#You Know the bats are going to go crazy searching for some sort of proof of Danny’s existence when they finally communicate w/ each other | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sohotthateveryonedied · 3 years

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Hiii!! I really love your tumblr posts and I'm pretty new to the Batfam (meaning I have only read fics and textposts about them, no comics) and I wanted to ask about the year Bruce/Batman gets "lost in time". I know general things of what the kids have been doing–Dick became batman and fired Tim from robin, giving it to Damian, everyone thinking Tim was crazy for believing Bruce was alive, (don't really know what Jason was up to though, was he still murderous towards Tim? Does the pit still affect him? Also I have no idea about Cass and Duke, were they introduced at this point??) Anyways, my real question was why was Bruce lost in time, what villain put him there? And how did he get out? And how long was he "dead"? Was Bruce in another reality or like just asleep the whole time? Oh! And how soon did this happen after Damian got introduced to the family–a couple months?

I'm so sorry this is so long, but I hope you answer and thank you!!

(I’m going to try and cover all my bases here by going into how exactly Bruce “died,” what went down during the Battle For the Cowl, what the Batkids did while Bruce was gone, and how Bruce came back. Hopefully it all makes sense?? We’ll see how it goes lmao.)

Part 1 - What Happened to Bruce:

So there was this event called Final Crisis (which I won’t go completely into since it would make this post a million times longer than it already is), but the bottom line is that Darkseid wants to overthrow reality and release his Anti-Life Equation, which would overthrow the whole planet and turn everyone into slaves. (If you’re interested in knowing more about the storyline, here’s a Reddit thread that explains it WAY better than I could.)

What I CAN tell you is that during his final confrontation with Darkseid, Bruce is hit by an Omega Beam and turned into a burnt chicken nugget killed. Poor guy.

Final Crisis #6

Clark and Diana bring the body back to the Batcave and break the news to the Batfamily. Batman #687 covers a good portion of the aftermath such as Bruce’s funeral, the Batfamily grieving, and Dick coming to terms with his new responsibility of becoming Batman.

Batman #687

Part 2 - Battle For the Cowl:

Musical chairs time, fellas! After word gets out that Batman is gone, Gotham erupts into chaos. Dick doesn’t want to take over the mantle, Tim needs Dick to take over the mantle, and Jason says “fuck it” and takes over the mantle himself because somebody around here has to. He becomes this murderous psychopathic Batman and starts taking out criminals with deadly force because someone’s gotta do the job, so it might as well be him.

Batman: Battle For the Cowl #1

(Okay honestly, this series had some pretty bad characterization overall, which sucks since it’s such an important storyline. Jason is portrayed as this violent psychopath, which...okay, he was kind of insane after the Pit and all, but not to this degree. Personally, I choose to owe the bad characterization to Bruce’s death because as much as Jason resents Bruce for all he’s done, he does still love him and losing him would be devastating, which would exacerbate his already fragile mental health. As for Damian, this happens roughly three years after his first appearance, so we can assume it’s been a few months since he first joined the family. He’s still relatively new at this point, so nobody knows how to write him yet. He ends up being depicted as if his main two personality traits are Bratty and Assassin-Child and that’s it. It’s all just a mess.)

Anyway, Tim tells Dick to become Batman and stop Jason’s reign of terror. Dick says no, so Tim follows Jason’s lead by saying “fuck it” and putting on the cowl himself. He goes to confront Jason, which ends in Jason beating the crap out of him (again) and leaving him for dead after Tim declines his offer to become Jason’s Robin. Dick goes to save Tim and ends up fighting Jason.

Battle For the Cowl #3

Dick wins, Jason disappears, Tim is fine, and Dick finally gets his head out of his ass and becomes Batman.

Part 3 - What Happens to Each Batkid While Bruce is “Dead”?:

Dick:

As I said, Dick becomes the new Batman a month after Bruce’s death. He’s got big shoes to fill, and it takes some time for him to get used to his new role. He and Damian end up flipping around the classic Batman and Robin dynamic, with Batman now as the fun counterpart to Robin’s edginess. Dick, Damian, and Alfred relocate to the penthouse above the Wayne Foundation building, operating out of a secret Bat-Bunker in the basement.

Batman #688

Jason:

After Battle For the Cowl, Jason is still batshit insane and determined to make Dick’s already stressful life even harder by becoming a supervillain with an ugly costume and an even uglier hairstyle. (I know it’s just because the artist sucked, but still. Jason is horrifying to look at during this time.) He mostly just gets on Dick’s nerves by running around Gotham with his new sidekick Scarlet and killing criminals as Batman and Robin wannabes. Eventually, Dick has Jason committed to Arkham Asylum and he hangs out there until Bruce returns.

Batman and Robin (2009) #5

Tim:

Tim...doesn’t do great after Bruce’s death, mentally. Dick makes Damian Robin, his reasoning being that Robin is more of a sidekick and he sees Tim as his equal. By making Damian Robin, Dick hopes that it will give him the stability he needs to keep him from straying back toward the “bad” side. (It’s the right move ultimately, although his execution was pretty messed up since he didn’t discuss it with Tim beforehand, but he’s allowed to make mistakes. Dick’s father just died and now he’s in charge of picking up the pieces of their broken family. It’s a lot to handle.)

Long story short, Tim has a breakdown, realizes that Bruce is alive, dons the Red Robin identity, and cuts ties with his family to travel the world in search of proof. It’s a rough time.

Red Robin #1

Damian:

Our little guy becomes Robin! So proud of him! As I explained earlier, Dick makes Damian his Robin with the assumption that it will keep him out of trouble, and he’s right on that account. He mentors Damian, teaching him how to channel his violent instincts into something productive, and it works! Slowly but surely, Damian makes the transition from bratty assassin to actual hero!

Batman and Robin (2009) #22

Cass:

Duke sadly was not introduced at this point in time, so he missed out on all the pandemonium. Cass, however, has been Batgirl for years by now, but she got kind of pushed aside by the writers after Bruce’s death. Bruce disappears shortly after adopting Cass, but once he was “dead,” the writers sort of moved Cass around for a while, not quite knowing what to do with her. First she was with the Outsiders. Then they got disbanded and Cass tried forming a new network of heroes to take over for Batman if needed. Then she helped out in said network during Battle for the Cowl, taking care of a newly ravaged Gotham. Then Cass gave the Batgirl mantle to Stephanie Brown after she became disillusioned with the role, thanks to the loss of her father and mentor. Then Cass picked up and moved to Hong Kong to “follow Bruce’s plans” by continuing whatever work he had set up for her there. It was all very vague and confusing, and Cass more or less got swept under the rug during this time. Thanks, writers.

Batgirl (2009) #1

Part 4 - How Bruce Came Back:

When the Blackest Night storyline happens, the Justice League realizes that the corpse buried under Bruce’s grave is apparently not the real one and that he’s actually alive out there somewhere! How wild is that! This is further proven by Dick after he places Bruce’s body in a Lazarus Pit to revive, which has the same result because it’s very clearly Not Bruce and they should have listened to Tim from the start.

Batman and Robin (2009) #9

Anyway, what actually happened is that the Omega Beams that Darkseid shot at Bruce didn’t kill him, but rather blasted him back through time to the prehistoric era with his memories wiped. The Omega Energy inside of Bruce ends up catapulting him through various time periods, which is all part of Darkseid’s plan. With each time-hop, Bruce builds up more Omega Energy in his body which, when he gets back to his original time period, will be unleashed and destroy everything.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5

It’s been a little under two years since Final Crisis, though in-universe it’s uncertain exactly how long Bruce has been “dead.” We can assume it’s been a year, give or take. The way he comes back is too scientific and complicated for me to understand, so uhhhh the bottom line is that Tim and a few Leaguers save Bruce at the Vanishing Point and the day is saved! Hooray!

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #6

(If you want to read about how it actually goes down, then I seriously recommend reading Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne. It’s only six issues, so it’s a quick read and it explains the situation far better than I ever could.)

Bruce eventually reunites with his family after spying on them for a period of time as Insider to see what has changed in his absence:

Bruce Wayne: The Road Home

After that, things quickly settle back into their new normal. Dick and Damian stay on as Batman and Robin. Bruce goes back to being Batman as well, with him handling Batman Incorporated business and Dick continuing as Gotham’s defender. Tim keeps the Red Robin outfit, Steph stays on as Batgirl, and Cass becomes Black Bat. Jason stays in Arkham for a while before filing an appeal to be moved to a regular prison. He kills 82 inmates in less than a week and gets transferred back to Arkham, which he promptly escapes from. It’s a ride, I tell ya.

Aaaaand that’s about it! I hope this answered all of your questions!

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angelsswirl · 3 years

Text

Been Through

Chapter 9: I let you get the best of me

*WARNING* This chapter is rated Mature for sexual content!!

You are the sole person I've been searching for. Yeah you are. I think I’ll go crazy thinking of you.

You stood at the door impatiently. You had been staring at your front door for twenty minutes now. Willing it to sound with the telltale knock that she was here.

You had texted her something along the lines of 'hurry it's an emergency' and she said she'd be here right away. So. Where the hell was she?

Didn't she get it? You were aching and throbbing. You were shaking and vibrating. You were in heat. And she was just letting you stew in it like some....stew.

Time is of the essence on days like today.

After another twenty minutes (actually it's only five minutes) she arrived. You opened the door before she even got a chance to knock. You could just sort of tell she was there.

Her eyes widened in surprise, "Whoa. Where's the fire?"

Now would be a great time to say something cheesy like "In my pants" or something like that, but instead you settle for jumping at her and kissing her.

She kissed you back, even if she was surprised and just a little bit scared. That went on for a few more seconds before she seemed to get her wits about her.

She broke the kiss with a curious smile. Then, after actually looking you in the eye and taking in her surroundings, she realized something.

"God Y/N, are you in heat?" She already knew the answer. You smelled amazing. Almost like cinnamon, fresh laundry and a whole lot of home.

"You're so smart." You said sarcastically, just a bit mad about the not kissing anymore thing, but she needed to have some things cleared up first.

She had to ask her questions now because once you were really immersed in the throws of your heat, there wouldn't be much of any coherency on your part for a while.

"And you want me to help you through it. Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

"Yes, Lisa."

Lisa placed her fists on her hips and puffed out her chest a little, "Cool."

"Really? I'm trying to have hot sex with you and you choose now to be a dork?"

"Hey-"

You latched back on to Lisa's lips with a deep groan. She chuckled into it softly.

"Where's your kid?"

"Your kid is with my mom."

Lisa's eyes widened in panic,"Your mom? Oh no. Does she know we're doing this? She hates me."

You were three seconds away from petulantly stomping your foot like your four year old. None of that mattered right now. You were in heat for fuck's sake. You glared at her.

"I know, but stop jumping me for a second."

Clearly Lisa had no idea what it was like to be in heat. Calming down for a second was just about out of the question.

"I'm going to text Jisoo and tell her to distract your mom for a little longer. Your mom loves Jisoo. It'll work."

Lisa fiddled with her phone for a few minutes, before throwing it onto the coffee table. She looked back at you with a smirk.

"When the hell did you get naked?!"

You didn't quite know when you got naked either. You shrugged. It had been necessary. You felt like you were burning from the inside out.

Lisa looked around the room. There was a couch nearest to you, but she be damned if she let your first time (sober) be on your white leather couch. She also had a feeling you'd kill her for that when you came to.

You blinked lazily up at Lisa. She held out a hand to you, then set about practically dragging you into your bedroom.

Once you were situated on the bed, you dragged your hands down your body. You bad been ready to get this show on the road since you had woke up in a cold sweat that morning.

Lisa was practically fighting with her clothing to get it off of her. It was only a tank top and sweatpants, what she had been wearing when you texted her, but apparently the difficulty was still high.

Once she was finally free of all articles she set her gaze back on you.

"You weren't just messing with me when I asked about your heat." She gestured to you with a head nod. Your hand had been exploring between your own legs.

You shrugged, still only mildly aware of anything other than the pleasure you were practically begging to experience, "I may embellish the truth but I don't lie to you. I can't."

Lisa ran her hand up the length of your side. You pressed herself into the cooling touch as much as you could.

"You're not going to change your mind make me stop are you?" Lisa asked. She was smirking, but she was definitely being completely serious.

You couldn't stop her even if you wanted to at this point.

