#back to being a wild dog on the side of the road for me.

[canis-dies]

found something new to chew on :)

[ladylooch]

Nico's Best Girl - [Nico Hischier]

A/N: It has been a hot minute since I wrote Nico Smut.. or at least it feels like it? But the people spoke, and they were desperate for Nico and some spanking 🤭 So let me introduce you to Nasty Nico and all the things he does to his beautiful wife on the occasions he comes out.

Word Count: 2.1k

Read more Lexi and Nico Here.

Nico Hischier is so far in my dog house, he can’t even see our house anymore. 

This is a rare occurrence between the two of us, but I’m livid. Seething. Visualizing myself smothering him with a pillow.

Why?

Because he walked into our daughter’s room after his latest road trip and woke her up, then fell asleep next to me. So now, I’m the one up at 5 am in the living room, watching god awful toddler TV and sucking down my second cold brew of the day. Huge bags are under my eyes, purple and blue, for the three hours of sleep I managed to get.

It’s well into the late morning when Nico emerges from our bedroom. I’m still mad, but at least Lucie is taking a nap. My shoulders tighten when he leans down to kiss my head next to my dilapidated bun. He stays there for a moment, breathing in the smell of me after being gone for so long.

“Good morning.” 

“Mmm is it?” I mutter back as I stand. I begin gathering some of Lucie’s toys, starting by putting one of the puzzles back into its home.

“I think so?” Nico wonders. “I am so tired. I might need a nap later.” He says through a huge yawn. I look up at him, scowling at the back of his head. “Where is LuLu?” He asks, scratching at the hairs on his chest. 

“Sleeping.”

“Aww.. I wanted her to nap with me later.” A disgruntled pucker hits his lips. Nico goes to the fridge, pulling out orange juice and pouring himself a glass. I watch him, standing still and flabbergasted in the living room at his lack of attention. He turns back to make eye contact with me as he drinks. “Hm?” He asks between slurps, bushy eyebrows raising in question at me.

“If you ever do what you did last night again, I am going to blow an airhorn in your ear.” Nico pauses from drinking. He seems to take me in more, then grimaces.

“I’m sorry.”

“You think, Nico?” I question, shrugging my shoulders with attitude. He cringes and brings a defensive hand up.

“I’ll make it up to you.” I start grabbing the couch pillows Lucie threw on the floor, tossing them back into their places. I reach for the knitted throw blanket next, beginning to fold it back aggressively. “I missed her so much. I didn’t want to wait until morning to give her a hug.” 

“Well, now I’m missing the five hours of sleep I need to function.” I toss the blanket back onto the ottoman, adjusting the ends so it drapes over the side the way I like.

Nico watches silently from the kitchen while I stalk around the living room, trying to repair the disaster of our living room. My displeasure is obvious. Whenever I glance at him, I can see Nico’s mind calculating which fix he needs to pull out to move us forward.

“Lex.” Nico’s quiet call reaches where I am tucking her Lightning McQueen ride-on toy by the side of the couch. I look up at him and startle. He decided the fix is sexual. “You need me to wake you up?” His voice is husky, gone is the rough coating of sleep, replaced by the burning desire. It’s a reminder of how long that road trip really was- almost two weeks without each other, filled with FaceTime calls that barely grazed over the itch.

“Not sure you can, cap.” I quip back. Nico’s chuckle is low, accepting of my challenge. He pushes off from the kitchen counter. I bite back the desperate whimper in my throat at the sight of his hard cock straining his black pants. My lips part as he stops by the couch. He gestures for me to get on it. My cheeks are pink, eyes wild, chest fluttering as I take slow, teasing steps. 

“The longer you take to get over here, the more angry I’m getting… the harder your lesson will be.” My green eyes sparkle. A slight smirk pulls one side of Nico’s lips up, reminding me he is still there even as Nasty Nico is beginning to take over his body. Nasty Nico doesn’t like when I’m an ungrateful brat. Or when I whine at how hard he fucks me, or pulls my hair, or shoves his fingers into my mouth. He demands for me to be a good girl, his best girl, while I take him so well.

My folds are slick as I come to stand next to him. His hands reach for my big t-shirt- an old one of his he won’t wear anymore, from a playoff series that didn’t result in a cup. The old fabric teases my nipples when his fingers work it over my head. His thumbs come up, probing the puckered skin until I sigh. Nico kisses along my cheek until he gets to my ear. He tugs the lobe with his teeth, then continues with his lips down my throat. 

He lowers himself to the couch. Then he grabs my fingers, tugging me to bend down so he can suck a nipple into his mouth. I grip the back of his head, working to straddle his lap. Nico’s hand wraps around my waist, releasing my nipple. He jerks me forward, pinning me down to his side with my ass in the air. The harsh vibration of skin hitting rips through our living room. I moan, savoring the feel of my ass cheek tingling beneath his hand. His palm rubs over the area, then he digs his fingers in to heartily grip the muscle.

“That what you want baby, hm? You frustrated with me?”

“Yeah, asshole.” I sigh.

SLAP!

“Oh.” I moan. 

“Keep it up.” His tone is searing. He pins me down harder, gripping the waistband of my leggings. I turn my face out of the couch cushion, unable to see him, but the coolness of the room strokes against my wet, pulsing heat. 

His finger prints bleed into my ass, then pull apart my cheeks to hear the crudeness of my wet folds splitting open from his force. Despite his profession, Nico’s hands are relatively soft, no callous or hard points, so the smoothness of his palms over my bare ass have me closing my eyes. It’s a hard distinction, between how good his skin feels on me and how hard his next slap is. I jolt, screwing my eyes tightly shut. Those same fingers get soft again, going to explore my folds. He gathers my wetness on his fingers, then slides his middle finger into my entrance. I’m more than ready and pulse my muscles around him.

“Mmm, greedy girl today.” He stuffs another finger inside, fucking me hard with them as I try to press my hips back into his hand. His thumb rolls over my clit. 

“Cap.” I groan, “want your cock.” My hips buck back, finding enough momentum to thrust his fingers deeper into me. Nico steadies me for a moment, curling his fingers up, rolling them over the velvet spot inside of me. I quiver around his appendages.

“You can have my cock when you cum.” 

Everything gets wetter at his dirty words. Nico's free hand finds my nipple, rolling it between three of his fingers as he fucks me with his hand. I moan, wiggling under his pin and bucking my hips again. Nico lets me this time, groaning as I take over. The distinct slurp of wetness from each rock into him has Nico cooing encouragement to me.

“You looks so sexy right now.” He praises me. 

I moan loudly, then cum. Nico takes over, gently riding me through the orgasm. He pulls his fingers out, releasing me from my position and letting my knees straddle him upright again. I grab his wrist and before he can even demand, I wrap my mouth around his middle finger. The sweet, tanginess of myself explodes in my mouth. Nico’s pupils blow wider at the sight, mouth dropping ajar. I close my eyes and hum. His breathy moan dances across my face. 

“I taste so good for you. Only you.” I confess after finishing his ring finger.

“Mine. Forever.” He grabs the back of my neck to pull me in for a hot, wet kiss. We moan into each others mouthes. Nico helps me work my pants the rest of the way off. Then he drops his sweatpants and underwear to the floor. I watch, intoxicated, as his thighs tighten while stepping out of them. Fuck, I want those thighs slamming into the back of mine.

“Hard, Nico.” I request as he strokes his cock in front of me. The tip of him is swollenly pink, oozing already. “So hard.” I moan as he puts that same head against my clit. He slaps it there. I bruise my bottom lip with my teeth. Another small whimper pushes out. Nico smirks, slapping my clit again. A bead of his pre-cum sticks there, creating a thin line of connection as he pull himself away. 

“My pussy.” He reminds the room as he bottoms out inside of me. I groan at how tight the fit always is at first. He works his way all the way out, then does the same push forward. Nico moans this time. “So wet for me. Know how much you like it when I slap your ass.” 

“Mmhm.” He brings his fingers up oo my mouth, the same ones that made me this wet, and he stuffs them back into my mouth. He watches them slide in and out, pressing down on my tongue as he presses his cock deeper inside of me. 

“Look how good you are for me today. Even though you’re mad at me. Such a good girl, Lex. My perfect wife.” The last praise gets me and I moan loudly through the room. He pulls his fingers out of my mouth, bringing them instead to my clit as he leans farther forward. “Kiss me.” He demands. I curl up, pressing our tongues together, then allowing his to hurriedly enter my mouth. 

“Right there.” I moan, shivering, feeling the tightness in my body coil to an unbearable point. My face scrunches up in pleasure and I put my forehead to his big shoulder as I scream out his name in ecstasy. Bright hot white explodes across my eyelids as Nico fucks me faster and harder. “Oh my god!” I yell, feeling myself tighten up again, instantly. Nico picks me up off the couch, fucking hard and fast. His balls slap against my ass as those powerful, hockey thighs take me to heaven again. This time, he comes too. He curses in his languages, almost dropping me as his powerful orgasm explodes inside of me. His fingers bruise me in his desperate grasp to keep me upright.

A freight train of blood rolls through my ears, trying to regulate me after two incredible, back to back orgasms. Nico lays me on the couch, staying on his knees between my spread legs as he curses again to the ceiling. After a few moments, I hear the faint call of a little girl.

“Daddy?” Lucie’s small voice comes from the monitor in her room.

Nico’s brown gaze come back to me. We are both panting, barely breathing. Lucie cries on the monitor again, then Nasty Nico disappears completely, and in his place is my sweet husband. He reaches from my hips, flipping me so my ass is in the air again. Nico leans down, kissing the red marks he’s left on my flushed skin. Once he is satisfied they have been fully covered with his appreciative mouth, he leans forward, connecting his chest with my back.

“I’ll get her.” He murmurs. “I love you.” He closes his eyes as he says it like a grateful prayer. “You need help getting to our room?”

“Mhm.” I respond. He chuckles, pulling my naked body up into his arms. He hands me my clothes before we move towards the hall. I lay my cheek on his shoulder.

“One minute, LuLu.” Nico sweetly calls to her when we walk past her room. “Gotta take care of my number one girl first.”

“I am not your number one girl.” It’s light hearted and I chuckle as I say it. Nico hates it and makes me look at him.

“What? Yes you are.” Nico is confused. 

“It’s Lucie.” I shrug like it’s obvious.

“No, it is not.” Nico shakes his head insistently. “It’s you, baby. No matter how many girls we have in our life, you’ll always be first.”

I know better than to argue further with Captain Nico Hischier.

[runningupthatvecna]

the law of seat partners | part 3

part 1 | part 2

a/n: ok this chapter is honestly a wild ride from start to finish, really had to look into google maps to get the geographics right here, sorry if it's a bit inaccurate, the dimensions in the us are a bit difficult to grasp for my european brain lol. same goes for the bus interior and the structure of road houses. also this is gonna be super self-indulgent since i keep picturing eddie as someone with this wholesome, kind and super soft stray dog side of personality that you only get to see once you break through his shell and i'm basically just romanticising the shit out of him in this entire story. also i apologize if the whole part is a bit random, it's just that i didn't plan for this thing to even have more than one part lol. anyway, thanks for reading and please leave me comments and reblogs if you're enjoying this little series! there will be a part 4.

summary: you're still on that damn bus with eddie. he plays you some of his favourite songs and they turn out to sound really familiar. when you do finally arrive at the camp, you find yourself spending even more time with your favourite metalhead and he makes it just a bit more clear that he might really like you back. and yeah, everyone around you already seems to know.

cw/tw: first off i want to clarify that eddie and reader both are at least twenty! slow burn, mutual pining, friends to lovers overall, (brief) allusions to +18 adult content (minors go away!), sexual tension, lots of physical touch, reader being self-conscious, angst, not feeling good enough briefly, a bit of self-sabotage if you squint, a few more pet names, bestfriend!Steve being reader's rock once again, reassurance, eddie not committing a crime, no mention of y/n, no mentions of reader's physical attributes except hair.

-----

Lunch break acted as a reminder that the rest of your friends were also still there.

That's how lost you were getting with Eddie Munson and your legs in his lap.

The gang was once again standing in a kind of circle shaped form outside on the parking lot next to the bus. You had passed Chicago already a while ago and the blue sky hadn't exactly followed you to Wisconsin, but thankfully it wasn't raining either.

Without even thinking about it you had taken the position between Eddie and Steve.

Jonathan and Nancy were standing opposite of you, the former holding his beloved pentax in his hands, it dangling from his shoulder on a strap being the guy's default. Always ready to press the shutter, just so now.

Steve groaned a little, complaining about how his hair just wasn't looking good enough to be in a photo right now, but no one cared. As someone who loved taking photos – probably even more than the Byers boy – it was in fact one of your pet peeves whenever someone complained about having their photo taken. In your book, photos depicted memories. Why wouldn't you want to be in them?

"You gonna fill that film up today, Jon?", you asked with a grin, and the photographer just nodded.

"Alright, now that we caught Steve's mesmerizing beauty on film, anyone wanna go grab a bite?", Robin asked into the round while shifting her weight continuously from her toes to her heels and back, trying her best not to sound too desperate to get something between her teeth.

"Oh shit yeah, I'm dying", Steve replied after a quick yawn and stretch and the three freshmen boys agreed with heavy nods and exclamations of the words yes and finally.

Their boyish eagerness made Nancy chuckle just a little, and she continued by taking the hand of the older Byers boy and pulling him along with her, leading the way to the building for the rest of you.

Jonathan kept turning around every few meters to just take candids of everyone, trying to fill up the roll of film just so he could reload once you guys would arrive at the camp.

Everyone in the gang seemed to be willing to at least check out the offers from the shop, and like, get a slushie or something.

"M'lady?"

Eddie had squinted one of his eyes shut looking at you while holding his arm out for you to hold onto it, just so you both could follow the group.

"Oh, thank you good sir."

He was just a little taller than you, which made walking with your arm hooked into his quite comfortable.

You threw the knowing smile of his towards you right back at him.

And while you were following the rest of your friends, he leaned in to talk to you. Even more.

"Quite rude of Ms Kelley to interrupt our sacred listening session like that. I guess she just doesn't seem to value a good tune, huh?"

"We didn't even start the tape, Eddie."

"But we already had headphones on so we were about to, that still counts."

He poked a finger into your side while walking, trying to stop you from bringing another absolutely valid and logical argument to his silly remark, making you squeak and jump to the side a little instead, letting go of his arm.

You only could see Steve's head turn towards you, having heard your exclamation of surprise. More of his reaction was kept hidden from you though, since Eddie had decided to continue poking, so you were left with no choice but to run, giggling like a toddler.

"Eddieeee, stoooop", you yelled in a higher pitch than your normal voice, trying and failing miserably at the attempt to hide between Robin, Will and Lucas.

You could hear your friends laugh, the sight must have been hilarious.

There was no escaping Eddie the freak Munson.

You had almost reached the motion sensor of the front door when he grabbed you by the waist, pulled your back flush against his front and apparently felt no hesitation encasing you in his arms entirely. He let out a short, low hum at the feeling and it sent a shiver straight through you.

You were slowly getting warm at the frequency you were having physical contact with him, but having so much of his body touching yours in this way did not leave you unaffected in the slightest.

His embrace made your heartbeat speed up, but it also transported this really comforting, almost soothing wave of feeling protected.

And it had you yearning for him. And it was essentially confusing you.

"Say that I'm right", you heard his deep voice mumble, the side of his head pressed lightly against yours.

You could feel the warmth radiating from his body. The way he smelled. The way he held you tight.

Yeah, bye.

"Huh?"

You wanted your voice to sound equally low to his, but it didn't come out quite as such.

"Ms Kelley disrespects the law."

He couldn't be serious.

"Eddieeeeee!", you laughed at his silliness and the great amount of dramatics he put into his persistence with referring to his law of seat partners rule joke thing.

The long haired boy let go of you since the others had caught up. You just saw him grin at you, before Steve swung an arm around his shoulders, pulling his best friend through the sliding doors, while you felt Max grab your hand.

The road house your teachers had decided to stop at consisted of a restaurant, bathrooms of course and a small convenience store, the latter being the destination of Max and you, while the others ventured out into the restaurant, trying to find something warm and edible to stuff themselves with before they would join the both of you.

"Are you having a good time? With him, I mean", Max dropped at you, slowly strolling through the aisles of products that ranged from sweets over car supplies to toothpaste.

The widest grin was plastered over her face as she eyed you curiously.

The question surprised you a little. And maybe you hadn't really been aware of your surroundings for the last few hours, for obvious reasons.

"Hm? Oh yeah, he's being so sweet", you replied to your friend, "not sure what's gotten into him today though, he's never been like this."

Max gave you a questioning look, clearly asking you to elaborate.

"I don't know, I mean he's always throwing arms around me and stuff, but this, I don't know, this feels different", you continued, not being able to meet her eye, "I mean, he's always nice to me when we're around each other, but he seems so much m–"

"He likes you."

Max interrupted your sentence.

"What?"

