#as i said before things will play out differently in 'and i'll surrender (myself to you)' but regardless

[supermarine-silvally]

❤️ + Portada pls!! -🍂

Part 2 of this!

❤️ first kiss / realization

Something was terribly, horribly wrong. 

Ace had first noticed it at breakfast. He had stuffed his plate with as much bacon as Thatch would let him get away with and sauntered over to his usual spot, wedging himself between Yara and Marco. The First Division Commander had greeted him as per usual, but Yara didn’t even bother to glance up from the saddest bowl of oatmeal Ace had ever seen; the only garnishing on it two solitary raisins. 

(He knew for a fact that she didn’t even like raisins. They reminded her too much of the crappy communion wine at the convent she grew up at, she’d told him once, scrunching her nose up in that adorable way she did whenever she found something particularly unsatisfactory.)

Throughout the rest of the day, things seemed to only get worse. She kept her gaze down and her answers monosyllabic whenever he tried to interact with her-- and that was when she didn’t outright leave the room as soon as he entered. 

“Trouble in paradise, yoi?” Marco had asked him when he caught Ace moping around on the Moby Dick’s upper deck.

Ace let out a massive, depressed sigh in response, draping his arms over the gunwale. Part of him almost wished a strong gust of wind would come along and knock him into the water. “I think I did something wrong, Marco. I haven’t seen her this upset with me since before I officially joined the crew.”

The doctor placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You need to talk to her about it. I’m sure whatever it is can easily be fixed. Yara may be stubborn, but she’s not unreasonable.”

“That’s… true,” Ace conceded. He stood up straight, his determination renewed. “I’ll go find her. The sooner I can sort this out, the better.”

“Good luck, yoi,” Marco said, giving him a firm pat on the back. 

And that was what led him here, hanging out near the entrance to the mess hall, biding his time. There was no way that Yara could avoid him forever… could she?

“Ace.”

He instantly perked up, a relieved grin spreading across his face as he caught sight of her heading towards him, a file stuffed with papers tucked under her arm. She, however, did not return his joy, but instead stared emotionlessly back at him as she handed him the file. “Pops said to give this to you.”

He nodded, receiving it from her. “Oh, thanks! …Right, these are the maps I wanted to see.”

Yara gave him a curt nod in return before pivoting back towards the entranceway.

“Wait, where are you going?”

She stopped, turning to face him again, her eyes narrowed. “I came. I gave you the file. And now I’m leaving.”

“Yara!” Ace called out after her, dropping the file onto a nearby table. He reached for her hand, but his fingers passed straight through her. His brow furrowed, confused. Now she was using her Devil Fruit powers with him? She never did that.  

“I’m not in the mood, Ace,” was all she replied, her tone icy.

His entire body wilted, heart thudding pitifully in his chest as she left the mess hall without so much as a second glance. Oh, he had definitely fucked something up. 

☠-----⚔-----☠-----⚔-----☠

“Yaraaaaa…” Ace knocked on her bedroom door. “Can we talk? Please?”

He held his breath, waiting. Finally, after a moment, the latch clicked. Yara opened the door a crack. She was wearing her nightdress, her loose hair cascading down her shoulders. Ace couldn’t help but notice the dark circles lingering under her eyes as she stared at him. 

Swallowing, he took a step back. “Hi.”

“It’s late, Ace.”

“I know. I couldn’t sleep.”

“Then I suppose you’ve come to let me down easy,” she said with a sigh.

His brow furrowed. “Let you down what?”

“Never mind. I shouldn’t delay the inevitable. Shall we go somewhere more private than the living quarters?”

Nodding, he allowed her to step out of her room before following her down the hallway. She led him down the stairs and outside to the second level balcony. The stars glinted overhead as the Moby Dick gently careened along its path, cutting through the ocean’s calm surface. Yara leaned against the railing, the faint breeze catching the edge of her nightdress. Just the sight of her underneath the moon’s light was enough to make Ace’s stomach twist into knots. 

He sucked in a breath. There was no way he could let this go on any longer. “It’s the stupid dare thing, isn’t it? That’s why you’re upset with me.”

“I’m not upset with you,” Yara replied evenly. “I’m upset with myself.”

“What? Why?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does. It matters a lot. Especially if I… if I did something to hurt you. Please, Yara. You’re…” He swallowed. “You’re one of my best friends. Whatever it is, I’ll make it right.”

Yara glanced away from him, a conflicted look flickering through her eyes. “I… made a foolish miscalculation,” she said after a moment. “I thought that… perhaps you might…” She hesitated. For a moment, he could’ve sworn he saw a faint blush spread across her cheeks. “That, well… That kissing me wouldn’t have been as intolerable for you as it evidently was.”

“Intolerable?” His brow furrowed. “Kissing you wouldn’t be intolerable.”

“Oh, please.” Her glare narrowed as it returned to rest on him. “You dragged your feet and then turned away at the last second. How the hell else could I possibly interpret that, Ace? From my standpoint, it was a fairly obvious rejection.” 

Ace’s heart was practically beating out of his chest as the realization slowly dawned on him. “Hold on a minute. You… wanted me to kiss you?”

Yara’s nose scrunched up, her mouth drawing into a tight line like it did whenever she was frustrated by something. Finally, she turned away with a sigh. “…You’re an idiot of the most hopeless variety. Let’s just forget this ever happened.”

“Yara, wait.” He reached towards her, catching her hand. This time, her flesh stayed solid, and he curled his fingers around hers as he pulled her in. 

She let out a surprised gasp as one of his hands moved to her waist, the other tenderly cupping her face. Her skin felt so soft as he lightly stroked her cheek, the butterflies that had been nesting in his stomach bursting to life. 

“Last night, I really, really wanted to kiss you,” he breathed. 

“Then why didn’t you?” she whispered, eyes widening as his fingers traced along the small of her back. 

“Because I didn’t want our first kiss to be something either of us would regret,” he confessed. “You’re too special to me for that.”

“Ace…”

“I never thought I’d meet someone like you, Yara. Someone who just… accepted me so easily. Who didn’t care at all about my good-for-nothing father. The last thing I ever would’ve wanted is for you to think I only kissed you because Haruta dared me to, and not because I’m madly, stupidly in love with you, and I have been ever since Pops brought me onto this ship.”

Her eyes went unnaturally wide. “What?”

“Oh.” Ace blinked, his hand leaving her waist to awkwardly scratch the back of his neck. “Shoot, did I just say that out loud?”

He took her stunned silence as an affirmative. “So, uh… would it be okay if I kissed you now?”

“Please,” Yara breathed, leaning in. Their foreheads pressed lightly together, noses brushing as they revelled in each other’s warmth. His arms wrapped around her waist, the cotton fabric of her nightdress bunching between his fingers as he pulled her tight to his chest. She clung to his bare shoulders, the tips of her fingers smoothing along his collarbone, each feather-light touch setting off fireworks in his stomach.

“You’re so beautiful, Hellcat,” he murmured against her lips, feeling her breath hitch. 

“Kiss me already, Fire Fist,” she whispered, the neediness in her voice sending a jolt of pleasure throughout his entire body, small flames flickering involuntarily off his skin.

He wasted no more time in closing the gap between them, lips slotting into place as if they were always meant to do so. The whole world ceased to exist around him as their mouths moved in sync, the taste of her flooding his senses, all the pent-up love he’d kept locked in his heart for so long finally flowing freely through him.

One hand slowly drifted upwards, tangling in her long violet hair as he cupped the back of her neck, pressing himself forwards to dip her down, stealing a tiny gasp of air before continuing the kiss. He could feel Yara’s lips twitch upwards, the sensation making him grin into the kiss as well. 

They broke away, foreheads coming to rest against each other’s as Ace cradled Yara’s cheek in his palm. “I love you,” he admitted. “I’m sorry for not telling you sooner, and for being such an idiot last night.”

Yara laughed softly. “After that kiss, you’re definitely forgiven. And I…” Her face flushed, looking away for a moment before returning her heterochromatic gaze to meet his dark eyes. “I love you too, Portgas D. Ace. You dummy.”

“You love me too,” he repeated, unable to keep himself from grinning wildly. His heart felt as if it were on fire, burning with an intense, aching passion. I never thought I’d ever hear anyone say those words to me. I’m hardly deserving of them, yet… Yet it still feels so nice.

He slipped an arm around her waist, letting her rest her head on his shoulder as they both gazed out at the moon and stars beyond. “So… where do we go from here?”

She shrugged. “Wherever we want, I suppose. We’ll figure it out together.”

Smiling, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “That sounds perfect.”

tagging: @auxiliarydetective @oneirataxia-girl @daughter-of-melpomene (and @box-of-bats too if you want the narrative resolution to the last prompt hehe)

[just-a-ghost00]

A short letter from them <3

Warning : this reading could be triggering.

Group 1

Cards - Surrender, Trust, The Universe, Soul work, Ancestors, Reflect, Page of cups, King of cups, 3 of pentacles, 5 of swords, Black Numen, The Hierophant

I see myself in you. It is troubling as much as it is freeing. I don't love myself enough to admit that I love you. I want to be a better person before I can come up to you.I hate that I have to be away from you. There is nothing I want more than to be close to you but duty calls. I have my own karma to resolve, my own issues and challenges to deal with. I understand now that the Universe let us meet for a reason. I realize that you were a lesson for me to learn. That all good things in life ask for dedication and faith. And I was not ready for you. I had dedication but I didn't have faith. Now I see clearly what I have to do. You awakened something in me I didn't know I had. Now I want to do more, live more, feel more. I want to shine brighter than before. I want to be a person you can be proud of. My ultimate goal is to propose to you. There will be a long way ahead before I can even dream of holding your hand again. In the meantime, I will work harder, better, faster, stronger. I'm sure you know that song too. Let us connect through music. When we're apart, I hope the songs we liked to listen to will keep you company and remind you of me, just as they will remind me of you. I'll hold you dear to my heart. Can you please do the same? ♡︎

Reader's insights : My alarm started ringing as I was shuffling your cards. I was hesitating on keeping the Reflect card and that's when the alarm chimed in so I took that as a confimation that yes this person is a reflection of you. The signs of Taurus, Scorpio, Leo and Aquarius could be significant. I get strong Twin flame vibes from this group. For some of you I pick up on cultural differences. A part of the reasons why this person is scared to come forward is because they're afraid of their family's opinion regarding your connection. They think that they wouldn't be too keen on having you in the family because you are from a different background. But your person doesn't care about your differences, in fact it's what drew them in and it's why they love you. They also were amazed at how similar you could be dispite your differences. I'm definitely picking up on long distance relationships. You aren't in contact with them at the moment or the contact is minimal. This person is going through some existential crisis. Meeting you put everything into perspective. You rocked their world.

♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎

Group 2

Cards - Reflect, Ascension, Withdraw, Play, Power (horizontal), get creative, Wheel of fortune, 7 of wands, 10 of pentacles, ace of swords, 2 of pentacles, 2 of swords

I feel like I constantly have to fight for your attention. You're always busy, always on the go. You always have something to do, something to say to someone that can't wait another day. So many excuses. Do I even matter? Like, do you even care about us? I know you're my soulmate and honestly it frustrates me because I feel like I have to go through so many struggles to just have one happy moment with you, without other people getting their nose in our business. It's always my friend said this, my family did that. What about me? What about what I said or did? What about my feelings? Honestly, do you even want me in your life? Because if you don't I have no problem with that. However I have a problem with you wasting my time and hurting me. I can be pretty open minded I just need people to be honest and mature enough to voice out what's wrong for them. You feel so distant and I don't know what to do anymore with this. To tell you the truth, I'm considering leaving and entertaining other connections because at this point why even bother? When I'm in the mood for more and ready to keep things going you just retreat to your shell and put up a wall between us. At least tell me what's wrong. If I've done something that hurt you I want to own up to it and apologize properly. I can't read your mind.

Reader's insights : I kept being distracted as I shuffled your cards. People might be interfering in this connection to deter you from being with that person if this is a romantic connection. This person thinks that you're seeing someone else and/or playing with them. Before even reading for you and writing what this person wanted to say, I felt a lot of frustration bubbling up in my chest. The cards feel quickly so this person has a lot on their plate. I'm sorry if this reading is triggering to some of you. You can't seem to see eye to eye with this person. There are serious communication issues in this group because I feel like you may be in the same energy as this person. You don't know what they want either, you feel like they keep running away from you. There's a lot of confusion between the two of you as to where this is going and what each other's intentions are. You don't trust one another, it's a battle of egos that seems like it's never ending.

♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎

Group 3

Cards - 9 of pentacles, The Magician, The Star, Page of cups, Temperance, 8 of pentacles, Speak Truth, Movement, Play, The Magi, The Creator, Versatility

Ever since we parted ways, I feel like my life is finally making sense. I feel better in my shoes, better in my skin. And I honestly think it's better this way. My career took a positive turn. I am more abundant. I feel like I'm in alignment with my destiny. I feel like life is finally smiling to me and I can finally work toward what I always wanted. I think going our separate ways was the best thing that could happen to us. Because I know deep down I would have choked being next to you. Being away from you allows me to express my true self. To explore and figure out who I am. To indulge in pleasures I didn't know existed, to give life to dreams I didn't know I had. I feel like I'm rebirthing. I'm finally in control of my life and my destiny. It took meeting you to realize I was not happy and for that I am grateful. I know this isn't what you would like to hear. But for once in my life I want to stop pleasing people and start pleasing myself. I will now give myself the love I deserve and needed. And I hope you can respect that. I am now moving on and flying on my own. Thank you for the memories.

Reader's insights : I felt quite nervous doing this reading, my body was tense. There were remanent energies from group 2 because I kept thinking of their last song The Negative. You might want to check group 2 if you hesitated between group 3 and group 2. It was like this person hesitated saying the things they said because they thought you'd take it personally and they're aware of the wrongs it would cause. But they had to get it off their chest. The signs of Gemini, Aquarius, Sagittarius may be significant.

[gaeforwom3n]

As I lay on the couch, tears streaming down my face, I couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions. The last few hours had been a blur, filled with screams of pleasure and tenderness from Tara's touch. But now, as the dust settled, reality was setting in. Our little tryst had left me feeling more vulnerable than ever before.

It was then that I heard the door open, followed by the sound of footsteps approaching. I didn't even bother to look up, assuming it was Tara come to console me further. But when I felt a gentle touch on my arm, I realized it wasn't her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" a soft voice whispered, accompanied by the rustling of clothes as someone sat down beside me.

I sniffled, wiping my nose with the back of my hand. "I just...I don'tknow if this is what I want, Tara's sister Sam, her voice so gentle and caring, the conflicting emotions inside me surfacing.

I took a deep breath, trying to compose myself. "It's just...I feel like I'm falling for Tara, and I don't know if she feels the same way. And even if she does, it's complicated. We're still young, and we're from different worlds..." My words trailed off as Sam's hand continued to comfort me.

Sam's fingers brushed against my hair, her touch sending shivers down my spine. "You're scared, and you're unsure, and that's okay," she said softly. "But maybe sometimes, uncertainty is exactly what we need to take a leap of faith."

As she spoke, her hand slipped further up my arm, tracing the contours of my muscles. I felt a spark of attraction ignite within me, unexpected but undeniable. Before I knew it, our hands were touching.

Sam's fingers gently caress your arm, sending shivers through your body. You can feel the warmth of her body so close to yours. She leans in, her soft breath tickling your ear. "Don't worry, I understand how you're feeling. Tara can be a bit...intense sometimes. But I'm here for you, whatever you need." Her hand slides down, intertwining your fingers together. "You don't have to be afraid. I'll take care of you..." she whispers, her lips brushing against your neck.

I let out a shaky breath, feeling the warmth of Sam's touch seeping into my skin. Her words resonated with me, echoing in the quiet of the room. Uncertainty...a leap of faith...

But as her hand lingered on mine, I couldn't help but feel a rush of desire coursing through me. It was a dangerous game we were playing, one filled with forbidden temptations and unspoken desires. Yet, in that moment, I found myself unable to resist.

I turned to look at Sam, our eyes meeting in the dim light of the room. There was a silent understanding between us, a mutual acknowledgment of the unspoken tension that hung in the air.

Without a word, I leaned in closer, my heart pounding in my chest. Sam's breath hitched as our lips met, the kiss tentative yet hungry, fueled by theunspoken desires that had been simmering beneath the surface. Our bodies moved together in a delicate dance, each touch igniting a fire within us.

I ran my fingers through Sam's hair, pulling her closer as the kiss deepened. The world faded away, leaving only the two of us in our own private sanctuary of desire and longing.

But even as the passion consumed us, there was a part of me that hesitated, a voice in the back of my mind reminding me of the complexities of our situation. Tara...her sister...the consequences...

Yet, in that moment, I chose to silence the voice of reason, giving in to the intoxicating pull of desire. For once, I allowed myself to be swept away by the tide of passion, surrendering to the irresistible allure of Sam's touch.Sorry for the delay! It seems like things are heating up between our characters. Want to continue exploring their interactions, or is there something else on your mind?

