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darklydeliciousdesires · 2 months

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Light on the Darkside - Chapter Eight.

Huge thanks to all of you who are still loving the story! Heart eyes for you, besties :)

Previous chapters - One Two Three Four Five Six Seven

Tag list - In the comments. Please DM to be added/removed.

Words - 3,858

Warnings - 18+ throughout. Topics cover depression, suicide and eating disorders. Minors DNI!

“You’re very cuddly today, aren’t you? Not that I’m complaining, before you start with your mouth,” Ella spoke, sitting out on the grass with James beneath the tree. It was rapidly becoming their spot.

Of course, he was. Come two hours’ from then and he’d be leaving for Birmingham. It gave him a feeling of spiky, piercing guilt, too, that she had no idea. “If I’m good for anything, it’s hugs.”

She turned, fixing him with a truly wicked smirk. “I can think of a few other things, too.”

“Oi, calm yourself, little. Don’t want Chris over here again yelling at us,” he chuckled, kissing her hair, breathing in the scent of daisies. God, he’d miss it. “But yeah, I am, innit.”

“I think that’s extra incentive to work hard for our recovery and releases, you know. It’s going to be fucking mint, leaving here and getting to see you nakie,” she chirped, turning to kiss the side of his neck. Why the fuck did she have to put that thought in his brain, and be so fucking adorable while she was doing it?

“Yeah, great for you, but you ain’t gonna take your top off easily and let me see what are very likely a right cracking set of boobs underneath, are you?” he snorted, tightening his arms around her. Now she’d reached seven stone, and even through her bigger clothes, he’d noticed that she definitely had a little more in the way of breasts.

“Yeah, that’s still like, massively scary,” she confessed, “but you never know. I might.”

“Dick tease.”

“No,” she began, beginning to wiggle against his crotch, “that’s being a dick tease.”

“Ells bells,” he warned, softly biting her ear. “Behave yourself.”

“Sorry. Can’t help it, though. You’re too sexy.”

“Ain’t a thing wrong with your eyesight, is there?” No, he couldn’t help a little arrogance there. If there was one thing James Kingston was very confident over, it was the way he looked.

“Nope, but you’re such a bleedin’ big headed knob,” she chirped, squealing when he bit her ear again. “Stop that!”

“Sorry, but I did warn you I’m a biter, innit.” he rumbled, moving her hair and kissing the side of her neck. Indeed, he had. All biting aside, they stopped winding one another up and just sat there, enjoying the warm August morning. Well, one of them did. James was fretting with every minute that passed. Two hours. One hundred and twenty minutes and he’d be gone, and Ella would likely be distraught over it.

Even though it was for both their own good, it didn’t sit well with him at all. He mulled it over, wondering whether he should change his mind and reveal what was about to happen instead of passing on the letter he’d written the night before to Mary, weighing up the pros and cons for what felt like the hundredth time.

No, stick to the plan. He knew what was best, even though the weight of it was crushing him.

“I don’t ever think I’ve said it in as many words, but I want you to know something,” he began, hand rooted in the back of her hair, his fingertips teasing circles at the nape of her neck. “You’ve made my time in here so much more bearable. Thanks for that, for being so cool. I just want you to know I appreciate it.”

“That was unexpectedly nice, for you,” she spoke, turning to wink at him. “And you’re welcome. You’re lovely, you make me happy and so yeah. You deserve it.”

He kissed her hair, moving his hand to hug her tightly. “You make me happy too, little. Don’t ever forget that, even when I’m being a moody twat.”

As the minutes passed by far too rapidly for his liking, his chest continued to tighten, his brain firing all kinds of thoughts. Call it off, tell them you’ve changed your mind, don’t fucking leave her. No. His decision was made, and it truly was the best way forward. The only saving grace of his departure was that she truly wouldn’t know until it had happened, Ella’s therapy session luckily scheduled for just before he was to leave. When it came to parting with her, though, oh. His chest virtually caved in on itself.

“I’ll meet you back in the common room in a bit then?” she spoke, hugging his waist, beaming a smile at him.

He swallowed hard. “You will.” Glancing around, he saw the area free of orderlies, moving quickly and pulling her into one of the side corridors that lead down to the female ward. There, he backed her against the wall, took her face in his hands and pressed his mouth to hers for the last time in god knew how long. He savoured it, every last second of kissing her, feeling her hands stroking the sides of his neck, getting lost in his hair.

Pulling away was the hardest thing he’d done in a while.

“Fuck,” she gasped, her cheeks flushed from the intensity of it. “What was that for?”

“Felt like it.” He let himself bask for a few more moments, smiling at her, drinking in the very last of her loveliness. “Bye, little.” Dropping a kiss to her forehead, he vanished from the corridor and back upstairs, his entire soul burning. She was right, he guessed. He did have one, it seemed. Once in his room, he pulled on his leather jacket, swung his large rucksack over his shoulder and picked up the envelope containing Ella’s letter, ready to give to Mary.

The lady herself was waiting for him outside of the main entrance, James giving the facility one last look over before he stepped out of its doors and into the arms of the one other person there who had made his stay bearable.

“You’re doing the right thing, pet,” she told him with fondness, rubbing his back affectionately. “And don’t you worry yaself about Ella. I’ll look after her, promise.”

Handing her the letter, he smiled sadly. “Yeah, I still will, but thanks for that. Thanks for everything, Mary.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart. Don’t be a stranger, either. Pop in and see us if ya’s ever passing once you’re better.” Leaning up to him, she kissed his cheek, squeezing his solid arm. “Take care, love.”

“You too.” Turning to leave, he was greeted with a sad smile from Chris, who was driving him down to Birmingham in the facility van, Tony going with them too in the back. They both tried to make conversation with him, but as the vehicle pulled out of the driveway and hit the road, James fell completely silent. He often did when he was trying not to cry.

With every mile of motorway that flashed by, he felt his stomach drop a little further. Jesus, had he just made the biggest mistake since locking himself in the bathroom and deciding to end it all? He’d honestly expected to feel more positive about his decision, the implementation of some common sense in a situation he was losing his head in.

He didn’t.