You shook your head a little wildly, "No. Now, please fuck me."

Lisa chuckled softly, "Yes, unnie."

You've never rolled your eyes so hard at something in your life. You were only 2 years older than her, and she chose now to remind you.

Maybe, you should change your mind.

Though, that thought was all but thrown out the window when Lisa nipped at your straining neck.

"Lisa." You whimpered.

Lisa hummed, she slid up to your ear, a direct contrast to her left hand which was slithering down your stomach to replace your hand between your legs.

You convulsed in response to Lisa's fingers coming into soft contact with your center.

"Please." You panted. Lisa hummed again and you could practically feel it.

Her lips grazed over your ear teasingly. She easily batted away your hand and circled her fingers.

"You're like really pretty."

Lisa occupied her opposite hand with trailing her fingers over one of your nipples, drawing a small gasp from you.

You keened, your left hand reaching to cling onto Lisa's shoulder, urging her to provide you with more.

Lisa's lips smashed down onto yours.

And you finally gave up that last bit of control you had been clinging onto. What purpose would the ruse hold at this point. This point where you're naked and aching underneath her.

Eventually, Lisa picked up the pace.

Her fingers left the tenderness of your clit to instead meet your entrance. Her index finger slipped almost embarrassingly easy into you.

You moaned loudly, you back arching enough to push you into Lisa's chest lightly.

"You're soaked." She continued to pump her finger in and out slowly. Pleasantly distracted by the pleasure playing across your face.

You were pretty much gasping now.

"More. Please."

Another finger of the alpha's slipped into you, the resulting whimper is the loudest one yet and just as telling as the rest.

She pulled out then pushed back in slowly, her palm pressing on your swollen center.

Lisa increased her speed even without your urging. She just knew what you needed and when.

Your mewls and whimpers grew in pitch and frequency. Hips bucked up into Lisa's hand on just about every thrust.

"God!"

You released into Lisa's hand soon after. Eased over the edge by her light nips where your neck and shoulder meet.

After taking a much needed break to catch breath, you pulled Lisa closer to you and in for a impatient kiss.

Lisa settled herself between your legs, lining herself up with your entrance. She kept a close eye out for any signs of discomfort from you.

You took in a sharp breath. Most of your lip caught between her teeth, as Lisa pushed into you.

You both groan simultaneously.

It was obvious that neither of you would last long. Not with all that waiting you've been doing, and all the teasing you've been putting Lisa through.

Her hips picked up speed on their own accord. Your other hand came to grip at Lisa's shoulders in response.

"Faster, Lisa." Lisa agreed easily, squaring up her hips and picking up the pace. She pounded into you below her, moaning deeply as she did.

You stretched her neck as she released suddenly, a by product of your arching back. Lisa groaned lowly.

The delicate skin of your neck doesn't break when Lisa marked it. Any pain that you would have felt is quickly overcome by the relief you feel of your heat subsiding for now.

You clenched around Lisa, causing her to finally fall over the edge. You're thrown into another gentler spasm at the feeling of Lisa spilling inside of you.

She carefully flipped so you were resting comfortably on her chest.

"I'm proud of us. Didn't think we had that in us."

You rolled your eyes at, "You're such a dork."

"But I'm your dork."

"Fortunately or unfortunately."

"Hey!"

You were both silent for a few moments. Then you started speaking.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For making this way harder than it should have been. I love you, that should have been enough." You tucked your face into her shoulder.

"You don't work like that, and I get it. You had a lot to think about. If this had been easy, I don't think it would have worked out."

You nodded slowly. That heat fog slowly leaking back into your vision.

"I guess you're right."

"Better late than never."