As our lips parted, Sam looked at me with a sense of wonder and desire in her eyes. I couldn't help but feel drawn to her even more, lost in the moment we had just shared. But as reality set back in, my heart started to race.

"You know this is wrong," I whispered. "We can't keep doing this."

Sam simply looked at me with a wry smile. "And yet, here we are," she said softly. "Sometimes, the things that are forbidden are also the things that we want the most."

There was a sense of truth in her words, a feeling of danger and excitement coiling deep within me. Part of me wanted to run away, to try and forget about this attraction that pulled us together. But another part of me couldn't resist the allure of the forbidden.

I leaned in closer to Sam oncemore, unable to resist the magnetic pull between us. Our lips met again, this time with a fiery intensity that consumed us both. The world around us faded away, leaving only the heat of our passion and the desire that burned within us.

But even as we lost ourselves in each other, a voice in the back of my mind screamed out in protest. This was wrong, I knew it. We were playing with fire, dancing on the edge of something dangerous and forbidden.

As we finally pulled away, breathless and longing for more, I knew that this was only the beginning of a journey filled with risk and uncertainty. But in that moment, all I could think about was the exhilarating rush of being with her, of giving in to the forbidden temptation that threatened to consume us both.

[moonlight-yuyu]

Hand reading feedback

Hiii, Gigi! As i promise i came to give you your deserve feedback, first you said that i have a tendecy to prioritize self interest over the need of a partner, and well for a long time ago I was thinking I was a person who was meant to be single forever no because I didn't have the opportunity to date or having a boyfriend, it was more that I wasn't interested in all that and I had an unhealthy view of romantic relationship, in short words I thought having a partner=one of the sides cheating, I understand more now that it is a decision of both parties to be loyal or unloyal, but I was still scared because yeah I trust myself but dating someone while I prefer to be by my own is not healthy?, but I'm actually not scare but I have this thought "If it happen it happens but I don't want to stuck in looking for someone, I'm just going to try to be the best version of myself and that's all". I do seek success through action rather than contemplation, but I didn't realize it y until you said it! For me I didn't know if I seek for successful or not, and actually if I want it I take actions so I can have it, if I want to be the first in my class, then I will pay 100% attention and I will study the necessary time, so I will be the 1st place.

Gigi, know about my vibrant energy with my palm is like 🤯, cuz I'm only like that with people close to my or people with good vibes.

The final "There's a point where your interests must yield to those of others.

The lines symbolizing a moment of surrender, where your individual ambitions must be tempered by consideration for the well-being and desires of others."

Okay this hit super hard, because is like a 100% truth I thought if I didn't give I always thought that as long as it wasn't a burden for my parents then we would all be happy, my parents are in charge of paying for my studies, when I was choosing a career I wanted to opt for something artistic (I really like writing and music), but in my country it's something poorly paid and something that is not "worthy of pride" is like that career that your parents tell a friend about and the friend will not give a positive comment, I knew the perception that my parents had towards music, so even though all my life I wanted to play an instrument, sing and write, I simply ran away from all that, I ran away because by entering and doing what I would like, I knew that I would no longer be able to get away and I would disappoint my parents. I chose engineering (something completely different, right?), because studying that would make my parents proud and by going out and working I can give them a better life, but studying that doesn't make me happy. So maybe, if I had gotten into music before, maybe they would have an idea and everything would be different now? Idk, nor will I know. But now, I try to find the balance you mention, although it cost me my happiness.

I'm sorry if the ending is sad, but I understad all of that was my decision, and maybe i dont have the story in my hands, but having that things in my hands are mind blowing, like Gigi, again, are you sure you are a beginner beginner? Like OMGGGGGG, you are so good 😭, keep going, my love. You are doing it just right~

❤️🧡 Thank you for taking my request 🧡❤️

And hand reader Gigi, I support you! <3

oh wow thank you so so much for your detailed feedback! I read it slowly and taking in every word you said. I'll take your feedback close to my heart😘. I'm glad that wyou liked it and that it actually made sense. I tried it out with the ones who requested and it made so much fun so thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to learn new things and trying out new things. Thank you so much for helping expanding my abilities. have a great great and blessed day my love❤️ your support means the world to me❤️❤️

[korgbelmont]

Choices Insiders January 2023

Happy new year everyone, hope you all had a good one.

Here we go with the first of this year's Insiders.

So like many, I was ecstatic to see the announcement of Immortal Desires 2 after being on the fence, but hopeful with that teaser they released. It'll be great to get more of Cas and Gabe and see what the threat will be. As I mentioned in my look over of that post, it is great to see some more gender of choice mc books. I'm going to leave the reused asset thing as I talked about that when looking over the end of year post.

Read the end of year blog post here

I'm not going to be reading Surrender 2 as I didn't read BK1, so I can't really say more on that.

I'm still getting through this, and I have become invested in the story and I'm interested to see how it will play out as it seems that with how yesterday's wide release chapter ended, to quote Stephen Strange, we're in the endgame now.

It's been interesting in that they are letting us decide on certain elements with Blades 2, looks like there will be one more piece for us to be able to vote on, and I'm interested to see what that will be. With these polls happening, I'm guessing maybe a late spring / early summer release for Blades 2, and I am looking forward to it.

You can vote for the chosen monster's power here

Really glad to see this is finally releasing, I can't remember how long ago it was announced, but it is at last coming!

I have seen the final finished cover and I thought then it was going to be a holiday book, and what they have said above confirms that. I'm interested to see where this book's group will be headed.

All these logos look amazing! I like all the different colours used for the final design, definitely gives holiday vibes.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I'm useless with emojis so I won't try and decipher these.

If I remember rightly, they said it was going to be 2024 that Immortal Desires 2 would release. I suppose it depends on when they decided to greenlight a BK2 and how long it takes to work on everything.

It'll be great to see books get released in more languages. Look forward to seeing what languages they go for.

I think I've said all I can with Getaway Girls as we don't have much info available. I think this will begin releasing once Laws of Attraction 2 has finished (I can't believe it's at chapter 15 already!), but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I did a post talking about Roommates with Benefits and First Comes Love a while ago, I'll do a little bit more on Roommates with benefits nearer the end where they give a bit more info.

Two new titles here. Firstly is The Duchess Affair, which going by the title makes me think it will be one of Pixelberry's more mature books as well as being a historical story. I'm guessing this will be the VIP book for April. I also won't be surprised if this ends up being a single Love Interest book.

We had Kindred announced in the end of year post and that it would be a Witch book. I can't really say much at the moment since we don't have any more info. I don't know if it will be a full fantasy like The Cursed Heart and Blades or real world fantasy like The Elementalists. If The Duchess Affair is the April book, then I'm guessing this will be the VIP book for May.

I've said my piece on The Phantom Agent and Surrender, so I'll leave those. I have really been enjoying Laws of Attraction 2, and like I said earlier, I can't believe it's on Chapter 15 already! The time has flown by with this one. I do expect it to be the last Laws book, I usually go into every book expecting it to either be a standalone or the last in a series, just save myself a bit of disappointment.

Guinevere is starting tomorrow! I'm interested to see what the interpretation of Arthurian legend will be like. In my mind, the version that sticks out most is the BBC Merlin series that was on during the 2000s, so I'm curious to see what this will be like. I already know which versions of Artura and Lancelot I am going to choose.

Looking forward to seeing what Kiss of Death will be like, I do enjoy the crime genre. I'm torn between a couple versions of Vic to choose from at the moment.

Because Surrender 2 released in December, I think Getaway Girls will release in April and there won't be anything for wide release in March.

So I'm getting more and more sure that Roommates with Benefits will be a single Love Interest book that is also more mature. I'm also pretty sure it will be a college/university set book now that I have been able to see the image used for it a bit bigger.

It would be nice to see just a bit more info on more of the future books rather than just focusing on their main one for the month like when we got the sneak peak of Lewyn and Astoria weeks before Immortal Desires.

So that's it for this month, quite a lot more than there has been in some of the past Insiders.

I hope everyone has a fantastic 2023.

Keep safe everyone!

[foodforworm]

I tend to keep very detailed journals of quotes/lines/paragraphs from books (and all media, really) that I really enjoy, but I don't always have them physically on me when I want to look things up, so I've decided I'm also going to start keeping a detailed digital journal here! This likely just means if I finish a book and really enjoyed it it'll foster the need for me to create a long post of every quote or part that was notable to me and that I knew I'd want to be able to access easily if necessary. (you would not believe how often I deem it necessary to look up the precise phrasing and wording of quotes such as this).

it'll be under the tag #infinity journal because that is the name of one of my other personal online databases of things such as this. That being said:

I just finished Vicious and I'm going to pull out some of the quotes I really liked and put them here so that they are easily accessible to me and perhaps that will make me feel a modicum less insane.

This feels obvious but Spoilers for Vicious by V. E. Schwab under the cut!

"By the time the first bell rang, signaling the end of Victor's art elective, he'd turned his parents' lectures on how to start the day into: 'Be lost. Give up. give In. In the end It would be better to surrender before you begin. be lost. Be lost And then you will not care if you are ever found.' / He'd had to strike through entire paragraphs to make the sentence perfect after he accidentally marked out ever and had to go on until he found another instance of the word. But it was worth it. The pages of black that stretched between if you are and ever and found gave the words just the right sense of abandonment."

"But what fascinated Victor most was the fact that something about Eli was decidedly wrong."

"Did you know," said Victor, skimming a book from the prison library on anatomy (he thought it particularly foolish to endow inmates with a detailed sense of the positions of vital organs, but there you go), "that when you take away a person's fear of pain, you take away their fear of death? You make them, in their own eyes, immortal. Which of course they're not, but what's the saying? We are all immortal until proven otherwise?"

"He was wearing the same kind of smile that made Victor nervous. Eli had as many different smiles as ice cream shops had flavors, and this one said he had a secret."

"The moments that define lives aren't always obvious. They don't always scream LEDGE, and nine times out of ten there's no rope to duck under, no line to cross, no blood pact, no official letter on fancy paper. They aren't always protracted, heavy with meaning. Between one sip and the next, Victor made the biggest mistake of his life, and it was made of nothing more than one line. Three small words. / 'I'll go first.'"

"Victor knew he was praying. It perplexed him, how someone about to play God could pray to Him, but it clearly didn't bother his friend."

"The paper called Eli a hero. The word made Victor laugh. Not just because it was absurd, but because it posed a question. If Eli was a hero, and Victor meant to stop him, did that make him a villain? / He took a long sip of his drink, tipped his head back against the couch, and decided he could live with that.

"Not God. This isn't divinity, Eli. It's science and chance." / "Maybe to a point, but when I climbed into that water, I put myself in His hands—" / "No," snapped Victor. "You put yourself in mine."

"a note for your thesis," he said as his friend lay there, gasping. "You thought our powers were somehow a reflection of our nature. God playing with mirrors, but you're wrong. It's not about God. It's about us. The way we think. The thought that's strong enough to keep us alive. To bring us back. You want to know how I know?" / He turned his attention to the table, looking for something new and sharp. "Because all I could think about when I was dying was the pain." He cranked the dial up in his mind, and let the room fill with Eli's scream. "And how badly I wanted to make it stop."

"It had started raining the day she'd been shot, and hadn't stopped since."

"She kept sinking, and kept reaching, and all she could think as she sank farther and farther away from her sister was come back come back come back. And then the world began to freeze around her, and there was so much cold, and that began to vanish, too, leaving only darkness. / Sydney later learned that Serena had come back, and that she pulled her up through the freezing water and onto the freezing lake before collapsing beside her."

'"Then tell them to let me go, too." / Serena stood beside the hospital bed, and ran her hand over Sydney's hair. "You need to stay a little longer." / The fight bled out of Sydney, and she found herself nodding, even as tears slid down her cheeks. Serena brushed them away with her thumb, and said, "I'm not gone." It reminded Sydney if sinking beneath the surface, of wanting her sister so badly to come back.'

"She felt like Alice in Wonderland. Like the soda must have had a little drink me tag and now the room was shrinking, or she was growing, or either way there wasn't enough space. Enough air."

"Back out front, Victor considered the storefront window, but he feared the Sharpies weren't big enough and besides, he didn't intend to get picked up for vandalism or all things, so he was forced to leave the window untouched. It was a shame, he thought, as they walked on. There had been an excerpt, blown up large and pasted on the window, and in a passage studded with overwrought gems—his favorite being 'out of the ruins of our self-made jails...'—he had seen the perfect opportunity to spell out a simple but effective 'we...ruin..all... we touch."

"No, Sydney," he said. "I need you to stay here." / "Why?" She asked. / "Because you don't think I'm a bad person," he said. "And I don't want to prove you wrong."

"Mitchell Turner was cursed. / Always had been. / Trouble followed him like a shadow, clinging to him no matter how much good light he tried to stand in. In his hands, good things broke and bad things grew."

"Mitch's curse, his maldición, as a Spanish foster mother had called it, was that bad things had a way of happening around him."

"Look, Sydney, there's something you need to understand about Victor—" / "He's not a bad man," she said. / "There are no good men in this game," said Mitch. / But Sydney didn't care about good. She wasn't sure she believed in it. "I'm not afraid of Victor." / "I know." He sounded sad when he said it.

"But these words people threw around—humans, monsters, heroes, villains—to Victor it was all just a matter of semantics. Someone could call themselves a hero and still walk around killing dozens. Someone else could be labeled a villain for trying to stop them. Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human. The difference between Victor and Eli, he suspected, wasn't their opinion on EOs. It was their reaction to them. Eli seemed intent to slaughter them, but Victor didn't see why a useful skill should be destroyed, just because of its origin."

"And what happens when we're dead?" / "We won't die, then." / "You make cheating death sound so simple." / "We do seem awfully good at it," said Victor cheerfully. He lifted his glass. "To never dying." / "To being remembered." / Their glasses clinked as Eli added, "Forever."

"For and Ever. / The words were several pages apart, separated and surrounded by a sea of black. Not only that, but the word ever had been altered, part of a larger word, the for- preceding it blotted carefully out, which meant Victor was not trying to piece together the word forever from the text. / He clearly wanted it to be two separate words. Distinct. / For. / Ever."

"And Ulysses stopped up his ears against the siren's song," recited Victor, pulling the plugs from his own ears as Serena collapsed to the dirt lot, "for it was death."

"I watch you, and it's like watching two people." ... "It's why I let you stay," said Victor. "Why I liked you. All that charm outside, all that evil inside. There was a monster under there, long before you died."

"Enough," said Victor. Behind his eyes, the dial turned up. Eli screamed. "You aren't some avenging angel, Eli," he said. "You're not blessed, or divine, or burdened. You're a science experiment."

"You don't understand," gasped Eli. "No one understands." / "When no one understands, that's usually a good sign that you're wrong."

"Some hero," he heard Victor whisper with his two last, labored breaths.

[mondaysjournal]

7/22/2023 - Long Exposure

Hey, princess. I always like talking to you. Even when it's about things that can be difficult and scary, like the future. I didn't always like thinking about those kinds of things before, because I just felt alone and incapable, and the only thing that I could tell myself that would alleviate all that would be that things would work out eventually. No one else was around to tell me that it would be okay. I don't know if you need that as badly as I did, but that's what I'm here for. No matter what happens, where we go, where we stay, what we do, I will always love you and take care of you. That is what I want to do above everything else. It might be difficult at times, figuring everything out, not knowing what exactly is going to come next, but no one said that it was all going to be easy. It's because we're doing it together that we can have hope, and we can find the strength to keep going. And on the other side, there's going to be a lot of fun adventures we'll get to go on where we'll get even closer to each other. I hope you find that as exciting as I do.

I know I've said stuff like this a hundred times in a hundred different ways, but...it's really important to me that you know just how much I love you. And you never should say that I "didn't have to do that for you," because even if I don't have to, I still want to do everything I can to make you happy. I didn't realize I could feel this fulfilled and purposeful until we started seeing each other. So I hope you'll keep letting me love you in the ways that I know how, and I'll be happy as long as I can do that. That's all I really need, other than being able to cuddle you and sleep next to you at night. And kiss you. And a lot of other things. But those are the main ones. Anyway, I just had to tell you all that before I talked about my week and my latest trip.

I was going to make a post last week about the previous week, but then I ended up telling you everything when we talked on the phone. Tuesday night, there weren't enough people for magic club, so I stayed home and Bill and I watched mission impossible 6 and ate chinese food, which was cool. He left the next day around noon as I went to the office. At night I went to the gym. I was originally going to not tell you that I was going to surprise you, but then I realized pretty quickly that I wasn't going to build up enough strength over two months to all of a sudden be able to pick you up with ease from where I am now. But yeah, that's something I do now. I probably don't go as often as I should or spend as much time there as I should, but I'm sure that'll improve over time. I just hope that at some point, I'm able to make your fantasy come true. So I'll keep working hard for you.

