#and im entirely fine with never going to any sort of large event ever again but. why should i have to make that choice

[adorerdraco]

It’s Only Quidditch ✧ Draco x Slytherin!Reader

Request: can i please request you and draco being in slytherin and dating for a while and you two are on the quidditch team with him so maybe you two are in a match together but you get hurt and he gets worried and has to win the game and visits you after and maybe even wrecks the person who hurt you hehe just fluff and angst

AU AROUND 6TH YEAR NO VOLDY

Warnings: angry!draco, vengeful!draco, VIOLENCE, kinda graphic details like blood and injuries, lil bit of angst

Words: 3.9K (love making these long for no reason)

A/N: ANGRY DRACO IS SO HOT IM SORRY WOW BUT I HOPE THIS IS GOOOOD PLEASE ENJOY MY MADE UP CHARACTER AND MY SUPER LONG QUIDDITCH GAME THAT CONFUSED ME AFTER A WHILE OF TRYING TO WRITE LMAO and i made gif :)

November had begun and with it came the new season of quidditch at Hogwarts along with very poor weather and over-bundling nerves. Tensions had always gotten high around this time of the year amongst the teams and all animosity between the house’s respective players was on the forefront as the competition was building. It was like clockwork every year; captain’s starting strenuous training schedules, begging Snape to help book the stadium even if it was already occupied, spying on other teams to figure out their strengths and weaknesses. Not to mention the arguments that would happen regularly in between the first couple of games when you and your teammates would be accused of cheating or using dangerous and illegal moves. Which did happen to be true most of the time.

It was safe to say that it was the most eventful time of the year, and as suffocating as it sometimes got - you looked forward to it every time the new term started. It was in quidditch that you found yourself feeling the freest in, zipping around the stadium in a flash of green with the wind blowing through your hair and crisp autumn air biting at your cheeks. But most notably, it was in quidditch that you met Draco Malfoy and had quickly evolved from teammates to friends, to him now being your boyfriend.

You made Slytherin’s team your second year as a Chaser, a shiny new broom being given to you on the first day of scheduled training when Lucius Malfoy had made a generous donation that came along with a new platinum blond seeker. With the two of you being the latest additions to the teams, your captain, Marcus Flint, had decided to leave the dirty work for the two of you to do in the downtime every one else was able to enjoy. Marcus never changed that as the years went on.

So you and Draco would be sent off to other teams’ practices nearly every other day or week, depending on how secure Flint was feeling, both of you huddling closely together for sometimes hours behind the thick wooden benches as you watched and studied tactics with conversations in between. You would joke around a lot and call him your partner in crime which he would always roll his eyes to and make a snide and playful comment about even if he secretly loved hearing it. And the two of you stayed partners in crime for a while, neither of you ever making any move towards the other besides lingering touches and longing looks, and very rarely, a shy compliment.

It wasn’t until last year when you were hiding behind the bleachers, bored out of your mind watching Ravenclaw have a flawless run through around the stadium when you were graced with the dumbest idea.

“They’re playing good today,” you drawled out, “too good that it’s boring.”

“You reckon they studied so hard and found the key to quidditch?” He snickered as he played around with a pebble on the ground with his wand.

“We should help them out,” you suggested as Draco turned to raise a puzzled eyebrow at you. “Prepare them for the unexpected, nothing too crazy.”

You took out your wand from your pocket and pointed it towards one of their Beaters that was sitting idly by on their broom, a faint “confundus” leaving your lips that caused the broom to jerk swiftly to the side and nearly topple over its rider.

“You’re a genius,” Draco laughed quietly, repositioning himself so that he was right beside you with his wand directed out into the field. He spotted one of the bludgers flying towards the same Beater and instead of colliding with the bat, he used a charm to direct it into the back of their broom and then doubled it back around to try and hit one of the passing by Chaser’s that moved at the very last minute. 

You were a giggling mess, gripping tightly onto Draco’s arm as you watched everyone begin to look around wildly for the wild bludger with panicked expressions. What either of you didn’t realize in the middle of your joyed hysterics and Draco’s smugness for causing the angelic sounds, was that the bludger was flying idly still in front of the bleacher’s as his wand was still trained on it without moving it around anymore, his focus completely gone and concentrated on you.

It wasn’t until you heard someone yell out a, “Is that Malfoy and Y/L/N back there again?!” That made you get up with a sudden jolt, grabbing onto your accomplice’s hand as you ran towards the set of stairs that descended out of the stands. All you heard was distant angry insults and threats quickly fading out of ear-shot while you ran, laughing uncontrollably alongside Draco with his hand still tightly gripped in yours. 

When you finally reached the entrance of the empty courtyard of the castle with flustered cheeks and wheezing chuckles, you looked down at your joined hands at the same time he did and after a few seconds of realization and lingering adrenaline, you quickly moved into each other with a yearning kiss that changed everything from that day forward.

Draco stood beside you while you sat on a bench outside the locker room, your head resting lazily on the side of his leg while his fingers carded soothingly through your hair. Marcus was pacing in front of you, using his broom as a walking and pointing stick whenever he wanted to add any calculated words to his very hostile pep-talks that left everyone feeling more irritated and stressed.

Today was the last game of the season and the most important, it was the game that ended the season with a shimmering Inter-House Quidditch Cup and it just so happened to be against Gryffindor, making the stakes much higher than they already were. The matches against Gryffindor were by far, the most dangerous as they weren't afraid to play roughly either if push came to shove. The determination to beat each other and to win was critical on both sides and the day always ended with some sort of injuries.

“I don’t care how dirty we have to play today,” Flint fumed to the team, “I don’t care how many fouls we get, as long as we win.”

“Relax, Flint,” you sighed deeply. “We have the best players on our team and we’ve been working our arses off all season, we’ll be fine.”

“Still, I want to see blood out there,” he muttered back, walking towards the entrance of the field as Madam Hooch started calling your team out to start.

You stood up with a huff, Draco frowning when he noticed how tense you looked when your eyes worriedly met his.

“All right, love?”

“I'm just nervous,” you shrug, “I don’t want to mess up.”

The silver-haired boy moved to stand in front of you, placing two strong hands on either side of your arms to stand you in place so that he would be the only thing your wandering eyes were able to focus on.

“You are the best Chaser that Slytherin has ever had, no, that Hogwarts has ever had and I know for a fact you’re going to do amazing out there,” he cups your face with care, brushing a few stray hairs out of your face as he spoke. “You’ve got this.”

He pressed an encouraging kiss onto your forehead and then your lips, smiling at you supportively before taking your hand and hurriedly walking the two of you out into the field where the match was about to start.

Almost the whole school had shown up in an overcrowded sea of red and gold for Gryffindor. There were red sparks and small fireworks of lions that were charmed to roar when the animal would open its mouth. On one end of the stands, however, was the entire student body of Slytherin that was throwing green and silver ribbons and sparklers from their wands, yelling loudly in support as if their life depended on it. Over the rails, they had thrown down a large poster of a snake that moved around sleekly over large green words that read, “SLYTHERIN FOR THE WIN.”

Rain was lightly drizzling from the grayed dense clouds above, a sharp chill in the air from an approaching winter that always seemed to give the worst weather during the last couple of games of the year. You didn’t mind it since the cold had always felt nice against your sweaty skin during the game and it served like a small revitalizing shock that gave you a surge of energy to push forward with. 

Madam Hooch quickly went over the rules, set free the bludgers, and the snitch, forced the two captains, Wood and Flint, to shake hands and by the time she had counted down from three to one - brooms were soared into the sky with such speed it looked like a tornado had formed as she threw the quaffle up into the air.

