unexpected.

Being the official Pack Omega came with Bats all over his everything. Bats coming out of the woodwork when he was starting to run down, when his Heat was approaching, when he’d been out of the city for too long.

(It was all for nothing in the end. Because they’re only after the Omega now, not the boy that used to wear the R…)

“Heat’s easier with an A, Timmers,” Jay had started that ball rolling. “Ya ever gotta need fer the real thing, betcha I know a few Alphas what might help ya out.”

“I can call some Alphas I trust if that becomes the case.” Had been off-handed in his mind, but it had been something else to see Jason’s expression smooth out, to catch the soft noise of leather when the Red Hood’s hands had clenched into fists.

But against his better judgement, he’d let them into his Heat safehouse. At first just to let them deliver Alfred goodies. Later because they wanted to stay, to spend his Heat together.

It was fine as long as they would just leave afterwards. It was fine as long as it stayed just instincts, just Alphas and an Omega. It was fine because they still treated him like Red Robin on the streets and left him alone when he went blackout on cases outside the city.

It was fine until it suddenly wasn’t.

“Gawd, sweetheart,” Jay moans against the nape of his neck, noses against the base, “ya feel s’ good. My sweet lil’ ‘Mega. My purty ‘Mega, lettin’ me in, givin’ it up ta yer Alpha. Gonna lemme be good ta ya, yeah? That’s right. Perfect fer me, ain’t cha?”

It’s his second day, so he’s with it enough to realize what Jason said.

“Yeah he is,” Dick’s fingers in his hair, nails scratching at his scalp. “He’s such a good Omega for us, isn’t he Jay? He fits so nicely between us. Our cute O–“

“Red.” Tim croaks out from under Jay’s bigger body, the wet sounds of skin slapping fast and furious. He bucks up against Jay with real strength, his eyes already getting ridiculously hot and full.

“Red, dammit! Get the hell off me!”

He yells loud enough to make Jay flinch and jerk up abruptly from where he’d been laying over Tim’s back.

Dick’s hand pauses before untangling from his hair.

And even if the Heat is still burning, his body desperate for the knot that was just seconds ago opening him up for it, Tim pulls off Jason’s Alpha cock wetly, doing it himself while both Alphas seem frozen in their spots, not sure why he would safe word out at all. He seemed to be enjoying them!

Tim’s already clawing and scrambling off the bed, careful not to touch either of them, legs wobbly, messy ass and thighs on display, feeling open and raw and needy, but his chest too tight, his lungs seemingly unable to get enough air.

The bathroom door has a lock. Not that it was much of a deterrent if the Alphas really wanted to get to him, but there’s always the window big enough for him to fit through, too small for Dick or Jay. It would give him enough of a head start anyway.

At one point, he’d pulled a towel off the rack, wrapping it around himself, sitting against the bathroom door to literally block it with his body without being consciously aware of it.

He didn’t move, stayed bare ass on the cold tile floor, concentrated on getting enough air back in his lungs, biting down on his lower lip until his eyes stop spilling over, hot and full, until his chest stops stuttering with half-sobs. Until the Omega in him calms it the utter fuck down.

Soft tapping filters through when the door vibrates against his back.

Dick’s voice filters in while the inside of his head is an utter mess. “… got some pajamas for you, and-and a sandwich. Jay made coffee. Can you let me in, sweetheart?”

“Don’t call me that,” is out of his mouth before he can stop it. “I’m not your fucking Omega. I wasn’t enough to be your partner, your brother, and I’m sure as fuck not going to be your bitch either.”

“What the fuck didja just say ta ‘im?” Jay barks from outside the door.

“It’s just instincts,” he tries to snarl but his voice is hoarse, “that’s all this is. You think I don’t know that?” The laugh is scarily unhinged, “it’s not like anyone chose me, right?”

Because honestly, that hasn’t happened his whole vigilante career.

There’s silence outside the door. Stillness. The Omega writhes inside him, still needs a knot, still wants the Alphas even though Tim knows better than to think they want anything other than a warm hole, another vigilante to share the burden, an Omega’s influence in the Pack.

(He fucking gets it.)

“Apparently, we should talk.” Dick’s voice is flat, something like anger or disappointment.

“Get out,” is what Tim says instead. “Get dressed and get the fuck out. I’ll take care of myself.”

Like I’ve always done. Even back when I wore the tunic.

“Tim, we shouldn’t–“

“No,” and his own scent had changed from candy sweet to alarmingly bitter to his own nose. “You are going to get your clothes on and leave. You two don’t see me through anymore Heats. I find someone else or take care of it myself.”

“What?!” Jay sounds floored, “what the shit is this alla sudden? Ya can’t be serious right now.”

“I’m not fucking around, Jason. You leave, or I will.”

“You can’t go out smelling like Heat!”

“I dunno what the hell’s goin’ on wit’ ya but–“

He stands up on wobbly legs, moves to push the window open, knows they’ll hear the squealing because he’s not trying to be quiet about it.

“Whoa, whoa! All right, all right, fer fuck’s sake!”

“We’re getting dressed and leaving,” Dick is right up against the door. “Don’t go out the window, Tim. We’re…we’re going to go, okay?”

“Then go. Now.” He says from the window without turning around. He can’t chance his inner Omega will push him to whine at the door, to smell like open for business, take me, love me, make me yours because that is not at all where any of them are right now.

He hears them talking, their voices getting more muted as they go back to the bedroom to apparently do as he asked.

Tim climbs out of the tub, window still up, and turns on the shower without getting in, just using the noise as a deterrent.

“Don’t like it, Dickie,” he vaguely catches as the Alphas pass by the door again. “We try ta take care a’ ‘im and that’s what the fuck he says?”

“He safe worded, Jay. What does that mean to you?”

And Tim’s throat gets tight when he thinks about the implications Dick is suggesting.

“Dunno. How ‘bout ya gimme yer theories, Detective.”

“Later. I want to make sure there’s water and Alfred meals left in the feezer.”

“Fine, them let ‘im take care of his own ass. I ain’t never took advantage of a ‘Mega in my fucking life.”

Tim doesn’t leave the bathroom until he hears the front door slam closed. He darts out long enough to reconfigure the security system, makes sure no Bats are getting in without a hell of a shock.

The rest of his Heat is utterly fucking miserable, natch.

He feels wrung out and hurt by the time it’s done and he’s ready to put on the suit again.

He doesn’t put in the Batcomm, for the first time in months, and it goes back in a drawer before he takes off out the window.

[nessietessimal]

The last patrol the Marksman’s team went on before they were taken by the woods was also when he got the neck injury that renders him almost mute and infected him with the forest mutation - the beginning of the end 🍄

[jemmashubbie]

what  do  you  say  when  you  failed  to  protect  your  most  important  person    ??          TWICE    .         lee  had  followed  gai’s  teachings  ,  put  all  his  faith  in  him  .      &&      through  his  own  arrogance  ,  his  refusal  to  even  consider  the  possibility  of  lee  losing  he  hesitated  to  step  in  .     and  after  that    .    .    .       all  he  wanted  was  to  cheer  lee  up  .      he  never  meant  for  this  to  happen  .     lee’s  screams  of  agony  ,  when  the  nijuu  had  been  forcefully  sealed  into  his  injured  body  ,  refused  to  leave  his  head  .       gai  lifted  his  sake  cup  ,  only  to  find  it  empty  .    he  hasn’t  even  noticed  emptying  his  ninth  cup  .           but  he  needed  this  escape  from  reality  ,  the  pleasantly  numbing  effects  of  alcohol  .      he  needed  more  .       lest  he  remembers  what  the  anbu  told  him  .                 ❝    if    i    was    half    the    man    lee    thinks    i    am    .    ❞

❝    this    wouldn’t    have    happened    .    ❞

[kuronekonerochan]

Hi...how are you? If you don't mind me asking what are your top 5 favorite danmei novels (until now)? And why? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....