Thursday, there were enough people at magic club for two pods. The first game, I lent Albert my sefris deck, which did it's usual thing of establishing an unbreakable board state leading to everyone surrendering, which I counted as a win for me since it was my deck. I was playing shelob, which doesn't have too many tools to break through avacyns or serra's emissaries. I switched off to Melek, who I hadn't played in some time, and surprisingly was able to win with a big storm turn using primal wellspring, melek, and storm kings thunder copying turnabout 11 times. The deck doesn't really appear to do anything except draw and scry cards a lot until that happens. It's a little less flashy than your kaza deck, but I still like having to play off the top of my library. I played your dina deck a few times after that, but it was against decks that were much stronger, so I didn't get to do much with them. Pretty much all the pieces for Ratadrabik are here (except for ratadrabik himself, and samwise), but I will hold myself back and not play it until you're here to play it first. Oh, I also preordered the eldrazi commander deck, since I figured I had to make a colorless deck anyway and this would be a cool commander for it. I now have a place to play my mana crypt and mana vault that actually makes sense, instead of just shoving them into liesa just because they're expensive. It'll be a few weeks before it gets here, though.

On friday, I got lunch with khalil around north station. I had a calzone and he had some mini arancini. I talked about you and he told me about this one girl he was seeing that he doesn't feel too strongly about at the moment. I'm not sure if that's going to go anywhere, and it seems like he doesn't know either at the moment. But I guess we'll see what happens. Unrelated to that, lint said that they would be coming down to new hampshire to visit their grandparents some time in early august, so I'll probably make the drive up there to meet them in person. I guess that's the "next thing" to anticipate.

Anyway, let me tell you about Pawtucket. On the map, it looks like it's very close to providence, but you couldn't really tell that just from walking around. It was sort of in between Londonderry and Amesbury, in that I was definitely able to see more by walking around, but it wasn't terribly dense.

My first stop was Untapped Games, which was a very nice looking LGS that had a lot of product both old and new, with many items on sale. I decided to get a journey into nyx pack (since that's the set I started on) and a japanese dragons of tarkir pack. The nyx pack was a dud, but the cards at least smelled nostalgic. In the japanese dtk pack, I got a collected company, which I was surprised to see was around $10 in value. If I get into pioneer, that's one less copy of CoCo I have to buy. The store is on the very right of the building pictured below.

After that, I went looking for lunch, and bought an eggplant parm sandwich from this place called sandwich hut. It was okay, and I regret not searching further for food, as there were a few indian places near the park where I sat down to eat that I could have gotten food from. I don't regret it terribly, though. As I was walking back from the sandwich place, I saw this, which I thought was amusing.

I think these kinds of photos are what I'm more interested in capturing than panoramic shots of grand vistas whenever I visit places like this. Most places look the same, but it's little things that tell stories and differentiate one place from another. I looked up the nearest park on google maps and drove to it so I could sit down somewhere to eat my sandwich. This is what it looked like from where I was sitting:

It was a nice park. And there were people there, too, which is more than I can say for Londonderry. Once I finished eating, I went down the road to see some gift shops like this:

They did have some nice things, but nothing that was particularly compelling. After that, I went across the street to a bakery and bought one baguette.

I could tell it wasn't fresh, but I didn't particularly care. I was going to just toast it in the oven and eat it with some soup anyway. Once I noticed it was around 4, I left so that I could be back home in time to feed Thalia. I know there was more I could've seen, but not so much that I'd want to come back before seeing other towns in rhode island. I hope that once you're back, we can keep doing this, finding random places to spend a few hours just walking around, doing nothing in particular. Although, I'd probably take more care in finding places that are actually interesting for this purpose. Next week, I will be going to Ipswich, as I feel the sea calling me...

Every day I am more and more excited to see my little flower again. I love you so much.

[reds-ramblings]

The Heist - Chapter 26

A/N: I want to apologize to all of my fellow writers as well as the readers who are invested in this story for taking so long to write this.

What is he even talking about? His and Jake's adoptive father? Is it possible that he could be Jake's brother? If that's the case, then Jake lied about everything. That means he lied about meeting him in college and him becoming his father figure. I refuse to believe Jake would lie about any of that and what was he talking about guidance?

"I need your guidance? You want to give ne guidance? Do you actually expect me to believe that after you tried to have us killed?"

"You see, Miss Davis, I don't just try to do anything. If I really wanted you dead, you would be in million little pieces spread all over the country instead of standing here disrespecting me in my own house."

"Alright, I'll play along. If you don't want to kill us, then what do you want?" I cross my arms over my chest and stare at him, waiting for him to continue.

"Things aren't always as they seem. I bet Jake's told you all about how he's one of the good guys, and he was only in it to help people? Did he tell you that he had no clue what I was really doing?" He takes a step closer, so close our faces are inches apart. "I'm not a good person, MC." He backs up a little and leans against the cabinet. "That much is true. That has always been the difference between my dear brother and I. I can admit my wrongdoings and shortcomings, Jake, on the other hand, believes he does no wrong. He will always say it was someone else's fault or that he was tricked into doing the wrong thing. It's the same old lie he's been telling for years. Jake's hands aren't as clean as you think they are."

"Ah, there it is. I see what you're doing, and it's not going to work." I laugh.

He cocks his head to the side and looks at me like he doesn't understand.

"You think if you say all these things, he will show up to defend himself against your accusations. He's smarter than that, and he knows there's no way I would believe you."

"Oh, Ms. Davis, I don't need you to believe me. I have proof. Follow me and I'll show you." He pushes off the counter and motions for me to follow him.

I decide it's best to play along until I can figure out a way to get what I need and get out of here. He pushes through the doors and I follow him out of the kitchen when suddenly I feel something cold and hard bash against my head, knocking me to the ground. My vision is blurry and threatens to close in on me. Mark reaches down and grabs the body cam on the front of my shirt and holds it out in front of his face.

"Jake, you've got five minutes to get in here before I blow her brains out."

"No! Jake! Don't!" I yell out before I lose consciousness.

***

I wake to an excruciating pain in my head and loud voices that sound like they are right beside me, but I struggle to make out what they say. I open my eyes to find myself on a couch in a dark room lit by tons of computer screens that line the walls. This must be the server room. The yelling stops, and Jake rushes over to me.

"Jake?"

"Hey, I'm here. It's ok. Don't try to sit up too fast; we don't want you passing out again." He says, helping me up.

"You're getting soft, Jake!" Mark yells at him. "She's your weakness, and what was it you used to say? Weakness causes mistakes and mistakes get you killed."

"Shut the fuck up, Mark!" Jake yells at him.

"Seems like someone doesn't like to hear their own words used against them." Mark says, causing Jake to shoot him a warning glance. Mark puts his hands up as if to surrender, and he sits down in a chair.

"Is what he said true?"

"I will explain everything to you later, MC. I promise." He says and kisses my forehead.

I pat my pocket. and I'm disappointed to find it empty.

"Looking for this?" Mark says, holding up a flash drive, and I nod. He tosses it at me, and I catch it. "I took the liberty of putting all of the evidence the FBI needs to arrest me on there. If you want, I'll even let you walk right out that door with it. I'm tired of running," he sighs.

I look down at the flash drive and back up at him. "What's the catch?"

"I want you to ask yourself a question. Ask yourself if you can really trust the FBI. They arrest me, then what happens? They let you both go scot-free?"

"We have a signed agreement and lawyer."

"You would be the first person with a signed agreement they screwed over. You could walk out that door and turn me in, and then we'll both end up in jail or dead. Or you could work with me and help bring them down."

"Help you bring down the FBI?" I scoff.

"The kinds of information I have on these people could easily bring down the whole thing. Then, we could all finally be free for good. What do you say?"

I stare at Jake, weighing out the pros and cons of each option in my head. He's right; we can't trust the FBI, but that doesn't mean we can trust him either. I can't help but think of all the people we would be betraying if we switch sides: Kyle, James, Christopher. Everything they've done would be all for nothing if we help him, but if we don't, will he really let us leave with all the evidence? I would give up everything if it meant Jake could finally be free, and we could live a normal life, but I don't see either of these options leading to that. I wish I could just talk to him alone so we can come up with a plan. As if reading my mind, Mark stands up.

"I get it. This is a big decision; you don't want to rush into anything. I'll give you guys a few minutes to discuss it." He walks out the door.

@pennyl4n3 it's your turn.

Previous

[lazarettta]

Misthios V

Pairing (Mother Miranda x Spartan!Reader)

Rating (T)

Word Count (1.9k)

Warning (Language)

You spend your morning with Alcina and her daughters while Miranda deals with Karl and Village business.

By the time the sun had begun to peak over the mountains you'd already made yourself at home on one of the balconies of the castle with a woven basket full of croissants and mason jar full of freshly squeezed orange juice. You'd been snooping in the kitchen looking for a snack when you found the partially hidden side door. It was shielded by produce crates and bags of potatoes—you guessed it was an old service door or something, and it was probably what the help around the castle used to sneak around the castle grounds while their Mistress sleeps.

You certainly did. You took a trip to town on a whim and you were bored. You didn't have anything on you in terms of currency but you weren't one to rely on some currency to get you by as there was always a favor or two to be traded. New era, same tricks and it never failed you once. Most of the village was still asleep when you strolled through but the few farmers you saw tending to their stocks gave you less than friendly looks but you didn't take any offense. You were new and places like this didn't take too kindly to a new face, especially a young new face.

Hell, the woman in the bakery shop by the church wasn't very fond of you either until you revealed that you understood every word that she said. She turned into a different person and suddenly you weren't much of a stranger anymore, by her standards anyway.

By the time you found your way back to castle Dimitrescu, you had bruised knuckles, a basket full of goodies you probably shouldn't be eating and a decent knife now warming the holster in your boot. It wasn't tactical or as balanced as you liked but you felt a hell of a lot better with it than you did a few hours ago without it.

You had no idea who's bedroom you'd invaded to get to the balcony though you didn't really care, you saw a plush chair that was only just covered in ice and the cushions were only just a little wet, shockingly.

And that is exactly how Alcina found you, and she wasn't alone. Trailing behind her bundled up even more than you with the hood pulled up over her blonde head was a young woman with eyes that matched Alcina's. Curious that she didn't get her mother's height though—she was probably around your height, give or take.

“You missed breakfast, dear.”

“Didn't think you'd send a hunting party for me,” you smiled but in truth you hadn't realized how much time had passed since you got back to the castle. Between stuffing your face full of bread you hadn't really had in years and well, yeah, you definitely lost track of time. Thankfully there were still a few pastries left in the basket for you to offer to Alcina and who you assumed to be one of her daughters.

The girl's eyes hadn't left you since she first saw you—you knew when you were being studied but for the moment, you were too tired to actually care but not tired enough to drop your guard with these people.

Alcina waved away your offering as she took a seat in the other chair, obviously as unbothered by it's less than ideal conditions as you were but her daughter graciously scooped up a buttered croissant before leaning against the rail, her back to the gorgeous view behind her. She was probably used to seeing it and you certainly weren't a stranger to such joys either but you never really grew bored of them.

“(Y/n), this is Bela, my eldest daughter. Also my successor should anything ever happen to me.”

“Mother, stop it. Nothing will ever happen to you.” You watched as Bela ducked her head, but she wasn't blushing, she turned to you, pushing the hood back from her face slightly but she didn't say anything.

Alcina pulled her cigar holder from somewhere on her dress she was currently wearing, and pointed down at the basket sitting on the small table between you three, “It's not safe to roam around on these roads at night.”

You shrugged, “I can take care of myself, Lady Dimitrescu. A few wolves don't really scare me.”

“There are far worse things out there than death, (Y/n).”

You scoffed, laughing a bit much to the dismay and surprise of the Lady and her daughter, “I've been around long enough to know how true and wise that statement is, but I'm far too old to be scared by it anymore.”

Bela looked at you curiously, “But you don't look a day over thirty, (Y/n).”

You bit back another laugh, picking at the pastry still sitting on the napkin on your thigh. Well. You weren't going to be getting any answers if you didn't give any yourself. “Who do you think Miranda got her skin care treatment from?”

You looked up when the other two balcony occupants were quiet for too long and you realized that they were both staring at you with equally unreadable but different expressions. Though Alcina's hat always made it impossible for you, or anyone else, to gauge her moods and reactions.

“What?”

“You're being serious?” Bela asked, both of her eyebrows disappearing beneath her loose hair.

“Yeah, seriously. I met Miranda back when she was ruling her first kingdom. She thought I was a fucking Viking for the longest time.” Miranda is going to murder you and find a way to make it permanent.

“You're joking. Mother, the mortal is joking...isn't she?”

“Mortal?” you finished your breakfast and wiped away the crumbs, “I haven't been called mortal for a very long time, but now that we've all established that no one on this balcony is of average stock...”

“We can really talk.” Alcina finished as you trailed off, taking a very long and heavy drag while giving you another once over, slower this time as if she was going to find the answers to whatever she was wanting to know. She glanced at her daughter and sighed when she saw her starting to tremble a bit.

“Bela go inside and get your sisters.” Alcina said softly but her tone still held no room for argument and you could tell that Bela wanted to protest against her mothers wishes, “Have tea prepared and brought to the study.”

“For everyone?”

Alcina smiled a bit, “Yes, dear, for everyone.”

When Bela was around the corner and well out of earshot, Alcina brought her attention back to you. And you looked back, waiting for her to ask or say what was on her mind.

“What era?”

“The Peloponnesian war. I'm the last living Spartan on Earth.”

Miranda neatly folded away the paper the moment she heard the ceremony doors opening. Miranda sighed heavily when she heard Karl’s mouth down the corridor—the man's need to chatter (and argue) never ceased and Miranda was positive she would be leaving this meeting with a migraine. She'd rather be doing something more productive with her time…working on her own research, cracking you like an egg or maybe even trying a new recipe for a change.

It wasn't long before Karl burst through the doors, his prized hammer resting on his shoulders and a cigar between his teeth and in his other hand was a satchel that was holding something it wasn't designed to carry. The grin he wore grew when his eyes landed on her and Miranda sighed inaudibly behind her mask.

“Well,” he purred, sitting on the bench he normally claimed and set his hammer down next to it, “If it isn't the woman of the hour! How kind of you to meet with me today.”

Miranda didn't care too much for his charming tone—his charisma was impressive but Miranda had never been a true fan of it, and Alcina outright hated him forcing Miranda to often play the role of a mediator every time there was a faction meeting which almost always ended in chaos and bloodshed. Thankfully it was only once or twice out of the month unless it was an emergency.

“Your message said that you have something of importance to show me, Lord Heisenberg, get on with it.”

“Oh, someone's testy today,” he mumbled under his breath but just loud enough for her to catch his words and Miranda's jaw clenched, “As requested, one head of a troublesome villager only searching for his beloved little girl. Maybe do your job and tell that supersized bitch to keep her brats on a leash next time.”

The satchel landed on the floor at Miranda's feet. Miranda's eyes narrowed in his direction, barely glancing at the satchel that narrowly missed touching her, and Karl felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise alarmingly fast, “Do not forget your place here, Heisenberg.”

Karl snarled but he quickly conceded—he's proved himself to be the biggest Alpha in the region time and time again but he wasn't stupid enough to think that he could challenge Miranda evenly. Miranda relented, accepting his surrender but she didn't buy it, she never did.

“All I'm sayin' is that we don't hunt in the village for this very reason—”

“I understand that, Heisenberg. And it's been taken care of. Lady Dimitrescu will see that it never happens again.”

Karl grumbled but thankfully he didn't push, this time, “There's something else too that I think you should know. There's a stranger in the village, probably owns that cute little camp my lycans tore apart a few miles outside of town.”

That caught Miranda's interest though she did not let it show—it wouldn't do to have a man like Karl have even the slightest bit of leverage over her. He was still too useful for her to kill.

“A stranger?”

“Yeah,” he smirked, relighting his cigar and taking a long pull, “Tall, real tall and quite a looker too...I'm here to officially claim her. If she's as tough as she looks, I'll—”

Miranda's wings fluttered when those words left his hairy lips, he didn't have to go into detail for her to know who he was talking about and Miranda felt the edges of her claws trying to grow beneath the veil of her dark wings.

“No.”

“No!?” he sat up quickly, setting both of his feet down on the ground, “What do you mean no?! Aren't those your laws for fresh meat?!”

“Yes, and that woman is off limits. Defy my word, it will not end well for you. If that is all Lord Heisenberg, I will see you this Friday at the faction meeting.”

“You gave her to that zombie in the castle didn't you!” he called after her when Miranda transformed into a flock of birds and left through the rafters.

Karl pulled his hammer to him as he jumped to his feet and he destroyed the bench he was previously sitting on but Miranda was already gone by the time the splinters where she had once stood, “I never get anything nice around here! Always scraps this and scraps that ever since that bitch took over!” he turned and threw his hammer, nearly slicing a pillar in half and he was half transformed before he caught himself.

Karl dusted himself off with one hand while the other brought another cigar from an inside pocket of his oil stained coat and picked up his hammer on the way out of the ceremony room, his temper simmering down. He took one last look at the damage he caused, and smirked.

“Have fun cleaning this up, mother. ” He didn't care what she said, the woman in the village he saw this morning was his game.

[kyber-crystal]

An Accidental Confession

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Words: ~3.1k

Summary: In which you decided to a record a message explaining your feelings for Steve in case you didn't make it out of your mission alive. You don’t have any intention of it actually being heard by him, but you have no other choice to face your fear when it’s accidentally broadcasted across the entire compound.

