#and a couple years later youre not even blinking when youre trying to get blood out of a dead three month old

[yooniesim]

some ppl that work in healthcare... really shouldn't work in healthcare.

(heavy heavy tw for medical situations & death/child death in tags, do not read if you're sensitive to it... I'll delete this later just had to vent)

[pathologicalreid]

next of kin | S.R.

disaster strikes and you and Spencer try to take custody of your younger sister

who? spencer reid x fem!reader category: angst content warnings: actually might be gn! but i'm too scared to say it is. death, orphan-ing, funerals, child custody issues, blood, general cm violence, like actually an abhorrent amount of death. sorry i killed your parents for the sake of my fanfiction can we still be friends? word count: 3.33k a/n: this is the fic that this post is about. i am in fact my own worst enemy. i hope y'all like it actually genuinely i am most definitely overthinking this. if your name is maya im sorry that sucks.

“What did your parents say?” Spencer asked, walking into the conference room that the local precinct had offered to you.

You had been staring blankly at your phone since you got off the call with your mother, “Uh, they said thanks, but no thanks.”

The uneasy feeling had settled in your stomach as soon as you found out the team was being called to your hometown, and you had been nauseous ever since you found out the UnSub’s pattern.

Married couples with an older child who had moved out and a younger child who was still at home.

Your little sister was a surprise, you had incorrectly assumed your parents were done having kids.

Until today, you wouldn’t have traded Maya for the world, but now you sat in fear of your family being targeted by a serial killer. Hotch had offered them a protective detail, but they declined. Self-righteous as they were, they told you it wouldn’t feel right for them to accept help that couldn’t be offered to everyone.

Clenching your jaw, you stood at the table, “I’ll go by later and check in on them.”

Spencer had met your family twice by now. Last Christmas he had tagged along to meet them and celebrate with your family before the two of you spent New Year’s with his mom. Then, while your sister was on Spring Break, they flew out to Virginia, and you and Spencer had shown your family around Quantico and the District.

Maya had loved Spencer, partially because you loved him, but mostly because of his magic tricks.

“Do you want me to go with you?” He asked, stepping up next to you and placing a hand on the small of your back.

You sighed and shook your head, “No, not if you’re needed here.” You reached up and cupped his cheek, smiling softly, “Thank you for offering, Spence.”

He nodded affirmatively, “If you change your mind,” he offered. Gently, he pressed a soft kiss to your forehead before the two of you returned to the rest of the team.

The fact that your parents lived only five minutes from the police station gave you some relief, but you still felt tightly wound. Everyone had noticed. You just needed this case to be over.

The porch lights were on when you got there, and you used your house key – which you had never taken off of your keychain - to open the front door. “Hey, kiddo,” your dad greeted from the couch. A peek into the kitchen showed you that your mom was wiping down the counters. It all felt so eerily normal.

It was dark by the time you had gotten there. Maya was already asleep, but you tip-toed into her room anyway and kissed her goodnight before going back downstairs. Once you had hugged both of your parents and told them you loved them, you made your way back to the police precinct.

By nearly three in the morning, there was no new information, and the team was starting to consider calling it a night until the police chief got a call.

“We just got a call. Lady reported shouts coming from her neighbor’s house at 86 Meadowbrook,” he informed you, putting his hands on his hips and looking around at the team.

None of them even spared him a returning glance, everyone’s eyes were on you.

Blinking rapidly, you nodded assuredly, “I have to go get Maya.” You didn’t even recognize your voice even as you said it. It couldn’t have been your voice. That was the rasp of someone far away from you.

All of the other voices around you were muffled, you couldn’t hear what people were telling you, let alone understand them.

Maya. Maya. Maya.

Brown eyes. There they were, right in front of your face. “Let’s go get her,” Spencer whispered.

You had been speaking out loud. Repeating your sister’s name like a prayer without even realizing it.

Hotch let you go with them, but he made it abundantly clear to you – and the rest of the team – that you weren’t working this case anymore.

Surrounded by reverent voices in an SUV, JJ drove while Spencer stayed in the back with you. He held your hand tightly in his.

The house was closed off with police tape. Bright yellow plastic fluttered in the wind as you watched your team and other emergency personnel enter and exit. At your insistence, Spencer went in to get Maya, it felt like it had been hours before he walked out, carrying her in his arms.

Carefully, he brought her to you, and you pulled her close to your chest, blocking her eyesight as two body bags were brought out of the house.

You didn’t hear anything after that. You just let yourself be moved to wherever you needed to be, holding your kid sister as she cried for your parents.

They had to take their bodies to the hospital even though they were already gone, and you needed to be the one to confirm their identities. Spencer stayed with Maya while you were busy. She had cried herself to the point of exhaustion, you were grateful that she was sleeping, and then you felt cruel.

By sunrise, she was still asleep, and you had been set up in that same conference room from earlier. Sitting across from you was a social worker, a representative of the state. Your lips had parted in shock as you looked at her, “What do you mean they denied my request?”

In an attempt to be helpful, JJ worked with you to file an emergency request for custody of Maya, and the case worker had just told you that the request was denied. “The state doesn’t believe your request is valid,” she told you.

Your mouth went dry, “I don’t…” you glanced over at your little sister. “Our parents were murdered last night, and they won’t let me take custody of my sister?” You asked indignantly, peering at the social worker. It wasn’t her fault, somewhere in your grief-ridden brain you knew that, but you couldn’t help the feeling that she was somehow your enemy.

“They don’t believe you can provide her with a stable living environment,” the social worker, Brittany, explained.

Narrowing your eyes, you responded, “A stable living environment like a foster home? I’m her sister. We’re family – the only family each other has left.” You stood up, excusing yourself for a moment before walking out of the precinct. Once you were outside, you promptly hurled into the bushes.

That was how he found you, to the side of the building with your hair haphazardly moved out of your face, dry heaving into the shrubbery. Gently, Spencer placed a hand on your back before starting to rub small circles on your back, “You should eat something, love.”

You just shook your head in response, you weren’t hungry. “They won’t let me take her,” you whispered morosely, straightening up, you kept your back facing him.

“What?” He asked, his hand abruptly stopping its movement on your back.

Taking a deep breath and sitting on the curb, you looked up at Spencer. “The state thinks I’m not stable enough to take her in,” you said, resting your chin in your hands.

Your boyfriend crouched down so that he could sit next to you, “Are you going to challenge it?”

“Of course I am,” you cried. “But what happens to her in the interim, Spence? She gets placed with whatever foster home here and I go back to Virginia? I see her when the family court resolves this in two years?”

Treading carefully, Spencer cleared his throat, “What are you going to do?”

Defeated, you shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m…” your voice trailed off. “My parents are dead, Spencer,” you murmured softly, tears welling in your eyes.

He reached out and wrapped his arms around you, “I know, darling. I know. I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t think I can do this alone,” you whispered, leaning gently into him.

Spencer turned to kiss your temple, “It’s a good thing you’re not alone then. I’m not going anywhere.” He waited for a moment before continuing, “Give me something to do. Give me a job to take off of your shoulders.”

In the end, you let Spencer take over funeral planning. He thanked you for trusting him before the both of you went back into the precinct.

You had just hung up with a family lawyer who had offered to take your case, letting your phone drop to the floor, you let your arms hang at your side. Someone had taken Maya to get breakfast while you spoke with the lawyer.

At the sound of the phone falling to the floor, Spencer stepped into the conference room, letting the door click shut before him. “Hey, what did he say?”

Pressing the heels of your palms into your eyes, you took in a deep breath, “Um, he said he’d be willing to take the case if I could put together a case plan to present before the judge.”

Before that phone call, you didn’t know what a case plan was, you could’ve gone your whole life without knowing what a case plan was.

“I need a year-long plan for how I’m going to prepare to have Maya in my custody, but he said a year is the best he can do,” you said, staring blankly at the wall ahead of you. “A year?” You whispered aimlessly, “I’m not waiting a fucking year to take custody of her. I have to take her home, Spence. I have to.” It wasn’t your intention to snipe at him, but you felt like you couldn’t help yourself.

The events of the last twelve hours threatened to take you down, but you had to stay strong for Maya.  

Taking a shaky breath, you looked up at Spencer, “Why is it that every time I convince myself that it’s going to be okay, I get tossed to the ground again?” You asked him.

Maybe because you weren’t fully convinced. Maybe it was because it had only been seven hours. You needed to remind yourself of that.

“She’s a ward of the state?” Spencer asked for clarification, holding you tightly.

Nodding absentmindedly, you rested your head on his shoulder as he swayed gently. “She can stay with me until after the funeral, and after that, she has to go with the social worker.”

The sad look on Spencer’s face told you that he was running out of ideas, and you were coming to the very same conclusion. “We could get married,” he offered.

“Stop, Spence,” you said, shaking your head. You couldn’t believe this was where he was going.

He shrugged helplessly, “I’m serious, Y/N. If we get married, they might think we’re stable, as a couple. They might give us custody.”

Your shoulders slumped, “I don’t want to get married just to get custody of my sister.” It certainly wasn’t that you didn’t want to marry Spencer, just not like this.

He nodded understandingly, “I know, but I’m just saying. If that’s what it takes, then I’ll do it.” Placing a comforting hand on your knee, the two of you sat in silence for a moment. “Do you have any ideas?” He asked you carefully.

Looking through the blinds of the conference room, you saw the rest of the team coming back to the precinct. Setting your jaw, you nodded, “I might.”

Opening the door, you had Maya go in with Spencer while you approached your Unit Chief. “Hey,” Hotch said, a glint of sympathy in his eyes. “How are you holding up?” He pulled you away from the people, wanting to give you privacy.

This wasn’t fair, they were still working on an active case. A case that was disturbingly close to you, and yet, you felt you were out of options. “I need a favor,” you blurted to him, wringing your hands. Your nervous energy made it impossible for you to stay still.

Hotch nodded, “What do you need?” He asked, studying your composure with the eye of a profiler.

You took a deep breath, “I was… I need you to call in a favor with someone. Anyone, really. The state won’t let me take custody of Maya, but I can’t let her become a ward of the state. Not when I’m right here, ready, willing, and able to take her.”

“Okay,” he responded, not even pausing to think about it.

Taken aback, you looked at him curiously, “I- that’s it? I had groveling prepared.”

He nodded almost imperceptibly as if he was trying to tell you it wasn’t necessary. “You’ve been a part of this team for years and not once have you ever asked for anything in return for everything you do for everyone else. This is the least I can do,” he told you.

You couldn’t help it. Overwhelmed, you tackled Hotch in a bear hug, “Thank you.” Your voice was low, “Thank you so much.”

Succinctly, Hotch hugged you back before you pulled away, “I’ll go make some calls.”

It was the smell.

The smell that you’d sensed countless times before on the job, the metallic tang of the blood. It should’ve been mostly dried by now – you supposed you were more susceptible to the scent, considering it was your parent’s blood, but it put you on high alert.

Emily had brought you by so that you could pack a bag for Maya, but you found yourself stuck on the landing. To one side, there was your childhood bedroom and Maya’s room. On the other side, there was your parent’s room.

“Y/N?” Emily called your name from downstairs, “Are you alright?”

No, you wanted to say, but you bit your tongue, scanning the house you had grown up in. “This doesn’t belong here,” you told her, glancing behind you as she made her way up the staircase.

You didn’t have gloves, so instead you pointed at the figurine that was resting on the bookshelves, a little bear facing in the direction of your parent’s bedroom door. “This is in the wrong spot?”

Nodding, your eyes followed the ceramic bear as Emily picked it up with a gloved hand. “It’s mine, it should be in my room,” you informed her. Your parents never changed anything about your childhood bedroom, not since you moved out. “It was like it was watching them,” you thought aloud.

“Do you think the UnSub did it?” She asked you gently, her voice was low but steady.

Blinking rapidly, you kept your eyes focused on the figurine, “Little Bear,” you murmured, “They called her Little Bear.”

Emily shook her head in confusion, dark hair swaying as her head moved. “Who was called Little Bear?”

Dropping the bag you had packed to the floor, you buried your face in your hands, “I should’ve seen it sooner.” The victimology, it all suddenly made sense to you. “When I was a kid, there was a family like mine. A brother who was in his twenties when his parents had another baby, a girl. They called her Little Bear.”

Realization dawned on Emily’s dark features, “Like this bear?”

You picked up the bag and started making your way back down the stairs. “Their mother made those figurines. The parents died in a fire two weeks ago – they left everything to the younger sister. It was all over the news. God, I should’ve figured it out sooner.”

“Hey,” Emily said sympathetically, “You had other things going on. None of this was your fault.” Her voice was stern, harsher than you’d ever heard her, as she pulled out her phone and called the team.

Your teammate drove, passing the police station on the way to drop you off. They left for the takedown, and you felt yourself floating into the precinct. Maya was waiting in the conference room for you, watching cartoons on someone’s laptop.

Kneeling in front of your little sister, you tapped the space bar, pausing the video. “Hey, kiddo,” you whispered, reaching over, and smoothing her hair away from her face. “How are you feeling?”

She had cried herself to sleep earlier, and you felt like you hadn’t been around enough. Maya sat up on the couch and rubbed her eyes, they were red, but not teary. “I miss mommy,” she told you, pouting slightly.

You nodded gently, moving to sit next to her before you pulled her into your lap. At six years old, she was all gangly limbs, just starting to grow into her own person. Just old enough to understand death, “I know, baby. I miss them too.”

“They wouldn’t lemme go home,” she continued, leaning her head on your shoulder. “I wanted Thumper,” she whined, sounding younger than she was.

Looking up at the light, you silently begged for your tears to go away. “I got him for you,” you told her, reaching into your bag and producing the small stuffed bunny that you had given her as a baby.

You savored the way her eyes lit up as she grabbed the stuffed animal from you.

“So, you and Thumper are gonna come to stay with me in Virginia. Do you remember going there? You said you liked it?” You kept smoothing her hair back as she held her toy.

She was silent for a moment, “Will Spencer be there?” She asked quietly.

Smiling slightly, you nodded, “He and I live together, so he’ll be there with us.” Slowly, you started rocking back and forth, trying to soothe the both of you simultaneously.

“As long as he doesn’t pull money out of my ear,” she answered succinctly, shutting her eyes as she leaned up against you.

There was approximately an hour before you watched the team return to the precinct, slowly, you laid Maya down on the couch before walking out. “It was a clean shoot,” you heard Rossi tell Morgan, and one look at the rest of them told you everything you needed to know.

The team went back to the hotel, and Spencer filled you in on the funeral arrangements he had made on your behalf. You were about to try to get some sleep when Hotch approached you and told you he needed to speak to you.

“I called a good friend of mine on your behalf, and he gave me some information. We were able to work out a plan,” he told you, sitting across from you in the hotel lobby.

You were about to tell him that a case plan wouldn’t work, but he held his hand out, telling you to wait.

He nodded before he kept going, “He was able to file an emergency request to grant you temporary custody of Maya, and it was granted.”

You felt sick to your stomach, “She’s mine?”

“Temporarily, you’ll have to take care of some formalities back in Virginia, but you have full custody of her,” he informed you. “You’re being granted family leave, and I’ve encouraged Reid to apply for it as well,” Hotch told you, reaching out and placing a hand on your shoulder. “I am… I’m sorry that you’ve had to go through this but thank you for coming to me when you needed the help.”

You nodded absentmindedly, your head still whirling with the information that you had just been given. Stumbling, you walked back to your hotel room that you were sharing with Spencer and Maya.

The funeral was planned, the custody issue was solved, all there was left to do was…

“Baby?” Spencer said softly as you swung open the door, “Everyone else took Maya to get ice cream, I figured it couldn’t-“ his voice broke off at your first sob.

Everything you had held in came bursting out, all of the grief and stress and exhaustion nearly knocked your legs out from underneath you.

But Spencer was there to catch you.

[lovebugism]

for fictober, maybe making matching halloween costumes with steve and he says smth like "ur costume looks great" ?

ty for requesting!! — steve gets all "king steve"-y about halloween and you make him eat his words (established relationship, fluff, mentions of smut 18+, 1.3k)

fictober (㇏(•̀ᵥᵥ•́)ノ)

Lying over Steve’s bare body, you sprinkle kisses to the blossoming pink marks on his neck. He tastes clean and boyish — like the mint of his aftershave, the salt of his sweat, and the faintest hint of sex still lingering in the air.

His calloused palms smooth up and down your naked waist under the plaid comforter you lay beneath. He noses at your hair, a faint smile on his face. He never knew a person could be so content.

“Mm… Halloween’s coming up, you know?”

“Mhm?” you hum absentmindedly against his neck, continuing your gentle assault there. You don’t want him to think you’re not listening, but the taste of his skin on your tongue is much louder than the words spilling from his kissed mouth.

“We should probably come up with a costume, don’t ya think?”

Your lips smack audibly when you part from his neck. You blink at him with glassy eyes, mouth swollen and parted in bemusement. “Seriously, Steve?” you monotone. “You’re not even soft yet.”

“I know, but it’s stressing me out,” he whines, eyes squeezed shut and head tilted back — looking not unlike he had just moments ago. “It’s been keeping me up a night, babe. Seriously.”

A crooked smile blossoms slowly on your lips. You shake your head with a shrug, entertaining him despite yourself. “Why don’t you and Robin dress up together?”

“Because she wanted to go as the twins from The Shining. Like a freak.”

“I personally would love to see you in a skimpy dress, all covered in blood,” you confess in a teasing inflection, though your mischievous grin is more sincere.

Steve’s features fall flat as he deadpans. “Of course you would. ‘Cause you’re also a freak.”

Your smile widens. You lean further in to kiss him with it — a firm and languid peck you try to deepen. He pulls away before you can, looking just as pained by it as you do. “Stop being hot, it’s distracting me.”

“Dress up however you want, Steve. I don’t care—”

“I care,” he insists, brows raised and eyes wild. “We have to dress up together—”

“Why?”

“‘Cause we’re a couple, and we love each other, and I…”

Your eyes narrow when he trails off. “And you what?”

He gets all awkward, flustered and shifting beneath you. One of his fidgeting hands leaves your side to swipe through his wild, sweat-damp hair. He stammers through the words, trying to figure out the best way to say them. “And I… have a reputation that… makes these things sorta important. That’s all.”

“Right,” you hum sarcastically, nodding slowly in return.

“It just takes genuine consideration, okay? What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” you lilt with your head tilted to your bare shoulder. Your fingers continue to draw absentminded patterns on his scruffy chest. “I’m glad to know that my boyfriend — who graduated high school two years ago — still needs everyone’s applause to live.”

Steve meets your sweet smile with a squint. “You can’t be mean to me like that. You know it turns me on.”

Your grin grows into a more sincere expression. You peck his soft pout too quickly for him to kiss you back. You’re rolling off of him a second later. He whines at the loss of you, immediately cold without the warm weight of your naked body. 

“What— where are you going?” Steve complains as you pad across the living room, still totally bare.

“Close your eyes,” you command without looking back at him.

“What?”

“Close your eyes!”

With your hand on the knob of the closet door, your glance over your shoulder to make sure he isn’t peeking. When you’re certain he’s obeyed you, you rifle through the hung clothes there. It smells like his cologne, your perfume, and an old house — domestic bliss. 

You find your and his old Scoops Ahoy uniforms smashed together in the very back. The red, white, and blue sailor’s outfit sends a pang of warm nostalgia bursting in your stomach. The hanger thumps against the wall when you tug his off of it.

You look back again, finding Steve with his nose scrunched and one eye peeking open. It only confuses him more, finding you halfway hidden in your shared closet.

“Keep ‘em closed, Harrington!”

He abides, rather quickly after having been caught so suddenly. “Is this a surprise? ‘Cause I’m not mad about it, but… I’m still a little confused.”

“You’ll see…” you trail off with a mischievous inflection.

The heavy cotton of the uniform slides over you with ease, all but swallowing you whole. You roll the bright blue shorts at the hem so they aren’t as long on you, tucking the oversized top within itself just the same. The white hat sits lopsided on your head, just as wrinkled as the rest of it. Thesewn-in nametag sits just above your breast.

“Okay. Open your eyes,” you announce, finally.

Steve’s honey gaze flutters open. He’s confused at first, then shocked, then somewhat pleasantly surprised. He blinks at you for several long moments, eyes wide and mouth gaping.

You hold your arms out beside yourself, doing a little spin so he can get every angle of you. “Do you like?” you question with a knowing twinkle in your eye.

