#and remembered that lightning strike maps exist....

[supercantaloupe]

wow, holy shit. so that's what thunder sounds like when lightning strikes your block

[collegeishardbutwritingisharder]

Male Yuu! Reader (Platonic Yandere) Part 2

The part 2! Let's hope that I can put the rest of the story into this! If not, then my bad! Note after nine months: I did not fit the rest of the story in here. Not even close. There are going to be so many more parts. I apologize for being gone for so long. I hope you all enjoy this and put down in the comments: which dorm you all would like to see next? That will definitely help me in the long run.

I felt a panic attack starting to form in my chest. Kidnap me? Keep me safe? From what!? I started to hyperventilate and fell to my knees.

"(Y/N)!"

Grim rushed to me and started to snuggle into my chest. He started to purr to calm me down. Thankfully, it was working. Focusing all of my attention on the rhythmic purring did wonders for my nerves. I got my breathing under control and cleared my mind.

"All right. I'm good."

I looked down at Grim with a weak smile. I needed to get business.

"Who... exactly are looking to keep me safe?"

Grim looked uneasy before spilling names.

"Basically everyone. Riddle wants to hide you in Heartslabyul. Teach you all of the rules. He said something about a Jabberwocky. I don't remember everything exactly. Riddle can be very boring."

Grim started snickering while I gulped. The Jabberwocky was a dragon-like beast, or at least in my world. How could Heartslabyul have a Jabberwocky? Or am I the Jabberwocky? Eh, that doesn't make sense.

"Then Leona said that you didn't need rules. What you needed was your pride to keep and protect you. He was yelling with Riddle, Floyd, Vil and Sebek for hours on end. It was funny to watch him struggle to get his way."

Pride... Pride... Leona kept saying that I needed my pride to protect me. Did he mean a lion's pride? Ohhhhh, this hurts my head right now.

"Azul and the tweels argued that you need to be underwater. Something about you drying out. Azul also talked about having an underwater garden to keep you in."

Oh boy, I wonder if any of Azul's failed debtors are in that garden as well.

"Kalim talked about how his family was expecting you at Silk City. He threw a tantrum when the others tried to tell him no. He nearly tried to drown Ramshackle with Oasis Maker!"

That... sounds about right. Kalim didn't appreciate it when I told him no before my brain washing.

"Vil wants to... basically make you into a doll. Or at least that's what it sounded to me. He was very passionate about keeping your beauty preserved. Rook agreed full heartedly. They both were so weird."

A lump formed in my throat. Did... Did I play in that idea just earlier? Is that why Vil picked a photo shoot?

"Ortho was there, talking about how the prefect had to start in the perfect place. Idia was there from his tablet, showing off some diagrams of some weird looking temple."

"Temple? Like... For the ancient gods?"

"Yeah! Just like those!"

That doesn't comfort me.

"Horton was there as well but... The only thing he did was watch. It was unsettling. Every once in a while, I was pretty certain a lightning strike hit the dead tree out front."

Great. If Malleus has his own plan, I'm dead. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO AVOID A TOP FIVE MAGICIAN?! I took a deep breath to calm myself down once again.

"Okay. Now that I have more information. It's time for a game plan. NRC is no longer a safe place for my existence anymore. Time to find a new one!"

I got up from my bed and rushed to one of the storage rooms. I started to search and quickly found the maps. Sometimes when I had free time, the ghosts and I looked over all of the maps and saw how the cartography of Twisted Wonderland has changed over the years. We even found one of the current Twisted!

I grabbed the current one before taking it back to where Grim was. I rolled it out and quickly got some pins. I started to stick them into different areas.

"Sunset Savanna is a no. With Leona as a prince, he'll send out troops to find me with no problem. Coral sea is also a no mainly because we can't breath underwater. Hmmmm, Shaftlands is Vil and Cater's territory. People know them there and would most likely send pictures of me. Scratch that, no matter WHERE I am, if Vil or Cater send out a bounty for me, people will take pictures of me."

I kept muttering to myself and apparently, I was boring enough to put Grim to sleep. His sleep comments were really comforting to hear. I haven't seen him in so long. I put my hand on his head and started to scratch behind his ears.

"Sweet dreams, Grimmy. I'll try to figure out a way to get us someplace safe."

I quickly put the map stuff away before crawling into bed myself. I know that I shouldn't be letting my guard down right now but... I need a night's sleep at Ramshackle. An actual comforting place. I wrapped Grim in my arms and held him close to my chest. Finally, sleep started to claim me.

When I reopened my eyes, I wasn't staring at Ramshackle's ceiling. The roof was much too tall and too dark. I'm in Diasomnia, aren't I?

"Human! You have risen from your slumber!"

I flinched at Sebek's loud tone. Yep, I'm in Diasomnia.

"Quickly! Stand up! We must get you ready for Waka-Sama! He is expecting you for breakfast!"

Sebek grabbed my arms and pulled me up. Grim fell flat on the floor, successfully waking him up.

"Mrow! What's happenin'?!"

Grim was put on alert and surveyed the room.

"This ain't Ramshackle!"

"OUT, YOU DISGUSTING CREATURE!"

Sebek kicked Grim to the wall. Grim let out a screech of pain. I quickly ran to his side and picked him up.

"Grim! Are you okay? What's wrong with you, Sebek!?"

I turned to Sebek and gave him the biggest glare possible. He flinched and had a pitiful expression on his face.

"No, no, no! Please don't be upset with me, (Y/N)! I'm only trying to protect you!"

"The only thing that needs protection is Grim from you! I'm leaving!"

Sebek snapped back to his guard mode and gripped my wrist.

"I cannot allow that. That... feline... must be confusing you. I'll take care of him for you! Silver can help you get ready!"

Sebek pried Grim out from my arms before taking him to the window. He held Grim outside of the window frame. Grim still hadn't recovered from the kick.

"Sebek, don't!"

Sebek dropped Grim without hesitation. I rushed over to the window to only see that we were in one of the highest towers over seeing a bunch of brambles.

"No... Grim..."

"Pest taken care of! Now, I'll go get Silver."

I was mildly frozen. I couldn't bring myself to leave the window sill. I was half tempted to fall out of it as well. Just to see if Grim was really down there. A hand grabbed my arm and led me away from it.

Silver gently guided me to a mirror before walking into the closet.

"Hmmmmm... Here it is. Father did get you a proper uniform."

Silver walked back in with a Diasomnia uniform but there were some modifications made to it. The spools of thread that they have normally on a belt were weaved into a white cape that reached halfway to my bicep. The other thing is that my cap looks like Malleus'. Without the little horn details that Silver has.

"There we go. I hope that you like the cape. It was my idea."

Silver started to help me with the uniform. The shock was just starting to wear off. I tried to move away from Silver and get my original clothes back. I'm glad that I changed out of the fancy clothes that I accidentally stole from Vil before bed.

"Hey, hey... Stop moving. I want to make sure that your clothes are on properly."

Silver gripped my wrist and was quick to immobilize me. I forgot that Silver was training to become a knight. Diasomnia was a dorm full of strong magic users and strong people in general. Bad dorm to be stuck in.

"There we go. Now, let me get the rest of the uniform on."

Silver finally finished before he let me move once again. I tried to reach the door but he just linked our arms together.

"Now, now. I understand. Sebek informed me about the creature. You don't need to worry about it anymore. If you want, after breakfast, you and I can take a nap in your room. Just to calm you down."

Silver started to walk to where breakfast was. I tried to break free from him a few times but I couldn't get him to budge one inch. The doors opened and there was Malleus sitting at the head of the table.

"Silver and my little bat!"

Lilia fell from above and landed in front of Silver and me. He grabbed both of us in a hug and squeezed us tightly.

"Hello, Father."

"Ummm..."

"Thank goodness, you've arrived! Malleus was starting to worry. Come along, little bat! Take your seat."

Lilia gestured to the chair at the foot of the table. Silver unlocked his arm with mine to let me walk to my chair. I looked around the room and noticed the door on the other side of the room. Although there was one problem. Whose name was Sebek. He stood there with a proud smirk, taunting me it felt like.

I turned away from Sebek and met Malleus' gaze. It felt as if Malleus wasn't even blinking. A small push was given to me, from who, I don't know, to get my legs working. I walked to my chair and sat down. There was no food on the table which confused me. I thought it was breakfast.

"Child of Man."

I twitched my head from looking at the table to looking at Malleus. His gaze really made me feel weak and powerless.

"Yes, Horton?"

"It's a pleasure to be able to feast with you this morning. It has been quite some time since we've been able to see you last."

I only nodded my head. He was right. I've been held captive for a while. Which caused a question to pop into my head.

"Yeah, well, I've been busy with other people. Sorry for worrying you but how did you know that I came back to Ramshackle?"

"Oh, silly, little bat! Your dear big brother visited Ramshackle every night since you went missing! Just in case, you've finally decided to return home!"

Lilia answered for Malleus but that caused a shiver to run up my spine. Grim didn't mention that Malleus was visiting every night.

"Were you hurt?"

Malleus' question was sudden and it felt out of the blue. My head snapped up to look him in the eyes and it caused me to think for a bit. I don't think that I was hurt. I mean, Deuce and Kalim did cause me discomfort when they hugged me but I wouldn't count it as harm.

"No... I don't believe that I was harmed."

"Oh, little bat. You shouldn't lie to your family."

Lilia budded into the conversation once again. Floating over to Malleus.

"He... lied to us, Lilia?"

"I didn't, Horton!"

"Sebek! Silver! Calm your younger brother down."

"Yes, sir!"

Sebek and Silver moved. Silver picked me up and caught me in a hug before sitting down in my chair. Sebek then pulled out a handkerchief and tied it around my mouth.

After being sufficiently muzzled, Lilia continued with his story.

"(Y/N) was first hurt by Professor Crewel! That ungrateful professor continuously calls my dear sweet child a mutt! Little bat, I want you to know that you are so much more than a lowly mutt."

Lilia looked at me with such a warm gaze that it mildly made me forget about the position that I'm in.

"So, the nickname 'mutt' isn't a good one..."

"No, Malleus. It's basically calling him incompetent."

Malleus's eyes widen before slamming his fist down on the table.

"How dare he! Doesn't he know that the Child of Man is more competent than most on this campus?!"

"I know! Humans can hold such weird judgements of one another. The next people that hurt him were those Heartslabyul first years that he enjoys to hang out around."

"Hmmmmm, I did notice how they would always drag Child of Man into their dangerous antics before."

"Mmmhmm! They've been hurting our dear human from the very beginning!"

Lilia then continued to recall all of the different slights that people have done against me. All of the different schemes that I was pulled into, the overblots, Floyd's mistreatment during the healing process, the Scarabian kidnapping, and the one that made no sense to me, the Pomefiore photoshoot.

"Thank you, Lilia. Now, Child of Man, please. Let us enjoy breakfast."

Other Diasomnia students then walked through the doors that Sebek was originally guarding. They were carrying silver dish trays and were quick to set them down before taking their own posts along the walls. Sebek also took out the handkerchief out of my mouth. The food looked really good, which meant that Lilia didn't cook it. I tried to get my arms free to get food but Silver still hadn't let go of my arms yet.

"Ummm, Silver. Buddy. I kind of need my arms to be able to eat."

The only response that I had gotten in return was light snoring. Silver had fallen asleep with me in his arms. Normally, I thought people would loosen their grip when they fall asleep. But obviously not Silver.

"Allow me to assist you, (Y/N)!"

Sebek shouted before pulling up a chair next to mine. I felt the eyes of all the Diasomnia students watching me. Sebek cut through the pancakes that they had made before putting some up to my mouth.

"Now, open your mouth, Human."

Sebek's tone was soft for once. What is happening? Why is everybody acting like I'm an infant!?!?!?

"Open. Your. Mouth."

Sebek's harsh tone came back along with a glare. I shook my head before gritting my teeth together.

"Don't be insolent! You should be thankful that your real family is here to protect and care for you now! Unlike those false 'brothers' that abused you. Now. Let me help you with breakfast."

I kept my mouth shut.

"Awwwww, there's no reason to be fussy. Let's see. Ahhhhhh."

Lilia put his hands on either side of my jaw before pressing on it. It was quite painful and I regretfully opened my jaw. Sebek then took advantage of my pain and fed me. I tried to spit the food out but Lilia changed tactics and forced my jaw closed.

"Chew it all up! As your father, I'll have to get used to feeding you like this! Especially if you keep choosing to be fussy over nothing!"

Lilia sounded so happy while force feeding me. I was feeling very cramped with three people all around me. Eventually, I gave up and started chewing the food myself. Anything to stop the dull ache that was beginning to form in my jaw.

"Ahhh!"

"Sebek."

Sebek lowered the fork from my mouth before turning his head to Malleus.

"Yes, Waka-Sama?"

Malleus stood from his own chair and walked over.

"I want to feed the Child of Man."

I looked at Malleus with wide eyes. Sebek only nodded his head before leaving his chair for Malleus to take his seat. Malleus took the chair before picking up the fork himself.

"Ahhhhh, Child of Man."

Malleus had such a soft look in his eyes that made me feel safe? In a weird way.

"Ahhhhhh."

Malleus put the fork with the pancakes in my mouth.

"It feels nice to take care of your younger brother, doesn't it, Malleus?"

"It does, Lilia. Is this how you felt when taking care of Silver and myself?"

"Oh, yes! Taking care of those who are the most dear to you is the best feeling in the world! Make sure you treasure these moments, Malleus. They fade much too quickly."

After what felt like three hours but was actually around ten minutes, breakfast had finally concluded. The Diasomnia students, who were just watching, took the plates before leaving.

"Now. I overheard from earlier. You and Silver were going to take a nap together, right (Y/N)?"

"That was the plan, I think. Although, I don't know how much Silver is going to want to take a nap now."

"I'm always willing to take a nap with you, (Y/N)."

I jolted a bit. I didn't notice Silver waking up. I guess he really is the King of Naps.

"Perfect! Then I suppose that having a little group nap wouldn't be a bad idea! Malleus, Sebek. Are you two willing to join us?"

"I would gladly attend."

"If Waka-Sama will take a nap, then I must be there to ensure his best sleep!"

I started to think fast. Trapped in a cuddle pile won't help me get out of Diasomnia in the slightest.

"W-W-Wait a minute!"

My shout got all of the attention, which was exactly what I wanted.

"I-If we take a nap now, you guys will have to get up in a matter of minutes for class! I-I'd rather wait until you guys will be able to hang out for longer!"

The quartet of Diasomnia students just stared at me for around thirty seconds before Lilia's face gained a smirk.

"Awwwww, my baby~! So worried for your brothers' education and your own father's as well! You're such a sweet, little boy! Alright, we can wait until classes are done for today."

Lilia then clapped his hands and two other Diasomnia students appeared out of the shadows. I jumped at their appearance. Lilia then cleared his throat to address the two students.

"Please escort my little bat to his room. He will need to stay there while classes are happening. Last thing that we would need is one of those brutish students from one of the other dorms stealing (Y/N) away from his true family."

"Yes, Vice Dorm Leader Vanrouge!"

Silver let go of me and I stood up. The two students flanked me, making sure that there was little to no room for me to run away. I just gulped before walking towards where I thought that my room was located.

"We're so happy that you've finally come home, (Y/N)!"

"The whole dorm was worried sick when the rumors of you being kidnapped by the other dorms came around. Dorm Leader Draconia and Vice Dorm Leader Vanrouge were so lucky to have found you!"

"Not to mention how lucky we are! We get to spend some time with our brother too!"

The students kept talking while I tuned them out. What type of hypnosis spell went over the entire campus? Could this be some sort of attack from RSA? Although that doesn't really sound like something that they would do.

"Hold it!"

One of the students grabbed me before I opened the door to the room I was in originally.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"This isn't your room."

I slightly tilted my head.

"But this is the room that I woke up in?"

"This is Sebek and Silver's room. Your room is elsewhere."

"Follow us please!"

The first one started to walk up a bunch of stairs while the other stayed behind me.

"This room was prepared by Dorm Leader Draconia himself! He tried to make sure that it was to your liking!"

The student in front of me opened the door to what was a near replica of my Ramshackle room. If it wasn't for the fact that the view from the window showed the outside of Diasomnia, I could have swore that I was transported back to Ramshackle.

I took a few steps forward to observe the room. I wasn't expecting for the door to be shut and locked behind me. I rushed over and tried to get it to budge.

"Hey! This isn't funny!"

"Sorry, Little Brother! We all were specially instructed by Dorm Leader Draconia and Vice Dorm Leader Vanrouge to keep this door shut while we're at classes."

I stared at the door before letting go of the knob.

"We wish that you would be able to walk around Diasomnia but the threat of another dorm finding you is too large right now."

I didn't respond before just flopping down on the bed. I thought about my morning so far.

"Grim..."

Tears started to stream down my face. Anguish and anger wrapped around my heart. I clenched my fists together and started to punch the pillow while huge tears were unleashed. After a minute of just punching, I started to take deep breaths before wiping my face clear of tears. I will get out of here. For Grim!

As soon as my little pity party was done, I got up from the bed to take a look outside. The tower was quite high. I felt my fear of heights kick in and I backed away from it. I think I'd rather live here than escape that way. I decided to explore the room a bit to see if I could find something else to help me escape.

Malleus did a really good job at replicating my room, I'll give him that. Although there are a few minor adjustments. For example, the attached bathroom, the Malleus, Lilia, Silver and Sebek plushies on my bed, and what appears to be a family portrait of all five of us on the wall. They're really selling the family idea, aren't they? How did they even get a portrait like this?

"What a poor little boy."

"Who would keep him trapped in a tower?"

"Just like a little princess."

I heard new voices that I've never heard before. I started to spin my head around trying to figure out where they were coming from. Three small balls of light. Red, green and blue.

"Hello? Who are you?"

"Why, we're the good fairies!"

"Please child. Explain as to why you're stuck here in such a... dreadful place?"

I thought of the best way to explain my situation.

"Well. People who I thought were my friends decided to kidnap me. 'To keep me safe' they say. Although I've never felt more trapped in my life."

"That just won't do! Listen up, boy! We'll help you out! We can give you three blessings! But you must use them wisely, okay? They will only work once."

I nodded my head. If there's one thing that I pride myself on, it's my wisdom. The red fae started to glow brighter.

"My gift shall be the gift of free falling. This will prevent any injury from falling."

The green fae was next.

"My gift shall be the gift of speed. Use this to outrun your pursuers."

Finally, it was the blue fae's turn.

"And my gift shall be the gift of invisibility. For a short period of time, your entire presence will be hidden from existence."

I gave the faes a light bow.

"Thank you so much."

"It's no problem, child. We hope that our magic will be of great assistance to you. I hope that our paths will cross again one day."

We said our goodbyes and then the faes disappeared in a poof of sparkles. I had to use these gifts wisely. I do only have one shot after all. It might be best to use them later. I don't know Diasomnia's layout well enough to plan a good escape route.

My best plan of action right now is to play along with their delusion, despite how much it would kill me. Play nicely, you get the upper hand eventually. Although now, I wish that I had asked if memories of me would be erased for the time that I would be invisible.

To pass the time, I decided to take to the bookshelf. Maybe I could learn something that would prove a use to me. A majority of the books appeared to be children's books. Despite those being quite entertaining, they weren't exactly helpful for knowledge. Although there was one that held important information.

The book was called 'Be Careful, Titinia!'. It was an entire book on things that can hurt faes or weaken them. The main things that I took note of were iron, salt, ash wood and sweets. I want to avoid using iron since it causes them direct harm while salt and ash wood only weakens their powers. Sweets can be used as a distraction.

"I don't know why I thought that they would leave a book to help me escape. They aren't dumb."

I spent the rest of the time contemplating. My life, my decisions and that stupid, STUPID fall. This is what spurred all of this unnecessary panic. At long last, a knock broke me out of my thoughts.

"(Y/N)! We've finally returned from our classes! You should have seen all of the other sniveling humans! They were so pathetic! They were crying out for you. Although, I must admit, I was annoyed by such displays. As if they thought that they were worthy of being with you."

Sebek walked in, followed by Silver. He seemed to be very proud of what he was relaying to me.

"Sounds stifling."

"Oh, it was! Such whiny creatures!"

I took a deep breath before getting into my role. I think that it would be beneficial if I played nice.

"D-Do you want a hug? I want to help cheer up my Big Bro!"

Sebek and Silver looked over at me with huge eyes. It's like they weren't expecting me to say that. A bright, pink blush appeared on Sebek's face before he started yelling.

"OF COURSE, I WOULD ENJOY PHYSICAL CONTACT, MY YOUNGER!"

Sebek then wasted no time in throwing himself at me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and started to snuggle under my chin. I think that I even heard little gator squeaks coming from him.

"A-Am I allowed to join in the hugs?"

Silver looked a bit desperate while looking at me with fearful eyes. It was like he thought that I was telling him that I hate him or something.

"Of course! You're my big brother as well, Silvy!"

Silver then also gained a blush and a soft smile. He seemed to have enjoyed the nickname that I just came up with.

"Hey! If he gets a nickname, what's mine?!"

Sebek looked up at me with a pout. This is reminding me of taking care of toddlers instead of dealing with kidnappers.

"Hmmmmm."

I closed my eyes while I was running through the nicknames that I could come up with.

"Tic Toc Croc?"

Sebek wrinkled his nose at that name.

"Or maybe Bolt?"

Sebek gave a smile at that one.

"Bolt it is!"

Silver got behind me and pulled me flush against his front. So, now, I was sandwiched between the two guards. Sebek let out slight squeaks while Silver was just lightly snoring in my ear. Their warmth and the noises became a form of white noise that started to lull me to sleep.

"Awwwww, what a cute sight."

Lilia had arrived and spoke in a whisper. He jumped onto the foot of the bed frame to look at us.

"My little bat looks so sleepy~ Why don't you just close your eyes while I invite Malleus? We can have that nap that we planned earlier."

I tried to keep my eyes open to the best of my abilities. Silver actually started to sway which in turn, rocked me back and forth slightly. Lilia came back with Malleus.

"Little bat! I told you to close your eyes and sleep!"

Lilia yelled in a hushed tone. It was clear that he was slightly annoyed with me but didn't want to risk waking up Sebek and Silver.

I shook my head.

"I wanted to be awake to see Malleus."

Malleus' eyes widened a bit before he gained a huge smile.

"Child of Man..."

I think that I actually saw a few tears start to form in Malleus' eyes. He then walked over and joined us in our cuddle pile. Lilia let out a laugh before joining us as well. The amount of warmth and constant soft sounds made it even more impossible to keep my eyes open.

"Shhhhhhh~ Just close your eyes, little bat. We'll all be here when you wake up~"

I felt Lilia's fingers gently close my eyelids and from there, I was asleep. I don't know how long we napped for but when I woke up, I was the last one awake.

"Little bat! Did you enjoy your little nap? I sure hope so because Papa has a lot of plans for you!"

"Papa?"

I never even called my Dad papa.

"Yep, that's me! If you ever need something from me, call out 'Papa!' and I'll be there as soon as possible! Either way, we must continue on with our plans!"

Lilia was quick to leave the cuddle pile. Sebek and Silver were still holding on to me, almost as if they were afraid that I was going to disappear.

"Did you have sweet dreams, (Y/N)?"

Sebek was looking at me with a huge smile. It seems that the nap had really refreshed him.

"Y-yeah, although, I don't think that I really had a dream."

"We all have dreams, Child of Man. You probably just don't remember it."

Malleus was the second to get up from the cuddle pile. He also looked quite refreshed.

"Silver! Do you remember where I put the stroller?!"

I felt myself blanching at that statement. What does Lilia need a stroller for?!

"Father. I really don't think that (Y/N) needs a stroller."

"But what if he gets tired on our walk?!"

"I can carry him for you, Master Lilia!"

"Hmmm, that's an option. What would you prefer, (Y/N)?"

"I think that I would prefer if Bolt would carry me if I got tired."

I let out a noise of surprise when Sebek suddenly tightened his hold on me.

"Oookay, but next time, I'll make sure to bring the stroller. Just in case of Sebek not being there with us!"

Finally, Sebek got off of me which made it easier for me to get off of Silver. Although Silver didn't make it such an easy feat.

"Uh, Silvy? D-Don't you need to get up and ready for this walk as well?"

"Hmmmmm, yeah."

He finally stood up and took me with him. I tried to get up on my own feet but Silver was still holding me. It caused me to trip over my feet multiple times.

"I thought that we would be walking."

"We will be."

"Then... Can I walk?"

A slight blush appeared on his face before he set me down.

"I... apologize. It's just...I felt very comfortable with you in my arms."

"It's okay, Silvy."

It really wasn't. But sadly, I have a part to play. Man, if only Vil could see me now. Eeehhhh, on second thought, if only past Vil could see me now. I don't think I want to see present Vil anymore.

"Alright, boys, let's get a move on! We have to start our walk now or else we're going to be late for dinner! I don't want my children hungry for long."

Lilia walked out the door, leading the way that we're going to take. Malleus walked up to me and looped his arm around mine.

"Come along, Child of Man. Lilia will outpace all of us if we wait any longer."

