#and it really worries me. girls you do not have to destroy yourselves to fit into unachievable beauty standards

[not-gray-politics]

Trans women. I'm grabbing you by the shoulders and yelling. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE SKINNY TO BE FEMININE AND PRETTY AND CUTE. PLEASE STOP MAKING DIETS PART OF YOUR TRANSITION GOALS. WEIGHT LOSS IS A SCAM. I LOVE YOU. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES. YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL.

[cacacita]

i ate today after six days of not eating bc i felt like my chest was too tight to breathe and my mom freaked out and tried to figure out what was wrong with me until i finally shared with her and she got super. serious. which ive only seen her do like 4 times ever in my life. but i told her everything after my body calmed down with a few bites and some time. she say and watched me. but i just couldnt bite my tongue anymore.

i told her how much everything appearance and weight related she and dad ever enforced on me deeply affected me so much that id grown to hate myself. hate myself so much that i wished id get hit by a car and forced into a coma to lose weight or how i fantasize daily about cutting off my arms or getting surgery after surgery done. how i starved myself through so many years and my body never lost the weight and i could see her disappointment that id never be like her in her prime. how when she bought smaller clothes for me to lose weight to fit into that it was the worst blow to pride i ever experienced. how when she locked cabinets i would eat paper and cardboard because i was so hungry. how the day she told me "dont worry mimi, inside you is a skinny girl. she just needs to come out, and youll really be yourself" is marked as the day i knew id never be enough for her or myself. id always hate myself. i lost the battle for self acceptance let alone self love long ago and i will never feel worthy of anyones approval.

for the first time ever she completely listened. no jokes. no distractions. no looking at her phone mid vent. no forgetting. no need to repeat myself. she listened to me. and she started to cry which surprised me because she is not an emotionally reactive person. she never cries. shes never serious. but she told me after a minute that she was so sorry. she kept shaking her head saying sorry and i really think she meant it. i dont think she knew how much pain she and my dad caused. she just kept saying like, we never wanted you or jt to hate yourselves, you were never ugly, you were always beautiful the way you were but youre right, we didnt treat you two like that was true. and now this is reality. fuck. it was heavy and emotional and seeing my unserious mom like this, finally listening to me, finally understanding this . fuck if i didnt need to hear that. but it got crazier. she told me that i needed to get help (not a first time shes said that) but she added that things will only get worse if i keep this up. i asked well im fat so like what would actually happen. she was like (im paraphrasing here from memory) "your heart health will always be affected by this. i know because i did this too. because of MY mom trying to control ME. AND the industry i worked in. i wasnt skinny because i walked every day. i was skinny because i didnt eat either. thats how i got to be a model. and it was miserable "

it never fucking occurred to me that my mom was or could have been a victim too. it never occured in my mind that the same pressures to be perfect and beautiful were put on her and she was just doing what she knew, just in a different, more digestible way, thinking that if i was skinny somehow through diets or outside control that i wouldnt be subject to the same misery, but it ended up doing the same thing. she realized she repeated the cycle she wanted to destroy and my dad was absolutely no help either. she really, really unpacked that in front of me and yeah today was super emotional

but it was good. i feel like a huge weight is off my shoulders, and for the first time in a long time, i trust my mom. not that she wasnt dependable ever bc she was always there for me in other ways, but i felt like for the first time ever she SAW me. she HEARD me. neither of us are empathetic people but we really empathized with each other. i think today was a huge milestone in my mom and i moving forward in the right direction. my anxiety around eating is not CURED by any means because thats from deeply internalized stuff that one conversation cant get rid of but. i have real support at home for it. my mom isnt belittling me not eating, shes taking it seriously. shes grown a lot these last few years after her own intensive therapy and she has made a real effort to be better to me and jt. i feel exhausted but relieved and ... healed. not at all completely or anything but everything clicked and i feel like. the resentment i had for my mom just evaporated. i knew a lot about her past but i didnt know she also was conditioned into having an ed from her own mother. and like. i get it now. i get her now and she gets me. im abt to cry typing this but i needed today. i wish i had a day off to decompress after this but ill just sleep early ig

[where-dreamers-go]

“Dark Choices” Luke Skywalker x Reader

(A/N: So this was suppose to be an imagine and it quickly grew beyond my control. I was inspired to write a Dark Side!Luke Skywalker after reading an insert reader from the lovely @moonlit-imagines. This insert reader has morphed A LOT. That’s what happens when I just jump in to write without an outline. So instead of turning to the Dark Side, I wrote where Luke tapped into the Dark Side and explored his reactions and such. I love writing for Star Wars. How come I don’t do it more often?? Also platonic relationship with Luke! He’s a sweetie! Part of @girl-next-door-writes Bingo Challenge! Bingo Card: Hurt/Comfort Warnings: Angst. Canon violence and language (their curse words). Death (the Empire isn’t getting away with anything today). I used meters for estimated distance. Injury/Wound mention, but not described. Word Count: 3,661 words)

The rendezvous point was well behind you and the departure time had long since passed. Your group’s part of the mission was complete and reported in. The other part of the mission, Commander Luke Skywalker’s, had yet to be determined.

Something’s wrong, you thought as you gained sight of the caves up ahead. Soles of your boots padding quietly atop of rocky ground.

The Imperials had been looking for something and destroying the environment in their path. Skywalker’s job was to figure out what the subject of their interest was.

Luke had not reported in nor had he made any sign of arriving to the rendezvous. Contact had not been reestablished since he had found the caves.

Where is he?

Signs of Luke’s whereabouts was laid around the area. At least two different classes of stormtroopers had been taken out either by their own blasterfire or a lightsaber. Burn marks littered the rock faces, cargo crates, and stormtrooper armor.

He must have cleared the area. You kept a hand on your blaster pistol just in case. Cautiously nearing the closest of the cave’s mouthes, you stayed low. You were not sure if there were any more scouts in the area. It was relatively quiet much to your suspicion.

It was not in Luke Skywalker’s character to not report in when scheduled. Being that he did not, you called in that you were going to look for him. You had not waited for approval.

Sure, he was a Jedi and all, but Luke tended to find himself in unusual predicaments.

A chill ran up your spine as you entered the cave. Imperial supplies were scattered along the walls. Most were opened.

Explosives. Typical. You thought. But what are they after?

Another chill ran through you and you forced yourself to pick up the pace. You were strangely thankful that the Imperials had lined the tunnel with artificial lighting. The air inside was cooler, but not enough to relieve you of your growing worry.

A generator must still be on somewhere. I hope he’s not in trouble. You followed the curves of the walls. I was able to extract datacards worth of information with little security in my way. Kriff. How many Imperials were at this site instead? Are they always after him?

Coming to multiple tunnel openings, you stopped.

I don’t think I have time for this.

“Luke?” Your voice reverberated against the rocks. “LUKE?”

Patiently, you waited for a response. The echos of your voice had faded.

This is what happens when he goes alone. You trudged to the right-most tunnel to start, however turned as something reflective caught your eye. White stormtrooper armor.

Quickly changing directions, you kept a hurried pace. Passing more fallen Imperials, there was little doubt of Skywalker’s whereabouts.

Faint electrical sounds reached your ears and you followed them down another path. Up ahead crackles and small bursts came from an open area beyond a tunnel. Pieces of armor and blasters greeted the soles of your boots before you walked in.

What…?

You had to step over a fallen stormtrooper that had a very prominent hole through their chest plate.

“Luke?” Your eyes scanned over the immediate area. Sparking consoles with slashes through them. Every stormtrooper and Imperial officer was either crumpled by an interior wall or had the mark of a lightsaber’s blade.

The room, whatever it was used for, was destroyed. Debris decorated the cave floor. Large rocks and metal alike. There was no way to know if there was used to be another exit.

You let out an uneasy breath and called out again. “Commander Skywalker?”

Checking each body, there was one with hair you recognized nearby. No Imperial symbol on his attire.

Rushing to a cargo crate, you fell into a crouch. “Luke?”

Knees pulled up to his head, Luke was huddled in on himself.

You gently placed a hand on one of his arms he had wrapped around his legs.

He jolted as if you had shocked him. Face still tucked in and hidden, his breath was uneven.

“Are you okay?” You asked, eyes not finding any visible wounds.

“(Y/N)?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“It’s cold.” Luke murmured.

“What?”

“It’s so cold.”

Did something happen with the temperature in here? I don’t feel that chilly. Cave dampness.

“Why didn’t you show up? You missed the rendezvous.” You let your hand rest on his arm again. Luke was shaking. “Let’s get you out of here, okay?”

“I had to do it.”

You frowned.

“It was powerful.”

“An explosion?” You asked. “Luke, please look at me. What are—?”

Picking his head up, his eyes met yours.

Your words stilled.

Their usual brightness had dimmed, his blue eyes darkened in pain.

“They knew we’d come. They wanted us to take their files. The facility was set to explode.” Luke shuttered. “They were going to send in a whole squad of troopers.”

“But I made it out fine. Everyone else made it back.”

“I stopped them.” His voice cracked. “All of them.”

“Why didn’t you come back?”

Blue eyes looked behind you. He looked to the destruction, the taken lives, and rock walls. The room was full of wreckage and Imperial bodies.

What’s wrong? He’s been on missions before. Why’s this one got him so….unnerved?

You rubbed your thumb along the fabric of his sleeve. “You could have come back. You can come back now.”

“I made sure that they never ordered the troopers to attack. They couldn’t even send for help.”

You were hesitant before you asked, “What did you do?”

“I took down the ceiling.”

You followed Luke’s gaze. What you assumed to be another interior wall was actually a cave-in. Not just battle debris. There was no telling how large the room was before.

“There were so many of them. They didn’t even attack me first. I-I just….” Luke returned his eyes to you. “I couldn’t let you die.”

A lump formed in your throat and the corners of your eyes started to burn. Circling your arms around his shoulders, you hugged Luke. There were no second thoughts about it. His face pressed into your shoulder as his arms brought you closer.

“The call wasn’t going through to your comm.”

“It’s over, okay?” You said. “We can go back to the ship.”

What else could you say? You didn’t consider yourself incredibly close with Luke Skywalker, however being in the Rebellion meant you shared some missions together. His words seemed to prove you otherwise.

“I say this with all of the respect to you,” you said pulling out of the hug. “I think you need a break.”

The corner of Luke’s mouth tipped up.

“I think Leia would chew me out in a lecture if I leave you here any longer.” You added, trying to give him a motivational boost.

Wiping his face with his sleeves, Luke inhaled deeply before standing up with you.

As much as you knew Luke needed to sort through his feelings and what he had done, you both needed to physically get out of there. The Imperials could show up to investigate at any moment. Added that being in the same location that was causing him to be upset was not the best place for him to be.

“I’m sorry.” Luke said as he brushed dirt off of himself.

“Hey,” you caught his gaze. “Rule number one: survive.” You gave his arm a light squeeze. “Let’s go.”

After he gave a nod, you lead the way back into the tunnel system.

Remembering the way you came, but backwards was always either really easy, frustratingly hard, or filled with you double-checking. Walking beside Luke, you were double-checking each change in direction for boot sole marks and familiar details. Downed stormtroopers being a main detail that helped. Unfortunately for them.

“Ar—….fizz…lo…fizztt….roopers…out….rr….” An undistinguishable voice came from your commlink.

You looked from your commlink to Luke. The Rebel reached for his lightsaber and continued forward. A confident demeanor covering him like a fitted tunic. Any pain he had was hidden or extinguished. A Jedi walked beside you.

Imperial movement always at the wrong time. The reinforcements got here faster than I thought. So much for any heart to heart conversations.

The tunnel ahead was illuminated by the lighting setup along the walls. Crates were still in their same positions.

“We’re close to the exit now,” Luke said in a hushed tone.

You grabbed your blaster pistol from your hoister. The two of you turned and found yourselves amongst Imperial crates again. More of them. Up ahead was the mouth of the cave. Cluttered with crates and long cables, the way out was either going to be safe or loaded with trouble.

Stepping in front of you and causing you to halt in your tracks, Luke ignited his green lightsaber. Trouble. That was when you heard it. The clanking of armor, rushed stomps, and muffled orders. You raised your blaster pistol.

“I’ll shield you.” Luke took measured steps forward.

“Got it.”

In less than twenty seconds, the pair of you made your way through the tunnel to cover as much ground as possible. Getting out in one piece was a top priority. There was only about eight meters or so left until you were back under the open sky, but trouble had arrived.

“Rebels!”

A squad of stormtroopers jogged their way into position.

“REBEL SCUM!”

“Scum?” You called back.

“Blast them!”

The stormtroopers opened fire.

Before the first red laser had come within two paces of you, Luke was already tilting his lightsaber. Each fire was deflected.

Fanning out, the troopers had the environmental advantage, however they were not trained to go up against the likes of a Jedi.

Beams of red were ricocheted back as Luke blocked and you had started firing. The returned fire doubled with their own and took down stormtroopers one by one. Almost each Imperial shouted orders and aggravated commentary.

Not long now, you thought.

A confident-striding trooper with heavy armor appeared at the cave’s mouth and took a stance outside before their weapon started shooting out rapid blasts towards you both.

“That’s a problem.” Luke commented as his lightsaber deflected as much of the blasterfire as he could. A blur of green and a reverberating sound that made the hair on your neck stand on end.

“On it.” You ducked as a red beam passed your head. Time was temporary. Aiming higher, you fired multiple shots to your attacker. One of which took the trooper and their weapon down. You breathed out a quick sigh of relief.

It was short-lived.

From out of your line of sight, white armor of another group appeared and lined up behind the first squad. As a unit they marched into the cave.

Ah, kriff. Someone must have mentioned Jedi over the comms.

Words on the tip of your tongue, you abruptly dismissed them.

Black boots moved across the ground with barely a sound. No huffs of fatigue nor beads of sweat came from Skywalker. The air in front of him was illuminated by flashing red and green. Each attempt at firing at him was delivered right back. To the shoulder, his head, arm, chest; they failed. No matter where blasterfire was aimed on him it did not reach. A blur of green light was there to meet it.

There was a reason that lightsabers were referred to as weapons of a different age. An age where people had mystical powers and swords of light. Anyone trained to use one was someone who should not be ignored nor underestimated. A mastery and awareness in each swing.

You had seen firsthand what a direct blow sent to troopers did. As a rebel, you had been on your share of missions with Commander Skywalker, however this was the first time you had seen him go on full defensive mode. Defense and trickery were more his style. Yet what you were witnessing was him taking on almost all of the blasterfire. It was only the two of you against two squads.

Hearing a familiar vrrr, you had to take a quick step back as the green lightsaber came a little too close to you for comfort. A red laserbolt was deflected.

Woo, okay. Watch for that.

Returning fire, you weaved around Luke’s wide gestures to take aim at the stormtroopers.

Once one stormtrooper was down, another stepped around furthering their takeover in the cave.

You took a step to the right and were given a clearer shot of the approaching troopers. It was a step too far to the side.

“Ah!” A hit to your arm threw you back. Dropping behind the closest crate and taking cover, you immediately applied pressure to your upper arm with your free hand. The pain only then making itself really known.

Kriff! There’s one on the right somewhere, you thought as you looked to Luke.

The Jedi was not hiding, not ducking behind anything, nor dodging. He stood his ground. Green blade of his lightsaber twirled through the air and deflected each oncoming blast. Rapid blasterfire resounded throughout the tunnel and the shouting became louder.

For two seconds, you peeked around the crate before quickly taking cover again.

“Behind the crate!”

Darn it.

“I got him!”

“Take them out!”

“One behind the crate!”

If your heart was not hammering in your chest before, it was then.

How many of them are there?

Hearing a small whoosh through the air, you turned in time to witness a thermal detonator arch over your head and land about two meters away. The silver sphere rolled near a stack of crates. Crates full of explosives.

On your feet before you could speak, you were already running to Luke. He gestured with his hand and sent a group of stormtroopers either flying backwards or toppling over. Even as more stormtroopers were still standing and firing, both you and Luke sprinted to the opening of the cave.

Another gesture of his hand and Luke sent more Imperials back. Passing a line of them, your fear skyrocketed with knowing what was coming.

“Hurry!” Luke made sure to remain beside you.

As the soles of your boots reached the mouth of the cave, Luke turned —

KABOOM

The first explosion created a domino effect and set off more explosives within the tunnel. Heat waved out after the first sounds. The ground beneath your feet shook and you were sent flying forward. Soon, you had met the ground as you tumbled across and landed on your already hurting arm.

KABOOM

You covered your ears as you pushed yourself up on an elbow.

Black.

It took a second for you to recognize that Luke was knelt over you and facing the cave. Your chest tightened at the sight.

Various and many rocks that had splintered off in the explosions were levitating in the air above you. The explosions had stopped, but the debris was still on the move. Boulders rolled a distance away as the ground shook. The debris smaller in size with each second that passed.

How close of a call was it this time?

With extended arms, Luke set the rocks away from anyone. You, him, and the possibly still alive stormtroopers on the ground that were not there before.

Lowering your hands, your ears still buzzed from the detonations. There was no telling how sore you would be later from your tumble. But you would gladly take soreness over what the Imperials had.

Luke sat back on his heels and clipped his lightsaber to his belt. Sometime amongst the chaos he had deactivated it.

“Luke.”

The man looked to you with heavy concern in his eyes. His gloved hand gestured to your wounded arm.

“Hey, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere else?” His voice sounded muffled in your ears.

“Are you okay?” You asked quietly, sitting up.

  “I’m better.” Luke’s expression softened until he inclined his head to you. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“Yeah…well.” You gestured with your hand to the fallen Imperials. “I could be worse.”

He leaned away from you once you spoke.

“What?”

“I think we need to get your ears checked.”

“Sounds good.” You smiled despite yourself.

A black glove covered his mouth for a couple of moments before he looked over his shoulder then back to you. His expression less exuberant. “I’m sorry. I…I shouldn’t have let that happen. This isn’t what I wanted.”

“Neither of us wanted this.”

His chest rose and fell as he sighed. Shoulders more relaxed than they were a minute ago.

“This was all a trap. The Empire was looking for metals long before they were storing weapons. They knew we would show up.”

Typical. Now that we have a real chance at winning this war, they’re being sneaky and a little risky.

The air around you smelled of smoke that nipped at your nostrils and dried out your throat. With your hearing not up to parr, the only sound aside from your breathing was any shifting rocks. Nothing moved. White armor could be seen amongst the large rocks that were almost everywhere you looked in the open area. Some blasters were still in gloved hands.

Both you and Luke peered around as you slowly stood up. Even outside you found yourselves surrounded by destruction and Imperials.

When will it end?

Rubbing at your ear with a knuckle, you rested your sights on the Jedi.

Luke reached out a hand to the rubble and in a matter of seconds, your blaster pistol was in his grasp.

“Here. You might need this.” He turned to you.

“Hopefully not,” you said as you nodded in thanks and holstered your blaster pistol.

Walking over and around rock, the pair of you distanced yourselves from the caves as well as the Imperial locations.

“We should get back as soon as we can.” Luke said.

“Our absence and delay has probably climbed up the rank of command.”

Luke nodded as you grabbed your commlink. Heading out of the area was possibly the easiest part of your day, you hoped. You opened your comm.

“This is Lieutenant (Y/L/N). Commander Skywalker and I are heading to the rendezvous point. Over.”

“We hear you Lieutenant. Good to hear you.” An answer came from another Rebel officer. “Come back safely. Ship is waiting. Over.”

“Roger that. Over.” You set your commlink back into your attire. “Almost afraid they would have left already.” Hands free, you applied pressure to your wound.

“We don’t leave anyone behind if given the chance. You should know that more than anyone.”

Your footing only hesitated briefly. Hardly noticeable.

“Thank you.”

Turning, you were met with sincere blue eyes. The weight of the sincerity could have collapsed your ribcage with how it reached your heart.

If we weren’t still in Imperial territory, I’d hug him right now. How can he be so sweet with so little words?

“And thank you,” you said. “For what you did back there. I’m not sure I thanked you.”

“You would had done the same for me.”

“I’m not a Jedi, Luke.”

“I know.” His bright smile making an appearance. “But I’m just saying that if you had the opportunity—.”

“And skill.”

“—that you would have helped me.”

“You were by yourself.”

“Yes, but if I was in your position, I would have told the others that I had a wound on my arm.” He raised his eyebrows at you.

“…Oh yeah.”

“The sooner we reach the rendezvous point, the faster someone can look at your arm.”

“The faster we get to having a debriefing.” You added, your tone solemn.

No telling if there are more scout troopers either.

Were you really going to disclose every detail of your mission? Yes, however finding Luke was not a part of your assigned mission. That part was up to him to debrief. However personal and detailed he would speak was solely up to him. You would not speak with anyone, under any circumstances, what had happened with Commander Skywalker in the caves. The only portion you were willing to disclose was the part when you were leaving. That much needed to be reported.

What a day, you thought. At least Luke looks better. Brighter spirits. And…I’ll keep an eye on him, I guess. Make sure he’s okay.

“You’ll give your report first, right?” You looked over at Luke who already had his attention on you.

