#both of them having assumed the other went and made a country without so much as thinking of them

[pinkseas]

wondering how c!karl would feel if he were to remember quackity. wondering about everything coming back in bits and pieces as he learns more and more about the inbetween and other side and how to split his time between them.

at first there’s unease and a vague sense of horror because why is he remembering such sweet, loving moments with his murderer? and then he’s angrier (more afraid) than ever before because things were good. he has such incredible memories with quackity and quackity still somehow turned around and killed him, what the fuck? but the more that come back the less certain he is of that. because all of them are good. there are so many, coming back piece by piece, and only the memory of his death stands out as something truly awful. he stops being mad that quackity would betray him like that and starts wondering why.

and then one day he remembers agreeing to it, remembers the plan. quackity murdering him slots seamlessly into place with the context behind it and it’s terrifying because it makes perfect sense. he can remember the terror associated with seeing quackity that day and his murder but he cant feel it anymore. of course quackity killed him. that was the plan. they all agreed on it. hell, quackity was the one who was most vocally against it happening.

it still doesnt add up. because if they were engaged and things were so good and quackity didnt betray him, why arent they together? why isnt quackity in kinoko? what drove them apart, what has he still forgotten? he remembers building kinoko. he remembers planning to invite sapnap and george and quackity. he remembers weeks and then months spent with only one half of his heart.

no matter how much time goes by, he does not remember inviting quackity to kinoko. the pit in his stomach grows, and grows, and grows.

[everydayyoulovemeless]

How about the Fallout 4 robots meeting the robots from New Vegas?? owo

Fallout 4 Robots Meeting New Vegas Robots

➼ Word Count » 1.6k ➼ Warnings » Slightly suggestive (fisto) ➼ Genre » Platonic ➼ A/N » This takes place in the Mojave cause it'd be hard for a lot of the bots from nv to move across the country

Codsworth finds Victor to be quite the character. The moment he saw him and the amount of dust he tracked behind him, he immediately decided that he should step in and help clean him off. If it left any impression on the butler, then it was that RobCo didn't have the same prestige as General Atomics had.

Victor didn't care as much as Codsworth did about the mud and grime that clung to him, but he didn't stop him from wiping his screen down.

When Codsworth happened to meet Mr. House himself, he made sure to snarkily bring up how his company seems to be 'letting itself go'. Mr. House mostly just ignored him, assuming that that was just how he was programmed to be, but he's definitely not allowed in the Lucky 38 anymore out of fear that he'll find it dirty.

Another thing that gets Codsworth itching to grab a bottle of Windex is when he's introduced to Rex. The poor mutt! Not only is he covered in sand, but that awful paint job on his side! Dear God, if he doesn't get the poor dog washed off instantly he fears he might break down!

However, after he's done scrubbing him down, he decides he finds Rex to be quite the creature and would gift him one of the Jangles plushies that Sole doesn't stop flooding his inventory with. He'll certainly find it more endearing than he does.

If there's anyone Codsworth feels understands him most, it's Yes Man. At least he's inclined to sweep every now and then. The two actually get along quite well with how sarcastic and passive-aggressive they can come across as, as well as they're desire to be helpful in any way possible.

Codsworth thinks he's an absolute hoot and couldn't think of a better way to spend his afternoon than gossiping with the optimistic bot.

Curie drops everything when she spots Rex off in the distance. What a scientific marvel he is! She's never seen anything like him before and will take plenty of notes to see if she can't upgrade Dogmeat in the same way when she gets back home.

Rex also happens to be really fond of Curie (mainly because she gives him attention) because of how much better she makes him feel. Who knew he had so many broken parts? And without even realizing it? It's a good thing she came along when she did!

In fact, there are a lot of people who are fond of Curie. One of the main ones being Muggy. Her kind and gentle aura is something he never realized he was missing in his day-to-day life and he will beg her on bended knee to take him with her. He can't stand being with the Think Tank any longer! Please!

The Think Tank couldn't care less if Muggy went with her or not, they just want her out.

They can't stand how naive Curie is. She's clueless! And impossible to talk to! Not to mention how eager she is to put her grimy, wastelander hands on everything.

So, Curie leaves the wonders of Big MT with her strange, new friend to finally go and visit the place she came here for in the first place - Vegas. But she very quickly loses sight of the extravagant place around her when she meets Yes Man.

The two couldn't possibly be more of a perfect match and, although Curie can't ever pick up on Yes Man's sarcasm, and Yes Man can't do anything else but shrug at the scientific terms Curie spits out, they still seem to agree on most things.

They're both so kind to one another and have that same sort of curiosity about a world they've been sheltered from for so long, that they hardly leave each other's sides.

Nick feels a tinge of guilt when he sees Rex running toward him. Even though he's never lived it, he has memories of opening up the morning paper and reading about the reconstruction happening on the West Coast police dogs to make them look how he does. At least he seems happy though, right? Can't be mad at that. He'll scratch him on the head and smile a bit when Rex sits and tilts his head in recognition of his occupation as a detective, and he finds his instinct admirable when it comes to spotting danger, but there's something about the dog that makes him feel a bit off.

On the other hand, Nick can't get enough of Victor. The two will go out and shoot cans all day before returning to some saloon or bar and sharing stories from their time spent out in the wasteland. They're like brothers, just born from opposite sides of the country.

At some point, Nick had found himself tied up in another case while in Freeside and it led him right to where Fisto was stashed. He couldn't help but let out a dry chuckle and a sigh when the bot started offering his 'services', and Nick left as quickly as he arrived, deciding that he didn't want to be involved.

One thing he did get involved in, however, was the little Securitron Curie brought back from outta nowhere. How could he hate a robot who found some kind of... joy? when he cleaned mugs? Muggy warmed up fast to the caffeine-addict human Nick must've once been, as his synth counterpart can't help but down a few cups every morning, despite not ever feeling tired.

X6-88 finds Mr. House to be quite the spectacle. He actually really likes him and wishes to bring his ideas and plans back to the Insitute to try and do those same tactics on the Commonwealth.

Since Mr. House had gone to CIT before the war, X6-88 considers him to be a founder of sorts and has much respect for him and the work he's done in the Mojave.

On the other hand, he finds Victor's happy-go-lucky attitude to be annoying. Even if he were invented by House himself, he can't help but sigh whenever he hears him rolling over to him. He talks way too much and remembers way too little for him to be considered as anything but an inconvenience. He tries to avoid him at all costs if he can help it.

One Securitron that X6 does seem to like, however, is Yes Man. Although he's disappointed that he wasn't what House had originally intended him to be and was made from some dirty wastelander instead, he still finds his attitude and overall composure to be incredibly helpful. If only he were in more... responsible hands, then he could really be doing great things in terms of rebuilding the Mojave.

Yes Man almost envies how pessimistic and emotionless X6 comes off as. A part of him wishes he could express emotions on that side of the spectrum as well, but he supposes he's much more likable with a positive outlook instead.

However, if there's any part of the Mojave that X6-88 thinks could be useful for the Institute, it's all the tech stashed away in Big MT. He's not particularly fond of the Think Tank at all, and could only probably take a few hours of them bickering, but all the information they have with them is enough of a reason for X6-88 to want to kidnap them and bring them back to the Commonwealth to interview them further.

They, of course, make it impossible for him to successfully take them with him since they're all too paranoid to properly be teleported back and he quickly decides to just give up and go back to the Lucky 38.

DiMA likes to debate and challenge Mr. House on his political ideals and, as much as he loves the exercise, he's not fond of how accusatory DiMA can get. Not to mention how easily he seems to get people to rally behind him, so he gets locked out of the Lucky 38 pretty quickly if not Vegas entirely.

DiMA doesn't mind though, he wasn't a big fan of the flashy lights and large crowds anyway. Besides, Freeside is full of such interesting people, that he can't help but prefer it over the city. One of those people being Fisto.

When Nick approached him later one day and told him about his encounter in one of the back alleys, DiMA found himself... concerned, to say the least. And slightly curious.

What kind of robot must one be to be active in such a way? It's strange in any manner, and he was quite intrigued to meet him. However, he was disappointed when he found out he was a Protectron that had only automated messages. How disappointing...

Vegas was fun and all, but DiMA quickly found that he was being called for elsewhere... as he was messing around with one of the radios, he got ahold of the Mysterious Broadcast and disappeared to Big MT.

The scientists, like the other two who visited, were not happy. Especially since DiMA knows what he's doing when it comes to technology.

When he starts messing with Dr. 0's robots and reading through all sorts of Klein's legal documents they decide to ban him from their corner of the Mojave. They may even shut their satellite down altogether because?? they've got the worst types of people entering their lab.

He's honestly going to be the reason everyone has to leave back to the commonwealth. No one wants blud around.

[litnerdwrites]

what if rysand just stayed dead? Like the high lords refused to help him.

What would happen to the inner circle, night court and feyre who literally attacked the spring court and stole from Tarquin I think.

This is something I've been thinking about for a while now. The short answer is that the NC would likely fall apart.

There's the obvious of, when Rhysand died, the land didn't shift the HL power to Feyre, so her title as HL is purely ceremonial and based off of Rhysand's authority. Admittedly, we don't know if the power shifted to someone else, then back to Rhys, or if it shifts right away all the time, or the land knew he'd come back so the power didn't leave him. However, had he stayed dead, and the power shifted to someone else, then it would likely result in conflict.

Let's assume for a moment that the power shifted back to Morrigan's bloodline. Had it chosen Mor, then it's likely that either Feyre would relinquish the title to her, Mor would relinquish it to Feyre. Though that wouldn't change that Feyre would still be a HL in title only as a result of somebody else's power and wouldn't be respected. Both of those scenarios would make maintaining relations with the CON and Illyria harder too.

Keir wouldn't respect either Feyre or Morrigan, and would likely plot a rebellion. If the power went to Mor, he would find a way to abuse his status as her father, if not outright kill her in an attempt to make the land chose him, as he would be the next the next of kin.

There'd likely also be rebellions brewing in both Illyria and the CON for similar reasons: The 'ost powerful High Lord' is dead, leaving his inexperienced wife, now powerless second in command, and cousin, to run the Court. Nobody respects Feyre. Nobody Respects Mor. Regardless of whom the power goes to, or who takes on the actual title of HL, they would rebel. Cassian and Azriel would have to either focus on Illyria or The HC, making it difficult difficult to contain all of the chaos. If Feyre chooses to handle it with politics, she'd have to be careful due to her lack of experience, however if she used extreme violence to quell the rebellion, she'd lose even more respect (not that she had much to begin with).

Now that Keir knows Velaris exists, along with what's left of Hybern and their allies, there'd be many attempts to take the city, and without Illyrians or Darkbringers, they'd lose it eventually. There'd likely be attempts on all of their lives, though mainly Feyre's, from that point onward too, and not just from territories in the NC.

Hybern had allies who were prepared to fight with them to regain the human lands, like Vallahan, for example. Out of revenge for stopping Hybern (mostly cause Hybern would've made conquering the mortal lands easy), other nations would attack. We learn in ACOMAF that some countries on the continent became discontent and envied Prythian for thriving after the first war for human freedom, so it's likely they'd take this opportunity to take their territory.

The NC is the largest land mass on Prythian, so if a country took it in the chaos, they could push downwards, through the day and dawn court, to the seasonal courts and the human lands. They'd have Velaris as their strong hold, with places like the Moonstone castle and HOW being on top of mountains, giving them an advantage against those who may try to take them back, or attack the NC. I think the Illyrians would merely want independence, but the CON may chose to ally with those nations too. All this takes place while the IC battle for control, and/or try to avoid being assassinated, if they aren't already.

Alternatively, if the power went to Keir, it's possible that other HLs may chose to take his side, and acknowledge him over Feyre, for tradition's sake. They may also insist that Feyre and her sisters be allowed to live comfortably in Velaris out of respect for her and Rhys, and because she saved them from Amarantha, but they're unlikely to support her bid for any actual power if the Land didn't chose her.

In this case, the rest of the IC would likely be forced to live as citizens or serve Keir. He'd likely take a page out of Rhysand's father's book, making Azriel his personal spy, while making Cassian a regular soldier (just to hurt them if nothing else). That's if they don't live as ordinary citizens, perhaps even give up their syphons too. Mor would likely be forced back under her father's thumb, while Amren is either put back in the prison or kicked out of the NC. He might even use his authority to bring Elain and Nesta under his thumb due to their powers, and because they have no political power in Prythian, unlike the curse breaker (though it is only a little).

The Illyrians, I feel, would either go for independence or just serve Keir without issue, and after an appropriate amount of time passed, Keir would either have the former IC killed/made vanish, or he could trick them into rebelling just to kill them earlier on.

Regardless of which version of this scenario plays out, it'll still goes on while Bryallin looks for the trove, and Koschei remains a threat. At the end of the day, no matter how powerful the IC supposedly are, when there are multiple armies, and rebellions happening, they can only do so much. They aren't indestructible. Meaning that if Rhysand died, given that it's his power that keeps everyone in check (regardless of how shitty his methods and results are), the NC is going to fall apart, or become something vastly different from what it was. The bottom line is that they're all fucked.

[autistichalsin]

A penny for your thoughts on how Halsin’s drow captivity went down?

Oh, man.

The short version is much worse than Halsin pretends, that's for sure. There's just too many implications... "I feared for my life, and wanted my freedom back" gives the truth away. Namely: whatever sexual things happened there, even if Halsin claims they weren't so bad and he "enjoyed" them, were without consent. By definition, a prisoner can't consent to sex- there is a reason many countries consider ALL sex between prisoner and guard to be sexual abuse/rape. Because the power dynamics are simply never going to allow meaningful consent to be given from the prisoner. And that assumes Halsin even did give what he thinks was consent. (He probably thinks he consented to some of the acts, and the others were just "the Drow matriarch being a Drow matriarch.") And then there's the way he notes he saw the "pelts" of other surface elves like himself decorating the house he was in.

I don't think Halsin has, in any way, processed that he was raped, for a few reasons. One is his size. He notes that many don't think he could ever be hurt because of his size, and sometimes he seems to have internalized it. Another is his gender. Far too many think it's not really rape if a woman does it to a man. Another is his physiological response. Sadly, it is far from rare for victims of rape to experience arousal or orgasms during their assaults, which is both humiliating and isolating, and can lead to a victim mistakenly believing they were complicit in their own assaults- and thus that they can't be "real" assaults because they "wanted" it. This would only be made worse by Halsin's attitude towards sex, because sadly, many believe that someone who enjoys sex freely with many partners doesn't have the right/ability to revoke consent.

So- in terms of that part of his captivity, the cards are just firmly stacked against Halsin being able to process what happened to him. He can understand that there was a threat to his life, that he was terrified and imprisoned, but not that his sexual agency was taken away from him. Even after all this time, he can't use the word "rape".

As for the rest of it? Drow are sadistic, especially to surface elves, and you can bet that forced 'gratitude' was part of it- and, IMO, there was at least a small amount of Stockholm Syndrome judging from the way Halsin talks about the matriarch and patriarch. And especially given that Halsin is male, he was probably frequently threatened with death and worse. The instant the matriarch grew bored with him, he would be killed- and that, IMO, is where Halsin "doing what he needed to survive, and some things that were less than necessary" came from. He had to keep himself interesting to her, and given how others react to his appearance, he probably knew sex was the best 'asset' he had to keep himself unique and worth keeping around. And if he did experience arousal/climax... well, see above. He tells himself that's a sign he was a consenting party, not a prisoner doing anything he could to avoid dying. He doesn't see his own duress as a factor negating his consent here.