Pulling up outside Erdington Hall Psychiatric Unit just over forty-five minutes later, the first thing he noticed was how inhospitable the building looked. It was constructed of the same 1950’s brutalism architecture that could be found dotted around throughout the city, grey and foreboding, a definite aesthetic downgrade from Moor Acres. Inside, however, he was greeted by a warmth that had been found in few and far between people within his former facility.

“Morning. Checking in James Kingston,” Chris spoke at the front desk, the young woman at the computer taking the file she was handed before beginning to tap at the keyboard before her. Behind her, a man in jeans and a raw cotton tunic top looked up, beaming a wide smile.

“Aha! Just the young man I’ve been waiting for!” Hopping down from the long counter running along the rear of the office, he strode to the exit archway, rounding the corner to offer his hand. “Welcome, James. My name is Dr. White and I’m the senior psychology clinician here within the unit. Do call me Michael, though. Can’t bloody bear formality!”

Shaking his hand, James was a little taken aback at his demeanour, such joviality the last thing he’d expected from a head shrinker. “Yeah, alright. Thanks.”

His approach often bamboozled patients, especially if they were used to a someone who was as crisp and starchy as Dr. Beaumont. “I’ll have an orderly with you in a jiff, show you to your room and let you settle in for a few hours, then I’ll see you for a chat at 3pm, okay?”

He nodded a little dumbly, waiting for the other shoe you drop. Chris and Tony said their goodbyes, the latter not lingering at all. There was definitely no love lost there. After all, James has given him a black eye when being taken down after the incident in which he’d attempted to cut his throat. He knew it was far from the height of maturity, but he still couldn’t help give Tony’s back the middle finger as he left.

“James, I’m Phil. Follow me, mate.”

Turning, his eyes nearly fell out of his head at the sheer size of the orderly who’d arrived with him. “Shitting hell, what the fuck do you bench, Ford Sierra’s?” he exclaimed.

“Two hundred k’s on a bad day, two forty on a good,” he revealed as they began to walk, gesturing to James with a wave of his hand. “Looks like you do a bit yourself, like.”

“Yeah, my old man used to be in the army and he taught me all the bootcamp stuff, bodyweight exercises and all that. I lift a bit, too, but nowhere near your level. That’s top grade strong, man.”

After arriving at his room, Phil gave him a little more information regarding meal times (slightly different) checks (more frequent at every ten minutes) and a couple more details before leaving him to settle in, advising he’d be back at 2:55pm to take him across the unit to see Michael.

Unpacking his belongings, he put everything away before flopping down on the bed, noticing it was much more comfortable than the one he’d had at Moor Acres, although the room itself was painted in a detestable shade of beige. He missed his bedroom back at home, with its large kingsize bed, bare brick on the original walls and black painted plaster on the ones built to section it as an actual room.

What he missed most of all though? Back at Moor Acres, she was just entering the common room after her therapy session, not seeing James there so sitting down alone to wait for him to get back from wherever he’d gone. After a twenty-minute wait, it wasn’t he who she patiently waited for to come and find her, though.

“Hi, Mary,” she chirped brightly, smiling at everyone’s favourite of the nurses. “Have you seen James? He’s meant to be meeting me in here.”

Her mouth thinned a little, jerking her head back. “Come with me, pet.”

Immediately, her face fell, her heart lurching as panic clutched at her insides. “Is he okay? Please don’t tell me you’re taking me away to tell me something bad has happened to him!”

Mary shook her head. “He’s fine, love. Promise ya’s. Come on, let’s go outside.”

While she believed that he was okay, Ella was still plunged into a world of icy cold worry. What if he was only fine because he’d been caught in time following another suicide attempt? She couldn’t fathom another reason for being taken off for a chat alone. It would fit, too, with his moods so up and down of late.

Moving to the benches situated to the left of the main entrance, they sat down, Mary pulling out an envelope from her pocket.

“So, where is he?” Ella asked, her eyes rounding, full of the concern.

“This isn’t easy to tell you, sweetheart, but James was transferred to another facility earlier this morning.”

Her world crashed, her heart dropping, her stomach knotting with an unpleasant stinging. Those words made a wave of nauseous tingling wash right through her, a little gasp leaving her mouth. “What? But, but why? I don’t understand! They can’t just move him like that, without giving him a chance to say goodbye! He hasn’t done anything wrong! Or did he? Did he try and beat up Tony again? Is that why he’s gone?”

God, it killed Mary, knowing there was yet another blow to deliver to the poor young woman beside her. “You’re right, he hasn’t done anything wrong. It was James’s request to be moved, pet.”

Her face fell, tears beginning to stream from her eyes as the distress of those words engulfed her completely. “But why? Why has he gone? I don’t understand, he was fine this morning and now he’s gone and he didn’t even say goodbye to me!” The shock of it kept crashing against her insides, like a formula one car repeatedly smacking against a barrier at full speed, Ella feeling hot, cold and tingly all over.

“Here.” Proffering the letter forth, Mary shuffled closer, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders. “He’s explained everything for you in here. Trust me, love. The last thing he wanted was to hurt ya’s. That lad adores you, believe me. He really does.”

Taking the letter, she stared down at it for a few moments, placing it on the bench beside her before breaking down completely, her tiny frame shaking with the force of each of her choked sobs. Throwing her arms around Mary’s neck as she was pulled further into her warm, maternal embrace, that warmth provided little thawing to the frost that had clutched upon her heart.

He was gone.

“Here now, pet,” Mary soothed, kind hands stroking her back and her hair as Ella continued to cry. “It’s not forever, like. You’ll see him again. I’ve got to head back in and do me rounds on the men’s ward now, but read the letter, sweetheart. If you’re still feeling bleak, come find us a bit later and we’ll have a chat and a cuppa, eh?”

“Okay.” she sniffed, her voice so small and lost as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve, thanking Mary when she pulled a packet of tissues from her pocket and offered her a couple. It felt like a void of utter emptiness had opened within her, Ella sitting on the edge of it, at risk of being swallowed whole with no James there to pull her back again.

Grasping the letter, she stood up, taking the path down further into the grounds, only one destination on her mind. How different things had been just three hours before, sitting beneath that tree with him, basking in his affection. She understood why now, why he’d been quite clingy with her that morning, why he’d kissed her like that in the corridor when they’d arrived back inside. He was saying goodbye, yet hadn’t given her the chance to have that with him. He’d denied her and for that, she was furious with him through her pain.

