#afterwards val found it cute and let him keep them

[wazzi2ya]

Velvette, when the V's were just starting and they didn't get along quite yet: Can you two manage not to kill each other while I'm gone?

Vox: Oh please, we're not children.

Velvette: *Narrows her eyes, keeping them within sight as she leaves*

Vox:...

Valentino:...

Vox: Eat shit and die.

Valentino: Yes, fuck you.

[elisaphoenix13]

Dreams Of Routine

Dust.

It was everywhere. Around him, on his hands, and in him with every breath he took.

It was a nightmare Tony had often and had him waking in the middle of the night and staring up at the ceiling as he got his thundering heart to slow down. When it finally did, that's when he braved looking around the bedroom. Sometimes he didn't have to look to know that Stephen was sleeping beside him because Tony would hear him breathing first. One usually had to strain to hear it but Tony was accustomed to the soft breaths his spouse took while he slept. The next thing he did was look past Stephen's side of the bed and find the crib against the wall with their infant daughter sleeping soundly in it.

One kid accounted for. Now for the other six. Tony turns toward his nightstand and grabs the tablet laying on the surface and mutters to Friday to bring up the 'Baby Monitors'. Six separate camera views popped up silently and Tony sighs quietly when the other six kids are shown sleeping in their beds. Tony's nightmare of watching Stephen and Peter turn to dust in front of him was constant enough that he needed a better way to check on the kids without getting up and wandering the tower to look in on every single one of them.

Harley, Peter, Diana...all asleep down the hall. Cassie was safe in her room downstairs, and so were Thomas and William. The kids knew about the cameras and Tony made sure to tell them they were specifically for moments like these. If they were getting dressed or otherwise...occupied, Friday would inform him they were safe but keep the video off. It was an electronic version of Quill's Celestial gaze, but for all the kids. Tony of course included Cassie because he had raised her for those five years and she turned into an honorary kid that he very much wanted safe just as much as his actual kids.

With another shaky sigh of relief, Tony turns off the tablet and places it back on the nightstand before turning back over and wrapping an arm around Stephen. He pulls the sorcerer close and buries his nose into dark hair, smelling a light trace of…flowers? What the hell was Stephen washing his hair with? Tony wasn't complaining, it smelt nice, but he definitely wasn't expecting flowers.

"Nightmare?" Stephen mumbles sleepily and Tony grunts in response. "Need to cuddle Athena?"

Tony chuckles. "No. Just you. I don't think she'll be real happy cuddling me anyway."

Stephen merely chuckles quietly and Tony falls asleep a little while after the sorcerer dozes off. Hearing him breathe was soothing to his nightmare frayed nerves and it was enough to lull him into a thankfully dreamless sleep. When he awoke again, sunlight was streaming through the windows that he cleverly made so that it would dim the otherwise blinding morning sunlight. Tony also woke to Stephen exiting their bathroom fully dressed for the day and walking over to Valerie's crib. The infant was rubbing her eyes as she yawned cutely, waiting patiently for Stephen to retrieve her for their morning routine.

It still amazed Tony how quiet Valerie was. She hardly cried, and whenever she did, it was for one of two reasons. Either Stephen was off for some Sorcerer Supreme duty or a stranger made her extremely uncomfortable and she wasn't with anyone she trusted. The second very rarely happened. She didn't even cry when she was sick or if she fell and scraped her knee.

Her not crying when she was sick had it's pros and cons, and right now it was a con, because just as Stephen made it over to her crib, Valerie let out a bark like cough that had Tony sitting up in worry. Worry fills Stephen's eyes as he immediately scoops her up and places a shaky hand against her forehead to check her temperature.

"Victor, scan for her temperature and any other abnormalities." The sorcerer commands immediately as Tony gets out of bed to join him.

"She's showing symptoms of croup Doctor. I recommend running a hot shower and standing in the bathroom for her cough." The AI responds.

Stephen rolls his eyes. "I know how to treat croup Victor, but thank you anyway."

"Povero topolina." Tony mumbles as he gently brushes Valerie's hair away from her face. "I wonder how she got it."

"Likely the park." Stephen says as Valerie lays her head against his collarbone and coughs again. "William put her in one of the swings. I thought I had made sure she was washed up afterwards."

"She'll be okay. Her mommy is the best doctor in the world." Tony smiles and kisses Stephen's cheek.

"I was a neurosurgeon Tony, not a pediatrician."

"Oh please, you could be a pediatrician. I've seen you studying every available text in child healthcare because we have six kids and you want to be able to take care of them whenever they get sick. You're already listed as their doctor." Tony scoffs and Stephen blushes.

"You know, I still think Peter's teacher thinks I'm a joke."

"He won't go against any of your notes anymore because he knows I'll sue him if he does. Are you staying up here with her?" Tony asks as he walks over to the bedroom door.

"I'll have to until at least her fever breaks or she can give it to the other kids." Stephen says as he walks over to the bed and sits down. "We'll watch a movie and I'll take her into the bathroom if I need to."

"Breakfast in bed it is." The engineer says as he leaves the room and walks down to the kitchen.

To his surprise, he found Bucky cooking breakfast, and the twins munching on some strawberries at the breakfast counter as they watched.

"What are you two doing up so early?" Tony asks as he heads straight for the coffee machine behind the soldier.

"Just one of those days." Thomas shrugs. "Where's Mom?"

"Upstairs with the baby. Val is sick." He answers as he sets the coffee up and presses the button to start brewing it.

William frowns. "Should I go help?"

"Nope. The baby has croup and Stephen doesn't want anyone else to get it. If you want to help, you can sanitize everything." Tony answers quickly and William actually nods before getting up.

Even Thomas followed. William was always happy to help with Val and bonded with her like Cassie had with Diana, so seeing him get up to sanitize Valerie's toys wasn't a surprise. Thomas on the other hand wasn't as close to the girls, but he probably wanted to help in some way too. Tony watched briefly as they grabbed the things they needed and then cleaned every perceivable thing that the baby could have touched while being careful not to touch themselves until they washed their hands. With William's magic and Thomas's speed, it was done within ten minutes and the boys were washed up by the time Tony was pouring coffee into his mug.

"Want me to put something aside for Mama Bear?" Bucky asks and Tony nods.

"Would you? I did promise him breakfast in bed. Why are you up here anyway?"

"Steve is still on that recovery mission. It got a little too quiet." Bucky says quietly.

"There will be plenty of noise up here soon. Crash on the couch until Capsicle gets home if you want." Tony offers.

"Yeah. Thanks Tony."

The next couple of days passed that way. Tony kept the kids downstairs, and Stephen stayed upstairs with Valerie until her fever broke. The first night had been the worst. The baby woke up multiple times coughing and Stephen got up more than half the time to take her into the bathroom and start a shower so he could stand in the steam with Valerie to help with her cough. Tony took over after the third time because Stephen actually groaned the fourth time Valerie woke up with a whimper and another barking cough. He was exhausted, and thankfully the baby didn't mind being taken care of by her father.

The second night, she only woke up a couple of times and Athena stood with both Stephen and Tony dutifully when they cared for her. The wolf, like Levi, had taken it upon herself to be a self appointed nanny much to the parent's amusement. Levi blanketed a sick child, and Athena alerted Stephen if one of the kids fell ill. The sorcerer already had a sixth sense about that kind of thing, but ever since Athena joined the family, not a single kid (or adult) could get away with lying about their health.

Valerie's fever broke the second day and her cough was nearly gone by the third day when Stephen deemed her well enough to rejoin the family. She was back to her early morning routine with Stephen and Athena, and was eating some cereal puffs in her highchair while Stephen prepared breakfast for not only the wolf but also Flynn. Getting the fox to leave Quill's side long enough to take advantage of the portal to the lake house (for business) had been a chore the first couple of weeks. Athena eventually had to scruff the kit and carry him through to the lake house, teach him what it meant, and then scruff him again to take him back through the portal to the tower for breakfast. Flynn cried and struggled in the wolf's grip the first few days, but when he realized food was part of the deal and that Athena would promptly return him to Quill after breakfast, he stopped fighting.

Now he just chirped sleepily and hung half asleep when Athena scruffed him for the morning routine. When breakfast was devoured, he was either scruffed or walked back to Scott and Quill's floor.

"'thena?" Valerie asks as Stephen sets both bowls on the ground for the animals when they returned. The small portal sitting open by the entryway.

"And Flynn." Stephen says as he washes his hands and starts on a proper breakfast for Valerie.

The baby giggles when Flynn scrambles through the portal to his bowl, practically burying his face in it to eat as Athena came through at a much calmer pace and Stephen closed the portal with a flick of his wrist. She joined Flynn to eat and as soon as they finished, Stephen watched her lead the kit to the door to the stairs and open it with a button Tony had installed for her.

Athena liked to patrol the tower occasionally when the kids weren't all in one area, and it especially came in handy when Flynn glued himself to Quill and came home with him.

"Please tell me you have some coffee going." Quill groans the second he steps off the elevator, dressed in his station outfit.

Stephen wrinkles his nose. "You smell like smoke."

"Gee, wonder why." He snarks as Stephen starts the coffee maker.

"Your leech just went back upstairs."

"Eh, he'll find me." The Celestial sighs as he sits at the breakfast counter. "It'll be a nice two minutes not having him attached to my leg."

Stephen snorted and gave Valerie a bowl of baby cereal and a spoon to feed herself as he started breakfast for everyone else, and true to Quill's estimation, Flynn and Athena came back a couple minutes later. The kit yipped loudly and ran over to Quill, only hesitating briefly when he smelt smoke on the god before jumping up and climbing onto his lap to nuzzle Quill affectionately and obnoxiously.

"Yeah, yeah. Hey buddy. Missed you too. Lay down." Quill grouses and Flynn immediately curls up in his lap.

"At least he's listening more." Stephen observes as Athena lays at her usual place at the end of the counter.

"He's still got a ways to go."

"He'll get there."

"He'll be a little terror the entire time." Quill laughs. "No doubt afterwards too."

"The pet truly reflects the owner." Stephen smirks.

"Hey!"

[trashwarden]

Can't Forget You

Most recent fic commission from ticklishivories (twitter)! Do commission Kathy if you have a chance (:

Dorian Pavus x Vaxus Trevelyan | Modern AU | (2387 words) | AO3

---

 Vaxus stares out the window with a dent in his brow and confusion souring his smile. The back of his head throbs where sutures were left in his scalp and he wants to scratch the itch underneath the bandage strapped to his temple and shoulder, but otherwise, he’s fine. Just frustrated.