A roar of cheers erupted from beside you as you got ahold of the quaffle, dashing past your House while you headed straight towards the Gryffindor’s goal post and managed to make the first shot in within the first five minutes of the game putting you at 10-0. You spotted Draco flying around above, smiling down brightly at you with triumph that only fueled your confidence as you darted forward to catch the ball again. You were, just as Draco had said, the best Chaser on the team and in all of the school. You were fast, agile, and smart when it came down to it and you were the reason why your team had easily wracked up 40 points with thirty minutes down in the match. Marcus was always trailing behind you with focus, shoving anyone who tried to get to you or pulling them back by their robes that landed Slytherin a couple of fouls throughout. 

You didn’t like to play dirty, but when Katie Bell had rammed into your side either accidentally or on purpose, it knocked the quaffle out of your hands and into one of their other Chaser’s, Rowan Rees, a muscular and tall seventh-year boy that had made the team that same year. With Katie still closely trying to cut you off, you veered sharply into her with your shoulder before breaking away from her and heading towards your goal post where they were trying to shoot. 

“ILLEGAL PUSHING FROM Y/L/N, FOUL AGAINST SLYTHERIN!” 

You rolled your eyes at the announcer, completely ignoring the boo’s that had filled the air as you whizzed past the other houses even though it was you who got hit first. Just as Rees had raised his arm to score, you flew over him, swooping your arm underneath your broom until you felt the quaffle back in your palm and ripped it from his grasp. The match was becoming more intense by the second, Gryffindor was promptly catching up in points because of the penalties they were awarded from the illegal moves your team was making and it left you feeling more pressured that it was nearly a tie now, Flint reminded you of that every chance he zoomed past you.

Unbeknownst to you, Draco was watching you cautiously from across the field most of the game when he noticed how close everyone was trying to get to you. You didn’t see the way you were almost tugged back multiple times or were missed by inches when someone was about to push you. Or how the Beaters were deliberately directing the bludgers in your direction. You also didn’t see how irked you had made Rees with your constant scoring and with the sporadic few times you had cut him off or almost bumped into him - but your boyfriend did, and he was much more focused on your safety now than the Golden Snitch he or Potter hasn’t spotted yet. Instead of searching for it, he was purposefully maneuvering himself around in front of the other Chasers to throw them off their focal point towards you so that you would have a clearer path to fly through.

He watched as you pulled your broom upwards to try and twist away from the area but Rees had reached out and pulled at your ankle, sending you out of your seat as the quaffle fell while you tried to rebalance yourself. That was all the encouragement the blond needed when he hurtled down into the mess, kicking at the back of Rees’ broom and sending him quickly spinning on a dive before he could try and move any further. 

“FOUL AGAINST REES AND MALFOY FOR KICKING AND TUGGING!”

“MALFOY!” Flint roared as he flew past, “Potter’s spotted the snitch! This isn’t your place, get out of here, NOW!”

And when he looked up, sure enough, Harry was going around desperately with an arm outstretched towards the small glint of gold that was moving too fast. 

“Go, I’m fine!” You shouted out to him when you flew back up with the ball back in your arms.

It was like slow motion when he forced himself to leave your surroundings, everything around him was moving fast and intensely with everyone screaming wildly that he couldn’t think straight. In a daze, he haphazardly sped towards Harry but noticed the panicked look on the seeker’s face when he had lost sight of it again which directed his attention right back to you. You were right in front of the Gryffindor goal post, arm stretched over your head and releasing the quaffle with a harsh throw.

“Y/L/N MAKES THE GOAL, TEAMS ARE AT A TIE-”

It wasn’t until the very last minute that everyone, including you, had realized the flash of red that came hurtling into your side at full speed, Rees colliding so loudly with you that it echoed around the stadium in a powerful clang and crack.

Draco watched in horror as you were thrown off your broom, your now unconscious body falling like a rag doll with a speed that sent his stress levels into overdrive. He had never pushed down on his broom so fast, immediately abandoning his spot to bolt towards you even as Marcus was screaming at him to not go. 

A few feet above the ground and before you met it, he managed to loop his arm around your waist and heave you onto the front of his broom with a slight struggle as it was now raining hard and clouding his vision. He saw Madam Pomfrey and Mcgonagall rushing into the field, hands holding tightly onto their hats as they worriedly rushed towards the area where your broom had fallen and where Draco was hovering over with you. 

“TEAMS ARE TAKING A 10 MINUTE TIME OUT!”

Marcus had flown down towards him, face twisted in fury and annoyance as he approached. 

“Is there a reason you’re not being a seeker, today?” He spits, “because I’ve been seeing you do everything but your job.”

“My bloody girlfriend just got knocked out!” Draco seethed at him. “I’m not going back into the game, I’m going with her to the hospital wing.”

“Like hell you are,” Flint scowled, “if you leave, you'll forfeit us the game. If you stay and let Potter catch that Snitch so it’ll be over quicker, I will personally make sure that this is your last year on the team. You’re going to win this for us.”

“Mr. Malfoy!” McGonagall called up to him, waving her arms hastily. “She needs to go to the infirmary, immediately!”

The two Slytherins were staring each other down aggressively as Draco contemplated the threat he was just given. There was nothing more he wanted to do than to throw a hex at Flint and leave with you, but he just swallowed thickly and nodded at him before descending towards the ground and letting you off carefully into the hands of Madam Pomfrey. A surge of fear ran through his body when he finally saw you clearly; a harsh red mark was making its way up to your neck, the corner of your bottom lip had split and doubled in size, there was a small scratch on your cheekbone. It made him feel queasy, but he tore his eyes away from you and hopped back onto his broom while glaring angrily at Marcus and the distant group of huddled Gryffindor’s. 

He was blinded in rage when the match resumed and even more enraged when Flint had cheered loudly when the announcer granted Slytherin a penalty for the injury Rees gave you, allowing them basically to get a free score in against Gryffindor. Draco let his eyes wander around for the snitch for the first time that day and he could hear his heart thundering in his eardrums in distress as the rain continued to make his search worse. All he wanted was to get out of the game to check up on you, and then he'd come back to the stadium to throw his fists into Rees’ face with maybe a few hits in on Marcus.

Just as he was losing hope, he saw a flash of gold whiz past him with a loud buzzing that shocked him into alertness. He didn’t care that catching the snitch would win the game, or the cup, or give him all the glory, no - this was his ticket out. He dived towards it with his arm outstretched, hand thrashing around in the wind as he tried to eagerly catch it. In seconds, Harry was right beside him, bumping him with his shoulder to try and throw him off the path but Draco only pushed back harder. There was a flurry of shouting as everyone watched, the announcer was yelling into the mic about the seekers going head-to-head, bludgers were flying past him. 

It was pure chaos and urgency, Draco could feel the fluttering of its wings beneath his palm and when Harry pushed into him one more time, he felt the coldness of the Snitch get trapped into his enclosed hand, the vibration of its wings sending a current of relief up his arm that spread throughout his whole body as he soared up into the sky while brandishing it to the schools’ painfully watchful eyes.

“MALFOY HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH, WINNING SLYTHERIN THIS YEAR’S INTER-HOUSE QUIDDITCH CUP!”

Draco hurriedly made his way down to the field where the rest of his house was pooling into, celebrating proudly and calling out for him to praise, but when he landed on the ground and was met with half of the Gryffindor team including Rowan Rees - all his wrath came flooding back into him. 

Angelina, another Gryffindor Chaser, had nudged Rowan with her shoulder, pointing towards the Slytherin Prince that was stalking towards them.

“Malfoy,” Rees started bitterly, “sorry about the girlfriend, I was only trying to knock the quaffle out her hands.”

“After she had already thrown it?” He glowered, walking closer up to the boy that was beginning to straighten himself out and flex. “Looked a little personal seeing how she was dragging you through the dust the whole game.”

“Accidents happen, mate,” Rees shrugged, “it’s only quidditch, you won didn’t you? Maybe you should be thanking me for giving you that extra push to win the game.”

A clear line had been crossed and everyone who was listening knew it. But before Rowan could say anything to try and drag himself out of the hole he had just dug himself into, he was being tackled into the ground with Draco above him throwing punches wherever he could land them. There was loud hooting and laughing coming from the Slytherins that gathered around the fight, cheering loudly for their House superior.