I only nodded before I started moving. I ended up tugging on Malleus slightly before he matched my pace. Sebek and Silver closed the door before catching up to Malleus and I. It took us ten minutes to catch up with Lilia. Well, catch isn't the right word. Found is a better one for the fact that we had to roam the hallways of Diasomnia. We ran into so many Diasomnian students, who seemed to be more than excited to see me. Some even gave me hugs or other forms of affection.

"There you kids are! I was worried for a second that someone came in and stole (Y/N) away!"

"If there was someone so foolish enough to even attempt at taking my young kin, I would have boiled their insides before ripping them to shreds."

I gulped at Malleus' words. Having someone who is part dragon be possessive over you is worse than just having a human be possessive.

Finally, after playing the waiting game for so long, we continued on with our walk and we went outside of Diasomnia. The environment surrounding the castle was, as usual, spooky but perfect for a get away. We made it slightly deep into the forest before I decided it was time to use the other faes' gifts. I started to slow down a bit before stopping completely.

"Hmmm, what's wrong, (Y/N)?"

I took a deep breath before answering Silver.

"Just needing to tie my shoe, Silvy! I would hate to trip and fall after all!"

"Let me, (Y/N)!"

Sebek moved before I could bend down. What was the most interesting part was the fact that he untied my shoe to just redo the knot. I debated in my head to wait for a different opportunity. I decided to wait for only a little longer.

Sebek stood back up and gave me such a proud smile. I nod my head before giving Sebek my own smile.

"Thank you, Sebek. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome, (Y/N)!"

Sebek turned back around and I started to take the back of the group. I watched Lilia talk animatedly while Silver was trying to avoid falling asleep. Malleus kept his posture straight and focused on our path while Sebek was scanning the forest.

They were distracted. I try to activate Blue's invisibility. I watch as blue magic sparks start at my fingertips and go down my entire body. I couldn't even see me! Using the fact that I was now invisible, I started to walk away from the group as fast as I could. I was about twenty feet away when I heard this.

"AH! (Y/N)! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"What do you mean, Se- LITTLE BAT!?! WHERE DID YOU GO?!"

They had no idea where I was but I still had some way before I could reach the mirror. I start running and I know that I'm making a bunch of noise at this point. Sebek, Lilia and Malleus obviously know where I am based on noise.

I turn my head and see Lilia nearly grabbing the collar of the Diasomnia uniform that I was wearing. I let out a small scream as I dodge his grasp.

"Little bat! It isn't wise to make me mad!"

I was so preoccupied with Lilia that I nearly got hit by Sebek's baton.

"STOP RUNNING, HUMAN! BEHAVE FOR YOUR FAMILY!!"

Sebek's eyes were blazing with fury. I had to make a decision quickly. I remember that Green gave me super speed and tried to use that. I saw green flashes on my feet. Next thing that I knew was that it felt like my feet were flying out from underneath me. I was moving faster than I could really control it. I nearly ran into twenty different trees.

I felt the ground shake and noticed that Silver had actually sent a spell into the ground and it was erupting beneath me.

"I'm sorry, (Y/N). But I can't let you escape."

The spell caused an explosion beneath me, sending me flying into the sky. I let out a scream, my fear of heights kicked in. I heard Sebek scolding Silver for using such a spell on me.

I quickly get my brain under control and focus on using Red's free fall. I saw my body flash red and I felt more confident. I then started to glide through the air trying to get to the mirror, I could see it. I heard an air whistle and noticed that Malleus was flying straight for me.

"(YYYYY/NNNNN)!!!!!"

I narrowly avoid Malleus' dive and quickly land on the ground in front of the mirror. I watched as I blinked blue, green and red to signify that the gifts had ran out. I looked around, noting how close the four of them were before rushing into the mirror. Once in the Hall of Mirrors, I look around before choosing a mirror to hide away in.

[weasleywinchester]

Slow Motion - Ch.4

My World is Standin’ Still

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 5

Who am I updating two fics on the same day?? Hope y’all enjoy this chapter, we get a little serious, a little steamy and a whole lotta cute 💙 enjoy!

Series Summary:

I mean, love at first sight has to exist for some people. Guess you’re one of the lucky ones. Bob had said it so nonchalantly. Like it was a thing that could, did, happen in real life. And yet here he was, Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, falling for you faster than his plane could take off. But even if everything felt slow motion, was it possible the two of you were moving too fast?

Chapter Summary:

First dates: that thing most people fret about so much they get nervous. But for you and Bradley it’s just something that needs to get out of the way. This feeling like you were made to be together only gets stronger by the day, but it seems like the universe needs you to stand still before you can take off.

We have a smut warning for this one 👀 (hand job, both receiving)

A Week Later

Tuesday

“Talk to me Phoenix.” Mav excitedly whispers as he catches Phoenix walking down the hall. He was so excited when Bradley wasted no time in planning the perfect first date. 

“Rooster had to cancel.” She sighs, opening the door and gesturing for Mav to walk ahead.

“What, why?” He turns to face her, walking backwards down the hall.

“We had to do a diagnostic flight. It took way longer than we thought.” She hands her paperwork off to an officer passing by and gestures for Mav to follow.

“How’d she take it?” He gently puts his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes for any hidden answers. Phoenix opens her mouth to answer when Bob walks over.

“She’s totally fine. They got another reservation at a different place for tonight. So, fingers crossed.” He nods.

“Rooster was pretty upset. He had the whole thing mapped out. And he apparently pulled every card he could to get the reservation.”

Mav nods in agreement; dinner at a fancy restaurant by the beach, new suite and a giant bouquet of flowers in your favorite color. Rooster had even roped him into helping clean the Bronco spotless so it was a worthy first date car.

“Small hiccup. It’s the first date, they’ll mosty remember the feelings, not necessarily how fancy the place was.” Mav shrugs it off. “It’s not like lightning strikes twice.

_______

Wednesday

“Bob.” Mav shakes the WSO by the shoulders, his grin wide at the excitement of hearing how your date went.

“Red had to cancel this time.” He sighs. “How do you not get this information from them?” He laughs at Mav’s disappointed look.

“Been helping Penny at the bar. Also afraid that if I ask too much I won’t get any of the good details.”

“The entire time Red’s been here she has never been trapped in a meeting!” Phoenix exclaims as she walks up to the pair.

“How did she get stuck in a meeting? She's the queen of leaving on time, no matter what.” Mav asks. Your philosophy is that you’ll work overtime during an audit, a huge deadline on a project and before major holidays, that’s it.

“Admiral’s putting her on the project we were all called in for.” Bob answers. Mav and Phoenix share a knowing look; you’d do anything to work with the group.

“Well, at least they’ll be on the same work schedule.” Mav smiles. “And Bradley didn’t come home last night…”

“And he wasn’t in the barracks.” Phoenix laughs. They are falling so hard for each other.

“They’re trying again tonight.” Bob smiles, showing the text from you.

“They act like their life depends on this date…” Phoenix shakes her head, letting out a small laugh.

“Think they just want the first date jitters to be over.” Mav smiles.

_______

Thursday

“If you feel like you can’t keep a clear head on this mission…”

“Admiral, I’ll be fine. If anything, it'll make me work harder.” You smile, gently thumbing through the files of classified information.

“Admiral Cain should be here on monday. You think you’ll be able to have notes for us by then?” He stops in front of his office door, his face neutral but you can see he needs everything to go as smoothly as possible.

“I’ll start my reading tonight.” Well… maybe tomorrow morning. Actually scratch that, tomorrow evening.

“Excellent. Meeting Friday after lunch, before we bring the rest of the team in.”

Tomorrow morning reading it is then. You give him a nod, which he returns and steps into his office. You quickly return to your desk, cleaning up the mess of papers you left earlier.

“Ready?” Bradley knocks on the wall next to your desk.

“Let me send this email and sign off…” You type as fast as your fat fingers will allow and quickly gather your things.

“Ok. Let’s cross our fingers we make it this time?” You  laugh, holding both sets of crossed fingers up and Bradley does the same. 

“Made the reservation for much later this time. We got this Red.” He reassures you, both of you breaking into a smile and taking each other’s hand as you quickly bolt to your cars. The drive seems faster than the last three days, whether that be from the speed you both drove or the lighter traffic… who knows.

“Ooo! I almost forgot.” You shout as both of you get out of your cars. You grab a box off the workbench and hand it to him. The butterflies in your stomach flutter as he carefully slides the lid off.

He smiles down at the garage remote nestled in the box with a note: Left side reserved for Captain America.

“I know we’ve just started dating, but considering we’ve been living at work I thought this would be easier for you to just park the Bronco in the garage. No need to worry about street cleaning or trash day.” You shrug. You don’t want it to feel like it’s a big deal, because it honestly feels totally normal, like when you gave Mav a house key.

“Wow...” He smiles at the remote, gently taking it out. He clicks the button and the garage door starts sliding shut. “No house key?” He shoots a grin at you.

“How about we go on a date first?” You wrap your arms around his middle, tilting your  face toward him.

“That’s fair.” He chuckles, pressing his lips to yours.

“Get dressed… very quickly.” You giggle as you pull away; he hums in agreement, keeping his arms firmly around you as you unlock the door to the house and shuffle the two of you inside. You run to your bedroom and Bradley runs to the guest room. You told him to just leave his stuff here since you weren’t sure when this date would actually happen. And since you both had to be at work at the same time this week, he might as well just stay here. Unfortunately you both have just ended up falling asleep on the couch instead of making it anywhere near a bed. Date, focus on the date first (Y/N). You shake off all the negative energy from the week and walk out into the living room.

“What do you think?” You twirl so he can see a 360 view. You’d had this dress sitting in your closet begging to be worn for something fancy (which you hardly ever did anything fancy), but it makes you feel perfect and judging by the way Bradley is looking at you, it was very much true.

“Babe you look-“ you both frown as his cell starts blaring. He glances down at it and sighs.

“Admiral.” He says curtly into the phone. He gives a few small nods before his eyes shift to you. “Yes sir. Right away.” He hangs up and walks over to you.

“Beautiful.” He finishes his original sentence, gently putting his hands on either side of your neck and pulling you into a kiss..

“You have to go to work?“ You mumble as your phone starts ringing and you quickly answer.

“Admiral.” You nod just the same as Bradley. When you hang up you give him a sad frown.

“Looks like we both get to go back to work, again.” You place your hands on his chest and sigh.

“Can I hitch a ride?” He chuckles, placing a kiss on your temple. “The Bronco looks too nice in its new spot to move it.”

“Ya. And we better change.” You grab him by the lapels of his jacket and press your lips to his for a few seconds before playfully pushing him off. 

“Wasn’t expecting your lipstick to taste so good Red.” He chuckles, his lips chasing after yours. 

“Get dressed Bradshaw.” You push him towards the guest room as you head back to yours.

______

“We’re late.” Your curse under your breath as you both walk through the door to find everyone there. Rooster can feel everyone’s eyes looking both of you up and down.

“Did we interrupt something?” Admiral Simpson asks, eyeing your hair and makeup.

“Yes, but-” you habitually say, instantly regretting it.

“No Sir.” Rooster says a little louder than you.

“No sir.” You correct, giving the admiral an apologetic nod; you and he have had a good back and forth banter, but sometimes you forget he’s your boss and an admiral .

“Sorry for the inconvenience. Wouldn’t call if it wasn’t important.” He says quietly to you.

“I know sir. Just frustrated with timing.” You nod, hoping he understands you’re ready to work.

“Everyone, this is Admiral Cain.” He gestures to the man Hangman was chatting with. All of you nod, and turn back to Simpson.

“The Admiral comes with an updated brief on our current mission. As you are all well aware, you have all been asked here because of your exceptional skills, both as individuals and as a team. Admiral Cain, we're glad you can finally join us in person and earlier than we expected.”

“Thank you Admiral Simpson.” He nods and everyone takes a seat. He begins his slide show, talking through each point on what naval intelligence has gathered.

Out of the corner of his eye Rooster sees Admiral Simpson hand you a packet. Your pen instantly starts moving as you furiously scribble notes. He looks up and catches Bob’s eye, both puzzled by the amount of scribbling you’re doing in a simple debrief.

“And that is our plan of attack. We have two months or less to prepare. We will assume less.” He nods.

The pilots all share a look, it was one thing when Maverick gave an impossible plan, but this seemed a bit out of reach, even by his standards.

“Miss (Y/L/N), thoughts?” Admiral Simpson asks.

“Permission to speak freely?” You ask Simpson, eyes shifting to Cain.

“Permission granted.” Simpson answers.

“It would be a good last resort plan.” You sigh, flipping through your packet, searching once more to see if you misunderstood something.

“It will complete the mission in the timeline we need it to.” Cain strongly states, irritation clear in his voice. Everyone can tell he’s wondering who the fuck you are to question him.

“Yes, I agree.” You state, Simpson opens his mouth to interject, but you shoot him a look. “The current plan puts the plane in a difficult position, banking on the fact that the pilots in this room won’t accidentally put the nose into the ground while inverted.” You hold your hand out for the presentation remote, which Cain begrudgingly gives you. You quickly flip back to the defense system layout, rolling the screen up so you can draw on the whiteboard behind it.

 “If there’s a S.A.M. here on this ridge, then they’ll probably be one here too.” Your marker squeaks in the silence as everyone closely pays attention. “That means your first plane will be easily struck down. And depending on how close and fast the second one is coming behind, it may result in losing the second one.” You turn to Cain waiting for his retort.

“Who are you exactly?” He asks, coming to stand a foot in front of you so he can peer down at you.

“This is Miss (Y/Full/N). She’s been working here as a flight risk analyst for a few months.” Admiral Simpson answers, giving you a silent warning about staying in line.

“Civilian. You think you know combat missions better than the people in this room?”

“No sir. That’s why my opinion has been asked for. I point out things most military personnel overlook.”

“Sometimes soldiers are lost in the line of duty; a concept you should get used to if you plan on continuing to work for the Navy.”

“Sending your soldiers into battle and expecting to lose half of them is not something I will ever be ok with.” You point the edge of your packet into his chest. “You and I, Admiral, we are the ones who die trying to get these soldiers to hit their target and come home.” 

After a moment of staring you dead in the eye he gives a small nod.

“Then what do you suggest?”

“Bring Maverick in. He’s done the impossible over and over. If that plane is going to be inverted for that long, it’s going to have to be a little farther off the ground.” You sigh, looking at the white board. “Like I said, this is a good last resort. But we’re the fucking United States Navy, we will do better.”

“Very well.” Cain concedes, giving you a look of understanding.

“We will reconvene tomorrow at 0900. Get some rest everyone.” Simpson announces, showing Cain out the door. When it clicks shut you can hear someone’s chair roll and spring up as they stand.

“Damn Red, didn’t know you had it in you.” Hangman applauds, gently squeezing you to his side.

“Only for you guys.” You sigh, letting all the tension flow out of your body as you squeeze him back. 

“Or maybe when the Navy keeps screwing with your plans.” He chuckles loud enough for only you to hear. You roll your eyes at him, a smile playing on your lips as you gently shove him away. Rooster walks over and they share a nod before Hangman walks out with everyone else.

“If we hurry we might be able to change and make it to the restaurant.” He whispers. The smile is quickly back on your face as he takes your hand and guides you back to the car.

_______

“Hi, ugh, reservation is under Bradshaw.” Bradley breaths out. His lungs are on fire, but anything to make this date happen, especially after the way you stood up to Admiral Cain.

“Oh, looks like your reservation was for an hour ago…” the hostess sighs. Bradley tries to convince her to let you in, explains that you both got called to work.

Your phone buzzes and you see Bob sent a few texts.

Have fun!! Not too much fun though 😉

You roll your eyes and text him back that it looks like another day will go by without the official first date.

“No worries, we understand.” Bradley tells the hostess, backing away from the counter.

“We’ll try again tomorrow.” You smile at him, lacing your fingers in his.

“I got to see you in that dress twice in one day.” He grumbles into your ear, kissing you on the cheek. Both your phones buzz, Bradley glances to see a text from Phoenix:

Meet us at the Hard Deck?

He turns to you as you turn to him.

“Hard Deck?” You ask in unison. You both laugh, making your way to the car.

_______

“Penny, can we ask you a favor?” Phoenix asks over the noise of the crowd.

“Sure. What’s up?” She looks between Phoenix and Bob.

“Rooster and Red’s date got postponed again. And the restaurant gave away their spot because they didn’t show.” Bob tells her.

“We were wondering if you could help us set up something for them right now?” Phoenix pleads.

“Now?” Penny gasps, shaking her head as she tries to figure out something.

“What about now?” Hangman squeezes between his friends, curious about what’s happening.

“Trying to do something nice.” Phoenix raises an eyebrow at him.

“Care to elaborate Bob?” Hangman’s eyes shift to him.

“Rooster and Red’s date has been canceled every day this week. We wanted to see if we could do something tonight.” He answers, ignoring Phoenix’s glare.

“Tell me what you need me to do.” He grins.

_______

“We can count this as a first date…” you suggest as Bradley opens your car door.

“If we’re going by that standard then it would be our second date.” He counters, throwing his arm around your shoulder, happy when yours wraps around his waist. “The bonfire would have been the first.”

“That means I could give you a key…” you tease. He wraps his other arm around you, giving you a squeeze as he gently shakes you around until you squeal for him to stop.

“Messed up my hair Bradshaw.” You fake pout.

“Good thing you look so beautiful all the time anyways.” He smiles back. The two of you step around the corner and Bob is waiting out front.

“Hey Bobby.” You smile.

“Sorry to hear about the restaurant.” He takes your free hand in his giving it a squeeze.

“No worries. Tomorrow’s a new day and another chance.”

“Well… maybe you don’t have to wait until tomorrow.” He smiles, gently dragging you to the side of the Hard Deck.

“Where’re we goin Bob?” Bradley chuckles. But Bob doesn’t elaborate, just leads you to a little blocked off section of the outside deck. He swings one of the room dividers out of the way to reveal a little table set for two. There’s some fairy lights strung from the dividers, creating a beautiful ambient glow.

“A table for two, at the best restaurant we know.” Bob gestures for the two of you to take a seat.

“How? When?” You giggle as Bradley helps you sit.

“When the Navy is sent on a mission, we make sure it gets done.” Phoenix answers, setting a basket of bread on the table.

“ And we can’t let the only love at first sight any of us have witnessed die down because of a little thing like a government mission.” Hangman adds, handing you both a glass of whiskey. You and Bradley look at each other and then back at your friends. How are we this lucky?

“Penny will be out with food in a minute, but we will make our exit.” Hangman grabs both Phoenix and Bob by the backs of their necks and leads them back into the bar.

“I know work has gotten in the way of everything this week…” Bradley shakes his head.

“But we also have to thank work for giving us the best friends we could hope for?” You finish.

“To family.” Bradley raises his glass.

“Both the ones related by blood, and the ones we choose.” You clink your glass to his. Penny comes out moments later with your usual order, shooting you a wink as she leaves. It may not have been the date Bradley had planned but you both quickly realized it was perfect. The stars will twinkling above, the waves of the ocean lapping at the shoreline and the bar unusually quiet for so late in the evening.

When you both were done Penny and Hangman shooed both of you away, telling you to not worry about a thing and go home. You both give them each a hug, waving to Bob and Phoenix who step outside as you walk back to your car.

“Think my car’s a bit easier to be romantic in.” Bradley chuckles, leaning across your center console to kiss you.

“I agree. Your seats are much more makeout friendly.” You mumble against his lips. Your mouths move lazily against each other until you can feel yourself falling asleep.

“Let’s get home before I knock out.” You whisper, giving him one last peck before starting the car and driving home.

When you open the garage door Bradley smiles at the sight of his bronco sitting in its new home. You both are quiet, trying to keep the dred of waking up early off as you enjoy the last bits of bliss.

“Goodnight baby.” Bradley mumbles as you stand in front of the guest bedroom.

“Goodnight.” You smile, wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him close. Your mouths collide, moving slowly at first; his hands slowly moving away from your waist until each has a handful of your ass. He hums in delight at how soft and squishy it is, he can only imagine what it would feel like without your dress in the way. He slides his tongue into your mouth as he presses you into the wall, hiking one of your legs up onto his hip.

“Bradley.” You halfheartedly push him away. You don’t want him to stop, but you’re dead tired and the stress of tomorrow is already creeping in the back of your mind.

“Bit carried away. We’ll save that for later.” He grins, pressing one more kiss to your mouth before unwrapping himself from you.

“Goodnight.” You whisper, a dazed smile on your lips.

“‘Night Red.” He winks, walking into the guest bedroom. He listens to you pad down the hall, waiting until he hears the shower start before he moves to do the same. He sadly washes the smell of your perfume off and gets ready for bed. As he sets his alarm a soft knock comes from the door. He opens it to see you leaning against the doorway with a sleepy smile.

“You know, I barely make my own bed; and my guest room has looked so nice and clean for only a few months…”

“I can assure you I can make a bed.” He scoffs playfully, leaning against the wall so your faces are close to each other.

“I don’t doubt it.” You gently take a handful of his shirt. “But we can’t cuddle if you’re here and I’m all the way down the hall...”

“And we can’t have that.” He smiles, letting you drag him into your room. You both jump into bed, checking that alarms are set for the morning before settling under the covers.

“Come ‘ere” he whispers, patting the space next to him. You lay your head on his chest, pushing your body flush against his side. You both lay in silence, the gentle whir of the ac mixes with the muffled sound of the ocean and you can’t help but think this is perfect. Dinner was perfect, Bradley is perfect and him next to you is perfect. You can feel his breathing even out, the arm around you falling to the bed. 

“We can’t let the only love at first sight any of us have witnessed…” Hangman’s words ring in your ears. Love at first sight. It’s right here that you decide to stop wondering why it’s happening to you and to just let it sweep you off your feet. 

“I love you Bradley.” You whisper to the dark. You love him. Simple in theory, and impossible to explain.

“I love you too (Y/N).” He whispers back. You sit up so you can look at his face, well try to look at his face anyways.

“You don’t have- I don’t want to freak you out.” You can feel the panic start to rise in your chest.

“I’m not, I promise.” His hand gently cups your cheek, bringing your face to his as he sits up to meet you halfway. It’s a gentle kiss, warm and fuzzy and full of love.

______

One alarm blaring is bad enough, but two scares the daylights out of you.

“Take it easy baby.” Bradley chuckles as he quickly taps his off.

“Why is yours so loud?” You playfully whine as you shut yours off.

“Sometimes I’m dead asleep so i don't hear it. But I set it early, so we don't have to get up quite yet.” He pulls you to his chest, pressing himself flush against you.

“Dreaming about me last night.” You tease, wiggling your ass against his morning wood.

“Been dreaming about you since that night at the bar.” He mumbles into your neck, placing a string kisses down it as his hand slides under your shirt to play with your boob. He gently kneads it, pinching your nipple until it’s hardened.

“Well, that’s flattering Lieutenant.” You giggle.

“You tellin me if I reach into your underwear right now, you’re not dripping for me?” His fingers softly brush against your side, palm settling against your hip, scrunching your shorts higher and higher until his fingers reach the hem of your underwear.

“Bradley, please.” You whisper, hooking one leg over his so you’re spread open for him. His hand moves your underwear aside, cupping your mound, gently teasing the curls before running one finger through your folds.

“Fuck…” he breathes out, hips automatically bucking into your ass. His fingers start gently rubbing your bud, trying a few different things.

“Like this.” You take his hand and guide his finger around just the way you like it. Your back arches in anticipation, fingers reaching for his hair. He gently rocks against your ass, loving the way you're wrapped around him.

“Faster.” You whisper. He’s not sure if you mean his fingers or his hips so he does both, which by the moan that pushes past your lips he knows was correct. 

Your body jolts as your orgasm hits, the warmth spreading through you like hot tea on a cold winter's day. He slows his hand as he feels you relax. “Bradley…” you croak. 

“Mmhmm?” He hums against your shoulder.

“You gotta finish too.” You smile, grinding into him.

“No, I’ll be fine.” He whispers. You can tell he’s practically willing his body not to push himself over the edge, but you won’t stand for it.

“Bradley, if you don’t cum like this, I’m going to turn around and stick my hand in your pants.” You feel his smile against your shoulder but he doesn’t say anything. You roll your eyes, unhooking your leg and trapping his hand between your thighs as you flip to face him. “Or is that what you want? To cum in my hand.” You tease. He gives a nervous chuckle as your hand slides down his toned stomach to his very pronounced erection.

“What was your dream?” You whisper into the shell of his ear, your hand slowly working up and down his length. “I want to know.” You hum, kissing his neck. 

“Thought about what it would feel like to be inside y-you.” He groans as your hand picks up speed. “How pretty you’d be when I make you-“ his hips jerk into your hand and you feel the stickiness of his cum cover your palm. “-cum.” He sighs, pressing his mouth to yours. You hear his second alarm go off and unattach your lips.

“Maybe we can find out later?” You smile. He eagerly nods as the two of you get out of bed to get ready for work.

_______

Tag list:

@dilfsandtherapy

@kajjaka

@scott-mccall-could-lift-mjolnir

[flightless-rising]

Made a new Flight Rising iceberg and also wrote an explanation.. man, this took way longer than it should have.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy :D

Iceberg explanation

( If there are any mistakes please let me know and I’ll edit this asap. Also, English isn't my first language so please forgive me for any grammatical errors)

EDIT 28/06: Added some new info! Thanks to everyone who tagged and responded with new stuff to add, I really appreciate it!