           “I’m sorry I had to do that,” Dorian says again, “but they wouldn’t have let me pick you up otherwise.”

           “It’s alright,” Vax says quietly. He doesn’t know why he’s so upset that Dorian had to lie. It makes sense; roommate that happens to be best friend isn’t a sufficient title to be let in on a traumatic accident. There’s a lot of things that add up– no one else could pick him up, his sister is out of town, so unless he wanted to spend another night in the hospital Dorian had no choice but to lie. And yet something about it leaves Vax with an off taste.

           “You’re being unusually silent.” Dorian looks over his shoulder before he makes a right turn. Vax’s gaze lingers a little too long on the muscles in his forearm. “The surgeon said your memories would most likely return. There’s no need to be worried.”

           Vax knows that something is off about this; he feels that he should be comforting Dorian, not the other way around.

           A ring goes off, shrill and buzzing. Vax jumps a bit– Dorian reaches into the center console and pulls out a phone.

           “Hello, Val.”

           Val.

           “Oh!” Vax reaches for the phone, and Dorian leans away. “Let me talk to her.”

           “Keep calm, Vaxus! You still have a concussion.” He sighs, rolling his eyes. “Yes, that was him. Clearly a collision with a speeding delivery truck wasn’t enough to knock his zest out.”

           Vaxus sits back and folds his arms across his chest.

           “He’s pouting now. No, there was no trouble. They accepted the lie rather easily, actually.” Dorian goes quiet, then clears his throat. “Well, that’s your opinion, and you’re entitled to it. Anyways, I think he’ll be fine to use technology after he rests. I’ll make sure he calls you first thing in the morning.” He smiles. “It’s my pleasure. Please, don’t thank me. Your brother…he’s worth it.”

           Vaxus peers over at him, the ache in his chest drawing him away from the ache in his head for a moment. It’s deep and familiar, as if it’s grown roots in his body.

           He remembers things fleetingly; he remembers driving away, and being upset. What about? Maybe something to do with the man sitting next to him, whose strong profile makes him stomach flip, whose small, sad smile makes his heart twist painfully. It’s not true, they’re not boyfriends. Not only that, it was a clever lie and made things easier for everyone.

           But why does it hurt so badly?

           Dorian leads the way to their apartment, even going so far as to open the door for him. Vaxus shoves his hands into the pockets, watching Dorian turn on the lights and set his hospital bag and medicines down on the kitchen table. Something about the action of Dorian removing his coat makes Vaxus’ eyes linger longer than they should his shoulders, so he pulls his gaze away to walk towards the end of the hall where he assumes his room is.

           “Vaxus? You’re heading into my room!”

           Vaxus feels like he’s hanging off the edge of a merry-go-round.

           “I’m gonna puke,” he says, sure that Dorian can’t hear him from across the apartment, but in the time that he blinks Dorian is there, miraculously materialized, his warm hand on his back as he guides him to the bathroom.

           “You just need some rest,” Dorian says softly, soothing Vaxus’ anxious chills. “Right as rain by the morrow.”

           “God, your words.”

           “Hm?” Insecurity creeps into Dorian’s voice. “What about them? I know I can sound a bit pretentious sometimes but I truly don’t intend it, you know how it is at my job working around such arrogant–”

           “No, no. I like them.”

           “My coworkers?”

           “No, your words.” Vaxus waves his hand in the air flippantly. “Your elegance is charming. And your shyness about it is cute.”

           “O-Oh. Well…”

           But Dorian has no quip for that, even though Vaxus waits for it, standing slumped in the dark hallway with his hand on his back while trying to breathe deeply and evenly. He has a feeling that what he said was daring, overstepping some sort of unspoken boundary, but he doesn’t care anymore. Whatever stupid justification he made for himself to not flirt with Dorian was completely wrecked with the rest of him in the car accident.

           And why the hell wouldn’t he flirt with this man? This sexy, easily embarrassed man who he’s lucky enough to have as a roommate and best friend?

           Dorian carefully removes his hand. He stands straight and backs away, pointing towards the restroom. “The washroom is here, incase you’d forgotten that.”

           Vaxus stares at him, dead-eyed.

           “Right. Holler if you need anything. I’ll be…cooking. Something.”

           “Cooking what?”

           “Like it matters! People who’ve been in car accidents shouldn’t be sassing so much!”

           He stomps off, and Vaxus can’t help but laugh, even if his head pounds.

Vaxus sleeps until late in the afternoon the next day. When he wakes, a glass of water with a slice of lemon is waiting for him on his nightstand. He gulps it down greedily, wipes at his mouth, and pushes himself out of the bed.

           He needs a shower, urgently.

           The hot water soothes his head. He touches his bandages and realizes they’ve been replaced; he peels them off, wondering if he asks sweetly if Dorian would replace them while he’s awake.

           The thought of Dorian’s hands on his head makes the little blood he has left shoot straight down. He groans, not having the energy to take care of it this time.

           …This time?

           A fragment slides into place– of many other showers, and many other times he’s told himself he can’t, shouldn’t, touch himself after thinking of Dorian.

           And all the times he did anyway, unable to look at Dorian afterwards.

           This is wrong. Dorian is gay, his best friend, and Vaxus is–

           Very obviously into him.

           But he’s basically lied to Dorian about himself. How many times has he had to tell some story about a girl he’s met at a made up bar, just to cover up all the hours he’s spent thinking about taking Dorian out for a drink?

           This is stupid. If he gets into another accident, he won’t have the chance to tell his best friend what he really thinks.

           “Dammit,” he curses under his breath, and wonders how long he can stand under the spray before he turns into a giant prune. Vaxus shakes his head until everything inside it is thoroughly rattled, then soaps and rinses himself off.

           Dorian is sitting on the couch reading when Vaxus emerges. When he looks up from his book, Vaxus has the pleasure of seeing a blush rise like a thermometer from his neck to his ears and all the way to the top of his head.

           Probably because the only thing maintaining his modesty is the towel clinging to his waist, but who knows?

           “Hey,” Vaxus says, unable to stop his smirk from growing. Dorian nods, visibly having to pull his eyes away from his wet abs and down to his book. Vax approaches him. “What are you reading?”

           “Just…a romance.” Dorian clears his throat. “Quite silly, but fun.”

           It’s strange that he doesn’t elaborate more; Dorian’s always loved gushing about new reading material. Vaxus decides to change the topic. “Um,” he continues, his heart beat quickening. “We need to talk about something.”

           “Hm?” Dorian doesn’t look away from his book. But his voice is higher pitched than usual, as if it were gliding atop a thinly frozen lake. “And what would that be?”

           Vaxus lets out a long breath. He braces himself. “Uh, I don’t remember much. Surrounding the accident.”

           Dorian goes still.

           “But I remember that I’ve been avoiding you.”

           He approaches the couch, sitting down slowly enough that Dorian has no choice but to look at him. Vaxus touches his knee, and Dorian’s eyes lock on it.

           “I haven’t been honest about something.”

           “No,” Dorian whispers. “No,” louder. “I don’t think you’re in the correct state of mind.”

           “I think the accident finally shook something straight inside my head.” Vaxus laughs at the accidental pun, but he can tell Dorian doesn’t find it funny at all. He’s leaning away, sinking back against the couch. Vaxus’ hand slides an inch up his thigh– barely any movement, but enormously significant. His heart thunders in his chest. “Dorian…”

           “Wait, hold on a moment–”

           “I was so disappointed when I found out we weren’t an item,” he continues, “and I had no idea why, but I do now.”

           “Vax…”

           “I really feel like this was meant to happen. Even though it was a lie, those few moments where I believed we were together…felt right.”

           Dorian is staring at him, wide-eyed, backing away. Vax’s heart sinks. It hits him what he’s doing; pushing his best friend down with his barely clothed body, literally trapping him against the couch. He retracts his hand, standing up as his cheeks flood with heat.

           “S…Sorry.” His hand won’t stop tingling, so he pushes it through his wet hair. “I’ll put some clothes on.”

           “Vaxus,” Dorian sighs. More than tired, he sounds…sad. Vaxus’ heart cracks as he looks at him. “Maybe you should rest some more. What you went through was traumatic. You wouldn’t…” He shakes his head slowly, as if resigned. “You wouldn’t be saying these things if you knew everything.”

           There are gaps in Vaxus’ memories. He doesn’t know what lead to the accident, or anything before Dorian picked him up from the hospital, but he does know that whatever stupid reason he was keeping his secret from Dorian never mattered to begin with.

           A tension lingers in the air throughout the day and into the evening. It’s familiar in a way that makes Vaxus feel cold all over, like a premonition. He changes his own bandages in the bathroom, hissing as he reveals the blackened stitches and bruises along his shoulders and arms. His eyes are red.

           He remembers something– Dorian’s red eyes, withholding tears, as he told Vaxus that he couldn’t live with him anymore.

           “Oh,” Vax says aloud. He clutches his chest as a wave of nausea rolls through him.

           His head pounds. Memories flood into him and he gasps as if drowning.

           The yelling. The tears. The begging– who’s begging?

           Stay. Don’t go.

           Dorian wanted to leave. He said he couldn’t take it anymore, but never said why. Vaxus had needled him to the point of shouting, until–

           He left the apartment–

           He’d been so hurt, so distracted–

           And then the accident.

           “Dammit,” he curses, holding his head as he leans over the sink.

           “Vax?” Dorian’s voice comes through the other side of the bathroom door. “Everything all right in there?”

           Vaxus takes a deep breath.

           “Yes,” he says. “I’m fine.”

           “The phrase ‘I’m fine’ has never been uttered in total honesty in history, Vaxus.”

           Actually, fine is an understatement; he hasn’t felt better than he’s felt in days. Maybe even weeks. “My stitches hurt, is all.”

           Dorian tsks, then opens the door, surprising Vaxus. He’s in his night clothes, smelling of mint, and Vaxus’ heart skips a beat.

           “Let me see.”

           Dorian takes up the bandages from the counter and grabs Vaxus’ arm, directing him to sit on the toilet as he takes his head in his hands and inspects the stitches. Vaxus feels himself flushing and keeps his eyes down, painfully aware that he’s shirtless.

           Dorian’s hands are warm and gentle. He delicately dabs a soaked cotton ball onto the wounds, his fingers sifting through his waves of hair and pushing the strands away. His eyes are focused, lips pursed in concentration, and Vaxus has a desperate need to kiss him.

           He’s in too deep. Can’t turn back.

           Can’t lie to himself about this anymore.

           “I’m sorry,” is the first thing that comes out of his mouth.

           Dorian doesn’t stop touching him. “For what?”

           “The fight.”