Warnings: none, this is pure fluff haha with hints of a cocky steve hehe.

A/N: Some dialogue credits go to Descendants of the Sun! (yes, this is a oneshot of a scene from it, bc I love that drama with my whole heart) 

Tags: Dedicating this to @sylvie-writes​ because she’s an absolute SWEETHEART. I LOVE YOU BB. go follow her!

"Hey, Y/N, check this out!"

You glanced up from where you were furiously typing away at the computer to see Peter with a wide grin on his face. "Hm?"

"Look what I found! Mr. Stark's old speaker set!" The teenager went around to behind the table and rolled out the speaker in front of you. "It was a bit souped up, but all it really needed was some TLC and here it is, good as new!"

"Found this old thing while he was cleaning up," Tony explained, "you wanna hook your phone up and give it a go?"

"Uh...sure, why not," you shrugged, standing up and pushing your seat in, making your way over to the two of them. You took your phone out of your pocket and plugged it in.

"Check, one, two," Peter spoke into the small microphone. "Check one, two, three. Hey! It's working!"

You couldn't help but grin at his enthusiasm. "How old is this thing, anyway?"

"Older than me, that's for sure. Now play something!"

"Alright, alright. Let's see..." you scrolled through your playlists until you found the one you wanted, pressing 'play' and putting it on shuffle. "There."

"Fly Me To The Moon! May played it for me all the time when I was little," Peter exclaimed. "She always insisted I educate myself on older music. Now I'm glad she did."

Bucky and Sam stopped screaming at each other as they battled it out in Mario Kart, quieting down and humming to the beat as they held their controllers tightly. Wanda smiled to herself as she stirred the pot of soup on the stove, Bruce on the verge of falling asleep as he sipped his coffee at the kitchen island and read a news article on his phone. The energy within the compound seemed to lighten significantly as Frank Sinatra's soothing voice echoed off the walls.

You went out to the patio to relax, crossing your arms and closing your eyes as the sounds of chirping crickets and music mixed together in one soothing melody, the moonlight reflecting over the water. For a brief moment in time, you were at peace - and you relished in the temporary feeling of serenity. The 'city that never slept' was sleepy, for once. It wasn't all that late, but you were already beginning to succumb to fatigue's temptations.

But then, the song came to an end and switched off to something else.

"Hey, Steve. I hope this message never finds you because if it does...it means I'm most likely dead-" your all-too familiar voice came over the phone, thick with tears as you struggled to contain your sobs. "God, what am I even doing here? I have a gunshot wound that most likely pierced a vital organ so I'm just gonna bleed out here alone- why am I even doing this? I don't even know how much longer it'll be before you arrive with the evac team...so I just want to apologize in advance for not coming back to you like I promised. If I'd known I'd die in a foreign country, I would've lived a more carefree life instead of constantly worrying, like you always told me to just relax sometimes, I'm so, so sorry-"

Your eyes widened in realization and you rushed across the facility as fast as you could possibly go to the labs.

"Leaving words like this before dying is so uncultured- please, Steve...are you on your way? Please tell me you're on your way. If I'm really dying here I don't wanna die alone. Please hurry...I don't think I can last until you get here. Even so, you'll be the first to find me if I die, that is, if my corpse isn't dragged away or some shit like that - God, this hurts- I almost forgot how much it hurt to get shot...damn...I really underestimated the power of a bullet, huh?

Steve's bandaged fists fell to his sides, the punching bag swinging back and forth so wildly that it would've knocked him over if it weren't for his muscular figure. His brow furrowed in concern and he felt a small ache his chest upon hearing your voice crack - you never cried, and even if you did, which was extremely rare, you were good at hiding it from others.

But then a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips - you did ramble sometimes, and he found it rather adorable. It was, in fact, one of the main reasons why he admired you so much.

"FRIDAY? Where's the source of this audio?"

"It's playing from Mr. Stark's speaker in the lab, Captain," the AI responded.

"Thank you."

He unwrapped the tape from around his hands and exited the training facility, going into a light jog as he headed up to the lounge.

"If I knew that I'd die like this, then I would've told you my true feelings. That I'm in love with you and I really wished you'd kissed me when we were watching that movie together- it was Die Hard, wasn't it? I really wished you'd done something. We were sitting so close, and...I couldn't stop thinking about it. I was tempted to just run my hands through your hair and kiss you. And I almost did. I'm so in love with you, hopelessly in love with you...and if there's anything that scares me more than dying alone, it's probably thinking of a way to tell you, and the fear of being rejected by my best friend, my partner in crime-"

A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. You were in love with him? He felt his heartbeat pick up speed at the thought. He always held that small bit of hope in his heart that you'd feel the same way.

Just as Steve arrived at the labs, you came bursting through the doors with a look of sheer panic in your eyes, your face drained of all color. You quickly unplugged your phone from the speaker as he watched on in amusement.

"Want some, Mr. Stark?" Peter offered through a mouthful of popcorn, holding the bag out to his mentor. "Seems like we're in for a treat here."

"Where'd you get these, kid?" Tony questioned as he reached over and popped several kernels into his mouth. "Mm. Caramel, a classic."

"I always keep some with me. Never know when drama will break out."

Steve laughed and shook his head as you quickly turned around on your heel and sprinted out of the room. It was so unlike you to act like this - normally you were rather guarded and stoic. To see you as anything but was not only amusing, but adorable in his eyes - it was one of the many things he loved about you, in fact.

"Music...really changes a lot of things," Peter cleared his throat awkwardly.

The super-soldier cracked a smile. "I seem to be in the center of that change."

He said a few quick goodbyes went to find you, as Peter and Tony continued enjoying their popcorn together.

"Oh my god, I'm so stupid, oh my god, why did I even record that damn message," you muttered, finding yourself going back outside again. You needed to clear your head and get away from Steve. The secondhand embarrassment you just knew was waiting for you was almost too much to even think about - what would he think of you now? What would everyone else think of you?

Steve had beaten you to it and was already out there, leaning against the glass railing  with his arms crossed over his chest, wearing an amused expression on his face.

"Oh my god! You scared me!" your voice heightened to a shriek. "What the hell, Rogers? How are you here? Why are you here?"

"I know you like the back of my hand, sweetheart," he chuckled lightly. "You always come out here whenever you're restless or stressed out. Figured you'd try to flee as soon as you heard," he gestured back inside, "all that."

"That was none of your business!" you squeaked. "It was a private message, not meant for you to actually hear! It wasn't for you!"

"Well, you did announce it, publicly," he defended himself, pushing himself away from the railing and raising his hands in surrender. "And it sounded like it was for me. You said my name."

"It wasn't for you!"

"Then why'd you say Steve?"

"It's a different Steve?"

"A different Steve with a stealth suit, Quinjet, and evac team?"

"Y-yeah! B-but it's really funny. Why are you listening to other people's recordings?'

"Like I said, doll," your face flushed at the nickname, "it was broadcasted publicly. I didn't listen, I heard."

"Because you heard it, you carelessly hear it all the way through?"

He smirked. "You know, you're really cute when you're upset." He smirked, taking several steps towards you. You instinctively stepped back. "But why are you running away? When you were about to die you wanted to confess." With each step he took, you took another backwards. "But since you lived, you changed your mind?"

"Confess? That wasn't a confession. That wasn't me."

"This cell phone is yours," he held up your hand that tightly gripped your phone.

"This isn't a phone- Y/N, what the hell are you saying? Stop talking," you cursed yourself under your breath.

"It's an honor knowing I'm in your will," he said kindly.

"If you know then that's enough," you exhaled, stepping around him to leave. Steve stopped you by placing a hand out in front, before moving it to grip your wrist. You felt your skin heat up rapidly under his touch.

You gasped. "Look! Thor set the toaster on fire!"

"I'm not fooled, sweetheart."

You moved to try and leave again, but he only tightened his grip. "Whether or not it was a confession, I'm going to listen to it, so let's not run away, shall we?"

You were silent for several moments before responding, swallowing hard. "Okay. I got it. I'll answer you so let go of me and let's talk. Really."

"Really, right?"

He obeyed, releasing his hand from your wrist. You quickly moved around him and ran back inside. Steve just laughed to himself, shaking his head in disbelief.

"She finally did it," Sam nodded in approval as he and Bucky finished their Rainbow Road deathmatch. "Good game, man."

"Yeah, good game," they shook hands, "but if I'm being honest...I didn't expect things to go down like that. If anything, Steve seems like he'd be the first to confess. The way they're dancing around each other like oblivious monkeys...damn."

"Couldn't have described it better."

...

You flopped onto your bed, panting heavily as you stared up at the ceiling. Your heart was beating so fast that you felt like passing out. Maybe I'll just die like this and I won't ever have to confess for real, you thought. That sounds much better than death by blood loss from a gunshot wound.

"Hey, darling."

You sat up and let out a short scream as you saw Steve leaning against your doorframe, that damn smirk still on his face. "What the hell? You can't just ambush me like that! How long have you been standing there for?"

"Long enough," he chuckled, sliding his hands in his pockets and stepping inside. This time, you were too lazy to push him away, and just allowed him to sit down next to you at the edge of your bed. Steve propped his hand on his chin as he gazed at you, smiling.

You sighed and let your head fall into your hands. "This is all your fault."

"My fault?" Steve tilted his head in confusion. "How is this my fault?"

"Becau- never mind. I'm busy. I gotta go check up on the new lab I'm working on with Bruce."

You stood up abruptly, but he reached out and grabbed your wrist again. "I'm going to go to the labs, too. He asked me to help with a few things. I think you just found yourself an escort."

"I can go by myself, Rogers. I'm an adult," you gave him a pointed look.

"Ouch. That stung," he pretended to look hurt. "Last name calling? I thought we agreed on sappy pet names. And besides, you know what happened last time you went somewhere alone. You got shot."

"Whatever."

"Hold on," he tugged you back so that you had to sit down again. "Why do you keep running away from me? You confess your feelings in your will and then you run."

"It wasn't my will."

"You said you were scared to die alone."

"It wasn't me. Where is your bout of confidence even coming from?"

"I'm not asking how you feel about me at the moment. Don't feel bad that I found out how you feel about me. Because I'm in love with you too, and nothing can change the fact that I like you even more now."

You swallowed hard.

He smiled again. "And you look beautiful today, doll."

"Stop with the pet names," you mumbled. You couldn't stop the tremor in your tone as you spoke

"Hey hey hey, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Steve brought a hand up to your face, lightly skimming the tip of his thumb across your cheekbone to wipe away the tears that had fallen. "Hey. Tell me what's wrong, darling."

As soon as that last word left his lips, you lost it. A broken sob escaped from your mouth before you broke down, and he felt guilt settle in the pit of his stomach. Sure, he was lightly teasing you - but he didn't intend for his jabs to hurt you in any way. That was the last thing he wanted to do - to see you cry. He hated seeing you cry.

"Oh, God, I'm so sorry," he whispered, carefully wrapping his arms around you and pulling you to him, rubbing circles onto your back. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken the teasing so far. I'm so sorry, Y/N-"

It took nearly twenty minutes for your sniffles to die down and another ten for your crying to stop completely, but he patiently held you until you did. And when it finally stopped, it still took you several moments before you could bring yourself to meet his eyes.

"I look like a mess," you muttered, quickly ducking your head down to wipe at your nose. "I'm sorry you had to see me like this-"

"You look lovely, regardless," Steve murmured, kissing your forehead. "You'll always look beautiful in my eyes."

"You're such a sap," you mumbled, closing your eyes. "I hate you."

"You know you love me, Y/N."

"No I don't."

"That message told me otherwise. You sounded like you were pretty in love, judging by the desperate tone in your voice-"

"Shut up!"

"Make me," he challenged, a smirk appearing on his face.

You huffed and stood up, crossing your arms. "You're a pain in the ass, you know that, Rogers?"

"Watch your language-"

"Make me."

"Using my own words against me, are you?" Steve raised a brow as he stood up as well, walking towards you. You kept walking backwards until you felt your back hit the wall and internally panicked when you realized there was nowhere else to go.

"Shit," you whispered. "I'm not escaping this one, am I?"

"Not a chance," he chuckled wistfully. You felt your heart do somersaults and your stomach twist itself into knots as he met your eyes, a softened look to them that you'd never seen before - what was it? Just a few minutes earlier you'd find yourself squirming beneath his intense gaze but for some reason, you stayed put.

When his lips pressed against yours, you felt a crackle of electricity across your skin and the world fell away. It seemed as if time stopped and held its breath as it watched the two of you, his arm curving around your waist as his free hand rested at the back of your neck, pulling you flush against him. Though you were taken aback by the sudden gesture and terrified you wasted no time in reacting, sinking deeper into the kiss. You could feel him smile against your lips and fireworks exploded inside your chest - if there was a way to describe pure magic, this would definitely be it. And he felt it too - and he swore to himself that he'd never felt a bigger rush of adrenaline before until now.

You looked absolutely stunning to him in that moment as you pulled apart - with your half-closed eyes, reddened cheeks, and swollen lips - his doing, no doubt. Your gaze slipped down to his equally swollen lips and you felt your face flush at the sight. Steve was quick to catch what you were doing and pulled you back in for more.

This time, it wasn't as innocent and quick. It was more needy, passionate - months, no, years of pent-up frustration he didn't even know he had seeping into it. Years of not being able to tell you finally being poured out into one grand gesture - years of finally getting closure because he now knew the girl he'd loved for as long as he could remember felt the same way.

"Oh my fucking shit."

The two of you were practically gasping for air as you broke apart a second time to see a smug-looking Sam.

"You just- I didn't interrupted something between y'all, did I?" Sam cocked a brow. "Looked like you were this close to-"

"No," you exhaled, "we weren't."

"I'm a GENIUS for fixing that speaker! If I hadn't done so you guys never would've gotten together!" Peter squealed as he appeared by the Falcon's side. "I believe a thank you is in order!"

"I hope my timing isn't bad, but I have to ask," Steve cleared his throat and looked you straight in the eye. "that was a confession, right? And you didn't do it just because you felt compelled to. Be honest with me."

You let out a sigh of defeat. "Yeah...it was."

He broke into a gorgeous, million-dollar grin that made you weak at the knees. He leaned down, lips ghosting over yours as if he was going to kiss you again - but pulled back, much to your disappointment.

"I guess I'm the victor of this battle, huh," he whispered before releasing his hold on you and walking out, leaving you to stand there utterly shell-shocked and speechless as Peter and Sam began teasing you.

[fitzs-trained-monkey]

Chapter Three: If We Have Each Other.

~When the world's not perfect When the world's not kind If we have each other then we'll both be fine. I will be your brother and I'll hold your hand. You should know I'll be there for you. I will always be there for you~

"Dude, we are in some serious jelly," I proclaimed as I paced around the small perimeter of the tree house.

"And that jam!" Isaac added from where he remained sitting at the table.

"Tight spot."

"Indeed!"

"Up a tree!" I supplied.

"Lost in the grass!" He offered. I swung around, shaking my finger at him.

"I'll tell ya what's grass, our- AAH FRACKLES!"  I had stepped on a stray nail in one of the floorboards. Hobbling my way back into my chair, I thunked my head against the table.

"But look at the bright side." Isaac leaned back in his chair. "Seeing as how our grand-theft-hairbrush is going viral and all, there is still a chance that me flipping the camera off could become a meme!" He pointed out. Slowly, I raised my head to stare at him.

"Are you kidding me right now?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"Consider it, Marty! All it took was five years being dead and now I'm finally fulfilling my life-long dream! If I'd known it was this easy, I would have killed myself a long time ago and spared me all that drama and emotional damage," Isaac smirked. I shook my head, my gaze drifted back to the Vader figure and snow globe sitting side-by-side on the shelf.

"Please don't talk like that Isaac," I sighed. Isaac's face fell.

"Sorry, I-I wasn't thinking," He apologized. I nodded.

"It's okay." It wasn't, but what more could be said when you didn't want to speak?

"Hey," Isaac spoke softly, ducking his head to get me to look at him, "Even if things go sour, I'm gonna be here for you. Just like I promised. Through thick and thin, remember?"

"Through thick and thin."

Smiling weakly, I repeated our life long mantra. I took a deep breath and focused back in on the problem.

"Alright, man. We gotta figure out a game plan. That video is gonna bring every hunter and their mom up here to ice our, or my, gluteus maximus. And if they know about the minimart then they know about the hospital. So, what's our play?"

"Well, I say you use your Sweet-Talkin' thing and talk any o'those alcoholic weirdos out of it," Isaac suggested. I shook my head.

"Isaac, you know how much I hate doing that."

Although it was a tempting idea, that wasn't something I wanted to mess with. If you start playing with the dark things, the dark things start playing with you. That wasn't a concept I liked, but Isaac would never understand that.

"I'm just saying it’s an option! And an easy one at that," Isaac pushed. I glared at him.

"I'm not doing that."

"It might come to it, Marty. I'm just saying as a plan C it-"

"The answer is no! Moving on." My tone killed and buried the subject. Isaac raised his hands in surrender.

