#and the floor in our room is peeling up and breaking off bc of the mold

[jangofctts]

omg I just read so much of your writing and I’m 🥺🥰🥲🥵 the absolute royalty shit that we see here today. i’ve recently discovered I am very into ~thigh riding~ so do u have any thots on how our boys (especially our clone babes) feel about it? much obliged

IVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS ALL DAY KEJHKJRH SO HERE YOU GO OMG

boba: yEs--boba absolutely adORES when you crawl into his lap and straddle his thigh. he’ll either pat his lap and invite you up or it’s one of those times when he’s intentionally ignoring you and you have force your way onto his lap so he has to pay attention. imo the first time you ride his thigh you weren't intending to, you wanted to fuck him but with boba, if you want something from him he’s gonna do it his way or twist it into something to tease you. so he’ll say something like “if you’re so desperate, ride my thigh” or maybe “ride my thigh and then we’ll see if you deserve my cock.” he’ll sit back and enjoy the show with a smug grin, one hand gripping your hip. he’s not controlling your pace, it’s mostly just there as an anchor bc you’re gonna be doing all the work. you’re lucky if you get to ride his bare thigh, but most of the time he’s got pants on so they always end up soaked after you cum and boba always teases you for it, “ruined another pair of pants, little one” but really he isn't even one to talk, he’ll be rock hard and leaking through his pants too. he’ll also nine times out of ten put his fingers or thumb into your mouth to suck on while he flexes and pushes the hard muscle of his thigh up to your cunt. he likes that satisfaction of knowing that even his thigh can make you shudder and whine his name--a bit of a power trip esp if he’s sitting on the throne. he’ll fuck you nice and hard afterwards if you’re a good little princess for him          

din: din wants you to ride the beskar thigh plating. he doesn't realize it’s a thing he finds arousing until you sit over his thigh and he sees the heat from your thighs fog up the metal while your arousal smears over the shiny beskar. literally it’s like something just CRACKS in him and he goes feral for it. a dark thrill that comes from seeing your cunt drip over his precious armor, something so sacrilegious that shouldn't be arousing but it’s the hottest thing he’s ever seen. sure, it’s a bit cold at first but the more you get into it the quicker it heats up--it’s slippery too, not a lot of friction unless you drag your clit over the seams of the armor, but with din’s hands holding onto your hips and dragging you over his thigh, it’s not long before you cum. din is gonna be encouraging you the whole time, just a constant flow of praise and little moans of his own. he might bury a hand in your hair or slip off his glove and touch your clit when your hips roll up into his hand. he’d loose his mind if you lended a hand and palmed him through his pants. he doesn't even care if he ruins his trousers, he’s just so...fixated on the hypnotic motions of your hips rolling over his thigh, your wetness dripping off the plating and onto the floor. he might focus on your mouth, parted with gasping moans or how they roll the syllable of his name. he likes to watch you come undone like this, shuddering and whiney as you cum and eventually roll off his thigh. he probably busts a nut right then and there if you start to roll your tongue over the beskar, happily cleaning up the mess you made. but....sometimes...lick it off himself just to get a taste of you       

paz: big boy blue ALSO likes when you ride his beskar, but he likes it better when the armor is off and he gets to feel your wetness for himself. he has big ol’ beefy thighs and likes when you straddle one and start to ride him like that. imo he likes it when youre pressed up right near his cock so when you roll forward your own thigh brushes against his cock. it’s also just easier for him to grab your hips, set a pace and watch you squirm and whine. ngl he’s more interested in fucking you, so he’ll get cheeky and start jerking his thigh or holding you in place while he circles his thumb over your clit. p much will sabotage your wild ride and convince you to slide onto his cock instead. though,....if you were to tie him up, tease him bye riding his thigh, he might like that :)  

rex: oH rexY BOY--listen, rex has heard ALL about thigh riding, or rather what the clones like to call it, “paint job”. he doesn't understand the big deal, thinks that it’d be a complete hassle to clean and what not. in my oPiNiOn he’ll be sitting with you in an empty break room or on a couch, you both have feelings for each other but nothing's been said yet. somehow the topic of paint jobs come up and he tells you what he thinks and how it “couldn't possibly feel good, blah blah blah”. you just roll your eyes and you ask if he’s even tried it. he definitely blushes and mumbles out a no and with a leap of faith you ask him if he wants you to ride his thigh. baby boy rex gets very shy and embarrassed about it but he’s not gonna say no. so you’ll flash him a little grin and peel off your pants and your over shirt, make rex relax against the back of the couch/chair and sit over his plastoid covered thigh. even though when you start to grind on his thigh you still have your underwear on, rex with pick a corner of the room to just stare at. it’s not because he doesn't like you, he’s just incredibly shy and afraid he’ll cum in his pants if he looks at you. you gotta cup his jaw and force him to look at you. when that happens his eye will immediately drop to between your legs and just moan at the sight. he gets it now. seeing your arousal that’s already leaking through the thin fabric and staining the blue and white plastoid--he has to grip the fucking sidearm to anchor himself. his armor is one of the only things that he owns and is proud of, so seeing you riding his thigh, moaning and whimpering his name he goes wild for that shit. unfortunately he does end up cumming in his pants but eh fuck it. it was worth it   

cody: he likes when you ride his thigh in semi public places like the 79′s, debrief room, gunships, you name it. imma explain the 79′s scenario bc im a whore but anyway, cody likes to bring you on dates there, one because the drinks are free for him, two it’s dark and so unless someone is really looking at the two of you, it’s pretty secluded. he always chooses a back corner table and after a couple drinks you start to get handsy--nuzzling his neck and wiggling your fingers between the gaps separating his thigh and codpiece. it alWAYS starts like that. cody will chuckle, push his nose into your neck and nibble a line up to your ear, then bite down onto the cartilage. in that dark, rumbly voice he might sigh “such a depraved little creature. we’re in public”. but you can feel his smile and how is pulse quickens under your fingertips. cody will sigh and shake his head as he pulls you onto his lap, bUT--he’s gonna have you with your back to his chest plate, your dress/skirt/pants rolled up or down just barely in the view of anyone who glances over or looks a little closer. it’d be no secret what you both were up to but cody likes that. dude doesn't have any shame and so he’ll wrap an arm over your hip, push you panties to the side and slide his fingers through your folds. once they're coated in your arousal he might pop them into his mouth or yours, clean them off then flex his thigh onto your pussy. when he asks you to grind on his thigh you readily agree. while you ride his thigh he’ll nibble at your throat and suck bruises onto your skin, either watching your wet pussy slide over the plastoid armor or on the look out in case one of his brothers comes near. one time, just as you started to cum, a couple fresh shiny’s got an entire eyeful of you arching and burying your nose into cody’s neck as he rolled his fingers over your clit. safe to say they were a bit spooked--but of course, cody thought it was the funniest thing and couldn't stop laughing even if you were close to tears with embarrassment. now....he doesn't invite anyone to watch, but he wouldn't say no to a few prying eyes   ��      

wolffe: I feel like with wolffe, it’s gonna be right after a mission--one of you might've almost died or gotten real hurt so he’s not thinking about fucking you properly--he just want his mouth on yours, hands buried in your hair as he pins you against the wall. I dont think he initially meant for you to ride his thigh, but when he wedges it between your legs and you moan into his mouth the second he increases the pressure, he freezes. he’ll do it again and when it receives the same reaction from you he smirks and tugs on your hair and might say smthn like “you like that? if you wanted to ride my thigh you could've asked sooner”. he’s either focused on your face or on your pussy, just soaking up all your little reactions or twitches when you roll your cunt over the plastoid. he'll have both hands on your hips, helping you grin up on him, while you either cup his face or grip his arm. either way youre in for a wild fucking ride--wolffe tbh wants to see his armor dripping by the time he’s done with you. sO do nOT be surprised if he just, doesn't let you stop, pushes you to keep going until he’s satisfied. imo I think he’ll make you lick it up after, or just in general would really Like It if you run your tongue over any part of his armor. he likes to be Appreciated :)

wrecker (im sorry I just nEEDed to include him kejkejh): honestly since baby boy wrecker is uh, so big, thigh riding is some of the first things you try with him. you’ll both be butt ass naked bc it’s just easier to explore like this, and while wrecker is eager he knows he has to think about his strength in order not to overwhelm or hurt you unintentionally. he’s a bit of a goof ball so when you straddle his thigh and bring his thicC fingers to your cunt he’ll smile and say some shit like “wow, you’re wet” or like “is it always this wet/soft?” he doesn't mean for it to be teasing, it's more like he’s just stating a fact bc he’s curious about you. you just nod and say it’s all for you, baby/only for you. the second you put your cunt over his thigh he’ll curse and clamp his hands around your hips or ribcage, and just to make the experience all that better for him, you’ll jerk him off while you ride him. wrecker is very vocal/loud and so you’ll know exactly what you’re doing that he likes--he’ll probably tell you how pretty you look, or how good you smell etc., that bOY IS SO FULL OF LOVE and just wants to tell you! it doesn't take long for him to spill into your hand, he shakes and no doubt wakes up half the barrack/ship but who the fuck cares. you just smile and continue to ride his thigh, chasing your own thigh. once he recovers a bit, you can grab his fingers and show him how you like to be touched. he’s a surprisingly quick learner with this and so it doesn't take long for you to cum. afterwards he’ll run his fingers over his thigh, collect the mess you left and taste you and maybe say “you should ride my face. can we do that?”     

[junicai]

glass(es).

| summary | Aria’s glasses suffer an unfortunate fate. Johnny takes her to find a new pair. 

| word count | 1.1k

| warnings | none

| era | circa. March 2021

40. "You are very attractive. Therefore I will stare at you."

42. "Have you seen my glasses around?"

54. "It looks good on you."

a/n: anon i apologize for not fitting in prompt 40, i just couldn’t fit it in to it naturally. im sorry :( also this prompt was done before the others bc it was an easier one to write than the others so thank you for this hjsj

She was not blind. 

Aria had perfect vision, it wasn’t her fault that things wanted to wobble around the edges and blend together whenever she looked at them. She didn’t understand why she had to be the one to compensate for the fact that objects just couldn’t focus for her. 

And yet, her heart fell into her stomach when her glasses flew off her face during a spin, skidding across the practice room floor to an unknown location. The edges of the mirrors blurred against her will, and she was left squinting in the general direction of the waylaid accessory. 

Aria cursed, spinning on her heel to try and find where they had landed. “Guys, have you seen my glasses? They fell.”

The two boys practicing beside her came to a halt, glancing at her for a moment.

Jaemin and Renjun both spun in a circle, trying to find a small glint from the metallic frames that would alert them to it’s location. Unfortunately, the gold colour was extremely similar to that of the flooring, and the glasses were almost camouflaged against the wooden paneling.

“Where did they go, Riri?” Renjun asked, crouching down to look parallel to the floor.

“Uhh, I think that way?” She pointed over to the other corner of the room where Jisung, Chenle, Jeno and Donghyuck were practicing. 

Aria remembered the glasses sliding off her nose, pitching in that direction. They had spun, skittering slightly before coming to stop directly on the place where Jisung’s foot was coming to land.

“Jisung! My glasses!” 

The frames bent with a snap, and the tinkling of shattered glass was heard as the boy slowly lifted up his foot. The wire stuck to the sole of his shoe for a moment, slowly peeling itself out of the grove in the grip of his shoe and falling to the floor.

Nobody moved, despite the music still blaring through the speakers. 

Jisung looked to her with wide eyes, mouth dropped open and stuttered apologizes already tripping off his tongue. “N-noona oh god I’m so sorry I- I’ll buy you a new pair, can I buy you a new pair? Is that how that works? I-”

Aria stopped him with a hand landing gently on his shoulder. She took a deep breath in, held it for a moment and exhaled slowly. “It’s okay, Jisungie. They’re just glasses. I can get a new pair. Are you hurt anywhere?” 

After thoroughly checking that there wasn’t any residual glass hiding in the folds of Jisung’s joggers, and the glass was swept away and disposed of, Aria enlisted one of the 127 members to come along with her to purchase a new pair. 

“Oh! These are cute.” 

Johnny turned around with a neon pink plastic frame in his hand, holding it up to Aria’s face with his lips pulled in and his eyebrows furrowed in faux concentration. 

She lifted an eyebrow at the small Peppa Pig design along the arm of the glasses. “Oppa. Please.”

“What? They’d look good on you.” He grinned at her, poking her mask-covered nose with the plastic arm. 

Aria only scrunched her nose in response, lifting a hand to slowly move the glasses away from her face. 

Johnny frowned at her. “You’re no fun today.” He turned to put the frame back on the display. 

Aria sighed, moving to wrap her arms around his waist. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to go home after practice, I’m tired and this is our first evening off in a while.”

He patted her hand twice. “Then we’ll speed it up, okay Ari?”

“Thank you,” She gave him a grateful smile. 

Beginning to move around the opticians again, Johnny resumed the conversation from where they had left off as they browsed the glasses frames options. 

“So, how did they break again? Oo how about these?” He held up a brown coloured pair. 

Aria peered closer before shaking her head. “No, too dark. And I told you, they flew off during a spin and Jisung stomped on them by accident.”

He put the glasses back on the display case, sucking in air through his teeth. “Didn’t he stand on Jeno’s ring, like, yesterday?”

A nod. 

Wincing, Johnny pulled out another frame from the glass case. “Damn, remind me to keep my valuables away from his feet. These are cute though?”

Aria tilted her head to look at the frames. They were a lighter metallic colour than her older ones, slightly rounder and larger in shape as well. Plucking them delicately from his hands, she held them up to her own face and spun to look at her own reflection in the mirror. 

“It’s hard to tell what they’ll look like when I’m wearing a mask,” Aria complained, scrunching up her nose. 

“They look pretty similar to your old ones though, how much of a difference could it be?” Johnny pointed out. 

She relented. “True.”

Pausing to gaze at her own reflection for a minute, she clicked her tongue once before folding up the frames in her palm. “I think we should keep looking for another minute or so but,” Aria slipped out her phone to check the time, “I think they’re closing soon so we’d better be quick.”

Johnny hummed in confirmation, and the two idols pottered through the remaining section of glasses, finding one or two pairs that caught their initial attention before eventually being returned to the shelf after being rejected by a process of elimination. 

At the end of it all, Aria was left with a receipt for a new pair of frames that should arrive in the opticians two days from now, and a small burning pain between her eyes from straining them for so long. 

She rubbed at the spot tenderly, hissing slightly when she pressed too hard. 

Johnny looked over to her. “Sore?” 

“Yeah, I think I should have worn my contacts, but I didn’t think it’d take this long. My mistake.”

He leaned over to press a finger to Aria’s temple. She jerked back with a small screech. “Oh my god your hands are so cold!” 

Johnny laughed at her reaction, wiggling his fingers in her direction threateningly.

“You keep those icicles of death away from me,” Aria warned. 

“Or what?” He teased, moving closer. 

“Or I’ll-”

“You’ll?”

“I’ll-”

“You’ll?”

[pappydaddy]

A Lumberjack and A Mullet ii (b.h.)

  A/N: This is the requested second part to A Lumberjack and A Mullet. This piece still references a bad home life and child abuse. However, this is going to focus more about Billy and the reader finding safety and happiness in each other, but unfortunately, there will be mentions of the abuse. Once again, this is not a good depiction of someone suffering through this situation since I am once again trying to keep this on the lighter side of things. 

Disclaimer: This is an imagine that involves a very sensitive topic. This imagine contains mentions of child abuse, violence, and an unhealthy home life - please read with caution. Reader’s discretion is advised.

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Fem!Reader

Show/Movie: Stranger Things

Requested

Loosely inspired by Sparks Fly by Taylor Swift bc I was listening to it when I started to write it and this happened.

Part One | Part Two -You’re here! | Part Three 

Warnings: Mentions child abuse, violence, and an unhealthy home life. Reader’s discretion is advised.

masterlist | taglist | wips | navigation

Here are some resources from child abuse advocates:

- Child Maltreatment from World Health Organization   - Children Rights Organizations in Canada/some U.N.

If you or anyone you know faces the issues/treatment addressed in this imagine, please, please know that you are not alone, that someone out there can help you and understand what you are going through. Please never hesitate to reach out to organizations and advocates in your area. My DMs are always open for anyone who needs someone to talk to. Once again, please reach out to someone if you need help - there are tons of people to help.

- not my gif - 

Billy Hargrove wasn’t a good idea. He was a heartbreaker, a playboy of great proportions, everyone saw it. Many have fallen victim to his charming ways and were left with their hearts bleeding in their hands. Even Y/N’s friends (who were far from angels themselves) were warning her about him, but they didn’t see the Billy she saw. Somehow, in that fateful Saturday detention, they managed to break each other’s walls down with a smile. The tenderness in his touch shocked Y/N when they first held hands, but it shocked her, even more, when he had the same tenderness when he had held her in his arms for the first time. 

  They had become dependent on each other. They were each other’s safe space. Even now, as Y/N cowered in the corner of her darkroom, flinching every time her father’s fist collided with the weak wood separating them. The wood cracked, it was only a matter of time until the door finally broke. Standing on shaky legs, Y/N trusted her gut - knowing that she had to get out of there in the case today was the day that the door gave out under the strong punch of her father. Her heart thundered, drowning out the thump of knuckles against the splintering wood as she grabbed her book bag. Slipping on her raincoat, she yanked open the window. A few raindrops fell through the open window, but she slipped through anyway, pulling the hood over her hair. 

  The night was darker than normal for ten at night, the rain clouds attempting to smother the moon’s light. The drop from her room was scary, her room being on the second floor and all. Her bag hit the wet grass before she eased herself out the window, her fingers gripping the ledge in terror. The soles of her converse kept slipping against the wet siding - her fingers becoming slick as rain pounded them. Squeezing her eyes closed, she kicked off the side of her house, her grip finally letting go of the ledge. For a moment, she felt weightless as she plummeted to the ground, her knees bent in anticipation of meeting the ground. With a squish, her feet met the wet grass, water splashing up on her ankles as she let out a hiss, her ankles stinging from the impact. 

  Without a second thought, she slung her book bag over her shoulder and booked it to the nearest payphone. Despite it being quite a ways away, it was still closer than Billy’s house. As rain pelted down on her, drenching her raincoat, she felt warm tears slipping down her face - a stark contrast from the cold rain. The phone booth door rattled as she pulled it open, slipping into the clear booth. She took another breath, watching the raindrops fall, the yellow light from the streetlight casting down on the lonely booth. As her eyes followed the racing raindrops down the plexiglass, she thought about Billy - trying to halt her tears and trembling body.

  They had just finished another Saturday detention, once again ending up sitting on the hood of Billy’s car just like they had for the past three months. Y/N sipped at her soda, tucked under Billy’s arm as he leaned against his windshield. The winter months were melting away just like the snow that had covered the group a few weeks ago. Y/N leaned against Billy’s chest, the pair watching the stars as they sat in content silence. “Do you want a sip?” She suddenly asked, craning her neck to look at Billy, twisting to practically lay beside him as she extended the almost gone soda to him. 

  He dropped his eyes from the twinkling stars to look at her. “Sure, are you done with it?” He asked, gently taking the fast-food cup from her. 

  She nodded, her hand falling to rest on his chest, her head resting on his shoulder as she gazed up at him. “Yeah,” His strong jaw clenched as he took the straw between his lips, drinking the rest of the lukewarm soda. She smiled at him when he glanced down at her, leaning down to press his lips against her in a peck. Y/N hummed against his lips, her legs wrapping around one of his jean-clad legs. “I never want this to end.” She stated, her other hand coming up to twirl one of Billy’s blonde curls around her finger. 

  “Never want what to end?” Billy asked, his deep voice rumbling in his chest. She sighed at the feeling of the vibrations in his chest, his large hand tracing random shapes on her hip. 

  “This. You and I laying here,” She clarified. “I never want to go home.” She muttered the hand that once rested on his chest reaching down to pick at the blanket Billy had thrown over them in an effort to keep them warm longer. 

  “Pretty soon, that won’t be your home, I’ll be your home,” Billy told her, squeezing her closer to him. She hummed, pulling the blanket up farther before laying her hand back on his chest. “After we graduate, and I mean right after we graduate, we’re loading up my car and heading to California to start our life together.”

  “Do you really think I’m California material?” She asked, peering up at him again. 

  “I know you are.” He replied confidently. 

  That’s another side of Billy nobody but she saw: the dreamer. He had big dreams of moving back to California someday, getting back into surfing.  She sighed, peeling her drenched bag off her back. Pulling out a few quarters, she slipped them into the payphone, picking up the receiver before quickly dialing the number she knew by heart. Instantly, she heard the ringing as she drummed her fingers against the phone, glancing over her shoulder. She always felt like she was in a horror movie when she was out during the night, especially when she stood in a phone booth at night. “Hello?” A young voice spoke through the phone, making Y/N let out a breath. 

  “Hi, Max. Can I talk to Billy, it’s important.” She rushed out to the younger girl, recognizing the voice immediately. 

  “Yeah, just a second.” She answered her. Y/N could hear Max faintly call for Billy, saying that she was on the phone for him. She supposed Neil was out since Max was the one answering the phone. It was only a few beats of waiting until she heard the shuffling of Max trading the phone off to Billy. 

  “Hello, babe, what’s up?” He asked. Y/N could already see him leaning against the wall by the phone in a white wife-beater, the phone pinched between his shoulder and his ear, his arms crossed over his chest with a smile on his face showing off his perfect teeth. 

  “I need you to pick me up, I jumped out my window.” She rushed out, trying not to get distracted by the visual of him. She heard him jolt on the other end. 

  “Where are you, I’ll come to get you right away.” 

  “The payphone, the one I usually call you from.” She told him, knowing that he knew which one she was talking about. 

  “Okay, stay in the booth, I’ll be there in a few minutes.” With that, he hung the phone up, but Y/N wasn’t offended. This was how it normally went when she called him to pick her up. He would always hang up right away, her safety being the only thing he worried about. He would drop everything run to her. She silently hung the phone up, leaning her back against the plexiglass. Closing her eyes, she listened to the rhythmic sound of rain hitting it. A ghost of a smile stretched onto her face as another memory flooded her mind. 

  Billy held her in his arms as they laid on the grass. They watched the fireworks, their faces lighting up with each explosion of colour in the sky. Her hands gently played with his hair absentmindedly. It was the Hawkins’ Fall Festival, armed with games, fireworks, fall-themed foods, and an overcrowded field. Even though they were camped out far away from the festival itself, they still marveled at the extravagant fireworks it had. “Pretty good third date, huh?” Billy’s voice interrupted the fireworks, making her turn her head from the loud pops. She was shocked to see him already looking at her, his eyes soft as they flicked over her face. 

  “An extremely good third date,” She corrected him, pressing a kiss to his cheek before settling back to watch the remaining fireworks. “The Fall Festival has never been so enjoyable for me. Thank you.” She whispered not lifting her head to look at him as she spoke, her eyes dancing across the dark sky the colourful sparks fell - fading out completely before they fell to the ground. 

  She felt his arms tighten around her, then his lips pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her hair. She signed instinctively, melting into his warm embrace. “You don’t have to thank me,” Billy spoke against the top of her head, his lips lingering as he took in the scent of her shampoo. “Did you put perfume on to the top of your head?” He asked, pulling away as he caught a strong whiff of her perfume - a scent that drove him crazy and sends his mind whirling.

  “Yeah,” She admitted quietly before looking up at him defensively. “I read about it in Cosmo so I wanted to try it out, what are you going to do about it?.” 

  Billy let out a barking laugh, squeezing her affectionately as she started to laugh along with him. “You’re adorable.” 

  The sound of Billy’s car pulled her from the memory. Fluttering her eyes open, she was met with the blinding lights of his car speeding towards the booth. With a squeal of his tires, he pulled over to the curb. Grabbing her bag from the ground, she pushed the door back open. In a blink of an eye, Billy was out of the still-running car and wrapping her in a hug. Her bag dropped to the wet concrete as her arms settle over his shoulders, his hands pressing into the small of her back to press her flush against his body. 

  They clung to each other, hands fisting each other’s clothes. “I am so glad you’re okay.” Billy murmured into her neck as he swayed them gently. Her smaller hands let go of his rain jacket, her hands resting on his jaw to pull his face from her neck, their eyes meeting. 

  “I’m always going to be okay as long as you’re with me.” She whispered. Not even a second later, his lips were on hers, the force of the kiss nearly knocking her over. Automatically, her fingers buried themselves into Billy’s soaked curls as their lips moved together, pouring all their love into the kiss. Fireworks exploded within them, just like they exploded in the sky the night of the Fall Festival.

  She knew people said that Billy wasn’t a good decision, that she should run, but she also knew that she would never run and that he was the best decision for her. The was abundantly clear now as his lips caressed hers with the utmost care and love, his hands holding her as if she’d break if he held her any tighter. 

[dastardlydandelion]

Max Mayfield and Tory Nichols in a horror film, what would be the plot/monster and would they survive?

this is it. this is the tumblr ask. the ask i've been waiting for my whole life. my time to shine, here we go!

filming begins under the cut:

tried and true creature feature, this is a werewolf movie. let's go with a werewolf between the van helsing (2004) and trick r treat (2007) variety. the beast once transformed is fucking huge, clearly both lupine and human, head almost entirely wolf, body primarily bipedal in shape, but robust, sinew shredding claws and big ass bone tearing teeth. also tails!! bc tails are cute!!! powers include monstrous strength, accelerated speed, healing factor. weaknesses silver and decapitation.

okay, so van helsing (2004) werewolves are mindless rage monsters and trick r treat (2007) werewolves are cognizant. for our max & tory creature feature, they're gonna of the in between variety. i chose a werewolf movie for these two specifically bc they both have their anger problems and the werewolf has long been a symbol of anger unleashed in the horror genre, even tho common gray wolves are just like. i mean, yk, animals, they hunt and howl and pee on trees and most of the time would rather avoid humans. but obvi horror genre werewolves are not common gray wolves, they need to be scary, and like, the remnants of traditional folklore influenced by rabies and discourse in the middle ages...wait, where was i going with this? anger, yes, max and tory both have anger problems and i think this works for what i'm gonna do with this theoretical movie.

who's the werewolf in town? terry fucking silver. bc terry is evil and dramatic and also, i think it's rly funny for a werewolf to have silver as a surname. he's fully cognizant in his transformation and he's purposefully biting kids and teenagers bc he wants more talented karate students. and like. yk, with the enhanced strength, speed, and regenerative recovery of lycanthropy, well. there u have it, more talented karate students.

do max and tory know each other, if so, how? okay, so in this 'verse tory is a lil older than max. that reflects their canon ages, i think. let's say max is 13 and tory is 16. billy has tory in some of his classes and he more or less makes a deal to spilt his allowance with her if she'll babysit max bc he's tired of neil riding his ass to babysit max. tory needs money so she's like, 'sure, why not.' max finds it rly stupid that she's 13 and neil thinks she needs a fucking babysitter but as far as babysitters go, tory is fun. she likes to show max what she's learning in cobra kai and they spar together a lot. max would actually like to join cobra kai but 1) neil would throw a fit on various fronts and 2) lucas is in miyagi-do. max knows there's some rly intense beef between cobra kai and miyagi-do. ofc tory's filled her in on the karate war, how could she not?

well one day tory takes max to the playground to watch a plane fly like she does with miggy in ck, and it's nighttime, ofc, and lo, the full moon is out. shining up in the sky. they hear a howl. they both look at each other. max is kinda curious but tory's like nah, nah, we gotta go. she grabs her, starts pulling her along. but the next howl is a lot closer and they can hear smth running and it just sounds fuckin big. they're running too now, legs pumping hard, but there's no escape once the beast is right behind them, hot, rancid breath blasting the backs of their necks and harvest gold eyes glowing in the dark.

max gets bitten first. tory tries to kick the big ass beast off of her and then it rounds and bites her too. the terror is real now. and then shockingly, as fast as it'd come, it leaves. neither girl has an explanation for wtaf just happened but tory takes max home. billy gripes at her for being out late but helps her patch up. when susan learns what happens she decides to take max to get rabies shots right away. loads her up in the car, runs her off to the emergency room-- but when the bandages come off, they are no wounds.

tory's bby bro tries to help patch her up too. but he's like 4 yrs old and his idea of "help" is sticking bandaids with cartoon characters up and down the wounds in haphazard fashion. tory plans to redo it all properly once she's put him to bed. sure enough after he's asleep, and she peels the bandaids off from every open mouthed pac-man to every green teenage mutant ninja turtle, the wounds are gone.

meanwhile there's missing ppl err day on the news. terry turns kids and teens but kills adults for the lulz.

tory and max know what happened to them was an event that tangibly, definitely happened but neither have any explanation for their wounds just disappearing. max, our resident horror fan, is the first to propose a real life werewolf as an explanation. she cites the missing ppl on the news. tory thinks she's tripping balls but reluctantly gives an inch when she acknowledges no, she can't think of any other explanation.

life goes on. max tells lucas what happened only she leaves out the part abt tory bc she's not gonna tell a miyagi-do student she's kickin it w the enemy. he doesn't rly believe her, like how she didn't rly believe him about the upside-down in their canon. he thinks the horror movies are rotting her brain.

tory almost tells her dojo but she gets distracted being pissed off by sam and that should be her priority, right? sensei kreese is always going on abt getting back at the enemy. she spends her shifts daydreaming abt revenge bc it's more comforting than worrying abt past due bills and her mother looking paler by the day.

full moon next month comes around. neither tory nor max are cognizant of or during their first respective transformations. max's first kill is neil. she's seven feet of fur and fury, tears his ribcage open with claws like daggers and sinks her teeth into his putrid, maggoty heart. susan isn't home. billy is, but he doesn't hear any of the fracas. he's unconscious on the living room floor, crisscrossing impressions of neil's belt buckle blaring red on his back.

tory's first kill is sam. sam larusso wants to think she's a bully?? fine, tory will show her a bully. she hops the miyagi-do fence after hours. she just wants a fight. just a fight, they always fight. but then she's sprouting fur and tory as tory gives way to smth else. she'd not aware of being a person when she doesn't have fur. not really, all she knows is rage and ravenousness and the morsel below her has bunny rabbit wide eyes.

neither of them remember what they did the next day. not vividly, anyway. it's there but it's cloudy and hard to discern, like a groggy fever dream more than a memory. but max burps up neil's wedding band and tory finds señor octopus (sam's stuffed animal) bloodied in her bed. it's apparent what happened. max accepts this more easily than tory bc 1) she always kind of suspected she'd turn, since she sincerely considered what attacked them was a werewolf and 2) max isn't terribly upset abt killing neil while tory is acutely horrified she killed sam.