“Before you, you mean?”

“Yeah.”

“I will.”

“I won’t say anything…about…you know.”

Luke stopped and you were quick to follow suit.

“I trust that you will give your report the way you always do. Honestly.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t say I was going to lie. Just…not say any personal stuff. Only what I need to say.” You squeezed your arm. “I completed my part of the mission, I left the ship, I found you, Imperials found us, I got shot, we ran, explosions hurt my ears, and we made our way back.”

“I think Leia will want more details than that.” His lips curved into a smirk. “But I am grateful that you respect my privacy. In matters of the Force.”

Sighing you continued forward, “I wish I could get to a state of calm as fast you.”

“It takes practice.”

“You’re something else, Luke Skywalker. I hope you know that.”

A chuckle was the only response he gave.

. . .

The pair of you headed back to the awaiting group of rebels. Their worries were written across their faces. Of course, Luke immediately alerted them of your injuries. Soon after, the ship had rose above the canopy of foliage and traveled through space. It would be a matter of time before the Base was back into your sights.

  A small smile graced Luke’s lips as he sat beside you in the ship.

“What?” You asked quietly.

“You’re something else too.”

~~~

(If you love my writings and want to support me, I have a Ko-Fi where you can buy me a coffee. I would be eternally grateful. coffee

Best wishes and happy reading.)

~~~~~

DreamerDragon Tags: @cubedtriangle

Star Wars Tags: @darkenwolfy

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[some-dr-writings]

Gundham’s and Kazuichi’s mangaka S/O wants to draw them

Gundham Tanaka:

·       Though you were the Super High School Level Mangaka you specialized in historical fantasy! You absolutely adored doing research and finding new mythical beasts and species to sketch and incorporate into your work. It was no surprise that Gundham became your muse the moment you two met!

·       Gundham would allow you to visit his creatures and draw them to use as bases for cryptids and monsters of all sorts in your manga. The four Dark Devas often acted as your pose models given how unusually animated they were for hamsters.

·       Having asked the Overlord of Ice to allow you near his animals so often you spent much time together and eventually started dating.

·       “My Queen, the Stringer of Fates, what curse dares to plague your soul?! You’ve not touched the pages with which you create and destroy worlds, as if it were deadly to do so! You’ve yet to search out a demon to immortalize. Not even have you greeted the four Dark Devas of Destruction as you always have.” You huffed lazily watching the rabbit Gundham was currently grooming. “Artists’ block. I can’t seem to draw or write anything. Either I just stare at a blank page for hours, or I start something which quickly dissolves into an incoherent mess!” Rubbing your temples, you grumbled at the clogged feeling fogging your mind. “I did pull a few all-nighters last week. Maybe I’m just drained. But if things keep going like this, I’ll miss my deadline! I already asked for an extension on it last week, I can’t keep doing this!”

·       Gundham watched as you picked up the sketch pad and pencil. There was this stiffness in your movements. Your hand which once flowed about gracefully like a bird in flight now paved plain straight lines. Your eyes darted about unable to focus on anything. “UGH! I can’t even draw a proper circle for the rabbit’s body!” Sinking into your seat you tossed your sketch pad and pencil aside. “Perhaps a day of respite is in order.” “No, I already took a day off yesterday. I feel I’m even worse now than I was two day ago.”

·       The Devas quickly scurried over to you, hopping into your lap, or climbing onto your shoulder to nuzzle your cheek. “… thanks.” Gently petting the two in your lap you sighed in defeat.

·       It was at that Gundham abruptly stood up. “Where is my Queen, and what have you done with her, villain?!” “… Huh?” “MY Queen would never rot away so quickly into a decrepit state such as this! She’d fight and claw till her final breath! She’d never faulter so easily!” “I Am, your Queen.” “Hmph! No, you are not. Now, tell me where she is.” You marched right up to Gundham glaring at him. “I’m right here! I am your Queen, the Stringer of Fates!”

·       It started as a chuckle which boomed into uproarious laughter! “There you are. That determination, your will to live has returned to your eyes. I am glad to have you back.” Surprisingly, you did feel like you had more energy than before. “So, shall we be off? A piece of you is still missing and we must search it out less you start to fade away once more.” “… Yeah, a date sounds nice right now.”

·       As a bright blush dusted his cheeks, the Overlord of Ice took your hand into his bandaged one, the other taking your bag of sketch supplies, he led you out of the school grounds into the great beyond!

·       The day was filled with fun and laughter as you raced from place to place, doing anything you could think of. A walk in the park, a trip to the arcade, lunch at a café, shopping at a bookstore, and anything else you could have dreamed of.

·       As the sun began to set, Gundham and you found yourselves at the clear beach, dancing around barefoot, not a care in the world. “… Gundham. Thank you, today was amazing.” His entire face instantaneously flushed hearing his true name being called. In that moment he just looked so beautiful to you. His sheepish smile, those tender eyes, just, everything about him.

·       “May I draw you?” “… Of course, my Queen.”

·       And thus you drew, having completely forgotten that morning or the past few days, you were struggling.

·       “Ah! Your depiction captured my true form! I should have known you could see through my mortal guise!” He so happily admired your drawing with sparkling eyes.

·       While he was distracted you worked on another piece, one of a dark king holding his queen close on the soft shores of the beach.

  Kazuichi Soda:

·       You never held much interest in machinery till you came to Hope’s Peak and met Kazuichi. It seemed just about every time you saw him, he was tinkering with something, from a small robot toy to a monster truck engine. Often times the parts of whatever he was working on were spread out, and then seeing how they all fit together fascinated you. Without realizing it you’d end up just watching him work for hours and sketching out the pieces and tools he was using.

·       Quickly this fascination bled into your own work, incorporating steampunk-esque elements into it. And the more elements you added, the more references you needed. At first you tried getting some on your own, but you’d just end up injuring your hands and fingers in some way or you’d break the pieces.

·       “Look, you got me into this mess and now you have to take responsibility.” “W-what!?” Before Kazuichi could panic you placed an old, rusted pocket watch before him. “How do I disassemble this!?” For a week or two after you’d bring some new item to Kazuichi to disassemble and reassemble. You eagerly sketched out the pieces you needed the references of and more.

·       Quickly you and Kazuichi became friends. You would chatter away as you did your own things. Before you knew it the two of you ended up spending time together just to be together, no drawing and no tinkering.

·       Kazuichi would go to you for advice for his unrequited crush on Princess Sonia to which you’d try your best to help, even if it did hurt a little given your crush on the mechanic. She wasn’t the only thing he spoke of though, so you had plenty of other conversations.

·       Kazuichi certainly liked chatting so when one day he was quiet you got a bit worried… Then you remembered something. “Oh Soda. You’ve never been on a school trip before, right?” “Hmm, uh, yeah. I skipped out on the only one I got a chance to go on.” “Because of financial issues, right.” “Yeah.” “Well, I happen to be going on a trip all over Europe for background references and I was thinking who better to take along than my best friend and best mechanic I know!” The news certainly perked him right up, and he excitedly chattered on about traveling! Quickly the news spread, and it ended up becoming a class trip! Honestly, though a trip alone with Soda sounded lovely, you more enjoyed seeing how ecstatic he was to be going on an actual class trip with everyone.

·       The trip was fantastic, it seemed to be nonstop fun. Often you’d forget that you were being payed to go on this trip for work and that you needed to get reference materials, thankfully Mikan took more than enough reference photos for you.

·       Though during the trip, you noticed how Kazuichi, though still friendly, was a bit more reserved than usual. When you asked him what was wrong, he said he appreciated the concern, but it was something he had to work out on his own.

·       Eventually your trip took you all to France the city of love. The place was certainly an artist’s dream, you found yourself drawing nonstop there. It was amazing!

·       At one point in your trip your class wanted to get to a restaurant at the top of a rather large hill, but the only way to get there was via a thin road by car. So, you, Kazuichi, Sonia and your driver were the last to get to the restaurant.

·       Then the car broke down. Kazuichi immediately went to check the engine while Sonia stood at the edge of the road, looking out at the sunset. It was a gorgeous sight, her profile, the sunset, the city lights, everything. You had started sketching out the scenery when a though struck you.

·       You elbowed Kazuich, gaining his attention. You then leaned in real close while still looking at Sonia, not noticing the blush spreading on his cheeks as he kept looking to you. “Hey Soda, now’s your chance. This view is absolutely romantic, and you’re in the city of love. Don’t you think this is the perfect time to ask out the girl you like?” This hurt, it really did, but seeing how happy he was to be going on a school trip without worry like he always wanted, you could hardly imagine his joy if Sonia got together with him at a time like this. It hurt, but you just wanted to see him happy.

·       “… Ask out the girl I like, huh…… Okay.”

·       Turning to you he placed his hands atop your shoulders. “Y/N I have a crush on you. Please go out on a date with me.” “… Wait? I thought… what about Nevermind?” “I, well, yeah, I do like her, but… I really like you… I… That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out lately and... so I... You get it, don’t you!?” “… Soda, please let me draw you!” “Huh?” “Well, if we start going out, we’ll be boyfriend and girlfriend, right? I’d like to have something to commemorate the moment by.” “S/O!” He pulled you into a tight hug, giddy out of his mind.

·       You ended up drawing him at the restaurant. He loved the drawing so much he took a picture to use as his phone’s lock screen. From then on you often drew him for references for poses and though all great, his favorite would forever be the first one you made of him. It was made to celebrate you getting together, it was always so special to him.

[sirowsky]

The Flowers Always Know

Description: When a mad scientist uses you as an experiment while you’re on holiday, the Heroics only just manage to save you. And in your recovery you become very close to the leader of the group. (Slow burn)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Language.

Link to Masterlist

Comment: The aftermath of the confrontation leads to some unexpected fun. But also some annoyances.

Chapter 25

  When you got home, Missy and Anita were waiting for you in the living room, and you could tell that they’d been worried.   Missy had quite clearly been crying and she shot up and came to hug you the moment you stepped through the door.   When you’d left the house that morning, you’d done it absolutely terrified for her safety, and while you hoped that that threat was gone now, you didn’t know it for sure. And that made it such a relief to see her safe and sound, and untouched by the darkness from your past.

  “I’m so sorry I scared you, angel.”

  “You just took off! I didn’t know where you were, and then dad got really scared cause he knew where you’d gone, but he wouldn’t tell me and I didn’t understand what was happening!”

  She broke into tears again while she spoke, rambling everything out in a hurry as though she thought that she might not get it all out otherwise.

  “I’m sorry, sweetie. I was really scared too.”

  “Why?”

  You took a breath and looked at Marcus to see if he was okay with you telling her the truth. He nodded and took your hand.

  “The man from earlier… that was my brother. And he is not a good person.”

  She pulled back and stared at you.

  “The one you were so angry at you made the house shake? He’s your brother?!”

  “Yeah. When we were kids, he hurt me really badly, and today… he threatened to hurt you too.”

  She looked horrified, and it made your whole chest ache. Marcus’ hand tightened on yours, but he seemed to want you to do the talking. Missy was still holding you around the waist, and her grip tightened too.

  “But, why?”

  “Because you’re my daughter. Because he knew that by threatening you, I’d do what he wanted. And I did, but I did it knowing that I could, and would defeat him.”

  “Thank you, Alma.”

  “Hey, you don’t need to thank me for protecting you, that’s what families are supposed to do.”

  “I know, I was thanking you for adopting me. That’s the first time you’ve called me your daughter.”

  You smiled a little teary-eyed.

  “Actually, it’s the second time.”

  “When was the first?”

  “Telling my ass-backwards no-good piece-of-shit-family not to lay a hand you.”

   Missy smiled glowingly, but Anita scoffed.

  “Are you ever gonna stop using that kind of foul language in front of her?”

  “Sometimes, there’s just no substitute for a good expletive. Besides, have you ever heard her use one?”

  Anita just cocked an eyebrow at you.

  “Exactly. That’s because she’s smart enough to know that just because I’m beyond salvation, doesn’t mean she has to be.”

  “It’s still bad manners, mujer.”

  “And you’re still not fooling anyone. You were just as worried about me as Missy was. You can admit it, I won’t laugh at you. I might even hug you.”

  “Hah, that’ll never happen.”

  “Which part? Cause if it’s the hug you’re talking about – consider that a challenge accepted.”

  “Don’t even think about it, loco.”

  “Don’t worry. Obviously, I plan on getting you when you least expect it.”

  “You really think you can sneak up on me? Oh, that’ll be the day.”

  Your stomach suddenly growled, and Missy, being right in front of it, actually flinched and pulled away from you in shock.

  “Holy cow! You weren’t kidding, dad, that really does sound like a bear.”

  Marcus tried not to laugh, but his shoulders were shaking and his face contorted into a strained grimace.

  “You guys discussed my intestinal vocalisations? Really?”

  Marcus gave up and doubled over, laughing in earnest, while Missy tried to elaborate through her own giggling-fit.

  “Good thing, too… or I might’ve… called a… wildlife animal rescue…”

  “Alright, that’s it. I’ll give you something to laugh about!”

  You attacked them both with tickling, knowing exactly where to hit them for maximum effect, and using your ghost hands to reach them both. Which was particularly annoying to them since those hands couldn’t be waved off. You chased them into the kitchen and continued your attack while telling them to yield, and never laugh at your stomach again, to which they both shouted – never!   But after just a few minutes, your energy started to drain again, and you had to sit down on one of the kitchen chairs.

  “Hermosa? You okay?”

  “I think my body just remembered how much energy I wasted this morning.”

  Anita came into the kitchen and clapped her hands together.

  “Well, then, lunch it is. Who wants enchiladas?”

  As was becoming your routine, you ate as much as the rest of them combined, all by yourself, and then all but passed out once you were full.   You didn’t remember getting into bed, but you woke up there anyway, and the clock on the wall said 14:23. You’d slept for about two hours.   You groaned a little and rolled over, accidentally elbowing Marcus.

  “Oh, shit! I didn’t realise you were here, sorry!”

  He just hummed a laugh, and slung his arm around your waist.

  “You’ve done worse.”

  “Ugh, don’t remind me…”

  “How many times do I have to tell you, preciosa: you can attack me anytime.”

  “Well, I’d rather attack you like this.”

  You rolled on top of him and kissed him, and he made an affectionate sound in the back of his throat, but his hands came up to push your face away from his, after a few moments.   You frowned. He’d never pushed you away before.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, of course. I just wanna talk to you.”

  Damn. That was always a mood-killer. You rolled off of him again and sat up and folded your legs together so that you could rest your elbows against your knees. He just pushed himself up on his elbow and laid there looking like some Greek god.

  “Okay. Let’s talk then. What’s on your mind?”

  “Marriage.”

  Gulp! Fuck… Give a girl some warning, for Christ’s sake.

  “Oh…”

  It was literally all you could choke out. But he just smiled.

  “You do remember saying yes to me, right?”

  You just nodded. Was that yesterday? Shit. What day was yesterday?

  “Well, first off, there was something missing from that moment, but it really wasn’t planned, so I didn’t have time to get it. That said, I do have a ring picked out for you, and I am going to go and get it as soon as I can.”

  You just swallowed hard, certain your voice was still non-existent.

  “Second, I’d like to know what kind of wedding you’d prefer? I’m not saying we have to start planning right away, I realise that it’s a big deal, especially for you. I’d just like to start talking about it, get comfortable with it.”

  Right. Comfortable.

  “……I hv…”

  Your voice really wasn’t cooperating. You tried clearing your throat, but it just sort of hissed. Thankfully, Marcus wasn’t fazed. He knew you well enough to know that your nervousness came from insecurity, not cold feet, and he also knew just how to help you with that.   He sat up and scooted closer to you so he could kiss you in that tender way that made you feel safe and wanted, while his current washed over your whole body.   It still came out hoarse, but at least your voice started working.

  “I’ve never… I’ve never once thought about it. I have no idea what I might like.”

  “Okay. Well, I’d like it to be small, just us and our closest friends. And I’m pretty traditional. I like the whole not seeing the dress before the ceremony, not sleeping together the night before. I don’t need a church, or an altar, just as long as there’s a priest to help me get through the vows, because I know I’ll forget how to even formulate sentences.”

  “Wow. You’re pretty clear on all this. But then, I suppose I would be too, if it wasn’t my first time.”

  “Missy’s mother and I, we did the whole celebrity wedding, and it was nice, don’t get me wrong. But it was more of a publicity stunt than our wedding-day. I always regretted that. I don’t wanna have any regrets with you.”

  “Good. But I’m gonna ask for some time to think about this.”

  He smiled.

  “You mean ‘do research’.”

  “Well, yeah, how else am I gonna figure out what I like?”

  “Take as much time as you need, mi amor.”

  You smiled and kissed him again, and this time he didn’t push you back, so you let your hand sneak under his t-shirt and lightly tickle him. He caught it and pulled you forwards until you were straddling him again, and right then, the door to the bedroom flung open and Anita scowled at you.

  “Your timing, woman…”

  “Oh, this time it’s not my timing, I’m afraid. You two had better make yourselves presentable. You’ve got company.”

  Marcus groaned under his breath.

  “Let me guess – Management?”

  “Yep. And they’re less than happy.”

  “Fuck. How much trouble am I in?”

  “That depends.”

  “On?”

  She huffed a little, but her expression was dead serious.

  “On your willingness to play by their rules.”

  Thanks to that comment, you were angry before you even entered the kitchen, where the representative from management, and his assistant, sat at the table, along with a person from the PR section, sitting by the island, a woman you’d never liked to begin with.   You might not have felt quite so confrontational towards them, if they hadn’t looked like they owned the fucking kitchen, just because they happened to be sitting in it.

  “Good afternoon, miss. You’ve had a busy morning.”

  “You have no god damned idea.”

  Marcus had moved to the corner of the kitchen, behind the island, and you knew that Anita and Missy where in the living room. But this was about you. They were here to question you.   You moved up to the table, but didn’t sit down, your energy was building with the tension in your body and you needed to be able to move around.

  “Then why don’t you tell us.”

  “Because this was a family affair, it doesn’t concern you.”

  “It does when an entire acre of lawn is destroyed by an unregistered super.”

  “Unregistered? Don’t fuck with me, Allen. I am in every record imaginable, from my time as a victim, right up until my self-appointed discharge – what? Two days ago? What you meant to say was: Unofficial. You’re only here because I’ve refused to become part of your little band of heroes (no offense, honey) which makes it that much harder for you to explain what happened, because you can’t cite it on official Heroics business.”

  They squirmed a little in their seats. They’d been trying to get you to join the Heroics ever since your assessment was completed, but you weren’t ready for the spandex just yet. You might never be. You still saw yourself as a normal person, and you’d just started getting the hang of the whole Manager-thing when all this happened. You wanted a chance to actually get good at it, before you let it go. It didn’t mean that you wouldn’t still help, if you could.

  “Your actions were witnessed by some of the staff-members at the clinic, and they’re all too happy to make statements to the press. You’re all over the news, honey. And we need to get out in front of that.”

  The PR-woman. The thing you’d always disliked about her, was her falseness. She had this plastered on softness that she probably thought was endearing, but it really wasn’t. You’d seen her real self, and she was a viper, through and through. There was no softness anywhere inside of that woman.

  “First of all – Don’t ever call me ‘honey’.”

  The kitchen started rumbling a little as your energy began to fill the available space.

  “Second – It is your job to stay ahead of the media. If you want me to make a statement, I will, but you won’t like it. Because I’m not gonna just read out whatever company-line-word-vomit I know you already have prepared in that folder of yours. I’ll tell the truth, short and simple, in my own words. Take it or leave it.”

  She just glanced at Allen and his assistant.

  “Third – I just had one of the worst mornings of my life. If you’re gonna come into my home, on a day like this… Do yourselves a favour and don’t antagonise me.”

  You could almost feel Marcus smile over in his corner. He’d always loved it when you took charge.

  “Okay, listen. You’re right. From our standpoint, this is a mess. Since you work for us, already, we can’t publicly address anything to do with your abilities without your expressed permission, and since you refuse to join the team, we can’t say that your actions were approved or valid either. So, right now, we can’t do anything to help the situation at all.”

  “So, let me make a statement.”

  They all looked extremely worried. But Allen continued.

  “What would you say?”

  “That I have a shitty fucking family that tried to exploit me, and since my powers are new, I had a little trouble controlling myself. But hey, nobody died, so yay! How about that?”

  The PR-woman actually groaned. What the hell was her name? You were usually so good with names.

  “Obviously, we’re not going to let you say that.”

  “Let me?”

  The kitchen started shaking, and you felt Marcus move towards you, but you kept him away with your power. You were angry, yes, but in complete control for once.

  “That was a poor choice of words, from Miss. Chopper.”

  Ah, right. You’d always thought of her as Hell-a-copter, that was why you couldn’t remember her name.

  “Since you’re an employee of the Heroics, you have certain obligations too.”

  “Yeah, I know. I can’t talk to the press about anything that relates to HQ without approval from Management or the PR division, don’t worry, I don’t plan to. But, let me be clear: I have no intention of being your fucking puppet either.”

  “Charming.”