"It's so fucking obvious. Have you seen the way he looks at you?"

I mean, yeah sure you had taken notice of the way he had been gazing at you with his baby cow eyes all day today. Actually, ever since he met you all those months ago, now that you're thinking about it. But why would you read anything into that?

You felt warmth spreading over your cheeks.

Did Eddie Munson really like you? Like that?

"He's just being nice, Max."

Only now you shot her a look, trying to tell her what you were too self-conscious, even anxious about to say out loud.

Guys never really seemed to see you as someone they could like. You were so used to the vast majority of them treating you as one of their bros, if they even treated you like anything at all, so when there was someone showing interest in you in other ways, it freaked the living hell out of you. To the point of denying yourself something potentially nice. Or more like, someone nice.

"Just nice? He is never that nice to me! I think you're just way too much in your head about this. You know you like him. And he likes you back, it's crystal clear to me, in fact, to all of us."

Wait. All of them? Had he talked to anyone about you?

Now you were the one giving her the questioning look, and before you could say anything, Robin popped up next to the both of you with a pair of wide eyes along with raised eyebrows.

"Okay, what are we buying, hm? I need more cookies, Steve and Jonathan ate all of them already", she informed you, walking off to find her restock of baked sweets, just as quickly as she had appeared.

You giggled lightly at the similarity of her and your snack situation.

Max only gave you a grin and a wink through her sky blue eyes before following Robin to the cookie section. The boys and Nancy returned from their feast not long after and you had tried your best to bring your focus to the task at hand: finding something snackable that wasn't too much of an overload, but also essential for the remaining time on the road.

Steve grabbed and pulled you away from the others on the way outside, back to the bus. The thirty minutes were almost over and no one wanted to risk being left in the middle of nowhere aka Bumfuck, Wisconsin, nor having a search party consisting of Ms Kelley and Mr Clarke out roaming the area.

"Hey there", Steve looked at you while walking by your side and throwing an arm around you.

He truly was your best friend and so you just happened to know everything about each other's lives. He had always been your rock throughout high school and mainly responsible for having you be part of the gang. He knew about your issues and always tried to give you advice.

You let your arm sneak around Steve's back, around the height of his waist.

"Everything alright with you, honey?"

You glanced up at him just nodding and he shot you a knowing look, before turning his head around to wink at someone.

The grin on his face widened before turning his attention back to you.

"Uh yeah, I'm having a good time, thanks for checking on me", you replied to him while holding onto the box of chocolates you had ended up buying.

"Munson treating you right I hope, yeah?", Steve inquired further.

You could feel your heart jump a little at the mention of Eddie's name. What you also could feel was the eyes of the long wavy haired boy on your back. He had run after Dustin who had pinched his ass on the way out and you just assumed they were a bit further behind you and Steve.

"A bit more than usual, yeah. I don't really understand why, though. Max said he likes me? But–"

A little frown now covered Steve's lightly freckled face.

You stopped. He stopped. And kept his arm around you. And then you sighed, when his big brown eyes found yours and the way he looked at you changed into a worried brow furrow.

"I think I'm terrified, Steve. I don't know how to behave around him seriously and I don't know how to handle all the affection. That's all so new and I don't want to disappoint him because he deserves someone who's able to give him everything he wants and he's already making himself vulnerable by letting someone in close like that and what if he's gonna realise that I'm just really weird for not being used to–"

"Hey, hey sweetheart, slow down", Steve put a stop to your little ramble, a soft tone to his voice, "you're overthinking. You like him, isn't that right?"

You just looked up at him, almost a bit teary eyed since you were realising a lot of things at the moment, and dealing with your own insecurities and issues was just not easy. Especially in a situation where you couldn't retreat or flee.

And then you nodded.

Steves frown shifted into a grin.

"Then there's absolutely nothing to worry about. Eddie right there is probably genuinely surprised that you're not shying or running away from him, like everyone else. Just look."

Steve pointed in Eddie's direction which made you turn your head. Next thing you saw was the metalhead chasing after Dustin again, both of them running through the group trying not to bump into anyone, all the way over the expanse of the parking lot like two headless chickens, his dark mane flowing in the wind which carried the laughter and giggles of the whole group over to you.

The sight made you laugh a little.

"I mean, not that he really ever tried to get close to someone, like, he doesn't have to try for people to be sort of intimidated and even scared off by him, but that's besides the point. Anyway, I just know for a fact that you could never disappoint him. I'm very sure he's gonna be fine adapting himself to your pace", Steve explained and then paused to take a deep breath.

"It's up to you of course, but I'd just hate to see you get in your own way just because you're too much in your own pretty, little head."

You had snapped your head around again, and Steve lovingly ruffled your hair a little, the way he always did when he tried to tell you that he'd always be there for you and the situation you'd found yourself in would turn out just fine.

You would be just fine.

Deep down you knew Steve was right.

"Yeah, yeah I know. You know how I can get sometimes", you replied to him, reciprocating the same look Steve was now giving you. The depth in his brown eyes was radiating warmth and it helped you calm down your racing thoughts. Steve had known Eddie for a bit longer and was closer with him in general, which was one of your reasons to believe the words of your best friend. In this moment at least.

-----

It was time for the tape.

You took off your shoes again and pulled your legs up to rest your feet on the barrier, this time right in front of you, facing more towards the window.

The boy next to you was still trying to catch his breath from shaking off some energy, pulling a squished paper bag with greasy spots out of the back pocket of his jeans and placing it on his lap, before he lost the vest and leather jacket. He then proceeded to sit down, take both of your headphones and held yours out to you.

"Alright, unlike Ms Kelley, let's obey the law again, huh?"

He let out a deep chuckle when you nodded with a smile.

"Oh hey, and I got you some extra fries, just in case you get hungry."

He handed the small paper bag to you.

Did he just carry fries in his ass pocket?

The thought made you snort.

Oh Munson.

"Did you pay for them?"

"Yeah of course I did. Is that all you think of me, sweetheart?"

There they were again. His dark brown doe eyes blinking at you all sweet, the purest form of Eddie he was willing to show you in this moment.

He was clearly letting you in. Showing himself to you. Letting you read his eyes, hoping you would take the hint which he secretly was yet too insecure to speak out.

He was the town's freak after all and getting his hopes up had never really turned out too positive for him. It had painfully taught him to better keep everyone at a distance.

It took every little ounce of willpower that you could find in yourself to not melt into a puddle, right there in that seat.

And if that wasn't enough already – him being thoughtful enough to think of you while devouring his own lunch – he pressed play on your walkman, before you could give him any sort of response to the fries situation.

The fact that the opening chords of Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears for Fears now filled your ears, your absolute favourite song, was sending you into another dimension.

How did he know your favourite fucking song? Did he ask Steve? He must have asked Steve.

He had asked Steve specifically about your music taste.

So many thoughts were flooding your brain at the same time, you were having trouble catching up.

The boy next to you just grinned at your visibly delighted reaction. And then he leaned in a little and you felt the heat once again rise to your cheeks.

"Is that good, that's a real good song, yeah?", you heard him ask, a very light sultry tone to his voice, after you quickly pushed one of your headphones behind your ear.

"Yes Eddie, immaculate choice right there", you praised him in a similar tone, before giving him a genuine giggle, unable to hide the way he was undeniably making you all flustered and earning another warm chuckle from him in return.

The way his cheeks turned into a beautiful shade of rose almost made your heart combust in your ribcage. At this point he was practically beaming with pride, reveling in the fact that he had elicited praise out of you. And it was the most beautiful thing you had ever seen.

You lightly nudged your shoulder into his, which made him lift his arm, a gesture for you to lean into his figure.

"Come here, you."

That head of yours landed on his shoulder and you let him drape his arm over your torso like a seatbelt. A (still very) warm hand was placed between your waist and hip and you were pretty convinced it was going to burn a big hole right through the fabric of your shirt.

He just had to touch you, right?

His boldness however gave you enough of a confidence boost to return the gesture. At this point you needed to tell him, too. Make him feel the burn on his own skin. So you just hugged his arm, pulling it close and nuzzling the side of your face into the soft fabric of his hellfire shirt covering the skin between bicep and shoulder.

With every song you went on listening to, it became more clear than ever that Eddie Munson must really have gone all the way to Steve Harrington's house to ask him for a list of your favourite songs. Which he could then put on a mixtape. For you.

That's what you do for friends, right?

Yeah, right.

For a few songs you both just sat there in utter peace as you watched the landscape outside the window pass by. The wide plains of Wisconsin, fields of crops, forests, small gatherings of houses, farms, barns and horses and cows and sheep. The sky was slowly losing its light grey cover, which had you anticipating an actually nice sunset later.

He had leaned his head against yours, which made his warm breath trickle down the side of your neck down to your collarbone. And you had felt the goosebumps spread all over your arms underneath your longsleeve.

You were feeding off of the warmth radiating from Eddie's body once again, and the ringed hand on your waist had started rubbing up and down softly and slowly.

When Eddie felt you leaning more of your weight into his side, you could hear him let out a satisfied little sigh.

Every second of this part of your little road trip, whenever he tried to search for some form of physical closeness, felt like a fever dream.

And you didn't want to wake up just yet. How about never?

-----

Golden hour announced itself by coating the trees of the forest, the earthy paths for walking, the accumulation of dark wooden cabins and the water on the vast lake in gradients of yellow and orange.

Said lake would look more like the sea to you, it made little waves that were lightly crashing onto the shore of a small beach of a bay around which the camp was located, and it was so vast in fact that you were unable to see the opposing shore on the horizon.

You had just woken up from another nap which you had slipped into after one, two, you actually don't know how many hours of watching the endless fields and forests pass by through half-closed eyelids. Listening to The Romantics, New Order, Fleetwood Mac, The Cure, Genesis and of course Metallica, on Eddie's account.

Still surrounded by the warmth of his body, still tucked in between torso and arm. His hand however had sneakily breached an invisible barrier, now resting comfortably beneath the hem of your shirt on the skin of your waist. You didn't dare to check, but the hole in your shirt was certainly there now, burned through.

Even Ms Kelley's announcement of your arrival didn't bother any of you to move or shift positions. Or god forbid, separate your bodies.

You only slightly turned your head to watch Mr Clarke leave the bus in the corner of your eye, probably to head into the administration office of the camp with the intention to make your arrival known to the staff and to pick up keys for about 40 students.

From what they had told you pre-trip, you were gonna be sharing a cabin with Nancy, Robin and Max, since the plan foresaw keeping the middle schoolers separate from the older kids. And of course there couldn't be any cabins accommodating groups of mixed genders.

Which is precisely why Eddie was going to share his cabin with Jonathan, Steve and Dustin, while Lucas and Will had the honours to be joined in theirs by Gareth and Jeff.

Before letting you go to take the headphones off and gather all your things, Eddie's grip on your waist tightened a bit as he pulled you minimally closer for just two seconds, the vibration of his chest against your back telling you that he was humming softly.

You already missed him, and you hadn't even left the bus yet.

The structure of the camp was simple. There were ten cabins, each of them intended to accommodate up to four people comfortably. A row of them was spread out along the shore of the lake directly by the water. Another row spread out further towards the forest. Both separated by the same earthy pathway stretching and winding itself through the entire place, connecting the cabins to the rest of the camp. There were little houses with sanitary facilities not too far from the cabins, a little square with lots of seating opportunities intended for bonfires, barbecue and other gatherings, the office house, the beach further down the path past the cabins, and a pergola kinda situation with benches for mealtime and a corner with outdoor couches and further more cozy seating.

The cabin you were designated to spend your next 6 nights in was one of those directly by the water. Excitement spread through you at the thought of falling asleep to the peaceful sound of the lake water lightly hitting the shore at night and cicadas singing their songs after sunset. Frogs croaking and birds chirping away. The ambient background noise of a forest by the lake.

You had always been a dreamer.

"Top one's mine!", Robin exclaimed as she was the first one of you to enter, throwing her bag onto one of the top beds that were part of two bunks standing opposite of each other in each corner, a window with light beige and pastel floral curtains separating them.

You were loving the rustic atmosphere. The log aesthetic gave off the biggest summer cottage vibes, so taking in the interior of your small home for the next few days made you smile.

There were two closets with multiple drawers, enough space for accommodating clothing of four people.

The bag hanging from your shoulder landed on the bed below Robin's, while the other two silently agreed on Max above, Nancy on the same level as you.

The beds themselves were about the standard bunk bed size, nothing too fancy, but of course all wooden, fresh bedsheets folded into a neat pile along with a towel decorating the mattress.

While you were getting to making your bed (you knew that you'd thank yourself later), your mind started wondering if you could fit maybe even two people in there. For science, of course.

All of you had agreed to meet at the fireplace once everyone had dropped off their stuff, and when you and the girls arrived there, six pairs of eyes were already awaiting you.

The boys had probably just messily thrown their belongings onto their respective beds, not giving a flying fuck about pulling the covers over the duvets or maybe even taking power naps after the journey.

So yeah, night number one ended with all of you sitting by the fire that Mr Clarke and some guy from the staff team had set up. Conversations about everyone's most anticipated activities that were planned and scheduled for this week were held, your friends' former earth and science teacher telling stories about his first time field tripping back in the day.

Once again you were sat between Steve and Eddie, the metalhead's leather jacket around your shoulders, because he had insisted you'd take it. A sly grin on his face directed at you at the gesture, before turning his attention to the mutual best friend on your other side.

The younger kids had been tucked in by Ms Kelley already, since their curfew had been set to 9pm. Yours was at eleven.

You admired the multiple strings of fairy lights that had been hung into the lower maze of branches long ago, illuminating the earthy pathways throughout the whole camp to keep the kids from stumbling off into some bush or having to pull out flashlights.

At least until midnight, cause that's when the lights were going to be turned off.

-----

Your first full day at camp. The teachers had taken the whole group to a hike through the forest and up the hill at the end of the bay, overviewing the stunning scenery and you had taken a few moments away from everyone to take in the enormousness of the vision opening up in front of you.

Closing your eyes, you tried to wrap your head around the moment, taking a few deep breaths, feeling the freshness of the air surrounding you.

Slow down.

The sun made the deep blue of the sky reflect on the lake, a shimmer on the surface in the distance, sparse trees and bushes covering the top of the hill you were standing on, a bit separately from most kids.

The light brush of a hand against yours caused you to shoot open your eyes, jumping lightly at the sudden delicate yet profound touch.

"Uh, sorry I didn't mean to sneak up on you. I can also leave again if you want another moment to yourself?", you heard him say, an apologetic tone to his voice.

The rough facade now showed cracks.

Traces of softness, a great amount of empathy and hints of sensitivity were shining through them. He had always been a little more gentle with you than with everyone else in the group, but this telltale sign of trust he was instilling in you over the last hours? That was new.

So new. And so new to you.

Your head turned towards him, eyes squinting a bit because yeah, it was quite bright up there with almost no trees to throw shade, and of course clumsy you had forgotten your sunglasses on the little nightstand next to your bed.

"Eddie no, it's okay" was the only thing you managed to get out, brushing the back of his hand with the back of your index finger, in silent search for more contact, trying to support the words that had just come out of you.

It was just Eddie. You tried to remember Steve's words from lunch break yesterday. He's gonna be okay with adapting.

He turned his back on the sun, more towards you, and the light formed a halo around his head.

Given his reputation back in Hawkins, it looked hilariously absurd.

"Did you have a good first night?", you asked him then, in such a tone indicating your expectation of a sincere answer, while his shadow was covering half your face so you wouldn't have to stare into the late afternoon sun.

"More or less. You know how Steve snores", Eddie said before continuing his dramatic act, "plus, it was really lonely. I think there should be an additional paragraph in the law about an extension from bus seats to beds, you know? I think that would make a real difference and save me from eternal doom and misery."

He returned your previous gesture with his own index finger, his eyes finding yours, giving you a sheepish grin as your cheeks started imitating the colour of very ripe tomatoes.

Your entire body bloomed with electricity from just one light touch. If you didn't know any better, you'd say it was ridiculous.

Yes, there had already been touches that were way more direct than this, but there was something in the way and in the lightness of his touch now, that had your head spinning.

The lightness basically fuelled whatever this thing between the two of you was.

Ms Kelley's voice announcing the beginning of your descend ripped the both of you out of whatever moment you were having right there, and it sucked.

You could have stood there with him for the rest of eternity, if it meant being looked at by his warm, reassuring eyes, making you feel as if you were the center of the universe. It felt like his gaze was reaching the deepest corner of your soul.

And your brain started going 200 kilometers an hour, thinking about the allusion Eddie had just made. He was starting to consume your every thought at this point.

As a collective you managed to return to the deep green veils of the forest around an hour before sunset.

Slowly the day was coming to an end and since it had been a rather warm experience for everyone, the teachers had kindly granted you an evening dip in the lake.

High schoolers only though. Thank fuck.

Honestly, you probably would have gone for it anyway.

The beach included a small wooden pier leading into deeper water, which the boys delightedly acknowledged before using it to gracefully yeet themselves into the cold wet.