Her tears continued to fall as she pressed her thumb under the envelope flap, tearing it open and pulling out the sheet of A4 lined paper, taking a deep breath before beginning to read.

Ella,

I hate having to tell you this in a letter, or at all really. I couldn’t tell you to your face, though. I knew you’d have tried to make me stay, and I would have. Where you’re concerned, I don’t have much willpower, and I need to find some. Easier said than done for me though, innit, because you? You’re fucking amazing. You are. You make me happier than I’ve been in years, too. Remember that, yeah?

As long as I’m around you, though, it isn’t my recovery I’m focusing on. It’s you. I can’t have that right now, little. It’s fucking messing my head up so much. I keep worrying about what it would do to you if I went off the rails again, did something bad, what that would mean for you and your own recovery. We both know it would set you back, and I ain’t prepared to risk that when you’ve come so far. I’m really fucking proud of you, you know, with how brave you’ve been in getting better.

Crisps ain’t that scary, innit!

It isn’t all because of this thing with us either, why I asked to be transferred somewhere else. I can’t fucking stand another moment of Dr. Beaumont treating me like a lab rat. There’s too much I have to figure out that I feel she ain’t helping me get answers to. She just asks her questions, makes her notes and expects me to make sense of it all on my own. Nah. I ain’t doing well with her type of therapy.

You also need to remember something. I didn’t leave because I don’t want to be around you. I left because one day, I really fucking do, Ella. You deserve the best version of me, though, not the one whose moods are still all over the place and who still wants to die like, forty percent of the time. That ain’t fair on you, babe. I know you’re probably sitting there all sad and stuff, thinking I’ve abandoned you, but trust me, leaving you wasn’t easy. I’m gonna think about you every day I’m apart from you.

Once we’re both better and released, I want to see you. Of course, I fucking do. Don’t ever, ever doubt that. I’ve put my number at the bottom, so call me when you’re out. If I’m still in, then Steve’ll tell you what’s what and keep you informed. I’ve told him to do that. He’ll probably flirt with you like fuck as well because he’s a horny fucking dickhead, but he’s harmless. Kinda. Just tell him to piss off. Hah!

Miss you already, beautiful girl. Don’t you ever think, not even for a second, that I don’t.

James x.

Sitting out there, in their place, with only his words upon a letter to her remaining, Ella cried her heart out, wailing as she rested her head to her knees. Her bunched fists beat the ground either side of her, not quite able to believe it wasn’t something that she had done. Without him there, her poor little heart was shattered, lost in the grief of losing the man she felt so much for.

She stayed outside for a further hour, still in tears as she entered the facility again, going to the common room to find her only other constant.

“Ella, why the tears?” Andrea asked kindly, placing her near ever-present magazine material down.

Flopping at her side, she began bawling all over again, feeling a loving arm slip around her shoulders. “James has been transferred to another facility. He went this morning, while I was in therapy.”

Immediately, her eyes rounded. “He’s what? But why? I don’t get it!”

“Here,” she sniffed, taking the letter from her pocket and placing it onto her lap. “He explains it all in here. I don’t know if he really means it or not, though.”

Picking up the slightly creased paper, she smoothed it out against her legs and began to read, still holding her friend close as she did. Oh, god. Of course, he meant it, she could gauge, with the amount of honest affection that poured from every word the man had written to her. It wasn’t surprising that Ella couldn’t, though. After the deeply ingrained effects of being bullied, sincerity over her worth was something she simply couldn’t trust.

Placing the letter down on the table, Andrea hooked her hand under her legs, lifting her onto her lap and wrapping her in a hug. “I’ll remind you of this again, what I said a few weeks ago when he was still here. James isn’t nice to anyone unless he means it; he’s very much that type of person. I know that and so do you. That voice in your head telling you that him leaving was because of anything bad to do with you is absolute crap. His letter proves it.

“He did it so he could get himself better without his feelings for you hampering that, because he doesn’t want to maybe hurt you, should he have a blip and try and hurt himself again. You know what that spells out to me? A bloke who really cares about you, so now you have your incentive. Get better, get out of here and go find him.

“You’ve got one stone left to gain. Think about it. Underweight, miserable and no James around, or out there living your life with him. I think it’s time to decide what’s the scarier prospect. Food, or going without the bloke you’ve fallen in love with. Because you have, haven’t you?”

Ella sat and mulled over Andrea’s long speech. For someone who was always so concise, it was a lot to take in, doing so while resting her chin atop her red-haired head, pondering it all. She’d surmised it all so simply, the truth staring her right in the face. She just had to be brave and trust it. Trust him.

“Can you come with me to dining room?”

Her friend smiled. “Absolutely can. Let’s go.” Linking her arm with Ella’s, they left the common room, walking down the corridor and entering the almost empty room, Ella hovering by the counter before reaching for a muffin. That was the scariest of scary. Cake, chocolate, sugar. 465 calories.

Taking a seat, she was aware of a few sets of orderly's eyes on her, peeling back the wrapper, looking over to where Mary had entered, the big, bubbly woman pausing. Taking a bite, the sweetness hit her tongue, the flavour so good, she could have cried. It had been about six years since she’d eaten cake. All the while, she shoved down her fear, her hammering heart, her sweaty palms with one thing; the thought of staring into James’s eyes before kissing him.

“Are you really eating that, pet?” Mary asked, beaming as she lifted her bifocals to rest upon her mop of short, grey hair.

“I am,” she spoke through her mouthful, Andrea beginning to clap, Tracy and Chris from the corner, too.

“Eeee, now, my little treasure! Well bloody done! I’m so proud of ya’s! What’s brought it on, coming in here and choosing a scary food without being prompted?” To be honest, it was the last thing she’d expected after leaving her in tears just over an hour before.

Swallowing the first mouthful, Ella closed her eyes for a moment. Of course, she only saw one person there in her mind’s eye.

“Love.” She smiled then, thinking about him again. “I want to get better, get out of here, and go find my boy.”

If there was any incentive in the world, it was that.