He nods until the words to answer you catch up to him. “Yeah. I like. I like very much, actually.”

It isn’t a whole lot unlike seeing you in his clothes, which has happened hundreds of times by now. His favorite sweater’s lying in a crumbled ball on the floor this very moment from where he’d pulled it off of you earlier. 

But something about this drives him unusually wild. 

It’s the nostalgia, perhaps. He fell in love with you at Scoops, and now you’re wearing his uniform, bare underneath it, just to appease him.

“So, there. We settled it,” you concede with a grin as you walk back to the bed again. “See how easy that was…” you trail off when you crawl back on the mattress, gravitating towards Steve like you were destined to do it.

His chin juts back when you try to kiss him. “Whoa, whoa, whoa— what’s that supposed to mean?”

You shrug. “It means I’ll go as you, and you’ll go as me.”

“But then why wouldn’t you just wear your uniform.”

“‘Cause then it wouldn’t be dressing up… I’d just be me from a year ago.”

Steve’s honey eyes remain in a puzzled squint. His chiseled features are twisted, still confused in his way. “But there’s no way I’m fitting in your uniform.”

“Yeah. It’ll be super tight, and the skirt will be super short,” you nod before a wide grin tugs slow at the corners of your kissed mouth. Your tongue peeks from behind your teeth, smile glittering with a girlish giddiness. “You’ll look like a total slut.” 

Steve’s scrunched brows raise at the mischievous expression. “And I’m guessing that’s a good thing?”

You smile at your oblivious boy, cupping his face in your hands until his cheeks squish together. “Yes, Stevie. That’s a very, very good thing.”

[thebestofoneshots]

Gilded Constellations | wolfstar x reader

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Wolfstar x Reader Word Count: 4.3K Warnings: none Prompt: You meet Sirius and Regulus at a family vacation in the Caribbean, but things don't go as planned and you end up losing contact once the trip is over. Years later your family moves to England and you get accepted at Hogwarts where you finally meet Sirius once again, along with all of his friends. One of them with a mysterious secret, that you'll uncover as you embark on your own Hogwarts adventure.

Chapter 1: Summer Breeze 

2 years ago - Summer 1974 

Every summer holiday, your parents would take you on some elaborate vacation to a different place. This summer was no different from that, except that they’d contacted some of their old friends in England to plan a trip together. Your father was set on making you more fluent in English and had the brilliant idea to force you onto making some English friends. 

While you weren’t too excited about spending your summer with a pure-blood family, since your mom had not-wizarding grandparents, you decided you were not going to be a snob and actually try to make some friends. Your parents never told you that the Blacks didn’t know about your mom’s ancestry though, especially after your great-grandmother made a huge effort to hide that side of the family when the racist stuff started getting worse. It wasn’t a secret to you, only to the rest of the world. 

“Are you ready sweetheart?” Your mom asked, looking stunning in her white beach dress. 

You closed your suitcase and nodded, walking towards her and your dad in the centre of your living room. You stood in a circle and in the blink of an eye apparated in a completely different place. You were in the middle of a giant Lobby, looking straight toward the front desk. It was an open space, there were fountains in the centre and large logs of wood holding a stunning ceiling with floating balls of some wood-like fibre, you could hear the waves crashing onto the shore somewhere in the distance. It looked elegant yet rustic at the same time. On the side of the Lobby, a metal plate spelled 

Mayan Occultum Hotel  The #1 Hotel for Witches and Wizards in the Caribbean:  Costa Maya 

Followed by 5 shining golden stars that spun  around every couple of seconds. Your father had his head up and looked around to try and find his old friends. 

Sirius had been dragged to this. While to anyone a vacation in the Caribbean might sound like a dream, to him it was no other than an absolute nightmare, not because he disliked the beach, in fact, he quite fancied the idea of spending some time relaxing under the sun after the finals, the issue here was that he wasn’t going with his friends, no James, No Mooney, no Wormtail. No, he was on a FAMILY vacation, which meant he’d have to spend like 2 weeks locked up in a hotel in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of people that hated him. He threw in as many muggle-like clothing items he’d gotten from Andromeda into his suitcase, just to spite his parents and hopefully keep the other wizard family, the one that had the brilliant idea to invite his family to the hotel to come along with them, at bay. He was not interested in making new friends, he was not interested in talking to any that were of his parents at all. After all, they probably would be no other than a bunch of Slytherin snobs. 

By the time his mother called him down to the chimney to travel through the floo network, he’d even made sure to add in a pair of Doc Martens to his suitcase, the most punk thing he had gotten his hands on thus far, all thanks to Moony who’d showed him how to order things from a catalogue. He was wearing a leather jacket, ripped black jeans and a pair of Converse shoes, not a very beachy outfit, was it? 

When his mom saw him she almost ordered him to go back upstairs to change but Orion said they were late and basically pushed Sirius onto the chimney. He was the first to arrive, Regulus was next, with a very suitable wizard attire, his parents had come soon after. 

Once your dad spotted Orion among the crowds he went straight to greet him, your mom followed alongside him and you lagged behind just a bit. 

“It’s wonderful to see you again, Orion, you look as dashing as the last time we met,” your father said. 

Orion chuckled lightly “I could say the same about you Silas! This must be Avis,” he said as he turned into your mother “I remember as if it was yesterday when you wrote me that you’d found the love of your life.” 

Now it was your father who chucked “Walburga,” He nodded towards her, she set her hand out and he gave a courteous kiss. Had they forgotten to tell you were meeting royalty or something? Your parents were rarely this formal with his friends.

Regardless of the odd formalities, you stayed behind them as they caught up, “These are my children,” Orion said pushing forwards two boys, one dressed as a wizard and one with very muggle-like clothes, “This is Sirius,” He pointed at the taller boy, “and this is Regulus,” he said pointing at the smaller one. 

Up until then Sirius had maintained a disagreeable face but had been polite enough to your parents so as not to seem like an ass, at least they weren’t overly dressed, they looked like a normal family on vacation, not like they were going to the queen’s wedding at the beach. But his expression changed when your mom moved to the side and he saw you for the first time. 

“This is my daughter, (Y/N),” Your father said, placing a hand on your back and pushing you just slightly forward. 

“You’ve got yourself a beautiful young lady, Silas, why have you been hiding her behind you?” 

“Our (Y/N) is a bit shy,” Your mom excused. 

“Just like our son,” Walburga said as she placed a hand on Regulus’ shoulder, with a huge suspicious smile growing on her face. You would’ve taken a step back had it not been for your father’s hand still on your back, Sirius noticed. He’d straightened his back right after you appeared in his field of view, he almost felt self-conscious, of his outfit (probably because of how hot it was), of his hair, he hated feeling that way, but there was something about you, he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Curiosity, it had to be that. He was curious about you. 

You responded with an awkward smile, by then your father was already pulling Orion toward the front desk to check in. 

“So (Y/N), What year are you in?” Walburga asked, you couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she was, in a dangerous sort of way, sharp features, a smile that even if it looked kind, hid something behind it. Like a mermaid luring you in before she drowns you, you thought. 

“I’m starting my 4th,” You replied politely, trying to hide how intimidated you felt while talking to her. 

“Oh,” she said, sounding almost a little disappointed “Like Sirius.” Had she said her child’s name with disdain or was it just your imagination? Perhaps it had something to do with the way the boy dressed. 

“I’m sure they’ll become great friends,” your mom said looking at you, then at Sirius and then back at you. 

Walburga nodded but did not look very happy with the idea of you making friends with her older son. Regardless, you’d been interested in talking to the boy the moment you spotted him from the distance, he looked like the vocalist of a rock band. If it had not been for the fact that your parents introduced you to him, you might have lived on assuming he was some sort of celebrity. 

In the midst of the awkward silence your father and Orion came back. Your father smiled towards you, almost apologetically “Sweetheart there is an event for couples on the other side of the hotel, Orion and I thought it would be good to spend some time there to catch up, would you mind exploring the rest of the hotel with the boys?” 

Well, there goes your family vacation, makes sense after all, your father had been looking for an excuse to move back to England for a while, maybe he’d talk to Orion about the ministry jobs available, Orion did have the politician look going for him. You forced a smile “Not at all Dad, it’ll be fantastic to get to know them,” you hoped that did not come out as ironic as you meant it. Although Sirius' snicker from behind gave you the impression it was not like that. 

Your dad handed you and the boys a map each “We’ve enhanced them, that way we can always find you.” 

Your smile only tightened but you kept it until they were out of sight. Once you made sure they were far enough you pulled your wand out and murmured “incendio,” causing your map to slowly burn itself, you let it drop once the fire was too close to your hand. 

“Did you just use magic? Aren’t you 14?” Regulus asked with a frown. 

You turned to him with a smile “There are many qualified wizards around us,” you responded opening your arms to gesture at the amount of people surrounding you “Besides, this hotel is part of the Occultum line, anyone that has studied at least until year 2 is permitted to use magic–” After hearing this words Sirius used incendio to burn his map as well, you raised your eyebrows towards him and then continued “–that’s why my parents picked it, they wanted me to spend some time practising spells for the next year.” 

Regulus only settled his map on a nearby suitcase that was soon sent flying away, presumably towards its own room, proving how unnecessary the magic you’d both used had been “I heard there was an orchestra at noon, maybe we can go there?” He suggested. 

“Sure, I guess…” You said before grabbing a pamphlet that mentioned all the activities the hotel had going on that day, but one seemed a tad more interesting “What about his one tho?” You said pointing at something written on the paper. 

“A muggle movie screening?” Regulus asked with a grimace, Sirius, on the other hand, seemed a lot more interested in it. 

“Let’s do that! Sounds fun!” Sirius decided, took the pamphlet from your hands in an action that would’ve been rude had he not done it with such grace, and started walking towards the direction the pamphlet indicated. 

“Not sure Mom and Dad would like that,” Regulus argued as the two of you followed, lagging behind Sirius only slightly. 

“Of course, they wouldn’t,” You agreed with him, but caught up with Sirius soon after “Regardless, dear Reg, is not like they’re going to know, we all got rid of our maps.” 

His frown didn’t leave his face even after he caught up with you, walking by your side, instead of his brother’s. Weird, you thought. 

“And don’t even think about telling dear mommy and daddy about it Reggie!” Sirius warned. 

Regulus didn’t fancy how quick you’d gotten comfortable with giving him a nickname, regardless he decided to go with it, it was probably better to stick to Sirius to make sure he didn’t cause some mischief that would have the three of you grounded for the rest of the summer, or your lives, whichever came first. 

The three of you arrived at the “cinema” area quickly enough. “Well, even if the movie is bad, the experience will be authentic.” 

“You’ve been to a cinema?” Asked Sirius impressed. 

“Last summer while I was in New York,” you explained, “very similar to this one, ‘bit more run down.” 

“And your parents allowed you?” Asked Regulus, almost judging. 

“Perhaps they would’ve If they’d known,” you replied with a mischievous smile. 

The three of you walked to the stall and asked the lady attending to give you 1 large bowl of popcorn and three butter beers. The lady grabbed a large bucket and threw some kernels inside it, followed by a block of butter and a sprinkle of salt, she then murmured “calidium.” Hot air started coming from her wand, heating the kernels and having them pop in front of your eyes. 

You leaned in closer to Regulus and whispered “They didn’t have that in the cinema I went to.” 

The lady continued with her task and started serving the butter beers when Sirius decided to speak up. 

“What’s the sorting hat popcorn?” 

“You spin the thing, and a block of candy will come out, we add that to the corn before popping and when it does, it becomes sweetened popcorn with the colour of your house, it’s inspired by the Hogwarts sorting hat,” She explained. 

He nudged you, “You should try it, see which house you’d be in if you studied with us,” He said with a smile. 

“That’s ridiculous, random candy cannot be as wise as the sorting hat,” Regulus complained. 

You shrugged “Seems like a fun deal,” You said, walking towards the fun-looking machine and spinning the wheel. A dark block of candy came out and you handed it to the lady. After she performed the same spell as last time, minus the salt, the popcorn started to pop, turning into different shades of grey, gold, green and silver. You turned to the boys “Which house is that?” 

“Seems like you’re in between,” the lady replied. “The popcorn is not as accurate as the sorting hat I’m afraid.” 

“In between what?” 

“Slytherin–“ started Regulus. 

“–And Gryffindor.“ finished Sirius, the air seemed to tense up in that minute and you just had to do something, so you threw your fist inside the bucket and grabbed a couple of them, popping them in your mouth. 

“Who cares? I highly doubt I’ll ever be in Hogwarts anyway,” You said as you grabbed one of the buckets and your mug of butter beer. “Can I also have some of those?” You said pointing toward the every flavour beans, the lady nodded and handed you a box. 

“The movie starts in 15 minutes,” said Regulus after looking at the time in the giant magical clock. 

“Excuse me, what’s a magic projection?” You asked the clerk near the door. 

“It’s the movie, but with special magical effects, like things that come out of the screen and several other effects, it’s immersive,” he explained and you nodded, definitely not like the muggle cinema you’d been to before. 

“I didn’t know such a thing existed.” 

“It’s a program in development, a very talented new-maj called Drey started bewitching films just 2 years ago, they became very popular in the industry, and this is one of her newest projects.” 

Before Regulus could open his mouth Sirius spoke “That sounds fantastic! Can we walk in already?” He asked with the most charming smile you had ever seen and after the clerk nodded he dragged you both inside. 

“I’m still not fascinated by this idea,” Regulus complained. 

“Don’t be such a party popper Reg,” You said, throwing a popcorn at him. He brushed it off his coat and started looking at the ads on the screen. 

You then threw one in the air and caught it with your mouth, it’s something you’d seen muggles do in the theatre you had been to last year. 

“Shoot one,” Sirius said, you shot a popcorn and he’d easily caught it, he then winked and motioned for you to send another one. You did, but the third time you grabbed an every flavour bean instead, he also caught it and bit on it with ease, grimacing right after. 

“Treason!” He said after forcing it to go down his throat “I demand her head!” he added while exaggerating his expressions in a very Alice in WonderLand Queen of Hearts-like attitude, then he relaxed again “That was awful, and no warning either!” You just laughed in return, “no wonder the popcorn wanted you in Slytherin” he said, Regulus rolled his eyes. 

“What flavour was it anyway?” You asked, to drive the conversation away from the house topic, which clearly was a sensible one. 

“Your mom’s,” he replied. After understanding the implication of his answer you gasped and playfully hit him on the arm “Sorry, sorry, It was something like sewer water or something, one of the worst I’ve had in my life.” 

Regulus looked at the box and then at you “You want one too?” You asked politely, while there seemed to be some kind of tension between the two boys, neither of them seemed particularly evil, or mean, if anything Regulus was rather shy compared to his loud brother, almost like he did not want to get on the bad side of his parents, something Sirius didn’t really seem to care much about. He quietly nodded to respond to your question and you shot one towards his face, it unfortunately didn’t land on his mouth and fell to the side. He was about to call it off but you didn’t let him. “It’s ok if you don’t get it the worst I’ve had in my life.” 

“Peaches,” he replied with a smile. 

“Unfair,” Sirus said as he crossed his arms and took the box from you “It’s your turn.” 

“I’m terrible at catching with my mouth,” you warned, but he threw one at your face anyway. It landed on your eye, thankfully you closed it first. 

“Shit, I’m sorry,” He said, grabbing your face with his two hands to check if you were ok. Did he not know about personal space? “You OK?” He was so close you could smell his breath, it was minty and fresh, despite having had popcorn already. 

“Yeah, I’m good,” you said, shaking him off and picking the jelly bean from your shirt, where it’d fallen after attacking you “Got fast reflexes,” you said before popping it in your mouth, you grimaced. 

“What was it?” Regulus asked. 

“Lime I think, it was very sour,” you said, turning towards him “Guess you’re the lucky one between the three of us.” Regulus smiled awkwardly as a reply and then the screen turned on. 

A lady showed up on the screen “Welcome, witches and wizards, this is the newest rendition of the magical cinema series. Welcome to this incredible adventure in which you will face a terrible creature, the dangers of the sea and the world as told from a muggle perspective. There will be a lot of water, hope you brought your bathing suits.” She disappeared shortly after and then the titles started rolling in. 

It was actually a beach movie, funny when you remembered that the beach was just a minute's walk away from where you stood. And it was definitely NOT like an ordinary muggle film, there were splashes of water in your face, things crawling on your seat, smoke, smell and even the shark would get out of the screen and swim all over the room. It was thrilling, to say the least. 

When the move was over the three of you were soaked, the boys had their fluffy hair clinging onto their faces as you walked out of the theatre. But they also looked happy, Sirius was thrilled, unsurprisingly, but even Reg seemed at ease, even if he had gone to a “muggle thing”. 

“We should go see the beach now,” Sirius said. 

“Just hope Larry Vaughn is not the mayor here,” you responded and cracked a laugh from the two brothers. 

The three of you then walked towards the beach area, there were lounge chairs with umbrellas on top, some beach beds and a stand where you could ask the house elves to bring you different special drinks. As you were sitting down in one of the chairs you overheard some wizards passing by. And you couldn’t help but to be enthralled by their conversation. Regulus was sitting by the end of the bed, looking wearily at the sea and Sirius was taking off his jacket and laying it on the back of the bed for it to dry with the wind, he was rocking a David Bowie shirt underneath. “Hey (Y/N) do you want anything from the–“ 

“–Shhhh,” you said as you gestured for him to listen to the conversation as well. 

“Yeah, the ziplines were amazing, it’s fantastic the hotel counts with muggle transportation all the way to the parks,” one of the wizards said. 

“Do you think we should go again,” asked the other one. 

“No, Mom said we’d go to the ruins tomorrow, something about magical vestiges or whatever.” 

That’s when you stood up “Hey!” You said with a smile “Sorry, we kinda overheard you talking about the… what did you call them? Zip lines? We were wondering what park you were referring to.” You really could be charming when you wanted to. 

“It’s Xplore,” one of the boys replied. 

The other grabbed his backpack and handed you a brochure “I took this one from the park, maybe it helps,” he said with a bright smile as well. 

“Thank you, you’re a darling,” you said before going back to your beach bed, sitting on the side, next to Sirius, Reg was still sitting on the end of the bed, but he clearly did not like where the conversation was going. 

“You even got them to give you a brochure?” Sirius mused. 

You shrugged and set it on the centre of the bed, opening it up just to realise it was in Spanish. 

“Reg speaks some Italian,” Sirius said motioning towards his brother. 

“I’m not translating any muggle propaganda.” 

“It’s NOT propaganda,” you argued, “regardless I came prepared,” you said as you took out your wand, waved it and whispered “tradussere.” The letters of the page started changing and soon enough it was all in English. 

“I thought you needed to speak the language to be able to do that,” Reg said. 

“You do, and I can only manage to make it last a couple of minutes, so we better hurry,” you replied. 

XPLORE  Jungle adventure park with zip lines, amphibious vehicles, whitewater rafting and underground rivers.  Prices start at $1500 MXN  Experience a true adventure on your trip to Mexico by flinging through ZIP lines, swimming on underground sacred rivers and riding amphibious vehicles in the Mayan rainforests. 

On the brochure, there were also photos with people wearing climbing gear and helmets. People swimming in dark but beautiful cabins, it really looked like an adventure-filled experience. 

You and Sirius gave each other a look after reading “WE HAVE TO GO,” you said to each other at the same time. 

“No, we don’t HAVE to do anything,” said Reg “In fact, we CAN’T.” 

“Come on Reggie, it sounds super fun,” you argued, trying to convince him. 

“Mom and Dad would kill us before letting us go,” he reasoned with Sirius “You don’t need to make things worse between you and them.” 

“I do, especially if they act like racist bastards,” Sirius bit back defensively. 

“Sirius,” Reg said with pain in his eyes, clearly he cared about his brother, but Sirius seemed to be too pissed off to even consider that. 

“I…” you thought about it for a second “They don’t have to find out…” 

“What?” Reg asked, turning his face to you. 

“We just have to pick a day that’ll be very busy for them and go then, one with many activities. Besides I’m sure my father and yours are just so eager to catch up that we won’t see them much this summer…” 

“I’m not gonna do it,” Regulus said with conviction “It’s a terrible idea, you shouldn’t do it either,” You were far too excited to notice the fear in Regulus' eyes, had you been more observant, maybe the mess you’d get into later could’ve been avoided. 

“Clam down Reggie, it’ll be in and out, they’ll never find out,” Sirius reasoned, “We need to be perfect in picking the day,” he said turning towards you. 