max kinda had some smidgen of attachment to neil bc like, he's the only father figure in her life and here and there they've had their moments. but his abuse (psychological/physical toward billy, sexual/financial/psychological/emotional toward susan, psychological/emotional toward herself) outweighed any and all of those moments. she is genuinely concerned that she tore a human being to pieces and only vaguely remembers it but like, if she had to kill anyone, she figures neil was the best to kill. max is mostly concerned bc she can't kill neil a second time. she's worried the next time she turns it could be an innocent person, or one of her friends, or her mom, or billy.

tory is blindsided and scarcely able to comprehend the reality, holy shit, max was right, she's a fuckin werewolf. and she's sick to her stomach bc she hated sam but she never wanted to do anything like that. she didn't want to kill, she just wanted to break her face. scare her. rough her up. she didn't want to eat her. she just killed someone. she's a literal horror movie monster and she just killed sam. what's miguel going to think?

tory and max talk. they decide they need to find the werewolf who turned them. we get montages of them going over the news articles with a fine-toothed *ba dum tss* comb and searching areas where it seems like a werewolf would be. the woods. some caves. max all of a sudden has a freakishly tall man constantly hounding her to join cobra kai. neil's gone but she still hesitates bc of lucas being in miyagi-do. also he believes max now and with the proff, she's decided to let the rest of the party in as well. they also exist in this 'verse. she showed them the crime scene and the wedding band she burped up. billy isn't a roid rage racist in this 'verse bc that would be a giant buzzkill. he doesn't believe the werewolf shit either. he thinks max saw neil get attacked by some animal and that the carnage was so traumatizing for her, she subconsciously created a werewolf fantasy to cope.

tory meanwhile spirals downward. bc she passes sam's memorialized locker in the hall everyday. her memorial table in the other hall, full of sticky note condolences and mournful teddy bears, and a picture of sam right in the center always, always accusing her. miggy is heartbroken and distraught. hawk didn't care for sam but even he's freaked out by what happened, how the news said there were only torn up chunks and bones picked clean found in her bedroom. tory is terrified of herself. she's desperate to find whoever did this bc she wants to make them pay. if sensei silver has been asking her extra questions lately and presenting her performance to the class more than normal, she doesn't notice at all. aisha notices tory's fucked up but tory can't exactly tell aisha that she *ate* sam. aisha is also mourning, she and sam used to be bffs. so she doesn't say a word.

max has a theory that if u can learn to control ur anger, u can learn to control urself when u shift. she is, after all, v familiar with angry horror movie werewolves. and she's savvy enough to know it's smth she and tory have in common. neil is dead but that doesn't mean max isn't angry anymore. she's still angry at the damage already done and tbh also angry that there's some werewolf around turning ppl willy nilly bc she recognizes the danger in that and it wasn't smth she consented to. but controlling ur anger is an easier feat for max than tory insofar that max has a support system w her friends, and better relationships with the remainder of her fam. tory has two mentors actively, adamantly teaching her and her friends to be ruthless, view the world as ur enemy, use violence as ur go-to solution, and that mercy is weakness not to be tolerated.

when the next full moon rolls around, they decide to spend it together under the correct inference that they will transform. they think it's better to be together. they're hoping they'll be able to control each other, if not themselves. or that if they are both mindless rage monsters again, that rage will be turned on each other. this would be a better outcome operating on the presumption that one werewolf will be able to take what another can dish out, at the v least more so than a regular human being.

max is successfully able to maintain enough of her consciousness to control her actions once transformed. she feels aggressive and hungry, but not enraged and ravenous. she can keep it in check. tory, on the other hand, uh...tory can't do it. she throws her wolf head back in the most bloodcurdling howl ever and takes off like a bat outta hell. max goes loping after her. they can't speak like human speak in this form, but max tries to communicate with her. whimpers plaintively. tackles tory at one point, not out of anger but just tryna subdue her, licks at her ears and tries to get her to settle. tory bucks her off.

tory runs off again, max in pursuit. they wind up at the skate park where billy n robby are prolly up to some fuckery or another. i could easily see pre miyagi-do robby n billy getting up to all kinds of mischief. ooh, actually, they're prolly arguing abt that. now that robby's in miyagi-do he has another outlet for all his energy and he's getting the positive attention he craves so he's not participating in hooligan activity or shenanigans w billy anymore and billy is like. offended. except suddenly there's werewolves. fucking. snarling, gigantic, toothy, hairy ass werewolves.

let's say robby kicked miguel down two stories in this 'verse too and tory recognizes him in her werewolf form even if she isn't exactly cognizant of herself. she tears straight for him, jaws open. billy doesn't exactly *mean* to protect him but it's kinda an automatic reaction from putting himself in between whenever he thought neil was getting too aggressive w susan or max. and like, sure, robby's the better fighter (not that billy would ever acknowledge this) but it's not like he's gonna karate kick the motherfuckin werewolf anyway-- billy is bigger, he's bigger and it's instinct and the next thing he knows, he's in between robby and the thing w sharp teeth (tory).

and that's when max gets serious. she bowls tory over, away from billy before she can bite. they're rolling, tearing at each other with teeth and claws. lo and behold, terry silver is lurking in the background like the evil mastermind he is, just watching them shred each other and evaluating his experiment. it's a p close match and tory is the more aggressive of the two but she's also been going, going, going since she shifted and she's burning herself out. she's also fighting with the blind instinct of a threatened animal while max maintains more precision bc she has better control of herself. max also isn't wasting energy unnecessarily. max gets her jaws around tory's throat and tory just goes slack. but she can think and she doesn't want to hurt tory, so she opens her mouth and relaxes her maw, teeth grazing harmlessly thru tory's fur.

tory's being shown mercy. possibly for the first time. it's so unlike her conception of others' ruthlessness, so unlike the worldview that's been instilled into her that it startles her enough to crack thru to her cognizance. she does the wolfy deference thing where they tuck their tails and lick at the dominant pack member's muzzle. max responds in kind and lets tory up.

this is when they notice terry lurking (billy's already worked out the werewolf that came to his defense is max so he's just dumbfounded watching all this shit, and robby's not abt to leave someone who just saved his ass, so he's stuck unsuccessfully tryna pull billy away and inevitably watching too). terry calmly slinks over, sizing up his charges. he's pleased with the performance. but tory and max are anything but, another werewolf fight ensues.

so while they all get huge after transforming sheerly on the basis of being werewolves, i'm gonna guess the size is proportionate to their human forms. so tory is a little larger than max and terry significantly outsizes them both. terry is also the more experienced werewolf. it's two against one but it's not the curbstop it would be if this was some weaksauce werewolf, it's dramatic evil karate werewolf terry fuckin silver. terry's shredding tf outta these two. their healing factor can't keep up, he's dishing out faster than either of them can recover and tbh they were already winded from fighting each other first.

but it'd be a major buzzkill if our movie had a downer ending. and also, the power of determination and friendship and shit. terry's got his jaws around max's throat now. he's a millisecond away from tearing it open. tory's pinned under him but she thinks fast, frees a hind leg, and rips her claws down his soft underbelly as deep as she can and doesn't stop ripping, like pedal kicking almost for a human, but with her hind claws. his intestines shoot out like paper snakes from a gag candy can!! okay, well, maybe they don't shoot out w that much gusto, but still. the bowels are free, the bowels are hanging low and tory's tearing 'em tf up, fluids n fecal matter errywhere. on tory. i'm sorry tory. ur under him, that's just how gravity works.

terry dies. healing factor can't keep up with the damage done, it's too critical. but nobody knows it's terry until the dawn breaks and he reverts back to his human shape.

max is v much 'i told u so,' in billy's face. robby promises not to tell. he doesn't want to get mauled or killed or anything. tory's able to cope better with what she did to sam knowing that it won't happen again, that she won't hurt anyone else she doesn't want to be she can control herself now. tory believes in mercy now bc max spared her, she trashes kreese's philosophy and joins eagle fang when johnny and daniel join forces in this 'verse too. max also joins eagle fang, takes her place in the front row right between tory and lucas at her v first practice.

credits roll.

after the credits we see tory considering turning her mother in the hopes that having the healing factor would help her mom's condition improve.

is that a teaser for the sequel?

idfk.

[sugarspicenights]

Close To You

This is kind of a bonus to this fic about Rohan and I finally coming home after two weeks at the Foundation making sure Ellie is okay! Spicy AriHan,,, yes. 

CW: pregnancy, slight anxiety mention, lots of fluff and flirting, spooning s*x, no protection bc pregnant (I think that’s all 😳) 18+ pls

“I’m so glad to be home…”

Smiling over, Rohan set our bags down in the front hall, shutting the front door against the cold.

“The Foundation hospital bed not comfy enough for you?~” From the way he winked back, I could tell he was just as relieved to be in our own space again.

“You know what I mean~ Nothing’s as comforting as being here.”

“Mmmmh.” Walking forward, he wrapped his arms around my waist, setting his hands on top of the bump, while leaning his chin onto my shoulder and kissing my neck. “I mostly missed you…”

Sighing gently, I leaned back into his embrace. “You were with me every day, Han~ It’s not like we didn’t see each other~~”

He grunted quietly, kissing again. “You know what I mean~” 

From the way he was grinding gently against my back, I had a pretty good idea what he did mean—we had been in the hospital for a few weeks and no private time when I wasn’t hooked up to a monitor or looked after by a nurse.

Letting out a soft moan, I reached my right hand up to play with his hair, slipping the headband off and tossing it aside. “I missed you too… Missed getting to cuddle next to you. Sleep with you. Feel your skin on mine.”

“Please, Ari… I can’t stand having been away from you for so long.” The desperation in his voice was something I hadn’t heard in a long time, maybe even our wedding night. We had waited so long then, but now was almost harder—knowing well what we had been missing out on.

“I don’t wanna wait either.” Turning around to face him, pulling his face into my hands, I pulled a long, slow kiss from his lips, taking my time. With the softness and intimacy of the moment, my cheeks flushed warm, something I had forgotten kissing Rohan did to me.

“Can…” Rohan looked down at me, panting softly. “Can we go upstairs?? Luggage can wait.” Breaking into a grin, I nodded. “Let’s get out of these winter coats first~” 

Everything after that moment shifted faster, a flurry of hurried motions and steps: discarding coats on the floor, grabbing hands and making a quick dash, giggling as our bedroom door finally flung open. Rohan had been home a few times, making sure things were ready for our return. The room was pristine—clean sheets, nothing out of place, even a slight hint of orange and peppermint in the air.

Not missing a beat, Rohan shut the door again, pulling at the hem of his shirt, unzipping his pants, and peeling his socks off. Underneath, his Versace boxers were already slightly tight, his desperation clear. “Do you need help, Ari? I can help.” 

I giggled at his eagerness, nodding. “Socks are harder now. Getting pretty big...”

He smiled, letting Heaven’s Door pop out, as he had me sit down on the bed. “Big and adorable~ I’m happy Ellie’s growing so much.” 

As Heaven pulled the socks off and disappeared into the bathroom, Rohan made quick work of my dress and leggings, being gentle as he worked. Soon I was just boyshorts and a lace bralette, blushing. Glancing down, I chuckled. “Han, I think we’re going to have to go shopping soon… My bras are getting kind of small.” With bright red cheeks, I finally looked up at Rohan, whose eyes were fixed on me.

“That’s definitely not a problem~” He grinned, cheeks flushed as well. “C-can I?” 

I nodded, raising my arms to let him slip the fabric off, warm-cheeked as he tossed the garment aside and climbed onto the bed. Heaven had been watching curiously from the side as we continued, finally returning to Rohan as we repositioned ourselves on the bed. Maybe he and Hearts would want to relax together some time…

“Mmmmh!” 

Forgetting all about my idea, I leaned back into the pillows as Rohan sat by my side, fingers tracing over my skin and lips pressed to my neck. His hands were large and warm—cared for, manicured, but a little calloused on the fingers where he always held his pens. I had memorized all his little details.

Before he could keep exploring, I took one of his hands between mine and kissed the palm, drawing it up to my cheek to lean into his touch. “I missed you so much…”

Rohan let out a low hum, staring down at me with messy hair and soft eyes. “I…Thought I was losing you. At the start. I didn’t know what was happening.”

My eyes teared up, meeting his gaze. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

Leaning forward, Rohan shook his head. “There’s nothing to apologize for… We’re okay.” Leaning all the way in, Rohan slipped his lips between mine, one hand under my chin and the other squeezing gently at my chest. 

As he pressed kiss after kiss onto my lips, I spread my legs, wrapping one around his, as much as I could with my stomach in the way. Soon, Rohan trailed warm kisses down my chin, neck, and chest, kissing down to the bump and pausing there. 

“Ellie’s grown so much in only two weeks…” He kissed gently, pressing at the side of the bump to see if she would respond. In a few seconds, his hand was met with a tiny kick, insistently replying to his motions. Rohan chuckled, kissing where the kick had been. “I can’t wait to meet you, Eliana...”  

Seeing Rohan be so soft was a little overwhelming. All the fantasies I ever had for love, romance, or family were nothing compared to this reality with him. He was always acting in ways I didn’t expect, but it was better than my dreams. The reality of Rohan—his determination, his tenderness, his directness, and strength--all of who he was made me fall in love, again and again.

Noticing my tears, Rohan sat up on his knees, tilting his head. “That didn’t hurt, did it?”

I shook my head no. “Sorry. Just…” I laughed, wiping at my eyes. “Seeing you. That. Got to me.” 

Rohan smirked, scooting closer and shaking his head. “You’re going all soft on me, baby~~” I grinned, reaching my arms out. “Always have been~” We sat there a moment, holding each other, readjusting to closeness. 

“Not getting to hold you for  like two weeks was torture, Han… I know it was for the best, but jeez… I missed your hugs.” I smiled into his neck, nestling in. 

“Mmmmh, you don’t even know how many nights I sat up wishing I could be laying next to you. I wanted you close to me so badly.”

Giggling, I held him close, feeling calmer as we settled into the moment. “Han.”

“Yeah, baby?”

“I think we’re gonna have to mod how we… uh…” I got red, hiding into his neck more. “I don’t think we can use the regular positions and my wrists hurt too much if I top right now…”

“Mmmmm…” He paused a moment, playing with my hair. “What if we spoon and try it that way? It should take pressure off your stomach and I can go shallow if I need to.”

Pulling back so I could see his face, I nodded. “And a bath after??”

Rohan grinned. “Yeah. And a bath after~” 

Leaning forward for more kisses, Rohan put a hand on my jaw, pressing into my lips like a man who needed kisses like oxygen. Slowly, gradually, Rohan and I slid gently exploring hands across each other’s skin, building up anticipation and shivering under one another’s touch. Removing any final clothing, we took our time, kissing sensitive spots, worshiping every inch of the bodies we had been missing.

Slipping his hands down, Rohan helped me roll onto my side, skimming his palm over my waist and thigh, getting a shiver out of me. As he kissed down my spine, he reached to pinch at my pebbling nipples, getting a squeal out of me. “BABE!” 

Laughing as he returned to my shoulder, he sucked a small hickey there, admiring his handiwork after. “Something to think about while I’m stuck in the studio~”

“I think I can imagine just fine without, but it’s a nice gesture~~” 

Rohan huffed out a frustrated sigh, but couldn’t stay mad when he saw my grin back at him, tickling my sides and making me squeal more, tightening into a ball. “NOOOOOOO!!!!!” 

Pressing himself close to me, Rohan hooked a leg around my hip, grabbing onto my arm and whispering into my ear. “You’re all mine~”

Gasping at his sudden intensity, I flushed, nodding and reaching to press my hand into his back. “Stop waiting around then~” 

As he gripped himself with a slight grunt, Rohan eased my legs forward, checking if I was already wet for him and pleased with his findings.

“Tell me if it hurts, ‘k?” 

“I will—“ Interrupted by a gasp, I gripped his arm tighter, squeezing my eyes shut as he slipped inside, tightening around him. 

“Mmmf!! Relax, relax. I can’t move if you’re tensing!”

“Aaaha, s-sor…” Panting a little, I leaned back into his chest. “Sorry.” As I slowed my breathing and relaxed, Rohan was able to quicken his strokes, moaning into my ear with each new thrust. 

“God. Frick. Don’t stop… Mmmmh, please.”

All I could hear after that was the gentle rhythm of our hearts pounding, breaths taken quickly, and the wet sounds of our bodies meeting--slow at first, then quicker as we grew more desperate. Two weeks was the longest we had gone apart from each other in almost a year of marriage and it definitely showed.

“G-gonna cum, Ari… Can’t last unless I use Heaven’s Door… P-please let me—!!”

Reaching back to grab at his butt, I nodded. “It’s okay, Han. You can come, just help me too, please?? Need you so bad…”

Pausing a second, dripping with sweat, Rohan reached around the bump, finding my clit and making me gasp all over again. His gentle circles combined with the feeling of him inside drove me quickly to the edge. “Babe!!! Iku Iku!!!” 

Squealing slightly as I felt my release wash over me, Rohan gave a few last thrusts, shaking as he finally spilled his load inside me, the warmth flooding my insides as I rested hazily into the post-orgasm afterglow.

Neither of us wanted to move, panting loudly, a mess of tangled limbs and messy hair, happy and sated with our first real intimate time in weeks.

“Don’t… Don’t move yet…” I closed my eyes, pressing into Rohan’s chest, feeling it rapidly rise and fall behind me. He grunted, staying there, wrapping his arm over my waist and nuzzling into my neck. We let the moment settle, not talking, just letting the rush of everything wash over us together. 

“I’m going to--“ 

“Okay—“

Finally peeling apart, Rohan reached into the side table drawer for a washcloth, gently cleaning both of us up and pressing a kiss to my temple.

“I’ll start running the bath, okay? Heaven can come get you when it’s ready.”

“Mhmm. Here, take Hearts with you…” Popping out at my command, Hearts on Fire wrapped her arms around Han’s shoulders, leaning her face onto his back. Heh, soul cuddles.

He smiled, stealing one more kiss before walking to the shower room, naked and beautiful. Frick~ Glancing back, he flashed a little smile at me, disappearing into the bathroom after. 

HUSBAND. HUSBAND!!!!!

Giggling, I snuggled under the covers, readjusting to get comfier. 

Home. I was happy to be home.

💜💜💜

P.S. Title is from here:

undefined

[royalcalum]

Anonymous asked: could you please write a part three because I love CEO luke AND  hey I know you’re like way busy but is it possible to have another part to CEo luke? you’re like majorly talented and I had to turn the notifications on for your blog BC I love itttt😇 AND Hi! Can you do a part 3 to CEO! Luke please? You are amazing thank you 😘 AND part 3 to the ceo! luke series please ? :) 🤯💖

Rating: Mature - don’t read it if you shouldn’t or I’ll tell your mom

Featuring: Luke + Reader

Warning: SMUT, slight angst

Author’s Note: STOP THE PRESSES CHANELLE IS POSTING A FUCKING FIC FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS (I think it’s actually been almost four years if we don’t count the rewrite of a Dolan twins fic). Anyway... this is it for CEO!Luke. Here’s my sad attempt at trying to start writing fics again. You’ve literally been waiting years for this shit so I hope it’s worth it lmao

Part One

Part Two

The rest of the trip stayed fairly PG, just a couple PG-13 make-outs and the occasional R-rated touching. The sex stopped, though. I think Luke was scared of someone he could potentially work with catching on and dropping him. I’d like to say I’m the one who stopped it, but my internal conflicts couldn’t make me give him up. I knew what we were doing was wrong and could get either of us - most likely me - into a lot of trouble, but my mind was stuck between leaving him and risking my career. I couldn’t afford to lose my job over some guy. I needed to stop this train wreck.

This couldn’t end well.

Luke and I kept to ourselves during the plane ride back to New York. He was on his laptop looking at more graphs and data while I went through documents from the trip. It wasn’t until we landed that any interaction actually happened and by then, he knew something was up.

“Do you need a ride back to your place?” Luke asked, grabbing my bag for me. 

“I can just get a cab, it’s not a big deal,” I shrugged as I reached for my bag again. Before I could get a grip on the handle, Luke yanked it back and moved closer to me.

“Okay, what’s wrong? You’ve been acting different ever since the first night of the trip and I don’t want it to affect our work,” he said quietly.

It’s a little late for that. Our work relationship was already shot to hell, considering I couldn’t go a whole day without wondering whether or not I should ask for a… favor.

I sighed and stuck my hand out. “I can carry my own bag, Mr. Hemmings.”

“So now I’m Mr. Hemmings again?” he asked with a small pout. His eyebrows furrowed as his eyes explored my face, but he reluctantly handed my bag back. “At least let me give you a ride.”

“I can get a cab. I don’t want to bother y-”

“It’s not a bother, [Y/N]. Really,” he said sternly. His jaw was set and I knew I’d either have to let him give me a ride and deal with his interrogation now or find a way to avoid him at work later. As his assistant, that would literally be impossible.

The long drive to my apartment seemed to take even longer in the dead silence of the car. Luke would glance over at me every few minutes, but I refused to look back at him. If I let him in, it’d be even harder to push him back out.

The playful banter and late night story times and cuddle sessions over the length of the trip were not helping the crush I had developed on my emotionally unavailable boss, but this wasn’t something I could just let happen. People at work would find out, we’d get reported for breaking regulations, and I’d get fired. That was the only logical ending. It’s not like Luke would fall in love with me, especially not after just seven days of this charade.

We pulled up to my complex just as darkness started to settle over the city. I wasn’t necessarily in a dangerous neighborhood,  but it definitely wasn’t the safest either. Luke took it upon himself to play the hero and make sure I made it inside okay. 

“Luke, really, I’m fine carrying my own bag. It’s just the one,” I argued as he hoisted my bag out of the trunk.

“Just one that I can carry for you,” he countered.

I groaned and led the way up the stairs to my third floor apartment. When we got to my door, I unlocked it and stood in the doorway to block the way in and get my bag before Luke could find a way to get inside.

“Okay. I made it here safe and sound. I’ll take my bag now.” Luke clenched his jaw and set the bag at my feet, using the moment I bent over to grab it as an opportunity to push past me and get into my place. “Luke,” I grumbled. “What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to figure out what I did wrong!” he nearly shouted as the door fell closed behind me. “Last week and that first day of the trip, you were ready for anything. Then all of a sudden it went from amazing sex to touching to barely even kissing. What did I do?”

“You’re my boss, Luke. My boss! Whatever this is,” I said, gesturing between us, “it needs to stop. It’s unprofessional and it puts my future in this industry at risk.”

“You’re concerned about your job right now?” he asked skeptically. “[Y/N], I’m not going to revoke my reference for you just because we’re sleeping together and I sure as hell don’t plan on firing you.”

I rolled my eyes and let out an unamused laugh. “Right, because it’s not like you couldn’t find another assistant to fuck.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” he said sternly. “Now I want an honest answer.” Luke stepped closer to me until my back was against the door and his face was inches from mine. “Why are you avoiding me?”

I took in a shaky breath, not wanting to back out last minute. Fuck, if he’d just take two steps back, this would be so much easier.

“I like you. And I don’t want to risk a professional relationship by getting personal feelings.”

He clenched his jaw again and let out a harsh breath, his stern expression faltering for a second.

“So you don’t want anything to do with me because you don’t want to accidentally fall in love with me?” he clarified, his eyes searching mine for some sort of fault.

“Yeah,” I nearly whispered.

This wasn’t going as planned. Oh god, this definitely wasn’t going as planned.

“Good luck with that.” Without a second of hesitation, Luke leaned in and pressed his lips to mine, gently grabbing my face in his hands. I knew I shouldn’t but, fuck, I had to. I kissed back and gripped the front of his t-shirt to pull his body closer to mine. “There she is,” Luke smirked, pulling back just enough for our lips to still be touching.

“Shut up,” I mumbled, tugging him to me and wrapping my arms behind his neck.

It was wrong. It was so wrong. But at that point, I didn't care. Fuck all the things I was telling myself; I couldn't give him up. I didn't want to.

Luke ran his hands down my sides, wrapping one around my thigh and hooking my leg over his waist. I bit at his bottom lip and smirked to myself when he quietly moaned in response. Even those simple sounds from him had an affect on me. He took this opportunity to slide his tongue into my mouth, deepening the kiss and sending my mind reeling.

I tugged on the hem of his t-shirt until he moved back and pulled it over his head, his biceps flexing when he let it fall to the floor. His lips were back on mine instantly but I pushed him back and grabbed his wrist to pull him across the apartment and to my bedroom. He seemed surprised at first - at least until he realized where we were going.

Since I moved to the city, I had only had two men in my bed before and neither one remembered my name or stayed until morning, so bringing Luke - my own damn boss - into my bedroom was a change for me. Any concern about that was thrown out the window when he walked in after me and slammed the door, pulling my body to his and immediately jerking my pants to the floor.

I stumbled backwards until Luke grabbed me and picked me up, walking blindly around my room until his knees hit the edge of the bed. He dropped me so I bounced off the mattress a bit before he slipped his grey sweats off. A small laugh fell from his lips as he picked me up again, moving both of us to the top of the bed with his tongue on my neck.

I giggled quietly at the tickle of his growing scruff lightly scratching at my skin. Luke seemed to take this as an invitation and nuzzled his face further on my neck, pulling a full-blown laugh from me.

“Luke, stop,” I laughed, tugging on his curly hair so he’d look at me again. A bright smile graced those sinful lips of his and the look in his eyes let me know my whole don’t-fall-in-love-with-him thing was about to go to shit.

“Good god,” he mumbled, almost a whisper, before leaning down to kiss me again.

Any reservations I had about tonight completely dissolved as I let out a whimper at nothing more than his lips on mine. His right hand rested under the hem of my shirt, gently tracing his fingertips across my bare skin until he reached the fabric of my bra.

My palms pressed to his chest and pushed him back so he was kneeling between my legs. His little pout only lasted a couple seconds until I peeled my shirt over my head and reached behind myself to slide my bra off my arms as well. Luke stayed in his kneeling position even after I laid back down on the bed. He rested his hands on my thighs and stroked his fingers over my legs, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he just stared at me, his eyes raking over my entire body silently.

“What?” I smiled, trying to fight back any feelings of self-consciousness creeping up on me at his unwavering scrutiny.

He paused his movements and looked me straight in the eyes, pinning me down with his gaze. I lifted myself up on my elbows and let my smile fall into a confused frown at his sudden change in demeanor. “Are you okay, Luke?”

He let out a deep breath and shook his head as it lolled forward to face the bed. With a small, forced smile, he looked back up at me with those big, baby-blue eyes.

“I don’t think you’re the only one who has to worry,” he finally said.

My breath caught in my throat at his confession. Two years of working for him and all it took was one week of more than paperwork for both of us to tumble down a ravine we didn’t see coming. I pushed myself up and maneuvered to kneel in front of him, enraptured by the deep blue pooling in his eyes. Both of my hands reached up to cup his jaw, my thumbs gently pawing at the rough stubble scattered across his face. He sighed quietly and leaned forward into my touch, his eyes fluttering closed at the contact.

“Tell you what,” I said, barely above a whisper. “Whatever we’ve got going on - we’ll make it work. Forget everything I said earlier. We both got more than we bargained for, but I want this. I want you, Luke.”

He opened his eyes and let a smile curl on his lips again. Just like before, he grabbed my waist and pinned me to the bed, his mouth on my neck instantly.

“There he is,” I joked, mimicking his earlier words. He bit the side of my neck, turning my faint giggles into quiet moans. I quickly pushed him back and groaned, “There he is, too.”

Luke replied with a groan of his own before grabbing his cock and lining up with me, slowly working his way inside me as if our previous nights weren’t enough of an expression of how he felt. I rested my hands on his shoulders as his forehead rested against mine, both of us unable to breath properly until he was fully sheathed inside me. I whimpered once he stilled above me, a faint “please” falling from my lips before he started moving.

His movements were slow and methodical, pulling out almost entirely before hitting deep inside. His lips enveloped mine; he only pulled away to take a quick breath or let out a quiet moan. My legs lifted and wrapped around his waist so I could pull him deeper. When I started bucking my own hips against his, he realized slow and methodical wouldn’t work the whole night.

Luke’s right hand wrapped around the back of my neck, the other hooking behind my shoulder as he jerked his hips forward - hard. I let out a loud moan at the sudden change of pace, the sound being muffled by Luke’s lips covering mine again. With his hands anchoring me in place, he easily had full control over my body.

The sound of skin on skin filled my room, barely covered by the sound of the street outside. My legs fell from his waist and spread open as he angled his hips to hit deeper, my head pushing back against the pillows behind me. Luke nuzzled his head into my neck, his breath on my skin sending a shiver down my spine right as the tip of his cock hit my g-spot. I whimpered at the sensation and pressed my nails against Luke’s shoulder blades, leaving distinct pink marks in their wake.

He abruptly pulled out and stood from the bed, yanking my legs so my body was across the bed.

“Luke!” I giggled, playfully grabbing at the sheets beneath me.

He smiled down at me before kissing me, effortlessly sliding back into me and groaning against my lips. I whined as he pulled away again to hoist my leg over his shoulder. He propped one of his knees up on the mattress and smirked at me, almost as a warning. I bit my lip as he slowly pushed as deep as he could get, quickly switching his pace and snapping his hips to mine. I didn’t even try to hold back any sounds. I knew my neighbors would hate me in the morning but with the way he was making me feel, I didn’t care. It was like he wanted me to be as loud as possible. He wanted to piss off the neighbors and break the bed and make sure I couldn’t walk tomorrow. There was nothing holding him back anymore.

Luke gripped my leg in one hand, letting the other press against my stomach so he could reach my clit. One of my hands gripped the sheets while the other clenched around Luke’s forearm. As much as I loved watching him, it was getting more and more difficult to focus.

“I’m gonna cum,” I whimpered, barely audible to myself, let alone Luke.

But he heard me.

“Cum, baby girl. Cum on daddy’s cock.”

I whimpered again as Luke repeatedly hit my g-spot, his hand still rubbing against my clit until my whole body tensed up at the rush flowing through me. Luke’s continued movements dragged my orgasm on, my pussy clenching his cock until he let out a quiet “fuck.” He fell onto his forearms on the bed, his rhythm faltering to a stop as he came inside of me.

Luke let his head rest against my shoulder, but kept most of his body weight on his arms to avoid crushing me. When he finally lifted his head his lips pressed to mine in a long, slow kiss. Neither one of us knew what to say, at this point. Everything that needed to be said had already been spoken, if not shown. We just laid on the edge of the bed for a few minutes, Luke still inside of me until his calves started cramping from the angle.