The Sky

Naomi

Back in the day, whenever you bought or sold something on the auction house a message would show up in your inbox confirming the transaction. These messages were sent by one of the dragon couriers: Pearl, Spitfire or Edgar.

On January 2016, a strange glitch occurred that replaced the images and names of couriers with the ones of a female fae named “Naomi”.

It goes deeper than that, though: if you looked up her name in the user search menu, a clan would pop up with over 15 million dragons.

It was quickly discovered that all exalted dragons had somehow become part of her clan. Naomi herself apparently didn’t exist, and clicking on her page redirected to an error page. This was later fixed and the original Naomi page can be now visited.

What exactly caused this glitch is still a mystery and today Naomi is still a well-known piece of Flight Rising history.

Missing Tidelord

In the official lore, the deity of the water flight disappeared in early 2018, as described in the short story “Hear Today, Gone Tomorrow”.

In the follow up story (Mixed Elements) posted in April of the next year it is confirmed that the Tidelord is still missing, but alive. This coincides with the fact that the Tidelord account hasn’t made any forum posts aside from festival announcements.

Emperors

Emperors are a type of unobtainable dragon that are formed when several Imperial corpses are left in close proximity to each other, which then fuse forming a multi-headed chimera.

Emperors are described in the lore as having an animal-like behavior and destroying everything in sight. They are extremely difficult to kill, which is the reason why in-universe Imperials have such strange burial rites.

An emperor named Luminax is first described in the Raising a Family short story, and their sprite can be seen walking around on the world map.

The Surface

Old color wheel

Originally, there were only 67 available colors for dragons. On June 8th 2016, 110 more colors were added, meaning that currently there are a total of 177 colors available.

When making a custom progenitor dragon, it is only possible to choose among the 67 original colors because it would be otherwise unfair for those who made their account before the new colors were added.

Imperial breed scrolls

Imperial breed change scrolls are one of, if not the most, rare type of item on the site. They were given only to those who pledged 30 dollars or more on the original Flight Rising kickstarter.

At the time, this was the only way of obtaining an Imperial dragon, which meant that the breed as a whole was pretty valuable. Now that Imperials are abundant this is no longer the case, but First generation Imperials are still extremely sought and probably the most expensive type of dragon on the site.

There were also other items that were only given to Kickstarted backers, namely Skycats, Bonefiend, Golden Idol and Cogfrog familiars, and those are also pretty much impossible to obtain.

Baldwin breed change

When Baldwin was introduced in 2015 he was originally a Pearlcatcher. On September 14th of 2016 however his site art started to gradually change, until his transformation was completed five days later.

In-universe, Baldwin started to change after a lightning strike hit his cauldron during an experiment, which made him slowly mutate into the breed we now know as Bogsneaks.

Trans Fiona

When Fiona was added as a trading post dragon people speculated that she was trans, because the female pose for Skydancers only displays two antennae, while the male one has four.

Since Fiona has four antennae in her site art, many wondered whether it was an oversight or actually intended. Aequorin later confirmed in a forum thread that Fiona is indeed trans.

Boolean

Speaking of rare items, the Boolean familiar was only given to a handful of Flight rising beta testers and as such is extremely rare and valuable.

Plaguebringer coli team

On the Plaguebringer’s page she is listed as being part of a coliseum team.

As of now we have no clue as to why this is, and even more strangely she is the only deity that does this.

Boston & Hope

This story is a bit complicated. I’ve scoured the forums in search of info but it seems like there are still some pieces missing. I’ll try my best to explain anyway.

So, for a long while the Lightweaver was the only deity that had other dragons aside from herself in her lair: these dragons were a Spiral named Boston and a Tundra named Hope. Strangely, they were both Earth dragons and apparently have been there since the beginning (?). When asked why (this happened back when deities would interact on the forums) the Lightweaver responded that they were having a dinner party together.

In August 2014 during a pretty heated dominance battle between Shadow and Light Boston and Hope disappeared from the Lightweaver’s lair.

The Shadowbinder now had them, and both their elements were alsochanged to Shadow. The two deities acknowledged this and changed their broadcast messages accordingly.

If I had to guess this was some kind of inside joke that the admins had, although some people got angry that the Shadowbinder now had both Hope and Boston. Some time later(?) Boston was returned to the Lightweaver and for some reason his element was changed to wind.

I don’t have any more info on the matter but if some of you do I would appreciate it if you tell me.

Shallow Waters

Eyepocalypse

On June 8th 2018 eye type variants were introduced. This update was pretty controversial for a bunch of reasons, and the topic is still discussed today. The majority of people(?) seemed to be upset by the fact the “best” eye types (primarily goat, primal and multi-gaze) could only be displayed on dragons that were born with them, and the fact that every dragon born prior to the update couldn’t have these eye types at all displeased a lot of users.

Another problem was the fact that most of the non-special eye types (i.e the only ones that could be applied to already existing dragons using a vial of Scattersight) were not clearly visible on the grand majority of adult dragons.

A smaller(?) complaint was that two of the primal eye types, Shadow and Plague, were seen as kind of disturbing by some people.

Three years later staff attempted to fix this issue by adding Eye type vials for every available eye type. This resulted in a market crash for special eye typed dragons, as now these eye types could be applied to any dragon. The value of Scattersights also tanked, and the people bought them and hadn’t used them yet lost money as now they were infinitely less useful.

EDIT 28/06: Goat isn’t actually obtainable via breeding, faceted is. Bad mistake on my part.

Also, Scattersights were given away freely by Galore on Flight Rising’s fifth anniversary in 2018 and could not be bought afterwards. I admit that I thought people could be able to buy Scattersights due to how upset people were that the value went down, but whatever.

Courier Breed

The courier dragons (Edgar, Spitfire, and Pearl) are part of an exclusive dragon breed that is currently unobtainable. Even though their eye color still reflects the flight they were born in, in-universe they are considered to be “neutral” and they are granted free access to all domains. This raises the question as to which deity created them, as every other dragon breed (Bogsneaks being the only exception) has been created by one of The Eleven.

Multiaccounting

According to the site’s terms of service, no one is allowed to have more than one account. This is pretty standard for pet sites, as having multiple accounts grants unfair advantages and can mess up the site economy. This doesn’t completely stop people for having more than one account, and the practice as a whole is called “Multiaccounting” or “having multis”.

Some people only do this to have multiple clans or reboot their account without deleting their old one. They mostly do no harm but it is reasonable that the site wouldn’t allow this because of how easy it is exploit.

The real harm of multis comes from a practice called “funneling” which is when someone creates multiple accounts only for the purpose of giving items to their main account. This practice violates the game’s rules and can result in a ban. Funneling is not limited to multiaccounting though, and having an account only to feed another is against the site’s rules whether or not the account in question belongs to another person or not.

Some people fear of being banned for multiaccounting even if they haven’t done so, especially if they share a computer with other people.

Purble

“he purble” is probably among the most famous Flight Rising memes.

In 2016(?) a rant was submitted to the original Dramarising blog by a very angry user that wanted to buy an XXX Purple Ridgeback back when triples were pretty expensive, but got beat by someone else.

I’m not going to copy paste it here because in my opinion it’s one of the funniest Flight Rising related posts ever and I don’t want to spoil the experience of reading it for the first time. You can find it pretty easily by searching it up.

Tert Picking

This is something that refaced recently, even though I’ve seen people talking about this for a while. Some people vividly remember being able to pick their custom progenitor’s tertiary color, even though the developers have made it clear that such thing would be impossible. This is without a doubt just one of those weird situations where a lot of people somehow remember the same thing wrong.

Still, it’s fascinating just how many people claim to remember doing picking their tert.

Swiftwings

Swiftwings were a dragon breed that was scrapped in development. The design was rejected because it didn’t fit the 2 arms 2 legs 2 wings format that every dragon design had to follow before the introduction of ancient breeds.

The reason for this rule is that otherwise it would mess up apparel placement. Although the concept was scrapped, echoes of the design were scattered throughout the site: for example, the empty dragon slots that were present prior to 2019 had the silhouette of a Swiftwings dragon. They are also mentioned in the April Fool’s update of 2018.

“Real” Lore dragons

Most people don’t know that some of the dragons featured on the lore stories are actually real, and you can visit their pages. This is the case for Tetra, Cracklinne, Velya, Liefa, Garote and Mirth, which are currently chilling in Aequorin’s lair.

All of the other dragons in the developers’ lairs are not canon and are used to test bugs and features on the site.

The Middle ground

True deity names

When the site first started the deities used to have actual names instead of titles. Some of these names were based off of the site founders’s usernames on other sites.

The names are the following:

Amogayvhi - Gladekeeper Xhaztol - Arcanist Rhenik - Tidelord Akiri - Flamecaller Thrage - Stormcatcher Undel - Shadowbinder Jhortanas - Plaguebringer Ghurab - Windsinger Artaios - Earthshaker Rhiow – Lightweaver

As you can tell, Xhaztol, Akiri, Thrage and Undel are the usernames of some of the admins of the site, and the flight they are a part of corresponds with the previous name of their deity.

No leg coatls

On January 16, 2015 an iconic thread was posted in the flight rising discussion forum, which displayed a photoshopped image of a coatl with its legs removed. Quickly the thread devolved into a general photoshop thread were people took official site art of dragons and modified it.

The thread was eventually locked due to spam and quote pyramids, but spiritual successors of the original “phoatlshop” thread still exist today.

Dress slot unlocking

A thing that a surprising amount of people don’t know is the fact that when buy an additional apparel slot, the slot opens for every dragon in your lair and not just the one you bought it on.

This is something I also discovered very recently and it’s kind of funny that so many people that have been on the site for very long don’t know this.

Clanbound scatterscrolls

I think the wiki explains it best, so I’ll just copy paste this here:

“Tri-Color Scatterscrolls suffered from an issue where they would only scatter a random range from colors 1-47 (white through sunshine) rather than 1-67 (white through rose). They have been fixed and are now functioning correctly with a random range within the 67 color set. The affected timeframe was from August 15th, 2013 until September 22nd, 2013. The admins allowed users who were unsatisfied with their bugged Tri-Color Scatterscrolls to receive the same amount of them back in the form of Clanbound Scatterscrolls to try scattering their own dragons again with the full color range.”

Beta Mirrors

Ever wondered why they’re called Mirrors?

According to Undel, the main artist of Flight Rising, mirrors originally were supposed to have every part of their body “mirrored”, meaning they had two sets of eyes, two pairs of wings, two tails, and so on.

This design ended up being too cluttered and looked weird shrunken down. The name was kept the same, even though the only mirrored part of the design are the eyes.

Dragons are evil

If you read the “Beastclans on the rise” lore bit, the dragons come across as… very evil, stealing territory from the beastclans when they have been living on Sornieth way longer than the dragons have and killing them for loot.

Furthermore, in the Bounty of the Elements lore bit the Beastclan rebellion guided by Talona is seen by the dragons as unreasonable and wrong even when in canon Beastclans are framed as the innocent party.

The Depths

Scroll of Divorce

In the alpha stage dragons were supposed to be monogamous and could only breed with the dragon they were “paired” with. To break their bond you had to use an item called “Scroll of Divorce” which even featured broken marriage rings in the art.

If I had to guess, this item and the concept as a whole were scrapped because the idea of dragons having “weddings” and needing to divorce before breeding with another dragon felt kind of weird, especially in a game targeted towards teens.

First Festival

The first Holiday festival in Flight rising history was the 2013 Brightshine Jubilee. The items that were available for this festival only are incredibly rare, particularily the Light Sprite which is one of the most valuable items on the site. Apart from that and the fact that the skincent contest only had 6 winners, not much is notable about it.

Offsite drama

Flight Rising has had its fair share of drama both on and off site, but due to the fact that it’s against the site’s rule to discuss user drama on the forums most of the notable drama happened off site (mainly tumblr).

Egg rot

Egg rot was a very early mechanic that was pretty quickly removed from the site. If you forgot to incubate your eggs, they would “rot” and no longer hatch.

It’s the reason why in the nesting grounds the text reads “Eggs healthy” and also the reason why on the stats section of the Account settings it says “Eggs discarded”. The mechanic was removed because it heavily punished casual players and the frequent downtimes of the site meant that even if someone logged in every day they could still have their eggs die.

Also, the images of egg rot look extremely cursed.

Pablo

From what I could gather, Pablo is a dragon which became somewhat popular after user “Desmondtiny” wrote a very long and detailed backstory of them being the Arcanist’s lost boyfriend.

I’m pretty sure it gues deeper than that but I couldn’t find any further information. As usual, if you know something more let me know.

Latest News

On November 12, 2014, a glitch(?) occurred that let anyone post in the Announcements thread. Anything that was posted went directly to the front page, which resulted in quite a bit of chaos.

This was fixed only half an hour later, but the screenshots people have from that time are extremely funny.

Lameforger

On the 2014 Flameforger’s festival announcement Undel accidentally misspelled “Flameforger” as “Lameforger”, which prompted the official account of the Flamecaller to respond aggressively. Lameforger is still jokingly used by users, even after the typo was fixed.

Festival of one (1)

On the first day of the 2014 Greenskeeper Gathering a glitch occurred which switched the site banner for the Starfall celebration banner instead of the Greenskeeper one.

It didn’t end there, in the coliseum Magical shards dropped instead of Bladed Flatleaves, even though skin chests dropped as normal(?).

The weirdest thing about it all was Joxar’s Space inventory, which didn’t display any items at all and had glitched dialogue.

The event was nicknamed by the fanbase “Festival of 1” and even the deity’s official accounts acknowledged the incident.

Vape Juice

As far as I know the original forum thread as been lost, but the vape juice fiasco will always remain cemented in Flight Rising History.

A company called Vape Daugz was making vape juice with Flight Rising dragons plastered on their packaging, completely violating the site’s policy.

The company’s site still exists, and browsing through their products I found that the products that previously had Flight Rising dragons on them still exist, but now feature completely different packaging.

I have no idea whether they changed the packaging spontaneously or staff did something about it.

I think there’s a potentially interesting story buried down there, but we’ll likely never the truth behind the Flight Rising vape juice.

The Abyss

Humans

There’s been some speculation over the years as to whether or not humans are canon in the Flight Rising universe. Some people believe that the “Mages” of the second age in the official lore are actually humans, but we can’t be sure because they are depicted with long robes that cover their whole bodies.

The idea of humans existing in canon has spawned a couple of memes, most infamously Thomas.

Plague healers

Again, I think the wiki explains this one better:

“According to Aequorin, Plague healers are an interesting bunch because rather than administer treatments that counter illness, they use a mixture of magic and contagion that stress the affected dragon further, allowing them to reach a stronger, healed, and resistant state faster than other elements. Plague healers will treat physical injuries with sutures, bandages, and braces, but they won't clean the wounds or apply ointments."

Akitla

As described in the original thread, Akitla was a dragon that user “qunii” saw on the front page, but noticed that she wasn’t accompanied by the username of the person owning them.

After clicking on her, an error page loaded. It was discovered that putting her color combination or ID in the search bar would result in an error page. This was later fixed, and both Akitla and her mate were now displayed as being exalted to the Arcanist. T

here are some theories as to what happened to the Akitla’s user, some think that she belonged to a deleted account, others that it was the result of an incomplete account creation.

As with a lot of things on this iceberg, it will likely remain a mystery forever.

Arcane sprite book

“what is the arcane sprite reading??” is probably one of the oldest still active threads on the forums.

On September 25, 2013 user “Kaadashi” started a joke thread were they wondered what exactly is the arcane sprite reading, and playfully suggested that it could be erotic fanfiction. People went crazy of course, and started to wonder what kind of juicy secrets were hidden within the pages of that book.

I don’t want to say too much because I really don’t want to spoil the experience of reading through this very cursed tread.

Sunshine

Sunshine is one of the most… interesting lairs on the site, and certainly one of the most well-known.

They(?) have a lair (almost) completely full of triple basic sunshine dragons, most of which are Tundras. So far they have collected about 320 triple hundred Sunshine dragons, almost all of which are also named “Sunshine”. They’re not all the same, some of them have apparel, some of them are gened and some have unique art and descriptions.

They’re dedicated and I respect that.

EDIT 28/06: Apparently some people seem to think that the sunshine-dedicated lair is based on a meme concerning the announcement of the color wheel expansion, which became so discussed that the itself site broke. The two things are unrelated however, as the Sunshine lair has been around for much longer.

The announcement of the color wheel expansion was cryptic, with only a few post showing off differently colored coatls and then 3 pages of reserved posts, with no explanation whatsoever.

Simple Farmer

Another very famous thread is the “I am but a simple farmer” thread started by user “someKindOfGenius”. It’s not really about anything specific, it’s just a rather silly thread were people photoshop flight rising dragons onto various crops.

Still, this thread is iconic so I had to include it.

Dragon Deaths

Way back in 2014 former flight rising programmer Thrage revealed on a forum thread that way back before the beta, dragons could actually starve to death if left unfed.

Yep.

Obviously they had to remove this mechanic because it would have been extremely harsh to casual players and make people frustrated with the game.

Zalvador

User “manojalpa” became fairly well-known for the extremely dark lore they(?) had written for their Clan, it was so dark in fact that every single one of their dragon’s bios had to moved to their tumblr where they couldn’t be easily seen by the site’s mainly underage usebase.

Their lore centered around their progen dragon, a tundra named Zalvador, which behaved and had the same powers as a flight rising user: buying dragons off of the action house, having “breeding projects”, exalting dragons, etc.

These things seem pretty normal when done by a player, but when taking them as actual real things that happen in universe… yeah, it was way too morbid for the site.

The Pit

Black linen neck wraps

For some weird reason, the apparel piece “Black linen neck wrap” when put on a male pose Coatl wraps around the dragon’s throat instead of it’s neck. It’s kind of subtle and hard to see, but if you compare it with the female pose the difference is clear. This is probably just an art error, although it’s weird that it hasn’t been fixed yet, since linen wraps are a very old piece of apparel.

Another weird thing about linen wraps in general is that the wing wraps just sort of… go through the membrane? This is not possible. These dragons are in pain.

Icewarden ears

Another very remarkably popular thread is the Icewarden ears thread.

In 2014 user “Llanai” simply makes note of the fact that the Icewarden has teeny tiny ears.

As we have come to expect from these threads, it quickly devolved into nonsense.

Forbidden Snapper lore

Snappers used to have a way different lore section that was changed because it deemed too similar to the lore of another petsite.

This is what the original section read:

"Snapper dragons do not sleep, but exist in a constant state of reverie. They receive and catalogue all experiences and stories told within their dreams. This persistent state of awakened dreaming awards them the longest memory of any dragon species. They are living encyclopedias, and any dragon who is seeking difficult-to-obtain information will have the most luck unearthing it from a Snapper clan - provided they have the patience for it. If you want two dozen quick answers, talk to a spiral. If you want a fully developed answer, camp out around a Snapper. These dreamers move at their own pace, which varies from dragon to dragon. For some, the awakened dream can prove to be more interesting than their surroundings. This leads to a focus upon the dream, and the waking world as filtered background noise. Interacting with these sleepwalkers can be a trying and repetitive task. Other Snappers may be fairly lucid, with a focus upon their surroundings and the constant hum of the dream pushed aside."

Bee movie script

I’ve seen this story around the forums a few times but I’ve never been able to learn the details.

From what I’ve heard someone copy pasted the entire bee movie script into their clan bio in a drop down text format, which completely broke the page for anyone who visited it. This was fixed, apparently, although I have no clue as to who this user is.

EDIT 28/06: Zeus

Zeus is an XXX gold g1 permababy imperial that used to belong to user "happywing".

Their account is now locked because Zeus was created with the use of a duplication glitch on an imperial breed change scroll, which is obviously not allowed (although I've heard some people say that the dragon was hacked in altogether). Before the account was locked, people speculated that Zeus was the most valuable dragon on the site, because an XXX g1 imperial is impossibly rare.

Wegg shaming

On July 2017 user “Dreamnorn” made a thread were they(?) claimed to have a dream where everything was the same except people used the term “wegged” when two dragons would lay only one egg in a nest.

Ex. Aw man! I’ve been wegged again! = Aw man! I bred two dragons and they only had one egg!

The dream ended up being prophetic, as the term catched on and people started to use it unironically.

The practice of “Wegg shaming” I think refers to the trend of people posting pictures of the dragons that “wegged” them in order to “shame” them.

Plague nest skull

The site art of the plague nest features an unique dragon skull that doesn’t match with any currently existing dragon breed or creature: It appears to have two sets of eyes, like a mirror, but also long and curled horns.

It’s probably just for decoration and it likely doesn’t have any significance whatsoever, but personally I believe it would be pretty cool if when they eventually release plague ancient it at least somewhat resembled this skull.

EDIT 28/06: On second thought, the skull doesn’t seem to have two pairs of eyes, It just has the generic shape of a carnivore.

Rock bottom

CAPTAINPLANET

…this is CAPTAINPLANET. Somehow, user “Decres”' managed to overlay a Fae skin on top of a Tundra, creating this horrifyingly fascinating abomination.

I have no idea how she did this, and she seems pretty adamant to tell.

EDIT 28/06: People have pointed out that this skin overlay glitch was actually somewhat common (although I still haven't found another dragon like CAPTAINPLANET). What you had to do was breed change a dragon while attaching a skin to them in another tab.

This glitch has been patched and such thing is no longer possible.

Lair 46264

A cursed lair.

Dreams

I’ve seen a lot of people, both on forums and on Tumblr, sharing dreams they had about Flight Rising.

A lot of people dream of just being on the site, while occasionally weird things happen.

I’ve read of people who dreamed the distribution of a new breed, buying an exclusive item, a new Fiona feat or Swipp trade, or just browsing the forums.

The most common type of Flight rising-associated dream I’ve seen however is being caught multiaccounting and having their account banned.

I’m no psychoanalyst, but I think it’s pretty clear that these nightmares stem from the paranoia of being banned from their beloved petsite instead of showing any actual intention of doing the “crime” in question.

Anyways, I think it’s fascinating how so many people dream about this site, and it reminds me of the dreams people claimed to have about Mario 64 where completely new levels were added or a scary monster appeared.

Dragon Slime

Dragon Slime was an infamous thread which was supposed to be start off point for an ARG.

It was deleted because it was considered too “spammy” and also because ARGs are banned from the forums. The thread has been lost, unfortunately.

EDIT 28/06: Thanks to @randompurple-fr for providing screenshots of the dragon slime tutorial! You can find them here

Cucumber

Cucumber is the only dragon ever to have been exalted with a skin, which is something that should not be possible. This raises some questions as to what exactly did the person that exalted them do to achieve this, but we have no way of knowing who Cucumber belonged to.

EDIT 28/06: Actually, we do know who used to Cucumber belonged to! Its owner was Osiem: an official flight rising artist. I couldn’t find the thread where they(?) acknowledged the glitch though, if someone has it please let me know!

[txemrn]

The Missionary's Daughter

Ch. 1: "Meant to Live"

Need to catch up? Prologue: "It's Over"

Chapter Song Inspo: "Meant to Live" by Switchfoot

Series Song Inspo: "Changed by You" by Between the Trees

Pairings: Drake Walker x OC (Margot Hughes); Liam Rys x Riley Brooks

Series Warning: 🛑 for mature audiences only (🔞); series contains angst, language, NSFW🍋 material; trigger warning: heavy discussion/depiction of drug and alcohol abuse, suicide, religion, mental health; please be advised and exercise discretion

A/N: When I say that this took a village, it would be the understatement of the century! Huuuuuuuuge thank you to all of my amazing sweet writing sisters that encouraged me and helped me pull this together, but especially to @charlotteg234 for brainstorming and mapping this out with me, @kat-tia801 for doing the same, but then having to deal with me incessantly asking, "Does this sound right?" and @chemist-ana FOR GIFITNG ME MY FREAKING AMAZING MOODBOARD! It's SO beautiful, and it literally puts me in the mood to write about my Druggy Drake and Margot! Thank you so, so much, friend! Most of the characters and some of the plot belong to our friends at Pixelberry.

A palpable crackle ignites the sterile air of the staff locker room. To say she was ‘nervous’ is a painfully severe understatement to the jitters that spark from her fingertips. But, rather than dance chaotically like cut wires on pavement, she is lightning, mesmerizing, lighting up the sky with excitement and power.

***

Dressing for another Monday morning at her weekly volunteer job at the prestigious Cordonia Family OB/GYN, Margot Hughes swiftly shimmies a monogrammed ceil blue scrub top down her curves. Pulling her brilliant strands of autumn harvest into a high bun, she slips on her work clogs while nudging her locker closed with her knee.

Before leaving the changing area, she catches her visage in the mirror, the unflattering fluorescent lights casting more shadows onto her worried features. She can feel the rumble of her rapid heartbeat echoing in her ears; her chest constricts tightly as her breathing becomes shallow. Her eyes begin to sting with fear as the whites burn red, threatening with a glaze of tears.