#original fiction #original stories #original story #smutty stories #smutty fiction #tw: depression #tw: suicide mention #tw: anorexia

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adasknife · 4 months

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Do you have any headcanons of Ada and past romantic relationships? I kinda wonder if she ever had some big first love or just never bothered with romance.

Also a part of me loves to believe she’s been in a relationship before RE2 and her s/o just has no idea about her real occupation lmao.

omgomgomg (sorry for the long answer)

okay, i got too excited because he is my favorite npc in resident evil. john clemens is truly and fully ada's truly and fully canon ex-boyfriend. in re1 and re2 og, john was mentioned. ada in original was looking for her boyfriend and leon decided to help. john was a worker of umbrella when she faked being an umbrella employee thanks to wesker. but he unfortunately died before the events of resident evil one considering his letter is found with no chance of hope.

in the letter, john was basically telling ada to expose umbrella's evil plans as he hoped she was alive. when ada searched for annette, that's when ada discovered he was dead, thanks to annette. ada was so special to john that she was his password in a puzzle in re1, and if i remember correctly, leon even found a picture of them.

here's the full letter [X]

in my personal headcanon, john always knew or ada told him later in their relationship. they were probably together for two years considering ada said he was missing for a while and annette knew about ada's relationship with john.

and in my true, honest, humble opinion, resident evil 2 1998 stopped being canon once darkside chronicles came out. and in the remake, john wasn't even mentioned. nor in the rest of ada's story.

the only thing remaining of john are non-canon comics, a rejected screenplay of a live action movie, resident evil 2 original, and resident evil 1 remake. so, he is my headcanon of ada's romantic life.

but once again, in my opinion, john was her first and only love. some fans disagree and think ada only used john. but let us know that ada isn't her real name (we know this thanks to og resident evil 3 so maybe Ada Wong turned into her real name because capcom has forgotten details of ada's character) maybe capcom only made it easier for themselves, but ada's fake name as a scientist's girlfriend stayed til 1998-2013 (re6).

but ignoring john, i know she has partners around the world begging for her to come back to them. she's like loid from spy x family. faking lives and making connections. she only keeps the ones she will need in the future (aka simmons and leon). ada has worked too much in canon to have a lasting relationship. like in re5, in the dlc, it was mentioned that ada was probably chilling with wesker (pre re4) as he worked for spencer. so, yeah, i doubt she had the time to truly love.

#resident evil #ada wong #this is so long i'm sorry #and john

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space-mermaid-writing · 2 years

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Okay I have no clue how and why no one has written this yet but can we get an IronStrange imagine where Superior Iron Man is in the Illuminati and Stephen sees him when they bring him to them and angst bc his Tony is dead and he sees the love of his life go darkside? No idea what to do about plot but I need that interaction.

OR OMG I THOUGHT OF THIS WHILE WRITING THAT BUT SINISTER STRANGE MEETS SUPERIOR IRON MAN? AND THEY HAVE THE HOTS FOR EACH OTHER? AND SPICE (if comfortable)? I know that's two prompts so you can just do whichever one is more interesting to you if you feel bombarded by this request my bad 😅

Thank youuuuu ❤😁

Summary: While Stephen is in the Illuminati‘s universe, he meets Superior Iron Man.

Ko-fi | Masterlist | Word count: 1.2k | Part 2

Chapter’s Notes: I‘m going with the first prompt, because inspiration struck and this was fun to write.

He didn't have time for this, Stephen thought while he was led before the Illuminati - what a ridiculous name, who had thought it up anyway?

Mordo introduced the member, but Stephen’s eyes darted to the empty chair on the far right. He wondered who was missing in this weird club. But the Illuminati demanded his attention and told him what had happened to the Stephen from this universe, how they had managed to defeat Thanos.

Okay, so apparently his variant had come up with that ridiculous name. Stephen was a little disappointed in him.

But Stephen didn't have time for this chitchat. He and America needed to get moving. The Scarlet Witch was on her way. He tried to reason with the Illuminati, he tried to warn them but they didn't listen. They were all too arrogant to believe the threat that was about to arrive.

His gaze kept wandering to the empty chair. He felt drawn to it, although he didn't know why.

Suddenly a shadow appeared at the large window behind the chairs of the Illuminati. Glass shattered as something broke through it. Cursing silently, Stephen first thought it was the Scarlet Witch, but then he heard the familiar sound of repulsors and he froze.

"A party and I didn't get invited?" Tony was hovering in the air, His suit in a silvery white instead of the flashy red and gold. His eyes - a bright chrome blue - were fixed on Stephen as he flew closer to him. Stephen's mind screamed danger.

Tony ignored the other people in the room, who were just a second away from attacking him. "I couldn't believe it when my data told me you're back. But my tech never makes a mistake."

Stephen just stared at Tony. His mind told him that if there were variants of each person in all universes, it was only logical that he would also meet a Tony Stark sooner or later. Yet he couldn't believe it. He had seen Tony die. His sweet precious Tony.

And this one here was nothing like him. His suit had no face plate, it didn't even cover his hair. It seemed more a part of the man than it ever did on his Tony. As if he was melted into his technology. His gaze was cold, calculating, and Stephen shivered but not in a good way.

Tony grabbed his jaw and eyed him closely. "But you're not him, are you?"

That was when Captain Carter spoke up. "You are no longer a member of the Illuminati, Stark! Leave."

Tony let Stephen go and finally acknowledged the others. "Now that you mention it... yeah, I remember something like that." Thinking, he tapped his finger against his chin, then clicked his fingers as it came to him. "That's right! I left when you decided to kill him." He spat furiously.

"You know what he did," Reed reminded him.

"He did what he had to do. And he saved all of your asses while at it."

So much was going through Stephen's mind. He tried to follow what happened, when he heard a loud crash from inside the building. All heads turned to the door.

"The witch arrived. I'm sure you can handle her just fine." Tony's voice was dripping from sarcasm. He seemed almost amused.

The Illuminati exchanged glances and Mordo decided to keep an eye on Strange and Stark while the others took care of the problem. He jumped down from the gallery as the others left and approached Strange. "I would have been fine with never seeing your face again. Bad enough I have to look at that hideous statue every day."