  “Fuck you, Erica. I’ve seen you handle media circus’ before, remember. I know exactly how you keep people in line, and if you think I’m gonna let you control anything that comes out of my mouth – you’ve got another thing coming.”

  She glowered at you, but her usually so well-oiled mouth stayed closed. Allen just sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

  “Okay. How about this; we make an official statement saying that the events at the clinic were an isolated incident pertaining to a personal conflict involving a powered person. And that said incident is being investigated but since no one was harmed and the damage to the property is manageable, no legal action is being considered at this time. We don’t mention anyone by name, we don’t agree to take any comments, and you don’t use your powers in public again, without our approval.”

  “Your approval? And if a kid falls off of a balcony and I use my powers to save it, you’ll - what? Fire me?”

  “Of course not. But let’s just hope no kids fall off any balconies around you.”

  “That’s it?”

  “That’s the best I can do with what you’re offering us. Keep your powers off the radar, until the blowback from this incident has mellowed out, and then we can talk about where to go next.”

  You just shrugged. It wasn’t a great solution, but it would have to do.

  “Good. Then we’ll expect you back at work first thing Monday morning.”

  “Fine.”

  With that, they left, and you let your powers fade. You hadn’t used enough to drain yourself this time, and it made you feel a little proud of yourself.   Marcus’ arms snaked around your waist from behind, and his chin came to rest on your shoulder.

  “That was entertaining.”

  “It was annoying.”

  “You did good. If you don’t wanna be a Heroic then you’re not going to be, no matter how much they try to persuade you.”

  “Thank you, honey. Ugh… I can’t believe that bitch called me that, in my own kitchen.”

  Anita appeared from the living room, scowling at you again.

  “Don’t even go there, she is a bitch, and you know it just as well as I do.”

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You didn’t have to; your eyes are plenty judgemental all on their own.”

  She just walked past you, and started making a fresh pot of coffee. Marcus kissed your cheek and then let go of you to go check on Missy.

  “Hey, Anita, what day is it?”

  “It’s Saturday. Dear lord, you are terrible at keeping track.”

  “Yep. It’s a flaw in my design. Curiously, it didn’t reveal itself until after you hired me, though. What do you actually do at HQ, anyway? I never see you there, never see your name on any paperwork, never hear anyone mention your work, and yet, according to my contract - you are my closest superior.”

  “Because I am.”

  “Then why didn’t Management have a go at your scalp, too?”

  “You don’t really think anyone of those clowns has the guts to take me on, do you? Even you had them trembling in their boots.”

  She had her back to you, so you moved closer to her and was just about to slip your arms underneath hers to tug her into a surprise hug.

  “Touch me, and I’ll pour coffee over your hands.”

  “Damned it. How’d you know?”

  Even from behind, you could see her smile.

  “The flowers always know, loco.”

  You actually looked at the flowers in the kitchen window, suspiciously, wondering if they could somehow speak to her.   Shit. Now, that thought was gonna haunt you forever. There were flowers in every fucking room of the house…

Authors’ Note: I love criticism, don’t be shy to let me know if there’s anything you like/don’t like/have questions about.

@blueeyesatnight​​ @farfromjustordinary​ @allmyspideys​ @hrk-fic-recs​ @strawberryperegrine @lucrezia-thoughts​ @computeringturtle @sarahjkl82-blog

[dboliklover]

Tainting The Angel So That She Falls: - Sakamaki Brothers

These ended up being long - typically for me - but since I’ve been a bit slow in pumping out content lately (*cough* here is a link to chapter 2 of my Yandere Zuko x Reader x Yandere Azula fic that has been occupying my time. Chapter 2 has links to both the Prologue and Chapter one at the start of it) I decided that I’d publish these seperately for each boy as I write them, and add links to the other boys’ headcanons as I write them.  So far I have Shu and Reiji done. Will add Ayato’s, Laito’s, Kanato’s and Subaru’s shortly, I’m working on Ayato and Laito’s ones as I publish these. 

Shu

You were a righteous angel. A high-ranking celestial presence amongst filth of the Earth

Everyone, including yourself, believed you were incorruptible. You were the perfect, ideal angel; one of God’s favourites, even.

The first time you met Shu was when he was a young boy. You had landed on Earth during a mission and fell in a forest near a village, where two young boys rushed over to you, asking if you were okay.

You noted one was a vampire but felt no malice from him - if anything he was even pure of heart for a being such as himself.

He was friends with a human child, too, so you figured that you wouldn’t even try to harm him. He was young, and perhaps there may be some good to come from him in the future.

They helped you, and then you assured them you would be well.

The vampire boy was on your mind for several days, but then you moved on with your existence onto other matters.

Seasons passed as fast as decades and you were back in the same place as you had been a century or two prior, this time having heard reports of “dark influences” across the town, you were tasked with helping a junior angel learn how to ‘take care’ of ‘demonic’ beings as her supervisor.

In order to do this, however, you soon found you’d have to “fit in” with the other humans - most notably - an academy for teenagers.

The idea was less than entertaining for you. The thought of pretending to be a 16-year-old Girl, to you, was...not ideal.

Still, you and your assigned lower-rank angel (who was basically your student, really) disguised yourselves as students to track down specific otherworldly beings and ‘destroy’ them.

The moment your eyes met with his, you knew who he was. He’d grown well, at least on a physical level. Then again it had been at least two centuries since you had last seen him when he was oh-so-tiny and young.

His eyes were tired - a tiredness of the soul, hardened by life.

You didn’t think he knew who you were, though.

It was bittersweet for you. You’d let him be when he was a child but now he had become a fully grown vampire - and your new task was to rid of him.

But you were dutiful, and so that was exactly what you were going to do.

Posing as a young teenage girl, you attempted to try to get close to him, it was no easy task; he couldn’t know you knew who - what - he was, and he couldn’t find out you weren’t a human.

With time and much effort, you managed to “get to know” him. Did you feel bad for lying about who you were? Perhaps a little, but it was in the name of the divine.

As time passed, it got harder to lie to him, not because he was more suspicious of your intentions but because you found yourself actually beginning to like him, feeling emotions that were certainly forbidden.

Any advances were ignored by you and you feigned innocence and naivety that you were none the wiser of his attempts. They weren’t exactly subtle - he had the filthiest of minds, you found. But with every month you spent on Earth befriending him, the harder it got for you to try and kill him - and his brothers.

What you couldn’t have expected was that he was going to trap you in your own web of lies. You were alone with him in the Music Room after almost an entire year on Earth. Your assistant angel was beginning to become worried - wondering why the two of you haven’t killed the vampires and moved on with your task, yet.

You assured her that time held little significance in the scale of things, but that was a lie towards the divine, now. The truth was you desired more time with him.

He was strange and unbecoming and yet you found yourself falling for him - disgusted by yourself for it. He was a creature of the dark, and you could never be. You reminded yourself of the fact you’d have to betray him.

And in the Music Room, you were as he slept by the windowsill. The two of you sat in silence, no words required, and with a burdened heart you pulled out your heavenly blade and stood carefully, ready to strike him while he was still docile. He was a tired individual, so you hoped to make this quick and that he wouldn’t fight back.

Just as you swiftly moved your arms down to strike him in the heart, his hand grabbed your wrist with bone-crushing tightness. He scoffed and opened on of his eyes, as though this was nothing more than a small annoyance.

“Did you actually think it would be this easy to kill me?”

His words tore through you and you desperately tried to get your wrist out of his grasp

“I know who you are, (Y/N).”

Freezing and wide-eyed you stared at him. He manoeuvred the blade from your hands so it fell onto the floor and pushed you away, then pulled you up only to pin you against the wall, glaring at you.

Tears welled in your eyes, and you found yourself unable to fight him; you didn’t want to hurt him.

He seemed to realise this, realise you could destroy him where he stood but you were emotionally unable to bring yourself to do it.

You were in love with him.  

He kissed you. Bewildered you tried to push him back but then found yourself falling down into temptation, seduced by this gorgeous creature of sin.

It wasn’t until after the fact that you realised your mistake, but it was too late; your excellent pure wings that you’d been hiding in your human form revealed themselves by force, the glamour you held over them breaking. You gasped and wept in desperation was they rotted from a snowy white to a deathly black.

You have sinned.

And Shu wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Reiji: Click here for Reiji’s “Tainting the Angel so that she falls” headcanon/scenario

Ayato: WIP

Laito: WIP

Kanato: WIP Subaru: WIP

- Mod Rozalia 

[sunflowershouyou]

🎃 Haikyuu!! Halloween Couple Costumes series (part 2)

Iwaizumi Hajime ÷ Bokuto Koutarou ÷ Haiba Lev ÷ Tsukishima Kei

🦇 Haiba Lev

I feel like Lev is the type of person who believes in mythology, folklore creatures and fairy tales in general. He’s also a big fan of Lord of the Rings so he came up with the idea of both of you dressing up as elves (his favourite character is Legolas). You gladly agreed.

You were preparing months prior to the party because your boyfriend wanted everything to be perfect and just like in the movie. You went to every store in town searching for materials. Both of you spent a lot of time together making the costumes by yourselves and you had so much fun during the whole process that once they were ready you were a little sad.

You were really amazed at how good Lev actually was at sewing and problem solving because you messed up big time once so he made a few changes and your costume ended up looking even better than before.

‘Lev how come you’re that good? I never knew you could sew. ‘

‘When I was little I used to watch my sister while she was making clothes for her dolls. I found that to be really cool so I asked her to show me how to do it.’ replied Lev.

It was the night of the party and you both looked amazing like you came straight out of a fairy tale. There was just one problem. For some reason Lev’s elf ears kept falling the whole night. Kuroo and Yaku even made a bet on how long would take your boyfriend to finally realise that his ears were missing. Well... he never did so the whole time you had to walk right behind him and always be ready to catch them. Since Lev had no idea they had fallen you had to put them back on.

‘Thank you y/n. I’m sorry.. this is the sixth time already... ‘

‘Don’t worry babe. Stay still so I can put them back on. ‘

‘You don’t have to do it. I’ll just put the ears in my bag. ‘

‘No, an elf isn’t complete without his pointy ears! Besides you can always count on me. I’ll take care of you. ‘

You smiled at him and he kissed you softly on the lips.

🦇 Bokuto Koutarou

You and Bokuto were really excited for Halloween because this is your favourite holiday. Your sweet boyfriend wanted to dress up as an owl so bad that you couldn’t just say no.. so you agreed.

‘What do you mean you only have children sizes?’ pouted Bokuto.

‘I’m sorry sir but usually kids dress up as owls. ‘ calmly replied the man who worked at the store.

You went to many different stores and finally found and owl costume for grown ups but your boyfriend was way too brawny to fit in it.

‘UGHHH ARE YOU KIDDING ME??’

‘I’m sorry sweetie... that’s the only one who could’ve fitted. Everything else is for children. ‘ you said worrying that he’s really close to go emo mode.

‘Why do kids always get the good stuff?’

Bokuto was just about to say that he wasn’t going to the party (because it was that same night and you both still couldn’t find a costume) when the seller told you that there was in fact one costume that might work.

‘But that’s a big gorilla costume...’ your boyfriend was very disappointed but an idea popped up in your mind.

‘Kou OH MY GOD we can totally nail it!’

‘Huh?’

‘We’ll take this one! I have an idea. ‘

You had exactly one hour before the start of the party so you immediately rushed to your house and found your old white dress.

‘Y/n are you going to be a bride?’

‘Someday yours probably’ you said, which made Bokuto blush ‘but no.. I’m actually thinking of you dressing up as King Kong and I’ll be Ann. ‘

‘Y/N YOU’RE A GENIUS!’

Everyone at the party liked your costume and no one thought you came up with the idea literally the last minute. You both even participated in the contest and Bokuto lifted you up like a feather. Even though it didn’t go as planned your childish boyfriend was extremely happy and lively the whole time.

🦇 Iwaizumi Hajime

‘Haji we have to decide what we’re gonna wear for the Halloween party. ‘ you suggested a bit uneasy because there wasn’t much time left.

‘Oh I already have a costume.’

‘WHAT? Since when? ‘

‘I got it three days ago. Why?’ Iwaizumi was confused because of your reaction.

‘What do you mean why? We were supposed to do it together. What did you get?’ You were a little irritated at your boyfriend’s action.

‘You’re gonna like it y/n! I’m going to be Godzilla!’ excitedly replied Iwaizumi.

‘What?? How is that a couple costume? What am I supposed to be then?’

‘It has to be a couple costume???’ Your boyfriend has always dreamed of dressing up as Godzilla that he totally forgot about the whole concept of the party. ‘Oh my god y/n I’m so sorry!’

You know very well the guy you’re dating and you’re 100% sure that he didn’t do it on purpose so you chuckled at how childish and innocent the whole situation is. You still had no idea how to make that into something for couples.

‘I thought of something.. Godzilla attacks and destroys buildings right?’

‘Um.. yeah.’

‘How about I dress up as a skyscraper?’ you turned to him with your sparkling eyes waiting for his approval.

‘That’s a great idea actually! But babe... I don’t think you’re tall enough to go as a skyscraper... a tiny cottage house probably.’ he joked. You stuck out your nose at him but he pulled you for a kiss. ‘I’ll help you make your costume y/n.. that’s the least I can do to make it up to you.’

You managed to finish your costume on time and you looked really adorable as a building next to your frightening looking boyfriend. It was a bit hard for you to move but definitely easier to do the robot dance and embarrass Iwaizumi in front of everyone. Great night!

🦇 Tsukishima Kei

Tsukishima is not the type of person who would be hyped about Halloween. His suggestion for a costume was one of those black T-shirts with a ‘this is my Halloween costume’ written on the front. Of course you changed his mind stating that he’s a party pooper.

‘Okay y/n do you have any ideas then?’

‘For your information yes, I actually have one. Since you like dinosaurs so much I think we should be dressed like ones.’

Tsukishima’s eyes lighted up. He realised how much he loves you and how freaking cool you actually were. He of course didn’t want to sound too excited and just calmly said ‘Okay.. if that’s what you want. ‘ but on the inside he was screaming like a little girl.

As mentioned Tsukishima isn’t into those kind of stuff which means he left everything for the last minute. You had no time to make your own costumes so you rushed to the nearest store.

‘You don’t have a dinosaur costume? Seriously? Literally zero respect for the history of our planet Earth!’ your boyfriend was acting as if he was offended (he definitely was though).

‘What are we gonna do now? Every other shop is closed.’ you were getting stressed.

‘You know.. we can always wear the black T-shirts.’ Tsukishima pointed out.

You really didn’t want to wear that so you had to think quick and then you saw it.

‘Hey babe I think this might work out.’ you exclaimed holding a grey/brown costume ‘We can be archaeologists! It’s still kinda related to dinosaurs.’

Tsukishima wasn’t sure if he wanted to go to the party wearing that but he liked the fact that you were desperately trying to find a solution so you ended up renting these costumes.

Everyone was already at the party. Hinata looked at your boyfriend and asked if he was a detective at which Kageyama confidently declared ‘Hinata are you dumb?? He’s clearly a gardener!’

As if that wasn’t enough Bokuto and Iwaizumi’s costumes caught Tsukishima’s eye.

‘OH REALLY? They have freaking Godzilla and a giant gorilla costumes but not a dinosaur?’

Your boyfriend was ranting almost the whole time but you actually enjoyed it. You found his rants to be quite funny.

thank you for reading!

(part 1)

- sunflowershouyou 🌻

[26.06.20]

[early2000smovieimagines]

Meeting and Dating Roger Straka 

(Not my gif)(Requested by anonymous)

- You met Roger after him and his family moved to California. The two of you wound up being next door neighbors so you were sort of forced to introduce yourselves to each other.

- It’s the 1970s so seeing someone in leg braces, crutches or a wheelchair; especially someone your age, really isn’t common nor quickly “accepted”; for lack of a better term. Now taking that and the fact that he’s from out of town into consideration, and you just know he’s going to stick out like a sore thumb the minute he steps inside your school.

- Since you’re both in the same grade and live next door to each other, it’s pretty much a given that you’ll see a lot of each other during the day.

- And you do. Half of your classes are the same, you constantly pass each other in the hallway, and you’re always catching glimpses of each other as you leave the house. You can’t deny that he’s handsome and believe me, he considers himself very lucky that he can covertly snoop on you.

- You’d just come home from hanging out with your friends when you noticed him wheeling around the side of his house. As you made your way into your backyard, you paused for a moment, contemplating your decision before peeking over the bush that separated you and asking if he’d like to hang out.

- So there you were, holding your gate open for the boy as you made your way into your backyard with him.

- The two of you sat together for a few hours, talking and getting to know each other until his mother arrived home and called him in for dinner. After that day, the two of you started to hang out more and more.

- It’s pretty easy for everyone to see that Roger likes you and while you certainly think that he’s attracted to you, you aren’t “bold enough to assume” that he actually wants to date you. You just tell everyone who happens to mention it that you’re just friends and that they’re reading into it.

- It’s about a month after Roger moved to town that he finally asks you out. The two of you were sitting together in the library after school when he just glanced up at you and asked if you wanted to go out with him. Straight to the point, how could you refuse?

- You could probably consider your first date to be at his brothers baseball game which takes place the day after he asks you out. The two of you sit side by side and share some food while you watch; he even manages to slip his hand into yours about halfway through the game.

- You share your first kiss a few days later while the two of you are studying together. He’d just finished showing you how to do a certain math problem when he leaned over and pressed a chaste kiss to your lips. It was over as soon as it had begun but you liked it all the same.

- While your newfound relationship certainly won’t be the easiest, you can’t imagine yourself with anybody else.

- There’s not a ton of pda in your relationship; just because he’s not really that sort of person, but he’s always really happy when you seem to want people to know that the two of you are together. 

- You mainly just hug him or hold hands when you’re out on the town.

- Soft, chaste kisses. He’s not exactly experienced when it comes to girls so he tends to stay on the innocent side of things where he can’t mess up. He’s also just a soft person in general so it’s natural to him.

- Cheek kisses. Whenever you’re saying goodbye, he’ll usually lean over and give you one before he goes. 

- Leaning your head on his shoulder as you sit together. He likes it whenever you do; it makes him feel all warm and fuzzy.

- You’re usually spooning whenever the two of you cuddle. He loves cuddling; it’s the easiest; and frankly the nicest, thing you can do together. 

- Getting woken up early because he’s a psychopath that gets up at like six a.m. even on weekends and wants to see his girlfriend as soon as possible.

- Going to baseball games with him; usually his brothers.

- He uses short versions of you name; if there is one, but other than that, he doesn’t use too many nicknames/petnames. He just isn’t really fond of them. 

- He’s your cheerleader. He’s always rooting for you to do good and being there for anything that’s important; or not, to you.

- Helping him with his crutches.

- Reading together.

- Carrying his things for him.

- Reminding him to take his medicine; and to bring it with him wherever he ends up going.

- Kissing bruises and needle pricks.

- Rubbing his chest when he has a bad coughing fit. He’s always just a tad bit flustered when he recovers and thinks about the fact that your hands on him.

- Making jokes about his predicament, he isn’t easily offended, in fact, he quite likes them. He’s mainly the one to make them but he always gets a chuckle when you do.

- Letting him rant to you when he’s angry and comforting him when he’s scared.

- He cherishes every moment he has with you knowing full well that he may not have a lot of them.

- Its sort of hard to go on dates with him; considering his crutches or wheelchair and his bad luck when it comes to getting infections, but you certainly try your best.

- You mainly just hang out at his house or in his backyard/your house or backyard. You know, the easy places to go.

- A lot of your dates are crashed by Mickey since he’ll arrive home and bother the two of you as you sit in the dining/living room.

- TV dates.

- Library dates.

- Study dates.

- Board games and puzzles. Wanna try to destroy your relationship in under an hour? Come to his place, he’s got monopoly! 

- If you’re gonna be a part of the Straka family, you have to learn about baseball. He will not allow his girlfriend to not know about the sport nor Clemente. 

- Giving him a big hug when he gets back from the trip with his brother. He got sorta flustered by your worrying and fussing over him.

- Getting to hear all about his ludicrous adventure. 

- Hanging out with Mickey; it’s sort of inevitable considering they share both a house and a bedroom in said house.

- His mother likes you but she’s sort of worried about the influence you may have on him. She doesn’t want him spreading himself too thin to be “normal” with you.

- He’s a selfless person. He always tries to put you before him so occasionally you’ll have to step in and tell him that he deserves to be happy too.

- Roger isn’t a very jealous person but his own insecurities will sometimes make him overthink things. He can’t help but picture how easy it would be for you to date someone else, to have a “normal” relationship and find someone who you can spend the rest of your life with.

- With that being said, he never outright admits to his “jealousy” or insecurities. Instead, he keeps it bottled up until he finally just tells you that he understands if you want to breakup and that “you probably should”.

“No, I don’t want to …but you should....”

- Honestly, I think you’re the protective one in this situation. He’s not really used to being the one worrying over someone else; and he can’t exactly do anything if anything were to happen to you, so yeah …you’re the protective one.

- Sometimes, he really scares the hell out of you because he does some stupid shit without thinking, like acting like a smartass with a group of bikers in the night.