Today is the day her entire life will change; everything she has ever wanted, everything that she has ever worked for will suddenly determine the course of her future in a single moment. Seeing the all-too-familiar terror in her eyes, Margot flutters her eyelids shut. Her fingers nervously trace along a simple chain around her neck until they finally grasp tightly to a dainty sterling silver charm: a cross.

“Take my anxieties, Lord,” she whispers with prayerful conviction, her sparkling blue eyes gracefully opening to look at her necklace. She exhales deeply. “Your will be done.” Margot stares at her reflection for a few more moments, focusing on her breathing to calm her restless heart. “You are strong, Margot. You've got this,” she affirms herself in a hushed tone, a bright smile breaking across her face. “This is your day--" suddenly overwhelmed with peace, a joyous smile paints across her face. Chuckling to herself, she glances upwards: “I'm counting on You.” Taking a deep cleansing breath, she eagerly exits the stillness of her thoughts, and joins the bustle of the morning's clinic appointments. Today is her day.

***

Halos of blurred auras bleach his vision as Drake cautiously opens one blood-shot eye. His tongue sticks to the roof of his roughly parched mouth as he massages his pained forehead. Clueless of what day it is--much less what he did last night--he is greeted with a sudden glorious sensation: a supple wet mouth on his hardened morning length.

His body relaxes back onto the dampened, disheveled sheets of his bed; he releases a pleasurable exhale as he blindly reaches for the head behind the lips. He strains to focus his view, but can only make out a foggy shape of a nude woman with long, tousled brunette waves.

It’s her. His love.

Drake smiles; delicately tangling his grip in her strands, he admires how even the afternoon sun catches her beauty perfectly. He quietly smacks his lips. He can still smell her on his stubble; he can still taste her on his tongue.

Had she told Liam? Were they celebrating that they could finally be together?

As she takes in the head of his girth, he arches his back, relaxing his body into her hungry touch. Closing his eyes, he offers a guttural groan deep in his chest as she swirls her tongue around his firm thickness.

“God, you’re incredible, Riley--”

---

Pulling out a pen, Margot reaches across the counter to grab a patient’s clipboard--that is until Iris, the front desk manager grips her long, manicured nails to the other side of the particle wood. “Miss Mary-Margaret,” she leans in conspiratorially, lowering her voice, “do we know anything yet?” Margot chuckles, shaking her head. “Child, you better come find me the moment you know!”

“Only if you promise to start calling me ‘Margot’” the young blonde jests, opening her client’s chart.

“How about I start calling you what we’ll all be calling you in just a few short years: ‘doctor’?” Rosy pink swirls splash across Margot’s face, warming her cheeks to the touch. She bows her head coyly at the mention of her dream becoming a reality. The thought that she will soon find out if a medical career is in her future makes the twenty-one-year-old’s heart leap with unbridled excitement.

For as long as she can remember, Margot has had a strong desire to serve and help other people. Much of that selfless attitude was instilled into her heart by her own parents. They were called to be Christian missionaries when Margot was only eight years old. After much planning, church fund-raising, and prayer, Roy and Mary Hughes left their comfortable home of Lafayette, Louisiana, and settled in the small Mediterranean country of Cordonia.

Many of their friends and family were shocked that the church would send them to such a beautiful area of the world. Typically missionaries humble themselves to serve the needy, the homeless, the lonely and the sick. They sacrifice the luxuries of home for the sake of loving humanity. They help people in war-torn countries, third-world countries, countries that don’t have electricity or running water. But, this country?

Cordonia itself is a lavish nation, rich in heritage and traditions. And funds. Thanks to the ideal weather conditions, the fruitful soil produces bountiful harvests and exquisite supplies for fine textiles that remain in high demand throughout the world. The Cordonian government, a monarchy, discovered a new opportunity to expand their wealth in the late 19th century: costly tariffs to international investors. Within the first ten years of increasing the taxes on exports, the national treasury was not only in the black, but their funds had exponentially increased every year. Farms were flourishing as the working class became larger, stronger.

But, the treasury began to dwindle quickly due to the extravagant demands of the royals. For the first time in the country's history, commoners were wealthier than some of the nobility. Disdain from the upper class quickly ensued until finally, in the early 20th century under the rule of William I, a new tax law was implemented to all of Cordonia: anyone involved with international exchange would have to pay into the treasury to handle such business.

Unfortunately, there were no limitations to this new tax law, and many farms floundered, property ownership being seized by the government. Families were uprooted; jobs were lost, and worse, assets were sold for even more money, filling the pockets of the greedy leaders. The people that once had a plethora of goods at their fingertips were now starving and unsheltered. And vengeful. The Cordonians were outraged by the gouging, many of them forming violent riots, banding together with outside influencers in hopes of overthrowing the government.

On the cusp of a civil war, King William I decided to rezone the country, providing a place for the displaced working class to claim safety and sanctuary, a place that would offer shelter, education, and more affordable options for goods. To appease the people even more, he named the project ‘the Core,’ paying homage to their greatest export, the Cordonian Ruby. It was also a way for him to forever express his gratitude for such a fruitful nation: they were the core reason the nation was thriving so richly.

Like many government-assisted programs, it didn’t take long for the cracks to show in the infrastructure. And with funding cuts over the years, the Core began to crumble, striking a sharp contrast from the rest of Cordonia. The Core, now often referred to as ‘the slums’, have become a breeding ground for crime, drugs, and prostitution. It is the blemish of Cordonia, its existence often not acknowledged amongst the elite.

But, according to the Hughes, ‘God saw the need’. They were sent to serve in the slums of Cordonia, starting up several free programs, including a nightly soup kitchen, afterschool programs to keep children out of trouble, and trade classes to help adults out of poverty. The people accepted the help and adapted quickly to the missionaries; but even more importantly, they embraced these Americans as their own, many of them forming important and lasting relationships with the Hughes.

But, still there was something missing, something that burdened the missionary’s oldest daughter: healthcare. Having good health and access to a doctor is still treated as a privilege in Cordonia, and time and time again, the curable were disabled or buried. A change needed to take place. And Margot, although unsure of how, knew she would devote her life in making it happen for the Cordonian people.

As she makes a few notes on her clipboard, an olive-complected arm stealthily reaches around Margot, gracefully grazing her sun-kissed skin before gently placing a cup of piping hot black coffee in front of her. Staring at the hand, she instantly knows who it is. And she titters, playfully rolling her eyes. “Tadd! Another coffee?” She grabs the coffee, twirling on the ball of her foot to face the clinic’s young ultrasound technician. "My tab must be over a hundred euros by now!"

"Oh, don't you worry about that," he chuckles, rocking on his feet. “Plus, I figured with your new gig at Bríki--” he jovially shrugs his shoulders.

“You figured what?” Margot playfully punches his shoulder. “That I could sneak you free coffee?” She gives a mischievous smile, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t think Mr. Pavlis would appreciate me offering free drinks, especially since I haven’t even started yet--”

“That’s right!” Tadd eyes widen. “Today’s the day--!”

“As if I didn’t already have enough to be nervous about today,” Margot’s voice becomes shaky, as she clenches her teeth in a forced smile.

“Hey,” Tadd’s voice turns into an endearing whisper. He shifts his head until his piercing jade eyes meet Margot’s baby blues. “You have nothing to worry about. We both know you did well on that American doctor test--"

"The MCAT," Margot stifles a laugh, rolling her eyes into an appreciative grin.

"Whatever," a crooked smile grows across Tadd's handsome features. "And as far as the coffee shop, you're a fast learner. And a hard worker. Plus, if they see what we all see in you--" he sighs, his gaze never breaking free from hers, "-- they're going to love you."

Margot looks down at her feet, hugging her clipboard tightly to her chest. Feeling her palms begin to sweat, she coyly looks back up at her dear friend. "Thanks, Tadd."

After a few silent moments of staring at each other, Tadd clears his throat. "So, um--" he starts, "have you heard anything yet? About the test?" Tadd changes the subject. Margot shakes her head as she takes a pull from her coffee. "Well, when you do, um, maybe we could, I mean, I thought we could--"

Suddenly an intercom buzzes overhead. "Thaddeus to exam room four. Thaddeus to exam room four."

Tadd furrows his eyebrows, looking to the ceiling before resting a kind half-smile back on Margot. "Duty calls," he nervously sighs as he bounds down the hallway. Halfway down the corridor, he spins around to face Margot. "Hey, um, come find me! Before you leave at noon!" He finger-guns the air before returning to his pursuit.

Margot awkwardly finger-guns him back before smacking her forehead with the palm of her hand. "Seriously, Margot?" she mutters to herself, turning her attention back to the central desk of the clinic; however, she realizes quickly that the attention is all on her.

"When are you two going to make it official, Miss Mary-Margaret?" Iris chokes in the midst of her belly laughs, nodding with other scrub-adorned coworkers.

Biting her bottom lip feeling her heart flutter, Margot straightens out her demeanor, becoming stoic. "I--I don't know what you're talking about--"

"Margot, isn't it obvious?" Chimes in a jolly intake nurse. "That boy loves you--!"

"Who? Tadd?" Margot feigns innocence. She fixes her attention to the chart as she scribbles down more notes. "It's not like that--I mean, we're not, um--" she sighs. "We're just friends--" An instant roar of laughter abrupts from the reception desk, making it impossible for Margot to hide her toothy-smile paired with her scrunched up nose.

"You say that now, baby girl--"

"That's right," chimes in another giggling co-worker, "friends for now!"

An older plump nurse places a tender hand on Margot’s hand, a knowing smile spreading across her face. "Some of the best relationships come from friendships, moró. Give it time. Let the love grow," she winks at Margot.

Margot fidgets with her pen, delicately licking her bottom lip. She then tries to form words with her mouth, but no sound is heard. Her pink cheeks reveal she is flustered. She quickly closes up the chart, pushing loose hairs behind her ear. "Have a good day, ladies."

Hearing the squeals of her coworkers diminishing behind her, Margot quickly escapes into an empty exam room. Closing the door behind her, she leans against it, looking up at the textured ceiling tiles. She can feel the butterflies in her stomach bouncing through to her heart as her legs wiggle with weakness like gelatin.

The idea of 'falling in love' excites Margot, an idea she has dreamed about ever since she saw Baby meet Johnny. But, so far in her young life, she has never experienced it first hand, let alone a romantic hand- hold. Was this love? All she knew for sure was today was not the day to figure it out.

***

As soon as Riley’s name escapes his breathless moans of ecstasy, a searing sharp pain instantly ignites around his hardened girth. And Drake sees red.

"Fuck!" He lets out a guttural roar until no sound comes out of his mouth. He gnashes his teeth, trying to breathe through the agony, but only froths at the corners of his lips. The veins in his neck and his forehead protrude violently as streams of tears roll down his face. Petrified to move, his face turns a deep ruddy color. Before turning violet.

A sudden sensation of relief washes over him as the stabbing sensation fades to throbbing. Drake nervously looks down at his softening cock, relieved to see his member in one piece. "Goddamnit, Brooks," he pants furiously, "you fucking bit me--"

The brunette quickly tosses her curls out of her eyesight right before her fist meets Drake's jaw. "Oh, shit!" The cracking of the joints in his face echoes around the room. Drake starts to gently massage his chin. "You're not Riley--"

She climbs off of his body, standing her naked body in front of him. "No shit, Sherlock!" She slinks her short black spaghetti-strap dress over her dangerous curves before hastily grabbing her clear platform heels and racing out the door. "Fuck you, Drake Walker!"

***

A heartless, cocky laugh pours over the phone speaker. "Shit, Walker. Just--" the baritone voice trails back into a fit of laughter.

"It's not funny, Leo--" Drake warns, accidentally shifting his weight in bed, stirring a soreness to his recent injuries. "Ow!” he sucks air quickly between his gritted teeth, “fuck!" he whimpers to himself, adjusting the cold packs on his genitals.

"But you actually called her a different name, bro. A different name! With her mouth on your salami, your pocket rocket, on your--on your anaconda--" Leo's words fade back into cackles.

"As if you remember every goddamn hook-up’s name--"

"Dude," Leo interrupts, "if she's going to go all hungry, hungry hippo mid-blowie, I'm going to remember her name."

Drake scoffs. "Bullshit--"

"What? I'm serious, bro" Leo's voice becomes sincere. "All of these bitches we meet are looking for one thing--" he pauses dramatically for his wounded friend to finish his sentence; but the silence proves Drake is clueless as to where Leo was going with this. "A connection, Walker!" Leo's voice drips with conviction. "These women don't want to feel like they're disposable, even though--" he chuckles to himself, “let’s be honest: we’re doing them a favor--”

"--’A connection’, Leo" Drake interrupts, urging the conversation back on track.

"Right! ‘A connection," reaffirms Leo, circling back to his point. "Now, okay,” he knowingly titters, “I can’t remember all of these names--”

“Ha! See?” Drake barks.

“--Which is why--” Leo enunciates over Drake, “I use a single pet name. ‘Girl’.”

"'Girl'? That’s your trick? You call them 'girl'?" Drake raises an eyebrow in disbelief.

“Hear me out,” Leo continues. “If you call them something like ‘baby’ or ‘sweetie’, it can be seen as patronizing, that you’re clearly looking to smooth-talk your way into their pants--” Drake rolls his eyes, moving the phone to his other ear “--but now, calling them ‘girl’, I’m showing I want to be a friend, that I just simply want to connect. And then when you’re having your way with her, call her whatever the fuck you want as long as you finish the name with ‘girl’. Good girl. Dirty girl. Naughty girl. Sweet girl. Or in your case, hungry girl--”

Drake clears his throat, stifling a laugh. “--That is the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard--”

“Hey!” Leo interjects. “Who is wearing a bag of frozen peas on his one-eyed trouser snake?”

“Touché,” Drake sighs. “So, where are you right now?”

“With Jason up at his shop.”

“Who?” Drake lets out yawn, looking at his bedside alarm clock.

“Shit, Walker, you really were fucked up last night," Leo sighs. "Jason. You met him last night.” Leo’s voice lowers into a whisper. “He helped you get fucked up last night.”

“Oh! Right, right,” Drake rubs his head, “that was--wow, that shit was--”

“Good, right?” Leo finishes. “Hey, come join us at his shop. We’ve got coffee, and he’s got some new, um, product he’d love to show you--”

“Oh, Leo, I don’t know--” Drake removes the melting bag of vegetables from his lap. Gently lifting up on the waistband of his boxers, carefully inspecting his bruised parts.

“Does Liam have you working today?”

“No, no, it’s not that--” Drake hesitates.

“Oh!” Leo knowingly exclaims. “Does Riley have you working today?” He begins to chuckle. “You might need to let her know that you’re currently indisposed for --”

“Leo--” Drake warns.

“Then what's the hold up?"

Drake glances over at the mirror affixed to his antique dresser, but he doesn't recognize his own reflection. There's an emptiness in eyes, an inexplicable turmoil overcoming the man he once was. How did everything get so complicated? How did he get to such a place that it's better to be absent in life than to live it?

She was just a friend--at least that's what he convinced himself when Riley Brooks first caught his eye. Beautiful. Extremely witty with a fight he had never seen before. When they first kissed, he swore it was a mistake. Hormones. It had been so long since he had touched the delicate petals of a woman's lips.

But, this wasn't just any woman. It was her. And he soon would find himself wrapped up in her bedsheets, wrapped around her finger, wrapped in an awful web of lies.

And, all of his transgressions were against him, his very best friend, the man he regards as closer than a brother, his closest ally and confidant. Normally, Drake would turn to Liam in a heartbeat with any troubles, but this? How could he? How could he talk to Liam about his own devastation when the truth would devastate Liam?

It's been four days since that fateful night of Liam's coronation, four days since the love of Drake's life walked away from him, forcing his hand into harboring secrets from the crowned prince. It's been four days since Drake heard his own voice in his head, four days since he's been sober enough to even think. Even though he deemed the temporary escape necessary, the sudden twinge of discomfort in his groin makes him realize that taking another hit right now is the absolute last thing he needs.

"I think I better stay put," Drake answers, combing his fingers through his disheveled tresses.

"Suit yourself," Leo jovially retorts. "If you need any oxy for your boo-boo, hit me up--Oh, and Drake?"

“Hrmmm?”

"Her name is Whitney."

"What?"

"Jaws? You know, the bitch who chewed on your Moby Dick?" Drake sighs heavily, regretting that he ever told Leo what had happened. "Her name is Whitney."

Drake furrows his eyebrows. "Now, how do you remember her name--?"

"Oh, bro, you don't forget WAP Whitney--oh shit, you probably haven't gotten a good look at your sheets this morning, have you?"

With a grunt, Drake ends the call. “Fuck me,” he mutters under his breath. He carefully gets up, waddling to grab his clothes before heading to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

In the middle of splashing his face with cold, soapy water, Drake's phone rings. Grabbing a hand towel he carefully saunters back to his room, answering the call without hesitation. "Just let it go, Leo--”

"Drake?"

An icy chill shoots down Drake’s spine, freezing him in his steps. He knows that melodic voice anywhere, a voice that reminds him of early morning sunrises and late night silver moonlit paths. “H-hey, Riley,” he stutters, caught off guard. A brief awkward stillness falls over the conversation. “How are you--?”

“I miss you, Drake,” she interrupts.

Drake’s vision suddenly begins to spin as the air in the room becomes stagnant. Stiffening his bottom lip in anger, his breathing quickens as he reaches out carefully to brace himself against the wall.

“Drake?”

“I’m here,” he chokes out. “What do you want, Brooks?” He can hear the tears in her voice, but he wills himself not to care, he wills himself to not even ask.

“Drake, I think I made a mistake--”

“No,” Drake barks out, “no, you can’t do this to me--”

“Drake, please,” Riley sobs, “I’m on my way to the doctor--”

“The doctor?” Drake’s tone suddenly changes. “Are you okay? Is everything with--um, you know--” he slaps his forehead with the palm of his hand, “--okay?”

“Yes--” she sniffles, “--no. I just, I can’t do this alone, Drake. I can’t do this--”

“Riley--” he roughly says her name to grab her attention, “you made your decision: you chose Liam. You want to raise our baby--my baby with him--”

“Don’t you think I want to have this baby with you? That’s all I can even think about Drake,” she takes a moment to calm down her shaking voice. “I love you, Drake. I want a life with you. I want you to be there when this baby is born, when this baby needs his or her father--when this baby needs you--”

“Riley--” Drake exhales with frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose, “--but Liam--”

“I know, Drake. I know--” Riley takes a deep breath, “Can we just talk? In person? Just so we can figure this out? I can come over there--”

“Brooks, I--” Drake stumbles over his words as he runs his fingers over his coarse, overgrown stubble. Of course, he wants her to come over. And to stay. But, has anything changed? Liam just proposed, and she made it clear what her intentions were. But, still, it’s possible she had a change of heart, and this was a second chance he may never get again. He sighs heavily. “Sure. Okay."

After finishing his impromptu conversation with Riley, Drake realizes he needs to make another phone call. He scrolls through his call history, and clicks the green send button.

"Did you change your mind, Evander Holyfield?"

"Funny, Leo," Drake sarcastically responds. "So, yeah, um, what's the address to the shop?"

***

“Does that--does that say what I think it says?” Margot nervously stammers. "I think I saw my score--oh gosh!"

“Here. Let me look--”

Margot quickly covers the computer screen with her hands, "No, Mrs. Iris!” Margot squeals. “I’m not ready--I’m not ready for this!”

“Child, you have been ready for this for months. Now, if you don’t get your hands out of the way--"

"What's with all the commotion?" A few technicians and nurses pile into the room, each giving an endearing rub to Margot’s back. Everyone begins craning their necks to see the computer, covered by Margot's arms. "Is it time? Have they posted the scores?"

"They sure have!" answers Iris before turning to Margot. She tucks several blonde wisps behind Margot’s ear before putting her finger under her chin. "C'mon, baby," she smiles encouragingly, "it's more fun celebrating than worrying."

"I'm--" Margot takes a deep breath, biting back her tears, "--I'm so scared--"

"--and the Lord knew you would be, baby." Iris wrinkles her nose at Margot, her voice becoming stronger. "That's why He called you to be courageous. C'mon."

Margot bites her lip, slowly nodding her head. Feeling the storm brew in her eyes as the weight of the world sits on her chest, she carefully peels back her hands. Her eyes scale the black and white on the screen, but nothing seems to make sense. A burst of silence overwhelms her hearing, time standing perfectly still. Her only company is the beating of her heart.

Take my anxieties...

You have nothing to worry about…

Your will be done…

Be courageous...

Like suddenly breaking through the surface for air, an abrupt roar of cheers fill the room, shaking Margot from her trance. "Our baby girl got a 519!" screams a tearful Iris, pulling Margot from her seat and into a tight embrace. Other coworkers join in, creating a giant group hug.

Margot remains speechless, shocked by her score. She always knew she was an excellent student, studying hard all through school and excelling in her classes. When it came to the MCAT, she was confident she would score better than average, a score of 500. But, to even be noticed by top medical schools, she needed to score in the top 5%, a score 517 or greater.

News swept like wildfire through the clinic, and shortly thereafter, Tadd and some other technicians filed into the breakroom with a decorative chocolate cake and punch in tow. "I knew you could do it!" Tadd cheers victoriously, offering a chaste hug to Margot. "Dr. Hughes," he swipes his hand in the air as if to paint an imaginary portrait. "It has a nice ring to it."

"I still don't understand why you put yourself through all of that," mentions an older phlebotomist. "Cordonia has a medical school right down the road--"

"Because Margot wants to go to one of the best medical schools in the world," interrupts a deeply demanding, yet sincere voice. “To Harvard. Like me.”

"Dr. Ramirez," Margot smiles brightly, jumping up to greet her mentor with a hug.

"That is, you are still looking at my alma mater for medical school--"

"Yes ma'am!" Margot's eyes light up with the thought that her dream of going to Harvard Medical School is becoming her reality. "It would be such an honor to go there, let alone to follow in your footsteps."

Dr. Ramirez pulls Margot in for another tight hug. "My word, Mary-Margaret, 519?" she presses her cheek to Margot's, "I am so proud of you."

"Thank you, Dr. Ramirez," Margot warmly responds, "thank you for taking a chance on me and helping me so much with my studies and research--"

"You know I did that for selfish reasons, right?" The practitioner stifles a smile while Margot squints her eyes with suspicion. "Cordonia needs more female physicians, and more importantly, physicians that will make a difference in its healthcare," she grips tightly to Margot’s hand, "for everyone. I believe you will lead this country in a health care reformation."

"I don't know what to say," Margot clears her throat as she fights back the tears. "I hope I make you proud--"

"You already do." Dr. Ramirez gently touches Margot's cheek lovingly before turning to exit the room.

"Oh!" Margot quickly chases after the obstetrician, “can I talk to you? Privately?” With a nod, Dr. Ramirez leads Margot into a quiet corner. “I know my work-study ends in two weeks--”

“I know. Don’t remind me, Margot--”

“Well, I was wondering,” Margot chews on the side of her mouth, fidgeting with her fingers, “if by any chance I could possibly stay on?”

“Oh, Margot, I wish I could. Unfortunately with budget cuts--”

Margot shakes her head. “No, no, Dr. Ramirez, I meant if I could stay on, shadowing my usual Monday and Thursday mornings, I mean, if that’s alright. Learn more? Keep up my skills?”

“You want to continue volunteering with us?” The doctor gives an inquisitive look. “Don’t you want to get a job to earn money before you move to the states next year?”

“I already got that covered,” Margot assuredly answers. “I just got a job at Bríki, the coffee shop past the square--”

“Oh my gosh,” Dr. Ramirez’s eyes light up. “Does Aleksi still own that place?”

“Mr. Pavlis? Yes! Him and his son run it together, I believe--”

“They have the best coffee,” she energetically smiles, “now I have another reason to stop by.” She kindly places her hand on Margot’s shoulder. “Of course, you can stay on as a volunteer. Whenever you want, however much you want. It is a pleasure to have you around.” With a squeeze of her arm, Dr. Ramirez turns to go to her next appointment, but stops halfway down the hall. “Oh, Margot? My nurse stepped away to make an important phone call. Do you mind escorting my next patient to the exam room?”

Margot dutifully nods with a grin. She twirls around, bounding for the front desk to grab the chart of Dr. Ramirez’s next patient, a new patient. After making a few small notes, Margot opens the door to call her back.

“Brooks? Riley Brooks?”

*****

Tags: (this is my original tag list for this series; if you wanted to be added or removed, please let me know!) @alyssalauren @ao719 @bbrandy2002 @burnsoslow @charlotteg234 @chemist-ana @choiceskatie @forallthatitsworth @gkittylove99 @glaimtruelovealways @kat-tia801 @khoicesbyk @lovingchoices14 @lovelyladyk88 @lucy-268 @mainstreetreader @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @neotericthemis @nestledonthaveone @sfb123 @shannonwrote @shewillreadyou @sweatyrysconnoisseur @taniasethi @tessa-liam @texaskitten30 @thefrenchiemama @thegreentwin @twinkleallnight @yourmajesty09

[the-last-cuddlebender]

Blood In A Blacklight

Katara has a criminal empire to run, a family to protect, and plenty of shadows from the past who want to tear it all down.