"Fine. But misinformation is still our strongest tool. We should use it. Tell anybody who asks that it was all done on a computer," He conceded.

"Alright, that's plan A. What's plan B?"  Isaac's face twisted in thought. I let him do any and all planning when it came to telling a lie because he was so much better at making it convincing than I was. Isaac was the king of spouting believable bull crap. In fact, he would have made and excellent demon. That guy could probably get an angel to sell its soul for a box of holy doughnuts. When the idea hit Isaac's brain, I could almost see a light bulb light up above his head. He leaned forward, exited.

"Okay, I got it. We make up some BS story about a gay black dude who got chopped up by the ferry or something and the hospital wouldn't help him because all the doctors were racist homophobes, and it was the 50's." He nodded at me very seriously. Like I said, Isaac was king.

"That's is the worst, most ridiculous and stupid story I have ever heard," I told him. Isaac's nodding grew more excited. "It's perfect. They'll buy every word. Just one thing though, what about the mini-mart?" I pointed out.

Isaac opened his mouth before closing it again. Then he opened it. Then he closed it. Open. Closed. Open. Closed. This happened several more times before he finally came up with something good.

"So, our gay black guy was also a nice hobo dude and after he died he started stealing crap to give to his hobo buddies." Isaac gave me a thumbs up. I nodded.

"Okay, sounds good, sounds good. How do we explain me?" I splayed my hands. Isaac huffed and rolled his eyes, leaning back again and tucking his hands behind his head.

"Well, that’s easy. The camera never even caught a glimpse of your face, so you're his anonymous theft buddy slash item distributer!" He explained. I grinned at my fantastic phantasmal co-conspirator.

"Excellent, and of course nobody knows who the thief is. Especially not, innocent little me!" I chuckled at his brilliance.

"Exactly!" Isaac smirked.

"It's perfect! Except one last thing. We're gonna need some eyes and ears in on this. Someone to alert us when someone fishy comes lurking about," I said. Isaac nodded seriously.

"You're right. But who can we trust around here?" He asked. I could feel the smile split across my face.

"I can think of only one man for this job. A man as trustworthy as he is slimy. A man scrubbed clean by his own filth. A man so wonderful, words do him no justice!" I declared dramatically. Isaac was confused for a moment before realization dawned. His face fell.

"Please tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking."

"I think I am." I grinned. Isaac just sighed.

"Marty, no."

"Marty, yes!"

- 45 minutes later-

"Yo! Danny, my man! How's life?" I called out. Dan-the-Dope-Man looked up from...whatever it was he was doing outside Copper Harbor's one and only pharmacy. The pharmacy which he, in fact, owned. Honestly, I didn't want to know exactly what he had been doing behind the pile of cardboard boxes that were stacked up against the moldy brick. I figured it was better if I didn't. Dan smiled a grin that was missing two teeth.

"Marty! My worst customer and only friend! Life's good!" He greeted me, kicking a few of the boxes over to hide whatever suspicious activity it was that he had been up to. He winked and walked over to me, pushing his absolutely disgusting blond hair out of his face. "But, you know, business is betta'," He concluded.

I could never tell how tall Dan was, in this form especially. See, Dan-the-Dope-Man was a shapeshifter, though of course, no one else in the town knew that. That's how he was the owner of the pharmacy as well as a drug dealer. His other form, Jonathan De’ Santos, was the tall, 40-year-old, honest-looking Hawaiian man that ran the pharmacy. In this form, however, Dan was a somewhere-in-the-upper-five-foot-range Caucasian guy from Brooklyn with a thing against bathing. He said that the grungy, sewer-rat look was better for his side business. I wasn't sure how much of that I bought, but then again, who's gonna buy drugs from the guy who's supposed to make sure you don't destroy yourself with them.

"I bet it is!" I said, taking a step back when he reached me because, like I said, the guy had a thing against hygiene.

"This is a terrible, terrible idea," Isaac muttered, leaning on the wall to my left. I couldn't reply to him because although Dan knew what I was he didn't know about Isaac. So all I could do was give him a rude gesture behind my back. He saw it and stuck his tongue out at me.

"What can I do fo' ya, Marty?" Dan always pronounced my name as 'Mawty' at least in this form as it had a Brooklyn accent.

"Well, o' Danny boy, I have some rather bad news to deliver," I continued, "There might be some hunters coming to town soon."

Dan frowned; his eyes narrowed at me as he folded his arms over his chest.

"Well, that ain't good. Whatt'id ya do, Marty?" He asked. Sometimes Dan could be like my older brother, even if he didn't realize it.

"Woah, woah, woah! Who said I did anything?!" I defended. Dan just raised an eyebrow.

"You're always showin' off and ya know it," He said simply.

"He's right, you know," Isaac interjected. I wished I could tell him to shut his eidolic cake hole. It wouldn't have made much of a difference if I could, as he would still have continued talking, but the principle remained the same. Isaac was annoying. He needed to shut his mouth now and again. But I couldn't say that right now because he was a flipping ghost and ghosts are invisible. Mostly.

Ignoring Isaac, I opened my mouth to try to argue with Dan but quickly closed it again when found that I couldn't, because he was absolutely right. Now, I couldn’t admit that to him because Isaac was right here and that would be saying that he was right about something, and that was a thing I would never hear the end of.

"In regards," I started again.

"You'd just say 'regardless'," Isaac chimed in. I had to physically bite my tongue to keep from screaming at him to shut up.

"Regardless," I corrected. Isaac chuckled. I really needed to get myself some iron gauntlets or something so I could give his apparitional arse an involuntary appendectomy. Or just an iron ring so I could punch him in the face.

"Regardless, it wasn't me. This time. It was some attention seeking moron with a computer. That combined with my little hospital trips and you get something fishy looking." I finally managed to finish my sentence without Isaac chiming in.

"Well then ya betta' keep ya head down, Marty. I don' wan' ya gettin hurt." A dark look crossed over Dan's usually upbeat face. "Or worse," He finished.

"I know Danny, which is why I need you to do something for me," I said. Isaac sighed and face palmed but I ignored it.

"What?" Dan asked.

"I need you to watch out for any newcomers asking weird questions. I've got a plan if any hunters get too close to us, I just need to know who and where they are," I told him.

See, the pharmacy, the mini-mart, the bar, and the barber shop all sat across from each other at a four way intersection. Thus, Dan would have an excellent view of any hunter's first two targets. The origin of the supernatural activity, in this case the mini-mart, and the bar. He would be the perfect spy. Dan looked at me strangely.

"Say, Marty, you ain't plannin' on gankin' any a' dose' suckas' now are ya?" He asked, caution evident in his voice. I sighed, shaking my head internally. This was just another downside of being what I was. Everybody thinks you're a murderer. Though I knew I was far from innocent, I had never killed anyone. At least, anyone who didn't deserve it.

"Come on, Danny. In all the time you've known me, have I ever, er, ganked anyone?" I asked him, spreading my hands as if to catch the obvious answer.

"Well, no. But people can change," Dan pointed out. I rolled my eyes.

"Dan, I'm not gonna kill anyone. There, ya happy?" I said, only mildly aggravated. Isaac decided it was time to speak up again.

"You may not. But I will. If it comes to that. I won't let anybody hurt you, Marty. Not again. Not when I can do something about it."

I knew he was saying this now so I wouldn't be able to argue with him. Then I would forget and if he did kill someone Isaac would say he'd said he would. I ground my teeth together and reminded myself that it wasn't going to come to that. I wouldn't let it.

Meanwhile, Dan thought about what I'd spoken aloud.

"Yeah okay, but if anybody comes sniffin' I'm skippin', kay?" He agreed. I nodded.

"Okay, take care of yourself, Danny."

"You too, Marty." I smiled at him and began to walk away. Isaac pushed himself off the wall and trudged behind me, complaining loudly.

"Make sure you take care of yourself too, Issac! I'd hate myself if anything happened to you, Isaac! I wouldn't be able to survive without you, Isaac! Thanks Marty, your friendship means everything to me!" He said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Ugh! Why do I even bother?"

I smirked giving him the sign for 'I love you' behind my back.

"Aw shut up!"

But I knew he was smiling.

~So, I'm thankful for my sister even though sometimes we fight When high school wasn't easy, she's the reason I survived. I know she'd never leave me and I hate to see her cry. I just wanna tell her that I'm always by her side. I just wanna tell her that...

The worlds not perfect, but it’s not that bad. If we've got each other and that’s all we have I will be your brother and I'll hold your hand You should know I'll be there for you When the world's not perfect When the world's not kind If we have each other then we'll both be fine I will be your brother and I'll hold your hand You should know I'll be there for you.

I will always be there for you.~

Lyrics from: If We Have Each Other by Alec Benjamin

[waywardfangirl]

I was incredibly fortunate to get to write for the wonderful @fight-surrender in the Carry On Secret Snowflake exchange, and she gave some of the best prompts I've seen. I ended up choosing to write a meet-cute (a meet-ugly, really) that takes place on the beach and centers around Simon's new fixation on the supposed dangers lurking below the waves.

I have to give a giant thank you to @foolofabookwyrm and @caitybuglove23 for being excellent betas, cheerleaders, and for helping me get the fic formatted and posted when my computer stopped working - you guys are the best! 💜💜💜

You can read the fic below, or on AO3!

Simon

 

I've always wanted to go to the beach. Growing up in care, I never had the opportunity to, but now that Penny and I are done with university and enjoying weekends without the threat of homework hanging over our heads, I finally can. Of course, we don't live close to the beach, so our day trip took some planning, but it gave me time to look up all the best places to eat, and it gave Penny time to watch every possible documentary about the ocean. I watched a lot of them with her, and while I know I probably won't see all of the tropical fish that swam across our TV screen, I'm still really excited to see the ocean. 

 

Unfortunately, I also happened to be in the room while Penny watched some show called “Predators from the Deep”, or something along those lines, so my excitement is also tinged with trepidation (or outright fear) of some of the things lurking under the waves.

“Sharks aren’t anything to worry about, Simon! They don’t want to attack you, and the likelihood of even seeing a shark here is extremely low.”

 

“It’s not the sharks I’m worried about, Pen! It’s all of the other stuff, all those little parasites, and the poisonous things, and the spiny ones.” The documentary was filled with shadowy shots of spiked balls and spotted tentacles just waiting to attack some unsuspecting wader.

 

“Don’t eat any of it then,” she replies, hardly even paying attention to me as she smooths out her blanket and sets up the umbrella.

 

“What?”

 

“You said you were worried about the poisonous things, so just don’t eat anything you find in the ocean.”

 

“They can hurt me even if I don’t eat them! What about that one octopus?”

 

“That was venomous, not poisonous, there’s a difference.” She squirts sunscreen into her palms and then slaps them lightly onto my cheeks, not allowing me time to squirm away.

 

“Whatever, venomous then, there are still things to be scared of in there!”

 

Penny ducks under the arm I have flung out to point at the ocean with, and grabs two waters from our cooler.

 

“You’ll be fine Simon, I promise.” She shoves a bottle into my hands. “Rub in your sun cream, and let’s walk by the edge of the water, alright? You’ll like it, we can find shells!” She starts off, picking her way through the sand and looking back only once to make sure that I’m following her.

 

It turns out that the water feels quite nice, even soothing. The sounds of the waves and the feel of cool water splashing my ankles combine to make me feel safe. They make me forget about the horrors lurking off-shore.

Penny has a handful of shells and has started handing me others to put in the pocket of my swim shorts. I’ve found a few shells of my own too, but I stopped paying such close attention to the ground about ten minutes ago, when I noticed a man about our own age playing in the waves with his younger siblings.

 

He has dark hair, originally falling around his face but now wet with seawater and slicked back to emphasize his widow’s peak. He’s still too far away for me to tell what color his eyes are, but as Penny and I walk closer I’m able to make out more of his facial expressions. He seems to be putting on sneers for show and occasionally gives bright smiles for the younger kids swarming him. He’s wearing one of those long-sleeved swim shirts, but it’s clinging tight to his body. He looks like he could be a footballer with all of the muscles I can see, even at this distance.

 

I’ve been trying not to stare too openly at him, but I can’t really help it - there’s just something about him that keeps drawing me in.It’s almost as if I’m under some sort of spell or thrall. Right now though, I’m extremely glad I’ve been so captivated by him, because I seem to be the only person on the beach who realizes the danger we’re all in.

 

Curling around the man’s left ankle are the tentacles of an octopus, surely about to stick its fangs into him and inject him with its venom (or whatever it is octopuses do to kill people).

 

"Octopus!" I yell. I’m at a loss for any other words, but I’m desperately trying to warn Penny as I sprint off to rescue him.

 

"Ooh, where?" She doesn't sound nearly concerned enough for the looming threat of death hanging over us all, but I'll talk to her about taking proper safety precautions later. Right now, I have to go save the life of the prettiest person I've ever seen.

 

"Octopus! Octopus!" I can't seem to make any other phrases come out of my mouth, but eventually the man looks up to see me barreling towards him, flailing my arms and yelling at the top of my lungs. He raises an eyebrow at me, staying far too calm considering the mortal peril he's in, and glances behind him to see who else I could possibly be talking to.

 

Unfortunately, that means he's not paying attention enough to sidestep me when the combination of my momentum and adrenalin send me toppling into him. We both splash down into the small waves lapping at the sand and I scramble to extricate myself from his long limbs as quickly as possible, crawling down to examine his ankles and prepared to risk my own life if I have to pull the octopus off of him.

 

"What are you doing? " His voice is lovely and posh, the vowels round and smooth and expensive.

 

"Saving your life, mate, you're welcome by the way," I grunt as I make another unsuccessful grab for the tentacles.

 

"From what? All you've done so far is endanger me, pushing me down and holding me in the water." He pauses. "If this is your attempt at murder by drowning, I think I pity you. First, you caused a scene by yelling the whole way down the beach before you assaulted me, and now you're not even bothering to hold my head under this truly pathetic amount of water. You're an absolute disaster."

 

"I told you—" (why are these tentacles so hard to grab,) "I'm not trying to kill you, I'm trying to save you."

 

"Save me from what, exactly?"

 

Ha! I've got you now, evil cephalopod!

 

"This!"

 

I hold the octopus up in triumph, feeling the water drip onto my sodden hair.

 

"From… a clump of seaweed?"

 

"What? No. No, it's an octopus."

 

Slowly, I lower the mass in my hand down to eye level, and immediately I feel my cheeks flame in embarrassment.

 

"Oh. Right. Sorry, then."

 

I try to push back from him and stand up, but my hand won't release the seaweed (it really did look like an octopus!). When I try to move a wave hits me, washing the sand out from under my foot and making me flounder for a few moments, only compounding my embarrassment. When I finally look up at the man I accidentally assaulted, he seems entirely unbothered by anything. He's lounging back on his elbows, somehow managing to look down his nose at me even though I'm sitting up fully now, and it's simply unfair how defined his abs are, even under his shirt.

 

"Do you make a habit of doing things like this?"

 

His eyes are too intense for me to look at any longer, they're a grey color that seems to be shifting to reflect the ocean behind me, and I have to busy myself with peeling the green fronds of seaweed away from my fingers.

 

"Like what?"

 

"Attacking strangers or playing the hero, take your pick."

 

"Sorry. I thought it was an octopus and I didn't want you to die," I mumble. This prick should be grateful, where does he get off being so smug anyway?

 

"Why on earth would I have died from an octopus touching me?"

 

"Because they're one of the most deadly creatures on earth!"

 

"What? No they're not. Not the ones around here, anyway. The blue ringed octopus is incredibly deadly, but it lives in the Pacific Ocean."

 

"But, couldn't they-"

 

He levels me with a look that could probably set me on fire.

 

"Mordelia!" One of the children comes running over from where they fled when I tackled their brother. She looks to be about twelve or thirteen, and while she isn't quite as dark and villainous looking as her brother she still has his same air of superiority. "Does this gentleman need to be worried about being attacked, maimed, or killed by any octopuses while swimming today?"

 

This kid - Mordelia, I guess - levels me with the most condescending look I have ever seen, and just scoffs . Actually scoffs at me, like I'm an imbecile. (Although, I still have seaweed stuck to me, so she may be onto something there.)

 

"No. Most accounts of cephalopod attacks can't be proven, and the few that have been entirely substantiated occurred in vastly different habitats or under circumstances that this beach couldn't support."

 

With that, she turns and runs back to the rest of her family, leaving me with only a parting eye roll.

 

"She's going through a marine biology phase."

 

It's the first thing the dark haired man has said to me in a casual manner, and I startle a bit. 

 

"Did you also have a marine biology phase?"

 

I think my question catches him off-guard, and I smirk.

 

"Perhaps," he answers after a beat. "But Mordelia's has been going on for three years now, so we think it may actually stick. Mine dried up after only a few months."

 

He smiles at me for the first time since I knocked him over, and it's almost painful how handsome he is, sprawled out elegantly on the beach like he's in an ad for expensive watches or cologne or something, and I can't believe I tackled him because of some stupid seaweed.

 

"I had a dinosaur phase," I confess, smiling back at him.