           Now, he slows.

           “You wanted to move out, and I acted so...childish.” He closes his eyes. “I made things harder for you.”

           Dorian’s palm holds the side of his head. “Yes, you did. But,” he sighs, “not for the reasons you think.”

           Vaxus looks up. Dorian is gazing at him, smiling, but his grey eyes shine with sadness.

           “You said things earlier today that I’ve only dreamed of hearing,” he whispers. “And that’s all I was sure they ever would be. I couldn’t…I couldn’t bear to live here anymore. Not with you.”

           Vaxus places his hand over Dorian’s.

           “I wanted to move on. Towards you, I’ve been…for so long–”

           Vaxus fills in the gaps. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs, heartbroken.

           “I don’t want to hear an apology from you.”

           “No, Dorian.” Vaxus leans up, bringing their foreheads together. “I’m sorry…for not telling you. For making you wait.”

           Dorian’s voice trembles. “The accident, your head– you’re not in the right state–”

           “I’ve never been clearer,” Vaxus says firmly, and waits until Dorian slides his eyes open and looks at him, before kissing his lips. Dorian gasps softly. “Believe me.”

           There’s so much hurt in Dorian’s gaze, so much hesitance in his touch. But there’s hope, too, and Vaxus pours into his kisses all the feelings he’d been withholding, the thoughts he’d been too afraid to think, and hopes that Dorian can trust him with all that he’s giving.

           Dorian’s sigh is more of a whimper. When both his hands come up to cradle Vaxus’ head, Vaxus pulls back.

           “Ouch,” he grimaces.

           “O-Oh! Did I touch something I–”

           “Yeah, just a bruise–”

           “I’m so sorry, let me finish bandaging this–”

           Dorian’s face is redder than a ripe tomato’s. Vaxus laughs, not caring about the pain in his head at all. He laughs and laughs, holding Dorian around his waist as he finishes wrapping the bandages.

           They’d talk more about it later. For now, he’s more than happy to just listen to Dorian’s fast, happy heart.

[quxntumvandyne]

pier pressure // ch. 3 discovery

words: 3.8k

warnings: classic dorky peter and cuteness, some mentions of anxiety

summary: It was finally summer vacation and you were spending it all summer in California. You and your five best friends had been invited to the Stark STEM Summer Program and couldn’t wait to start, but of course, it got off to a rough start. You met someone and quickly hit it off but when disaster strikes, he disappears. But where to?

a/n: ch. 3!! a lot happens in this one and it moves fast so get ready!! i hope you all love it and if you didn’t know, i update this story every friday! i cannot wait for more upcoming chapters, things are getting crazier. also, ages are kinda funky in this story so i tried to match characters with other characters from movies they were in together regardless of age. tony is pretty much the only one (exception of a couple others) who are their actual age. love you all!! lena

MASTERLIST // pier pressure masterlist // join my taglist!

previous chapter

.  .  .  .  .

Okay, you knew you sounded a little bit crazy, but the past 5 minutes just kept replaying in your mind over and over again. The Pacific Blazers had just broken into a restaurant right when you and Peter were having a moment and he disappeared in the blink of an eye, only to have Spiderman show up and save you. But it wasn’t that that you were freaked out by. 

Spiderman knew your name. 

It wasn’t some sort of fangirl moment where a celebrity knows your name, but how did he just appear in California at exactly the right moment to save you and everyone else and he knows your name? You were more than suspicious; you knew something more was happening here. 

“Are you sure you weren’t just hearing things? Maybe someone else said it,” Val said, unsure of your acclaims. 

You weren’t exactly sure what had happened that night and why but you did know one thing and it was that he somehow knew you.

“I’m serious, Val. I’m not making this up, I know he said it.”

“What did he do after he said it?” Carol asked.

You thought about it, remembering that he almost knew he made a mistake by saying it and then took off again. Little clues started being put together in your head but you didn’t want to freak anyone out so you kept them to yourself. Hopefully, you weren’t making any obvious facial expressions to show that you were unraveling an interesting theory, but didn’t want to get your hopes or fears up that it might be true.

“He just dropped me down and took off, and then I came out here,” you lied, feeling bad for doing so but not wanting to cause unnecessary drama. 

You were walking down the sidewalk towards Carol’s Volkswagen van and saw multiple police cars and ambulances around the restaurant, taking the injured to hospitals and arresting all the gang members they managed to catch. 

Some were webbed up onto walls and the ceiling by Spiderman and others were held down by brave restaurant goers, but Mendez and some others escaped. Before piling into the van, you heard someone shout your name in a strangely familiar way. 

“Y/N!” You turned around to see Peter Parker in the distance, walking towards the van with Ned and MJ not far behind. 

“Peter?” 

You saw him jogging towards you and you threw your arms around his shoulders, with him hugging you back. Neither of you knew that you’d hug for the first time in this moment but it felt nice to know both of you were ok.

“Where did yo- oh no, what happened to your eye?” You looked at his eye, which was already swelling a bit and he had a large cut on his left eyebrow that stopped bleeding recently. He had blood on his clothes and his shoes were untied, hair all over the place. 

“I’m alright, just a little bloody. It’ll be okay.” You took a hand to brush the hair out of his face so you could see the cut better in the awful street light-lighting, not knowing how romantic it looked to everyone around you two. Okoye and Wanda both looked at each other knowingly, and Val was shrieking on the inside because her best friend was falling for this guy she barely knew but was such a sweetheart.

“I need to clean that up, Peter-”

“It’s fine, you don’t need-”

“Yes, I do.”

You two looked at each other, both cocking an eyebrow before Peter discovered you were the more stubborn one and he gave in, letting you come to his hotel room again to clean up his face. 

“You’re annoying.” 

“I know,” you said, knowing that you managed to have him wrapped around your finger. 

You looked back at your friends with Hope giving you a wink and you rolled your eyes, knowing they were turning this into something way larger than it was.

At least you thought.

.  .  .  .  .  .

“Peter, this doesn’t get easier if you keep moving.” 

“But it hurts!” You stopped, removing the alcohol pad from this face and glaring at him. He smiled sheepishly at you and you couldn’t help but smile back at how much of a dork he was. 

The cut was a clean swipe of what may have been a knife across his forehead and eyebrow and it must’ve hurt like crazy but it wasn’t very deep. You cleaned it up as best you could while Peter was jittering around while you tried to put a bandage on the cut. 

You were sitting on the counter next to the sink in their bathroom, still wearing your swimsuit underneath your other clothes. It had been such a long day and you were both so tired, you almost forgot tomorrow was Day 1 of the program. Orientation was at 8 a.m. and here you were, at 11 p.m. the night before cleaning a cut from a gang member on Peter’s forehead, a guy you met literally two days ago. Time flies. 

“Who did this to you?” you said, snapping out of your self rambling. 

“One of those gang members. I was trying to help out in the fight but one got me good.” He seemed nervous talking about it, which made sense since it all happened quickly and it was terrifying. He winced as you put a bandage on it as he looked in the mirror at the obnoxious large bandage on his face. 

“Yeah, that will leave a scar,” you told him. He sighed and seemed exhausted and you looked over and his eyes were sunken in. He hadn’t been getting much sleep since he discovered that there was a gang looking for him in Los Angeles but he didn’t want to worry anyone, especially you. Things were moving quickly between the two of you but it didn’t occur to either one of you that it happened in the first place. This unspoken thing escalating made it easier for you both to not notice it but everyone around you knew you were both too much of awkward idiots to realize it. 

You were fixing up another cut on his arm that he didn’t want to tell you about but you saw when he took off the long sleeve that he was wearing from the restaurant. By the time you finished cleaning that up, you both desperately needed sleep so you went back to your room. Before going to your door, you stopped in his door frame looking at him. You leaned on the side and crossed your arms, obviously admired him from behind but Ned could see you and raised his eyebrows at you. Peter saw this and looked at you, making you both blush and look away from each other. 

“Peter,” you said calling his attention.

He turned around with a new shirt on that he winced putting on from being sore and cut up from tonight. 

“Yeah?”

“Try not to get into another fight so soon.”

“I’ll try my best but at least I know that I have someone to stitch me up.” You smiled at him and started to walk away hearing him say “Goodnight!”

Using your key you opened the door and before closing it you replied, “Goodnight Peter.”

When you closed the door, Val was already asleep and you don’t blame her. It was the second attack that she was a part of this weekend and you knew she was terrified but wouldn’t tell you. Knowing your best friend hid her emotions because she thought she was a burden, you tried to not bring it up until she was ready to talk about it. 

You walked into your bathroom and never realized that you two had some cuts on your hand but only requires some bandaids. It must’ve been when that member hit your hand to make you stop fighting back. You bandage them quickly with now only 7 hours left to sleep by the time you showering and cleaned up as best you could and went to sleep for the night. 

Monday morning arrived and it felt like you’d only slept for ten minutes before it was time for Day 1. 

You couldn’t have been less prepared. You couldn’t find the shirt they had sent you to wear on Day 1 to find your team for the summer and neither could Val. You both woke up 15 minutes late and were scrambling to look presentable since you needed to be there in 30 minutes. You were in the bathroom fixing your hair and putting on minimal makeup, a little bit of concealer and mascara but that was the extent of what you had time for. 

Val found both your shirts somehow tucked away in her suitcase pocket and quickly ironed out the wrinkles. Throwing on some jean shorts with your red shirt, you looked in the mirror and ran a couple fingers over your left hand, sore and stinging still from last night. 

This entire weekend was such a whirlwind, that almost didn’t seem like it all happened. But there was no time to dwell on it now, you had to get going with your friends who were waiting on you two. You put on your sunglasses and kept your hair down, with Val putting hers up in her signature ponytail and wearing some white shorts with her purple shirt. 

In the hallway, you saw Wanda, Hope, and Okoye waiting for you wearing their green, yellow and blue shirts. Sadly you were all in the five different groups, but that meant you could all meet new people and talk about the day together afterward. 

“We only have 10 minutes, we need to go!” Hope said, already running toward the elevator with Okoye and Wanda said behind them. 

“What took so long?!” Wanda shouted, looking behind her at you two as you all ran down the long hall. 

You looked at each other and then back at Wanda, both saying “Long story,” knowing it wasn’t really that long but didn’t want to admit that you both slept through your first alarms.

.  .  .  .  .  

You found your seat in the auditorium around other students with red shirts on and sat down. Your hands were clammy and you clenched them on the edges of your seats, the next five minutes dragging on as you waited for Tony Stark to come out and begin his welcome speech. You looked around the room and saw your friends in their areas, already talking with new students as you were sitting down alone and more nervous than you had been in a while. 