Rees was thrashing around on the ground, trying frantically to throw off the extremely infuriated boy that was repeatedly pounding into his face with bloodied and bruised fists. Oliver Wood ran up to the sudden brawl, Fred and George following closely behind him as they all started trying to rip the fighting boy’s apart from each other. Oliver had gotten Draco off briefly, allowing Rees to try and get a hit in but it was dodged at the last second as the blond quickly leaped up to his feet. The fight immediately ended when a muddy shoe had collided with Rowan’s jaw and Draco stepped back satisfied with the damage he had done, roughly shrugging off the grip Oliver still had on his arm.

“It’s only quidditch, right?” He spat venomously from above the Gryffindor who was holding his now battered face in pain. “That’ll teach you from putting your hands on a woman too.”

“Mr. Malfoy!” Madam Hooch bellowed as she broke through the crowd in a frenzy. “50 points from Slytherin, go wait outside Professor Snape’s office for further punishment, go right now!”

Draco did go, and instantly, but he didn’t go down to the dungeons to hear about the lengthy detention that he knew he was going to get and the scolding for being reckless and stupid. His feet carried his sore body up the many stairs that led to the hospital wing, his pace picking up swiftly when he saw the large double doors of the infirmary ajar and he was able to hear a faint and familiar voice speaking indistinctly. 

He threw open the doors, walking straight in as if he owned the place and ignored Pomfrey’s requests for him to leave as he made a beeline towards your hunched figure that was facing away from him. 

“I need to see her,” he said to the nurse quickly when she stopped in front of him. “I’ll leave soon, please.”

At the sound of his voice, you hastily turned around in your spot to face him, a yelp escaping your lips for moving too quickly through your injuries. Pomfrey stepped out of the way with a sigh allowing Draco to jog over to you.

“I’m going to kill him,” he scowled when he reached you. You were wearing a sling, a deep purple and yellowed bruise quickly set itself over the side of your arm and the same cuts he saw from earlier were still scattered over your features. His fingers ghosted over your skin and he let out a deep shaky exhale of anxiousness before moving his thumb up to graze your cheek tenderly.

“What happened to you?” You asked quietly in shock when you noticed his mud-splattered clothes and tattered fists. 

“Long story,” he drawled. “Don’t worry about me, are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” you muttered with a slight shrug that made you whimper lightly. “Did we win?”

He nodded quietly, his eyes still scanning sadly over your face with a frown. “I swear, I’m going to kill him.”

“Only if I can help,” you sniggered faintly, trying to make light of the situation and succeeding in doing so when you saw he had cracked a small smile. With his hand still on your cheek, he bent down to press a firm kiss on the top of your hair and then warmly on the side of your mouth that wasn’t bleeding.

“I’ll just let you finish him off then,” he mulled amusingly when he pulled away.

“Finish him off?”

The doors of the hospital wing were thrown open again, a sea of red flowing inside as they carried in a pummeled Rowan with a busted lip, bloodied nose, black eye, and deeply bruised jaw. You looked briskly between Rees and Draco, both of them staring daggers at each other and it rapidly clicked in your mind why your boyfriend had looked like he just walked through a battlefield in your absence.

“Oh.”

[calleo-bricriu]

total control

(( Send me a number and I’ll write a micro story using the word or phrase Always accepting.

This is an offshoot of something that was partially done in a couple of asks and over IMs with @absintheabsence  a few months back. We’ll just put this in the bucket of things to never tell @messianique ‘s poor Albus. ))

"What people want is the idea of giving up control. Try to take more, and they'll fight."

Of all the conversations he'd had with other people over the years where fine-tuning his own defences against the Imperius Curse, that statement from his grandfather was the one that had always stuck. There were a lot of things over which Calleo had no trouble giving up actual control, as they were things that would require more effort to fight than it would to simply readjust what he was doing to work around or with it.

The Imperius Curse was not one of them. Even where he knew there was no real danger, it seemed to be a base instinct to fight back involuntarily--or try to, at any rate.

That bothered him.

However he had managed his way back to clarity, he'd stuck on the idea that if it wasn't possible to control other people or the world around him, he could (and would) control his actions and reactions to it. For the most part, it had been fine tuned to the point of automatic, but he could never entirely get away from the involuntary recoil that came along with the Imperius Curse. If nothing else, it had left him with the ability to resist it rather well, but it still bothered him that the reaction to it could best have been described as his mind going with, "Right, well, you've proven you have no idea what you're doing, so I'll deal with it."

The closest Calleo had been able to get himself to it was allowing others into his mind just not for the purposes of controlling it.

Even the mention of it resulted in an answer that was always so quick that he couldn't possibly have thought of what he'd planned to say.

Grindelwald had mentioned the curse exactly one time, and not even during any conversation directed at or with Calleo; he'd been answering some letter and dictating the reply. One of the comments made in that reply had been along the lines of how the Imperius Curse was excellent for making interactions with other people go "more smoothly" which may have been one of the politest ways of saying something genuinely horrible that Calleo had heard in general.

And he'd had an immediate reaction of, "Absolutely not," that must have been said in a particular tone or at least said quickly enough that the response Calleo received amounted to that it would not be mentioned again.

To Grindelwald's credit, he never did mention it again either.

It was Calleo who brought it up nearly a year later and even then, he hadn't said anything as it wasn't the sort of thing he'd have wanted to have no tangible proof of having said at all. For a change, he'd also managed a bit of brevity, keeping it a short statement of essentially revoking the previous agreement of "No, and don't bring it up again."

There had been a short discussion, largely consisting of Calleo explaining the nuance between playful resistance versus actual "this needs to stop immediately" resistance, more for his own benefit than anything. Even with that, even with knowing that there (likely) was no actual danger largely because he was already aware that, due to several other various past events, if Grindelwald wanted to control him he'd have done so well before now.

Surprisingly, that thought wasn't a helpful one and he was reminded once again of being told that handing total control over to someone else was something that most people only wanted the illusion of doing; when it came down to having that control taken, willingly or otherwise, that was when something deeper than conscious thought often stepped in to be the responsible adult.

That was exactly what happened this time as well--or, rather, tried to. A strong opposition reflex was a personality trait that Calleo found served him perfectly any time he was able to use it and this time, he turned it on himself. He hadn't expected that to work and when it did, he wasn't exactly certain what to do.

Minds, he thought, likely looked different to everyone. Calleo's own mind always looked oddly like the living room of his house more or less and anyone in his mind (provided he was the one in control of it) saw the same because that was what he wanted them to see; simple way of reminding himself that it was still his mind and under his control. He wasn't at all sure what it would look like if he wasn't the one in control of it, if it'd look like anything at all.

It certainly didn't look like his living room anymore.

It didn't look like anything he could place; familiar, but entirely foreign, recognisable aspects, shapes, thoughts, yet, at the same time, he knew they weren't right. At the moment, he couldn't find the presence of the small handful of other people who filtered in and out of his mind if they wanted to get ahold of him without coming to find him or write him. They were still there, somehow, but obscured or blurred out to the point that he couldn't manage to focus on them.

For a moment, as Calleo realised he also couldn't focus on himself very well at all he very nearly called a halt to it; it was as though something--someone, he reminded himself--was actively preventing that focus. Not trying to take it, but not releasing it either just...waiting.

"Obviously, you idiot, that's what the curse does." Oh! There was his more familiar self smacking exactly the wrong sort of sense back into--himself.

Calleo had been accustomed for years of having conversations via Legilimency or other magical means, though he wasn't entirely sure if he was telling himself to just go and--do whatever it is people do when--did anyone ever voluntarily do this? Probably not. Still, at some point they'd have been shoved out of their own mind and told to go sit in a metaphorical corner or something similar.

Part of him wondered if it would be possible for his mind to have a nap while the rest of him was being steered by someone else entirely and he might have done that if he hadn't been so curious to find out what would happen if he didn't.