A few seconds later, you're back into the throws of your heat. You hoped Lisa brought a water bottle or something, because you fully planned on completely depleting her strength.

~~~

Lisa was willing to bet two things. The first one: You were definitely trying to attempt revenge on her during your heat. Either for calling you 'unnie' or for dropping you when she attempted to place you into the bathtub. In her defense, you were slippery from all the sweating you two had been doing during your activities.

The second thing she was willing to bet: You were pregnant.

She had no proof other than seeing you every day for the last three weeks.

It was a benefit of being mated. She could kind of just tell. You hadn't been having any mood swings or weird cravings and you weren't throwing up...yet...but you had been extra clingy with both Lisa and Lily.

You would cuddle under as many blankets as you could find into Lisa's side, and Lily on your lap.

Yep, she was about 89% sure you were pregnant. But she'd just wait for you to find out yourself. It was more entertaining that way.

She eyed you curiously from her place across from you at the marble island in your kitchen.

You looked up with a curious eyebrow, "What?"

"...Why me?"

You blinked in surprise at the question. Then sighed, "Remember when we met? It was just you and me. I was supposed to be Jisoo's English teacher, but you had suddenly decided that you needed one too. You had somehow found me before everyone else and wasted all of your free time getting to know me. That's why."

"Because I talked to you first?"

"No. Because you went out of your way to talk to me first. I think it was only a week before you had tricked me into falling in love with you." You smiled fondly at the memory.

"Then why'd you go out with Jennie?"

That was a good question. You weren't entirely sure of the answer, but you knew at least part of it, "She asked me out, and you didn't. I said yes because what the hell and things just went on from there. But what does any of that matter now. I don't want to build a family with Jennie. I'm not in love with her. I want that with you." You were sure of that.

"I want that with you too." Lisa said softly. You bounded around the counter, so you were standing in front of her.

"Good, because I'm pretty sure that little performance we put on a few weeks ago gave Lily a sibling."

Lisa faked a surprised gasp, "What?! Your pregnant? Never could I have known!"

"Hop off it. You've been looking at me funny for the last week. You probably knew before I did." You playfully swatted at her shoulder.

"Yeah, I had a feeling. But hey that's a good thing. Now, you're really stuck with me."

"Another successful trick on your part."

Lisa smiled brightly, "I love you."

"I love you, too."

#been through #blackpink fanfic #lisa fanfic #lisa x reader #jesssica's fanfic

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starryknight09 · 3 years

Text

Forests and piggyback rides

Febuwhump Day 5: “don’t try to pin this on me”

Read on AO3.

________________________________________________________

“Which way Pete?” Tony asked.

Peter chewed his bottom lip as he looked left and then right. He honestly had no idea. All the trees and shrubs in the lush rainforest looked the same.

“Um…” That tree to left seemed kind of familiar. Didn’t it?

“Maybe…I think we should go…that way.” He pointed in the direction of the sort of familiar tree.

“You have no idea.” Tony deadpanned, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Uh…no.” He admitted.

“Kid you were supposed to be in charge of directions.”

“And then I told you I’m terrible with directions, so you said we’d figure it out together.” Peter threw his hands up in the air. “Don’t try to pin this on me!”

Tony took a deep breath and looked up at the sky as if to ask for help from above. When he looked back at Peter, he gave a quick nod and said, “Right. So we’re lost.”

“I guess that depends on your definition of lost. We know we’re in a rainforest somewhere in Brazil, so I mean we’re not completely lost.”

“We’re lost.” Tony repeated.

“So…we should stay put?” Peter asked hesitantly. “Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when you’re lost?”

“Yeah if you’re in kindergarten and baddies with guns aren’t chasing you.” Mr. Stark said, glancing back the way they’d came, as if mentioning them might make them appear.

“Ok so what do we do?” Peter asked, and he hated that he had to ask, because going on these missions with Mr. Stark always felt like a test for the big leagues, and when he didn’t know what to do, he felt like he was failing.

“We keep going and hope Rhodey finds us or we somehow stumble across the Quinjet.”

“Too bad we can’t use the suits.” Peter mumbled and they started walking again.

“Yep. It’s just not our day.”

The mission had been a success at least. They’d gotten into the remote Hydra hold out and planted incendiaries to blow the place, but someone had spotted them on the way out, and in their desperation to catch them, they’d fired an EMP which had fried both their suits, so Peter and Tony had ended up fleeing into the forest. At least the bombs had still detonated. And they’d gotten away. Although it was crazy hot here. And the dense foliage and bugs were starting to get on his nerves.

Peter pushed more hanging vines to the side while batting another huge fly-like beetle thing away from his face. The stupid insect distracted him just long enough that he missed the ground under his feet suddenly disappearing. His spidey sense flared, but the warning didn’t come soon enough.

The forest floor dropped out under his feet and he fell with a yelp.

“Kid!” Tony yelled from behind him.

His back slammed against the steep muddy incline and he slid down the hill, arms flailing, trying to grab onto something to slow his progression, but all the shrubbery broke away in his hands and his sticky powers wouldn’t work on the muddy ground.

He must’ve stumbled on some kind of steep river embankment because that was the sight that greeted him below his feet. If he didn’t stop soon he was going to end up taking a swim. And he wasn’t the best swimmer. And the river didn’t look particularly inviting with the turbulent white froth rising from its churning waters.

In desperation he threw his leg to the side, trying to wedge his foot between two small tree trunks that met near the ground. And it worked. A second later he jerked to a stop. And felt something snap in his ankle. He let out a pained cry. But at least he’d stopped. He wasn’t going to drown. Except now he was stuck. He hung upside down, foot caught between the tree trunks, and he was afraid to try to free himself because he didn’t want to end up tumbling back down into the river. Well, this was less than ideal. And his ankle hurt. Even breathing sent sparks of pain up his leg, so he tried his best not to move.

“Hold on kid!” Mr. Stark called from the top of the embankment and Peter craned his head to see the man starting to make his way tentatively down the hill toward him.

“Be careful!” He warned before letting his head flop back down into the mud. The blood had started rushing to his face, but he didn’t mind the sensation. He was used to it from being Spiderman.

It took Mr. Stark awhile to reach him, but eventually the man saddled up beside him, sweaty and red faced. “All right Pete. I’m here.”

Peter could see the tension pinching around his eyes, proof he was worried.

“You were right Mr. Stark.” He groaned.

“I always am.” The man answered distractedly, eyeing his leg and how it was jammed into the branching tree trunks. “What was I right about this time?”

“This is not our day.”

Mr. Stark huffed out a laugh and crawled up to examine his foot closer.

“Ok, I know how to get you out.” Mr. Stark said decisively. “First, we need to sit you up.” Mr. Stark snaked an arm under his shoulders and pulled him up to an awkward seated position. “And now I just need to…” Mr. Stark leaned toward his foot while still supporting him behind his back, and he grabbed the heel of his foot and yanked. His foot came free with a spike of agony.

“Sorry buddy.” Mr. Stark apologized.

“That’s ok.” He kept his eyes scrunched closed, trying to ride out the pain. “Had to be done.”

Peter took a few more slow breaths and opened his eyes, meeting Mr. Stark’s concerned gaze.

“You ok?” His mentor asked.

Peter nodded.

“Ok, then let’s try to get you in a better position. This might hurt a little.” Mr. Stark said apologetically.

“I’ll be ok.”

Mr. Stark held under his knee to keep his foot off the ground, and with a little help from Peter, twisted him around so his legs faced down the hill instead of up. He let out a relieved sigh when he’d settled into the new position. It was a lot more comfortable. “Thanks Mr. Stark.”

The man sat down hip to hip with him, resting backwards on his hands, mirroring Peter’s position. They rested like that in silence for a couple minutes before Mr. Stark asked, “Do you think you can walk?”

Peter tried wiggling his ankle and sucked in a sharp breath at the pain. Yeah that was going to be a no go.

“I don’t think so.” He said, wincing. “Sorry.”

“It’s ok. We’ll…figure it out.” Mr. Stark looked around as if the answer might be found in the trees.

“Maybe we should just stay here.” He suggested, not seeing any other option.

“Rhodey will never find us here.” Mr. Stark shook his head.

“Neither will the bad guys.”

Mr. Stark let out a quiet snort and kept searching their environment for some sort of solution.

Peter knew he wasn’t going to find one. “You should go Mr. Stark.”

“What?” Mr. Stark asked sharply.

“You should get out of here, and when you find Colonel Rhodes you can come back for me.” Peter explained.

“No. I’m not leaving you here by yourself. Hurt and undefended.”

“I’m Spiderman. I’m never undefended.” He argued.

“I don’t care. I’m not leaving you.” And the steel in his voice was enough to convince Peter there was no way he’d be able to change the man’s mind.

“Then what are we going to do?” He asked.

Mr. Stark looked up toward the top of the embankment and then back down at Peter before he nodded decisively and said, “I’m going to carry you.”

Peter eyed the man dubiously. “Mr. Stark you could barely make it down by yourself. There’s no way you can make it back up there carrying me.”

“Don’t tell me what I can’t do. Besides, going up is easier than going down.”

Peter supposed that was true, but he wasn’t in any hurry for Mr. Stark to drop him or for both of them to go plummeting back down the sharp incline into the river.

He didn’t get any more time to protest. Mr. Stark was already crouching down next to him, but with his back to him. Peter frowned.

“Come on kid. Giddy up.” Mr. Stark flapped his hands toward his back and Peter finally got it. Mr. Stark wanted to give him a piggyback ride.

“This is humiliating.” He mumbled, but after a few false starts, he managed to get on Mr. Stark’s back with his arms clasped together over the man’s chest as his mentor held his legs at his knees.

“Ready?” Mr. Stark asked once he was in a good position.

“Yeah.”

“Here we go.” Mr. Stark said as if to bolster himself, and then shakily stood, blowing out a long breath of air like Peter had seen people do when they were weightlifting.

“Are you ok Mr. Stark?”

“Oh yeah just great.” The man grunted as he took a step up the hill. So far so good. “You’re light as a feather.”

Peter knew he wasn’t. Mr. Stark made it about ten feet before he started puffing and Peter could see the beads of sweat starting to pop out on his neck.

“Are you sure you’re ok?” He asked again.

“Just peachy.” He grit out. “But no more talking. I have to concentrate.”

Peter had to admit that Mr. Stark impressed him. He didn’t think there was any way the man could carry him all the way back up. But it looked like he was going to make it. Fifteen minutes after he’d picked him up, Mr. Stark crested the hill. The man was audibly out of breath and drenched with sweat, but he’d made it. As soon as his feet hit flat ground, Mr. Stark abruptly fell to his knees, and Peter let an involuntary grunt as his leg bumped against the ground.

“Sorry kid.” Mr. Stark apologized between gasps. “But time to get off.”

Peter slid the rest of the way down to sit on the ground. The second he was free, Mr. Stark collapsed to the ground with a groan. Peter watched as the man flopped over onto his back and closed his eyes, chest still heaving.

He thought about asking Mr. Stark if he was ok again but he didn’t think the man would appreciate it.

“Let’s never do that again.” His mentor said after he’d had a couple minutes to rest and catch his breath.

“Agreed.” Peter said, leaning against the tree trunk behind him.

Mr. Stark turned his head and squinted at him. “How’s the leg?”

He shrugged. Terrible, but he wasn’t about to tell the other man that.

“Great.” Mr. Stark closed his eyes. “Just give me a minute and we can—”

The snap of branches interrupted whatever his mentor had been about to say. Mr. Stark shot to his feet, something Peter didn’t think he would’ve been capable of a second earlier. Peter hurried to stand on his good leg, using the tree behind him to push up. Mr. Stark moved to stand protectively in front of him, and Peter was about to protest the obvious babying when the person making all the noise burst through the forest into sight.

“Rhodey.” Mr. Stark greeted his friend with relief. “What took so long?”

“You never make it easy Tones.” Rhodey complained with a shake of his head and a smile.

Mr. Stark let out short laugh. “I don’t make it easy? You couldn’t have gotten here fifteen minutes earlier?”

Peter grinned.

“Why?”

“Never mind.” Mr. Stark waved a hand dismissively. “Just get over here and help me with the kid. He’s hurt.”

“What happened?” Rhodey asked and hurried over, no longer smiling.

“He had a little disagreement with gravity.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “I sprained my ankle. Mr. Stark’s overacting. As usual.”

Rhodey knelt down and examined his ankle, pressing in a few different areas. He sucked in a breath when the man’s fingers ghosted over a particularly tender spot.

“Yeah I don’t think that’s just sprained.” Rhodey decided and stood back up. “Let’s get you back to the Quinjet.”

“The EMP didn’t reach it?” Mr. Stark asked.

“No we must’ve been far enough away. Is that what happened to your suits?”

They both nodded.

“Bad luck.” Rhodey said.

“Parker luck.” Mr. Stark muttered with a grin.

Peter shot him a fake glare.

“Ready to go?” Rhodey asked.

Peter nodded.

Rhodey turned so his armored back faced him. “Hop on.”

“Again?” Peter asked in disbelief. Two piggyback rides in one day. He was never going to live this down.

“What do you mean again?” Rhodey asked. Right, he didn’t know about that.

“Nothing.” Mr. Stark said quickly and gave him a look that meant they weren’t going to speak of it.

“Right. Nothing.” Peter climbed onto Rhodey’s back.

“I’ll be right back.” Rhodey told Mr. Stark as soon as he was situated.

“I”ll be right here.” His mentor gestured to area around him with a smirk.

They took off into the air.

“So, Tony gave you a piggyback ride, huh?” Rhodey said, clearly amused.

“How did you—”

Rhodey burst out laughing.

#febuwhump2021 #febuwhump #irondad

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yandere-daydreams · 4 years

Text

A Yandere!Satan/OC piece for a lovely anonymous commissioner and her MC, Alice. I forget how fun it is to work with more... composed characters, sometimes, if only because of how *brutally* they tend to break. I’d like to think Satan is no expectation.

Word Count: 2.0k

TW: Unhealthy Mindsets and Relationship, Loss of Autonomy, and Violence (Choking).

Anger was a dark feeling.

Satan had never been the type to be bothered by isolation. He’d never minded being alone before, and he didn’t mind it now, but he couldn’t help but feel… off, about his current arrangement. Not bad, not awkward, just ever-so-slightly out of place. As if there were a million places he belonged, but tucked into a quiet corner of his favorite coffee shop was no longer included on that extensive list.