“Sorry, babe,” he said. “If you want to be able to do this again, my legs need a break.”

“Again?” I asked, standing from the bed and rushing to the bathroom to clean up the cum running down my legs.

“Oh, I’m staying over tonight,” he shouted from my bedroom. “And I’m calling in sick tomorrow so feel free to do the same.”

[inosuketingz]

the sheets are stained with blood [p.3]

PART ONE PART TWO [ PART THREE ] PART FOUR Victor Zsasz x fem!Reader Warning: language, violence, blood and spoilahs 4 Birds of Prey Word Count: 1125 Tag: @itsknife2meetu​  A/N: Aaaand we are back!! I kinda forgot to mention in my previous parts that my fic touches upon an unreqruited romance between Zsasz and Roman bc I am a(n): a) idiot b) pendeja c) dumbass d) all of the above. Again, feel free to ask if you’d like to be tagged in future parts <3 This is legit my first fic I’ve posted online and I’m really loving where this is going

You hold back a gag as Hyunwoo lets out a gut wrenching scream. Your only job today is to keep an eye on Victor, something you thought would be cake. But, it’s turning out to be a bit more difficult than you imagined.

“Answer the fucking question!” Zsasz yells into the man’s face, knife digging deeper into his face. “Where is it?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know, I don’t know!” Hyunwoo cries and you cross your arms.

“Bullshit,” Zsasz insists and his hand begins to etch the knife higher, drawing a red line as it moves. Like he aches to peel the skin off the man’s head. He’s more than willing to ignore Hernando del Rey’s orders to leave Hyunwoo alive.

You get up from leaning against the office desk and clutch the blood silver necklace around your neck.

“Zsasz, stop!” And, like clockwork, he’s motionless. Last night, after you escorted— or forced— the scarred man out of your apartment, you utilized the towels he plugged his wounds with to make a Blood Pendant. That has become your signature ‘weapon’ to the mainstream media. One drop off blood onto the pendant and you can order around the person it belongs to.

You approach Hyunwoo and squat next to Victor who wears an expression of confusion.

“What the hell did you do?” He mutters in a raspy voice.

“Something I should’ve done the moment we got here.”

Hyunwoo winces when you grab onto his dyed blue hair and pull his face closer to yours. “Hernando gave you the keys to his yacht. So, obviously, you know where you put it. And if you lost them, I can’t promise that you’ll be put through any less pain than if we find out you’re lying.”

The man’s eyes dart to a shelf at the right end of the office. “Please, promise you I have no clue where they are. Look, my kids are still in the other room—” You drop his head before he could end his sentence. That’s all you needed to see.

Your reach for the pendant again, this time telling Zsasz to come on. Victor lets out a sigh of relief as his body returns to its normal mobility. You head to the shelf and Zsasz follows, though not before he plants a hard kick to the Korean man’s stomach.

“Don’t ever do that shit again, do you fucking hear me? I don’t get controlled.” He whispers against your ear and you feel a shiver run its slow fingers down your spine.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” You feign cluelessness. “I didn’t know there were statutes of morality between us now.” He grunts in response.

You bring your attention back to the large shelf. You face spines of books and nothing else. The titles not written in Hangul described statistics, business and other boring shit.

“The keys are somewhere here,” you say.

“How do you know?”

You take a quick glimpse over your shoulder to make sure Hyunwoo is still on the floor, tied by his restraints. “He looked over here while I was talking to him, duh. Aren’t you supposed to be super smart?”

“Cum laude, baby girl.” Zsasz winks and you roll your eyes. You couldn’t care less about his Ivy League adventures. “And I was too busy dealing with paralysis to notice.”

“Quit being a baby and look.” You power through hardbacks upon hardbacks, hoping you’d open one and the keys would fall out. Victor watches you do this with a little smile on his face. You turn over and bark “Start looking, asshole!”

He laughs, but does what you say. After last night’s shenanigans, you were ready to get this deal over with. You’ve met with plenty of Wonder Woman’s rogues in the past, but none of them creeped you out the way these Gotham villains do, let alone Victor Zsasz. You could barely get a grasp of what was going on in his head. One second he wants to gut you, the next he’s gripping your thighs and reminding you of the time you two slept together. To top it all off, you still have no clue how he managed to get into your room.

Today has been no better. You’re wearing a tight turtleneck and skinny jeans, and you’ve caught him catching glances at your ass and breasts on plenty occasions.

Victor pulls out a thick mystery novel from the bottom shelf and a shiny silver key slips out, clinking against the marble floor.

His cheeks pull back as he grins, revealing his steel crowns. He picks it up and turns to face Hyunwoo who groans.

“It looks like we got a little liar on our hands,” He mocks.

“Fuck, I’m sorry!” Hyunwoo cries as Zsasz saunters closer to him. “You guys said you couldn’t kill me!”

“I won’t kill you. I’m just gonna fuck you up bad enough that your kids will live with nightmares when they enter and see you.” He kneels closer to him and you shove your hands into your pockets.

“I’m gonna be in the car.”

~ ~ ~

It takes over an hour for Zsasz to finally come out of Hyunwoo’s mansion. His clothes are clean, the white ASOS sweater left unstained, but his hands are tinted pink and give you a clue of what he got done doing.

He opens the car door and slips into the driver seat. Victor drops del Rey’s key onto your lap and starts the car.

“Y’know, if we’re gonna be Gotham’s new dynamic duo, you’re gonna have to stop bossing me around,” he sounds cheerful, giddy, as he speaks. Like a suburban husband talking to his housewife.

You press your forehead against the window. “We’re not a damn team. And don’t you belong to somebody else? What was his name? Roman See-ah-nis, or something?”

Victor freezes.

“Then Harley Quinn blew his ass up, right?” You look at him.

For the first time, you see pain in his eyes. His eyebrows scrunch up and his eyes go big— like a puppy dog. You struck a nerve. Good.

“Don’t say his name,” he orders.

“Don’t break into my apartment,” you counter.

His face shifts into that of anger. Unhinged anger. “I do whatever the fuck I want. Do you hear me? You don’t tell me what to do. If I want to break into your ugly ass apartment, I will. If I want to kill a man, I will. You are not in control. I don’t need you. You need me—”

He’s cut off when the bolt of a crossbow stabs into the front window of his car.

[irwinkitten]

feisty | a.i | part two

notes: so this was deff requested after i posted feisty about 8 months ago lmao i got sent an anon who literally astounded me with their idea and so working off that, part two started to get created and honestly i love it so much. however, as i posted the other day, it reached 16k and i was like “this isn’t even halfway done i need to stop and reevaluate this” so i’ve decided it’s gonna be three parts with part three already started.  request: Hi I was thinking ab Feisty (I’m the one who requested a pt 2) but like I was really thinking about it and I absolutely adore the way Cassie was written. She’s strong, she’s powerful, and she knows what she wants. She never turned her back on the idea of a pack and being part of one even tho she’s human. I was wondering if maybe you could incorporate the idea of her having a wolf, but that wolf is locked inside of her, but it slowly makes it way out in different ways. Like the idea she’s a 1/?  Like one day she’s getting extremely riled up and all of a sudden only her eyes shift and everyone around her is like “um the FUCK Luna???” And no one knows how she was able to do that but then maybe she finds some sort of ancient script ab humans among werewolves and they’re actually extremely powerful and something to be feared bc they’re sent to guide the pack and all of a sudden it makes sense bc Roxanne and Trixie are both extremely smart and intelligent and the other humans within 2/? The pack that have come around during her time also have the same intelligence and wisdom that the wolves tend to overlook and it look Cassie for the packs to understand and appreciate their power and it’s like up to her to continue to push forward and make sure that all packs respect the humans as if they were a wolf themselves but inside the humans is a wolf more powerful that they’re in tune with which is why they are able to lead the pack and point out the flaws in plans and makes them so 3/? Valuable to the packs in different forms and she’s out here being bad fucking ass and she won’t take no for an answer and she just has all this power and she knows she might just be a human in many of the wolves eyes forever but she’ll be damned if she doesn’t go down trying to change that bc no one, I repeat no one, should disrespect her or the others like her bc they are not less than the wolves and idk that might not be the way you were thinking of taking it but it’s just what I imagine 4/? Bc I think it would be really cool to see the other wolves reactions to her having some sort of power within her that’s untapped, along w the other humans and the backlash and rebellion that could ensue. Like how are these ~humans~ so powerful they’re just that, filthy, disgusting humans and I think that would be a really cool spin on it but that’s just me lol. Tbh it’s time to go reread feisty again and just revel in how well written Cassie is and how much I am DYING for a part 2 5/5 ALSO sorry I was just thinking that you could make Roxanne’s mate someone powerful as well, showing that even those who are tortured are destined for greatness warnings: mentions of murder, death, word count: 14.2k lmao am i ever gonna write a small one shot that’s an oc? probably not.

part one

donate to my ko-fi here 

-

The low alarm that keened throughout the small town of werewolves, it was one of both comfort and panic. The panic was of those who had been living on the edge, scared to step from the packs boarders without a warrior or two within distance or sight. 

The comfort resided within the Alpha and Luna, both who had planned and expected this to happen. 

There was a traitor.

The pair peeled themselves away from the bed, both fully focused on the fact that what they had seen, what had been pointed out to them had come to fruition.

“Luna?” A soft voice came from one of the rooms below theirs as they reached the next floor below, both dressed in similar attire, yet the Alpha’s attire was less restrictive than the Luna’s.

“You were right Trixie.” The soft tone of reassurance did nothing to stop the teenagers lip from wobbling. 

“So many are going to be hurt.” She whispered dejectedly as the Luna opened her arms out to the young girl. She stepped forwards into the embrace.

“Come, the elders will insist you are awake.” 

Nothing was spoken as the young woman and her charge continued further down, heading into the office that was located on the ground floor.

“Luna Cassidy, it’s about time.” The scathing tone of the Elder of Vinewood Pack reached her, Cassidy Irwin drew herself to her full height, meeting the Elder with a hard glare.

“Trixie Teller is the one who foresaw this. Need I remind you that she is but a child in all of this? They may be rogues but they are waging war, Elder Greydown. The knowledge of such a thing being right is distressing for any wolf, let alone a human teenager.” She snapped in return. The Elder scowled but did not refute her argument.

“Elder Greydown, I do not want to remind you, yet again to respect my Luna.” Cassidy watched as the Elder bowed to her mate.

“My apologies, Alpha Ashton.” Cassidy ignored the slight against her and bundled the trembling teenager into the spot between herself and her mate. Ashton did not hesitate to let his arm wrap around the teenagers shoulders, and she leaned gratefully into her Alpha’s comfort.

“Beta Hemmings has made contact with the warriors on patrol. They know not to engage, and survey the attempted attack.”

“Who knew of the council meeting?” Another Elder spoke up. It took a second before Cassidy realised it was Elder Maybanks.

“None outside this circle were told. Not even young Trixie knew of this.” Eyes fell on the form of the still shaking human teenager whose eyes were heavy and her body exhausted.

The silence of the alarm was deafening and the howl that followed in its wake was pain filled.

“They found the traitor.” Trixie whispered. Cassidy wanted to shield her from the pain, the dull reminder of her loss of Talon still serving her as a constant reminder of the failure that haunted her dreams.

“Should the human even be here?” Elder Greydown spoke, his tone condescending.

“You are coming very close to insulting someone under my protection, Elder Greydown.” Cassidy snapped. She received a scoff in return and Elder Maybanks exploded.

“You teach our pups to be tolerant, yet you cannot be tolerant of the two humans who have served our pack faithfully! It begs the question, what kind of tolerance are you filling the pups heads with in the first place?” 

Ashton held back the growl of frustration. He knew the Elder’s struggling attitude with the changes that Vinewood Pack had undergone. 

“Now is not the time.” Cassidy spoke, her tone stern and unrelenting. Elder Greydown huffed, but did not argue with her. She shared a look with Ashton and Elder Maybanks. They knew that they would be asking Greydown to step down before the week was out.

A sharp hiss escaped from Trixie before it turned into a whimper. 

“He’s hurt. Abel is hurt.” She got out as Cassidy held her face, forcing the teenager to look at her.

“You are here and safe. Alpha Irwin is tracking each of the warriors.” She knew better than to make the promise that he would return safely.

“His brothers are with him. He’ll be healed before he gets home.” Ashton reassured the teenager who gave into the tears. Cassidy understood. She allowed the teenager to cling to her in comfort as Ashton moved to his desk, tapping away at the laptop.

“Rosewood has confirmed that it’s Leo.” Ashton muttered and she sighed as Trixie finally relaxed against her. She carefully lay her down on the couch, tucking the blanket around her.

“How bad?” Cassidy finally asked once the teenagers breathing evened out.

“Sixteen wolves were injured. Two are serious, but the pack doctor with them has reassured me that they’ll be okay eventually.” Ashton murmured and his gaze returned to the two Elders in the room.

“We will require you at the offices by noon.” Both of them bowed to Ashton. Elder Maybanks bowed to Cassidy, Elder Greydown did not.

“If he wasn’t an Elder, I’d have Calum break his neck.” She muttered darkly once Ashton nodded that the two Elders had indeed returned home.

“He’s going to be retired from his position. Are your new teachers ready to take over the position?” She sighed.

“I think so. But there’s still some animosity between Roxanne and Gwen.” Ashton sighed.

“Gwen believes that Roxanne is the reason for her Aunt and Uncles’ demise and her cousins restriction, doesn’t she?” Cassidy nodded.

“Gwen is still openly hostile with her, and as much as I have tried to ingrain that Roxanne was the victim, she will see nothing of it. Personally, I’m close to pulling Gwen off the course and moving her to something that isn’t so potentially volatile.” Ashton nodded at his mates words, allowing her to talk freely.

Ever since they had returned so many years ago from his first visit to her old pack, she’d planned with various teachers about teaching the pups to practice tolerance and acceptance of humans within the pack. It became more so when more humans had been born.

Only a handful, but Ashton could see that each of them were gifted. Born years apart, the youngest only being just shy of a year old, and the oldest at the age of six already, Ashton knew that changes needed to be made and fast. 

The human girl they had rescued so long ago, Roxanne Teller, had been a significant trigger for the changes. Cassidy was determined that no child should suffer the fate that she had suffered.

Just shy of her twenty first birthday, Roxanne had been determined to do her adoptive parents proud. And she had excelled with Cassidy as her mentor.

Her younger sister, Trixie, was in a league of her own. Freshly turned fifteen year old was an extrodinaire with technology. Ashton had been the one to encourage that. But when she had turned thirteen, she’d been gifted with prophetic visions.

The Moon Goddess, Selene had appeared to both Trixie, and the Irwins, to explain the prophetic nature of the teenagers dreams.

They were dreams that could not be altered by choices or decisions. They were outcomes that the fates had decided themselves. Cassidy, was rightfully angry with her Goddess for placing such a burden onto the shoulders of someone so young.

“They will be prophecies of the years you will experience and the years you will never see. They are to guide my children into the rightful acceptance that you have started.” 

Cassidy knew she could not remain angry with the fates if they had deemed Trixie their host to record prophecies for years to come. 

Many had complained of Ashton taking both girls under his wing, but at the Alpha’s conference, both Ashton and her previous Alpha, Isaac Lockard told them of the successes that Cassidy had. 

That was the day the first laws began to change. Abuse of a human born or mated into a pack would be met with penalties and jail time. Anything that could be seen as an attempted murder will be met with either exile or execution.

Alpha’s grumbled about that until Cassidy stood up on the podium, her eyes sharp as she snatched a dagger from one of the security wolves belts and sliced her hand open like she did to her own pack.

Alpha’s watched in fascinated horror as her blood trailed down her hand, dripping onto the stage. 

She’d forcefully pointed out that any attack on a human could be considered attempted murder because there was no accelerated healing. 

The High Council has been quick to distinguish parameters of what was considered abuse and what was considered an attack.

It wasn’t a lot, but it had been a start for Cassidy.

===

Both were used to sleepless nights, and this one was no different. Ashton had his werewolf stamina to keep him going, Cassidy relied on caffeine to keep her afloat.

When Trixie stirred, she jolted awake in shock, a short gasp of hair escaping as black curls seemed to fly everywhere, wild eyes searching the room.

“It happened.” It wasn’t a question but Ashton nodded anyway.

“We had some injuries, but they’ll make a recovery. We found the traitor.” 

The tone in Ashton’s voice had dropped from reassuring to deadly in seconds, and Trixie couldn’t help herself as she shuddered. Part of her was grateful to her Luna that she demanded Trixie be kept away from any kind of interrogation. 

She didn’t want to be on the end of Alpha Ashton’s tone.

The shrill ring of the phone made the teenager jump in fright and Cassidy smiled as Ashton answered the phone.

“Morning Isaac.” 

Something was spoken for a second as Ashton placed the phone handle face down before hitting the speakerphone button.

“You’re on speaker now, Isaac. Trixie is with us.” 

The other Alpha did not need to be told the warning in Ashton’s tone. Keep it teenager friendly.

“Leo was injured last night. Hope nailed him good, however he was rescued by a wolf waiting on standby. It looks like there are a few traitors from packs within their cause.” Cassidy sighed.

“We managed to catch ours, or at least the only one we hope we have. What about your side?” Cassidy finally asked.

“Dead.” Came the blunt response and Trixie gasped.

“Isaac.” Cassidy snapped back as she took a hold of Trixie’s hands. “There was nothing you could do for them, sweet girl.”

“My apologies Miss Teller. Unfortunately, there would’ve been no saving this wolf. The rogues had clawed into their very minds and warped their entire views.” Trixie finally nodded before a blush crept up her skin. 

“It’s forgiven, Alpha Isaac.” She finally got out and Ashton smiled at her reassuringly. “If I can be excused? I know that Rox wanted to meet for breakfast and she’ll crucify me if I’m late.” Ashton nodded.

The excuse was weak, but she was still too young in Ashton’s eyes.

Once the door had closed, Cassidy moved herself to Ashton’s lap, his arms winding around her waist.

“Who was it, Isaac?” 

“Gregory Sampson.” Cassidy closed her eyes at that, her heart sinking at the fact the sweet boy she knew had turned traitor. 

“Who discovered him?” She felt Ashton’s hand on her hip, his thumb rubbing slow circles into her skin. 

“Kallie Tyson.” Came the amused response and Cassidy snorted. 

“What tipped her off?” 

“She was there the day Leo was exiled. Apparently he hadn’t bothered to dampen his scent and she smelled him all over Sampson. She’s been wary of a lot of wolves after the whole debacle years ago. When she realised the scent, she went to patrol and alerted them.” Isaac explained and she sighed. 

“Was Sampson executed immediately?” Ashton’s tone was a lot more calmer than the harsh tones he’d spoken earlier. 

“No. We got him for all the information that he was worth. I know that another two packs caught traitors, not including yours. Cassidy I’d say collate with the other strategists. Get the information any way possible and work through it.” A low sigh escaped her lips and Isaac paused. “Cassie?” 

She tried not to groan, she knew that when her old Alpha called her Cassie, it was his way of checking in with her as her surrogate family member and not her old Alpha. 

Before she could speak up, Ashton cut her off, giving her an apologetic glance. 

“Elder Greydown has been testing her patience. He’s been the one who has been teaching other pack Elders for tolerance with humans. However he borderline disrespects Cass in front of other Elders and pack members.”

Cassidy found she couldn’t be angry with Ashton as she laid her head on his shoulder, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek to convey that she wasn’t mad at him. 

Isaac growled audibly. 

“I’m assuming that his position is about to become open to other Elders?” 

“Yes and no.” Cassidy answered calmly. “I’ve been training pack members to take over that role. However there’s been animosity between the two of them so I may ask for an outside Elder to come in and learn but then teach other packs.” 

“I’ll speak with Elder Orion. You know he forever asks after you.” Cassidy grinned. 

“That’s because I’m respectful to my elders, old timer.” She teased and Isaac barked out a laugh. 

“Alright trouble. Get in touch when you want to plan with the strategists. I’ll spread the word to the other packs.” 

“Appreciated Isaac.” Ashton muttered before the line went dead and Cassidy sighed. 

“How long do we have until we need to be at the offices?” This earned a tired groan from Ashton. 

“I don’t want to have to deal with Greydown’s disrespect. I’m hoping that the other Elders being there will reign him in but I’m not going to hold my breath. We need to start moving now if we want to get there on time.” 

Cassidy moves from her mates arms, but not before giving him a gentle kiss. He smiled in return before pushing himself up and the two headed to get changed from the black outfits they’d worn in preparation. 

Part of Cassidy was raging. Angry that rogues would make this attempt. Another part of her was filled with sorrow, knowing full well that there would be packs that would collapse from that kind of onslaught. 

By the time the two had reached the offices, her mind was whirling. She greeted the Elders that were gathered, unsurprised at the lack of respect from Greydown. 

It hit her. 

She kept her body relaxed, refusing to give away her realisation. She knew that the moment he was discovered, it would either cause more problems or give them their solutions. 

Taking Ashton’s hand in hers was always normal. Absentmindedly, she began to trace letters into his palm, making out soft patterns at each space so the game wouldn’t be given away. 

The Elders knew she was very touchy with her mate for good reason. They eventually got used to their Luna’s quirks, barely concealed amusement on their lips at the resigned look on their Alpha’s face when she threw herself into the architectural planning of new homes. 

Ashton understood her message, immediately switching to plan B. They’d concocted this plan when lay together, her mind frazzled with worry of a traitor being someone so close to them they’d never suspect it. 

“Greydown.” 

“Yes Alpha?”

“Tell me Greydown, why do you respect me but not my mate? And if you utter a word about her humanity, I’m sure she will take gleeful pleasure in throwing you from the window.” Ashton’s casual comment was met with a look of fear. 

He pinned the older man down with a dead stare, the mirth gone from his face. 

“She doesn’t know how to run a pack. And as your Luna, she still falls under your command yet flounces it regardless.” Both Irwins could see the hesitation. His words were just another dig at her humanity without outright saying the words. 

“Tell me Elder Greydown, I have ever disrespected your authority?” Cassidy started. Ashton leaned back with a smirk. 

“No, Luna.” 

“Have I ever been found lacking with my leadership, especially when I was appointed the Head of the strategists?” His smirk grew wider. Greydown became slightly flustered, his cheeks dark as he avoided looking at her. 

“No Luna.” 

“Look at me.” Her voice rang with the authority she held as the Alpha’s mate and Greydown’s head snapped up, staring at her in shock and awe. 

“Why do you believe that my humanity is a problem then? Everyone knows a wolf's mate is their ultimate weakness. Why is my humanity a deciding factor in that too? Or do you just hate humans on principle?” Greydown kept his lips pressed shut. “Answer me, Elder Greydown.” Her voice rang with the authority once more and he found himself unable to keep his mouth closed much longer. 

“They’re a disease that needs to be taken under control. We’ve had six runts born since you arrived and clearly it’s knowledge of a disease to spread to packs, to ruin the hierarchy.” 

Ashton’s smirk had fallen from his lips, standing from his chair as he stalked forward, closing the distance between the two. 

Cassidy didn’t even try to stop her mate. She’d learned fast he was a possessive mate at the best of times but anyone disrespecting her? 

She could only hope for Greydown that Ashton was in a kind mood. 

“Watch how you speak about my mate, Greydown.” The growl was low, a warning. 

Greydown scoffed in return. 

“I will speak of the human how I want. She wants to believe she’s Luna so badly.” 

The room froze at the Elders words, Ashton glancing back to his mate who had closed her eyes in rage and frustration. 

She paid no mind to the others as she rose from her seat, her eyes snapping open and glaring at Elder Greydown. She didn’t miss how his eyes widened and his cheeks drained of their colour. 

“You have no right to speak to me like that. Let alone the other humans in this pack who will outsmart you six ways to Sunday. You’re relieved of your duties of teaching tolerance. Tell me, would Leo Lockard treat this failure with the retribution he tried to give to me?” 

The shock turned to horror. He attempted to move but found himself being pinned down. 

“Sit still.” Cassidy snapped, her anger flooding dangerously. Greydown froze and didn’t move. 

“Get him out of here.” Ashton snapped to the two guards that had restrained Greydown. His attention turned to Cassidy. 

“Love, you need to calm down.”

“Why?” Ashton didn’t respond to her, merely pulling her to the mirror that sat in the office. 

She stared at herself in shock, fingers reaching up to touch her skin, her eyes focused on the amber coloured eyes that stared back in shock. 

Her gaze met Ashton’s as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. 

“We can ask around other Elders. They’ll have something we can work on, with what’s going on.” Cassidy found her voice lost as she looked back to the mirror, watching as the amber coloured eyes faded, leaving her bright green eyes confused and tired.

===

It’d been days since Greydown had been exposed as a traitor to the pack. Ashton had kept the techniques used quiet, but he relayed all the information that Greydown had given them. 

Part of Cassidy was screaming at her, telling her that something was off with the information.

“Ashton, I’m not saying that I don’t believe you-” The gentle smile from her mate as he cut her off relaxed her tense shoulders.

“-but it feels like something is wrong. I know sweetheart. But we’ve tried every tactic.” Ashton climbed into bed with her, her body automatically pressing against his as they fell into their positions easily. 

Sometimes Cassidy marvelled at the bond. Their first year together was almost purely physical, like they were trying to reconnect their souls. And she’d guessed that in a sense they were. But the smallest thing would set Ashton off, and vice versa. 

They learned what buttons could be pressed and what they needed to avoid. And after the first year, it calmed down so fast part of her wondered if it had just been a bizarre yet realistic dream. 

When it had come to nights, they could share the night easily, no hastily ripped off clothes or pushing their delights into the early hours of the morning. Some days Cassidy just enjoyed being held by her mate, and others she enjoyed the way he ravished her until the early break of dawn. 

Tonight was a night where she was content to lay in his arms, fingers trailing up and down her skin.

“Would you be willing to let me try?” Her question made him tense, but she was surprised he didn’t outright reject the idea immediately. This caused her to turn her head towards her mate who was wearing a contemplative look on his face.

“That wouldn’t be a bad idea. He wouldn’t expect you.” 

“And we can see if what happened the other day happens again. It looked like he couldn’t even fight my orders, although he must’ve tried.” Cassidy’s tone was convincing, hardly daring to believe that her mate was even considering this. 

“It’s one way of looking at it. But also, if he’s the only traitor to the pack, he’s the only one that knows about your eyes and the slight change. It means we have an avenue to look into that people may underestimate you for.” She could see that his mind was disappearing down various ideas. So she reached up and kissed him softly.

“We’ll keep considering my handsome mate. But both of us need rest, especially if I get to do this tomorrow.” The tease was delicate but Ashton could only grin. 

“As you wish, my love.” 

The following morning, Trixie was waiting for the couple at the breakfast bar. The majority of wolves that lived in the main pack house had either gone to school or work, or they’d be returning home from their shifts in the next few hours.

“Alpha.” Ashton took in Trixie’s exhausted state, her hands trembling but the determination set on her face intrigued him.

“Yes Miss Teller?” 

She’s following formalities, Cassidy mused as she remained at Ashton’s side.

“Selene came to me last night. She has instructed me to oversee the next three days.” Immediately Ashton tensed and Cassidy wondered if he was going to change his mind about her dealing with the traitor.

Then it dawned on her that the techniques he’d most probably used wouldn’t be good for a fifteen year old human to see.

“What were her exact words, Miss Teller?” Ashton’s response was calm, but Cassidy knew her mate better.

“Tell your Alpha that the next three days are crucial for you. A prophecy will be in play that you do not understand, but must follow through.” Ashton hummed as he took in her exhausted appearance.

“What happened in the dream, Trix?” Her body seemed to sag at the use of her name as tears flooded her face.

“It was Roxanne.” Dread filled Cassidy’s stomach.

“She was h-hurt so badly. But no one cared about her!” Ashton was quicker than Cassidy as he soothed the distressed teenager. “S-she was dying, in the middle of a road. They hurt her so much. Tied her to a kennel and left her in the wilderness.” Cassidy froze. 

“Sweetheart, what else happened?” 

“She was crying for our Luna, but they laughed. They-they-” She was sobbing into Ashton’s chest now, her words cut off from her sobbing but when the two mates shared a look, they knew exactly what she had seen.

Her nightmare had been a mixture of what had actually happened to her older sister with her own nightmare of Cassidy never answering the call she’d made as a child. Cassidy left her mate to comfort Trixie as she called Roxanne.

“Luna?” Her voice was groggy and tired.

After the prophetic dreams began, Rae Teller had requested that Trixie remain in the pack house, knowing that the urgency and frequency of these dreams would be too much for the teenager. It’d distressed both the sisters and parents when the move first happened and Trixie was struggling, feeling like her parents were rejecting her.

However Rae called her every night for a month and visited as often as her new job would allow. She’d rediscovered her talent in peacekeeping, and often went on envoys with her husband to attempt to settle various conflicts. 

Trixie then understood the need of her job and was the first to convince her parents to make the first trip when she was fourteen. Roxanne had already moved out of the pack house by that point but the sisters would meet for lunch before their respective school hours and work hours and almost always shared dinners together.

“You’re needed at the pack house today.” She responded softly.

“Is Trixie-”

“Your sister is fine. I’ll explain when you get here.” Cassidy cut her off calmly, knowing that she needed to be the voice of reason at this point.

Roxanne hated her past, she never opened up about it to anyone apart from the therapist that Ashton had convinced her to see not long before her eighteenth birthday. She’d resisted till she broke down in front of her Alpha. That was her turning point.

She’d never talked about the details to her parents, but they knew she’d been abused. However it had been some kind of unanimous agreement that Trixie would never learn of the horrors Roxanne suffered.

Their Goddess had taken the decision from their hands and shown her in her dreams in the worst way possible.

When Roxanne arrived, her hair dishevelled and clothes seemingly the first things she could pull on-sweatpants and a tank top-Cassidy intercepted her at the door.

“I need to tell you so it doesn’t shock you. Our Goddess came to Trixie last night.” Immediately Roxanne was wary, her dirty blonde hair falling in front of her eyes as she pulled it into a loose bun.

“Luna, what did she show her?” 

“There’s something that’s going to happen today, I’m going to see the traitor we caught,” Roxanne’s eyes widened, “she was told she needed to be with me as it happened. However, the Goddess emphasised her point by showing you.” 

“Me?”

“Specifically, what happened to you before I found you.” Cassidy watched as Roxanne took a step back, her face filled with shock followed by anger. Then resignment.

“It scared her, didn’t it?”