Regulus denied with his head and pulled a book out of his bag as you and Sirius continued planning your escapade. 

You’d be in charge of the money exchange process since you already had done it before and knew how the entire process worked, Sirius would make fake muggle passports for the two of you, so you could get rid of the parental signs and age requirements they ask for in the park, Regulus, as he’d said before, would stay, but he’d make sure to cover for you in case you parents started looking for the two,  he was still against it, but you had convinced to at least do that for you. 

After days of careful planning, the opportunity finally presented itself, your parents would have a very busy schedule with some magical presentations happening at the hotel and the three of you would have the day to yourselves. 

“So… tomorrow, we have everything?” You asked Sirius. 

He nodded “Fake passports, the money, the bus that’ll take us there.  We’ll depart at 7, the park opens at 11 because it’s a Tuesday, but we’ll be dropped off at the city and from there, we have to take a taxi or something to get to the park.” 

“Perfect.” 

“You know, you can still call it off,” said Regulus, peering from his book, “At least consider it tonight.” 

The two of you turned towards him, every time the subject came up, Regulus would say something similar “It’ll be ok Reg, just promise you’ll cover for us,” you pleaded. 

He took a deep breath but turned his face towards you and nodded unconvinced “Just be very careful, you don’t know how angry our parents can get.” 

You took that as an exaggeration, after all, Sirius had played it as such for the longest time. You couldn’t have been more mistaken. You should’ve listened. But the idea of a day full of adventure next to Sirius was just too intoxicating for you to pay attention to the alarm system activating in your head, after all, the minute you’d met Walburga you’d known something was wrong with her. 

“We’ll be fine, Reg, stop acting like a chicken,” Sirius said, diverting your attention again.

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A/N: Most Poly!Marauders fics are oneshots, where the relationship between characters is already established, and they're all happy and pleased with it. No issues, no drama, but I WANTED the drama. Couldn't find it, so I set myself up to write the story behind the stablished relationship. I wanted to know how they started dating each other, the jealousy, the will they won't they, because getting into a poly relationship can't be an easy task, and I wanted to explore that story. If you're interested: Welcome to Gilded Constellations!

[cryonme]

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐚

—Steve Harrington x fem!reader

—summary: it's the first year steve decided to leave his family out of his birthday plans, and for some reason, it hurts. based on Matilda by Harry Styles.

—word count: 2.1k

—tw: mentions of abuse, swearing, mentions of alcohol, shitty parents,

—a/n: family isn't always blood, i love you all.🖤this one's for any of you who can relate.

═════════════════

You were riding your bike to the sound of "It's No Big Deal"

And you're trying to lift off the ground on those old two wheels

Nothing about the way that you were treated ever seemed especially alarming 'til now

So you tie up your hair and you smile like it's no big deal

The first birthday Steve can remember, his parents didn’t care. His father gave him a couple bucks so he could ride his bike to the corner store and pick out any snack he wanted, barely even sparing a glance at his son as the older man threw the green bills on the side table, grumbling something about how birthdays are a scam.

Steve remembers the sidewalk in front of him being blurry as he rode his bike, trying his best to blink away the tears and stop the quivering in his lip.

Steve remembers his parents' car absent from the driveway when he got home.

They came home hours later, insisting he get up and get ready for family dinner at his Aunt’s house, where of course he was showered with gifts and his favorite dinner, and a green and blue birthday cake with candles and his name on it, and Steve almost felt special.

Until his uncles drank too much champagne and his older cousins left early to hang out with their friends and his mom and dad fought. He just felt like another reason to eat fancy dinner and get drunk.

And that’s how it went. Year after year. 

Eventually he drove himself to the corner store, and eventually he used his own money, and eventually, he brought his new girlfriend to the family birthday dinner.

You.

And man, was Steve proud to bring a beautiful gem like you to family dinner. And it was completely perfect. His younger cousins sat on your lap, his Aunts gushed over how gorgeous you were, his Uncle’s nodded with raised eyebrows, impressed, as you talked about your studies, his mom and dad even laughed at a joke you made.

But it was his birthday, and the Universe would always find a way to ruin his birthday.

Steve and his father both had one too many glasses of champagne, and it only started as a small, even humorous argument, something about a movie quote, or which band sang a certain song, and it ended in far too much yelling, and screaming, and eventually a sharp hand to Steve’s cheek.

Steve remembers you crying and fussing over it when you arrived back to your shared apartment, you felt so guilty that you weren’t aware of how bad it was. He also remembers never being that embarrassed in his entire life.

“You’re never going back there.” He remembered you saying, and he agreed. 

He’d do anything you thought was best.

You can let it go

You can throw a party full of everyone you know

And not invite your family, 'cause they never showed you love

You don't have to be sorry for leaving and growing up, mmh

“Oh, happy birthday sweet pea!” Joyce gushed, pulling Steve in for a hug as soon as she swung the front door open.

“Thanks, Mrs. Byers.” Steve replied, wrapping his arms around the much smaller woman.

She pulled away and put her finger in his face in mock annoyance, “Joyce. You call me Joyce. Or mom. Oh! Honey!” Joyce was immediately distracted by you behind Steve as she pulled you into a hug of your own. “Oh you just look so beautiful. Come in, come in!”

You and Steve shared humorous smiles before stepping into the Byers’ home, immediately welcomed by several bright, smiling faces, all wishing your boyfriend a happy birthday. Dustin, Lucas, Erika, Max and Mike immediately ran to your boyfriend and tackled him to the ground in a giant group hug, a chorus of “happy birthday”’s ringing from all of them and you laughed before pulling the kids off and helping your boyfriend off so he could greet everyone else.

You opted to stand back for a minute and observe, and your heart nearly exploded as you watched him awkwardly embrace Eleven as she handed him a homemade birthday card, and ruffle Will’s hair after he handed him a messily wrapped gift. You watched as Robin embraced him tightly and planted a kiss on top of his head right before Nancy gave him a gentle hug and a sweet smile, wishing him a happy birthday, and finally he moved on to Jonathan, Eddie, and Hopper who gave him firm handshakes and pats on the back, except for Eddie who fully koala’d him and messed up his hair.

You laughed and wiped a stray tear from your face as fast as possible, you didn’t want to make him uncomfortable or embarrassed if he turned and saw you crying.

You pretended like something was in your eye as Joyce approached and bumped her shoulder to yours, shooting you a knowing smile, which you returned.

“It’s his first birthday without his family.” You said, and Joyce sighed.

“I know they aren’t great, but it has to be hard.”

You nodded, it was hard. You could see the internal battle through his eyes. Feeling guilty, then feeling stupid for even feeling guilty, it was a constant back and forth, and you could see it.

“I’m really happy he has you guys, though. My family’s no picnic basket either, I don’t know what either of us would do if it wasn’t for all of you.”

“Well luckily,” A deeper, much gruffer voice sounded from behind you as a long arm draped around your neck, you looked up to see Hopper, unlit cigarette between his teeth and an opened beer in hand. “You don’t have to think about that.” He finished his sentence with a wink as he handed the beer, which you took gladly.

“Touche.” –

It was about an hour into the party when you couldn’t find Steve, your mind was slightly clouded from the buzz from all the beers Hopper kept handing you, and you were trying your best to focus and find your boyfriend, when you felt a light squeeze on your shoulder and you turned to see Robin, who was pointing towards the closed door to the kitchen.

“Kitchen.”

“Lifesaver.”

You wasted no time heading to the kitchen, where lo and behold, revealed your boyfriend. His hands were grasped onto the kitchen counter, his knuckles turning white, with his head hung low.

“Baby…”

“I’m a shitty son.”

“Steve, you know that’s not true.”

He didn’t respond. He still hadn’t looked up at you, fully focused on the flooring in the Byers’ kitchen.

“Steve-”

“I know.”

The silence hung heavily in the kitchen, and it continued that way for a while. You didn’t want to push him to talk about anything he didn’t want to on his birthday.

“Why do I feel so goddamn guilty?” He finally said, pushing himself off of the counter and looking at you, his eyes brimmed with tears and his voice shook.

“Steve…” You cooed as your feet carried you to your boyfriend so you could pull him into you, and once your skin touched his he broke, and his body shook with sobs in your arms.

“I want them to be here.” He cried, “I want them to want to be here.”

You tried to hold back your own tears as you pulled him closer, his face buried into your neck and his arms wrapped around your waist, holding onto you as tight as he could.

“I know, my love. I’m so sorry.”

Matilda, you talk of the pain like it's all alright

But I know that you feel like a piece of you's dead inside

You showed me a power that is strong enough to bring sun to the darkest days

It's none of my business, but it's just been on my mind

Steve eventually pulled away from you, hastily wiping the tears from his face and taking a deep breath.

“It’s fine, it’s not even a big deal.”

You rolled your eyes and planted your hands on either side of his face, forcing him to look at you. He says it’s fine, but you can see the hurt, it’s plastered all over his pretty face.

“It’s okay to feel sad. Every year, you’ve done the same thing for your birthday with your family, whether or not it’s happy memories, it always hurts to cut ties.”

Steve nodded and you placed a small kiss on the tip of his nose.

“STEVE!!” You heard what was most definitely Robin’s voice screech from the living room and you chuckled. 

“I think it’s time for cake.”

If anyone took notice to Steve’s absence or overheard his muffled breakdown through the kitchen door, they didn’t mention or acknowledge it, they simply carried on with the party, which you knew Steve appreciated greatly. 

You couldn’t help but reminisce on all you and Steve had been through together as you watched him with his friends, his family, with the biggest smile on his face as he held his mouth wide open for Eddie to throw M&M’s into.

When you first started dating Steve, you were in a bad place with your family too, you had just graduated from Hawkin’s high, and your family was ready to move on, but you couldn’t bring yourself to go with them. The abuse from your father and the manipulation from your mother and the constant nitpicking from your brother was all too much, and you didn’t know how much more of it you could take. Steve helped you find the courage to stand firm, and tell them something you never had before, “No.”

Of course, it didn’t go over well. Your father fought you, your mother cried and claimed you were breaking her heart, but with Steve by your side, and some surprising help from your brother, you gathered up your things, and moved in with Joyce, until you and Steve were both financially ready for an apartment of your own.

He’d never know, and he’d never believe it because of what his family made him believe of himself, but he was your sun. He showed you peace, and solace, and brightness that could pull you out of your darkest days, and he didn’t even know. He would never be able to wrap his mind around just how much you adored him.

You're just in time, make your tea and your toast

You framed all your posters and dyed your clothes, ooh

You don't have to go

You don't have to go home

Oh, there's a long way to go

I don't believe that time will change your mind

In other words

I know they won't hurt you anymore as long as you can let them go

“Man, those kids look at you like you hung the moon, Steve.”

The two of you had just returned to your apartment, stacks of leftover food piled in your hands, and hearts full.

Steve chuckled and shook his head. “Eh, they’d look at anyone who’s slightly older than them and saved their asses multiple times like that.”

You shook your head, “You’re special, baby. They don’t look at Robin like that.”

“They love Robin-”

“Of course they do, but you’re something else, Steve. That’s your family.”

Steve nodded and rolled his lips into his mouth, you could tell he was holding back tears.

“Hey,” You grabbed the wrapped leftovers from his hands and set them down on the kitchen counter, before grabbing his hand and leading him to sit with you on the couch.

“Your blood family may be absolute shit, in fact they are. But your chosen family, those kids and your friends and Jim and Joyce, are wonderful. And they love you, and they want you to accept them as family. The assholes can’t hurt you anymore if you just let them go, honey.”

“It’s hard.” Steve’s voice broke as a tear slipped from his eye, which you were quick to get rid of with a swipe of your thumb.

“I know. I know because I’ve done it. But you helped me, Steve. They all helped me. Let us help you, baby, please.”

Your hand cradled his face and he leaned into your touch, leaving a sweet kiss on the palm of your hand as he brought his own hand up to hold your wrist. His breaths were getting shorter by the second, so you situated yourself into his lap and laid your head on his chest, maneuvering his hand that was previously holding your wrist to rest above your heart, so he could feel you, feel that you were right there.

“You can let it go.”

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taglist: @waszuka @icarus-star @stariightjoyy @dava-demoan @athenapotter @moonlitmeeks @maddisoninnit @moonlighy @mirclealignr @jellycolors @milkiane @tiaamberxx  @kashee-h

and tagging @sortagaysortahigh cuz something tells me they wanna read some angsty steve...

[callofdudes]

König angst please please please!

I did struggle a little because I didn't have much context with this one. But I did come up with a little something for König angst. Thank you anon 😊

Tell me their Name, paint me in blood.

Summary: König never expected to get kidnapped, and he never expected to be interrogated on a familiar name from his past.

Word count: 2.9K+

Cw: angst, torture, talks of trauma, childhood friends Reader and König. Two lines of probably improper German.

König opens his eyes, gasping as cold water hits his face, freezing his cheeks and drenching his chest and legs. His eyelids feel heavy, water dripping from his bottom lip. Bright light invades his eyes, making him shy away, trying to get used to it.

"Wakey wakey," A voice comes from his left, a man walking closer, throwing the water pale to the ground with a clatter. König attempted to move before realizing he was secured tightly to a chair.

The man walked faced him, hands behind his back. "Verdammtes Licht…" (fucking light) König hissed, blinking rapidly.

"Sie werden sich daran gewöhnen." (you'll get used to it) The man replied, smug at revealing he knew the mother tongue.

"Whatever you want, I won't give you," König replied sharply.

The man hummed, reaching forward and grabbing Konig by the jaw, twisting his head to look him in the eye. "You have no idea what I could do to you. My name is Snake, and I already know yours. We're looking for a friend of yours, and you're to give me answers. Now."

König grunted. "I know no one!"

Snake frowned. "Not true. You see, we know your name and that you have a connection to a soldier named Y/n."

König's eyes widened.

Snake raised an eyebrow, smirking. "I thought so."

Y/n… No, no. König grits his teeth. "I don't know anyone like that. It's a dead end for you."

Y/n and him were childhood friends. Well, until he had to move from where he was living to Austria. You were an exchange student staying for a couple of years to finish school. You were friends right up until König left. You had always kept in contact. You were a dear friend to him. But when he joined the military, the connection stopped.

Snake gripped König's hair, pulling him forward. "You are lying to me. That little rat has been fucking us up, and you just so happen to know who the fuck they are. So don't play dumb with me."

König refused. He wouldn't. And besides, hearing your name was too painful.

Snake growled. "You don't have a choice here. I will make you talk. And it will only be more painful the longer you keep quiet."

König was stubborn, and it was about to cost him.

You woke up with your arm numb and aching. You blinked at the clock. Who on earth? You looked back at the window when you heard a rhythmic tapping. You sat up, ringing out your arm previously positioned behind your head.

Getting out of bed, you went to the window and opened it. Seeing none other than your favourite German boy. "König, what are you doing??" You rubbed your eye, yawning.

"I couldn't sleep again. I'm sorry to bother you, but you didn't answer my texts."

"Well, it's two in the morning." You sighed, stepping back. "Come get comfy then." You knew you couldn't shoo him away, watching him leave like a sad puppy who did something wrong. So König climbed into your window, brushing himself off and looking around again. "Ah- thank you."

"Come on, get some sleep."

You walked back to your bed, attempting to make room for König to slip in with you, and he did. Your first sleepover had been hesitant. He refused even the thought of sharing a bed with you. And when you were curled up on the couch later, he realized how nice it was, and things spiralled.

His arms wrapped around your waist, holding your back to his chest, keeping you securely against him.

"Thank you…" He whispered against your neck, closing his eyes softly. Attempting to let the stress go and relax. It was just you and him. All this drama going on between his parents wasn't happening.

He didn't hear them arguing again. There wouldn't be a divorce.

And you were there with him through it all.

A harsh slap sent him spiralling back into reality as Snake left a searing mark on his face. "Head up!" He demanded, the door opening and two other men entering.

König's eye twitched, he was tempted to spit on the ground before them.

One of the men was carrying a large metal toolbox.

Snake smiled. "This is the part where you tell me what I want to know, or… I won't be so nice."

König's eyes narrowed. He eyed the box, then Snake. His heart pounded. He could tell them. He honestly didn't know anything. All he knew was he joined the military and tried to move on.

Head in the game. His heart stuck back in that room with you. Back where you comforted him, hands wiping away his fallen tears and reminding him how much you loved him.

It made his stomach twist, and his heart clench, thinking of your smile. The face that still plagues his mind, infesting him like a virus.

"Nothing?" Snake asked, raising an eyebrow. "So be it."

König watched as the man put down the box and unlocked it, revealing the items inside. There were needles, hammers, pliers, and other items that would be used for torture.

König's eyes widened. "Fuck you!"

"That can be arranged. Unless you want to give me what I need to know." Snake pulls out one of the items, König's eyes watch it as Snake hands it to one of his men. A garrote.

The man moves behind König, who attempts to wriggle, snapping the wire around König's throat. He tightened it around Königs pulsing neck. König choked, trying to move back, feeling the tightness starting to dig its way into his flesh. The wire was thin and strong enough it easily sliced and drew blood while cutting his oxygen.

Snake leaned forward. "You have two options: tell me, or die slowly."

König wheezed. "F-Fuck off…" He gurgled on his blood that attempted to rise, and the man pulled back, letting König take a few deep breaths before tightening it again. König grits his teeth, looking up at Snake. He wouldn't release information. That's not what all this training was for.

But then, the wire was released, the soldier removing it from his neck covered in blood. The line where the skin was ripped along König's throat started to trickle blood faster.

Snake sighed. "You're an idiot. And it's your loss."

König breathed heavily, spitting blood out of his mouth and glaring up at Snake.

"Now, we could get to the good stuff," Snake said, pulling out a hammer.

König's heart raced. The hammer twisted in Snake's hand dangerously, suddenly swinging it and ringing it down on König's hand, smashing his knuckles. König tried to hold in his noises, grunting as the hammer lifted and hit the other hand, smashing down hard, and König heard a crunch, letting out a noise of pain this time.

"Where is Y/n? I will get it out of you," Snake said, twisting the hammer in his hand.

König tried to blink through the pain, his mind foggy and drifting, imagining you again. Waking up that next morning with you still in his arms. Hand running down your cheek, seeing how peaceful you were with you.

When all was said and done, you two could graduate together. And who knows, he hoped his life continued. No matter how his plans for the future seemed or how bleak the way. He wanted you to be with him.

Your eyelids fluttered open softly, looking up at him. "Hey there, big guy." You whispered. The way you said it never made him feel self-conscious about his height. It made him happy to hear you.

"Morning." He whispered back.

You leaned in, settling your head on his chest, wrapping an arm around him.

Those arms were cold as he stirred, head forced back as another bucket of water was brought in. Bringing him back to reality as the cold water was presented. One of the men, still with a tight grip on his hair, shoved a dirty rag in his mouth, covered in God only knows what.

He gagged, and the bucket was lifted to his face and poured. His vision was blurry as the water entered his nose. The rag blocked any oxygen he attempted to breathe in, and he gagged and coughed as he suffocated. He tried to thrash, but they held his head up, forcing the water down his throat and up his nose.

His heart was racing, his hands burned, and so did his throat. His mind raced as he was unable to get air. It wasn't long until his head started to become fuzzy, the blackness at the edges of his vision threatening to swallow him up.

He started to slip away, only to be pulled back, the bucket removed. And the rag from his mouth, allowing him to choke out what was obstructing his oxygen. Water pooled down his lips and chin, gasping for air and coughing violently.

Snake again right there, on him like a hunter on fresh prey. He pulled out a photo and showed it to him. König fought for his vision, panting as it focused in again, seeing the photo.

It was you. A gun in hand, looking down the sight, sharp eyes focused on the target. You were wearing a SpecGru outfit.

He panted. That was you.

"Where. Is. Y/n?"

König shook his head. "I don't know! I don't know anything about them!"

Snake growled. "I will make you regret this."

König stared down at the photo. Seeing you, seeing your face again. He smiled. His vision went blurry again before his head was shoved back into the bucket, choking and forced to take more water. His lungs burned, and his head felt heavy again as the water continued to invade every orifice it could.

He struggled, inhaling water from every angle. Seeing your eyes again. Remember looking into them in slight glances from a classroom full of other people. Seeing how you lit up when you saw the book you'd wanted at the library. Laughing with him over coffee while your homework was spread out without a care.

And your laugh… God, he really wasn't over you. He thought that if he forced you away from himself enough, you would leave. That you would wriggle from his life, and the pain would stop.