Part 1: The Wind Howls (1/2) - She has him back, and everything should be perfect now, but it’s not. She’s more worried than ever. And she hasn’t slept in days.

********************************

A/N: Mafiosa!Katara and Gaang™ gang because I want it and am willing it into existence. Basically took “Sokka and I, we’re your family now” and made my take on a bending-mafia-families AU lmao

Words: 1,748

********************************

Katara punished her book for the weather and nearly tore it when she flipped the page. The words blurred again. She glared, hoping to become a firebender and burn a hole through the damn thing.

The door opened without a knock, and the frame of her vision shook, bordering on crimson. Mercy was still a foreign concept, and nearly ninety-six hours awake had mutilated her ‘moral code’ into watery dough. A few twitches of her fingers closed her hand around veins and arteries, but her bending recognized her intruder’s old blood and fresh wounds before she could register why her power wasn’t listening. It was worse than a tranquilizer. Worse than chloroform in a black alley. Aang’s heartbeat pinned her to her seat and ripped out her fangs like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Katara remembered that time was a thing that would still pass whether or not she kept breathing. Fresh rain met the wall of windows behind her. Her thumb dragged over the ear of the page. She crawled into the dull thump of his heartbeat and sank into her chair, hiding in his rhythm like it was a cave.

The soft click of the door startled her like it was a strike of lightning, stuttering her breath and rallying her instincts to probe for the nearest skein of water. She shifted, impatient for him to be closer, waiting for enemies to burst from the shadows.

She re-read the same paragraph until he limped — badly, on the left side — to her desk. He paused, thinned Katara’s sanity, and sat in one of the leather chairs across from her. His silence filled the room with static. The full moon taunted her with power for all the wrong problems. The storm put a distance of hisses and low rumbles between them, bleating her pulse against the drums of her ears.

“What are you doing?” Aang gently asked.

Katara propped her head on her fist, her voice like paint peeling from the side of an old ship. “I’m reading.”

“You’ve been staring at that page for seven minutes.”

“I’m reading slowly.”

“You’re sulking.”

She almost looked up. “I am not sulking.”

“And now you’re lying.”

Something made a spark, and Katara slammed her book, still open, on her desk. “I am not lying.”

Her almost-shout did things that the thunder could only dream of, but before Katara could retreat, Aang leaned forward, onto her desk, mirroring her posture and leaving inches between their faces. It brought the smell of the wind in his clothes, and his element tickled her frayed hair from her cheek. His presence was warm. In every way. Warm hues, warm feelings, warm heartbeat, warm memories—

It took longer for the crimson to leave her vision this time. The thin wound wasn’t the worst, but it was the most noticeable, crawling across his face and over the bridge of his nose like a comet touching from beneath one eye to under the other. It was a bleach-white horizon that his eyes sat just above, but what he leveled her with didn’t allow her the freedom to consider her to-kill list in detail.

Katara had been shot, captured, tortured, ransomed, and used as a bartering chip far more times than she dared to remember, but even oceans would part for the look that Aang gave her when she tried to dance around the truth with him and win. She scowled, not that it helped her. Intensity clouded his eyes in a smokescreen, and grey irises darted in short, sharp glances that wouldn’t have been noticeable if he was any further away.

Katara’s finger itched to turn the page. Aang’s breathing had been steady, but when he exhaled again, closing his eyes, it took the strength out of his shoulders and kicked her in the chest.

“You promised you would stop looking into this.”

Katara snapped the book shut and set it aside. “I told you to stay away from the hospital.”

“I had to see her. And you went there, too.”

He didn’t mention a name, but still, Katara’s nails dug into her hands and threatened to draw blood. She seethed, but her fire didn’t phase him. Always him. Only him. Even in her office she was powerless.

Lips pulled into a tight line, she took a calming breath and held it, waiting for it to start working. Aang didn’t look away. His smokescreen was looking more like a storm and shone lightning like steel blades clashing.

She knew what her glare did to good men, and she knew it didn’t work on him, but she looked away all the same. Her eyes found the book, and the pins and needles from her held breath suddenly became the cold gasps of a child who couldn’t run fast enough. She saw the splintering of ancient wooden doors and the darkness that spilled from them. She felt the ice of new irons and the strain they put on growing bones.

And the screams. There should have been screams…

Katara blinked and was back in her office, greeted by the sheets of bullets on her windows and the warm heat of Aang’s attention. She looked at him. He was the same as her gaze had left him.

She didn’t mean to sound so defeated, but she was so tired of losing. “What were you thinking, Aang?”

“Katara, you’re scared and angry and hurt and I get it, but you don’t have to save me anymore. I’m right here.”

“I can’t sit by and do nothing. If I don’t fight for you, then no one will.”

She had seen men recoil from a bullet through the heart, but Aang caught himself just before the stage of crumpling to the ground. His gaze dropped, staggering to her necklace and then to her desk. “…I guess you’re right.”

Katara scrambled to pick up his pieces. “That’s not what I—”

“I know.” He splayed his palm, pretending to read the lines. “You didn’t mean it.”

Lightning lit up the room, like a picture being taken. Katara combed back her hair, fiddling with her low ponytail, and gave up trying to keep her empty hands occupied. “Can you just—” She grabbed the air like she could hold onto the problem. “Can you just promise me that you won’t do something like that again? Please?”

It was the closest she had ever — ever — come to begging, but Aang kept his eyes on his palm. “I can’t do that.”

“Yes, you can.”

“I’m not one of your goons to boss around,” he said, still without looking up, though his brow furrowed with a small crease.

“At least they know their limits. None of this would have happened if you had just let me handle it. This is my family, and that includes you, whether you like it or not.”

“I don’t belong to you.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“Then why are you still here?”

“Because you need me, too,” he said, with a soft voice that could shake a stadium. “And I might just be a speedbump to knock you on your ass and make you think twice before you do it anyways, but you’re my family too.”

The silence yawned, hissing with a thick but fine sheet of rain. If it weren’t for her desk, Katara would have hugged him. Probably. Doubt opened a pit in her belly, and her throat threatened to seal shut. Instinct and intuition went to war and left her with the sinking feeling that touching him would just prove how far away he was.

Aang still didn’t look up from his hand. Katara tried to find the right words and, more importantly, how to say them, but all she could manage after so many years of lying was a tender inflection of his name. “Aang…”

“They made me forget your face,” he said, deflating like saying it out loud finally made the scars real. His voice was watery, broken on the last vowel, and took a sledgehammer to Katara’s chest. “And now you…” He gestured. “Now you’re there and I’m here and…” The word died. He paused, then dragged his eyes up to hers. “You think of them when you look at me, so I see them, too. They scare me. And now you scare me. And I don’t want to be scared of you because I don’t want to stop looking at you. But it scares me. A lot.”

“I…Aang, I’m sorry—”

“I know. I know,” he said as he stood. His eyes roamed her empty desk, trying to find something of hers and settling on the book, which broke what was left of him. “…You didn’t mean it.”

Katara stood, but the desk was still in the way. “Aang, wait—”

“I'm going to take a walk to…,” he trailed, more in his own thoughts than in her office. “…I’ll get Zuko so you don’t worry.”

She should have gone after him. She should have done something, but her legs were pillars of cement. The door bled fluorescent yellow light into her twilight and took him, in his red and orange robes from across the world, with it.

Something cold crawled out of the old attic of where her heart was supposed to be. It cracked, weaving thin white scars — like his — in a web across her vision. She braced herself on the desk. There was nowhere to hide. No heartbeat. Not even a wound to distract her with its pain. She closed her eyes and bared her teeth and wished she had the strength to cry without him. Just this once, without him. She was so full and so empty and on the verge of combustion—

Something broke, something small, like a cornerstone, and Katara plopped into her chair. She breathed just like he taught her and eventually rubbed her face. Her bones ached. Everything ached. She was so tired of losing. She just wanted to sleep without knowing that she would wake up, still stuck in her worst nightmare.

Thunder growled above the city. Katara picked up the book. It was blurry, no matter how much she blinked. She dragged her nail over the scuff marks, feeling the minute pilling of old leather like a topographic map of the past.

Aang’s absence reminded her why she was reading, but she wasn’t sure if she could anymore. The book took on the weight of a planet, her arms even moreso.

Realization dawned slowly, like a dog attack in slow motion. The thought was a shadow bleeding out of the tall grass to fill her stomach with ice.

She peeled open the pages, praying to whoever would answer.

It burned. It burned like fire never could. It ate her away from the inside out, like cinders consuming a dry leaf in the time it took to blink.

The raindrops became smaller, like a mist, and gently brushed the windows. Standing was a miracle, but Katara dragged her feet around her desk, falling into Aang’s chair.

It was warm, like his shadow always was. She crawled into the footprint his life left behind, imagining his heartbeat in the hug of plush leather and the smell of salt and sand that reminded her where home was. Katara told herself to breathe and sank into the reasons why. Her legs curled beneath her, like when she was a girl, back when she wore her mother’s dresses to imagine herself a hero and not in three-piece suits to mask bloodstains.

She read the book slowly, from the beginning again, trying to love even the words that hurt. When lightning struck, she held it closer, trying to protect it, even though she knew that she couldn’t.

********************************

.

.

Don’t know if I described it well enough, but Aang’s ‘scar’ (quotes because it eventually seals up into a thin line) is supposed to be like the bottom arch of the Yu Yan archers’ tattoos.

[theyreonlynoodlesmike]

Six Stranger Walk Into a Bar: Part 2 (Severen x Fem!Reader) fic

<- Previous Chapter Next Chapter ->

Warnings: cursing, domestic flights, cheating mention

Word count: 3817

Here's part two! Hope you guys enjoy~

The six of you had climbed into your car. It was a station wagon, a 1984 Chevrolet Caprice. It was a gift from your parents, right when you'd graduated highschool. It could just barely fit the seven of you, and you had handed your keys over to Jesse, the now named father of the bunch, without much hesitation. You sat in the very back, pushing your back up against the side of your car and staring at the brunette in front of you. He did the same, so the two of you could face the other. You stared at his shirt and ran over the things that you knew.

They had killed everyone in the bar, except you. They had burned the bar down. You had helped them, no matter how reluctantly. They were heading to your trailer to lay low for the day, as the sun was due in only a couple of hours. Which you had been stupid enough to offer. And they weren't going to kill you. Yet. Why was still a mystery to you. 

You had given Jesse directions, but all he really needed was the street name and the map out of your dashboard. He'd assured you he could figure out the rest. It took you a moment to realize that it might've been out of distrust. 

Severen was staring at you. He had one leg brought to his chest, one arm using it to prop it up. His arm laid outstretched, hand jolting with each bump on the road. His legs were stretched out, mingling with yours. You met his eyes and stared defiantly back. His gaze was unwavering, a smile growing on his face with each second you stared. It took a few minutes, but, finally, you broke. You looked away, looking at the couple just in front of you. Mae had her head resting on Calebs shoulder, with his arm slung around her. Homer was sitting besides them, and you found that, besides the mean look he gave you, he was content to stare outside the window with his arms crossed. He was the closest to you, besides the man across from you. Diamondback had the map in her hands, and she was acting as navigator.

"You got a name?" Severen asked, and your eyes snapped back to him. He was sending you a small curl of his lips, one that hadn't decided on being a smile or a smirk just yet. You gave it to him, just as easily as you'd given Jesse your keys. If you wanted to stay alive, you figured cooperating was the only way to do that. He nodded, but you didn't think he'd be using it anytime soon. He had a variety of nicknames he preferred, but perhaps it was for the other members of his group. "I'm Severen." He said, and you almost hated his voice. You hated how he could make anything sound good, even his own name. If he had a hat, you'd imagine he'd tip it at you. He placed his hands on his stomach, interlacing his fingers as he lifted his brows and said, "So, live alone?" And you almost wished you could slip back into the silence.

"Yeah, I," But you paused, debating on what he actually needed to know. "I live alone, but my parents live in town." You said, and he hummed. 

"Space from ma and pa?" He asked, and you could hear the same humor from before in his voice. Seemed like Severen just liked to be the tiniest bit of an asshole sometimes. But he also seemed to like you. At least, enough to keep you around. You just gave him a nod, deciding to save the details for yourself. It was Homer that turned around and cut in, asking,

"How old are you, anyway?" And you looked at the boy. He was chubby, and he couldn't be older than thirteen. But the way he talked? He talked as if he'd had a chip on his shoulder for at least ten years. You supplied your age, and he sneered. "Little young for you, Severen?" He said, and your brows furrowed. Severen didn't look much older than you. He couldn't have been older than twenty five. Maybe late twenties if he had good genetics. But, from the way Severen leaned forward and practically growled a,

"Shut up." You guessed that couldn't be true. You stared at him, confusion evident in your eyes. He stared at Homer for another second, but this? You didn't have to guess what was going on between the two. It was a clear silent look of telling Homer to keep his mouth shut, and Homer only signaled his surrender when he huffed and turned around in his seat. 

You felt a dip in the road, and your eyes turned instinctively out the window. You were here. You were home. You'd never once dreaded it before. You told Jesse which house to park at, and he didn't have any trouble finding your usual spot. The tire tracks in the grass made it a little too easy. He turned your car off, and they all piled out. It was Caleb that opened the back for you and Severen, and you let Severen go first. He held out a hand to help you out, and you took it politely. He pulled you out of the trunk and placed a hand on your lower back to keep you steady. The contact had your stomach swimming, but you pushed those feelings away and walked forward. You didn't see Severens slightly dejected expression, but you heard him close the trunk of your car. Your fingers were nearly shaking as you climbed the steps and fished for your house keys, only to realize when Jesse passed them to you. You didn't see the look that Jesse and Diamondback shared, but you unlocked the door and thanked god that you'd forced yourself to clean your trailer to try to get yourself out of your depressive state. It hadn't worked, but it made you feel better about having company. 

The left side of your trailer was your living room. It had a couch pressed up against the width of the wall, with a tv pressed against the opposite wall and tilted so the couch could see it. To your immediate right was the kitchen and kitchen table. It had a corner booth, one that allowed two people to sit together. Maybe three if you didn’t plan on opening the front door anytime soon. The kitchen was pressed against the opposite wall, and then there was a hallway. The hallway led to two bedrooms and a bathroom. To its credit, the toilet worked and the shower had hot water. The bedrooms? Besides the one that you had claimed for yourself, the second one was nearly untouched. You and your ex used it as extra storage, but you’d been hesitant to really let it overflow just in case you ever- You cut that thought off. Your future plans, at least the ones including your ex, no longer existed. So, it was nothing more than a guest bedroom. You pulled yourself out of the way, deciding to head for the kitchen so they could drop their things.

“Nice place.” Jesse commented, but you thought it was out of politeness more than anything. You pushed your hair behind your ears, and you quickly said,

“Thank you. Feel free to put your stuff anywhere. It’s not much, um-” But the brother, Caleb, gave you a friendly smile as he set his bag down on the floor, and said,

“Trust me, it’s better than most of what we see.” And you couldn’t help but take that as a compliment and return his smile. He seemed a little different than the others. Like he had a little less teeth. While Severen, no surprise, seemed to have as much teeth as an eager dog. You looked between them, quickly remembering that you had been forgetting your manners. You had missed just the tinge of jealousy in Severens eyes.

“There’s probably nothing on TV, but I have a VCR. The- The tapes are under the TV, and, um, help yourself to anything in the kitchen. The- The bathroom is right there, and there’s a guest bedroom. That’s your first right-” Your mouth was speeding off, trying to fill the uncomfortable silence. You opened the door to your fridge, pulling out a carton of orange juice and grabbing yourself a glass. Your nerves were wrecked as the events of the night slowly started to weigh on you. You drank the juice, trying to find something to ground yourself. It also provided you an excuse not to look at the six of them and a way to stop yourself from blabbing any more than you needed to. The tangy taste of citrus was better than the taste of the liquor you’d had at the bar, and you hoped it would sober you up completely.

It only took a few minutes for them to settle in your trailer. Jesse and Diamondback took the kitchen table, setting out their guns and filling them with bullets. You tried not to gulp at the sight. Caleb and Mae curled up on your couch while Homer sat on the floor, rummaging through your tapes before he finally popped something in the VCR. Severen hung around the kitchen, and it took you a moment to realize it was because he didn’t have anywhere to sit. You grabbed the fold out chair that was wedged in-between the counter and the fridge, and set it out for him as you mumbled an apology. He smiled at you, taking the chair so he could turn around and sit on it backwards. Severen offered a game of russian roulette, but you declined when he offered to deal you in. You quickly rinsed out your cup and set it in the dishwasher, pulling your hair all to one side of your neck as you run your fingers through it. If this was any one of the past few nights, you would’ve taken a spot on the couch, dug into a carton of ice-cream, and cried yourself to sleep. But you couldn’t do that with six witnesses. So, instead, you fixed yourself a sandwich, offered to make them something, and ate it as you watched them play cards. For a moment, you almost felt settled. Until you watched as Jesse suddenly grabbed Severen’s arm.

“Woah, woah, woah. You cheatin’, Severen?” And you watched as he reached into his sleeve to check if he was. Severen defended himself with a quick, 

“I’m not cheatin’.” But there it was. A card that Severen had hid. They pulled their guns on eachother, laughing, and were quick to put them away as Jesse took Severens cards and put them at the bottom of the pile with a quick,

“Deal the cards.” It was a quick little thing, and it shouldn’t have mattered as much as it had. But, it struck you then, like how lightning strikes a tree. Severen was far too different than your ex. Far more handsome, mysterious, and light-hearted than he had ever been. But there was one thing they had in common. They were cheaters. Maybe that's just my type, you told yourself glumly. But, suddenly, your hunger had dissipated. You swallowed the seemingly too dry lump of bread, and wrapped up the sandwich to finish later. In your current circumstances, you couldn't afford to throw away leftovers. You closed the fridge, and Severen tossed a glance your way.

Ever since you'd entered the trailer, he'd been keeping his distance. Hell, the second he'd decided not to kill you he'd been keeping you at an arms length. Maybe it was to let you come to him. Or maybe it was so he could keep an eye on you. Either way, you hadn't talked much, and it was Jesse that tried to coax you over now,

"Y/n, would you keep an eye on him? Make sure he's playing fair?" But it didn't sound like much of a suggestion. Severen moved, flipping his chair so he could sit in it properly when you began to cross the short distance between you and the table. He had patted his lap, but, before he could wrap an arm around your waist or offer you a seat, there was a banging on the door. It made you jump, and Severen was up out of his seat in a second. He was closest to the door, and, out of instinct, you grabbed his arm. He reached down, one of his big hands swallowing yours and giving it a reassuring squeeze. You heard clicks of a gun, and saw that there was one in both Jesse, Severen, and Homers hands. Your head nearly swam, wondering how the hell you got in a situation where a kid carried a gun. Severens height dwarfed you, and he blocked the screened window so you couldn't even see the outline of who was outside. Then there was a slurred call of,

"Y/n! Let me in!" And your heart sank. It was your fucking ex. You hadn't seen him in nearly a week, ever since you'd found him in this very trailer with a girl on top- You shook your head, shaking away the image that burned the back of your mind. You'd kicked him out, but it seemed he'd come crawling back. "Please, I need to talk to you." He slurred, and you thought you could hear the sound of him swigging back whatever he had started drinking. It was Jesse that said,

"I thought you said you lived alone." And your eyes were worried, almost frightened even, when you looked at him. You whispered back,

"I-I do. It's my ex." You explained quickly, and Severen muttered something besides you. It might've been just your imagination, but you thought you saw a twinge of jealousy in his eyes. You gripped his hand tighter as your ex started belly-aching. Most of it was unintelligible, and you nearly wanted to cringe. Yeah, he was a great example of your taste in men. He had started going on and on about how he was sorry, and you nearly wanted to plug your ears. Scream until you couldn't hear him anymore. He was going on about how it was all a big mistake, but was it? Had it been? Wasn't the real mistake dating him in the first place? Your thoughts were quickly starting to spiral, and you tried to latch onto something else. So, you continued and said, "We broke up earlier in the week. I," You paused when you looked up at Severen, almost thinking that perhaps this wasn't something you should tell him just yet. So early in- whatever this was, you thought. But the way none of them tried to interrupt and how he continued to stare forced you to continue. "I caught him cheating." And, there, you watched as his blue eyes seemed to become two rings of fire. You'd never seen him angry, but you guessed that he was the type to have a quick temper. Or, at least, an expressive one.

"We have to get rid of him." Jesse said, but it was Caleb that added,

"Quietly. He's probably woken up half the trailer park by now." And you looked between the two. They seemed to be the most even tempered men of this family, but, neither of them had a clue as to how they would do that. You were about to offer that you could get rid of them when Severen cut you off.

"I've got just the brightest idea." And you watched as he shrugged off his leather jacket to lay on the table, threw his glasses on the table as well, and tucked his gun into the back of his pants. He pushed the chair out of the way, and headed straight for the door. Before he could open it, you quickly gestured for everyone else to head back towards the bedrooms. You watched as Severen straightened his hair, shook out his shoulders, and put on a smile while the five of them ducked back into the darkness of the hallway, guns drawn and eyes watching. You tucked yourself into the corner booth, so you'd be out of sight but could watch through a slit in the curtains. Severen unlocked and threw open the door, letting a cool,

"Evenin', friend." As he stared down into the surprised face of your ex. "I believe you have the wrong trailer." Severen continued when his mouth went slack with surprise. You watched as your ex looked over at the number, and then back at the brunette in your doorway. He rubbed his mouth, and then said,

"No, no. I'm looking," He paused to belch. "I'm looking for y/n. She's," He gestured to the number. "She's 24. She's my- She's my-" But he couldn't seem to get the words out. You looked over to see Severens smile falter. He was blocking the sight of you, but you could see him. It seemed as though your ex couldn't take a hint, but you decided to blame his drunken state. "Who are you?" Your ex thought to ask after a moment, nearly stumbling back as he looked him over. Severen leaned against the doorframe, putting a hand in his pocket.

"I'm the man that's been taking care of her the past few days." He said, an all too suggestive grin on his face. It was an easy lie, but it was one that hit the man opposite of Severen all at once. While he couldn't take a hint, it seemed that he could understand. "Severen." He added and held his hand out as if to shake, and you watched as your ex's face seemed to fill with anger. He pointed at the brunette, nearly grazing him with his finger as he said,

"Well, Severen, I wanna hear this from her." He said, and you barely whispered a curse. Of course he would, you thought. Severen shrugged, and then looked over at you. 

"Darlin'?" He called, but it was only for effect. You stood up from the booth, taking the exit closest to the kitchen and then sided up behind him. Now, this wasn't your usual state of dress, and it could definitely pass as home clothes. Severen wrapped an arm around your waist when you came to the doorway, and you had to lean against him in order to be visible. Severen didn't seem to mind, and gave your waist a squeeze. You looked at the pitiful man you'd once called your boyfriend, and stared down at his shocked expression.

"Yeah?" You asked, and he gaped like a fish for a moment. He looked between the two of you, and then said,

"Who the hell is this asshole? You- You replaced me? In a week?" And he had the gall to sound hurt. It seemed the confrontation with a man he'd never seen before had done him some good and sobered him up some. You glared at him, and crossed your arms over your chest. Now, you didn't want to have an argument with him in front of Severens family, but you needed him to leave. And preferably not come back in the morning. You whispered his name with a shake of your head and then said,

"I believe he told you who he was," You said, and you didn't tilt your head away when Severen brushed a hand over your cheek. It seemed he enjoyed milking this for all it was worth, and you didn't catch the grin on his face as he leaned in to press a kiss to the side of your head. You sighed, closing your eyes for a moment as Severens hand moved up to rub your shoulder and his kisses traveled down the expanse of your neck. It was nothing more than a couple of pecks, and he only continued when you didn't shrug him off the first time. The affection felt nice, almost nice enough to forget what had happened not even an hour before. But, even if you were mad at him, you knew you were doing your ex a favor. Your eyes fluttered back open. "You should leave." You told him, and that seemed to sober him up completely. He opened his mouth and took a step forward, but Severens hand dropped and he was halfway out the door. A hand placed on your ex's chest. It made your ex stop, and, after a stare down with Severen, he pulled out of his grip and turned back to look at you to say,

"You can't kick me out. I'm the one that pays rent for this place." He said, and you clicked your jaw. You'd been so angry the week before that he hadn't even tried to argue with you when you threw him and all of his things out of the trailer. It seemed that after talking with his drinking buddies, or perhaps the waitress, that he had remembered that.

"With a job my daddy found you." You snapped back, and that made him shut his trap quick. You dug further, forgetting that the audience you had was more than the man besides you. "And I'm not the one that screwed around. Why don't you go shack up with her, or did she kick you out too?" You threw the words in his face, and he took a step back from the weight of them. From the look on his face, you guessed that you might be right. Drinking buddies it was then. "Go sleep at your friends house or try the sheriff's department. They take drunks in all the time." You said, and Severen was quick to step back so you could snap the door closed. You locked it once again, and, after a moment of staring blankly at your door, he yelled,

"Well, how you gonna pay rent, huh? It's up in a week!" And you could practically hear your blood boiling in your ears. You couldn't stop yourself from yelling back,

"I'm not! You can have the freaking trailer back then!" And then you turned on your heels. The five vampires stuck in the hallway each pressed themselves against the wall to let you stalk back towards your room, and the sound of you slamming your bedroom door was heard even by your ex outside. Before your ex could get the final word, a neighbor yelled,

"Boy, leave the girl alone." Letting him, and everyone inside your trailer, know that they hadn't been the only ones who'd heard your spat. Finally, your ex retreated. Severen shook his head and laughed, letting out a little hoot before he looked at his family and said,

"She's a firecracker, ain't she?" 