As for the parts of it besides rape and imprisonment... yeah. He probably was hurt, a lot. Again. Sadistic Drow. And there was probably a lot of psychological torment as well.

Like... he was there for THREE YEARS and no one from the surface came to rescue him? The Drow absolutely would have used that to try and fuck with his head, telling him that he was unwanted and unloved. (Maybe he believed it, maybe not, but as the years went by he had to start wondering.)

And I don't think words can describe how traumatic it would have been for Halsin to see the bodies of other surface elves used as decorations. The gruesomeness of it, the awareness that he would probably be next... yeah. That would definitely haunt him for a while.

All of this compounded by the fact that he was young. He calls himself a foolhardy young Druid, intent on seeing the world. He was probably either just an adult by elf standards, or maybe not even a full adult yet.

It's actually kind of strange that, specifically, the writers made Halsin a sex slave of the Drow- because aside from not dealing with his rape on any level, they only barely hinted at what he would actually be dealing with (the hints to other elves being made into decorations for him to see) and then backed away from the full implications. Surface elves were almost never kept as slaves by the Drow, they were usually either killed on sight or kept for a special date to be an offering, and in the meantime tortured to the point of WISHING they'd been killed on sight instead.

Even if Halsin got the one in a million Drow nobles who didn't hate surface elves THAT much, there still would have been a lot of torture and manipulation. Drow torture and maim their slaves for any perceived slight, or even just for fun. And even if Halsin's captors didn't do THAT either, and even if one could accept him deciding it was actually nbd after 250-ish years, it should still affect him somehow, but it doesn't seem to. Which just shows again how poorly thought out that entire scene was.

They said something with absolutely horrific implications- not just repeated sexual assault, but all but certain torture- and then backed away from showing the full consequences, which is just disappointing, IMO. Even if they wanted Halsin "healed" (and no, I don't believe that, because nothing about Halsin's writing says "healed" as much as it does "someone who has been in crisis mode for so much of their life that effective healing is impossible, what we are seeing is him burying his traumas to survive") they should have said how it USED to hurt him... but they didn't do that either.

[bijouxcarys]

Cherry Lips (Robert Plant x fem!OC)

Masterlist

Summary: Our unnamed fem!OC pokes the lion and faces the consequences. 1998 Robert.

Note: This started off as a "short fic," but has turned out a hefty 3.4k words yikes.

Tags: @callmethehunter @m-faithfull @whothefuckisanja @celestial-dragoness @ourshadowstallerthanoursoul @angrychicksposts @firethatgrewsolow @brownskinsugarplum76 @chromations

She knew she’d fucked up. God, she knew it. But in her defence, Robert was being a dick.

She was right there, following him around like a lost puppy—for him, to support him, but no… the Golden God he’d firmly insisted was locked away in a glass box was still there. 18 years. 18 years of trying to get as far away from that strange young lad who wore jeans too tight and too low, and wailed whatever nonsense overtook him in the moment. Yet, there he was. Bright as day. In the heart of Italy. Playing the same old game. 

Girls still flocked. How could they not? He was gorgeous, despite his rapidly approaching 50th birthday. And it didn’t matter to her that she was 25 years his junior. Because she saw him for everything he was; not what he used to be.

The only problem? His weakness. The feminine energy that ran potent everywhere he went. The soul of a woman, if you may…

It was almost as if he’d forgotten that she was there as other girls of her age, give or take a few years, stood small and flustered in the presence of the once untouchable Robert Plant. Like Adam at the mercy of a cobra, he shamelessly chomped away at the apple dangling before his eyes, bypassing the security of his Eve.

It didn’t matter how often she’d hear the endearing pet names of “honey,” “darlin’,” “baby,” or “love”; they’d become mere lyrics to a song now. He sang them to thousands, night after night—wailed them through the ridges of a record in the homes of millions around the world.

They meant nothing.

Romanticisation. Just like the country they’d inhabited for the past 15 hours, the career of a rockstar was marred by an idealistic fantasy. They don’t tell you about the inferiority, the frugality. The way other girls would stare you down, head to toe, silently creating their own version of your story. The mind games that meticulously waltzed in ricochets between both parties. It was inescapable. Inevitable. Impossible to avoid.

But whilst Robert graciously played the part, sending his signature smirk in the direction of every pretty young thing that came his way, he only saw her. She was the only one, and had been for almost a year. He’d hoped that she knew that by now. Alas, he wasn’t an idiot. It didn’t take an expert to notice the way she’d become increasingly restless when playing her own role of Observing Woman. And there had been many to do so over the years. 

Robert expected this attitude from her. He knew it made her feel useless. But he’d explained to her time and time again that it was part of the gig. His job. The way he kept up appearances. Without struggle, she understood that, entirely. 

Unfortunately, Robert made the mistake of assuming her understanding meant she liked it.

Typically, she’d be able to get through a press event with him, or any other encounter they’d have with a flock or two of excited girls, with minimal irritation. But tonight, it was a little too much. Too great to completely ignore. 

Robert was particularly enjoying the attention that day as he and Jimmy went through their regularly scheduled interviews that they would have much preferred to pass up on. Unlike every other time, where he’d send her playful winks and reassuring smiles, he hadn’t looked at her once. Hell, even Jimmy had acknowledged her presence more than Robert had done. 

This time, it was a cute little redhead with big green eyes and a freckled complexion that had become the centre of his immersion. The total opposite of what she was. Redhead was withdrawn, timid, soft spoken, whilst she stood above the average female height, with a gaze that could slice a ruby in half. It was what attracted Robert to her in the first place. A straight-talking, relentlessly loyal, dark-featured Femme Fatale that he loved to overpower in the bedroom and steal the power she possessed otherwise.

The pair’s dynamic was a tantalising switch from what Robert was used to from his female companions. Between the sheets, it was a struggle for dominance, but a struggle they wouldn’t trade for anything. Either way, it always ended up with her legs over his shoulders, hips pummelling away at her like he’d never get to again. And more often than not, she’d wear his hand as her own personalised necklace, encouraging him to squeeze around the expanse of her throat with each thrust of his cock.

And that was how she liked it, and how Robert knew she kept him in a very special place in her heart.

Nobody could overpower her, unless that somebody was him.

Which was why, as he finally cast a glance in the direction of his beloved, he felt every vein in his body pulsate with emotions akin to jealousy. There she was. Tall in her platform stilettos and delicate fingers pushing a stray curl of dark hair from Jimmy’s forehead as she spoke so casually with him. 

He could see it in the way she smiled at Jimmy. The proximity that bordered on too close. The way the guitarist fell so receptive to her silky tone, eyes unashamedly taking in every movement and curve of her cherry-stained lips as she talked.

This was no accident, though. She knew exactly what she was doing. The sideways look she gave Robert was a dead giveaway, and she was stunned to see he was actually looking back. Got him.

With a restrained smirk, she flipped her hair behind her shoulder and continued her conversation with Jimmy, inching closer to him with brave intention. 

That was all it took for Robert to cut the interviews short, call a car, and drag his lover back to the hotel they were staying at. She remained steel-gazed the whole time, refusing to give him the satisfaction of breaking her that easily. In fact, as soon as the door shut behind them, she made a beeline for the bathroom, Robert following irritatingly close.

“Can’t even go to the bathroom without you lurking,” she passively hummed, leaning over the counter to double check her makeup was still intact. 

“What the fuck was that?” Robert snapped. 

She looked at him through the reflection of the mirror, the familiar clenching in the pit of her stomach at the sight of Robert’s perfectly ageing features lit up by the small room’s restrictive lighting. Like Michael the Fallen Angel: pure until pushed. Adam had become the cobra, the apple devoured and rotten in the grounds of his gallant love. And he had his sights set on his Eve.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Robert,” she sighed.

“God, you can be so insufferable.”

“Coming from everyone’s favourite Golden God,” she breathed, exaggerating the candour of thousands of girls.

“Excuse me?” Robert’s brows narrowed, casting an intimidating shadow over his eyes.

“Come off it, Robert…” She rolled her eyes, turning to leave the bathroom, but was instantly stilled by a large, strong hand wrapping around her arm. She successfully repressed the smile that wanted to plaster her face, and simply lifted her gaze to meet his. Their faces were dangerously close, and the distant buzz of the bathroom’s ventilation system became the soundtrack to an intense stand-off between two wild beasts on the precipice of destruction.

Taking a deep breath, she continued to look up at him, refusing to speak first. Though she wasn’t sure how long she could keep it up. The close proximity and the enclosed surroundings made it difficult to keep from squeezing her thighs together. She cursed Robert mentally as he closed the bathroom door behind him, all whilst maintaining ardent eye contact.

“I think the door’s supposed to go the other way if you wish to leave, my love,” she provoked, her voice dropping to a sultry whisper.

Eyes, usually a beautiful pool of blue, darkened—with lust, frustration, carnal desire. He knew she was pushing him. He’d just have to navigate the pull in response. He came closer to her, breath mixing with hers as he made out he was going to kiss her, only to stop mere centimetres from her lips to hum lowly.

“You’ve got a right mouth on you today.” He almost spoke through his teeth, jaw clenched.

She pursed her cherry lips, challenging her older lover. “Do I?” she asked with a perfectly arched eyebrow. The grip on her arm tightened, and led her to stand directly in front of him. Her eyes remained fixed on his. “Are you just gonna stare at me?”

Within a blink of an eye, both of Robert’s hands had a hold of each side of her head, thumbs resting on her cheeks and fingers threading into her hair. He held her close to him, forcing her to tilt her head further up. She was breaking him. Bit by bit. The sudden move of dominance succeeded in weakening her resolve by an iota, and her eyes began their impulsive hooding.

Robert’s eyes darted around her entire face, taking in every curve, dip, and feature. She was otherworldly to him. An audacious succubus sent to test him in every aspect of his life. And she was all his. To do with whatever he pleased. No matter how much of a fight she put up, he’d win. Or rather, she allowed him to win.

“I really love that colour on you,” he murmured, admiring her characteristic choice of lipstick.

A satisfied smirk found its way onto her lips, enjoying the compliment, despite the current situation. She was human, after all. That, and it reminded her that he wasn’t truly angry at her, and that this was all part of the larger game their relationship had become.

“Do you?” she whispered, taking on a more timid cadence.

“Mhm.” He nodded, running a thumb delicately over her lower lip. He tugged at it, watching as its plumpness bounced back against her teeth. “But, you know…” he sighed. “As much as I love it on your lips, I think I’d rather see it around my cock, don’t you?”

There it was. The break. The moment she’d been craving. As a hand lowered to possessively wrap around her neck, she swallowed under its mighty grip, and found herself falling deeper under the control Robert enforced.

But not entirely. Not yet. Just a little extra push…

“Really?” She tilted her head to the side as much as she could in his grasp. “Because judging by your distractions, I half-expected to be leaving it on Jimm–” She gasped under her breath as she was shoved down onto her knees.

“No more about Jimmy fucking Page,” he spat, letting go of her throat and moving his hands to the belt on his leather-effect trousers. “You want to be a little slut and blow every rockstar you come across, be my guest…” He let the words hang in the air as he swiftly pulled his belt from the loops around his hips. “But whilst you’re with me,” he threw the belt to the side, the metal buckle clanging against the porcelain of the bathtub beside them, “it’s only me.” He gripped her face with one hand, making her look up at him instead of where the belt had landed. “Understood?”

She huffed, rolling her eyes. “I’m not the one that needs reminding of loyalty, Mr. Plant.”

Done with her backchat, he roughly shoved her face back. She caught herself on her hands behind her, her core fluttering with anticipation.

“Enough with the talking,” he firmly demanded, “You want to use your fucking mouth so much? Is that what it is?” She parted her lips to answer, but he cut her off. “I said enough with the talking,” he growled. She sighed, clenching her jaw. She hadn’t even noticed through the back and forth, that Robert had shimmied his trousers and underwear down enough to relieve his hardened cock from its confines.

Gaze meeting it, any trace of disobedience withered down to a shrub. Her breath was shaky, her mouth on the verge of watering, and her eyes glimmered with want as she looked back up at Robert.

“I don’t know what you’re gawking at, little girl, it isn’t gunna suck itself, is it?” He glared at her, before grabbing a fistful of her hair, and dragging her closer until it was impossible to avoid taking him into her mouth. Not that she didn’t want to—she was ravenous for it.

Robert made it a chore for her to efficiently take him, with how close he had her held against him. She had to move at an awkward angle to even access the red hot tip, but she achieved it with much humiliation at her struggle. He let out a heavy breath, head resting back against the door as his little succubus got to work, mouth scorching and tight, just like her cunt. As badly as he wanted to throw her onto the bed metres away from them, and devour every drop of her sweetness until she cried for him to stop, she needed this stern reminder. Wanted it, even.

“That’s it, darlin’...” he groaned, pulling at her hair and then pushing against her head, building up a rhythm that satisfied. She breathed out of her nose, hands flying to his thighs for any ounce of stability.

Minutes into the act, and she could already catch glimpses of her lipstick transferring halfway down his thick shaft, veins painted with a cherry crimson.

“I know you can do better than that.”

His gruff words encouraged her, and her nails dug into his firm thighs as a small indication of the microscopic ounce of resilience that still sat below the surface. In response, his hand twisted harshly in her hair, pulling a cry from the back of her throat that only served to translate as vibrations against him.

With another tantalising grunt, he brought her head precariously closer, leaving her with no other choice than to force the expanse of his cock further into her mouth, the tip beginning to prod at her throat. Her eyes squeezed shut briefly, winded by the sudden gesture.

“Awh, what’s wrong, baby?” Robert cooed condescendingly down at her, taking a sick pride in her labour. Teeth baring down on his lip, he reaped the benefits of his young lover’s mouth as it stretched so deliciously around his cock. Already there were tears forming at the corners of her smoky eyes. Fuck, that’s gonna look so good running down her face…

She unwillingly let out a struggled whimper, trying her best to relax her throat, knowing there was still more to receive.

“I thought you enjoyed using your mouth,” he scoffed.

He kept his comments to himself as he formed a steady pace with his hips, holding her head in place. She was certain her underwear was drenched by now. Having Robert’s warm, salty skin take residence on every taste bud available was sometimes too much for her cunt to handle. Especially when she knew the chances of getting immediate relief after the fact were short.

Soon enough, her nose was snug against the mass of hair that laid at the base of this God’s aphrodisiac appendage, the natural scent of him grounding her in the moment. She somehow willed her throat to relax enough to allow the slick and weeping tip to glide as far back as it needed as she fit every inch of him into her mouth.

Overcome with the desire to pleasure him, she hollowed her cheeks and sucked harder at him every time he withdrew his hips. Her lipstick was smudged, for sure. Tears had fallen, and she could only imagine how she looked for him at that moment.

“So pretty, baby…” he moaned. At one point, he ceased his thrusts, pulling her back to get a real good look at her fucked-out face. “Look at the state of you… you’re really enjoying this, aren’t you, darlin’?” he asked with a crude swipe of his thumb across her chin, effectively smearing lipstick and saliva across her cheek in a further act of degradation.

Her vision remained blurred, and she felt borderline breathless. She didn’t even fully comprehend his question. And he loved it. What he could do to her…

“Aren’t you?” he pushed.

With wide, reddened eyes, she gazed up at him and meekly nodded. Wrong answer.

“Speak, darlin’, you’ve been so good at that today.”

“Yes…” she choked out, leaning her head back into his hand, completely submitting to him in every way. She didn’t care that her knees began bearing the burden of the cold, hard tiles in this hotel bathroom. It was for him. All for him.

“Yes, what?”