- The two of you rarely ever fight, he just tends to stay calm and look at things rationally so if there’s an issue, he can resolve it pretty easily. When you do fight, you mostly just argue for a little while before settling things.

- Neither of you ever really have to apologize since your arguments aren’t those types of arguments. You just figure out want you want to do and move on.

- He tells you he loves you every now and again; not constantly but about as much as a normal teenage boy would probably say it.

- In the moment, you aren’t sure exactly how much time you’ll have with him but you both hope that he beats the odds and you get to spend a long life with each other.

[weirdestbooks]

Secret States Chapter 16

Not As Black And White As It Seems

Virginia POV

I sighed as I hung up with Confederacy. NATO's call about Dad possibly having another panic or anxiety attack was worrying. NATO did say Morocco was there, so hopefully he could help calm Dad down as well.

Things were a lot easier when the countries didn't know we exist. Sure Dad keeping his personal issues to himself and never talking about them was bad, but he had been getting better at talking about them.

And now he was keeping everything a secret again. Why was Dad so insistent on not letting other countries see that he was struggling? Maybe it had something to do with the large amounts of international pressure he was under. But it just seemed odd. I had know Dad for almost as long as he was alive. I was the first one to be colonized.

Dad was so much more open when he was younger. But as the years and wars went by, I watched as he began drowning under his own guilt and responsibilities. I watched as he was backstabbed by his own family. I watched as the Cold War destroyed his already fragile trust. I watched as he was ripped apart.

And I helped with that.

So many people close to Dad had hurt him badly. It's no wonder he hated talking about his struggles. He was so used to being betrayed by family that he probably didn't trust us. But he had been getting better.

And the Liberia and Texas told the world, and now Dad was untrusting of his family again. I understood those two were trying to help, but I don't think either of the understand why Dad acts the way he does.

Even I didn't understand Dad. And moving on from that thought, countries know we exist now. Did my brothers even think about the countries who hate us, the countries that would use our existence to get back at Dad?

The countries who knew that the parts of a union affect his decisions. They would try and use us to get to Dad. And that would just make Dad pile more guilt onto himself.

"Why did they think it was a good idea?" I questioned out loud, not expecting an answer.

"Because it is. It will be, in the long run, even if it's terrifying now." I heard Dee say from behind me.

"Really? No offense Dee, but I've been around for a lot longer than you. I don't think-it won't get better in the long run. Texas and Liberia decided to be idiots and fucked us all over." I said. Dee sat down next to me.

"You're not that much older." She began, causing me to roll my eyes. If only Dee knew. If only she knew about how I had been around with Dad for much longer. I had watched many of my brothers and sisters die, from Plymouth Colony to Province of Carolina. Dee is great, but she just doesn't understand how bad this is.

I had seen how colonies and countries deemed less important were treated. I had seen how cruel the world was to each other, how they backstabbed and betrayed without a second thought. I had seen people destroy their families for power.

I didn't want my family to be hurt. We had been through enough without interacting with other countries. I didn't want to watch more pain be inflicted on my family. I had see too much pain haunt this family. I wouldn't let the countries cause more!

"Ginny. Virginia. I know you're probably scared. I think we all are on some level. But just because you're scared doesn't mean this is bad. Don't you want to meet our family?" Dee said.

"We get to meet our family, but at what cost? Our safety? Dad isn't the most well liked union. His enemies are probably already planning to kill or kidnap us as we speak. Don't be naïve!" I said. Dee has to understand that this is dangerous. Dee sighed.

"Ginny I work with Congress. I'm not naïve. But you are so focused on what could go wrong, that you're forgetting what could go right. Don't let your fear prevent you from living. What's done is done. We may have more enemies now, but we also have more friends." Dee said.

"What friends? Do you mean Dad's family? The same ones who have hurt us and stabbed us in the back? How can we trust that they won't do it again? I don't want to see you hurt again. Seeing you and Dad after the capital burned was terrifying." I said, trying to push away the memories of Dee and Dad covered in burns.

"Ginny..." Dee said before hugging me, "I can tell Canada feels sorry for it. I can see that Britain and the others feel bad, feel guilty. You should meet them. They do want to fix things. They understand that they have messes up in the past. We have too."

I sighed. Dee was right, but things were still terrifying. So many things could go wrong. And I couldn't help but think about them.

"What if they found out about the Civil War, about the trauma and pain that still divides our family? What if they try to break up the Union? What if...what if...what if everything goes wrong and we never see our family again?" I asked Dee. I may be older, but Dee was always a calming presence, and was good at giving advice.

"You're overthinking things." Dee said, "It'll work out. Maybe not now, or in the next couple of months, but it will. And don't worry about never seeing our family again. You know this family is full of the most stubborn people on the planet. We won't let ourselves be separated without a fight."

I nodded and hugged Dee back.

"Thanks. I'm just worried." Dee smiled.

"I'm pretty sure everyone is."

———————————————————————— Pennsylvania POV

Man this was great. There's nothing to worry about. Now that the countries knew about us we didn't have to hid. I was currently forcing the rest of my region to walk around the countryhumans world with me. It probably wasn't the best idea to bring New Jersey though.

"This would be a lot more fun of we didn't have to bring the angry fucker." New York said, gesturing towards New Jersey, who looked like he was getting closer to punching everyone her. But New York was right. I'm not sure why I brought New Jersey. He didn't like us, and we didn't like him.

"Oh fuck off York." New Jersey said. Delaware got between them.

"Listen York I hate Jersey just as much as you, but this isn't the best place to start a fight." Delaware said, cashing New Jersey to scowl.

"This is why I hate all of you." New Jersey shot back, causing the rest of us to roll our eyes.

"A'kors." (Of course) I said, "You hate us because we are superior states."

New Jersey rolled his eyes and flipped me off, making me laugh.

"What no snappy response? No talking about how you're better? Hey guys I think we finally got Jersey to accept that he sucks." New York remarked, causing Delaware to laugh.

"You are assholes. I can't believe I got stuck in a region with you." New Jersey grumbled. Delaware nudged him with his elbow.

"Come on Jersey. You know you love us." Delaware said. We continued to tease New Jersey until New York ran into somebody.

"Watch it!" He snapped, before looking at the country he had run into, causing his face to pale slightly.

"Hallo Nederland." New York said. Oh so this was Netherlands? I should of recognized him. No wonder New York looked nervous. It was probably weird to meet someone you knew in a past life, someone you had a very different relationship with.

There were two other countries with Netherlands that I didn't recognize. One of them had a flag that looked very similar to Netherlands', except the bottom stripe was light blue and the red was lighter. The girl had a vertical tricolour of black, yellow, and red.

"Hallo New-York.  Hallo Delaware.  Wie zijn de andere twee staten?" Netherlands asked.

"He's asking what your names are. I'm sure Penny is intelligent enough to answer, you I'm not so sure." New York said, pointing towards New Jersey.

"Fuck off York. I know some Dutch." New Jersey said, "My name is New Jersey."

"Actual Dutch, or that dialect you had that died out?" New York asked.

"Yeah my German dialect stayed." I bragged, trying to help New York get under New Jersey's skin.

"You had a Dutch dialect? And you have a German one?" The girl asked, "And I'm Belgium."

"Yo. Pennsylfaanisch Deitsch. Named after me, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania." (Yes. Pennsylvania German.) I said. The countries looked a bit surprised when I said the first part of my name. New Jersey snorted.

"I forgot you were one of the idiots who decided to call themselves a commonwealth instead of a state. You are exactly like a state why did you and the other three who's names I forgot decide to call yourselves that?" New Jersey asked. The other country looked confused.

"Wait you're not a commonwealth? Then why is it in your name?" He asked. New Jersey opened his mouth, most likely to insult me, but Delaware cut him off before he could.

"Because she wanted to. There's no other reason. She just wanted to call herself a commonwealth." Delaware explained.

"Really?" Netherlands asked. I shrugged and nodded.

"Moving on from Penny's name, who are you?" New York asked, pointing towards the last country that still had to introduce himself.

"Oh, I'm Luxembourg." He said.

"Nice to meet you. Just as a quick note New Jersey is an asshole and its best to just ignore him." Delaware said.

"Oh fuck you all. Why the hell did I have to be a part of the Mid-Atlantics?" New Jersey said.

"Mid-Atlantics?" Netherlands asked, only to be cut off.

"Yeah why the hell did you have to be part of our region? You would of fit in much better with New England. They're assholes, you're an asshole. It only makes sense." New York said, ignoring the questions of 'New England?' from the countries.

"York makes an incredibly valid argument." I added in, causing New Jersey to try and punch me. Thankfully, Delaware grabbed him, and despite his height, was able to stop him from hitting me.

"Okay I think we've reached the mocking New Jersey quota for the day, unless anyone feels like being punched." Delaware said.

"Is this normal? And what's New England?" Luxembourg asked. I though most of Europe knew about New England, more specifically the Dominion of New England. He was our onkel, only three years old when he died. He still had the body of a child.

His death was heartbreaking for Daed, and his family. It was a pretty big thing in Europe when it happened. No one had ever seen England or Britain grieve that way. Of course they would see it again after the American Revolution.

"What year were you born?" New York asked.

"1815. Why?" Luxembourg asked, Belgium looking just as confused as him.

"I thought New England died a long time ago?" Netherlands asked, his voice holding a hint of grief. I saw New York wince. He probably felt a bit guilty over not being the son Netherlands lost, and for making Netherlands think New England was alive.

"No, not the Dominion of New England. New England is a region of the Union. It's the northeastern part, where the dominion used to be. The name stuck, even if he died." Delaware explained.

"Oh." Netherlands said. Belgium spoke up.

"I'm sorry about the actual countryhuman New England." She said.

"Don't worry." Said New York, "It's not like we knew him."

Wasn't that a lie. New York had been a part of the Dominion of New England. He had known his thoughts, he was a part of him. He was devistated when he died. Lying about that probably hurts him. A lot.

'It's not like we knew him.'

Ha. New York loved him. Losing New England hurt him and the other ones who made him up. And hurt us. Daed loved his little brother. We loved our onkel. And he was gone so quickly.

Maybe this isn't as good as I first thought. We had a reason to hid. It was to protect us from more pain. But the countries were picking at old wounds.

Old wounds that would definitely bleed again.

————————————————————————

Washington State POV

I wasn't sure what to think on us being revealed to the countries. On one hand, it would be nice to meet our family, and other countries.On the other hand, Dad wasn't the most popular country, and we probably had at least two people who were thinking of a way to hurt us to get to Dad.

Not to mention, some of the states had personal issues with countries, and having them aware of each other may not be the best idea in the long run. Especially for Alaska. He had been hurt at lot by two members of his biological family, and him meeting other members of that family might turn out just as badly as it did when we introduced Alaska to Soviet.

"So how was meeting your niece and nephews?" I asked Alaska as we sat on a bench outside together. We had meant to talk after Alaska came back, but Dad had been freaking out over the Civil War and Dee was yelling at Palau, Liberia, and Texas, so we couldn't catch up then. Then Dad's family came over and some shit went down.

But now we could finally catch up on things. Starting with Alaska's birth family.

"They aren't my ilaanux̂." (family) Alaska said, kicking the ground with his foot.

"Sorry. How was meeting them though?" I asked. I was curious. Alaska has never had good experiences with that side of his family. Alaska signed.

"Better than talking to Soviet and Российская империя. I didn't get automatically disowned. Or yelled at for 'betraying' the family for being a part of the Union." Alaska said. I smiled.

"Well that's good. Do you think you'll ever accept them as family?" I asked. Alaska shrugged.

"It's too early to tell. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. I've barley spent any time with them." Alaska explained. I nodded.

"That's fine. Let me know if I ever need to punch them. I didn't get to punch Soviet, but hopefully I'll get a chance to punch them if needed." I said. Alaska laughed.

"That's because Adax̂ didn't want you to turn the Cold War into an actual war. And why are all of you so eager to start a fight?"

"Hey you're one of us so the real question is why aren't you?" I shot back. Alaska rolled his eyes.

"Well I was lucky enough to be adopted. I got common sense from Anax̂, while you guys, being you, severely lack." Alaska shot back. I put a hand on my chest as I began being overdramatic.

"Alaska. How could you? I trusted you. And you betray me this way. After all we've done?" I said, with a smile on my face, holding back giggles.

"It's not betrayal, just the truth. You and all of our siblings lack common sense." Alaska responded. I rolled my eyes.

"Not all the time." I said. Alaska raised an eyebrow and gave me a disbelieving look.

"What? I'm telling the truth."

"Name one time." Alaska said, crossing his arms. With all the stupid shit my family pulls, I knew I wasn't going to be able to pull up an answer in time, so I flipped off Alaska, causing him to snort.

"Thought so." He said smugly, causing me to roll my eyes. Suddenly Alaska's phone dinged. He pulled it out and frowned.

"What's wrong?" I asked, leaning over to look at the text message.

"It's Nate. Russia and the others want to meet up with me." Alaska said, nervousness appearing on his face.

"Are you willing to do that? I know a lot has happ-" I began, before being cut off by Alaska.

"I want to. A part of me doesn't want to let go of my biological family, especially the ones that seem like they legitimately care, and aren't just going to stab me in the back. But..."

"But what?" I asked after Alaska paused.

"I'm scared." He said, "I'm terrified. Things will never be normal, and I can't ignore them, but I can't shake the feeling of fear, the fear of betrayal. Российская империя and his family have never cared about me. I don't know why I care about them."

"Because they haven't given you a reason not too." I responded. Alaska sighed.

"You're right. I'm going to meet up with them." Alaska said, "Thank you Washington."

"For what?" I asked confused.

"For being there for me. Not I'm going to go see when I can meet up with them. Hopefully this goes well." Alaska said before leaving. I smiled at his retreating back.

Even if the countries knew about us, it's not like things would change much. We'll get more freedom, be able to meet more people, and hopefully states like Alaska will be able to fix problems they have with any countries.

Even if Dad's enemies knew about us, it wasn't going to be a bad thing. I was glad Texas and Liberia had did this. Even if I had voted no to this, Alaska looked hopeful, and for the first time, he hadn't talked about his family like they were a curse on him.

If I had known this would of happened, I would of voted 'yes.'

[writing-imagines]

“Family Time” A Carol Danvers imagine

You woke up to the sun shining in your room and the sound of the birds chirping. A smile crept across your face because normally, you didn’t get to experience waking yourself up. If it wasn’t your four-year-old daughter, Jessie, waking you up it was Carol. You turned to Carol’s side of the bed and found it empty. She usually trained with the Avengers on Sundays so it wasn’t a huge surprise to find her side unoccupied.

You looked at the alarm clock, expecting to see that it was just past six-thirty a.m.. Instead your eyes widened in horror to see that it was eight-thirty. You had a four-year-old, you couldn’t sleep that late!

You quickly flung yourself out of bed and hurriedly ran to your daughter’s room. Unsurprisingly the princess themed room was empty. Dread crept over you when you realized the little girl was probably downstairs, completely destroying it. With a groan and the fate of your home sealed, you walked down stairs.

When you reached the foyer relief replaced the dread. Your home was still in contact and your daughter’s giggles filled the air along with your wife’s voice. You followed the giggles into the kitchen. Carol stood in front of the stove, holding your pajama clad daughter, and explaining pancake flipping to the four-year-old.

“You gotta flip it fast, okay?”

“Okay! I can do it, Mama.”

“Alright, when I say three flip it. One...two...three!” You watched as your daughter quickly flipped the pancake and then squealed in excitement.

“I did it! Mama I did it!”

“I know, it was so cool! Good job, Jess.” Carol kissed the top of your daughter’s head, resulting in her noticing you.

“Hey, look who’s up.” Carol turned a to the side so Jessie could see you. Her little smile instantly lit up when she saw you.

“Mommy, I made a pancake!”

“I saw that. You did such a good job.” You walked over to Jessie and ruffled her already messy hair.

“Why don’t I finish up breakfast and you two go find a cartoon for us to watch?”

“We get to eat breakfast on the couch?!” Jessie gasped while you looked oddly at your wife. You almost never ate a meal on the couch unless it was a long day for the both of you.

“Yeah we do! Go find something to watch, bug.”

Carol placed the little girl on the ground and instantly she ran off to the living room. You stayed behind for a moment to talk with your wife.

“What are you up to, Danvers?”

“Nothing. I just want us to have a nice relaxing Sunday morning.” Carol shrugged before placing a soft kiss on your cheek.

“You’re usually with the Avengers on Sundays though.”

“I decided to take the day off since I was gone pretty much all last week. Believe it or not, I missed you and Jessie.”

“We missed you too, Carol.” You leaned over and quickly pecked Carol’s lips.

“Mommy, what button turns on the tv?” Jessie ran back into the kitchen holding up the grey remote control for the air conditioner.

“The big red button on the black controller.” You said hoping Jessie would realize her mistake. Instead, she looked at you and Carol with a toothy smile.

“Okay. I’ll try again.” She ran back into the living room and you shook your head.

“I better get in there before she puts Goose up to the tv again.”

“Don’t worry I’m making Goose a pancake too. She’ll be too busy eating that to even think about eating the tv again.” Carol gave you a wink before returning to breakfast.

You made your way into the living room and turned on the tv. The second you sat down, Jessie made herself comfortable against your side and started searching for cartoons to watch. You looked down at her with a soft smile.

“I wanna watch the one with the purple princess.” Jessie practically flung the remote to your face, making you flinch a little. You gladly took the remote away and quickly found the cartoon that involved that damn purple princess who sang every ten seconds.

“Pancakes incoming!” Carol called out before pretending to land the pancakes in front of your daughter.

“For you, my love.” She carefully handed you your pancakes instead of dive landing into your lap.

“Thank you, babe.”

Once Carol made sure Goose ate her pancakes, she joined you on the couch for breakfast. You both knew better than to try and talk while Jessie was watching her cartoons. Sure, it was a little absurd to let a four-year-old control your lives, but it wasn’t everyday the three of you could sit down and enjoy yourselves as a family.

After finishing breakfast, you took the liberty of cleaning up the kitchen and all the dishes from the morning. While you were cleaning up the absurd amount of pancake mix off the counter, you noticed Carol carefully carrying Jessie upstairs. Her little arms were draped over Carol’s shoulders and her face squished against your wife’s shoulder. The sight brought a smile to your face.

When Jessie was born Carol struggled to hold her, too afraid of accidentally hurting the baby with her powers. So, seeing her carrying your sleeping daughter brought a smile to your face every time they were together. The sudden feeling of arms wrapping around your waist and pulling you into a hug brought you out of your thoughts.

“She’s out like a light.” Carol whispered before pressing a kiss on your cheek.

“I guess your breakfast tutorial really wore her out.”

“Well...she has been up since three this morning.” That caught your attention. You turned around, still wrapped in Carol’s arms, and cocked your eyebrow.

“Carol, why has our child been awake since three o’clock this morning?”

“I may have crash landed in the bushes right outside her window and when I came inside she was waiting for me on the stairs.”

“Carol.” You said, trying to sound stern since Carol single handedly ruined your daughter’s sleeping schedule.

“I’m sorry. But at least you got to sleep in and you didn’t have to make us breakfast.”

“What am I going to do with you two?” You asked, expecting a loving yet sarcastic answer. Instead, Carol’s eyes softened and her gaze went to your belly and then to your eyes.

“Have you thought about...you know?”

“Having another baby?”

“Yeah.”

“I have.”

“And?”

“And I would love to have another baby with you.” Carol grinned wildly before pulling you closer and kissing you. You couldn’t help but smile into the kiss since you could feel Carol’s own smile. When you pulled away your wife looked at you with complete adoration.

“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You’ve given me the family I’ve always wanted. I love you more than words could say.”

“I love you so much, Carol.” You said as tears formed in your eyes. You threw your arms around Carol’s neck and hugged her like your life depended on it.

“Not to ruin this beautiful moment, but I’ve been awake for almost two days straight and I’d really like a nap.” Carol said, pulling away slightly.

“It’s okay, I need one too after this conversation.”

A smirk formed across Carol’s lips and before you knew it, she was carrying you bridal style upstairs. Carol carefully laid you down on the bed before crawling behind you and wrapping an arm around your waist. Within minutes Carol was snoring loudly while you tried to get comfortable. You had just closed your eyes when the bedroom door squeaked open. Your eyes shot open to see Jessie sluggishly walking over to you, her favorite stuffed monkey in tow.

“Can I sleep with you, Mommy?”

“Of course you can. C’mere.” You leaned down a little and picked your daughter up. The second Jessie was on the bed she cuddled up against your chest. You wrapped an arm around her that way she wouldn’t fall off the bed. You tried to sleep, but your brain kept you awake with the thoughts of another Danvers baby and the need to get a bed that could fit two adults plus two kids.

[reidandweep]

Meeting Mr Butler

Stefan Butler x Reader (female)

A/N- This was requested by @fionndaze I am sorry it took so long but my laptop crashed a few days ago and started to work again last night. I hope you enjoy.

Word Count- 1351 words

Warning- Fluff, bit of angst, small mention of sex.