At some point, and he had no idea how, he'd let go of the last little tether of control that he was being allowed to hold onto and ended up completely engrossed in the strange concept and feeling of being able to see, hear, speak--that was the strangest of all, hearing himself say words and hold a conversation without being the one making himself say those words--and feel everything normally but having exactly no control over any of it, including one's own interpretation of any of it.

It just...was.

He found the only aspect of it that bothered him was that he was not seeing the physical world from his own perspective for the duration; he was seeing it from Grindelwald's and might not have noticed it at all as the cell itself was what it was there was no interpreting the look of the room much differently.

But, above the desk, on the wall, there was a mirror. It was hard to avoid, the room was, after all, small. At first, Calleo found it amusing to see his own reflection looking like him only a bit moreso (there was just no way, not in this sort of humidity, that his hair was even remotely that smooth!)--then, the first time he'd caught a glimpse of Grindelwald in the same mirror, he didn't entirely recognise who he was looking at.

The reflection looked...wrong. Still recognisable as Grindelwald, of course, but wrong in an unsettling and unpleasant way that Calleo couldn't place.

Best not to focus on that now.

Hours later, as his mind came back into the sharp, clear focus to which he was accustomed, the first thing he brought up was nothing short of wanting to do that routinely, primarily to practise ways of feigning the allowance of total control only to turn it around on a potential attacker once they'd become secure in the idea that they had decent grip on him.

Primarily.

Not everything had to be work related, after all.

[vyladromeave]

Mr. Zvahl has updated!

Chapter 6: Forage and Found

(Read the full thing on AO3!)

(A/N: nbvGJDFSFSD THIS IS SO LATE IM SORRY. It was TECHNICALLY done like a week or so ago but it was under 1k words and i just couldnt Post It mnbdsfghfsd. ANYWAYS now its nearly 2k so hopefully thatll make up for the wait nfdsbghdjsf. i have been Neglecting Zoey so now you have to read So Much about my beautiful elf wife mndsfbhjsfdk. not much else to say, ill edit this if i can think of anything important. Also Once Again gentle reminder tht i would seriously reccomend reading this on ao3 instead because tumblr formatting makes the spacing Whack but whatever man u do u,,,, you do u,,,,,, dshjgsfd ANYWAYS Hope u enjoy!!)

.

They had been walking for some time now. She had explained on the way out there that the path used to be much clearer, but too much overgrowth in the area had made reaching difficult. It was still possible, it just took extra time. In their case, it had taken a good half-hour at least. (It could have taken longer, but he wasn’t too good at keeping track of the time these days.)

As they approached he wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but now that they were there, he realized it wasn’t actually that different from what he’d imagined. His only experience in portals were the ones that lead to the nether- it somewhat shocked him to see that this portal wasn’t much different. It was about the same size and shape, though the material was different and it gave off an energy that was much less malevolent. Even then, its aura made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, and it wasn’t even activated.

“The portal leads to the Irene Dimension. That’s where we believe Aphmau, and all those that went with her, are trapped.” she continued.

He looked to her, silently asking permission if he could get a closer look, although she didn’t seem to notice. He took it as a yes. He approached the portal to get a closer look while she talked.

“I’ve been working for nearly a decade to find a way to open it again. Nothing has worked so far, but I’m getting close. I can feel it.”

“How so?”

She was somewhat thrown off by how direct his question is. “I- well- when I first started working on this… I didn’t really know what I was doing? I was just throwing things together, I didn’t understand any of it. And now… well, there’s a lot I still don’t understand, I won’t lie about that. Emmalyn was our resident Irene expert, but we lost her to the portal too. But I’ve also learned- I know what I’m doing now, I know the end goal. I just need to figure out how to get there.”

He nods, though his focus is still mostly devoted to the portal. He understands what she means now when she said there was a lot she didn’t understand- if he was in Zoey’s place he wouldn’t even know where to start. It takes him a solid minute to recognize that no, those “scratches” he spotted on the portal are words, and in some language he has no clue of recognizing. He shakes his head. He would love to help out, of course he would, but he isn’t cut out for this.

“Well, you’re the barrier magicks user. If anyone could do it, it’s you.”

She sighs and nods. “I suppose so. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing, but it’s better than nothing.”

“Of course it’s a good thing. The town just needs to have faith in you.”

“It’s been ten years. There’s not much faith left to go around.”

“Well, what about you? Do you think you can do it? Bring them home?”

She pauses for a second, but nods. “Yes. I do.”

“Then that’s good enough for me. That settles it.”

She gives him a look and tilts her head, confused. “Settles what, exactly?”

“I think I’d like to stay here. In Phoenix Drop. At least until everyone returns.”

“Oh!” She smiles, but took another moment to process and “Oh.” Her face drops. “I- I mean that’s great, I’m glad you’d like to stay, but- this could take years. Decades. Centuries, even. You could be long dead by the time everyone is back here.”

“That’s fine. It’s worth the wait.”

She was startled by his ease in acceptance. “That’s- I mean- you could-“ she takes a breath to calm herself. “Alright. Welcome to Phoenix Drop, Mr. Zvahl.”

~~~

She had agreed to take him out to the portal if he would do some work for her in return. Nothing too strenuous, she wasn’t cruel, but it was nice to have help every once in a while.

For as good as he was in navigating the forest, he knew next to nothing about the plant life within it. Or plant life in general. She spent a solid ten minutes explaining to him what they were looking for, “Four leaves, notched edges, somewhat pointy at the ends. You’ll know you have the right plant if the base of the leaf is much thicker than the edges.” His understanding seemed to be shaky at best, but he didn’t want to waste more time when they were supposed to be gathering. And so he wandered north, she went a bit south, and hoped that he had at least a basic understanding of what they were looking for.

She hadn’t found too many- but she figured as much. It took some time to get to the better spots where the plant often grew in, which they had instead spent observing the portal (as if she didn’t spend enough time on that blasted thing already). So she paid it no mind when he was late meeting back up by a couple minutes. And then ten went past. Then fifteen. It was just enough time to make her start to worry when she’d spotted him returning. That was another odd thing about him, sometimes he was easier to spot with your eyes than to notice with your ears. He was oddly quiet, inhumanly stealthy. She’d wanted to say he was just good at that sort of thing, but what kind of person can disappear in a forest but can’t tell an acorn from a rock? Either he was oddly talented, or there was something even odder going on here, and it bugged her a bit too much.

Her mind was taken off the question when he’d stopped in front of her and she got a good look at him. She understood now why he was late- he seemed uncomfortable, and kept shifting the rather large pile of plants he gathered around. It was a bit hard to tell with the gloves he wore, but she swore she could see splotches of red creeping up his arms.

“Is this stuff we’re gathering… supposed to be itchy?”

And just like that, her suspicions were confirmed. “Well- yes, that is normal for that plant. But it’s also not the plant I told you to gather.”

“It’s not?” He said, looking down at the bundles of leaves in his arms.

“No, it isn’t. I sent you to gather lushsprout. The plants you’re holding look like poison ivy.”

A blank expression slowly grew on his face as he stared through the plant he’d gathered and into the middle distance. A look Zoey could only describe as regret took hold, and he dropped everything he had spent so long gathering as the name finally registered in his brain.

“One moment.” he said and rushed off in the direction of what Zoey could only assume was the nearest water source, a desperate attempt to wash off the red splotches that had already begun to form on his skin. Zoey couldn’t help but snort- it was the most emoted she had seen him ever, and yet it was all so comical.

Well, there was nothing comical about poison ivy, she supposed. It was mildly annoying at best, and painful at worst- but judging by his seeming unawareness she figured he would be alright this time. It would certainly make a good story for later, at least. They had done enough herb gathering for the day.