God, she needed him so bad… 

“…Daddy...”

“That’s better,” he nodded his head once, taking his cock in one of his hands. He lewdly dragged his tip along her lips, the precum coating the sensitive flesh. “Wish I had that camera right now, baby… you look so pretty like this. So obedient. All fucked out…”

Her eyebrows furrowed needily, her lips parting to allow her tongue to flick against the head of his cock. Maintaining eye contact, she circled around the bulbous area, applying pressure against the underside.

“My talented little thing…” he hummed, beads of sweat adhering stray curls to his forehead. “Keep going, baby… keep taking me in that pretty mouth of yours…”

Unable to challenge him any further, she abided by the rules of their dynamic.

Sloppily, lazily, yet eagerly, she bobbed her head up and down Robert’s cock, eyes fixed on him from below. His eyes fluttered shut, and his mouth hung open, head pressing back against the door. 

Witnessing his pleasure set a fire deep within her, and she sped up her movements, hand gripping firmly at his base. Whenever she’d pull back to spit messily over his erection, a thick rope of her saliva followed suit. It made her moan. Clench around nothing. Her clit throbbed. Her nipples hardened under her blouse. Every sense tingled. All because of him.

She needed all of him. To make him come undone—erupt. Needed it so bad… 

“Fuck, don’t stop, baby,” Robert breathed, once again taking her hair into his hand, guiding her up and down his length. Her free hand came up to massage his tight, full balls. “Fuck! Yes… so, so good…” he hissed, composure slowly crumbling. “Daddy’s gunna cum right down that throat, little girl…” he rambled, teeth clenched, before he yanked her back, running his own hand along his length rapidly.

She was forced to watch, the beautiful combination of red and purple tinting the head of his cock. “Please…” she whimpered, batting her teary eyes at him. “Please, Daddy…” 

Holding her head back, he leaned over her. “Open up, baby.” She did. Tongue stuck out. Waiting for his load. “My good little girl.” He let out a guttural moan, hips thrusting into his own fist, before the hot spurts shot out onto her tongue, some landing on her cheek, and some dripping down onto her chin.

She waited patiently until he had completely milked himself to move from her position, merely acting as a receptacle. Eventually, Robert regained his bearings and gruffly ordered her to swallow everything. To clean her own face up, and to not leave a single drop.

With his granted permission, she was finally allowed to stand back up. Her knees were weak, and had to rely on Robert to help her steady herself. As she cleaned her face up at the sink, he kept his head resting on her shoulder, tucked away and in the process of calming, and his hand held gently onto her waist.

“C’mere, honey,” Robert softly said, bringing her into his arms. He planted a kiss on her forehead and held her tightly to him. “‘M sorry for ignoring you, darlin’.”

She inhaled deeply, her face fitting perfectly against his chest. “It’s okay…” she mumbled.

Robert pulled his head back and stared down at her bare face, lips now natural and swollen from her Goddess duties. “You’re so special to me,” he whispered.

Smiling softly at him, she sighed contently. “I know.”

They shared a passionate kiss, solidifying their eccentric love for one another, and the thrill of the game.

[ikissjesse]

could you do some aaron t/aaron z headcanons pls!

omg yes ofc !! ty for the request <333 since 3 ppl requested aaron² hc's (nothing specific) im gonna put all ur requests into this once post !!

tags: @i-need-a-slurpee @hrts4ariana ( note as of writing: this was a draft from 1719817282 years ago so if u forgot abt this n no longer wanted to be tagged im sorry🥲 )

as i mentioned in this post, they both adore musicals, especially hamilton

aaron² hc's !!

reblogs appreciated + reqs open <3

they like listening to the soundtracks together when they hangout

sometimes when there's a musical near where they are on tour they go together in their free time

u didn't hear it from me but they held hands during one of these musicals bc the room was dark n they thought noone would notice

as bros, ofc.. homies hold hands during musicals !!

they totally sing non-stop from hamilton together its cannon bc i say so

anyway enough abt hamilton for now

there was def mutual pining

they were both like "fuckidishcoaoxjaoa he just thinks of me as a friend"

"friend" NO HE WANTS U SO BAD -God probably idk

the way they attempted to "drop hints":

t tried to make z laugh a lot, even more than he usually did

pranks became less extreme than they normally were, he wanted to surprise him, not scare him to death like he used to

z would, although he denies this, try to do basketball tricks to impress t whenever he is at the basketball court w him

both of them went to jesse for advice, not knowing the other was doing the same

"hey jesse uhm- what should i do if, theoretically, ihavearlybigcrushonsomeonewhoiveknownforawhilebutithinktheyseemeasafriendandireallyreallyREALLYwannabemorebutidontwannaruinourfriendship????" -t

"...what?" -jesse

needless to say jesse was confused as hell

he sent him off w some advice after t slowed down enough for him to understand, then about 15 minutes later z came rambling about the same thing

"JESSE YOU'RE A HIT WITH THE LADIES, AND THE GAYS, AND..BASICALLY ANYONE. HOW DO I FLIRT WITH SOMEONE IVE KNOWN FOR AGES WHO IM PRETTY SURE SEES ME AS JUST A FRIEND?????" -z

thats what made it click for jesse, n he just laughed at the realization

giving him the same advice he gave t, he snickered at the idea of the aarons having a crush on eachother but being too stupid blind to see the feelings were mutual

"thanks jess!!" -z to jesse, running off

"yeah no problem man hehehshshehsh goodluck! HEHEHHEHE"

building up as much courage as he could, z eventually made the first move a few days later

he asked t if he'd like to join him for a musical that would take place at a nearby theater, n he gladly accepted

little did t know where this would lead <33 achoo anyways

as the lights dimmed during a 'romantic' scene, aaron z took t's hand in his own n (quietly) confessed his feelings towards his long-time bestfriend

saying t was happy would be an understatement

the energetic boy yanked him into a hug, leaving his stoic counterpart(ner) highly confused and extremely flustered

choking from t's tight embrace, his face became beet red

"Im, uhm- assuming you feel the same?"

well NO FUCKIN WAY SHERLOCK WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT -God again probably

"yeah dumbass, ofcourse i do!" t whisper-yelled, trying to keep his excitement down as they were still in a theater after all !!!

after that, z just smiled n wrapped his arms around t's waist, returning the hug

but wait !! theres more !!

what kind of ikissjesse ship post would this be without cute couple hc's ???

the quiet stoic boy x loud energetic boy dynamic UUGF MY HEART I THINK IM DYIBG from how much i love this duo😔😔

z buys t a baseball cap in EVERY city/country they go to. every fucking one

even if its not a band tour, if z is out somewhere n sees a cool cap he thinks t would like, yall better believe this boy would cut off an arm n sell a kidney just for t to get that hat

t has a whole side in his closet dedicated to these hats z buys him, he finds it absolutely adorable

z actually thinks he isnt good at gift giving, so he was afraid t wouldnt like it at first, but t's reaction is enough conformation that he adores it

now what kinda aaron² hamilton lover truther would i be if i didnt mention the musical again 💪💪

they have FREQUENT hamilton marathons together, sometimes the other members of 4*town will join in too !!

they still sortve act like they did before, like friends n what not

however theyre also 300% more flirty

by that i mean T is 300% more flirty

z might be a LITTLE bit but def not as much as my boy aaron t (the r in aaron stands for rizzler -aaron t)

z isn't a big fan of PDA himself, however when t does little displays of affection when theyre in public he loves it ( he doesn't say it out loud bc he's shy but he does smile at t or to himself, holding t's hand or draping an arm over his shoulders )

when theyre in private z will hug t from behind, hold his waist, kiss his forehead, etc .... yk... bro stuff......

t surprises him by going BOO!!! and jumping up to put his arms around his shoulders from behind, which at first scared z shitless n earned t a lecture about why he shouldn't scare him like that bc z WILL swing but z is okay with it now n actually smiles ALBEIT A VERY SMALL SMILE when he does it

dates include but r not limited to playing basketball late at night together, movies, watching musicals, roadtrips to literally anywhere long or short they just wanna be in eachothers presence OUGHG I LOVE THEM

i forgot to mention !!! t is definitely the one who asked to be boyfriends, but z accidentally said "I love you" first

t was doing something dumb again, and z shook his head as he laughed, accidentally mumbling the words "I love you" out loud

t stopped dead in his tracks n snapped his head in z's direction, n yall this boy was STRESSED he did NOT mean to let the world know this information

z covered his face with his hands n his face was PINK pink bro but t just laughed n walked over to him, cupping his face in his hands and staring at him with a very VERY smug but genuine n happy grin

z scoffed, but soon glanced back at the other boy and smiled shyly

theyre so cute im throwing up in class

there's more but i think this is long enough for now, sorry for the wait pls snack on this while u wait for the rest of my jesro + aaron² content i have planned WINK WINK

thank u for reading <3

[lobster-lover]

hi again i would absolutely love to see your collection of unreleased unicorns songs if you want to share? digitally or physically? either way is super super cool (i myself have a cd of who will cut our hair when we're gone), i remember finding an old recording of peach moon, haven't really found much else but i'm very interested in hearing more of their unreleased stuff

HIIII i dont really keep good track of the unreleased ones i find BUT right off the top of my head i can give you my **THREE ALL TIME FAVORITE FUCKASS UNFINDABLE UNICORNS SONGS**

haunted house, which as i understand they only performed live a few times and never officially released, its probably in one of their little bootleg cds that they used to make (and i cant find online) because what is an obscure indie band without cds that they bootlegged themselves

peach moon demo?? part 2??? i honestly cant tell which ones which so theres a video with both versions. i gather at least one of them was in their mini cdr three inches of blood but i think its really interesting how insanely different they are.. i take it as a completely separate unreleased song because of that

AND MY FAVORITE. livin in the country.. yes that is the highest quality version of the song i could find. i went on a small rabbithole to find a better recording a while ago and i DID find mention of a radio recording they made in australia , from hank who supposedly was exchanging emails with alden about it (source):

there were like, three links in this thread that allegedly went to better recordings but none of them work and they arent archived so i guess this ones lost. and the end of the thread says that "Livin in the country can't be downloaded, nor should it." so i assume they didnt get that australia recording either. sad! well theres other songs (devastated)

[just-a-carrot]

okookookkokoko WHERE DO I EVEN START. I LOVE THIS GAME SM SMH BUT I HAVE A HARD TIME EXPLAINING STUFF SO TAKE THIS SHORT PASSAGE. (Most of this will be an unorganized ramble btw)

(SPOILER WARNING FOR MOST ARCS)

I played T2A2G and OC before this so um. Guess which route I did lmao. SPEAKING OF ROUTES, GENZOU GENZOU GEZNOU GEZNOU GEZNOU OMG GENZOU. I RELATE TO THIS MAN IN WAYS I DID NOT KNOW I COULD RELATE TO A CHARACTER. LIKE WTH?? HE HAS SUCH A TRANSPARENT CLOSET LOL. And also speaking of Genzou I do have a few questions related to him

-Is Genzou fully blind? I don't think he is bc of his cane but I heard it's different in some countries so idk

-We learn Genzou is (supposedly) taking antidepressants in Arc 2. Is he clinically depressed? (According to the Visual Noval Database he is anyways but idk)

-HOW TF DOES HE DEAL WITH BEING CANNIBALIZED TWICE LIKE DAMN..I WOULD HAVE A BREAKDOWN NO MATTER WHO I'M WITH??

-Did Genzou's friends ever like assume that he was gay?? Or like did he tell anyone?? Or did he try his best to hide it lmao

-Did anyone think/know that Gen had a crush on Iggy??

-GENZOU WITHOUT HIS HAT <333

I love Genzou sm if you couldn't tell already /p

ARC 3 CONFUSED ME SM LOL. I thought that I had accidently switched routes (even though I hadn't even made my LI choice, I ofc didn't know this atm though) from Genzou to Orlam and I was fr so confused like waht. Also like I feel so bad for Orlam wth </3.

HUMAN JERRY.

OO ALSO SOME MORE THINGS

-During some parts (mostly during arcs 3/4) I HAD TO PLAY A RELAXING PLAYLISTS BECASE I FELT OVERWHELMED/ANXIOUS/IDEK?? AND AT SOME POINT I JS GAVE UP AND STATED PLAYING HYPERCORE LMAO

-I LOV ELOVE LOVE THE WAY THAT THE NEUTRAL ENDING COLLIDES(???) WITH OC LIEK WHATWHDWATDHFWHWFTHAFG. IDK BUT FOR ME IT MAKES ME FEEL LIEK IT'S THE MORE "CANON" ENDING EVEN THOUGH THERE IS (probably) NO CANON ENDING.

-I IMMEDIATELY WENT TO THE GALLERY LIEK OMG??

-Some of my favorite liens in the game were the homicidal gardener lines (both referring to Iggs and Gen), when Gen was arguing with Jerry, When Genzou was telling iggs during the Arc 5 Kiddie Cruise scene that it shoudn't be a choice like I WAS GONNA CHOOSE DONT JUMP JS TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS LOL

-I also relate a lot to Iggy in some forms

-GIDGET.

-I took a total of 260 screenshots of this game (as of now heheh)

UM YH THATS ALL SORRY IF IT'S HARD TO UNDERSTAND OR TOO ENERGETIC BUT I TRULY LOVE THIS GAME SM. Ima go replay OC again byes <3 :3 BEST REGARDS ILYSM /p

KDFJLADFA this message is so chaotic, i love it

first off, i'm really happy you like the game (and genzou) weep. thank you so much for all the kind words 😭💕 i'm also always super intrigued to see where/how ppl came into the game, so hearing you played T2A2G and OC first is very interesting to me lakdjfkdjfa

regarding your questions:

yes he is; i do think he sees a bit of light/shadow (which is different to an answer i gave some time ago, but i've been thinking about it since) but that's about it; it's a result of traumatic optic neuropathy

yes he is; he's been on meds and seeing a therapist for a while

i cannot answer this question LOL 🤣 i also don't know. i guess the only answer is that he has no choice

mmm... he never outright told anyone in the friend group. tbh he doesn't outright tell many people, mostly as he's just a bit of a private person in that regard and keeps to himself outside of attempting dating apps every now and then. i would not say he actively attempted to hide it though aside from around iggy. as for other people assuming i think it was something many of them did kinda realize but never said anything also

similar here, i think some of them kinda knew. i think gidget knew, even if they kinda ignored it, because it prompted their jealousy on a few occasions. i think orlam had a bit of a guess but it wasn't really confirmed until later

LDKAJFSLDKFA THAT'S NOT A QUESTION

LOL about the routes. indeed, if you don't realize that actually all the "routes" are mandatory parts of the story until the finale then it can be confusing if you thought you were going for a specific char early on or something 🤣 it's not like the games where you can pick your route and then the rest of the game is that route

hahaha yeah i wouldn't say there's a "canon" ending. for one, i feel like that would kinda defeat the point of having different possibilities to begin with. why make other choices if there's only ever one canon ending? i want people to be able to choose however they want the story to end. i mostly connected the neutral ending to OC as a sort of self-indulgent gift to myself, because i thought it would be very sweet if iggy would still have a chance to find companionship with one of his friends later on even if he chose to focus on himself first. like that it just keeps it open. i also just thought it'd be a fun easter egg to give ppl more incentive to at least try the neutral route as i figure most ppl would not choose that route as it's kinda short compared to the others and doesn't give as much closure to the other chars

260 SCREENSHOTS LDKJFASDLFA

sob thank you for this lovely message!! it was really fun answering your questions hahaha and i'm really glad you liked the game so much!! it means a lot!! 💕

[roscgcld]

ok so what if all of them are attending/watching a sporting event and yuta and dd!reader suddenly appeared on the 'kiss cam' 😭 i feel like gojo would tease yuta until the end of the game 😭

Besties, you guys always come through with the best ideas.