Hi, sorry for being slow at answering!

In no particular order:

Ok, so I liked the 3 from MXTX:

 - Grandmaster of Diabolic Cultivation/ Mo Dao Zu Shi 

This one I loved but it has a particular style that ppl might not like in that it feels jumpy, confusing and with information gaps while reading, even though eventually everything that matters does end up being explained...in other works this would probably be just lazy writing, but here it is clearly an intentional choice bc 1) she doesn’t do this in her other novels 2) this is in WWX’s pov and dude has heavy ptsd and adhd, plus he tends to pretend to take everything lightly as a coping mechanisms...all this put together and it’s easy to understand why the story has such an unreliable narrator that even the other characters constantly point it out. I ended up loving this extra layer of storytelling.

 - Heaven Official’s Blessings/ Tian Guan Ci Fu

If you’re in the mood for a saga type long ass novel with a ton of interesting side stories and side characters with a main character who is a true cinnamon bun in sweet romance with a side dish of sweet sweet aaaangst.

- Scum Villains Self Saving System

The most entertaining out of all of them. It manages to be a parody of two genres, both danmeis and wuia/jianghu harem het novels (fighter of destiny style) with OP leads, while also being its own cute and funny story with a heart to it.

From other authors:

 - Meatbun’s 2ha/ Dumb Husky and his White Cat Shizun 

What if someone took a look at the parody that is SVSSS and said...”no, you know what? This really deserves to be an epic, long ass, and I mean, topping old classics’ length novel packed with angst, filled with pain and topped with despair...and then we’re sprinkling some funfetti on top to fool y’all”...and you know what? that’s some good cake. (If you’re into cdramas SVSSS is to 2ha what The Romance of Tiger and Rose is to Goodbye My Princess).

- Priest’s Sha Po Lang:

Steampunk China plus creepy voodoo tribal ritual magic, involved in internal and external wars over petrol (with a different name) and with our leads in Iron Man suits, fighting, among other enemies hot young(er) hands on, on the field, western troop General, the Pope, that I can only visualize in my head as Jude Law. I tell you all of this nonsense just to say that instead of the ridiculous fun this should be, it ends up being a very compelling romance with lots of scheming and heavy plot and some heartbreaking scenes.

- The Golden Stage:

This is a court drama type novel with friends-to-rivals-to-lovers that is just the right length and compelling with not too many plot twists but two main characters who are really great both individually and together and this is the one out of all in the list I feel like re reading the most. It really is a solid read and I feel like I’m selling it short, bc it really is good. It is similar to Sha Po Lang and To Rule in a Turbulent World, a simpler version of those but not worse for it.

(Since you said top 5 and I’ve said 6, I regretfully cut down Heaven Official’s Blessing bc even though I love it, unlike MDZS or SVSSS, it didn’t feel like a standalone novel because some of the several storylines of the side characters that I loved were left open ended (although the main characters had a complete story arc), as if this book was supposed to be the first of a series and those characters would have their own spinoff books where I’d know where their story took them...except this really is a standalone, and so the lack of resolution bothers me).

>> Honorable Mentions:

- To Rule in a Turbulent World

This one doesn’t go in the top 5 list yet bc it’s not fully translated, last time I checked (tho it’s very near the end). As an ongoing novel, I adore it. If the ending isn’t terrible it might be in my top 3. It’s similar to the two above in plotlines but it has a quality to it that it takes care to make every character in it multidimensional. There are no good and bad characters, even the ones on the opposite side are given something that makes them relatable and human. Plus, the characters all change throughout the novel, most of all the protagonists and the novel gives itself breathing time between events where you just chill with the characters and learn about random things like agricultural practices. 

- The Wife Is First

This one is just that light fluff feel good one that is great to pick up from time to time since it’s on going. Dumb Jock husband did everything wrong in his first life, gets a re-do and from then on it’s adorable respect the spouse juice and awe of said spouse smarts. Cute. Also, there’s a baby pet tiger.

>> Others I did like, just not in the top 5:

 -Faraway Wanderers and Lord Seventh/Qi Ye by Priest:

Qi Ye is similar to To Rule in A Turbulent World/The Golden Stage/Sha Po Lang. I really liked it still, just a tiny bit less than these. Since it’s the same author as SPL and I think it was written earlier, I have to say, the writing only got better.

Faraway Wanderers is a short read, but you’re only gonna like it if you’re ok with amoral main characters (I guess that is true for many on this list but it’s more obvious in this one bc the novel and the characters are unapologetic about it).

- YuWu by Meatbun - Still reading it, but is isn’t grabbing me like 2ha did.

>> I assumed you only wanted danmeis as in period fantasy bl novels, but if we go modern, fantasy or not:

 - Silent Readings by Priest:

I love crime fiction novels (love Ding Mo’s novels) and this is that type of conspiracy, murder novel with smart criminals and smart investigators. Little romance, but still there.

 - Guardian by Priest: 

Priest is hilarious and except the last part that gets a bit heavy on the lore this is just a joy to read. Also pretty short.

- Advance Bravely:

I read it a long time ago and it’s okayish, with some cute and some weird, problematic characters. 

- Addicted/ Heroin:

Also read it (this is 2 books) ages ago...and this one is NOT cute. It starts out as a pretty normal, but kind of toxic very typical oldschool drama/manga romance right down to the step brothers’ trope....and then it keeps escalating to new levels of WTF am I reading?!! All I have to say for this one is, that while I cannot recommend it per se, nor say it’s good, the title really is fitting, bc it is addictive as f.

[whatthehelliswrongwithme]

Voltron Part 28

Everyone says that S7 and S8 are bad. But at least they dont have this stupid half-season thing going on. Season 6, episodes 5+6! These ones were pretty wild. Let's go!:

The aaangst! So much aaaangst!

Also. Congatulations, it’s a Sheith!

Keith once again went off on his his own because of Shiro...

Colourful Ty Lee, Big Gal! Don’t call Shiro “it”. He’s our fucking space daddy!

Space witch calling Keith the “Red Paladin” is literally me. Like. Guys, you’ve had your new lions long enough! Colour coordinate accordingly!

This entire episode, I'm just that meme, “Hey. Check out how hard I can cry”

Stone Cold Bitch is hesitant to shoot Keith! The brOTP continues!

Is the virus affecting the castle supposed to be created by Shiro/space witch? And therefore it knows what Pidge would do?

Lotor don’t talk to your mother like that. She may be an ass, but you’re the bigger ass

Lotor got his girlsquad back, eventhough he doesn't deserve them

OH FUCK! OH SHIT! OH FUCKING SHIT! OH SHITTING FUCK!

That stupid fucking clone theory got it right!

AND I FUCKING HATE THAT!

NO!!!! THAT'S DUMB! I DON'T LIKE THAT

Okay. First of all: How did people think of this theory? I only knew that it existed because of old Voltron-fandom videos on YouTube. Did I miss so much foreshadowing?