The pain of missing you every day. The pain of knowing you were an enemy now. The pain of his lack of oxygen made his head swirl and circuit, trying to fight.

His own tears mixed with the water as he thrashed for his life.

And he was pulled back up.

"Please," König pleaded, gasping for breath as Snake took his time, looking over the photo once more.

"Please! I don't know where they are, please believe me!"

Snake looked back at König, his eyes narrowed. "Then you will die for nothing."

König choked, the rag shoved back into his mouth, and the water poured back into his throat, pouring down on him.

He tried to struggle as he felt burning in his sides, blood dripping from his thighs, screaming and thrashing for any way out. They continued to inflict more pain on him. He tried anything he could do…

"Hey, Hey, König…" You stopped him, seeing the tears flooding down his cheeks. "Shh, what's wrong?" You let him inside, closing the door, and he shook, wrapping his arms around you.

You held him back, having a feeling you knew what this was. He didn't let go, keeping you close to him, burying his head in your shoulder, shaking violently.

"What happened??" You asked quietly, running your hand down the back of his head. He sniffled, so upset and scared. "The divorce is final…" König's voice shook.

"König… I'm so sorry." You knew how hard this was for him, holding him tightly.

"She's taking us to Austria next month." His voice broke, clinging to you. He may never see you again. The realization hit you as you

hugged him back, tears filling your eyes. Clinging on as tightly as you could. "König…"

You both kneeled on the cold tile floor, holding each other, being with each other. The last thing he got to do was hug you. You were in his arms one more time before he left on the plane. The following years of his life were torture, living with new people.

And he didn't have you to turn to. He could call you on the phone, but couldn't hold you. He couldn't see you face to face. He couldn't climb in your window to cuddle you for grounding…

He didn't feel like he ever really had a chance to say goodbye. And that haunted him.

He thought he could get over it… Get over you. How it took him now to realize this. How you always found a way to run back into his life and shatter the illusion that he was holding himself together alone perfectly fine.

Knowing that he'd die a foolish man.

His mind was spinning, barely realizing his body gasping for air, choking and vomiting, trying to grasp reality, but the torture kept coming.

His heart was racing, and he wasn't sure if his hands were numb from being smashed or his head was fuzzy from the lack of oxygen. The blackness was closing in on him, and he felt so faint.

His ears rang, unable to make out Snake's voice. He felt hot. Like he was burning up.

He was going to die. He would never see you again. You would never know…

And he wouldn't ever get to tell you.

How he loved you.

The last thing he saw was the photo. The only thing he could hear was your voice.

His body blocks out the hammer that collided with his temple or the blade that slashes into his abdomen. Tears stream down his cheeks, fading more and more as he's preyed on.

"We will find them. And we will kill them. Just like we will kill you." Snake's voice finally smashed through the sweet illusion of his death. Of his demise with you right in front of him. Wishing he could hold you.

Wishing he could cry to you. Wishing… So much wishing… He had so many wishes that would never come true.

The cut was deep, and he could barely feel it.

Snake looked at his work. König was gone, the look in his eyes was empty. He had been here before. Where König was now. He could see it in his eyes. His mind was trying to save him from the pain.

The fucked reality he's been living in where he's never tried to pick up and call you.

Where he blamed everything for what happened. He blamed himself for it all. And now you were back. You always came back for him. You never left him.

Snake's eyes narrowed, looking back at the photo. "Take him away. He's useless."

The men followed orders, carrying König away to be dumped.

And you. You were in danger. Snake would get to you one way or another. He would have his revenge.

And König would die.

König would never get to see you again.

The one person he wanted to hold in his arms again.

You were about to wake up that morning, and he was nowhere to be seen. But instead, you were woken up by a knock on your door.

And your world shattered.

You didn't get to say goodbye.

Your father gave you the news the plane had left, and König was gone. He'd hugged you the night before, but you never got to say goodbye. Tears filled your eyes, knowing you wouldn't see him in person again for a long time.

But you were determined to be in his life. One way or another. Even if it wasn't meant to be. You should have given up. Trying to stay got him killed. It would get you killed. And no one would win except your enemies.

But you refused to let him go.

You would find him.

No matter what it costs.

"König," you said, reaching up and touching his cheek. His eyes slowly opened, looking down at you, his eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry." You whispered. König reached out to touch you, ignoring the cold feeling in his body as he lay among the trash for his life to fall away. He ignored the blood and the pain he felt. Tears rolling down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry I didn't come back…" He choked out, shaking.

You smiled, "It's okay, I'm here now."

König choked on a sob, holding onto you tightly. You were cold. Your arms which he'd loved so much when he was younger were frigid, but he couldn't let go.

He would never let go.

You held him back.

His eyes closed, and the ringing filled his ears, everything around him falling away as he held you. And soon, that too was gone. The illusion of you. His body gave up its fight, and he slipped away. Lying dead on the cold ground, soaking wet, bleeding, broken.

You always wanted to be together, one way or another.

And life vowed to keep you apart. One way… or another.

[whump-bunny]

Can't think

(tw: lab whump, nonconsensual drugging, restraints, nonconsensual medical procedures, fourteen year old whumpee, mentions of torture.)

-

He can't think.

He can't think and he doesn't know why.

They came in at dawn, when he and his roommates were fast asleep. (Well, Oliver probably wasn't.) The room was pitch black, save for the soft glow of Asa's skin.

They didn't give him time to wake up before plunging a needle into his neck. And then, when he did awaken only seconds later, it was already too late. Asa could only blink at them sluggishly as they picked him up and deposited him in a wheelchair.

And now he's moving, far too fast and far too slow all at once. The walls blur into the floor. The world spins. Nausea licks at his throat, and yet he can’t muster up the energy to say anything in complaint.

His head lolls down to his chest.

He can’t think. God, why can’t he think?

Vaguely, he knows that he’s headed to the lab. He knows that they’re going to hurt him. He should be afraid. But he’s lost in a place where the fear can’t find him. And all that’s left is an overbearing sense of calm, an inability to do anything but sink into his mind and allow his body to be carried away. It’s peaceful, in the same way that a room full of corpses is quiet.

They arrive quicker than Asa expected they would. (Even though the ride over seemed to have lasted an eternity.) The hum of the fluorescent lights and the murmurs of scientists blur in the background of his mind, and he finds himself drifting off to sleep. At least, until a familiar voice cuts through the quiet like a knife.

“Alright ladies and gentlemen, I know it’s early, but the quicker we do this, the quicker we can be done with it. Are ya with me?” Hamlin chirps, somehow as energetic as ever despite being up before sunrise. The rest of the scientists offer a chorus of unenthused agreement. It seems that Asa isn’t the only one who’d rather be in bed.

The doctor chats with a couple assistants, making her rounds about the lab, before finally turning her attention to Asa, as he knew she would.

“Good morning, Asa! Sorry about waking you so early, but I promise you’ll get to go back to sleep soon.” She gingerly brushes Asa’s bangs from his face, and while Asa would normally bristle at the touch, now he can’t bring himself to even care. He eyes Hamlin intently, as if staring at her might give him the strength to be angry. It doesn’t. 

Hamlin says something else that Asa doesn't quite catch, and then he's being lifted. The sudden motion makes him want to vomit, but it only lasts a few seconds before he's lying on the lab table. He doesn't fight as they strap him down, not that he could stop them even if he weren't drugged out of his mind. All he can manage is a frustrated growl, one that gets Hamlin's attention. 

"I know, the side effects of that sedative are pretty strong, but it's the only one that works well enough against your Light. We don't want you waking up during surgery, do we?" She explains, methodically sliding into latex gloves and goggles as she does so. 

So it's surgery, then.

Amidst the murky haze of drugs, Asa feels a spike of fear at that. He swallows thickly, searching for his voice.

“H… H’mlin?" He mumbles, trying to ignore how big his tongue feels in his mouth. Hamlin's eyebrows raise.

"Oh, you can still speak? Huh, that's not particularly good. Might have to adjust the dosage…"

Asa speaks up again before she can finish the thought, "What are you g'na do t'me?"

It's a normal question, one that he asks every time he gets dragged to the lab. Usually Hamlin will grace him with a detailed explanation of exactly how she plans to study him for the next few hours. Be it a simple blood test or an appendectomy, she always tells him with a smile. But today, she just shakes her head.

"It's probably better if you don't know. We don't want you to freak out, do we?" She replies, punctuating her sentence with another ruffle to Asa’s hair.

Asa’s stomach falls, "Oh."

"Oh? That's it?” Hamlin laughs, “Damn, you're much nicer to work with like this. I wish I could keep you sedated all the time."

If he were more aware, Asa probably would have flinched at the implications of that. But exhaustion smothers his brain, derailing his train of thought 

"I…" Asa mumbles, eyes drooping. "M'tired…"

Hamlin smirks, "I'm sure you are. Feel free to go to sleep, sweetheart. I'll get the actual anesthesia started in the meantime." She runs her hand along the side of his face, caressing his cheek like a mother would. As if she didn't cut him open without anesthesia a hundred times before now.

"O...okay…" Asa says, inadvertently leaning into her touch. He doesn't even notice as an iv is inserted into his arm.

"Say, Asa, do you have a favorite food? Something you want me to bring you while you're in recovery?" She asks. Her hand never leaving his cheek.

Asa thinks for a moment, landing on the first food that comes to mind. "...doughnuts."

"Doughnuts?" Hamlin laughs, "Well, it's not exactly healthy, but I suppose you can have a doughnut, for being such a good boy."

Beside her, an assistant scoffs.

"Of course he's being good, he's drugged out of his mind." He says, rubbing the healing wound on his arm from when Asa bit him a couple days ago.

Hamlin glares, finally removing her hand from Asa’s face. "Hm yeah, good point, Ted. Counterpoint: who asked you?"

The two bicker amongst themselves, while the rest of the assistants continue to prep Asa for surgery. All the while Asa's eyes scan the trays of scalpels and tweezers, gleaming in the too-bright artificial light of the lab. Fear is radiating and muted, muffled but there all the same. 

"H-H'mlin…" 

The scientist turns to face him, "Hm- yes, Asa?"

"I… m'scared…" He whispers, consciousness fleeting. "Pl'se don't… 'lease don't 'urt me…"

His voice breaks, tears threatening to fall. Hamlin clicks her tongue, wiping his eyes.

"Aww, don't worry, sweetheart. I promise you won't feel a thing. And you'll get to have a nice relaxing vacation while you recover. Sound good?"

"N-no…"

Hamlin smirks. "Too bad."

It's then that the drugs in his iv finally take hold. The world fades to darkness, and all the while Hamlin stares at him, smiling wide.

[mysecretlittlelibrary]

Some Adjustment Necessary

Pairing: Platonic! Peter Parker & Reader; Reader x Bucky (but that's not really plot relevant)

Word Count: 2.1k

Warnings: uh none really just mentioning the tragedies MCU Peter has endured again lmao oh and he gets hit by a car but it's not as serious as it sounds I swear

Genre: it's still pretty fluffy- there's minor angst

Summary: You happen to be the only person who still remembers Peter Parker exists and you are not about to hang him out to dry. So what happens when you take Peter in and basically become his guardian? Well- nothing is simple where super-teens are involved, but you and Peter can certainly handle whatever comes your way. Right?

***

You and Peter adjusted pretty quickly to living together if you do say so yourself. And you actually really enjoy having him around. Not that you didn't before but suddenly becoming the full time guardian to an 18-year-old boy isn't something you ever saw in your future til it happened, so you're happy things are going well so far in the first couple of months. 

"Hey y/n I'm headed out for tonight." Peter announces barely stopping in the kitchen to talk.

"Alright, call if you need anything. I'll leave dinner on the counter." You shoot over your shoulder just before your front door shuts. Honestly, you were worried the Spiderman thing would be a bigger inconvenience than it is. So far the only thing you've had to discuss with him is not climbing in and out of his window because he has keys to your place and you already know his secret. It appears old habits die hard but now he just goes out the front door and hollers that he's leaving which is much simpler. Plus it eases your concern to know when he's leaving and how long he's out. He may be a superhero with crazy strength and whatnot but he is still pretty young and has been dealing with the most insane shit since he was still going through puberty.

With Peter out on his patrols and Bucky out of town visiting Sam and his family, you have the apartment to yourself and plan to take full advantage of the quiet with a movie marathon and some pasta you're just finishing up. Two helpings of pasta and three movies later- four if you count the one you're currently half asleep through, the sound of a thump against the door alerts you. You listen carefully to the jingle keys and the click of the door unlocking, your body relaxing when Peter comes stumbling through the entrance hall. Your reprieve is shortlived however as you take in Peter's state. He's covered in cuts and bruises and his clothes are tattered and dirty.

"Oh my god Peter what happened to you?!" You gasp jumping up from the couch and rushing to his side. He sags against you immediately and you have to half drag him to the couch to set him down. "Hang on I'll go get the first aid kit." You say leaving him "What did I say to you before you left? Call if you need anything. I even programmed an emergency call system into your suit. How did this happen?!" You look over him frantically trying to assess what needs immediate attention.

"I wasn't patrolling." He groans. You take a warm washcloth first, wiping the blood and grime off of his face.

"You weren't patrolling?" You frown.

"No. I was in Manhattan hanging with some guys and I-"

"What did you do? Piss off a gang?" You suck your teeth.

"No, no, I made some friends who go to NYU, you know because we talked about me going to college and stuff, and after we hung out I was on the way home and got hit by a car."

"You got hit by a car?!? How the hell did that happen?" You blink at him.

"It came speeding around a corner and hit me. Some guy in red pulled me off the asphalt and left me in the hands of random bystanders and then ran after the car." Peter hisses.

"Daredevil." You say.

"Hm?"

"The guy in red. Hell's Kitchen has its own vigilante, they call him Daredevil. I'm guessing it was him." You explain.

"Oh. Does he always chase cars?" Peter's voice is strained but still, you laugh a little at the question.

"I- wouldn't know kiddo. I can't believe you got hit by a car. If he left you with some random 'bystanders' who I'm sure thought you needed a hospital, how did you get here?" You ask.

"I hobbled down a couple of alleys until I lost them, put on the suit, and swung home." He explains.

"You swung home?" Your eyes widen.

"Yeah, which- I don't recommend. That sucked."

"I'm sure walking here would've sucked too. Does anything feel broken?" You gently press against his ribs.

"No- just bruised, maybe a couple of cracks nothing that won't be better in a day or two." He says.

"Oh Peter." You say. "I made pasta. Did you eat with your friends? Do you want some food?"

"I'd love some pasta." He sighs.

"Okay I'll heat some up for you. If I helped you to the bathroom do you think you could manage a shower?" You ask.

"I think I got it." Peter slowly forces himself off of the couch and you watch him carefully hobble towards the bathroom. Only once he's out of sight do you go to the kitchen to prepare him some of the food you made earlier. You wait for Peter to make it out of the bathroom and bring his plate to him in his room. You set him up with extra pillows and blankets and you're admittedly fussing over him but it's hard not to when he comes limping into your home.

"Do you need anything else? Water? Bandages?" You ask.

"Y/n you're doting."

"Of course, I am you got hit by a car." You scoff.

"And in 24 hours I'll be fine!"

"Sure sure, actually just so we're clear you will not be patrolling tomorrow night."

"Oh come on-" Peter groans.

"Don't start. You didn't patrol tonight, which you should've told me but, New York will survive one more evening without Spiderman. Actually, perhaps tomorrow we can discuss this NYU thing. I thought your heart was set on MIT."

"I- can't leave New York." He shrugs, avoiding your gaze as he eats his food.

"Yes, you can. And if MIT is where you want to go you absolutely have to leave New York." You frown. "New York has been around long before you became Spiderman and there are several heroes in and around New York we will be fine in your absence. Not to mention that suit of yours could get you here in like 20 minutes if we needed you so desperately." You say.

"MJ and Ned go there." He mutters quietly.

"What?"

"To MIT. They originally didn't get in and it was my fault so I tried to fix it and then my whole world fell apart but not knowing me means they got in. They go to MIT, and I can't ruin that for them." Peter shakes his head.

"Ruin it for them?"

"Well yeah- what if somehow we end up talking to each other in college and the cycle begins again and I ruin their lives in a big way like I almost did with their college opportunities?" He frowns at his bowl and you sigh.

"I think you three are destined to know each other. They'll find you again one day- even if you're trying to hide from them." You say running a hand through his hair.

"I can't lie to her, not again."

"Then don't. At least not forever. You could absolutely tell her the truth in time if it came down to it."

"She'd never believe me." He says.

"She did the first time."

"Yeah but 'I'm Spiderman' and 'we've known each other for years and were in a relationship, and you don't remember because I made the entire world forget who I am' are not even close to the same. She'd probably assume I was a crazy stalker if I told her the truth." He scoffs.

"You'd start with Spiderman, I imagine she'd be much more open to the other things once you prove you're Spiderman. There's much she doesn't know about the world." You say.

"It's just too complicated." Peter shakes his head.

"Peter, I don't want you to think that because you are Spiderman you have to stop being Peter Parker. You were Peter Parker first and you can't lose yourself because of that suit." You say softly.

"I dunno, I tried and- well it didn't end up too great before you showed up." He says.

"We'll continue this conversation later, but Peter. You have to at least apply to MIT. Don't spoil your chances because you're afraid of some possibilities. You gotta do things anyway." You tell him.

"I'll think about it." He mutters.

"That's a start. Enjoy your pasta, rest up. Yell if you need anything." You say gently patting his shoulder and leaving his room.

~*~*~

"Hey, y/n I'm headed- oh- hi Mr. Barnes. I didn't realize you'd be here." Peter comes careening down the hall.

"Kid you can call me Bucky." Bucky says and you chuckle.

"You're headed where Peter?" You ask.

"Just- out." Peter glances at Bucky.

"With friends this time or-"

"No, not this time. Just out on my own." Peter waves his hand and you almost miss the way his two middle fingers curl briefly the way he does for webs.

"Alright well be safe and if you need anything call. And I mean it. Another incident like two weeks ago and I'll have to start watching you with a witch's glass." You warn.

"Yeah yeah I'll call if I need to, see ya later! Bye Mr. Bucky." Peter says before rushing out the door. You catch the way Bucky's face twists in confusion at Peter's goodbye and giggle.

"That kid is so strange." Bucky shakes his head.

"Most teenagers are." You nod.

"What happened two weeks ago?" He asks.

"Hm?"

"You said a repeat of two weeks ago would have you watching him through a witch's glass. What are we hoping not to repeat from two weeks ago?" Bucky asks.

"Oh- Peter ended up hurt and instead of calling me he hobbled his broken ass back home from Hell's Kitchen." You roll your eyes.

"Was this while I was away? You didn't mention it."

"Well yeah, why would I? He was better before you got back. I just don't want it happening again." You shrug.

"You know you can't possibly monitor everything he does, right?"

"Oh I have no interest in doing that but the kid has had a hyper independence problem since he was like 14 and I need him to understand how to use a support system. We are undoing trauma."

"You- also have a-"

"Ah ah this isn't about me it's about Peter. I want better for him than he's had." You cut Bucky off knowing exactly what he's about to say.

"You really care about this kid."

"Of course I do. I'm his guardian now and it's my job to do the best I can for him. Kids don't ask to be here and it's not fair how often they suffer the consequences of someone else's actions."

"I didn't realize you felt so strongly about the subject."

"We've never really talked about kids." You shrug.

"Do you want them?" His question sounds hesitant, as if he's not sure he wants the answer.

"I dunno. I think it'd be nice. To have a family. But it's- not a number one priority. I guess it depends. Have you given it any thought?" You ask.

"I don't think I'd be good at it." He shakes his head.

"I disagree. I think you're kind and patient and you may not see those traits in yourself but I see them every day in the way you interact with strangers, with me, your tales with Steve from the 30s, even the way you are with Peter-"

"I don't even talk to Peter." Bucky scoffs.

"No, but you pay attention when he speaks, you know his idiosyncracies, you've helped me with things that are for him, you even accommodate that he's staying here when you make plans for us. That's a lot of consideration that many people wouldn't offer. I think you'd make a wonderful father, if that's ever something you'd like." You shrug.

"I dunno, I'd have to give it some thought." He frowns.

"Like I said, it's not a top priority right now. You can decide that whenever you're ready. And no matter what you decide we'll be good. But if you're interested in testing the waters you could always try actually connecting with Peter."