“Don’t be nervous.”

“But I’m meeting your dad. I am going to be nervous.”

Stefan rolled his eyes. Placing his hand on Y/N’s waist, he squeezed it gently. 

“You’ll be fine. He just wants to meet you because he’s wondering where I have been spending all my free time. You know the only places I used to go was either my bedroom or work. So, knowing I am not at either has him rather confused. And dare I say worried.”

Y/N bites her lip. Looking into the eyes of her boyfriend, she took a deep breath. Her nerves slowly starting to dwindle. 

“It’s only his dad” she thought. 

Pulling her closer towards him, Stefan places a small peck on his girlfriend’s mouth, causing a rosy hue to fall onto her cheeks. He was never usually this bold.

Stefan’s father had been pestering to meet her since he found out about her existence two weeks prior. To say he was shocked was an understatement. As far as he had known, Stefan was only leaving the house for work. He had only come to know of Y/N when he began to see a change in his son’s demeanour. Stefan seemed brighter. Happier. More confidant.

Grabbing her boyfriend’s hands, Y/N turned towards the pathway in front of them, the small amount of confidence she had, protruding through. 

Walking to the doorway with Stefan by her side she kept repeating to herself “It is going to be okay.”

Opening the door to his home Stefan called out to his father, hearing the sound of a scraping chair echo from the dining room. As Y/N closed the door behind them, Stefan’s father strode down the corridor to the couple. 

Once again, placing his hand around his girlfriend’s waist, Stefan brought Y/N to his side. 

“Dad. This is Y/N. Y/N this is my father.”

Y/N smiled at the older gentleman before her. 

“It’s nice to meet you Mr Butler.”

Stefan’s father smiled. Holding his hand out for Y/N to shake, he replied.

“Please. Call me Peter.”

Peter led his son and his girlfriend through to the dining room where he had made the traditional Sunday roast; something he and Stefan hasn’t had in a very long time.

“Make yourself comfortable. The food is nearly done. Seat where ever you like.”

Y/N smiled in reply to Peter’s statement, letting Stefan lead by sitting first.

Pulling out the chair next to his, she grabbed onto her boyfriend’s hand. His thumb stroking the back of it in reassurance.

Looking at his girlfriend, he saw the nerves begin to build once again.

“It’s okay. You are doing amazing.”

As Stefan’s dad began to set the table with dinner, Y/N and Stefan sat in silence. Silent conversation being spoken through their movements and through their eyes. Peter was taken aback. He never thought he would see his son act this way. Act so in love.

Once all the food had been set on the table, Peter took his seat.

“Please. Help yourselves.”

Both Stefan and Y/N began to dig in. Complimenting Peter on his cooking. 

As their eating began to slow down, Y/N could feel that Stefan’s dad was about to ask the questions he had been waiting for all dinner.

“So how did you two meet?”

A smile transformed over Y/N’s face. Stefan laughed at his girlfriend’s expression.

“Well, I am Mr. Thakur’s personal assistant. I was the one that arranged Stefan’s interview over his game. I ended up being assigned to help Stefan with making sure he felt accommodated to the company, making sure he did not overwork himself and such. As people do not realise the toll creating such games take on an individual. We have had many people break down and so forth. Thakur did not want that happening with Stefan. He has talent.”

Stefan blushed at his girlfriend’s words. The day they had their first kiss, Stefan was on the verge of destroying the game. He felt that he was going crazy. Y/N had come at the right time to subdued this. She helped to calm him down. Using the techniques, she had learnt to help herself. 

Peter grinned at the pair.

“And how did you become official?”

This caused Y/N to blush also. It was definitely not the most romantic situation. More inappropriate really. Stefan had asked her to be his girlfriend halfway through their first time together. Causing Y/N to become so flustered that she fell out of the bed in surprise. Causing Stefan to fall into fits of laughter.

Scratching the back of his head, Stefan looked at his father, not sure how to answer.

“I just asked her whilst we watched a film at her place.”

Y/N looked at Stefan in disbelief. That was the best he could think off.

‘Yeah. Nice and chill.” She replied, her face turning into a deep red. 

The conversation carried on into dessert, ranging from Peter’s life and what Stefan was like growing up, to Y/N and her time before she met Stefan.

As the day drew darker, they moved their conversation into the living room. Stefan’s father on the recliner, whilst Stefan and Y/N cuddled on the sofa, all being drawn into the latest episode of ‘Only Fools and Horses’.

Y/N let out a yawn as she unconsciously cuddled into Stefan. He had already asked his father if she could stay over; he agreed. The girl had been nothing but delightful to him and to Stefan. He could see why his son was in love. 

Kissing Stefan on the cheek, and bidding his father a good night, Y/N headed up to Stefan’s room, remembering the way from the tour that Stefan and Peter had taken her on earlier that day.

Stefan stayed downstairs, wanting to spend a few more minutes with his dad. 

“I’m really glad you have found someone Stefan. I know everything with your mum and me not always being there did affect you.” His father stated.

Usually, when his father brought up his mother, Stefan would become too emotional and instantly leave the room. But over time, Y/N had helped him cope with this and learn to speak about his mother more, thinking of the good memories they had, rather than her death.

He turned to face his father. A small smile graced his face.

“It did affect me. It affected the both of us. I never thought this would happen. To be honest, I thought I was going to go crazy making that game. Like I was going to hurt someone. Then she came along and just made it all better.”

Peter stood up from the recliner and walked towards Stefan. Stefan stood also. Embracing his son for what felt like the first time in years, the Butler family stood in the middle of their home, feeling complete for the first time. Letting go of his dad, Stefan wiped away a stray tear. 

“Well…” he began. “I’m going to head up to Y/N now. We have a lot of work to do in the morning.”

Peter laughed at his son.

“Okay. But if you’re going to do any funny business, please keep it down.”

“DAD?!”

“Or wait till I am asleep at least.”

Looking at his father in bewilderment, Stefan became flustered. Stuttering over his words.

“We won’t do anything.”

Peter smirked at his son. 

“Yeah. Yeah. I was young and in love once to. You say one thing and then the next thing you know, you’re doing the exact opposite.”

Shaking his head, Stefan turned towards the stairs, not wanting to hear his father talk about sex anymore.

“I am not listening to this. I love you and goodnight”

Stefan walked up the stairs, without realising what he had said to his father.

Peter was frozen in shock. In the matter of an afternoon, his son had hugged him for the first time in years, introduced him to his first girlfriend, and told him he loved him for the first time since he was 4. She had really made him happy.

Looking towards the stairs, Peter smiled.

“Goodnight and I love you too, son.”

A/N- If anyone else wants a request leave me a message.

[emospritelet]

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Part 8] [Part 9][Part 10] [Part 11] [Part 12] [Part 13]

AO3 link

Last time, in the past, Lacey was waylaid by an old enemy, just as her life was going really well...

Four months earlier

Lacey scowled at Fiona Schwartz’s back as she was led down the street to a nearby diner.  Two tall men followed them, clad in dark suits and with identical flat, expressionless faces.  Lacey ignored them; she recognised hired muscle when she saw it, but they had no reason to cause her trouble unless she attacked Fiona.  And don’t think I’m not tempted, you arseholes.  The diner was cheerfully noisy, busy with the lunchtime rush, and they took a table by the window, the two goons standing outside with folded arms and lowered brows, dogs awaiting their mistress.

“I think I might have an iced tea,” said Fiona, as she took a seat.  “The weather is delightful, don’t you think? If a little humid.”

“I’m not here for tea and polite chit-chat,” said Lacey bluntly.  “State your business and piss off.”

Fiona rolled her eyes with a sigh, but beckoned to the waitress and ordered two iced teas.  She sat back in her chair, hands folded in her lap, and smiled faintly as Lacey scowled.

“To business, then,” she said, and raised an eyebrow.  “We need you to do something.”

“Not interested.”

“At least hear me out before you dismiss me completely.”

“Why should I?”

“Because we have so much to offer,” purred Fiona, leaning forward.  “You remember, I’m sure.”

“I remember wanting to get as far away from you as I could.”

“Lack of ambition always was your downfall.”

“If being safe and secure shows a lack of ambition, I guess you’re right.”

“Oh, is that what you are?” she asked.  “You tell me your marriage is failing, so you’re soon to be a single mother, in a two-bed that you rent and with no decent prospects.  Yes, very secure.”

She glanced away with a twist of her lips, and Lacey scowled.  Did your homework, huh?  Bitch.

“Still better than the life I had with you,” she said.  “And I’m not interested in anything you have to offer. As far as I’m concerned you can all go fuck yourselves and take your time doing it.”

Fiona’s nostrils flared, a sign of anger, but she continued to smile sweetly.

“Very well,” she said.  “You can’t say I didn’t try to be pleasant, but if that’s the way you want to play things, I’m more than happy to be the evil stepmother you like to portray me as.”

Lacey could feel her heart thump faster, fear rising in her, but she raised her chin, as though she would snarl and bite at the threat facing her.

“What do you want?” she snapped.  “I won’t ask again.”

The waitress brought the iced teas, tall glasses frosted with condensation, slices of lemon wedged in among the ice cubes and clear plastic straws sticking upwards.  Fiona tapped her fingers on the table, red-painted nails drumming in a staccato rhythm.

“You have something of ours,” she said.

“Bullshit!” said Lacey fiercely.  “I left over ten years ago, and all I took was the money I’d saved and the clothes I could carry!  I don’t have anything of yours! I don’t want anything of yours!”

“Oh, rein in your temper, girl, please!” snapped Fiona.  “I didn’t say you were aware of it, did I?”

Silence had fallen in the diner, the customers on other tables looking at them curiously, and Lacey sat back with a scowl, folding her arms.  Fiona rolled her eyes as the patrons turned away and the background noise started up again.

“Fine,” said Lacey bluntly.  “What do you think I have?”

"Well, among other things, an opportunity," she said.  "An opportunity for you to prove your loyalty to your family.  To ensure its continued prosperity in the face of those who would seek to destroy it."

Lacey burst out laughing, sitting back.

"Someone wants to take you down and you come to me?" she said, with derision.  "Please!  I'd be cheering them on!"

Fiona's mouth flattened, and she shook her head.

"I told Azurine it was pointless," she said, almost to herself.  "You always did respond more to the stick than the carrot.  Very well, consider it an opportunity to save whatever sad little life you've managed to scrape out for yourself."

Lacey sat back up slowly, nervous again.

"At least you've dropped the phoney concern," she remarked.  "We're back to threats.  Good, at least I know where I stand.  Who is it that's got you running scared?" 

Fiona took a sip of her tea, setting down the glass.

“Your father wants you back,” she said abruptly.

“I don’t know how many ways I can tell you to go fuck yourselves..."

"He's obsessed with succession planning at the moment," she went on, as though Lacey hadn't spoken.  "Must be his age making him worry so, and the fact that his only child turned her back on him like an ungrateful little brat."

Lacey stared at her stonily.

"You remember how he gets," added Fiona.  "Apt to fits of - violence.  Your betrayal hurt him deeply.  I'm sure having you back, along with something he wants as a peace offering, would ease his mind a little.  Make him a little less - impulsive."

"Peace offering?" asked Lacey suspiciously.  "Like what?"

Fiona smiled.

"There's something we need you to get."

"If it means you'll leave this town and never come back, I'm all ears," said Lacey.  "What do you want?"

Fiona took another sip of tea, licking a droplet from her lower lip as she sat back.

“It starts, as do so many things in life, alas, with a betrayal,” she said.  “The Blue Star had a client named Isaac Heller.  A little man of no consequence, but he did like to gamble.  Made his money defending low-level criminals.”

“Surprised you knew him, if that’s the case,” said Lacey.  Heller. Shit. The guy I saw murdered was called Heller, wasn’t he? Was that him? Shit. Shitshitshit.

“Well, he never would have come to my attention, had it not been for his troublesome wife,” said Fiona.  “Another non-entity, but by all accounts a kind woman. Taught music to local children and ran special classes for some of the poorest in town in connection with a local church.  Such a charitable notion. And she was such a good listener.  Became the confidante of her pupils, some of which were children of her husband’s clients.  I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how they might have earned their money.”

“She was hearing things she shouldn’t,” said Lacey flatly.  “So you had to shut her up, right? I’ve heard this story a hundred times or more, what the hell does it have to do with me?  Do I know this woman?”

“I very much doubt it, she’s been dead for years.”

“And I’m guessing you killed her,” said Lacey.  “Or at least had someone else do it, not like you get your own hands dirty.”

“I’m not responsible for what may or may not have happened to the poor woman.”

“You keep telling yourself that,” said Lacey disgustedly.  “Is there a point to this?”

Fiona rolled her eyes, and took a sip of her iced tea.

“It appears Mrs Heller persuaded some of her students to provide her with evidence.”

“Given that you’re here and not in jail where you belong, she can’t have gotten anything that incriminating.”

“Well, what she was given encouraged her to do her own investigation,” said Fiona.  “Started sticking her nose in where it didn’t belong. Even managed to get one or two of the parents to talk to her.  Very persuasive, she must have been, given the penalties they faced for breaking their silence. A pity we never met, I’m sure she would have been an asset to any business.”

“Spare me the fake regret,” said Lacey, her tone flat.  “She didn’t die of old age.”

“Well, the circumstances of her tragic demise aren’t really relevant to the story,” said Fiona, looking at her fingernails.  “What is relevant is the information she obtained before that happened.  Information which is only ever of value to those who control it.”

Lacey pursed her lips, tapping her fingers on the table.

“You mean evidence that you were keeping to blackmail people,” she guessed, and Fiona shrugged slightly.

“Partly,” she admitted.  “You know how much we value discretion, and what with so many of those involved running for re-election - well, I do so hate to lose a return on an investment."

"If she died years ago I don't see what the problem is," said Lacey.  “Okay, maybe she could have reported what she had to the police, but why would that bother you?  It’s not like you don’t have the cops in your pocket.”

Fiona smiled, taking another sip of tea.

“Oh, not the police, dear,” she said.  “The children had already warned her off that.  No, she was in discussion with a journalist. One of these idealistic types. Uncovering corruption, taking down big business, fighting for the little guy, et cetera...”

“And?”

“And one of her informants got scared and remembered his loyalties.”

Lacey sat back, a twist to her mouth.

“I still don’t see where I come in,” she said bluntly.  “She was gonna spill the beans on your criminal network, you offed her before she could.  So far, so normal. For you.”

“Yes, well, unfortunately she died before she handed over the evidence.” Fiona sipped at her tea. “Even more unfortunately, it then went missing.”

“Ouch.”  Lacey couldn’t help smirking.  “Must have caused you some sleepless nights, huh?  Really putting a strain on that legitimate business face you try to keep going.  I thought you were looking haggard.”

“The evidence is on a hard drive,” said Fiona, as if she hadn’t spoken.  “It was allegedly taken from her home by a person or persons unknown in what was rumoured to be a break-in, shortly after her death.  The police report doesn’t identify the perpetrators, but I suspect one of the informants who got scared for their own safety, or Heller himself. What is known is that the hard drive made its way to Maine, and into the hands of your grandmother.”

Lacey’s mouth dropped open.

“Grandma?” she said blankly.  “But - but that’s impossible!”

“Is it?”  Fiona sipped at her tea, eyebrows quirking.

“She’s been bed-bound for years!”

“Well, yes and no,” said Fiona slowly.  “You’re aware that she’s been deteriorating, I’m sure, but it’s been a gradual process.  It so happens that this information was passed to her seven years ago, just after Mrs Heller met her tragic end.  You would have been - what? Nineteen?”

“I guess.”

Lacey frowned to herself, remembering that her grandmother had just started to be noticeably frail at that time, although she had tried to cover it as best she could.

“Still very much in her right mind, of course,” said Fiona, eyes gleaming viciously.  “Most of the time, anyway. Lucid enough to know exactly what she had been sent, and how dangerous it could be in the wrong hands.”

“Why the hell would she want to protect you?” asked Lacey bluntly.  “She couldn’t stand you. Any of you. After my mother died, she wanted nothing to do with you!”

“No, she didn’t want anything to do with us,” agreed Fiona.  “She pretended otherwise, of course, but she couldn’t entirely hide it. I was glad when she lost the ability to speak, but those eyes of hers...”

It was all Lacey could do not to launch herself across the table and strangle her.  She dug her thumbnails into the pads of her fingers, hard.

“Anyway, she wasn’t protecting us, silly girl, she was protecting you.”

“Me?”

“Such a well-bred lady, wasn’t she?” purred Fiona, resting her chin on her hand.  “Fine, upstanding, the epitome of good manners. You can imagine how upset she was to receive recordings containing evidence of criminal acts. Particularly those involving her young granddaughter.”

Lacey felt a cold vein of ice pulse down her spine, her heart thumping.  The ice spread through her, freezing her blood, making her hold her breath, as though to do so would stop time, would let silence wash over them. Fiona kept talking, seemingly oblivious to her distress.

“Of course, given the family history, not to mention the man her daughter Colette had married, she was adept at pretending unsavoury things weren’t happening.  Even when they were going on under her nose.”

The diner seemed to close in around her, the background noise fading until she could hear nothing but her racing heart and Fiona’s words, spoken in a light, unhurried tone, as though it were nothing of importance.  As though she hadn’t broken open the deepest vaults of shame and trauma in her brain and strewn the rotted and broken contents all over.

“Perhaps you don’t remember,” Fiona added sweetly, making Lacey start. “The mind sometimes forgets things on purpose, I find.”

“I haven’t forgotten anything,” said Lacey.  Her voice was hoarse, as though dust had dried her throat, choking her.

“Good,” said Fiona lightly.  “So you see, we all have an interest in dealing with this sordid affair.  I understand your grandmother paid a substantial sum to secure the evidence and to ensure that any copies were destroyed, but I really feel we have to deal with what remains, don’t you agree?”

Lacey licked her lips.

“Why should I care?” she said boldly.  “Whatever was on that hard drive, I was a minor.  Good luck trying to make me look like the bad guy in all this.”

“Well, that’s not really the point, is it?” she said sweetly.  “Willing participant or poor little victim, the effect is much the same.  What would your husband say?”

Lacey raised her chin.

“I guess he’d want to kill every one of you,” she said.

“And here I thought you two were estranged.”

Lacey shrugged, adopting a nonchalance she didn’t feel.

“Yeah, well, taking down scumbags is like his favourite thing,” she drawled.  “The fact that there’s a family connection wouldn’t make him any less enthusiastic about it.”

“Well, we’d like to avoid that.”  Fiona’s tone was light. “We need you to get the evidence for us.”

“Get it yourself,” said Lacey, slumping back in the chair and folding her arms. “How come you didn’t already tear the place apart? Grandma’s not exactly in a position to fight back, is she?”

“And now we come to the part where we need you,” said Fiona pleasantly, folding her hands on the table. “You can’t imagine the trouble we went to to find out this little piece of information, given her current state of health.  It's taken years of piecing together rumours and whispers from those around her, but we got there in the end.  Rather than destroy the thing like a sensible woman, she apparently placed it in a safe deposit box in your name.”

Lacey blinked.

“Why?” she asked, and Fiona shrugged.

“Perhaps she wanted to give you some control over that part of your life, who knows? Who cares? The point is, it’s in a place that only Isabelle Schwartz can access.”

“I’m Lacey Weaver.”

Fiona shrugged again.

“For now,” she said lazily.  “I daresay that’ll change, hmm?”

Lacey wanted to grind her teeth.

“What I meant was, I have no I.D.”

“I can provide you with I.D.,” said Fiona briskly, sitting back.

“How did you find out about all this, anyway?” asked Lacey suspiciously.

“The dear departed Mr Heller, of course,” said Fiona.  “Gambling debts are a powerful tool. Especially when paired with incriminating evidence of our own. Everyone has secrets they’d rather the world didn’t know.”

Including you, and don’t think I don’t know that.

“So you pretty much had his balls in a bolt cutter,” said Lacey, and Fiona smirked.

“Visual as ever, my dear.  You really do have a way with words.  Perhaps going back to school is the right path for you after all.”

Lacey winced at her sneering drawl.  A tide of insecurity rose up through her, the familiar whispering at the back of her mind that had never truly left, telling her she was worthless, stupid, brainless.  She slammed the door in her head, muting the voices, but it was ill-fitting and warped, letting them leak through. She squared her jaw, looking Fiona in the eyes.

“So you put the thumbscrews on Heller,” she said flatly.  “Did he know you offed his wife?”

“I’ve no idea.  If he did he was far too intelligent to let on.”  She drank the last of her iced tea, licking her lips. “Honouring her memory by offering up the information she’d worked so hard to collect, in order to save his miserable soul.  Sad, really.”

“Maybe he figured that since she was already dead, he should look out for himself,” said Lacey dryly.  “Not like you could hurt her anymore, right? Can’t say I blame the guy, I’m pretty confident you terrified him out of his wits.”

Fiona smiled sweetly.

“Such a soft heart,” she said.  “Don’t feel too bad for him, I’m fairly certain he was the one to blackmail your grandmother, though quite how he knew of her existence is another matter we haven’t been able to get to the bottom of.  One of the informants, I presume.”