~~~

They made their way back to Phoenix Drop, recuperating at Aphmau’s house. He washed his hands and arms once again, as well as his gloves in order to make sure they were completely poison-ivy-free. (He’d gathered too much to be completely unscathed, but it was something he could deal with.) Zoey made him tea once again, and Vylad didn’t have the heart to turn her down. Of all the citizens of Phoenix Drop, he’d grown to like her and Dante the most.

She was kind and thoughtful, and understanding of his quiet demeanor. Where Dante often barged in and forced conversation, Zoey understood the importance of silence. They hadn’t physically talked much, though he discovered that he’d somewhat enjoyed just hanging out around her, helping her gather herbs, looking at her miniature garden, whatever trivial way they decided to pass the time. She was certainly more suspicious of him than Dante was (so perhaps she was smarter too), but Vylad figured it was justified and tried to not let it bother him much.

In a strange turn of events, he ended up the one to break the silence.

~~~

“...Just how often does Kawaii~Chan bake?”

“Well, she’s been doing it less often lately, since she’s got a child to look after now, but…”

“So not too often, then?”

She could’ve sworn he sounded almost disappointed. “Gods no, Kawaii~Chan is an unstoppable force when it comes to cooking. The day there is a force strong enough to prevent her is probably the day the world ends.”

She chuckled a bit at her own joke, Zvahl never laughed (or reacted much to anything at all, she’d noticed), so she did for both of them. Maybe it was a bit conceited, but in her eyes it let them both enjoy it, even if he was reluctant to show such feelings. “Why, were you hoping to get some of her sweets yourself?”

“Uh-”

“Have you ever even had her cooking? It’s very good, I’m just not sure why you’d be so interested…”

“Yes, I did. At that breakfast, about a week ago.”

“You’ve been craving her cooking for a week? ”

“Well-”

Any form of excuse was interrupted by more of her laughter, this time it was entirely for herself. Was he so reserved that it had taken him a week to ask about something as trivial as baking? She glanced over him once again to make sure she wasn’t missing anything- only finding what she decided was a hint of embarrassment. He opened his mouth to speak, and she nearly found herself laughing again when he closed it and glanced away.

She stifled her laughter to save him from any more embarrassment, and gave him a knowing wink. “Don’t worry, I’ll put in a good word with her for you if you want. She loves to bake after all- I’m sure she’d be happy to make you something.”

It was muffled by the scarf which most of his face had retreated into, but through the cloth she swore she heard him give a mumbled, “... Thank you...”

Perhaps she was wrong. He had plenty of emotion. Zoey would just need to learn where to look.

~~~

[joshpup]

To Love or Not to Love // Pt. 10

Intro // Pt. 1 // Pt. 2 // Pt. 3 // Pt. 4 // Pt. 5 // Pt. 6 // Pt. 7 // Pt. 8 // Pt. 9 // Pt. 10 // Pt. 11 // Pt. 12 // Pt. 13 // Pt. 14 // Pt. 15 // Pt. 16 // Pt. 17 Word Count: 2,374 Genre: Svt Mafia Au Member: Mingyu TW:  Angst, Violence, mention of blood, eventually fluff. idk about tw if there is one i should add pls let me know im bad at them

“Absolutely not.”

“Oh, come on boss!” Mingyu whined, giving Seungcheol the biggest puppy eyes he could muster.

“It’s only going to cause more issues.” Seungcheol sighed, twisting a pen in his hand as he stared blankly at the papers that sat in front of him.

“What would be the issue? Everyone is like us, it’s not like we’d be with the general public…” Mingyu commented. Seungcheol gave him a look that would have caused any normal person to drop the subject.

“Oh, come on Cheol, what’s the worst that could happen?” Jeonghan added in. You’d never heard anyone call Seungcheol by his actual name, let alone a pet name like Jeonghan did. You guessed that was just a sign of how close they truly were. Seungcheol muttered something under his breath and shot a glare in Jeonghan’s direction.

“There may be issues with the other gangs though.” Seungcheol pointed out.

“Yah, but Joshua’s been to these balls before, and Exo is there. We’ve never had an issue…” Jeonghan said back, “I bet he’d go this year too.”

You felt a sinking feeling in your stomach. If you being able to go outside would mean that Joshua would have to see the group that did all those terrible things to him, you didn’t want to have anything to do with it. Mingyu seemed to sense that feeling from you.

“Even if Josh doesn’t go this year, there’s not any predominate issues if (y/n) went outside. She can’t stay locked up in here forever you know.” Mingyu said.

“Unless there is an issue, and you aren’t telling us…” Jeonghan added, staring skeptically at Seungcheol.

“There aren’t any issues.” He snapped back, almost to aggressively.

“So, I don’t see why she can’t go.” Jeonghan stated, shrugging his shoulders.

“Fine, fine she can go, but if anything happens it’s on you two.” You couldn’t help but smile. You tried to force it down until you at least got away from Seungcheol but your excitement and joy was just too much to contain. You and Mingyu thanked him before walking out of the room, leaving Seungcheol and Jeonghan to themselves. As soon as you were out of ears range, Mingyu gave you the strongest high-five of your life. It left you hand stinging for at least an hour.

It was already a bit past breakfast, and most of the guys had headed off to their respective places in the house to do a bit of work. Jihoon took his place in the computer room, no doubt trying to hack into something or plan their next big mission along with Soonyoung. Seungcheol had stepped out with Jun and Minghao again, doing god knows what. Mingyu and Wonwoo had also stepped out for the day. When you asked Mingyu were he was going, he only offered you a small smile and said they needed to meet with someone Wonwoo knew, and left it at that. If he wasn’t going to give you any more information than that, you figured it was best not to pry.

You found yourself wandering over to where Seungkwan and Chan had planted themselves, staring down at a huge blueprint they had spread across the floor. While marking down little things here and there and examining the long twisting hallways you pestered them with question, bored out of your mind.

“You really need to find a hobby (y/n).” Chan sighed after you asked about the blueprints for the fifteenth time.

“It’s a bit hard since I’m trapped in here.” You replied, shrugging your shoulders, still waiting for an answer about the blueprints.

“If you really want to know, this is to the building of one of the members parents base. Except it’s a pretty well-known building in the city with extreme security.” Seungkwan answered, scribbling down another thing in his notebook.

“What are you guys trying to get?” you asked.

“That’s confidential.” Seungkwan stated.

“Well then, which member’s parents are they? Or is that confidential too?” you questioned, looking from Seungkwan to Chan as they exchanged glances with each other, having a silent conversation about whether they should say or not.

“Wonwoo’s parents.” Chan finally said.

“Ah, so that’s where Mingyu and Wonwoo went…” you mused. Chan glanced at Seungkwan, still wondering if he should have said that, but soon returned back to the blueprints in front of him.

“So, are Wonwoo’s parents super rich or something?” you asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Yah, they own one of the biggest cellphone companies in Korea. Bet you didn’t know they’re apart of the mafia, did you?” Seungkwan chuckled.

“Wow that’s crazy. Are there a lot of people like that?” Chan thought for a minute.

“There’s more than you think for sure. But most of our parents aren’t like the Jeons. Wonwoo’s not on very good terms with them anyways…”

“I feel like you shouldn’t be messing with such a big group then.” You said with a frown. Seungkwan laughed.

“Look at you! Trust me, we know what we are doing. Everything we do is a risk. That’s just being in the Mafia.” You rolled your eyes as Seungkwan continued to laugh, shaking his head.

“Whatever, I just don’t want you guys to all get hurt and I get left trapped in here or like, they come find this base and I get kidnapped again. I’m guessing not all groups are as nice as you.”

“You guessed right. The Pledis Mafia is probably one of the more ‘soft’ groups out of the majority of them. Sometimes even Monsta X’s main, Starship mafia can be a bit much at times.” Chan explained.

“Well, I guessed if I had to be kidnapped by anyone then I’d want it to be you guys then… I can’t believe I just said that.” You said, throwing your head back and laughing. Seungkwan and Chan chuckled a bit too, surprised you had become so much more chill about the whole situation.