I can imagine it - Gojo had managed to pull some strings and invite them to a baseball game. The students were excited, since it would be the first time they get to go to a full stadium to experience something as normal as watching a baseball game. Having no idea that Gojo, since he was already pulling some strings, decided to add a little..spice, shall we say, to the entire event.

Let's say that the 'kiss cam' thing was a new thing that had been introduced to Japan - a huge American businessman, having bought over a stadium and turned it into a baseball stadium, decided to bring in this concept to the country. And it became a huge hit. So because it was all over social media, and Yuta and Yuji's favourite baseball team was going to play there, Gojo thought it will be a great idea.

Y/N was excited as well; she follows KPop and has seen her favourite idols taking cute pictures at huge stadiums, and she wanted to take some of those pictures too. So she dressed extra cute, and made sure that her makeup was extra nice; and thankfully, the weather was nice enough where she can go around without sweating her makeup off.

At first it was smooth sailing; they got to their seats that has a perfect view of the entire court, they had bought the typical snacks and were in general enjoying the game. Of course, Yuta and Yuji were enjoying it the most, and it was because of both their enthusiasm that it had everyone else slowly invested as well.

Half time came around, and Gojo was giggling at his phone for the last 20 minutes as he happily typed away. Assuming that he was flirting with someone the students went on ignoring him while they ate food and talked with one another. Yuta and Y/N had returned after Y/N had dragged him around to take pictures of her, and had just settled back down in their seats when the kiss cam segment started.

At first, it just went to a few random couples; some friends who laughed and pushed one another away, some couples who were adorable and kissed, and some just random strangers. However, it was when Gojo pulled his phone out to record, and when the camera suddenly panned to Yuta and Y/N that the others finally caught onto why Gojo spent so much time on his phone.

But they cheered on regardless, all of them giving Yuta and Y/N suggestive looks and nudges as Yuta blushes and awkwardly shoves a laughing Inumaki away. Y/N however, was excited - waving at the camera with a breath-taking smile as she gently shakes the arm that Yuta had around her. It was Gojo who had playfully yelled at her to 'kiss your boyfriend' that she finally realised why Yuta was so embarrassed.

She had always been the more affectionate one, so she just giggles before she happily wrapped her arms around Yuta's neck; who smiles softly and decided to give in. Leaning down with his arm shifting from her shoulders to his waist before he leans over to kiss her gently. it was a cute peck that had Y/N giggling and leaning over  to give him another one, and their interaction had the entire crowd roaring and cheering at the sheer cuteness of it all.

Safe to say that the two of them went viral on social media for that clip; and Gojo also has the HD recording of the entire thing and has been sharing it around like it's candy.

Yuta doesn't know if he should kill Gojo or ask for a copy of the video himself.

[justreadertings]

Till Death Do Us Part 11

Author’s note: Yes. You heard me. I’m back from the dead. I am bringing this fic back stronger than ever before! I know this fic had so much love in the past and I am so excited to see what you all have to say about it! I think the formatting might look a bit differnet from now on, but think of it as a show that got a bigger budget and has nicer stuff now. I have SO MUCH of this story to share, so I am very excited to bring you the second part of it! Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to bring this back! This is FOR YOU!!!! I hope you enjoy it :) Ok rant over- Magee

masterlist    

TW: cursing, mentions of violence, mentions of war, mentions of Lyria (sorry squad)

2169 Words

Till Death Do Us Part Chapter 11

Aelin’s laughter bounced off the walls, her hand tucked firmly into Rowan’s arm. The wedding went off without a hitch. It was strange. Not unwelcome… but definitely strange.

The room had been a sharp pain to her heart when the doors opened. As they had made their way down the golden carpet, she tried her best not to see the casket of her loved ones. The pillars had been as restored as they could be, emerald banners hanging with the other decorations. Rowan had squeezed her tightly to him as their country finally, after years, laid their eyes upon her.

Her heart had beat quickly, and it was only his presence beside her and the crown in front of her that kept her feet moving. Gasps and whispers flowed through the beautiful domed room, but she and Rowan got to the pillars. His voice boomed, silencing the rowdy crowd. She had ignored all their eyes, and only kept them on Rowan. They flowed through her coronation, their army an unmovable force beside them, and both she and Rowan had tears in their eyes as he finally placed the crown upon her head.

Then, they moved onto the ceremony and she tried not to bristle as her country moved to the edge of their seats. Rowan spoke more pretty words, her body still on high alert, and she had to focus on his shiny bandolier for most of it, lest she lose her nerve. For a moment, she mourned. When she’d been twelve, she told Rowan that one day they were going to get married out in the gardens and the little patio would be covered in wildflowers. She’d told him that only Maeve and her parents were allowed to be there. And her dog, once she was finally allowed to get one.

She never expected the big crowd, the huge decorations, the formal words. She’d always just wanted Rowan and a kiss.

But Aelin supposed she could ignore the castle, and imagine the patio when Rowan finally leaned down. The whole country seemed to hold their breath. Aelin glanced up at him, and there was something… different in Rowan’s green eyes. Something warm and happy.

So she smiled and curved her hand around his neck, and he grabbed her waist. It truly was like a fairytale, Rowan holding her firmly to him as their mouths pressed together. Really, that was all the country needed. But Rowan’s hands were still around her, and she could smell his pine and snow scent, and she did not wish it to end.

Their eyes met for a moment, and it felt like electricity passed between them. For the first time in a long time, she felt like she was just Aelin and he was just Rowan. Them, hiding under her bed, them up in a tree, them in front of their country. So she brushed her nose with him, teasing him a bit. His lips quirked to the side, and he brushed his nose against her’s back before he kissed her again, their mouths moving slowly, leisurely. The country faded, and as he lightly dipped her, her heart fluttered.

The crowd slowly came back into focus, Rowan’s face slightly flushed, just as she assumed her face was. Everyone was cheering, there were trumpets blaring, but she could only hear Rowan in her mind.

The crown suits you.

Hmmm, she thought back to him, you don’t look too bad either, Prince. A smile crossed her face. King, she corrected.

Rowan brought her hand to his lips. My Queen.

Her heart jumped. The evasions on her home, the loss of her parents, her rulers, the loss of her childhood, everything… it had been for this. For this perfect moment. No one could ever take this crown from her now. No one could ever belittle her or push her thoughts to the side. She was truly and forever the Almighty Queen of the United Throne of Terrasen. With a smile, she slipped her hand into the crook of Rowan’s arm, and he led her back out the way they came.

She was still bouncing on adrenaline, floating on the fact that no one had been hurt or threatened. Aelin’s brow furrowed as Rowan kept walking into the palace, but she didn’t question his silly smile.

Where are you taking me, Buzzard?

His eyes sparkled. She was starting to think he was high on emotions, too. Patience, Fireheart.

She pursed her lips to hide her smile. They were entering a wing of the castle that had to have been completely rebuilt after the final raid. Rowan led her to a room she’d never seen before, pushing open the double doors to reveal a windowed room over the gardens, pretty emerald curtains hanging. A simple couch sat before a fireplace. It was small. Cozy.

But it was not the room that caught her eye. Aelin’s feet halted. Her rushing heart, so exhilarated off of her crown and her kiss slowed down. She nearly tripped over herself. As Aelin came to a pause, two hands came up to her shoulders, squeezing. Her fingers came up to cover her mouth, and she leaned back into him a bit.

“Rowan-” she whispered.

Emotion rang true in his voice when he whispered back, “Congratulations, Fireheart.”

The grand piano was gorgeous, white and gold. Her heart beat wildly in her ears. Tears grew hot in her eyes. She made her way to it, almost scared to touch it, it was so perfect. Aelin’s fingers drifted lightly over the keys as they shook. Emotion rushed through her, and she couldn’t help but turn, staring into those beautiful green eyes.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered again, the moment so fragile she didn’t want it to break.

Where harsh calculation normally sat, it was replaced by relaxed fondness. Aelin reached out her hand, a bit hesitant, but Rowan took it, and pulled her into him. Just as he had when she’d first rushed out of that carriage, he held her close, a hand holding her head to his chest. She could smell his pine and snow scent, calming her senses.

How was he a brutal, careful warrior one moment, a calculated and emotionless king another, and then a soft, caring man the next? Her Rowan had survived their wars to be here, to gift his queen with pretty presents. To rule their country beside her.

“Evalin and Rhoe would have been so proud,” he told her.

Tears spilled down her cheeks. “I hope so.” In the quiet of the room, she confessed, “I wish they were here.”

Rowan spoke into her hair. “They were.”

Her face hurt from today, but she couldn’t help the smile that came to it as he said those pretty words. She didn’t know what to do with them, with him.

She didn’t know what to think when he hooked a thumb around her chin, and tilted it up to press a simple, chaste kiss to her lips. Much different than their kiss for their country, this more for closeness than anything. Their boundaries were blurry, and it messed with her mind. She pressed her forehead to his.

Aelin thought back to when she was a little girl, when Rowan used to hold her and press his head to hers and tell her that he would always keep her safe. If they were playing or fighting or tired, he would always protect her and look out for her. But they were grown ups. And he couldn’t protect her from everything. So she savored the peace for a moment more, breathing him in. Until finally, she asked in a hush whisper, “What are we going to do about Lyria?”

He pulled back, clearly upset at her intrusion. He had never been one to run away from a fight… but clearly he’d been wanting to avoid this conversation with her. Especially now. She tried not to regret ruining their perfect moment too much. She needed to know.

“I cannot hide my child from the world Aelin,” he told her, honestly, their soft voices the only sound in the room.

She shook her head. “I never asked you to.”

His eyes fluttered closed, hands curling. This string between them was growing taunt. Their first decision as Queen and King. “But to do that is to humiliate you, my queen. To think I do not value or respect you… I do not want to start our reign like that. For our country to see us divided.”

Aelin tried to think of something to say but… she was just as stuck as he was. Aelin began to understand, a bit, why he might’ve been avoiding her. She said, though, “but we are divided.”

His voice wavered. “Are we?”

Irritation spiked her voice. “Well, your fiance just watched us get married. So it’s a bit complicated.”

Rowan’s eyes unfocused over her shoulder, as if he was trying to think of a response, but couldn’t. Aelin did not want to ruin their night. Today was good, successful. So she only placed a hand on his cheek for a moment, then dropped it and went to leave. She got to the door before he spoke.

“I wasn’t going to marry her, you know.”

Aelin’s breathing hitched. She turned back at him with wide eyes. “What.”

Rowan’s face was… devastated. Confused. He sat down on the piano bench. “I wasn’t going to marry her.” His eyes found her’s, as if pleading with her to understand. “But you were gone, still. I didn’t know when you were coming home. If you were coming home. I just knew-” his voice halted a little. Her heart squeezed. “I knew that when you came home, I would break it off.”

She didn’t know if she was breathing.

“But then she told me. About the baby.” Aelin shut her eyes at the emotion in his voice, at the tears forming in her own eyes. “And I didn’t know what to do. I just knew that I had to do right by her, had to do right by this baby that I dragged into this mess. Had to do right by you. So I decided that I would step down, if that’s what you wanted. If you wanted to get married someday, and make him king, I would let you.”

Aelin grabbed her necklace, the space above her heart, as if she could hold it and stop it from bleeding so much.

Rowan pleaded with her, “So I proposed a few days later. And two hours after that I got word that your carriage was to arrive in three days' time. That’s the only warning I had.”

“Rowan,” she cried, voice breaking. They’d both lost so much. She was tired of life taking from them.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not to you. I was trying… I was going to remove myself from this. Let you have your crown and your kingdom. What you’ve always wanted.”

Aelin’s heart cracked. How could she tell him that her crown wasn’t the only thing she’s wanted since childhood?

He shook his head. “It’s not right, Aelin. I know that. I probably should have never been with her in the first place. I should have focused everything I had on Terrasen. But when I came back from Adarlan, I was… broken. Lost.” His eyes found her’s, as if pleading for her to understand. “I was so lonely, Aelin.”

She wiped her tears, furiously. “I know.”

“And I needed to get out of my head. I’m still so in my own head…” He rubbed his hands down his face. “I needed a distraction. It was never supposed to be this complicated.”

“I know.”

He peered up at her. “I’m sorry.”

Aelin tossed everything he’d admitted to her around in her head. Finally she said, “I know that too.”

They watched each other for a moment. He held such devastation in those green eyes. It broke her heart a little bit. The only sound in the room was her heels clicking on the tile. Aelin knelt down to him, took his face in her hands.

“You are a good king. And a kind man.” The small shake of his head, the disagreement peeled at her aching heart.

“No, you are good,” he argued.

“You don’t know what I am,” she whispered.

He only stared at her. Searched her. Saw into her soul. “It wasn’t supposed to be this way.” Marriage in only name, union under only the crown.

“But it is.”

“Can you live with that?” He asked her. She waited for him to ask her something else. It seemed like he wanted to. But she knew. He would always do what was right. What was good. The responsible choice.

At his silence she only responded with, “can you?”

Ever so slowly, he pressed a heavy kiss to her forehead. Her hands slid off his face to fall limp into her lap. The moment lasted an eternity, a lifetime.

“I can try,” he whispered.

-

-

Ok I hope that answers some of your questions. And brought some brand new ones. Hehehehe. Cannot wait to hear your thoughts on the fic!

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[cathalbravecog]

long ramble, haven't had one of these in a while! if you read this, have fun. it's headcanons/thoughts on some stuff. i don't talk about my thoughts on story stuff publicly much anymore especially because 1) i'm shy 2) trust issues 3) bad rsd 4) i forgot the last point

i was writing for oNCE yesterday (some headcanon stuff, for myself, won't be posting that unless i change the wording of some of it to make more sense because i ramble a lot and it's a mess. like i am doing right now. also that turned into being mostly about hr in the end because i am ill. now hopefully this motivation will get me to write my mary and archie stuff.)

and when i went to bed i was thinking about some stuff in toontown, mostly the cogs - and how things work. these are things i ponder on very often and have talked about with my friends many time, throwing ideas back and forth and my headcanons for how things work.

though, there's one thing i really wonder about, and that's where cogs come from in ttcc exactly. in 'that' way though of course to keep things on the same rating as the game is i won't discuss anything explicit so don't worry. (besides they're robots and also are sexless to me, anything related to gender is purely cosmetic to them. you are usually assigned a certain expression when built though, but can change that later on. that's how i explain trans cogs.)

i think about how there are canonical families and children, and that they have "built" dates and places where they've been built. it's obvious as they're robots, they're not born they're built and made.

it's a bit difficult to explore with the limited info we have, which is kind of both an hassle to work with, but also beautiful because you can let your creativity go and make up your own headcanons, without things being set in too much canon. it's also difficult due to how different the suit culture is to us humans and also what we see from the toons which is by nature more familiar to us.

we also do not know much about suitopia, or other possible places where cogs live.