Lacey glowered at her.  Okay, maybe I’m not that sorry he’s dead.

“Since he wanted to be so helpful,” went on Fiona, “we asked him to obtain the key to the safe deposit box from his contact in Maine, while we tried to trace your whereabouts.  He informed us that he was due to secure the key, but before he could do so, he was accidentally killed by my somewhat - overzealous - assistants.”

“Can’t get the staff,” said Lacey bluntly.  “Contracting-out’s a bitch, huh?”

Fiona ignored the barb.

"We searched his house after the unfortunate incident, but there was no trace of the key," she said.  "We assumed he'd been lying to us about his ability to obtain it, and given that you were nowhere to be found, that there was no harm in leaving the evidence where it was."

"Who was his contact in Maine?" asked Lacey curiously, and Fiona waved a bored hand.

"He died before we could get that information from him.  A client, perhaps? I've no idea what his background was, or how he ended up in Seattle, and it's a little hard for him to explain himself now, isn't it?"

She smirked, and Lacey bit the insides of her cheeks to keep from snarling. Fiona took another sip of tea.

“Of course, then your husband got involved,” she said, looking thoughtful.  “I wish I’d known years ago that you were in this town and that he had the key; it could have been a quick hit and i wouldn’t have had all this bother.  Still, what’s done is done.”

Lacey kept her face as expressionless as she could, trying to shove the image of a tiny silver key from her mind, the green sticky note with the code, the piece of paper with the single sentence on it.  The price is paid. What price? Who sent that thing?

“So you’re saying my husband has the key to this box?” she said flatly. “Taken from the murder scene?"

"Indeed."

"Then it’ll be in the evidence room.  You have cops on the payroll, you must be able to get it!"

"This isn't Vegas," said Fiona stiffly.  "And besides, discretion is paramount in this case.  We need someone with as much to lose as we have, so that we can be assured of absolute loyalty.  I'm sure you can understand that."

"Doesn't matter," said Lacey, her tone blunt.  "There’s no way I can get that! We’re getting divorced, I can’t just turn up at the precinct and ask him to let me in the bloody evidence room!”

“You’ll have to find a way, won’t you?” said Fiona coldly.  “It’s taken me years to track you down to your current hovel, and you know how I hate for my time to be wasted, dear.”

Lacey laughed hollowly.

“Whatever you’re planning on threatening me with, it couldn’t be any worse than what was already done.”

“Well, that’s a failure of imagination on your part,” said Fiona, her voice cool. She leaned on the table, eyes boring into Lacey’s. “You know full well that I’m more than capable of destroying everyone you ever loved. Your grandmother already has one foot in the next world, that would be easy. Not to mention that interfering shrew of a housekeeper and that ridiculous butler.”

Lacey swallowed hard, heart thudding in her chest.

“And then there’s your husband, of course.”

“Soon to be ex-husband!” she snapped.  “You may as well threaten a stranger! See if I care!”

Fiona smiled slowly, leaning forward a little further.

“Well, perhaps we won’t kill him,” she said softly.  “We’ll just destroy his life. Have him put away for a very long time for something highly unsavoury. Police never fare well in prison.”

“You’ve got nothing on him!”

“You’ll find our influence reaches very far,” she said.  “I’m willing, able, and delighted to prove you wrong. And then, of course, poor little Matilda Rose will be in need of a new family, won’t she?  You remember how well we looked after you, I’m sure. We’d be happy to do the same for your daughter.”

Lacey shook her head vehemently, cold horror rendering her mute, and Fiona sat back with a smile.

“Of course, none of this will be necessary if you get me what I need,” she said lightly.  Lacey wanted to grind her teeth.

"What's to stop you coming after me again once you get what you want?" she demanded.  "Why the hell should I trust you?"

"Well, I suppose you shouldn't," said Fiona pleasantly.  "We were really hoping you'd see sense and come home.  Your father misses you, and you belong with your family."

Lacey suppressed a shudder.

"I have a family," she said.

"For now," said Fiona, her tone deceptively light.  "Things can change."

Lacey felt rage flare in her, and she glared at Fiona, jaw clenched.

"If you touch my child I'll kill every last one of you!" she hissed, and Fiona shrugged.

"Come home with the present for your father, and there'll be no need for any unpleasantness, will there?"

Lacey shook her head."You're asking me to go back to the life I left years ago! To - to leave my child!"

"I would never ask that!" protested Fiona, hand on heart.  "By all means bring her with you!  I'm sure your father would love to meet his granddaughter!  That really would ease some of his concerns about succession, don't you think? Although I doubt he'd approve of your choice of husband..."

"If you think I'd put Tilly in danger, you're insane!"

Fiona simply smiled at her.

"Then make the right choice," she said.  "For their sake.  Find the key to the safe deposit box, take out the hard drive, and return it to us. Then we can go back to running our business and your daughter will be safe from us.  We’ll even spare the valiant detective, since he means so little to you. I’m so sorry your marriage didn’t work out. No doubt some childhood trauma getting in the way of wedded bliss.”

Lacey sat back, heart humping in her chest, senses heightened, the threats to her family, to the life she had grown to love, looming ominously around her, pressing against her skin and stealing her breath.

“So that’s the deal you want to make?” she said flatly.  “I get you this evidence, and you leave them alone?”

Fiona smiled, showing white teeth.

“You have my word.”

There was a moment of silence, in which the noise of the diner sounded unnaturally loud.  Lacey tried to think of a way out, to protect her family and those she cared about, but every direction she looked in led to nothing but heartbreak, death and trauma.  Just as her life had always been before she made the decision to leave. Before she had become Lacey Weaver. The thought of turning her back on that was agony.

“It’s - it’s not gonna be easy,” she said.  “Like I said, we’re not getting along. It’s gonna take awhile before he trusts me enough to let me near.”

“We’ve waited this long, we can wait a little longer.”

Lacey nodded, and pushed back her chair, standing up.

“Then I guess I’ll be in touch,” she said.  “How do I find you, anyway?”

Fiona rummaged in her bag and dropped a twenty-dollar bill on the table before getting to her feet and putting her hands on Lacey’s shoulders.  Her smile widened.

“Oh, we’ll be keeping an eye on you, don’t you worry.”

Lacey tried to suppress a shiver, and Fiona pulled her into a hug, making her freeze in place.  Fiona’s nose brushed her ear, breath cool against her skin.

“One more thing,” she whispered.  “If you tell anyone about this, or if you’re lying to me in any way, I’ll have poor, dear Detective Weaver shot in the street, do you understand me?”

The ice around her heart froze solid, a hard lump in her chest. Lacey nodded wordlessly.

Fiona kissed her cheek, a cold, wet circle against her skin, and Lacey stood stiffly as she swept out, the diner door closing behind her with a soft thump.

x

Weaver checked his phone again, frowning.  Lacey had still not called, and they had been due to meet for lunch half an hour ago.  He had had to order something for Tilly to keep her occupied; they had spent an enjoyable morning at the aquarium, but she had been grumbling about being hungry even before they were done, so he had taken her to the restaurant by the side of the entrance, and texted Lacey to let her know.  He smiled at Tilly as she chewed on a chicken strip, ketchup on her mouth. A large plush octopus with wide eyes and a cheerful, anatomically-improbable grin sat with Dragon on the empty chair beside her.

His phone buzzed, and he picked it up, swiping at the screen.

“Hey,” he said.  “We’re in the restaurant at the aquarium, where are you?”

“Hey,” said Lacey, sounding a little subdued.  “Did you eat?”

“I got Tilly some chicken and fries, but I didn’t eat yet.”

“Okay.”  A moment of silence.  “Listen, would you mind if I met you back home?  I just have a few things I have to do.”

“Uh - sure.”  He frowned a little.  “What’s up?”

“Nothing, just - the college was kind of overwhelming and I think my brain hurts.”

He grinned at that.

“Well, I guess I can understand that,” he said.  “Don’t worry, I can take Tilly to a movie or something.  Why don’t you get home, run a bath, and we’ll order pizza when I get back.”

“God, that sounds great.”

“In that case I’ll see you later.”  He hesitated, the words he had wanted to say for so long hanging on the edge of his tongue, wanting to fall off into the air. He swallowed them down.  “We'll probably be back around five-thirty, six o'clock.  Okay?”

“Yeah.”  More silence.  “Thanks.”

The phone cut off, and he slipped it back into his pocket, shaking his head fondly.  She probably would have found it overwhelming, having not been in school since she was in her early teens.  He believed in her, though. She could do this.

He turned to Tilly, who had finished most of her chicken strips and was drinking her milk.

“Looks like it’s just you and me this afternoon,” he said.  “Shall we go and see a movie?”

“Yeah!” she said, bouncing excitedly in her seat, and he grinned, reaching out to ruffle her curls.

“Finish your milk, and let me wipe your face, then,” he said.  “We’ll get some popcorn, okay?”

She let him wipe ketchup from her face and turned back to her glass of milk, and he found himself grinning like an idiot as she sucked milk through a straw, kicking her legs.  Her conception had been unplanned, waiting for her arrival had been months of internal panic that he had tried his best to hide, but he couldn’t imagine life without her, or without Lacey.  The only thing that could make his life more perfect would be another child, and he wondered if it was time to raise the subject. Lacey had never suggested that they try, but there again he had never told her he wanted to.  Perhaps it was time.

x

They arrived back at the apartment at just after six, Tilly yawning as she sat in the crook of his arm.  Weaver struggled to open the door with her in one arm and two stuffed animals under the other, and Lacey eventually came to his rescue, taking Tilly from him and kissing her cheek.

“Bath time for you, I think,” she said.

Weaver let her take Tilly through to the bathroom, and set the plush animals on her bed before going through to the kitchen and pulling a beer from the fridge.  He spied a sheaf of documents on the counter: leaflets from the college and a glossy prospectus. Flicking through it took some time, and he smiled to himself, imagining Lacey getting her diploma, he and Tilly cheering her on.

Once Tilly was in bed, he flopped on the couch next to Lacey, who was slumped against the cushions, hands clasped in her lap as she stared into space.

“You want a glass of wine?” he asked.

“In a minute.”

There was a moment of silence.  It felt as though she had something to say, so he waited for her to speak.

“How was the aquarium?” she asked then, and he grinned.

“Good.  She seemed to enjoy herself.”

“Sorry I bailed on you guys,” she said.  “I - I needed to think about some stuff. There was a lot to take in.”

“Really, it’s fine,” he said.  “Tilly was too entranced by the octopus to care that there was only one of us.  I don’t think she’d have noticed if I’d stayed in the restaurant. Kept running off to ask the staff questions.”

“She’s independent, I guess.”

“Takes after her mother.”

“God, I hope not,” she said, letting her head roll back with a sigh, and it sounded heartfelt.  He leaned over and kissed her forehead, and she stayed very still at the touch of his lips.

“So, you guys had fun?” she said, not looking at him.  “You were okay without me?”

“She was great,” he said.  “She was perfect. Cute as a button.  We’ve done a good job with her, you know, for a couple of first-timers.”

She smiled briefly, and he licked his lips.  Perhaps now was the time.

“She’ll be three soon,” he added.  “I thought - I thought maybe - you know, if you wanted - maybe we could have another.”

“Another?” said Lacey, frowning, and he hesitated.

“Another baby.”

He wasn’t sure what reaction he had expected her to have, but staring at him as though he had just grown a second head wasn’t it.

“Are you kidding me?”

“Of course not,” he said.  “It’s gone pretty well, hasn’t it?  I mean - I mean we make a good team, right?  I thought it might be nice for Tilly to have a brother or sister.”

She was still staring at him, and he hesitated, unsure whether to add what had been lurking in his mind for some time.

“And - and honestly,” he said, “I’d like another child.  I’d love another child with you.”

“And you think now is the right time?” she demanded.  “Are you out of your mind?”

“I’m serious!” he protested.  “Why is that so surprising? I - I thought you might like the idea, too.”

“So, all that talk about me going back to school was a load of crap, then?”

“What?”  He shook his head.  “No! Of course we can wait until you’re ready, I didn’t mean—”

“And what if I’m never ready?” she asked, and he held up his hands, trying for a soothing, patient manner.

“I - I just thought we could talk about it, that’s all.”

She shook her head, pushing up from the couch.

“I can’t deal with this right now,” she muttered, stomping off.

“Lacey, wait!”

He almost jumped to his feet, following her into the kitchen, and she froze in place, shoulders stiff, an emotion he couldn’t identify radiating from her, coming off her in waves.  It was almost as though she was scared.

“I’m sorry,” he said.  “I - I guess that was kind of out of the blue.  We don’t have to talk about it now.”

“But you want to talk about it.”  Her voice was soft, but flat. Dead.  “You want - you want to make a family with me.”

“I already have a family with you,” he said, confused by her reaction.  “We’re a family, Lacey.  I think we’ve been a family since you bloody moved in with me, since before we were even together.  I just - I just thought maybe it could grow. Just a little.”

She was silent for a moment, and her shoulders rose and dropped, a heavy sigh escaping her.

“You’re a good man,” she whispered, her voice barely loud enough for him to hear.

“I’ll remind you of that the next time I forget to buy that wine you like,” he said, trying to make light of the very strange atmosphere that had descended.  Lacey’s head dipped a little, her shoulders hunching, but then she turned slowly on her toes to face him. Her eyes were a little too bright, her lower lip trembling.

“You’re right,” she said, with a wan smile.  “We don’t have to talk about it now. Sorry if I freaked out.”

“That’s okay,” he said.  “I guess it was a surprise.  I’ll give you some warning next time.”

She nodded, arms slowly crossing to cover her belly protectively, her fingers plucking restlessly at the fabric of her dress.

“Right,” he said.  “You still want pizza?”

“Extra jalapenos.”

“I’ll call it in.”

“Then I guess I’ll open the wine.”

She turned away from him, reaching for the cupboard where the glasses were kept, and he eyed her for a moment, a tingle of anxiety stealing through him.  Shaking his head, he went to order the pizza. Perhaps she was right. Perhaps she needed time.

[greensagephase]

The Brightest Darkness (Michael Langdon X Reader)

The Brightest Darkness (Michael Langdon x Reader)

Summary: The arrival of Michael Langdon to Outpost 3 changes the reader's life forever.

Word Count: 2,003

Warnings: None, yet.

Hope you enjoy Chapter 1 💕

《《 Chapter 1 》》

You enter the dining room after Emily and Timothy, and take a seat next to them, ready for dinner. You all were wondering who was in Ms. Venable’s office since the alarms had gone off but it seemed like no one had the courage to ask. The helpers, as you called them because you could not call them Grays, serve the food and finally one brave soul asks.

“So, who’s in your office?”, Emily asks Ms. Venable, all eyes on her as you wait for her response.

“I beg your pardon?”, Ms. Venable replies.

“The alarms went off before someone came inside”, Emily answers her.

“Who else is here?”, Timothy joins in as you notice Ms. Venable’s expression. She’s clearly not happy with the questions.

“All questions will be answered in due course. Eat”, she instructs you, hitting her staff on the floor to command you. You proceed to lift the lid of the soup bowl, remembering that you are suppose to have snake soup. All of a sudden snakes are crawling out of the bowls and all you hear is people gasping in frightness at the sight. You can’t deny it, you were not expecting that but somehow you remain calm even when the snakes slithers down the table.

“What the hell?”, several people exclaim as everyone stands back from the dining table, afraid.

////////

You hear the steps in the silent room, your heads turning to look that way. The steps are heavy with power and determination. You feel excitement, tension and other emotions in the air as the person that you have all been waiting for finally enters the room. You all watch the man with eager eyes. The man walks confidently, his long, silky-looking hair seems to almost bounce as if he was in some sort of hair commercial so much he could make any girl jealous. His attire is clean and put together. You couldn’t help but think that this man looked like he could be found in the front cover of a magazine. Once you saw his face, you had no doubt. His chiseled cheekbones and jawline made a statement but his eyes even in the dim fire of Outpost 3, seem to hold thousands of oceans in them. You watch as he nears Ms. Venable before he stands right in front of her and she is forced to give her spot of dominance in the room before he faces everyone.

“My name is Langdon and I represent The Cooperative. I won’t sugarcoat the situation, humanity is on the brink of failure. My arrival here is crucial to the survival of civilized life on Earth. The three other compounds - in Syracuse, New York, Beckley, West Virginia, and San Angelo, Texas have been overrun and destroyed. We’ve had no contact from the six international outposts, but we are assuming that they, too, have been eliminated”, Langdon says to you all.

“What happened to the people inside?”, Timothy asks what all of you are probably wondering.

“Massacred. The same fate that will befall almost all of you”, he answers Timothy’s question, as for you, you feel shivers down your body. The thought that this people here, are pretty much all that’s left of civilization leaves you speechless.

“Almost all of us?”, you hear Mallory ask.

“In the knowledge that this very moment might occur, we built a failsafe - The Sanctuary”, Langdon continues.

“The Sanctuary?”, Coco asks confused.

“The Sanctuary is unique. It has certain security measures that will prevent overrun”, Langdon explains as he looks around at all of you.

“Excuse me, sir. What measures? Why weren’t we given them?”, Ms. Venable’s right arm, Ms. Mead, asks him.

“That’s classified. All that matters is that The Sanctuary will… survive so the people populating it will survive, so humanity will survive”, he answers Ms. Mead’s question.

“Who are the people who are populating it?”, Andre asks.

“Also classified. However, I have been sent to determine if any of you are worthy and fit to join us”, he says which causes everyone in the room to start murmuring, excitement clear on their faces. “The Cooperative has developed a particular and rigorous questioning technique we like to call… “Cooperating.” I will use the information gained to determine if you belong”, he says.

“What is this, The Hunger Games? This is bullshit. I paid my way in here, and that is the only cooperating I plan on doing”, Coco tells him and you instantly know that her statement isn’t going to be answered with something nice.

“You don’t have to sit for questioning”, Langdon responds to her.

“What happens if we choose not to?”, Andre asks.

“Then you stay here and die”, Langdon says as he makes sure that you all understand the outcome of not “cooperating” with The Cooperative.

“I volunteer to go first”, you hear Mr. Gallant announce.

“And so you shall. The process should only take a me a couple of days, so you won’t be kept in suspense forever. For those of you who don’t make the cut, all is not lost. If the worst should happen and feral cannibals come knocking, down one of these. One minute later you fall asleep and never wake up. I look forward to meeting each and every one of you”, he finishes with somewhat of a smile as if he didn’t just told you to kill yourselves in case that cannibals overrun the outpost.

With that though, he makes his exit and leaves you all to yourselves. The silence that followed his explanation seems to leave with him for as Coco soon opens her mouth to complain about Mr. Gallant volunteering to go first. Ms. Venable hits her cane on the floor, announcing to the grays that their break is over. You sigh and leave just as you hear Mr. Gallant’s grandmother say that Mr. Gallant’s move is that of an actor: you either go first or go last. You wanted to say that the thought of being one of the few people on Earth and being stuck here (with what’s left of humanization), made you crave the contact with them, to feel assure by their presence but the truth was that you craved silence. You longed for your apartment and the company of your sweet dog, Balto. The sound of your music playing in the background either lowly or loudly as you cleaned the place up or graded papers as a teacher. You wanted your own space. You missed waking up in the morning with just a bit of sunlight, not too much but just enough to wake you up. You missed the rainy, gloomy days. You missed being able to look outside your window in the late evenings, cuddle with Balto as you drank tea or coffee and read a book but unfortunately, all of that was gone, including Balto, your sweet golden retriever. No longer could you take walks to the park or head to school and teach nor say good morning to your wonderful neighbor. All of what you knew was gone, again. You shake your head, trying to clear your thoughts from those memories. Those days are gone and this is your life now. No matter how much you think of them, it will not turn back time. You sigh once again as you enter the library, one of the things to be thankful for in this place. You really were thankful as no one really liked to read here in Outpost 3 besides Ms. Venable, so that meant that you had the library to yourself most of the times. You chuckle by yourself as you remember some of the other residents coming by to get a book, in hopes to get sucked in a fictional world and forget yours but gave up because they didn’t like reading. You take a seat in one of the chairs and take the book you left in the table, finding the page you had previously stopped on and got sucked into another, far away world where you are not part of the last of humanity living underground.

////////

It had been days now since the man named Langdon had arrived but the fuss for him wasn’t over. Over the days, multiple of your companions had given an account of their interview with Mr. Langdon and some of the questions he had asked. You were tired of listening to Mr. Gallant and Coco talk about him the most. Mr. Gallant had gone as far as to allude that something had happened between him and Mr. Langdon hence why you made your escape to the library often where you enjoyed your silence. And loneliness that you filled with fictional characters far more interesting than people here. You didn’t mean to be judgemental and it wasn’t that you couldn’t be friends with them or didn't want to. You could see yourself becoming friends with Timothy and Emily or Mallory or even Evie who was now dead but your fear was always in the way and they always seemed to be arguing about something or someone which wasn’t in your nature at all. So you hid in your special little space, the library.