They also didn't deem it necessary to strip themselves of their clothes beforehand.

Too much enthusiasm and even more longing for relief from the day's heat and physical efforts. Who knew Michigan could be this warm already in May?

The girls and you had preferred to change into actual swimwear before joining the boys on the beach. A wise decision.

Because now you found yourself standing on the pier together with Nancy and Max, watching Robin follow Steve and dive in head first.

You were silently hoping the water was deep enough for her to not hit her head.

Next thing you saw approaching you on that pier was Eddie, dripping wet everything and soaked to the bone, some worn out jean shorts and dark blue Metallica shirt as well as his dark curls sticking to his skin like glue.

He left a trail of wet footsteps and sprinkles and splashes of water on the dry wood, grinning at you almost eerily and you threw him a similar glance back, because you knew he just wasn't anticipating your abilities to foresee the future when you jumped out of the way the second he started running towards you, trying to pull you into the water with him.

He landed face first, while everyone who had just witnessed that scene bursted into laughter, including you.

"You wish, Munson", you shouted at him and his poorly executed attempt once he had resurfaced, his appearance now reminding you of a wet poodle with his wet dark curls that were sticking to his reddened face, a piece of some green sweetwater plant decorating the top of his head.

You weren't ready to hit the water just yet, which is why Nancy and you decided to just plop down on the pier for a moment with crossed legs, while Max joined Robin and the boys.

Observing the scene happening in front of you, there were Dustin, Lucas and Jonathan, all of them fusioning their powers to swim after a screeching Will who was trying his best to escape being cruelly dunked by his brother and friends, Robin trying to stand on Steve's probably slippery shoulders while Eddie and Max were aiming for the same acrobatic performance.

Nancy next to you let out a chuckle at the sight before turning her head in your direction, "today was so nice, don't you think?"

With a nod you replied to her and leaned back on your arms behind you.

"Yeah it was beautiful! You just don't get those views in Hawkins."

"Yeah, absolutely not. The closest thing you're getting there is Lover's lake with a bunch of drunks fishing in their tiny boats, and that's about it", she paused, "are you in with us for the flower crowns tomorrow?"

Midsummer was still a few weeks away, but that didn't stop you from plucking and braiding.

You and the girls had been having this fantasy of spending this excessive amount of time in nature with flower crowns on your heads, inspired by Scandinavian summer solstice traditions. For weeks you all had been painting this picture in your conversations, anticipation bubbling up every time the topic came up. The picture of the four of you with the flowers of summer in your hair, in the deep green shades and distinct scent of the forest surrounding your every breath these days, had rented a big part of your mind, long before you had stepped on the bus, bringing you here.

"Hm? Oh yeah, definitely."

Losing yourself a little in the thought again, you hadn't yet taken notice of how two figures from the group of people in the water in front of you were missing.

You would learn soon, though.

Because before you knew it, a pair of strong, wet hands hooked themselves in the space of your armpits, lifting you up to stand, while another set of arms wasn't too shy to grab both your legs off the ground, wrapping themselves around your knees.

"Let's get you nice and wet, shall we?", you heard Steve's voice come out behind you in an absurdly husky tone, while–

"Time for your bath, princess!"

Eddie.

You were so taken by surprise, you couldn't even get anything in form of a verbal protest out.

The only thing you saw before your vision went black due to your reflexes was Eddie's mischievous grin between strands of his dark and wet curly mane, Steve's pearly whites being flashed at you equally prominent. Their laughter got muffled by the water invading your ear canals, and the sudden shock of the cold liquid surrounding every inch of your sun warmed skin was forcing a gasp out of your lungs.

When you returned to the surface, both of the boys held onto their bellies, high-fiving one another and still laughing on that pier like two fucking dipshits at you as well as at Nancy who apparently got to suffer the same fate as you, being dropped into the ocean mere seconds later.

With the back of your fingers you wiped the water out of your eyes along with strands of your hair that were clinging onto your cheeks for dear life, while you gathered back clear vision.

Unknowing to the two boys, Jonathan, Lucas and Dustin were currently in the process of sneaking up behind them. With big splashes both Eddie and Steve were forced to ungracefully breach the waves next to you, letting out equally surprised gasps for air before they had to instinctively hold their breaths.

You burst out into another laughing fit when the metalhead slowly appeared next to you just as soaked as half an hour ago, his hair now covering his entire face.

You took one stroke towards him while Jonathan and Dustin landed in the water not too far from you, shortly after being followed by Lucas and Max cannonballing their way in to join everyone.

The laughter and giggles filled the warm air, and you took both your hands to wipe Eddie's mane out of his face, just to reveal his brown chocolate orbs and a dorky smile, gazing at you from underneath.

The ground of the lake where you were finding yourself was close enough for you both to stand on, which made not sinking a lot easier.

"Thanks, sweetheart" was the only thing he brought out before putting a hand on your waist, pulling you closer before wrapping both his arms around your middle, while you responded by wrapping yours around his shoulders.

You thought he was going to bury his face in the crook of your neck with how close he was leaning in just now, connecting his lips to your skin, but all he really did was briefly running his nose over the side of your neck in an upwards motion. Giving you a little nudge while letting out another one of his hums.

It was almost like he wanted to do more than that, it was almost like you could feel him holding himself back. It was almost like you wanted him not to.

His warm breath hit the wet skin on your collarbone and it sent a slight shiver right through your system at the sheer thought of what exactly he was holding back.

And just when you felt him let go of you a bit more, you saw your chance at taking at least a little bit of revenge on him. For conspiring against you with Steve Harrington.

You placed your hands on his shoulders, found purchase on the ground, and your own weight forced him to go head below surface once again.

"Oh darling, that was an unwise decision", was all you heard before he returned the favour, his entire weight on yours as he drowned you beneath him, just before bringing one of his unnecessarily muscular arms around you to pull you back up again swiftly.

Soon after a few more dunks that you practised on Steve and Dustin, your swimming session came to an end when the sun had disappeared behind the trees and the sunset-ish colours of the horizon had faded into several shades of purple and blue.

After fresh showers that helped with rinsing off the lake water and smuck and sweat of the day, the older boys had decided to drop you off at the flower cabin, a nickname for your particular accommodation facility Lucas had come up with during the first bonfire.

To say goodnight or something.

Eddie held you in his grasp, pressed you into his chest for a second, letting you know that you meant something to him, shooting you one last glance, a hint of wistfulness in it, before disappearing surprisingly quickly into the dusk of the forest, towards the cabin he shared with the others.

You hugged Steve and Jonathan goodnight as well, the latter wearing a smirk on his face and you instantly wondered about the reason.

When you looked at your own pillow, you stopped wondering. A polaroid photo had been placed there for decoration, and you let yourself plop down on the mattress to inspect it more closely.

Jonathan had only recently started shooting polaroid in the first place, and the sun had delivered enough light for him to avoid using flash for this one, which had the colours of everything come out more natural.

The photo showed Eddie in his bus seat. You in yours, resting with his arm wrapped around you, his head on yours, both with your headphones on, both passed out. Steve, Dustin, Will and Robin behind you with widened eyes, tongues out and peace signs up.

Unable to hide the smile that spread on your face, you placed the photo on the little nightstand accompanying the bed.

Everyone knew. You knew. Eddie probably knew. But who would say it first?

-----

taglist: @josephfakingquinn, @ghost-proofbaby, @spellbounddd, @imjuststeddietrashatthispoint, @mystars123, @gothmingguk, @kennafild, @chloe-6123, @michaelfuckinglangdon and @bakugouswh0r3

[merrimentsmight]

Cicero and Listener gathering flowers for Mother, then killing people who're bounty hunting the Listener and then just having a cute camp/picnic while still covered in blood,,,,, that's my favourite daydream of Cici

Mother needed dragon's tongue, Cicero said. He would always bring her flowers, and make sure they were fresh and fragrant. It was sweet, and it made him happy. The Listener suspected it made Mother happy, too. So they were picking dragon's tongue off the side of the road south of Windhelm. The Listener was being careful, picking only a few blossoms from each plant to keep them growing and healthy. Cicero was less calculating, and picked whichever ones he thought best, even if that was every flower the plant had to offer. When they had a full basket of flowers, the Listener rested, sitting on the side of a stone ledge, and began to pick wild jazbay grapes, popping some of the sweet berries into their mouth and adding some to the over-crowded basket.

Cicero kept gathering flowers. They watched him flit about in the late afternoon sun, mumbling and laughing to himself and looking, gods bless him, content. “And there was the one with the, no, no that won't do, too crass. Oh, terribly, terribly crass. But perhaps if I reworded it...” he mumbled to himself, following a train of thought whose beginning and end were as obfuscated to himself as anyone else. They were so caught up in looking at him that they didn't notice the quickly approaching footsteps on the road behind them, despite the fact that they were far from stealthy.

“Well!" said Cicero sharply, catching the Listener's attention, “It looks like we have company. Should Cicero set another place at the table?” The rest of the world came back into focus, and they hopped off of the ledge to stand next to him.

“Perhaps it's nothing," they said, as the group approached, "perhaps they'll just keep walking.” They both hoped that it was not nothing, and that they would be stupid enough to make trouble. They both got their wish.

“You! We know who you are,” said one of them, a thick-accented Dunmer near the front.

"Oh?” They asked, clutching the basket of flowers like an innocent youth. A sentiment undercut by Cicero's grim laughter.

“Yeah.” He returned, stepping dangerously closer, “and ever since what you did to the Emperor you've got a mighty fine price on your head, too.” He was in leather armor, as were most of his cadre, and the leather was from cows and not netches. They hadn't traveled too terribly far for the bounty. The Listener wondered how far rumors had spread, and who was spreading them. They had gone to great lengths to remove witnesses in the past.

“Do you have proof, or are you going to execute me on your hunch alone?” They asked.

“Please. You have the jester with you. There's only one little redheaded jester in all of Skyrim, far as I know, and he's your one.”

“Oh! Cicero feels terribly special,” he said, knives already drawn. But he did like that idea of possession, that even strangers knew who he was, and who the Listener was, and that he was theirs.

The Listener smiled in that way they did, sharp and nasty, that made Cicero's heart start beating even faster than the thrill of the impending fight did. The good name of the Dark Brotherhood had been tarnished so badly that these poor men had no idea what they were up against. The man reached for the sword on his belt, and Cicero, like a well trained attack dog, pounced.

He cut the man's throat before anyone knew what was happening. A spray of blood issued from the wound and covered Cicero and the Listener and the basket of flowers, which the Listener set gingerly behind them before drawing their own weapons and advancing to join Cicero in the throng. They made quick work of the rest of the bounty hunters, who reacted slowly, as if they had been expecting the assassins to surrender when outnumbered.

“Mash and bash and swipe and clash! Ha!” laughed Cicero, sidestepping to avoid overturning the discarded baskets of flowers, “nobody gets the best of the Dark Brotherhood.” The Listener allowed themself to laugh with him. When it was all said and done, they were ringed by the bodies of the dead and dying, sitting among the flowers and leaning on each other to laugh like children. By the time they stopped fighting, and then stopped laughing, the moons had come out.

“Oh,” said the Listener, pushing away from where Cicero had clutched them in his helpless mirthful peals, “I suppose we'll have to set up here for the night.”

“Mmhm,” said Cicero, still giggling. He lowered his bloody head onto their lap and popped a blood-splattered grape from their basket into his mouth. “Whatever you say, my Listener.”

[hotcheetohatredwastaken]

Wild's Wolf (Modern AU): Febuwhump Day 15--Who did this to you?

When they escaped the compound in a sprint and piled into Time’s rusted old truck, peeling out of the dimly lit parking lot with a shriek of rubber against concrete, he did the first thing he always did when he got himself into trouble. 

He called Malon.

Time’s knuckles blanched white around the steering wheel as the phone rang all the way through on the first try, as well as the second and the third. On the fourth ring, she finally picked up.

“Link.” Her sleepy voice warbled through the phone’s old speaker. She sounded… pissed. “What’re you doing, calling at two in the morning? Why aren’t you in bed? When did you slip out? Where are you?”

“Sorry dear, a work thing came up—”

“—Who’s talking?” came the frightened bark from the backseat. “Where’s ‘at voice a’coming from? Mr. Time?”

“—do you have someone with you, honey?” Malon asked, sounding fractionally more alert now. There was a shifting on the other side of the line, likely Malon pushing back the covers and rising out of bed. “What’s going on? What in the world did they say?”

“Don’t worry about it, kid, it’s just my wife,” Time said lowly, then raised his voice to be heard over the speaker. “Yes, sweetheart, listen. I’d love to answer all of your questions when I see you. I’ll be home in about thirty minutes.”

Time glanced up into the rear-view mirror. The agency hadn’t given chase, not yet anyways, given the dark, empty highway road stretching out behind them. The wolf boy—Twilight, Time had gathered after their most recent conversations, not just Wolf —cradled Wild in his arms, braced awkwardly against the movements of the car and looking every bit a caged animal as he watched the world speed by outside the car’s dusty windows. Wild himself lay slack and quiet across the backseat, dried blood spilling over his pale face from the gash at his hairline. Time wasn’t sure if he was fully conscious or not—his torn hospital gown made it hard to tell if he was even alive, the way it washed him out. 

Malon said nothing to his dismissal, patiently waiting for some explanation in the crackling silence. “We’re, uh…” Time broke at last as he turned his eyes to the road.  “We’re going to be having some… guests this morning. Would you mind to prepare the guest bedroom? And get out that old med kit you’ve got in the top of the dresser, while you’re at it. And that bag of chocolates in my desk drawer.”

“The med kit? Are you hurt?” Malon’s next words were low, tense. “And just who are the guests you’re bringing home with you?” A heavy sigh. “What have you gotten yourself into now, Fairy Boy? ”

Time winced. “Nothing—nothing bad,” he lied through his teeth as he again checked the rear-view mirror. Still no cars tailing him, yet. Good. But they knew where he lived. His house would be the first place they checked, if they decided to come after him despite his threats to go to the news about their whole secret human experimentation project. “M-m-make sure that the boys stay in bed, Malon, we can explain things to them in the morning. And don’t forget those chocolates.”

“Alright, Link.” A heavy sigh rang out from the other end of the line. “You better know what you’re doing.”

Click!

Time resisted the urge to slam his own forehead against the steering wheel. “Oooooh, she’s gonna be so upset about this,” he said to the empty air. “I’m going to be out in the doghouse for a month.”

“You did not tell me that your wife is a fierce goddess, Mr. Time,” Twilight whispered, wide-eyed. Those long ears of his stood pricked up and alert, nearly completely upright as they swiveled as if to catch her voice again. “That she may use her powerful influence to project her holy presence to our lowly senses, whilst she is absent from this place of being herself? And yet you dare to incur her wrath upon yourself, so much so that she shall transform you into a lowly dog? What offering must we make to appease her fury?”

Aaaaaaand that was their jabber nuts reaching the time limit of their magic. “No, she’s not a goddess, and that’s just a figure of speech.” Time restrained himself from making a joking comment about her in regards to that—he’d just confuse the boy more. He dug into the sack of candies in his front shirt pocket and passed two jabber nuts back, careful to keep one eye on the road. “Take another one of these. See if Wild will eat one as well.” 

Twilight hummed suspiciously, muttering something to himself that Time could no longer parse out without the jabber nut’s magic, but took the chocolate candies from his palm. Time popped another one into his own mouth just as headlights appeared on the horizon behind them. He veered off the nearest exit and turned on the winding road that led through the woods and eventually, to the farm.

“D’you reckon he’ll be alright, sir?” Twilight asked a few quiet minutes later. “He’s lookin real hurt back here. Ain’t woken up once since we hightailed it out of that curs’ed place.”

Time smiled at the sudden difference in the sound of his voice. The jabber nuts were funny in that they not only translated the meaning of a person’s words, but they also conveyed how that person’s words would come across to a native speaker. Not only did that mean tone indicators such as sarcasm—underneath the jabber nut’s magic, Time did not hear that upwards lilt of an interrogative with Twilight’s question, perhaps their language had a specific word that signified such a thing—but it also imbued an accent, when applicable. For Wild, his voice was an unremarkable American English, which meant he likely spoke the most common iteration of their language. For Twilight, the jabber nut’s magic chose to give him a deep, drawling southern accent. Perhaps he had originally been a farmer, or he hailed from a stereotypically less educated corner of their home country, or maybe he was just from a rural area. Time could only guess what the magic had picked up on. The academic, professorly side of him noted it as something to look into more deeply later.

“I’m sure that he’ll be fine, he just needs to sleep off whatever they did to him,” Time said smoothly. But the vicious blow to the Wild’s head and the jerking of his thin body from the electricity's effects after those researchers had shocked him for daring to fight back—it might take a little bit more than a good night’s sleep to heal. “Malon—that’s my wife who you heard talking earlier—will fix him right up, I’m sure of it.”