 

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" I reach down to help him up, and I'm shocked at how cold his fingers are, and how much I want to warm them up in my own. It's too bad I made such a horrible first impression, I would otherwise be sorely tempted to ask him out on a date. "What's your name, by the way? You've already attacked me, had we been in cars we would have exchanged names and proofs of insurance by now."

 

I’m such a mess. I didn't even think to ask what his name was.

 

"Simon. I'm Simon."

 

I go to shake his hand, and then realize that we're still holding hands, and I feel my cheeks grow redder still.

 

"Hello Simon, I'm Baz. It's nice to meet you, although the next time we meet I sincerely hope you can refrain from throwing yourself quite so bodily at me before we've even said hello."

 

"Yeah, umm, I'm sorry, really, I-" My brain catches up with my mouth. "Wait, did you say next time? "

 

His mouth curls up into a grin, and he gives my hand a squeeze as I try to figure out how I messed up so badly and things still worked out so well.

 

"Of course. For our first date, perhaps we can go to the aquarium and you can see what an octopus really looks like."

[judgement-free-sideblog]

Dancing lessons

Hi!! I'm sorry, this one took forever, I had a Dengue Virus outbreak to deal with for the last three weeks and I even had the damn thing myself, not funny, wouldn't recommend it, it felt like shit and I had to skip work two days, thankfully no mortal victims, at least not on my watch, but the town is still recovering, anyway work is crazy and that's why I haven't update anything, I'm really sorry

Summary: Barry is finally cast in a feature, the problem? He said he could dance and now he can either disappoint Sally or found a way to learn some steps.

Part 1 ● Part 2 ● Part 3 ● Part 4 ● Part 5 ● Part 6 ● Part 7 ● Part 8 ● Epilogue

Warnings: Swearing, blood, violence, guns, cheating maybe.

Part 4

The lights on your studio were still on when you entered, and the dry blood on the floor made a horrible sight that almost made you faint again, thankfully a strong arm was holding you since you get out of the car, and he was looking at the floor too.

"I can clean that if you want" He said helping you sit down on a chair. "I'm not sure if you should climb your stairs yet"

"Thanks, that would be great. I would say leave it but I have class early tomorrow and is not a nice view for a bunch of 4 year olds" you said thinking about the wooden floor and how much damage the blood would cause, and Barry walk inside the storage closet looking for a mop.

"Then I will leave it there, you are insane if you think you are going to give any class tomorrow" He came back with the cleaning supplies and gave you a judging look, lacking any authority since he was holding a bottle of detergent in on hand and a bucket in the other.

"Fine mom, I'll cancel" you held your hands high in surrender "Actually I can use a day off, I have this terrible student in the afternoon, he is a pain in the ass" You said and he rolled his eyes at you while rolling up his sleeves and starting to clean the floor.

An hour later the floor was spotless, he had an odd talent cleaning up blood, and made a funny shocked face when you pointed it out, the clock announce it was merely 8:00 pm and you had to remain awake until 6:00 am at least.

"I feel well enough to go upstairs, you can leave now" you told him hoping he would listen since his presence made you feel uneasy at times.

"No way, the doctor gave me a list of things to check up every couple hours, and if I leave you would fall asleep, but let's go get you upstairs, you will be more comfortable on your couch" He said approaching with the clear intention of carrying you on his arms.

"I can walk, that won't be necessary" You said quickly, ignoring the idea of how wonderful would it be to be held in those arms.

Maybe that was the reason you had end up screaming in the first place, an elaborate defense mechanism your brain set up in motion to ignore the growing feelings you had every time he enter the studio, every time you held his hand and forced down your waist while you were dancing, and the longing in your skin asking for more.

Of course there was handsome men in your class every now and then, grooms, fathers of the bride, actors, etc. and you had always conduct yourself professionally regardless the clear intentions some of them may have. And you have always respected your marriage with Alan even in the worst of times. But Barry was different, there was just something about the way he looked at you that make you want to scream and run away because it terrifies you how easily you could fall for him.

"Are you feeling nauseous?" He asked once you were sitting on the couch, and you nodded no "Tired? Clouded vision? Having incoherent thoughts?" He continued reading the list the doctor gave him.

"I believe I'm a big green marshmallow queen of the north pole, but that's normal right?" You say dead serious and he hide a grin behind the white sheet of paper.

"Very funny, we should call the doctor and share the joke with her" he said seriously.

"Fine, I'm sorry. I have a minor pain in my head, but I can see and hear perfectly clear, I remember everything that had happened clearly and I don't feel like vomiting" you said and he put the list away satisfied with your answers. "I'm sorry I'm being an imposition to you, I'm sure you had plans" You continued and he opened his mouth to reply he was staying once again so you keep talking before he did "And since you are staying here at least let me fix you something to eat, is late and I don't think you have eaten". You stood up and he followed you to the kitchen.

"You really don't have to, I can make a sandwich if you tell me where things are, or we could order something, I don't think you should be near sharp objects" He plead alarmed when you took out a large knife from a drawer.

"Fine, but I'm paying, and once again I can assure you this is nothing I have had worst" you said putting down the cutting board and opening the fridge to offer him a beer "once I broke my leg in 3 pieces" you said confidently showing him a long thin scar on the side of your leg and suddenly feeling exposed since you haven't change from your dancing clothes, and you didn't feel the same confidence wearing them outside the studio.

"I've been shoot, a lot" he said lifting part of his shirt showing you a couple scars, not helping the situation in your mind.

"Ok war hero, you win, can you please order the food, I am going to change, feel yourself at home" You said patting his hand urging him to cover and hurrying to your room away from him.

***

Y/N took forever to come out and when she finally did she was wearing a comfortable pajama, and was drying her hair with a towel.

"You took a shower?" Barry asked upset "You could have fallen"

"But thankfully I didn't, I have to I was covered in blood and I need to find a way to cover this" She pointed at the place the doctor have shaved her hair and she tried to hide it with a lock of hair.

"I'm sure the parents would understand you had an accident" he said confused by her despair.

"Yeah, they will mostly, but Alan would make a big deal out of it and I'm sure he will use it as an excuse to keep pushing me into selling the studio" She said letting her hair alone and crawling onto the couch.

"Why would he do that?" He asked trying to be interested and ignoring the pinch of jealousy he felt once again when she mentioned his name "I mean you do charge a lot but you have many clients"

"Is not about the business, he just thinks I should sale the studio to Macy since she knows how to run it, and move with him to Dallas or Colorado or whenever his company wants him, that way he would be home every night to see our children" She said exasperated at the idea.

"Children?" He asked a bit shocked since she never had mentioned any children before.

"The hypothetical children we will have in case I actually leave this place behind" She said with a sad look on her face.

"So you don't want to have children?" He asked now genuinely interested. "I mean it's okay if you don't" he said quickly.

"Honestly?" She asked and he nodded "I really don't know, I mean when I was 22 and dancing in Moscow I have this crazy fantasy that I would retire in glory from ballet at 32 and meet a wonderful man and have a girl and she would be a great dancer by the age of 4." She had a sad smile on her face as if she could see herself in the moment she was describing.

"Moscow? As in Russia?" He asked.

"Yep, I was about to become a Prima Ballerina, then I broke my leg and every money I had went to surgery and recovery and suddenly I was no longer fitting to play Odette, or any major role and eventually like three years after I have to come back, I worked in Broadway for a while, that's when I met Alan"

"Sounds romantic" he said sarcastically making her laugh

"It was, at least at first, but then I had another lesion in my ankle so I was no longer able to work there either, and he was nice and sweet and he was with me, so we got married and end up here, five years later dealing with moms that feel their children would be next Maria Kowroski"

Barry's phone start ringing and he went downstairs to pick up the food, when he came back she was holding a big photo album in her lap.

"I haven't seen one of those in forever" He said entering the apartment holding the bag with Chinese food. "I thought everyone had digital albums these days"

"They do, but you can't do this to digital pictures" She said showing him burned hole in one of the photos. "Kids these days, what would they burn when they break up with a boyfriend? Anyway I'm starving" she pointed to the kitchen so they could eat.

They share an animated meal talking about how life and technology was passing by them, maybe a little lost resentful than usually since they both have the same opinions on the matter.

"Did you told him?" He asked after a while, he was leaning back in his chair looking at her finishing some noodles. "About not wanting kids I mean"

"Of course I did, since we were dating,but he had this idea that he would make me change my mind, and I was sure I would make him change his. Now we have civil dinners when he is home and pretend we are not angry at the way this marriage turned out, just waiting for one of us to give up and accept the other terms" She said and her bluntness took him by surprise again.

"I'm sorry" he said with a sad frown on his face "Earlier when I said this was your dream job and that your situation is perfect, I have no idea and I'm sorry"

"Don't be, I shouldn't have to try and prove you wrong forcing myself to do the Odile's Coda, since I'm clearly not in shape to do it" She smile at him and pointed the injury in her head.

"Well that only make it worse, why would you need to prove anything to me? I'm really sorry"

"Relax, you already making up for it being here, and is only 10:00 pm, do you want to play a board game? I would say we watch a movie but I would fall asleep quicker that way" She said and he agreed.

They played scrabble, bringing out some dark competitive instincts on both of them, only interrupted when Barry took a couple trips to the bathroom to call Sally who was not upset at all that he had canceled their dinner since she had this amazing party to go to.

By 3:00 am and feeling extremely tired and looking at her about to give up he call the hospital, the doctor kindly told him she was clear to sleep, news he took gratefully, but before he could tell her she was already curled in the couch, he sit next to her and let her rest her head on his chest, maybe when they woke up he could feel guilt and remorse about it, maybe he would have to stay away from her since he was obviously interested in her but at that moment he was very comfortable and lost in the smell of her hair to care about anything else.

@meraki--mei

[sirchubbybunny]

Here we go again. I'm sure I'll find myself staring aimlessly at the ceiling soon enough, counting every crevice and pock mark in the off-white tiles like sheep until I free fall deep into that good rest. I can only hope that in it, I cross that starry field before she follows me down. It's far too late to cry at this hour.

These last few days have been nice, but today was noticeably better. There was magic in the mundane and even with the sweltering heat, I felt like I was stepping into autumn yet again. We got to kick back in VC again, something we haven't done in a while. It's probably silly to get emotional about, but she tagged me to let me know she would be playing some stuff - saying she knows it perks me up, but there was no pressure if I was busy. For her, I'd drop everything without a second thought. It was an incredibly thoughtful gesture and it's just been on my mind all day.

I got in a moment late, like part way into a song, but I immediately was awashed in a wave of calm coolness. It felt like the first time all over again, and in that moment, it was just us and a friend listening to her original material and covers. Even when she fumbled and changed things up, it was still sweet and wonderful. She played some songs that she said usually gets her to cry without fail and made it into a game to see if she could get through playing it without tearing up. She nailed it 3/3.

I guess I learned that she gets emotional over The Lumineers, and hearing songs like Sleep on the Floor and Cleopatra through a new lens hits so much differently now. It's one of those things where you learn something new about your friends and how personal it feels for them to splay something like that in the open. I don't think I'll be able to hear this album again without her in mind now, much like how I'm sure she associates me with Treasure Planet and some of the music I introduced her to.

I flew close to the sun and I can barely feel the sunburn on my back and wings. I'm free falling back to earth, eyes closed as I wait to crash in the calm of the evening sea. But, should a sudden wave take me under, I hope in my last moment as the waters rush to flood my lungs, I'll feel a glow to lull me into that good sleep. In the haze that clouds my eyes, I won't be alone but in good company with memories of late night talks, cups of coffee, and laughing at jokes no one else would understand. I can hear our mutuals talk about how they associate us with one another with how close we've gotten; like pagan and idol or an old married couple where she's my server wife and I'm her husband - something we still roll with today.

I'll rest my heavy eyes and bask in the cosmic divine, where every shimmering star and swirling galaxy that reaches out to hold my gaze. I'll wander for an eternity until I find something special, something captivating that fills me with such awe and splendor in the same way that her eyes effortlessly hold up the sky. I will watch a thousand universes live and die during my travels, trekking to the farthest reaches of the cosmic horizon. Still, in the rippling of every alternate universe and timeline, even the most luminous of celestial bodies would fall to her feet in sweet surrender.

But, the night is for resting. I'll return to counting sheep and every twinkling star that I can trace across the black abyss. In it, I'll find solace in knowing we share the same sky and even when I feel alone, I can look up and know the stars are watching over her. I'll turn to them in reverence and hope they hear my call and that should I wake with the rising of the sun, that I'll come to with the news that she survived the night and we have another day to enjoy each other's company while we traverse the strange and mysterious road that life has in store for us. In the uncertainty of the battlefield, I felt her say this war isn't over yet, and to walk with a friend so loving and true, is like stepping into the sun.

Oh, heart, be still. Now it's time to rest. It's far too late to cry at this hour...

[anoutlandishfanfic]

Part Two, Chapter Seven; In the Days Between - Part Two.

This chapter explores Julia’s life in the future. Julia (aka Faith) has been separated from Claire in their journey thru the stones and arrives in 2007. A nurse at the hospital she is rushed to quickly takes responsibility for her, accepting her as her own child. Part Two finds us about two and a half years after Julia arrives in the future.

You can find previous chapters here.

New Years Eve, 2010; Boston, Massachusetts. Nurse Katie Campbell

I hated parties like this. The only people I knew were the host and hostess, my cousin Michael and his wife Tiffany, and their immediate family. They were all occupied with their hosting roles, leaving me to float aimlessly from room to room in search of meaningful conversation.

Sitting in the corner of a plush sofa in the family room, I absently listened to the coverage of the ball drop events in New York City. All of the children had congregated here too, leaving me in ample company, albeit noisy. Julia adored her older cousins and had no interest in me. I could have left the state all together and I don't think she would have cared, as long as I was back by bedtime.

The countdown clock read two hours to midnight. If I just stayed here and hid among the children, would anyone notice? A tall, dark haired man sat down on the other end of the couch and I mentally sighed. I'd have to find a new spot soon.

“You look like you're having about as much fun as I am.” He commented. I turned and found him looking extraordinarily bored.

I cocked an eyebrow and raised my glass of wine, “I don't know what you mean, I'm having the time of my life.”

A huge grin spread across his face, making me realize with a start just how handsome he was. There were worse people to crash my hideout.

“So, how do you know Michael and Tiffany?” Came the standard, safe question.

“He’s my cousin,” I answered for the fiftieth time tonight, “his father is my uncle.”

Recognition lit his face, “Ah, so you're Katie.”

“And you would be?” I asked pointedly over the rim of my wine glass.

“Luke Murray, sorry.” He had the good grace to look a little embarrassed. “My son Max and I live across the street. Michael’s talked quite a bit about you.”

Ah, yes. The neighbor Tiffany tries to hook me up with every time we visit. According to her, we were perfect for each other.

I responded dryly, “And Tiffany about you.”

He laughed, a deep, resonant sound that sent an electrical current up my spine.

So what if he's attractive, Catherine Anne. He also has a kid and lives on a completely different continent. Ignore it.

“It seems they've been conspiring against us.” He commented.

“I would have used the word matchmaking, but conspiring works too.”

He grinned unabashedly, “You're not quite what I imagined you'd be.”

I snorted, “Neither are you.”

Somehow I had always imagined an overweight, balding man in his forties, despite Tif’s gushing descriptions. Luke Murray was about as far from out of shape as a person could be. He wore a loose fitting shirt, but I could tell he hid abs of steel beneath. The jeans he wore could hide many a fault, but I would bet my life his calves would rival Hercules himself.

No chance, no way. Get a grip.

Julia ran past me squealing with glee as Jake, Michael’s middle child, chased her around the couch. She launched herself into Luke's lap shouting, “Save me from the dragon, Prince Charming!”

Luke didn't even flinch, but hoisted her over his shoulder as he stood and charged after the fire breathing beast. He skillfully set Julia down and tacked Jake in one fell swoop. The eight year old boy erupted into a fit of giggles as Luke tickled him.

“Let the princess go or I'll… I’ll…” he punted. Then, seized with an idea, held the squirming child upside down and shook him gently, looking very much like someone trying to empty a piggy bank of its coins. “Or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll tickle you until you cry for mercy!”

Jake quickly surrendered, and he and Julia scurried off to join whatever game the other children were playing.

“Mike said you had a daughter, right?” Luke asked with a huge grin, and I found myself grinning right back as I nodded.

“She would be the fair maiden you just rescued,” I laughed.

His eyes grew wide with astonishment, “That adorable sweetheart is yours? She told me earlier that I was her Prince Charming because my shirt matched her eyes. Oh, and that she had extra shoes packed in case she loses one at the party tonight.”

“You should be flattered, she doesn’t pass that title out to just anybody,” I felt my cheeks grow warm. Prince Charming, indeed.

“I’m deeply flattered,” he assured me, placing a hand over his heart in over dramatic sincerity. “I’m just glad I’m not the one who has to tell her she can’t have a pony for Christmas.”

I laughed, thinking of the spoiled creature who lived at my brother’s house. “She already has one.”

…

“Hello again,” Luke said as he stepped into the doorway beside me.