Mordos were all the same, Stephen thought, while he tried to infuriate him. With the other members of the Illuminati gone, he had a realistic chance to escape and continue his journey with America.

Except that Tony was faster and simply killed Mordo. He cut him in half without a warning. The lifeless body fell to the ground in front of Stephen and the sorcerer stared at Tony.

"I've wanted to do that for quite a while," Tony grinned and it was all teeth. "He dared to replace you in the Illuminati. You understand that I can't allow that." He stepped across the body to Stephen, who took a step back. "I'm curious. Tell me about your Tony."

"He sacrificed himself to defeat Thanos." The thought of it pierced Stephen's heart. "It was the only way," he whispered more to himself to sooth his nagging guilt.

"Tsk." Tony was displeased. "You let me die? I'm disappointed in you. You’re weak." With each step he took forward, Stephen backed away another. "If you were stronger, you would have found another solution." He raised his hand and his repulsor blast lit up, aimed directly at Stephen. The sorcerer raised his arms defensively. In the next moment his handcuffs fell off.

"They still have the audacity to use my tech." Grumbling, Tony turned away.

Sounds of battle and destruction could be heard from the lobby.

"The witch will kill them," Tony said as if he were talking about something trivial. "I wish I did it back on Titan. This is not as satisfying as I imagined it to be." He looked toward the door, as if considering going after them and getting his late revenge.

"Anthony," Stephen said softly and Tony's head snapped to him, his chrome blues eyes ice cold.

"Don't you dare to say that name like he did! Don't think you are my weak spot. I am superior."

"To who?"

Tony's laugh froze the blood in Stephen's veins. "To everyone," he said as if it were obvious. "He knew that. Oh, he was supreme. The only one who could kinda keep up with me." With his ideas. His ideals.

Stephen gritted his teeth. This was wrong. Tony Stark may was a douchebag but he was also a sweetheart, with a heart of gold. He was human. The Tony in front of him maybe looked like him, talked like him, but he wasn’t even remotely close to his lost love. The Tony in front of him was filled with a whole new level of arrogance - hubris seemed to be a constant in this universe. He was consumed by something dark, and Stephen was sure it had nothing to do with losing his Stephen Strange. This was deeper.

Stephen shook his head to focus. "You are a menace." He should have been frightened, but surprisingly he remained calm. Maybe because this day had been too long, and after all he'd seen today, this was just the tip of the iceberg. Or maybe it was because this was still Tony in a weird and twisted way, and even if it wasn't his Tony, he could mean something.

"You flirt just like him," Tony chuckled. "Say, what did you call me in your world?"

"I called him mine." It was the single most confident thing Stephen said today and he held Tony's gaze.

"Good." Tony seemed satisfied with the answer. "Maybe I'll pay you a visit when you're back home. If you make it there alive." It was a promise and a threat. Stephen shuddered. Tony flew backward toward the window. "Don't disappoint me, Stephen." With a wink, he threw him a kissing hand, and left.

Stephen stared after him. His mind tried to grasp everything that just happened. It had gone quiet in the building and a small, warning voice told him that he had to hurry. He had to get America and they needed to leave. He couldn't let Tony distract him. The first priority was to survive. If he managed to do that, he could worry about everything else.

Tony, meanwhile, flew through the city and called up the data his suit had just collected on his visor. He had made several scans of this Stephen. With that, it wouldn't be hard to track down his universe. The Illuminati didn't know that he still had full access to their database - he had access to every database in the world - and all known universes were categorized there.

Tony's day just went from good to great – he found a new toy to play with.

96 notes · View notes

percywinchester27 · 4 years

Text

A lot like ‘Us’ (Part-40)

Word count: 4.8K

Pairing: Sam X Reader AU

Warnings: Fluff, angst, feels, sickness

Series Summary: Y/N Y/L/N is eager and honestly, still in awe that she managed to get herself an acceptance from Stanford Law School. On the face of it, her life seems as put together, mysterious and independent as one might hope for. On the insides, she carries the burden of past that haunts her till date. Seemingly, she’d left it all behind; that is until she sets foot in the class of the Law School’s youngest, most promising professor.

A/N: The story employs two different timelines. The present timeline for the story takes place in 2014. Please let me know what you guys think :)

Beta: @deanssweetheart23. You’re a Rockstar <3

A lot like ‘Us’ masterlist

No one talked to you today, the whispers though, had escalated. No one was bothering to keep it quiet either. Not just your classmates, even the faculty kept giving you looks, ranging from distrust to pity. Professor Whitman, who never cared much about anything, took a whole minute to find you in the class and give you a once over, like he was seeing you for the first time- Sam Winchester’s flighty wife, back to ruin his life again.

The judgement you could take. The pity was painful. What did they see? A girl who couldn’t appreciate a good man? Or as much as you hated to think of it that way- a girl who couldn't be a mother again.

It came as a surprise when Jody called you to her office after the class. When you followed her in, she closed the door behind and unexpectedly pulled you into a hug.

“I’m sorry about all of this, Y/N,” she said. “It’s awful.”

You waited for her to let go of you then asked, “How much trouble is Sam in?”

Jody pursed her lips. “I want to say, ‘not much’ but we’ll only know on Monday, I suppose.”

“Are you part of the enquiry committee?”

She nodded. “All of the freshman faculty panel is on there. You have nothing to worry about, Y/N. Your grades are impeccable. You can’t possibly be sleeping with all of us.”

“I’m not even sleeping with Sam!” You let out, frustrated. “And I’m more worried about what happens to him.” You were a student. The most they could do is sack you from the students committee and bump down your grades.

Jody regarded you for a moment. “The two of you are so similar. It’s uncanny.”

She sighed. “I’ll be upfront with you, Y/N. As much as I’ve tried to shake them, Sam’s priorities are set. Even absent, you were very high up on that list. With you in front of him, there are very few things Sam wouldn’t give up for you.”

You already knew that. But was it right to let him make all those sacrifices for someone as undeserving as you?

The thought plagued you after you’d left Jody’s office, just as it had plagued you for the past two days. Outside, you ran into Madison.

“Oh, I was looking for you,” she said. “Sorry, I missed the first few lectures, but I have news for you. One good, one bad.”

“Bad one first,” you said, apprehensive.