“So, I reckon I did understand that right, earlier—that’s where you’re taking us? To your wife?” Twilight mumbled as he leaned his arm against the window, watching the world fly by. His hand carded absently through Wild’s bloodied hair. “You said that you’d help me get him back, an’ we’d be free to go. You ain’t never mentioned taking us nowhere other than back home.”

Time’s heart ached at the kid’s betrayed, defensive tone. “I did say that. And you will be home, soon, I promise,” he soothed. As if the forest they’d survived in before would be safe anymore, given that people knew about them now. Time shook his head. That was a bridge to cross and a conversation to have another day. “I’m just taking you to my home to make sure that Wild’s okay. You want him to be okay, don’t you?”

Time felt even worse, then, for turning such horribly manipulative phrasing upon the kid in order to gain his compliance. But it worked, and Twilight shrunk into himself with a meek nod.

“Good. We’ll be there in 15 minutes.” Time peered at the both of them in the backseat. Twilight was nearly standing now in order to withstand the jostling movement of the car on the winding country roads. His back was pressed against the car door and legs braced stiltedly against the floorboard, turning him all askew where he tried to keep Wild’s head in his lap despite such a position. Wild’s eyes remained closed. “Sit down and put your seatbelt on, Twilight. It’s dangerous to be unbuckled in a moving car.”

“Put on my what?” Twilight’s icy blue eyes snapped to Time, his ears pinning back in alarm. “Dangerous to be unbelted in a what?”

Ah. The jabber nuts, despite their magic, did not have the power to translate everything, especially when a concept was not shared between respective languages.

“Nevermind,” Time muttered, turning onto another street. “Just stay seated and hope that I don’t crash before we get there.”

Finally, they pulled into the gravel driveway. Battered fence posts ran along either side of the road, penning in the horses and cows that would all be asleep in the big red barns at the backside of the property. The vegetable gardens lay to one side; the white farmhouse loomed on the other side at the top of the hill; the kitchen light flicked on, and if Time squinted, he could spot Malon’s silhouette shadowing the window.

“Listen, boys, we’re here.” Time spoke up. Twilight, previously nodding off, jerked to attention in the backseat. Wild remained still, but Time thought he saw his eyes flicker open at his words. “When we go inside, I want you to go and sit in the living room. I’ll talk to Malon. She’s likely gonna want a pretty good explanation on all of this, and I’d rather it come from me.”

“An’ if she turn you inta dog?” Twilight asked tremulously. Wild made a little confused noise on his lap, and Twilight returned to petting his head, looking very, very stressed about the idea. “What’re we s’posed to do then?”

“She’s not going to turn me into a dog, Twilight,” Time answered tersely. She may kill me, though. He knew better than to voice that thought—the jabber nuts were clearly not doing a good enough job to translate the idea of irony to the poor kid. Time pulled up the car to the garage, parking in front of the closed doors. “Alright, everybody get out.”

Just as Time stepped around the vehicle to release a trapped Twilight from the backseat—he’d forgotten the boy wouldn’t know how to use the latch—the front door to the house opened. Light spilled onto the driveway.

“Link!” Malon’s scolding voice nearly made him cower in its intensity. “Just where have you been? Two in the morning, calling me telling me—”

“Shh, shh, shh, shh!” Time begged, waving his arms. He raised a finger to his lips. “One’s got a head injury, you’re gonna hurt his ears.”

Malon took in a deep, preparatory breath, but right on cue, Twilight unfolded himself out of the car—a mess of lanky limbs and unsteady after the long, unfamiliar ride—and her lecture petered out then and there. He clutched Wild, still so small and shivering, to his chest. “Uh… ‘Lo, Mrs. Malon.” Twilight seemed to attempt to dip into a respectful bow, but the precious cargo in his arms made it difficult to complete the gesture. He ended up bending his head over Wild, the tips of his ears downturned. Always with the ears. Time didn’t remember there being so much body language about them. But it had been decades since he’d last seen them, after all. “Nice t’meet you, ma’am.”

“Oh my god, where did you get two kids?” Malon whispered, her hands over her mouth. “Looks like you picked up a hobo and a psych ward escapee.”

“Like I said, work,” Time said briskly, retrieving and shouldering his professor’s satchel from the passenger’s seat. “Did you eat one of the chocolates already?”

“Of course I did, Link.”

“Then stop insulting the poor boys, because they can understand you, too, and they’ve been through a lot today.”

Malon huffed, crossing her arms as she looked over the two. Twilight stepped forwards, then, and his knees seemed to shake underneath him beneath her gaze, but he stood tall. “I’ve heard lots about you from Mr. Time, kind ma’am. Can… can you help my lil brother, please?”

“I’m afraid I can’t say the same. My husband likes to keep his secrets, it seems.” The look Malon sent Time was deadly. Then, as if on a dime, her voice changed to a soft, motherly coo as she turned her attention to Wild. “Oh, you poor boy, you." She placed a gentle hand over his forehead, brushing his bangs to the side; he gazed back, his eyes open but glassy and unseeing. "Who did this to you?” 

“C’mon inside, dearies, I’ll get you and your little brother all fixed up, and get you something to fill your stomachs too?” She took Wild from Twilight with ease—and Twilight let her, surprisingly enough—then headed for the front door. “And while we’re doing that, my husband and I will talk. That sound alright to you?”

“Yes ma’am!” Twilight followed her readily inside, a skip to his step that Time had never seen from him before. Time trailed far behind, a shadow staying out of Malon’s blazing sight. Oh, he was in so much trouble.

Read this on ao3! Wild’s Wolf - Chapter 4

Or check out the whole series here! HotCheetoHatred's Febuwhump

[stephaniebrownslover]

★彡[!RANDOM TALBIN HEADCANONS!]彡★

Tali // @clockeyedtoy

Tobin // @necroromantics

Sorry for lack of non-OC creepypasta content lately.

But I wanted make a gift for my bros because of all the deal going around lately and it's Tobin's birthday, so I wrote something little for their OC's.

Really hope they enjoy<33

‣BURN

❝Sleeping death will come and lead me out of the sunlight❞

↺Both of them is a child who didn't have a chance to experience a true childhood. They had to grow up, and they had to grow up fast because of the brutalness they faced in their life.

↺But the thing is, they were fine with it. They were fine with not fitting in nor not being able to do things classified as normal kid things. They were fine with all the hate they had. They were fine with being all alone in the whole world. Because that is how life has always been for them. And it was okay.

↺Until it started to be not okay.

↺Somehow, every single thing started to felt worse than ever. Whenever Tobin did something, he could feel the claws of the emptiness squeezing his heart. While Tali was busy with something, she could sense the creeping presence of all of the wrong things with everything and nothing.

↺And this was not usual for either of them. Their hurt souls were angrier compared to before, they were more stray than before, they were more violent than ever. However, the worst part of this was their ever so growing loneliness.

↺Fortunately, this whole thing precisely happened before the time when both of their obstacle filled roads in life collide.

❝Shadows pulling me to lie with you❞

↺Tali hated Tobin to the bones. He was annoying, loud and stupid. He was a literal image of everything she hated and maybe that was the reason why she could stand to him.

↺Tobin liked Tali to the deep down of her soul. She was funny, caring and charming. She was the picture everything he actually liked and most probably that's why he never wanted to leave her side.

↺Tobin didn't care about feelings and emotions. He didn't know how to react to them, so he chose to ignore all completely. So Tali was a complete mystery waiting for someone to unlock to him. A girl showed no real emotions and as harsh as a rock. What could she possibly hide under that almost perfect mask?

↺Tali had no interest in talking to Tobin as she only perceived him as a energetic and noisy dog. She was a human, after all, and she had nothing to do with wild animals. Taming a beast was not one of her countless duties and she was already too busy with the pace of her own life.

↺But when Tobin and Tali decided to give a chance to study together, something's changed for both of them. It could be mutual understanding of two scarred person with no control in their life, or perhaps it could be the surprisingly fun time they had. But whatever that was, it changed something for them. Something is changed for the good.

↺After that study session, Tobin stole a chocolate for her and picked up a rose from a random garden. Unfortunately, he didn't know the rose would die after spending non-careful hours in an dirty bag, squized by the weight of books.

↺But Tali liked the dead and deformed rose more than the expensive chocolate. She found funny how dumb he was to not consider such a fact. She wouldn't like a normal rose anyway.

↺Tobin wasn't expecting Tali to offer him a cigarette. He accepted it and they smoke without talking. It was one of the most peaceful moments they had lived after the torture Tobin and Tali had gone through days after days.

↺They were truly made for each other and the real strange thing for the beginning of their friendship was how come they didn't meet sometime earlier.

❝The darkness brings me back to die with you❞

↺Although Tali was annoyed with him most of the time, she kind of liked not being alone always like normal times of her. She liked his stupid jokes and she almost enjoyed the trouble he dragged himself in even though she had to save his stupid ass.

↺Tali was new to human interaction which doesn't hurt, so this whole thing was just new to her. New but not bad, somehow.

↺Tobin had always been around other people, but no one was special for him to care about more than a few days. He would forget them and weeks later, he wouldn't even remember their name. But something was wrong with Tali.

↺Something was really, really wrong with Tali. He couldn't put his fingers on it exactly, however, he could say he didn't want to leave her side.

↺He liked when Tali joked about how dumb his hair was, he liked when Tali talked about a band she discovered, he liked when Tali acted like she's the strongest gırl in the world despite her scars.

↺She liked when Tobin constantly talked about new events in his life, she liked when Tobin kept drag her into interesting places, she liked when Tobin didn't care about anything in his past and kept moving forward.

↺They spend more and more time together day by day. And with this, they learned to tolerate each other. Or at least that was what they supposed.

↺Tobin thought this whole weird feeling would pass by time, just like what normally happens, but it didn't. In fact, it grew bigger. It grew into something more strange, it grew into something better.

↺It grew into love.

❝All I see is you❞

↺Their relationship hadn't changed much when they started to date. Because neither of them needed anything fancy or new in their messed up life. All they needed was the comforting feeling of their lover's presence.

↺They cared about each other so much. No one could dare to say anything about them because they learned that they would protect each other for even the slightest things.

↺They didn't say anything about their past mistakes. Because the only thing they cared about was how much improvement their partner made. And they knew there was no use in digging their dark graves.

↺Tobin was there when Tali needed him, and Tali was here when Tobin needed her. That was the only thing that mattered.

↺And all in all, Tobin and Tali complete each other in a way no one else could and they know this.

↺They're not only their partners in crime but their partners in life.

↺That's how things have been for an unforgettable period of time and they could not ask for more.

↺Because nothing was more important and unreplaceable for them considered to their eternal bound.

[sabo-has-my-heart]

Hello! I saw you posting requests so I assume they're open? In case I'm wrong, please ignore this 😅

But well, I saw that you have a couple of love triangle and poly Ace x reader x Sabo stories and I had a blast reading them! But also, they made me think.

Would you mind writing a fluff modern AU where Ace likes (female) Reader since they were kids and Sabo teases the heck out of his brother for it, but is also his biggest supporter to comfess and get together with their best friend already?

I'm so glad you like my Ace x reader x Sabo poly stories. They're my favorite boys. For obvious reasons, this is an Ace fic, it was also super cute. I hope you like it!

Word Count: 1630

     Running a hand through his hair, Ace tilted his head back. It was the ‘anniversary’ of the day he’d met you. 12 years ago today, he’d bumped into you while running down the halls causing trouble. It was shortly before class started and you’d been the new girl headed for your first class. He’d just set up a prank in the teacher’s lounge and was hoping to get away before someone caught him. Thankfully you were as mischievous as he was and had helped him get away. The teachers had exited the lounge, covered in silly string and immediately pinned it on him, knowing how much of a troublemaker he was and suspicious of how close he was to the teacher’s lounge. You’d given the string covered teachers your biggest puppy dog eyes and told them, in your saddest voice, that he had been leading you to your class and to ‘please don’t get mad at him’. When he’d asked why you’d lied to them, you simply stated that seeing your new teachers covered in multicolored silly string had been funny and that you could tell you were going to like him. From then on, the two of you protected each other. You’d protect him from getting caught by the teachers and he’d protect you from the kids on the playground. While the teachers suspected he was still causing trouble, with you at his side, they couldn’t ever get any proof. Naturally, he’d introduced you to Sabo and, later, Luffy. While you were close to all three boys, you hadn’t joined in their brotherhood as the only sister, confusing the poor boy. At the time, he’d wanted you to be a part of their special bond, wanted you to know how important you were to him, but now, he was actually kind of happy you hadn’t.

     It had been years ago, as the two of you entered high school that he’d started feeling… different about you. He noticed different things about you; like how pretty your eyes were, how silky and smooth your hair always looked, the lusciousness of your lips. Had you always been so beautiful? It hadn’t taken long for him, or Sabo, to notice his feelings towards you, something Sabo enjoyed repeatedly mocking his brother for. In truth, Sabo was absolutely rooting for his brother’s love life, Ace deserved to have the girl of his dreams and to be happy, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t tease him. 

     Sitting on the back of Ace’s motorcycle, you couldn’t help but smile, your arms wrapped tightly around him. You loved riding on his bike with him and not just because riding on a motorcycle was fun and exciting. You loved how close it allowed you to be to Ace, loved how you got to hold him, feeling the heat radiating from his body, his scent wafting off of him, your heart pounding as he raced down the streets. It seemed like everything that made Ace, Ace could be found in being on the bike. From his wild, carefree spirit in the way he sped down the roads to his borderline recklessness in how he took sharp turns. His exciting, exhilarating way that he would skid to a stop sideways, to the sweet way he’d always make sure you were okay and that your helmet was always in top condition. The two of you were practically inseparable, almost always found together. If Ace forgot his phone, you were the first person Sabo called, if your parents were wondering where you were, Ace was the person they turned to. Hence why Sabo gave him so much shit about his crush on you. 

     Walking inside their shared apartment, Sabo grinned, seeing Ace by himself for once, eating a batch of what looked like homemade cookies.

     “Oooo, sweets from your girlfriend?” Sabo asked, giving Ace a knowing look.

     “What? No! They’re from Y/n! You know I don’t have a girlfriend.” Ace shot back, glaring at his brother as he stuffed another cookie in his mouth.

     “So yes, cookies from your girlfriend.” Sabo teased, setting his things down as Ace glared harder.

     “She’s not my girlfriend!” Ace growled, even though he knew that Sabo knew that he had a crush on you.

     “Really? Could have fooled me with how often you two are together. I think even the barista at her coffee shop thinks you two are dating by now. Though I suppose if you’re not dating her, that’s good news for me. For a lot of guys out there, really. A beauty like her? I’m sure any man would kill for a piece of that.” Sabo said teasingly, even as Ace jumped up from the couch, a furious look on his face.

     “The fuck does that mean?! I swear if you’re thinking of asking her out, I’ll kill you in your sleep!” Ace said, the look on his face one of pure anger as he glared at his brother.

     “Alright, alright, I won’t ask her out, but you can’t stop me from a little flirting and if she asks me, I’m not saying no, that’s her choice and since you haven’t asked her out, she’s free to date whoever she pleases.” Sabo said, continuing to rile his brother up.

     “Over my dead body! You’ll stay the hell away from her or I’ll-” “You’ll what? You can’t control her and it’s not like you’re her boyfriend, although again, you could have fooled me.” Sabo said with a chuckle. Ace was up and over the couch, chasing the blond around as Sabo laughed. He loved when he riled Ace up enough that the boy would chase him in an attempt to kick his ass. He only caught Sabo about half the time and they never did much more than a ‘light’ punch to the shoulder, but it was all in good fun, they were brothers after all. A knock on the door drew them out of their play fighting, Ace’s face lighting up as he scrambled for the door. The look on the boy’s face told Sabo everything he needed to know. You had been planning on coming over and Ace couldn’t wait to see you. 

     It was a few weeks later, as Ace munched on some brownies that Ace considered what his brother had said. The two of you did hang out a lot and people had thought you were dating before. If you two were giving off those sort of vibes, didn’t that mean they had a point? Besides, he couldn’t deny his attraction to you; he’d known how he felt about you for years, but he’d always worried about if you felt the same way. He was a troublemaker and a punk, he wasn’t particularly intelligent nor did he make a particularly large amount of money. Wouldn’t you be better off with someone else? At the same time, the idea of you getting with someone else infuriated him, to the point where he’d scared off dozens of guys before. Looking down at the, now demolished, brownies, he dusted his fingers of the crumbs before pulling out his phone, he needed to talk to you. Shooting off a text, he took a deep breath. His brother had a point, he needed to tell you how he felt.

     Ace squirmed as the two of you sat on the couch for movie night. He hadn’t been able to just tell you he needed to talk to you, so he’d invited you over for a ‘movie night’ and hoped to talk to you at some point. Sighing, you grabbed the remote, hitting pause before turning to him.