“Being allowed to go to this ball sure has put you in a good mood hasn’t it?” Seungkwan asked.

“Yah! I’m just excited to get out of this house. It’s a nice house, but after what, a few months, I need to get out and see some different things. I’m going crazy stuck in here. Why don’t you guys at least have a backyard of something?”

“Have you looked out the window? We’re in the middle of the woods, everything around here could serve as a backyard.” Chan pointed out.

“Well, build a fence around it so Seungcheol doesn’t have a cow every time I try and go outside.” You whined. Chan rolled his eyes, and turned back to his blueprints for the nth time, getting nothing done at all.

“What are you going to wear to the ball?” Seungkwan suddenly questioned. You were about to answer, but soon caught yourself. It’s not like you had any of your clothes from home, all you had here were some of the clothes the Pristin members had brought for you, and then a few of Mingyu and Joshua’s pajamas. You didn’t feel the need to ever look nice since you were always stuck at the base, so you tended to just stay in their oversized shirts and sweatpants for the majority of the time. There was no chance of you having any sort of fancy piece of clothing at all. You jaw dropped as you realized you had nothing.

“Seungkwan, what am I going to do now? If I can’t go because I don’t have a stupid dress I’ll rip down those curtains and make myself something if I have too!” you exclaimed.

“Do you even know how?” Chan questioned.

“No! But I don’t do anything all day long, I’ll just sneak onto a computer and look up how to do it or something!” you exclaimed, getting heated.

“Yah, that’ll really fly with Jihoon. He’d probably break your fingers off if you so much as touched his computers. Trust me, I’ve tried.” Seungkwan sighed.

“Are you sure you don’t have anything at all? None of the members have hooked up with anyone and they left a dress behind or something? A few of you guys seem like players I wouldn’t be surprised…” you said, grasping at straws, hoping by some amazing luck the boys had a spear dress lying around.

“First of all,” Seungkwan began, looking a little offended, “sure, some of the members might come off as players, but they would never! And even if they did, they would NOT bring someone back here unless they wanted to both die.” Seungkwan said, glaring a bit at you. You put your hands up in surrender.

“Okay, okay, but really you guys don’t have any way to get a dress? Please think of something I can’t be stuck here and have to wait for another event to come up like this. I’ll seriously go insane.” Both Seungkwan and Chan sat and thought for a bit.

“We could probably just call Pristin and see if they have anything…” Chan said.

“If not them I’m sure the After School gang would have something.” Seungkwan added. Almost instantly the large weight that had suddenly placed itself upon yours shoulders was lifted.

You had almost entirely forgotten about the fact that you had yet to obtain anything to wear to the ball until Nana showed up at the Seventeen house, a grin from ear to ear. Clutched in her arms was a big bag full of dresses. Trying on each different, flawless dress was one of the most fun things you had done in a long time. Nana was the sweetest person and always had amazing comments for you when you came out in a new dress. Eventually the two of you decided on a pretty black ball gown that was laced with a few sparkles here and there. It was elegant but nothing flashy, so you wouldn’t draw the attention of most people (which is how you preferred it). After the two of you had settled on a dress, Nana brought out a pretty pair of shoes and a few accessories, and even promised to come help you with your hair the day of the ball. The two of you talked about the ball for a long time. Nana took it upon herself to explain how these types of balls worked, and even mentioned some groups and certain people to make sure to steer clear of. Before you knew it, Nana had to head out, and your heart hurt to see her leave. It was nice having a girl in the house after constantly being surrounded by thirteen guys.

After Nana had left you excitedly showed Chan and Seungkwan the dress you had picked out, thanking them profusely for helping you out. Naturally Mingyu wanted to see the dress, but you told him that he would have to wait until the day of the ball because it would be no fun if no one was surprised, even if the dress was on the more plane end of ball gowns. You happily helped the others cook dinner that night, brimming with excitement for the upcoming ball. As you laid down in your bed the night before the ball, you couldn’t help but remind yourself that even though you were going to be able to go outside, not only were you still being held captive, but you were pretty much putting yourself, and the rest of seventeen for that matter, in a decent amount of danger. Even if Mingyu had assured you there would be no danger at all, you couldn’t help but think he was lying. After all, there had to be a reason Seungcheol was so opposed to you going to this ball.

As expected, after the gang had finished breakfast, Nana showed up at the door, smiling just has happily as before. As you raced to greet Nana at the front entrance, Mingyu couldn’t help but smile. It was nice to see you smiling and giggling, to see you talking with someone without having that sadness still lingering in your eyes. He didn’t know how or why talking with Nana took that away, but the more he thought about it the more he realized it was just Nana, but multiple other things all combined. This event really meant something to you, were as for the rest of Seventeen, this ball was just another part of the job, a place where they have to show up and look presentable and represent their head well. To the gang, it was just business, but to you it was an adventure waiting to happen.

Nana helped you with your hair, then departed, saying that she had to help her other members and do a few other important things before heading to the ball, so you say on the couch, full hair and make-up in your oversized sweatpants from Wonwoo and anime t-shirt from Joshua. You earned a few strange glances from the others. Jihoon even did a double take when he walked past you but most of everyone Seungcheol was acting the weirdest.

“Are you sure you should have your hair out of your face like that? Maybe you should wear it down in case someone recognizes you.” Seungcheol declared walking into the living room.

“No, Nana said this looks the best, besides what are the others gonna do, kidnap me from you original kidnappers?” you questioned, a bit of malice laced in your voice. Seungcheol bit his cheek and looked at you for a few seconds before turning on his heel and walked out of the room just as quickly as he had arrived. You looked over at Hansol who was sitting on the opposite end of the couch watching something on his iPad. He looked up almost at once, easily getting the feeling that someone his looking at him. You gave him a questioning look in regards to Seungcheol but he only shrugged his shoulders before returning to his screen. You huffed a bit, not satisfied with Hansol’s reaction but didn’t press anymore and headed upstairs to change into your outfit, seeing as how almost everyone else had changed or was changing. Hopefully the night wouldn’t be a disaster.

Next...

[fooboo24]

me thoughts on the whole “six years later”

honestly idk. i just feel the need to clarify my feelings on the (possible) situation with b//ell/arke, b//ec/ho, and b//ra/ven.

rambling and speculation under the cut

first off, i am as big of ho for b/ell//arke as any out there, let this be known. do i think it has a large chance of happening in show? absolutely. beyond my own otp emotions hoping that it will, evidence and practicality suggest it will end up canon/endgame. it’s just a matter of when.

i do not ship b//e/cho. echo has treated bellamy awfully the majority of the time they have known each other, and bellamy actively distrusts her and probably holds some underlying hatred towards her for what she did to octavia. it’s not a great ship as it was left for now in show.

as for b//rav//en, i have no particularly emotion towards it. i think it could be cute, but considering how much of a diehard bellarke shipper i am, im not exactly singing praises to gods to make br/ave/n canon. however, they have the strongest basis for becoming canon after be/ll/ark/e, i find.

further elaboration, now with consideration to the timeskip and events of the season four finale.

clarke doesn’t know if bellamy is alive, though she knows there is a chance, no matter how small, that he has, and she clings to this. bellamy, on the other hand, believes that clarke is entirely dead, given what we know (i doubt he ever received any of clarke’s radio messages, because if he had, then he would have been on the ground as immediately as possible given resources and time passed). he does not have that same sliver of possibility like clarke does, and therefore probably spent a good deal time (potentially literal years) absolutely despaired over the situation and how he “failed” clarke. bellamy feels shit deep, too. he would likely -not- allow himself to get over it for a long time, beyond not being able to to begin with. so, bellamy spends a lot of time upset and grieving up in space, and in marches potential b/ech/o and br/ave/n.