(i, personally, imagine suitopia as essentially a big country where most if not all cogs live. it has it's own regions, cities... all that. where as c.o.g.s. inc has built itself to be essentially it's own small country/community, if that makes sense. though cogs don't always only mention suitopia, at least once 'the whole world' is used. this is irrelevant tho so i won't discuss that but it's still a 'core' headcanon i have - as other things i may hc rely on this personal interpretation / headcanon.

but be aware i do not know everything is canon and can discuss things outside my realm of HCs and interpretations, but if i go deeper into like, let's say, analyzing a cog and imagining their backstory, instantly assume i'm using all these things. sorry for the side ramble, i want to make things clear for possible future reference.)

i wish it will be expanded upon slightly in the future, even a slightest crumb of what it's like out there and i can have a field day with it. i do enjoy the vagueness tho, again, as i've said we do not need to have all the information out there and it's not necessary to the main stories that are being told but MAN my brain itches for MORE. i demand EXPLANATIONS. and so i make up my own lol and i love that i can do that /gen (there's some stuff i do have an issue with that it was not explained better, but again, fixed that with hcs. talking abt atticus but im not getting into that rn)

there also may be things i am missing - i have known of ttcc's existence since it's early days, but i wasn't there for it and missed being there in person for any lore until i started playing for real in early 2023 and became a part of the community. like, there ARE things i have missed AND small details i am missing. that's one criticism i have about some info being more difficult to access now, but the main stuff is on the wiki an all luckily.

anyways that ramble out of the way... how the heck are cogs made? there's a few ways, that seem contradictory in some ways at first but i just see it as different methods.

we know cogs can change their appearances (their shell) and be "upgraded". we know cogs can even choose to be just their skelecogs (Atticus) and i suppose every other skelecog we see.) we know cogs have families and have their own kids. (cathal and bobby jr come to mind, and also belle's own kids and grandkids. not to mention, we have siblings too - thomas and robert. and their whole family drama DOES involve their unseen parents.) we know many cogs, mostly the managers, come into the company as their are - but also new parts are built, at least for the employee cogs in sellbot hq. (recently re-read the dialogue which confirmed this - literally as you're building your sellbot suit.)

we know cogs are more than just some working machines and do have deeper lives and desires and even relationships, though all instances of a parent/child relationship in ttcc have only one parent. makes sense after all they don't reproduce sexually to put it that way, again they're built and they're robots.)

it's easy to conclude, that, cogs are just built. which is true. but it just makes me wonder. we know they age. we have at least 1 cog who is a literal child, and bobby, in human years at least, looks no older than like, 8 years old. (we also don't know how cogs age. we also know cog's don't die like that, due to the whole deal with atticus. i will talk about this one day i have so many thoughts on it)

we know they grow up and even have schools - they're not programmed with everything. they earn experience as they live life and even have?? education systems? like they're more like people than we thought. (ttcc does make cogs more easily sympathized with and gives us INDIVIDUAL cogs and not just... 'The Cogs'. cogs are the focus of ttcc so of course they're developed more and are more 'human' despite being machines.)

so clearly, there's cogs like bobby. who are built young and eventually grow up. we have not seen a cog growing up yet, at least i don't think. but i wonder how that works. through cartoon logic, do they just grow up? their skelecog and perhaps their shell, too? or do they periodically get upgraded to be larger - wouldn't it make sense to built a cog as, well, an adult already? to program all these things? there may be more limits to this than we think, but also just... cultural things possibly.

the only cog CHILD (not just the child of someone - cathal's an adult. also, redd mention, but redd's adopted so he doesn't count) we ever see is bobby and, he is the child of robert, who is known to be very short. we don't know if bobby's going to grow up, or if this height is what he's just going to be like. we have one image where he's way smaller than robert, and other, more recent ones, where they're a similar heights. is that just art inconsistency due to the nature of all the (amazing) artwork being, well, volounteer work and that not everything is (or has to be) perfect? or did bobby really grow up. i'm talking about the wallet picture and the comics featuring bobby, by the way.

though, as things are, i'm sort of assuming that bobby's going to grow up or be upgraded in some way to "grow up"? i don't think we need an clear explanation for that, and in a universe like this 'cartoon logic' would be enough, but it's still something to think about.

like...how do cogs go about having kids, anyways? all instances we see are visually similar as well. cathal has the same gear for his neck as allan's body does, and they have the same head lightbulbs and wires. bobby jr and robert are both furniture.

i've always assumed that it's like in robots (the movie, that i havent watched in years which would be helpful for all this, probably.) if you decide to have a child just for the experience of raising a child, to have a legacy, or due to a bond with a partner - you literally just build one. perhaps not in the same way as in the movie - in here it definitely requires more paperwork and blueprints. but again, it's interesting to think about! hey company i want a CHILD. i look like this build them like me thanks here's some blueprints. (this also explains the amount of single parents. though belle has to have been married/is married as her honorific is listed as mrs. hey fun fact, non native english speaker here. i didnt know 'mrs' means a lady is married until like this year. i've been on this earth for 19 years.)

like the concept of family is possibly just more social there than anything. duh... can't exactly have the same oil and wires inside of you as Robots .

anyways, so that explains kids... but what about the others? some cogs don't have any families mentioned but it's not hard to assume they come from families with parents and siblings as well. what about the employee cogs? who are quite literally very disposable in a way?

we do have to take into account that after all, employee cogs we see just on and about on the streets are mostly a game mechanic, and there are some individual cogs who ARE cogs who would typically be employees cogs. (jennifer comes to mind first, she's a micromanager but also a secretary and counts as a manager. same goes for judy and so forth.)

and y'know, the game won't have a personality and backstory for each random flunky on the streets you fight. but with often they get destroyed and repaired and that there's just... so many of them! of the same model and appearance... makes you think. is that why they were made? are they truly more robotic than the others, more devoid of 'humanity'? or were they different cogs, perhaps more lower class, who's appearances were changed entirely to fit into more easily fixable and replaceable shell forms? something that's less expensive for the company and for them? i swear i am missing some details on this, but that's for me to re read the wiki and cogs ink for on my own later. (i need to have full info n everything and if i dont bring up that i know one small detail i will explode bc someone will bring it up and make me feel dumb and that's the rsd part and it's often physically painful!)

very hard to tell, i'm sort of content with my thoughts on how cogs have kids, but i hope we ever get a bit more clarity on employee cogs - though it is a bit problematic as these are the guys you beat up on the daily who don't have individual personalities.

like i'm just rambling as i go here man, it was gonna be cohesive but i'm just spitting thoughts here now. like, we have 3 seperate skelecog types - all cogs come with a skelecog like we have a skeleton so that also comes into play. it can be adjusted in ways, most notably the head and also in size. though we do have a 4 arm cog. jason please i love you /p we need more jason content. it's wacky, it's tacky - it's toontown!

fun stuff to think about but i just deep fried my brain. tdlr i guess.

how cogs made. how cogs have kids. how cogs work in general. very swag very cool. guzma cathal spades spamtongender goes on 1568854 different tangents while saying they wont aka your swagesty your adhd symptoms are showing

that's it fellas enjoy 2k words of incomprehensible rambles that i am happy to finally get out! you see the way i explain things is precisely why i almost never do it publicly and i need practice shortening things.

[my-random-thoughts-take-13]

Alright. With Crystalized seemingly pushing Llorumi we do have to talk about the incest part. And mostly the question; Is it even incest? Sounds stupid, yes.

I’ll be trying to stay objective and use fair argument combined with world lore.

Point of note, this might feel a little uncomfortable for some people because of the factuality possibly going against what some feel morally. You have now been warned.

To answer this question we first need to look at what incest actually is. This source is from the Cornell Law school in the IS.

Now this very clearly states that incest is the sexual relationship between two closely related parties like brother and sister, which is the argument we are talking about. Please note that I will not be taking the sexual part literally, since ace-spec is of course a thing everyone views different about them. For the sake of the argument we’ll assume that if they end up together they might be interested in it at some point. I will also not be taking most of the legal aspect into a count since Ninjago probably has different laws as opposed to the US. If anything they would take from Chinese and Japanese laws which… uhm…

Well let’s just say that no matter how incest-y it will get it’ll be legal in that case. Big fricking yikes to both those countries.

Back to the source, we now have to decide wether they are siblings. This source explicitly stated how the incest is between related parties, which they aren’t. There is no blood relation.

End case? No.

We now have to talk about adoption.

According to liveabout.com there is no legal way to marry as adopted siblings, not in the US at least. Which brings up the point of laws again, so I can ignore that for now. What I find more interesting is the forth sentence.

It stars how siblings, adopted by law, are siblings and can therefore not marry. Which leaves us with the question, did Garmadon actually adopt Harumi?

Yes, he took her as ‘his child’ in season 9, but I highly doubt that if they met up again in Crystalized he would suddenly have custody and be legally responsible for her crimes (by us law) since she is still a minor. And aside from that he adopted her for what, 2 or 3 in universe days? After that she died (partly because of him) and they’ve been virtually ignoring each other’s existence ever since. Yes Garmadon probably doesn’t know she’s alive, but I’m not entirely sure he’d care. Yes he went into a destructive rage when she died, but after that nothing seems to hold up. We may not have seen much of him since, but with how he felt about Lloyd in s10 I doubt he would still care about her as a parental figure, assuming he ever even did.

But of course there’s still the moral aspect. By this logic you could live alone in the woods your whole life with your child, then take another child from the streets and raise them both, and they could be married without legal or biological problems.

The reason it makes us uncomfortable is because in the scenario I just mentioned they were raised as siblings. But no matter how you look at it, Lloyd and Harumi just-

Weren’t.

They met before the ‘adoption’, they spent no time with their ‘father’ as a family, they grew up apart and met as teenagers, heck, they were friends for a week in s8 before Harumi did the whole crimeboss thing.

So, they is no blood relation, Harumi’s adoption was informal at best to a non-existent joke at worst and they have no kind of sibling relationship.

Counter argument!

This tweet was made by Tommy Andreason, one of the writers, a year ago in response to asking if it was accurate to view Morro and Lloyd as cousins since Wu took in Morro. Yo which I say

1. In all honesty these tweets have been wrong before

2. We can still apply that logic to the previous points we made.

In the Twitter argument we (almost) know Wu adopted Morro, just not legally. Meaning the legality of the Harumi adoption does not have to be considered for the argument to be “kind of right”. What should be considered however is the way zei and Morro’s relationship works. Because from every flashback we’ve seen, the s5 finale ánd Day of the Departed, we can clearly, CLEARLY tell they care. They care a lot.

Their training, their bonding, trying to save each other, and I’m sorry to say this but I just don’t see that with Garmadon here.

The closest we got was when Mystake pretended to be Harumi and Garmadon became weary of her because of not mentioning Skylor’s powers. Yes, this turned out to be accurate and he complimented Harumi for revealing the truth 2 minutes later.

And in episode 8 when she died she tried to convince him te leave to save their lives. He went on to ignore her and stay, threatening both of their lives, ignoring he regen she left and accidentally causing her death.

But even with all of this you could hold the argument that that’s just his personality, right? That was a major point in s10, right? YES. You are ABSOLUTELY right for thinking that. I for one at a huge s8-present Garmadon apologist and you could definitely view these scenes both ways. So in the end, the ‘is Garmadon a parent to Harumi and does the green cousins logic apply’ argument boils down to hoe Garmadon will react to her in Crystalized. Point of note that I have seen up until episode 17 at this point.

In the end absolutely everything boils down to how Garmadon will treat Harumi. It doesn’t matter if it will be as an ally, enemy, friend, people who have met before. As long as he doesn’t treat her as his daughter, I’m sorry people,

Then it cannot be considered incest.

And we can easily check this since he almost exclusively refers tobber as ‘my child’ or ‘my daughter’ in those few scenes. He just has to call her Harumi to her face. Heck, she just has to call him Garmadon to his face and it will prove those very fragile ‘familial bonds’ are broken. Besides, id Garmadon could disown his son just like that he could definitely do the same with an informally short term adopted child who now seems to not really care about him or at least be very disappointed in him (episode 13).

We just need one, ONE of these scenes and it’ll decide the case.

Does it seem like that incest at first glance? Yes. Can I understand the logic behind it? Yes. Can I imagine it making someone uncomfortable?DEFINITELY YES.

But in the end, when it comes down to it and you look at it from a factual and in-lore perspective, it just isn’t.

And this isn’t me smashing the ship doesn’t have problems, oh no. If you want to dislike the ship more than just ‘I don’t vibe with it’ (which is enough of a reason already) then there are tons, and I mean TONS of reasons I can definitely get behind. But in the end, this one isn’t it.

TL;DR

If you want to hate the ship don’t do it for the incest while there are perfectly viable and defendable reason to hate it.

Have a nice day!

[jaybird-fanfics]

Villain Roommate |Chapter Thirty Three|

It's been hard, trying to get use to your new life. While everyone you came across was very friendly, and your job was much better than the one you had, you still found it hard to get out of bed in the morning. However, there was one silver lining to it all, you had managed to make a friend. Her name was Maria, she was around your age and even worked in your new favorite coffee shop, so you saw her almost every morning. She was really nice, and even helped you get adjusted to living in a new country. 

She was concerned one day when you didn't show up to get your usual order for almost a week straight, so she went to your house to check on you. 

"I hope she's ok." Maria says under her breath as she knocks on your door. She looks up at the rather expensive looking house. She assumed you must have came from money somehow. If only she knew. She knocked again when you didn't answer the first time. Eventually you opened the door, you looked a mess, it was clear you had been crying. "Oh, Y/n..." Maria sighed. "Come on, let's talk." You only nod your head before allowing her inside. 

The two of you sat on the couch, Maria spoke first. "Is about him again?" You had told Maria about Dabi, well, not everything. You made up his name, unsure if Touya was a name he'd ever want to use again, and did not say a word about his "profession". You had just told her he was an old roommate, who had became a good friend of yours. "It is." You mutter. Maria put her hand on yours. "I'm sorry Y/n. I wish there was something I could do to make it better." 

Not unless she could somehow take you back to Dabi, or bring him to you. Texting each other wasn't ever enough for either of you. You missed each other's presence. You missed his warmth, while he missed your gentleness. You both felt so empty without them. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you to were closer than you let on." You gave Maria a confused stare. "What do you mean?" You ask. "Oh come on, you and him seemed like you really cared about each other a lot. I'd say, even loved each other." Your face turned red. She meant platonic love, right? Like, how best friends love each other, right?

"We weren't like that." You try and clarify. Maria wasn't buying it. "Didn't you say he confessed to you?" 

"Yes but, I don't feel the same." Maria raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you blushing?" You turn your head away. "Because this is embarrassing!"

"Girl, be real. You can't stop thinking about him, every time we talk you bring him up somehow, you text him every single day, hell, you're even driving yourself into a terrible state of depression because he's not here! If that's not love, I don't know what is." 

She had to be wrong. You didn't love Dabi. Sure, you cared deeply for him, you wanted him to be happy and safe. You wanted nothing more for him to find peace for himself somehow. Like a friend would. Nothing more. "I just miss him, that's all." You tell Maria. "Yes, of course you miss him. But you miss him way more than a friend should." She chuckles. "Now, I came here to check on you. And clearly you're way down in the dumps, is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" 

"I'm not sure." You say with a shrug. "Well, how about we do whatever you want today? We go go wherever you want, eat wherever and whatever you want, anything you want, we'll do." Maria stand you up from the couch. "But before that, lets get you out of those clothes. Oh! That reminds me, we haven't had a shopping day in forever! How about we go to your favorite shop and pick you out some new clothes?" 

You couldn't help but smile. Maria always was a good friend, wanting to help you feel better whenever you were like this. The least you could do is agree and let her do her thing. "Alright." You nod. "I'll go change and then we can head out." 

"Alright! That's my girl!" 

You and Maria ended up having a very nice day. You first went to your favorite restaurant, where Maria was kind enough to pay for the meal. Next you went to your favorite sweets shop and got your favorite desert. Then you guys head to the mall where you were currently picking out some new clothes. 