     “Ace, you’ve been wiggling like you’ve got ants in your pants since we sat down. Not only do I feel every shift, which is highly distracting, but it also makes it very hard to get comfortable. So what’s got you so restless?” you asked, putting your hands on your hips. He swore his heart dropped into his stomach. You’d noticed, you sounded annoyed, he was going to have to tell you how he felt. His heart was pounding out of his chest and his stomach was in so many knots that he felt sick.

     “W-well, it’s… you see, there’s something I… you’re…” Ace took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, “Y/n… we’ve, no, I… fuck, why is this so hard.” Ace ran his hand through his hair, closing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths, “Would… would you go out with me? Not like friends, but like, go out with me?” Ace asked finally, his eyes squeezed shut, afraid of your rejection. You giggled, putting your hands on Ace’s shoulders before pulling him close, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek.

     “I’d love that more than I can say. Maybe this Saturday at our favorite restaurant? Or I hear there’s a fair in town. I’ve always wanted a guy to win one of those stupid, cheap, little toys they hand out.” you said with a sweet smile, Ace staring at you in wonderment.

     “I… the fair sounds great. I’ll win you the best stupid, cheap toy they have.” he said with a smile, kissing your forehead before pulling you close, “Though I uh, can we finish the movie? I’d um, I’d like to actually watch it with you and get to hold you close.” he muttered, nuzzling his head into the crook of your neck.

     “Alright, but we’re going to have to start from the beginning because I missed so much due to your wiggling.” you teased as you grabbed the remote again. Honestly, it was just an excuse to spend more time in his arms, but neither of you cared, it was simply nice to be snuggled up like this.

[thunderstroked]

Bleating Hearts || Mona & Monty

TIMING: current. LOCATION: monty's farm. PARTIES: @howdy-cowpoke & @thunderstroked SUMMARY: mona runs into monty and his goats! she gets a bit more help from monty, but not before she's run off by his dogs. CONTENT: none.

The fox trotted along the roadside’s edge, nose tilted to the air, doing her best to figure out exactly where the familiar scents would pull from. Her sense of direction, no matter how hard she tried, never got any better. The only thing she could smell was that of other animals– cows, horses, goats, the whole nine yards. If she were near a farm of any kind, she knew that they probably wouldn’t take kindly to a fox, especially if they had hens. Lucky for them, chicken wasn’t Mona’s favorite protein. Besides, it wasn’t like she was hungry yet. If she really needed to satiate herself, she’d find one of the many ghosts wandering town and have that as a snack, not something that would later come back to haunt her. The irony of the thought was not lost on her, even as she stumbled upon the farm in question. 

There was a truck idling at the corner, and she stared at it with her wild golden eyes. The cold would eventually find its way through her coat, and she didn’t want to find out what that meant for her later. She hoped that whoever was driving the truck had meant to go into town, so she wasted no time in hopping into the back of the cab, crouching down to avoid being seen. To whoever did find her, they’d be surprised to see no ordinary fox– but some blue melded thing with multiple tails. She’d been in deep shit if it were somebody unkind, but who ran a seemingly healthy farm and harmed animals? 

—

Naturally, Monty hadn’t realized that the trailer had two flat tires until he was meant to be hitching it to his truck to go pick up a couple of goat kids from a nearby farm that couldn’t afford to feed all of their animals anymore and had been selling them off. Cursing under his breath, he weighed the pros and cons of just letting the kids loose in the cab with him, his gaze falling on Philip who was standing atop a hay bale, staring at him from his enclosure. 

“What do you think, eh? Will they cause as much trouble as you would?” he asked the pitch black goat. The animal cocked his head, long ears flopping about, then gave a long, loud bleat. Monty laughed, waving him off and unhitching the useless trailer, figuring it’d probably be fine. He made a mental note to ask Daisy to have someone fix the tires as he got into the truck, pulling around in the drive and heading to the main road that would take him to the neighboring farm.

It wasn’t a long drive, and Monty kept his truck idling just out of sight of the barn where he’d be picking the goats up from, not really wanting to have to explain himself or his strange decision to the other farmers. They offered to help him load up the kids but he insisted that he’d be fine on his own, paying them and keeping one of the kids held to his chest, the other walking beside him with a small rope lead around her neck. 

“Okay niñas, do not tattle on me to Daisy. The trailer tires blew on the way home, sí?” He’d purposefully left the passenger side door open to make this easier (hopefully), first setting the kid under his arm down on the seat before picking the other up from the ground and lifting her into the cab, setting her beside her sister. Their tails were wagging as they began to explore, and he shut the door behind them to circle around the truck to the driver’s side. 

The bleat of fear from one of the kids was not what he expected as he climbed into his own seat, brows raising. “What? ¿Qué es?” The farmer twisted in his seat to see what the kid was staring at, and gasped. What… what kind of fox was that? Monty was stunned for a moment before remembering himself and putting a hand on the kid’s head, shushing her and turning her away from the sight. “Está bien, chiquita. Está bien.” This was clearly some kind of supernatural thing he’d never encountered before, and as always, he chose to treat it with respect. “Um… hi,” he began awkwardly, not even knowing if the thing was sapient or not. Might as well assume it was. “You must be cold. Ah... you can stay in the cab to warm up! I just… need to get these kids home, all right? We can figure out what to do with you once we’re back… at my farm.” God, this felt a little ridiculous, but he wasn’t sure what else there was to do. 

—

The smell of the ghosts overpowered pretty much everything else, and the fox’s nose twitched in response. It was strange to see somebody allow animals in the front of their car– somewhere that most people would argue animals didn’t belong. Maybe he believed that animals were like minded individuals instead of things that should’ve been treated as lesser than. She could understand that to a degree, as long as it had nothing to do with birds. They were worthless creatures who did nothing but pester her. It was like they knew that she disliked them, so they made sure to make her life a living hell. 

But these were not birds– it was two goats and an undead man who was… shit, he was staring at her now. Her eyes narrowed at the goat who was now being turned in the other direction. Gold eyes flickered back to the man, surprised to hear that he was speaking to her, not at her. Most others spoke at her– distressed or not, and while he did seem particularly confused, she wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact that he seemed to acknowledge something wasn’t right. When people often came to that conclusion, there was fear in the air, sticky and hot with the way they’d shoo her or shout, but he was welcoming her in a manner she’d not seen in many. Not without concern, at least. 

The fox glanced over her surroundings, tentatively moving forward at the man’s insistence. It was much warmer in the cab of the truck, and so she slipped through the window that led to the back of the pick up, curling up in the corner of the backseat, furthest away from the goats that were bleating so loudly that she was sure she’d hear it for days on end. She wasn’t sure how to say thank you, and while she knew that this could end badly, she figured anybody who let goats into their personal space wasn’t going to exactly take her out and try and get rid of her. She blinked at the man, gaze swiveling over the goats. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her ears twitched at every noise made. She was either going to regret this, or be on the hunt for this man later on to repay his kindness. The fox stared him down, attempting to memorize his features. 

—

Watching  the creature crawl out of the truck bed and into the cab brought a soft smile to Monty’s face, and he gave the fox a nod. “Okay then. Ah… sorry about the goats, they are talkative.” He rolled the windows down a bit to help give the noise somewhere else to go, cranking up the heat in response and removing his own jacket to bundle it up and give the kids something to nestle into. That seemed to calm them and they had quieted down once the truck was pulled back onto the main road, allowing for a much quieter and warmer ride.

Once they’d gotten back to Prickly Pear Acres, Monty asked the fox to stay put for a moment while he handed off the kids to another couple of hands that would deal with the inspection and tagging. He insisted it would only be a couple of minutes and he was true to his word, returning to the truck he’d left running (to keep it warm) and opening the door again to look at the creature.

“Okay. I don’t… know what you are, and I don’t even know if you can understand me, but if you can… would you follow me inside? I would hate to leave you out here… there are also plenty of barns with haylofts you could nap in, if you prefer. The animals will not mind, I don’t think. They’re all much larger than you.” He paused, scratching at his head. “I don’t know what kind of food you eat, either, but there’s… you know. Mice and things around here. And I have some food in the house you might like. Um.” His gaze swept down to her tails and his brow furrowed in thought. “Maybe if I can figure out what you are… well. That can happen inside. I will leave the front door open for you, so you can come in when you want.” They were parked in front of the house, and Monty kept the truck window rolled down as he very gently shut the door, stepping away from it and turning to go inside. As promised, he left it slightly ajar so the fox could enter as it pleased, and pulled out his phone to start trying to figure out what kind of fox had multiple tails.

The answer was surprisingly easy to find, but of course the details about such a thing were where it all got confused. 

Glancing up from his phone when he noticed the creature taking him up on his offer to enter the warm home, he cocked his head to the side. “Are you a… kitsune?” The word was pronounced pretty incorrectly, more Spanish than anything else, and he gave a shrug.

—

The ride wasn’t long, and really, the fox wasn’t sure which direction they were heading. Her gaze went from corner to corner, catching glimpses of the blurred outskirts, then back to the goats who were curled around one another. She might be touched by the image if she weren’t so frustrated by her predicament. 

The truck stopped, and the fox had half a mind to bolt out of the cab as soon as the door was open, but the man spoke to her with a certain kindness that was absent in most cases when coming across something like her. She obeyed, not so much out of fear, but out of curiosity. He spoke to her as if he had half an idea that she might understand him. Did he know what she was? Could he help her? 

It didn’t take long for that dream to shatter, because the man was speaking to her, reaffirming that he wasn’t sure if she could understand him. Both her tails twitched in response. He wanted her to sleep in the– no, he was offering it to her. Did he have chickens? Wasn’t he worried she might make herself at home a little too much? Mice? He was trying to offer her things that he thought a fox might be interested in, and she made a mental note to tell him after this was all over that no, she did not want mice for breakfast. Or was it lunch time? Her stomach grumbled, and the thought of food– or rather, the promise of it being extended towards her by the farmer was enough for her to follow him inside after he retreated back into the house. 

It was warm inside and she paused by the door, gold eyes flickering over the interior. At least he had taste, even if it was a little western. 

The fox padded into the foyer, ears rotating as she took in the sounds from each room before finally she refocused on the man. So he did know? She tilted her head to the side before nodding slowly. She felt so small, in the grand scheme of things– it should’ve been terrifying, the lack of heartbeat from the man, but it made her somehow feel safer. Like she knew his secret, and he knew hers, even if he couldn’t put it to her face until this nightmare was over. The fox pawed at the ground in an attempt to trace out STUCK against the wooden floorboards, but she knew it was no use. She couldn’t even tell what she was attempting to write, and she was the one doing it. 

—

The nod was somewhat unexpected, but it filled Monty with unbridled curiosity and enthusiasm. “Oh! Oh, okay! We can work with this! The internet… well, it says a lot of things, and I can’t know exactly what’s true and what isn’t… but maybe we can just stick to yes or no questions.” He watched for a moment as the fox started to paw at the floor. It didn’t mean anything that he could discern, and he felt bad about that. She was clearly trying to communicate. Stepping toward her carefully, the man clicked the door shut behind her to keep the cold out, then began  thoughtfully pacing a respectful distance from her. 

“The thing I was reading said that kitsune can look like people, too.” He glanced down at the fox. “Is that true?” Then why didn’t she? Maybe she preferred this form, though it seemed limiting to her ability to communicate. And if she was in no need of help, if this was just how she chose to be, why would she have followed him inside? Well… maybe she just wanted a warm place to sleep. It could be as simple as that. 

—

Maybe they should go back outside to where she could trace out words in the dirt like she had with that man who had found her in the cage. The fox stared up at him as he asked his questions, and she nodded. This might get them somewhere, or at least she hoped it would. She wasn’t sure how this man could help her, at least with the bit about her being stuck in fox form. She didn’t figure he knew Felix or Inge, so somehow getting their names out into the open would possibly prove futile, too. 

The fox regarded the farmer for a moment before trotting past him in an attempt to find something to assist her in literally spelling out that she was stuck in this form, but one round around his kitchen, and there was nothing. She found her way back to him, clearly disappointed by the lack of tools fit for a fox to communicate, and sat at his feet, peering up at him. The yes or no’s would have to do, and she would just have to hope he would ask the right questions. 

—

Monty watched her move about the place, looking for something, though he didn’t know what. A way to speak, perhaps. But if she could shift, then… “Are you… I have a friend, well, several friends that can shift between people and creatures. And you said that kitsune can do this as well.” He stared at her for a moment, brows furrowed. “But you’re… not doing that. Which I would think would make talking easier.” Could shifters get stuck in an animal shape? The idea of it was upsetting, frankly, and he started to wring his hands together. He was severely under qualified to deal with something like this, but maybe someone he knew…

“Are you unable to change back?” It made the most sense, but even knowing for certain that the answer was yes, he wasn’t sure how he was going to help. Hm. He knew Gael would likely not know anything about them, but Alan might… or maybe Felix? 

—

At least the farmer seemed to understand her plight. Well, slightly. The fox simply nodded slowly, hoping that he would be able to discern that yes, she could shift back, but clearly that wasn’t an option at the moment. The flash of light that’d come from the young girl’s wayward spell had blinded her momentarily, but not before she’d shifted into fox form in an attempt to get away. Was it better to be stuck like this, then to be stuck in her human form? 

At his question, the foxnodded furiously, head bobbing up and down. There was no way he’d misunderstand that. She looked up at him with a helpless expression, gold eyes meeting his dark brown. It was difficult, to say the least– communicating with somebody while like this. She again cursed the lack of evolution within her own species. 

If she had more tails, she could communicate within his mind, maybe– or had that only been for other kitsune? It wasn’t something she learned about, just knew it was possible. What was really frustrating was the idea that after this was all said and done, she’d have to do a tour of Wicked’s Rest to give her gratitude to those who had helped her. 

The fox sat down finally, ceasing the incessant pacing. She watched the man as he clearly began to think. Maybe he would come up with a solution– maybe he knew somebody, another spellcaster who could reverse whatever had happened to her. She hoped that was the case, at least. 

—

“Okay… okay. I’m not—I don’t really know a lot about shifters, obviously, um… but I think maybe my friend Felix would be able to help you! They live in Worm Row, and they… well, they would probably know a lot more than I do. Maybe they’ve known other kitsune before! Here, I’ll—” Monty began patting down the pockets of his shirt and jeans absently, turning on the spot like he was looking for something—“give you their address, sí? And a note to take with you, so they know what’s wrong!” The next offer would be to take her there himself, but now knowing that she was much more than just a strange-colored fox, it felt a little condescending to assume she couldn’t take care of herself. Still… 

He was scribbling down the note when he heard the back door to the house open, and his heart leaped into his throat. “Wait!” he called, dropping the note to the floor and stepping between the fox and the person coming inside—person and animals coming inside, that is. Daisy was strolling down the back hall toward him, a bemused smile on her face as the dogs started to kick up a fuss. “No! Pomelo, Cinder! Back!” The dogs’ protective nature overrode their training to listen to his commands, and they came crashing down the hall barking and snarling. Monty backed away from them, moving toward the door again and wrenching it open, giving the fox a place to escape to. 

“Sorry, I’m sorry!” he called after her once she’d slipped through the door and he’d wedged himself there to keep the canines from pursuing her further. “Sorry, you can—Pomelo, heel—just get yourself to Felix Mendoza! They can help you!” He didn’t even know if that was true, but it was the best idea he had. 

—

The fox’s ears twitched at the sound of Felix’s name. This man knew Felix? That was fantastic! If he knew Felix, then Felix would recognize her, and he would be able to help her. It had occurred to her that she could just go to their apartment, but every time she had tried, something thwarted her. This town was full of things keeping her from getting back to normal and she was sick of it. 

Things were finally beginning to look up. She didn’t know how to communicate to the man that she didn’t need the address, but her thoughts took an immediate detour at the sound of footsteps– fours and twos. The fox’s head snapped up, ears pinned in the direction of the door as it opened. The smell of the dogs filled her nostrils before they actually came into view, and the same must have been for them. They ran forward, teeth bared, and the fox resisted the urge to send a zap in their direction. They were just dogs, and it was obvious that this man meant no harm for her, because he was too, diving in the direction of the door, shoving it open. 

The fox wasted no time in slipping through, grateful to hear it close behind her, but not without the sound of nails on the wood. Their barks pierced her ears as she ran, knowing well enough that this had been the closest she’d gotten to being saved. If this man knew Felix, then maybe she could wait, but something told her that hanging around would only get her hurt with the dogs inside, so she ran as fast as she could in the direction of where she knew town to be. 

[buntsuki]

Hello! My name is Autumn, I go by Bun, and this is Groot! He’s my emotional support dog, he’s been by my side since he was old enough to come home! He is truly my other half, and dog soulmate. He is incredibly intelligent, with a deep and understanding soul. He’s the most unique and special creature I have ever had to pleasure of being around.

I’m a 24 year old, disabled/chronically ill woman. When Groot was younger he would lay along me in bed every night, and most of the day. Especially during my extreme endometriosis symptoms, and the hip injection hormone treatment I was finally able to have after years.