"Oh no, I told you when he first got here that you couldn't make me talk to him." Bucky shakes his head.

"I'm not making you do anything baby it's just a suggestion because I think you'd both benefit from it." You say and you mean it. Peter has always looked up to Bucky, though you can't tell Bucky that, and you think Peter would love a chance to do more than admire from afar.

"And how would he benefit from it? He's terrified of me." Bucky says.

"No, he isn't."

"He just called me Mr. Bucky after I told him he didn't have to use my last name." Bucky points out and you chuckle a little.

"Believe it or not, he's called me Miss Y/n for years. Even up until he moved in. It doesn't mean he's scared of you, he's just being respectful." You say.

"I- will consider talking to him. But I make no promises."

"You don't need to. I just want the two guys in my life to be able to do more than awkwardly sidestep each other in my kitchen." You laugh.

"I'll keep that in mind sweetness." Bucky chuckles. You don't know what's going to come of your light encouragement but there's very little Bucky wouldn't do for you, so you imagine this will only result in something good.

***

Tagged Users: @mrsbuckybarnes1917 @buchi91

[thatasadbitch]

I don't want to leave you and I won't ༄ 01 ༄

World count: 1.3k

Warning: nothing, this is only Fluff stuff

Character : I use a name because it's easier for me to write but change it with yours or whatever you want, the character is female, daughter of two strong warriors of the Omatikaya clan, she herself is known for her dowry in battle.

warning: the characters are older than in the film, around 18/19 years old, and sorry for any grammatical errors but this is not my first language

☾༄☽

I was wounded in a battle not long ago and as long as I still claim I can handle it.

After all, it doesn't happen often that I get injured, I'm an excellent fighter and even if the cut on my side is large, it's already healing but Nateyam doesn't leave me alone for a minute.

" Nete I can really do it... I've been doing it since I can remember, I have a cut nothing more and it's already healing look "I say making a move stretching myself, I giggle and he does the same and I retrieve my bow and arrows to hunt for a bit try to empty my mind, but my friend's eyes don't leave my body following me around the hut  "why can't you just stay in bed and rest you heard Mo'At you lost a lot of blood" I continue on my way undeterred in wanting to at least hunt "I'll be careful ok? I'm fine and I need to hunt some" I say as I walk out of the tent, not long after you walk on the high branches of the trees I inhale the scent of the forest and my muscles relax, I hum to myself and me but a short time later I feel a familiar presence behind me, my ears twitch focusing on the familiar footsteps and this smell that I would recognize from miles away, but just to scare him I quickly disappear ment further out of his vision and I crouch down hiding inside a thick plant, I see him running towards the point where I disappeared and I hear him muttering to himself wondering where I might have ended up and as soon as he passes me I shoot out of my hideout growling at him "Ali’iem?! What are you doing? Did you hear me?" I laugh seeing the jump he makes backwards I hug him continuing to laugh "you made a very high jump I didn't even know you could do it" he wraps his arms around my waist and laughs with me "I'm not scared you're only very silent it was a jump of...happiness" I put my hands on his shoulders I look at his big amber eyes and his beautiful smile "come on let's go to this point you're here aren't you? So we hunt together like when we were kids? " he nods and we continue walking along the road I wanted to take " I've heard you for quite a while Nete... and I should ask you what are you doing? Are you following me now?" I ask seeing his tail moving anxiously from side to side "listen I worry about you nothing more, when I saw you on the ground and unconscious only 4 days ago I thought I had lost you, I was at the head of the team I left you alone and it's my fault for what happened to you" I read the sincerity in his eyes he makes me understand that maybe I exaggerated a bit he's just worried, his ears are low" Nete.. .you are not to blame, I was the second in command there saw an animal in danger he is a man of The sky nor did he take advantage, I got distracted it's not your fault it's my fault " I approach him stroking his face " and moreover I'm well, look at me I'm fine " he looks at me to read in my eyes if I'm telling the truth, he caresses my fresh scar and I suppress a hiss " you don't understand this thing made me think... it wasn't as if I saw a my friend...i felt my heart stop and my soul cry out, won't you wake up" I nod my head on the one hand not understanding exactly what she wants to tell me "Ali’iem ...I...I see you" I blink a couple of times in disbelief but my heart beats strongly against my chest, I've always liked Nete and when we started fighting together he was always present in my life " I see you too Neteyam " he rests his forehead on mine "but now we definitely have to make up for dinner" he stops me and hugs me to him "not before that" he places his lips on mine, softly and sweetly.

☾༄☽

" we do a race ?" I ask unable not to smile "the first one who hunts something?" I nod at his words, before running away he leaves me another kiss and I see the smile printed on his face.

So we split up in the forest, I immerse myself in it and go to my favorite place for hunting, I aim at the animal relaxing my mind, perfectly in the line of fire I'm about to shoot the arrow but the animal runs away scared, I sharpen my ears and smell the air "sky people" hiss.

I move silently trying to quickly find Neteyam, and I see him lurking in silence looking around, he notices me and comes towards me " did you come back empty handed ? You missed me so much that you lost a challenge he flattered me "he plays stupid but as soon as he sees the concern in my eyes he immediately becomes serious again" are you sick what's going on? He touches my body looking for wounds that don't exist " Nete are back...the sky people are here I clearly heard the sound of weapons...we have to tell your father immediately" the male furrows his eyebrows and nods his approval "call the your Ikran we'll do it first " I'm about to do it but my concentration is diverted by nearby footsteps and the smell of the laboratory " let's hide we're here " we slip behind some plants and scan the ground, these are not the usual humans who break, they are Avatars, who speak the English speaking and carrying weapons bigger than usual " fuck you " I grind my teeth " talk to your father now ..." I invite while checking the movements of the enemies, I hear them talking to their father softly but obviously not enough because one of the avatars tends the ear making some strange gesture to the others "they won't arrive in time we can manage until then" I nod to his words, I signal him to go the opposite way to my step from behind and I aim at one's head passing through him quickly, no one notices anything and neteyam does the same, they continue to kill them silently until someone notices the dead bodies of the three or 4 soldiers, contracted from the opposite side we sneak down killing others, but the real fighting starts now.

Knives against firearms not the best situation but we are sons of warriors fear is not part of us " if you tell us where Jake Sully we will let you live " the commander speaks " I don't speak your disgusting language ( in Na'Vi ) " I reply hissing and growling at him "well then let war be stupid brats" when I fight I feel alive I can't help it, it's part of my nature.

We were doing quite well but finally Jake and Neytiri show up or rather Jake does it with the woman we hear the whistles and see arrows " Sully who doesn't die sees himself again, right? Although in this case it is not completely correct” the two fail to start a real fight because with a malicious smile the few remaining have to retreat.

Let's go back inside the forest and call our Ikran " are you okay? " asks Jake checking our bodies with his eyes, I notice that my wound has reopened slightly but nothing to worry about" Ali’iem is bleeding " points out Ney pulls touching the reopened furrow worried " nothing serious I'll get it fixed back to camp " I see the worried look of the younger one "I'm sure I can fly you can stay with me" I stroke his cheek touching a small scratch "I'm fine I'm not so fragile" he gives me a smile and I do the same.

The eyes of the two adults do not leave us "then I'll want to understand this news too but now we really have to go".

[dilfartist]

His one and only (short)

Tw; {Nsfw, kidnapping, dark themes, Nsfw mentions, cheating, Dio’s an asshole, Stockholm syndrome}

A/n; sorry if this is bad. I've been going into writer's block and I wanted to try writing something to get me into the mood again. Hopefully you enjoy!

None of your futile endeavors have silenced the noises. Even with both hands pressing against your ears, the moans and squeals of sexual ecstasy were audible.

As much as you would like to simply leave the room and explore the mansion’s halls to pass the time, Dio wouldn't allow you to. Even if you were to quietly leave the room for a second, Dio would know.

And you didn't want to double the punishment. Staying in the room itself was a punishment.

Anytime you deny Dio sexual pleasure, Dio leaves and returns an hour or two later with random women he bought home from the street or bar. Each one surpasses you in attractiveness, making you feel self-conscious.

Though you don't care for Dio’s opinions - or so you tell yourself- it always pains you to see the difference between you and the woman Dio brings home.

He chooses each one carefully. Searching for a woman or women that have something you’re insecure about. You find yourself questioning the truth of his words. Dio claims you to be the woman he adores and yet sees a woman with no resemblance to you attractive.

Perhaps, the love he preaches is faux. A lie to cover the fact he enjoys having a piece of his past around.

During the session, he leaves the door ajar for all the sounds of pleasure to slip into the room you’re told to stay in. You hear all the dirty words he tells them- all the ones he uses when you agree to sleep with him- only this time does he sound like he's enjoying himself more.

Then when the session comes to an end, he murders the women, drinks their blood, and kicks their bodies off to the side, allowing you to enter the room once again. He’d cuddle you still covered in the scent of the women as a reminder of what took place not too long ago; right in the bed, you lay in.

Usually, you could bury your emotions, however today that was not the case.

Salty tears dripped down your chin, staining the shirt one size too large. “Stop.” you pleaded quietly. Who were you pleading to? Yourself, or maybe even God; you didn't care who, as long as your tears ceased

The headboard of the bed smashing against the wall foreshadowed Dio’s climax. If you wanted to save yourself the embarrassment, then you'd act quickly to hide your face.

Swiftly you spun the armchair you sat on, grabbing the closest novel in reach, skipping pages to seem engrossed.

“Ah, Dio!” A female voice squealed, unmistakably climaxing. On cue, the headboard’s banging comes to a halt.

For a couple of minutes, the mansion was in complete stillness. Something so normal shouldn’t form a pit in your stomach, but it did.

Then suddenly, the door to the bedroom opens with a whine. You shiver, gripping the novel closer. You started to read, to really give the impression you’ve been reading the whole time.

“Ah, there you are dearest.” Dio coos, spinning the chair to face you. Dio must already know you've been crying, since there is amusement clear in his tone. Although the book covers the devil’s face, you can sense the smug smirk he wears.

In the blink of an eye, the novel is set aside. Dio takes your face into the palms of his hands, bringing you forwards to examine your puffy eyes.

“Please, Dio, leave me alone for once.” you feel yourself close to tears again. You want to push his hands away, but you can't; you know he won't allow it.

“Why do you cry?“ Dio jeered curiously. “From the begging of our youth, you’ve denied my advances, so why do you cry?”

He wanted you to say it. He wanted to hear you utter the words you’ve tried so hard to deny.

“I have no choice but to love you, Dio. Ever since the night, you turned me immortal all those years ago: I've had no one else to rely on. Only for you to throw away everything by sleeping with other women.”

Humiliated by the confession, you cover your face. You don't want to see Dio’s satisfied expression, it was the last thing you wanted.

“There's no need to be jealous, dearest.” Dio uncovers your face by taking your hands into his own.

Gently, Dio kisses the back of your hand. His eyes meet yours, “For you shall always be my one and only.”

[eleni-cherie]

a thief's end ✨ || bts • myg - chapter 1.1

"so eager to be in a headlock again?"

"only if it's by you."

he thought he was done with the criminal life and ready for some peace and quiet. but his plans collapsed in the form of a strange girl who was in trouble.

© 2023 | eleni_cherie

»»»

masterlist: here

— genre: thief au, gangster comedy, adventure, romcom, humour, angst, fluff, sexual tensiON, slowburn, mutual pining, strangers to lovers s2l

ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE. CHARACTERS NOT NECESSARILY LIKE THE REAL PERSONS. ALSO VERY UNREALISTIC PLOT LOL - JUST PRETEND READING A MANGA/COMIC OR WATCHING A FILM, REALLY.

SUGGESTIVE THEMES. MENTIONS OF VIOLENCE & BLOOD (BUT NOTHING TOO GRAPHIC, IT'S STILL A COMEDY!)

»»»

"I just realised.. this is my first time in Europe."

Soyeon's random confession made Yoongi perk up from where he was leaning on. Offering her an aknowledging hum.

Both were standing against a stone fence, seperating the pavement from a slope behind them, while waiting for the other two to return with a new car. They knew everyone would be on the lookout for the silver mercedes and besides, the bullet holes in it would draw unwanted attention from locals and police as well. So a new car would be saver. 

However, this would usually only take a couple of minutes, so Yoongi began wondering what was taking them so long.

Meanwhile, her eyes caught a waiter at a restaurant down the street walking in and out, greeting random people passing by, some walking their dogs some not, seemingly being acquaintances. It was such an odd but also nice sight. And it made her realise that she was in fact in a different country.

She might've been there already for days, but most time spent locked up in a room so it hadn't really sunk in that she was in fact in Europe. And that for the first time in her life.

She looked curiously around, taking in the different architecture, shining warm under the streetlights and all the noises. Mainly chatter coming from the restaurant and crickets' buzzing. 

"You've been here before?" she asked then, tilting her head to Yoongi who had been suspiciously quiet all the time.

Her words interrupted his train of thoughts and he blinked for a moment. "N-no. But we've been in Italy a couple of times over the years.."

She hummed, admiring the scenary again. "Must be nice to travel so much."

"It's nice if you got time to actually enjoy it. But it's also quite exhausting.."

"You sound like an old man!"

Her teasing made him scoff playfully. More giggles errupting from her and he smiled. He liked her like this. Carefree, without worries and fright.

"Wished I travelled as much.." she exhaled then and looked up at the dark sky past the streetlights, "If it hadn't been for this situation right now, I'd have never left Korea."

"It can be exciting. But you'll eventually miss home, sooner or later," he mumbled and glanced at his phone, wondering where the other two had been. And even though he was trying to downplay it, she could sense the heaviness of the topic in his voice.

"You ever miss home?"

He paused, a torn poster catching his attention for a moment when he realised he had never given thought to it all those years. "I.. I don't know," he answered honestly, shoving his phone back into his pockets, "Never had a close bond with my family anyway. Except my mum and.. well.."

"And your uncle?"

His lips curved into a sad smile and he nodded.

They grew silent once again.

Getting tired of standing, Soyeon pushed herself up onto the stone fence in a swift move, taking a seat on it. A breeze brushing past her cheeks from the open space of the hill behind her.

She sensed there was something different about Yoongi that night. Sure, he wasn't always the most talkative one but for some reason he felt so.. distant and aloof. As if he was miles away in his mind.

She sighed, biting her lips in a guilty manner as she suspected knowing the reason for his strange behavior. 

"I.. I think I owe you an apology," she slowly began then. Her words causing him to frown.

"Why?"

She huffed, arching an eyebrow at him. "Isn't it obvious? If I had listened to you.." Her gaze fell in shame. "I tried keeping you away from the mess but ironically only dragged you more into it.. and now you even had to come all the way here to Italy to bail me out. So I'm sorry."

Yoongi remained silent, his stoic glance laying on her for a moment more before he shook his head and glanced back at the torn poster of some italian singer. "If someone should apologise it's me.." he quietly said then. The embarrassment of having failed still lingering in his chest like a heavy rock.

Soyeon only looked at him puzzled though, a small 'huh?' leaving her lips. Waiting for him to elaborate.

He dragged a sigh when seeing he had to actually say out loud what he'd tried to suppress these past days. "They got you right in front of my eyes. Twice. Okay? And I couldn't do anything about it." Ruffling his hair in frustration, he turned around to rest his hands on the stone. Staring out at the silent city spreading in front of him when all the stifled emotions crawled back. "Fck. If I was more cautious.. I should've protected you from these guys, but I couldn't. And at the end you were the one protecting me. And that's why.. I'm sorry."

Hearing that made her swallow hard. She never expected him to feel bad or even guilty about that day. Mad and angry at her for acting so foolish? Most certainly. But not guilty.

Slowly she turned her head to the side, seeing his afflicted expression. A deep crease between his brows as he was propping himself on that stone fence. She didn't want him to feel bad about it.

After all, those past days of uncertainty and loneliness, one of the memories that kept her company besides those of her family and friends - who were probably wondering why she wasn't replying to them anymore during her 'vacation' - was the one of the weeks prior. The memory of him and the short time they had spent together.

"Don't be an idiot," she whispered, looking at him with sorrowful eyes. Her hand engulfing his which was placed next to her, "It's not your job to look after me all the time, so don't feel guilty. None of this was your fault. It was mine."

He huffed a breath, glancing at her briefly before redirecting his eyes to the scenary in front of him. Arguing would be pointless, he knew she was just as stubborn. So he dragged a sigh into the night air. "Let's just say it's both our fault then."

She laughed but eventually nodded, accepting the compromise. "Fine." Leaning in closer to him then, she placed a light kiss on his cheek. Observing his expression softening. "Thank you for coming here and helping me. Again."

He gave her a small nod, a shy smile tucking on his lips as he looked away. "Anytime." 

Taking his previous position of leaning against the stone fence, he went back to looking out for any sign of Taehyung and Jimin, who were taking way too long. Hearing Soyeon yawning into the palm of her hand then. A sudden tiredness overtaking her and she rested her heavy head on his shoulder. Making him tense for a moment before he smiled to himself. Wrapping his arm around her back, his fingers lying on her waist. Giving it a light squeeze.

"I didn't ask you earlier, but you're okay, right? They.. they didn't hurt you, right?"

She nodded when seeing him glancing down at her with concern in his eyes. And she rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. Great, actually," she ensured him with a grin. Hearing him sigh in relief when another breeze brushed by.  And she heaved her head from his shoulder, her hand reaching out to cup his cheek and forcing him to look at her dark irises. His rushing mind calming under her soft touch. And she frowned while staring at his pouty lips. Making him wonder what made her pretty face so upset.

"Why are you endangering yourself for me?" she whispered then, more to herself than to him. Finding his eyes again.

"You know the answer."

Yeah, she remembered. Back on the rooftop when sharing their first kiss. However, she was still dissatisfied with his explanation, adverting her eyes from his again. Unsure of what it was that dissatisfied her so much, finding it both, incredibly sweet and highly irrational. What was she supposed to make out of this? Or him? He kept confusing her all the time, but maybe that was his charm. What laid beyond his cool and mysterious aura, a sweet and caring side. And she felt herself falling more and more for it.

Her lips found his, startling him for a short moment before easening into her. And his fingers curled around her waist as he deepened the kiss, pressing her more against his side when suddenly the loud noise of a roaring engine echoed from down the street. Causing their lips to abrubtly part and he sighed disappointedly. Already knowing who it was.

Brushing a streak of hair off her face, he pecked her lips one more time before taking her hand to help her get off the stone.

And as they walked to the red Fiat that had come to a halt in front of them, ignoring the grins of the guys in the driver and passenger seat, Yoongi could already spot the reason for them taking so long. Three pizza boxes stacked neatly on the backseat when entering and another opened one on Taehyung's lap. The younger guy already munching on a piece of pizza when throwing them an innocent grin.

"Was hungry and thought we could all do some late-night snack."

»»»

Half an hour and four empty pizza boxes later the car parked in an alleyway behind their hide-out. An old fashioned Italian building in the north-east of the city. Having avoided any main streets where they could've come across police.

Everyone was tired and yawning when stumbling inside and climbing up the stairs. Soyeon's hands clutched around the fabric of Yoongi's blazer that he had given her due to her sneazing with the open car windows. It was way too big for her, but she didn't mind as she always preferred oversized clothes. Especially if they smelt as nice as his. And she trotted behind them, following them into the apartment.

Taehyung switching on the lights, ready to hit the couch when suddenly recognising a bunch of people in front of them. All pointing their guns at them. And he rolled his eyes. "Seriously now?"

"Hey!" Jimin pushed Taehyung aside with a huge grin plastered on his face as the other three held up their hands. "Pops! What ya doing here?"

"What I told your friend there," Seokjin grinned, motioning with his chin to Yoongi who was looking unimpressed. "If you guys get back to business, I'll come back as well."

"Really, pops," Taehyung dragged a sigh then, rubbing his eyes, "Your timing's miserable as always."

"Yeah, any other time I'd be happy to see you and your entourage.." Jimin pointed at Jungkook and Skylar who were standing at Seokjin's side, "But it's been a long day and we're dog-tired, so can this wait till tomorrow?"

"Why are you tired?" Yoongi mumbled behind him with a frown, "You literally drank two espressos back to back. You should be awake all night."

Jimin shushed him over his shoulder before grinning at Seokjin again who had ignored their little quarrel. The agent shook his head, laughing under his breath then. "Ya! Don't complain, it was you who purposely led us here after all." He glanced at his younger colleagues then, giving them a nod to which they moved, lowering their guns and instead got their handcuffs out. And Yoongi screwed his eyes shut, throwing his head back. 