[iknikblackstonevarrick]

Red Lightning (Part 3)

(Part 1) (Part 2)

---

Lucretia looked through the bars at her friend with grim contemplation.

She had disarmed Lup and moved her from the floor to the thin mattress provided inside her cell, and was now simply waiting for her to wake up, and considering what she would do when she did.

Giving her a similar position to Davenport was out of the question. Redacted or not, the boys would notice the woman’s striking similarity to Taako. She could find something for her in the bowels of the facility, out of sight of the Reclaimers, but even then, the risk-

“Hey?”

Lucretia jumped and struck her staff on the ground in surprise. Lup had risen to her elbows while still prone on the bed, and was looking at Lucretia with decreasing grogginess.

“Are you- in charge here?” she asked, swinging her legs over the side of the bed, “Cause whatever I did to get in here- okay, I was /definitely/ framed, first of all, and also like super drunk. Like I don’t even remember anything that happened…” she looked to the side, “Basically ever, right now? I must have partied /real/ hard last night but anyways, the point is I’m innocent and also I don’t think you can legally keep me here without telling me what I’m in for.”

Lup was about a foot in front of the bars now, holding her hands out in front of her where she’d been gesturing. Lucretia stared at her.

“You can talk,” she got out flatly.

Lup blinked at her, then snorted. “I- Yeah??” She looked around herself. “Why- Was I that out of it whenever- whatever happened?”

Lucretia stood there, marveling at how she could have taken so much from their Captain unintentionally whilst not inflicting the same on her friend when she intentionally tried to erase her existence. It was a relief, obviously- she hadn’t wanted to reduce Lup to the sound of her own name, but she had expected it, accepted it as a necessity, and planned around it. Now-

She checked the lock on her cell to make sure she hadn’t left it open in her indecision. There would be no moving her from this spot now that she still had her wits about her. As much as it pained Lucretia, she could not allow her friend to roam free if there was any possibility she might resume interfering with her mission.

“What’s happening?” she asked, looking worriedly at Lucretia’s hand as she secured the padlock and then tapped her staff to the ground, reinforcing the magical barriers around the cell as well. “You- you have to tell me what you think I did.”

Lucretia looked levelly into her eyes. “You have done something- horrible. Unspeakable. Even if you… didn’t mean for it to be. What’s done is still done. And you will remain here until- Until I decide those crimes have been repented for.”

Lup opened her mouth to argue. Then, before she could, Lucretia saw some unknown thought enter her eyes, and then some of the light dimmed from them.

She waited, watching the grim, zoned-out look on her friend’s face for only a moment longer before she turned on heel and exited into the elevator.

*

“Taako?”

Lup blinked, turning to the source of the voice- a halfling man, poking his small head through the bars of the cell next to hers to get a look.

“Nope,” she said flatly.

“Oh, sorry,” the halfling said. “I could have sworn he has that skirt.” He tilted his head. “And that face?”

She sighed. “It’s Lup,” she introduced herself curtly, hoping it would change the subject. She didn’t know who this ‘Taako’ person was, but getting mistaken for a man was one of the few things that could make today worse.

“Oooohh, sorry sorry sorry, cool cool cool,” the halfling man said, nodding. “My name’s Robbie, but my old roommates called me Pringles.”

“Why?” she asked.

Pringles tugged on his shirt collar. “I have a deficiency.”

Lup pursed her lips and let her head fall back onto the stiff pillow. She didn’t know how long she’d been in the pokey, but it couldn’t have been too long, because everything in the room seemed brand new and unused.

“So what’re you in for, Pringles?” she asked.

“Uuh,” he drawled, “Espionage, I guess? Except I didn’t do it, like, intentionally. Maybe an accessory to espionage? A vessel?”

“Huh,” she said. “So you like, accidentally let in a spy?”

“I… guess it was something like that,” he said. “I don’t actually remember most of it. What about you?”

Lup stared at the gray-blue ceiling of her cell.

“I think I killed someone,” she said, still not looking at her cellmate.

“Oh,” Pringles answered, sounding unimpressed. “Well, that’s kinda like, the adventuring MO. Not your fault you ran amok of someone with arrest powers.”

She didn’t even catch his comment about the moon. She continued staring hard at the silvery blue of her cell.

“I think I killed someone I loved.”

Pringles blinked a few times. Then most of his face was no longer visible, it seemed like he’d changed the stance he was standing at.

“Oh,” was all he said. It was a long few moments before she heard him pad quietly over to the bed of his cell and hop on with a creak.

*

Lup had the same dream every night.

No matter what she did, how she ate, when she slept, however many of her limited options she explored, it was always the same. If she tried trancing, the memory would still play through her head relentlessly, almost more real than if she just went to sleep. If it weren’t for the companionship of her odd but chill jail-mate, she might think she was living the same day over again.

She knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that it was a memory. The only memory she had of anywhere outside this cell. Anywhere /outside/ at all. She wouldn’t know what the sky looked like, blinding blue with puffy white clouds and streaming golden light, without this memory.

She doesn't know why, but she’d expected it to look different.

*

You were in the sky. The clouds around you were close enough to touch, and the green below you was so, so distant. You could only see it over the silver rails of this- ship. You were on a ship, a boat, by the looks of it. Why was it in the sky?

Every time, before you had the chance to wonder this any further, you locked eyes with the figure sitting on the railing. No, you realized. He wasn’t sitting. He was bent over it at an odd angle, half of him dangling off the edge like he’d just been blown to that point by force.

He was wearing glasses. They were cracked.

You had no idea who this man was, but when you felt his gaze, saw his weathered human face, looked over his faded old blue jeans, you felt like you were home. You felt safe, and loved, and warm.

That warmth boiled over into the heat of panic when you noticed the blood pouring from this man’s stomach. Suddenly it felt like the world was burning around you, and you wanted to go to him, but you couldn’t. Your body felt frozen, your mind felt like it was full of cotton. No. Of static.

You met the man’s gaze again because that’s all you could do. You felt your knees going weak.

The man smiled at you with love and sorrow and-

He fell. He fell all the way over the railing, and you felt yourself moving, felt something warm and wet on your cheek-

And you wake up, gasping, and touch the tears streaming down your face. Every morning. You call it morning because you do not go back to sleep after this, but the fantasy fluorescent lights of your cell have not yet come up.

Every morning, without reprieve, as you lower your hand from your tear-streaked face, you see the smallest strokes of red lightning glowing between your fingers in the darkness.

***

“Where is she?”

Barry Bluejeans looked down at his three best friends in their red nullsuits. He had come here to warn them- to use the cosmoscope this kid had created, to try to explain with visuals instead of words and see if that could get through to them.

But there were only three of them. For whatever reason, Lup hadn’t come along on this mission. At first, he’d assumed she was a part of the party they said they’d been separated from, but now they were reunited, and still no Lup.

He probably should have waited to ask. There was probably a fine explanation- maybe Lucretia had wanted to keep a reclaimer in reserve for if this place went up in crystal? Sure, that made enough sense. He almost moved on to another question, but his nonexistent stomach dropped when he got his answer.

“Who?”

“Taako-” he’d be furrowing his brow if he could. It was immediately apparent to him that this wasn’t a goof. He knew Taako well enough for that.

“Taako, your-” dread was welling up in him. “Your sister. Your sister, Lup, Taako, where is she?”

“Oof,” Taako tilted his head. “Don’t got one of those, buddy. You must have the wrong T-a-a-ko.”

“No,” he said. He floated closer, and Taako raised-

The umbrella. He had Lup’s Umbrastaff with him.

“You have to know,” he said, and he could feel necrotic energy arcing off of him like electricity. “You have to know where- you have to know who she is. She only erases people when they’re-”

And suddenly, his energy calmed. He floated placidly in front of Taako, wide-eyed and weapon drawn.

He felt relieved. And then guilty for it. If Lucretia had erased her, that meant she was dead. But that also meant she was out here somewhere as a lich. Memories intact. Finally.

He melted away from the crystal laboratory and resumed time as he reappeared in his cave. He pulled out a drawer to his desk and filled up an old scrying bowl he used to use to keep tabs on everyone when he didn’t feel safe enough to go outside.

When the image in the bowl came into view, there was no phantasmal, resplendent figure of light and magic. Instead, there was a living mortal figure lying on a bed, sleeping restlessly, what he recognized as energy from her lich form arcing out through her hands in response to whatever Emotion was enveloping her dream.

“Oh,” he said aloud. Not disappointed. Determined.

Zooming out, he could see the bars of a cell, and even further, the outline of the floating headquarters of the Bureau of Balance. He shut the drawer and turned towards the map he had laid out on the desk itself.

The body cooking in his pod wasn't quite done yet. That was fine. He’d prefer not to burn it now, anyways. He’d find his own way up to the Bureau again, holy symbol be damned.

[puttingfingerstokeys]

what the thunder said

There’s a first time for everything and even for a god, certain firsts can be... difficult to process. Raiden works through potentially relatable misgivings and The Sorcerer(tm) is surprisingly helpful. Takes place just after the first tournament’s conclusion. Ft. warring exes. As usual it’s barely edited. I’m just cramming ideas out there

restored timeline

The sun rose, red and angry, over what might have been the eastern sky. The island was a strange nexus of realms, however, so it was anyone’s guess, truly, what direction the sorcerer’s bedchambers were facing. The man in question sat up, extracting himself gently from the still-occupied bed, sliding his bare feet into ornate slippers and wrapping a dressing gown—silk with damascened patterns of golden dragons ablaze—carelessly about shapely shoulders. In the distance, rumblings of thunder were making themselves known in subtle growls, as if spoken sotto voce. The wind picked up minutely and tossed the hem of his gown and hair around with playful abandon. He spared a glance over his shoulder to the curvaceous form in his bed, covered by a sheet and breathing softly.

  “What wonders do you have for me today, fulminator?” His voice was low, barely above a gentle purr. It was filled with odd softness—this would have been especially strange for anyone who had known him from previous iterations—and fond warmth. Shang Tsung felt his heartbeat pick up its pace as Raiden stirred, curling tighter upon himself, and then stilled once more. The sorcerer had not been certain gods could sleep, but given the activities of the previous night, he supposed there was a first time for everything.

  Drawing away from the open balcony, he retreated to an alcove where breakfast would be served at his command. The bed itself was upon a dais in the center of the room, of course, so no servants would be permitted entry until his celestial lover awoke and dressed to his own level of comfort. Raiden was guarded of his chastity and the appearance thereof, and had been since he and Shang Tsung had first become acquainted.

  Something, the sorcerer was convinced, in his tournament victory, had changed the very air between them. Though he had long sought after the deity—he knew damn well Raiden was a god, or had been at some point; he was merely waiting for his mentor to admit this, as he awaited all the colossal man’s concessions—emotionally and physically, always, he had been gracefully rebuffed.

  Until the previous night.

  Shang Tsung reflected on this most delicate of trysts, remembering with fondness how he had handled it—the situation and his mentor—with the gentle touch of one holding something very fragile which might break apart at any moment. He had understood, intimately, that the thing he held was Raiden’s core, that depthless thing which was supposed to have felt little, he being so far above mortals, but which fluttered like a trapped songbird.

  The sorcerer’s roving eyes followed the curves of the deity’s body under his fine sheets. He knew those curves so well, as well as if he had been mapping them all the years they had known each other with his hands, instead of just his eyes. Oh, but those eyes were practiced and sharp. They had seen every movement of his mentor’s finely-sculpted body, every subtle twitch and shift of muscle—of what might have been muscle. Aside from the relatively external views and activities, he really did not know what made a god tick. He had no intention, of course, of vivisecting the being he loved above all else, either, so some things would just have to remain secret.

  But, OH, the secrets Raiden had given unto him last night! To relive those, even in memories was sweet. It held the dangerous headiness of a fine wine or ambrosia, threatening to overtake his senses, to drown him in the pleasure of the recollection alone. He drank deeply of the sight and only ceased when he heard the “emissary” sigh. He could not immediately detect if it was one of contentment or of consternation—as they so often were—until he heard the distant rumble of the approaching maelstrom. 

  There had been quite a squall the night before, but that had seemed to grow from nowhere, right over the palace, and was fairly localized, all things considered. This one loomed on the horizon, roiling and rumbling, threatening with a menace the sorcerer misliked. “What troubles you, pet?”

  This new moniker, pet, which he had bestowed upon the god of thunder—there was no longer any doubt in his mind what Raiden was—had appeared over the course of a few hours the previous evening. Raiden had not seemed to mind it as Shang Tsung crooned it into his ear, hands wandering, lips pressed close to the warm, electric flesh.

  “I am untroubled,” came the quiet response. Raiden was still curled tightly upon himself, a position Shang Tsung did not like one bit. It spoke of closure, of the barring of ways, of hesitancy and refusal, or negation. He would not be refused in that way—other ways, certainly, without so much as a word, but this… he would have openness in his own bedchamber. Acquired for you by the one you so ardently desire, do not forget, the sorcerer scolded himself. The flare of his minute, potential temper died and his voice softened.

  “I would hear of this lack of trouble,” he insisted. As if punctuating his point, lightning flashed in the far distance and thunder roared to make its intentions known. It was still a long way off, but it was loud. Shang Tsung could almost see the waterspouts forming underneath it—or perhaps one great spout. What power he commands, his lusty mind whispered with predatory passion. I must have him—I must endeavor to keep him. I cannot… exist without him. He stowed this thought too, for the idea that his own existence hinged in any way on another being, divine or not, was abhorrent to his very nature.

  Raiden turned over, facing the sorcerer, sheets drawn almost to his chin. He looked… timid. The sight turned Shang Tsung’s guts to ice, but his face betrayed nothing. Had he harmed the deity in some way, or ignored some silent plea Raiden could not voice due to his own hesitance in the face of such pure, unadulterated desire? Shang Tsung had endeavored to keep himself in check, to remain soft, not hesitant, but certainly making all intentions and purposes clear throughout their time together. His desire to devour Raiden had not abated. Rather, he reminded himself of the old maxim, “pleasure delayed is pleasure doubled”. And so he had delayed—and it had more than doubled.

  Or so he had assumed.

  Now, he doubted himself. The idea that he had in any way upset or even—heaven forbid—frightened Raiden was sickening to him, an aberration of something which should have been the best moments, the softest, warmest, most cherished memories, or at least to number among them. The sorcerer swallowed minutely and moved toward the bed, presently settling himself upon it, robe falling carelessly open, for what did he have to hide? And from whom?

  Thunder rumbled once more, gaining speed and losing distance. It would soon be upon the island. The people living in the village below the palace—all his staff, of course, and acolytes, training to defend the island—were surely pulling in their nets, securing their boats, and barring their windows once more. They were a hardy lot, from many realms, and the sorcerer was grateful for their presence, but even he, with all his wealth and influence, might have a difficult time retaining staff if they were swept away in unseasonably nasty storms. He did not blame Raiden, for the deity himself looked baffled, even unaware, that he was doing this.

  “What troubles you?” Shang Tsung repeated the question, but this time reached out to grasp one of the hands which held the blanket. It was large, but strangely delicate in form. These were not the hands of a bruiser, though Raiden’s strikes were like the thunder he commanded, deafening and numbing. Lightning arced between them and snapped the sorcerer’s fingers, for which those nigh-inscrutable glowing eyes appeared apologetic.

  Rather than speak his worries, Raiden released the sheet with one hand and grasped Shang Tsung’s as the sorcerer grasped him. 

  Shang Tsung pulled at that hand, urging Raiden to sit up, to face him properly. He wanted to speak. Reluctantly, the god of thunder shifted, keeping the sheets close with his free hand, and finally sat up, propping himself against the luxuriant pile of pillows on the sorcerer’s fine bed. He found himself wondering, much against his will, if Shang Tsung had not insisted upon such a large bed for this very purpose. While the master of this strange island was not diminutive by any means, Raiden was, by comparison, uncommonly colossal. He had room, on this bed, to stretch out with space to spare. The idea darkened a corner of his mind and the storm growled.

  Still holding that hand, now in both of his, Shang Tsung moved himself closer as static arced its way from Raiden’s body to his hands and arms. He paid this no mind whatsoever, meeting Raiden’s eyes steadily with his own dark, fathomless ones. Raiden saw in those eyes that ancient greed from timelines long gone, that bottomless emptiness, yearning voraciously to be filled, yet never able. No, he thought, I do not see that at all, but echoes of it. Upon closer inspection, he found that indeed, he had been mistaken. The darkness he saw was only Shang Tsung’s insatiable appetite for… him.

  “Do you recall when I said I would have all of you, dear Raiden?” This was an old title of affection he had coined long ago, perhaps a decade or more. Slowly, Raiden nodded, recalling not only the phrase but the circumstances under which it had been uttered. He swallowed hard, eyes falling from Shang Tsung’s. It was only the sorcerer’s hand under his chin, releasing its grip upon his own hand momentarily which compelled his gaze to return where it had been. The grasp was not harsh, but it was firm and he saw something in Shang Tsung’s face that spoke of chiding discipline, which awoke in Raiden an ire he had forgotten he could possess. But whence is this directed?

  “I do,” said the elemental, straightening and thereby removing his chin from the sorcerer’s grip. Shang Tsung regarded him with voracious fondness. It was not a predatory look, not quite, but it could easily have become that. The hunger was always lurking. To that end, rather than returning his hand to the one he still held, he reached out and sought gently to prize the grip of the sheet from Raiden’s other hand. It was like moving a statue and force would not do. Nor, he thought, would frustration. In all things, the soul sorcerer reminded himself, patience. I have been the student—now I am the teacher to an ageless being.

  “I did not simply mean your body, fine a gift as it is to have been bestowed upon me, and grateful as I am for that… for you.” He did not continue to attempt the physical compulsion of the hand which so rigidly attempted to guard the rags of the deity’s chastity. Rather, he reached out and slid his hand dexterously around the back of Raiden’s neck, pulling him forward and pressing their foreheads together. “I want your mind, fulminator—I want your heart, o’ commander of lightning and the storm… I want every bit of you that you are willing to give. I want it all.”

  “I know,” admitted Raiden quietly, eyes closing. He knew all too well what Shang Tsung wanted, what he wanted, for that matter. Coming to terms with that desire had been an enormous obstacle for Raiden who, had he been in a less distracted state of mind, might have wondered after the grandiose forms of address Shang Tsung had just heaped upon him. But he was not. He was still facing up to his own trepidations and fears regarding such desire and affection and what it meant for him and for the sorcerer. The process was not a rapid one by any means.

  “Do you truly know?” Shang Tsung’s voice was low, almost inquisitive. Their lips were inches apart, but still he spoke, initiating nothing more than close conversation. “Or are you still learning, my dear, exquisite one?” These words were spoken with not so much as a hint of malice. Shang Tsung was hoping to prompt a response with it, one of open honesty. This, among many other things, was something he deeply desired from his friend and mentor.

  Raiden’s shoulders sagged helplessly and he pulled away, sighing through his nose; he did not drop the sheet and the storm in the distance, while suddenly holding its position, had begun to rumble and flash more fiercely than ever. He looked over Shang Tsung’s shoulder and, noting it for the first time, colored gently, a golden sheen staining his cheeks in the place of the red of mortal blood. Shang Tsung’s hand moved from the nape of Raiden’s neck and that fine, silken white hair, to the side of his face, thumb oscillating back and forth in a soft rhythm and gesture of fond placation.

  “Yes,” Raiden finally said, speaking barely above a whisper. “I am… still learning.” We must all learn, our whole lives, even if those lives last eons upon eons. We must always learn.

  “And what would you have me teach you?” Once more, the sorcerer’s words were free of any sort of mockery or teasing or jest. He was, in a word, sincere. Catching Raiden’s gaze, he held it and held him. There was such tenderness in that touch, such devotion upon his face, that Raiden felt suddenly very foolish for his hesitance. Shang Tsung’s other hand soon joined the one upon Raiden’s face and he held him there, softly, appreciating the strange glow of those eyes. 

  A vision of the blue-white becoming a sickly, enraged red entered the sorcerer’s mind and he flinched imperceptibly, attributing the picture to the ferocity of the approaching storm and the potential of his celestial lover. The image portrayed a being of unthinking fury, of total and complete chaos, without restraint or the desire for it and it scared the sorcerer.

  It also thrilled him.

  Raiden saw this, too. He saw much, and always had. It is not something you should covet, sorcerer, he chided mentally. Rather than speaking the words, however, he closed his eyes and shook his head, hands rising to cover Shang Tsung’s on either side of his face. The admission of his ignorance was so quiet, it might have been the whisper of rain upon distant rooftops. “I do not know.”

  Before Shang Tsung could respond, Raiden’s fingers tightened around his and pushed them away. He, bare to the waist—past that only covered by a sheet—leaned away and then turned, seemingly intent upon standing. He sought his white robe, that soft, diaphanous thing, embroidered with gold, trimmed in blue, and of the finest material he had ever felt. Fist closing upon it, Raiden lifted the garment and draped it about his broad shoulders, which tightened at the feeling of the sorcerer’s eyes upon him. Shang Tsung reached out then and laid his fingers upon the mark of Raiden’s divinity which glowed a soft blue beyond the sheer fabric of the robe. Raiden stiffened.

  “Please,” he whispered, “allow me… time. That is all I ask.”

  “Time you shall have, pet,” promised the sorcerer, “but call off your typhoon, I beg; the village will not fare well if it grows any larger.”

  Raiden stood then, back to Shang Tsung, as if suddenly aware of his own exposure. The glowing marks all over his body were dim in the light of the red morning sun, but they were becoming slowly brighter as the darkness of the oncoming storm approached and covered the celestial body—well, one of them. The sorcerer only had eyes for the celestial body in his bedroom, and what its closed posture meant. He was torn between insisting upon a discussion, knowing Raiden’s strange mood had something (perhaps everything) to do with the previous evening and allowing his frankly exquisite lover work through whatever it was which troubled him on his own. The not knowing, the lack of a solution, ate away at Shang Tsung, but his calculating, better judgment won out and he remained silent, withdrawing from the bed and moving toward the small table set for a breakfast as yet unserved.

  Without a word, the deity withdrew to the sorcerer’s expansive closet, yet another cave feature carved directly into the mountainside, but polished smooth and bearing little resemblance to the rough-hewn rock it might once have been. The monks, he recalled, had built a crude sanctuary up this far, at least, and that had been an alcove for worship. Now it was for a different, more material sort of homage. The sorcerer did not follow Raiden, instead turning upon his chair to watch the storm. It stayed where it was, hovering ominously in the distance, devouring the sunrise and rumbling threateningly. He scoffed as best he could, but there was real fear lurking deep in his hindbrain and his heart, not for the storm itself, perhaps, but what it represented. Once more, he found himself going over the events of the evening, combing through each explicit detail exhaustively, seeking any clue he had violated some unseen barrier and that the deity had consequently given some clue which he might have, in the throes of his passion, ignored.

  “It is not of your doing, Tsung,” Raiden’s voice appeared suddenly, as if from nowhere, but in truth, the colossal man was standing just behind Shang Tsung, fully clothed, wrapped in his customary habit, save that his hair was still free. This was one concession he had become comfortable making, even around the servants. Shang Tsung’s eyes ran over the beautiful cut of the cloth, the way it hugged Raiden’s figure, but in a utilitarian way, despite how ornate the damascened designs upon the cloth may have been. To say nothing of his need to cover himself, he at least has elegant taste. A vision of Raiden in plain, loose-fitting, gray and white robes flashed in his mind and he shuddered internally.

  “The storm? Of course not, fulminator,” purred the sorcerer in a tone which was, for the first time that morning, teasing. “It is not within my power to affect the weather… not like that, at least. Not yet.”

  This earned him a small, if strained, smile and Raiden’s presence at his table. For a moment, they were both watching the storm with similar expressions of wonder and awe. Without a sound, Raiden’s hand moved slowly across the table to place itself atop where Shang Tsung’s was laying, bare, jewel-less, but no less beautiful for all that. Finely manicured nails, trimmed to perfection, were soon covered by the so-called emissary’s larger hand as he wrapped his fingers around those of the sorcerer and squeezed. Only at the pressure did Shang Tsung’s gaze turn from the distant storm and back to his lover. Oh, how he cherished that word and all its meanings. If only he could understand the meaning behind Raiden’s hesitance. How could he have known that it was the very concept of his status as someone’s “lover” which had given the celestial being pause.

  “I owe you an explanation, Tsung… perhaps many.”

  “You owe me nothing,” the sorcerer interjected.

  “Be that as it may, I am offering you… my openness and truth; I would bare my soul as I… bared my body.” Surprisingly, Raiden’s eyes did not fall, though once more his cheeks colored with a sweet dusting of gold. Shang Tsung had the sudden desire—perhaps it was not so sudden—to lay his lips tenderly upon that flesh, to see that color spread. Once more, he held back his desirous mind and heart and settled to listening instead. “You have had my flesh, now I… offer my mind.”