“Miss Y/N”, you hear someone, interrupting your thoughts suddenly. You look up in surprise to find Ms. Venable standing by the doorframe of the library. You stand and greet her, grabbing a book you had pulled out from the shelves earlier.

“I have your book ready. You said that you had enjoyed last week’s book. This one is similar so I thought you’d like this one”, you say offering her the book to which she takes with a pleasant smile.

“I do thank you Miss Y/N and I did enjoy last week’s book but I come to tell you that Mr. Langdon has requested your presence”, she tells you just before she reads the cover of the book.

“Oh, right. Alright, well thank you. I will go now. I hope you enjoy this book”, you tell her nodding your head to her and once again she gives your a small smile, which was rare for anyone else. Because you followed rules, stayed on the low and caused no problems she seemed to somewhat tolerate you. You definitely did not think you were a favorite of hers but you knew that she thought different of you at least and that you didn’t have to worry about having any of her people on you. You were out of trouble. Trouble, you think. Your thoughts are suddenly bombarded with the realization to where you heading now: the interview. You are going to an interview and it’s not to get a job but rather an interview that will determine whether you continue living on what’s left of this Earth in months from now or die in the hands of feral cannibals. The thought alone sends shivers down your body and nervousness spreads through your body like poison, slowly, as you make your way to the office in which Mr. Langdon resides in. You feel your hands almost tremble with fear as you see the doors and then take a deep breath as you stand right in front of them. You tell yourself that you got this and that you will nail the interview but all the information you heard over the last days from the others seems to have enter one ear and left through the other because you don’t remember anything in order to prepare yourself. Fuck it, you think and knock on the door quietly. You wait patiently for a “come in” but instead the doors open and you come face to face with the man that will decide your fate, Mr. Langdon.

“Well, well, well Miss Y/N, my last interview. Come in”, he says with a smile as he moves to the side to give you some space to step in. With that you take one quiet but deep breath and enter the room, the doors shutting right behind you.

----

Make sure to like and reblog please. It will be greatly appreciated! Stay tune for chapter 2!

[writer-and-artist27]

A Girl and An Archer

After listening to some of the Emiya theme from Unlimited Blade Works, I had this idea that I wasn’t sure about fitting into Healing Over Time, since it’s supposed to be a Saber and Tomoko centric story. But, welp, I seem to have a thing for swords-wielding people, so a little piece that could come along in the Fate crossover I have going if I can make it work. Also, my empathy just makes me feel for all the Servants in one way or another, plus with finals coming up, I needed to write out the stress.

Here we go. Theme for this piece is linked, being the orchestra version of Fate Zero’s To The Beginning. Please let me know if you want to see this kind of development happen in the story for real!

“Master.”

Even if we had known each other for a long while, I found myself tensing from the formality of the title. I should’ve expected it, but can you blame me? I was still a civilian girl, even with ninja loved ones and two very strong people at my side.

“Archer,” I tried not to sigh while turning my head to face him from my place at the piano, pushing a long strand of hair behind my ear. “I told you to call me ‘Tomoko’, didn’t I?”

The white-haired Servant shrugged, his usual flippant smile on his face. Even with a waist-apron and his hair down to cover his forehead compared to the original slicked back look, it was still Archer. The insufferable dork I got to know as Archer. “Apologies, it’s a habit.” The gleam in his eyes said otherwise though, and I tried not to snort, scooting over for him to take a seat when he walked over nonetheless. “There was something I needed to ask you.”

That was new. I made sure to sit up a bit straighter, activate the nearest privacy seal on the piano, and make eye contact for the sake of giving him my full attention. “What is it?”

“…” For the first time that entire day, the bravado on Archer’s face seemed to falter, as if he was hesitating. It was easy to note the sudden tension surfacing in his shoulders too, and once we made eye contact, he jerked his head to the side, breaking it off. “Never mind. It’s nothing.”

Uh, no. That’s not nothing. Outwardly, I exhaled before shaking my head. “Archer. It’s not ‘nothing’ if you pause like that. You can speak your mind, y’know. It’s why I tell you not to call me ‘Master’, because we’re humans before Master and Servant. And I see you as a friend.” Even when a part of me wasn’t sure if it was okay, I still reached over to lightly touch his hand. “So, you can say it. What’s wrong?”

Archer still wasn’t meeting my eyes, in spite of his shoulders relaxing just the slightest tad.

I extended my touch so that I could be holding his hand. “Is something bothering you, Archer? Or is it something I’m doing?” The second thought popped up just as I finished, and I found myself adding, “If you want me to do something for you, I can.”

The last thing I was expecting was the loud and exasperated huff on his part. “That’s the thing.” Archer swiveled his head to meet my eyes, and I could already feel myself flinching from how dark his eyes were. Were those gray eyes ever so clouded before? His eyebrows too were furrowed in a way that resembled anger, and I tried to swallow the sudden lump in my throat. “What are you trying to do? You have two Servants with you, Master. Two Servants that could do whatever you wish. Fight for you. Kill for you. And yet you do not ask for anything, instead providing Saber and I housing and food, without even requesting a single thing.” The lump in my throat seemed all the more suffocating with how he was suddenly gripping my hand tight enough to somewhat hurt. “What is your plan, Master? What do you mean to accomplish? What do you really want?”

I opened my mouth before closing it. “Um,” was the tiny response that came out of my throat. In any other case, I probably would’ve resembled a child with how quiet the reply was. “Am I allowed to note that both yours and Saber’s summonings were, um… accidental?”

I had no plan. Things happened, and I was rolling with the punches. That was how things were going. This wasn’t something I could’ve predicted, but for some reason, I wished I could’ve if it meant not being reminded of someone I lost a long time ago.

‘Do you ever stop talking and listen?’

Archer lurched back as quickly as he did when he originally leaned in to stare at me. The grip on my hand loosened too as his eyes seemed to clear. “Master.” His voice was softer now, a far cry from the tone he used before. Huh? “Are you scared?”

I didn’t even realize tears were budding in my eyes before one was already falling and Archer reached over with his other hand to wipe it away. Oh. “U-Uuuu,” was the best approximation of the whimper that left my throat. “A-A little, yeah. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” The ramble was already coming on. “For being inexperienced. For not… not being a real ‘Master’ to you.”

“Master.” Archer’s voice was still that same soft tone. “You don’t have to—”

“I-I don’t know, okay?! About what I want to do with your powers. With Saber’s.” I didn’t know where the yell came from. Maybe it was the tone from before. Maybe it was the scathing remarks from before. I didn’t know. All I knew was that I was yelling, Archer was still here, and I had a point to make. “I’m not a Mage. I’m not any kind of special magician! I’m not even a ninja like my best friends! I’m just a civilian girl, with some weird chakra that lets her touch other people emotionally! Said chakra being enough to bring you both here!” I didn’t even ask for my chakra to be like that. It just was like that, and there wasn’t much I could do about it except train and control. “I’m just a pianist girl. A-And, I’m not a Master. I can’t save the world. I can’t be a hero.” The oxygen was leaving me quickly, so I took a deep breath to try calming myself. “All that I am now is that same pianist girl, just with two more people in her home that need hugs in my opinion.”

The grip on my hand was lax, but still persistent. “…‘Need’ hugs?” Archer repeated quietly.   

“I’ve seen my friends bleed, Archer. I’ve seen myself die.” The words felt like poison in my mouth, and through our held hands, I could feel Archer flinch too. Of course he wasn’t expecting the last part. I never told anyone but Kei about that. Saber didn’t even know. But it was the truth. I couldn’t be anything but honest. “I don’t want to see others fall further than that. I don’t want to see other people get hurt like that. Hell, I don’t want to see people constantly fight and kill their souls in the process of ‘justice.’” Because Kei became a ninja and was already becoming numb to blood. It didn’t stop the worry that one day, she would lose more to missions and so on when I wasn’t looking. “So, hugs.”

“Hugs,” Archer repeated. Was it just me, or did I hear a bit of surprise in his voice? Or awe?

“Hugs, music, baking, anything I can do without hurting someone.” Maybe me, but I don’t mind. Everyone I love knows when to bring me back. “We’re all going to die eventually. Excuse my language, Archer, but the world is shit. People can be shit.”

“…” Without even looking up, I knew Archer had turned his head away.

Even if it hurt to acknowledge it, both of my statements were true. We both knew this. Orochimaru was human, and he was one of the greatest shitbags Kei and the others had to deal with, more so with his being an insult to the entire LGBTQIA+ community. Madara was human, and he nearly destroyed my village and home in the name of a distant pipe-dream that would be “better for everyone.” The White Zetsu even were all once human, and now they were putties that the ninja needed to exterminate if we wanted any chance to exterminate Kaguya for good. To put her away as the Sage of Six Paths wanted.

With my free hand, I wiped at my eyes to get those darn tears out. Now wasn’t the time to break down, especially when Archer was waiting for me to finish. “But that doesn’t mean people can’t improve on themselves to not be shit. That doesn’t mean the world has to stay shit.”

An exhale, and then the grip on my hand tightened. “So then…”

I raised my head to give Archer a smile. “Life can suck, but so what? It doesn’t stop me from trying my best to help others be a bit happier. It doesn’t stop me from trying to be kind and making someone’s day a bit brighter. And you and Saber are some of those people I want to see have better lives.”

Every single part of me was calling to hug Archer now, because the shock in his gray eyes was painful. Even then, I held back, both from our shared hand-holding and how my shoulders were shaking. How I didn’t trust myself in not making Archer uncomfortable.

“I might’ve summoned you both by accident. I might not be the Master you and Saber might want in any kind of grand conflict, heck, I don’t even know what happened to the two of you that led you here to the first place.” A small laugh left me at that, because to that old ex-friend, he probably would’ve called me pathetic. Childish, even. But it was all me. Plain old me. “But back when I summoned you to right now, in this very moment, I see you two as equals. Friends to treat with care and respect. So I don’t want you to sacrifice yourselves for me. There’s no huge war going on right now, so there’s no need to really fight unless you feel the need to.”

Archer’s jaw slackened by the slightest margin while in contrast, his grip on my hand tightened. “Master.”

My smile was still going strong as I squeezed his hand in return. “So, if you don’t mind working in the cafe, eating the occasional cake and muffin, and hearing a little civilian girl ramble in both words and music notes to try helping fighters be human and live again, you can stay. I’m not forcing you to stay if you don’t want to. You’re not just a Servant, Archer.” I meant every single bit of it. My heart was beating hard enough to prove that. “Even with swords and magic, you’re still human. And to me, you’re a friend. If I’m doing something wrong, you have the full decision to leave.”

The grip on my hand was still strong. “…” I was not expecting him to scoff softly. “What a naive and selfless Master I’ve ended up with this time.”

Even with the remnants of tears, a pout was forming on my face anyways. It did not help my case of squeaking, though. “I-I know I’m naive, but I’m fine with it! If you have a problem, speak it!” Another breath, and then I found myself blurting out, “A-And what did I just say about me not being a Master?!”

The laugh was completely out of left field. My eyes stung while blinking, but Archer was actually laughing. It wasn’t the scoff of disbelief I had grown accustomed to, or the mocking one he did when someone was trying to rile him up. This laugh was warm. “Hahaha,” he threw his head back, smiling all the while. “A-Apologies, Master,” and then he was making eye contact with me. Those gray eyes were shining now. “I’m not laughing at you. I…” a more solemn smile covered his face as he turned away slightly. “I just remembered something nostalgic. That was a good laugh.” He turned back to meet my eyes, and the smile was unmistakable. It was soft. Just like Saber’s when we first met. “Is that what you wish to do?”

“It’s not a wish, it’s my dream, Archer.” I couldn’t help the small squeaky laugh on my part too. “I can’t fight like Kei and the others can. I can’t really be a hero from the fairy tales. But I can be kind. I can help people. And even if it’s small and doesn’t matter to the people above me, it still changes things. Kindness can make the world a bit better, one little thing at a time.” My throat was feeling parched now, and I couldn’t help but sigh this time. “And if you keep calling me Master, I’m going to assume you’re okay with that, which I don’t want to assume unless you want to say otherwise…”

Archer rolled his eyes while still reaching over with his free hand to brush at the edges of my eyes with his thumb. “I’m merely surprised. I’ve had many Masters over the long time I’ve been a Heroic Spirit. But you…” The dirt at my eyes was gone, so why was his hand lingering…? “You, Tomoko, have said some of the most outrageous things I have ever heard.”

Another “uuuuu” left me before I could stop myself. Archer said my name, but still. “I-I’m happy that you called me ‘Tomoko’, Archer, but is that a compliment or an insult?”

“Ah, it appears I have, Tomoko.” Archer chuckled and shook his head. He used my name again. “It’s just a saying,” he said instead, and his hand still rested on my cheek. “But even if the words are naive, it’s not a bad thing to believe in. Inspiring, almost.” That spark in his eyes though, that was new. It was different enough to be blindingly bright compared to the cloudiness from before, but still. It made me feel like something changed somehow, somewhat. His thumb rubbed the corner of my eye as he continued to smile. “Do not change.”

Something was up now. “So then,” my voice was quiet now. “You don’t mind me?”

“You’re one large piece of work, Master, but you’re alright.” He let his hand drop from my cheek, but the other hand was still gripping mine. “My job has simply changed.”

The curiosity was tugging at me before I could stop myself. “T-To what?”

Archer huffed in exasperation, but he still smiled at me nonetheless. “From fighting in the Holy Grail War to cooking for a selfless workaholic girl who is far more of a hero than she gives herself credit for. It’s a welcome change.”

Welp. There went my heart. And the off button on the embarrassment. “A-Archer…”

Archer snorted. “Your face is red, Master. Is something wrong?”

Oh my god, this insufferable ass. He was getting mileage out of this. “J-JUST LET ME HUG YOU, DAMMIT!”

Archer still laughed once I tackled him. It didn’t stop Saber from noticing and striding over. The questioning voice over my head was obvious. The privacy seal must’ve been turned off. “Archer, what did you do?”

“Oh, nothing,” was the casual reply, almost matching the strong hand resting on the back of my head as I did my best to hide my red face in the crook of his neck. “I just had a talk with the Master and now owe her a plate of omurice.”

“…Could I get a plate too?”

“Always with the bottomless stomach, Saber. Alright. I’ll cook as much as you both want.”

“Archer…!” was the helpless whine coming out of my lips. Tears were already budding in my eyes again, because he was being nice and I didn’t deserve any of it. “You dooooooooooork…”

“Being a dork seems to be the best course of action when handling a naive Master, Tomoko.”

Yep. Insufferable dork. And occasional ass. And I don’t think I’d have him any other way.

I always did start loving the dorks.

[dietaku]

Amazing Quest 1: Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Heart of a Pudding

(You find yourself exactly where Chapter 6 left off, with Kord mumbling to himself about his incompetent peers)

Hiro: So, are we cool, or....

Kord: Oh, yeah, man, we're the best of buds!

(Kord gives him a slap on the back that sends him flying)

Kord: Oh, uh....HAHA! TAKE THAT!

(He does the same to the rest of the party)

Kord: Ha! No one's the wiser! Kord, my man, you are one smooth operator!

You land nearby a gigantic looming tower with a unique sprite and a large city. Welcome to Gemadne, and ironically, this is only about 2 screens northeast of where you were! Yeah, you could've walked here in five minutes, even if you factored in the random encounters.

--Gemadne, the City of the Dark Puddings--

This place is gloomy and not at all enheartening. The locals mention how the winters are cold, and that food is stale and tasteless, being grown on the irradiated plains nearby. If you talk to an elderly man in the pub, he mentions how in ancient times, a battle between two goddesses warped the land and caused their current misfortune, but considering this is next to a clown doing a juggling act who yells “KATZU BICYCLE SOUP!”, you can take that for what it's worth. However, you need to go to the large dome on the northeast side.

(Man in a robe): Hey, you guys are new....and that scar! You must be the ones.

Hiro: Are you going to fight us?

Man: Naw. I'm on your side. Kind of. You can call me House Man (No, seriously. This is his name in Japanese as well. His name was translated into German as Hausen Mensch, and, the series director liked it so much, she kept that as his name. And now that I've sufficiently raised the blood pressure of veteran AQ players...) So, you want to challenge Zoddon? He's tough and wise, but you can do it. However, I'd recommend going in here first. You'll need this, though (He hands Hiro the PAPER)

Hiro: Is this just a piece of paper?

House Man: NO! It's PAPER

Hiro: Ooooooh.

In any case, head over to the door, where a guard awaits us. With the PAPER, we can now pass, lest the guard turn us away for being unqualified.

Guard: Papers, please.

Hiro: (Presents PAPER)

Guard: Ooh, nice!

Hiro: Eh?

(Hiro looks at the PAPER, and realized there's a picture of a woman's butt on the other side)

Moore: Nice!

Loyroll: Eeeeeh.

Hiro: I...I'll be going now.

Welcome to the Pudding Shrine

--Pudding Shrine--

This area is a stark marble building, with robed monks and nuns slowly processing through. Don't attack them (You get the option if you talk to them), as they do nothing but pray as you hack them down, and really, it's not worth it, as they give pittances of gold and exp. Continue on, and you'll see various portraits of apparently famous people, and on the west side, you can see a trio of large statues, one of Zoddon, one of Jaydea, and the third being a woman whose face is cracked and marred, making it unrecognizable. On the east side, you find a giant slab titled the “Wall of Memory, and all the Dark Puddings you killed are marked here. However, as soon as you stop reading it...

Armored man with flared eyebrows: Impressive, is it not?

Armored woman with a flash of white in her green hair: The Light Pudding, so weak with his P-Centage, and yet he has bested five of our siblings.

Man: PRAETORIAN LAA

Woman: PRAETORIAN TII

Laa: These halls, where the ghosts of our comrades cry out, is a fitting locale for our duel. Now, draw your weapon. You must answer to your ancestors!

Tii: Say your prayers to the finest of Zoddon's Praetorians, Light Pudding!

Hiro: Who are you guys again?

Laa: LET US DO RIGHTEOUS BATTLE!

Hiro: Seriously! Did you listen?

Kimyawa: Hiro-nii-chan, they just introduced themse--

Tii: AAAAARGH!

Loyroll: Let it go, sis

Hiro: HIYAAAAAAAAH!

Kimyawa: S-sumimasen...

--Boss Fight!--

Praetorian Laa x1

Praetorian Tii x1

Laa

LP: 36000

MP: 3500

Tii

LP: 36000

MP: 3500

You're probably thinking, “Oh, these two won't be so hard. None of the other Praetorians were that hard. HAHAHAHAHA....HA.  No. These guys don't let up. Laa begins the fight by “Flaring up a Storm,” and then casting 'Storm Shield, that cuts all physical damage by half. This includes Pudding Forms. Tii, on the other hand, will begin by engaging her Pudding Form, and attacking with “Frozen Custard Tart” which inflicts water damage and also has a good chance of Depression. As if this weren't bad enough, when you defeat one, the other will “Steel their brow” and then being to use “Pudding Braver,” a move that hits all party members for large water and air damage. Press on, and you can do it!

--Boss Fight!--

Laa: Urgh, e-even with our combined power....

Tii: I'm s-sorry, my siblings....

Laa and Tii: (Explodes)

Hiro: Just like the others, they all are willing to sacrifice themselves for Zoddon's ambition. C'mon! We need to stop him.

Ozma: YEAH!

Kimyawa: HAI!

Loyroll: Hear, hear!

Mancala: Yeah, whatever!

Deima: C'mon, then!

Hiro: YEAH, I...

(Hiro hears a squeaky noise he hasn't heard since--)

Hiro: WAIT!

You then have to search around for the noise, and cannot leave as Hiro cites “This is super important,” the source of the noise is the upper right corner of the room. Inspecting it now will open a hidden door. Go down the stairs to enter a caged room where someone we haven't seen in over thirty hours now is sitting.

Hiro: EMILIA! YOU'RE ALIVE?!

Emilia: Oh, hey, I thought you were the guard. They gave me tacos last night, and YECH, my bucket needs to be changed.

Hiro: I WAS SO WORRIED, AND—Oooh, urgh, yeah, you're right.

Emilia: Sorry. Who are all these people?

Hiro: These are my friends! We're here to save you and stop the Dark Puddings!

Emilia: Stop them? You?

(A clanking noise begins as a feminine robot appears)

Robot: YES, HOW AMUSING, STOPPING THE DARK PUDDINGS. TIME FOR YOUR DAILY MEAL AND BATH, EMILIA, AND FOR ME TO TAKE OUT THE RUBBISH!

--Boss Fight!--

Nannydroid x1

LP: 43000

MP: 4500

After the Praetorians, this is nothing, She's fond of “Hell Duster” a hit-all earth based move, and “Take out the Trash,” a move which can instantly kill one party member while inflicting Drunk on another, both of which are randomly selected, but she isn't too tough.

--Boss Fight!--

Emilia: Anyways, You...You came for me. I thought you were going to curl up into a ball and Ladd or Lady would come, but you...I'm proud of you, bro! And, you also got yourself some nice friends.

(Turns to the party) Look, I see where you all are coming from, but he's emotional and  naive. If ANY of you break his heart...No monster, devil or sealed ancient death goddess will stop me from tracking you down. GOT IT?