This was exactly what he'd wanted to avoid. Getting his friends involved and arrested. And yet, it came as it had to come. Interpol got them again. Even if they had been prepared to sooner or later face Seokjin and his agents again, since they had indeed led them to Florence on purpose, it wasn't supposed to be this early. Catching them unprepared.

Yoongi couldn't help but give Taehyung and Jimin an apologetic look as they got handcuffed by Jungkook and Seokjin, to which they just shook their heads, assuring that it was alright while Skylar put handcuffs on him. Tucking at him lightly. 

"Wait," Seokjin told her suddenly and stepped forward. Only now noticing Soyeon who was standing there behind Yoongi. Her short hight letting her go unnoticed among the taller guys.

"And who are you?"

Soyeon blinked, feeling exposed and anxious not knowing what interpol would do with her. "J-Jeon Soyeon."

The agent carefully examined her to figure out if he'd come across her before. Having a sudden light-bulb-moment then. "Are you the one with the stolen necklace?"

The young woman froze, swallowing hard before nodding. Fearing she'd now get arrested as well. However, much to her surprise Seokjin only cocked a brow at her, seemingly puzzled himself he laughed out. "What are you doing here with these dorks?" His brows furrowing then voice lowered. "Did they make you participate in any crime?"

"N-no, no they didn't!" she stuttered, her voice becoming more determined then, "That crazy rich guy kidnapped me and these three here saved me." She gestured to them with a smile.

Seokjin narrowed his eyes at her for a moment, concluding she spoke the truth. And frankly, he wasn't the slightest surprised by them doing something like that. Another reason he had a secret soft spot for these specific thieves, although he'd never admit that for obvious reasons.

Besides, it didn't matter. It didn't change the fact they were wanted criminals.

He turned to Jungkook and Skylar then with an amused expression. "Guess we just found out the answer to our question." Facing Soyeon with a nod again. "We'll take your testimony at the station."

"She won't get in any trouble, right?" Yoongi asked worriedly, glancing at her then at Seokjin. And Soyeon smiled at him in awe. Even with an agent holding him handcuffed and arresting him, he still bothered for her.

Seokjin oy rolled his eyes at the question. Lightly pushing Jimin out of the door, causing him to stumble against Soyeon. "Told you already, she won't."

And the four got escorted out.

»»»

"I'm gonna be honest," Skylar spoke up then after a long time of silence between her and Jungkook. They were sitting in the car, following the transporter with the captives and Seokjin through the narrow streets of Florence when she felt the urge to speak up her mind. "I got mixed feelings right now."

Jungkook, who had nodded off shortly due to the late hour, thinking that Jimin maybe wasn't so wrong in proposing postponing the arrest to the morning, stirred up by her voice. Glancing at her with knitted brows. "Huh, what? Why?"

"Because.. I don't know," the blonde sighed, stopping at a traffic light. "We had put them behind us, didn't we? I, at least, had accepted that with them settling in Taiwan, we wouldn't cross paths ever again. Even inspector Kim had accepted it and went to the research unit. And I was kinda glad we wouldn't have to deal with them anymore..?"

Jungkook hummed, stretching his arms. "Yeah, I get it. I also thought that chapter was closed." A yawn left his lips then. "I mean, what's the point in arresting them if they simply escape again anyway."

"Exactly.."

"But see, it's our job. We wouldn't do it right if we just let them slide."

Skylar's glance fell on the steering wheel. Not able to deny his words and yet, a tiredness overcame her. "You're right, I guess.."

"Hey, Sky, look at me," he said softly and her eyes slowly wandered to him. Seeing him grin boyishly. "You're the team leader now, don't forget that. Even if they escape again, it's up to you to make it as hard as possible for them to do so."

And the younger agent couldn't help but smile at this.

He always found a way to encourage and assure her whenever she doubted herself or the job. And she loved that about him, his never-ending enthusiasm.

She leaned over towards him then, placing a quick kiss on his cheek before the light turned back green. Quickly sitting back, she drove off. Ignoring Jungkook's astonished expression that was soon replaced by a mischievious smirk.

"During work? Thought that was frowned upon," he said, stifling a chuckle.

Skylar simply shrugged, smirking. "There's no one here to see us though."

The older guy sighed and leaned back with a chuckle. "Sky, Sky, Sky, since when are you so loosey-goosey? Did I finally get through to you?"

Peeking at him, a fond smile tucked on her lips as she turned into the street of the interpol branch office. "Maybe you did rub off on me a little bit over the years."

They arrived at the station. Assisting Seokjin in leading the thieves inside.

The loud noise of a phone ringing suddenly being heard. Making everyone look around when Jimin glanced at Soyeon over his shoulder, winking. "You should maybe pick up that call," he said with a lopsided smirk, before getting nudged further down the corridor.

Soyeon's eyes widened and she looked down. Realising the ringing was indeed coming from her. She patted over the blazer until coming across a cellphone in the pocket. Wondering if it had been there all along. "H-hello?"

"Jimin, whe- Who are you?" An upset sounding female voice answered on the other line. Soyeon blinked confused and lowered the phone to actually read the caller ID. 'Bella-baby'.

Her brows rose. This was Jimin's phone. When did he-?

She quickly turned away, continuing in a more hushed tone. "He's in a situation right now.. I'm Soyeon."

"Oh.. let me guess, they got arrested again?"

"Y-yeah."

"By pops?"

She was about to ask who Arabella meant, when she remembered them calling agent Kim like that. "Y-yeah, by him."

"Oh!" the older girl exclaimed excitedly, "Were Kookie and Skylar also there?"

Soyeok blinked, taken-aback. Not having expected such enthusiasm when talking about the people who arrested her boyfriend and his friends. "Ehm, yeah. Agent Jeon and Blake were also there."

"Aw, just like back in the days!"

Jimin watched her quickly excusing herself and rushing to the restrooms, fearing of any agents eavesdropping. And he smiled to himself, knowing exactly who the caller was when they were led through an office room with several desks. Spotting another two agents at a corner. The gang immediately recognising them from a few years ago.

"Ayy," Jimin laughed out with a wide smile, "I know you guys! Thanks for taking care of those idiots back then." 

Hoseok and Namjoon exchanged a glance when seeing the three thieves being brought into the back cells.

"Should I say 'you're welcome'?" Hoseok whispered irritated to Namjoon, to which his colleague only shook his head with a dismissive look.

"It was our job, we didn't do him a favour."

Hoseok nodded in relief, seeing Seokjin coming their way then. "So, apparently our mutual friend Felipe is now also involved in kidnapping," he laughed dryly, shaking his head as he pulled out a chair to take a seat.

Namjoon huffed at this new information, folding his strong arms in front of his chest. "That's quite the progress from mere art smuggling."

"And enough to hold something against him in exchange for info," Hoseok mumbled, "At least I hope so. He's currently our only potential source to getting closer to his business partners."

While the art smuggling part of Felipe Rossi's business fell under Seokjin, Skylar and Jungkook's department, the organised crime part fell under Hoseok's. And some specific parts of his business partners' crimes fell under Namjoon's special victims department. Resulting in the two partnering up with the robbery department again just like a few years ago.

"You think he'll sing though?" Seokjin wasn't fully convinced, doubting the plan would work out this easily. "According to the rumours that Morita isn't to be trifled with. Perhaps he'll prefer going to prison than snitching on him."

"Perhaps, but it's worth a try."

»»»

next chapter: 1.2 here

Don't forget to like, reblog & leave feedback!♡

It motivates me to keep writing :)

[ejzah]

The Other Shoe, Part 11

***

A week from the day Deeks accepted Sam’s offer, he, Kensi, and Sam all sat in Dr. Nehme’s office to complete the initial part of the donor process. Later today, they’d meet with Deeks’ entire transplant team to discuss the next steps.

“Mr. Hanna, since being a living donor comes with not insignificant risks and possible lifelong changes, there’s some things we need to go over,” Dr. Nehme told Sam.

“It’s Sam. And I already know the risks and I’m not having any second thoughts,” Sam replied calmly. While Kensi and Deeks were both obviously nervous, he seemed perfectly at ease. “Deeks has saved my life more times than I can count, gave me four more years than I would have had with my wife, and is one of the people I trust most. He’s my brother.”

Deeks squeezed Kensi’s hand, touched and overwhelmed by Sam’s words.

“I understand why you want to help him,” Nehme said gently. “It’s a courageous and selfless thing you’re doing. However, I find especially when it comes to friends and family, that sometimes the outcome and risks can be unexpected. I want to make sure we’re all on the same page.”

“Believe me, I’ve done my research. But go ahead; I know you have a protocol to follow.” Sam lifted his hand for the doctor to continue, and Nehme blinked a couple times in bemusement at having his meeting hijacked.

Deeks had a feeling Dr. Nehme was in for a trying time as he met more of the team. He’d have to warm him before he encountered Eric and Nell with their ever mounting pile of nephrology research.

“Ok then. I like to start by discussing the short term risks immediately following surgery. Obviously, there’ll be pain—”

Kensi snorted, pressing her lips together when all three men turned to look at her in sunrise. “Sorry,” she apologized. “Once you get into his medical history, I think you’ll understand.”

“I’ve had a few…incidents with work,” Sam explained vaguely.

“Yes, I noticed,” Nehme commented dryly. “Very impressive. Alright, moving on. There are also risks for infection, pneumonia, blood clotting issues, collapsed lung, issues with the urinary tract, and of course, death. Now, some of these are mitigated by your excellent health, prior injuries aside.”

“Do you have percentages for these risks?” Deeks asked.

“Not at the moment, but I can provide them if you’d like.”

“Relax, Deeks,” Sam said. “I’m not concerned.”

Deeks ignored him. “Thank you, doctor. I’d appreciate that. What about the long term risks. I read that some donors develop high blood pressure afterwards.”

“Yes, that and other chronic conditions are a possibility,” Nehme agreed.

“My family hasn’t had high blood pressure, cholesterol, or diabetes going back four generations,” Sam spoke up again. “And even if that happens, I can handle it better than you can with kidney disease. So hush up, and let the doctor finish.”

“Thank you, Mr. Hanna,” Nehme said wryly. “There are some other details you can look over before we meet with the entire team, but I did want to emphasize that this will likely impact your livelihood. I understand you hold a law enforcement position, and living donors are often restricted from that type of career.”

“I’m aware. I’ve made my peace with that possibility.” Sam glanced back at Deeks as he said it, as though he wanted to make sure Deeks hear and understood him. “I didn’t make this decision lightly or impulsively.”

“Well, then I think that’s everything for now. I’ll see you back with the entire team in an hour.”

***

“So, how’s it feel?” Sam asked as they walked out of the medical complex. After four hours, and multiple meetings, they had a plan to go forward. “In a little less than a month, you’ll have a new kidney. Well, slightly used, but in perfect condition.

Deeks smiled around a yawn; after everything today, he felt completely exhausted. Which wasn’t that usual these days.

“A little surreal,” Deeks admitted. Having resigned himself to being on the donor waiting list, it now felt strange that everything was now moving ahead so quickly.

Beside him, Kensi threaded her fingers through his, leaning into his side.

“I know I already said this, but, uh, thank you, Sam. This is such an incredible sacrifice. A gift.”

“Yes,” Kensi murmured, gratitude in her eyes. “Thank you, Sam.”

“Hey, I can’t have you going on without your shaggier half.” Smirking, he squeezed each other their shoulders, his sobering slightly. “I meant what I said,” he continued, speaking directly to Deeks. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you.

“Man, you can’t keep saying things like that,” Deeks muttered, clearing his throat roughly. “The medication has me crying at Folgers commercials.”

“Now, don’t get yourself too worked up, cause I’d do it for anyone on the team,” Sam said teasingly.

“Kilbride?”

Sam grimaced at Deeks suggestion. “Eh, I’d have to consider.”

“What about Rogers?” Kensi asked.

“Now you’re just being ridiculous.” Releasing them with a final squeeze, Sam nodded towards the parking lot. “C’mon, let’s get some food. You’re looking too damn scrawny, Deeks.”

***

A/N: After a very long break, I’m back with this story. I hope you still enjoy it. As always, I try to make the medical elements somewhat realistic, but there will be mistakes or irregularities.

[weirdraccoon]

Tom's First Murder

Tom stood as still as a statue and as pale as a ghost. Delphini was hissing apologies and excuses behind him while the Ravenclaw girl laid lifeless at his feet.

In the back of his mind, he was aware that he wasn’t breathing. However, he felt about to crash down, to drop into the worst panic attack of panic attacks. He didn’t dare blink, in case the body was still there when he opened his eyes. He didn’t dare move, in case it brought someone’s attention to this.

How did it look?

Tom Sallow, from the Gaunt bloodline, standing over a lifeless girl in the girls’ bathroom with a huge basilisk at his back.

And it was not any girl either.

It was that Ravenclaw, Myrtle Warren, the one with a crush on Harry, his Harry.

There was a motive.

There was a tool - a beast in this case.

There was the fact that he was still standing at the crime scene and he couldn’t get to fucking move-

“¡Tom!”

Professor Sallow took him by his shoulders and shook him. But it wasn’t Professor Sallow at that moment. It was Uncle Ominis. Worried pale eyes looking in his direction, close to meeting his own eyes, wand pulsing irregularly, taking in the scene he walked into. 

Tom couldn’t help but notice that Ominis seemed to be ignoring the two big elephants in the room, keeping his main focus on the boy that caused everything.

“I didn’t-” he began to say, hating how his voice stuttered, how he sounded his age for once.

“Hush, hush, I’m just glad you’re fine,” Ominis replied, wrapping his arms around the boy in a warm hug.

“But-

“Hush,” Ominis repeated, then turned his head to the hissing noises of the basilisk. “ Go back to the Chamber,” he ordered, and Tom was again wrapped in the feeling of home at listening to his dad’s parseltongue, the one thing he and only he shared with Tom. “Tom,” he called, getting the boy’s attention back. “I’m going to take you to your dormitory, and I need you to promise that you won’t leave it until tomorrow morning for breakfast.”

Tom stared at Ominis with a couple of tears gathering in his eyes.

“What about-”

“I’ll handle it,” Ominis said. “Your mom and dad might come to visit,” he added. “I just want you to stay in your dormitory, and convince your classmates that you were there the whole night. Forget this happened, for now.”

“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” Tom whispered.

Ominis sighed. There he was, his fifteen-year-old, following two of his parents' footsteps and staining his hands with blood at a young age. None of them were clean, though, how was he supposed to punish him when they -the three of them- were no better.

“We’ll talk about this later,” he promised. “Try to act like your usual self. No one can suspect you, ok?”

Tom nodded, forcing himself to keep the tears at bay.

“Good,” Ominis smiled, ushering him out of the bathroom and through the hallway towards the Slytherin wall. “We’ll be waiting tomorrow in my office after breakfast.”

Tom nodded once more and entered the common room, making a beeline to his dormitory where he eyed his dormmates with his usual cold calculated gaze.

“What were we doing?”

Being a Gaunt descendant had its perks, even if some hated that the name was lost to Sallow. But no matter. Gaunt, Sallow or Sayre, Tom and his family were respected and feared on the same level.

Ominis, meanwhile, was levitating a girl’s body down to the Chamber. He didn’t want Ishbel or Sebastian in there, mainly because Delphini could very well kill them as she did with Warren, but he couldn’t take it up to the Charm’s classroom or his office or his quarters.

Someone could see. Tom had… special problems with the Transfiguration Professor and Ominis wouldn’t let him blame Tom for this. Even if this time Tom was to blame.

“Go hide, ” he ordered the basilisk. “I’ll tell you when you can come back outside,” Delphini hissed sadly about disappointing his young Master when she left. Ominis deposited the body in a corner, running his hand through his hair. “Honestly, why couldn’t he adopt a stray cat?”

Then he went to his office and send an owl to his spouses. Not ten minutes later, they were crossing the floo flame, looking worried.

“Where’s Tom?” Ishbel asked, looking around the office.

“I sent him to his dorm. Thought he should have an alibi.”

“An alibi?” Sebastian repeated, raising his eyebrows. “What did he do? Kill someone?”

Ominis hadn’t written details for obvious reasons. He just told them they needed to come as soon as possible. His silence, however, was answer enough.

“I’m surprised it wasn’t you,” Ishbel joked weakly, turning to Sebastian.

“Hey!” Sebastian scoffed. “I’ll have you know that the kid and I have been getting along really well lately.”

“Yeah, since you began teaching him dangerous spells,” Ishbel smirked. “I guess if it worked with us it’d work with him,” she signaled to Ominis and herself. “You get to bond with him!”

Ominis shook his head. He had expected it, them not taking this seriously enough, but he had hoped. He cleared his throat.

“I followed his pet’s frantic hissing to the girl’s bathroom,” he explained. “He was in shock and clearly traumatized. I can only guess, but it seemed like Delphini came out before he could clear the room and this Ravenclaw girl saw her.”

“Ouch,” Ishbel grimaced. “The first murder is always the hardest. Especially if it was an accident. Can’t we see him?”

Ominis shook his head.

“Maybe tomorrow,” he said. “I told him to come here after breakfast. I called you to help me with the body. We can’t leave it in the Chamber, after all, someone could track it.”

“Wait, hold on,” Sebastian raised a hand. “The Chamber. The Chamber of Secrets? Is it real!? And you didn’t tell us?”

Ominis could only imagine the kicked-puppy look Sebastian was sporting at that moment. He could also picture Ishbel mirroring him. They did spend their last year at Hogwarts looking for clues to that particular secret. After the Scriptorium, anything was possible.

“I told you it was in the bathroom!”

“No, you said there was a snake in a sink,” Sebastian turned to Ishbel.

“And you said it was impossible for it to be in the bathroom!” Ishbel crossed her arms. “Only because it was the girls’ bathroom, I bet.”

“Ominis and I couldn’t just walk in!”

“Of course, you could,” Ishbel said. “I was always sneaking into your dorm and the lockers!”

“It’s different.”

“Is not.”

“Guys!” Ominis exclaimed, sending red sparks from his wand as he did in classes and he had to get his students’ attention. “Tom, please.”

“Oh, yeah,” Sebastian rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry.”

“Well, let’s go,” Ishbel said, hopping to the door. “I knew he didn’t just find a stray basilisk. This makes much more sense.”

With the help of Ishbel’s Ancient Magic and Sebastian’s Unspeakable secret knowledge, they were able to completely erase the body from existence. Ominis, for good measure, swept the bathroom with a charm and cleaned any hint of Tom’s magic and presence from the room. 

Ishbel went to Ravenclaw tower and the girl’s dorm (it only took her two tries to solve the riddle) and raid the girl’s belongings in silence, making sure to not wake up the other two girls. She took everything that looked important to be able to claim that she left on her own.

From what she read in her diary, it wouldn’t be hard to believe. This Warren girl was as bullied as Puffskein Dunkein, and as likable as Cressida Blume. She also wrote a few days ago about how she wished “she could be anywhere else”.

Ishbel left the diary under the pillow with a giddy smile, then she pocketed the rest of the belongings and scurried back to Ominis’ office. Her two husbands were sprawled over the couch, listing with his fingers to make sure they didn’t forget anything.

They fell asleep, recounting how they felt about their first murder, and planning what they were going to tell Tom in the morning.

To Ominis and Ishbel’s surprise, it was Sebastian who talked to him first. In retrospect, it made sense, because Sebastian was the one who suffered the most that one time. Tom cried a little and apologized, and vowed to be more careful.

Ishbel crushed him in a hug.

“Don’t worry about it Tomtom,” she shushed.

Once Tom left for his classes, Sebastian and Ishbel turned to Ominis with matching grins.

“Don’t say it.”

“Our precious dark lord,” Ishbel gushed.

“His very first murder,” Sebastian continued.

“I've got to write to Imelda,” Ishbel said. “She’s gonna win so many bets with the others.”

“I should go to work,” Sebastian mussed. “Let me know when we’re looting the Chamber.”

Ominis facepalmed.

“Sure, I have a NEWT class anyway,” he waved them off.

[hammerhead-jpg]

Talking about the balance

Spoilers under the cut!

So I was looking at old theory (?) post I made about the Balance

My prediction was that Elliott, Aaron and Smartass were in some way going to team up with Avior and Starlight to take down close-knit and that Vega and Warden were gonna have something to do with it

I mean it makes sense right? Avior and Starlight escaped the meridian around the same time that Elliott was let out of close-knit and went to Aaron for help.