Second: I absolutely hate this. I want MY Shiro. Not some stupid clone

Third: That discovery scene was really well done! Kudos to the people responsible

(Fourth: There probably exist a Sheith Gangbang fic on AO3 based on this scene. And i will find it)

It’s time for more ANGST!

That fight scene is SO anime

Tam Voltron, don’t fucking mistrust Shiro (even though you now know that the virus is his doing)

Did Keith just have goddamn yellow eyes? It’s probably a Galra thing, but I just wanna send him to an optometrist

“Shiro”, honey. That “Your parents abandoned you”-thing won’t work on Keith. He basically just had a 2 year pep talk with his mom

I know it’s an animation thing, to show that Keith's breathing heavily. But the Paladins armor must be really shitty if it just bends like that

Keith said “I love you”. I repeat: Keith said “I love you”

(I know it won’t be canon because apparently !No! shippers were happy with the ending. But just let me have this)

And their backstory is so cute!!!

Is Shiro good again? Because of the power of love, or something like that?

God. This episode was just an emotional roller coaster...

.-•-°-•-.-•-°-•-.-•-°-•-.-~☆

Hey, it's the spirit realm where Shiro fought Zarkon!

It's good-haircut-Shiro!

God. Him telling Keith he died broke my fucking heart...

Sooooo. What are you gonna do with "Shiro" ?

~I predicted it~ ~It's time for some Allura-angst because of this whole situation with Lotor~

Is it bad that I don't feel that sorry for her? Because, like. Lotor was obviously still an evil ass

And being a Leader, she should have a better judge of character

But. At least we got a good Allurance moment out of that

Big Gal and colourful Ty Lee are suprisingly okay with siding with Lotor again. That's either non-developed character motivation. Or part of some greater scheme(?)

Moustache man, sorry but I do not care about your b-plot of trying to fix the castle.

(But also: Good for you, for living this ~Disney princess life~ with all these animal companions)

Lotor. I don't think that anyone still believes that you're a good guy

Does Allura get to kill Lotor?

His reaction to being compared with Zarkon sure was something. Dude got some serious daddy-issues to work through

Wow, Lotor you're such a great guy~♡. Talking about, being the Altean's great leader and erasing Allura+her dad from history. Such a good guy~ ^^

And the girlsquad abandoned him again. Nevermind

Why did Lotor decide to have his 99cent-version of Voltron be a scalie?

It's kinda sad that Keith has to listen to his friends potentially dying.... But I'm also pretty impressed that he's still getting signal all the way in space...

Shiro said his line! "Patience yields focus".

And now Keith had his magical-girl transformation sequence with the black lion!

So the final episode gonna be an epic mecha battle? Again? Like in season 2?

Is Allura gonna "die"? Again? Like in every other season-finale-episode?

Also they still have to figure out, what to do about this entire Shiro and "Shiro"-thing

[ignorantarmiesclashbynight]

Fic Masterlist

Oh boy, I’ve never actually put all my fics together in one place aside from AO3 but here we go...

[warning: loooong post, I’ll stick a read more in there to save your dash]

THE MANDALORIAN

Integrity Compromised

Set after the events of Chapter 8, Din discovers his armour isn't working quite the way it should do. In fact, it's becoming a dangerous and inconvenient pain in the ass. But the Armourer is nowhere to be found and he must seek out a specialist engineer to help him fix it...

It was Greef who recommended her. Of course he ‘knew a guy’. Or woman, in this case.

 “An engineer of extraordinary talent,” Greef had said over the holo-com. And she would have to be, if she was going to be able to handle Mandalorian armour. Din would much rather have sought out the Armourer, of course, but there had been no trace of her – or any of the covert – since Navarro, and he was starting to get desperate. A Mandalorian without functioning armour was nothing at all.

Word count: 80,565 (WIP)

Content: hurt/comfort, emphasis on the hurt, sickfic, din x female oc, the slowest of burns, aaaangst

The Longest Dark

Festive one shot! Din remembers a seasonal celebration from childhood...

For the most part, knowing the date was largely irrelevant unless he had a rendezvous or a deadline for a bounty. Mandalorians had no fixed festivals or events that relied on cycles, given their nomadic nature. He usually made note of the anniversary of his taking the creed, but that was a private affair—a quiet contemplation in memory of his parents—and certainly couldn’t be called a celebration. But today… he couldn’t help feel a tiny flicker of something in his stomach when he saw the date.

 It was stupid, really. Thirty odd years since he’d even set foot on his home planet. There weren’t even any seasons in space, for kriff’s sake. No light except the glow of a passing planet and the after-echoes of a billion, trillion, dead stars, still shining in the darkness.

 But despite all that, the truth remained, it was midwinter on Aq Vetina.

Word count: 1,710 (complete)

Content: one shot, mostly fluff, minor angsty, childhood memories, happy holidays

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Below the cut:

Red Dead Redemption 2

Uncharted

The Last of Us

Death Stranding

MCU

Daredevil

Star Wars

The Hobbit

RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2

Brothers And Sons

If you like your found-family stories full of angst and foreboding, you're in the right place.

Let's start with how Arthur met Dutch...and Hosea...and Grimshaw... Except it's not the beginning. Not quite yet.

He watched his daddy hang.

A part of him hoped the old man would end with some kind of pride. Show some spine. Jut his chin at the sky and meet his maker like a man. But the bastard was whimpering by the end. Snot and tears all running down his face. Eyes wide and white. Begging the sheriff not to throw the lever. Promising all sorts. Making up all kinds of nonsense to try to save his sorry hide. Didn’t even look down at the crowd to see Arthur there. Probably would have tried to barter off his own son in exchange for his life if he had.

Arthur figured maybe that’s when you really saw what a person was made of - what stuffing they had inside of ‘em – right at the end, with nowhere to run. And, at eleven years old, an angry, choking lump in his throat, he made a promise that he would never go out like this. He’d keep himself a little dignity, keep a little fight in him to greet the reaper with.

Word count: 38,135 (WIP)

Content: pre-canon backstory, young!arthur, super angst, found family (eventually)

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

UNCHARTED

Note: Ok so here’s where I become entirely unhinged because apparently I’ve written nearly 200,000 words for these chumps. Dive on in:

Loyalty, Divided

Soooo I started out writing an expanded backstory for Uncharted 3 (in which Sully has a brand new apprentice but hasn't factored in the fact that there's a second Drake brother to deal with...) and somehow it morphed into an epic novel-length behemoth tracking Sully's perspective all the way from Cartegena to the end of UC4. Because why not write 100+k about these dorks and their angst-ridden found family? I mean, who needs a life? Warning: this fic is a BIG BOI.

“Let’s try this again,” Sully said, stretching his hand across the table. “Victor Sullivan. My friends call me Sully.”

The kid smiled a little at that.

Friends. Don't suppose he has a whole lot of those right now.

“Nathan Drake. Nate,” the boy replied.

Sully leaned back in his chair and brandished his cigar. “I see great things in our future, kid. Great things...”

He meant it, too. The kid knew his stuff. Translated Latin faster than Sully could read it, and moved like a whippet, even if his pickpocketing skills needed a little work. Sully didn't know quite what he felt for the kid yet – if ‘friends’ was something possible between a scrawny, half-wild teenager and a gnarly old sailor – but there was something there. Respect between artists, perhaps. His prediction of 'great things' wasn’t hyperbole, either. There was a frighteningly determined tenacity in the kid’s eyes. And maybe Sully just wanted to be a part of that – something really special – something spectacular.