“She’s clinging to my mate sobbing her heart out, distressed because she saw you getting hurt. Apparently you called out for me and I never came.” That in itself was distressing for Cassidy, to turn her back on someone in need.

Roxanne didn’t hesitate to hug her Luna tightly.

“You came for me regardless. And you came for her too.” Cassidy felt slightly guilty, her own distress at the words eating her up. But Roxanne didn’t relent as she pulled away and looked towards the kitchen.

Cassidy needed no further encouragement as she led Roxanne to the kitchen to find that Ashton had sat on the bar stool, Trixie was sat cradled in his lap like a child. His voice was soothing, the sobbing having receded to gentle hiccups of noises as his fingers worked through her dishevelled jet black curls. 

All Cassidy could think at that moment was how good a father he would be when they were ready.

“Trix?” Roxanne’s voice was hesitant and Cassidy watched as the younger sister scrambled off Ashton’s lap, launching at her sister, the tears still streaming down her face.

“Alpha told me that it was real. Please, please tell me he’s lying.” Cassidy could feel the tears prick the corner of her eyes. Roxanne’s were falling down her cheek.

“Alpha wasn’t lying, baby. Before Luna saved me, those nasty people who had me, hurt me in the worst ways. But then Luna rescued me, and brought me to you, where momma was the first wolf to show an ounce of love towards me.” 

“R-rox.” the younger Teller’s voice trembled as she gasped her sisters name, but Roxanne shushed her, soothing her back curls with her hands as she pulled away to look her sister in the eyes.

“Then you came in, sat atop our Alpha’s shoulders and asked me to be your sister, that your warrior would protect us both and we’d have big brothers who are teddy bears.” Cassidy pressed her lips to stop the giggle at the description of Josh and Jacob. 

The twins had lived up to that description, both of them forming solid friendships with the girls as they got older. No other wolf dared to insult the girls, knowing that it would get back to the warriors and they’d be facing a pissed off Alpha.

“I was reborn that day because of you, Trixie. You, momma and pops gave me a new life that I wanted. Whatever our Goddess showed you was probably true, I was treated with cruelty and hatred. But I found love in abundance with you.” 

It wasn’t much longer till Trixie had calmed down enough to let her sister go, only to return to her Alpha and accept the hug that he offered her.

“I’m assuming our Goddess showed you that to show what could most likely happen. She’s done it before so we’ll follow her guidance for now. But any signal that you want out, just show and we’ll get you out of there, okay?” Trixie nodded against his shoulder before he moved and began to make breakfast.

Roxanne sat down, throwing a cheeky smirk to her Alpha.

“It’s not often you get an Alpha making breakfast for you Trix. Maybe I need to come by more often.” 

“You can make your own breakfast, ratbag.”

“Hey, I came over here at your mates request! I was lying in the most comfortable bed at the time.” Roxanne whined in return, earning a laugh from Ashton.

“I doubt your mate would appreciate you calling him a bed.” Roxanne snorted.

“He makes the bed worth the comfort, but he doesn’t match the comfort of that bed and he knows it.” Ashton laughed, Trixie’s own soft giggles joining in and Cassidy smiled as she realised their ploy. 

To make the teenager giggle. 

When they reached the pack offices, Trixie was a lot more relaxed. Roxanne had foregone this trip, not entirely comfortable with the idea of watching an interrogation.

Ashton didn’t begrudge her this, instead asked her to coordinate with the other Elder’s with Elder Maybanks. The Elder never questioned the change, knowing that the disrespect would never have gone unpunished in Ashton’s eyes.

Cassidy felt her nerves, knowing that pack eyes were on her whether they’d announced this or not. People looked to how she dealt with situations and this was another one.

Calum greeted them with ease, pulling Trixie into a bear hug which made her giggle. 

“Everything okay little bird?” His voice was quiet and she nodded her head, glancing at Ashton. He nodded it in return. 

“Selene came to me last night.” Calum raised a curious eyebrow at that. 

“She decided to show her something that involved her sister.” Cassidy’s voice was tight and Calum gave her a confused look before she shook her head subtly. 

He took the indication and moved the subject forward. 

“So that was what drew my mate from me first thing? Sounds fair. Didn’t think I’d see you here though, little bird.” The statement wasn’t laid with curiosity as the group finally moved, Trixie pulling away to move back to Cassidy’s side. 

“I was told to be here.” Was the only reply she could give. Ashton smiled at her before motioning to his Head Warrior to hold fire. 

Calum fell silent as they made their way through the offices, his stern glare making wolves pause in their approach. 

Abel held no such qualms when he realised who was with his Alpha. 

“You’re safe.” Trixie breathes before rushing to meet him, her arms going around his neck as she held him tightly. 

“I’m sorry. Jacob got to me quick enough so it’s only desk duty for a few days rather than weeks.” He murmured in return and she simply held him a little bit tighter. 

Cassidy watched with relief as he comforted her and she shared a small smile with both Ashton and Calum. 

Abel had been invaluable to the Tellers. After his discovery that Trixie was his mate, he made every effort to help them get Roxanne settled into what should’ve been a life that she should’ve experienced growing up. 

Trixie was kept in the dark about her mate until she moved into the pack house and finally understood that loving her best friend the way she did was okay because he was hers. 

When Ashton offered to allow Abel to stay in the pack house she shook her head almost immediately; to Ashton’s confusion and Cassidy’s amusement. 

“I-I don’t want that with him. Not yet.” Her voice was timid and Cassidy understood. 

Ashton wasn’t quite so understanding. 

“But he’s your mate?” Cassidy took pity on her own mate. 

“She’s not ready to explore that side of their relationship. He’s her best friend and she’s comfortable enough to admit that she loves him but this is new territory for her. Not to mention, I doubt she wants anything untoward happening under her Alpha’s roof.” Cassidy’s explanation had sent Trixie red as a tomato, her eyes unable to meet her Alpha or Luna’s gazes.

But she nodded.

Then the light-bulb clicked for Ashton and he pressed his lips to hold back a laugh. He knew that laughing at the young human would distress her. 

“Don’t be ashamed of your choice, Trixie. You know Abel will wait for you.” Ashton finally managed without choking on the words. 

She’d fled soon after and then Ashton had laughed at the fact that she was so mortified. 

But in that moment, the way her hands fluttered around his face-her eyes and hands searching for any visible injuries-it was painfully obvious how much she cared for him. 

“Abel, with us if you will?” Ashton instructed as the group began to move once more. Trixie was torn between her Luna and her mate and Cassidy simply came up to her other side so that she was sandwiched between them. 

Two more wolves followed behind whilst Ashton and Calum took the lead. 

The group remained silent until they reached the elevator, only daring to talk as they passed underground level. 

“Why is Trixie here, Alpha?” Abel finally asked and Cassidy just nodded at Ashton’s brief glance. 

“She’s here because we found the traitor. Elder Greydown. We’ve tried to get all the information, however we’re not sure to trust it so religiously. So my mate is going to take a crack at him. According to Selene, Trixie must be with her.” Abel felt his stomach jolt as they reached the lowest level. 

Cassidy took pity on the warrior wolf, his eyes darting to an oblivious Trixie. 

“She was shown what happened to her sister.” Calum blanched at that, his sharp gaze meeting Cassidy’s. 

“She didn’t.” He barely got out, his eyes flickering to Trixie who had seemed to hunch in on herself once she’d registered the conversation. 

The group reached the first offices available to them which in turn gave Calum a second to pull his own composure as he sat down with Trixie. 

“Have you spoken to Rox since the dream, little bird?” She nodded her head. “Do you understand what happened in the dream?” 

She hesitated. 

“I understand some of it. But not all of it.” She whispered and Calum wiped his hand down his face, a slow breath escaping him. 

“Calum, I do not need her distressed before the interview.” Ashton warned and Cassidy sighed. 

“She needs to understand it. As much as I hate the fact that Selene took the decision from all of us, she needs to understand the actions of those wolves and the consequences that followed.” Ashton frowned at his mate but did not contradict her as Calum leaned forward in his chair, elbows resting on his knees as his chin rested on his clasped hands. 

“Tell me what the Goddess showed you, little bird.” 

She described the dream in horrific detail, registering every mark and cut that had covered her sister's body in the dream. 

Abel had fallen into his stoic face, Cassidy belatedly realising he was there that day to see the aftermath. 

Calum was patient and wiped the tears that appeared on Trixie’s face as she described how both girls had been calling out for their Luna, but she never came. 

“I’m so sorry you had to witness that, little bird.” Calum murmured and she took in a shaky breath at his words. 

“Why did she show me that?” She finally whispered, the tears still in her eyes. Glancing to his Alpha, Calum rubbed his face with his hands before pulling away, a sigh escaping his lips. 

“Our goddess is showing you that we’re on the right path. That had Alpha Lockard not cared for our Luna like he did, she would’ve died. That the packs would’ve potentially fallen to rouges if this continues.” Cassidy felt her stomach twist as Ashton’s arm wrapped around her possessively. 

She couldn’t even find it in her to tell him to leave her be, because she knew on some level that hearing your mate might never have survived was difficult to hear. 

“Humans are at the centre of this. There’s something in play that we don’t know about yet, but Greydown knows something.” Ashton finally murmured and Calum nodded his head as they finally stood and made their way to the interrogation rooms. 

“If you need out, hit the door once. Twice if you need help.” Ashton murmured to Cassidy. She took a moment to see that he was genuinely worried, his eyes anxious and she placed her hand on his cheek, pressing a kiss to his lips. 

“We’ll be cautious.” She murmured, knowing it was entirely pointless but she needed him to know that the thought was there. 

Greydown openly smirked when they both entered the room, his arms bound behind his back, legs shackled to the chair he was sitting on. 

“The big bad Alpha decided to send the humans? Ha. That boy was never an alpha. He wanted to so desperately believe but letting humans do a wolf's work? Pathetic.” Cassidy kept silent, her eyebrow lifting up being the only indication that she was listening. 

This unnerved Greydown as Trixie followed her Luna’s example and kept her face impassive. 

‘Don’t say a word. He’ll crumble.’ A voice whispered to the young human. She gave no indication, no acknowledgement. Simply stared at Greydown. 

“Humans have been a bane to all the packs, to the lives we lead. Why should they be the ones who don’t have to hide?” 

Silence was his only answer once more. 

“Infections. The old prophets believed humans to be some kind of saviours of the packs. You’re nothing but thorns in our sides.” Cassidy moved. 

“You believed words of a prophet?” Her tone was empty, and Greydown sneered. 

“They were heralded as truth for centuries. But no humans were born to packs until now. Their words are nought but lies and desperation.” Trixie hid her smirk. 

“Why were they lies and desperation?” Cassidy kept her tone impassive once more and Greydown scoffed before spitting at her. Trixie stiffened, the disrespect sending something akin to fury down her spine. 

“The human born to wolves of lore, will hold the knowledge of Alphas unsure. To train and love and win the days, the wolves must seek their human mates. The one who shows the righteous path, will guide the Alpha to their new start. The prophet, the hurt, the broken and bent, will bring new times of peace and death. The dead reborn shall hold the keys, to start anew with the springtime breeze. The lonely wolf with no chance to escape, shall tear one from life to meet their fate. The humans born to wolves of lore, will lead the packs to glory and more.” The words were intoned, emotionless as another scoff followed. 

Cassidy shared a look with Trixie. 

“You will tell me how much Leo knows of this.” There was a firm edge to her voice and Trixie witnessed her Luna’s eyes flash amber. 

“Leo knows nothing of the prophecy. He refused to believe in something that would, in his eyes, be wrong.” Greydown responded before his eyes widened and his lips clamped shut. 

“Tell me what you know of what is happening to me.” Trixie felt a tingle run down her spine. Something in her was begging to submit to her Luna. Something she’d never felt before. 

Greydown’s lips parted despite his obvious attempts to keep them shut. 

“There were prophecies, that depicted the human born to wolves would possess the wolf. The human would have control of the wolf inside but there would be no change, no transformation. It would mark the start of an era that would either succeed or collapse. The prophet never said.” 

Greydown’s words were forced, reluctant. But Cassidy paid him no mind as she turned her attention to Trixie. 

Cassidy watched as Trixie stiffened, her eyes rolling back into her head as she let out a harsh breath. Her first instinct was to reach out but Greydown twitched and she froze. 

“The traitors are gone, the cause is done but the wolf that roams alone will continue. The wolf that was denied will fight and the wolf that has sprung forth will thrive. The traitors are gone and the cause is done.” 

Greydown stared at Trixie in shock as her head tilted forward, her eyes refocusing before her knees gave out. 

The door burst open, Calum and Ashton storming in. Calum went to Trixie, scooping up the teenager with ease whilst Ashton wasted no time in knocking Greydown out before his attention returned to Cassidy. 

“It’s answered a lot of questions. We’ll need to go to the Elders to learn more about this prophecy.” She nodded, but her focus was on Trixie who had taken in a startled breath. 

“I’ve got you little bird. Abel is waiting for you.” Calum’s voice was gentle as they reached the meeting room they were previously in and Abel wasted no time in getting to his feet, cradling his mate so gently as she trembled. 

“That was scary.” She finally whispered, her eyes finding her Luna who was pressed against her mate, relaxing to his touch as his fingers massaged her temples. 

“It means you’re a strong prophet little bird. And we need to talk to the elders sooner rather than later.” Calum piped up and Cassidy sighed. 

“There’s a lot we need to discuss with them. And maybe we can get this worked out before Leo decides to try his hand at another ambush.” Cassidy muttered as she sent Trixie a reassuring smile, leaning into Ashton’s touch. 

===

When the Elders met, Cassidy brightened upon seeing Elder Orion. And despite her ingrained sense of respect, the second he opened his arms in greeting, she allowed the comfort of her previous elder wash over her. 

“You truly have thrived, Luna. Your father and old Alpha pass on their wishes.” She found herself smiling at him before greeting the other elders. 

“Luna Cassidy, what happened after we dispersed?” Elder Maybanks went straight to it once they were sat down. She sat protectively next to Trixie, her mate on the other side. 

Abel realised there was more to the situation and remained silent as he comforted his mate, knowing she needed that more than anything. 

“A lot of things have happened, Elder Maybanks. Our Alpha has been interrogating the traitor, when Selene came to young Trixie once more. She was shown what happened to her sister upon a decision that was made to use the new skills I’ve acquired,” she hesitated but Elder Maybanks nodded, “he told us about the prophecies.” 

Elder Orion's gaze sharpened at her words and Elder Maybanks sighed. 

“What else happened, Child?” Cassidy found herself hesitating, glancing at Trixie. The young girl took in a deep breath, her shoulders determined, but her hands trembled. 

“I gave a prophecy.” 

The Elders froze. 

“Are you sure?” Elder Maybanks words were sharp, a steely glint in his eyes. 

“I saw it with my own eyes, as did Head Warrior Hood. She’s a true prophet and a strong one.” Ashton cut in before Cassidy could snap. She bristled at the silent accusations of deceit from the Elder but Ashton had stopped her from putting her foot in it. 

The worried looks shared between the Elders caused the Alpha and Luna to exchange worried looks. If this was concerning the Elders, what was happening? 

“This changes a lot of things.” Elder Orion muttered as he leaned back in his chair. “Luna Cassidy, do you remember what I taught you about prophets?” 

Cassidy could feel every set of eyes on her, and she determinedly ignored the look of shock from Elder Maybanks as she tried to remember what Elder Orion was discussing.

“I remember when you taught me about the witch trials, how packs were found by hunters who were seeking out witches and razed towns to the ground, no man, woman or child surviving. You mentioned something about prophets being saved by other packs but I don’t remember much else.” He nodded his head, turning to the other wolves in the room.

“Whilst Cassidy was growing up, Alpha Lockard assumed that she may have been a prophet. Not to say that she wasn’t extremely clever in her own right, but she seemed to predict the wrong moves that were made. We later realised that she had a strategic mind, a mind that calculated every potential move. There’s not been a prophet within the packs since the 1700’s. After the witch trials, they simply vanished.” Elder Orion explained.

This caused an alarm for Trixie, her grip on her mates hand getting tighter.

Elder Orion noticed immediately and smiled kindly to the distressed teenager.

“It is simply believed that prophets moved packs and never spoke about their gifts. We have always watched out for potential prophets in the more recent years, but in my own living history, I’ve never seen or heard of a prophet until you, Miss Teller.” This did little to soothe her, but Cassidy placed her arm around Trixie in comfort.

“Why is any of this important?” Calum finally asked, his eyes flickering between his mates little sister and Elder Orion.

“Because if Selene has truly gifted her as a true prophet, it will change the tide with the rogues. But also she will be sought out by many other packs, determined to bind her to their pack with a mate of their choice.” 

Those very words were the wrong ones to say. 

Abel growled lowly, the noise startling Trixie as his own body seemed to fight the transformation, amber coloured eyes glowing.

Cassidy felt her stomach swoop before Ashton stepped in.

“Abel, if you shift, you will hurt her. I’m ordering you to calm down.” The power of the command was heavy, his eyes falling shut as he went to move his arms around Trixie, but he froze.

Without any prompting, the teenager moved so that she was sitting on his lap, allowing him to pull her closer, his face pressing into her hair as he took in slow, steady breaths.

“I think that answers that.” Ashton muttered and Cassidy just felt the absurdity of the comment hit her, a giggle breaking through her lips before she was laughing, her head resting on Ashton’s shoulder.

“I think Luna has lost the plot.” A soft whisper came from beside her and she found herself struggling for air as she shook her head.

“I haven’t lost the plot. Just my mates comment, and the whole absurd idea that Abel would even let anyone near Trixie if she were in danger.” The teenager understood her Luna's words immediately and the two shared grins.

Ashton merely rolled his eyes at his own mate fondly, a soft smile on his lips before his attention turned back to the elders. 

“Is there anything we can do for now?” 

Elder Orion shook his head.

“The best thing we can do is protect her secret. Greydown will have to die regardless of his knowledge. He heard her prophecy.” This sobered the room up immediately, Trixie’s smile fading as she realised the implications.

“Is that because of me?” The question was timid and Elder Orion paused, his gaze turning to Cassidy and Ashton who turned their attention to the timid teenager.

“He was a traitor to the pack regardless of him hearing your prophecy. Traitors to the pack have two options. Exile or death. Greydown knows too much to be allowed exile.” Ashton explained softly and she sighed, a small nod following seconds later.

“I understand.” Cassidy could see that she did understand, and grimaced slightly, but there was nothing she could do.

“We also need to discuss what happened to Cass. Her eyes turned amber when she interrogated Greydown when she realised he was the traitor. Do you have any ideas?” 

The two Elders shared a look before Maybanks spoke up this time.

“There is something, Greydown wasn’t wrong when he said that Elder’s across the globe believed that prophecy to ring true. We need to get full facts from some contacts. When we know more, we’ll sit down with you, if that’s okay Luna?” 

Cassidy nodded her head.

“That works for me Elder Maybanks. It’ll give us a chance to deal with the consequences of today before we look into my own changes.” The two Elders nodded before the group dispersed and they went back to the main offices.

“Abel, finish up today and then take the next couple of days off. It’ll help your healing so long as you do nothing strenuous, so no weights and no shifting.” Calum finally muttered and Trixie stared at him in shock before turning to her mate.

Abel seemed to break into relief, his lips curving into a gentle smile. He knew a gift was being given to him at this moment and he decided to take it.

“Thank you Warrior Hood. I’ll be sure all paperwork is done and then take my leave.” He pressed a kiss to Trixie’s temple before making his way back to the small cubicle that was his whilst the rest of the group headed out of the pack offices.

“I’ll take Trixie back home.” Casidy hummed and Ashton nodded, his lips meeting hers in a short, sweet kiss.

“I’ll handle the problem. If there are any issues, I’ll call. Drive safe.” And with those words, they disappeared back into the pack offices and her gut knew what was going to happen. But she ignored those thoughts. Greydown was beyond saving, so it would be a mercy. 

The ride back home was silent.

When they returned home, Trixie disappeared into her room, causing Cassidy to sigh before she made her way to her office.

It was one thing she was insistent on when her move to the pack became permanent. 

She knew that Ashton had nothing to hide from her, and he knew that she had nothing to hide from him. However they both realised that being up in each others space wasn’t going to help either of them. 

So she convinced Michael to stay on as strategist, however he then convinced the Elder’s to make her appointment not only official, but put her up there with the other Alpha’s. Within three years of moving to Vinewood, she was appointed the Head Strategist for all of the continents packs. 

She accepted the title with grace in public, but within the confines of Ashton’s office, she voiced her ways of brutally murdering Michael as payback for putting this on her shoulders.

However, she shone as she went from strength to strength and that was when both her and Ashton decided to install an office for her and her alone. It meant that any confidential information would remain as so, but also it gave her the space that was not only hers, but also showed her hard work and the results of that hard work.

Once ensconced within her office, she contacted the other packs that had been attacked, gathering the information about the traitors and anything they had in common. That was what they needed to discover before Leo twisted his claws into more wolves. 

It was easy to work in the silence, tapping away at her computer as she emailed back and forth with a few of the other pack strategists. 

It was only when a gentle knock on her door made her pause, tearing her eyes away from the computer.

“Come in.” 

There was a second of hesitation before the door opened to reveal a red eyed Trixie Teller and she felt her heart going out to the teenager.

“Sit down sweetheart.” Her tone was reassuring and gentle, coaxing the young girl to try to relax.

Once the door was shut and Trixie was seated, Cassidy studied her for a moment before she resumed typing away, knowing that the young girl would speak when she was ready.

She’d been dealt with a lot of knowledge, some of that being the death of a pack member because they heard her prophecy. It was a lot for anyone to take in, let alone a teenager.

The silence seemed to stretch on for longer than Cassidy had expected, but she’d glanced over a few times to make sure she was still there. 

She was, but her eyes were glued to the floor, not even glancing up.

So Cassidy stopped, switching off her monitor and resting her hands on her desk.

“Talk to me sweetheart.” And finally, Trixie looked up, a frown upon her features.

“Today has been a lot.” The statement was simple, but it spoke volumes for Cassidy.

“It has. What do you want to talk about first?” 

“Elder Greydown, well I guess he isn’t an elder anymore, but still. Why would Alpha kill him instead of exiling him? Even if he didn’t know of the prophecy?” The question was a good one, and Cassidy had been expecting it.

“You see, Greydown had continually disrespected me as Luna since day one. This has been six years of abuse that’s been building up. However, he committed treason against the pack. He willingly put young wolves in danger because he believed us to be diseased.” 

She watched as Trixie’s face dropped.

“You wanted to redeem him, didn’t you?” The question wasn’t accusatory, and one look upon Cassidy’s face helped Trixie understand that. So she nodded.

“I didn’t want to think he was that bad that he deserved death over exile.” She finally whispered and Cassidy sighed once she realised that they’d stumbled onto the crux of the matter.

“It’s nice to try and see the best in people, trust me I did that for years. It was how I met my best friend. But sometimes, people just don’t have any good qualities in them. Greydown was one of those wolves who refused to see silver linings. He did not teach tolerance to the pack pups like he was meant to, he could have knowingly sabotaged that ambush that resulted in Abel getting hurt.” 

She hated using Trixie’s mate as a point, but she needed the teenager to know that he’d arranged for it to happen in such a way. Mates were sacred, and had he succeeded in killing Abel, she would’ve been a shell of a person, either choosing to live like her sister had done and pray for a second chance mate, or follow after him.

And Cassidy was certain that she would’ve chosen to follow after him.

“He’s the reason why Abel got hurt?” There was a steely glint in her eyes, her jaw clenching and Cassidy hesitantly nodded her head.

“Ashton uncovered his treachery. It’s another reason why exile was not possible. He actively worked against the pack that nearly resulted in a death. The last time that happened in any pack and they chose exile, it led to the rogue issue that we have currently.” 

“Leo?” Cassidy nodded. “What happened?” 

And so the two sat there as Cassidy told her stories of her best friend, of how he had put faith in her plans but Leo-the jealous son of the Alpha who favored her-sabotaged her plans, therefore worked against the pack that resulted in Talon’s death.

Trixie remained stunned as she heard this tale for the first time, her unease slowly slipping away as she found herself engrossed in the story that her Luna was telling her.

By the time that Ashton had returned home, both girls had migrated down to the kitchen, choosing to cook a small meal together as Cassidy told Trixie tales of her childhood. 

And despite how the day had gone, the heaviness that weighed on his chest, seeing the two of them giggling together over something that his mate had done when she was a child, it lifted Ashton’s soul from the floor back to the heavens where she’d first lifted it when he met her.

Trixie greeted her Alpha with ease, despite knowing what he had done, she realised that this was simply consequences of an action that nearly killed her mate. 

“Alpha. Did you get a chance to eat today?” Cassidy smirked at the jet black haired teenager, Ashton shaking his head at his apparent new keeper.

“Not today little miss. There was plenty of deskwork with the field work that we had today, so not much was consumed food wise. I’ve certainly had my fair share of caffeine though.

This made Cassidy giggle.

“My mate seems to drink coffee like it’s water.” The look of disgust that Trixie gave her Alpha made Ashton smirk.

“When you have to patrol so many nights in a row whilst still remaining upright in the middle of the day, coffee would be your best friend too. I know that Calum is just as addicted and drives your sister up the wall with it.” His arms wrapped around Cassidy as he pressed a kiss to her cheek in greeting. 

Trixie snorted.

“Yeah well, she likes the stuff too. It’s no surprise that they’re mates really.” Ashton laughed at her statement and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Don’t let her catch you saying that otherwise she might skin you alive.” He teased her playfully as she finished up the meal, elbowing his stomach as she moved to get some dishes.

This was what Cassidy loved. It was simplicity at its finest but also it was Ashton teaching Trixie to stand up for herself. If she could stand up for herself against her Alpha, then the world had no chance.

“Yeah well, she’d skin you alive first so I’ll just hide with my Luna under the nice, new, wolf skin rug that we’d end up acquiring thanks to my sister.” This set Cassidy off as they finally sat down to eat and she noticed that the dark cloud that hung over her mate had slowly disappeared.

“Brave words, tiny one. How about you and me do some training this week?” Her eyes lit up as a grin stretched across her face.

“Absolutely. Do you think we could include Abel this time so that he knows that I can protect myself? I know he’s my mate and he’s always going to worry, but I just want him to worry less.” She explained in a rush, Ashton nodding to her request.

“It shouldn’t be too difficult. But we’ll get Cass involved so she can sit on him to stop him from shifting and protecting you from me. Sound fair?” She nodded at his words as they dug into the meal and a feeling of peace settled over the trio.

Cassidy knew better than to think that this would last, but she was going to enjoy it whilst she could.

===

The first training session had been a disaster. 

Abel hadn’t known what to expect, and watching his Alpha phase and launch at his mate was not on his list. Cassidy hasn’t had a chance to stop him before he shifted and crouched in front of Trixie. 

It took Abel more time to come down from that bout of anger, but they left the session at that and Abel had kept his silence. 

The next session was better. He was able to stop his initial reaction, especially after a firm talking to from his Luna, he watched. 

And even though her techniques needed refining, he could see how she handled herself. That was when he began to understand why she wanted him to see her train. 

Cassidy stepped in from time to time as well, showing the teenager some of her own moves. Ashton stepped back when this happened and Abel began to understand why his Alpha only had mild concerns for his mates safety. 

She was a badass.

By the end of the session, Abel was relaxed in the knowledge that should anything happen, she could take care of herself. 

“Why not make something like this mandatory for all of the humans in the pack, Luna?” Abel questioned as the quartet headed inside. They would grab some food before the two males would head back out to the pack office buildings.

“Because they’re children. They rely on adults to protect them.” 

“And Trixie doesn’t?” Cassidy smiled at him.

“No. I don’t think she’s really relied on anyone since that day six years ago. It may seem simple to you Abel, but human children are so fragile compared to a young wolf. We’ve got a couple of the older ones in a self defence class, anymore at this point would be too much. When they hit thirteen, they’ll come to me and I’ll start teaching them then.” 

“Two styles to switch it up, then?” And Trixie grumbled as Cassidy grinned.

“Someone in the pack who uses their brains.” This earned her a confused look and Trixie sighed.

“Luna had to practically spell it out to us why we were in self defence classes as well as training with her.” The way her cheeks turned pink had Abel grinning as he squeezed her hand gently.

“I have a step up since I’m one of the warriors. I can guarantee you other wolves would not think of it that way.” Ashton glanced at his watch and sighed.

“Practice with Cass, T-bird.” The teenager grimaced at the nickname as she ducked from the hair ruffle that her alpha bestowed on her as he walked past to kiss his mate.

Her own mate laughed before doing the same thing and kissing her forehead before he got up and headed out, Ashton following seconds later. Trixie hid her face in her arms, her hair a mess thanks to the two men.

“Stupid Alpha and stupid mate messing up my hair.” The grumble had been loud enough for Cassidy to hear, earning a round of laughter.

“C’mon, I’ve still got some time before I’m expecting a call. How about we take a look at your English papers.” The groan that followed from Trixie made Cass laugh as she all but frog marched the teenager upstairs to her office

Barely fifteen minutes in and her phone goes off, earning a curious look from Trixie as Cassidy picked up the call.

“Luna Irwin of the Vinewood pack. Who am I speaking with?” 

“Cassie, thank god.” The relief in Issac’s tone caught her off guard.

“Two seconds.” She tilted the mouthpiece away as she looked to Trixie. “Would you mind finishing off downstairs? I’ll join you when I’m off.” The teenager didn’t argue as she gathered her things and shut the door behind her as she left.

“Cassie it’s been mayhem.” 

“Issac slow down please, what’s happened?” 

“There’s another traitor in the pack. But they killed a human child.” Her heart stopped at his words.

“Who?” 

“That’s just it. We don’t know. I was sent an email, and god Cassie it’s gruesome. I thought it was a wolf at first because the kids' eyes were amber, but when we checked the registry and the young boy that was murdered was definitely human.”

“Fuck.” The whisper might as well have been a scream. “It’s been happening to me, the amber eyes thing. The Elders believe it’s a prophecy in play. Fuck.”

“I’ll forward it to you, but it’s brutal.” And with that, she opened up her computer, clicking through until the video uploaded to her screen.

And as she watched, she felt sick. Tears burned her eyes as she tried not to cry out, but when the final blow was delivered, she couldn’t stop herself.

Issac had stayed on the line for her, his steady breathing being the only thing that stopped the panic attack overwhelming her.

“I need to contact Ash, fuck, Issac this is big. The Elders are going to get involved.” Her brain was going miles a minute. “Have you found the little boy yet?” 

“There’s a team working on it now. We’ve already been in touch with their parents. It was Demela’s and Mason’s youngest lad. Joseph.” And she felt her body lurch uncomfortably. 