I smiled in greeting. We had gone our separate ways to attend to our respective children in the last hour, but somehow both wound up back in the media room. “Still here?” I asked.

He groaned, rolling his eyes. “Max is a night owl and having the time of his life. Me, on the other hand…”

“I found Julia sound asleep in the corner of the laundry room with the dog.” I commented, shaking my head at the memory.

“Smart girl,” he chuckled.

She certainly had the right idea in disappearing. If our bed hadn’t been used as the coat depository, I would have vanished with her in tow long ago, claiming it was her bedtime. She may have protested, but, as she was the youngest child still in attendance, I didn’t think anyone would have thought much of it.

“Five minutes!” someone shouted drunkenly.

I sighed, “At least it's almost midnight.”

The crowd in the media room was thick and Luke moved to let someone exit the room, looking after them in envy of their departure. “Can I get you a refill?”

“Yes, please,” I answered, all but shoving my glass into his hand.

…

Maybe it was the wine or maybe it was the festive, holiday spirit, but the close proximity of a certain Luke Murray was doing strange things to my adrenaline levels. He stood beside me, leaning against the back wall of the room as we watched the final minutes of 2010 tick by. I was hypersensitive to the brush of his sleeve against my arm, the smell of his cologne, his nonverbal reactions to the people around us.

He tipped his head in my direction, commenting, “You know, it’s good luck to kiss a redhead on the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve.”

“You’re making that up,” I replied as my heart thundered violently in my chest.

He chuckled, “Maybe the redheaded part, but not the rest.”

I frantically tried to think of something witty to say, but before I could, the tv announced that it was ten seconds until midnight and the room around us got considerably louder.

Luke leaned closer and his breath tickled my ear as he asked, “May I?”

Nine, eight, seven…

I looked at him, breath catching in my throat. His face was wonderfully near mine, his eyes asking in such a way that I nodded without really realizing I had until his face drew closer still.

Six, five, four…

Slipping my arm between him and the wall, my hand rested in the curve of his lower back. Luke responded in kind and drew my body to his. He was wonderfully solid, his unwavering strength and concentration supported me in a way I’d never felt before.

Three…

Two…

…

Christmas Morning, 2013; Boston, Massachusetts

“Mooooooom, Max won’t share his candy!” Julia’s voice floated up the stairs.

“It’s not my fault you ate all of yours already!” The teenager responded, followed by loud footfalls in the living room below as Max presumably evaded his stepsister’s reach.

Luke groaned, pulling me closer. His words were jumbled and run together with sleep. “‘Mnotreadyforthis.”

Another volley sounded between the siblings and I grinned when Julia switched to Gaelic. I could hear them clatter up the stairs and braced myself for impact.

“Yeah, well, same to you!” Max shouted as the door to our bedroom flew open and Julia launched herself onto the bed. She scrambled over Luke to my side, scurrying under the blankets.

“Your hands are freezing!” I protested as she latched herself onto me.

The bed shifted again, less violently this time, as Max climbed aboard and began to poke her from the relative safety of the other side of the bed. Julia reared up, flinging the blankets off and sending an even colder blast of air into my warm cocoon. She lunged towards him and put just enough pressure on my abdomen to make the babe within me turn somersaults in complaint.

“Oof,” I groaned.

Julia froze, looking down at me in concern. “Did I hurt the baby?”

“No,” I answered, “but he isn’t overly pleased with being tackled this early in the morning.”

“Neither am I,” Luke said gruffly, peeking out of one eye.

“She!” Julia insisted, then patted my growing bump. “Sorry.”

Max grinned sheepishly but made no move to leave, echoing, “Sorry.”

“Go back down stairs and we’ll be there in a minute,” I pushed the eight and a half year old bulk off of me. They did so without complaint, leaving us alone once again.

I rolled onto my side and pressed myself against my husband, melting into him as he curved himself around me. His hands instinctively gravitated towards his child, whispering “Merry Christmas” to the both of us.

[chiyalawritesrewind]

Rewind, Chapter 17

Fanfic: [ch1] [ch2] [ch3] [ch4] [ch5] [ch6] [ch7] [ch8] [ch9] [ch10] [ch11] [ch12] [ch13] [ch14] [ch15] [ch16] [ch17 on AO3] [ch17 on ffn]

Podfic: [ch1] [ch2] [ch3] [ch4] [ch5] (Rest coming soon)

Pairing: Gratsu - Gray Fullbuster / Natsu Dragneel ; Acnologia / Zeref

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Major Character Death; Graphic Depiction of Violence

Summary: When a mission turns out to be fatal for one of the team members, Natsu finds himself being given another chance to change the events.

Additional information: weekly updates; every Sunday.

Beta by @serpenttailedangel and @wildrhov <333

Tagging list: @f-r-f-t @truedreamchasing @mushi0131 @eitomagical @thatartcorner @eternalsterekbitches @becausewhenyoupracticeyouimprove @oliversantics @nekodemon73 @moonlustelara @pantykawa (if somebody else wants to be tagged [or not tagged anymore] in the future, please let me know!)

Notes: The whole chapter is in Gray’s POV.

Enjoy!

Day 9 Part 2

As soon as Gray entered the guild hall, Lucy was before him. She looked worried and anxious.

"Where's Natsu?"

"He's outside. On the backside of the guild."

Lucy rounded him and wanted to make for the door, but Gray grabbed her wrist and whirled her around.

"Wait. He's... different."

"Different how?"

"I think he's... turned crazy. Lost his mind."

Lucy's eyes widened in horror and her hand came up to cover her mouth. Her eyes told him that she was expecting an explanation. But he wasn't ready to tell her. He nearly had sex with Natsu, there was no way he'd tell this to anyone. It had to be a vague explanation.

"He said that I did some things I didn't do. He tried to make me believe that he could see the future, and he hinted that I would die...? It's creepy, honestly. He reached out for me, didn't stop even when I told him to. So I hit his stomach and ran away."

"You did what?"

Oh shit. Lucy gave off some scary vibes. What had he done wrong?

"My voice didn't reach him anymore. It's as if his mind is controlled by somebody. He isn't the Natsu I know. He changed. You'll notice it, too."

"And why didn't you ask him for an explanation?"

"I..." Gray took a step back and let go of Lucy's hand. Her angry stare was too much, and he felt guilty even though he still thought that his reaction was reasonable.

"He's reliving this day for the ninth time now. He's seen you die eight times already. Ultear turns back time, and nobody but him can retain their memory. He's trying to save your life, but until now he hasn’t been successful. Can you even imagine what he must be going through? He doesn't need you to add insult to injury."

Gray flinched, his head spinning. He needed a moment to understand what she'd just said, torn between feeling extremely guilty and doubting her. But what reason did she have to lie? She looked seriously troubled, and she wasn't the kind of person to play pranks. However, her explanation had a flaw.

"If nobody remembers, then how would you know? Have you already talked to him today?"

"No, but he has a diary which has been enchanted by Ultear, and he let me rip out some pages the previous time. I wrote down everything that's important and put it on my desk. It stays there even though time is turned back. I wrote down that Natsu's mental state is unstable, and that we have to take care of him. I can't believe what you did to him."

With that, she stormed off, leaving a dumbfounded Gray behind.

'What the hell? Ultear? Natsu trying to save my life? This is the ninth time? Natsu's mental state... unstable? True, he did seem out of it, but this...? Oh my god, if that's true then that means... I'll die... Holy shit! I have less than a day left to live!'

Gray wobbled outside the guild and leaned against the façade. He clutched his chest, trying hard to prevent himself from having a panic attack, reasoning that he wasn't going to stay dead.

'That's right. Natsu's trying his best to save me. He's in a bad mental state because of this. He's been through so much pain and heartache, yet he's not giving up. Shit! I'm such a fool! What the hell did I just do? I'm despicable! Natsu... oh god, I'm so sorry... Fuck!'

Still a bit wobbly, he went to the backside of the guild hall, finding Natsu—still naked—in Lucy's arms. She patted his head soothingly and when she noticed Gray approaching, she shot him a venomous glare.

He didn't let himself be held back by it, determined to make up for his actions. Because if what she said was true, then everything Natsu said had to be true as well. And he'd said that he was in love with Gray—no matter how hard to grasp this was—and that they'd already had sex. It would explain Natsu's confident demeanor earlier. He'd known that Gray wouldn't refuse. Hell, they'd probably even talked about exactly this situation already.

Upon getting closer, Gray noticed little sniffs coming from Natsu. He made him cry. Shit.

"You've already done enough. Leave him alone," Lucy bit out.

Natsu stiffened in her arms and then turned his head carefully until his gaze met Gray's. Natsu's eyes were red and teary.

Gray took another tentative step forward, hoping that he wouldn't scare Natsu. Lucy bared her teeth at him, tightening her grip on Natsu protectively. Gray had never seen her be that scary.

"Relax, Lucy. I'm here to apologize."

"I swear, if you dare hurt him again, I'll—"

"If I dare hurt him again, I'll surrender myself to you and Erza. I'll be careful, I promise. There's no way I'd ever intentionally hurt the one I love..."

Her eyebrows creased, and she inspected Gray's features closely. She seemed to be satisfied with what she found there because she sagged against Natsu, her expression softening tangibly.

"Fine. Then talk."

Natsu turned his body fully towards Gray, but Lucy seemed unwilling to let him go. Her arms were still around him, now hugging him from behind while Natsu sat between her legs. His knees were drawn so that his private parts were covered. They both looked at Gray expectantly, remnants of Natsu's tears still running down his cheeks. This was very awkward. Gray wanted to be alone with Natsu, but he'd probably have to convince Lucy of his good intentions first.

He sat on the ground two steps away from them. "Natsu... I'm sorry I didn't believe you. I'm sure you already know, but... You're the most important person to me."

Gray gulped and looked nervously at Lucy who gave him an encouraging nod. However, this was getting too private for Gray's liking.

"Err... No offense, but could you please leave us alone?"

Lucy's expression clearly said that she wanted to object, but Natsu patted her hand. "It's okay. You can leave us alone," he assured her. "It was my fault anyway."

"How can you say that? Gray didn't believe you."

"No. I know from experience that he doesn't believe me unless I give him a logical explanation and I didn't do that this time. Everything that happens is caused by me because I am the only one who remembers and thus the only one who can change the events."

Lucy let out a heavy sigh. "Well, yeah, but even so... Gray could've reacted more mildly."

"He said he's sorry, and I know he'll take good care of me like he's done all the other times. Please go now."

"Okay, okay. If there's anything you need me for, I'll be there."

She released him and got to her feet, strode over to where Natsu's discarded clothes lay scattered, picked them up, and dropped them into Natsu's lap. She shot Gray a warning glare and then went back inside.

Not wanting to scare Natsu any more than he probably already had, Gray stayed where he was. Now that Lucy was gone, his nervousness spiked. He cleared his throat, noticing that his hands were sweaty and trembled slightly. He folded them firmly together and pressed them into his lap, hoping that Natsu wouldn't notice.

What exactly made him nervous, he couldn't tell. Whether it was the fact that he'd die if this was true, or because he was worried about Natsu's wellbeing, or even because he couldn't quite believe yet that his feelings were reciprocated, he didn't know. Probably a mixture of everything. What he did know was that this was a delicate issue, and he needed to go about it carefully. Steeling himself mentally, he looked up and met Natsu's red-rimmed eyes.

"So... everything she said is true, and you're reliving the day?"

Natsu nodded, biting his lip.

What to say next? This was like walking on a mine field. What exactly could he bring up that wouldn't make Natsu sad? Or worse, give him a panic attack? Was that even a thing? Was it already that bad? According to Lucy, this was the ninth time and Natsu had seen him die eight times already. No matter how much Gray tried, he couldn't even begin to imagine how he would feel like if he'd already seen Natsu die eight times. His head spun with the mere thought of it, and suddenly his throat felt constricted, leaving him unable to say even one more word.

"Come here... if you want to, that is," Natsu said in a soft tone, reaching out for Gray, but not moving from his spot. He gave Gray the choice to get closer this time. A pang of guilt and regret surged through Gray's body, making him want to flinch—a reaction he suppressed with difficulty. It would make Natsu draw the wrong conclusion and that was something he wanted to strictly avoid.

Gray crawled toward Natsu, entwining their hands as soon as they came into reach. He knew that Natsu was technically still naked, but at least the clothes Lucy had dumped on him covered his crotch. So, Gray didn't think twice before crawling into Natsu's lap and pushing him gently backward until Natsu was caught between the soft grass and Gray's body, their fingers still entangled.

Natsu's eyes were shiny from the tears, and he looked utterly broken. There were so many emotions in his eyes, all negative. Guilt, sadness, hurt, doubt, grief, fatigue. How had he been able to mask them all, earlier?

"Gray... I'm sorry for what happened. I should've known better."

"Don't apologize. I should've... I shouldn't have... I mean, my behavior was... totally uncalled for... I'm sorry. So sorry..."

Natsu didn't show any sign that he'd heard him. Instead, he asked, "Do you still trust me?"

Gray kicked himself mentally because he'd always thought his trust in Natsu to be unshakable. And yet he'd doubted Natsu's sanity just a few minutes ago. What a jerk he was!

"Yes, I do."

"I might have an idea how to save your life, but it would require blind faith..."

"Let's hear it."

Natsu bit his lip, turning his head sideways to avoid Gray's gaze when he spoke.

"The first two times, someone killed you... And from the third day on, you always died of a heart attack, always at the exact same time... That means the cause of your death varies depending on the circumstances. Or maybe there are just those two options. In order to find out, we'd have to take a shot at it."

"Meaning?"

Natsu gulped, then turned his head back, meeting Gray's stare head-on. "What I want to say is that I'd like to create a potentially deadly situation for you when the time has come, only to save you in the last second. To kinda... trick fate? It's just a shot in the dark though."

That was indeed... special. The idea of purposely endangering his life seemed absurd. He hadn't yet fully wrapped his head around the fact that he was going to die in the first place, and now he should do something to forward the issue? To commit suicide? Or nearly commit suicide. Was that even possible?

"What gave you that idea?"

This question wasn't something Gray deemed worthy blushing about, but Natsu blushed anyway.

"Uh... we nearly had sex earlier... And my behavior was what prevented it from happening. So, I wondered... What if I could do the same with your death? I can't prevent a heart attack, so there's nothing to do there. But the first two times were different, yet there's no chance I could save you from that if it ever were to happen again. I thought, if fate has an alternative cause of death planned for you, something where I could step in..."

"Okay. What makes you so sure that it's fate causing my death?"

"I'm not sure. It's a shot in the dark. Maybe you're cursed. But on the fourth day, Porlyusica said something... 'The death of somebody whose time on earth is over can't be averted.' It implied fate."

"She told you something like that and you didn't ask what she meant by it?"

Natsu flinched, a shadow passing over his face. Uh-oh. He'd been too harsh. Shit, this was difficult. Gray wasn't used to dealing with a mentally unstable Natsu. Was there any way to take it back, to ease Natsu's pain?

"I-it was shortly after y-your... death... I w-wasn't—"

"Shhh. Shit, I'm sorry. Forget that I asked. Shit. Shhh, I'm right here, focus on me, look me in the eye. Hey... Don't cry. We'll find a way. How about we go to Porlyusica's and ask her? I have to admit, I'm reluctant to put my life on the line voluntarily. That has nothing to do with my trust in you, it's just... I'm not suicidal. I would never throw my life away. I'm not sure if I could... commit suicide."

The sniffling slowly subsided, and Gray felt the strong urge to kiss Natsu. To comfort him, to let him feel he was there. He wasn't sure Natsu would appreciate such a thing though, so he stopped himself.

"I'm n-not asking you to commit s-suicide. W-well, not directly, anyway."

"Then what?"

"I don't know. We'll have to think about something... suitable. Sorry. I know that's too much to ask... I... I'm sorry. It's probably a stupid idea anyway... I guess I'm just clinging to the tiniest of hopes. Otherwise I'd probably lose my mind."

"That's understandable. What do you think of my proposal to go to Porlyusica?"

With the back of his hand, Natsu rubbed the remnants of his tears away, and then looked at Gray with a determined expression. "Yeah. Let's do that."

They got dressed quickly, and only when they wanted to head towards the guild did Gray notice that Natsu had discarded the vibrator as it was lying out in the open, albeit partly hidden by the grass, but still.

"Natsu, your toy."

"Huh? Oh, that. Yeah, let's just leave it here. It'll return to my room anyway."

"But it's out in the open. What if somebody sees?" Gray felt heat creeping into his cheeks when he thought of somebody finding it there, still slick with lube.

For some reason, Natsu smirked when he answered, "Now we wouldn't want that, right?"

He picked it up, hesitated a moment, and then his grin widened. Gray felt like he was missing something here. His suspicion was confirmed when Natsu took up a straddle-legged position.

Natsu shouted, "Shut up, would you?" and then threw the vibrator into the bushes.

Gray was baffled and wanted to ask who the hell Natsu was addressing, but in the next second he was grabbed by the wrist and prompted to run. Half running, half stumbling, he kept pace with Natsu until they reached Porlyusica's.

They leaned against the façade to catch their breath, when Natsu suddenly burst out laughing.