Word count: 120,812

Content: angst, a lot of angst, so much angst, canon-typical violence, as much backstory as you can eat, papa sully deals with his wayward boys, young!nate, young!sam, young(ish)!sully, protective siblings, did I mention the angst?

Blood Brothers

All the times Sam Drake ends up bleeding for his brother in Uncharted 4

Head for the lighthouse.

They were so close. Sam could see the top of the dilapidated tower jutting up above the cliffside. They were gonna make it. Of course they were. It’s what they did – scrambling and half-assing their way through situations that should have been the end of them. If the Drake brothers had a business card, By The Skin Of Our Teeth would be their tagline...

Word count: 25,097 (complete)

Content: Sam’s POV, sam gets beat up a lot, brotherly angst, backstory, memories

To Baby Drake

Sam comes to terms with the fact that he's about to become an uncle.

“Holy shit.”

The phone dangled from Sam’s fingers as he wandered back into the hotel room from the balcony, looking a little dazed.

Chloe was dealing cards on the bedside cabinet they’d requisitioned as their poker table for the evening but paused when she saw the glazed expression on Sam’s pale face. She’d seen that look before – the guy had a whole apartment full of skeletons, not just a closet – but it wasn’t often he let his guard down and allowed his worry to show. Just like his brother, he’d laugh it off or grit his teeth and fight through the pain. But right now he looked like he’d just been punched in the gut.

Word count: 9,398 (complete)

Content: mildly angsty fluff, family feels, post-canon

Babysitting Cassie

Looking after the littlest Drake is a task taken very seriously.

Sam fidgeted at the front door, listening to the various noises of family life behind it. Little running feet; Nathan’s voice raised in a teasing kind of threat; that big dumb dog of theirs, barking its big dumb head off; Elena yelling at them all to stop fooling around, then giggling as she presumably got caught up in whatever game they were playing.

He knocked again and this time someone heard him. The door whipped open and he was greeted by... the back of Elena’s head as she continued trying to corral her family into some sort of order with feigned seriousness. “Nate, will you just stop? You’re getting her all hyped up. And get the damn dog OFF the couch… Oh, hey Sam!”

“Hey…” But she was already off back down the hall, scooping up various bits of domestic detritus as she went. Sam took a deep breath and followed her in – there was not enough coffee in the world for this, but a promise was a promise…

Word count: 19,492 (complete - for now...)

Content: so much fluff, domestic-family-feels, found family, mild angst, everyone takes a turn babysitting, post canon, chlodine

A Normal Life

A collection of drabbles and one shots about Sam readjusting to 'normal' life post-UC4.

“Look, kiddo. I’d rather do a lot of things than eat my vegetables but you gotta do it,” Sam sighed, as Cassie pouted over her plate.

“They’re mushy.”

“They are cooked to perfection you tiny Gordon Ramsay.”

The pout deepened. “I’m not a gord-damn namsy!”

Sam smirked at the four-year-old as she prodded at a carrot. “No. You’re worse. And you’ll never grow hairs on your chest if you don’t eat ‘em.”

Cassie looked up at him in awe. “Hairy like Daddy?”

“Exactly. He always eats his vegetables.” He leaned in conspiratorially. “Even broccoli.”

It was a bold lie. Sam had spent years cajoling his little brother to eat some sort of balanced diet when they were younger, even when their grifting budget only ever really stretched to fast food or endless days of rice and tinned veg. And broccoli had been Nathan’s nemesis. Still. If you were hungry enough you ate pretty much anything. But he didn’t think starving his niece was a viable option here.

Word count: 8,168 (complete unless someone makes a new request!)

Content:  post canon, mostly fluff, backstory, babysitting, chlodine, sam x reader, puppies and kittens!

The Investigation

Cassie digs a little deeper into what really happened back in Shambhala, and the rest...

Ever since Cassie had ‘accidentally-on-purpose’ opened her father’s cabinet and discovered the artefacts inside, no one was safe from her cross-questioning.

Her dad had given her what she suspected was a highly abridged version of each adventure – there were a bunch of inconsistencies and certain moments where he'd skip over details without meeting her eyes – and he made the whole thing sound like a great big game, not the life and death struggle it must have been.

But it still wasn’t enough. And so, like her mother’s daughter and a true-born researcher, Cassie had sought out secondary sources and evidence and corroborating accounts.She’d begun ‘The Investigation’.

Word count: 2,434 (probably gonna stay a one shot)

Content: post-canon, domestic fluff n mild angst

There Must Be Somethign You’re Good At

The gang try to help Sam find a new exercise routine

OR

Five times Sam Drake tried to exercise, and one time, well...

“I’m getting a beer gut,” Sam moaned, hands spread over his stomach, the remains of a takeout littering the coffee table.

“Middle age'll do that to ya,” Nathan replied, leaning forward carefully to grab a half-empty container and balance it on his knees. Baby Cassie was asleep on his chest and he spent a few minutes trying to work out how to use chopsticks in his left hand.

“Don’t you dare drop noodles on her head,” Elena chastised.

Nathan waved the sticks at her dismissively, then surreptitiously picked an errant beanshoot out of Cassie’s hair.

Sam made a face, "I'm sorry, did you say middle age?!"

"You're past forty, Sam," Nathan shrugged, "Sorry. Middle age."

Word count: 3,959 (complete)

Content: honestly this is probably the most fun I’ve ever had writing fanfic, sheer domestic fluff, running jumping climbing shit

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

THE LAST OF US

On The Road

Snippets from TLOU1 through Joel's eyes, with a few extra little scenes added in along the way.

“Your watch is broken.”

She points it out as if he hasn’t noticed.

He almost laughs. Snorts air out his nose, but doesn’t bother to reply. There’d be no way to explain it even if he did. The watch’s face is cracked and the battery died a long time ago, but it would be like losing a limb to take it off. Some days the weight of it is all that keeps him in the world.

Word count: 4,682 (WIP - only one chapter so far but I plan on updating this one before the HBO series comes out!)

Content: angst, hopefully some fluff too, grumpy dad and his stabby daughter, bonding time, hurt/comfort all that jazz

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *  

DEATH STRANDING

The Last Strand

An A-Z of Death Stranding reflections from Sam’s POV, post-game (obvious spoiler alert)  

There’s so much he needs to tell her. So much he’s gonna have to teach her. But what the hell does he know? And where does he even begin?  He starts with the alphabet because even though she can’t speak and doesn’t even know what the fuck a letter is, he figures it’s a fundamental thing you’re meant to teach kids and she seems to like the rhythm and recitation of it as he walks. And somewhere between there and the next mountain the letters turn into words…

Word count: 20,522 (WIP)

Content: mostly angst and father & daughter fluff while Sam figures out how to dad / found family hell yeah

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

MCU

The Thread Between Us

Ever since Manhattan, Bruce Banner's hold on the Other Guy has been slipping. The link between them is splintering and his nightmares are threatening to become reality. He knows he's not cut out to be a hero, no matter what the others say. And they have a lot to say on the matter. Between Tony, Steve, Natasha, Clint and Fury, Bruce is forced to face up to the grumbling monster in his belly...

There came a point each night when the coffee had to stop, and Bruce was forced to succumb to the promise of dreams that would leave him screaming silently into the darkness of his room. The nightmares were worse at Stark Towers. Before Manhattan, in the bustling anonymity of Calcutta, he had let himself believe they had eased just a little. Back then, his dreams were made of indistinct, long gone memories, and only woke him when they showed him Betty. Or his father. But here, in the opulent ridiculousness Bruce liked to sarcastically call ‘Tony’s place’, reminders of who he really was surrounded him. Here, his nightmares hit like a sucker punch, and would not let up.