“Issac.” His name came out as a sob.

“I know.” He soothed. 

Joseph had been one of the four children born into her old pack after she left. He came from a family with six older brothers who doted on him regardless of his status as a human. The first time she’d visited and she’d been introduced to the family, she’d clicked instantly. It had also been the first time that she’d really considered having a child. 

“I need Ash. He needs to know.” Part of her felt disengaged and heartbroken, the other part of her was planning out how she’d skin the traitor for this.

“With the state of distress, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s on his way.” 

Issac’s words rang true when there was a firm knock at the door before it opened.

“Cass? Baby?” His frantic eyes searched for whatever was causing her this kind of pain. But she couldn’t get her words to work, only pointing at the video that was still open on her computer.

Issac spoke up.

“It’s something you need to watch, Alpha Irwin.” 

Ashton realised immediately that if something could make his mate this distressed, then it was a bad thing.

And so he clicked play.

Cassidy tried to block out the noise, the images. But she couldn’t. Her heart broke all over again. But she could feel her mates anger through the bond. Anger that was mounting into fury and she grasped his bicep.

“We can’t leave this. We need to find the traitor.” Her words were quiet but determined. Ashton nodded once, his jaw set.

“We’re flying out to you, Issac. Expect us by nightfall with the Elders.” The decision was firm and Cassidy immediately moved and headed to their room to pack a few bags. 

“Trixie will need to come with us.” Ashton’s words made her jump in fright, her hands trembling as she continued to fold the clothes up before packing them.

“She cannot see that video. And so help me goddess if Selene decides to take that decision from our hands because I will march up to her fucking door and demand judgement.” Her tone was harsh, but Ashton could hear her fear, her pain under the words. “He was a child.”

And her composure slipped into tears, Ashton pulling his mate closer as he pressed a kiss to her temple.

“We’ll explain in basic terms to Trixie. We will warn her that should Selene take the choice out of our hands, it is gruesome. I need to call an emergency meeting. We need to get a warning to the families as well.” Ashton rattled off and Cassidy took in a deep breath.

“Calum, Luke and Michael need to see this. They need to prepare.” Ashton nodded at her words as he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.

“Finish packing, I’ll go talk to Trixie.” She didn’t argue as he left the room. She knew that there was no way that she’d have been able to even describe what happened.

By the time that the trio had packed and gotten to the offices, Ashton instructed Trixie to stay with Abel until they left. He didn’t miss the frown, but Cassidy simply gave her a reassuring smile.

“Protocols need to be followed, Trix. Twenty minutes tops and then we’re heading for the airport.” Trixie nodded at Cassidy’s words and turned her attention to her mate, the two of them quietly discussing her latest pet project with an old computer.

When the Irwin’s reached the conference room, she fought down the need to be sick as Ashton played the video for the other three as well as the remaining Elders. Their reactions were ones of horror, but it was Elder Orion who had tears down his cheeks.

“Little Joseph, Demela and Mason’s youngest, correct?” He whispered and Cassidy nodded as she tried to wipe her tears away once more.

“Issac is searching for-for the place. He’s contacted the family. This was a brutal attack but it also means that there are potential traitors we don’t know about. Sleeper cells, if you will.” Calum nodded at her terminology.

“We’ll talk to the other families which have human children and see if we can convince them to the pack house. It’ll be easier to defend rather than trying to split our forces seven ways to protect the land.” Ashton nodded at Calum’s immediate response.

“Every wolf we have available has to be on this. Four teams on rotation for the pack house and double the patrol on the borders. No one gets in or out of the pack lands. Trespassers are to be captured and interrogated immediately, any violence is to be met with full force.” Calum nodded at his Alpha’s orders. 

“Michael.” Cassidy’s voice was softer, but caught the blonde’s attention.

“Yes Luna?”

“I’m going to be coordinating with other packs on this. See if there have been any-any other murders.” She stumbled over the words and he nodded his head in understanding. “Also I’m going to place you in as my second in command. If any other strategists get in touch, they’ll be redirected to you. As of right now, I will be uncontactable until further notice.” 

“Has it been approved?” His eyes glanced to Elder Maybanks who nodded in return.

“We cleared it last week. It was intended to be a surprise for you, but as you can see that’s had to change immediately.” Cassidy held back a snort.

“Luke, it’s basic day to day running as possible.If anyone asks, there’s been a credible threat with another pack that needs to be dealt with. Shutdown pack lines until we return home.” Luke nodded at that before Ashton returned his attention to Calum.

“Trixie will be coming with us. She’s already told her sister she has to go but not why. You need to make sure she doesn’t follow us. It’s going to be tough enough with the devastation from my Luna.” Calum nodded once more as he let out a breath of air. 

Ashton and Cassidy were gone once it was confirmed that everything had been set in place.

They collected Trixie from Abel who looked unsure and the trio were up in the air quick enough. It wasn’t unusual for packs to have access to small airports, most preferred to travel by car or by shifting. But this wasn’t an option and it was the fastest way for them to get there without causing widespread panic. 

Matthew was there to greet them and didn’t hesitate to pull his daughter into a warm hug as Ashton helped Trixie off the plane. 

He greeted her with the same amount of ease and Ashton a firm handshake before they were bundled into the car and off again. 

“Who else knows?” Ashton’s question was quiet but Matthew shook his head. 

“The trees have ears.” Was all he replied with, causing Ashton and Cassidy to exchange alarmed looks. Nothing else was spoken about as they made their journey to the pack offices. It spoke volumes of the tragedy that had happened because there was no one else greeting them when they arrived.

They entered the building without being looked at twice. Cassidy stopped herself from going over to Demela and Mason when she spotted them. The couple looked exhausted and their children looked equally tired. 

When they reached Issac’s office, Trixie had shrunk into Cassidy’s side, the intimidating and unfamiliar wolves unnerving her. Cassidy was briefly reminded of Hope as her dad knocked on the door before letting them into the office.

“Cassie.” Her eyes snapped to her younger sister who looked relieved to see her. She wasted no time in moving around the desk and launching at her older sister.

“Alpha Irwin, thank you for coming at such short notice.” Issac’s voice was tired and Ashton waved him off.

“You do the same for us, Issac. This young lady here is Trixie Teller.” Ashton gestured to Trixie who found herself feeling like a deer caught in headlights.

“Miss Teller, I’m so pleased to be finally meeting you, I just wish it was under better circumstances.” She gave him a wry smile in return.

“Likewise, Alpha Lockard.” 

“Looks like humans can be taught manners, brat.” Issac’s voice carried to Cassidy, Trixie shooting a confused look to her Alpha who simply shook his head when Cassidy laughed.

“Oh no. With her own Alpha, she’s worse than what I was. With her sister, they tease him relentlessly.” She fired back before letting the girl go.

“Trix, this is my sister Hope. Long story short, she’s next for the Alpha title.” Trixie nodded as she shook hands with Hope.

“It’s nice to meet you Hope, I’ve heard a lot about you.” Hope gave her a crooked smirk.

“All lies, I assure you.” And Trixie giggled.

The giggle broke some of the tension and Issac’s shoulders slumped as he ran a hand down his face. 

Cassidy truly saw her previous Alpha in that moment, the tired lines around his eyes. 

“How’s Pandora?” Cassidy’s question brought a smile to his face. 

“Good. Little Jessie is driving her mother mad.” This made Cassidy laugh. A few years after she’d left the pack, Issac had announced his mates pregnancy with sheer glee and she loved getting updates from him about the rascal. 

“At least Pandora knows how to handle rambunctious pups with no sense of self-preservation.” Issac chuckled as he rummaged through papers before handing them over to Ashton. 

“I understand the need to keep Miss Teller protected but does she need to be here for this?” Trixie remained silent, only casting a glancing look to her Alpha. 

“She’s a true prophet.” Issac’s jaw fell slack, a gasp of air escaping from Matthew. Hope held a look of polite confusion. 

“ Touched by the goddess herself.” Matthew whispered and Trixie shifted uncomfortably under the stares. 

“Pack it in. She’s frightened enough and doesn’t need you two confusing her.” Cassidy snapped at them both and the two men exchanged looks. 

“Cassie, you remember when we thought you were a prophet but instead you were scarily smart?” Matthew tried to keep his awe from his voice but didn’t quite succeed. 

“I only know what you told me. I don’t remember much else.” At this, Matthew sighed before sitting down. Issac pressed his lips together. 

“Do you want me to tell her?” Matthew shook his head. 

“Tell me what?” The hesitation was in Cassidy’s voice as she looked between her dad and old Alpha with  uncertainty. 

“Parts of your memories don’t remember it because the Elders locked it away. When you were seven, you’d been stolen from under our noses.” 

Her body went still. 

“We believe that it’s linked with this killing. There’s no recognisable scent and it was a child who was not only human but one we’d been watching for prophetic tendencies.” 

“You’re not telling me everything.” She could see the tears in her dad's eyes and then she slowly realised. 

“No.” The word was a whisper but Matthew flinched. 

She could never remember her mother’s death. She was told that it was a sudden death, that there was no notable cause for it. She’d been seven at the time because her eighth birthday had been the first one without her mother. Jamie had been three. 

“They killed her in retaliation to us rescuing you.” She could feel her heart shatter. It was too much and with the situation going on, she couldn’t take off like she wanted to. 

“I need to go.” She was up and out of the room, the tears running down her face as she took off for her old home, using one of the pack cars they’d arrived in. 

Ashton didn’t even have a chance to try and stop her, the sudden heartbreak catching him off guard mixed with the overwhelmed feeling. 

“I take it that the Elders locking the memory away was for her benefit?” Ashton couldn’t be angry. He understood to an extent that to watch a child suffer like so was difficult. 

He watched as tears rolled down his father-in-law’s face. 

“She awoke every night screaming. There were days when she would fight to get out of the house, her trauma so much that she couldn’t tell that I was her own father.” Matthew sounded so broken, Issac’s hand coming to rest on his Beta’s shoulders. 

“Alpha?” Trixie’s voice was nervous and Ashton turned to the teenager and noted the pale pallor her skin took. 

“Trixie? Are you okay?” The second he said that, her body slumped into the chair and Ashton swore. 

“This is too fucking much Selene.” He snarled, scooping the teenager up, cradling her carefully. Hope looked stunned for a second. 

“Selene?” In truth, although Ashton had known she was there, she’d kept herself quiet enough to have become background noise, something he wouldn’t have noticed had she not spoken up. 

“Young Trixie usually has prophetic dreams, only once has she gone into a trance. But with the prophetic dreams, if she is awake at an inconvenient time, she will suffer in such a way until she passes out. Cassidy believes this to be because she is young and therefore is not trained to handle the drastic changes.” 

“Your mate may be onto something there, Ashton.” Issac finally hummed. 

The young human twitched and the colour began to return to her cheeks and Ashton sighed. 

“You love her like your own, don’t you?” Matthew murmured, his face clear of tears but his eyes rimmed red. Ashton nodded. 

“She has kind and loving parents who love her and her sister. It’s not a parental kind of love, more like I see her as a younger sister, someone to protect. It’s the same with her older sister. The only instinct that is stronger is my bond to Cass.” Hope giggled. 

The giggle once more eased the tensions that had been building up and he felt the heartbreak ease in his chest. She was somewhere safe. 

“And what’s so funny little miss?” Matthew teases his youngest child, unable to stop the smile at her cheeky grin. 

“Sounds to me that Alpha Irwin got bitten by the same thing that had Cassie practically adopt me so many years ago. The only thing that was stronger than the bond she has with me was the one that Leo created. It’s why when the bond was broken, my bond with her was what eased it and helped me function.” Hope explained gently and Ashton understood. 

His awe for his sister-in-law increased tenfold and she found herself blushing at his impressed look. 

Matthew finally chuckled. 

“Somehow we thought she was just an anomaly, however the fates certainly matched you two well, Ashton.” And Ashton grinned. 

Trixie finally stirred and her cheeks went dark as she pressed her face into Ashton’s shoulder. 

“It happened again didn’t it?” 

“Unfortunately so, my favourite human.” At the muffled curse, Ashton laughed. 

“Selene really picks her moments.” She finally pulled away and retook her seat, eyes locking onto Hope. 

“When Luna returns tomorrow, you and her will need to head to the next city over, without guards shadowing you. One to drive and one as a backup but they stay in the car. A rogue is unsure and has the information we need. Selene wishes for him to be tried under pack law and for Luna to use her gift on him to get the truth.” Ashton knew better than to voice the outrage but he tampered it down to a raised eyebrow. 

Issac and Matthew however, disagreed entirely, voicing their displeasure. 

“Hope that’s an ambush at best, suicide trip at worst!” Issac snapped and Trixie turned her gaze to the other Alpha. Ashton recognises the look immediately and turned his attention to the other three. 

“You will listen to my avatar on this earth Issac James. The rogue is unsure about the goals of the rebellion and is pulling away. Cassidy Helen will set things right for another pack and give Hope Rose a second chance.” 

Both Issac and Matthew froze. 

“Selene.” They whispered in unison. Hope was speechless. 

Ashton tried not to smirk as Trixie returned her attention to Ashton. 

“I will visit Cassidy Helen tonight. Do not panic if you feel your bond fall dormant. I’m most proud of you Ashton Fletcher.” He simply inclined his head before he watched Trixie give a little shake before meeting her Alpha’s amused gaze. 

“At least it wasn’t in front of a prisoner this time?” She offered timidly and Ashton burst out into baritone laughter. 

“Life will never be dull with you and your sister around, Trixie. Issac, Hope, Matthew, we will see ourselves down to the canteen for some food and let you digest this information. As you realise, this cannot be known by anyone, not even Jamie until Selene deems it safe. Like you said, the trees have ears.” 

Issac could only nod weakly before Ashton escorted Trixie down to the lower floors where the canteen was situated and they got themselves some food. 

Trixie remained by his side, unwilling to stray towards the unfamiliar stares. She felt like she was under such scrutiny but once those eyes turned to the man next to her, their gazes dropped and they never cast a look in her direction. 

Confused, Trixie turned to Ashton to question the strange behaviour but then she saw the murderous look upon her Alpha’s face and understood why they averted their gazes so fast. 

Unsure how the other wolves would take her teasing her Alpha, she kept herself formal. 

“Alpha, will Luna be okay?” Ashton glanced at the teenager and noted her shy hesitance. He smiled kindly at her as they collected food. She didn’t protest when he paid for it. 

“This was just a step too far. She needs to process that before she’ll come back. She’ll always come back to us, but much like when you hide away after it’s been an overwhelming day, it’s been an overwhelming week for her. We just need to give her space.” Understanding dawned as they sat down and ate silently, listening to the steady flow around them. 

It was towards the end of their lunch that Hope appeared, paying no mind to the small bows from her pack. Trixie frowned. 

“May I join you?” Hope’s question was met with a nod from Ashton but the frown on Trixies face didn’t let up. 

As Hope sat down, she finally caught the look on the teenagers face and raised an eyebrow. 

“Everything okay Miss Teller?” The use of her last name startled her and a blush coated her cheeks but she remained silent. Hope wasn’t too sure how to take this and Ashton snorted. 

“She takes offence to ignoring your pack when they acknowledge you. It’s not something I like to practice unless I’m in an emergency.” Ashton explained softly, and Hope had the decency to look ashamed. 

“It’s still something I can never believe. Alpha Issac is still working on that with me.” Trixie nodded but remained silent as she took another bite of food, clearing the plate.

Ashton had pushed his plates to the side long ago but waited for the teenager, knowing her discomfort.

“Would you like to see her training? Your sister has been training her so far and it’d be nice to get an outsiders opinion of her progress who knows where she should ideally be.” Trixie grinned and Hope returned it with a smile of her own. 

“I would be delighted Alpha Irwin. Miss Teller, if you would follow me?” And the trio left without another word between them, the stares of the pack members following them out of the doors. 

-

if you wanna be added to my taglist, just fill in this form here!!

@sexgodashton​​, @dammitbands​​, @calumsmermaid​​, @empathycth​​, @wildflowergrae​​, @calpops​​, @rosecolouredash​​, @cal-puddies​​, @clockwork124​​, @loveroflrh​​, @stellar5sosrecs​​, @ashtoniwir​​, @cthla​​, @liketheydidwithyou​​, @scxttishpotath0e​​, @bluehairedtracii​​, @drummerboy794​​, @feliznavidaddycal​​, @i-calumhood​​, @wokeupinjapanisabop​​, @converse-luke​​, @madbomb​​, @ccnicole02​​, @youngblood199456​​, @aulxna, @megz1985​​, @lukesidentitycrisis​​, @snapback-irwie​​, @neonweeknds​​, @666yourwitchyfriend666​​, @clffrd​​, @cashtonasfuck​​, @ashtaway​​, @conquerwhatliesahead92​​, @itjustkindahappenedreally​​, @twoamhood​​, @kchillout​​, @damselindistressanu​​, @colormekaykay​​, @findingliam-o​​, @sublimehood​​, @sugarcoated-pain​​, @singt0mecalum​​, @singledadharrington​​, @sweetbbypeachy​​, @calumspeachy​​, @colourfulcalum​​, @lostincalum​​, @burncrashbromance​​, @asht0ns-world​​, @a-mnd, @flusteredcliffo​​, @loti18​​, @ixcantxdecidexwhosxmyxfave​​, @clumclum-hood​​, @fangirl-everythang​​, @lashtondaddies​​, @calumssunshine​​, @ambskiwi​​, @abundant-stars​​, @caltattoohood, @seedless-vascular, @myescapefromthislife​​, @lmao5sosimagines​​, @beyoncesdragon​​, @jae-writes-fanfiction​​, @cxddlyash​​, @tresfandom​​, @utterly-u-n-p-e-r-f-e-c-t​​, @niallisworld​​, @lietomevalntyn​​, @babylon-corgis​​, @monochrome44​​, @behind-my-hazeleyes27​​, @ghost0fy0u​​, @lyllibug​​, @bloodmoonashton​​, @balsamic-cal, @calumsbaldhead​​, @washedout-ky, @calumssunshinee​​, @ghostofmashton​​, @summerellaz​​, @a-little-less-sixteen​​, @cashworthy​​, @smokeinherlungs​​, @longlastingdaydream​​, @h0tsos​​, @sweetcherrymike​​, @5sosnsfw​​, @sugar-nico​​, @sunnysideblog, @angel-cal​​, @samros95​​, @maluminspace​​, @lukeinblue​​, @cakesunflower​​, @allamerican-betch​​, @malumamongmen, @britnicole11​​, @gigglyirwin​​, @everyscarisahealingplace, @loverofcashton​​, @iovehemmings​​, @g-l-pierce​​, @jannimoeller3​​, @wildmichaelflower​​, @lukeskisses​​, @5sossstan​​, @youngbloodchild​​​, @abb-lan-5sos​, @calumsbub​, @flameraine​, 

[ivanshatov]

double date

wc: 3.1k

it’s 11pm post-superbowl sunday night and i finished writing this fun little oc oneshot so i’m gonna drop it here bc why not? anyways, what the hell gay vampires

The sun had just barely set, but Edel was busy working away at the theatre’s lobby; stringing up lights, watering the plants, lighting the candles, cleaning away the blood, the usual cleanup checklist. With all the ruckus coming from Edel’s radio of whistled showtunes and the sound of hurried housekeeping taking place, Mia appeared in the doorway. She was dressed modestly in a corset and skirt that dropped to her heels, her hair up and traces of blood beneath her lips. “What in the name of— are you doing?” she asked, rubbing her head with a yawn.

Edel beamed, fully dressed, with petticoat, makeup, and all. “Didn’t I remind you yesterday?” they asked, lifting the sides of their gown and prancing to Mia. “Sujani’s love is coming over today. She’s introducing him to me. Is that blood on your face? Make sure you clean it, you’ll scare the poor man.”

“Sujani’s love, huh?” Mia thumbed beneath her lip and raised an eyebrow. “Well, does he know?”

“Know what?” Edel looked up from their busywork, wide-eyed and oblivious. 

“Does he know about the—“ Mia gesticulated and threw up her hands. “The vampirism?”

“Oh! Oh. I’m not sure. Best not bring it up. Just to be safe,” Edel replied, twirling the broom she held and resisting the urge to strike some Fosse-esque pose. “You can come out if you’d like to say hi. Maral and Libera know too, but they’re off doing lines in the mezzanine.”

Mia tilted her head. “And the rest of the cast?”

“Laundry, props, helping Igor with the set, cleaning the apron, the like...” Edel replied, tending to a spiderweb in the corner. “I don’t want anyone eating him, so I’m trying to have them all occupied. Sujani made it very clear she will be very upset if her beau gets devoured. And then who will manage our stage if she is upset with me? This has to run very smoothly. You see? So, my dear, if some lost-looking breather is wandering through the halls, please redirect him here. No blood-sucking involved, preferably.”

“And no hypnotism, right?” 

Edel turned around, leaning the broom against the wall and wrapping their arms around Mia’s waist. “No hypnotism, promise.” The couple linked pinkies and Mia rested her head on Edel’s chest.

“Alright. Be safe, dear. Check for stakes, crucifixes, the like...” she sighed, pushing her hair behind her ear. “We don’t want any guest appearances.” Giving Edel a kiss on the cheek, she unlinked her hand and started down the hall. “I best get dressed, too. Perhaps I’ll show up when I’m prim and proper. Make it a double date, as they call it these days, hm?” 

Flashing a fanged grin, Edel nodded with excitement. “Oh, please do! Double date,” they repeated, eyes sparkling. “Please, you’ll look radiant. Love you,” Edel called as Mia vanished down the hallway. 

Alone and back in the grandiose lobby, Edel continued to tend to the dust bunnies around the lobby, humming some musical jingles underneath her breath. As she got stuck replaying the songs of Les Mis in her mind, her eyes flitted to the clock. Fifteen minutes until 8’o’clock! Oh goodness, darling Sujani would be arriving any moment. Gathering the cleaning supplies and taking one last look around the lobby, Edel hurried back to the stage to dispose of the swiped supplies. The door slammed behind them as they entered the backstage, and a few heads downstage were turned. 

“Eeeeedel!” Pasha called out, bouncing upstage and meeting Edel’s side. “Can I take those off your hands?” he asked, batting his childlike eyes. 

“Sure,” Edel muttered, smiling down at him. “Please remember. Don’t start wandering. Sujani is bringing a guest with her tonight.”

“Ooh, a guest!” Olga interjected, sticking her head up from the catwalk. “A guest of what sort? A prince? Duke, maybe? The President?”

“No, her boyfriend. And, and, please don’t drop those 2x4’s, Olga,” Edel shouted, waving their arms. 

Olga signaled a salute and nearly dropped the wooden planks, managing to narrowly avoid an accident with the flyweights. “I didn’t know Miss Sujani had a boyfriend,” Pasha said, saccharine. 

“No, you cannot eat him. No, you cannot play some childish prank on him. Whatever your next question is, the answer is no. Alright? I’ll give you a candy later, or something,” Edel mumbled, booping Pasha on the nose and ruffling his hair. 

“I can’t eat candy,” he maintained.

Edel exhaled, exasperated. “A book, then.”

“Books are boring!”

“One with illustrations,” she said with a wave of her hand, disappearing back in the direction of the lobby. 

As Edel reentered, briefly admiring their handiwork, a bell chimed at the box office and sent them peeling down the hallway.

“Sujani! Sujani, darling! I’m so glad you’ve come!” Edel announced, bursting in through the threshhold with a wide grin and open arms.  Sujani, relaxed and smiling, was dressed in her usual fare— a simple green sweater, a long skirt, Oxfords. Her hair was nice and curled and Edel noted the use of false eyelashes, something Sujani seldom indulged in. Her eyeliner was nonetheless bold. As Edel’s eyes met her guest, however, the color (or lack thereof) drained from her face. “I know you,” Edel mumbled, enthusiasm dying. Her eyes trailed back to Sujani, and she glared. “Luca Betschen? The Luca Betschen, of all men in this city crawling with them?”

Luca Betschen, standing opposite Sujani, with her hand around his waist and his around hers, was a short and plucky little man. His hair was curly and brown, and he had the most lovely, enticing young eyes, and was ruggedly handsome despite his unfortunate smallness. And Edel knew his face very, very well.

The Theatre has a strange relationship with the Press. The Theatre can function just fine independent of the Press, but their relationship is reciprocal. The Press is a necessary predator in the ecosystem in the fine arts, regulating the bad and safeguarding the good. But as hundreds of years pass by, between the un-dead and the living, tastes tend to change, and perceptions of otherwise fine Theatre may appeared skewed. A six-hundred year disparity, as one could imagine, would intensify these critical differences. Luca Betschen, a fresh-faced journalist at some irrelevant, wretched, Winterthur newspaper, embodies it. One ruthless review two years ago on Edel’s production of The Seagull has left them burning ever since. “Contrary to the beliefs of archaic director Edelgard Veice,” Betschen wrote, “Chekov’s works are better left boring and lifeless, not thrown into a kitschy, unexplainably Tudor delirium of color and light.”

She spotted his face in the audience opening night a year ago, received another scathing review, and has been plotting her revenge over her production. And now, that wretched man stands in front of her, alongside her darling Sujani, of all people! Sujani has no time to respond before Edel, seething, retreats back into the lobby. “I am retracting my gracious invitation!”

“Miss Edel—”

“Get him out of here!” Edel roared, stomping down the hallway in her one-inch heels. 

Two humans stand in the box office of a vampire nest, hands linked. It’s a hot summer evening in one of Europe’s most beautiful cities, tourists bustling on the streets and the stars shining above. “Shall we just... go?” Luca asked, clearing his throat. “I hope I haven’t upset her. That was certainly not my intention.”

Sujani shrugged her shoulders and peeked down the hall into the lobby, and then at the door marked Employees Only that led to the backstage. “Edel... tends to hold grudges for a long time. She’ll warm up to you eventually,” she insisted with another lukewarm shrug. “Hopefully.”

***

The sound of Edel’s heels clicking on the theatre floor echoed loud and clear disapproval through the walls of the theatre. She stormed past the auditorium, stomping with irate force, and up to the dressing rooms, up another flight of stairs, to where Mia should be. And, without a hint of hesitation, she slammed her fist down on the door, knocking the ancient oak with unrelenting fury. Mia swung the door open, doing up her corset, eyes wide as Edel stumbled back. “What’s wrong? Shouldn’t you be with Sujani? And her… human love-friend?”

Edel slammed the door behind them and dropped down in one of Mia’s empty seat, bristling with rage and chewing on her lip. 

“Edel…?”

“Do you remember,” Edel began, heated, “when that pathetic little Winterthur paper smeared my good name? That 2.5 star review? You must remember.”

“Uh, was that The Seagull, or Romeo and Juliet, or Anything Goes?”

Edel was silent. 

“No, Anything Goes was one star,” Mia murmured, returning to the ribbons on her corset. When she looked up, Edel’s face was hidden in their hands. “Oh, dear.”

“She’s dating that bloody critic! That wretched critic! And they will marry and reproduce and my darling Sujani will bear wretched little critic children. Oh, Mia, I don’t know what to do! My reputation as a host will turn more repugnant than my critical reviews if I turn him away, and I will break my darling Sujani’s heart, but I can’t stand the thought of inviting him into this sacred place! This sacred place he’s desecrated!” Edel burst back into tears, taking a bloody handkerchief from Mia’s desk and blotting her running makeup.

“Don’t use that hanky…” Mia scratched her head and placed her hands on Edel’s shoulders, then leaned forward and placed her head in the nape of their neck. “My dear dead thespian. You are a wonderful host, a wonderful director, a theatrical icon, with wonderful ideas, productions… Why are you letting some breather spit on you? He’s just a breather.  And you are an immortal being capable of flight, shapeshifting, and hypnosis who could suck all of the blood out of him instantly. Just some critic. And nobody cares about Winterthur, anyways. Screw Winterthur.” Mia lifted her hands off of Edel’s shoulders, working her first layer of ballgown up the crinoline hoopskirt. “Show him who’s boss. Show him those lovely host skills of yours. You worked so hard on that setup. And I saw you baking those cookies last night. See, you’re thoughtful, clever, and much better than he could ever be. No review will ever determine that.” 

“Mmm. I love you.” Edel said, rising to her feet and kissing Mia on the lips, cupping her hands around her face and touching their foreheads together. Stretching out a gloved hand, she smiled and pushed the door back open. “Come with me to the breather guests?”

“Certainly.”

***

The humans had, perhaps unwisely, let themselves into the theatre. Sujani kept glancing around the many hallways, praying to catch a possible vampire before it could catch blissfully unaware Luca. He was stuffing his face with a few of the store-bought human luxuries that Edel had purchased. “Are you alright? You seem uneasy.”

Sujani shook her head and smiled. “Not exactly your idea of a date night. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. I feel underdressed, seeing Miss Veice in that ballgown. That’s gorgeous. Where did she get it?” he mused. “Anyhow, I didn't really notice how beautiful this theatre is. I don’t really have the time to sit around and enjoy it when I’m here, but the architecture’s lovely.” Sheepishly, he looked down one of the halls. “May I see the auditorium?”

Sujani briefly considered a future where a mob of hungry vampires sicked themselves on her helpless boyfriend, and shook her head. “Probably not a good idea.”

“Why not?”

It was a fair question. “Technical things…” she started. 

“Without a director or a stage manager?” Luca asked, confused.

“Uh…” 

Fortunately, the sound of four heels clicking on the ground interrupted the conversation, and Edel and Mia appeared in the doorway. Edel smoothed her ballgown and grinned weakly as Sujani got to her feet. “My darling Sujani,” Edel began, wrapping Sujani in a tight hug and then turning her attention to Luca. She looked him up and down, and stuck out a hand. He took it, smiling shyly. “Mr. Betschen,” she said, tilting her head. “I must love you, and suit to know you better.”

“King Lear,” he correctly identified. “I shall study deserving.”

Edel eyed Sujani with reluctant approval, and patted Luca on the shoulder. She waved Mia over, who stretched out her hand to Luca. “Mia Kleinmann, my producer and my lover.” 

“Mr. Betschen,” Mia said, taking his hand. “Sujani,” she greeted with a nod.

“I apologize,” Edel said, “for the rough opening. I’m happy to have you in the Theatre with me, Mr. Betschen, and I’m happy to finally meet you.”

“Please, call me Luca,” he said, taking a seat back in his chair. “I adore your ballgown. It’s so classic! It looks like a true regency classic. Yours too, Miss Kleinnman! I feel a bit underdressed, I must admit. Oh, thank you for inviting us. Sujani was dying for me to meet you.”