They were both given the same mission about the Sovereign trying to escape and both have beef with Blake

I ended up being right about Vega and Warden having something to do with it, I mean they still haven't shown up in the story but Vega talks about going after close-knit, so it's very likely their paths were going to cross.

But after the newest Sovereign state video I'm starting to second guess myself?

After what Circinus said about the masses blaming Avior and Starlight for what happened and El'atum and Min'era (or however it's fucking spelled) potentially having sinister intentions and the fact that the news about the Sovereign still haven't broke to the public a year and a half later, to me it's clear that Avior and Starlight are in some way behind project meridian.

I mean, it makes sense right? Avior and Starlight decide not to go public and help the Meridian in the way that El'atum and Min'era wanted, instead it is kept private as a secret with the department. They try to find a way to learn about the meridian with the meridian test, but after a human gets brain fried and a demon just falls through the meridian, they descide that an android could potentially do the experiment correctly. They find a company that is creating a humanoid robot and take over it for the project.

But if they're doing that, who is gonna be helping Elliott?

I guess they can meet, but if they do then Avior could just go to the Government people they're working with just like "hey this demon hating cult kidnapped two people and a demon and have information about the sovereigns" I imagine close-knit would be level to the ground within a blink, but we know that they're still standing a year and a half later

I mean is Vega just going to show up to close-knit, take down the ward to try and break in and then thus helping Scorpius leave and take Sunshine with him? You could say that they escape shortly after the post inversion and all the other time that is left is them trying to figure out how to take down close-knit, maybe even teaming up with William, because it still was never said which demon they got the blood from.

But then the question is why wouldn't they go to the department? Elliott couldn't go to the department because they were overwhelmed with the inversion but surely after a couple of months they would be able to listen to what they have to say? I mean we know the department sucks so it wouldn't be too surprising if Elliott did tell them and they just went "well do you have any proof?" and when tell them to go to the close-knit building they go there and say "do you have people in your basement" and they go "no" and the department is like "ok" and then they go to Elliott and say "well they said they didn't do it"

It wouldn't be the first time in history something like that has happened

I know I just said a couple of paragraphs ago that if Avior told the government people about close-knit they would take care of it but I imagine that the people working with them would be a small super secret part of the department and not the whole department, potentially one that takes shit seriously unlike the peons that we usually see

But yeah I don't know, I'm just word vomiting at this point.

[dreaming-for-an-escape]

Dearest Boy

Summary: Matías loves his mother and sisters, but the same can not be said about his father.

A/N: This is a continuation of the AU One-Shot I wrote, Dark Paradise. So if you haven’t read that yet I highly suggest you do.But basically the Greens won, Aegon was never burned in battle, Helaena is alive but mentally isn’t doing well, Jaehaera is the only child of Aegon and Helaena who survived, and the most important thing to remember is Adrian never managed to go back to her world.Also, for those who are wondering Matías face-claim is Tom Blyth.

Warnings: Childbirth, miscarriages, children wanting to commit patricide, mentions of non-con and drugging by milk of the poppy, Aemond being a shitty husband by getting Adrian pregnant despite her physical and mental health, a severely depressed Adrian, surprisingly Aemond’s a good (?) father mainly to his daughters but that doesn’t excuse his possessiveness/obsessiveness toward his wife, incest (duh this is HotD).

The birth of Adrian’s only son took half as long as the birth of her twin daughters. Her water broke in the middle of a luncheon in the room she was being kept in by the orders of her husband. She screamed at the first contraction and didn’t stop screaming until after the sun went down.

There were hardly any stars that night as a storm had formed, loud as the woman who was bringing new life into the world. A world that was not the one she was born into. A world she was not allowed to leave and go back to her real home because of her husband’s selfishness.  

“A healthy baby boy, my prince and princess.” Grand Maester Orwyle informed the married couple once he gave the infant a quick clean. His skin was as fair as snow with tufts of silver hair on his head. “He has your coloring, my prince.”

Aemond stared at his son, blinking and eye shining but with no tears shed. His son’s squirming and crying hadn’t ceased since taking his first breath. Aemond released a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding in. “A son.” He whispered, amazement slipping through when trying to reach for him but the one-eyed prince didn’t get to him in time.

“Matías.” Adrian suddenly declared, voice steady even after having given birth. The excruciating pain she felt from below went ignored by her. She pushed her exhausted body up, drenched in blood and sweat against the wooden headboard.

A few midwives tried approaching, insisting she needed to lie down but Adrian was quick to shoo them away.

“His name is Matías, in honor of my mother Marta.” Unlike the last time she gave birth, Adrian would not allow Aemond to take away her chance in naming her child.

My Matías, Adrian spared a glare at Aemond before softening her eyes when looking at her son.

Aemond had been adamant in holding her while she gave birth. He finally backed off when she slapped him during mid-push, taking off his eyepatch and revealing his sapphire. He kept his distance since then and hadn’t bothered to put his eyepatch back on.

“Give him to me.” Adrian who at twenty-five years old, now a mother of three, ordered with her arms out. “Give me my son.” Her hoarse voice from all the screaming she’d done for the last eight hours left little room for argument from either the grand maester or Aemond.

The moment her baby boy was in her arms his crying and squirming had come to an end. His eyes slowly opened and when he looked up Adrian could see the indigo in them. She smiled tearfully, not thinking of her asshat of a husband but instead her daughter Visenya who shared the same eye color as her brother. She gently kissed his forehead, snuggling him closer as she whispered words of love and protection.

Aemond reluctantly stood from afar because of her earlier slap, frowning and ever watchful.

Not once on the stormy night her dearest boy, her precious son, was born did Adrian let Aemond hold, or even come anywhere near him.

Matías was hers not Aemond’s, and he never would be.

☁⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ ▫ ┈ㆍ☁︎ㆍ┈ ▫ ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹☁

Ten years later

From an early age Matías was aware that he did not like his father. And the older he got the more he thought hate was a much better appropriate word for how he felt about him.

The list of people the boy of only ten years old hated was short, but the list of people he did love was not very long either.

There weren’t many people he trusted in King’s Landing aside from his mother and sisters.

His great grandsire Otto was stern, too stern in his opinion. At his old wrinkly age he wasn’t a joy to be around. So Matías’ solo interactions with him were infrequent.

As for his grandmother Alicent, the Dowager Queen now that his aunt Helaena had taken her place, was not someone Matías’ liked being around for long periods of time. She could get quite overwhelming, and frankly her attempts at bonding were as irritating as his father’s. They both acted as if things were fine, neither ever acknowledging the misery they’ve brought upon his mother.

When it came to his aunt Helaena, as much as Matías wanted to form a connection with her, the older woman was rarely there, lacking sound of mind. He’d been told by his mother that his aunt lost both of her sons during the war, and because of that she was no longer the same as before.

Jaehaera, his soft-spoken cousin, was the only child left of Helaena and Aegon Targaryen. Whenever Helaena was with Jaehaera he was able to catch a glimpse of what he thought was the old Helaena, lilac eyes bright and face full of vibrant peculiarity. But even those moments with her daughter never lasted.

His aunt Helaena might as well have been a stranger to Matías. The same thing could be said about his uncle Aegon. However unlike with his aunt Helaena who Matías tried getting to know, he downright ignored his uncle Aegon as much as he could.

Between his siblings, his sister Valaena interacted the most with their impertinent uncle. Valaena more than once had dumped water on Aegon in order to wake him during the middle of a meal, or did some sort of prank on him while Matías watched from the side, amused.

For not even the entertaining pranks on his uncle by one of his sisters was enough to have Matías approach him. Aegon’s drinking was the reason for that. Inebriated people disturbed Matías greatly and Aegon, even after winning the war, still went deep into his cups.

Truthfully the only family member on his father’s side Matías liked being around was his uncle Daeron. Aside from him being an overall pleasant person, Daeron also frequently talked about Julieta with him.

His mother’s younger sister and Matías' aunt, who his uncle Daeron was fortunate enough to meet way back. But with his smiles came the longing in his eyes whenever talking about the youngest Reyes sister.

Daeron may have never told him his true feelings for mother’s sister who remained in her world, but Matías figured it out on his own at a young age.  

At the very least his uncle Daeron wasn’t like his father.

An obsessive twat.  

Daeron ended up marrying Floris Baratheon, the youngest of the Four Storm sisters. They now had two boys together. Even though it was obvious to Matías that Daeron’s heart belonged to someone else, not once in his marriage with Floris had he hurt her.

Once upon a time Matías had wondered, what if his aunt Julieta had stayed in this world like his mother? Would uncle Daeron have turned out like his father?

Matías’ mind changed completely once seeing his uncle Daeron comforting his mother.  

Daeron didn’t live in King’s Landing with them, but rather in Oldtown with his wife and sons. To this day he visited whenever he could and would always bring new books with him to give to his mother, and with books came the sweets. He’d give them to her, and then kept his mother company in the gardens, often talking about Julieta. And everytime they did it ended with him saying he hoped she was healthy and happy.

This was proof enough that Daeron truly was kind and had no ulterior motives. The same could not be said about his father. Daeron and Aemond were brothers but they were so vastly different. He didn’t even share many qualities with Aegon either, which Matías thought was a good thing.

Today Daeron had come to visit them but he didn’t stay for long. On dragonback he returned to Oldtown to his wife and two sons before dinner was served. Daeron’s she-dragon Tessarion was one of the few dragons that were left after the war.

A total of six dragons remained, three of which were new dragons.

Vhagar in her old age surprised everyone, her rider the most, by laying a clutch of a total of three eggs a fortnight after Matías was born.

Three eggs.  

One for Matías, which was placed next to his cradle and the other two for the twins who did not get to have dragon eggs of their own when they'd been born a year ago.

Another fortnight passed before all three eggs hatched simultaneously.  

Visenya’s she-dragon Saphira, who Aemond named for her before Adrian ever had a chance to, was a stunning steel blue. Valaena’s own she-dragon, Dawnfire, who Aemond also named, was an intriguing mixture of bronze, orange and yellow colors.  

It was Matías’ dragon, the only male of the clutch, that let everyone know who must’ve sired the eggs with Vhagar.

Matías' dragon Aurelius was given the name by Adrian in honor of her grandmother Aurelia. Aemond hadn’t taken that opportunity away from her, much like when naming her son.

Aurelius was black with only his tail having the same coloring as Vhagar, and was already twice the size of his female siblings. His eyes instead of a green and brownish color was a pure copper, exactly like Vhagar.

The three new dragons stayed with the older dragons in the Dragonpit which had been rebuilt. Vhagar and Cannibal were able to reside in the Dragonpit because of how spacious they made it.

Cannibal though was now kept locked away from the other dragons, and Matías knew this was done on purpose. He never saw his mother ride her ferocious dragon, and whenever he asked her about him all she could get out was how lonely her sweetface of a dragon must be. Once his mother’s dark brown eyes filled with tears he stopped asking further questions about the Cannibal.

Matías hated seeing his mother cry but unfortunately it was something he witnessed a lot growing up, especially while in the presence of his father.

The family of five was now having dinner in his grandmother’s apartments. The Dowager Queen was not with them, having gone off to be with Helaena who was having a bad day, more so than usual. The Queen often had days where she could not get out of bed, mumbling the names of the sons she had lost because of the war.

His great grandsire Otto preferred having dinner alone in his solar. Quite frankly, Matías preferred that too.

Aegon was shockingly not passed out drunk in his chambers but instead made his way to the royal gardens to be with his daughter. Jaehaera had mentioned to them about wanting to watch the bugs that light up in the night as she ate her dinner.

Matías' mother said in her world they were called fireflies.

Jaehaera, in similarity to what Helaena used to do, frequented the royal gardens, mornings and afternoons, reading about the bugs Helaena once loved to talk about according to his mother.

His uncle Aegon tagged along with Jaehaera during these visits, but would keep quiet, his gaze on his daughter one of sadness. And he knew this because of his sister Visenya.

Like Jaehaera, Visenya also loved the royal gardens. She and Jaehaera spent a lot of time there together, sometimes even with Aegon who looked like a melancholic statue of himself.

But as Visenya spoke all she could mention about today was the positives, even if they were small. Matías' sister Visenya was the ray of sunshine his desolate family desperately needed.

“I saw a beautiful butterfly today that reminded me of Saphira but I didn’t have the heart to keep her so I let her go.”

Aemond hummed, smiling at his eldest daughter, the most sensitive of the twins. His sweet Visenya. He turned to look at his wife, his smile dimming at the far away look he saw.

“My love?” He squeezed her hand. “Did you hear what our daughter just said?”

As if she were slapped Adrian reacted with a jerk, her posture straightened. She controlled her breathing when Aemond gave her hand another squeeze. She didn’t spare him a glance, only looking at her daughter. “Yes…of course.” She gave what little smile she could muster these days. “That was nice of you, to let the butterfly go. A lively creature like that shouldn’t be kept in captivity.”

Any other words were shoved down her throat when Aemond cleared his own throat, his hand squeezing hers again. She could only blink as he leaned down to press his lips to her cheek.

There was a clang and everyone at the table turned to Matías, the reason for the noise. His goblet had fallen onto the table, spilling his water. He simply shrugged shoulders, holding back his smile from seeing his mother use the distraction to remove her hand from his father’s.

Aemond waved over a serving girl to clean up the mess. As he did so he caught his daughter, the youngest of the twins, Valaena, staring at him. Well, it was more glaring than simply staring. She was stabbing her piece of lamb on her plate repeatedly with her knife, narrowing her dark brown eyes at him with every twist she did.

“Valaena, what did I say about playing with your food?” Aemond questioned his daughter who possessed so much fire in her. Some days though she resembled a rabid wolf than a dragon.

Valaena stabbed her piece of lamb again, a lot harder than before and never breaking eye contact with him. From beside her Visenya passed a napkin which Valaena took with a quiet thank you. She set the napkin on her lap, and then continued stabbing her piece of lamb.  

Aemond opened his mouth, ready to scold his daughter to quit acting out but his wife’s soft voice beat him to it.

“Valaena.”

Unlike how she reacted to her father, Valaena listened to her mother with no retorts, or questions.

“Yes mother.”

The youngest of the twins set aside her knife and grabbed a fork. She resumed eating the already cut pieces, making sure to nod her mother’s way before giving her father another glare.  

Aemond merely huffed, returning his attention toward his wife again. Like before Adrian was in her own world again, looking ahead but with nothing in mind.

His sister Helaena and his wife shared this in common. He, however, thought Helaena to be more vacant than Adrian. That did not discourage him from kissing his wife’s cheek again.

Aemond didn’t see Visenya's expression change into concern when looking at her mother, or the glares his other two children were giving him.

The rest of dinner went quietly with the exception of Visenya who occasionally added a comment in an attempt to break tension.

Matías looked over to his mother’s plate that had barely been touched. This sadly wasn’t surprising. His mother barely ate nowadays, not even when her favorite meals were served to her. She disliked meat, so she was always served fruits and vegetables but that did nothing to get her appetite back. However, as long as his father saw her take a bite or two he would be satisfied.

“Come my perzys hen ñuha prūmia, I wish for us to head back to our chambers. The children will see themselves out once they finish their desserts.”

Aemond smiled, his arm wrapping around Adrian’s waist to guide her to stand. His hand settled on her stomach as he led them to their chambers. His smile almost vanished at the flatness he felt. There was no bump but soon enough there will be, tonight would ensure that.

From the way Adrian walked slowly, trying to separate herself from him it seemed he would need to have tea dosed with the milk of the poppy be made for her tonight. That always did the trick to make her more compliant to his affections, something he started doing a few years following Matías’ birth. After Aemond beheaded Alys, the raven haired and emerald eyed witch who corrupted his lovely wife.  

Adrian caught on quickly to what he was doing to her, resulting in him needing to have her be held down so he could force the tea down her throat. Lately, she’d been fighting less as if realizing there was no point in trying to get him off her. He would have her whether she wanted it or not.  

Some may view it as an immoral thing to do, maybe even rivaling Aegon’s terrible ways but unlike his eldest brother who treated women with a cruel hand, Aemond was nothing but loving and generous to his wife even when she was nearing an unconscious state. He always made sure Adrian was wet enough by licking her pearl of nerves, waiting until she peaked in her haze. Afterwards he would finally sink into her, tight as ever until her peachy slick leaked along with his seed.

Aemond had been telling himself for years now that there was nothing wrong with his actions, for Adrian was his wife and this was her duty. She would do what a wife must to please her husband, even if she needed to be on milk of the poppy to do so.

Matías glared at his father’s tall retreating form. He wanted to rip him away from his mother, knowing even in his young mind how much she hated being near him. Matías had seen her looks of disgust, the way she would recoil from his touches. He wasn’t blind like his father was despite his remaining eye.

Alas, Matías was only a boy of ten years, and there was only so much he could do. He’d frequently repeat this in his head to feel less guilty, but nevertheless he felt like he was failing his mother. He switched his gaze over to Valaena, who he was aware she felt the same as him.

“Visenya, why don’t you head back to your chambers.” Valaena suggested in a casual manner once their mother and father were gone.

Visenya frowned a little, glancing down at her plate. “But I haven’t finished my dessert yet. It’s marzipan cake. Father had it especially made for us.”

Marzipan cake was a dessert that both twins favored, although Valaena didn't show as much gratitude, or any really, to their father as Visenya did. Neither Valaena or Matías faulted her for this since Visenya was a naturally kind person to everyone . Her kindness even extended to their uncle Aegon.

Someone could literally yell at Visenya and she’d find some reason to apologize to them. Anyone that did dare yell at her would suffer the dire consequences from Matías and Valaena.

The point was they seriously doubted Visenya had a single mean bone in that small body of hers.

Now Matías didn’t enjoy marzipan cake as much as the twins, being more partial to strawberry pudding. But that didn’t really matter to his father. Were Matías’ feelings hurt that his father didn’t serve his favorite dessert as much as his twin sisters? No, not really. Seeing Visenya happy was a sight to behold, and Valaena would agree with him.

Valaena gave her older twin a shrug. “Take it with you then. Here, you can take my slice.” She slid her plate that had her slice of untouched marzipan cake. She wasn’t going to eat it anyways, she hardly ever ate desserts that were made from her father’s orders. If her mother had especially made it for her that would’ve been a different story.

Matías slid his own plate over to his eldest sister, smiling for her sake. “Take mine as well.”

Visenya returned the smile, kissing both of her siblings on the forehead before skipping off with her plate that now had three slices of marzipan cake.

It didn’t take much convincing the servers that were there to leave. There were guards but they were stationed outside, meaning the young siblings were able to speak freely now that it was just the two of them in their grandmother’s apartments.

“I hate him.” Matías hissed like a snake ready to sink its venom in its prey, or in this case its enemy.

“The feeling is mutual.” Valaena agreed, her tone as acidic as his.

Matías pursed his lips the exact same way his mother would. He looked at where his mother had sat and then over to father’s chair. His indigo eyes darkened. “Maybe he’ll have an accident and fall down the stairs.”

“Oh, baby brother…” Valaena smiled, though it did not reach her dark brown eyes. “If only we were that lucky.” Her face then hardened as much as it could at the age of eleven. “But even so, him falling down the stairs to his death would be too quick, too peaceful in my opinion.”

Matías realized the same as her, and then started thinking of different ways his father could perish, more painful and unimaginable.

The air in the room suddenly got cold but Matías’ blood hadn’t stopped boiling. “I don’t like mother being alone with him.”

Valaena’s expression was a mixture of anger and anguish. “Me neither.” She responded, knife in hand, stabbing what was left of her lamb. Her father’s face was who she pictured with each stab and twist.

Later on in the night Matías had awoken from a terrible nightmare. In this terrible nightmare his father was hurting his mother. Her cries for help echoed in his head as he got out of bed and ran to his parents chambers.

Matías wanted to see his mother to make sure she was okay but two guards prevented his entrance. He was escorted back to his chambers where he was forced to stay with an awful feeling in his stomach.

The young boy of ten cried himself to sleep, worrying about his mother.

Matías had no idea just how right he was to worry. His mother had been drugged, and left vulnerable to her husband’s lustful urges. That night in her half-conscious state, lying next to a man she did not love, feeling used and dirty, Adrian cried herself to sleep as well.

☁⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ ▫ ┈ㆍ☁︎ㆍ┈ ▫ ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹☁

Nine years later

At nine and ten Matías knew the fucked up lengths his father would go through to keep his mother tied to him.