Word count: 63,826 (WIP, probably abandoned for now...)

Content: so much Bruce angst, science bros, psychological and phsycial torture, PTSD, flashbacks, nightmares, backstory (set about a month after the events of the first Avengers movie)

Fun And Bruises

Clint and Kate get into their usual kind of mess, only this time Clint comes off considerably worse...

“Kate?”

Clint’s voice came out like ripped paper. His lungs refused to inflate properly, and the little air he could take in was splintered with pain. The familiar ache of broken ribs. A bubbling of blood in his throat. The slow thickening of the senses before shock came crashing down. He lay on a bed of shattered glass and crumbling concrete, half-crushed by debris from the explosion. Explosions? Plural. He couldn’t remember. All was quiet now, at least. To his left, a fire lazily took hold of a stack of pallets and the warmth was soothing, threatening to lull him into a concussed nap.  He fought against the flickering of his eyelids. There was something more important than sleep. There was a word he was meant to say. Something someone needed to hear. A name. Whose name? More important than dying. His head lurched up and clarity hit him like a pistol-whip.

“Kate!”

Word count: 1,970

Content: one shot, graphic depictions of violence and injury, hurt/no comfort (sorry Clint), inspired by the Matt Fraction graphic novel series

The Littlest Siren

The Avengers discover that Bruce has a way with babies - even when half naked, covered in concrete dust and in the middle of a battleground.

“What the hell is that noise?” Bruce asked, stumbling forward a few steps and leaning on Clint’s shoulder to see what they were all looking at.

Ah.

A baby: red-faced, mouth wide, fists clenched. And screaming. It sat strapped in its stroller in the middle of the road, thoroughly unimpressed by the team of superheroes that surrounded it.

Bruce looked from one teammate to another incredulously. “Is no one going to… I don’t know, pick him up, maybe…?”

Word count: 955 words (complete)

Content: one shot, mildy angsty fluff, Bruce doesn’t every time get what he wants

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

DAREDEVIL

When the Fire Goes Out

Claire gets a call to come patch up Matt, but something is very wrong...

She promised she’d always be there to patch him up – and nothing beyond that, they’d both agreed – but a little shiver still skitters down her back every time he says her name. Even when (okay, especially when) he’s all busted up and at her mercy.

“Claire…” His voice is faint down the phone line, and she almost misses the next part: “I need you.”

Word count: 11,050 (complete)

Content: hurt/comfort to the max, m/f, heavy angst, a little yearning, graphic descriptions of canon-typical violence, Claire’s POV

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

Wait For It…

Filler scenes from Poe and Finn’s perspectives in the early scenes of TFA

He knew where they were taking him, knew what they wanted and how they would get it.

But even weaponless, cuffed, and deep in the belly of a star destroyer full of First Order troops, Poe Dameron still had the one thing that had got him in and out of trouble his entire life: his big, stupid mouth.

Word count: 7,822 (unfinished, probbaly abandoned tbh, sorry)

Content: In-between canon stuff, torture, angst, hurt/comfort

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

THE HOBBIT

A Bed Of Earth

How The Battle of the Five Armies should have ended.

Bilbo returned home to an empty, dusty hobbit hole. His over-eager neighbours have cleared the place, save for a few tattered books and the portraits of his parents. Gently, carefully, he replaced the frames above the mantelpiece and let out a little sigh - home was home, no matter how empty. The work it would take to sort everything out seemed far less insurmountable than outwitting a dragon or finding a keyhole in the face of a mountain. And Gandalf was right - he was different, now that he’d returned - so perhaps it was best that Bag End had a fresh start, too.

Word count: 653 (complete)

Content: one shot, bagginshield if you squint, canon character death, grief, sad fluff, closure

[dangermousie]

Sorry, forgot to mention in the previous ask.

While 7 Unfortunate Lifetimes does have (as the name suggests) unfortunate endings for several lifetimes (& some of those are genuinely tragic) the tragedy is mainly for the people they were in that lifetime.

The moment they die they remember who they are/were in heaven - not to say those lifetimes have no effect because they do have a huge effect on both ML and FL - but these two usually meet up in the underworld between lifetimes and that reminds them (& the readers) that these mortal lives aren't the (final) end so there's hope of a happily ever after in the heavenly realm once they're done with all this.

Hope that helps?

This sounds like the best. Aaaangst plus happy ending is my fave combo ever.

[incognitajones]

mindelan, fulcrumstardust, marcasite

mindelan: aaaangst! but the gun still rattles takes the “hurt” part of hurt/comfort seriously, but I love how Jyn is determined not to yield even when recaptured

fulcrumstardust: this was nearly impossible... in the end I went with The Girl With the Stardust Eyes because of my love for Imperial Jyn AUs and because of the incredible tension (both sexual and otherwise) as Jyn figures out who Cassian really is

marcasite: stories full of angsty pining with evocative titles are my weakness, especially when it’s resolved happily, so I had to pick it's a single vowel in this metallic silence

[ send me three fic writers and I’ll share my favourite stories by each ]  I’ll try to finish the ones already sent in, but I’ve reached my limit for these— sorry!

[fantastic-bby]

Serpent Tamer

Pairing: Seonghwa X Reader

Word count: 5.8k

Warning: Snakes 

Genre: uhh aaaangst? 

Summary: Reader has a special gift which leads her to meeting a man who is strangely enchanted by her presence.

You looked at the king cobra, it’s head followed the movement of your hand. You extend your hand and it lowered its head onto your hand, a sign of submission. 

“Impressive.” The man spoke up from behind you, “You can do that to all snakes?” He asked, crouching beside you as he watched the way you handled the creature. You nodded, guiding the snake towards the rattan basket. It followed your hand, slithering into the basket and lowered its head as your covered it. 

“Every snake is different. Some are harder than others.” You stood up and extended your hand towards the man. The man nodded, placing a brown pouch in your hand, the sound of metal clanking against each other as it dropped into your palm. You opened the pouch and counted the silvers inside, 

“You’re short on one silver.” You gave him an annoyed look as he reached into his boot to pull out another pouch with a sigh. 

“Not even the slightest bit flexible, aren’t you.” He pulled out the silver coin and dropped it into the pouch you held open. 

“You’re a wealthy man, 30 silvers shouldn’t be too much for you.” You spoke as you pull on the strings of the pouch, tucking it under the waistband of your chima. You heard him chuckle as you left his house. This was normal for you. You had a gift that was somewhat secret, almost like a black market secret. People who looked in the right places would know where to find you and those who were new to it would struggle in trying. But you weren’t ashamed of your gift, you just worried for how those snakes would end up being treated. 

You stalked through the streets of Jeonju holding a shawl over your head to prevent any eyes from recognising you. You reached your home safely, closing the door behind you and locking it with the wooden latch of your front gate. You slipped your slippers off at the steps of your house and made your way inside. You tossed the shawl onto the ground and took off your jeogori to place on top of your dresser. Your work didn’t seem like much but it was tiring. You had to have complete concentrating on the snake you were working with and you needed to make sure the snake could feel your energy.