"How about this?" You ask as you come out of the changing room. You were wearing a light green jumpsuit with white flower print. "You look amazing!" Maria hyped you up. "Maria, you said that about the last three outfits I picked out, there has to be something you don't like." 

"Does it matter what I do and don't like? You're the one wearing the clothes, your opinion matters more than mine." Maria tells you. "Still, I would like some constructive criticism." You chuckle before walking back into the changing room. You eventually picked out the few clothes you liked as well as a new pair of shoes. 

For the whole day, you managed not to think of Dabi even once. And, you couldn't help but like the freeing feeling. The feeling of not being torn up about someone who was no longer apart of your life. Maria walked you home and you two spend most of the night together just talking, having a drink or two, and watching some shitty movies, which you both took delight in making fun of. But, Maria had a shift tomorrow, so she couldn't stay much longer. 

So, you said goodnight to Maria before deciding to crash for the night. It didn't take long for sleep to find you. 

You were awoken by the sound of knocking at your door. With a groan you sat up and checked your alarm. It was way too early for someone to be at your door right now. But the knocking would not stop. You sighed before getting up and walking downstairs and into your living room. You reached the door and opened it. 

"Yes, who is...it..." Your jaw nearly dropped at the sight before you. It was Dabi. 

"Hey, sweetheart." He smirked. Tears flood in your eyes, you couldn't get a single word out you were so shocked. So instead, you hugged him, you hugged him and you didn't let go. You could feel the warmth radiating off his body as he hugged you back. "I missed you too." He says softly. The two of you pulled apart. You reached your hand up to caress his cheek, oh how you missed his warmth, scars and all. 

"I've missed you so much, sweetheart." Dabi put his hand on yours. "I missed you too." You sniffle. Dabi pulled you in closer by your waist. "I never thought I'd see you again." You nod. "Me too." Dabi stared at you for a moment before leaning in close, closer, and closer until...

His lips met yours. You gasp, eyes shooting wide open. But slowly, you melted into the kiss, and returned the action. Dabi licked your lower lip, asking for permission to enter. You gladly accepted, opening your mouth slightly for his tongue to meet your own. You moaned breathlessly as you felt flick and slide against yours in unison. 

The two of you pulled apart. Dabi opened his mouth to speak, but no sound left him. "What was that?" You ask. Dabi spoke again, but still, no words. "Dabi? Why are you saying anything?" Suddenly his warmth began to fade, as well as his body. "Dabi!?" You reach for him, but your hands went right through him. "Dabi!" You cry. 

Eventually Dabi completely faded, leaving you all alone. "Dabi! Dabi please come back! Dabi!" 

You jolted awake with a sharp gasp. You looked all around you, you were in your bedroom. It wasn't even morning. And Dabi was not here. It was all just a dream. A weakened sob left you. How cruel. How cruel it was to dream of someone you'd never see again. You wipe away your tears in frustration. 

"Why...Why did I dream of him like that?" You sniffle. Why had you? Why did you dream about, not only Dabi coming back, but of kissing him as well. Though you may not have started it, you certainly didn't stop it. Your heart fluttered at the thought of kiss. How gentle Dabi was, despite his scarred lip, how soft the kiss was. 

You ran your hand through your hair with an exhale. There was just no way...was Maria right? Did you actually have feelings for Dabi? What kind of a friend dreams about kissing their friends? This couldn't be, you just couldn't have feelings for him. 

Right?

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[the-sympathetic-villain]

L’Appel Du Vide - Chapter 6

AO3 | First | Previous | Next | Masterpost

Description: Logan has been captured by a government agency who researches human with supernatural powers. Able to manipulate the world with his mind and tell what others are thinking, Logan finds himself in one of the most high security government prisons in the country that’s run by a sinister Dr. Emile Picani.

Endgame pairings: Lociet, Intruality, Prinxiety

Word Count: 5743

Chapter warnings: Captivity, Food Mention, Withholding Food for Control, Psychological/Physical Torture, Violence, Abuse, Attempted Murder/Near Miss on a Major Character Death, Swearing, Needles, Manipulation, Injuries, Guns, Restraints, Mentions of Human Experimentation (Let me know if I missed anything!) 

--

    Logan rubbed his eye with his wrist, hoping the friction against his dry eyelid would be enough to force himself awake. The ever-present glow of the red lights made his eyes ache deep into their sockets as he slowly pulled his knees up to his chest and held his head in his hands. Only the sensation of Virgil curled up against his side was keeping him from losing the last of his sanity.

    For better or worse, he and Virgil had given up on hiding their concern for each other shortly after the attempted escape of the other man in Dr. Picani’s captivity. Logan muscles jerked and he suddenly felt like he might choke on the knot in his throat. Virgil’s night terrors had grown steadily worse since that horrid night. They'd been left chained to their beds until they'd passed out from exhaustion, and though he had suffered, the experience seemed to have broken something in his friend.

    Virgil was convinced the doctor would come to take him to another facility where his torture would begin anew, and Logan would be left terribly and dreadfully alone. It had taken all his remaining composure to patiently reassure Virgil that his fears were unfounded, but as time went on, it was hard to ignore the fact that the doctor had been notably absent from his usual routine the last few days. Deep down, he lacked the same certainty he maintained for Virgil. The doctor was planning something and that was enough to set them both on edge.

    So they waited, taking turns sleeping while they maintained the façade that they could avoid the inevitable. He was awake now, sure. But even if he stayed up all night, prepared to fight tooth and nail against the guards if they came for Virgil, the truth remained that he was sleep-deprived, malnourished and physically weak. This effort wasn’t sustainable and ultimately useless, but this suffering paled in comparison to the dreadful thought of waking to find his friend gone without a trace.

    “Logan?”

    The soft voice drew his attention to the shifting lump under the thin blanket next to him. He waited for Virgil to rise unsteadily up next to him and lean against the headboard, wiping the sleep from his bloodshot eyes as he looked over to Logan

    “Good evening, Virgil.”

    “Fuck you. You don’t know what the hell time it is right now.” Virgil grumbled as he tucked his arm around his chest to hold his grumbling stomach. “There could be two suns in the sky right now and we'd never know.”

    “Perhaps not, but vitamins are typically administered in the morning.” Logan shrugged as he rested his head back against the headboard next to Virgil and allowed his eyes to close. “So, assuming the injections they give us each day are a means of preventing malnutrition rather than serving some ulterior purpose, we know we are about halfway between our morning doses—Hence, we can approximate that it is currently evening time.”

    “You think too much.”

    “I’ve been told before that that is my curse.” Logan continued to rest his eyes as Virgil curled over the edge of the bed, dangling haphazardly as he dug through his stash of food. He listened to the sounds of Virgil shuffling items under the mattress, feeling the bed jostle lightly as Virgil swung back up. “Maybe one day, the thoughts will stop, and I’ll be less miserable.”

    “That's called being dead and you can’t tell me that’s what you want. You’re not allowed be a hypocrite.” Virgil muttered as he broke a stale nutrient bar in half. He waited for Logan to crack open his eyes before offering half to him. “It’s not much, but it's better than nothing. Picani's been keeping too close of an eye on his shit lately for me to snatch anything.”

    “I’m fine.”

    “You’re a goddamn liar.” Virgil hissed back at him. “Take the bar.”

    “Calorically speaking, extended exposure to stress increases the rate at which you burn your body's energy stores.” Logan started to close his eyes and lean his head back onto the headboard. “Given your tendency to worry about me, your need for food intake is undoubtedly higher—Ow!”

    “Every damn word that comes out of your mouth is bullshit.” Virgil smirked as Logan rubbed the skin of his elbow where Virgil had pinched him. “You won’t convince me that caring about you is somehow a bad thing.”

    Logan’s eyes narrowed on Virgil for a moment before letting his shoulders drop in resignation to his friend’s persistent grin. “In all fairness, nothing I claimed was technically untrue.”

    “Alright, brainiac.” Virgil teased as he dangled the gray bar in front of Logan’s face. “Are you really telling me your overthinking is any less draining than my anxiety?”

    Logan pursed his lips, knowing lying to Virgil wouldn’t get him very far. “No.”

    “Good, then sit up and eat it.” Virgil prodded him less than gently. “You’re not going to fool me into believing you passed out again while were switching shifts.”

    Disgruntled, Logan raised an eyebrow at his companion as he reluctantly eased upright. The dark circles under Virgil’s eyes stood out against the gaunt, pale look his skin, and Logan still didn’t feel right taking food from him, but he had to admit that Virgil’s assertions probably had some value. His body needed the nutrients and resisting Virgil’s attempts to care for him only wasted precious energy for both of them.

    “Come on, L.” Virgil smirked as he pressed the bar into Logan’s hand, refusing to take his hand back until Logan’s fingers reluctantly closed around the meager offer of food. “It's not a lot, but you need to keep your strength up.”

    “I'm said I'm fine.”

    “And I told you that you were a goddamned liar.” Virgil muttered as Logan’s stare dropped to his lap and he hid his guilt by fidgeting with the unappetizing, gray bar. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed you've hardly slept or eaten in the last three days.”

    Logan nodded stiffly as he took a bite. It tasted like dust, but the nutritional value a full bar was nearly that of a full meal, even after being left to grow stale in Virgil’s stash for a few weeks. It was all by Dr. Picani’s sadistic design. He couldn’t remember the last time he'd had a meal that left him feeling satisfied, but choking down these bars would be enough to keep him alive.

    “Seriously, Lo.” Virgil interrupted Logan’s silent train of thought as he forced himself to swallow another bite. “I want to know you'll be okay when Picani takes me away.”

    “Worrying about me is a waste of your energy.”

    “You know, this would be the one time I would’ve liked to hear you say you'll be fine.”

    “I know.” Logan lifted his head, wincing as his skin pulled tight over the patched-up wounds across his body. He glanced over at the red light glistening in Virgil’s eyes underneath his dark hair. “But I'm not ready to consider the thought of facing this place with neither you nor Patton around.”

    “Don’t forget Picani will be gone too, L. That bastard won’t be able to hurt you anymore." Virgil whispered breathlessly. “You'll be better off without having me around to put a target on your b—”

    “Don’t—Don’t say that to me.” Logan snarled at him, immediately regretting the harsh tone in his voice as Virgil winced and pulled his hand back. He took a moment to stare at Virgil’s nervous attempt at a smile as he backed away before starting to backtrack. “I'm sorry, Virgil. I shouldn’t have snapped."

    “No, you’re right.” Virgil swallowed back the tremble in his voice and waved away Logan’s attempt to comfort him. “That was a low blow and I should’ve known better.”

    A weight sank down on Logan’s chest as Virgil pulled his knees to his chest and he looked away from him. Each night that had passed since the other captive’s attempted escape, the man who had pressed a knife to his throat on his first night here disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a battered shell. He was vulnerable in a way that made Logan worry he wouldn’t last long if Picani really did decide to take him.

    “It’s my turn to keep watch. You should get some rest.” Virgil turned a tired smile back to him and Logan was grateful to see there was no bitterness in his expression. “We don’t need to do this tonight.”

    “Virgil, I’m worr—"

    Logan's voice was cut off by the ear-shattering blare of the alarm resonating over their heads. He was on his feet before his mind even fully registered what was happening. His knees buckled automatically at the edge of the bed, and he put his hands on his head, pressing his forehead to the stiff mattress. He’d only experienced this alarm once before, but it was a lesson that didn’t need to be taught twice. He shot a glance across the bed and breathed a sigh of relief as Virgil’s knees fell into place, hands on his head as he leaned his own forehead against his mattress.

    At least this time, he wouldn’t have to watch Virgil get shot.

    The sound of the seal on their cell door releasing sent a violent shudder through his entire body. Oh god, it was really happening all over again.

    “Virgil, I-I can’t—”

    “Keep your mouth shut, L.” Virgil hissed back under his breath. He bared his teeth in a silent growl as the door inched open. “Whatever happens, you just keep quiet. Got it?”

   Dread seizes him as he nodded stiffly back at Virgil. A glaring white light blinded him as the sound of the guard’s combat boots pounded on the white tiles behind him. Half a dozen figures in white uniforms charged into the room and it took every bit of restraint left in Logan’s body not to scream as a guard took a handful of his hair and slammed him down on the ground.

    A sickening crack filled his ears as his arm was twisted around his back and a white, hot pain spread like wildfire from his wrist to his elbow. He was flipped around and his back was forced against the bedpost. They’d broken his wrist. He was sure of it as he let out a weak whimper, his mind reeling from the surge of adrenaline.

    “Quit struggling, you little pest.”

    Logan held his breath as the guard ripped his uninjured wrist from his chest and began to chain him to the metal bedpost. The pinch of the tight metal cuff on his uninjured wrist was still enough to bring tears to his eyes as he curled his knees to his chest, choking back a sob as the guard lingered by his face as if daring him to react.

    “Bring him here.”

    Dr. Picani’s voice sent shudders down Logan’s spoke as he yanked his head around toward the door. A choking sense of dread paralyzed Logan as he watched Virgil being dragged by his collar toward the doctor’s silhouette, his hands bound by the same ability-negating cuffs that the guards had put on him.

    “I think you know what happens next.” Picani’s sadistic grin widened as he raised a thin syringe up next to his head, leaning over Virgil as his victim squirmed in the guard’s grip. “Don’t you, Virgil?”

    “Leave him alone, please.” Glistening light reflected off the wet streaks on Virgil’s cheeks as he tipped his head to expose his neck to the needle in Picani’s hand and closed his eyes. “I won’t fight anymore. Whatever you want from me, I swear I'll give it to you.”

    “Oh, I’m not worried about that.” The doctor’s voice dripped with venom as his eyes flitted back to the door.” I already know you’ll do exactly what you’re told."

    A pained screech from the hall sent chills down Logan’s spine as another pair of shadows appeared behind the doctor’s shadow. One of the other guards dragged a semi-conscious and bruised Patton into the room by his arm. Patton’s knees buckled from underneath him, and the guard twisted his arm into an unnatural angle behind his back, pulling a weak whimper from their friend’s lips.

    “Patton, no.”

    The doctor’s crooked smile widened as he raised a finger to Virgil’s jaw, tipping his head to the other side as he pointed the syringe at his neck. Logan’s heart skipped a beat as Virgil’s eyes moved in his direction and only emptiness stared back at him.

    “Like a fairy when a child stops believing in magic, the light's gone out in you.” Picani’s dry chuckle dripped with venom as he gripped Virgil's jaw and forced his eyes toward Logan. “I can kill your friend and you will do nothing but watch, because you’re selfish. You don’t want be alone, so you’ll sacrifice one to keep the other. Isn't that right, Virgil?”

    “I know you won’t k-kill Patton. You can’t manipulate me.”

    “You’re right. Patton’s blood is worth too much for me to simply dispose of him, but I can certainly keep him from you.” Picani’s hungry grin widened as Virgil’s eyes connected with Logan and his friend immediately looked away in shame. “You could be in isolation for a long, long time. How long do you think you’d survive? A couple months or maybe a year?”

    Virgil’s closed his eyes as the syringe’s tip brushed his neck, not quite breaking the skin. His cheeks seemed to glow in the remnants of the red light, reflecting light from the tears streaming down his face as a whimper escaped his throat.

    “Say it for me, Virgil.” Another blood-curdling shriek from Patton made Logan shudder, and the satisfaction in Picani’s voice deepened as Virgil tensed in the doctor's grip. “Tell me you will watch as I kill your friend.”

    “Fine.”

    “Louder now. I can’t quite hear you.”

    “I said 'Fine.' I’m watching, you sick fuck.” Virgil’s lip curled into a snarl, but Logan could feel the defeat creep into his voice. “You have my fucking attention.”