Groot started out as our family dog, he is a member of the family. A family friend rescued a dog on the side of the road while on a cross country road trip! When she found out the shelters would just put her down, she kept the dog…and surprise the dog, Missy, was pregnant! My aunt helped with the birthing of the puppies…and that’s how he came into our lives!

My parents went to visit the puppies since they wanted one. Groot first went up to my dad, and after my dad picked him up Groot started licking his face and trying to eat his beard! After my dad put him down on the floor and told my mom he liked this one…Groot went over to my mom. She was sitting on the floor, and Groot climbed up on her lap, laid on her leg and went to sleep. He chose us! We named him Groot because he was just always in the background doing his own thing, dragging water bowls around as a puppy while the other ones went wild playing!

Once Groot came home, he bonded with me the most, hiding behind me from my siblings, and laying with me for comfort. Our first night with him, we weren’t sure if he even knew what stairs were since he didn’t have them where he was born. Well low and behold that night he goes BOLTING up the stairs! He couldn’t get back down, but he’s always been a powerhouse!

Over the years Groot and I got closer, and he has become my baby. He also completely adores my fiancée, he is also her baby! He is the sweetest, deepest soul I have ever met.

At the end of August he started getting sick..well kinda. His only symptom was swollen Lymph Nodes on his neck. We called the vet, they told us to monitor it and wait a few days, it could just be a virus. So we did, the nodes changed shape and size, but didn’t go away. So we called again, got an appointment, went in, and they suspected an infection, possibly an abscess. He was given antibiotics and told to monitor. The lymph nodes went down, but again not away.

We called back, and they referred us to the specialized hospital. It was a long day, Groot got sedated, biopsies, scans, bloodwork etc. he was out on Prednisone for the time being as well as a precaution. A few days later we got the call. They found cancer cells in all the sampled lymph nodes.

We were of course devastated, but Groot is in group A for best remission odds! He didn’t have sick symptoms when diagnosed, as well as it being Type B cells instead of Type T cells. We consulted the oncologist, went over options etc. and decided on the strongest treatment. Groot is young, otherwise healthy, and has great odds for a long remission!

After his first Chemotherapy dose he went into full remission! He still needs his full treatment course, but this is such a positive start! He is still in remission, and still responding so positively to the chemo! It’s a little adventure for him, he doesn’t even know anything is wrong, as it should be!

When we were informed of his diagnosis, the woman who called told us about her dog. He was diagnosed at age five, with large cell lymphoma, b-cells. He did the strongest treatment and now he is 2 years out from his chemotherapy, and completely cancer free! Since she works there she has easier access and pricing for scans, so she does them every 3 months, full body. Not a single cancer cell! She said he did lose his hair though! With the updated chemotherapy for animals the odds are so much better, they’ve come a long way! The statistics are just so bad because…it’s expensive.

They do not make it easy, it is heart wrenching. I’ve been in a position before where we’ve had to give up an animal since we couldn’t afford the hospital bill and care. I feel for everyone who has gone through this and not been able to afford chemo. I completely understand and it is entirely different not being able to afford it, vs just not wanting to spend the money!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aside from the stress, and emotional ups and downs experiencing this with Groot, I am financially devastated. You cannot insure a pet with a pre-condition, much like how insurance companies don’t like covering humans with pre-existing conditions. No insurance will accept an already diagnosed pet unless the pet is CURED without treatments for 180 days. Then that also falls into what their definition of cured means.

I have been emptying my life savings (saved everything from first my job, then unemployment, and the stimulus checks), I am unable to work due to Covid with my ITP (blood disorder), as well as Endometriosis, fibromyalgia, and suspected degenerative arthritis (my mom has it, it runs in our family, and I have the symptoms of it). I have also been selling my personal belongings, and doing discounted art commissions. I don’t even get to go out often, and whenever I do it’s in a N95 mask with limited crowds!

We have been applying to all the foundations that help with vet bills, but they are OVERWHELMED, have strict requirements, limited donation amounts, and extremely long waitlists. We’ve still been applying, but I’m not relying on them getting back to us…

My mom, who is also disabled, got a $1700 loan to help! It went straight to the vet, my fiancée took from her savings as well. We are both applying for and looking into loans and vet bill credit cards. This is just so hard, he had a nearly $5000 overnight hospital stay (it ended up being due to chemotherapy and steroid reactions, he’s finished the steroids now, and they’re dialing back the chemo type that caused it).

After that hospital bill I am wiped out and terrified. All the money I had earned, fundraised, was given by friends and family, it all ended up going to that hospital bill. Now I still need to pay the rest of his chemo! I need at least another $5,000 which I know is a lot! But this is a life, and this is a once in a lifetime chance where I can BUY MORE TIME with him! He isn’t suffering, no pains, and aside from the hospital stay due to raised liver enzymes he hasn’t had any chemo symptoms either!

I am so incredibly proud of him, and how brave and strong he is!

Any thoughts, well wishes, prayers, shared, donations, purchases, commissions and everything else are so incredibly appreciated! I truly don’t want to ask for money, for help, I wish I could just do this all on my own. We know in hindsight now about insurance, this is a learning experience for sure, but that doesn’t mean I’m just going to give up on Groot! He is here now and thriving and I want to give him the best life that he deserves! Thank you for reading❤️

Commissions are open, all types, can find me on other socials under BunTsuki as well! Any help means the world to me, and I swear when I’m better off I will pay it forward!

[jerardeusebio]

Running Into Remembering

There was a time in my life when I was running eight miles a day, six days a week, at home, in the college town of Los Baños. And I couldn’t have been running all the time there without seeing the same set of characters. These were the ones who ran on campus with me, on the same pavements, at the same hour, from dusk to night. And so, during these runs, I regularly encountered certain faces, all of them I had—whether knowingly or not—committed to memory.

One of them was this girl, a classmate from literature class, who impressed me with her dramatic weight loss. I saw her most often in the upper field, circling her way to less and less of her old self. Before the year was over, her once plump profile had become defined, reshaped by her own resolve. The last time I saw her was at the beginning of summer. She, running in the opposite direction, at one point glanced at me. There was no hint of recognition in her expression and so continued on her way, her figure fading into the browns of the field. She must have graduated after that because I never saw her again.

There was also see this guy, distinct from the rest of the runners because of his thick, modern spectacles and knee-high socks. He was fair-skinned and I almost would bet he spent his days in front of a computer screen. I also knew him to be the son of a prominent parish official. I only discovered this bit because I’ve actually been to his house once as a caroler, not to serenade his family into contributing to our fundraising activity. It intrigued me how I’ve never seen him join any of our other religious activities outside Sunday Mass. On campus, though, he’d be everywhere. Dusk seemed to be his preferred running time. He would run farther distances than most people, run where only a few would—like me.

I was an adventurous runner. Being off the beaten path was my way of exacting my own world. Mapping random, unusual routes was how I facilitated resistance to everything else out of my control. Mostly though, it was to avoid the crowd. By myself, there was no need to nod at anyone I knew, no need to feel threatened by someone else’s faster pace, and no need to feel like the world was slowing me down. So, I would take quiet, narrow streets. Whenever I felt extra solitary, I’d run uphill and stop right where the trail for Mount Makiling’s peak started.

It would only make sense, then, that when I first saw the elderly man, I was running alone. I had been passing a row of charming post-war wooden houses on Viado street, a quaint and shade road completely hidden from the campus crowd’s view below. It stretched perpendicular to the slope of what was already the foot of the mountain. Trees and wild vegetation grew from both sides where they were interrupted only by these houses. I had been soaking in the quiet of that late afternoon when I saw him standing on his porch. Easily in his late 50s, the man had dignified, silver hair landing on his shoulders. His most striking feature was his lived-in face. As I came closer, I realized he was stretching and in his running attire. Pre- or post- run, I couldn’t tell. It was then that he looked at me. Apart from a friendly white dog and free ranging chickens, this street had been, up until this point, almost always deserted. One of the reasons I loved passing this way was because it gave me the creeps, which upped my pace considerably. So right then, locking eyes with a stranger who vaguely reminded me of the sick man from The Skeleton Key, and with the onset of the ominous buzz of the cicadas, I stopped myself from further engaging with him. I just stared back a split second and turned my gaze back on the road before me.

In the weeks and months that followed, I would instantly recognize him even from afar. His hair spoke to me from a distance. His lanky physique was unmistakable. His gait gave him away. After some time, he stopped creeping me out. He became a familiar face, as familiar as the paths I took and the giant trees I gawked at and greeted on my way. We would run into each other in all sorts of spots, in all permutations of weather. At one point, I even remember telling myself he was the future me—running solo, daily, rain or shine, with no care in the world about age. Sort of like Murakami.

In the next five years, I found myself running less and less in my hometown, having to relocate to the city for graduate studies. I did try to keep my devotion to the one sport I actually liked. I pushed running in the city more times than I could bear, slicing through the smog, joining in the noise, and moving along with the traffic. But they must have been too few, because faces didn’t become familiar. And the quiet, narrow streets of the city—I realized—weren’t as narrow, weren’t as quiet. Running finally took a back seat when I looked for and landed a full-time job to help fund my graduate studies and city living. Every now and then, though, I would remember and wonder about those years of running.

Just a few days ago, I came back home to spend a full week there, a break from the life I had so far led. I planned my week and vowed to pick up running again. I shook the dust off my running shoes, put them on, and was back on the familiar pavements. I was out of shape, needless to say, but it gave me the good kind of exhaustion. And at the end of my run, cooling down in front of the building where my parents first met, I spotted a face I recognized. The elderly man from the quiet, narrow street emerged before my sight. Still in his running attire, he seemed to have rejected the concept of aging. I stared at him until we were close enough to see the terrain of each other’s faces, the closest we have ever gotten. And then, right before passing me, he gave me a nod. I nodded back and got a smile in return.

They say running is all about muscle memory. These days, I’ve been given to remembering. The years between who we—that man and I—were and who we are have been many and long. And perhaps—in the years we had not seen each other, in the absence of presence, in the intransigence of remembering—we have nevertheless become familiar. And when an aged and nameless runner is able to give such things to me, how could the image not imprint? How could it not stay? And how else, how else could I have repossessed this story, if I hadn’t already once let it slip into the gorges of memory?

[spitinsideme]

Peach blossoms and wolfsbane

By writer anon

Chapter 2 part 1

Yellow Smooth Violets

Tw:Homophobia briefly mentioned

Author’s note:Hello! I’ll be using flower language in these chapters from now on due to the fact that this is a Victorian era fic and back then people used to use flowers to communicate in secret so I thought it was fitting I’ll put the flowers symbolism at the bottom of the page! Hope you enjoy! I’ll also be adding music to certain parts too to help elevate the ambiance the story has Without further ado lets get into the story!

Edit note: there isn’t any music in this chapter since I couldn’t think of anything for it sorry! I’m open to some suggestions thou!

The train gently moves along the track swaying the cars ever so slightly. The train whistle blows and the train pulls into it’s stop. Agatha looks up from her newspaper and folds it neatly before getting up and stretching. Then she turns to her very sleepy body guard and gently taps her wake. “Winona we’re here hun wake up.” She said in slight hush tone. “Waz that Waz happin.” Winona drowsily says. “Welcome back to earth cowpoke we are about to get off the train.” “Oh finally i’ll go get our bags from the over head. Winona groans and stretches up and out of her chair. She yawns showing off them sharp pearly whites once more. Agatha could not and would not miss an opportunity to tease her loyal guard.”You sure you ain’t part dog or something? With teeth like that you otta be tearing meat off a bone.” Winona may be tired but she isn’t a fool and whips her head around “For the last time I ain’t no damm house pet.” She said with a growl. Agatha snickered “ Ya know what you are right you are more like a stray instead of a house pet.” Winona huffs” Why do I work for you again.” Because I’m very nice and sweet.” Agatha said with smirk. And with this Winona finally laughs at something Agatha said howling with laugher Agatha now agitated asked”And what is so funny?” Winona barrels over and wipes a tear from her eyes “ Ya know that was the funniest joke you said all day.” She barked. Agatha fed up with Winona shenanigans” Just carry the damn bags to the carriage. Don’t forget you to have to dress up for the ball.” She said “Ugh don’t remind me.” Said Winona wincing at the idea. They finally exit the train and walk a few paces away from the station to find their carriage. The driver opens the door for Agatha while Winona helps load up the suitcases and bags. She eventually also climbs in the carriage. As they are being pulled along the road Winona takes in the scenery of the city noting that it’s smells like grime and smog. She sighs she has only been in England for a short while but she already misses the Country side. Some time has passed now and As the carriage pulls along wheels turning on the the now dirt road Winona sees that the city getting smaller and smaller in the distance. She feels as though she finally gets to breathe and takes a big whiff of the country air. “Ahhhh this is much better.” She said. Agatha looks up at her “ Heh you were never really a city slicker.” She said with a smile. With a big toothy grin Winona replied “Yes ma’am I ain’t much of a city folk.I prefer to be wild and free in the country side. City is much too stuffy and even dirtier than a hog’s pen.” Agatha nods in agreement. “ Indeed the city ain’t for folk like us we enjoy the simpler things in life. I just wish my damn husband felt the same materialistic bastard.” “Why marry the fella if ya don’t fancy him?” Winona asked Agatha sighs “ It’s cuz my daddy caught me kissin a woman so he tied me off the nearest man.I don’t like men in that way so being married to him is the absolute worse it’s like bein in a jail cell with no door or window.” She said with a sad tone in her voice. Winona recoils a bit from what she heard “ Damn forgot bout all that sorry. Men are fowl creatures in my opinion so never felt the need to have one in my bed.” Agatha with an empty laugh states “Yeah just be lucky then that you don’t have to lay next to one and be grateful you have freedom in that regard.” Winona head hangs a bit low and she now is clasping her hands and twiddles her thumbs. An awkward silence fills the carriage then after it seems like an eternity Agatha clears her throat “Anywhosit I hope you did actually pack something nice to wear. This is a formal event not a night at the saloon here.” She said. Winona scoffs “ Yeah I know I got somethin don’t you fret. You just worry about rubbin elbows with them other rich folk.” She said with a small smile. They let the carriage fall in silence for the rest of the ride…

To be continued in part 2 of chapter 2

(Tumblr wouldn’t let me fit the whole thing :(

From,

Writer anon

verg long story .. eoah .. vrrh good do far 👍👍

[tessiete]

Wild Guesses and Untamed Theories about Good Omens Season 3.

Please feel free to disagree vehemently in the reblogs. Love that for us.

THEMES:

Since season one was about self-determination, and season two was about love, I'm guessing that season three is about death. Clues: 1. The Crow Road - Muriel is seen "reading" this book at the end. It's also the other novel that we see Jim alphabetise. It's about a young man whose grandmother dies, and he goes back to Scotland to wrestle with mortality, faith, and his relationship with his father. The "crow road" itself is a euphemism for death. Someone who's gone up crow road is dead.

2. The Final Nia Truc - Crowley's license plate being a reference to Terry Gilliam and his work on Monty Python. The skit it's referencing can be seen here (though you really should just watch The Meaning of Life. The Galaxy Song is maybe the best song written, and in fact I'm actually linking that and not the final curtain reference, so... (tw: suicidal leaves)

3. The Third Season is "Final" - Neil said so himself. In a three word Clue. I can't find it, so you're just gonna have to trust me. Anyway, what's more final than death? Or what isn't? You know?

4. Death as A Person - They were introduced as a physicalised character in the first season, and in the book it's noted that Death cannot be overcome. But Death CAN be delayed.

5. Book of Life - Revelations. Second Coming. Final Judgement. Jesus checking the Book of Life for the righteous. The resurrection of the dead. The end of all life on Earth. Etc., etc. The Bible is really preoccupied with this stuff, so I hear.

ARCS:

Aziraphale - He's a mess. I think we can all, well, not safely or with any certainty but at least with some...conviction? Some confidence? We can reasonably guess that Aziraphale's going to be dealing with a more complete disillusionment and emancipation from Heaven.

What does this mean in practical terms?

Probably a lot of conflict with the Metatron. Maybe Aziraphale realising he's being maneuvered as a puppet without any real authority. Potentially a coup by the other archangels? Possibly blackmail with Crowley's safety? Conceivably The Book of Life as a threat to his existence? To Crowley's? To Earth's? Sure. Why not?

Crowley - Okay, this is the neat one because Crowley had the most dramatic arc of the two of them in the second season. His was the open discovery of his love for Aziraphale, explicitly stated desire to be together, and the final (?) emancipation from Hell. Wanting to be a Us with a capital U.

So where is it left for him to go?

Forgiveness.

He's gonna have to learn to get comfy with forgiveness. With receiving it. With accepting it. With offering it.

Because he's going to have to give it to Aziraphale.

CONCLUSION:

I know, I know - no one agrees with me on this, but I'm gonna say it anyway and you can all yell in the notes.

I think this series ends with Crowley and Aziraphale becoming human. Choosing One Life to live together as humans. To have EVERYTHING, ALL AT ONCE, in one go. Together.