You could only tame these snakes if you were calm. A frantic energy would make the snake feel frantic and that would lead to a hostile snake. They could read your energy and if they felt like you were in danger they would immediately turn hostile. They seem to trust you for some weird reason. They trusted your energy, they would follow your movements if you told them to and they let you guide them. But you worried for their futures and hoped that these people would treat them right.

You noticed a pile of letters sitting on your futon, silently thanking your servant for taking care of things while you spent a long time out of your home. You skimmed through the letters, finding one particular letter that stood out. It was in a crimson red envelope. You ripped it open and pulled out the letter. It was another job. The address was written at the end of the letter, it was a palace in the Sangju province, which was quite far away from the province you lived in but it was a handsome pay. But one keyword made your stomach twist. 

Serpent

That word put a whole different view on the job. Serpents were not snakes. They were huge snake-like creatures. 

Half human

You were put even more on edge. A half human serpent? Could you even tame something that was not only massive but also part human? You’ve never done more than snakes, but something always told you that maybe knowing how to handle a serpent would come in handy. You read until the end of the letter and it explained that if you weren’t brave enough it wouldn’t be necessary for you to come all the way to Sangju. You shakily folded the letter and put it back on your dresser, you really needed time to think about this before completely rejecting it. 

You let yourself collapse onto your futon, not even bothering to turn off the lights as you fell asleep the moment your head hit the pillow.

~

“Asshi.” You woke up to the face of your servant looking at you. You groaned, turning over to your side. 

“Yeon, let me sleep longer.” But Yeon had none of it. She grabbed your wrist to try and force you to sit up, 

“Asshi, there’s someone at the door for you.” She said, slapping your butt until she was able to sit you up. 

“Who? I don’t get visitors. I have no friends.” You grumbled as she handed you a more presentable garment. She shrugged and helped you into your garment before letting you leave your sleeping chamber to leave out into the garden. You spotted a nobleman standing in your garden, his arms behind his back. He turned around when he heard your footsteps on the wood of your porch. 

“So sorry for coming here so early, my lady. But I needed to speak with you.” He gave you a sorry smile as you slipped on your slippers. 

“And you are?” You questioned as you stood in front of him. 

“Ah, I’m being rude. My apologies. I’m Park Seonghwa.” He gave a small bow, “I saw you out last night and you dropped this,” He raised a brown pouch. Your eyes widened as you immediately ran back into your room. The man watched as you disappeared for a moment and came out after a while, 

“Aish,” You grumbled as you stood in front of him again, “I can’t believe I’m clumsy enough to drop my money like that. Thank you.” He handed it to you before taking a step back. You counted the silvers before pulling the strings and making sure they were in your hands this time. “How did you find me?” You questioned, feeling slightly uneasy. 

“I saw you drop the pouch and wanted to hand it to you but you were already heading into your home. I decided to wait until morning to try and avoid alarming you since it was already quite late. You also looked as if you were in a rush. I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable or uneasy in anyway.” He apologised once again. 

“No, it’s okay. At least you gave it back to me.” You nodded. You looked at his face and realised you’ve never seen him in your town before and his clothes were quite expensive looking. A nobleman from a different province maybe? You knew most of the noblemen in your province since you lived not too far from the palace and also because many of them reached out to you for your gift. You must’ve been staring for a quite a while because he cleared his throat. A blush hit your cheeks and you lowered your head quickly, your face being covered with your hair. 

“Uhm, I’m sorry for disturbing you so early in the morning. I’ll get going now.” He turned around to leave but you stopped him, 

“No wait!” He turned around to face you, a small hint of confusion in his face, “Are you from out of town? I’ve never seen you here before.” You questioned. 

“Ah, I’m in town for a small meeting with the king. I’m a nobleman from Silla, I was requested by the king for a small issue with the Muju province.” He explained. “I arrived yesterday evening, actually. I couldn’t sleep last night so I decided to take a walk. That was when I saw you.” He flashed you a smile. You had to admit he was very handsome and quite young for a nobleman. His skin was not too pale, his hair was black and his eyes had an amber hue to them. His garments were dark blue colour with black sleeves, a red baji tied around his waist and a wooden block with his rank carved into it was tied to his baji. 

“Uh, would you like to eat somewhere nearby? You probably don’t know this area well and I can help bring you around and make sure you don’t get lost if you ever feel like walking around on your own.” You offered. He took a moment to think about it before nodding,

“I have some time before the meeting so sure.” His smile was so entrancing. 

“Alright, I’ll go change into something else and I’ll be out not too long. If you need anything just as my maid, Yeon.” You said before rushing into your home, making sure to tell Yeon to keep her ears open just in case the nobleman needed something. You tried to make sure you didn’t keep him waiting for too long and you were out quicker than you ever had. Yeon eyed you up and down as you walked out of your compound with Seonghwa. 

You had a surprisingly lovely day out with Seonghwa. He was a gentleman, making sure he didn’t step any boundaries when you were together and was sure to make you feel comfortable with him. You learned he was a nobleman from Sangju, the province with the serpent issue. He became a nobleman a few years before when he was 19 because his father trusted him and wanted him to learn from a younger age than most. You also noticed that he had the most beautiful laughter and when he was genuinely smiling, he was glowing. 

What you didn’t notice was that he was strangely enchanted by you. He knew he had never felt this way before but he couldn’t help but want to trust you. He felt comfortable with you, he felt safe and he didn’t want to leave your company. He felt this strange urge to want to do everything for you. He felt as though if you were to ask him to jump off of a bridge he would do it because he just trusted your every move.

Seonghwa walked you home before having to leave for the palace. 

“So, this is it.” He said as you stood outside the gate of your house. 

“Yea, today was lovely. Thank you for making my day a little bit brighter.” You smiled at him. 

“No need to thank me. I should be thanking you for taking me around the town. You made the idea of going to this meeting a bit more bearable.” He joked as he looked down at his hands, fiddling with his thumbs for a moment. You noticed how nervous he was getting and felt a sudden wave of courage wash over you. You took a slight step closer and stood on your tiptoes to press a quick kiss to his cheek. His face turned red as his eyes widened in shock. 

“I hope I get to see you soon, Seonghwa oppa.” You smiled as he held his cheek with his right hand, your lipstick starting to blend with the colour of his face with how red he was turning. 

“W-Wait, I-I never g-g-got your name.” He stuttered out as he stopped you from opening your gate. Your mouth formed an ‘o’ and you realised the topic of your name seemed to hover between you two. 

“It’s (Y/n).” You smiled as he nodded, he swallowed thickly as he watched you disappear into your house. 

~

You looked at the letter in your hands before lifting your head to see the gates of the palace. You trotted your horse towards the gates and showed the guards the letter when you dismount your horse. The guard read the letter for a moment, eyeing you before nodding and letting you through. You walked into the compound of the palace with a court lady following behind you as you walked towards the king’s chambers. A court lady announced your presence before the door opened and you were guided in. The king looked at you, then the letter in your hand, 

“The serpent tamer? I didn’t expect you to look like this.” He muttered. You flinched at the harshness of his words and he quickly shook his head, “No, no, sorry. I don’t wish to sound rude but I imagined an old lady.” He gestured for me to sit across from him in which I did, not forgetting to bow. He poured tea into a metal cup sitting in front of you, “Enlighten me on exactly how this may go.” 

“Well, I’ve never tamed a serpent before, I typically work with snakes. But I’ve worked with some of the largest snakes in Joseon.” You said as you picked up the small, metal cup, sipping the tea for a moment. "If you in anyway make me feel uncomfortable or in danger, the snake will become aggressive and may attack anyone around me."