There was an empty seat next to you and it stayed empty up until the last second when Peter sat down next to you, wearing a red shirt and it never occurred to you that you might be in the same group.

I just can't get away from this guy, can I? Not that you wanted to, but seriously. 

“Hey,” he whispered nonchalantly, seemingly knowing that you were in his group the entire time.

“Hey.”

“You look tired.”

You looked at him raising an eyebrow and said “Thanks?”

You knew what he meant but wanted to see his reaction. You’d been embarrassed in front of him too much these last couple of days, now it was your turn to not be blushing and stumbling over every word that came out of your mouth. 

“Oh wait, that’s- I meant, uh-” You started to laugh as he turned bright red but was confused as to why you were now laughing. 

“Peter, it’s fine. I-” You were cut off by quiet music that started to play and the auditorium lights blinking, signaling for everyone to sit down and for Mr. Stark to come out and introduce himself, talking about this summer and the itinerary. 

A shorter bald man in a suit walks out and introduces himself as one of the professors at UCLA, giving a short introduction and leaving the floor to Mr. Stark. He walked out and everyone erupted in applause, everyone standing up to clap for the man they were waiting to see and meet. He clasped his hands together and thanked everyone for the generous applause. 

“DAY 1!” he said, raising his voice and getting shouts from the audience in response. 

“I’ll tell you what, if I had this kind of opportunity at your age to learn from people like the ones you will this summer, I’d be making more money than I am now which may not be possible.” Everyone laughed as he continued, and he talked for about 20 minutes, going on to talk about MIT and his experiences as Iron Man and the Avengers. 

Once he said his final words, the professor came back on stage and said where each group would be going first and what the rotation would be like. You and Peter’s group would be visiting Dr. Banner, who would only be here this week. You’d be working with his scientists and in a custom lab, they designed for you all to learn about gamma radiation. You’d also be working closely with Mr. Stark himself to learn about arc reactor technology and would be pairing up with people in your groups to create your own project to work on ways that would improve the lives of the ecosystems and save Earth’s natural life through AI and technology. 

Then, at the end of the summer, Mr. Stark would fund three of the projects himself and put them into actions around the world. Hearing this on your second stop, you immediately thought about being Peter’s partner. You were close to each other in the hotel and seemed to be around one another all the time whether you wanted to or not. As you moved on to group 3, you and Peter were walking about the back of the group before you heard Mr. Stark call out Peter’s name. 

You turned around to see Peter run over to Mr. Stark like he was a good friend and they started talking but you weren’t listening, a bit starstruck just seeing Tony up close and having a conversation with Peter. You were watching the two of them interact and Peter looked nervous but not awkward, remembering that he’s known Mr. Stark from the internship he did in high school with him. Mr. Stark then waved you over and you quickly walked to the two men, leaving your group to go ahead to the next station. 

“You must be Y/N,” he said, causing Peter to look at him like he just said the wrong thing. You could tell they had a father-son type relationship since they’ve known each other for years but apparently, Peter has mentioned you to Tony before. 

“Yes, sir. How do you already know me?” you said while shaking his hand. You wish you’d wiped the sweat off them first, forgetting them were still clammy from not only the heat but nerves. 

“Oh, Petey here has told me all about you but I remember your name while going through applications. Columbia University, right? Impressive, we’d love to have you at MIT and I could offer you an internship.” You could’ve passed out right then and there and it almost seemed like Peter could’ve as well, but you didn’t want to have this opportunity just because you were friends with Peter. Wait, now you were friends with him? Okay, this is moving very quickly. 

“Thank you, Mr. Stark, but I don’t want to be offered opportunities because of Mr. Parker. I would like to prove myself on my own terms, if I may.” He crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow with Peter looking like he would throw up but also a little hurt by what you said. You tried not to look at him and put your arms behind you, rocking back and forth in your Converse anxious to hear his response. 

“You remind me of Pepper. A lot, actually. Note taken, Miss Y/L/N. I look forward to working with your more this summer and do me a favor and keep Parker here out of trouble. He’s a master of getting himself into it.” 

You had a small laugh and crossed your arms, looking at the bandage that he had put on his eyebrow this morning from last night. 

“I’ll do my best but he’s a handful.”

“I hear that, kid. A pleasure,” he said, walking back into the lab to chat with Dr. Banner. Peter watched him walk away and turned back to you. “Rude.”

“What?” you said, laughing because you already knew he was upset that you embarrassed him in front of Tony. 

“I cannot believe this, my boss and my friend are making fun of me together.” He put his hands on his face and you walked together to catch up with the group for lunch, not forgetting that he called you his friend too

.  .  .  .  .  

At the final station, you found out you’d be learning about all different types of waves; sound, electromagnetic, surface and many more that you were excited to learn about. You’d be tested on all this at the end of the summer to get your official certificate and scholarship from Mr. Stark. You knew you had to focus on all the classes and on your project, which you had yet to ask Peter to work with you on. 

After a long day, you met up with all of your friends and realized that all of you were starving so you decided to go back to the hotel and order pizza, inviting Peter and his friends all over to you and Val’s large hotel room to fit everyone.

You all changed out of the day’s clothes and rented Men In Black to watch while eating pizza. While watching the movie, you sat between Val and Hope but you were distracted, thinking again about everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. 

There were many things pointing in the direction that he knew Mr. Stark for some other reason. You never saw him at the fight last night but as soon as he left, Spiderman showed up. And Spiderman is an Avenger. But so is Iron Man, which means- you dropped your slice of pizza on your lap and made a mess of your pajama pants before rushing off into the bathroom. 

“Oh my gosh.”

“You okay?” Val asked. 

“Yeah, I-um just not feeling well.” You hated lying but didn’t want to give any indication that you were Your vision was blurry and you felt nauseous, but not from the pizza. Maybe you were right, maybe you were wrong but this only made one thing clear. If you were right, you could not get any closer to him. You’ve already been involved in one dangerous situation, and your friends have been in two. The only common factor in both of those that made sense was Peter but you could not tell anyone what you thought. This had to be kept a secret, especially from Peter. 

You sat on the toilet seat and put your head in your hands, thoughts going a mile a minute. That’s how this all works, you thought. The Stark Internship is Peter being Spiderman. That’s how he knew your name.  But you had no real proof, only theory except for Spiderman recognizing you. You had to find real evidence, but part of you wanted to forget about it and not get involved at all. If he is Spiderman, that means you’d only be putting yourself in danger too and the last thing you wanted to miss out of your scholarship because this Mendez guy got his hands on you or Peter. 

After about ten minutes of your brain going on overload, you walked back into the room and sat back down. Val could tell something was wrong but you both knew that you didn’t want to talk about it in front of everyone. 

You really didn’t want to talk about it at all and Val understood that, so you didn’t. 

Everyone had gone back to their room except for Peter and Ned as they finished the pizza that night and then went back to get ready for tomorrow’s first day of classes and finding partners for the project. 

“Do you know if we get to choose your partners for the project?” you asked Peter, sitting on your bed criss-cross applesauce ready for bed. 

“I think we pick them randomly, like out of a hat or something,” he said, talking through his pizza. 

“Oh okay.”

Val and the two men looked at you suspiciously due to your comment, all noting that you might want Peter as your partner. 

“Looking for anyone in particular?” Ned was obviously teasing you with Val joining in by nudging you and you blushed and smiled at her. You and Peter avoided eye contact until they went back to their room for the night and you went to sleep, ready for the big week still ahead and choosing partners tomorrow morning. 

.  .  .  .  .

“Alright, may I have Ms. Maximoff come forward to pick her partner?”

It was Tuesday morning and Wanda headed up on stage to pick her partner for the environmental cleanup project. The professor was calling out 10 people from each group to pick their partner and Wanda’s group was going first, then Hope, then Okoye, then Val and your group was last. 

Wanda was partnered with a guy named Paul, a taller blonde guy with glasses who she seemed to be excited to work with. Okoye was paired with a girl named Nakia from her group and Hope was paired with a goofball named Luis. Val was paired with Carol and she was blushing madly on stage when Carol smiled after reading her name off. Something was definitely happening between those two and you were excited to see Val act this way. 

Then it was on to the final group, the red group. It didn’t take long to pick partners since there were only 100 people and 20 on each color team, and Peter was called out first to pick a partner. You watched as he got up from the seat next to you and walked up to the stairs to the glass bowl with names in it. 

Your heart was pounding, not sure you if you wanted to be his partner or not, now knowing what you’d be getting yourself into. Peter twirled his hand around in the bowl and picked up one name. He looked at it and smiled, glancing at you. 

“Y/N,” he said, walking back down the stairs in your direction.

So much for no distractions. 

.  .  .  .  .

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[pixieungerstories]

Housemates 17

Vinny woke up snuggled and warm with a cock in her hand.  She giggled softly as she her waking brain made a joke about a cock in the hand being better than two in the bush.  She put her hand on the his chest and rolled her face to snicker into his chest.  That’s when it hit her that this chest wasn’t fuzzy in the  same way Derick’s was.  She sat bolt upright and stared at Tristan in horror.

“Oh god!  I am so  sorry!”

“It’s ok,” Tristan said gently.  “It isn’t…” he paused for a moment,  “I don’t want to offend you, but I like when you touch me.  You aren’t demanding anything from me.  It’s nice.  Innocent.”

Vinny snorted, “I’m not that innocent.”

Derick laughed, “You see us, all of us, as people.  That is really nice.”

“I don’t expect you to touch me,” Tristan continued, “but it sure is nice when you do.”

Vinny blew out a long breath, as she rolled over to look at Derick.  He was watching her so fondly.  She leaned forward and kissed him.  Derick was a great kisser.  “I need to brush my teeth and get changed before our run.”  Then she felt daring as she turned back to Tristan, “Thanks for keeping we warm last night.”  Then she kissed him too.  

It was a little weird since his mouth wasn’t exactly the right shape, but his lips were soft.  He cupped her neck, then stroked her back as she did.  It sent shivers up her spine in a way that make her want more.

“I gotta go,” she blurted out as she scrambled out of bed.  Neither of them said anything as she bolted from the room.

Her morning run with Derick was quiet.  Eventually, Vinny asked, “You really aren’t bothered by that?”

“Nope.”

After another few blocks.  “Really?”

“Really.”

They crossed the park.  “It is some sort of fetish?”

That made him laugh.  “You got me!  I have a thing for watching people I care about being happy.  You and Tristan together is like a double whammy.”

“Are you asking me to-”

“Whoa!  Nope!  I’m not asking for anything.  I’m just telling you it’s OK if you want.”