Because, because -- think of it:

Humanity vs. The Divine The book talks frequently about the difference between humans and angels/demons. Most clearly, here:

"The real grace and the real heart-stopping evil, was right inside the human mind."

This, to me, suggests that the things which Aziraphale and Crowley are ciphers for can only truly be realised by humans.

The book also goes on to reinforce to us how close the two of them already are.

They're said to have "gone native."

Crowley is said to have something other demons don't have: imagination.

Aziraphale is a straight up hedonist.

They live here. They work here.

And like with Dog, "form shapes nature."

And when it comes to "sides," Crowley notes in Season 1 that the final battle will really be between Heaven/Hell and Humanity. That's their side.

2. On the Nature of Free Will

Much is made about the nature of free will, especially in season one which is basically all about that. Anathema with her prophecies, Adam with his destiny, and, of course, Aziraphale and Crowley with their respective natures.

All of those arcs end with the heroes overcoming the bonds of restraint and determining their own future. In short, exercising their own free will.

While Aziraphale and Crowley don't necessarily recognise this, it is nonetheless true. And even though we're told it's impossible, we see that this isn't entirely true.

We see it in how Crowley drinks, and Aziraphale eats. Aziraphale especially engaging in all sorts of sinful activities without any celestial direction but purely because he likes it. He chooses it. And despite it going against the tenets of Heaven, he is able to do it.

Crowley wills the Bentley to survive the flames. Crowley chooses to conspire with Aziraphale time and again, not just to thwart the Great Plan but so that they can have oysters, or so that he doesn't have to ride a horse.

We constantly see them choosing.

And while, yes, in the scope of season 1 we could argue that "Ah, but - BUT! That is the Ineffable Plan. It wasn't chosen, it was always meant to be that way," this kind of falls apart in the scope of season 2 which is all about people resisting the expectations and pressures of other divine plans.

Gabriel nahs the war.

Maggie and Nina not only can't be miracled into love (so says Aziraphale), but also refuse to be manipulated into it either by miracle or meddling.

Muriel likes Aziraphale. Muriel "reads". Muriel helps Crowley.

So. Free Will.

Something that it seems everyone -- angels and demons included -- already has.

Additionally, Aziraphale's temptation back to Heaven is not based in ambition (he suggests Michael), but in self-determination (follow me, I swear it makes sense).

Okay, so the thing that sells him is the RESTORATION of Crowley to a divine state. Because he thinks that Crowley's Fall is fundamentally a mistake. That their inability to be together is because they are fundamentally opposed. Logically this makes sense, so why doesn't he feel convinced of it?

"Deep down you're a good person"

"That was a very kind thing you did"

All that stuff. He's constantly trying to assert Crowley's goodness as proof that he's not truly the demon he is. To Aziraphale, Crowley's status as a demon is a mistake that infringes upon his ability to determine his own path because when left to it, Crowley often chooses good.

While Crowley feels like his Fall is the act which bought him freedom from the shackles of Heaven. His Fall gave him self-determination.

Aziraphale sees it as something to be fixed. Crowley sees it as a choice. He sauntered vaguely downward. He goes along as far as he can.

In That Conversation, they're both hearing that the other person dislikes something they view as FUNDAMENTAL about themselves. Aziraphale IS an angel. Crowley IS a demon. They don't recognise how their choices determine their identities, and so misunderstand each other and ultimately, lose each other.

If they could see past those titles, then what would they find? And...something, something.

Where was I going with this?

Oh, right! Being human.

Anyway, if free-will is one of the requirements of Being Human then everyone qualifies whether they know it or not.

3. On the Nature of LOOOOOOVE

Falling in love. "It's what humans do." SO SAYS Aziraphale.

And well.

You know?

Enough said.

So, if Being Human means having free will AND falling in love, then...

Being an Angel or a Demon is just a job description.

And since Aziraphale and Crowley quit, then...

The only other thing that humanity has which separates them from angels and demons is that, well, they die. We die.

And so, if they are to become fully human with all the LOVE and FREEDOM of it, then they'll have to also take the death. Death, after all, is what makes the rest of it all possible. Maybe. I think, in some philosophies.

So, at a guess, the story ends like it began: in a garden.

Two humans, in love, living out their days in a cottage on the South Downs.

WILD RANDOM GUESSES (and how likely I think they are):

Jesus is a nepo baby, and Humanity turns on him because flying in a private jet is pretty gauche these days (9/10 - I think that this could go either way. When this idea was conceived in the 90s/00s private jets weren't the absolute bane of our literal continued existence as they are now. Some ideas don't age perfectly. The record shop, the...message box. Machine. The voice mail thing. The pay per view porn. But this one could have fun new connotations!)

Crowley becomes the new Duke of Hell and makes his dominion here on Earth (5/10 - Break ups can be Hell, and I think Crowley spiting Aziraphale's little efforts at beautification, or spurning all the places they used to love together is kind of fun. Also would explain global warming, buuuuut Crowley was pretty certain about not going back to Hell so...)

Aziraphale studies the porn in an effort to learn how to seduce Crowley. It's what humans do (like, a 8/10? I think it'll happen but I have no idea how it'd fit in)

Humans clone a whale. After all, God says to get back to her once we've managed to make a whale. (6/10. If Season 3 touches on the idea of emancipation (I didn't mention it up top, but here it is. Theme: EMANCIPATION) then I think it'd be funny for the cloning of a whale to signify Humanity's emancipation from Heaven and Hell, and God Herself. After all, if humans are God's children, all children - no exceptions - grow up.)

Humanity holds a General Strike against Heaven and Hell. It starts with a little old woman who just refuses to die. We all know one -- she's constantly being taken to the hospital, her family warned to prepare, and yet, somehow, she's back at the nursing home the next day. She just refuses to go. She's tired of all their nonsense (4/10 I think that there's no way humanity can outmatch Heaven or Hell for sheer strength so victory will have to come from somewhere else. Neil is a member of a union. A union currently on strike. Little guys taking on the Big Bads. I think it's a very relevant theme these days, but as I'm also in that same strike, I am le biased)

One of the guest leads is a pathologist named Dr. Leighton Quick. Because he deals with the Late. And the Quick. Get it? He's between Life and Death. Heaven and Hell. A human mediator. Seeking out answers to mete out justice on Earth. (-400/10 Absolutely impossible unless Neil has the exact same taste for puns that I do. But there are so many options, so...unlikely. I just think it's funny.)

Some old man is working in Heaven. He accidentally forgot to get off the escalator, and has been in accounting up there for 40 years. No one has noticed. (3/10. It's the kind of absurdity I can see happening. I just don't know how it'd fit. Only slight less likely than Duke Crowley)

The Somewhere Cold people go after Death is a Reception Lobby on the 42nd Floor. It's halfway between Up and Down. It has no windows and fluorescent lights. It's not horrible, but the A/C is broken so summer or winter, it's freezing cold. (7/10. I mean, it's a government office building, right? You're always waiting. It's always boring af. The A/C is always broken.)

Death is some Scottish Guy. Because of Crow Road. Because of David. Because it's funny. Because Death also deserves a little garden in the highlands. He lives on Crow Road. (10/10-1. I like it. It's probably too on the nose)

Aziraphale dies. It's some gambit. Crowley tries to intervene in some clever way, but is shocked when his miracle fails. Aziraphale smiles. Says, "It's too late, Crowley. It was always too late. Forgive me." And he walks off, hand in hand with Death. Crowley tracks Death down to Scotland. He finds Aziraphale having tea with Death in the garden (it ENDS in a garden). Death cannot be overcome, but he can be put off a bit. He agrees to restore Aziraphale to life on the condition that Crowley give up his immortality, and that someday, He'll come back for both of them. Crowley agrees. (15/10. I just like this. So, I'm betting hard on it. Vibes.)

[sweetlikehoneystingslikeabee]

Idk if it's just me but I LOVE the idea of the riddlers with a pet dog(most likely a small breed)that is there best friend and major weakness (I like to think there dynamics would be similar to Holt and cheddar from Brooklyn 99)but what do you think? How would the riddlers be with a pet dog?

"Riddlers with Dogs" Riddler Party Ask

Okay so I only ever saw like one or two episodes of B99 so I had to look up a Cheddar compilation. But I was chanting "dog" over and over again for this ask. Very excited. How they are with a pet dog plus the breed/mix.

Tw: animal abuse/neglect

Gotham

English bulldog mix. He gained a fondness for them after meeting Edward (Oswalds dog) a while back. Once he's further along in his career and he knows he can manage the care given his sometimes erratic schedule, he goes to Gotham animal shelter and finds a stunning lad to take home. And, in honor of his sometimes companion (sometimes lover), he names the dog Oswald.

Oswald hates this. He rolls his eyes once he finds out.

Oswald (the dog) gets a stunning green leather collar with a golden question mark tag along with his actual name and rabies tags. The inside is very soft for Edward's special little boy.

This dog is so fucking spoiled. Edward cooks it special meals to reduce gas problems associated with the breed and keep his weight in control. There's fancy fresh food in the fridge for when he doesn't have the time to cook and meal prep. Special wipes for his skin folds. Oatmeal and milk baths for Oswald's skin.

He gets the dog a special fucking pillow when he hears Oswald (the dog) snoring when he sleeps. His vaccine and medical records are meticulously kept. Yes he sleeps in the bed with Edward, usually curled into the small of Edward's back once he turns on his side. His need for a particular schedule is so nice with a dog because despite how lazy Oswald (the dog) is, he follows Edward religiously.

60s

Older corgi mix. Goofy looking, huge fluffy butt, and has ripped Batman's cape before. Straight up dug his teeth in and acted as though he was at least twice his size. This clever and handsome chap comes to be known as Pascal. He just sort of showed up one day in the middle of Riddler's heist.

Pascal is a speedy little old man, sometimes being used as a very short legged scout for Edward's schemes. Sometimes Edward wonders where his fluffy companion came from with his specks of grey fur and wizened eyes. One time on a very peculiar little adventure outside of Gotham in a rural part of the U.S., Pascal leaves the safe comforts of their vehicle to herd sheep out of the road. Then he hops back up and looks to Edward as if to say "I fixed it for you."

He's likely to have the most reminiscent relationship to the B99 dynamic where, if another villain tried to use Pascal as a bargaining tool, Edward would inevitably turn to Batman to save his little buddy! He can't just risk Pascal getting hurt! and he needs his arthritis medication soon or his joints will ache- His JOINTS, Batman!

As sad as it is to think of a beloved pet passing on, Pascal gets to live his last years loved and pampered. Warm. No pain and definitely never bored. There's a lot of wild adventures this old man gets to have. When he goes of old age, most of the rogues gallery and even Batman and Robin themselves attend the service.

Zero Year

Oh. He got a doberman. Intelligent. Sleek. Intimidating looking. He even named her Minerva. He was expecting a guard dog that stood wise as an extension of himself.

What he actually got: Neurotic. Separation anxiety. Practically jumps into his arms when it rains because she can't stand getting her feetsies wet. He does realize the irony of this given he'd flooded the city at one point. He opts to buy her little rain booties.

He chose not to have her docked or clipped- In truth, he was planning on the appointment when she was a puppy but last minute changed his mind because he thought of her cute floppy ears and curled tail being gone. If you ask, he'll say it's because he realized it was illogical since she's not a show dog and it has no known health benefits. It's bullshit.

She has emeralds in her collar. Highly trained in the sense that she never makes a mess in the house and drops anything she's not supposed to chew on. That and, despite her real nature, she can put on a show with her teeth on command to scare any idiots off.

What they don't see is her wagging, thumping tail when he info-dumps to her. Or practices lines. One of the few creatures on the Earth that truly doesn't care what a narcissist he is. His beautiful Minerva.

BTAS

Some kind of chihuahua-terrier mix. She shivers a lot. Edward takes the dog in from the shelter shortly after one of his stints in Arkham. Trying on taking a new leaf. Again. Maybe an animal dependent on him will keep him on his toes. She has a partly white fur pattern that reminds him of a lab coat. He names her Curie.

Given her namesake, Edward has taught her several commands in French if for no other reason then he thinks it's cute. There's something about saying, "Curie, allons y-" And hearing the pitter patter of her claws on the tile and wood floors.

He is that guy who buys his dogs clothes. In fairness, it's because she actually gets cold in the Gotham winters. Logically, that means she needs cute sweaters and coats! And little shoes for when it snows. Honestly, she's going to be absolutely darling and the envy of all the neighbors.

He loves cuddling in his lap when he's working on stuff. It's funny, she's almost like a house cat when she does that.

Will commit unspeakable acts if someone tried to cause harm to Curie.

Arkham

You ever see one of those snaggle-tooth little dogs missing a damn eye and you have no idea how old it is? The scruffiest little mutt you've ever seen. Breed is indistinguishable but it's on the smaller end. Wiry coat, looks like something just pulled from the dryer.

This little creature stumbles upon him shaking and soaking wet from a storm during the events of Arkham City. He almost feels pity for it, barely able to see due to the matting over it's face. He wonders briefly if it was a runaway or a dump. He pulls a small bit of jerky he still has in his pocket from earlier and gives it to the pup.

What he doesn't expect is for it to follow him. Even as he tries to shoo it away. No more food, you mangy mutt! Yet it continues to follow. Edward shuts the door to his hideout on it. He can see it on cameras waiting out there for him to come back.

With a frustrated sigh, he eventually opens the door and allows the creature in. Gives it a choppy but functional haircut to get rid of any matting. Feeds it whatever food he can find that won't make the dog sick. Eventually he finds out the dog is a male, maybe a year old.

He dubs the puppy Asimov after writer and biochemistry professor Isaac Asimov. He acts as though he doesn't care for the dog much, but every once in a while he praises Asimov for the little tricks he's learned and the cleverness he exhibits. He'd probably stomp someone to the ground if they tried to take this dog from him.

Telltale

Basset Hound. He got ownership of this dog by complete accident. Basically he was on his revenge mission, taking down someone involved in keeping him trapped by SANCTUS- He didn't realize the person had a dog. So now he was in a room with a corpse who failed his riddle and there was a very curious dog that wanted to bark and howl the moment he left the room.

So he took the dog. For everything that Eddie stands for, this dog is the opposite. He's dopey, noisy, and messy. A bumbling creature that lays down to roll over when Eddie asks it to sit. And yet... The moment he can't find something, the dog manages to show up less than two minutes later with it on the ground in front of him, nudging it with his nose.

The dog is named Columbo. Yes, after the tv show detective. He thinks it's funny given the dogs propensity for finding "evidence" where no one else can. Plus, Columbo on the show had a basset hound. It fits. No, Eddie is not a nerd, how dare you.

The dog has a special dog bed on the floor at the foot of Riddler's bed. He's very strict on places the dog can be and where it can sit and lay. He's a strong believer that dogs shouldn't just hang out on furniture. This is struck out when there are thunderstorms because Columbo will howl and cry until he's allowed to bury into the bed under the covers with his dad.

For every complaint he might have about the dog, Eddie absolutely shows him off and brags. They start to resemble each other in their wrinkles.

2022/Nashton

Pitbull mix. She was chained up, cropped ears and way too thin. He'd found her while doing recon on some low level mook for one of Gotham's drug lords. He looked into those big sad eyes, and he managed to sneak her home. He names her Ada Lovelace or just Ada after the first computer programmer.

It was actually difficult at first because she was fear aggressive and very shy. Lots of snapping at him and trying to hide. He understood that feeling. With a lot of patience and him teaching her that he's not a threat, this pittie would become a wiggly lovebug that tackles him at night once he comes home from riddler nonsense. Full slobber on his glasses.

Ada helps with his depression because unlike the rats (unfortunately) she can cuddle with him at night and ooze devotion and love at her master. There's something so healing about the unwavering loyalty and warmth a dog can offer. Plus he can tell her anything and she still just rolls on top of him wanting belly rubs.

He would kill someone for this dog. If anyone hurt her, he would probably torture them on stream and make it A Thing that they were a dog abuser before rocking their shit. Then full body hugs his baby while she wiggles in his arms.

[deans-baby-momma]

Law & Love Chapter 10

A/N: This chapter and the next might be triggering to some so here's my warning. READ WITH CAUTION! I don't know how to warn against what's in this chapter without giving away what's in this chapter.

THEN

"Wait," I jump up, in shock at the surprising turn of events. "What the hell is going on?"

NOW

Jenny takes pity on my and once Deb is secured in a pair of cuffs and seated, she explains her accusation.

“Joey Bryant is the estranged son of  Debra Wilhawks. He came back into her life about, what 2 years ago?” Jenny looked to her prisoner for confirmation but got silence.  “A year ago, they got into a big disagreement about her dog because Joey’s girlfriend, at the time, was allergic. He filed a petition to have the animal removed from the premises.

“Of course, with Ms. Wilhawks being the owner of the residence the petition wasn’t granted. That’s when it was discovered that Mr. Bryant was her son. Say, whatever happened to the girlfriend?”