  Shang Tsung shifted. The storm rumbled in the distance, but it seemed to be losing its intensity and vehemence, content merely to threaten, never to move. Lightning flashed almost gently across and between the dark clouds, but the sorcerer saw none of this. His back was facing the superficial storm and his eyes were fixed upon the real one. Shang Tsung’s thumb ran familiar, oscillating patterns over Raiden’s knuckles as he began to speak.

  “I have lived… long… and seen much,” said Raiden, as if Shang Tsung did not already know this upon laying eyes on him the first time. Still, the sorcerer waited patiently, his sharp mind closing like a trap over each word and considering each with great care. “But there are admittedly  many things I have not permitted myself to… experience.” Without going into any detail which might alert Shang Tsung that he was more than an ascendant humanoid, or some creation of the fire god Liu Kang, Raiden spoke, choosing each word carefully as a jeweler selects gems for a piece of great value.

  “I am changed, I think, because of this and it… frightens me,” Raiden explained further. Nodding toward the distant hurricane, he continued. “I am not accustomed to this kind of misgiving—it is loathsome to me… I am loathsome to me because of it.”

  “Because of what I have… done?” The hesitance in Shang Tsung’s voice alarmed Raiden and his eyes widened almost imperceptibly. “I have asked too much of you too quickly, dear one.”

  “No,” said Raiden, shaking his head. “You asked for and gave nothing which I did not desire to give or to receive. Our exchange was an honest one.” Perhaps more honest than I have been with him since we encountered each other this final time. “Our desire was—is … mutual.”

  Shang Tsung studied his mentor a while in silence. The wind from the ocean had fallen completely still, as if the oncoming storm had torn it all away, leaving the bare bones of absolute reality, a frightening vista indeed. The sorcerer pursed his lips, considering many things once more, and then nothing at all, save the man before him. “I believe I know what I have to offer you—what I could teach you, o’ resplendent thunderbolt.”

  Raiden’s thick, dark eyebrows rose questioningly. If he was honest with himself—a dangerous prospect, even for a god—he was very fond of the various monikers assigned to him by his sorcerous companion. This one was new, but just as creative as his others. He had but one, the man’s given name. It seemed like little, until he used it and the sorcerer’s pupils dilated and gooseflesh rose upon his skin. “I have no doubt you offer much, Tsung. Am I to understand that you have come to a conclusion…?”

  “I have indeed,” confirmed Shang Tsung, the impish smile quickly being replaced by a grave look. “There is much and more you know about me, and about this world—it almost seems as if you have been here before, but that is neither here nor there, as they say.” His mirth at Raiden’s minute and well-disguised alarm was difficult to mask.

  “You lack knowledge of yourself—not of your nature; you know much about that, I do not doubt, but about what that nature means… You know what you need, and of the needs of others you are… irritatingly well-versed, almost to a fault. But you do not know what you want, what you desire… and when you find that, you cannot seem to allow yourself to grasp it, because you fear your own desire to be desired.

  “Is that not so?”

  The look upon Raiden’s face told Shang Tsung all he needed to know about the truth of his statement, and more than that, about how he had never once considered this, in all his eons of life—eons upon eons, if the sorcerer’s private theories were correct. The revelation seemed momentarily to break him and, thus, the storm. The light flooded Shang Tsung’s bedchamber, golden and stunning, catching in the diamond tears falling down Raiden’s shapely cheeks and clattering, solid bits of mithril, onto the table between them. They caught the streaming sunlight and threw beautiful flecks of rainbow around the opulent room as the sorcerer leaned across that table and pressed their lips together, softly, but with deliberate force.

 “You fear that I have… taken you and that it somehow diminishes your radiance,” Shang Tsung said, pulling back, “but I assure you, nothing diminishes you without your consent… And it is not just I who have had you, pet.” The sorcerer stopped a moment, measuring his words as he had always done. He had come this far, however. Why stop now? “You also have had me, and you will have me… for eternity.”

[wu-sisyphus-gang]

Motion Sickness Chapter 52

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Neo and I waltzed up on Aurum. I had my pipe clenched between my front teeth and was taking a pull on it long enough to make my head spin. Damn, it felt good. Silence, apart from the soul rending music. True peace with the bugs behind my face.

Cobalt and Obsidian were there and they were armed. Obsidian had a hatchet, red and black, and Cobalt had a machine gun. I could only guess who they were for. They didn't really concern me. I was a tough cookie and Neo was no slouch.

"Well you busted my boys out. I owe you for that," Aurum told me. "Join me. Have a seat."

I did, carefully maneuvering the harness of tools on my back. Neo plopped down beside me, kicking one leg up over the other. I watched Cobalt's eyes watch her legs and snorted a little. Maybe he hadn't seen any action in a while.

I took another long take on my pipe and made sure to blow it away from Neo out of a sense of politeness and professional courtesy.

"You got my information?" I half asked, half demanded. "I want to know about that facility."

"Easy champ. Relax. Have a drink." He poured one out for us. Neo obliged him but I was already cruising. The ceiling and walls were doing a decent rate in my head. It felt awesome but I didn't need to add to that in case things went sideways.

I tapped my pipe out on an ashtray. "You better not fuck around with me. I'll rip your party pad apart to find what I want and I'll hand you over to Neo. She'll chew into you."

"Don't be like that. I was just going to offer you more work. You did a good job and you're quite the badass from what I'm told." Obsidian shuffled, a touch nervously. Perhaps remembering coasting by guide wires thousands of feet above the ground as I flew him and his pal around. Or maybe he was remembering the way I ripped the roof off his prisoner transport. "I have no intention of pissing you off. I just wanted you to know that there was more I could offer you."

"Like what?"

"Money, for one."

"Not interested," I disagreed quickly. I had millions in digital currency and a few dozen grand in cash.

"Maybe so." He went with it easily. "How about information on the General. I can put you in contact with a group that will let you know what he's really up to. I don't have the details myself."

I reclined. He had my attention. I packed another bowl from my grinder.

"Let's hear about the Schnee and her facility first. Then we can talk about the General."

"Very well. She visits the Sinovial Bunker everyday. It's near the academy. All she does is visit this old lady the whole place is built around. Your guess is as good as mine as to why. I have a few eyes inside but they're not allowed close to the woman. The only person she's allowed to see is the Schnee, which death might be preferable to."

I nodded. It was the summer or winter maiden. It had to be. That made Winter the next maiden if the General's plan went well. Something to keep an eye on. I could set my trap for Cinder around the place.

"Or maybe your guess as to why is better than mine."

"Maybe." I took a toke, keeping the place spinning at an appropriate rate. Not too fast, not too slow. Indica tended to wear off fast.

"Well don't share everything all at once now." He laughed and poured himself another drink.

"I had no intention of doing so. You'd be the one owing me after that."

"So are you ready to talk about the General?" He asked.

"And a few other people. What have you heard about a man named Merlot?" I asked. He frowned and shook his head. "How about Tyrian Callows? Or Hazel Rainart? Or Cinder Fall?"

"The first one rings a bell. He's in Atlas if nothing else. A scorpion faunus, yes?"

I nodded. "He's incredibly dangerous. I have a bit of a vendetta against him. He tried to kill me once."

"He tried to kill you ."

"I wasn't always such a badass."

"Well if he comes up, I'll leave him to you, shall I?"

"That would be best. He might kill you and torture you for fun. He's a bit of a psycho."

"Well I'm willing to pass on information about all four. In exchange for a favor."

"What do you need me to do?" That's what I was. I was a doer. I got things done for people now.

"A rival gang is moving in on my territory. I need you to stomp them out. It shouldn't be a problem for somebody of your talents."

"You need them dead or just hurt?" I asked.

"Either or. I need them out of my way."

"Tell me more about them."

"They're called the Blue-Hats. You heard of them?"

I shook my head and exhaled smoke. It was quickly lost to the energy of The Den.

"They've got this big hang-out in Cerebri-Plaza. I'll show you." He pulled out his scroll and flicked open a map of Atlas. "They're fucking annoying."

"What do they do?"

"Run drugs mostly. Occasionally they do killings and beatings but mostly drugs. They're my main competition when it comes to hyper."

I nodded along. "And you want me to bust their skulls. Burn their supply, maybe."

"I like where your head's at. I'd rather you steal it for my boys but if you can't do that then go for it and burn it. Sure, why not?" He swallowed some of his drink. "My own boys haven't been able to crack at them, not since they were in prison. But now we have you. And I'd rather things didn't devolve into shooting in the streets. Try and keep it indoors. You get this done for me. And I'll find out about those four. All you want to know. Plus the General's secret project. What do you say?"

I chewed on my pipe and looked at his projected map of Atlas. "Send me their location information."

"What? You going to do it now?"

"I've got nothing better to do. I'll be back before the night is over. Keep my seat warm." If it was just this then it would be easy. Too easy. I sometimes forget what life was like for non-hunters. Considering how long I'd been a hunter.

I'd been at it for nearly my whole life. Practically my whole life. It's just that I was only three years old or so. I've been out of the tank that long, I guess. I was maybe four depending on how you wanted to cut your definition of life, which I realize was a discussion most people didn't have to have with themselves.

That's how long I'd been grown in that incubator to adulthood. Then I'd immediately gone to Beacon, had my aura unlocked, and started fighting.

It was a matter of relativity, I suppose. I'd been at it for arguably longer than Ruby or Yang had been. If it was a matter of ratios rather than time, that is.

"Well you do work fast," Aurum said in his tacky suit.

I stood up and Neo bounced on her heels behind me. "Yep." I told her. "We're off to smash some heads in. Get excited."

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It was a three story building and I took my time scoping it out. I'd had to pocket my pipe once I got outside of The Den. I was sure I had an earthly cologne, besides.

It was getting to midnight and sure enough a bunch of boys in blue hats came in and out of the building. The closest thing to gang uniforms that really existed besides the Malachites' gear.

It had nice glass windows and music and lights radiated from the inside. It sounded like as much of a party was going on inside as was taking place at The Den. It was too bad Neo and I were going to pop this joint.

I pulled a few red dust crystals and squeezed them until they shattered like I practiced. Then I waved a hand and blew out the windows on the top floor with fire. Screaming poured from the inside. I had told Aurum I was going to burn it and he made it clear he didn't care enough for me to not.

I palmed a yellow crystal and crushed it in my hand. I waved a hand and lightning struck the upper floor and shook the building.

I was going to shake and batter the place with my magic first. Then I was going to strike with Neo beside me. She had her umbrella leaning against one shoulder and was standing next to me, watching me cast my bolt against the building.

The building was all silver greys like much of the Atlas skyline. And it had been built to code with enough distance between it and the nearby buildings that the fire now burning inside wouldn't spread. It was an isolated target.

I activated my semblance. I felt the power flood over and throughout me. I focused my will, my very essence on holding onto the power as long as I could. I glowed blue and hummed with energy.  

I reached over my shoulder and drew the bronze and white longsword with the foot and a half long red handle. I spun it in one hand with ease, leaving my shield on my back. The broadsword would only be hampered in doors and I was fast enough that the shield wasn't necessary for these sorts of goons.

I walked up to the burning building and kicked the front door down and in. People came running out screaming and I let them. It was those staying behind to save the product from the burning building I would need to deal with.

A kid with a blue hat turned a pistol sideways at me and shot with atrocious aim. He had red hair and dark eyes. Another blakc haired kid added submachine gun fire to the mix and I rushed forward, hovering inches above the ground.

I slashed Mr. Gangsta to the ground. He fell screaming. Then I cut the submachine gun into pieces and reached my free hand out and grabbed the man still holding the butt of the weapon. I threw him behind me into a wall hard enough to crack it. Both him and the wall, that is.

There were people trying to save boxes from the upstairs fire. Boxes which I could smell were full of greens and it made my mouth water a touch. Unfortunately I couldn't have any of that and I raced at them and sliced the boxes out of their hands.

A knife came up at me which I blocked with my free hand and turned with incredible strength against its user, a brown haired kid with blue eyes. It sank into his stomach and he fell gasping to the stairs. Slumping to the side. Red smeared across his hair and face.

I snatched a pistol out of one of their hands and shattered it by squeezing it. I kicked him down but left him alone otherwise so he could carry the others to safety.

The last man had aura. It was blue and crackling.

I kicked him with both legs and he fell to the side. I bashed him with the pomel of Crocea Mors. I claimed the stairway to find Neo already fighting on the second floor. There were nearly fifteen Blue-Hats up here. I readied my sword and slashed the barrel of a rifle in two and throw the man behind it to the ground. I kicked him in the chin afterwards.

I slashed at another in the gut and he went down holding his chest and letting the blood fly free. I stepped past the dying man and onto the next. I stabbed with the tip of Crocea Mors and met resistance. More aura. I stabbed again and cut once and eventually made my way through it and he fell to the side bleeding.

I came up on a woman in a blue hat and long blonde hair. She was pretty enough with bright blue eyes but I cut her aside anyways with the diagonal edge of Crocea Mors' longsword.

I slammed the hilt of the blade into the skull of another and I pulled out another dust crystal. Yellow. I squeezed it and it turned grey as it broke and the energy came rushing up my arm. I pointed a hand forward and the bolt struck behind where seven of them were forming a foreign line and tossed them about like rag dolls.

Just because I was mostly immune to small arm fire didn't mean I wanted to go up against a firing squad. There were heaps of brown boxes in the corner and I watched the still growing fires consume them.

Neo wrapped her legs around one poor soul's head and flung him back into the flames where he screamed in real pure agony. Getting burned hurts. A lot. Getting burned all over probably hurts a lot more.

I grabbed a blue hat by the collar and picked him up with a casual strength and slammed his head into the ceiling then I tossed him aside. All these guys the fire would probably consume. I went back and stabbed him in the chest. It just seemed more merciful.

I could see plastic packets of hyper, some drown out on tables others still in their boxes. I palmed another fire crystal and let the fire burst forth from it. I was using dust raw. In its most destructive form. I'd heard of sewing it into clothes as Cinder did, I'd also heard of consuming it into the body to be used as a bit of an amplifier. This was either of those. This was the caveman's version of using dust. It was simple and raw.

I was strangely good at it. I consumed a crystal and cast my sword at a group of boxes and let the fires wash forth from the blade. I wasn't even sure I'd be able to hold onto the power very long. Better to use it before it hurt me and let it out.

I was still holding onto my semblance and I glided forward and front kicked a blue hat out of a window. He tumbled through the glass violently and fell the two stories.

The building was starting to cave in on us. Beams from the third floor where I'd sent my first blast were descending onto the second. And I'd set this floor ablaze a plenty.

"Neo! Let's bug out. Jobs done." I told her. The place was falling apart. I slashed at the wall and bounded out into the street and landed in a single massive leap.

I sheathed my sword and brushed ash from my dark clothes. I slapped at my cape where the lamp hung by my side. We made this look easy too. It would have been much harder if I'd been respecting the sanctity of life but who had the time and the power to do that. It would take a near god to go around sparing life in the sort of combat I was in. I could kill, that was abundantly clear.

But how could I minimize the loss of life in a burning building I was attacking? I couldn't stop time or manipulate space. My semblance just made me stronger and faster. And I wasn't sure that Neo would have been on board if I was trying to avoid death all the time. I wasn't sure I could keep her on my side if that was the case.

I released my semblance. Letting my power evaporate into nothing. I'd held onto it for a long time in there. I was sure that with enough practice I'd be able to hold onto the power indefinitely. I might even be able to combine different dust types with it and do all sorts of nasty things one day. For now all I was capable of was raw destruction with dust. I might be able to eat it one day with enough practice. And I had the money for dust and I was in the dust capital of the world.

I'd make time to practice magic. People like Aurum would give me all the targets I could ask for and one life was as inconsequential to me as another. I'd have my share of practice to use the power against.

But when I ran into Tyrian again I wanted to be ready to squash him like the bug he was. And when I fought Cinder again I wanted to have all the tools I could possibly have at my disposal. That meant practicing dust eating. That meant practicing using its raw form and perhaps using it with my weapon to bring out the greatest effect like Raven had done.

In a moment she had turned the tide enough in that fight to escape from me. When I had her dead to rights she'd used dust to leverage enough of an advantage, just enough, to win. I couldn't remain ignorant about dust any longer. I had to learn how to use it for magic.

For now that meant these little things against people like the Blue-Hats. But one day it would mean taking dust to that next level against monsters like Cinder. With enough dust, I could overcome the power of a maiden. I had literally no excuse to stop improving and stop getting better. So in the weeks Neo and I had traveled I practiced.

Yuma had been right to say I was loaded with the stuff. Now I could do minor destruction magic with it. It wasn't enough. It may never be enough but I had to use every resource available to me if I wanted to defeat Cinder. She was two maidens now. I wasn't sure there had ever been such a thing in all of history but she was now.

She also knew how to use dust and glass and gods only knew what her semblance was. She was dangerous. Probably more dangerous than me and more dangerous than ever. I need the edge dust could bring if I ever wanted to defeat her. That was why I brought Neo on board.

I needed to seize every edge.

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

-WG

[chuckling-chemist]

No One Understands Kingdom Hearts

Okay, I know I make the joke of saying “the stupidest thing I’ve ever written” before I write the second stupidest thing I’ve ever written, but this time I seriously, actually mean it this time. I am not sure we’re going to top this one, lads. 

There’s no warnings, but heads up this thing is incredibly rough and is unedited/beta-ed. I just had to write it out after a series of snapchats between @commentisunrelated and myself. About you know. Xehanort. And hearts. 

It felt like they’d been running for hours. Hours of white walls and white ceilings, ambushing faceless shadows dressed in black cloaks long before they had the chance to strike. Ren didn’t remember the last time they encountered a safe room. If it hadn’t been for his cooking, the Phantom Thieves’ stamina would’ve been wiped out far too long ago, and they’d be stuck traversing through this nightmare of a Palace another day under potentially different circumstances.

He was fast to jump on the first door that looked different – heart shaped, its pink color almost pulsing against the white. Locked, but not a problem. Ren picked locks for so long in his life he was practically a master at it now, Metaverse abilities or not.

“Readings say it’s pretty important,” Futaba said. “Might have a boss inside.”

“What about a map?” Makoto asked.

Futaba shrugged helplessly. “If he’s got a map, then yeah. Otherwise? We’re on our own still.”

Ryuji groaned. “Goddamn it. I hate this place. This…this effing--”

Ren heard a few taps on something behind him, followed by Futaba saying, “Xehanort’s Kingdom of Hearts. That was the key phrase. Don’t ask me why.”

The hefty, heart shaped lock clicked open, dropping to the ground with a resounding thud. Ren turned back to the rest of the group with a grin. “Showtime.”

Unsurprisingly, the room was painfully white. It was also wide open, with absolutely no cover from the singular shadow standing beyond them – human looking, with gold eyes and long silver hair that stood out against the man’s long black and white coat. He watched, motionless, as the group walked in. Just like Futaba predicted. On the corner of his vision, he saw the fuzzy outlines of what looked to be a safe room. This man, clearly waiting for them, was the only barrier between their goal.

“Welcome, thieves,” he said. If he noticed Ren immediately grabbing for his baselard, he didn’t say anything, opting instead to continue standing there with his arms crossed.  “I see you’re after Kingdom Hearts.”

“Are we?” Ann blinked owlishly. “Wait, did this shadow name the Treasure?”

“Oh no. Kingdom Hearts is one thing: Kingdom Hearts is darkness.”

Ryuji scowled. “Wait what? I thought Kingdom Hearts was—”

“Kingdom Hearts!” the man shouted, as if Ryuji said nothing, “fill me with the power of darkness!!”

The shadow transformed, morphing into a black beast not unlike the ones they’d seen at other points in the Palace. Darkness in the form of inky black smoke pooled around them, cutting off their vision as smaller shadows bombarded them. It was only thanks to Captain Kidd’s lightning and the light from Power’s hama the Phantom Thieves saw anything during the fight. By the end, the shadow disappeared into nothingness, leaving the rest of them exhausted.

“That’s a safe room up there. Let’s pack it up for now and return in a couple days when we have our strength back,” Ren said. He wasn’t ready to process the shadow ate up that much of their energy and didn’t even have the decency to drop a map. That was, apparently, asking for too much.

No one argued with him. They were all too tired.

When they went at it a second time, it was the same thing all over again. White rooms. White halls. Black shadows. Pink hearts. Hoping they made progress.

The answer to their question came at the appearance of another Shadow. Like the previous one, he was tall with long white hair. Unlike the previous one, he dressed himself in what Ren swore was a zebra-fur coat, though simultaneously knew it couldn’t be possible since the man in question didn’t technically come from a place where zebras existed.

“Who’re you?” Ren demanded.

“I am Xemnas. I seek to bring Kingdom Hearts,” he said. His voice rattled just as deeply as the previous Shadow, though different. Hollow.

“Oh…kay,” Futaba said. “And what exactly is Kingdom Hearts?”

Xemnas smirked. With a snap of his fingers, white walls gave way to reveal a monstrous, actual heart-shaped thing in the sky past the windows. “Kingdom Hearts,” he said slowly, almost in a drawl, “is how us Nobodies will feel again. It is a heart for all Nobodies!”

“And what does that have to do with it being darkness?” Morgana asked.

“Yeah, the last guy told us Kingdom Hearts was darkness!” Ryuji shouted.

Xemnas didn’t answer. Rather, the instrument of apparent darkness used to make Nobodies (whatever those were) to feel again shot a beam of light through the room.

The fight afterward was grueling. Physical attacks did almost nothing to him, resulting in Ryuji and Yusuke taking a backseat as the heavier magic-aligned Persona users blasted him. Kingdom Hearts – at least, what Xemnas claimed was Kingdom Hearts – proved to be its own problem as well. While Xemnas attacked them with his own laser beams, “Kingdom Hearts” shot at them from afar. It managed to catch Ren’s coat more than a few times, singeing the tail.

Still, they managed to end the fight. Xemnas faded away into darkness, and Kingdom Hearts disappeared from the window along with him. Where Xemnas once stood, a map lay crumpled on the floor in his place.

“Oh thank goodness,” Haru said.

“I was beginning to get worried we’d never find it,” Makoto said.

Ren nodded wordlessly in agreement. He picked it up, scanning it for any relevant details.

“I have good news.”

“Oh?” Yusuke asked.

“One more push and we’re at the Treasure. Looks like Xemnas even had the thought to tell us what it’s called.”

“Really?” Morgana’s eyes shone brightly. He hopped up onto Ren’s shoulder, and Ren swore he felt every excited vibration running through the cat as he scanned the map up and down. “Wait, that’s not the Treasure name! That just says Kingdom Hearts!”

Ren used his free hand to point at the arrow pointed neatly to the big red spot marked in a suspiciously large chamber toward the center of the castle. Above the arrow was the name Kingdom Hearts scrawled in dark ink. “You sure? Looks like it’s pointing to a treasure to me.”

“But he said Kingdom Hearts was a heart for all Nobodies,” Ann said.

Haru frowned. “The man before said Kingdom Hearts was darkness,” she said.

“Perhaps it is both?” Yusuke closed his eyes as if in contemplation. “Maybe all so-called Nobodies have hearts filled completely in darkness, and Kingdom Hearts is a collection of all of those.”

“If that’s the case, all the better we’re changing his heart,” Morgana said.

“But wait.” Makoto shook her head. “Earlier in the Palace, we came across books calling Kingdom Hearts all sorts of different things. Some called it light, others called it a portal, others said it was used to make a sword. How can it be all of those things and also a heart for Nobodies and a representation of darkness?”

“Maybe it’s whatever the summoner of Kingdom Hearts desires?” Haru said.

“Whatever it is, it can wait until after the Palace is completed. Come on, we’ve almost secured a route.”

After the fight with Xemnas, the rest of the Palace was a breeze. Ren tried not to focus on the noticeable physical similarities the grunt shadows shared with Xemnas and the other shadow from earlier, but as their difficulty seemed to melt away, it proved more and more difficult. By the time they reached the Treasure and secured a route, Ren was absolutely certain every single shadow was merely a stand-in for the Palace owner himself.

The following days started as normal: send the calling card (an unusual circumstance, but Futaba made it work), infiltrate the Palace and steal the treasure. Ren sold some of their treasure (hearts, they were all somehow related to hearts) off at Iwai for some extra cash that he immediately traded off for medicine at Takemi’s clinic. He didn’t know what to expect, and after months of doing this he learned to prepare for the worst.

And by worst, Ren meant fighting the Palace ruler.

Needless to say, shortly after they took the Treasure – which had taken the form of, what else but a silver gray heart – ahead of them stood the palace ruler, Xehanort. An old man, balding with a long gray beard and a notably similar outfit to the first man they found.

“You really think you can just come here and take Kingdom Hearts? After all the work I’ve done to bring it about?”

“What?!” Ryuji shouted. Thank God it was Morgana who held the Treasure, otherwise Ryuji would’ve dropped it right there. He marched straight up to the old man, grabbing him by the lapel of his coat. It was almost like their previous conversation about the nature of Kingdom Hearts never happened. “What do you mean this is effing Kingdom Hearts?”