Or, it wouldn’t be until they left, rather.

He couldn’t help but grit his teeth, his fists clenching unconsciously around the book in front of him. It was one of his most prized, an untarnished first-edition copy of a spellbook he’d been meaning to have a look at for ages, but he couldn’t care less about the dents that’d be left in the flawless cover, right now. He wanted to slam the goddamn thing against a wall, he wanted to tear out the pages, he wanted to destroy something, demolish something, and he didn’t care what it was. The anger was as familiar as it was volatile, brought to a simmer by the slightest of agitations, Satan’s refined sense of self-restraint being the only barrier stopping his emotions from boiling over. Still, every little factor served as a new test, a new trial. Another thing he shouldn’t have to keep himself from reacting to.

And it was all because of them. Alice, and the bright, beaming smile pulled across her lips, and Asmodeus, and the arm he had draped across her shoulders, keeping her pulled against his side as they giggled over jokes he didn’t know and spread rumors only shared in hushed, hidden whispers. It wasn’t an uncommon sight, not really, but this was different. It wasn’t a party he’d only hesitantly been invited to or conversation he’d had to overhear from the other side of a wall, no, this was more personal, a direct upfront. Even if neither person in the duo seemed to notice his presence.

Alice, in particular, seemed distracted. He hadn’t gone to any extreme lengths to catch her attention, but he wasn’t supposed to have to. She’d plagued his mind since her arrival, kept him up at night with feelings he didn’t recognize, feelings he didn’t care for. He had to deserve some of her attention, he’d earned it. He wanted it, and it wouldn’t be right to deprive him of something Satan was close to considering a necessity. The rational part of him knew she didn’t feel the same way, that her eye would always be caught by someone more outgoing, someone more energetic, someone less… like him, even if she insisted that all she wanted to be was his friend. But, the rational part of his mind had been forced into a cage and poked with something sharp until it agreed with the overwhelming vexation of its torturer.

Satan forced himself to sigh, to smile and exhale as he watched the pair gather their drinks and exit, never sparing a glance in his direction. It was agonizing now, but it wouldn’t be, soon enough. He wouldn’t have to deal with Alice’s refusal to acknowledge him or her avoidance or defiance.

Not if the book in his hands was put to good use, anyway.

Alice didn’t like small spaces.

Usually, Satan’s bedroom didn’t bother her, but the shelves felt too close together, today, the door too far and every surface too cluttered for her to find any sort of comfort among the heirlooms and novels and trinkets. It could’ve been how few people were in the house, the halls uncharacteristically quiet, or how restless she’d been all day, the reason indiscernible but her excess energy undeniable. It could’ve been the weather or the silence or…

Or the feeling of Satan’s teeth in her neck, and the overwhelming, overpowering feeling that they shouldn’t be there.

Somewhere along the line, she’d gone from lingering in the doorway to leaning against a stone table, her thighs pressed into the cold, rough surface as sharpened nails dug into her hips, keeping her in place as she squirmed. Satan proved to be a sturdy barrier, blocking out much of the rest of the room, forcing Alice to focus on blonde hair and soft clothes and anything but the chapped lips currently pressed to her jugular. She couldn’t remember how she’d gone from politely returning a borrowed, abbreviated Necronomicon to this, but she didn’t think it mattered. Her memory had been fuzzy all day, but she had more pressing issues to deal with, right now. More pressing perverts to deal with.

Alice was pulled out of her daze by a nip to her jaw, his teeth brushing against her skin playfully, but his hold too crushing to be light-hearted. Her arms were wedged between their chests in a matter of seconds, shoving him away, but Satan barely stumbled a step back before regaining his territory. He went for her neck again, seemingly intent on marking everything above her collarbones, but she was quick to take him by the shoulders, keeping him just far enough to earn a scowl and a glare, although both were masked as swiftly as they were brought on. She choked down the temptation to groan, rolling her eyes as subtly as she was able to instead. Why was he trying to act so indifferent now?

“Get off of me,” Alice demanded, doing her best to keep her voice neutral. It was harder than it should’ve been. “I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with you, but get off of me. You’ll be lucky if I don’t tell the others about this.”

Satan didn’t even bother shaking his head, replying nonchalantly. As if he was only half-listening. “That’s not going to happen.”

“Yes, it is.” She tried to match his practiced intensity, her next push a little stronger. She couldn’t fight him, not physically, but he’d never stopped her before. He’d never tried to, at least. “We’ve had this talk already. I’m just not interested.” Not if he was going to act any colder than he already did, when their relationship was only platonic. “There’s nothing you can do to change my mind, and I don’t want to hear you try.”

She didn’t doubt that Satan heard her, the grimace painted across his lips was proof of that, but if he was listening, he didn’t seem to feel the need to show it. He leaned forward, aiming for her shoulder, fangs already bared and poised to attack. “You’re a smart girl.” His voice was muffled by her skin, the resulting revibriation more off-putting than it should be. “You should be smart enough to figure out I don’t care how interested you are, anymore.”

With that, she lashed out. Satan flinched away reflexively as she drove her heel into his foot, another shove throwing him off balance, letting her get enough distance between the two of them to slip out from under him. She didn’t attempt to apologize or ask if he was alright, only glancing over her shoulder once to make sure he was still bracing himself on the tabletop as she started towards the door. She should tell Lucifer, or Lord Diavolo, even. This wasn’t the first time he tried something so desperate, and she was sure it wouldn’t be the last, not if she didn’t make it clear there’d be repercussions. It was a miracle she’d ever liked him at all, looking back on it.

Satan spoke just as fingertips brushed against the door-handle, cutting through the air like a dull knife. “Stop.”

She didn’t want to stop. Stopping now would be idiotic, Alice scoffing at the thought alone. She tried to turn the knob, but her arm fell back to her side, limp and useless. Her feet felt like lead weights. The pact mark, Satan’s mark, burned on the top of her thigh, searing the skin it’d been dyed onto.

“Come here, Alice.”

She did. Her movements were mechanical, unenthusiastic, motivated only by the acidic feeling that she had to be moving. Alice came to a stop in front of him, her mouth suddenly dry and her mind feverishly searching for some hint at what was going on, but her attention was soon directed towards the smirk pulling at the corner of Satan’s lips, a palm coming up to cupping her chin, tilting her head back to meet his stare. “Such a smart girl,” He started, no longer bothering to hide his expression. “And yet, you leave yourself so vulnerable. Surely, someone warned you about how dangerous making a contract with a demon can be.”

She blinked, words suddenly taking a considerable strain to get out. “What’re you--”

“Humans are so weak-willed.” He cut her off without a trace of hesitation, his hold on her recentering, Satan pinching her cheek as his tone turned patronizing. She considered batting his hand away, but a wayward glare was enough to smother her thoughts of rebellion. “I really should’ve thought of this earlier. Reversing the nature of our agreement…” He trailed off, his free hand wandering to her thigh, slipping under the thin fabric of her skirt to idly trace the waning shape of her tattoo. “It didn’t even take a full hour. And now, you’re going to be perfect.”

She swallowed dryly, squaring her shoulders, her dread quickly numbed pure, unadulterated anger. “You’re fucking crazy--”

A fist was around her throat before she could finish, clenching and choking as he threw her against the table, her back taking the brunt force of the collision and her skull knocking against the unforgiving surface, black spots beginning to form on the edges of her vision. She tried to inhale, to catch her breath after it’d been forced from her lungs, but Satan only flexed his grip, something in her neck cracking under the sudden pressure. Full recovery wasn’t an option, her aggressor only allowing short, shallow, labored breaths, leaving her unsatisfied and itching to just get him away from her, the urge bordering on irrational. Instinctually, she clawed at his wrist, kicking at his chest and waist and anything she could reach, but the only reaction her defiance received as a deep, guttural growl, a flash of black and green serving as her only indication of Satan’s Rage. She could’ve looked, confirmed her theory and been done with it, but her eyes had shut the moment his wardrobe turned a little less colorful. She didn’t think opening them again would have many favorable results.

Still, she persisted, blind and breathless. She stopped kicking, though, her spirit diluted ever-so-slightly as a talon began to draw baseless patterns in her skin, just barely scraping over easily-punctured flesh. She didn’t want to know what would happen if he started to think she’d be better off without a pulse. “This isn’t a good idea,” She mumbled, the words as unplanned as they were hopeless. An appeal to his sense of logic, even if it came a few minutes too late. “Someone’s going to find out, and they will be mad. There’s no way this can end well for you, Satan.”

“I’ve thought about that.” For the first time, he chuckled, the noises stuttering and hitching before devolving into a full-blown laugh, one he couldn’t cover with a few fingers half-heartedly barred over his lips. He bowed his head, briefly, attempting to regain his composure, but his efforts were in vain, a crooked grin still splayed across his expression when he next met her eyes. “I’ve thought about, and I’ve decided I don’t care. I’ve had to wait so long, I’ve had to tolerate so much, I couldn’t care less what happens next. I don’t care. Do you know how good it feels to say that? I don’t care.” He sighed, the sound pleased, relaxed. As if every bit of tension in his body had been released with an exhale. “You don’t even know what you do to me, that’s the funny thing. You’ve just acting on your own, carefree and ignorant, not giving a single second of thought to how far you push everyone around you.”

Alice opened her mouth, but she was silenced by a flex of Satan’s fist around her throat, his grip turning all-but suffocating. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that this was gentle, compared to what he had planned.

“It’d only be fair if you face a few repercussions for everything you put me through, right?”

#yandere #yandere x oc #yandere imagines #yandere love #yandere prompt #commission #Commision #writing commission #yandere commission #yandere commision #writing comission #comission #obey me #obey me: one master to rule them all #obey me satan #yandere satan #satan x oc #yanderecore #yandere core

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vegetacide · 5 years

Text

Whump●tober - Explosion

Veg-notables: For whumptober. This one kind wrote itself and I wrote it a$$ backwards starting with the end and filling in the rest. It ended up longer than I expected so I apologize in advance for the word spewage - The boys wanted to banter so I let ‘em.

As always, thanks to @gumnut-logic for her help hashing out the plot.

Obligatory whumptober stuff: @whumptober2019 @la-vie-en-whump

Blanket warning: Its gonna get hot.

Characters: Virgil, Alan, Scott and Johnny.

Whumptober - TaG universe

2. Explosion

Enjoy...

oOo

“Thunderbird Two to command”

“Go ahead, V. What’s your status?”

“Hey, we’re almost done on the South end of the factory but it’s slow going. The smoke and the super structure of this place is screwing with our scans so we’re having to back track.”

“I’ll see if there’s anything John can do on his end to clear it up. Find anything?”

Virgil shook his head before he realized that Scott couldn’t see him. “It’s what I haven’t found that disturbing me. What the hell happened to the fire suppression system?”

“Not sure. Both John and the GDF confirmed this facility was registered as meeting requirements on its last inspection. It’s a question I am going to be posing to the CEO once he’s done showboating for the media hounds.”

“Well, wait for me. I would love to hear the answer.”

He got a chuckle from the other end of the open comm. “I’ll see what I can do. Get back at it and check in with me in five.. Or if you find anything.”

“Will do.” The comm channel clicked off and Virgil turned as his youngest brother appeared in the doorway at his back with a tote bag full of suppression grenades.

They were making their way through what was left of a chemical manufacturing plant that had seen better days. They’d received a request for assistance in the early hours of the morning as flames has shot some fifty feet above the roof line. The noxious fumes of the burning cocktail of who knew what that wafted out had been pushed by a North Eastern to the neighbouring township. Forcing the local services to call for the immediate evacuation of the 8, 962 residents.

During the course of the evacuation Scott had been roped in to help shuttle while Virigl and Alan had stayed behind to help with containment. For the most part the fire out due to their specialized gear and a fire retardant foam that Brains had concocted for just this scenario.

Now though they had to pick their way through the smoldering remains to search for survivors who could be holed up in any of the emergency fire shelters that were scattered around the confusing maze of corridors that made up the complex.

The installation of a mobile ventilation system was doing it best to clear out the contaminants and particulates polluting the air but the smoke was still hung heavy over the hulking, burnt out husk of a factory which meant that Virgil and Alan had to do the majority of the foot work themselves.

The place had to be cleared back to the GDF before they would risk the lives of any of the local crews on clean up.

“How’s are inventory?” He asked by way of greeting and turned to focus on the holographic schematics of the building that were hovering above his wrist unit.

“Depleting but we should have enough.” Alan dropped the bag at his brother’s feet and started redistributing the spherical concussion bombs into Virgil’s bag. “We’ll have to start using these sparingly.”

Virgil rubbed a hand over his sooty visor, “Well looks like the fire is contained in this section. Should just be a matter of snuffing out hot spots to prevent flare up from here on out.

Alan nodded in understanding and pushed up to his feet. His eyebrow cocked when he noticed a look passed over Virgil’s face. He stepped closer in inquiry. “You get something?”

Virgil’s brows furrowed in concentration. “Not sure, think I saw a blip over in the North East corner, back by the biochem labs.”

“We went through there though.” His brother stated. “The area was clear.”

“We must have missed something.” Grabbing his bag off the floor, he flung it over his shoulder. “Better go back and check it out again. This place had a lot of staff and the numbers haven’t come in from the department supervisors yet. We can’t be sure everyone got out.”