His good-hearted mother, who wasn’t doing so well. Her body was much like a wilting flower, and her mind wasn’t doing any better either.  

And his father was to blame for all this.

At his mother’s late age of four and forty she suffered the loss of yet another child. Her fourth miscarriage after having him, with this pregnancy not even lasting two months.

This very morning Matías had awoken to his father yelling for the maester and when he ran into his parents’ chambers he got a glimpse of his mother. Her white nightgown and bed had been stained with so much blood. There was an empty look to her and she was unresponsive to his father. The one-eyed mad man showed more emotion, more anger as he paced around, pulling at his long silver strands.

Matías only managed to choke out his mother’s name, her dark brown eyes, dull as ever, switched over to him as he was pushed outside by orders of his father. He called out for his mother once more, only to have the doors shut in his face as his father attempted to console her. But Matías, unlike his father, wasn’t blind and even with the doors closing in on him he’d seen the way his mother cringed at his touch.  

Knowing there was no use in trying to enter his parents' chambers now that it was guarded and locked, Matías had instead gone to the training yard. With a sword in hand he began striking the training dummy, imagining it was his father. How he desperately wished he was the one to bleed instead of his mother.

That’s where Valaena found him.

Matías didn’t need to turn around, he just knew his sister stood a few feet behind him. He heard growing up that it was twins who were always able to sense each other’s presence. That was true when it came to Visenya and Valaena, but it was also true with Matías and both of his sisters.

“Visenya is with mother.” Valaena reported, her throat dry and hurting from preventing her crying. Her mother’s weak form in her sister’s arms lingered in her head. “The grand maester gave her some essence of nightshade.”

Matías hadn’t stopped his striking, imagining his sword was gouging out his father’s remaining eye. “There was a lot of blood, way more than last time.”

“She’s getting older.” Valaena’s usual sternness on her face was replaced with concern for their mother. “Complications in pregnancies arise in women the older they get. She should’ve not been pregnant to begin with, not after the last pregnancy.”

Their brute father hadn’t even waited a year to get their poor mother pregnant again. Her last miscarriage, despite lasting five months, didn't leave her bleeding as much as this failed pregnancy had.

“This is killing her. He’s killing her!” Matías stabbed the training dummy right where his father’s heart would’ve been.

Valaena looked around the training yard, glad no one else was there to hear them. They were no doubt in the castle, talking amongst themselves about the tragedy of the day. “If he has any love for her as he so-called claims, maybe he’ll stop now.”

Matías finally turned to look at Valaena, sword lowered to the ground. His breathing was erratic, face red, and indigo eyes blazing. “All he cares about is what he wants, what makes him happy, not her own happiness.”

That certainly was the truth. Their father was a selfish man, the most selfish person they’ve ever met. He couldn’t go more than a few days without being near their mother, suffocating her with his supposed love.

“I have trouble remembering the last time she smiled.” Valaena admitted in a somber tone.

Their mother would give small quirks here and there for their sake but an actual smile? One as blinding as the sun didn’t happen these days anymore, not like before.

Matías recalled a time when his mother did smile, laughed even, and was content despite their father’s presence.

“I have memories of her smiling when I was little.” Matías began, voice softening along with his expression. “When she was with…”

Emerald eyes, and hair dark as a raven flashed in his mind. For a moment Matías thought he heard a tuneful laugh fill the air.

Valaena’s eyes widened, her twenty year old self remembering her youth. “You know mother doesn’t like talking about her . It only makes it worse for her.”

Matías clenched his jaw. “Alys’ memory shouldn’t cause her distress but it does because of him.”

Alys sadly wasn’t in his life for long, just until he was five. He was able to remember her well enough though. Matías remembered the close relationship Alys had with his mother. Even as a child he knew there was something more than platonic going along between his mother and her handmaiden.

Matías found their presence to be soothing, and craved being near them. But his father had eventually found them out, and he put an end to the harmony they were able to create.

At five years old Matías witnessed his mother become so distraught as Alys was dragged away.  He hadn’t gone to Alys’ execution but his mother had been forced to attend by orders of his father.

The sounds of his mother crying, screaming, and begging his father to stop from outside had drifted into his chambers. Her cries and screams haunted his dreams for years to come.

What made things worse was that his father kept his mother away from him and the twins for a full month afterwards. He claimed he did this so the witch’s influence would leave his mother’s mind, body, and soul. But Matías and his sisters knew there was no influence.

Alys hadn’t put a spell on his mother. His father just didn’t want to believe that his mother had willingly been with Alys, that she had real feelings for her.  

“She loved her, Valaena.” Matías earnestly voiced.

Valaena lowered her dark brown eyes, sighing. “I know she did.”

No more words were uttered between them.

Valaena initiated the hug, finally allowing herself to cry in a moment of vulnerability with her brother.

Usually Visenya was the one to start the emotional moments between them but she was currently with their mother, offering her comfort during this time of despair.

It was because of this that the hug felt incomplete, but it would have to do. When it was over Valaena excused herself, and made her way back inside the castle to have a moment to herself.

Matías stayed in the training yard. His sadness faded, and he picked up his sword to continue releasing his anger. He didn’t know how much time had passed, just that when he saw his father approach the sun was already setting.

The training dummy’s head was decapitated by him the moment his father stood next to it. The reaction Matías got from the one-eyed prince was a mere eyebrow raise, as if saying, now what?

Matías set aside his sword to grab another training dummy. He should’ve known better to assume his father would keep his stupid mouth shut.

“The grand maester says your mother should feel better in a few days. The blood loss looked much worse than it actually was. She just needs her rest.”

What a load of horse shit.

Matías wanted to punch him in his face until he felt something break. His mother would never feel better with his father around. It was known around court about the distressed crying and sounds of passion often coming from his parents chambers.

The crying being done by his mother and the sounds of passion coming from his father. The man was a leech, hardly ever letting his mother have a moment of peace once in their chambers.

“In a few months we can try again.”

Matías wanted to strangle him.

We? There was no we. It was just him who wanted another child brought into this madness. All his exhausted mother wanted was to be away from him.

“Your mother is still fertile. I know she can give me another child, another son.”

She doesn’t want another child, you dimwit!

“A son who doesn’t cause his own mother grief.”

Matías let out a growl as he dropped the training dummy he’d been holding. He turned around so quickly, leaping at his father with his dagger now out. The very same one his uncle Daeron had gifted him on his twelfth nameday. His father never gifted him any weapons and he had to admit he was smart not too.

The one-eyed mad man had a lot of nerve saying that shit considering he was the one to always start an argument between them as his poor mother watched from the sidelines.

“The only one who causes her grief is you!”

Aemond stopped his eye from widening. He forced himself to stare harshly into his son’s matching eyes. It was almost like looking in a mirror. “Taoba, what in the Seven Hells do you think—”

“She loathes you.” Matías hissed in his face. “We all loathe you.”

Aemond grabbed at the dagger, not caring that it was digging into his palm. Blood spilled and try as he might to push it away, the dagger stayed in place. “You spew lies. You may have your issues with me, Valaena as well, but your mother loves me. As does your sister Visenya.”

Matías laughed in his face, eyes wild. “Despite having one eye, your vision is shit. You might as well have no eyes. Mother doesn’t love you, she’s broken because of you. As for Visenya, she pities you. That’s the only reason she’s so fuckin’ nice. But make no mistake, just because she takes the time to read with you and joins you on walks, doesn’t mean she loves you more than mother.”

As much as it irked him, Aemond couldn’t really argue with that last part.

The only one of his children that didn’t treat him harshly was Visenya, but even her love for him wasn’t unconditional. It couldn’t hold a candle for the love she had for her mother. If it ever came to it (Aemond hoped it never did) and she had to make a choice of saving him or Adrian, she would’ve chosen her mother.

Matías continued to hold his dagger to his father’s throat, so close to slashing him wide open until he hit bone. But he withheld the move, staring deeply, with nothing but hate into his lone eye.

“You have lived too long father but not long enough to think about the pain and misery you’ve caused mother. Don’t be fooled.” Matías let go and backed away slowly, not once losing eye contact with him. “The day will come when you reap what you sow, and when it does I’ll be there, reveling in your undoing.”

Matías steadily watched his father as he departed the training yard with a stoic look. When he turned around he heard yells and the sound of things being thrown but he never looked back. He hurriedly made his way to his mother.  

The one thing Matías could at least be content about was the break his father gave his mother whenever she suffered a miscarriage. He’d come back to smother her with his attention within a day or two. So Matías would use this time wisely.

As expected there were guards outside the chambers his mother shared with his father. They didn’t stop him from entering. The first thing he saw was Visenya sitting next to their mother, holding her hand while she slept.

Matías approached, and spoke in a whispered tone. “How’s she doing?”

Visenya’s indigo eyes connected with his own. “She’s been asleep the majority of the afternoon, hardly any tossing and turning.” She sniffled. “I think she’s okay, as okay as she can be after what happened to her.”

Matías put a hand on his sister’s shoulder, gently squeezing. “Why don’t you get something to eat? I’ll stay with her for now.”

Visenya nodded her head, leaning down to kiss her mother on the forehead before getting up. She only took a few steps before she turned around to face him. “Did you…did you come across father?” She asked nervously.

Matías took a deep breath, calming himself. “Yes, I did.”

Visenya picked at her nails, similar to the way Matías would see his grandmother Alicent do. It was an awful habit that he hoped Visenya would stop doing. He didn’t want his sister to have scars, even tiny ones, like his grandmother had.

“Just so you know, I’m angry with him too. I…I hate that he keeps doing this to her.” Visenya looked back to where their mother laid. “She deserves better.”

When she looked at him, Matías saw tears go down her face.

There was no doubt that Visenya was father's favorite. Her kind behavior toward him was the main reason why. His kindhearted sister who wanted to see the best in everyone.

As much as Matías wanted to shake some sense into her he knew she had to come to that conclusion on her own, just as Valaena and him had. It appeared she was already on her way, though.

Maybe she’d feel entirely the same way they did about him once she was wed, and away from King’s Landing. However both Visenya and Valaena were already twenty and not betrothed.

Funny how his father wanted him married before his sisters. He was nineteen and his father was still searching for a suitable bride for him. Jaehaera would’ve been a contender for Matías but she ended up betrothed to another lord, much to his luck. He loved his cousin but he wasn’t eager to wed or bed her. She was a friend to him, nothing else.

While all this occurred his father hadn’t even bothered searching for betrothals for either of his sisters

Rickon Stark, Cregan Stark’s the Lord of Winterfell, son had been suggested as a husband for one of his sisters. His father nearly sent the man who said that into an early grave. His father was not a fan of the North, complaining it was an icy wasteland.

His father once tried making a match between him and Visenya and Matías nearly threw up hearing the suggestion. Visenya kept quiet, but her wide watery eyes let him and everyone know she was not on board either.

It was only after his mother broke out of her shell of depression, and yelled at his father that the suggestion was forgotten about. His father didn’t even try suggesting a match between Matías and Valaena. Marriage outside house Targaryen to another noble house would have to be done no matter how much it vexed Aemond. Matías was not okay with that either but for an entirely different reason.

Now Matías respected women but he had no desire to marry one. Women just didn’t spark any interest in him, not in the way men did.

His mother knew how he felt about men, and she accepted him for who he was. She showed him love and support, as did his sisters after telling them. Only his father didn’t know, but sooner or later he would find out.

And when that day came, Matías was prepared to laugh in his face if he chose to insult him. He’d gladly shout that he was a proud pillow biter. His father’s support would not be needed, not when he already had his mother and sisters on his side.

Matías kissed Visenya’s forehead in a gentle manner, whispering assuring words to her. Visenya left with tears still going down her face. Once alone he sat in the chair Visenya had been in. He looked at his mother, who appeared to be in a peaceful state. This was the most peaceful he'd seen her look in a long time.

Though there was nothing peaceful about what happened to her beforehand.

Matías pushed back a few strands of dark brown hair behind her ear.

The touch had been gentle but it was enough to wake his mother.

Adrian stared at him, eyes filled with so much emotion it made him want to cry.

Matías almost did exactly that when she opened her arms for him. He was about to decline but she called out his name so softly. He carefully crawled into his mother’s arms.

“My dearest boy.” Adrian murmured, kissing his forehead. “I love you so much.”

Matías closed his eyes, snuggling his face in the crook of her neck. “I love you too, mother.” He whispered, basking in her warmth. He felt like he was a child again, comforting her in the only way he could.

Except he no longer was a child. He was a man, and he was now able to do things he wasn’t able to do before.

There’d been many times in his life when Matías thought about it, but he made up his mind right then and there in his mother’s loving arms.

Come winter his father will be dead.

[scarletsaphire]

The Chosen Knight (Dannymay Day 1: Fantasy AU)

Danny wanders into the Fae Realm on accident, and on a dare. He never intended to get lost, and he never intended to be chosen as the Realm’s physical representation.

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His first day in the Fae Realm, Danny survived on a combination of his parents teachings and dumb luck. It had simply been dumb, how he had ended up here. A dare from Sam and Tucker, to go take a picture of a faerie ring or anything else. It was teasing, joking, playing; none of them really believed in the fae, even if Danny’s parents were fanatic. But then Danny had walked into the forest, camera clutched in his hands, and the trees had grown around him and the forest started to whisper, and Danny hadn’t been able to find his way back.

It took him 13 hours before he couldn’t help but curl on the ground and try to sleep. His parents had told him that anyone who falls asleep in the fae realm will wake up as the roots of an ancient tree, and will find that hundreds of years had passed since they laid down to rest. But Danny could not keep walking, could not keep looking, so he laid in a patch of moonlight and moss, and tried to sleep. (It wasn’t until the branches moved and the stars shone brighter that he was able to fall into a restless, uneasy sleep.)

When Danny awoke, he was not one with the roots of an oak tree, nor had the surrounding area changed from what he remembered the night before. He took that as a good sign.

He stumbled across the lady a few hours after waking, still wandering lost and confused in the forest. “It’s time for lunch!” she called with a smile as soon as she saw him.

Her teeth were too sharp, and her eyes blinked sideways, and her fingers weren’t fingers at all, but different cooking and dining utensils. Danny wanted to run.

“You must not run,” a feminine voice whispered in his head. The words were clipped, and awkward, almost as if it was being spoken through clenched teeth. “But you must not eat. Accept her company, but not her food.”

The voice must be his mothers lessons. It was a better idea than sprinting into the dense trees and getting lost, so he sat on the blanket she had spread on the floor, and did just that. He politely declined the sandwiches, fruit, cookies, salad, soup, and cake that she offered, but listened as she talked.

She left without eating anything. The food left with her.

Danny ran out of water in his water bottle that day. It took him 4 hours before he found his head pounding and his mouth bone dry. But he couldn’t drink anything; his father had told him about how drinking anything from the fae realm replaces your blood with the drink, leaving you forever needing the liquid of the fae, or you’ll dry up into a shriveled, living corpse.

His foot led him without his mind guiding them, and he nearly fell face first into the stream. The water was cool and clear, and it made his throat ache even more. “You may drink, dearest knight. It will not tie you anymore than you already are.” It was the same voice as before. Definitely not just his mother’s echo in his mind. Even if it wasn’t too specific, neither of his parents would ever advise him to drink or eat in the Fae Realm. They had said many times that it was better to die than to end up stuck in the Fae Realm. But Danny didn’t want to die, so he bent at the stream and reached his hand into the stream, and brought the water to his lips. He wasn’t sure whether the water tasted better than water should, or if it was just his desperate thirst that made it so, but it was the most refreshing drink he ever had.

It was only a couple hours later that Danny succumbed to hunger. He wasn’t starving, not yet anyway, but he was hungry, and it was probably already too late for him. If he wasn’t already trapped here, he doubted that the berries he stumbled across would make a difference. Or, if they were poisonous and killed him, he would be listening to his parent’s advice after all. “They will not hurt you, dearest knight. I will keep you safe until you return the favor.”

Danny’s heart skipped a beat, his hand already holding a handful of berries, a deep purple color, not unlike blueberries but more vivid. “What…what do you mean?” His voice came out choked, both from emotion and from his only recently quenched dehydration.

“Eat, dearest knight. As I said before, it will not tie you anymore than you already are.” Danny swallowed once, trying to clear the lump in his throat. She was right though. He knew she was, whoever she may be and whatever she may want with him. Danny’s next swallow brought with it the berries he had held, their juices sweet and coating his tongue and throat.

He felt the voice purr contentedly in the back of his mind. He felt something else, something new, something that was him, purr back in response.

—- Danny wandered through the Fae Realm for…he didn’t know how long. He simply wandered, his feet bringing him in any and every direction. When he was hungry, they would bring him to berries or nuts. When he was thirsty he would find streams. When he was tired, the trees would part and let him see the stars and moon through their canopy, and for all of it She was with him.

She was the Fae realm itself, its spirit, its heart. She was what kept the world together, what kept the magic alive, what provided the forest and the earth and the sky. She was everything. And She needed Danny.

“Dearest knight,” She had explained early on in Danny’s wandering. Human language did not fit right in her mouth. It was beneath her. “Your world, the world of mortals and men, is pulling away from magic. You use technology that I do not understand, and if it continues without us, we may both end up in ruin. You are perfect. You will be my body, my hands, my eyes and ears. You are so very special.”

Danny had freaked out a significant amount at that announcement, but She had calmed him, letting the whole of the Fae Realm drape over his shoulders like a weighted blanket. It was as much of a comfort as it was a demonstration. This weight was Hers to carry alone; now, it was also his. He calmed, and he accepted his new place. It wasn’t like he had a choice.

During his wanderings, he met with some of the residents of this world. A hunter with a body of metal and stone, fascinated by his humanity. He had offered a spot in his house, a permanent place to stay. Notably, he never said anything about his stay having him live. A woman with fire for hair and a voice that warmed and enchanted. A creature that more resembled a pile of crates stacked on top of each other than a man, though he spoke like one. His interactions with all of them were guided, at first, by Her, but as the days started to blend together, and he began to meet the same faces (or the same people with new faces) he found himself learning how to handle them, and for some, to befriend them.

It was after that, when he had started to think of some of the denizens not as a nuisance or a roadblock but as companions, that She led him to his house.

He opened the door before Danny could knock. He wore a purple cloak with pieces that spun and clicked against each other, holding each piece together in an impossible mechanical contraption. “Hello, Daniel. You may call me Clockwork.”

Clockwork was the Timekeeper for the Fae Realm, though he did it more as a hobby than as a job. He did not control time itself; rather, he collected it, keeping stolen seconds in buckets and treasured moments in jars. She had tasked Clockwork with helping Danny learn about the Realm, and caring for him in ways She could not. She was not leaving, of course. They could not be a part, not in any way that matters.

(Once, after he had been at Clockwork’s for a while, Clockwork showed him a jar of sand and stardust. It showed him entering the forest, however long ago that was. Danny had watched his friends stand there, staring into the forest, waiting for him to return. Danny knew that they would wait there forever, or until they left. He spent that night fighting down tears. Were his friends still alive? Did they remember him? A part of him desperately hoped they would remember him. He pushed that part far, far down.)

—

Danny was not a human anymore. He hadn’t thought of himself as one in years, even if at a glance he would pass as one. In fact, at a glance he would pass as the boy who had wandered into the forest so long ago, not having aged a day. But the more you’d look, the more you’d notice how his knees and elbows bent at weird places on the limbs, so that when he ran four legs would be just as natural as two. You’d notice how his teeth were too sharp and too crowded and too many. You’d notice how his eyes were too big, his pupils too black, and the flecks of white just a tad too orderly. (If you liked the stars, you would recognize the patterns.) It wouldn’t take near as much studying to notice how his hair was pitch black during the day, seeming to suck all the light in, and yet at night would practically shine white, releasing the light it had absorbed.

Danny was not a human, and so when She told him that he was to return to the human world, his heart did not skip a beat. His hopes, long since dashed to bits, did not begin to piece themselves together. His mind did not flash to people whose faces he could just barely recall. He was not a human. (Besides, he doubted he would know anyone, anymore. He hoped no one would know him.)

He did not expect to emerge to the forest to see two faces, once so familiar, waiting anxiously at the edge of the forest. He did not expect them to give him relieved smiles, and rush forward to throw their arms around him.

“You were gone for like three hours man! We were super worried out here, you almost gave me a heart attack,” Tucker said, grabbing at his chest dramatically.

Something long repressed and deeply human began to wake inside of Danny.