    The broken sound of his friend’s voice doused the last bit of hope in Logan’s heart as he turned away. Patton's weak attempts at struggling became distant, blurring with the sounds of Virgil’s shallow breathing as Logan curled his legs to his chest. The lingering stare of a half dozen guards burned into his skin as he cradled his injured wrist against his chest. He could feel each of them shift their feet around him, waiting for orders.

    “I'm sorry, Lo—I'm so sorry. Please, I never meant for you to get hurt.”

    “Quit your babbling.”

    The guards started to move toward him as a thundering boom echoed down the hall like a distant explosion. Logan sucked in a breath as the room shook around him and he turned his head toward the sound, flinching and backing away as he realized the doctor had closed the distance and was practically on top of him.

    “Such a terrible waste. I had so much more to learn from you.”

    The long point of Dr. Picani’s needle tipped to the side as the doctor knelt in front of him. Logan started to edge away, but the doctor’s hands moved swiftly. His iron-tight grip closed around Logan’s broken wrist, pulling a gut-wrenching scream from Logan’s lips as the pressure increased on his tender, swollen muscles.

    “You should thank me.” Picani sneered as he twisted Logan’s injured wrist to force him onto his side. “I'm saving you from growing old. Drift off to Neverland, another lost soul for my collection.”

    Logan’s own screaming burned in his throat, muffled by the searing pain spreading like hot oil from his wrist to his chest. The doctor’s needle pricked Logan’s neck as his face pressed into the cold, white tiles and the contents of the syringe began to empty into his neck. The burning liquid began to spread out from the wound as another explosion rocked the room, even harder than before.

    “What the—How did they get this close?”

    The pressure on Logan’s wrist released as the doctor was knocked aside by another blast. Picani's lip twitched with irritation as he rose to his feet and stepped away from Logan, leaving the needle still hanging from his neck as he gestured to the guards in a sudden fit of rage.

    “Get Patton out of here.”

    Logan sunk to the ground as he watched through blurry vision as the doctor crossed his cell in two strides. Involuntary shudders racked his body as he lay on the cold floor, vaguely aware as one of the guards slipped an arm around Patton’s waist, tossing his tiny struggling body over his shoulder as though he weighed nothing. They disappeared through the door, not hesitating for a second as Virgil started to scream after him.

    “I want Patton in the first truck. No one leaves before him.”

      “No! Bring him back!”

    “Shut up, Virgil. You’re going right along with him.” Picani’s hand latched on Virgil’s throat and the doctor pulled him from the guard's grip. His bruising grip held Virgil tight as he slammed Virgil into the wall nearest the glowing white light from the exit flickered out. “Looks like I don’t have time to make your friend’s execution swift, so it’s time to say goodbye.”

    Another blast rocked the room, nearly sending Picani tumbling over as he shot a manic glance through the doorway. The sounds of explosions were getting closer at an alarming rate and Logan’s ears were ringing as he helplessly watched the doctor tuck himself into the shadows near the exit, holding Virgil in a chokehold as he peered down the hall.  Virgil wheezed weakly, struggling to draw a full breath as his body was held in front of the doctor like a human shield.

    “Virgil—”

    His friend’s eyes flashed from the door back to him lying on the ground as he pulled at the doctor’s elbow wrapped around his throat, managing to wheeze back at Logan. “Lo, stay down. It’s gonna be oka—”

    “Shut your fucking mouth.”

    The next moments passed by Logan’s fading vision in a blur. A dark shadow appeared in the doorway just as Picani clapped a hand over Virgil’s mouth and pulled him out of sight, choking away his voice as the strange figure stepped into the cell. The point of their gun pointed directly at Logan on the ground, and he couldn’t do anything but hold his breath as the figure approached.

    It was silent as he laid prone on the cold, hard floor, his connection to his powers severed by the cuff on his wrist. He thought he'd grown used to the absence of the comforting mumble of other's thoughts, but nothing filled him with dread quite like a world gone silent as he waited to die.

    “Janus, look out!”

    “You pest. Don’t you kick me—”

    Logan blinked as another shadow appeared in the doorway. Everything happened so fast he'd barely opened his eyes to see Dr. Picani shoving Virgil into the second shadow, ducking down as he disappeared through the doorway.

    “Get down!”

    The figure closest to him shouted at his partner as he raised his gun and rushed back to the open doorway. His partner pulled Virgil out of his way, curled their body over Virgil to protect him, but the doctor and the last of the guards were already. The taller figure pointed their gun down the empty hall, as though still considering going after them, until their eyes flitted back to Virgil and their tension melted away.

    “Roman, holy shit. You’re here. You’re actually here in front of me.”

    “Stormcloud, it's so good to see you.”

    Logan's vision darkened as Virgil threw his arms around the stranger’s neck. There was a rush of quiet whispers as his friend greeted the strangers, his voice slowly devolving into sobbing as the figures returned his emotional outburst with reassuring whispers. The voice grew less clear as the void of dreamless sleep threatened to claim Logan’s aching body and he sunk back to the ground.

    “Wait, Logan—”

    “Virgil, we don’t have time to waste.”

    “I'm not leaving him.”

    A soft touch on his shoulder made Logan flinch. On instinct, he started to pull away, but another hand came down to hold him in place. His reaction was automatic, instincts trained by the ghost of memories of nights spent at Picani’s mercy. Resisting would only make his punishment worse. His body braced for pain, but instead, the thin point of the syringe was drawn from his neck with an unexpected gentleness.

    “Come on, Lo. Wake up. Don't tell me that bastard got you.”

    Logan’s stomach twisted as his eyes cracked open. His heavy head dipped as he tried to stare up at Virgil sitting over him, the two unfamiliar shadows lingering behind his shoulder as his face went slack with relief at Logan’s subtle movements.

    “Fucking hell, you’re alive.”

    “Virgil, I'm sorry. We have to go now.”

    “Not without him.”

    The gentleness of Virgil’s touch was a welcome comfort as his friend eased his head into a more comfortable position. Logan's brain was too full of haze from the residual pain throbbing in his wrist to fully understand what was happening, but he did know one thing for certain. Virgil was once again putting himself in danger for him, and he couldn’t let that happen, not if it meant his friend was giving up his chance to be free.

    “We have twenty-five minutes to be at the rendezvous point or we’ll all be stuck here.” The deep voice over Virgil’s shoulder seemed distantly familiar. “We don’t have a choice.”

    A heavy pause hung in the air as Virgil considered the stranger’s words. “Is Remus—"

    “Remus found his way home a few days ago. He's safe and far away from here.”

    “What about Patton?”

    “We're still on his tail, but we need to keep moving if we want to keep up with the bastards holding him.” The stranger was surprisingly gentle as he lingered at Virgil's side. “Now’s your chance to say goodbye.”

    “No.”

    “Dammit, Virgil.” The smooth voice sighed with frustration. “We don’t have a choice. Do you see any way to get those damn cuffs off him?”

    “I'm wearing the same cuffs.”

    “You are not attached to a goddamn metal bed frame that's bolted to the fucking ground.”

     “If I was, would you leave me too?”

     Another long pause as Virgil’s eyes shot up to the stranger.

    “Roman, get him out of here.”

    “What—No, don’t you dare touch me!” Virgil’s voice dropped to a threatening hiss as the other figure approached him. “Janus, please no! Don’t do this! I'll never forgive you if you do this!”

    “I don’t have a choice, Virgil."

    “Fuck you.” Virgil snarled as the other figure started to wrap an arm around him and Virgil pushed him away. “Fuck you both! Let go of me!"

    “Virgil, don’t—”

    The movement in the room stopped as Logan’s weak voice broke through Virgil’s protests. He forced his eyes open as he pushed himself up into a sitting position, ignoring the shooting pains in his neck and arm as he curled his body upright.

    “You’re not going to get another chance to get out of here.” Logan’s voice was hoarse from screaming, but he managed to squeeze out the words. “Go with them. I’ll be fine.”

    “No.”

    “You survived in here without me, and I'll do the same.”

    Logan looked away as the stranger his opportunity to pull Virgil to his feet. The loss of his friend's touch left him aching, but it was better this way. If Virgil was allowed to hold him, he may not be able to let go.

    "You deserve to be free from this place.”

    “So do you, Lo.” Virgil streamed down his face as Logan looked up at him. “I won’t leave you to suffer without me.”

    For the first time, Logan got a chance to see the faces of Virgil’s rescuers. The slender man whose arm was wrapped around Virgil’s waist had a pained expression on his face as he held Virgil back from rushing back to Logan. His skin was flushed with a dark shade of genuine guilt and distress at Virgil’s reaction, unlike the other stranger whose lip curled with impatience.

    “Roman, I told you to get him out of here.”

    Logan winced as the cold stranger squatted next to him, his finger lingering suspiciously on the safety of his pistol as he gestured for his partner to drag Virgil away. The reaction was enough to make Logan tense, but he kept his eyes faced forward, trying to ignore the man's threatening aura even as Virgil’s reaction intensified.

    “Janus, what are you doing?”

    “I’m giving him a choice.”

    “Don't you dare—” Virgil threw himself forward to break Roman’s grip, though his efforts were quickly stopped. He was too weak to put up much of a fight, but that didn’t stop him from growling his fury at the man lingering next to Logan. “If you hurt him, I’ll fucking kill you—Please, Janus. Just leave him alone—"

    The quiver of Virgil’s voice sent shudders down his body as Logan watched the two strangers share a knowing look over Virgil’s shoulder. It was chilling to watch the stranger pull Virgil into their chest and whisper to him.

    “Let Janus handle this, Stormcloud." The man’s voice was deep and patient as Virgil’s hands held his forearms so tightly that Logan could see his fingernails dig red marks into the man's arms. “We need to get you out of here.”

    “I won't go.”

    The man's forehead rested down against Virgil’s greasy, black hair as he gently coaxed Virgil down. “You’re not thinking straight right now.”

    “Fuck you.” Virgil’s voice cracked as his fingers curled into the fabric of the man's shirt. “I know exactly what I'm asking.”

    “Go with him, Virgil.” Janus’ emotionless tone sent chills down Logan’s spine as Virgil leaned into the comfort of the other man’s grip. “I’ll do my best for your friend, but I can’t focus on solutions if you’re still in harm's way.”

    “Don’t patronize me, Janus.”

    “I don’t have time to argue with you.” The stranger’s voice was dry as Logan watched the man’s weapon as the red light still flickering above them. “Roman, this is your last warning to get him out of here, or I'll carry him kicking and screaming out of here myself.”

    “Fine.” Roman nodded, gently taking Virgil’s shoulder to guide him away. “Come with me, my little raincloud. Let’s get you to safety.”

    “Wait—Just one more moment, please.” Virgil’s voice cracked with a hoarse desperation as he shot a glance back at Janus. “He saved Remus. That’s how you found me. Isn’t it?”

    “Virgil, we’re not having this discussion any longer."

    “If it weren’t for Logan, you wouldn’t have found either of us.” Virgil’s voice cracked from strain as the other stranger lifted him of his feet and carried him toward the door. “God, Jan—Please, just don’t hurt him.”

    “You have no need to worry, Virgil.”

    Janus’ tone softened and Logan could see Virgil relax in his rescuer’s arms as he was carried away. The sentiment would almost have been sweet, if the barrel of the man’s gun wasn't still inches from Logan’s side. He kept his eyes trained on the ground in front of him as he listened to the sounds of Virgil’s murmuring disappear into the hall. The struggle left a deafening silence behind as he found himself alone with the serious stranger, paralyzed with fear as he eyed the man's weapon in his periphery.

    “Did you really save Remus?”

    “My last measure of defense is gone.” Logan felt his stomach twist as he struggled to contain his anxious shaking. “You are free to act as you please now.”

    “Answer the question.”

    The corner of Logan’s lip twitched as he shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t say that I saved anyone.”

    Janus tapped his finger impatiently. “Care to elaborate?”

    “I was asleep.” Logan chewed on his lip as his limbs curled closer to his chest. “The doctor was hurting him, and your friend used my dream to guide my powers to free himself. I didn’t do anything, but let him take control.”

    “You're not really making much of a case for yourself.”

    “I been through worse without having to resort to begging for my life.”

    “Relax, I was telling the truth, I didn’t stay behind to hurt you.” The deep voice attempted to lull him into a false sense of comfort, but his stomach twisted as the man leaned closer. “You have a choice.”

    “What choice?”

    “You can choose to stay here and wait for the guards to get this facility up and running again.” Janus' low voice hummed in a hypnotic drone as he watched tears well in Logan's eyes. “but I think we both know that route has no other end then a slow and painful death at the hands of miserable men.”

    Logan swallowed his fear, lifting his head to make eye contact with the stranger. The man's hair was jet black like Virgil’s and his golden eyes all but glowed in the red light. The sight of him was otherworldly and unsettling as his eyes dropped to sleek reflection of the light on the gun in Janus' hand.

    “So, you’re offering me a quicker death.”

    “Don’t be so hasty.”

    Janus drew his weapon and Logan’s heart pounded in his chest as the man leaned over him. He closed his eyes as his body went rigid with terror. The heat of Janus' body radiated close to his chest as held his breath, shaking as the man moved his gun into place.

    “I said I don’t intend to hurt you.”

    Logan blinked open his eyes as Janus' movements slowed to a stop. He stared at the gun in Janus' hand, pointed not at him but at the chain on his wrist. “But I thought—”

    “I'd begun to give up hope, but Virgil and Remus are going home, and we may even have a chance at getting Patton back because of you.” Janus moved a hand to toward Logan’s back, waiting for him to relax and nod before wrapping his arm around to support Logan’s weakened body. “I can’t guarantee this will work, but I'll give it a shot."

    Equal parts of awe and distrust stirred in Logan’s stomach as the man looked down at him. “What do you expect in return?”

    “Nothing, but that doesn’t mean this plan is without risk.” Janus’ golden eyes lowered to meet Logan’s look of unease. “These tiles are designed to be impenetrable, so the bullet could ricochet, killing one or both of us before we even had a chance to react.”

    Logan’s eyes flitted up to Janus’ carefully neutral expression. “You know nothing about me. Why would you take that risk?”

    “Because I've been chasing my brother’s shadow for years.” Janus whispered back. “That bastard doctor has stayed one step ahead of me, just out of reach as he torments him.”

    “Your brother?”

    “Virgil.” Janus whispered quickly. “You ended his suffering, so I only have one thing to ask of you if you survive.”

    Biting his lip, Logan bowed his head and nodded. There was always a cost.

    “If the ricochet takes me, you head north down the corridor. There are a couple vehicles waiting to take anyone we rescued to a safe place.” Janus pointed the barrel of his gun to indicate the correct direction before returning it to the chain on Logan's electronic cuff. His reply came without a hint of bitterness as he rested his finger on the trigger. “If you live, you head there and you keep fighting for the life we've given back to you.”

    Logan blinked back at the stranger’s glistening eyes in disbelief. “That’s all?”

    “Tell Virgil that I'm sorry I didn’t make it back.”

    Logan looked up into the stranger’s eyes, feeling a familiar sensation of nervousness as he searched Janus' eyes for signs of deception. The man's black tattoos stood out in the dark as Logan pulled his swollen, throbbing wrist against his chest.

    “Fine, you have a deal.”

    Janus seemed to relax as Logan nodded. “Thank you.”

    ‘If—If I’m the one who dies,” Logan murmured. “Tell Virgil I do not wish for him to be angry with you.”

    A thin smirk curled on the stranger’s lips as he dropped his voice. “I doubt telling him that will be enough for him to forgive me.”