Alan managed to just barely suppress a pout and Virgil bumped his shoulder brotherly as he stepped around him. “Come on, Rocket Boy. Sooner we get this done the sooner you will be back home killing Zombies and scarfing down veggie sticks.”

Virgil grinned as his brother grumbled out. “It’s Rocket Man, thank you very much.”

“Hey Squirt, when you can see over the dash of Two I’ll start referring to you as ‘Man’.. Until then, your stuck.” He dodges a swat from his baby brother. Friendly ribbing aside they had a job to do but it helped relieve some of the stress.

Back on task, they headed out back down the blackened corridor, ducking under hanging ceiling lights and stepped over fallen ceiling tiles and other assorted debris.

The track back across the rat’s maze of hallways and cross corridors, through disengaged mag-locked doors and over a rather rickety catwalk that spanned ash covered vats; their tops having blown off during the blaze, took far longer than Virgil would have liked.

He knew they were running low on time with the GDF circling outside looking for answers and the local authorities eager to start their investigation into the cause of the fire Virgil needed to find a way to pick up their pace.

Stopping to orient himself, Virgil check his wrist comm again. “This place is way too complicated for a private sector supplier.” He said this offhandedly and wasn’t expecting a response back in kind from the blonde at his six. He got one anyways.

“Maybe it’s a top secret government think tank where they brew up all sorts of crazy potions for world domination.”

Virgil snorted and nodded off to the left. “Down here.” Flicking on his shoulder mount, the high powered beam lit up the windowless corridor. “Ya right. Do you honestly think the Black Suits would let us in here if it were. Even with our affiliations with the GDF we would be lucky to get within ten miles of this place.”

“Cover up.” Alan tossed out with a shrug. “Who really knows how these government spook organizations work.”

Virgil shook his head and turned down a short set of stairs and stopped abruptly at a large set of blast doors. “You spend way too much time surfing the conspiracy sites.”

“Everyone needs a hobby.”

Rolling his eyes, he tapped his comm line open. “Scott, we got something.”

“10-4. Talk to me ”

Virgil knew his brother was following their progress from his ‘bird along with John floating around up in space. “Looks like another fire proof room but I can’t find it on the schematics.”

John’s voice cut in with no preamble. “Those were the ones that were provided to the local planning board with the factories last retrofit. They should be up to date.”

“Well, from where I am standing,” Virgil rapped a padded knuckle on the heavy door, “They are inaccurate and I can’t get a read on what’s on the other side. ”

“One moment,” John sounded a bit peeved. Virgil knew he hated inaccuracy and the ineptitude of lazy people not doing their jobs, making stupid mistake drove him bat shit crazy.

Virgil inspected the door and the surrounding area and pointed back down the corridor. “Check around the corner and see if there is an electrical closet would ya? Or a service panel? Door this big is magnetically sealed so a power relay is needed. ”

“Like it would be on this side of it? Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose?” Alan asked

“If it’s not in use it will be powered from out here for maintenance purposes. Once activated though its self sufficient and it disconnects from the external source for preventative reasons.” Like opening up to a massive blaze or a toxic chemical spill.

Alan zipped off around the corner, his comm line active so they could keep in communication with one another as per S.O.P when on site.

“What do you think is in there?” Alan’s voice sounded in his ear, he was still close enough that it echoed a bit with a tiny time delay as it went through their secure network.

Virgil tweaked the volume and went back to inspection the door and the coded palm reader that was a charred mess to the right of it. “First guess is it’s another fire room but considering its not on spec…who knows.”

Scott’s voice chimed in, “I’m done playing taxi. Last patient has been dropped at the next closest hospital. I’ll have a word with the CEO and Colonel Casey when I am back on site in ten.. Get us some answers as to what the hell is going on.”

“Roger that.”

Alan appeared back at his side. “Nothing.”

Virgil frowned at the door and ripped the charred panel from the wall to expose the mass of surprisingly undamaged wires behind it. “This isn’t adding up..”

Pulling out a network access key from his baldric, Virgil started pulling wires. “Hey Johnny, I got a hack job for you if your done angrily tearing the local civil servants a new one.”

“Patch me in.”

“Yup, working on it now. “ Stripping a few wires, he tested to see if there was power to them and hooked them up to the small device. “You find the idiot that misfiled those docs?”

“Not yet,” Came the disgruntled sign of annoyance. “Eos is working on it.”

“Ouch.. that’s gonna hurt.” Virgil could hear the evil glee in the red heads voice and almost felt sorry for the poor bastard that was going to get steam rolled once he was found.

The small device in his hand flared to life and just as suddenly the door before him hissed as the locking system released. “Wow, that was fast.”

“That wasn’t me.”

Virgil blinked and locked eyes with Alan. “Understood, keep an eye on things for me would ya? We’re going in.”

“Be careful, Thunderbird Two. Picking up weird anomalies from the other side.”

“Roger, stand by.”

It took both of them to pull the heavy door open, boots finding little purchase on the foam slicked floor. Braced against the wall with one final heave the mighty steel portal swung up just wide enough for them to pass through one at a time. Standing in the opening, Virgil peered into the space beyond, eyes narrowing when a curious distortion caused the air to waver

Virgil’s eyes widened as what he was seeing registered with the still smoldering remnants in the corridor. He only had seconds to push Alan out of the way before all hell broke loose.

The ensuing conflagration of heat knocked the breath from Virgil’s lungs as he was tossed like a rag doll through burning ozone. The sudden and abrupt stop as his body met wall caused pain to burst across his whole nervous system and left him a whimpering heap on the floor.

The world grayed out around the edges but one thing kept him just his side of blissful oblivion, the thought of his little brother.

By sheer force of will he commanded his lungs to start working again and with a reserve of energy he didn’t know he had, he lifted his torso off the floor, stars flashing across his retinas.

Coughing, he dragged himself across the floor ears straining against the buzz of a million bees as he called out for his sibling. His voice hoarse and tinny to his whirring ear drums.

“Alan!! Thunderbird Two to anyone!” He was panicking and he knew it wasn’t helping but he had to find his baby brother. “Alan, god where are you? Answer me”

The visibility was completely next to none existent as smoke billowed out from whatever the room behind the blast doors had been. Flames scorching and white hot licked with renewed strength up the previously foamed walls with a growing intensity that he could feel through the protection of his fire gear and sweat trickled down the length of his spine. He had to get them out of here.

Oh god, where was his brother?

“Scott? Scott, I can’t find Allie…” Padding around on all fours as close to the ground as he could he reached out in every direction. Pushing singed debris and refuse out to the way as he search.

Coughing again, a fine spray of blood peppered across his visor but he wouldn’t give up, he couldn’t.

The hand that landed suddenly on his shoulder had his heart stuttering to a stop in his throat. The flash of red and that grabbed at his helmet kick started it back over again.

“Allie, oh thank God.”

“I’m okay but my comms are down. We gotta get out of here.”

Virgil nodded his agreement. Pushing up to a crouch, hell fire raining down around them, he look left and right to try and gauge the best direction to take. He gave his head a shake when the world greyed out around the edges of his vision and shot a hand out to brace himself against his brother’s shoulder.

“You okay, Virg?”

An odd expression passed over Virgil’s face as time seemed to crawl to a stop. The flames of the fire all around them stilling, the heat fading away and an odd, surreal chill slowly encompassed his body, radiating up his torso and slowly suffusing his limbs.

His thoughts grew distance as the center of the chill started to thaw with an excruciating burn and he looked down. What the…?The echo of confusion cut off abruptly as his gloved hand came away dark and wet.

“Oh god. Virgil, hang on..” Were the last words he heard before Earth reared up and hit him hard.

oOo

Next part HERE

The Master List of prompts can be found HERE

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airyravenmaid · 5 years

Text

Eye Contact

Back at it again at Krispy Kreme with more FF Versus XV bullshit. This one’s kinda wonky and really bizarre since the AU overall ties in with a KH crossover I helped make up along with personal headcanons, but can also standalone for a FFXV AU in itself. I’m just clearing that up since there is a part mentioned towards the end that nods to a world the Chocobros went to as one of their many “world detours” en route to the one they needed to go to in order to establish diplomatic relations with a potential sister kingdom also of light. ...Oh, and there are implications of another headcanon regarding a certain Immortal Marshal, but that’s a popular HC in itself, so that goes without saying. So, yeah, sorry for that; just warning y’all so you don’t get confused and want me burned at the stake.

Alright, alright, that’s enough idiotic justification rambling from me; I’m already buzzed as is and can hardly think right anyways lol. Just enjoy the crazy piece I wrote so I can try and work on the next tone. This one’s not Lightis and is more platonic bc Light’s making fray-ends with these dumb boys :3c. Maybe I can write more of her befriending the others, but we’ll see. ‘Til then, here’s this one and happy reading for those who see this! 💘

Staring back at Prompto from the caravan bathroom mirror was himself, but more clouded. He only blamed it on having just gotten up and dressed for the day not too long ago, figuring he’d taken care of everything he needed to per his morning routine. The very sight of his dull, everyday mirror reflection made him sigh a tad forlornly, but realizing the time to go was imminent only had him slap two hands to his cheeks once. Putting on his more traditional smile, Prompto gave the mirror two thumbs up as enough motivation to start the day right. No prob! He could do this, he could do this!

Upon going to exit the vicinity for the fresher outside world, Prompto rubbed whatever lingering weariness stuck by away from his eyes to clear his vision. When things still looked slightly blurry as before, he gulped. Fumbling through his smallest bag, he dug for what he thought was taken care of already. Pulling out two connected circles he knew to be his contact lenses case, Prompto opened it to find it empty, to his panic.

“Maybe I’ve still got my spares…?” Prompto hoped, rummaging through the bag to try and find more disposable lenses. He found the source box, but opening it only gave him an empty container and an expectation for a very rough day ahead. “You’ve gotta be kidding me! I’m out already?!”

“Prompto, what’s the hold up in there?” Gladio called from outside. “We gotta move!”

“Be right out! Just— making sure I didn’t forget anything is all!”

“Then do one last good check and hurry. We haven’t got all day either!”

Prompto in response called out a playfully affirmative “Aye, aye, Big Guy!” before going to search what he could of something to counteract his flawed eyesight. There was a definite solution on him, he knew, but the glasses case buried somewhere on his possession was considered a dead last resort. Otherwise, those days of having them as his sole option were over and done with. His investigation was thorough, but unfortunately, his results came up fruitless with no lenses available.

Giving up, he exited the caravan to catch up with the other four and hurry into the vacant passenger’s seat in the Regalia before it finally drove off along the world around it. His only hope now was for supplies to be low enough for warranting a pit stop at the nearest store of some sorts, or at least somewhere he can pick up some new spares. Luckily in recent days, he’d been thoroughly reminded to digitally order replacements by a certain team strategist, but there was no telling when the chance to claim them would come. A gunsman’s aim-precise eyes certainly depended on excellent vision, and in a way, so did the entire team.

“So! Ignis, where’s our next destination?” Prompto asked next to him, knowing subtlety was key in his strategy to get his lens replacements. “Anything we gotta do first?”

“Actually, our first order of business is none too far from the Disc of Cauthess,” Ignis noted. “Seems we’ve run low on a few things, and waiting to get them is out of the question.”

“I couldn’t agree more! The sooner, the better; the more supplies, the merrier! So, no need to wait on it.”

“What’s your hurry for?” Lightning inquired, suspicious. “It’s just a run-of-the-mill supply run. We’ve done them hundreds of times.”

“Oh, I know that, it’s just, umm… you never know what you’ll find there that’s useful. And I’m just curious on what’s ‘in store’ for us.”

Lightning rolled her eyes at the quip and slouched back a bit further in her seat. “I guess. Whatever floats your boat, Prompto.”

Prompto knew the excuse was flimsier than wet paper, but if it got Lightning to not interrogate him any further thanks to her lack of concern, then he wasn’t gonna complain anytime soon. His secret plot was to rightfully claim his contact lenses in the proper place, find a place to hide and put them in, and the others would remain none the wiser without being slowed down in the slightest. Until then, however, he’d be stuck in the car unable to so much as fully enjoy the moving sights around him. And what photographer could be truly happy at being unable to see the full, beautiful world that made their digital easel? So much as thinking about it made him more antsy than usual, Prompto exerting it in the form of impatiently bouncing his leg due to only so much space in the Regalia.

He was too distracted by his hasty need for his contacts that he didn’t notice the sky blue eyes of Lightning staring a hole in his skull from the seat behind him. The only feeling compelling her to stare was her good old friend skepticism. Though definitely none of her direct concern, Prompto seemed up to something. But, what was it? That answer she didn’t quite know just yet.

Ignis pulled the car up next to one of the gas tanks, his suggestion to Noctis and Gladio on filling it up for the road taken without much question from either. Lightning got up to stretch her legs and see if anything was of necessary interest in the Mini-Mart, while Prompto went a little further a distance to see if his guess was correct. To his relief, he found what he’d expected to be in the area’s vicinity. It didn’t let him stray so far from the others that the Regalia was out of sight, but it was still a bit of a walk away on its own.

Okay, en-bee-dee, Prompto kept reassuring himself. Just a little trip to the nearest little pharmacy; in and out, then nothing happened from the others’ perspective. Walking in was a lot easier when only strangers he didn’t feel as self-conscious around were also minding their own business like he was non-existent. They were oblivious to who he was as a person and everything; the perfect getaway, he could say! In and out, then he’s run about!

“Hello, Sir, how may I help you?” the optical center clerk greeted. “Are you here to pick up something?”