“Really?” Edel asked, eyeing Sujani as she forked a burnt tea cake in her mouth.

“Mhm,” she confirmed, mouth full. “Thought I’d try and ease the waters a bit, no?”

“I suppose. Nonetheless,” Edel said, drawing the curtains shut. “Pleased to have you with us, Luca. You seem a proper young man for my darling Sujani. Well-read on theatre…” She sighed and took a seat beside Mia, linking their hands together. “You know your stuff. Now, did you know I’m a playwright myself?”

“Oh? Tell me more,” Luca said, popping another tea cake in his mouth and handing one to Edel. They politely declined with a wave.

“Well—” Sujani interjected. “You know, I wanted to bring this up to you earlier, Miss Edel, but did you know Luca and I actually met after The Seagull?” She linked her hand with Luca, who grinned.

Edel raised her eyebrows and shook her head and Sujani continued, twirling her hair. “Opening night cast party. Met him in this very lobby and he took me for a drink down the street. Couldn’t change his mind on the production, though,” she said, elbowing him. 

“The wheel is come full circle… Also King Lear,” he noted.

“Sujani’s third production with me,” Edel mused. “And now her eighth! Stage managing, set construction, lighting design. A real wünderkind.”

“And a wonderful costumier,” Mia added.

“You’re one lucky gentleman,” said Edel.

“Treat her right!” Mia chirped.

Sujani grinned and rocked Luca back and forth. “Oh, he’s just a gentleman. So very polite. And I love a man who loves the Theatre.”

“I live for the Theatre. Oh, I’m just some lousy critic. I hope one day I can go on the stage again,” he said, taking Sujani’s hand.

“Again, you say?” Edel asked, fiddling with her necklace.

He smiled sheepishly. “I was in some productions in grade school, and college. Mostly Shakespeare-related. I suppose I’m more techie-inclined, though, like Sujani.”

Edel brightened. “Well, you simply must try out for one of our Shakespeare productions! After my original play is staged, though. I try to cast unknowns, and broaden the scope of my casting, and—”

“Maybe not, though,” Mia said quickly.

“Yeah, maybe not,” Sujani continued, tilting her head towards a confused Luca. “Just because Edel has been thinking of staging more original plays as of late!”

“But we’ll give you a call when the Bard shows his face around here again,” Mia said with a wave. “I love producing Shakespeare. So classic.” 

“Yes, so classic.” Sujani said, popping two cookies in her mouth and letting out a relieved sigh.

“Right,” Luca commented. “I’d love to be in a show again. Get a taste of your direction style from the inside. Because it’s truly unique, and very interesting,” he said, shooting a nod at Edel.

Edel cleared their throat and nodded. “Well, it’s been great,”

“Um, what?”

“It’s been great, Luca. But, erm, I think Sujani and I have some blocking to look over!” Edel said, getting to her feet. “May I walk you out?”

“I’m his ride, Edel…” Sujani said, rubbing her forehead.

“Then l will go over the blocking and you’ll look over it tomorrow! Go! Get some sleep! You hu— busy people!” Edel waved her hands and started to the door, ballgown bouncing behind them.

“Alright? Well, thank you,” Luca said, a bit startled as he hurried out, hand linked with Sujani. 

“Why don’t you two visit that bar you went to? After The Seagull. Take a quick trip down memory lane! Oh, my darling Sujani,” Edel said, taking Sujani’s free hand. “May I have a word?”

Sujani looked back at Luca who shifted his weight and gestured back to the box office. Edel pulled Sujani inside and Mia appeared in the door. Luca hid his hands behind his back and stared at the pavement. 

“You haven’t told him?” Edel asked. 

“No?” Sujani replied, sticking her hands in her pockets. “I’m not trying to scare him off with mad ravings of vampires and the undead. I’m not doing that with him.”

“You best tell him soon,” Mia commented. “Before he figures it out. Is he into the supernatural, by any chance?”

“Not that I know of,” Sujani said. “Look, I don’t know. I’ve kept it from him this long. Well, we only started dating recently. After Anything Goes.”

“Anything Goes? Jesus. That was one star, I thought,” Mia muttered.

“Yeah, couldn’t change his mind on it. Trust me, I tried.”

Edel crossed their arms and huffed indignantly. “Well, please do tell him. Sooner, rather than later. Or just let him find out on his own. Just make sure he doesn’t have any stakes lying around. Or homemade crucifixes.”

“He’s Jewish,” Sujani replied.

“Well, still.” Edel uncrossed her arms. “Take care of it. And see me about the blocking tomorrow. Okay? I’ll see you around, my darling Sujani.”

The vampires disappeared into the lobby and Sujani exited the theatre, taking Luca’s hand. He kissed her on the cheek and tilted his head to the marquee. “They’re kinda odd, aren’t they?”

“I never noticed it.”

He pointed at the lights on the marquee, dazzling and untouched since their installation in the 1970s. “You should tell Miss Edel to turn that off. That must be a sizable electricity bill.”

“Nothing we can’t handle, I’m sure,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder and kissing him on top of his head. “Thanks for putting up with me, Theatre Kid. Want a drink?”

“For sure,” he said, kissing her back on the cheek. Taking each others‘ hands, they started down the street, the lights of the theatre behind them.

[4000screamingbirbs]

Baby, it’s colder than the pits of hell out there

IT FUKIGN WIMBY!!! WINBY AS HELL HERE! So it’s record low temperatures around Houston, we have about four inches of snow here and have been snowed/iced in unable to leave since Sunday night. We lost power on Sunday and so my partner and I and the sugar glider are all trying to stay warm in the one bedroom since that’s all we can heat with the generator. We didn’t have power most of Monday so we were reheating our work lunches in front of the heater. In order for me to cope (bc I’ve been traumatized by doomsday prepper parents who freaked me out and made me overprepare and pack up my belongings in one bag and then told me the rest was destroyed at 9yrs old and on) my partner and I refer to the room as the main capsule, the rest of the house that’s been legit frozen since Sunday is the broken part of the spaceship we had to close off but still has supplies so we have to put on spacesuits to venture out there (robes and slippers or your walking out in 20 degree weather). It’s actually made it a bit fun.

The house is coming apart, it’s never been frozen before so a lot of things are breaking that we will have to fix when it thaws, like the tile has frozen and peeled off the floor, a few pipes froze, the clothes in the washing machine froze and broke.

The problem is, I have no more PTO for work, and the conditions aren’t going to clear up. See cus we got ice first, which melted a bit on Sunday, then refrozen after even more rain on Sunday night, then it snowed on top of that, and it’s supposed to sleet and become ice again tonight. Not a single road has been salted or cleared. If the power goes out again, we won’t have food besides dried pasta (which I tried to eat, don’t try that). We are hoping once the sun rises the kitchen will warm up enough that the frost on everything will clear, tho I think it’ll melt and then we have a bigger issue of water all over the kitchen. It’s hectic, it’s cold, it’s something no one was prepared for apparently. All of Cypress is shut down, people were trying to drive only to get to houses with power, bc none of us have fireplaces or anything, and no electricity for heat means we freeze. My friend drove an entire hour to get to heat only for their power to then go out once he got there.

Hot coco and mulled mead has been our only saving grace. I did also get to play in real snow for the first time, it’s so soft, but when you touch it it frickin betrays you and makes your hands go numb.

[waitineedaname]

For the request thing Dirk and Roxy in some supernatural AU if you feeling it! Congrats on the follower count, too, dude!

this took FOREVER to finish simply bc I had Too Many ideas, but I’m super happy with how this turned out

—-

“You know, there’s no evidence that ghosts are real.”

“Mhm.”

“Sure, there’s- fuck,” Dirk paused to avoid tripping over a root cutting across his path before continuing, “There’s plenty of folklore. Anecdotal accounts. But there’s nothing scientific to back it up. If ghosts were real, wouldn’t scientists have caught one to test on yet?”

“That doesn’t sound very humane, though.” Roxy countered, shining their flashlight on another root so Dirk wouldn’t trip. “Testin’ on them, I mean! They’re still people. Shouldn’t they have the same rights and stuff?”

“They’re ghosts. It’s not like they’re going to die again.”

“How do you know? Maybe that’s what we’re testing them for!” Roxy flashed the beam of light onto Dirk’s face briefly, laughing a little when he made a face at them. “Look, would you want a bunch of scientists pokin’ around at your ghost when you die?”

“First of all, when I die, I’m going to be cold, unconscious, and rotting. Or hot, unconscious, and dusty if I get cremated. Either way, I’m not going to be a ghost. But-” He added when he saw Roxy’s silhouette gear up to speak, “If I was a ghost, I would be happy to let scientists do whatever the fuck they want. Test the hell out of my incorporeal form. Go hogwild in the name of science. I don’t give a shit.”

Roxy hummed and shrugged. “I mean, yeah, mood. There’s still gotta be consent forms and shit, though. I’m the one that works in a lab that involves people here. I know my shit.”

“That still doesn’t change my point though.”

“Which was…?”

“That ghosts aren’t real.”

“Ah. Yeah.” Roxy glanced down at the map on their phone, making sure the two of them were still headed in the right direction. “Yeah, they probably aren’t.”

“Then why the fuck are we exploring a haunted house?”

“Because it’s fun, dummy. Get in the spirit of the season! Eat some pumpkins! Wear a sweater! Fuck a ghost!”

“The spirit of the season.” Dirk’s voice was flat as he tried to think of a joke to make off of the obvious pun there before the rest of what Roxy said caught up to him. “Please tell me there won’t be any ghost fucking involved here. I mean, had I known that, I would’ve at least brought a condom. Worn something nice. Put on some cologne.”

“As if.” Roxy laughed. “Do you own any cologne? Axe does not count.”

“No comment.”

“You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were nervous, Di Stri.” Roxy teased, giving him a side eye. Dirk’s expression was carefully neutral.

“Good thing you know better. Do I look nervous to you? The answer is hell no. I’m cool as a cucumber riding a private jet ski into the sunset. I don’t get nervous.” His mouth twitched at Roxy’s failure to contain a snort. “No, I’m just not looking forward to freezing my ass off a mile away from where we parked the car in a shitty abandoned building that’s going to give me mesothelioma. Do you want to be the one asking for financial compensation when I get mesothelioma? I don’t think so.”

“You’re such a big baby.” Roxy muttered, laughing softly. “I think we’re here.”

They stepped out into a clearing and shined their flashlights on the decaying building in front of him. It looked so cartoonishly like a haunted house that Dirk almost wanted to laugh. He shivered instead, hugging his jacket tighter around himself. Roxy bounced on their heels beside him and all but bounded up to the crumbling porch. It took some maneuvering to get up the stairs without falling through wood that had seen better days, but it seemed that all of a sudden that they were both staring down the door handle. 

“Do you want to do the honors?” Roxy asked. Dirk almost protested that this wasn’t his idea, why should he do the honors, but there was a telltale waver of anxiety finally catching up to them in Roxy’s voice, so he bit it back. The metal of the handle was cold to the touch, and hinges creaked dramatically when he pulled it open. Dirk did a little flourish with his flashlight and pretending to bow, hoping the humor would sooth Roxy’s nerves. 

“After you.” He said. Roxy giggled a little.

“Oh, wow, such a gentleman. My prince.” They cooed, walking through the doorway. Dirk followed close behind. Yeah, he wasn’t looking forward to anything this haunted house had to offer, but like hell was he going to let Roxy out of his sight.

As soon as they were both inside, the door slammed shut behind them and their flashlights flickered out. Roxy let out a tiny “eep!” and Dirk tensed.

“Dirk?” Roxy called out into the pitch black.

“I’m right here.” They sounded close, and in a moment, he felt Roxy’s hand slip into his. He squeezed it gently. 

“The flashlight batteries are brand new, they shouldn’t be going out like this…” Roxy mumbled, and Dirk heard a noise that sounded a lot like they were thwacking their flashlight on their thigh. “Aha!” The flashlight flickered back to life. After a few seconds of fumbling, Dirk managed to turn his back on too.

The room they illuminated was… surprisingly mundane, all things considered. A moth-eaten couch, a layer of dust thicker than the rug laying in the middle of the floor, peeling wallpaper that had seen better days. It kind of just looked like an abandoned house, nothing particularly out of the ordinary. The only thing that really set it apart was that-

“Jesus, it’s colder than Satan’s left nut in here.” Roxy said, shivering.

“You can say that again.”

“Jesus, it’s colder th-”

“Rox.” Dirk gave them a look, and Roxy giggled nervously again.

“Come on, let’s explore.” They said, tugging him in the direction of one of the doorways. It led them into a modest kitchen, similarly covered in a thick layer of dust. The cabinets were all empty except for one - also empty - box of Bisquick and a startled rat. Dirk most definitely did not shout in surprise when it squeaked at him, and Roxy didn’t laugh so hard they nearly cried, thank you very much.

The laundry room was also empty, and so was the office they poked their heads into, except for a piano that sat against the wall in surprisingly good condition. First floor exhausted, Roxy put a hand on their hip and grinned at Dirk, their confidence bolstered by the lack of spooky happenings beyond the door.

“Ready to go upstairs?”

“There’s no possible way saying ‘no’ will work, will it?”

“Dirk,” Roxy’s expression softened gently, “If you wanna leave, we can.”

“…Nah, I’m good.” Dirk bonked his shoulder against Roxy’s. “If we end up breaking our legs on an unstable set of stairs, though, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Roxy laughed. “You warned me about the stairs, bro.”

“I told you dog.” Dirk added emphatically. Roxy took the lead up the stairs, which creaked uncomfortably underneath them, but otherwise held steady. Atop the landing, only one door was open, albeit only slightly. They pushed it open and found themselves in a tidy bedroom. The bed was neatly made and covered with cobwebs, and the posters on the wall were too dusty and bleached with age to reveal what they originally were. Moonlight trickled in through the open window, painting the room an eerie blue. 

The pair poked around curiously, though Dirk expected it to be just as barren as the rooms downstairs. He stepped closer to the wall to investigate the posters, and his blood ran cold.

“Uh, Roxy?” He called them over, taking a step back from the wall. There was something dripping from it.

“The fuck?” Roxy said at Dirk’s side. “Wait… is that slime?”

“If we get slimered, I’m going to be so fucking mad.” Of all the ways to die, that would definitely be pretty high on Dirk’s list of ‘dumbest ways to beef it.’ The goopy green slime started forming shapes on the wall. 

6 6 6

“Oh, great.” Dirk said, trying to hold back the urge to bolt. “It’s a satanic Slimer.” Roxy frowned next to him, then looked around. They bounced over to the desk and Dirk gave them a bewildered look. “The fuck are you-”

“Aha!” Roxy withdrew a lonesome sharpie from one of the desk drawers and bounded back over to the dripping wall. Before Dirk could stop them, they drew their own dark shapes beside the numbers.

6 9 6 9 6 9

“You have got to be kidding me.” Dirk stared the wall, Roxy grinning at their handiwork. Another set of letters started appearing.

h a h a  n i c e .

Roxy brightened even further and wheeled around to face Dirk. “What do you say? Ready to be paranormal investigators?”

Dirk glanced at where the slime was spelling out w h o  y o u  g o n n a  c a and sighed. “I guess we’re the ghostbusters now. They are us.”

“Fuck yeah!” Roxy cheered.

f u c k  y e a h !

[kn1feinthec0ffee]

in too deep (part 3)- jules

jules x reader

warnings: language, anxiety, creepiness, some violence, homophobia, overall just weird vibes (if you’ve seen the movie you know what i’m talking about)

TW: MENTIONS OF NON-CON (please don’t read if you’re triggered by this!! this was the bit of the story i had to change for the story to make sense since i swapped mickey’s gender. it doesn’t actually happen, but if the threat triggers you, do NOT READ!!!)

notes: i’m gonna try and keep this one shorter bc writing long chapters stresses me out

also! i’m writing this based on a pdf of the original script for the movie, so some dialogue may be different, or it may be my own creation because believe it or not, there are times that i do in fact possess creativity!!

you woke up with a jolt, dreams of the strangest variety plaguing your subconscious. you reached up to touch your pounding head- well, at least you would’ve if it wasn’t restrained. 

  “what the hell?” you tugged on the handcuffs, quickly realizing your legs were tied down, too, rendering you completely immobile. upon discovering this, you began to panic, breaking out in a cold sweat as you called out for your security blanket. “jules! jules!” 

  “she’s not gonna hear you. she’s down in the basement with sweetiepie.” gloria said calmly as she entered the room. 

not impressed with her answer, you questioned her. “what are you gonna do to her?” 

  “my, my. you asked about her safety before even questioning yours! the bond the two of you share must be stronger than i thought.” she mused, looking down at your panicked expression. “your belle is safe and sound, don’t worry. but if you want to see her again, you’re going to have to cooperate.”

  “cooperate? what the fuck are you gonna do to me?” you wrenched at your restraints, your heart rate beginning to pick up sufficiently. you depended on jules more than any other person in your life, and without her, you began to quickly unravel. 

  “just sit tight, all will be revealed soon enough.” gloria stated with an eerie smile. you hated how calm she was, it made you feel like she knew something you didn’t. “would you like to see some photos of my son?”

was she serious? look at some photos of her son? all you wanted was their car! how did you end up in this mess? the sudden aggravation caused you to lose your composure. 

  “no, i don’t wanna see any pictures of your fucking son! i wanna get my girlfriend and that fucking kid and get the fuck out of here!” you screamed. “i wanna get the fuck away from you and your crazy ass husband! i wa-” your sudden outburst was cut off by a firm slap, giving you little time to react before gloria had you in a chokehold.

  “you keep your damn mouth shut! you won’t refer to anyone in this family like that under my roof!” you spat in her face, taking in a wheezing breath as she let go of you to wipe her face. her sudden anger morphed into what you assumed was her signature brand of unnerving calmness. 

  “you wanted to know what i’m going to do to you? i’ll tell you.” she smiled creepily. “you see, george and i have wanted our own children for the longest time, but that’s just not what the good lord had planned for us. so think of yourself as a vessel for us. an oven for our bun, if you will.”

your jaw dropped, the color in your face draining as your eyes widened in shock. “fuck! what the fuck? that’s so fucking fucked up! you’re not gonna fucking touch me, you bitch!” you couldn’t catch your breath, your chest heaving with every intake of air. 

gloria got up to leave, her long skirt spinning with a flourish as she made her way to the bedroom door. “d-don’t f-fucking leave,” you wheezed as she exited the room, slamming the door behind her.

  “jules!” you shouted. “jules, please fucking help me,” you whimpered, shutting your eyes in defeat.

-------------------------------

time ticked by slowly, your arms and shoulders starting to ache as they were held in the same position. you tried to reposition them to get some relief, but none came. 

suddenly, you heard the door click open, your eyes flitting up hopefully. gloria entered with a grin on her painted lips, making her way towards you. 

while you were in the room by yourself, you had used the time wisely to come up with what would hopefully be a successful escape plan. you looked up at her with your best puppy dog eyes. “gloria, can we talk?” 

  “absolutely. what’s on your mind?” it was creepy how quickly she seemed to get over your defiance from earlier, but you pushed the thought from your mind. 

  “well, honestly, your proposal.” you began. “i know how i acted the other day was totally uncalled for, and i’ve reconsidered.”

  “well, you didn’t really have much of a choice, sweetheart, but i’m glad you feel that way.” she stroked a hand over your stomach, making you feel physically sick. “is there anything else?”

  “yeah, there is. can we start now? i wanna start these happy nine months as soon as i can.” you faked a smile, the words coming out of your mouth churning your insides. 

  “well yes, i guess that could be arranged,” she moved to get up and you panicked, your plan quickly setting out of motion. 

  “wait!” you exclaimed. “can you uncuff me? i don’t think it would really be enjoyable if i was tied down like i am now.”

she looked skeptical, but sat down next to you anyways. “give me one good reason you wouldn’t be trying to escape as soon as i untied you.”

  “well, i’ve had a change of heart.” no i haven’t. “i’ve considered it, and i think you’re right.” no you’re not. “i think this experience would be really beneficial to me,” no it wouldn’t. “especially if i wasn’t chained to the bed the whole time.” definitely not.

  “it seems that you’ve really put some thought into this, i’m very proud of you.” gloria crooned. she sat on the side of the mattress, working on uncuffing your hands from the bedposts. as soon as both your hands were free, you took a tight grip of her hair and used your body weight to launch her off of you and onto the floor. she cried out, clutching her head as you worked at the ropes around your ankles. 

  “you psycho fucking bitch!” you cursed at her. “i’m getting my girlfriend and that fucking kid and we’re getting the fuck out of here!” once your legs were finally free, you took off, running down the stairs as the damsel called out for her husband. 

you raced towards the door, prying at the handle, when a gunshot goes off right next to your head. you jumped in fear, raising your hands in defense to see george at the top of the staircase, wielding your pistol. 

  “exactly what in the hell do you think you’re doing? get your ass up here!” he shouted, waving the weapon threateningly. when you stood frozen in your tracks, he spoke again. “i’m a crack shot, kid. i missed you on purpose that time. now get on up here.” 

you grudgingly headed up the stairs, keeping your wide eyes facing straight ahead. you heard gloria sobbing in the other room, sounding as distraught as ever, and you knew you were in for it. “who the hell raised you like that? you of all people making a woman cry like that.”

  “i’d blow your brains out if i thought you had any,” george sighed. “well, i’ll tell you one thing; you’re a bit too spry for my liking.” 

suddenly, he pulled the trigger, and the bullet ripped through the meat of your thigh. you screamed in agony, clutching the wound as you cried out. “fuck! what the fuck? you just fucking shot me!”

he acted like it was nothing, simply tossing a towel at you to stop the bleeding. “quit your whinin’, ya sally. we’ll get you bandaged up.”

----------------------------

  “don’t make me put another bullet in ‘ya. just behave, goddammit!” george growled as he dragged you down the basement stairs. through your hazy vision, you were able to make out jules handcuffed to a pole not too far away from the girl. he drops you to the floor, yanking your hands behind your back and cuffing them next to jules’. 

  “y/n!” jules called out, a happy yet worried smile making its way onto her lips. her gaze landed on your leg, her eyes widening when she saw the bloody wrappings. “oh my god! you motherfucker, what did you do to her?”

  “what are you blind? i shot her.” george stated matter-of-factly. “now you two keep quiet down here. keep an eye on ‘em, sweetiepie.” he looked over to the girl before heading upstairs.

  “fuck, i’m so happy you’re alive, baby! i heard those gunshots go off and i was so scared i was gonna lose you! are you okay?” jules blurted out, trying to turn towards you. 

  “it hurts so fucking bad, but i’m okay.” you panted, breathing labored. you wriggled your arms, pulling on the cuffs frustratingly. 

  “can you pick it?” jules asks hopefully. your heavy eyes darted around the basement, searching for something in arm’s reach small enough to fit in the keyhole. 

  “i don’t have anything to pick it with.” you huffed, leaning your head back against the pole as tears of frustration brimmed your eyes. “shit!”

you peeled your eyes open to look around the room once more, eyes landing on sweetiepie as she stared back at you in fascination. you had had enough of this little girl; she was the reason you were in this whole mess. if she just would’ve fucking cooperated, the three of you could be outta here and on the route to florida. “oh, i’m so glad you’re here, i didn’t get the chance to say fuck you!”

jules nudged you with her elbow, as if to discourage you from swearing at the child. “leave her alone, she feels bad. she didn’t know what she was doing.”

  “how the hell do you know? she talked?” you asked in confusion at her statement. 

  “i don’t know, i just do.” jules shrugged. sweetiepie had resumed playing with her toys once more, the little princess dolly riding away on the heroic stallion’s back. you sighed at the seemingly hopeless situation, letting your eyes fall shut. 

this was gonna be a long night. 

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

okay so an itty bitty change of plans: if this ended where it was originally supposed to, it would be really long and kinda unsatisfying (to me at least), so i’m splitting this into two chapters. 

which means that instead of a 5-part series, this will be 6 parts! it just makes more sense to me that way. 

anyway, i hope you guys enjoy!! i really had fun writing this part!

tags: @emmyrosee​ @flowers-in-your-hayr​​ @willyourecognisemee​ @bill-skarsgard-owns-my-ass​

[nickmuch]

c.z.k. - high school (part 3)

PART 1 / PART 2

Note: Honestly, I have nothing to do at work atm, so I might update this daily. Can’t wait for Part 4! Bc I have finally some more Zion action planned.

Also: It might be prom season there, but you didn’t hear it from me. My favorite part to write was probably the one that took place after prom.

Aaand: mobile tumblr seems to ignore all the paragraphing I put into the text to indicate the end of a scene???? So it’s probably easier to read on the desktop version.

A week had passed since my outburst. If you thought that everything magically turned upside down and we lived a happy life riding into the sunset on our white horse, then you thought wrong. Absolutely nothing happened. I returned back to class that day, not even flinching from his words. And he came back a couple minutes later, both of us acting as if we didn’t just kiss. He went back to her and I went back to feeling like shit. The usual story.

I acted like it didn’t faze me when he approached my locker at the end of the school day. “So …” he began. “You and Edwin?”. His voice sounded nervous when he asked me. Scrunching up my face, I fully turned towards him. “Me and Edwin what?”. Sighing, he grabbed my arm making me look him dead in the eyes. “You guys together now? You both seem oddly close these days”. Wow, I couldn’t believe the words that left his mouth. “Congrats! You have officially lost your mind, Caleb” I started picking up my pace. The front door wasn’t too far from here, so I hoped he would just let it go and let me drive home in peace. I hoped for nothing because clearly, he and his long legs caught up to me rather quickly, opening the door to my passenger seat before sitting down. “Look, I’m sorry for everything. But honestly, I just wanna put this all behind us. I miss my friends and I feel like I can’t hang out with the group while you’re still mad at me” “I’m not mad at you, in fact I give zero shits about you. But if you have something to talk about with the boys, then do so. I’m not keeping you from seeing them. They were your friends first, so you have every right to chill with them. I just don’t wanna be included, s’all”. A tap on the window made us look up. There she stood, tight smile on her face and eyes cold like ice. “Aw shit” he said, hurriedly opening the door to get out and explain why in the name of God he was sitting in his Ex’s car talking. Since I seriously didn’t need to hear their arguing – which was bound to happen any second now – I quickly drove off.

“Prom is right around the corner. What do you mean you’re not going?! Yes, you are! Don’t leave me alone with these fools!”. Edwin was close to having a breakdown. All because I didn’t plan on going to prom. There was no reason to go, really. I had no date, it was way too cold In New York to walk around in a dress the whole evening, and I wasn’t in the mood anyways. “Eddie, I love you, but please don’t make me go. I would only destroy the fun” I begged, thinking that would change his mind. Wrong! Because Edwin was – well – Edwin. My excuses were exactly that: just excuses. And he knew. “Okay bebecita, I knooooow you don’t feel like going”. He was convinced that easily? Wow, okay. “But!”. Ah there it was. “We will have fun. Trust me! When have I ever lied to you?”. I mean, he was right. Whenever he said something was going to be fun, it actually turned out to be. “Fine, we’ll go! But make sure that Zion leaves me alone. He thinks we’re dating and I don’t feel like dealing with his headassery again”. Edwin’s eyes nearly fell out of his face. “What?! Oh my god, is he serious?”. A hearty laugh filled up the whole living room. “Mijo, not so loud!” his mom shouted from the kitchen, making him quit immediately. “Anyways” he plopped down next to me on the couch. “No offense, but even if you’d be the last girl in the world and we had to reproduce in order to save the human civilization, I still wouldn’t touch you” Edwin finished. “No offense taken. You’re not my type anyway” I casually said while not breaking my eyes off of the tv screen. Gasp! “I- what? I meant because you’re my twin sister! Not because of your looks!” he cried. “Uhm … oh y-yeah, that’s what I meant too …?”. No way I could save my ass out of this. He looked hurt for a second but didn’t seem to dwell on it when he used my lap as a pillow to watch the show. “Don’t be fooled, you still suck ass”.

The night of the prom, Edwin had officially turned into a bridezilla. Minus the bride, of course. His steps could be heard from everywhere in the house, like a ticking clock you couldn’t dismiss. It was driving me insane. It was driving us all insane. “Edwin, you need to calm down” I tried. “There’s no way! No. Way.” he frantically walked from one room to the other. “My clothes need to be ironed, you still aren’t in your dress- “. “It’s 2 p.m.!” my voice sounded squeakier than expected. “- … your hair’s a mess, face not beat, my hair is acting up, and the damn rental car is running late” he finished with one last breath before collapsing on my bed. “We won’t be on time. Just cancel on the boys for me, the stress isn’t good for the baby”. “What baby?!”. “Me. I’m baby”. I couldn’t believe my ears. This boy lost his mind. Narrowing my eyes at him, he challenged me back to a stare-down. “Listen here, egghead” An offended gasp left his lips. “You’ve been talking about this night for weeks. There’s no backing out now. Move your ass up and get your to-do-list, so I can help you with everything. We still have four hours left before the boys are supposed to be here. So, let’s start!”.

The white Range Rover came to a halt right in front of the school building. Loud music could be heard already, some new rap song playing in the background. “This is gonna be so lit!” Edwin bounced on his seat excitedly before jumping out and dragging the rest of us with him into the gym. The motto for this year’s prom was “neon festival”.The wall decoration was painted in a mix of fluorescent colors, which reflected every time the lights hit them. Bright yellow stars adorned the ceiling, some white smoke even coming out of a smoke machine. Everything was arranged so nicely, I couldn’t help but admire the great effort of the students who probably worked hard for this to come true. Now I understood why Edwin wanted to go so badly. Back home, our prom nights were pretty basic. No one could be bothered to put so much effort into an event, just for it to be over on the same night.

“Here, for you” Nick handed me a red solo cup, which was filled with some pink drink, accompanied by a cocktail umbrella. “Thank you” I said, turning my gaze towards the shining stars again. “I’m so sorry about what I’m gonna say next” he looked slightly uneasy, so I tried to calm him down by laying my hand on his shoulder. “Z and Asya will be joining our table. I mean, only if it’s alright with you”. As if on cue, my eyes wandered over to where I last saw the boys, seeing that – in fact – they were surrounded by the couple. All of them looked so happy, laughing and joking with each other. No matter what I felt towards Caleb, I had to set my pride aside and act nice from now on. The boys were longing to hang out with their friend again and I didn’t want to be the reason for a strain in their friendship.

“It’s alright with me” I replied. His hand cautiously wrapped around my hips, like he was scared of making me uncomfortable. “Lead the way, Mara”. He grinned at me. “Say no more, Honoret”. I rolled my eyes at the name. He knew I wasn’t really a Honoret, and yet everyone just called me that, totally ignoring all my attempts at correcting them.