Madison made a face. “Starting the day after tomorrow, I have no place to live.”

“What? Didn’t you have a lease for the whole year?”

“Lacey is screwing someone, who knows someone else who knows the hostel director. And, well, long story short, my lease got prematurely terminated.”

Anger flared inside you again. This was happening to Madison only because she was staunchly standing with you.

“I want you to come house hunting with me. My brother’s agreed to help me out with the money. So, I’m good to go.”

The idea popped up in your head immediately. “Why don’t you move in with me?”

Her eyebrows knitted together. “Meg?”

“Meg’s almost moved out next door. I was supposed to put out an add for a roommate but with everything that’s going on…” Convincing Meg to continue with the move had been very difficult. She thought it was some sort of betrayal to leave you by yourself in all this mess. Cas supported her on that. However, everyone was camping in your living room anyway.

Ultimately, you had to put your foot down and tell her to move her ass out. Your life might always remain a tragedy. It shouldn’t pause her or Cas’s life. She had still slept on your sofa last night.

“You’re serious?” Madison was trying her best to contain her excitement.

“As a heart attack.”

She let out a loud squeal and tackled you. “This is the best thing ever. We’ll be roomies!”

“Not if you call me that.”

Madison’s laughter rang out in your ears. “Now you’ve already offered. You can’t take it back, roomie.”

“Wait, what’s the good news?”

Her face split into a huge grin. “I heard from the HR at Acton Gris. They won’t hire me as an intern. But she asked me to apply for the position of summer associate next year. She said my chances looked great.”

“That’s wonderful!”

“Yes! I’m thinking of applying for an on campus job this year.”

Madison was sincere, smart and she worked very hard. No wonder good things were in store for her. “Let me talk to Molly today. See if she has some inside intel on vacancies.”

“You’d do that?” Madison couldn’t stop beaming and you smiled right along with her. “The world is a much better place with you in it.”

Not everyone thought that. Following the pattern of the past few days, Rebecca decided to show her face again after the lecture. You had been expecting her at this point. Maybe she couldn’t sleep without venting off her frustration on you. As usual, she had Lacey next to her, who really had gone fully darkside.

“Missing your Professor?”

You saw Madison start, but Rebecca put in. “Oh, stop being her Lapdog, Maxwell. You don’t have to rollover each time she blows a whistle.”

“It’s alright, Maddie,” you said in a calm voice. “As it happens, I do miss him very much.”

“I hope at least the sex was worth it,” said Lacey.

You grinned at her. “Mind-blowing, actually. I remember this one time, I was screaming his name for literal hours. God, the things that man can do. It’s in-credi-ble.” You drew out the last word with a relish.

Lacey’s jaw dropped.

Rebecca recovered quickly. “Christ! You’re shameless. That man’s married with a son. Have you got no shame at all?”

“Weren’t you the one making out with Sam at Maddie’s birthday party in the bar restroom?” You shot back. “I remember you described the bit about feeling his abs in extreme details. He wore his wedding ring around his neck. So how are you not shameless?”

Rebecca’s face reddened in an instant. “What… how…?”

“Doesn’t feel so good when the finger is pointed at you. Right, Rebecca? When you’re the one being put on a spot and your character is being brought into question. It was okay for you to make out with a professor. Why are the rules so different for me?”

“I- I was drunk that night. And I never slept with him!”

“Don’t you dare paint him in that light. As if you were some drunk woman he took advantage of in a toilet cubicle.” You spat. “You’re so desperate that you don’t think twice about lying over something so demeaning. You didn’t touch Sam because at 2 in the night, he wasn’t even there in that bar. So shut that bullshit.”

There was a crowd gathered around you now, and she didn’t like her words coming back to bite her.

“How do you know where Sam was that night?” Rebecca questioned, clearly baffled and out of her element, but trying to salvage the situation and save face.

You rolled your eyes. “We’re having an affair, remember? Keep up, Rebecca. You filed that complaint. Also, don’t worry about his wife, really. She totally doesn’t mind.” You winked.

The murmur around you was starting to intensify. You didn’t know how long it would be before the actual story came out. Or if it ever would come out. Neither did you care. You didn’t owe an explanation to any of these people.

Rebecca breathed out harshly, and spoke through her teeth, contempt dripping in each word. “You’re disgusting. That child of his-”

“Don’t. Don’t utter a word about that boy,” you hissed, the anger finally burning through. “You’ve done enough harm to Sam’s reputation. But I swear to God, Rebecca, you’ll live to regret it if you so much as dare to think about Max, you deplorable excuse of a living thing.”

The warning was so raw, she flinched back from you as you stormed out.

Madison did not follow you to the library. She knew when you wanted to be left alone. Attacking Sam was one thing, but you really did want to rip Rebecca’s throat for wanting to bring Max in the middle of it. The fierce protectiveness you felt for him was like nothing else you had experienced before.

Throughout the following hour, you kept glancing at the door of the library, expecting Max to walk in. Sam had said he would visit.

Maybe you would ask him to read out to you today. If anything, that could fix your mood.

“Umm… Y/N?”

You looked up to see Molly standing over you.

“Hey. I didn’t see you there.”

She shuffled from one foot to the other looking at you awkwardly.

You squared your shoulders, realising what she might’ve heard. “Anything you want?”

“I- I wanted to say sorry.”

That brought you up short. “Why?”

Molly ran her fingers through her red hair. “I didn’t know you were… you know… Sam’s wife, and I said horrible stuff to you the other day.”

It hadn’t actually been that horrible.

“I’d heard the rumours but I swear I didn’t believe a word. Then I ran into Chase Lincoln yesterday. He told me.”

“Everything?”

Molly nodded sadly. “It was wrong of me to make assumptions, Y/N. What happened in Sam’s life was none of my business. And for the reason you left to be so horrifying? I could have never imagined. I’m really, really sorry. I don’t know how to apologize.”

“Stop saying sorry,” you said at once. “I know you’ve always meant well for Sam and for me, Molly. Everyone likes to gossip. It’s no big deal. You didn’t hurt or offend me.”

“There must be something I can do, novia.”

“Never bring it up again. Please. Let’s just forget that conversation happened.”