“Huh.” She really didn’t know what else to say.

Derick either wasn’t bothered by the discussion or he wasn’t willing to let things get awkward.  “You have the day off.  Any plans?”

“Kogan will be taking me to church when we get back.  Then brunch with my family followed by meal planning and homework.”

“Sounds like a full day. Time to go for a drink later?”

Vinny grinned, “I think I figure something out.”

----

Church was the usual sitting, standing and kneeling.  Vinny went home for brunch afterwards.   JJ was the same, slightly obnoxious kid.  Her mother, Val and her Aunt Toni were sniping at each other.  Vinny had no idea how to bring up work.  Finally, she just spit it out over pancakes.

“I quit at the coffee shop.”

That caused the conversation to come to a screeching halt.  Ma and Aunt Toni both started at her.

Ma had to clear her throat before asking, “Because you found a better job?”

“Um… sort of.  I passed my probation working for Bazur and he gave me a raise.”

Toni looked please, “Wow!  That’s awesome, Vinny!”

Val on the other hand looked skeptical, “How much of a raise?”

Vinny tensed, “An extra $400 a week.  He’s using me as a tax deduction.”

Val narrowed her eyes, “Is that all he’s using you for?”

Toni coughed, “Val!  She was being under paid to start with!”

“But-”

“And gargoyles are all asexual.  Everyone knows that.”

Val was not mollified.  “What kind of housekeeper makes almost two grand a month?”

“One who works seven days a week!” Vinny retorted.  “I would be on continuous over time if I wasn’t on salary.  Plus, good luck trying to find a cleaning service for less than $20/hr, nevermind a personal chef!”

“And there’s nothing kinky going on?” Val insisted

“Christ Ma!”

“Watch your mouth, Vincencia! You are my daughter!  You are my responsibility!”

“I’m your adult daughter, Ma!  You don’t get to ask that any more than you want Gramma Sophie asking about your sex life!”

“That’s different!”

At that point Toni got involved, “It really isn’t Val.  She’s an adult.  She’s paying her own bills.  She really didn’t need need to even tell you she was changing jobs.  Plus, how ever you dressed it up, you just asked your daughter if she’s a whore.”

JJ snorted.  

Val turned bright red, “I didn’t!”

Vinny just raised an eyebrow.  

JJ burst out laughing.  When everyone glared at him, he protested, “C’mon!  Vinny and Aunt T all did the eyebrow thing together!  That was awesome!”

For the first time that Vinny could remember, brunch was finished in silence.

When Aunt Toni was giving Vinny a ride home, she leaned over and asked, “So…  Are you seeing anyone?”

“Aunt Toni!”

“What?  I’m just asking!  There are a lot of handsome men in that house!”  There was another moment of silence before she added, “You are smart enough to not get knocked up.  Don’t get fired, but if you wanna have a little fun… Well, you’re only young once.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”  Vinny had to think about how to word the next bit.  “They are all just one big family.  They are really close and take care of each other.   And me.  It’s nice.”

“Whoa!  Menage a … eight!  You go girl!”  Vinny just burst out laughing. Toni smirked, “It makes more sense than that sister wives crap, is all I’m saying.  Especially if you can all still be friends when you convocate in the spring.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Vinny chuckled.

“Have you ever searched Angus Beef on a porn site?  It may give you some ideas.  Hell, it got me through some lonely times.”

Vinny stopped laughing.  “Tristan can’t even go to the grocery store without being molested.  He owns a really good landscaping company and people don’t treat him like people.  Kevin can’t leave the house without a guard because he doesn’t have the legal protection of being recognized as a person.  The guys all have had tough lives.  I don’t want to make it any worse for them.”

There was another period of awkward silence.  Finally, Toni said, “You’re right.  I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.”

-----

No one was home when Vinny got back.  Or at least she couldn’t find anyone.  In reality, Kevin was probably there and just ignoring her when she shouted, “Hello?”

She was on her way into the kitchen when a quiet voice said, “I don’t want to scare you-”

Vinny, of course, screamed and spun around.  There wasn’t anyone there.

“Up here,”  It was Thea, he was on the ceiling.

Vinny let out a breath, then smiled up at him.  “Where is everyone?”

“They went out for lunch.”

“Oh.” Vinny thought about that, “Didn’t you want to go?”

Thea shrugged, “Yes, but I’m socially awkward.”

“Huh.  Well, I’m thirsty, care to join me in the backyard for a beer so I’m not drinking alone?”

Thea’s eyes went wide and for a moment Vinny could see that they were multifaceted.  “Are you sure?” he asked softly.

“If you don’t mind.  Brunch with my family was kinda hard today and I would rather not be alone.”

Thea ran down a wall so that he was standing on the floor, not too close to her.  “Can you tell me what happened?”

Vinny pulled one of her bellini coolers out of the fridge.  “I told Ma I quit at the coffee place.  She asked if I was sleeping with Bazur.  Well, she suggested that might be why I got a raise.”

Thea’s voice was always low and quiet. “That’s really tough.”

Vinny nodded and headed out to the garden set on the back patio.  She pulled one of the chairs out and away from the table so that there would be room for Thea to rest next to her.  “I’m still not sure what was worse.  That or my Aunt basically telling me to google Tristan porn.”

Thea came over close to her and folded his legs so he was resting next to her.  “Have you?  Looked up Tristan porn, I mean.”

“No!  He asked me not to!  In fact, one of the very first things Bazur told me about any of you was that Tristan didn’t like to talk about it.  Why would I hurt him like that if I know better?”

Thea shrugged, “You are sweet so you probably wouldn’t.  But lots of people would be extra curious if they were told not to.”

Vinny paused with her drink halfway to her lips.  “You think I’m sweet?”

Thea smiled shyly as he nodded.  “You are very kind to us Vinny.  Derick is very lucky.  I wish I could be your friend like Kogan or Tristan.”

“Aren’t you my friend?  I mean, we didn’t get off to a good start, but I thought we were OK.”

Thea ducked his head, “I’m too creepy to be your friend.”

“You are?”

He nodded.

“Well, that’s a shame.  You’re kind of cute.”

“Girls don’t like spiders.”

Vinny snorted, “Have you never watched those Lucas videos on YouTube?”

“Lucas isn’t real Vinny.”

Vinny rolled her eyes, “You are missing the point, Thea.”

“So tell me.”

Vinny sat down her drink.  “You are the nicest construction worker I know and I have a bunch of family in construction.  Plus, you know, eight times the arms just means eight times the hugs.”

Thea ducked his head and went very quiet for a moment.  “Would you let me hug you sometime?”

Vinny set down her drink, stood up out of her chair and hugged the drider.  With his abdomen on the ground he was nearly as tall as she was.  When he stretched, he was the tallest person in the house.  Thea froze.  Then tentatively hugged her back.

“I knew it!  Great hugs!”

Thea stiffened and started to pull away, but before he was quite able to, Kogan was behind Vinny and his arms were big enough to go around both of their smaller frames.  Vinny just sighed and lay her head on Thea’s shoulder.

When Kogan let go, Thea bolted.

Vinny sighed, “That wasn’t how I hoped that would go.”

“He’s shy.” Kogan shrugged.

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Halloween || Wren and Chanel

@chrysolites

Wren: Wren was taking a body shot off of some random senior when he felt eyes watching him. "Okay now your turn" he said as she hopped down from the counter. Wren pushed himself up onto the counter and laid down, unbuttoning his shirt all the way. He put the lime in his mouth as she licked her finger slowly and wet a patch on his stomach. She poured salt on and went and slowly licked it up, took a shot from a shot glass and then went to take the lime out of his mouth with hers. She went in for the kiss, but Wren felt really watched, so he just sat up and got off the counter.

Chanel: Chanel couldn't take her eyes off of Wren and the girl, she couldn't understand why it was getting to her so much. She smiled to herself without realizing as he hopped of the counter but looked over at him with pout. "Aw, you're not having fun? I can see why, she's not that cute." she said, looking the girl up and down with narrowed eyes. "But I can't say I'm surprised, your taste is very... questionable."

Wren: Wren had been feeling more confident recently, ever since the break up people had been gassing him up left and right. "Oh, I was having fun ... and now you're here" said Wren rolling his eyes. "Yeah, the dead giveaway should've been us being friends for so long. That and the long basketball shorts in middle school" Wren joked, trying to soften the roast.

Chanel: "Didn't look like it to me. You couldn't even kiss the poor girl, are you scared they'll never be as good as ours?" Chanel asked without thinking. She was already a little tipsy and she was already not giving a fuck. "Would you like me to finish the job?"

Wren: "You mean when we were kids? Or do you mean that quick peck you gave me when I had a girlfriend?" asked Wren with a sharp tone, "and no, I think you've done enough". Wren knew he'd been sloppy around her the other night over text, but when he woke up he never texted back because he was embarassed. He didn't have the patience for this right now, he needed another drink. Wren opened up a white claw and took a big chug.

Chanel: "You say I've done enough but you seem to keep wanting more and more." Chanel shrugged her shoulders, looking at him with a sarcastic frown on her face. "Always fucking texting me first. Are you like, obsessed with me or something? It's kind of pathetic."

Wren: "You came up to me, if you don't care then just ignore me" said Wren, annoyed at how she would dare say that about him. Obsessed with her? Please. "I'm just tryna have a good fuckin time. So just be on your way" 

Chanel: "I mean how was I just going to ignore you when you were asking me over and over again if I was still mad at you?" Chanel said in a certain tone to try and piss him off more. "Do you miss me Wren? Am I all you think about?" she asked, walking closer to him. "Like I said, really pathetic."

Wren: She was getting up in his space, so he met her there. Moving into her space to show he wasn't going to be backing down, "I already told you to leave me alone, looks like you don't want to. Maybe you're pathetic" said Wren sharply. "Am I your new piss off project? Finally done with Val?" he asked, making very direct eye contact.

Chanel: It was so easy to just walk away, but for some reason, Chanel still found herself pushing this conversation further. "Maybe you are, you're just so easy." she put a smile on her face, acting as if she wasn't getting annoyed. "Is it working? Am I pissing you off?"