“Yeah. I’ve got my prescription,” Prompto told them, surrendering the proof that he was medically approved to be there. “I’m here for my spares.”

The clerk looked it over carefully, nodding once the written prescription was validated and approved. “Just give me a few minutes and I’ll be right back out with the brand. It’s the monthly ones, right?”

“Yup! I know they say ‘daily is healthy’, but… turns out it depends on the person.” Prompto let out a laugh under his breath. That was certainly not an agonizing road he wanted to go back down again. Better safe than sorry!

The clerk took about as long as they’d promised. In “Prompto Time”, however, it felt as though every second passed was a minute wasted. He nervously clung to the hope of the others not having gotten done sooner and were presently waiting on their energetic youngest member. Just when it felt like forever had almost gone by him, back came the solution to his trouble of the day. Prompto mutely sighed in relief, thanking them while taking his new supply of contact lenses and handling what he needed to in regards to officially purchasing them.

So as not to risk hitting the road blind as a bat, Prompto hurried into the nearest bathroom to put them in his eyes. In accordance with his process, Prompto removed no more than his fingerless gloves and washed the hands underneath. His studded wristbands got a bit damp from the watery suds, but he couldn’t have cared less. Under the warm gusts of the hand dryer his palms went, rubbing each other all over to eliminate every layer of water.

And now… the harder part he dreaded so much. Two tiny dome-shaped, colorless terrors waiting to torture Prompto until he was to manage in getting them over the two most sensitive organs in his head. Nonetheless, he opened the box and took out the first pair, peeling off their wrapping and concentrating on his reflection. One wrong move, and it’d be over for him and his vision. Spreading his first pair of lids apart with his thumb and pointer finger, Prompto used the other index one to use as an applicator.

“Just a little further…” Prompto gulped, shakily pressing the contact more towards the rim surrounding the stressed lavender-blue of his eye. When it got too close, he wound up giving into fear and setting his finger down to let him blink for relief. “Wait, okay, time out! I need a second…”

“You did remember to wash your hands first, right?” the sudden voice of Ignis asked from behind, startling Prompto into nearly poking his eye out with the younger’s shriek.

“Ignis! Dude, don’t do that! But, yes, I washed my hands, I promise. What— are you doing here, by the way?”

“Tracking down my AWOL friend, who I knew to be running a bit low on his own supplies. Did you find what you needed?”

“Yep! Should be good for a long while!” Prompto looked behind Ignis, even near spots most wouldn’t detect so easily. “Nobody… followed you, did they? Like say…”

“If it’s Light you’re worried about seeing you, then no, she’s waiting in the car. Even if she had followed me, I believe you’d be more than safe in the men’s bathroom.”

“Right, right! Just making sure is all! You never know, you know…?”

“I ‘know’ that there’s also no harm in her finding out about your poor eyesight. I doubt she’d care too much if she knew, anyways.”

“Well, sure, but… let’s just say some things are just better off totally left behind without the reminder. And besides, there’s no harm in not telling her, either! For now, ignorance is bliss.”

“At least, until she gets too suspicious and finds out one way or another. You aren’t exactly among the best at ‘acting natural’, Prompto. Especially when you’re nervous.”

Prompto dismissed the notion, working on getting the first lens into his eye. “I’ll be fine, Iggy. What Light will never know won’t hurt her~.”

“One way or another, something’s bound to happen. But, on the subject. These lenses? They are not meant to be worn to sleep.”

In response, Prompto first let out a mock-buzzer noise while crossing his arms into an X-shape. “Wrong, Iggy! I was sure to get the monthly ones that are a little safer. Besides, that was like one time I did that!” Seeing the raised brow on Ignis’ forehead made Prompto backtrack, knowing he’d been seen right through like glass. “...Plus— okay, maybe two others, but I know that now! Thanks… anyways, though. It won’t happen again, I promise.”

“I’ve enough faith in you to uphold that, but also give your eyes time to ‘breathe’ to be at your safest. And, do know that there’s no harm in a certain someone learning something new.”

Ignis left Prompto to finish putting his contacts in peacefully, having no need to tell him where to go afterwards. One down, the other to go. His fingers were shaky, but gripped the lens for dear life to do everything in his power not to drop it. At a snail’s pace, towards the other eye it went until its rim made a perfect contact around the iris. Winking a few times to get the plastic to stick, Prompto moved both eyes back and forth behind his lids, settling on a good enough feel for the new contacts in place.

“Ah, that’s better,” Prompto sighed, happy to see everything clearer than before. “Thank the Six for ‘boneless glasses’ to make my life just a little easier!”

Cleaning out his contact lens case with enough disinfecting solution and putting them in the Armiger’s storage system for ultimate safety, Prompto looked both ways and around on the outside of the men’s room. When the coast was clear, he shuffled out of the store uttering the appropriate “stealth music” as if a spy on a deathly mission. He ducked around some of the aisle shelves to hide himself occasionally, holding a long note once at the entrance before springing out of the building.

“Haha! Completely nailed it!” Prompto boasted, hurrying his way back to the Coernix Station - Cauthess while looking back at the pharmacy he’d escaped from. “And just in time to hit the— ROAD!”

“There you are,” Lightning said, knuckles on her hips and slightly hunched forward to show more of her disapproval at the spooked boy. “Missed you at the shop. Where’d you decide to wander off to?”

“N— Oh, nowhere, Light! The shop just didn’t have what I needed to pick up, so I found someplace else!” Prompto grew even more anxious at the well-known glare being as strong as ever thrown right at him. “I’m telling the truth! I didn’t go too far!”

“You’re up to something, Argentum.”

“Yeah, I am. I’d say about… five-foot-eight? Not as tall as Gladio or Ignis, but you’ve got a little catching up to do—”

“—You know what I mean, don’t be wise. What are you hiding?”

“Me? I’d never hide a thing, ma’am! I’m Prompto ‘Open Book’ Argentum, that’s me!”

“If you’re such an open book, then you’ve got no reason to be so scared of telling me the truth. What is it, already? Spill it.”

Just then, the savior in the form of the Regalia pulled up and honked the horn, courtesy of Noctis driving up front. “You two having fun over there? Whatever you’re talking about can be said in the car, too.”

“Can it, Prince,” Lightning hissed coldly, getting in one of the two remaining seats. “This conversation isn’t over, Prompto. I’m letting you know that now.”

Gulping, Prompto sat himself down in the car, giving Noctis wordless permission to drive onwards again. Thankfully, he was separated from Lightning in the back thanks to Gladio sitting between them. A bit of a tight fit considering how large the man was, but nothing close to “excruciatingly unbearable”. Even with a living barrier between them, Prompto got chills tingling his spine in the worst way possible whenever he was faced the brunt of Lightning’s infamous staredown. Six, if looks could kill, then he’d have been vaporized by now for gazing directly at such a goddess in woman form that had as much beauty as she did perseverance. All he had to do for the time being was work his way around her suspicion until she forgot about it enough, and he’d be home free! After all, how hard could that be to try and get away with…?

The next time they stopped for a while to camp out later on in the day, Prompto sought the opportunity to celebrate his new contact lenses. He did so in the form of, what else, taking advantage of the exquisite outdoor scenery. Letting everyone else know he’d return in due time, Prompto set off to a remote area of the woods with his camera in hand, on the hunt for whatever might catch his eye and become a future memory of the past. Such a moment would be even better with someone else there to also experience the magic with him, but— as much as he’d rather stay far away from the nastier parts of it— nature was bound to have something to tickle his fancy within it.

Prompto took in everything about his surroundings to see what he could do for his little “indie photo op”, as he’d put it before stepping away from camp. Tripod, check. Camera, obvious. Light source? “On fleek”! Angling? Top-notch! Alright, everything was in place and nothing nearby that he could see to mess it up. Selecting his first snapshot spot, Prompto positioned his beloved camera in its standing hold, setting the timer for when it’d go off. Counting down the seconds; three, two…!

“There you are,” Lightning interrupted, scaring Prompto into stumbling into his tripod and accidentally taking a blurred photo of the ground instead of the nice view.

“And there goes my shot,” Prompto sighed, filling his lungs with his breath and exhaling to calm himself enough. “Light, at least warn me first before sneaking up on me like a serial killer!”

“If you’re mad about your dinky little photo, just take it again. This place isn’t going anywhere, but neither am I until you tell me the truth.”

“Oi-vey, there’s just no dropping that, is there? Why do you wanna know so badly, anyways?”

“Because if it wasn’t something worth hiding, you wouldn’t be dodging the question so much. Now, fess up, Argentum. I’d hate to resort to ‘less pleasant’ ways of getting you to talk.”

Prompto found himself sweating in the brow and backing away, one step in reverse synchronized with Lightning’s forward. “There’s nothing to say, already! I’m not hiding a thing!”

“I don’t buy it. Either tell me and let me leave you alone, or don’t tell me and only make this harder on yourself. Make the right choice.”

He’d run out of options, and inner shame prevented him from potentially making for an awkward confession. So, between fighting it or flight, Prompto chose the impulsive option of the latter with his beloved camera in hand. He could always come back for the tripod later once he didn’t have a rosy-haired warrior out for his past. Although it was common sense to know Lightning was chasing after him, Prompto gave into looking back at her anyways and running faster before turning his head around again. When he did, all he received was a faceful of tree bark smacking him right against the face, his camera falling to the soft ground unharmed when his hands went to cover achingly where he got hit.

“Looks like you’re out of options, Argen—” Lightning started to say until she realized Prompto sank to the ground covering his face. Her irritation cooled into an odd sense of concern, now going over to inspect the man more carefully. “Wait, are you hurt?”

“Mmm-mmm,” Prompto got out, something crystalline falling from his left eye and sticking to his upper cheek. When he felt it, he gasped. “Don’t come any closer, okay?”

Lightning grew more worried, especially at the sight of what seemed to be a tear. Did she go too far in pressuring him into injuring himself? That was quite a run into the tree he just did… “I have to make sure nothing’s broken. Are you bleeding?”

“No! Stay back! I’m fine!”

Lightning disobeyed and removed Prompto’s hands from his face. To her relief, he didn’t seem to be bleeding or bruised, but strangely, neither eye seemed damp with any tears. How that could be was unknown to her, but then she looked closer at what was really stuck on a freckle. Against Prompto’s further protest, Lightning picked it up and squeezed it between two gloved fingers while examining it a little better. After a few seconds, she recognized what it’d been if not a salted tear of pain like she initially believed.

“...It’s a contact lens,” Lightning pointed out, still looking at it until Prompto snatched it back from her. “Why do you have a contact lens on you?”

“N— Not important,” Prompto mumbled, trying to slip the lens back into his eye, but to no avail without the proper concentration.

“Sounds so to me. Look.” Lightning knelt down in front of Prompto, getting him to look at the new gentleness her eyes now held for him, not a trace of force to be seen on her. “If this was what everything was all about, you can tell me. Unless you really are somehow secretly conspiring against the others, then I have no reason to get that much on your case over a little contact lens.”

“You thought I was—? No! Never!” Prompto sounded almost offended that she’d think that of him, but in all fairness, he was acting a little off his loop from trying to hide his secret from her. “...I dunno if I can tell you, though. I wanted to make a good impression on— well, someone who’s never met me before this.”

“You’d have better luck by being honest. Trust me, I’ve had my share of bad news, so since you’re not putting anyone’s life in danger, whatever you have in you, I can take.”

Before he could think of any other objection, Lightning sat down next to him against the tree, picking up his camera and brushing off the dirt it’d acquired from the fall. She checked it over to see if it’d gotten cracked or anything of the sort, but was pleased to hand it back to Prompto when it looked as intact as ever. Prompto frowned; there was no way out of this, was there? And it’d be rude to leave a lady unanswered when she’d so sincerely asked, so… time to face the music, it seemed. Astrals, this was gonna suck.

“Well, as you could probably guess, my vision’s not the best in the world,” Prompto confessed, a sheepish laugh leaving his throat. “That’s why I gotta wear contact lenses to— ya know, fix that. Can’t be a photographer or gunsman that can’t see, can you?”

“Then how come you don’t just get glasses?” Lightning wondered as Prompto used his phone reflection to fight the lens back over his vision hole. “It seems harder to put those things in, doesn’t it? One wrong move, and you’d never see again.”

“It’s not so tough once you get used to it and take care of them the right way. And I am never going back to wearing glasses again when I don’t have to! They look fine on Iggy, but count me out!”

“So, you did used to wear them? Why’d you stop?”

“That’s kinda where the whole ‘I’d rather not talk about this’ part comes in. When I was a kid, I didn’t just wear glasses. Believe it or not, I also actually used to be pretty chunky and more of a turtle. Always in my shell and whatnot, you know?”

Lightning didn’t say it aloud, but the revelation did surprise her. Trying to picture a younger, slightly more plump Prompto that couldn’t so much as speak his mind sounded completely foreign to her. But, he also sounded… different in telling his tale. There wasn’t the usual buoyancy to really be heard, or too much of the wise-cracking nature she was more familiar with. No, all Lightning could hear was more of a sadder little boy wearing a sunnier mask to hide a past he wasn’t proud of. She logically kept her full judgement in line, wanting to hear more to see what else there was to it.

“You don’t say?” Lightning commented. “First, on you needing glasses back then, why was that? I’d have figured a noble from Lucis would be able to afford something ridiculous like laser eye surgery, or—”

“—Eh? ‘Noble’, who? If you’re talking about me, I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong guy there, Pink,” Prompto laughed uneasily. “I could never be able to pay for that.”

“You’re not a noble? How could that be; you’re travelling with a prince of all kinds of people!”

“I know. I’m as surprised as you are, trust me. But, alack, I am but a commoner in a group of rich men! Even so, I honest to the Six doubt Pop would have been able to afford getting eye correction surgery for me. Shit’s expensive, lady!”