Once again Deb is reticent. Y/N can’t help but look at her former friend in disbelief.

“Why? Why did he think he and I were a thing?”

At that, Deb smirks. She fucking smiles like the cat who caught the canary. “Because the sex was great.  When I would talk about you he would fuck me like a wild man. I would give him fantasies of the two of you together….with me. It made him maniacal.”

The cackle that Deb lets out puts chills on Y/N’s whole body. She is deranged, psychotic! Deb had been using her as a means to fuck her own son?!  Y/N is mortified. 

“You know, I’ll tell you what I’m going to miss,” Deb says. “I’m going to miss that dick. Fuck, if it wasn’t a good dick. Thick, a little on the shorter side but it got the job done. Boy knew how to use what I gifted him with. He loved putting it in his mommy’s pussy. Would tell me all the time.”

Seems that now Deb has begun to talk, she apparently isn’t going to shut up.

“He’d say ‘Mommy, your pussy is so good I could live in it’ ‘Mommy’s tight pussy loves her son’s dick in it’. Oh, but when I started talking about you, sweetheart……oh, he would pound me wide open. I’d walk funny for days. Didn’t you ever notice?

“No, I guess not because that new Sheriff caught your attention pretty quick. I can tell you this, daarlin’” she drawls it out, mocking Beau’s nickname for me. “He’ll never be able to make you feel as good as Joey would have.”

“Okay, that’s enough!” Jenny announces as she picks Deb up by the armpit and pushes her out the diner door.

Y/N sits in the same spot, dazed. She had liked Deb. Deb seemed to be a nice person, taking Y/N under her wing when she got the job and training her. They were friends, or so Y/N thought. 

All this time, Deb had been grooming her for some lewd liaison with her son. How gross!

"Are you alright?" The voice is barely above a whisper but it still makes Y/N jump. "Sorry, girl. Didn't mean to scare ya."

Y/N turns to see Pops standing at the kitchen door. He looks concerned and uneasy. Pops isn't a big talker, though, so Y/N understands the anxiety. 

"Did you know?" she asks instead of answering his inquiry. "About Deb and-" 

"Had an inkling," Pops tells her. "I see and hear a lot that no one realizes. I'd hear her on the phone out back sometimes. Put two and two together."

"It's disgusting," Y/N says with a shiver. "She was…..you know, with her son. And was going to try to bring me into it?"

"Everyone has secrets, lil one," Pops says and then disappears into the kitchen, the swinging door swaying.

Beau is all smiles as they drive back off the mountain. Emily had actually been happy to see him. She hugged him and told him she misses him. His dad heart was elated.

As soon as he turns the truck onto the paved road, heading into town, his phone starts going crazy.  He pulls it off the dash to investigate.

*3 missed calls from J. Hoyt 

*2 texts from J. Hoyt 

*1 message from Deputy Harris

*3 Voicemails

"Someone's popular," Cassie states as her own phone begins ringing. "It's Jen. Hello?"

Beau can hear her voice but can't make out exactly what she's saying.

"Yea. Yea. Okay. No shit! Really? Oh my god! Eww. Yeaha, I'll tell him. We're headed back now. See you in a few."

Cassie hangs up and puts her phone on her lap. "Seems we missed some excitement. It involves Y/N, so you might wanna step on it; sounds like she may need you."

Beau doesn't ask any questions, just pushes the pedal to the floor and speeds across the asphalt toward town. 

As soon as they enter the city limits, Cassie tells the Sheriff to drop her at the  station and for him to go to the diner, so that's exactly what he does.

Pulling up in the parking lot, Beau is surprised to see the spaces are all empty and there is a sign on the door announcing the diner is "Temporarily Closed".

He parks right in front and jumps out of the vehicle, foregoing his signature Stetson. The door is locked but not long after he knocks, the old man that Beau recognizes as the cook wanders over and lets him in.

"Where's Y/N?"

"Over here," he hears her say as Pops points toward the darkened corner of the restaurant.  That's when Beau notices the lights are off.

As he steps to the right to head toward Y/N, he sees it- a huge blood stain on the floor. 'What the hell happened while I was gone?' he thinks to himself but lets that thought go so he can go comfort his girlfriend. 

Is she his girlfriend, though? They had just decided to date so does that warrant the title of girlfriend/boyfriend? He didn't have a definitive answer so he just goes with it. For all intentions and purposes, Y/N Y/L/N was his girlfriend. 

"Hey," he says as he reaches her. "Everything okay? What happened?"

Y/N doesn't answer. She just wraps her arms around his waist and cries into his chest. Deep, body-shaking sobs; sobs that he has no idea how to quell so he holds her and allows her to get it out. The questions can wait.

Beau is seeing red! The more he listens and watches this man admit to stalking Y/N and how he talks of the two of them being a couple completely pisses him off. 

"Who is this asshat?" he asks Jenny, who is sitting across the desk. 

"Joseph Paul Bryant. He came to live here about 2 years ago."

"And any reason why he honed in on Y/N?"

"It's, uuh….it's in my report."

Beau quirks an eyebrow at his associate. "Okay?"

Beau feels Hoyt's eyes on him as he begins reading her account of the crime.

Halfway through reading, he stops and sits the paperwork on his desk. "What the hell? He was her son? She was sleeping with her son?"

"Oh, it gets better," Hoyt states. " Keep reading."

@spnbaby-67 @sea040561 @delightfullykrispypeach @larajadeschmidt13 @atc74 @vicariouslythruspn @squirrelnotsam  @sandlee44 @blacktithe7 @hoboal87 @mogaruke @supraveng @deandreamernp @akshi8278 @lyarr24 @kazsrm67 @chriszgirl92 @deanwithscissors @raisinggray @fanfic-n-tabulous @hobby27 @deans-spinster-witchs-favorites @yvonneeeeeeee @tmb510 @fallenlilangel99

[oficiallymoony]

SYNOPSIS: After a few years, Yohan finally see an old friend.

PAIRING: Priest Yohan x Enchantress!Fem!Oc

WARNING: Angstish?

CHARACTERS: Priest Yohan, Moon Enchantress ( Maria Madlock ), Death Enchantress ( Inari Hill, mentioned ), The Elemental Sisters ( mentioned )

FANDOM: Alternative Universe

AUTOR: Yeah it will happen a romance between then, please don’t kill me 😭 — Also, should I make it a series of One-shots or a Book/Fanfic?

For years she disappeared, hiding in the shadows and protecting her COVEN, known as The Elemental Sisteers, however, on a fateful night, when they were in one of her cults, they were attacked by Demons, the bad thing was that they were still weakened due to being On the Waning Moon, Sisters were too weak to fight, which consequently caused them to suffer a huge loss, they were destroyed the Enchantress and their pupils, killed, and only two managed to escape with their Familiars.

The New Moon Enchantress, Maria Madlock and her Familiar Draugolf, a Moon Wolf & The Death Enchantress, Inari Hills with her Three Familiars, The Three Spirit Cats: Macaria, Thanatos and Circe, the Spirts of Death.

In the midst of that chaos they ended up getting lost and following opposite paths, now, the Moon found herself alone somewhere in that forest in the company of her Moon Wolf, a large wild dog that could even serve as a mount if she wanted to.

At that moment, Maria and her familiar were walking through the forest looking for some sign of civilization, the Coven was extremely far from the city so, they would need to follow the road with a certain safe distance so that they would not be seen; especially on account of the huge wild dog with her.

Draugolf huffed.

“ We're too far away.. we won't have a chance to find them, if we go back, we'll surely run into those demons, we have no choice… we have to go on and find a place to stay until the dust settles ” — She sighed as walked, her feet making the dry leaves crunch on the ground.

' We should have followed them... we wouldn't be in this situation if we had done that ' - Drougolf's voice came in her mind.

“ Of course, in the midst of that chaos we would think of following them while all our other two sisters were being ripped to shreds by those demons ” — She spoke in a sarcastic tone as she cast a sharp look in the direction of her familiar who responded with a roll of his eyes — " We can only hope that they are safe somewhere and that they managed to escape from those monsters "

' And wait for some sign from them.. ' - He commented.

“ That too ” — She sighed.

When they finished walking, having reached the end of the trail, which led directly to a highway, as she saw they had no option, she turned to Drougolf.

He knew what he had to do.

In the blink of an eye, from a large wolf, he transformed into a blue-grey dog of the Great Dane breed.

" Thanks, now let's go, I believe we are close to the city " — She said while putting her hands inside the pockets of her blue coat.

Of course when she ran away from the massacre she wasn't wearing that outfit, but using her magic, she managed to change her Coven outfit with more common clothes like a dark jeans, a white shirt and a blue coat and black alls stars sneakers, plus her auburn hair was loose and messy from running so much.

With that, they continued their walk along the side of the road, and at the same time paying attention if they saw any signs indicating where they were going and returning how many kilometers were still left to reach their new destination.

However, instead of spotting a sign, she spots an extremely familiar figure of someone she hasn't seen in over years.

She quickly recognized him from his priest's uniform.

“ Miss Moon, what a surprise to see you here ” — The young priest said with a sweet smile on his lips, clearly pleased to see his old friend.

“Yohan? Why are you here? ” —she said, clearly surprised; stopping her steps on the road.

She hadn't seen him in years, and she hadn't the faintest idea of his whereabouts in recent years.

Drougolf stopped beside her, letting out a small growl.

“ I came to visit my father, but I decided to take a walk in the woods before going there, would you like to come with me? ” —He invited her.

The Familiar looked at its owner as if silently asking her if she would accept the invitation.

“ Uhh… sure? I don't see why not.. ” — The redhead replied as she shoved her hands into her coat pockets and with that followed behind him, Drougolf following close behind.

However, she kept a certain distance between the two.

“ So how are you and your sisters? Are you all okay? Are you still serving Lady Selene? ” —He might be a Priest, but that didn't mean he would disrespect their faith and what they served.

She was dead silent, which made him stop walking and with that he turned to her.

“ Moon? ” — He Questioned.

“ They are dead, all of them, killed by demons… well, I think that except one who also managed to escape… Sister Death managed to escape, but I haven't heard from her for days.. ” — She replied, her voice carrying pain and nostalgia.

His eyes slightly widened.

But finally it seemed that the dots connected for him, New Moon was always loyal to Selene, her most loyal pupil and practically the first of all, the one who possessed the most knowledge of Lunar Magic.

Only something horrible like that would make her flee her sanctuary.

" My condolences, Moon, may they be resting in peace " — He said, making the sign of the cross — " I will pray for them tonight before I retire to my bed "

The Enchantress simply nodded in agreement, saying a small 'thank you'.

“ You… you've been alone since then? ” — He questioned.

Drougolf barked, as if to say he was still there.

“ Yes… Me and Drougolf have been wandering the forest since then, we're looking to get to the next town to look for shelter and wait for the dust to settle… ” — She explained while keeping her gaze on the ground.

She was feeling like she was talking to a complete stranger, Johan used to be her closest friend but now that he had become a real priest it left her feeling like she was talking to someone completely different.

After all, she was what his religion considered a 'Witch'.

“ Why don't you come with me to my father's house? I'm sure they'll have a room for you there ” — He asked, stopping in his tracks.

" Johan I don't want to disturb, Drougolf and I can manage, we can reach the next town in a few hours, from the signs I saw we are not very far " - Maria tried to argue.

“ Please, I insist, I won't be able to lay my head in my pillow without feeling guilty for leaving you here at the mercy of the world ” — He said with a sad smile.

Drougolf looked at the redhead, waiting for her answer.

The young woman sighed.

“ Okay, I'll go with you, BUT… I'll only stay for a few days, understand me? ” — She warned.

“ For me that's more than enough time, it will be enough time for us to talk and catch up ” — Johan chuckled.

However, she remained silent.

Her silence was slowly killing him, it was as if she had placed an invisible barrier between the two, even their distance was too much for him.

He wasn't enjoying this.

Yohan knew that she was a witch, not just any witch, but one of the best good witches that ever lived, however, he never thought that his becoming a priest would affect her so much when they saw each other again.

He didn't blame her, the story itself told how women like her had suffered at the hand of the church.

But at the very least, he was grateful that he had finally found her after years.

TAGS: @werelosingdaylight

[rosella-writes]

Happy friday Ro!!! For DADWC this week, how about Loghain & [Warden of your choosing] with "[ scream ] for our muses to find something horrific" and/or "you don't need to protect me" from the quiet muses prompts?

THANK YOU I chose Rhiannon tonight, since I'm in a ghoulish mood. For @dadrunkwriting

Relationship: Rhiannon Mahariel & Loghain Mac Tir Rating: Gen Words: 844 Summary: Rhiannon and Loghain meet again in my DAI-era fic. This is one of the nights they spend in Crestwood, before they part ways — for Rhiannon to continue her search for the cure, and Loghain to meet the Inquisitor. This canon ascribes to the idea that Mahariel is especially ghoulish, on account of being tainted before their Joining.

~~~

Loghain hadn’t aged a day since his Joining. In fact, the longer Rhiannon looked at him, the more she was convinced that Wardenhood had made him appear younger. 

In the meanwhile, she had grown more tainted. More brittle. More dead. 

She shook her head to cast that thought away. It would do no good to lose sleep over it now. 

Merrill and Zevran slept in the cave behind them as Rhiannon joined Loghain on watch. The two untainted souls slept more soundly than either of the others had in some years, Rhiannon was sure. When Loghain stirred the fire and looked up at her with a question in his sharp blue eyes, she gave him a simple, tight smile. 

His gaze dropped to her mouth, then away with a wince. 

She’d forgotten that her lips were almost black now, and any teeth she showed were likely grey. She wondered if her eyes still reflected the firelight like an elf’s, or if they were darkspawn eyes now. She didn’t bother to ask. 

They sat in silence for a good while, passing a wineskin back and forth between them like in far away, simpler times. Back when the two of them concerned themselves only with killing archdemons and darkspawn. Back when Loghain being sent to Montsimmard was the most painful trial. 

“I meant to bring the dog back for you.”

Rhiannon smiled at Loghain’s lack of preamble. He had always been so direct, and it was refreshing now just as it had been when she’d befriended him against all odds a decade ago. “I assumed he’d died, since he isn’t with you. Can’t imagine a mabari would leave his master.”

“Yes,” Loghain grumbled. “A year ago, in fact. I meant to write you, but could never summon the words. I meant to do a great many things.”

“They have a way of getting away from us,” Rhiannon muttered.

The fire sputtered and cracked. A log shifted among the coals as it burnt away. 

Loghain took a deep breath, as if rousing himself from a daydream. “He was tainted, yes? Like us.”

“Like us. I helped him recover at Ostagar, with the help of a little flower from the Wilds. The kennel master never did teach me how to repeat that trick.”

Loghain nodded. He crossed his arms over his raised knees. “Seemed that way, especially at the end. I expected him to have many more years with me, but he began to lose his fur, then his teeth. At first I worried he’d fought some rabid animal, then I realised.”

Rhiannon reached out and touched his hand. With a grunt, Loghain took it in his large, rough, enveloping one and squeezed. 

“Did you let him go?”

Another grunt. “I took no joy in it. He was a magnificent creature, more worthy of the Grey than any Orlesian in the Order. What took three of them he could accomplish on his own. I once witnessed him lock jaws on a broodmother’s jugular and take her down. It caused me much grief to see him suffer.”

Her fingertips began to tingle, and she realised Loghain was gripping her hand tighter than he probably knew. 

“I wanted to take him to the Deep Roads, to allow him a Warden’s death. Clarel would not hear of it.”

Rhiannon gritted her teeth. “He never would have left you.”

“I intended to go with him.”

Another log fell on its side, sending a spray of sparks up on the smoke that twirled towards the stars. 

“I can’t fault Clarel then. Not for that.”

Loghain glanced up at her with a craggy scowl. She caught a glimpse of shine at the corner of his eye. “I did not wish another mabari to die in my arms, Warden Commander, much less at my own hand.”

Rhiannon hesitated — then, with a resigned scoff, she threw her arms around Loghain’s shoulders. He was tense for a moment, and Rhiannon expected him to shrug her off. To her surprise, he didn’t just relent. He slumped against her, and she felt the unmistakable shake of silent cries. 

“You couldn’t have protected him from that,” she grumbled. She held him even tighter as she felt him drag a ragged breath in. “It was coming. It’s inevitable. And I’m so happy he had you at the end. That it was you.”

Loghain let out a shattered, angry sound. “It’s not inevitable. Don’t say that.”

“I’m still looking for a cure, aren’t I?”

His silence was a begrudging concession. 

She moved to adjust herself — her hips ached from the odd angle, but the one she found was no better. She resigned herself to letting her knees poke Loghain’s hip as she awkwardly held him tighter still. 

“You don’t need to protect me either, Loghain,” she murmured, then smiled sadly to herself when she felt his posture stiffen. “I’ll be alright.”

His silence, then, was not concession, but doubt. At the very least, he did not push back — he merely allowed her to hold him, until the fire faded down to coals.