Wren: “Funny, I thought you were supposed to be the easy one” said Wren, “surprised you’re doing your own dirty work and not sending devyn and her mixed messages at me. You two just sit around and fuck with me?” He asked, he imagined them just sitting on a couch together, crafting the perfect texts to get into his head.  Chanel: Chanel’s face softened after hearing Wren’s first comment. She just couldn’t win with him. She’d try her hardest to piss him off, but he always seemed to know what got to her the most. Chanel couldn’t contain her anger at that point, “Don’t fucking tell me about the those texts.” she snapped at him. “I told you I had nothing to do with it. I wouldn’t do that. Why can’t you just believe me?” she asked, as if she hadn’t already given him plenty of reasons to not believe her at this point.  Wren: “She called me daddy? Like she would do that on her own volition, clearly she’s making fun of me” said Wren so frustrated why Chanel wasn’t just admitting it. He poured himself a shot and took it. “If you wanted to ruin my night, then congrats” he said pouring himself another one and one for her, “cheers” he said sliding it over to her.  Chanel: Chanel felt the anger building up in her as Wren mentioned what Devyn called him. A selfish part of her didn't want to explain how it wasn't said to make fun of him because she didn't want there to be a possibility of Wren taking things further with Devyn. Chanel wouldn't be able to handle that. But she knew how he felt about himself, and she would never encourage that mindset he had. "No one is making fun of you, okay? I wasn't apart of that, at all." she began to raise her voice. "I didn't even know she said that shit to you, and I didn't want to know." Chanel looked at the shot and quickly downed it. She was too sober for this shit.  Wren: "Then why did it happen?" he asked, pouring them both two more shots. "I'm just tired of all these games, like what's even the point?" he asked. He just wanted to be drunk and have fun, "Like why did you have to play games with Valerie, why did you have to involve me?" Wren questioned as he downed another shot.  Chanel: "I don't know, okay? You think I wanted her to tell you all that? I had no idea that even happened until after the fact." Chanel groaned, taking the next shot. "If you're still so concerned about her, why don't you just get back together with her? Why even breakup?" she began asking him questions to avoid answering the ones he asked her.  Wren: "Wait, I was talking about her hitting on me ... what are you talking about?" he asked, confused now and getting pretty drunk. HIs drinks were catching up to him. "I don't even fucking like her" said Wren, loudly, and almost angry. 

Chanel: "Uh I was talking about that too... Why? Is there more to this than her hitting on you?" Chanel asked with wide eyes. "You two didn't fuck, did you?" she asked, getting really ahead of herself. "Oh sure you don't." she rolled her eyes. "I thought you didn't like her before either and then you dated her. See, you're not very trustworthy either."  Wren: "What? No!" said Wren giving her a confused look, "She thirst tweeted about me though, it was weird. She's practically dating jonah who chose her over my sister. So it's all such a cluster fuck" Wren added, getting frustrated just talking about it. "I thought I liked her, I was wrong" said Wren, "and you were right. Are you fucking happy?" he asked, getting up in her space.  Chanel: Chanel regretted even asking that kind of question. She didn't want to make it seem like she was jealous or anything. That would just be crazy. "Yeah I saw the tweet. I don't what the fuck is going on with all of that." she crossed her arms, clearly annoyed by the whole situation. "I am actually. I'm always right, aren't I?" she asked, looking him straight in the eyes. 

Wren: "Honestly I was just feeling confident, I've been working hard on it and she just made me feel crazy about the whole Rory Jonah thing. Like I'd been upset with Jonah for no reason" said the boy. He heard her comment about always being right, he wasn't expecting her to be so smug "Do you ever shut up?" asked Wren moving in close to her.  Chanel: Chanel wished she could ask how Wren was doing lately, she had been so worried about him. She just hoped that he wasn't working out too hard. She was going to say something about it until she noticed him moving closer. "If you're so bothered by me talking then do something about it." she said with an attitude. Wren: "Well do I have permission to?" Wren said in a super annoyed tone. Asking was not sexy. But here they were. 

Chanel: Chanel rolled her eyes, "Did I not say for you to do something about it? That means do something about it." she said, getting even closer to Wren's face.  Wren: "Don't roll your eyes at me" said Wren quietly and gruffly as he pulled her in for a long and sloppy kiss. He moved his hands to her hips and put her up on the kitchen counter.  Chanel: Chanel wrapped her arms around Wren's neck quickly and kissed him back just as sloppily. She opened up her legs as she sat on the counter and moved her hands down to his shirt to pull him close against her.  Wren: Wren needed the gratification of her liking his body, he moved her hand onto his stomach in the thin gap between them. He kept kissing her, and moved to her earlobe and sucked on it slowly as he moved his hand up her waist, closer to her chest, just teasing the idea.  Chanel: Chanel smiled against his lips as he moved her hands to where he wanted them to be. She had such an urge to rip his shirt completely open, and that's just what her drunk ass did, moving her hands around his chest and stomach afterwards. A soft moan escaped her lips as he sucked on her earlobe. Chanel took hold of one of his hands and moved it in her bralette.  Wren: Wren could feel how accidentally hard he was getting, he pushed up against her and met her moan with one of his own. She put his hand under her bralette and he thought it was impossible to be any harder, but he physically hurt. Wren kissed down her neck from her earlobe, sucking slowly. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what. His brain was on fire. He just shoved every thought out of his head.  Chanel: Chanel could feel how hard Wren was as his body was pushed against hers. As she let her hands travel down his body she pressed on his crotch lightly and tilted her head to the side while he sucked on her neck. "I didn't know I could get you this excited so fast." she spoke softly before pushing him back to look him in the eye. "You wanna know how wet I am?" she asked as she took his other hand and moved it in between her legs. Maam we're in a kitchen.  Wren: Wren let out a low groan as she pressed herself against him. When she put his hand on her and he felt how wet she was, all he could think about is how people were definitely looking, "Not sure if you're that wet. Maybe you can show me in private" said Wren quietly in her ear. Ma'am he wants the whore.  Chanel: If Chanel wasn't so drunk, she'd probably suggest they go to his or her house. For some reason she had pictured her first time with Wren to be super romantic, but she didn't care about any of that right now. She just wanted him any way she could get. "Aw but I love how everyone can see us, it turns me on so much more. Imagine you fucking me on this counter in front of all these people. How hot would that be?" she teased him. "But I can give you a private show if that's what you want."  Wren: "What? No" said Wren, he thought that sex should be more private and romantic. Every time he imagined being with Chanel he pictured it to be super romantic. He didn't want to lose out on that.  Chanel: "We could go up to one of the bedrooms, but we cannot go in Griffin's cause I totally hooked up with him and that would be weird." Chanel said, as if it was appropriate to bring up some other guy right now. "But it was at Chase's place. Don't tell him though, he doesn't know." she whispered in Wren's ear to make sure no one was listening. "How about you fuck me in one of the bathrooms? That's private but it could be fun." she said, her words slurring a bit. She needed to act hot if she wanted to keep his attention, clearly everything else never worked with Wren. Chanel wanted this to work so bad.  Wren: Wren got overwhelmed. "I just, I need to go. Um .. come by whenever and we can talk." said Wren leaving just super confused and over stimulated. He needed to go home asap. The bathroom thing really got him, how could girls keep using him like this. How could she want to be him and also pull shit like this. She must not want to be with him.  Chanel: "What?" Chanel asked softly as he walked away. What was she doing wrong? Why couldn't she get this right? She finally noticed all the people in the room giving her nasty looks. Chanel quickly hopped off the counter and fixed her skirt, feeling incredibly disgusted with herself. Now everyone would start talking about her and how easy she is. Wren probably had just realized that he didn't want to associate himself with someone as pathetic as her. She needed to leave, she didn't want to be at this party anymore. 

[captain-zajjy]

Solstice, Chapter 21 - A Final Fantasy XV Story

Pairing: Ignis x Female Original Character

AO3 | Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

A/N: I am SO SO sorry this is late! D: Hopefully the 4.7k words somewhat makes up for it.

For the first time since she’d arrived in Lestallum, Valeria had no appetite, pushing her food around on her plate.

“You don’t like it?” Iris asked, eying her from across the table at the Amicitia’s apartment. Valeria had been expecting Gladiolus Amicitia’s younger sister to be some sort of hulking bruiser, and was surprised to find that, aside from being rather tall for her age, she was quite slender, with a soft face and plucky demeanor that could only be described as cute.

“I know the canned stuff is kind of bland,” Iris went on. “But Gladdy says not to waste money on stuff that can go bad.”

“We’ll have fresh food from the garden soon, right Iris?” The boy, Talcott, asked. Valeria didn’t mind teenagers - it hadn’t been so long ago that she was one herself - but she had no idea what to do with kids. She had no younger siblings, no little cousins that she knew of, and children certainly had never been allowed in the boardroom at work. Even when she had been Talcott’s age, she had tried her very hardest not to act like it.

“I hope so,” Iris replied to Talcott. She pointed toward the suite’s balcony beyond the sliding glass doors, where there was a small plot of soil warmed by a sunlamp. “I figured it was worth a try.”

Valeria nodded dumbly, her distracted mind only now catching up to the conversation. “The food’s fine,” she said. “I’m just…”

“Worried?” Iris supplied. “You don’t have to worry about Ignis as long as he’s with Gladdy.” From the way she spoke and the earnest look on her face, Valeria knew Iris wasn’t just saying that to assuage her. She truly believed her brother was invincible. I thought my mother was invincible too.

“My grandma used to say I was lucky to be born a girl, since all the men in our family are ‘cursed’ with bravery.” Iris laughed, but then turned somber. “My grandfather was killed trying to help someone that fell in front of a train. He didn’t even know the guy at all, he just…” She shrugged. “Dad was a little more level-headed, but Gladdy…” She shook her head. “I remember when he got his face all cut up, protecting Noct at a bar. He was happy. So, you don’t have to worry about Ignis if Gladdy’s around. He’d take a bullet for him, and probably laugh about it afterwards.”

Valeria narrowed her eyes. “Doesn’t that worry you?”

Iris pursed her lips. “Nah. He’s an ox. It’ll take a lot more than that to kill my big brother.”

Valeria didn’t have the heart to tell her that, beneath all that muscle and bravado, her big brother bled like any other man.

She forced herself to eat, unable to allow herself to waste food even when her guts were twisted into knots. If Gladiolus was so eager to to protect others, why had he left behind the two people who depended on him the most? It seemed that he was every bit as ignorant of the danger outside the city as Ignis.

Or, perhaps like Ignis, he was out there chasing his shattered pride, desperate to reaffirm some sense of purpose. For as long as the Caelum dynasty had sat on the throne, Amicitias had served as their shields. Valeria knew what it was like to grow up with the weight of parental expectation on your shoulders; for Gladiolus, that burden was multiplied by generations. Losing Noctis must have felt like losing an integral part of himself.

Gods, she prayed, even though she wasn’t so sure anyone was listening. Don’t let this be their undoing.