“Fair enough. Then, how did you get into the Crownsguard if you’re just normal?”

Prompto’s face grew even more sullen, looking at the camera between his fingers without a hint of his usual smile. “That’s what I’d like to know. It’d be super nice to think ‘wow, all my hard work paid off, so I got to be worthy of joining’, but… I just can’t believe it’s anywhere close to the truth. Sure, I got in; lost the weight, did the work, yadda-yadda. But really, even with Pop training me to get here today, I just don’t know if I’d have done so well on my own anyways.”

“It… sounds really important to you. Then, why go through so much if you feel this way?”

“To be honest with myself? A big reason’s all because I wanted to be worth something to Noct. Oh, and that’s besides him being a prince dealing with a commoner and stuff, too. My bestie’s kinda my ‘firstie’ too, if you know what I’m saying.”

Lightning scoffed, rolling her eyes more at the mention of Noctis than Prompto’s friendship with him. “Leave it to the little snob of a prince to hold such expectations on you. He’s got two others that aren’t broken, so why rope you into it?”

“What? Oh! No, no, Pink, you’ve got it all wrong!” Prompto’s tone grew more frantic, realizing he’d planted an accidental misconception in the ex-soldier’s head. “Look, I get you and Noct would rather not wanna deal with each other, but believe me. I’ve known the guy since at least high school; he’s a total sweetheart once you see enough underneath the surface! A little crabby, sure, but he’s really not anywhere as bad as you’re making him out to be.”

“More power to you, then, because I’m not seeing it. Whatever, this is about you, not him.”

“In a way, it’s kinda both. If it weren’t for how my friendship with Noct started, then I dunno where I’d be now. Me wanting to both protect him and be a good enough friend to him is what got me started on the road to changing who I was into someone much better. I’m not sure if I’ve totally succeeded yet, but if I’ve been with him this long, maybe I’m doing something okay for once? Maybe you don’t understand what I’m saying, but to put it all simply, Noct’s done nothing but help me all these years. And all I wanna do is do it back and keep doing it for as long as possible.”

...Wow. At that moment, that was the only word Lightning could form in her mind. She may not have understood why Prompto was going to such lengths for someone like Noctis, but if there was something she did get, it was the gunsman’s process. And though Gladio and Ignis she was beyond fine with as people once she’d gotten to know enough of them, something with Prompto resonated with her in a way those two hadn’t quite achieved (at least, not yet to her knowledge). Maybe it was on the fact at not being the only common person after all Now that he’d said that to her, but whatever it was, Lightning was curious enough to know more.

“Let’s just say I wouldn’t go and say I don’t understand where you’re coming from,” Lightning admitted. “To want to change so badly to make someone you care about the most happy… you’re not as off base as you think.”

“Really, now? Anyone back home make you feel that way?” Prompto wondered. “Like a best friend you’ve got yourself?”

“Yes, and no. Just know I’d do anything to see them have a good life. I can only hope I did enough to make that happen, considering every horrible mistake I’ve made.”

“Assuming they’re still around, if they seem to be doing okay because of you, then… well, lo hiciste, you did it!”

“Sh— they’re thankfully alive and breathing, but I can’t help but worry if I ever did enough or not. And even if I did, what now? Will they still need me anymore?”

‘This would be a little easier if I knew how close she was to the person she’s talking about.’ Prompto worded what he wanted to carefully. It wasn’t every day Lightning have off such a vulnerable aura, so the last thing he wanted to do was make her more upset. “If you ask me, just being able to stand by them and know you could help them go far in life sounds like reward enough. Sure, maybe you can’t be together forever and ever, but knowing you made an impact comes just as close.”

“And how would I know if my impact even mattered? For all I can tell, they could be fine without me. Better, even.”

“One way of seeing it? They may be able to live their own life just fine, but it’s hard to forget how they got to that life in the first place. If you impact enough, they’ll be sure to never take that for granted.”

Hardly even realizing it immediately, Lightning felt her heart mellow out a tad melancholically the more she thought about her most cherished protectorate. All the foolish mistakes she’d made along the way she may not have been ready to forgive herself entirely for, but in where everyone from Cocoon and Gran Pulse now were, she’d do anything to keep it how it’d become in the end. Now, of all the people to find that appeared to understand her in that way, it’s Prompto who claims such a spot.

“Those are some wise words coming from you of anyone,” Lightning told him. “Never imagined it’d be from the same person who’s compared gloves to being ‘hand condoms’, either.”

“Light, that’s only the beginning of my endless wisdom,” Prompto said proudly before simmering back down in his tone again. “But, frankly? I’m more surprised you were so willing to listen that easily. I’ve only really said all that to Noct.”

“It’d be ‘pot calling the kettle black’ if I gave you such a rough time about this. But, if you ask me, it really looks like you’re on the right track, even if you think you aren’t.”

“Can’t stop you if you wanna think that, but all I can do is keep trying and see if I can succeed. Until then, there’s no saying for sure.”

“Well, considering you’re already pulling more weight out here than any nobody could hope to, I’d say you’re making the progress you need. Hell, you’d give Sazh a run for his money if he saw how well you work a pistol. And he uses two!”

“Right! Now, for my next question; who the heck is Sazh?” Prompto in asking it sounded closer to his more chipper side, but was just as unfamiliar with the comparison.

“A friend back home. I think you’d like him just fine.” Lightning started counting off a few fingers, fishing out the similarities. “You’re both top-notch gunsmen, wise-cracking even in the tightest of situations, have a fondness for chocobos—”

“—Wait, wait, hold up! This friend of yours also sees the true glory of Eos’ finest creatures?! Do tell, Miss Farron! Don’t keep a guy waiting!”

Lightning couldn’t help but softly laugh at Prompto’s enthusiasm for once. That certainly got his attention. “It’s more his son, Dajh, that’s crazy about them. But, if keeping a chocobo chick in his hair amounts to anything, I’d say he’s a huge fan of them, too.”

“He keeps a chocobo chick in—! Get out! I’ve— that clinches it! I gotta meet this man someday! I just gotta, Pink! I’ve gotta learn his ways! How could I have been so blind?!”

Lightning pat Prompto a few times on the head, appearing to quell his innumerable excitement levels. “Easy does it, Sunspot. I’m sure he’d forgive you for taking a while to do that. But, while we’re on it, how did you get so good at firing a gun?”

“Well, I hate to keep bringing my pop into this, but back when I was still in training, he found my aim wasn’t just top-notch in taking a few snaps. Turns out projectiles are just my calling, too.”

“And I may as well ask this, too, but who is your dad? He sounds a little more than just another commoner. Is he a veteran?”

“You could say that, but you’ve met him already! He’s the same guy who sent you to travel with us in the first place!”

“What? But that was—” Lightning stopped, eyes widening when she realized who Prompto was talking about. She looked at his sunny, almost cutesy-looking mug, then comparing it to the complete 180 of his apparent parentage. “...No way. The Marshal?! Cor Leonis is your dad of all people?!”

“Yes… and no. Obviously, we’re not blood related, but he sorta adopted me as a baby. Then, eventually, he had to give me up to my… other parents. So, I guess I grew up the rest of the way with them.”

“He had to give you up? Why?”

“Guess it had to do with him being leader of the Crownsguard and all. Someone like that can’t balance such a huge responsibility and a kid, so he didn’t have a choice on it at all.”

“Then, how come you still call him your dad if he’s technically not anymore?”

“I try not to when I need to be formal or in front of other Guard members, but honestly, I still pretty much consider him my father even though I had to go somewhere else.” Prompto’s mouth flattened into another frown, this one as wistful as the ones before it. “Hard to admit, but he’s the only older adult figure in my life there enough to earn that title. My… folks weren’t exactly home too much, so I mostly had to look after myself all the time.”

“They left their kid on his own just like that?! Some ‘parents’ ya got there. Actually, I don’t think I should use that word. If they were really your mom and dad, then they shouldn’t leave their kid behind when it’s still in their control. If it wasn’t? Different story. But, that’s not the case here, is it?”

“Well, I— look, Pink, bad mouthing them isn’t the answer. Can’t change how I was brought up, so… what, huh?”

“I don’t care in the slightest. Prompto, you don’t deserve to be practically ignored by the two people meant to be there for you the most. I’m not accepting it, and neither should you, Mister.”

“It’s not like I ‘accept’ it, exactly. It’s— I just wish… you know…”

The words faded on Prompto’s tongue, but were replaced by a quiet gasp at what happened next. Of all the things to get from Lightning for any reason, her arms wrapped around his body in a strangely maternal embrace was definitely not one he expected. But, for once, it simmered his heart into steady, rather sad thumps. He didn’t find it appropriate to hug back, but it appeared Lightning wasn’t going to let go of him just yet. Although it was his primary thought, it didn’t seem to be a hug of empty pity; even at her rare warmest, the woman to him never appeared as the type to go and show something so pointless for another person. Rather, the display felt as comforting to Prompto as it did secretly unearned.

“You’re doing just fine. You just have to not quit while you’re ahead,” Lightning reassured him. “I haven’t been here as long as you four, but I’m sure they’d have said something by now if you weren’t at least close to good enough. Real friends stick by you from start to finish, but also know when you’re falling behind on what’s really crucial.”

“That sounds true and all, but…” Prompto silenced himself, shaking his head without the desire to say too much more. “Nevermind. You’re right; I shouldn’t overreact or turn into a real ‘Debbie Downer’ here.”

“I never said you were. Feeling low’s gonna happen against your control; it’s what you do with it is what makes the difference. I’m nobody to tell anyone else how to feel, but I can at least encourage you not to throw your hopes out the window just yet. Think you’d be able to do that?”

“Hmm, dunno. I’ve already got bad eyesight, so it’s not like I’ve got better ‘future sight’, either. But, man! Would if I could, Light. Would if I could.”

Lightning could feel a delicate little smile tug at her mouth corners hearing Prompto regain the laugh in his voice. “Careful what you wish for. Being able to see into the future might not be as nice as you think.”

“What makes you say that? Having that as a superpower would rock! Unless— yeah, maybe some things are just not meant to be seen before they happen. Is that why?”

“Among… other reasons people wouldn’t like it. Bottom line, I’d rather you waited and saw, and not saw and waited. You got that?”

“I gotcha! Won’t see any ESP from me, lay-dee! But, you mind if we get going? I did say I was only gonna be gone for a little bit. Don’t want everyone thinking I almost became bear chow again.”

“It is a good time to— wait, ‘again’? What do you mean ‘again’?”

“Nothing that’s not best left in the past! It was before you came along, and we’re all fine now! Don’t you worry your pretty pink little head there.”

Having done enough of interrogating Prompto for one day, Lightning left it at that and got herself off the ground. She was about to turn the other way hoping to be followed, when Prompto let out a loud, energetic gasp after looking at his camera again. Without explaining himself, he grabbed Lightning by the wrist and ran in the direction of where she’d originally chased him from. Besides not wanting to leave his poor tripod all by its lonesome, having another person with him in such a great spot was a photo opportunity just begging on its knees for him to take it.

And just who was he to up and refuse it so rudely?

“Really, Prom, we’ve gotta go,” Lightning insisted as Prompto set her up in front of the tripod and camera like a living prop. “Can’t this wait until later?”

“Not a chance!” Prompto chirped, making sure everything on his camera was all set and in position. “Why pass up the chance of a lifetime in getting a nice snap with my favorite photogenic newcomer?”

“If you wanted a selfie, then you don’t need my help with that,” Lightning quipped, hiding her smirk behind a few fingers at the consequent stunned blush on Prompto’s face born from the comment.

“Oh, fair maiden, how you flatter a clown. But, nope! You’ve gotta be in the shot; no way out until this memory’s made!” Prompto set the timer up, running to where Lightning was and readying himself for the shoot. “Smile for the camera, Pink! It loves ya!”

Lightning never really considered herself a “camera person”, but with how little time she had to think about it before the camera went off and captured her appearance in the moment, she did what first came to her mind. Giving off the most modest of her smiles, the shutter went off and immortalized the exact moment and pose the two were in. Prompto went to go look at his new photograph, rather pleased with the almost punkish way he had his tongue stuck out and the peace sign fingers on the hand belonging to the arm he’d wrapped around Lightning’s shoulders without actually making physical contact. As for his female companion in the snapshot, hers didn’t seem like anything to write home about, but nothing of it wiped even a bit away of the smile on his face.

“Another shot gotten! And this one’s the first to be blessed full-on by such a gracious presence!” Prompto beamed, making loops around the moon from how happy he was to have gotten a photo with Lightning. “Hey, why don��t you see how it came out, too? No need to let you miss out on it.”

“Why don’t you show me while we’re heading back to camp?” Lightning suggested, hauling the tripod under her arm and allowing Prompto to follow in her steps. “Nothing against you doing what you like, but we were supposed to head back a while ago.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course! And since we’re doing it now, take a quick look!” Prompto put the camera in front of Lightning’s eyes, the screen still on its most recent picture.

“Easy with— ...oh.” Lightning saw how the photo came out, rather impressed by the expert-level accuracy and the fact that even her more mild expression didn’t lower any of the quality either. “Gotta say, for someone that needs contacts, you’ve really got an eye for the camera.”

“I’ve had two for as long as I can remember. This journey’s not gonna last forever, so I might as well make a way to capture it for as long— WHOA!”

Lightning immediately ducked and caught Prompto by hugging her arms around to his torso, pulling him back up onto his feet hiding her suppressed urge to laugh. “Maybe tell me more on the way back. While looking where you’re going, of course.”

“That can be arranged. See, it all started when…”