"It won't attack you?" He furrowed his brows.

"They might, but snakes have this strange need to protect me which is why they listen to me. Almost as if I somehow make them feel safe and they trust my choices. If they sense that I feel like I'm in danger, they won't hesitate to protect me. I advise you watch the way you treat me, I can turn them against anyone." You didn't mean for it to turn into a threat but he was a man of immense power. He had to understand that you were not one to be played with. “They’ll only attack me if they don’t connect themselves with me.”

"I understand if you feel as though I abuse my power, but I try my best not to mistreat anyway. I reached out to you because I'm worried for my people." He placed his own metal cup down onto the table and turned his head to a court lady who scurried over to hand him a rolled up map. He rolled it open on the floor and pointed to a cave that was far outside the village, "It may seem like it's quite far away but it's close enough to cause harm to my people. If you can convince it to leave or convince it not to hurt my people then that will be enough. I don't wish to hurt it." You could sense the truth in his voice and you nodded.

"I hope that this will go okay. I'm not sure how the serpent will react, since it's half human it may be more difficult." You stood up, bowing towards the king.

"I’ll have a court lady wake you up for your journey in the morning. I’m sorry for asking you to do this so early, but please be ready to leave at the break of dawn. For now, a court lady will take you to the royal villas. Please rest well." He nodded and gestured for the court lady to escort you. The court lady was walking in front of you as you followed her to the villas. 

“I hope you don’t think of this as too much of a hassle.” She bowed her head when she stopped in front of your room. “Our king started to worry after villagers started disappearing whenever they’d leave the village. He doesn’t want them to feel scared.” She said as she looked at you. You simply nodded, 

“I understand. It’s his duty to keep his citizens safe. I don’t think of this as much of a hassle, this is my job. I get paid quite well for it which is why I am able to live my life with comfort.” You opened the sliding door to the villa and stepped in, “Thank you for bringing me here.” You said to the court lady before closing the door.

“Wait! Asshi, this is for you,” The court lady held your door open to hand you a wooden block, “If anyone tries to stop you you must show them this to let them know you have permission from the king.” You took the wooden block and thanked her again before closing the door. You placed your bag on the ground and sat on the futon. You were in Sangja for the serpent mission and you were hoping you’d bump into Seonghwa while you were in the streets but you were disappointed when you reached the gates of the palace without seeing him at all. You hadn’t seen him since that time he was in Jeonju two months ago and you were hoping that you could meet him once again to get to know him better.

You changed out of your clothes into something more humble and decided to walk around the town. The sun still hadn’t set and you had a few more hours before you needed to sleep. You made sure to have the wooden block tied to your chima to make sure you would have it on you at all times. You headed out of the palace and out into the streets. The markets were still open and you could walk around to browse through. 

“(Y/n)?” You heard a familiar voice speak up from behind you. You turned around to see Seonghwa looking at you with confusion. 

“Ah! Seonghwa oppa!” You smiled and bowed to greet him. He smiled as he took a step closer to you, 

“What are you doing in Sangju? How long are you here for?” He asked. 

“I have some business here. I’ll probably leave in two days.” You answered, letting him walk with you as you both browsed what the market had to offer. 

“Ah,” He nodded, not wanting to pester what the business was about. “Do you want me to walk around with you? It’ll be like I’m repaying you for taking me around Jeonju that time.” You accepted his offer and ended up spending the rest of the day with him. You both walked through the market and he let you take your time if you saw something you liked. When he saw you stop to look at tassels, he couldn’t help but admire the way your eyes lit up and the variety of tassels. The feeling of comfort took over him once again and he couldn’t help but want to admire your beauty. 

“Seonghwa oppa?” You waved your hand in front of his face. He snapped out of his trance, a blush spreading on his cheeks as he cleared his throat,

“Sorry, I was, uh, thinking about something.” He turned away from you to hide his blush but you could see it clear as day. Once he saw your smirk, he tried turning your attention to something else, “Ah! Norigae! Look, (Y/n),  there’s so many!” He grabbed your hand and brought you over to the merchant as you laughed. The hours you spent together was as pleasant as the last time you were together. He walked you back to the palace before the sun was completely down and you both sat on the wooden porch of the villa, spending whatever time you had left together. 

You both weren’t sure when was the next time you’d be able to see each other but you were starting to like him and he was pretty much whipped for you already. 

“I have something for you, (Y/n)-ie.” He pulled out a folded daenggi, a hair ribbon, and placed it in your palm. You unfolded the ribbon, feeling warmth spread inside you as you blushed lightly, 

“You didn’t have to get me this, oppa.” You purse your lips but he shook his head, 

“I like you a lot, (Y/n)-ie. I want you to remember me because I know we’ll end up meeting again. I’ll make sure of it. Until then, I want you to have this ribbon so you don’t forget me.” The blush on his cheeks were starting to spread to his ears and soon his whole face was red. So was yours. 

“Okay. I’ll keep it close to me.” You smiled as you folded it back up. Seonghwa looked at the sky and noticed the sun starting to set, his eyes seemed to flicker with an emotion you didn’t recognise and he cleared his throat,

“I should leave you to rest. You must be tired.” He stood up, holding your hand in his he kissed your knuckles, “I hope to see you again soon, (Y/n).” He smiled before heading out of the palace. You watched him leave and felt your hand clutch the daenggi for a moment. You looked down at the baby blue ribbon and smiled as you made your way into your room. 

~

“It’s in there?” You questioned, looking at the king. He nodded, 

“If at all you feel like you need to back out, please don’t hesitate. I’m not going to force you to do this.” He spoke gently. You were surrounded with palace guards which had their spears aimed towards the entrance of the cave. 

“It’s okay, I can do this. But I need to go in alone. Too many people will make me and the serpent anxious.” You warned. The guards nodded, 

“If you need any help just call for us.” The king said as he watched you disappear into the cave. The cave was dark and wet. You could smell the vague scent of moss as you stepped further into the cave. You turned around to see how far you had actually walked in and you realised this cave was way deeper than you expected. The further you went in, the more you could see what seemed like rays of light bouncing around the walls of the cave. Your jaw dropped when you saw the full size of the cave. The ceiling of the cave suddenly raised up higher than the entrance, stalagmites were hanging from the cave ceiling like icicles, pillars of limestone grew tall. 

You looked around in awe as you noticed a few openings in the ceiling of the cave. The light that shone in was being reflected my various crystals that decorated the cave, causing the light to prism and shine in every direction. It was like one of those magical crystal caves you’d hear about in fairytales or cartoons. You were snapped out of your trance when you heard the sound of something dragging across the ground of the cave. You watched as a shadow loomed over you, your hood still covering your head. The shadow was long and stood tall but you didn’t turn around yet. 

“What are you doing in my cave?” The voice was deep, and it let out a hiss at the end of it’s sentence. You turned around to see the giant serpent slithering around the massive floor of the cave. It stood upright at least 30 feet tall and looked down at you, the light from the crystals shining on its golden scales. It’s head lowered to look you in the eye with it’s amber eye, a large black slit staring at you as it examined you. 

“I’m not going to hurt you. I’m here to warn you about the humans.” You said as gently as you could. 