“So…” Iris ventured, filling the silence. “Gladdy said you stayed in Insomnia for a while, after, well...you know…”

Valeria nodded. I wasn’t like I had much of a choice.

“A lot of my friends, um...” Iris went on. “I still haven’t been able to find out what happened to them. Do you think…?”

Valeria shook her head, perhaps too quickly, when she realized what Iris was asking. She didn’t want to recall the smiling faces in the photographs of the missing, the terrified, frozen faces in the photographs of the dead, though they were indelibly engraved upon her mind.

“People mostly kept to themselves,” Valeria offered by way of explanation. “Sorry.”

“Oh. Oh yeah, of course.” Iris gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure there were, like, thousands of people anyway.”

Felix. He was a couple of years younger than Iris, but the Academy wasn’t a large school; it was very possible that they’d known one another, that they’d maybe even been friends. How could she even begin to explain to Iris that he was probably dead or worse, all because Valeria was too afraid? Because the only thing she could do in the face of danger was run away. You’re a coward. Such a paltry explanation seemed particularly pitiful when facing one of the storied Amicitia bloodline.

Somewhat to Valeria’s surprise, Talcott began to clear the table, completely unprompted by Iris.

“All finished, ma’am?” he asked, reaching for Valeria’s plate.

“Don’t call me ‘ma’am,’” she replied automatically.

“Oh, okay. Miss…?” Talcott trailed off, apparently unsure of her last name.

“‘Miss Val’ is fine. And yes, I’m done.”

“Okay!” Talcott scooped up her dirty dishes, his tongue poking out slightly as he carefully made his way to the sink with his little arms full.

“Thanks, Talcott!” Iris rose from the table.

“I can do the dishes,” Valeria said. She could certainly use the distraction.

“Oh no,” Iris said, shaking her head. “You’re a guest! But thanks for offering. I always have to yell at Gladdy to do them.” After turning on the sink, she asked, “How did you and Ignis meet?”

“At the Academy,” Valeria replied. “On the first day. I realized I wasn’t going to be the only insufferable know-it-all in the class.” Even now, as worried as she was, the memory caused her to smile.

At first, she had regarded Ignis as more of a rival than a kindred spirit, but it soon became clear that he was the only person who knew what she was talking about when she went on about geometry, that she was the only one who got his (usually lame) wordplay jokes. In Ignis, she had found a mirror, someone struggling to reconcile their desire to be seen as mature with the realities of being fourteen, someone so desperate to please the adults around them that their true self was stunted, pushed to the side.

She didn’t have to do that anymore. She wanted to feel his hands on her face, hear his voice in her ear, feel the warmth of him at her side. She wanted to tell him all the things she had been so afraid to say out loud, the things she hadn’t even been able to admit to herself. Come back, Iggy. Please come back to me.

Galdin Quay. It was here, one sunny morning that felt like decades ago, where Ignis had received the news that had forever altered the course of his life. Insomnia Falls. He could still recall the size and typeface of the headline, those two words etched in ink that had changed everything.

And yet, it had only been the beginning. If Ignis had known what fate awaited him in Altissia, would he still have boarded that boat to the City on the Sea? Yes. The answer came to him without hesitation. My place is by Noct’s side, no matter the cost.

But his liege was gone, gone where Ignis could not possibly follow. Ignis realized that, for all his talk about negotiations, he had no idea what to say to these people. Oh, the proposal for the supply line was straight forward enough. But just who he was, and under what authority he had to decide such things - that was what he didn’t know, what he couldn’t answer if asked. He was a Crownsguard with no king, and advisor with no lord. An orphan, and a blind man, and a failure.

“Ignis.” He turned at the sound of Gladio’s voice, pushing the negative thoughts away. The truck creaked to a stop, the gearshift whining as Gladiolus put it in park.

“How’s it look?” Ignis asked. Even his ruined vision could tell Galdin was lit up like it was mid-day.

“No wonder they’re low on power,” Gladiolus muttered. “It’s making me damn eyes hurt. Uh, no offense.”

“Please,” Ignis scoffed. “None taken. What about fortifications?”

“Aside from the lights, they got nothing. I mean, we just drove right on up.”

“Hmm.” Ignis frowned. He recalled the layout of the resort well, and knew that a beach and pier weren’t exactly simple to fence in, but physical barriers would greatly reduce the number of lights they needed to keep the daemons at bay. This all seemed incredibly elementary to him, but he reminded himself that most of the people stuck here were probably wealthy vacationers, not survival experts.

When Ignis opened the door of the truck, he was assaulted with the overpowering smell of salt and fish on the sea breeze. The ground suddenly lurched beneath him, and he was standing on a crumbling dock with the screams of the Hydraean in his ears and the taste of saline filling his mouth. And all around him, he saw red. Red water, bodies covered in blood, magitek exhaust. Red flames consumed his vision, searing his face, his eyes…

“Whoa, whoa, Iggy.” Gladio had grabbed Ignis by the arm, the only thing keeping him on his feet. “What’s wrong?”

Ignis fumbled behind him with a trembling hand, feeling for the car seat. “I...I’m sorry,” he said as he slumped against it, clenching his fist. The sudden pain that had erupted in his face was extraordinary and nauseating.

“Huh?” Gladiolus still had him by the arm. “You sick or something?”

“I…” It’s not real, Ignis told himself. It’s all in the past. But the smell of the ocean, the pall of moisture in the air, continuously triggered memories, memories that threatened to devour him.

“I’m fine,” he said, even as he felt his insides churning. “The smell of the ocean, it…” Ignis shook his head. “Don’t mind me.”

“Hey.” Gladiolus shook his shoulder, quite gently for a man of his strength. “It ain’t gonna happen again. I won’t let it.”

“I know that.” Ignis knew he wasn’t in danger, but memories - bad ones in particular - were pervasive, persistent things. With a frustrated sigh, he pushed his sunglasses up his forehead to press the heel of his hand into his throbbing, scarred left eye.

“You wanna wait here?” Gladio asked, releasing his arm.

“No,” Ignis insisted. “Just...give me a moment. If you please.”

“You got it, captain. Imma unload the truck.”

Ignis tried to focus on his breathing, concentrating on the feeling of the air passing in and out of his lungs. It’s in the past, he reminded himself again. Put it behind you. His heart rate began to slow, but his face still ached, a phantom of the Imperial mortar that had blinded him and would probably haunt him for the rest of his days.

As Ignis began to get himself back under control, he could hear a crowd of people gathering close by, murmuring to one another about the new visitors in their midst. He straightened his collar, buttoned his jacket, and forced himself upright, feeling his way around to the back of the truck where Gladiolus was unloading their cargo.

“How many are there?” he asked Gladiolus quietly.

Gladio dropped something heavy on the ground, then replied, “Dunno. Maybe ten people. Nobody’s armed.”

“We’ve come from Lestallum with supplies,” Ignis announced, turning to address the crowd. “We heard your message on the radio. May I ask who’s in charge?”

A couple people stepped forward, but apparently only to look through the boxes Gladiolus had unloaded, supplies shuffling and clinking in their hands.

“Hey. Hold up,” Gladio said to them, but Ignis couldn’t tell if they heeded him or not.

“It’s our understanding that you’ve been able to catch a good quantity of fresh fish,” Ignis went on to no one in particular. “On behalf of Lestallum, we’d like to establish an on-going line of trade.”

“Who are you exactly?” Some man asked. I don’t know, Ignis thought. I honestly don’t know anymore.

“Gladiolus Amicitia,” Gladio replied, stopping his work to stand next to Ignis, probably with his arms crossed. “Shield of the King. And this here’s Ignis Scientia, King’s advisor.”

“What king?” Another voice asked. “Aren’t all the Caelums dead?”

“No,” Ignis replied. “King Regis is, alas, no longer with us - may his soul rest in peace. But Prince Noctis yet lives.”

Several voices from the crowd rang out at once:

“Why isn’t he doing anything?”

“Where is he? Lestallum?”

“Why isn’t he taking back Insomnia?”

Ignis held up a hand to hush the group. “His Majesty is....he is far away. Preparing for his destiny, to banish this darkness and bring back the light.”

He was well aware of how foolish this all sounded, like some child’s fairy tale, but Ignis didn’t want to lie to the people of Lucis. The Empire had spread so much misinformation that he thought they were owed the truth, however fantastic it sounded.

The crowd at Galdin Quay seemed to divide at this news: a smaller portion exclaimed joy, relief, hope that someone had finally come along and offered them an end to this nightmare; but the majority were incredulous, dismissing Ignis’s explanation as nonsense, demanding proof of such a claim.

Ignis felt Gladio’s weight shift, felt the tell-tale thrumming of magic on his skin as Gladiolus summoned his weapon. The ground beneath his feet shook as Gladiolus drove his greatsword into the sand.

“How’s that for proof?” Gladio growled, his patience already growing thin.

“Calm yourself, Gladio,” Ignis whispered.

“They’re not lying.” A set of footsteps approached the group, and Ignis nearly groaned at the voice they belonged to. Dino. He’d recognize that ridiculous, put-on accent anywhere. Of all the people to defend us, it had to be him .

“That’s Prince Noctis’s Crownsguard, alright,” Dino said. And yet, that didn’t stop you from coercing us into running your bloody errands, Ignis thought with a frown. “They say the Prince is still alive, then you gotta believe ‘em.”

“Don’t tell me you’re the leader of this group,” Ignis said to Dino, unable to stop himself.

“Nah,” Dino said, sauntering up to the pair of them. “Don’t really got a leader around here, per se.”

A bloody democracy, Ignis lamented. That was fine in times of peace, but in a crisis, in danger, people needed a singular, decisive voice to call them to action.

“Holy hell,” Dino exclaimed. “What happened to you?” Ignis knew he wasn’t talking to Gladiolus about the new scar on his forehead.

“Back off,” Gladio growled.

“The Empire happened to me,” Ignis said, trying not to clench his teeth. First it had been Aranea Highwind, then the Marshal, Iris and Talcott, the Hunters...he was getting damned tired of constantly having to explain one of the worst days of his life.

“Damn,” Dino went on, unperturbed. “They got you pretty good, huh?”

“Ah, Dino.” Ignis just barely managed to keep himself from snarling. “Ever the beacon of compassion in troubled times.”

“What? I’m just say-”

“Whether you believe us about the King or not is, I suppose, irrelevant to the purpose of this visit.” Ignis raised his voice to address the crowd once more, cutting Dino off entirely. “We’ve brought the supplies you asked for.” He gestured in what he hoped was the vicinity of the boxes. “We can continue to provide you with such things, in exchange for part of what you catch.”

“How much fish we talkin’ here?” Dino asked. Why did it have to be him?