Ignis was in the middle of getting the last few minor touches on camp set up, at the same time Gladio and Noctis were preoccupying themselves a distance from him with a harmless sparring match. Their combat reminded him personally to take a good look at his recently acquired Mythril Knives to ensure they were ready for use next time the team was to be under attack by the forces of evil or wilderness. His ears picked up on faint chatter past the sound of swords clashing and a prince rapidly warping, further investigation informing him that the culprits were the previously absent Prompto and Lightning. The ecstatic storytelling from his blond friend was nothing new, but the interested placid smile on his pink-haired one certainly provided some questions on what happened between them in the woods.

“—Then, I got attacked by a horde of angry baboons! As if that wasn’t bad enough, this leopard comes along and tried to take a bite of me in the worst way possible!” Prompto recited to a fascinated Lightning, Ignis recalling exactly the moment in question on one of the detours taken before they’d even officially set out on their current mission. “All because I wanted to snap a pic of this cute little baby monkey I saw, too! Was that so wrong?”

“You might have just scared the thing with your camera,” Lightning guessed. “What’s harmless to people might not be so to a wild animal. It probably mistook you for a hunter.”

“Still no excuse to try and get me killed! The little…” Prompto grumbled, trailing off and ending the bitter sentence in his head. “Any jungles where you’re from, Pink?”

“Not where I’m living now, no. But, where I was born, the closest I can think of is the Sunleth Waterscape. Never been myself; my sister and a few of our friends passed through it, though.”

“Bummer. Was that awesome ‘Sazh’ guy you were talking about one of those people?”

Lightning nodded. “Him and Vanille went at the same time. Speaking of which, you act a lot like her, too. I think you almost have her beat in the ‘perky youth’ department. And… some other more personal things you’ve got in common, too.”

“I won’t make you say things you don’t wanna, but my ‘Light’s friends I just gotta meet’ list is growing!”

“Maybe when I go back home, you can find time to visit. I’m sure they’d get a kick out of you.” Lightning’s voice had a noticeable lightheartedness to it, imagining the sheer chaos of Prompto meeting her loved ones back home.

“It sounds like you two had a good time out?” Ignis inquired, finally getting the two’s attention on him. His glasses-covered eyes were particularly on Prompto asking it, who knew the reason why.

“Definitely nothing I was expecting, that’s for sure. Anything could end a lot worse, but I’m happy this didn’t.”

“That makes two of us, sister!” Prompto agreed, bringing up the new photo of him and Lightning on his camera. “And guess who also finally got the ultimate selfie today? This guy, that’s who!”

“You finally partook in one of Prompto’s photos, Light? I always thought you to be the camera-shy type,” Ignis said, scanning the camera screen with intrigue.

“I’m not much for taking them, but it came out really well,” Lightning admitted. “As long as Prom doesn’t ask me to take too many of them, I don’t mind getting another in for him.”

“Do you really mean that?!” Prompto squeaked, beyond joyous.

“I just might. I don’t have ‘future sight’ either, though. We’ll just see where things go after this.”

Lightning only left it at that after, flashing Prompto another kind glance before going over to request a sparring match of her own with Gladio after Noctis concluded his with him. It hadn’t gone past Prompto’s cleared up eyes at all, the ecstatic shutterbug still feeling his innards doing giddy flips and turns about the events that’d transpired overall. He found himself smiling with his sunny aura after Lightning, freezing when he’d caught the look on Ignis’ face, too.

“Seems you’ve made a friend in her,” Ignis pointed out. “I’d have to be halfway blind to think she isn’t starting to warm up to you.”

“You really think so?” Prompto breathed, scratching one cheek with his pointer finger.

“I’ve more than a feeling. Not as scary as you thought her finding about your contact lenses was going to be, was it?”

“Pish-pish, lucky guess. Turns out, a lot of things that’s bothered me, she’s been on the same ride just as bad.”

“And yet a lot remains a mystery about our newest comrade. However, enough has certainly come to ‘Light’ with her since she joined us.”

Prompto laughed, quickly catching onto the discreet humor. “Can’t know everything about everybody, of course. Especially since there’s some things we just don’t know the answer to.” At the same time he said that, he fixed the black bands covering his right wrist so they wouldn’t reveal anything the mystery mark underneath.

“Which is perfectly fine. Everyone has their skeletons in the closet, big or small. It’s only a matter of how people take them is what makes the difference.”

Prompto couldn’t argue with that, being unable to avoid looking at not just Noctis toying around on a favored game on his smartphone, but also Lightning performing an impressive deflecting of Gladio’s strike. He still couldn’t fully believe what happened today did, nevermind actually reaching this point in his life. And yet, somehow, here he was; still among the Crownsguard of all things, and making a new friend that turned out to be sailing in the same boat as him in a way.

Another person— Lightning, no less, was more than willing to encourage him from her own honest faith alone. She’d joined Noctis in rooting for him, so Prompto had to be a fool to do so much as consider letting her own too because he couldn’t live up to the simplest of expectations. Whether or not he was sure he’d succeed in the end aside from his personal lack of true confidence, nothing was an excuse to stop after every step taken in the first place.

Prompto tapped one closed eyelid each gingerly, making sure what stuck to his eyes behind them were both secure. He laughed once to himself. Of all the ways possible he could have shared such a deep moment in the woods with someone, it had to be over a measly pair of contact lenses. Small world, he thought. Small world, indeed.

#Final Fantasy XV #Final Fantasy XIII #FF Crossover #Prompto Argentum #Lightning Farron #Tales From The LibrAiry #FF Versus XV #idk what the name for these two is; but it's platonic anyways so no need to use it I don't think???#Regardless; Lemonade Mouth is a go :3c #Also you can pry dad!Cor from my cold; dead hands; let Prom have at least one (1) good parent in his life goddamn it

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strangerthanjonathan · 7 years

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Jonathan Byers: AKA My Underrated Son Jonathan Byers, according to the script, is a sixteen year old boy. The eldest son of Joyce and Lonnie Byers, big brother to twelve year old Will Byers. Let’s talk about how this family dynamic works from the perspective of season 1. Lonnie and Joyce have divorced apparently, and while the show makes it unclear whether Lonnie left or Joyce kicked him out I do believe that it’s been said in the original manuscript that Lonnie left four years prior to the story. So let’s go back.

Four years. Jonathan would be twelve, Will would be eight. The year would be around 1978, it wasn’t impossible for women to live on their own or have their own job although careers were a little limited. We note that currently, Joyce works in a super market of sorts. The idea of working at a market and being able to keep up with herself and two boys is beyond baffling, but perhaps she has another job. However, she talks about taking off of work and only ever mentions the market as her place of employment. We also glimpse into the fact that Lonnie never quite tried to maintain a relationship with his boys. Will tried to earn the affections of his father, but according to Joyce he also berated Will and called him ‘queer’ and a ‘fag’. Now, if he was treating a little kid like that then... Let’s think about what he might have done to Jonathan. When Jonathan goes into the city to look for Will at Lonnie’s house, which he shares with his current girlfriend Cynthia, he has an interesting interaction with his father. He storms his way into the premises, searching for his brother. Lonnie’s first appearance is slamming into his son. Now, you might assume that hey, Jonathan could have been some intruder and Lonnie thought it was some guy breaking in. But Jonathan was calling quite loudly for his brother, so how didn’t he recognize his son’s voice? Drawing from that it’s quite plausible he just decided to physically assault his eldest for the fun of it. Not to mention, once he’s grabbed him and pushed him against the wall. He just sort of stands there, hands clutched in his jacket and smiling like some jackass. Jonathan pushes him away, demands that his father “Get off”. Lonnie steps back and smiles again. He says, and I quote “Damn, you’ve gotten stronger.” Now wait a second, what the fuck does that even mean? What sort of person would say that? It’s not “Damn, you got big” which would be plausible considering it’s obvious that Jonathan really doesn’t see his father very often and maybe he hasn’t seen him in a while. But stronger is the word he uses, insinuating that both himself and Jonathan have been physical with one another at some. This right here is proof enough of physical abuse, whether it be fights between the both of them or maybe something Jonathan started in lieu of Lonnie’s past actions. It could be a downright reference to Lonnie beating the shit out of Jonathan and the little boy trying to defend himself. The honest truth is, Lonnie has thrown hands with his son before, his son he hasn’t seen in a while... His son that... He hasn’t seen very much since he was twelve... See where I’m going? Anyways, so we have that going on. We can also put Jonathan’s personality and attitude in the spotlight and dissect it. If you’ll notice, he’s very standoffish and to be honest a little rude at times. Let’s list all of his interactions besides his father, he talks with Joyce, Hopper, Will, Nancy, and Steve. Those are the main ones at least. He seems often angry, whether it be with his situation or at other people for not doing things he likes. Whether it be for his mother for losing her marbles when Will goes missing, to the way Nancy acts with Steve. He’s very selfish at first glance, but to be honest I see him as more frustrated that he doesn’t understand people. Of course, that’s not an excuse for his behavior, it’s just an explanation. He doesn’t understand socializing, doesn’t understand teens, kids his age. We can assume from his interactions at school that he has no friends, when Will goes missing Tommy and Steve’s group makes fun of him. They don’t depict him as a loser or a poor kid, they say things like ‘I bet he killed him’ insinuating that they see Jonathan as creepy and strange rather than just weird and underneath them. They seem unnerved by Jonathan, he probably has at one point or another had to interact with some people at school. And they all find him more scary than anything else, which doesn’t mean that people started off excluding him. His personality seems fine, although a little cynical, he seems like an okay guy. He interacts with Will just fine, his mother as well. But when it comes to Nancy, he seems hesitant to interact, social anxiety most likely or perhaps a grudge against kids his age for picking at him in the past. When he’s confronted by Steve, he doesn’t want to interact. He goes to follow Nancy, until Steve starts pressing buttons he shouldn’t. If there’s one thing Jonathan can’t stand, it’s his family being torn into. He can take any dig, any brutal comment about how he’s always took Jonathan for a ‘queer’. A repeated word. Queer. Now if some of the kids at school think that, and Joyce mentioned that Lonnie dug that into Will... It can be assumed that Jonathan too was branded a queer and a fag by Lonnie, having mentioned at one point that his father thought going hunting might make him ‘more of a man’. More of a man... More of a man than a queer might be, in Lonnie’s eyes. Jonathan snaps when Steve goes too far and in a fit of rage, he beats the shit out of Steve. Of course, pretty much anyone would, the kid was itching for a fight in the first place. But Jonathan goes past that, he doesn’t just want Steve to regret his words, he wants Steve to hurt. He wants Steve in pain because of all the pain he’s endured, whether from Steve himself or most likely Tommy and whatever other kid that’s picked on him. Most of all he wants everyone to know that nobody can get away with ranking on his family without getting absolutely pulverized. Even with the sirens, the cops, Tommy even pulls him back and says “He’s had enough” but Jonathan pushes them all away and continues. He’s not just releasing anger, he’s probably never been in a fight in his life, he’s releasing every pent up emotion he’s been having to deal with since Will went missing. Frustration, fear, sadness, grief. He even knocks a cop in the face (I have some more thoughts on this scene, but that’s for another post). Now let’s go back. The funeral. Everyone knows that Joyce isn’t going crazy or making it up from the viewer’s perspective. But let’s look at what everyone else sees. This woman, after her youngest goes missing, starts freaking out and talking to lights and going on rants.

They find Will’s so-called ‘body’ and she denies that it’s him. Let’s look at Jonathan’s perspective. Where he has to watch his mother in his eyes, slowly lose her mind. Sure, she’s worried and afraid, freaked out and scared for her youngest. But let’s be real, what about Jonathan? He might be sixteen, but Jonathan has absolutely no friends in the world and it seemed a lot like Will was his best friend. I love Joyce, don’t get me wrong, but that was fucked up on her part. The only people that really showed him any kindness during that point was Hopper and Nancy. Neither of which really fucking knew him at all!!! Jonathan Byers supposedly lost his baby brother then had to subsequently plan his funeral and deal with the death all by himself. We had that scene of him laying in bed and crying, not just a few tears, struggling not to completely break down into nothing. I know that cry, late at night when you don’t want anyone to hear you for fear of seeming weak. He’s trying to keep it together, trying to make everyone think he’s got it all handled when in reality he really doesn’t. Eventually, it comes down to the monster. Jonathan and Nancy come together to deal with the monster, for Nancy she wants revenge, but for Jonathan.. He’s just trying to help his mom get his brother home, risking his life for his family... And then Steve shows up to apologize. They tell him to leave and he won’t, of course he wants an explanation as to why the fuck Jonathan has a bat covered in nails and the place smells like gasoline. But notice that Jonathan could have just ran where they were supposed to and left Steve for dead. I mean, I know it’s kind of a cruel concept. But think of anybody you’ve really hated, like... Someone who’s bullied you, made you feel like shit, someone you know is just the epitome of an asshole... Would you go out of your way to help them? I sure as hell wouldn’t and I kind of have to tip my hat to Jonathan for doing so. He doesn’t just say “Come on!” He grabs Steve by the hand and yanks him away, he throws himself into protector mode. He doesn’t want anyone to get hurt, not even Steve. I dunno, this is a bit of a mess but honestly... Like... Jonathan Byers, man... Y’all act like he’s some emo edgelord... And I mean he is, but he’s got more than a few redeeming qualities as well. If I go anymore on this one I’ll just be rambling but c’mon y’all... Jonathan Byers. I’ll probably do some stuff on Steve after I learn more about him, because that boy is a Quality Boy. A good ol’ chap he is... Anyways, so yeah, Protect Jonathan Byers. Jonathan Byers Defense Squad, peace out.

#stranger things #jonathan byers #this is a super long post #but y'all asked

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