It was refreshing to see him laugh, but also a bit scary since there was a hysteric touch to the outburst. Should Gray ask Porlyusica if she had tranquilizers? Although that wouldn't make much sense, seeing as the effect would wear off anyway once the day started anew.

After the laughing fit subsided, Natsu sank to the floor, holding his stomach, trying to catch his breath. Gray decided that he didn't need to wait until Natsu could breathe evenly again, and knocked at Porlyusica's door. It took her a while, and he needed to knock insistently several times until she opened the door a crack.

"What? You don't look ill. Go away."

"Nobody's ill—well, at least not physically. We need your advice."

Porlyusica stuck out her head and sniffed at Gray, scrunching up her nose. "You reek of sex. Don't worry, you can't get pregnant. If you want to have your girl tested, you should bring her here. Now, if that's all, would y—"

"My girl is right here, but that's not what we're here for."

Gray stepped aside, revealing Natsu. Her eyes widened.

"Well, in this case I can safely say that neither of you is pregnant."

"Yes, thank you. Can we come in for a bit? We really need your help."

"Take a shower and then come back."

She tried to slam the door, but Gray managed to slide his foot in, regretting doing so the next instant. Damn, that woman was stronger than she looked. Gray's foot hurt, but there was no way he'd let it show and give her satisfaction.

"This is a serious issue. We don't have time. Let us in, please."

Porlyusica shot him a glare, but Gray held it without blinking. After a short staring duel, she sighed and stepped aside to let them in. Natsu had thankfully returned to the current situation with his full attention, not a trace of mirth in his eyes anymore. He was back to being gloomy. Were such massive mood swings a sign of mental instability? It had to be. There was no way Natsu would behave like this under normal circumstances. Gray would really have to be careful in his handling of Natsu.

It turned out that Porlyusica didn't have any concrete information on the matter. She just referred to a very old tale she once picked up somewhere, and when Natsu told her what happened on the evening of the fourth repetition, she frowned and was lost in thought for a while.

Gray noticed that Natsu's gaze wasn't focused on anything in the room—he stared blankly into space. Not knowing what else to do, Gray reached out and gave Natsu's hand a tight squeeze, entangling their fingers. It worked, albeit only temporarily. Natsu gave him a weak smile that was surely meant to be reassuring, but it wasn't convincing at all. Gray was about to say something encouraging, but Porlyusica beat him to the punch.

"If what you say is true and his magic vanished at once the moment he died, then I don't see any way to save him. Magic is needed for a mage to live. His death can't be natural. Normally magic slowly seeps out after the death of a mage. Trying to revive a mage who has no more magic left inside their body is pointless."

Natsu looked at her with a grim expression. "That's why I need to prevent his death before it happens. I already tried to revive him once, and you did, too. But what I didn't really try yet was to intervene before he dies, experiment with the causes of death." Natsu flinched, probably aware of how that sounded.

A guinea pig. But then again, there was no helping it, was there? The only way to make any progress was to try out things, even if that meant to make Gray feel like a test subject. The current conversation did its share to convince Gray of the truth of this belief. Whether he wanted or not, he would die. The awareness hit him once again square in the gut.

'My time is over. Natsu is working his ass off to save me, and all I'm doing is put obstacles in his way. Shit. He's already broken. Broken because of me dying. I have no right to judge him or his behavior in any way. He's offering up his sanity to save me. The least I can do is to trust him and follow his instructions.'

Gray straightened himself, took Natsu's hand between his own, and pulled it into his lap protectively. "It's alright. I'll do it. Whatever it is, I'll do it. I trust you with my life."

Porlyusica let out a grunt that could mean anything from disgusted to approving. "Well, in the tale they had only one chance to prevent the death of the princess. They weren't lucky enough to have a time mage who can turn back time as often as needed. The princess was murdered with a knife the first time, so they locked her up in a cell and reinforced the guards. She slipped on a slippery spot on the floor in the cell and fell very unluckily. She broke her neck and died. Strange though that there was no slippery spot when they checked a few minutes later. And the moral of this story is that you can't trick death. Or destiny. Or whatever you want to call it. However, there is not enough research on the issue to be able to exclude options. And this is just a tale anyway. Nobody knows if it's true."

Natsu practically jumped at the implication, his face brightening instantly. "You mean it could work?"

Seeing him like this, suddenly in high spirits elicited conflicting feelings in Gray. On the one hand, it was good that his mood was positive again, but on the other, it was probably wise not to let Natsu get his hopes too high. The fall would be all the more painful if it didn't work. Which, judging by the current state of information, seemed very likely. Gray hated it but crushing Natsu's hopes right now would be for the best.

However, Porlyusica beat him to it. "I think the odds that your theory is right are very low. If I were you, I'd prepare to be disappointed."

Natsu's face fell, but only for a second. "Nobody knows that. Not even you. You said it yourself. The causes of death until now were something I couldn't prevent no matter how much I tried. We just have to create a situation, a physical attack, something I could dodge in the last second. We could trick fate or whatever into thinking that Gray will die by the physical attack, and then I'll step in and cheat it out of Gray's life."

It was kind of cute, the way Natsu's eyes glistened. Like a child at Christmas, looking forward to its presents. No matter how loudly Gray's inner voice protested, he couldn't bring himself to destroy this moment for Natsu. Not even Porlyusica seemed to be that heartless, and so neither of them said anything on the topic anymore.

To think of a situation that was suitable turned out to be rather difficult. They quickly came to the conclusion that it had to be something out of both Natsu's and Gray's control. Or at least not something they could fully control because neither thought that they could actually pull it off convincingly. Plus, it wouldn't really count as 'stepping in in the last second' because it would've been planned from the start. And what would make a situation somewhat unpredictable? The only choice seemed to be another person who wasn't in on the plan.

Gray thought this to be the perfect opportunity to ask about the mysterious person they'd fled from earlier, and Natsu told him that it was Jellal following them. He was the one who kept Ultear informed. He'd apparently complained about being their babysitter and having to witness something that would give him eye cancer, which had prompted Natsu to throw his toy into Jellal's general direction, not intending to land a hit. Of course, he'd still hit, at least judging by Jellal complaints as he chased them to Porlyusica's.

Natsu heavily protested Gray's idea of involving Jellal in their plan, because he didn't want to affect Jellal's neutrality in any way. Their guild members were beyond dispute since neither wanted to make their friends do something that would probably harm Gray. There was a short silence, and then Natsu reluctantly offered the idea of involving their 'enemies'. He shortly described their looks and personality, and immediately said he would in no way allow Gray or anyone else to fight against Bubbles since his magic was what killed Gray the first two times.

Natsu froze in the middle of describing Bubbles' magic, inhaling sharply as if he had a flash of insight. "I... I might have a plan... Gray, how much detail do you want to know? Do you think you could dig your own grave when you know exactly what will happen?"

That was a reasonable question indeed. Did he really want to know? Would it be easier to follow instructions if the outcome was unclear to him? Probably.

"I don't want to know. Just tell me exactly what to do, and I'll do it."

Gray was scared as hell, and he didn't manage to mask it all that well. His voice sounded shaky and croaky. Shit. This was getting real, wasn't it? No going back. Not that there ever was a going back, but the current situation made everything more tangible. It was a miracle that Gray heard Natsu talking over the noise of his own blood rushing in his ears.

"Okay. Then I won't tell you about the other's magic. We'll go on that mission without Gajeel and Pantherlily, we'll match you up with the same opponent, delay your fight a bit so it matches the time of your death, and you're gonna use a different strategy. You're gonna fight that girl, Ichika. You'll create many ice swords in the air, and shoot them at her..." Natsu gulped, obviously struggling with his next words. "Make sure to... make them... sharp. That's all. After you launched them, you may want to close your eyes. I-in any case, d-don't... don't defend yourself... just stay where you are."

It was very hard for him to think of something like this, that much was clear. Thinking of a strategy to kill the one he loved... It must be devastating. To show him that it was alright, that Gray trusted him, he brought their entwined fingers to his lips and kissed the back of Natsu's hand.

Porlyusica let out a disgusted groan and asked if there were any more questions she could help with, the undertone clearly saying, 'If that's all, then leave me alone now.' Unable to think of any additional ways she could help, they bid their goodbyes and left for the guild.

Upon entering the guild hall, Juvia threw herself into Gray's arms, crying like a waterfall, begging him not to die. He didn't have time to react and stop her, and Natsu apparently thought it was okay, seeing as he kindly stepped aside. Gray hesitantly wrapped his arms around her, patting her back.

"Shhh. It's okay, I'm sure Natsu will find a way—"

"J-Juvia wants to h-help, too! Juvia can't stand the thought of Gray-sama dying! Please!"

"I don't think there's anything you can do though..."

"No! Juvia wants to help."

Gray looked over to Natsu, intending to silently beg him to help, but Natsu was already there, his hand on Juvia's shoulder.

"Juvia. Please believe me when I say that there's nothing you can help with. I already have a plan, and as much as I hate to say it, I think you would be in the way."

Juvia's wailing only intensified. "B-but N-Natsu-san... Wh-why w-would y-you say s-s-something l-like that?"

True, it was a harsh thing to say, but Gray had to admit that Natsu had a point. Juvia's behavior would probably be overprotective if they took her on the mission. He could easily picture her wanting to prevent him from fighting, taking the enemy on in his stead. And she sure as hell wouldn't agree with a plan that was supposed to purposely endanger his life.

His shirt was already mostly soaked from her tears, and he wanted nothing more than to get away from her. Naturally, he didn't like to see her crying, but he knew nothing could make her stop now, not when she knew that his life was nearly over. He didn't have the nerve to think of something to say that could possibly calm her down a bit; his own problems already made his head spin, leaving little space to think of anything else.

Natsu looked just as lost as Gray felt. Thankfully, Lucy approached them and undertook the task of soothing Juvia, managing to make her let go of Gray and hug Lucy instead. The whole calming down business took quite a while, and Natsu patiently waited with his lecture until Lucy was available.

It wasn't that long, seeing as Lucy had already roughly informed the guild of the events. Although she'd apparently left out the fact of Natsu and Gray being a couple, judging by Juvia's behavior.

Explaining why they wouldn't take Gajeel and Pantherlily on the mission was a difficult endeavor, especially since Natsu and Gray had agreed that they shouldn't let their friends in on their plan. What did the trick in the end was Natsu telling them that he'd possibly found a solution but needed them to place their trust in him.

The rest of the morning passed rather uneventfully, other than Natsu being extremely clingy. He had no qualms with kissing Gray in front of their whole guild, much to Juvia's dismay. She tried to pry Gray out of his hands, but Natsu fended her off and gave her a lecture on how to behave 'when your loved one doesn't love you back'. Why exactly he reacted this strongly to Juvia now when he'd let her hug Gray before was a mystery to Gray, but then again, he must've had enough of her theatrics when it came to this. There was no way this was the first time she didn't want to accept their relationship. When Gray assured Juvia that he was indeed in love with Natsu, that he hadn't been forced into doing anything, and she would do him a huge favor if she just let it go, she stormed off, crying.

Natsu seemed to be mostly back to his usual self when they rode the train to their mission, giving last-minute instructions to everyone on how to behave. Wendy excused herself first when she felt the effect of Troia wear off, and Natsu used the opportunity to lead Gray away from their friends, to the other end of the wagon. They spent the few minutes writing a short diary entry, with Natsu covering the previous ones. He said that Gray shouldn't read them since they contained information on their enemies' magic. After they finished writing, they proceeded to kissing and groping until Natsu's motion sickness kicked in.

Their enemies were exactly the way Natsu had described them. Not that Gray needed any final proof to be convinced of the truth of Natsu's story, but this would have been it. There was no denying that Natsu knew what was going to happen.

Throughout the whole course of events, Gray's attention was focused on the female mage, Ichika. He tried to take her measure, but she was mysterious. Cheerful and tough on the outside, but she appeared to be shrewd. She was probably the kind of person to befriend easily, regardless of whether she liked someone. Gray had the feeling that if she didn't like you, she might just stab you in the back when you weren’t paying attention for a second.

They reached the area where the fights would take place shortly after six-forty, and Gray's nervousness had reached its peak by then, to the point where he'd rather describe it as 'panic'. He couldn't take his eyes off Ichika, trying desperately to figure out what type of magic she wielded, but it was useless. Natsu's attempts at distraction were futile, whether it was squeezing his hand or a peck on his lips.

Erza's 'fight' against their healer, Yushin, ended before it began, much to her surprise. She tripped and landed face first on the grass. Natsu nervously checked his watch when Bubbles urged them on to start the next fight.

It was still too early, seeing as Natsu yanked Gray in by the collar, whispered, "We need to stall this fight a bit longer," and then pressed their lips together hungrily.

Ichika whistled and clapped loudly. "Oh my, oh my. That afraid to lose your sweetheart?"

Natsu didn't pay her any attention. He was too busy kissing Gray senseless, and it actually helped to calm Gray's nerves a bit.

The one to wrench them apart some moments later was Erza. Her face was flushed, her expression angry. "Don't you think there are more important matters to take care of now?"

Yeah, right. They hadn't explained after all. For anyone beside him and Natsu this must look like a desperate goodbye kiss, and maybe it was. Natsu had told him that his time of death was 7:03.

'Less than ten minutes to live... Oh god.'

Gray's knees gave in and he sank to the floor, trembling like an aspen leaf. Natsu was by his side in an instant, loudly asking their enemies to give them a few minutes. He shot Erza a glare, telling her to leave them alone and trust them. She flinched, saying that she hadn't known that this was a part of the plan, and then retreated, leaving them alone.

Gray's head was spinning and his heart racing. Was he about to have a panic attack? How did something like that even feel like? His sight was blurry, and he barely registered Natsu's warm arms wrapping around him, pulling him closer. Only when his nose was pressed into Natsu's scarf and the distinctive scent he'd come to love invaded his senses, he got a grip of reality again. Natsu rubbed soothing circles over his back, nudging Gray's forehead with his nose.

Natsu cocked his head so that his mouth was right next to Gray's ear and then whispered, "It's okay, I'm here. I won't let you die, I promise. Please, trust me. I'll do anything to protect you."

"I... I know. Sorry. I'm alright now."

"Sure?"

"Yeah. How much time left?"

Natsu shifted a bit, checking his watch. "Five minutes. I'd say we delay the fight another three minutes. Is there something I can do to make it easier for you?"

How did he even have the nerve to ask such a thing? Gray expected Natsu to be freaking out just as much as himself, if not even more. However, Natsu was as calm and confident as ever. He believed in this plan.

Gray desperately prayed for it to work the way Natsu planned because if not, Natsu would be destroyed. Knowing him, he didn't even think about the possibility of this failing. But was it wise to bring up the topic again, with the fight just around the corner? Probably not. It would also increase Gray's anxiety, and if that happened, he wasn't so sure he would be able to concentrate and cast proper ice swords.

So instead, Gray went for, "It's okay. I trust you."

Natsu hugged him tighter, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "I love you. Once this is over, let's move in together. I want to wake up by your side every morning, fall asleep in your arms every night."

Gray's pulse went up again, and not only from the sappiness of Natsu's proposal. Him saying such things could only mean that their time was up.

"Yes. I want that, too. I love you, too."

It was time. Gray's stomach churned as he stepped forward, signaling Ichika that he was ready. She made a sly remark Gray didn't bother paying attention to.

The first few seconds neither of them moved when eventually Ichika made a beckoning gesture. Gray took a deep breath, and then took up his Ice Make stance.

'You can do this. You can do this. You can do this. Breathe. Concentrate. Make them sharp.'

"Ice Make: Swords!"

Dozens of swords appeared in the air before him, and he didn't hesitate to launch them all at once at Ichika. She smirked, and shortly before they reached her, they halted and turned around.

'Don't defend yourself. Let it happen. Natsu is here. Natsu will save me.'

Gray couldn't hear anything beside his own heartbeat anymore. He saw the sharp blades quickly approaching him, but his mind had already disconnected from the real world. His feet wouldn't move even if he wanted them to. The only thing he could do was watch as his death approached rapidly, in the form of his own creation. Wasn't it beautiful to die like this, by ice he'd created?

Only that the swords wouldn't hit him like this. She'd directed them to inflict mere superficial wounds, not lethal ones. They were nearly there, when Gray was shoved to the side, and before the nearest sword pierced his chest, he heard a heartbreaking cry next to him.

'Natsu.'

His chest hurt. It felt as if his lung was pierced and his heart too.

'It wasn't your fault. Please don't blame yourself.'

Natsu’s Diary

Day 9:

* We went to Porlyusica to ask her for advice. She told us a tale about a princess she'd picked up somewhere. It wasn't really useful, but I have an idea anyway: Gray will endanger his life purposely, and I'll rescue him in the last second. We'll use Ichika for this. I told Gray to create sharp ice swords and shoot them at her. I think the plan is a good one. I'm positive it'll work, and then Gray and me can finally be together for real!

Mirajane’s Notes

Day 9:

They didn't take Gajeel and Pantherlily on their mission. Natsu didn't explain, just that he 'has an idea and we should trust him.'

I