“Nothing unreasonable,” Ignis replied. “We’re not asking any of you to starve. How much would you say you catch in, perhaps,  a two-week interval?”

“Ehh…” Dino trailed off, and Ignis was forced to assume he shrugged. “The fisherman could tell ya, but they’re all out on the water right now.”

“It’s more than we need,” a woman, her voice familiar, spoke up. It must have been Coctura, the chef; she was the only woman they had spoken to at any length when they were here last. “I’ve been pickling what we can’t eat so it wouldn’t spoil.”

“And how much is that?” Ignis asked.

“Maybe enough to fill up the back of your truck in a month,” Coctura replied. “Maybe a little less. I don’t want to speak for the fishermen, but I’m sure if they were better equipped with lights they could catch more.”

Ignis nodded. That wasn’t anywhere near enough to feed the bloated population of Lestallum, but it was something - a start, and more than they had coming into the city now.

“Then if we sent you a truck full of power supplies once a month, you could presumably fill it with preserved fish in return?”

“That’s what the lady’s saying,” Dino said.

“And, is this acceptable to the rest of you?” Ignis asked the crowd, since it was apparently a bloody democracy. A few people mumbled some things to one another, but no one spoke up to voice any dissent. Of course, they weren’t in a position where they had much ground to argue; the moment their lights went out, it didn’t matter how well-fed they were - they were all dead.

Ignis was exhausted. He leaned against the inside of the truck door, closing his right eye, but found himself unable to doze off. After they’d filled the truck with the preserved fish Coctura mentioned, he’d only managed a few hours of sleep in the camper back at Galdin Quay, his thoughts chasing themselves in circles while Gladiolus snored.

“Can you drive faster?” He asked Gladiolus now.

There was a pause, and then Gladiolus snorted. “Seriously?”

“Nothing unsafe,” Ignis clarified. “I’m just...anxious to return.”

Gladiolus chuckled, and Ignis felt the truck accelerate, heard the engine crank and whir at the added strain.

“I said nothing unsafe,” Ignis repeated.

“Eighty ain’t unsafe,” Gladio replied. “Not when the roads are this empty.”

“Have you seen many daemons?” Ignis asked. It was difficult to hear anything in the distance over the engine noise.

“They’re out there,” Gladiolus said with a grunt. “Everywhere. Keeping their distance from the road.”

“Hmm.” Ignis touched the flashlight in his jacket pocket, idly toying the handle as he thought. “I wonder if they’re learning.”

“How do you mean?”

“Between headlights and the force of a speeding vehicle, the highway is a hazardous place for daemons. If they’re keeping their distance now, that seems to suggest a certain degree of...advancement.”

Gladio groaned. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“Nor do I,” Ignis said with a frown.

Daemons had long been regarded as dangerous, but stupid, singular-minded in their quest for destruction. But this darkness was their world now, and Ignis had witness first-hand the vestiges of humanity that the terrible creatures still retained, even clung to. Though frightening, it was perfectly reasonable to assume that some of them maintained the adaptability, the capacity for logic and plans, that was uniquely human.

Suddenly, Ignis heard a scream, simultaneous with Gladio shouting a curse and the screeching of the truck’s brakes. He stuck his hands out just in time to prevent his face from slamming into the dashboard.

“Oh Gods, please! Help me! Help me!” A woman was shrieking in front of the truck, pounding on the hood. “They have my baby!” She wailed. “Please help me!”

Though Ignis wasn’t entirely clear on what had just happened, he immediately nodded toward Gladio. “Go,” he said. “I’ll mind the truck.”

Gladiolus had the car in park and was out the door before Ignis had unbuckled his seatbelt. He could hear the woman continue to scream and plead even as their footsteps receded.

Ignis reached over and felt around for the keys to turn off the engine; he didn’t want to waste gasoline, and he couldn’t hear anything over the bloody noise. Leaving the keys in the ignition in case they needed to make a hasty exit, he slid out of the passenger-side door, his ears and nose straining to discern any sign of the daemons in the darkness. A listless breeze ruffled his jacket and hair as Ignis switched on the light attached to his belt with one hand, and hefted the flashlight Valeria had given him with the other, electing to leave his cane behind in the truck - he wasn’t going anywhere, so he didn’t need it.

The woman had stopped her wailing and, just on the very edge of his hearing, Ignis thought he could make out voices, low and hushed, their words lost to the distance. What he couldn’t hear, he realized, was the crying of a baby - and any infant ripped away from its mother would have absolutely been screaming its little lungs out. The hairs on the back of his neck and arms began to rise as his stomach plummeted to his feet. This isn’t right…

Immediately, Ignis summoned a dagger to his free hand. He gripped the hilt and gritted his teeth. Behind him, perhaps twenty or thirty feet away from the bed of the truck, he heard the soft sound of dead grass crunching underfoot. Whoever, whatever was approaching was cautious, taking care to conceal their footsteps. Gladiolus wouldn’t sneak up on him, and the daemons may have been learning, but they weren’t this smart.

The breeze shifted and an all-too-familiar scent filled his nose - not the sulphur stink of daemons, nor the rotting stink of a carnivorous animal’s breath. It was filth - human filth, sweat and dirt and malice.

And then everything clicked in place. It was exactly as Valeria had warned him, that the people out here were colder and crueler than any animal. It was a trap. The woman lured the driver away, while this person, or multiple people, made off with the truck and their supplies.

Ignis should have been afraid, but he wasn’t. Anger welled within him, rage red-hot and raw like he hadn’t felt since Insomnia fell. To take advantage of others’ good intentions...there were very few things lower than that.

The footsteps grew closer and Ignis was certain it was two people, adults, likely both men. “You get one warning,” Ignis intoned, even though they didn’t deserve it.

“Just back off and give us the keys,” came the reply. The voice sounded like a young man doing his best to sound menacing. “We don’t have to hurt you.”

Ignis inhaled deeply, every muscle in his body tensing in anticipation. He switched off the flashlight and the light on his belt, extinguishing the only illumination he was aware of in the vicinity.

“You won’t,” he replied, the calm in his voice serving as a harsh contrast to the anger rolling beneath the surface. Only a fool would try to fight a blind man in the dark.

And they were a pair of fools. One charged at him with a snarl. Ignis dodged, sliding along the body of the truck. There was a clang and a cry as the man’s fist collided with the vehicle’s door. Ignis felt the vibration through his back, his mind immediately working out the man’s relative position and height.

Before his assailant could move away, Ignis reversed his grip on the flashlight, smashing the butt of it into the man’s face. It took him in the jaw, not the nose as Ignis had anticipated, but the man still recoiled in pain, the smell of blood suddenly filling the air.

“Shi-” The man blubbered through his damaged lips; distantly, Ignis wondered if he’d broken any teeth.

“Lee! Where the hell are you? Are you hurt?” the second man cried out. The man called Lee sputtered and groaned in response.

A pair of hands - that must have belonged to the other man - grasped Ignis’s right arm, then tried to push him sideways. Rather than resist it, Ignis rolled with the force, popping back up on his feet alongside the truck’s front tire.

“I-I’ve got a knife!” the unnamed man cried. Ignis could hear the blade - small, probably not much larger than a pocket knife - slicing wildly through the air.

Ignis pivoted away from the truck, wanting to keep the sharp instruments far away from the vehicle. “As do I,” Ignis said. I did warn you.

In front of him, Lee screamed. “Where are you? Where are you, you son of a bitch?” Ignis sensed the wild punch coming a second too late, and it connected with his ribs. He grunted as pain bloomed in his side, but stood his ground, knowing the next blow was imminent. Ignis allowed Lee to grab him by the collar, pulling them close together, Lee’s sour breath spewing in his face. Ignis plunged his dagger into Lee’s gut.

“Wha…?” The startled reply was all that came from Lee before he started screaming in pain.

Blood, warm and sticky, soaked Ignis’s glove, seeping between his fingers. He thrust the dagger into the man again, higher this time, and Lee’s screams turned into a wet gurgle, his body going limp in Ignis’s arms. Ignis pulled his blade from the man’s flesh, allowing him to collapse on the ground. Fighting to maim was a luxury a blind man couldn’t afford. And besides, out here, anything worse than a scratch was likely a death sentence anyway.

“Lee? Lee!” His companion was now screaming.

Ignis took a cautious step backwards from Lee, who remained on the ground, moaning pitifully. As he moved, he felt the air shift off to his left, felt the man’s knife slice through the outer layer of his suit jacket. He spun on his heel, bringing up the flashlight in a defensive stance, dismissing the dagger from his other hand. When the man’s blade struck the head of the flashlight, Ignis seized upon the second of confusion, grabbing the man’s wrist with his free hand and twisting until he released the weapon. Now I’ve got you.

“What did you do to - ahh! ” The man’s words were cut off into a yelp as Ignis twisted his arm in a way Gladiolus had once shown him, that forced the man to turn and bend, lest his elbow be wrenched from the socket.

Without letting go of the man’s wrist, Ignis swung hard with the flashlight, bashing the man on the side of the head. He made a startled gasp and Ignis felt him swaying, but he didn’t go down.

So Ignis hit him again. He hit him again and again, allowing his anger to get the better of him, until the man was crumpled on the ground alongside his friend, twitching.

It’s over, he realized. His breath was coming in heaving gasps, the place where he’d been punched throbbed, and the muscles in his arm felt like gelatin. But it was over, and he was fine. He hadn’t broken his promise to Valeria to return to her.

As Ignis wiped the bits of blood and hair (and probably other things he didn’t particularly want to think about) from the flashlight, he felt something touching the toe of his shoe, then weakly grasping at it.

“H-help me,” the first man, Lee, croaked, his voice unable to rise past a whisper. “I don’t...want to d-d-die out here.”

Too late for that, Ignis thought coldly. A clamor behind him caused Ignis to jump and whirl, dagger already summoned back to his grasp by the time his feet hit the ground.

“Iggy, it’s me!” Gladiolus shouted. “It was a-”

“Trap,” Ignis finished for him. He palmed the switch of the flashlight, and to his shock, it actually powered on.

“...Damn,” was all Gladio said when the undoubtedly grisly scene was illuminated for him.

“They were after the supplies,” Ignis explained. “Despicable.”

“Yeah, that woman had a buddy waiting for me. I knocked ‘em both out cold. Must be some kinda operation they’re running here, or were, since these two are…”

“Let’s go,” Ignis said. He didn’t regret what he’d just done, but he didn’t particularly want to dwell on it either. He followed Gladiolus back to the truck and they both piled in, leaving the two men to die on the side of the road.