    “Tell Virgil that the first night we met, he held a blade to my throat but he also was kind enough to offer me food. You and I weren’t enemies in the end either.” Logan cut him off, feeling a slight tremor in his words as Janus’ eyes narrowed on him. “At least, I hope not.”

    Janus nodded as he held the gun pressed against Logan’s chain and closed his eyes as his finger rested on the trigger.

    “We’re not enemies.”

    Logan didn’t look up at him. Janus' statement lacked certainty, but the man didn’t seem hostile toward him either. “Good.”

    “If you need to make peace with your beliefs, now is your chance.”

    “I've met the devil.” Logan shook his head as he closed his eyes. “I have nothing left to fear.”

    Their bodies tensed together as Janus finger eased down on the trigger. The sound of the gunshot shattered Logan’s remaining composure, forcing him to shake as the sound of the ricochet bounced off the tiles.

    An eternity seemed to pass as Logan’s wrist dropped from the broken chain and he waited for the echoing bullet to stop. His body flooded with adrenaline that blocked out all other sensations as he leaned into Janus’ soft chest, waiting with bated breath until the bullet landed with a thud into the mattress.

    Inches from his head.

    Blinking, Logan looked back at the hole. He'd narrowly escaped death and suddenly Janus was rising to his feet, muttering about how they need to get moving. The ringing in his ears drowned out his companion’s voice. Even as Janus' arms scooped him off the ground, he was still with shock as he was carried into the dark hall.

    He couldn’t believe what was happening.

    He was free.

--

L’Appel Du Vide/ Logan-Centric Taglist:

@demon9980 @brightfluorescentlighting

[suburbanweeb]

Therapy Confessions

https://archiveofourown.org/works/40427490#main

Marcy's visit was probably one of the best weeks of the past 10 years. Anne showed her and Sasha sound her new job (and may or may not have made them both cry a little at showing them her amphibians named after some old friends). They went out to lunch every day; Sasha told them about some interesting new client she was getting from the same town in Connecticut where Marcy now lived of all places; Marcy showed them some unreleased chapters of her webcomic; all felt right with the world.

And then Marcy had to leave.

Anne wasn’t too worried about seeing her off this time. Nothing could compare to the first time anyway. So, she, Marcy, and Sasha went their separate ways again; however, something just didn’t feel right. Anne couldn’t exactly tell what it was, but whatever it was caused her to sigh every time she looked at her newt Yunan or her toad Grime. But, being the ever optimist, she just assumed seeing her old friends and being reminded of her old life shook her up a bit.

She pushed down the unease in her stomach and decided not to worry about it too much.

~~~

Sasha was trying. Frog, was she trying. This paperwork in front of her had been starring her down for almost 30 minutes and yet was still just as blank as it ever had been. Sasha just didn’t care enough to process the words in front of her. How could she? Marcy had gone back to her house and Anne back to her life about a week ago now, so how come their smiles played in her mind every time she blinked? Why couldn’t she just think for two minutes without wondering how Anne would feel about coffee after work? Or if Marcy was open to Facetiming sometime later tonight? And why couldn’t she just do this damn paperwork?

“Hey,” her coworker opened her door slowly, “You doing ok? I’ve passed by a few times now and you haven’t moved in like 20 minutes or something.”

“I’m fine, Matt,” Sasha closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, “just, a little confused I guess.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Short of this paperwork for me? Not really,” Sasha laughed, “but.. Thanks. I think I’m just gonna head out early today.”

“Ok,” her coworker started to close the door, “you have my number if you need anything! I hope you feel better!” With that, Matt left.

Sasha put her head in her arms and laid on her desk for a moment before stretching, grabbing her things, and heading home.

~~~

Marcy was not ok.

She had read enough fanfiction in her life to know what was happening, but unlike fanfiction, Marcy wasn’t the nerdy but lovable girl next door. No. That would be too easy. No, Marcy was the nerdy but lovable girl on the other side of the country. Because life never gave Marcy Wu a break. From literally being possessed by a supercomputer to having a gay crisis in the middle of an aquarium last week, life just loved giving Marcy that sweet, sweet character development.

All she wanted to do was do some storyboarding for a new chapter, but no. No, she had to spend the next 5 hours hyperfixating on drawing her, Anne, and Sasha in their old Calamity Trio superpower outfits from memory. Because of course she did.

By the time she was done, the sun was way below the horizon and her stomach was growling. She begrudgingly left her desk to go make Ramen, left with only the thoughts of red and blue space girls.

~~~

Anne was going insane.

“No, mom, I’m telling you, I can’t stop thinking about them. I think I’m going crazy,” Anne was on the phone with her mother while on her way home from work 2 weeks after Marcy had left again.

“Well, sweetie,” her mother said, “have you reached out to either of them to, I don’t know, ask how they are?”

“What? No!” Anne gasped, “That would be weird! I haven’t talked to them in years… not really.” Anne looked sadly at her hands gripped tightly on her wheel.

“Anne, they planned a whole surprise party for you and found where you worked just to go see you. Marcy flew from the other side of the country for you, and Sasha was the one who organized that whole week for you guys, work schedules and all. I don’t think it’s an over-exaggeration to say that they still care about you,” Mrs. Boonchuay finished.

“I guess then…” Anne trailed off and suddenly felt terrible, “I guess then I haven’t been as good of a friend as I thought.”

It was silent for a minute before, “Anne, you had some growing to do, and so did they. I don’t think they hold anything against you for focusing on yourself for a while.” Her mother laughed a little, “I can hear you overthinking from over here.”

Anne chuckled, “Well- you’re right. You always are. I’ll think about it, I guess.”

“Or,” Mrs. Boonchuay offered, “you could go see a certain therapist to go work out your feelings.”

And that’s how Anne ended up outside an office building, a small paper with an address written on it held tightly in her sweaty hands.

~~~

“Hey, uh, Sasha,” Matt knocked nervously on Sasha’s opened door.

“What’s up, Matt?” Sasha looked up from her computer.

“There’s a nurse -or something- here to see you? She looks a little old to be a client of yours and a little too young to be a parent,” Matt finished, his voice filled with uncertainty.

Sasha’s heartbeat sped up. No, no, I can’t get my hopes up Sasha thought.

“Alright,” said standing up, “where is she?”

“I’ll just go get her!” And he sped out of the room.

Sasha sat down and tried not to think too hard about that interaction and more about who would just show up at her office without warning. A beat of silence passes before-

“Hey, Sash,” Anne said nervously, “How’s work?”

~~~

Marcy was losing it. She couldn’t even focus on anime without her heart deciding to plant another never-gonna-happen scenario into her brain.

This was the last straw.

She was gonna call Sasha.

It’s not that weird, she reasoned with herself, she planned that whole ‘Anne Birthday’ thing with me. This is just a friendly call to see how she’s doing and maybe see if Anne is doing well after that. That’s it. Marcy was trying to calm her racing heart as she pressed the FaceTime call button on a contact labeled Commander Sasha .

~~~

“Anne?! What are you doing here?”

Anne walked into her office slowly, her face a little red, “I just… thought this would be better than just some random text.”

“So you showed up at my place of work unannounced?” Sasha deadpanned.

“I just- I... I felt- I couldn’t just-” Anne sputtered.

“Hey, hey,” Sasha’s voice was gentle, a smile played on her lips, “Take a seat, let’s talk this out, but next time, I’m making you pay for your session. You don’t get special treatment because you saved a planet one time. Student loans are a bitch.”

Anne laughed. Like a lot. Probably more than she should have. She was just relieved. This was Sasha , there was never anything to be worried about.

“Ok, ok,” Anne responded, “I’ll just text you next time, but I guess I just thought that it would feel a little insincere.”

“And why is that?” Sasha was clearly in her element.

“I think I just…” Anne trailed off, not sure if she wanted to continue.

“This is a safe space, Anne,” Sasha said, “No judgment.”

Anne took a deep breath before rambling off, “I think I have a crush on you and Marcy but I feel bad because you two have been such good friends even after all this time apart and I never really bothered to reach out and then that whole thing with my birthday happened the other week and now I can’t stop thinking about it and we haven’t really talked a lot since middle school but wow did my gay panic only get worse and I don’t know how to deal with any of this so I came here because sending a text felt too cheap and like if I did that then I wasn’t actually trying and-”

“Woah, woah,” Sasha’s heart was definitely going at an unhealthy rate. She tried her best to stay as calm as she could. “Can you repeat that for me, but slower?” Sasha’s voice was smooth and gentle and Anne was not ok. The lesbian gods were being merciless.

“I just… really miss you and Marcy. And I don’t think I realized how much that was until Marcy left again and you just… went back to your life and I went back to mine,” Anne was looking down at her hands twisting in her lap.

Sasha reached out to touch Anne’s shoulder before-

{iPhone Piano Riff Ringtone}

“Hold on, sorry.” Sasha grabbed her phone out of her pocket, reading the contact Master Marcy .

Sasha’s face went beat red, she smirked, “You said you missed Marcy too, right?”

~~~

Sasha picked up after the first few rings, and to Marcy’s surprise, with Anne in her office. She felt like she just interrupted something.

“Uh- hey, Sash, Anna-banana,” she could feel her cheeks redden, “If this is a bad time, I can text you-”

“No, no,” Anne said quickly, leaning in towards the phone, “your timing couldn’t be better actually.” Anne had a soft smile on her face, she was on the big fluffy chair sasha had in her office. “I just-” she stopped, took a deep breath, and said, “I have something I need to tell you both.”

“Me too,” Sasha and Marcy said simultaneously.

They all looked at each other and laughed, their faces flushed.

“Okay, okay,” Sasha said, “Why doesn’t Anne go first?”

Anne sat up and leaned away from Sasha and Marcy for a second and closed her eyes, Change is scary, but it’s a part of life , Anne thought. She took another deep breath and opened her eyes, leaning towards Sasha and Marcy on her phone.

“Ok, I know I haven’t exactly been the most consistent friend in your guys’ lives, especially after middle school. But, last week, I guess it just made me realize how much I missed having you both in my life and-” Anne tried to slow her heart. She clutched the cushions underneath her and looked at her friends' faces, “I think I really like you guys. Like, a more-than-best-friends like.”

The room went silent. Anne began to feel herself shrinking into her seat.

Sasha giggled, tears starting to make their way down her face, “Is that what this was about, Boonchuay?”

“Yes? I don’t think this was exactly my plan, but… yeah,” Anne laughed with her, “Is that how you’re gonna say yes to asking me out?”

“I guess so,” Sasha was smiling so lovingly at Anne before she turned to her phone to see Marcy very clearly screaming while on mute.

“M- Marcy?” Sasha sputtered.

“AAAAH! Sorry, sorry. I just got really excited,” Marcy was out of breath, “And before you ask, yes, that is how I am saying yes to dating both of you.”

They fell into a conversation about cute date ideas shortly after that. Sasha suggested a streaming movie date, Anne suggested a video chat dinner, but Marcy was already a few steps ahead of them.

“I can just move back to LA!” she beamed.

“You- what?” Anne asked.

“Yeah,” Marcy responded back cheerily, “I mean, I’m 23, so it’s not like I need to live with my parents anymore. Plus, there’s a ton of jobs I can go into for art over there, and in-person networking is way easier than online.” Marcy looked proud of herself, but Anne and Sasha held looks of concern.

“Marcy, as much as we would love that,” Anne started, “I think it’s just a little more expensive here than it is in Connecticut.”

“Yeah, Mar-Mar,” Sasha added, “plus, do you really wanna fall into the U-Haul Lesbian trope that easily?”

“Well actually Sasha, that’s not what that means, but also,” Marcy continued, “I was planning on moving over there soon anyway, I’ve been saving up and applying to jobs over there. Connecticut was never my home, not really,” Marcy started playing with her fingers, “Anywhere without you two is kind of hard to call home.”

It was Anne’s turn to start crying. She got up and hugged Sasha and her phone. “Marcy!” she cried, “When you get here,” she sniffled, “I’m gonna give you so many hugs, you’re gonna pass out!”

“And maybe a little more than hugs,” Sasha said, kissing the top of Anne’s head.

Marcy grinned widely, “I’ll look forward to it, girlfriends!”

[sheisobvious]

My Dinner with Taylor by Roy Land The Most Amazing Song Ever Written — that you’ll never hear!

[except]

I can’t say for sure if Taylor had a notebook as you might expect someone who is always writing songs to always have at arm’s length, or if she used cocktail napkins or perhaps just her brain, but this is the part of this story that makes it worth telling, and remains one of the highlights of my decade in the country radio business. There were some announcements made before dinner by my boss’s boss’s bosses and some other company big-wigs, then dinner, then a seemingly endless barrage of cute little awards accompanied by cute little stories from various market and station managers about the year they’ve had. Everyone would laugh at these anecdotes and I would snap photos as various people received awards from the owners, and so the night went on building up to the eventual performance by our guest of honor, Taylor Swift.

Taylor warmed up with a couple of her soon to be popular songs, then proceeded to blow the minds of every person in the room in a way that I have never since seen duplicated. This continues to be a story that I tell whenever asked about my “wow” moments in radio. I mentioned Taylor’s note-taking earlier, because I have to assume that she was the only person paying attention to everything, and I do mean everything that all of these people spoke of throughout the entire evening. Without any warning or prompting, as her final song of the night, Taylor proceeded to sing a freshly written original new song. The terms “freshly written”, “new” and “original” almost seem inadequate to describe the song that Taylor sang. Somehow in the course of the evening, in the midst of all the stories and banter, Taylor had composed a coherently rhyming set of lyrics and a corresponding melody on her guitar that “LITERALLY”, and I use that term in its most literal sense, paid tribute to most of the people who were honored and spoken of throughout the course of the evening! I don’t know that there is a way to have hired a room full of writers to listen in on the evening’s conversation and have them come up with a viable song by the end of the evening that could have more accurately summed up the entirety of the night as Taylor was able to do. To this day, the thought of how amazing that song was and how the room erupted during and after the song, remains mind-boggling. It was a typical song, about 3 or 4 minutes in length, as best I can recall, but it tied together so many of the little snippets of conversation from the course of the evening so perfectly! The room was full of amazed people. Many who didn’t start the night knowing who Taylor Swift was would certainly leave that night with a glimpse of this entertainer that would stay with them for a long time to come.

I’m sure there are some people who thought that perhaps she was provided some intel on the night’s stories ahead of time or that there was some other gimmick to having pulled off this instant musical recap of the evening. But I was there, sitting with her, hanging out, shooting the breeze and the occasional photo, never realizing until the end of the night, that while holding her own with the miscellaneous conversations of the evening, her song writing genius of a brain was cranking out the lyrics and melody that she would then perform to culminate the night. Chances are, as quickly as the song was sung, it was forgotten by both her and a crowd of amazed radio folks. For Taylor, cranking out this amazing little ditty was as much a routine as it might be for your or I to knock out a quick email. This was long before the days where everyone carries both a still camera and video camera with them all the time. The digital camera I used at the time could probably have recorded the performance but that wasn’t as much of a reflex as it is today. Perhaps that’s regrettable in some ways, but then again, perhaps by not being focused on trying to record the event for posterity, I am able to close my eyes and go back to that night somewhat vividly. While not verbatim or even close, I still smile when I recall the night that young Taylor Swift amazed a room full of people who, by their chosen profession, had probably already witnessed some pretty cool things in their lives, but nothing that would ever come close witnessing the song that was imagined, written and performed, in an instance, in a truly once in a lifetime scenario by a young lady who would go on to much bigger and better things, like eventually breaking the internet!

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