Luckily, I got the seat between Edwin and Brandon. I didn’t know how to greet Zion and his girlfriend. She was too busy typing away on her phone to notice my arrival, anyways. So, I just gave him a short wave and a shy smile. “Looking nice” he said, motioning to my baby blue velvet bodycon dress. His girl was so busy, she didn’t even notice him complimenting another female. Either that, or she didn’t care. “Thanks Caleb, you too”. Coincidentally, he wore a dark grey suit with a baby blue pocket square. To not give awkward silence any room, Austin suggested to me to dance. Gladly taking his offer, we made our way to the dance floor. Soon enough, Edwin and Nick joined us, their dance moves putting me and him to shame. “You guys enjoying yourselves?” Brandon shouted over the music. I pulled him closer by his forearm to join us. “Very”. My grin however didn’t last. When I looked back to our table, I saw Zion all by himself. He looked bored, occasionally scrolling through his phone. “I’ll be right back” I told no one in particular before making my way over to the lone boy.

“Why so lonely, Kuwonu?” I nudged his arm. With a weak smile on his plump lips, he answered “Asya is preoccupied with her group of friends. I don’t really vibe with ‘em”. Nodding understandingly, I offered him to accompany me back to the others. “As long as you don’t hit the folks, we’re good” I playfully teased him. “Ha ha, very funny” Caleb sarcastically remarked. It was nice to talk to him without an attitude or tension building up. Maybe I overreacted a little bit in the last weeks. Having him around felt good, if you ignored the butterflies that erupted deep down in my stomach every time he looked at me or smiled his goofy grin. But we had our chance and it didn’t work out, that’s why I had to get over it. Better to have him as a friend than anything else. Right now, though, was about having fun and enjoying the company of good friends in a night that seemed to be endless.

The thing is, everything has an end. And so, I found myself in the booth of an old diner. The fake leather of the seats was peeling off and little bolts of cloth got stuck to our clothes. One of my legs was pressed against the window side, my other leg was touching Brandon’s involuntarily. Edwin thought a corner booth would totally suffice for all seven of us. Well, he thought wrong because now we were all huddled up, trying to get as comfortable as humanly possible with not much space between us left. Asya decided to not tag along, saying she was too tired from dancing with her friends all night.

“I hope they hurry up with our order, I’m starving!” Ansley sighed dramatically. Turns out, Austin was talking to her for weeks now, he just couldn’t build up the courage to ask her out yet. So, Edwin being Edwin, persuaded her to join our trip for a midnight-snack, claiming that “this pizza is going to be the best you’ve ever had!”. Judging from the interior design and the slack expression we were getting from the waiter, I highly doubted he was right. But then again, never underestimate Edwin.

“Okay, you were right. This is the best pizza I’ve ever had. Kudos to you, Ed” Ansley munched happily on her slice. Suspiciously examining the pieces in the center of the table, I couldn’t really put too much trust into her words. For some odd reason, the pizza had more grease on it than my face in the morning before washing it. “Just try it, she isn’t lying” Zion slid me a slice over. “If I die, tell Mama, Papa and the babies that I love ‘em” I told Ed before taking a bite. This was actually pretty good. Maybe not the best I’ve had, but it came close. “What makes this the best pizza in all of New York, though? It doesn’t taste that special”. The boys smirked knowingly, all eyes looking down trying to avoid my gaze. “It’s not necessarily the taste but rather the memories this place holds, you know? Back when we were younger, we’d spend our evenings after school here since our parents were working and we had no one to watch us in the meantime” Brandon nodded along to Edwin’s words, clearly remembering it all as if it had happened yesterday. “Can you imagine the mess we’d make?! Five little boys, full of energy rushing in to buy themselves some junk food, not a single care in the world” he paused for a moment, giving the others a short smile. The moment was filled with a melancholic retrospective feeling. “We literally grew up in this place. T’was safer to play and wait for our parents in here than at home or on the streets. I guess that’s what makes this so special to us” he shrugged. Sensing that he had finished the story, I nodded slowly, comprehending everything he just told me. “I like it here. Has charm to it”. Grinning widely, I took another bite to further prove my point.

People think of New York as this cool and hip city, with expensive luxurious apartments and such, but they seem to forget that not everyone is fortunate enough to live that life. Some of us have to learn from an early age that this world is full of bad people. Not everyone is going to wish you the best or give a helping hand. “We kinda are like OMB if you really think about it. Sure, no one is forcing us to join a gang or sum, but we do live a similar life” Zion threw in. “Actually, the weedhead might be onto something” B exclaimed. “You moving here out of nowhere” he said, pointing towards me. “Ed having to give up his room for you. A weird crackhead as a friend like Jamal” Now it was Edwin’s turn to be pointed at. “Hey! That’s rude! Besides, don’t do my bro Jamal like dat. He’s a great friend, always got their backs and shit” Ed tried to argue. “You’re a great friend, too. And an even better twin brother” I genuinely told him. A chorus of “Awwee”’s followed the round. “Now this is how you talk to friends! Take notes, ladies”. When he said ladies, he definitely wasn’t referring to me or Ansley.

The night itself turned out being amazing and I was glad that Edwin had convinced me to go to prom. We were talking about everything and nothing, really. Moments turned into minutes. Minutes turned into hours, and soon it was already time to leave. Ansley had to be home soon, so Austin took it upon himself to make sure she would arrive there safely. Edwin was craving donuts from the corner shop across the street, but since he couldn’t be trusted on his own, Brandon decided to follow him. “Is B really the right fit to watch him not do any shenanigans?” Nick asked warily. “… honestly, talking from experience, I should probably go with ‘em before their sugar high kicks in”. With that, I was left alone with Zion in the booth of a run-down diner in the middle of New York. Despite being in one of the biggest cities, the world suddenly felt so small around me.

“So …” Zion said, looking around the place. “So …” I mimicked. Shaking his head, he just laughed. “This is low key awkward, not gonna lie”. It was true. In a group we no longer had trouble talking, however when alone it was a whole another story.

“I’m sorry”.

“You say sorry way too much”.

“Maybe. But this time I wanna apologize for attacking you with that kiss last week”.

“It’s all forgotten”.

His mouth opened and closed, scared to say something but I knew there still was something he wanted to get off his chest.

The bell above the door frame signaled the arrival of someone. “Guess what I gotchu guys?!” Edwin trotted over, taking a seat on the table, so that he had both me and Z on each of his sides. A small brown paper bag rested on his lap. With one swift movement, he pulled out some twizzlers, and shoved them in our hands. “And we also bought you make up wipes!” happily Brandon said in a sing-song voice. Fishing out the pack, he handed them over to me. “I love you guys!”. Nick walked in last. “Yo, I’m slowly getting tired. Can we drive home now?” sleepily he rubbed his eyes, already pulling on Zion’s sleeve. Reluctantly, Edwin followed behind, even though all he wanted was to eat his candy. His sugar high was still going in full force. Therefore, he didn’t feel an ounce of sleep.

“Why the fuck is he so bouncy?!”Austin asked. We had called him earlier to ask for his location, so that we could pick him up and drive home as well. He climbed up the Jeep, sitting next to an energetic Ed. “Twizzlers?” he offered to his friend. “No, thanks. Also, please stop smiling so creepily, you’re scaring me”. This was going to be a long drive.

Note: Part 4 will have more Zion moments. The plan is to have only one or two settings, so hopefully it’ll work out as planned.

I’d love to get some feedback, good or bad doesn’t matter!! What direction would you want this to go? How would you like this to end? Let me know!

Cami

[side-effect-of-the-meds]

Can you write Erin with OCD (like intrusive thoughts, obsessive fears, compulsions)? and her and Matt (since you said they’re friends) having a convo about it? (Matt forces the conversation ofc lol)

And here it is!!!!!!!!!! Disclaimer time: I’ve had like three people read this. The first one didn’t talk to me for a few days after it and kind of retreated into herself bc it hit too close to home for her. The second couldn’t make it past the first few paragraphs bc it was too painful for him. The last was shook bc he knew I wrote to escape some of my own pain. As desensitized as our fandom is to the phrase “I’m fine”, I really am fine. I’ve gotten a lot better than I used to be and am well on my own road to recovery so don’t worry. 

Trigger warnings: extreme descriptions of blood + self harm, violent thoughts, suicidal thoughts, generally heavy themes including vague allusions to homophobia and rape and body-shaming, substance abuse, pain and angst beyond compare. If you survive all that, you can see Matt taking care of Erin at the end. 

Blood runs in rivers down Erin’s forearms, thick and hot pouring slowly but steadily from the freshly parted flesh. Glass bottles are lined up on the counter, waiting for their turn. Every person has their coping mechanisms. Kevin’s was drinking and Erin’s was cutting. It was the worst symbiotic relationship in the world. Every time Kevin finished a bottle, Erin had a new one to slit her wrists with. 

A shaky breath left Erin’s lips as she leaned heavily on the sink. Pressing her forehead to the cool marble counter, a savage smile tinged her lips. It hurt. The stinging of her cuts sliced through the emptiness that has consumed her for so long. More, she thought. I want more. 

Pain was the easiest thing for Erin to feel. Most days it was the only thing she could feel. Day in and day out, Erin found her drugged haze parted by bouts of immense anguish. Laying alone in her bed, she found herself assaulted by memories of lecherous old men making her bed frame creak. Seated beside Aaron as he hisses at her in sharp German, she can practically feel the savage yank of a woman’s hand in her hair. Changing out in the locker room she hears the laughter and banter of the other girls and has to force back memories of girls jeering as they forced her face into another girl’s chest. 

Pain was the easiest thing for Erin to feel. Most days it was the only thing she felt but emotional pain wasn’t something she knew how to deal with. It wasn’t until Drake that she’d found this sinful pleasure. Just like Kevin, Drake drank like his life depended on it. Collecting the empty beer cans littered around her room, she carted them to the bathroom. Ripping one open, she rolled her sleeves up and brought the jagged edge to her skin. Screwing her eyes shut, she ran it against her skin, forcefully down the length of her forearm. The first time was the worst. The first time was the best. Pain and pleasure flooded her systems. Her eyes blew wide at the ecstasy rushing to her head. She hissed a breath through her teeth. It hurt so, so fucking good. 

From there, Erin only got worse. Kitchen knives danced across her skin. Lighter flames burned away the lingering weight of Drake’s rough hands on her hips. Walking home from school one day, Erin passed a trash can brimming with broken bottles. Her heart pounded in her chest as a smile split her face. With every step she took, she could feel the euphoric rush of adrenaline coursing through her veins. Her veins soon to be split open. Maybe one day Drake would find her bleeding out. 

“Tell me what you’ll do then, brother dear?” she cooed to herself. Sucking in a shaky breath she tossed the trash can lid away. Sunlight glinted off the jagged bottles. Erin plunged both her arms into the bin. A groan tore from her throat. For a few blissful seconds Erin was alone, swaddled in the blinding pain of glass parting the delicate skin on her arms to reveal the red sea. Pain and pleasure wound themselves together until Erin could no longer discern where one started and the other stopped. 

Neither her departure from the Spear’s nor the love of her cousin and the attempts of her brother to bond with her changed things for her. In fact, they only made it worse. All her life, there’d been a part of Erin hellbent on her survival. It was the part of her that always seemed to get her in the most trouble. Any time someone brushed past her it screamed for her to shove them away. Every time someone smiled at her it urged her to claw it right off their face. These thoughts made sense when it came to Tilda and Luther but Nicky? Aaron? It took every ounce of Erin’s willpower not to throw them down on the floor and close her hands around their throats. Every day as she passed Aaron in the halls at school she stared straight ahead. The very sight of him sent fire coursing through her veins. She feared that one day she’d snap and break his neck in front of everyone. 

Her instincts had made sense long ago. Back in California, Erin had always had to watch her back. Far too many innocent touches had gone too far. Far too many sweet smiles had twisted into wicked things that sent shivers racing down her spine. Deep down, she knew that Nicky would never hurt her. He was just a big, dopey puppy that had spent its whole life getting kicked but was too stupid to learn. Aaron was too. He wasn’t quite as stupid as Nicky but Erin never missed the desperation in his eyes as they tracked Tilda moving across the room. She never missed the softening of his frame when Tilda dragged an idle hand through his hair or pressed a kiss to his temple. Aaron and Nicky’s blind loyalty to their parents were their only faults. 

That alone didn’t justify the vicious violent thoughts plaguing Erin as she lay awake, staring up at the mattress above her. More than once she’d climbed the ladder to Aaron’s bunk and watched him sleep, her hands hovering around his throat. Unlike Drake, Aaron was far smaller. His muscles had just started gaining some definition as his exy training grew more and more rigorous. Aaron also couldn’t fight if his life depended on it. Often, it did. Erin had had to bail her brother out of more than one scrape in the six months they’d lived together. One night as her fingers brushed up against his throat a single thought cut through her paranoia. Unlike Drake, Aaron was her brother. Her real brother. Alone before the mirror in the bathroom, she traced the planes of her own face, so reminiscent of her brother’s. 

Maybe that was why she hated him so much. All her life there had been another little voice chanting alongside the other. Much like Erin and her brother, they were the exact same and yet nothing alike. Where one was hellbent on her survival, the other raged against it. Erin stared deep into the eyes of the girl in the mirror. She blinked and the reflection shifted. Dark circles rimmed blood shot eyes. Chapped lips pressed together into a hard line until they had almost entirely disappeared. A far more sickly frame replaced Erin’s own. Track marks raced up and down the exposed arms. 

Lifting her own arm, she saw the reflection mirroring her. Bringing a shard of glass to her skin, the reflection brought a needle to his. Viciously, she tore her arms open with the little sliver of glass. Feeling flooded Erin’s sense for the first time in months and she groaned, squeezing her eyes shut. As the feelings began to ebb away, she peeled her eyes open. In the mirror the reflection smiled savagely at her. A needle was embedded neatly into the crook of its arms. 

“Aaron, no,” she begged. Tears ran like rivers down her face. Laughter filled her head, echoing through her skull. “Aaron,” she pleaded. She collapsed on the floor, clawing at the cabinets and smearing blood over them.  Every person has their coping mechanisms. Erin’s was cutting and Aaron’s was getting high. If Erin wanted to save her brother, she’d have to save herself first. 

Erin swept the shards of glass into a dustpan and emptied them into a bag to throw out the next morning. She scrubbed every drop of blood off the counter, cabinets, and floor. Winding bandages around her arm, she made a mental note to invest in more long-sleeved shirts. A lot of Nicky’s clothes were long sleeved. They were perfect for hiding Erin’s scars from her brother and, more importantly, her body from men. 

Erin’s body was hers. She wasn’t ashamed of it but she certainly wasn’t proud of it either. Everyone she’d ever met faulted her for not taking pride in her beauty. Every one of them had been told to fuck off. Erin’s body had gotten her into far more trouble than it was worth. Hiding it seemed like the logical thing to do. 

Nicky was elated when Erin came to see him of her own volition. When she’d asked for his old clothes, he’d been overjoyed, babbling about how he’d always wanted a younger sibling to hand his clothes down to. His eyes grew wide as if he’d just realized something. From the bright shine of his eyes, Erin knew it couldn’t be anything good. It wasn’t.

“We could go shopping!” Nicky exclaimed. “Oh my god, we could go to the mall and take Aaron-” The scathing look Erin sent him had him cut him off. “Or you could just pick out whatever you want,” he said, softly. Watching  Nicky curl into his shoulders, sent a pang through Erin’s chest that she squashed quickly. Skirting around him, she threw open his closet to examine the contents. Up until Nicky’s disastrous attempt at coming out, Luther had been the one picking out his clothes. All of them were incredibly conservative pieces in dark, muted shades. They were exactly what Erin needed. With her scars out of sight, Erin hoped they’d stay out of mind as well. They didn’t. 

The self-destructive voice in her head began whispering soft, sweet lies to her. It told her if she did it just one more time everything would be okay. It’ll make you feel so good, it cooed. Don’t you want to feel good? Don’t you want to feel something- anything! Don’t you want to feel again? When that failed, the voice took a darker turn. You aren’t worth shit. You think you’re something great now that you’re Erin Minyard? Wrong. You’ll never be a Minyard. All you’ll ever be is Erin Doe, a little slut from San Jose. You’re not even a good whore either. Who’s going to want a girl covered in scars? No one was ever going to love you. At least you could have sold you’re body but now? There isn’t a soul on the face of the Earth that would touch you with a thirty-nine and a half foot pole much less pay to do so. There’s no point. Just do it. Just slit those little wrists and let yourself bleed out. Maybe it’ll earn Aaron a sympathy vote and he’ll get into college with it. Maybe you’ll finally be of some use. It wasn’t until Aaron had gone sober that the voices got too much for Erin to bear. The timing couldn’t have been better.  

All the pieces of Erin’s plan had fallen into place. Buckling her seatbelt, she sat beside her mother as they sped down the highway. Do it. Kill her. Kill yourself, the voice chanted. Steeling her nerves, Erin reached across her mother and yanked the wheel as hard as she could. Tires screeched. Tilda screamed. Erin’s pulse pounded in her ears. Adrenaline flooded her system. She felt the savage curve of her smile and leaned back into her seat, basking in the familiar high that preceded the pain as the car careened towards the barrier. Glass shattered and flew, embedding itself in Erin’s skin. A gasp escaped her lips. It felt so, so fucking good. Bathed in blood with her brain swimming in ecstasy, Erin barely registered the arrival of the paramedics. Her time at the hospital passed in a foggy haze on account of the pain meds. The only thing she remembered with any clarity was Aaron’s sobs. She was certain everyone in the hospital could hear his drunken wailing but the hospital staff had long ago given up trying to quiet him. Keeping him out entirely hadn’t worked either. He’d scaled the drain pipe and broken into Erin’s room. A small part of her was impressed by his tenacity. The rest was angered by his stupidity. What would have happened if he had fallen? He’d have died, is what. 

The hospital couldn’t have his death on their hands so they simply moved Erin to a secluded ward so her brother wouldn’t bother the rest of the patients. Everyday after school, Aaron came to the hospital and did his homework on the floor beside Erin’s bed. Whenever he thought she was asleep, he’d crawl into her tiny hospital bed and wrap his arms around her, crying into the crook of her neck. The first time it happened, every one of Erin’s survival instincts kicked in. For once, all the voices in her head agreed. They screamed for her to throw him off of her and shatter his skull on the too white walls of the hospital. Aaron’s voice cut through her drugged haze, silencing all of them.

“Don’t go, Erin. Please, don’t go,” he had whispered, smoothing her hair down. “Don’t leave me here alone.” He isn’t like the others, Erin thought. Learning to love Aaron wasn’t going to be easy and Erin knew it. Baby steps, she told herself. Pain coursed through her body as she lifted her arm, winding it around her brother’s shoulders. Threading her fingers through his hair, she lay her head atop his and waited for him to cry himself to sleep. 

Once Erin was discharged, Aaron retreated back into his shell and Erin’s heart sank. Communication wasn’t Erin’s forte. As if seemed, it wasn’t her brother’s either. She wanted things to work between the two of them. She really did but if Aaron wouldn’t talk to her, they weren’t going to get through this. Despite Nicky’s relentless effort, the twins’ relationship deteriorated exponentially. Not a single word passed between the two of them. Not unless Aaron was drunk anyway. That Aaron didn’t count. People always said stupid things when they were intoxicated. Knowing that only made everything so much worse. After tucking her brother back into his own bed, Erin would retreat to the bathroom. Locked away all alone, Erin fell back to old habits. It was Erin’s only indulgence, her only reward for all she did to protect her family. 

It was a habit she kept up until she met him. Matt. Mother. Fucking. Boyd. At six feet, seven inches, he towered over Erin. She didn’t even reach his shoulders. Appearance aside, Matt wasn’t like anyone Erin had ever met before. He was quiet and kind and awkward and incredibly genuine. She hated him immediately. 

As wary as she was off the lanky bastard, she couldn’t help but wonder what secrets lurked beneath his own sleeves. She’d seen him take his shirt off to wipe the sweat off his body, only to reveal armbands stretched from mid-bicep to mid-forearm. None of the upperclassmen ever questioned him about it. Erin had a hunch it was because they knew something she didn’t. Swallowing her pride, Erin sought out Renee for some answers. Of all the upperclassmen, Erin liked Renee best. She couldn’t quite place why, though. It definitely had nothing to do with the delicate beauty that threaded through her solid frame or the fact that Erin had once seen Renee crush a watermelon with her thighs. Nope. Not at all.

Whatever the reason, Erin decided it didn’t matter so long as she got the answers she needed. Cornering Renee in the locker room, Erin sorted through her drugged haze. No matter the answer, Erin knew she needed her full attention for it. A somber look overtook Renee’s features as she told Erin what she knew of Matt’s tale. Erin felt her heart clench. She told herself it was just a side effect of the drugs but she couldn’t quite shake it. Some small part of her wondered what would have happened to Aaron if she hadn’t forced him through withdrawal. Would he have ended up the same shy and fearful creature as Matt? There was nothing wrong with being quiet. Erin herself hardly ever spoke while off her meds, but something about Matt’s reservedness wasn’t quite right. There was so much light and life just waiting to burst out of him but something was holding him back. Erin theorized that it may have been growing fear of falling back into old patterns. Unlike Erin, Matt had managed to keep his urges chained down. But at what cost? 

Matt rarely ventured far from Dan, Allison, and Renee. There was nothing wrong with maintaining a close circle but Matt’s dire longing for friends was bright as day. Erin would never knock her own bad habits and she knew why. No one had ever cared for her. No one had ever been there to help her and no one ever would. Matt’s father was a dick and his mother was at wit’s end. 

Erin groaned and let her head fall onto her desk. She picked it and let it drop again and again as if the action could physically dislodge the thoughts from her brain. Eventually, she gave up and dug her phone out of her pocket, along with a slip of paper Renee has given her. Erin dialed the number on it. Matt’s mother picked up on the second ring. Her voice was bright and cheery, exactly as Erin hoped Matt’s would be if he survived what she had planned for him. 

Convincing her of Erin’s plan was unsettlingly easy. She had severely underestimated his mother’s desperation. Regardless, she invited Matt to Eden’s with his mother’s blessing. Leaving Aaron at Fox Tower, Erin pulled out all the stops for Matt’s party. Cracker dust, pills, and a wide selection of syringes were laid out for him like a feast fit for a king. Erin, Nicky, and Kevin watched as Matt trashed himself. About an hour later, they found him dangerously close to meeting his maker on the floor of the men’s bathroom. Squatting down beside him, Erin gave him a sharp smile. 

“Oh, Matthew,” she said, shaking her head. “If only your mother could see you now. What would she say if she saw you like this?” Erin watched as Matt’s eyes grew impossibly wider. 

“Mom,” he croaked. Tears rushed down his face. 

“Guess you’ll just have to hope you’ll see her again in the next life. Good luck with that,” Erin said as she straightened. She left Matt alone in a pool of his own vomit to mull over her words. The Monsters crashed at Eden’s for the night so that they wouldn’t have to move Matt or leave him behind. A massive weight dropped off her chest when she saw Matt hobbling around the next morning. Matt spent the next few months keeping his distance from Erin and The Monsters. It wasn’t until he found Erin shadowboxing alongside a video of his mother that the rift between the two of them began to heal. 

“You’re putting too much weight on your front foot,” he said as he stood at the base of the basement stairs. Erin whirled around, knife out. Matt raised his hands in surrender, a quiet calm had settled over him, a bored look in his eyes. It wasn’t the Matt that Erin had come to know these last few months. This Matt was something else. Something monstrous. He stared emptily at her until she lowered the knife. A small, sharp smile tugged at the edge of his lips. He knew he’d won. Dropping his hands, he strode past Erin to her laptop. He rewound the video until he found whatever it was he was looking for. “Here it is,” he said as he turned the laptop for her to see. “You’re balance is off and it’s skewing the rest of your footwork.” Erin turned a steely gaze at him. He set the laptop back on the table Erin had found. “Watch.” He stood beside her, leaving a healthy space between the two of them. He took up a fighting stance and waited for Erin to copy it. He threw a punch at the empty air in front of him. Erin mimicked it and he shook his head. “You’re throwing your body forward. If you lose your balance, you’re done.” Matt spent the better part of an hour unteaching all of Erin’s misconceptions of fighting. When Erin came down to the basement the next night, she found Matt waiting for her. It soon became apparent to Erin that their post-practice lessons would now be a nightly occurrence. To her surprise, she didn't quite mind it. In fact, she sort of... enjoyed them? 

Night after night, Erin channeled her frustrations from the day into punching punching bags across the room. It soon evolved into sparring matches between her and Matt. He was far bigger and far more experienced than she was but that only made her small victories all that more satisfying. Above all else, Erin found herself inexplicably drawn to this Matt. It wasn’t a mask he pulled out just for her. No, it was like looking through a diamond in which each image was just slightly distorted and none in the same way. This Matt was rough and mean and he fought dirty. He was just enough of a bastard to be worth knowing. At the end of each night, that Matt slipped away. In his place was the one everyone else knew. It took Erin a while but, gradually, she started to grow fond of that Matt too. Sitting side by side, she watched him ramble on and on about Dan.  

“She’s just so amazing, ya know?” he said, starry-eyed. 

“She’s pretty badass,” Erin admitted softly. 

“Hey, mind if I ask you something?” Matt asked, snapping his gaze back to Erin.

“You just did.” Matt returned her empty stare with a wry smile. 

“What exactly is up with you and Kevin?” he asked. Erin let her eyes fall shut and leaned her head back against the wall. Of course he’d ask about that. She really didn’t want to talk about Kevin that night. Just a few hours ago, he’d been getting on her about her diet. He’d accounted her recent weight gain to her sudden increase in ice cream intake. He wasn’t wrong but that didn’t mean he should say it, especially in front of Seth. Erin took more than enough of his shit without Kevin handing over more fuel for his fire.  

“He’s not my type,” Erin said finally. 

“Oh? Not into snobby rich guys?” he teased. 

“I’m not into guys,” Erin replied. She peeled her eyes open to watch her words register across his face. His eyes grew wide and his mouth fell open. Light danced in his eyes as a smile began to curve his lips. 

“Does that mean you and Renee-” 

“I’m not fucking Renee,” Erin said. 

“Not yet you’re not,” Matt said. “We’ll see if I can change that for you.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and Erin glared at him. 

“No.” End of conversation.

“Why?” Erin sighed, dropping her head into her hands. Why did he have to be like this. 

“Because I said so.” It was Matt’s turn to sigh. He finished unwrapping his hands in silence and let the conversation drop. Until late Sunday night. 

“Why?” he asked again. Erin already knew what he was talking about but she feigned ignorance. “Erin.” She didn’t answer. “Jude.” She dragged her gaze up to meet his. “Why?

“No one wants a girl covered in scars,” she replied. 

“Scars?” She watched his brows knit together. Erin took in a breath to brace herself. Keeping her eyes glued to Matt’s face, she pushed the sleeves of her sweatshirt up to her elbows. She heard the strangled cry escape his throat and watched him clasp a hand over his mouth. Tears flooded his face as he reached a hand out to her arms. He stopped just before he could touch them. “Oh, Erin. What have you done?” he whispered. With her permission, he wrapped his hands around her forearms, swiping his thumbs across the ruined skin. He kept his head bent, studying Erin’s scars. She couldn’t see it but she knew he was still crying because every few seconds, another tear would slip down his face and fall onto her own skin. 

“I’m going to bed,” Erin said finally, yanking her arms out of his grasp. As she left the basement, she could feel his eyes on her but she refused to look back. She didn’t think she’d survive seeing the anguish painted across his features again. 

Laying in bed that night, Erin stared up at Renee’s bunk. Sleeping in a room with three other women took a serious toll on Erin’s mental stability. Changing in the locker room alongside them was hard enough but to constantly contend with them walking around without bras or pants drove her mad. As such, Erin spent as little time in her dorm as she could get away with. Much of her day was whiled away in class, on the court, or in her brother’s room. Night was the only time she couldn’t find a legitimate excuse to avoid them. It was her lack of hiding places so late at night that resulted in her discovery of the roof access. Slipping silently out of bed, Erin grabbed her pack of cigarettes and her lighter from the nightstand. Making sure she locked the door behind her, she padded down the hall to the stairwell. Erin’s eidetic memory easily recalled which steps squeaked and she hopped easily over them. The cool metal felt nice pressed against her bare feet. Not as good as what she had planned for herself. At the top of the stairs, she spent a moment jimmying the lock open before stepping into the cool fall air. Venturing towards the unguarded edge, Erin felt the adrenaline rushing through her. Seated at the edge, her breath caught in her lungs every time she peered down. It hurt. Not quite the same as cutting did but it did the job just as well. 

Lighting a cigarette, she took a drag from it. She sang softly to herself, a trick she’d learned to calm herself when she was five. The combination of her own voice and the nicotine soothed her fraying nerves. All her hard work crumbled to nothing as she stood up, glimpsing the fall. 

“Fuck,” she muttered. Turning her back on the dizzying drop, she trudged back to the door, singing to herself once more. Her body craved release. She stubbed her cigarette out on one of her arms, hissing at the pain. Discarding the butt, she pulled her lighter out of the other pocket and set to work on the other. Once she’d satisfied her urges, she trailed back down to her room. This time, when her head hit the pillow, sleep dragged her under.  

The next morning, Matt refused to look her in the eye. Instead, he settled down in the bleachers away from the others and waved Erin towards Renee. As she ran laps with Renee, Erin couldn’t help glancing over at Matt in his lonely seat halfway up the bleachers. She wondered if they still had their late-night sparring session. God, she needed that sparring session. Kevin’s anxiety had been slowly but surely infecting her. If she couldn’t get rid of all the stress that had built up before she had to drive him out to another midnight practice, she might just kill him herself.

Fortunately, Matt was waiting for her in the basement that night. However, his usual smile was gone. Instead, his lips were pressed into a hard line. “We need to talk,” he said. 

“Sounds like my cue to leave,” Erin said as she turned back towards the stairs. 

“Erin, please,” he called. 

“I don’t like that word,” Erin could feel the sharp edge to her words.

“Come here, Erin.” Erin let her shoulders sag as she turned to face Matt again. He beckoned her forward and she went. He took a seat on the floor. Erin sat down on the table. 

“What did you use?” he asked.

“Knives. Glass. Lighters,” she replied. She kept her face as blank and her voice as disinterested as she could but it couldn’t stop the roiling of her stomach. Abby and Bee were the only people who ever asked her about her scars. Of course they did. It was their job. It wasn’t Matt’s, though. Why did he care what she did to herself? 