“I know about the humans. What is it?” It questioned, it’s snake tongue flicking out of its mouth and flicking against your face. You shuddered at the contact of its tongue but managed to maintain your composure, 

“The king wants you to leave this province or move further out into the wilderness so you don’t disturb the kingdom.” You looked up at the creature, having to crane your neck to look at it when it stood upright once again. It looked at you for a moment before slithering around the cave, 

“This is my home, why should I be the one to leave. I was in this land way before you humans showed up.” It hissed. You could feel the hurt in its tone. It was right. Why should it be the one to leave. 

“It may seem unfair, but it’s either you leave or the king kills you and I would rather you not get killed.” You had to speak louder so that it could hear you as it continued to move around inside it’s home. It moved closer to you once again and lowered its head one more time to look you in the eye.

“Am I not familiar at all to you, (Y/n)-ie?” It asked, it’s amber eye staring straight at you. You felt your heartbeat quicken when it mentioned your name. “I told you we were bound to meet again soon.” You watched as it’s body started to shrink. You stumbled backwards and watched as he stood tall in front of you. 

“S-Seonghwa?” You stared in disbelief as you fell to the ground. He stood in front of you, wearing only a pair of black pants and his body still speckled with scales. 

“The daenggi looks nice in your hair.” He pointed out as he stepped closer to you. Your hand instinctively flew to the ribbon that was tied on your hair and you brought it over your shoulder. “You’re the famous snake tamer.” He spoke as he crouched in front of you and extended his hand to help you up. 

“Yea, I am.” You stood up with his held, still in disbelief at the sight of this man in front of you. His eyes were more vibrant than usual. 

“Then that’s why I felt so safe around you.” He ran a hand through his hair and for a moment you caught his tongue flicking out of his mouth like a snake would. “I had this strange… urge you protect you every time we were together. I felt comfortable around you and I wanted to be with you always. But I was scared of you finding out about this,” He gestured to his scaly body, “I assure you I’m not evil, (Y/n). I’m not the one eating the humans.” He tried to explain. “My brother is.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he watched you try and process everything. 

“So you’re half serpent.”

“Mhm.”

“You’re not evil?”

“No.”

“You’re not the one that’s been eating the villagers but your brother is?”

“Mhm.”

“So I’m supposed to be convincing your brother to stop then.” You said as you looked around the cave. 

“That might be difficult. He doesn’t speak or understand korean.” He held your wrist, “(Y/n), he might eat you.” He said, his voice filled with worry. “I was the only one who wanted to stay human when our father passed away. He’s not kind to humans.”

“No, I need to do this. I technically tamed you, didn’t I?” You turned to him and he just stared at you, fear was etched in his face. 

“My brother is different. He’s aggressive and he eats everyone who wanders alone in the forest.” His eyes were pleading you to leave, but you knew you needed do this. 

“Seonghwa oppa, I’ll be fine.” You placed a hand on his cheek, “Let me go to him. Where is he?” You asked. Seonghwa bit his lip before taking your hand and walking you down one of the paths, pulling you further into the cave. You were both slowly engulfed in darkness and the scent of decaying bodies filled your nose. You covered your nose with a cloth but the reek of death still managed to fill your senses. Seonghwa stopped walking, 

“I need to change into a serpent. If he tries to attack you, I’ll need to fight for you.” He let go of your hand and you heard him release hisses and grunts before you felt his slipper body nudge you, “Climb onto my back.” His voice change back into it’s deep, raspy tone. You managed to hold onto his back as he slithered further into the cave. You saw light at the end of the cave and when Seonghwa slithered into the light you another, much bigger serpent resting towards the back wall of the cave. “Be careful.” Seonghwa lowered his head to whisper in your ear as you climbed off his back and carefully made your way to the copper coloured serpent. 

You heard Seonghwa let out a hiss and the serpent started to move. It turned around and raised its head above you. You could feel fear starting to fill your stomach but you forced it down. It lowered its head right in front of you to look at you with its eye. You stood in your place, holding your hand out right in front of its face as you put your full attention onto it. You started to feel that familiar feeling of a connection being made with the serpent and it’s head started to follow the swaying movement of your hand. 

You lowered your hand to the ground and as it lowered its head with its eyes closed, ready to submit, its eyes snapped open and lunged towards you. You were quick to jump backwards and watched as its eyes were full of no traces of submission. 

“It didn’t work.” You said out loud, Seonghwa quickly slid in front of you in a defensive stance, ready to fight his own brother. “I need to try again.” Seonghwa glanced behind at you, 

“You’re going to get hurt.” He hissed at you. But you ignored his comment and slowly made your way back in between the two serpents, your hand extending in front of you towards Seonghwa’s brother. 

“You don’t need to understand my words, but if you don’t submit to me you will die.” You spoke out loud as you moved towards the snake, your body ready at any moment to jump away if it were to attack again. The serpent lowered its head to look at you and its tongue flickered onto your face like Seonghwa did before. But this time your body didn’t shudder, your attention was on this serpent only. Your energy didn’t falter for one second as you stared at the serpent. It’s eyes seem to soften and it once again copied the movement of your hand. But it still didn’t work. It lunged at you once again and it thrusted it’s head at you, throwing you backwards at full force. You were lucky Seonghwa managed to catch you before you hit the spiky wall of the cave.

You did this a total of 6 times, continuously trying again and again. Your legs were tired from having to jump all over the place to avoid the attacks and at one point Seonghwa was forced to use his body to block the attack from his brother because your legs were giving in. You composed yourself one last time and stood up, your eyes glaring straight at the serpent. You extended your hand, both your mind, body and heart were trying to force a connection with the serpent. It followed your movements once again and finally, you trail your hand down to the ground and it seemed to hesitate for a moment before completely putting its head in your palm. 

“Submission.” Seonghwa muttered out in awe as he watched you gently caress the head of his brother. They both started to communicate with each other before his brother lifted his head. “He agreed to try and stop eating humans. He’ll try to switch to animals.” He translated for his brother. You nodded, looking at his brother. You ushered for him to follow you. 

“We need to tell the king. He’s waiting outside the cave.” You told Seonghwa and he nodded. 

~

You knocked on the gate door and waited for it to open. The door opened to reveal a very happy Seonghwa. 

“(Y/n)! Jagiya!” He smiled and pulled you into a hug. You were surprised at his sudden hug but hugged him back anyway. “How was your trip?” He asked as he pulled you into your home, sitting you down on the porch. 

“It was fine. I earned another 80 silvers from just one job which is fun.” You pulled out the brown pouch and handed it to Seonghwa. He looked at the pouch for a moment before setting it down on the wood. He looked up at the sky. You followed his gaze towards the bright, full moon, the moonlight shining down on both of you. 

“Jagiya, how long have we been together?” He questioned without turning his eyes away from the moon. 

“Hmmm, 3 years?” You hummed out as you leaned your head on his shoulder. 

“You tamed me so well all those years ago.” He smiled as he looked down at you, “I never expected myself to fall in love with a human after meeting her only once.” He pressed a kiss to your blushing cheeks as you tried hiding your face with your hands. He pulled your hands away and made you look into his glowing eyes, “I’m glad you dropped that pouch of money that night.” He smiled and pressed a soft kiss to your lips. You smiled into the kiss.

“Well,” You pulled away, “I’m glad I accepted the serpent job. If I denied it, I would’ve never seen you again. But it’s not like you needed any taming. You were a good boy.” He smiled at you, 

“I may not have been hostile, but you managed to stop me and my brother from being killed. I thank you for that.” He hummed as he turned to pull you into a hug. “I love you.” He hummed. 

“I love you too.”