my thoughts for be/cho involve it beginning as a “vent” for bellamy. he’s frustrated emotionally, both by clarke and his role and the difficulty of living in space, and physically, too, probs - he’s prob restless after spending so long running around like a gazelle in the forests on earth and now he’s trapped on the goddamn ark again, and it’s stifling. and honestly, the dude’s gonna be sexually frustrated, too, lbr. he’s gonna need an outlet, and i think echo could be that. i’m not gonna rule out echo here, she’s her own character, too - she has a great potential to become a “good guy” and redeem herself to bellamy and the others, and the audience, too. i don’t like her much right now, but i’m interested to see where her character might go, especially now that her actress is a series regular.

echo is in a somewhat similar situation to bellamy, though her distress is more pronounced in certain areas. she inevitably probably has ghosts floating about regarding people she “left” on the ground/never got a proper goodbye with, chiefly roan, i think, whom she didn’t really have time to sort out her feelings for (not necessarily romantic, i’m not implying that, but she obviously cared for roan, she was loyal to him both officially and probably personally). beyond this, she proves to be understandably frightened about going to space, looking quite terrified when in the shuttle and raven starts floating in zero g. having been born, raised, and lived on earth all her life, this situation is incredibly stressful, even more so given how long they will be up there is very uncertain, being anywhere from five years to much longer. like bellamy, she’ll have adjustment issues, but even worse than him given that earth and the freedom that came with it is all she’s ever known, and now she’s been confined indefinitely to this stuffy, foreign space station for an indefinite amount of time. for her, it is entirely strange. at least for the others (beyond emori), they are returning to a familiar place, even if it holds negative connotations for some more than others - overall, it was once “home” for bellamy, murphy, harper, and monty for all of their lives up until two (?) or so years ago (i’m assuming it’s been roughly two years since they were ejected to the ground). echo has no attachment or idea of this place. she’s anxious and terrified, things i cannot fault her for considering the situation.

so, here we are: bellamy and echo are both restless and frustrated. they don’t have the greatest relationship, but they’re going to have to learn to get along, in the very least, considering the need to cooperate for their situation and because it’s not going to help if things worsen. overall, the both need an outlet, because it’s equally as non-conducive if they are so worked up they can’t think or operate. so, the opportunity presents itself, given enough time has passed that respective tensions can no longer last and/or that they both have numbed enough to the point where it works out well enough, that they could become each other’s “vents”. i, personally, think this is one of the most viable way that b/ech/o could start. they live in close quarters, constantly interact to some degree, and at first, there’s a suitable enough emotional disconnect between them that it works out well. they’re both young and raring (lmao), and given that two out of the four girls on the station are taken, bellamy’s options are echo or raven (and we’re discussing b/ech/o right now, so raven’s irrevelant for now). emotionally, they may not have much going on, but physically, attraction could be there.

so, yeah, they start banging. why not, they’re both consenting adults - it’s not emotionally the best but it helps ease mounting stress and makes living up in the station a lot more bearable. so, personal assumptions here, say bellamy does his thing grieving over clarke/tiding himself over for two years and echo is off doing her thing, working out excessively to distract herself from thoughts of earth, but at some point it snaps and they’re both there, so they go for it. they fool around whenever they feel like it for a year or so, and it works out fine. i think echo would become more emotionally attached/dependent first, as she comes to improve her relationship with bellamy and begins to trust him more (and vice versa). in the past, she’s expressed the want for bellamy’s approval (think 4x01 - “think you’ll ever trust me again?” “i doubt it.” or something along the lines of that), and she has the most personal history with him, so she’s more willing to rely on him emotionally with all of her stuff going on. bellamy, i think, would still be a lot more detached and it would take more time to allow himself to open up, given he is still probably hung up on clarke (one doesn’t even have to interpret this romantically, but also just in a friendly/partner-sense - i consider it both, because bel/ar/ke is more than just the one or the other) and has other people he trusts more beyond echo, especially raven (and monty), that he can divulge personal issues to more easily and openly. they’ve all known each other longer/been through more/been positively involved for longer, it’s only natural. but it’s not impossible that he might allow some (not all) walls to fall down given enough time (and six years in more than enough for something - or even the beginnings of something - to form) and as he sees echo genuinely open up to him. so, he thinks clarke is dead, and there’s nothing he can do about that, nothing he can do to resolve his feelings for and about her ultimately, and though it was not born of ideal circumstances, he is now involved with another he might be able to legitimately move forward with. he may not move on completely, inevitably will think back to clarke sometimes and fall into a pit again for a bit or longer, may dwell on her memory, but he doesn’t have to stay miserable and cornered off forever. so, maybe, he begins to allow himself to carry on with echo, and things are kind of chill and calm and happy for a bit between them. depending on when and how things happen, by the time they go down to earth again, it’s not preposterous to consider that he and echo may have committed to a legit relationship, and that he’s not as tied down to how he felt about clarke, because she’s “gone”. i love be/l/larke to death, but i also want everybody to be content and happy, understand this, and though i love that Spicy Drama that comes with bellamy not being able to let clarke go entirely, i do think he would eventually attempt to settle himself and find happiness, if not by himself, then by the urging and intervention of the others.

how this plays out is still up in the air, as is all of this. is it inevitable he will be extremely shaken up by finding out clarke is a live and well, and she will most definitely likely take a forefront in all his emotions and actions, leading to echo being sidelined. echo herself will be dealing with the reality of returning to earth, but will also understandably be upset by being potentially ignored by bellamy, especially given if she has become more attached than he. as things settle, he will be faced with the need to choose between clarke and echo, even if it may be a struggle between all three forces in the end - out of my personal opinion (and being a be/lar/ke ho), i think how he feels about clarke will be too much to ignore and will easily overpower his relationship (i think “making up for lost time” will be a big thing with be/lla/rke in season five), or lack thereof, with echo, ultimately leading to the dissolution of b/ec/ho and the beginning of our endgame canon be/l/larke. i think it would be difficult for bellamy to justify staying with echo when clarke has suddenly been reinserted in his life, because no one will quite be on clarke’s level to him - not even raven, who is his next closest relationship. i do not think even six years, some double or three times longer than he has known clarke, would be enough to place someone else on the same pedestal clarke occupies in his heart. i’m not saying someone couldn’t work their way up to a similar position, i def think raven could, but the fact of the matter is that it will not be the same as clarke’s, or comparable just by so many factors. they are both important, but on different levels (i liken it to have two children - they both occupy places of their own in your heart, and to compare them is just not realistic or possible to oneself. they are both important, and just because one “came first” doesn’t diminish the “worth” of the second). clarke is bellamy’s partner in a lot of ways he would never relegate to another, though he may allow another to build themselves up to a similar state with and to him.

NOW, with most of my thoughts about b/ec/ho articulated (i think lmao), i’ll now go on about br/ave/n. first and foremost, bellamy’s next strongest relationship (outside of clarke, octavia, and kane - just people on the station) is with raven. they are good friends, have been for years, trust each other well, support each other, and work together easily and efficiently. they already have a strong relationship and friendship. honestly, i do not think that there is a romantic basis at “this” point in their relationship - i.e., where they are at this point on the station. back in season one, they slept together. raven was upset about finn putting her off and knowing about him and clarke, and bellamy did not have any particular affinity towards raven beyond an inclination to getting laid - if she wanted to have sex with him, that was fine for him, at the time. after this, the moment has never been extensively brought up and clearly both raven and bellamy are past it, having worse things to worry about and being mature enough to realize that it didn’t mean much more than a quick bang with no romantic connotations when neither were at particular peaks in their lives. beyond this, they have grown a solid friendship with ignorance to it.

so, switch to them on the station. once again, bellamy thinks clarke is dead, and so does raven, whom both were very close to. on the station, they are the ones who will feel clarke’s loss the hardest out of the seven of them on board. unlike with echo, bellamy will be much more immediate and open to expressing his feelings to raven because of the previously established closeness there, and likely vice versa. i do still believe that either way, bellamy will understandably take his sweet time grieving clarke regardless of whom he “goes” with or opens up to. raven, too. she will take her own separate time to process clarke’s “death”, but i think she’d be more open with bellamy first over it considering she is a fairly honest character. i feel as though she would talk to him first, because he’d be able to understand the best, and that after some time, he would be comfortable enough venting about clarke back. for sure, they will be the other’s best support system in all they do on the ark.