“Skull! Get back here!” Ann shouted.  

The man’s lips curled into a smirk. “Yes Skull, return to your friends.” He pushed Skull away with a shocking amount of strength for an old man. With the flick of his wrist, the Treasure morphed from a heart into the strangest, key-shaped weapon any of them had ever seen in their life. Another wrist flick, and the blade disappeared out of Morgana’s paws, moving straight into Xehanort’s hands. “And yield, Phantom Thieves to the true power of Kingdom Hearts!”

As Xehanort’s hands touched the Treasure, darkness surrounded his form. It twisted and shifted around him, the influence of the Metaverse taking over to turn the Shadow into his true form. The first time it happened, back with Kamoshida, Ren had to admit it frightened him. Now? Ren was numb to the change.

At least, he would be, except Xehanort’s form shifted into something quickly becoming painfully familiar to the Phantom Thieves: a twisted, dark shadow in the shape of some sort of malformed heart with eyes and a mouth. Spindly, monochromatic limbs popped out of either side to give it some semblance of arms and legs. It clung onto the key-like blade of a Treasure for dear life. A horrific monstrosity, truly, but not in the way Ren ever expected.

“Kingdom Hearts! Come, consume me with your power!!”

Ryuji sighed. “So what, now he’s Kingdom Hearts?!”

“Perhaps the nature of Kingdom Hearts isn’t important, only what it means to the self,” Yusuke said.

“Yeah right! If it didn’t mean shit this whole place wouldn’t be Kingdom Hearts.” Ryuji grabbed his pipe and pointed it at the giant heart, ready to charge. “I’m starting to think this yahoo doesn’t even know what Kingdom Hearts is!”

And with that, Ryuji bolted forward toward the shadow.

“Skull wait!” Morgana exclaimed.

It was too late. They were left charging in after Ryuji for a fight unlike any they’ve had before.

[esshetic]

PICK A CRYSTAL

THE SCRIBE: Pay attention to the downloads you are receiving, they are not a coincidence, this is your higher self connecting with you because you are soon to embark on a journey and your higher self is providing you with a map to guide you towards the gold. 

THE LIGHTNING BOLT: A revelation arrives quickly to you, which jolts you open and awake, this is going to cause a ripple effect and bring about changes in your life, as a result, I see ways for you to reap quick rewards if you strike when the iron is hot, what is being destroyed is setting the foundation for the building of the new world.

THE WATERFALL: Water flows, its primary function is to move, movement may feel unstable and unreliable but the only truth we know is that change is all there is, remember that we are hurtling through space and we have not been thrown off the earth yet into outer space, resistance is futile, allowing with ease is the message for you. 

THE QUEEN OF FORCES: Welcome to the world, the real world that is in your imagination, do you see her, balancing the moon and sun, fire and ice, bringer of life, you wouldn’t exist without her, you guys are entering this power focus in your life right now, be open, get to know your TRUE power by believing in yourself.

[commenter2]

Ideas for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2

I recently got the last of the trophies for Jedi: Fallen Order and while playing the game it gave me some ideas for new gameplay mechanics along with improvements to those that exist that I personally think should be in the next game, as well as a an idea for a potential plot that could be used.

Ill start off with the plot.

What if for the next game Cal and the other characters discover that the Empire have found a map to an ancient Force item/device and its up to Cal and the others to find it first before the Empire can use it for evil by following the clues on the map while dealing with other challenges along the way.

I know the plot of Fallen Order was similar to my plot suggestion, but I like the idea of a Force item/device being the focus on the game then just getting another game of the heroes fighting the Empire for the rebellion or destroying another superweapon. I got some ideas for potential items/devices that would make for an interesting plot such as an ancient chamber that is believed to enhance a force users abilities, a book containing forgotten secrets of the Sith AND Jedi back before the two groups were at odds, or the coordinates written by a Sith lord that lead to another unheard galaxy.

One thing I really liked in Fallen Order was that we got to see and learn the history of an alternate version of the Force called the “Life Wind” and how it pretty much resulted in the first Jedi and Sith so it would cool to see another example of this in the next game. Maybe in the game it could be revealed that the Force item/device the characters are looking for was made by a race who was able to use both sides of the Force as a power source, using it to make kinetic powered generators, devices powered by some force lightning. etc. and even though some specialized in the dark side they never go truly corrupted by it or got into conflict with those who like to specialize in the light side of the Force, that is until a Jedi (or something like one) came and ruined the peace causing the civilization to fall.

I also have some ideas for side plots for the game.

One is of course seeing Cal deal with falling to the dark side of the Force, I mean EVERY Jedi story makes the main Jedi character go though this at some point so it be good to do it in order get it out of the way. Same for Cere since it was already touched on in Fallen Order. Maybe Maul could have a hand in this as maybe while searching for clues for his own quest, he runs into the group on a few occasions and teaches Cal some Sith techniques in order to get an apprentice, but fails. That and of course Maul is an awesome character.

Another possible idea is a subplot where Cal and Merrin become a canon couple, and not just because they would make an interesting couple. To my knowledge, in the entirety of the Star Wars franchise Anakin, and one other Jedi I can’t name right now, have been the only Jedi to be in canon romantic relationships as others that I can think of either don’t go through with the relationship because of some reason or another like there dedication to the force/cause, never get the chance because someone dies, or it becomes non canon, so it would be interesting (and different plot wise) to see another Jedi be in a relationship, and Merrin being a Nightsister would make it even more interesting and unique then previous Star Wars couples.

Maybe there is a side plot where on one of the planets, Cal has to deal with an active battalion of battle droids who could serve a surviving separatist leader who believe that Cal is with the Empire, trying to kill him.

With the plot done, its time to go over ideas for gameplay, a lot of which I think we can all agree on.

One obvious idea for the next game is being able to fast travel to certain places on planets, as I’m sure I’m not alone when I say it was a real pain to travel back to certain places in order to get missing items and scans. What if you can do this at the mediation circles ? There is a joke in the fandom on how Jedi can use the force to move super fast so maybe this could be the method of fast traveling or as another funny method, using screen wipes like in the original trilogy ?

When it comes to combat it was really interesting getting and using a double sided lightsaber AND a split saber in the game so I think we can all agree that in the next game you should be able to acquire the ability to dual wield.

I could see dual wielding being another lightsaber mode you can switch to whenever you want, making the one sided lightsaber good for casual combat, the double bladed mode effective for groups of enemies but bad against single enemies, and dual wielding to fighting specific targets, as you can do more damage but your defenses are greatly weakened when dealing with groups of enemies and maybe it takes more Force out of your Force bar. Perhaps the skill tree for the next game should have a skill that can allow you to fight with two lightsabers for a small period of time instead of just one strike.

Also while on the topic of lightsabers, what about the idea of being able to dual wield double bladed lightsabers ? Sure that sounds like overkill but they are canon in Star Wars. Maybe that could be like the split saber feature of the game and you acquire late in the game ?

Other combat related ideas I have are Cal being able to use dark side powers like force lighting, which could work with the “Cal tempt by dark side" sub plot or being able to use a blaster, as Cere showed how powerful a blaster can be in the hands of a Jedi in Fallen Order.

Remember in the game you got to control an AT-AT and shot at Imperial troops and vehicles ? That was a fun feature and I think the next game should have more segments like that but with more variety, like being able to fly ships or use turrets, which could be possible since EA had a hand in developing the Battlefront games along with Fallen Order.

What would you like to see happen in the Fallen Order sequel ? Do you agree with any of these ideas ? If so why ?

[thecreaturecodex]

Greater Doppelganger

“Telakin, Greater Doppelganger” by Eva Widermann, © Wizards of the Coast. Accessed from the Dungeon Magazine 127 Map and Handout Supplement here

[The greater doppelganger appeared first in the Forgotten Realms in 2e’s City of Splendor book, then was converted to 3e in Monsters of Faerun and 3.5 in Dungeon Magazine. Although they appeared in the Age of Worms AP, I skipped them when I statted up monsters from those magazines. At the time, I couldn’t figure out how to do their signature ability, mimicking class abilities from their victims, with even a little bit of balance. Remembering that the class simple templates existed has helped me crack that problem.]

Greater Doppelganger CR 9 NE Monstrous Humanoid This grayish humanoid has a noseless face, gaunt limbs ending in long claws, and large eyes.

A greater doppelganger is a creature that can supplement its shape changing abilities with the assumed skills of its victims. A greater doppelganger has several alter egos, each one with its own set of memories and class abilities. These alter egos are assumed from the creature’s victims—a greater doppelganger can only create a new alter ego by eating the brain of a humanoid. They are remarkably flexible in combat, able to switch between combat roles on a whim based on the skills of their alter egos. They are also skilled at fighting other shapeshifters, being able to disrupt their forms with but a touch.

Greater doppelgangers are made, not born. When a skilled doppelganger eats the brain of a creature it is currently impersonating, it unlocks an occult connection between victim and victor. Since few doppelgangers have a taste for flesh, this is an uncommon occurrence. Few greater doppelgangers are anything but evil and depraved. They seek out new victims to devour and gain the memories of, taking the doppelganger habit of using people to a logical, consumptive conclusion. Lesser doppelgangers of an evil disposition often gather underneath them, but the greater doppelganger is usually sure to prevent its minions from learning the secret of how to become a greater doppelganger themselves. Greater doppelgangers, unsurprisingly, do not trust other members of their own kind.

Greater doppelgangers advance by class level. Most of them choose classes that they cannot mimic with their alter egos, the better to broaden their skills. Psychic spellcasting is common among greater doppelgangers, as it supplements their inherent mental powers.

Greater Doppelganger (Monk alter ego) CR 9 XP 6,400 NE Medium monstrous humanoid (shapechanger) Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +21 Defense AC 30, touch 24, flat-footed 24 (+5 Dex, +1 dodge, +6 natural, +8 monk) hp 102 (12d10+36) Fort +9, Ref +15, Will +14 Immune divination, mind-influencing effects Defensive Abilities improved evasion Offense Speed 30 ft. Melee 2 claws +18 (2d6+6) or claw +18/+18/+13 (2d6+6) Special Attacks polymorph rend Spell-like Abilities CL 20th, concentration +24 At will—arcane sight, detect thoughts (DC 16) Statistics Str 22, Dex 21, Con 16, Int 19, Wis 22, Cha 18 Base Atk +12; CMB +18; CMD 34 Feats Deceitful, Dodge, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Improved Unarmed Strike (B), Lightning Reflexes, Psychic Maestro (phrenology, read auras), Psychic Sensitivity (B) Skills Bluff +24, Diplomacy +16, Disguise +24 (+44 when using change shape), Knowledge (arcana) +20, Perception +21, Sense Motive +21, Spellcraft +16, Stealth +20; Racial Modifiers +4 Bluff, +4 Disguise, +4 Knowledge (all) Languages Common, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Halfling, telepathy 100 ft. SQ alter ego (monk, rogue, wizard), change shape (humanoid, alter self), loremaster, mimicry, perfect copy Ecology Environment any land or underground Organization solitary or gang (1 plus 2-8 doppelgangers) Treasure double Special Abilities Alter Ego (Su) When a greater doppelganger eats the brain of a Small or Medium humanoid, it gains their memories, as well as some of their class abilities. It can assume a simple class template of that humanoid’s class as a standard action—this can be as part of the same action made to change into their shape. Ability score bonuses gained from this ability are treated as enhancement bonuses, and a greater doppelganger can access class abilities regardless of its alignment. A greater doppelganger can have one alter ego for every 4 HD it has—if it eats a brain after having its full complement of alter egos, it chooses which one to discard. It loses access to the memories of the discarded alter ego. If a greater doppelganger has class levels in a class for which it assumes the class template, it uses its own class abilities or those of the template, whichever are greater. If the greater doppelganger eats the brain of a humanoid without class levels, or with class levels in classes not covered by the class templates, it gains a class template appropriate to the humanoid’s skills and personality (GM’s discretion) Loremaster (Ex) A greater doppelganger gains a +4 racial bonus on all Knowledge checks, and can make Knowledge checks untrained. Mimicry (Ex) A greater doppelganger is proficient in all weapons, armor, and shields. In addition, a greater doppelganger can use any spell trigger or spell completion item as if the spells were on its spell list. Its caster level is equal to its racial Hit Dice. Perfect Copy (Su) When a greater doppelganger uses change shape, it can assume the appearance of specific individuals. Polymorph Rend (Su) The touch of a greater doppelganger deals grievous damage to creatures in a shape other than their own. As a standard action, a greater doppelganger can touch any creature under a polymorph effect, wild shape, the change shape SQ or any other form of shape changing, and deal 6d8 points of damage to them. If the creature does not succeed a DC 20 Fortitude save, they are also forced back into their original shape, and cannot use any shape changing ability for the next 1d4+1 rounds. The save DC is Charisma based.

[centeris2]

JD Bingo pt. 1

Collection of bingo pieces: Moon, Star, Sun, Lightning, Divine, Chaos, Gate, Note, and Tear.

Moon - Whose memories do you want to uncover?

Tell me your secrets. What sins have you committed? What are you hiding from us? Why were you banned from Pandoria?

Star - Who is your favorite person you met on Jorvik?

Midnight by far. Though you could also argue my OC Rebecca. I had no idea when I started playing SSO that Rebecca would turn into her own character.

Sun - Where would you open a portal to?

Quests implied that Mrs X is aware of other worlds, and may be from another world as well. Pandoria exists, so why not other worlds?

Lightning - What does your Soul Strike look like?

Wasn’t about to replay the game just to get a screenshot of Alex using it, so here we are. Rebecca’s soul strike would probably the same as everyone else’s, as far as I know it just looks like a bolt of lightning right? I never really described it in fics, just always assumed it was like a lightning bolt.

Divine - When have you been a leader on Jorvik?

No clue, maybe never? Off hand I can’t actually remember being a leader in the quests, it’s always following other people’s suggestions or needs. The closest I can think of that counts as a ‘leadership’ moment is when you have to convince the soul riders to listen to and trust Evergray, but that was really just talking common sense into them.

Chaos - Create a new Pandorian creature.

Kind of wrote one in a fic, as well multiple Pandorian influenced creatures including wolves and a bear. Fics here: Atalanta the Bear, and Pandora the Wolf

So existing stuff doesn’t count. 

I always figured there were horses in Pandoria. I mean it straight up says there are in Starshine Legacy, you can hear them. But how “horse” would they be? They’d have to be able to fly to get around, or teleport, and they would look very different color wise. Even if they looked like horses, they’d be colors that make more sense for blending in with Pandoria, which means pinks and purples, bright vibrant colors that match their surroundings. Maybe something more akin to these? And horns because... why not? Horns are great!

Sure Jorvik Wilds are colorful, but the “horse” species native to Pandoria? hooo wow they’d stand out on Jorvik! Link to the doll maker here!

Gate - Which gate do you want to unlock on Jorvik?

Devil’s Gap has been in the past two game series’, and is the one area (aside from some of Firfall Mistfall) that I haven’t been able to ‘return’ to. I want to see what it looks like in this version of the map. And, of course, I want all the other areas to unlock as well >.<

Note - What is your favorite soundtrack from Jorvik?

Dino is so incredibly beautiful and the music definitely gave it the best first impression possible. It was also the first real area of the game that had music I was unfamiliar with, as at the time the majority (if not all) of the game music was recycled from previous games, or extremely similar so I didn’t notice it being different. 

Tear - What would you do if you and your Soul Steed were separated? 

Let’s face it at this point if anything happened to Midnightwarrior Rebecca would snap and kill whoever was responsible. She lost half her being once, she won’t do it again.

[medievalfangirl]

To Fight Gravity - Part I

Notes: Written for @waiting4inspiration 2000 follower challenge. Congratulations again, you wonderfully talented and kind soul !! You deserve every follower and many more 💖 I’m definitely going to do a second part, and possibly a little more. If you’d like to be tagged/not tagged in anything, let me know! The word count got out of hand, things got all angsty and I don’t know what to say. Enjoy?

Prompt: ‘I don’t want to be alone right now’

Summary:  The dust has settled after Sokovia, leaving Steve and Nat to train the new Avengers. Their most recent recruit may be able to manipulate gravity, but falling for Pietro Maximoff was entirely out of her control. 

Warnings: hurt/comfort, fluff, fear of storms and some angsty reminiscing 

Words: 1891

Pairing:  Pietro Maximoff (MCU) x OC

Lightning split the night. For a moment, the sky was a stunning array of lilacs and violets against a pitch black backdrop. The sharp light faded as soon as it appeared, and blessed silence followed. Seven seconds followed before the booming clap of thunder. The storm was a little over a mile from the Avengers compound. 

Curled up in the corner of one enormous, communal sofa, Danielle watched the skies with a fierce intensity. Her hands sat in her lap, twisting the hem of her baggy sleep shirt, bothering the fabric until threads came loose. Wide eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. Her appearance did nothing to keep her secret: she was terrified. 

The sound of thunder permeated her senses and shook her bones; it reached into her chest, took hold of her heart, and took her right back to that awful day. How similar they sounded. 

Even now, years later, the acoustics of a storm sent her mind spiralling to a place of dark memories and paralysing fear. Solace came through seeing the foul weather, a visual assurance that she was here and not back there. But this storm had rolled in from the east, and her north-facing windows hadn’t provided her that comfort. So she’d sought the floor-to-ceiling glass of the recreation area. The nagging voice warning her that someone could find her was drowned out by the torrential rain. 

Footsteps against the carpet broke the tense silence between lightning strikes, and panic shot through her. 

Even after a year at the compound Dani was still the newest recruit - the last thing she wanted was for one of the others to see her this vulnerable. Whoever was approaching would find her in seconds - why couldn’t she move? Why couldn’t she stand and walk away? It was as if she was shackled to that spot on the sofa. How ironic, for a mutant who could manipulate gravity to feel so betrayed by her own power. 

Tearing wide eyes from the sky, the young woman watched Pietro Maximoff pad around into the compound’s open-plan living space, yawning widely. His unique silver hair was tousled and wayward; a shaggy, endearing mess. Eyes that were usually alert were hooded. 

Of course. 

The universe likes to play games, and Danielle knew for sure it was toying with her now. Pietro was both the best, and the worst, person who could’ve rounded that corner. His presence would be a balm to her spirit she knew, but she hated the thought of him seeing her like this. 

After a rocky start (the Maximoff Twins were not naturally trusting) a friendship blossomed between the trio. She’d certainly made a good friend in Wanda. The redhead’s brother however, had stolen Dani’s heart the same way he stole Clint’s arrows: out of nowhere and in a flurry of sparks. They were just friends... who happened to find any excuse for mundane touches, and couldn’t hold a conversation without teasing flirtation creeping in somewhere. She knew others read their friendship as something more - from an outsider’s perspective, the way they lit up around one another was unmistakable. She hoped there was more there, too; she was hopelessly devoted to the speeding idiot. But the risk of rejection was horrifying enough to keep her quiet. 

“Danielle?” 

The young woman’s head shot up, his voice startling her out of her reminiscing. Pietro was unusually still, watching her from the entrance to the room. He looked off-balance, like he couldn’t quite make sense of what he was seeing. 

How did she make her mouth move? Her tongue was a dead weight, stuck in place just like she was. The frown lines maring Pietro’s forehead deepened. 

A shock of lightning illuminated the sky, bright light framing his silhouette. Dani flinched sharply, pressing her body backwards, as if she could disappear into the cushions if she just tried hard enough. She felt sick, the anticipation twisting her stomach into knots. 

The Sokovian vanished in a burst of electric blue and silver. Not a heartbeat later he was crouched in front of her, worry plastered across his handsome face. One hand rested against the cushions for balance, the other curled around her knee, thumb rubbing soothing circles against the exposed skin. 

“What’s wrong? Talk to me, what can I do?” 

She had to say something. Anything was better than sitting mute, scared out of her mind, in the face of one of the strongest people she knew.

As it tends to, thunder followed the lightning. The terror was under her skin now, racing through her veins. Shirt abandoned, her hands flew to her mouth. It was a futile attempt to push the sobs back in. 

Bright blue flashes lit the dark room, and the cushions beside her dipped. Strong arms wrapped around her back, tugging her towards him. She followed with no protest, pressing herself close. Pietro traced her spine with one hand, running his fingers along the notches. 

“Som tu. If someone’s hurt you, then I’ll deal with them.” His other hand tightened at her waist, fisting the material of her shirt. “Bude to v poriadku. I promise.”

Sleep tinged his voice, adding gravel to it. His accent pulled at each word, both English and Sokovian. Neither of these things detracted from his obvious concern. 

Even though Dani understood few of the words the Sokovian murmured into her hair, she heard their meaning, and felt a little of their calming intent. His voice washed over her skin like a wave against the shore. The affection this man was bestowing upon her, the way he held her so tightly but carefully, like she was something precious he couldn’t bare to drop… it resonated with her. Something warm pushed its way into her heart, forcing her fear to share its lodgings. 

Thunder echoed directly over the compound. The storm was here. 

Danielle flinched again, ripping her arms from the non-existent space between them and throwing them around her companion’s neck. A feather-light kiss to the top of her head, softly delivered between soothing words, was the key to the floodgates. Whatever tight little thing had wound its way around her voice relaxed and words came tumbling forth. 

“Pietro please, don’t leave. I don’t want to be alone right now. I can’t be alone right now.”

The words were mumbled into the curve of his neck, shaky and unsure. Her lips were pressed so closely to his skin she wondered if he’d even heard her. 

The world was in motion, too fast, before settling again. Disoriented, the young mutant raised her head to find Pietro had pulled her into his lap. Dizziness pushed at her temples and the skin at her side felt cool, shifting fabric tickling the tiny hairs. Her shirt had a small rip, a casualty of super speed. 

It hardly mattered. 

What mattered was the man holding her, anchoring her down when she felt the fierce winds outside could just blow her away. Thick brows were knitted, the crease of skin in between almost pulling them to touch. Crystalline blue eyes were restless across her face, taking in her every detail before settling on hers. 

“I would never leave you.” 

Pietro’s voice was a whisper in the night, but she heard steel there too. Sincerity tinged with a fierce protectiveness made his words sound like a promise. Dani believed him. 

For something that caused so much trouble, the storm was short lived. They were graced with just four more rumbles of thunder, each taking longer than the last to arrive. The quiet was filled instead with soothing touches and murmured comforts. Eventually, when the last thunder-clap was a fading memory, Dani began to speak. After sitting and waiting out her greatest fear with her, her companion at least deserved to know why it scared her so much. Eyes stormy in their own right, she watched the skyline. 

“When I was young, before I went to Xavier’s school... I didn’t have the best control over my mutation. It’s silly, because I can’t even remember what set me off now. My hands started to glow and then the whole room started quaking. The walls were shaking, the roof was caving in and I had no idea what to do. The teacher took the other kids and ran. I was so scared and confused and that just made it worse.”

The young mutant paused to focus on the grounding feel of Pietro’s hands. He was rarely motionless, and now was no exception as his hands ghosted across her skin. All that energy, channeled into the careful offering of reassurance. 

“I collapsed the building, pushing the gravity up so high the whole thing just came crashing down. No one else was inside. I only survived because most of the debris fell around me, instead of on top of me. Charles always thought I was subconsciously protecting myself. I was still crushed, though - you can see the scars.” 

With an unreadable expression, Pietro raised the hand from her hip to skim her jaw, before slowly turning her head. Fingers mapped the puckered white lines marking the skin connecting her jaw and neck. 

“Here?” 

Dani nodded mutely. His touch was silver fire, burning hotter than the sun as he traced a path to her collar bone. 

“And here?”

Capturing his hand, she slid it along the bone until it rested on the bumpy skin just above her sternum. She was close enough to see galaxies swirling in his eyes, an entire cosmos of emotion and mystery to unravel. How badly she wanted to know him. Her grip on his hand tightened. 

“Thunder sounds an awful lot like a collapsing building.”

“The compound won’t collapse. And if it did, I’d have you outside before a speck of dust could touch you.” 

Like a dove in her hand, peace settled in her chest and set about the task of chasing away the shadows. 

“You’re too good to me,” she murmured, a little overwhelmed by how much that had sounded like another promise.   

“Probably,” Pietro agreed, poking her side, and a small smile broke across Dani’s face. 

Yawning widely, her sleepless night began to make itself known.  

“You’re tired.”

The young woman stiffened, before shaking her head rapidly against his shoulder. “I’m staying here.” 

“We’re staying here.” 

We. 

It had been a promise. 

But as much as she was thankful he was here, god was she thankful, she couldn’t help but feel guilty. The storm was over but still she couldn’t bring herself to move. He was sacrificing a good night’s sleep to deal with her. 

“I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with all of this, I-”

“Last week you moved the fridge a few inches, knowing I’d run into it,” he remarked dryly, interrupting her before she could work herself up. “This is fine.” 

Dani laughed softly. It was immediately followed by a yawn that proved contagious, reminding them both of how tired they were. 

The air crackled as Pietro blurred across the room. He dragged the other sofa over to push them together, giving them more space to sleep. Through bleary eyes the mutant watched, head propped on her arm, tendrils of sleep wrapping around her. She was hardly aware of herself drifting off. From somewhere far away, she felt gentle pressure moving loose hair from her face.

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