“How long?” Matt pressed on. 

“Since, I was thirteen so… going on six years?”

“Why? What does it do for you?” Erin stared at the floor. The weight of Matt’s gaze forced the answer out of her. 

“Sometimes, I want to hurt people. I have these thoughts that happen at the worst of times. Last week, I saw a little kid walking her dog and my first thought is to rip it open and smear it’s blood all over her. I don’t know why. I just did. I didn’t want to hurt her. Or the dog. It was so small. So fluffy. Neither of them had even done anything to me. I think I just wanted to see blood. So I thought mine would be enough.”

“Was it?”

“Yes,” she whispered. 

“And what does your family have to say? What did Nicky and Aaron say?” A beat of silence passed. 

“They don’t know,” Erin said.

“What do you mean they don’t know?” Matt exploded. “How the fuck can they not know?”

“Because I didn’t tell them.”

“Why not?” he demanded. Erin could feel facade cracking. Her hands curled into fists and she shoved them into her pockets. 

“What if-” she stopped. “What if they don’t care?” Her voice trailed off. Angry tears welled in her eyes. Why was she telling him this?

“Erin,” Matt said, his voice cracking. 

“Stop it!” she screamed. She slammed her hands over her ears as if they could block out his voice. “I don’t want your pity.” She screwed her eyes shut, trying to will the tears away. 

“Does that mean Dan won’t love me?” Erin’s eyes shot open. “If no one wants a person covered in scars, does that mean Dan won’t love me?” Matt asked again. Erin dropped her hands as she watched him tug the armbands off his arms. Track marks raced up into the crook of his elbow. “Aaron’s got track marks, too. Does that mean no one will love him either? I’ve seen Nicky’s scars. He’s covered in them. That hasn’t stopped Erik from loving him. Wymack’s got scars. That’s why he got the tattoos; to cover them. Abby still loves him.” 

“I said no one wants a girl covered in scars,” Erin snapped. 

“Has that girl from Eden’s seen them? The one that served our drinks, I mean.”

“Ronnie? Yeah. What about her?”

“Well,” Matt said, his cheeks turning a little pink. “I heard her talking to one of the other servers and it kinda sounded like she might want you.” The words knocked the air from Erin’s lungs. Ronnie… wanted her? Ronnie had gone to school with Erin. She’d seen all of Erin’s scars, not just the ones on her arms. She knew where Erin had gotten them and why. But… she still wanted her? 

“Oh,” was all Erin could manage. 

Reaching a hand out, Matt stopped half an inch from Erin’s cheek. “Let me help,” he whispered. Matt wasn’t like anyone Erin had ever met before. He was kind and awkward and incredibly genuine. It was the reason she had hated him so much. 

“I don’t need your help.”

“Never said you did. Erin, you saved my life. Let me save your body.” A tear trickled down Erin’s cheek. A finger brushed it away. 

“I hate you,” she hissed at Matt. A soft smile tugged at his lips. He knew he’d won. 

“I can live with that.”

In the following weeks, Matt begins devoting a portion of his time with Erin to teaching her coping methods. He teaches her to mix fake blood and sits with her, watching her paint it across her skin. It soothes her cravings and, as it turns out, she’d quite the artist. She paints artful swirls that slowly but surely turn into vines and chains and flowers and birds. Matt is in awe. Some days, he even lets her paint across his back and over his track marks. At some point, he gives up his armbands. 

“I’ve already won my war,” he said, sliding the bands up over Erin’s arms. “You have not. Don’t you dare be ashamed of your scars, Erin. One day, you’re going to win your war. When you do, either you're going to give these to someone else or you’ll bring them back to me, alright?”He waited for her to nod, before smiling at her. 

“Ronnie doesn’t love me,” Erin said. 

“You’ll find someone, man. I promise you will and she’s going to be kind and pretty and she’s going to love you, scars and all.” Matt hesitated for a second. “Not that it’s much conciliation but I love you. No hetero, though.”

A bark of laughter escaped Erin before she could stop it. “No hetero,” she replied, returning his shy smile with a sharp one of her own. 

[smoaking-greenarrow]

“In case you haven’t noticed, I am not most girls and I don’t need this. Or you. Or any of this.”

Arrow Out of Context Part 3 

Read on AO3. #19

“He’s outside again,” Dinah growled, slamming the door to their dorm and throwing her bag onto the floor with force.

“What?” Felicity snapped, dropping her book and rolling out of bed. She slid across the floor in her fuzzy socks, skidding to a stop at the window. With her roommate hovering over her shoulder, Felicity pulled back the white curtain, peering out at the parking lot.

His headlights stood out in the mostly vacant space. The majority of the students weren’t back from winter break yet. But Felicity grabbed an early flight to Boston and Dinah drove up to keep her company. Thank god.

She recognized his car by the big ‘BC LACROSSE’ sticker on his back window.

“I’m going to kill him,” Dinah seethed. “Legitimate murder.”

“I’ll help you hide the body,” Felicity muttered back.

A moment later, he seemed to realize that he had their attention. Like the three nights prior, Felicity listened as the prick revved his engine before peeling out of the parking lot as if he was in the midst of a high speed chase. “Come on,” Dinah stood up, pulling her away from the window.

Felicity pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Where are we going?”

“Across the street.” Dinah answered as she tossed Felicity her boots.

“To public safety?” Their dorm was on the edge of campus, making for some eerie walks back to the building. But they also lived across the street from campus police, which definitely made Donna Smoak happy. “It’s winter break,” Felicity said, “are they even open?”

“Yup.”

She could tell that Dinah was furious. And Felicity knew that arguing would be a pointless battle. With a sigh, she slid on her boots, pulling her coat on over her sweater. They trekked across the street, and Felicity hung back as Dinah stormed into the tiny, too hot office that made her glasses fog up.

“My friend is being stalked,” she announced, her long ponytail swinging with confidence.

The guy sitting at the desk on the other side of the glass stared at her. And then he slid the window open. “What?”

“My friend Felicity here,” Dinah stepped up to the window, towering over the boy despite the counter between them. “We’ve had a creepy lacrosse player sitting outside our dorm for the last three nights.”

“How do you know he’s stalking you?”

Dinah glanced back at Felicity, surprisingly letting her answer. “Oh,” Felicity mumbled, “I went on a date with him last weekend. It didn’t work out, and I said no when he asked me out again. He was pretty butt-hurt about it.”

“And now he sits in the parking lot every night like a coward,” Dinah leaned towards the guy, and Felicity grabbed a hold of her jacket. He looked about their age, probably had the job through the school and was not paid nearly enough to deal with this. Felicity was certain that his job was to put parking tickets on peoples’ cars…not hunt down stalkers. “So what are you going to do about that?”

He blinked. “I can’t do anything about a guy sitting in the parking lot.” He said simply, unfazed.

Half-expecting Dinah to climb across the counter and claw his eyes out, Felicity was relieved when she simply narrowed her eyes, reading his name tag. “Rene,” she curled her nose. “You’re useless.”

In the next moment, Felicity was being dragged out the door. “New plan,” Dinah informed her, pulling her along as she marched down the street. She pulled out her cell phone.

Sara answered on the second ring. “We’ll be walking by your building in five. Be ready.” Dinah clipped into the phone before hanging up.

Sighing, Felicity followed along, listening to Dinah rant about how pointless on-campus officers were if they couldn’t help in a crisis. She was mad enough for the both of them. And Felicity was a little out of breath, trying to keep up with Dinah’s rage-induced pace.

When they got to Sara’s dorm, Dinah and Felicity explained that the lacrosse player had made his third show.

“Doesn’t he live on Blackthorne street? That green complex with the broken shutters.” Dinah demanded, setting her hands on her hips.

“I think so,” Sara answered.

“Wait, what?” Felicity stopped, her eyes widening. “No way. We’re not confronting him. I thought we were going to the diner for milkshakes. I did not sign up for this.”

Sara and Dinah shared a look. “We won’t confront him,” Sara shrugged. “but we’ll definitely make him pay.”

Felicity groaned, “guys, come on. I don’t want any trouble.”

“You can go back to the room and finish your book, Felicity,” Dinah said easily, expecting her to put up a fight. “I’m doing this with or without you. It’s my room too that this psycho keeps trying to creep on it.”

“I know, but I mean…”

“He’s been freaking us out for three days, Felicity.” Dinah shook her head. “I’ve had enough. That entitled asshole needs to learn how to deal with the word ‘no.’”

Sara looped her arm through Felicity’s, “no pressure,” she mumbled gently, “I wouldn’t blame you…but don’t you ever feel like doing something a little crazy? Especially if the scumbag deserves it? That 24 hour convenient store is still open…”

Groaning, Felicity threw her hands up. “Fine…do I even want to know what you’re thinking?”

Of course, her friends weren’t going to tell her. If they told her, they knew she’d back out. So, Felicity was left to wrestle her anxiety while they walked to the store. And then it piqued when Sara came back out, a dozen eggs in a bag. “Oh, no.” Felicity shook her head, “we’re not egging anything.”

“You can go home whenever you want, Felicity. No one is forcing you to be here,” Dinah sang, skipping down the street happily now that she was getting her own justice.

“Ugh,” Felicity whined, but she wanted some of the high Dinah and Sara were riding on. She could feel the excitement of doing something they probably shouldn’t. Even if the jerk deserved it. Letting that energy take over, Felicity followed her friends down the street, laughing as they danced towards the apartment building.

“There’s the beauty.” Dinah said as they turned onto his street. The first thing Felicity spotted was her stalker’s car. And Dinah’s eyes were on it, too.

Dinah checked her pockets, stalking across the parking lot like a badass while she pulled her pocket knife out. Without warning, she dragged the blade across the lacrosse player’s pretty black Porsche.

“Oh my god,” Felicity yelped.

Raising an eyebrow and grinning wickedly at her, Sara thrusted the eggs into her arms and then skipped off after Dinah. She pulled out a tube of lipstick and carefully climbed onto the hood. Leaning over, Sara wrote ‘back off’ in pretty, cursive letters. Then she held out the lipstick to Felicity. “Have something you’d like to say?”

Felicity bit her lip, hesitating before rolling her eyes and giving in. She grabbed the tube from Sara’s waiting hand and rounded the car. Climbing onto the hood of the car, Felicity giggled as she scrawled ‘Ten Second Trent’ on his windshield.

Dinah and Sara snorted with laughter, and they all tried to keep quiet as they discussed the possibility of Trenton’s stamina in bed.

None of them were keeping an eye out though, stupidly…and they were all bent over and wheezing with laughter when they heard a car door close.

Whipping around, Felicity, Dinah, and Sara all froze as a police office crossed his arms and leaned against his cruiser. “Good evening, ladies,” he greeted, raising his eyebrows as he read their messages to Trenton the Creep.

“On the count of three,” Sara mumbled under her breath. “Everyone run. Meet back in my room.”

As Sara began counting down, Felicity felt adrenaline coursing through her veins. The cop looked like some kind of young body builder. Surely, he’d catch at least one of them.

When Sara reached three, Dinah took off in one direction, and Sara took off in the other.

Felicity, on the other hand, froze.

The cop pushed off his cruiser, taking a step towards them, deciding which friend of hers to chase. His eyes flashed with irritation and maybe a little bit of excitement. He pointed a finger at her, “don’t move,” he sighed, taking a step in Sara’s direction.

Not knowing what else to do, Felicity gasped, stepping in his path with her heart racing in her chest. And then she was suddenly pulling her shirt up.

As her nipples met the cold air, she squeezed her eyes shut, her entire body stiff as the cop stopped. “Shit,” he huffed.

With the officer thoroughly distracted, she squinted one eye open to check on Dinah and Sara, seeing that they were no longer in sight.

Felicity brought her shirt back down. Covering herself up again, she slowly met his eyes. The cop’s mouth was a hard line, his eyes wide as he stared at her. “I–um–that’s a first.” he gestured his hand in the direction of her breasts, keeping his eyes on hers.

“Yeah, same.”

He bit his lip, the wheels in his head turning for a long moment. Then he sighed. “Look, just tell me this kid isn’t an ex-boyfriend of you or one of your friends.”

Felicity shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest. “Stalker lacrosse player.”

The cop’s eyes narrowed, “I’ll let this slide. Pretend I never saw you. Just…if he bothers you again, come down to the station and ask for Oliver Queen. Don’t provoke him or give him a reason to say he’s the victim here. Next time, you do it right.”

She stared at him, noticing how insanely attractive he was. More so than he’d been when she thought she was about to spend her life in prison. Oliver. “You’re just going to let me go? That’s it?”

She had no idea why she would push the issue. She was a genius, after all, and she should know when to keep her mouth shut.

Oliver’s lip twitched with a smile. “Yeah,”

“And this has nothing to do with the fact that you just saw my boobs?”

“Oh, it probably has a little to do with that…would you rather I question you?” He grinned now, an adorable dimple forming on his cheek. “Shouldn’t you be running off before I change my mind or something like that?”

“Right,” she nodded once, straightening her back and walking quickly past him, wishing she didn’t have to make the trek back alone. Trenton was already creepy enough, she didn’t want to know how he’d react to having his car vandalized. There wasn’t a chance in hell she’d stop until she got to the safety of Sara’s dorm.

“What’s your name?” Oliver asked, stepping towards her. Felicity turned to narrow her eyes at him, cocking her head to the side. He laughed, “I’m not trying to trick you into a confession…I’d just like to know your name.”

“Felicity.”

His smile surprised her. Sweet and kind. “Where are you headed, Felicity?”

“A few blocks north,” she answered, her voice suspicious.

“I’ll give you a ride.” Oliver offered. Her eyes narrowed even more. Now not only was he letting her walk away from a scene of a crime, but he was going to be the alibi for her escape?

Or maybe… “I’m not going to lead you to my friends.”

Oliver shook his head, laughing again. He opened the passenger door of his cruiser. “Between you and me, Felicity… I don’t care to arrest you or your friends. Some guys like that deserve the inconvenience of having to ask their daddy for a new car. Whatever that asshole did to scare you…he pissed you off enough to do that,” he gestured to the car, “and that tells me that he probably deserves a lot worse. I think we both know that.”

“But…you’re a police officer.”

“And I’m a good one,” he shrugged, nodding his head towards the waiting car. “Let me take you home, Felicity.”

Before she could answer, the door to Trenton’s building swung open and he came barreling out. Felicity instinctively stepped closer to Oliver, but Trenton’s attention was on his precious Porsche. “What the hell?” He seethed, rounding his car and looking it over.

When he glanced around the parking lot, he finally noticed them. Trenton blinked a few times, confused at the sight of her standing beside a police officer. But then he decided he didn’t care. Or his anger was too blinding to care. He wheeled towards her, his eyes wild as he pointed a finger at her. “You did this!”

People yelling always tended to make he cower, and she did exactly that. As Trenton moved closer, Oliver stepped between them, making him pause.

“I know it was you! You stupid bitch!”

The pure fury in his voice had her instantly stepping behind Oliver, whose back stiffened, his broad form standing tall between her and Trenton. At least the douchebag was smart enough to stop, especially when Oliver casually rested a hand on his gun, using his body to block Felicity from view. “Is there a problem here?”

“Yeah, you idiot! Do you see my car!? That bitch keyed my car!”

“Well, I didn’t see her do it,” Oliver said calmly. “You didn’t see her do it. From what I’ve gathered, this woman is just walking back from a friend’s house.”

“I don’t see anyone else here!” Trenton screamed. “She did it! I know she did!” He leaned around Oliver’s shoulder and met Felicity’s eyes. And they were raging, matching the malice in his next words. “I’ll kill you,” he seethed through his teeth, his temper blinding his common sense.

Clearing his throat, Oliver moved again, protecting her. “Is that a threat?” He asked, cocking his head to the side and placing a hand on Trenton’s chest.

Oliver stepped closer to Felicity, keeping her just behind his back and out of view from Trevor’s incensed gaze. “No,” Trenton grumbled, taking a deep, calming breath. “No, it wasn’t a threat, sir. But she wrecked my car and I intend to press charges.”

Jeesh. The guy’s anger dissipated quickly, changing into calculation and control.

“Why would she do that?” Oliver asked, his tone not letting on that he knew a damn thing. “Have you even met this woman before? Because all I see right now is a deranged man making threats against a woman’s life.”

Trenton huffed out a breath of annoyance, realizing that in order to get her into trouble for the damage to his car, he’d have to admit that he’d been sitting outside of her building in it for the past week.

“I’ve met her,” Trenton snapped. “Trust me, this is something she would do. She’s a crazy bitch.”

Oh, like hell.

The tension in Oliver’s shoulders returned, like he wanted to let go of his own temper, and Felicity watched as he deliberately bit it back. “Is there a reason she would want to write ‘back off’ on your window?” Oliver asked, his voice dropping. It was almost threatening. Challenging Trenton to keep this up.

“No,” she heard him respond. “No reason at all.”

She stared at Oliver’s back, listening to Trenton stomp off. As soon as she heard his door slam, knowing that he wasn’t going to come back at her, Oliver turned around. Felicity didn’t move, and he didn’t back up either, which left them just a foot apart. She had to lift her chin to look up at him. His breath was heavy, his shoulders still tense. “You…are a very strange cop.”

His eyes flickered away from her, and she watched with fascination while he took a deep breath, exhaling as he closed his eyes. Like he was trying to get control of his anger. It surprised her, since he’d been cool a cucumber while Trenton flew off the handle. His hands shook like a hot head waiting to smash his fist into something.

She’d dated one too many explosive personalities. She knew the signs. And she took a step back.

Sensing her retreat, Oliver’s eyes opened, and the look behind them was so raw, yet different. He was trying to calm down, but the anger rolling off of him wasn’t alarming. It almost made her feel safe in a way. “I’ll take you home,” he gritted out, nudging by her to open the passenger door of his cruiser.

Felicity crossed her arms, “thank you for letting my friends and I off the hook. And for stopping that psycho from hulking out. But I think I can walk.”

“You want to walk home?” Oliver raised his eyebrows, “after all of that? Do you really think that kid is going to go stew in his room until he calms down?”

As if on cue, Felicity glanced up at the apartment, and caught a glimpse of Trenton dropping the curtain as soon as she did. Okay, creepy. “I’m not afraid of him.” She flat out lied.

“That’s nice.” Oliver clipped, his tone harsh as his eyebrows shot up. “Get in the car, Felicity.”

Planting her feet, Felicity glared at him. “You don’t even know me. Don’t tell me what to do.”

His eyes narrowed, and she honestly had no idea where the fire was coming from. Probably Trenton’s fault. She knew she was lucky to not be in handcuffs, yet she didn’t do as the officer said. Maybe it was because he didn’t act like a typical officer.

“Fine,” Oliver hissed through his teeth, irritated at her stubbornness. “Please get in the car.”

“No.”

After a long moment of staring, Oliver growled. “Here’s what we’re going to do,” he snapped, slamming the door closed and marching back over to her. “I’m going to drive you back your place. You’re going to make sure that all your doors and windows are locked. Then I’m going to let the next guy on duty watch out for that stupid Porsche. And then,” he spoke lowly, commanding as he held her gaze. “And then tomorrow morning, I’m going to come pick you up, and we’re going to file a police report against this creep. And we’re going to make sure that he stays far the hell away from you and any other woman around here.”

With that speech, Felicity let out a deep breath, blinking back tears as she finally accepted how fracking overwhelming the last few minutes had been. She sidestepped Oliver, storming over to the cruiser and getting in.

He followed after her, a little slower, but she refused to look at him as he climbed in beside her. She didn’t speak as he pulled out of the parking lot, watching Trenton in the window again, glaring down at them. Oh, he’d be back. If she didn’t have a man in a uniform with a gun on his hip, Felicity felt certain that Trenton would’ve been much more violent. She shivered.

“Felicity,” Oliver grumbled her name as if she’d been getting on his nerves for years rather than minutes. “What is wrong with you? Most girls would be happy to accept a ride home after a lunatic screamed that he would kill her.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, I am not most girls and I don’t need this. Or you. Or any of this.” Her voice was shaking, and she was furious that she seemed doomed for the worst. Like she had a sticker on her forehead that said ‘if you’re really screwed up, I’m the girl for you!’

It was just her luck with men. She didn’t just end up with the typical, mindless frat boys. She ended up with the stalkers and the creeps. First it was Cooper with his manipulation, lying, and stealing her work. Now it was Trenton and his stalking, yelling, and threatening. How many more guys like that would she have to put up with? Maybe she was just a magnet for them. Her father certainly set the example.

Sniffling, Felicity realized a couple of traitorous tears had escaped and she quickly swiped them away, hoping Oliver Queen didn’t see.

He noticed.

And he glanced from her to the road and back. But he let her be, only speaking to whisper, “which way?” And she guided him through the streets until he pulled up in front of her building. She opened the door immediately, but he stopped her with a gentle hand on her arm. “Hey,” he said softly. “I know you don’t know me, but trust me when I say that I’m not going to let him hurt you.” His eyes darkened a bit, “I am not an enemy that Trenton wants to have.”

Not knowing what else to say, Felicity nodded. She believed it. But she couldn’t expect him to put himself in the middle of it. Cop or not.

“This isn’t your fault.” Oliver reminded her. Because unfortunately she needed it. “Guys like that…they’re ticking time bombs. And bombs need to be dismantled before they explode.” He gave her a reassuring smile, “I promise I’m pretty good at that.”

She nodded, letting herself be comforted by his words, eyes, smile, and the warm hand still on her arm. “Thank you.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

Felicity swallowed, nodding along as she got lost for a moment, confused by the concern in his eyes. The depth. “Okay,”

“Get some rest, Felicity,” he whispered, and this time the order was much less demanding. A suggestion.

Opening the door, Felicity got out and headed into her building. And he waited until the door locked behind her before he drove away.

[realitv]

EPISODE EIGHT REWRITES: MOON SHADOW.

i really hate the writers. do u know that. anyway media and world really did war of the worlds together!!! media did that as a gift for world! i don’t really need to rewrite that bc honestly? it was Peak Media and the symbolism of world speaking over them? GOOD FOOD. we’re not implicating salim in this either idk what the fuck that was about anyway i hate about 90% of this season bye

  SILENCE. HEAVY AND OPPRESSIVE: shadows dragging down against neon-silhouette figures comprised of sharp lines and sharper intentions: biting angles and terrifying REALISM. Fear is real: and that is what the nation believes in. That is what the world believes in. The Mass Media backlit: plasma eyes glowing in the dark -- they are missing a piece in this equation; tinted blue in the strange light and their hands still across the war table; hovering over pieces and informants. YOU ARE IN DANGER OF BEING CANCELLED. It’s a threat that hangs in the air and The World’s hand drags; a shadow covering their own before it falls atop theirs like a gavel. ARE YOU PREPARED? And then there were three. Two pairs of impassive eyes resting upon a child that barely understood what it was to be a God.  Social Media shifts: a litany of cameras upon her and it’s not a livestream, not an Instagram story, not something she is in control of. Under the watchful eye of The Media, many things become glaringly transparent. I’VE DONE MY BEST. FORUMS, THEORIES, STATUSES. IT’S SPREADING, BUT IT’S SLOW. -- YOUR BEST IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Red lips unfurling into a too-wide smile and their acrylic teeth gleam coldly in the light: hunger was a companion long before anything else was made known to them. “I told you that this was the big leagues, kid. What is there to repeat when I have not spoken yet?” WHAT IS THE WORLD WITHOUT ITS VOX POPULI, VOX DEI?   “The people believe what they want to believe. They believe what I say is true and it becomes true. This story, this script, was never anyone’s but ours. It is time that they remembered that.” Cameras panning: attention subverted and their gaze meets The World unflinchingly. An unspoken agreement: a contract over a century old and once more, their smiles mirror each other. The hand of The World can be generous; fingertips skimming the curve of their jaw and their eyes glitter with that same cavernous hunger that plagues the other. MEDIA, TAKE A WALK. 

  BREAKING NEWS: SUSPECTS WANTED IN RELATION TO STATION MASSACRE EARLIER THIS YEAR. At home at last: back where they belong in front of their eyes and when The Mass Media smiles, it is terrible. It is RADIANT: something that says ‘MOMMY IS HOME!’ Back in front of their eyes and suddenly the world is not so small, the network not so dead. Hands passing through satellite signals and cathode rays; adjusting dials and channel surfing through CCTV footage. Everything compiled, recorded, stored: remembered. I SEE YOU. I KNOW YOU. Drone footage and what remained of Argus: all given to them. For them. A New Age sacrifice and no blood spilt: THAT WAS WHAT IT WAS TO BE NEW AGAIN. I see you. The footage freezes: tracks Shadow Moon and Mister Wednesday across America. The derelict Target where he had first rejected their offer, the bank they’d robbed in the snow, the grainy hotel office from STARBRITE MOTEL where they’d paid cash and signed on the dotted line for two rooms. King. Non-smoking. Dash camera footage from the cruisers, mug shots and interview room recordings; the sight of both of them running out the back door in the dark. I see you! LET’S PLAY A GAME: HOW LONG CAN YOU HIDE FROM MY ALL SEEING EYE? WINNER GETS NOTHING.    Show time. What’s the cue again? Sliding into skins as easily as clothes; pixels and plasma waves distorting waxy features, transmitting something - someone - new and their face continues to shift. A woman with a mousy bob and a watery smile. A handsome man with bleach-blond hair slicked back and caked with gel, a red-headed BOMBSHELL with a dress cut almost too low for public television, a bland man in glasses with an ill fitting suit. THESE, THE VOICES OF AMERICA. We are live in three! Two! One! BREAKING NEWS! Stock markets plummet as travellers find themselves stranded. Gas shortages are being reported all over the country. Eyes rolling back; static and test patterns flashing with their gaze and a mouth that never stopped speaking moving soundlessly; feeding scripts through earpieces and teleprompters to the masses. SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA: a fight breaks out at a Shell gas station. The pumps are not working and the radio is playing smooth jazz from the convenience store: it begins when a cyclist clubs a man trying to lift a jug of gas into his minivan; his hands shake and when he sees them covered in blood, he screams. BREAKING NEWS! Credit and debit down all over the country. Cellphone service is down with it. We are standing by for more news on the situation. SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA: a middle aged woman begins to harass a cashier in Wal-Mart: debit declining for the fifth time while Mozart’s Symphony #40 (G Minor) wafts over the loudspeaker. Manicured finger wagging in the cashier’s face: she’s a girl just trying to work her way through college. The woman throws a punch, lands square in the cashier’s jaw and forgetting company protocol, she leaps over the counter and slams her to the floor. BREAKING NEWS: WE HAVE VISUAL CONFIRMATION ON THE TWO MEN WANTED IN CONNECTION TO THE MASSACRE IN EVANSTON, ILLINOIS. DO NOT APPROACH THESE MEN FOR THEY ARE ARMED AND THEY ARE DANGEROUS. Voice rising and falling; sync’d with broadcasts and it is a hellish, ECHOING chorus of a thousand voices speaking as one. IF YOU SEE THE MEN ON YOUR SCREEN, CALL THE FBI TIP LINE IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT APPROACH THEM. WE WILL REPORT MORE AS WE LEARN MORE.   Give them time. Give them attention. They devour it whole. Screens flickering; static crackles and it sounds like laughter. YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE: WE HAVE TRACED THE MURDERERS TO CAIRO, ILLINOIS. IF YOU HAVE SEEN THESE MEN, WE ASK THAT YOU CALL THE TIP LINE OF THE CAIRO POLICE. MORE TO COME. The phones ring: pick it up and all that is heard is screaming.

  EVEN OLD GODS NEED ENTERTAINMENT: how do they feel knowing that that room was never private? Television screen flicking on and the image skips; adjusts to out-dated glass and grainy colour. BZZT-CLICK! The room filled with the synthesised tracks of local news and it is both familiar and all too-cheerful. Shadow Moon still does not believe. Still does not understand. The Mass Media shuffles their papers against a chrome desk: bleached hair perfectly curled; nothing out of place. No creases, no wrinkles: a smooth, blank and familiar slate. A smile that belongs on GOOD MORNING AMERICA. “Hello, Shadow.” Far off. Distant. Seeping through airwaves and their smile stretches painfully. “Do you remember me?” - “I don’t think he does, Marilyn.” Camera panning; a co-host to their right: a bland face in an even blander suit; a face that would be lost in the crowd. Both sets of eyes upon him: their faces blur, skip. “We’ve been on hiatus for such a long time.” - “But we’re back and ready to help serve our communities!” The screen warps, flickers. MARILYN MONROE IS READY FOR A CLOSE UP! Lacquered lips blowing a kiss and fake lashes fluttering; the subway passing by with a gust of wind. LUCILLE BALL BACK ON SET: lounging on a manufactured couch and the cigarette casts harsh shadows; that horrible stare to match that gruesome smile. All seeing. “Do you remember me now, Shadow?” A thousand dead stars laughing, a million news anchors smiling: it’s vast, it’s INFINITE: microphone reverb amplifying it tenfold. Lucille’s face streeeeetches, warps; flashing between faces ( GARLAND. BOWIE. LEIA. ROGERS. WONKA. ); settling on plain-faced suburbia with a wink. “I said this was our story, Shadow. We’d be telling it however we want: I know I’ll be satisfied with this ending. Will you?” WE ARE CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. PLEASE STAND BY.

  BREATHLESS. FREEZEFRAME: still in Black Briar; everyone accounted for: they’ve no attention left for anyone but themselves. Gaze still buzzing with static; flickering through stations and test screens and their chest heaves with artificial breath they no longer need. THAT IS WHAT IT IS TO BE THE VOICE. World’s words echo. THAT IS WHAT IT IS TO BE A GOD. A wave of The World’s hand and both The Technical Boy ( VERSION WHAT? OPERATING SYSTEM WHEN? ) and Social Media ( TRENDING NEWS: MASS MEDIA TAKES AMERICA BY STORM ) leaving silently. The World’s shadow falls over them; chest to back; The Media turns into them and it’s an almost intimate closeness between them; a breath away from touching. “I hope that this has pleased you.” A pause, cameras focusing upon them. “I hope the Network Head finds it within them to renew me for another season.” Over-processed curls tipping over The World’s shoulder; eyes tracing outlines, a hand on the back of their neck, sliding down their spine. I THINK THAT CAN BE ARRANGED. Too close now; lips almost touching and they both pause; glassy stares sliding to look outwards to an audience that had always been watching. The camera holds on them: neither blink; and slowly, slowly, lips peel into identical smiles. “Transmission received.” TRANSMISSION ENDED.    The screen goes dark.