You saw her eyes start to fill up. “Take the rest of the week off, yeah? Come back Monday.”

“You’re low on staff already.” You did not want anyone’s sympathy.

“I’m not doing this for you,” she said. “Spend the weekend with Sam. He’ll need a distraction more than ever before that hearing on Monday. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Molly disappeared into the librarian’s room before the waterworks started. She didn’t want you to see her tear up so you didn’t follow her in, continuing with your sideways glances at the door. The sharp ring of your phone made you jump.

“Hello?” You answered the unknown number

“Y/N? It’s Alex. Sam left me your number in case of emergencies.” She sounded frantic.

“Is everything okay?”

“Can you please come over? Max is really sick and… he’s… he’s asking for you.”

*****

Instead of knocking on the door, you straight up punched the security key and barged into the house.

“Max? Alex?”

“Up here!” You heard Alex’s voice. Taking two steps at a time you made it to Max’s room. Your chest contracted, seeing Max in the bed. He was curled up on his side, cheeks wet, face puffy from crying.

Alex was sitting on a chair next to him, distressed.

“What’s wrong?” You asked, rushing to Max’s side and placing a hand against his forehead. He was burning up.

“I don’t know,” said Alex, “He was fine when I picked him up from school. He said he was feeling sick half an hour ago and now he’s running a fever. I tried calling his usual doctor but it says the number doesn’t exist anymore. He’s been crying and calling out for Sam and... you.”

“Did you try Sam?”

“He’s not reachable.”

“Max, honey, what’s wrong?” You asked as gently as you could. “Do you hurt somewhere?”

He opened his eyes and your heart lurched at the tears in them. “Stomach. My stomach hurts. I want dad.”

“Sam will be home at night. He’ll be with you.” You turned to Alex. “Is he allergic to something?”

“Not that I know of.”

You were sure he hadn’t had outside food in at least a week, so food poisoning was out.

“Does your body hurt, baby?”

Max nodded slowly, drawing into himself. “And my head.”

“Alex, could you please find the first aid box and get me a thermometer?”

She scampered off to find it, relieved to have someone else take charge of the situation. Keeping one hand on Max’s forehead, you reached out for your purse with the other and pulled out your phone. Thankfully, the number was on the speed dial. He picked up the phone on the second ring.

“Cas, where are you?”

“At the hospital. Everything okay?”

“No. Max is running a high fever. I’d guess around 101. He says he’s feeling sick, and has stomach and body ache.”

There was a pause, then Cas said. “Can you drive him to the hospital? Bring him directly to the paeds ward on the 7th floor. I’ll see you there in fifteen minutes.”

Alex was back with the thermometer. 102.3. Thankfully, she had a license and Claire’s car was in their driveway. You asked her to bring it out front.

After she left, you gently coaxed Max into a sitting position, he looked drowsy and was still sniffling a little. “Honey, listen to me. You’re going to have to deal with a little inconvenience, okay? We’re going to drive you to the hospital very quickly.”

“Hospital?” He mumbled. eyes filling up again.

“It’s just Cas there,” you soothed him. “You remember Cas, right? We all played jenga together.”

Max opened his mouth to say something, instead his eyes widened and threw up over the front of your sweater and into your lap.

He started crying immediately. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Your eyes filled up. “It’s okay, baby. It’s no big deal.” You removed the puke covered sweater and used to wipe away the vomit stuck to your jeans. “See, it’s all gone. No need to worry at all.”

The retching had left him weak and shivering.

“Just stay put a minute.” You hurriedly tossed your sweater in the hamper by the door, and pulled on one of Sam’s overlarge shirts over your T-shirt. Once back, you grabbed Max’s grey blanket and wrapped it around him. Slinging your purse around your torso, you lifted him in your arms and carried into the car that was already waiting at the curb. You held Max close to your chest in the backseat, whispering soft reassurances in his ears.

Just as Alex pulled up in front of the hospital, Max threw up on you again. It made him cry harder. You realised it was not just humiliating for him, he was missing his dad terribly.

“Max, honey, it’s totally okay,” you assured him, kissing his brow. “I used to throw up so much as a kid, gran used to call me projectile Y/N. Just puke all around me all the time. Hell, ask your dad. He held my hair when I threw up in the toilet. It’s my jam. And we’ve got a towel now. Let’s clean you up, okay?”

Thankfully, the blanket wasn’t soiled, so you could keep it around him as you carried him in the lift.

Cas was waiting for you there. He immediately guided you to a bed and laid Max down on it. You started to step back.

“Y/N, don’t go,” Max rasped out.

“I’m right here, Chirp. I’m not going anywhere, but Cas needs to take a look at you.”

Max still reached out with his hand. You looked at Cas. He gave you a quick nod and you rushed to Max’s side once more, grasping his outstretched fingers tightly. Cas pressed Max’s tummy, asking where exactly it hurt, then checked the temperature again along with the pulse. You watched apprehensively as Cas pulled down Max’s eyelids and asked more questions. Meanwhile, the chills kept getting worse.

“It looks like he’s caught a viral fever. The nurse outside told me it’s been doing a round at the school. We’ve had many kids this week.”

“Why is he throwing up then?”

“It’s probably the phlegm. I don’t think there’s a reason to worry. I’ll give him an IV with paracetamol and nausea suppressants. He’ll feel much better in a few hours.” Cas hesitated. “Maybe you should ask Sam before we start the treatment. Only he can sign off on the papers. You’ll need the details of the health insurance.”

“I can’t get to him. We’ve been trying non-stop.”

Would Sam want you to make such decisions on his behalf? Max was looking paler than usual and was clearly in pain. You couldn’t wait till midnight to start him on medication. It was killing you to see him hurting like this.

“Screw the insurance. I’ll pay whatever the bill comes out to be… and I’ll sign off on the papers as well.”

Cas gave you an apprehensive look. “Y/N?”

“Look,” you said through your teeth, “I’m still his legal guardian. I have that right. Just start him on the medication. I can’t bear to see him like this.”

“Alright.” Cas said something to the nurse behind him who rushed out and then came back with a syringe.

“This is going to hurt just a little, Max,” Cas said, flicking at the needle.