now, it’s possible that they might “start” the same way b/ech/o would, aka, sexually. it’d be a vent, but with an initial fondness there that would not exist, at first or at all, with bellamy and echo. again, they’re mature adults with a positive, solid basis for what could happen between them. they know how to appropriately separate their sexual relationship from their friendship, and, if they should want to, mix them. but a part of me thinks that their relationship would be much more gradual, as bellamy and raven both find emotional relief in each other by confessing and venting their frustrations in a way that would not force bellamy into a point of total emotional breakdown given a situation where he is unable to express himself in a healthy way like he could have with raven.

so, years go by, and the blow of the loss of clarke for both is softened by their mutual support of each other. their relationship only grows fonder and stronger, a healthy bond long since established. and one day, maybe, when they are alone and comfortable and genuinely happy with each other, a kiss happens. over a bit more time, it happens more, little changes and shifts that display their interest in each other. there’s nothing wrong with this, they’re extremely close, have been for years, and if any characters deserve thorough and total respect and happiness, it’s raven and bellamy (-especially- raven!!!!!). this is where i begin to wobble a bit in my thoughts regarding ships. in a situation like this or similarly, i could really genuinely get behind br/ave/n. it’d be hella cute and entirely warranted and healthy, a rare display on television, though my b/e//l/lark/e heart would scream woe at this revelation. i would not be totally upset if this happened, whereas i’d be more irritable about b/ech/o if done poorly.

so, bellamy and raven have thing going, they express their romantic interest in each other, and enter a real relationship. i think this would also be a relatively healing relationship for both - again, i still think clarke would be on bellamy’s mind, but maybe lesser so with a stronger, consistent relationship with raven going on at the forefront. they may go as far to fall in love with each other and actively express this fact to each other - the reality is, they may legitimately resolve to be together permanently and forever, regardless of everything else (you know, not at the time knowing about clarke about to come back into their lives lmao). problems arise a lot more severely when you factor in clarke again, though, in a way that they cannot with b/ech/o given a lack of history.

okay, so, both learn that clarke is alive and well, and they are excited about being with her again. i do not think that raven would have issues with bellamy being ecstatic to find and be with clarke - she knows they are close, as she is with clarke, and considering how perceptive she is, she is likely the character with the most insight into how bellamy and clarke truly, deeply felt about each other. she knew they cared, and with the romantic aspect considered here (this is a shippy post after all), she knew that bellamy may have potentially loved clarke, and vice versa. she knows that he may still, in a way, and even maybe again immediately with the whole sudden influx of emotions that would come with her being back in their lives. however, she also knows that bellamy loves her, too, and is committed to her, as she is him. she trusts him, and he trusst her - she knows he will not stray and trusts in clarke that she will not overstep her boundaries once clarifications have been made and asserted however way they might. it’s all understandable, there’s a lot going on, but they’re not children, and there is trust there for all.

but this is where things become a little messy, depending on how the situation plays out. possibly, neither bellamy nor clarke are able to separate their feelings from the other, and while this is expressed, i think they have more than enough maturity and respect for each other and raven to -not- act on them. they may insinuate or even outright admit after all that has gone on, for everyone’s sake, but i HIGHLY doubt they would go behind raven’s back, even at their most emotional, because raven simply does NOT deserve that, and if the writers did that, i’d be pissed, even being a fervid be/ll/ark/e shipper. raven deserves so much better, and i hope she will get it in spades. clarke and raven had already been in a similar situation with finn some eight years ago or so, and if my memory serves me correctly, clarke absolutely backed off from raven and finn once she learned what was going on and denied finn despite his repeated advances while he was still with raven. so, from this we know that clarke is unlikely to do anything behind backs, even given how much more strongly she feels for bellamy than she did finn. raven does not need to, once again, go through the paranoia and pain of a lover going behind her back to be with another, especially her closest female friend now at this.

they are all far past the drama of late-teens/early-young adulthood at this point, and are mature enough to not muddy relationships needlessly. bellamy is also not the type to carelessly pursue without appropriate consideration and tact examined situationally. more than this, i like to think that he legitimately loves both clarke and raven in this situation, and would not want to hurt either. he would have a monstrous decision to make, and either way, someone would be spurned, most of all raven should she be broken up with. given how well things are handled, i think if the situation is built up well enough, that it may be realistic for him to choose either one.

but at the same time, i do not think it’s much of an excessive stretch to think that in a sudden burst of emotion upon meeting again or having been together for a while afterwards, that bellamy and clarke may have a moment, one they may both regret and not. raven is not stupid, she would pick up on trying to keep it hidden/push away feelings easily, or bellamy and clarke might be straightforward about what happened in a way that places them all in the same situation as above - a choice needing to be made and someone inevitably coming out hurt in the end. even if all avenues were taken to avoid hurt or anything happening, i think raven may become understandably jealous or unsettled about bellamy and clarke’s closeness as they reacquainted and possibly became... quite friendly and involved.

OR! maybe bellamy would end it with both, wishing to prevent as much damage as possible, and try to take time to sort it all out alone for everyone’s sake. or maybe he won’t get with anyone, though i doubt it will be that easy, honestly. if he does get with raven, i want it done right. i want her respected, and if he ultimately chooses clarke, then i want it to be handled well and realistically in a way that isn’t unnecessarily cruel to her. if he chooses raven overall, then let him commit to her fully and utterly in the way they both deserve, in a way that allows him to get over clarke and clarke to get over him but still be best friends, and for raven to rest easy and be content and happy with him. if he gets with echo, let it be fleshed out well and carried out with some level of mutual respect and fondness between them, instead of simply being shoehorned jealousy drama fodder (same for raven!!!!!). and hey, if he gets with clarke overall, let it be well done! overall, above all, just let any of them be done WELL.

on a separate topic, and my final blabbing, the idea of bellamy having a kid with either raven or echo because “oh clarke ‘has’ a kid now with maddie”... i REALLY don’t like this for multiple reasons. first, it feels like it would be way too melodramatic and unrealistic in a lot of ways - their technical situation up in the station is precarious and difficult enough as it is, without adding a child into the mix - that’s without going into how that would drastically alter the unresolved personal issues of it all (i’ll not go into details about how these relationships would change with a potential child in the mix, because that’s a whole other can of worms that i’m not ready or currently willing to open, considering how seriously it would change the scheme of it all). up on the ark, there is very limited resources for just the seven of them, let alone a baby or two. and the issue of getting back to earth with additional passengers that young (or at all) just complicates it even further. ultimately, i think that, most of all, bellamy and raven would have more than enough sense to prevent a pregnancy and child, even if they get involved (there’s gotta be some condoms left on the ark somewhere... and even if not, raven or echo are more than smart enough to regulate themselves pretty sharply... all of them are, for they all [guys included] realize the severity of it all) - they’d probably be pretty vigilant about not wanting one with all the stress of everything going on around them, at least not on the ark. for harper and monty and emori and murphy, though, i can see maybe having a kid - most of all, emori and murphy. but i feel like it’d be a total accident and it’d be just the once, because they literally -cannot- afford to expend their resources excessively in a way that they would need to to accommodate a child. ultimately, while i COULD in theory understand a child happening, as it’s not entirely out of the scope of reality, i just don’t think it would happen and that it would be a cheap pull made by the writers to give bellamy one.

okay, that’s alllllllllllllll of my two cents on the situation, i think. this is -really- fuckin long (!!!!!!!!!!! over 4000 words!? ...this is also not proofread, lmao...), and i think i might have convinced myself into slightly shipping br/av//en... but either way, here it is. i doubt anyone has read this far, for there’s not really any reason to, but if you have, i commend you, i really do.

well, that’s it, i’m out. peace.