Party: ….

Nannydroid: M-must take out trash. Executing final cleansing routine

(She explodes, vaporizing the entire building, leaving the party in the rubble of Emilia's cell, with Emilia huddled behind a wall.)

You then can talk to her, where in Japanese, she'll complain of a draft. In the Localized version, she yells at you for not having stopped the Nannydroid from self-destructing. You see, the blast very clearly blew Emilia's pants off, even in the Localized version.

Emilia: Goddammit! Hiro! You can't leave me like this!

Hiro: I'M SORRY!

Emilia: I'm staying RIGHT HERE until you fix this!

Now, the trick to rescuing her, and making her playable is not what you'd imagine. The canny among you would scour the globe for “Pants” armors or items. The amusing thing is, the solution is right in front of you. You know, how you pay Loyroll to use better swords? Well, if you get to his tenth sword, the Plasmium Blade, you get the option of upgrading again. If you do so, he'll upgrade to Emilia's Saber, that energy saber Emilia used in the opening fight. How Loyroll came across this, we'll never know. However, if Loyroll has it, and you talk to Emilia...

Emilia: Oh, hey, one of your girlfriends has my sword, give it here!

Loyroll: My dear lady, I'm a ma--

Emilia: Yeah, sure, whatever, toots (Steals the sword out of Loyroll's hands) I'm pretty sure I've kissed girls more manly than you.

Hiro: Wait, WHAT?

Emilia: What happens in Girl Pudding Summer camp STAYS in Girl Pudding Summer Camp!

And with that, Emilia leaves her wall, and joins the party! Yes, she wasn't complaining about her lack of pants, but her lack of a weapon. Go fig. Anyways, you now can explore the ruins of the Pudding Shrine, where if you go near where the three statues were, the one with the broken face is still mysteriously intact. Go behind it, to go down a hidden flight of stairs, where you'll find a blue-haired woman in a robe.

Woman: Halt? Who dares challenge the wielder of the power of....Emilia? Hiro?

Emilia: Wait, MOM?

Hiro: I...I thought you died?

Mom: No, I was taken here by those damnable brats years ago. However, they couldn't kill me. So, they locked me up here! However, I can see it in your eyes. Your quest of vengeance! Very well, if you wish to wield my power, you must battle me!

Emilia: Hiro! This is it! We must fight as one!

Hiro: R-right?

--Boss Fight!--

Saint Cocoa x1

LP: 50000

MP: 6000

You only get Emilia and Hiro for this fight, but that's all you need, if you're smart. If you proceed with brute force, you'll get destroyed, as Cocoa will engage her Pudding Form, and more or less go Super Saiyan. She'll blast you with “Pudding Stream” a powerful magic attack that ignores magic defense, and “Rich Flavor” which will raise all her stats based on the last digit of your gold. Yes, YOUR amount of money powers up Cocoa. When she gets down to half health, she'll begin abusing “Cut your teeth,” a move where she randomly punches the party ten times for physical damage. This can be dangerous, especially if she focuses on Hiro. However, if you are strategic, and abuse Emilia's Steam Breath in her Pease Pudding form, you can win!

--Boss Fight!--

Mom: Emilia, Hiro. I-I'm so glad I could see you before I pass on...You are both members of the Royal Pudding Line, and within you is the power of [Golden Choco Majesty]. Realize it within yourselves, and it will be you's! Now, with that, farewell...

(Mom collapses, dead)

House Man: (Claps) Excellent! I knew you could do it! Now, you can fight Zoddon on even terms!

Hiro: Uh, thanks?

You can now proceed to Gemadne Keep. Well, you could do so before, perhaps advisable, to acquaint yourself with Emilia's skill set, but you would be hard pressed to be able to beat Zoddon as you were.

--Gemadne Keep--

This gigantic fortress is just as gloomy as the town it stands before, with “Dark Pudding Veterans, Dark Pudding Survivors, and Dark Pudding Centurions,” all as common enemies. Funnily enough, the GBA version retains an amusing programming error, where a certain corner of the third floor has a tile which always queues up a battle with three Veterans and a single Dark Pudding Rookie, the kind that you'd fight in Ddimopint, way back in the first section of the game. The fans loved him so much, he shows up as an Easter egg in various places in later AQ remakes,  known as Dark Survivor Zechs.

Returning to important matters, the trick of Gemadne Keep is the elevators, as each goes to only certain floors and you need to find the right ones to proceed. Basically, my best advice is to go left to right as far as you can, and those elevators will be the ones you need to use to proceed.  When you get to a single large room, you're where you need to be.

Zoddon: (Sitting in a large throne) Light Pudding. You arrived. I am genuinely impressed. You have a cut a path through my subordinates for your own ambition. However! Your burning passion and my own can not coexist in this world! Whose will be doused?

Emilia: OH MY LULZ! SHUT UP, ZODDON!

Zoddon: Hm? And the Sword God has been freed? You are a truly implacable man. Very Well! Steel Yourself, Light Pudding!

--Boss Fight!--

Dark Pudding Lord Zoddon x1

LP: 75000

MP: 5500

Zoddon, is, understandably, the hardest boss up to this point, as his LP count might indicate here. He will engage his “Noble Pistachio Pudding Form,”  and then begin his assault. He is fond of using 'Burning Ambition,” a move which inflicts heavy fire damage on one target, and “Towering Presence,” an earth move which deals heavy damage to one target and deals splash damage to adjacent party members. He also rarely will raise his sword. Be wary, as his next action will be the devastating “Pudding Grande Destroy” or in Japanese “Boddhisattva Pudding Ignorance Cleaver,” which deals a huge amount of Light-based damage. My best advice is to use Emilia's “GET BACK” action, which causes all non-Puddings to flee, which might seem bizarre until you see what the Golden Choco Swirl does. It is an androgynous, golden figure with glowing aura and flashing eyes. It screams in an auto-tuned voice with each attack, and has a chance of doing either “Pudding Slice,” a single physical move, “Golden Slam,” a powerful light elemented magic attack, or “Golden Aura Slice,” a physical move which hits all enemies and induces Depression. If you can land one of thees, then you'll most likely be pleasantly surprised to see it shave off 9999 damage off of Zoddon.

“Great,” I hear you say,” Why don't I use this swirl all the time?” because this form is berserk. You can't chose who you hit, and many times, Hiro will take his time blowing away his own friends, drunk on the massive influx of power the fusion with his sister provides.

So, yeah, now you see why I don't recommend doing this fight with everyone around.

--Boss Fight!--

Zoddon: (Clutches his bleeding chest) I...I see. Your will is stronger. Listen to this man's final words, Light Pudding. Light, Dark. These aren't Good or Evil. Nor are they families. They are your Will. Go now, Go with my sister, and forge a world where Puddings rule. We have been trampled countless times in the past, and yet we are the strongest clan on the planet. Your mother aided us, once. We worked together to build this place and free others from the Golden Tribe. With you and Emilia, now, we could wipe away all the chaos and produce a world free of strife. Be that man....

(Zoddon collapses)

Emilia: Goodbye, Zoddon.

Ozma: Is this it? Did we win?

(Jaydea runs in, a look of pure shock on her face)

Jaydea: ZODDON! ZODDON! ANSWER ME! THEY....They killed you!

Hiro: Give it up, Jaydea! Your brother wanted us to work together! Listen to his request! You can't win!

Jaydea: Oh? Do you know what I need to unlock the Goddess?

Emilia: The blood of a Royal Pudding and the Five Talismans, right?

Hiro: And we have three of them!

Jaydea: Hehehehe, correct. And, well, you're wrong, too. Y'see...Do you remember when I let you borrow my razor?

Emilia: Yeah, I cut my le—Oooooh, you bitch....

Jaydea: Yup! And on top of that? Remember that one weekend at Girl Pudding Summer Camp?

Emilia: You bitch, you promised we'd never speak about tha--

Jaydea: (Produces a walkman with a microphone) “I'm lonely. I miss my little brother, and I'm cold, could I sleep with YOU?” Do you want me to continue? If so, I can. If not, give me the Talismans.

(Emilia, face beet red, rummages in her backpack, producing the Talismans as the Party can only look on in shock)

Jaydea: Thank you! (Warps away)

Hiro: (In a squeaky voice) Sister....WHY???

Kimyawa: BAKA BAKA BAKA! WE'RE ALL DEAD NOW!

Mancala: I wonder if I can get a coffin sale going?

Deima: Relax, we can still win! It takes a while to unlock Halst, and she needs to GET to the seal first!

Hiro: Where IS that?

Deima: The Tower of Zyrtroph, the Flying Dragonfish.

(You might have seen a giant floating...thing out in the middle of the ocean. THAT is where the seal is. However, we're going to ignore that in Chapter 8 as we do a roundup of ALL the remaining side missions and fetch quests available.! See you then!)

[alaynes-writings]

Nightmares - Part 2

Summary: After that night in the hotel things are different and the reader isn’t sure how to feel about Alex. When something happens at Hercules party things get even more complicated.

Pairing: Alexander Hamilton x reader

Time period: modern

Word count: 2,675

Warnings: fear of water/drowning?

A/N: You can find Part 1 here.

I actually wanted to write a second part to “The struggles of being famous” and I did, but I hated it and I want to write a new one. But this idea just popped up in my head at 2am (thanks for that brain) and I couldn’t ignore it, so here it is. Maybe there’s gonna be a third part. Anyways, I hope you like it. Please tell me if you find any mistakes so I can fix them. Enjoy!

                                                                ---

The last weeks had been odd. Since the trip to Washington things between you and Alexander were different. You felt like you understood him better now in some ways. And since you now knew a whole different side of him, you found it easier to hold yourself back when he annoyed you. But that feeling quickly disappeared when he started to behave weird. Sometimes he was actually really nice, like that one time he let you copy his homework when you forgot to do it. But sometimes he seemed even more annoying than before, teasing and provoking you every time he got the chance. You just didn‘t understand his weird mood swings. So you mostly tried not to spend much time with him.

But nonetheless you thought about him a lot. That night in the hotel now almost seemed like a dream and sometimes you wondered if it actually had happened. You hadn‘t told anybody about it, not even Angelica. You didn‘t want her to interpret anything into this. Besides, you were still kinda confused and thought a lot about that night even though you didn’t want to.

You sighed, trying to focus on your textbook again. Mr. Washington had announced that there would be a test next week so you had decided to spend some time at the library to be prepared.

“There you are! What are you doing at the library?” A familiar voice caught your attention and you turned your head to find Alexander plopping down next to you on a chair.

“Learning.” you answered, gaze wandering back to your textbook. You didn’t really want to talk to him now. Especially since you hadn’t figured out now in which mood he was yet.

“I can see that. But would you be so kind to stop that for a minute?”

You looked up, raising an eyebrow.

“Why? You got important news or what?”

He grinned, reaching for your book and closing it, ignoring your protests.

“Since I have your full attention now, yes there are news. Herc is throwing a party this Friday and he asked me to invite you. Well, you and the sisters, but you weren’t with them and Angelica told me you’d probably be here.”

“A party?” you asked, furrowing your brows. “I don’t know… It’s nice that he invites me, but tell him I’m not sure yet.”

He expression changed immediately. He seemed almost disappointed.

“But you have to come!”

You chuckled. “Since when do you tell me what to do Hamilton?”

He sighed. “No one can tell you what to do because you’re too stubborn.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” you said with a grin, taking your book back, trying to find the right page again.

“Come on, please Y/N. You don’t have to stay long. Just… show up.”

You groaned.

“Why is that so important to you?”

He shrugged. “Don’t know. Maybe I’m just trying to be nice and improve your social life by helping you to get to know new people.”

You huffed. “Of course you just want to help. And my social life is perfectly fine by the way.”

With that you turned to full attention to the book, demonstratively turning away from him.

“All right. See you on Friday then.” he said grinning, finally leaving you alone.

After thinking about your encounter with Alexander for a while you eventually decided not to go to the party. You didn’t like parties that much and spending your Friday evening at home sounded much better to you. Unfortunately that plan was quickly destroyed by Angelica. Since the sisters were also invited she had decided to drag you along, whether you wanted or not. But she promised you that you could go home whenever you wanted. In the end you agreed.

The week went by fast, almost too fast for you liking. Angelica picked you up since she agreed to be the driver for tonight.

When you arrived at Hercules home you couldn’t help but feel impressed. It was a huge house with a big garden and there where colorful lights flashing everywhere. Loud music sounded from the back of the house and noticing the many people around the house you wondered if Hercules had invited the whole school.

Angelica immediately grabbed your hand and guided you through the house. A wide kitchen led to a terrace and a huge garden. You didn’t know Hercules lived in such a big house.

Most of the guests were outside. Angelica made her way trough the crowd, greeting a few people here and there.

Suddenly you noticed the huge swimming pool in the middle of the garden, that had been concealed behind the people previously and you froze. Angelica noticed your change in mood and squeezed your hand reassuringly.

“Don’t worry. We won’t go anywhere near the water.”

You nodded mechanically. “It’s fine. It’s just… somebody could have told me sooner.”

Angelica dragged you to the other side of the garden and went to get some chairs. You and the sisters made yourselves comfortable and after a while you were able to relax and really enjoyed yourself.

“What about some drinks?” Peggy asked and you all agreed. You accompanied her back to the house and to the kitchen. You grabbed two plastic cups and poured in some juice for you and Angelica.

“You made it.”

You looked up startled to find Alexander at the other side of the counter, smirking at you.

“Obviously.”, you stated, putting to bottle away. You carefully examined his face. Something seemed odd. But you couldn’t really tell what it was.

“I thought you didn’t want to come.”

Something in his voice had changed. He tried to sound normal, but you thought you heard an underlaying anger. Your mood dropped. “Well, I’m here now.”, you answered nonchalantly.

“Good.”

“Yeah.”

Now you felt angry too. Why was he so mean? He wanted you to come tonight. You took a deep breath and decided to leave, before this ended in a fight.

Without another word you grabbed the drinks and left. You chatted a while with the sisters but you couldn’t stop thinking about what just happened. You couldn’t help but feel angry now. He had insisted that you had to come and now you were here and it seemed like he didn’t want you here. Your gaze wandered over the crowd, searching for Alexander. You found him with Hercules and a few other guys near the pool, flirting with a girl. You suppressed a huff. How typical for him.

The sisters didn’t notice your anger and you did your best to ignore it. You were here to have a good time and you shouldn’t let him ruin that.

Shortly after midnight you got tired and told the sisters that you would leave. You stood up to search for Hercules. Since he was the host of the party you should say goodbye to him too and you also wanted to thank him for inviting you.

It didn’t took you long to find him, he was standing in a small group next to the pool. To your displease Alexander was also there. But what stressed you more was how close they stood to the water. You took a deep breath and tried to calm yourself down. Everything was fine. You would just say goodbye and leave. That’s it.

When you approached the guys they were talking about some games they wanted to play later. You ignored Alexander completely, turning directly to Hercules.

“I’m gonna leave now, just wanted to say goodbye. Thanks for inviting me.”

“Of course Y/N. Hope you liked it.” Hercules said, smiling.

“You’re Y/N?”, a different voice suddenly asked and you turned around to a guy you didn’t know. You had seen him with Alexander a few times so they were probably friends, but you didn’t know his name.

“Yes.” you answered, slightly confused. What did he want from you?

“Well, if that’s the case...”

He didn’t finish the sentence. Instead an almost devilish grin appeared on his face and suddenly he pushed you back. You could hear Alex yell something but in the next moment everything went quiet when you hit the water. For a second you couldn’t even realize what happened. You couldn’t hear a sound, everything around you was blurry. But when your lungs cried out for air there was nothing. You swallowed water and desperately moved, trying to get back to the surface but you couldn’t tell where up and down was. Panic was rushing through you as you searched for the ground, just anything to get back your orientation. You felt your hands shaking and the pain in your chest was getting worse. Why was no one helping you? Suddenly you felt an arm around your waist, pulling you with it and back to the surface. You gasped for air and were immediately hit by a coughing fit, your lungs contracting painfully. Your hands found the persons shoulders and you put your arms around them, clinging to them as if your life depended on it.

When you looked up, you stared into Alexanders brown eyes. You could see the shock on his face and also the worry in his eyes as he carefully moved you both back to the edge of the pool.

“Are you okay?”, he asked, examining your face. You just nodded, still coughing from the water you had swallowed. He lifted you up so you could sit on the edge of the pool before he climbed out.

He reached out a hand for you and pulled you up, dragging you with him.

“Let’s get you out of here.” he muttered.

You stumbled after him, still too shocked to protest. You felt weirdly numb. Everything had happened so fast.

Alex led you back to the house, through the kitchen, up to the first floor to an empty room, probably a guest bedroom. Just like you, he was soaking wet, his hair messy and his clothes were dripping. He closed the door behind you and let go of your hand to open the closet.

You didn’t know what to say. Your hands started shaking again and your heart was still hammering in your chest. Tears were forming in your eyes but you quickly blinked them away. You didn’t want to cry in front of him.

Alex grabbed a towel from the closet and came back to you, carefully laying it around your shoulders. He didn’t say anything, he was just looking at you carefully, worried, as if he was trying to figure out if you’re really okay. You tried not to look away, forcing a weak smile on your lips. But you couldn’t hide your shaking hands and when you felt the tears in your eyes again you knew you had lost.

He pulled you into a hug, one hand drawing soft circles onto your back, the other one carefully striking your hair.

“It’s okay. You’re safe now. Everything's fine.”

You tried to take deep breaths, listening to his soothing voice. He held you like this for a while, until you weren’t shaking anymore and your heart was beating at a normal rate again. Somehow Alex had a really comforting effect on you. Just like he had that night in the hotel. Only now you were way closer. Your body was pressed against his, your cheek resting on his chest. You felt your panic slowly subside and closed your eyes for a second. Your mind was finally calming down and you noticed that both of you were still wet, clothes dripping.

“We’re ruining Hercules carpet.” you mumbled. He chuckled and you felt his chest vibrating under your cheek for a moment before he let go of you and took a step back.

“Don’t worry about that. But we should get some new clothes before we catch a cold.”

You nodded, watching him as he started searching for something to wear in the closet. He handed you a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants and pulled out new clothes for himself too.

“I’m gonna change next door.”

He left and you stood there for a moment, unable to move. Now that the shock was over you started to think about what had happened. Who was the guy that had pushed you? Why did he do that? Why did he ask for your name first? And why had Alex been the first one to react? Other people had been standing closer to the pool.

You changed clothes and sat down on the bed, waiting for Alex to come back. A few minutes later you heard a soft knocking on the door.

“Come in.”

Alex entered with fresh clothes, a towel on his head, hair still dump.

He crossed the room and sat down next to you.

“I told Herc you’re okay. He’ll take care of this later. And he’s looking for Angelica so she can get you home.”

You nodded. Getting out of here and back home was really what you needed right now.

“Thank you Alex.” you said quietly, eyes on the floor before you. “You saved me.”

“No need to thank me. Of course I did. I can’t just let your drown, right?”

You chuckled, punching his arm lightly. “No you can’t.”

It was quiet for a while and as you looked up you found a small grin on his face.

“What’s so funny?” you asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That’s the first time you called me that.”

“What?”

“Alex.” he explained, his grin only widening. “I mean normally you call me just Hamilton, or idiot or dumbass or -”

“Alright enough! Don’t read too much into it.”, you grumbled, feeling a bit embarrassed.

He laughed at that.

“I’m gonna mark the day at my calender.” he continued teasing. You sighed, rolling your eyes. But he was right. You had never called him by his nickname before. But you also had never had a moment like this with him before. Of course he had helped you that night with your nightmare but this was different than just talking. It felt different. And you were glad he was here, with you. But if he worried this much about you didn’t that mean he liked you? And if he did why was he always so mean?

“Why were you behaving so odd lately?”

The question was out of your mouth before you could stop it or even think probably about it.

“What do you mean?” he asked, seeming confused.

“In the last weeks you constantly switched between being nice to me and being a total idiot. I don’t get it. An hour ago I thought you were mad at me when we met in the kitchen and now you’re sitting here with me, making jokes. I just… I don’t understand. Did I do anything?”

Now he was the one staring at the floor. He was quiet for a moment and you could tell that he was hesitating.

“I wasn’t mad at you earlier.” he suddenly said, turning to look at you again. “I’m sorry if you thought that. I’m just...”

He sighed, leaving the sentence unfinished. You wondered why he was struggling so much to tell you. Alexander wasn’t someone who was afraid to speak his mind.

“You can tell me Alex.”, you said and his gaze flickered back to your face. He seemed nervous, looking at you unsure. You had never seen him this way.

“Alright.” He let out a breath and ran a hand through his hair.

“The truth is I think-”

He was cut off when the door burst open and a really worried looking Angelica entered the room.

“Are you okay? Herc told me what happened. What kind of person just randomly pushes people into pools?! I’m getting you home!” She grabbed your hand and pulled you with her.

Alex cleared his throat. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. See you two on Monday then.”

With that he left the room, almost running out. You wondered what he would have told you if Angelica only had come a minute later.