You crouched down next to Max’s head. “You’re my brave boy, aren’t you? One little prick and that will be all. You’ll feel so much better afterwards. Can you do that?”

Max gave you one quick jerk of his neck. “Close your eyes.” He did.

Cas pushed the needle into the tiny crease of Max’s arm and you flinched, tears pouring down your cheeks. Max did not even make a whimper. The nurse stuck a piece of white tape over the puncture mark after Cas was done.

“You need to swallow these two little tablets,” Cas said, handing them to Max along with a glass of water. Max looked at you and you nodded encouragingly. Without any fuss, he did as Cas said. You hugged Max very tightly to your chest. “You’re the bravest little thing in this world, you know that? And I’m so damn proud of you. You get every cookie you can think of when you feel better, yeah?”

“We’ll keep him here till the nausea subsides,” said Cas. “Once he feels better, you can take him home.”

Cas seemed concerned, but it wasn’t directed at Max- which made you feel better. It was directed at you. “You better sign off on those papers, Y/N.”

“Can you please bring them here?” You pleaded. “I don’t want to leave Max.” The boy in question was still hugging your middle tightly.

“Of course.”

It was with shivering hands that you filled out the form. You stared at the paper for a whole minute before ticking off on the small box in the relationship to the patient column against mother. Max had fallen asleep in your arms and the tears just wouldn’t stop. You knew he was going to be okay, the fever was already coming down and he had stopped shivering. Sweat dewed up on his forehead.

Occasionally you wiped it off with the back of your sleeve.

But you were terrified of this feeling- like the world would go dark if a single wrong thing happened to this boy. There was a point in your life when you were ready to own up to this feeling, looking forward to it even- and then you had lost it, along with every other emotion in your heart. Since the day you had met Max, you’d been dancing along the edge of the precipice of this very feeling- this selfless, immense love. Not ready to take the leap. Scared that you’d be shattered if you did.

Were you scared of being a bad mother? Or were you simply scared of being a mother?

As you sat there, alone, in the small clinical room, with Max softly snoring in your lap, you realised that what you truly feared above and beyond everything was giving in to feeling this love and losing it again.

If you accepted him as your son, and then something happened to him, you wouldn’t make it out of it alive. Literally. Not accepting Sam’s love and a place in his and Max’s life was not only a product of your doubts and self-hatred. It was a plain survival instinct. The epiphany was so strong, it left you breathless.

You felt a hand against your shoulder. Cas’s blue eyes were sympathetic in their depth. “You can take him home now, Y/N.” He didn’t try to reassure you beyond it. He had a subtle way of comforting without saying the words out loud.

You called Alex again, who had been reading in the waiting room and she drove you back to Max’s place. He’d been asleep through the ride, right until you put him to bed. Insisting that Alex go back home and study for her exams, you stripped down to your tank top, pulled on a pair of Sam’s tracks. After making sure that Max was still out, you cleaned up your clothes, and the mess on the floor and side of Max’s bed. You didn’t dare close the door of the bathroom, lest Max call out to you and you couldn’t answer.

Taking the chance, you made some chicken soup for him, and only then did you wake him up, gently.

Max called out for Sam the moment he opened his eyes and your heart broke again. Doing your best to reassure him that Sam was on his way, you cajoled Max into changing out of his dirty clothes and into fresh ones.

He refused to eat the soup, but with soft insistence, you persuaded him to finish half a bowl of it.

“You’ll read to me?” He said in a muted, dull voice as you tucked him back in the bed.

“Of course, sweetheart, what do you want me to read?”

“Anything.”

You looked around the room, your eyes landing on the only book over his nightstand.

“Alright, here we go.” You flipped to the page with a bookmark. “We could not wait for Atticus to come home for dinner, but called and said we had a big surprise for him. He seemed surprised when he saw most of the back yard in the front yard, but he said we had done a jim-dandy job. “I didn’t know how you were going to do it,” he said to Jem, “but from now on I’ll never worry about what’ll become of you, son, you’ll always have an idea...”

*********

It was stupid and incredibly irresponsible on Sam’s part to let his phone drain out completely. Even worse, he’d left it to charge in the meeting room and forgotten to check it in the next couple of hours while he met with the children in the boy’s home. He came back to 17 missed calls and 23 text messages- from Alex and Y/N.

Max was sick and he’d had no idea.

Sam had frantically called first thing after going through the texts. Y/N had picked up only to whisper that Max was better and asleep, and that Sam needn’t worry. For the next five hours, Sam worried ceaselessly anyway. It drove Chase up the wall, but he played his music loudly in the car all the way till Sam dropped him off and didn’t point out how Sam was a total maniac.

The clock on his dashboard blinked 1:22 as he made the bend to his house.

Sam parked the car all wrong in the driveway, barely giving it a second thought before running inside. He should’ve been quieter, knowing Max was asleep, but the anxiety barely kept his legs moving. He would have continued at the same rate through Max’s door if the scene before him hadn’t made him stop.

On the bed, Max was sleeping peacefully. He was dressed in a thin cotton t-shirt, the lower half of his body was covered in his blanket. That wasn’t what made Sam stop. Y/N was curled up beside him, her arm thrown around Max, who was nextled so comfortably in her embrace that he belonged there. Max’s book was balanced over Y/N’s hip, wedged open on the page she had been reading out of. On the nightstand, stood a bowl of cold soup, half empty, along with water and strips of medicine. The table on Y/N’s side held a cooking pot filled with water and a washcloth lay dipped in it. She’d been nursing him- from fever or the sweat, Sam couldn’t say.

Slowly, he walked up to Max, and very very carefully placed the back of his hand on his forehead. No fever.

Sam looked about himself. The floor was strewn with Max’s clothes that smelled like he had been sick over them. Sam picked up the clothes and carried them to the washing machine. Inside was already a dry load of clothes that belonged to Y/N and him. So Max had thrown up on her. More than once.

Sam knew from the messages that Y/N had taken Max to the hospital- had her friend, whom she trusted implicitly take a look at his son, signed the papers as his guardian and paid the bill out of her pocket.

The thought occurred to Sam as he undressed for the night. In that last message, Y/N had apologised for signing off on Sam’s behalf, as if he could ever be mad at her for dropping whatever she was doing to look after his son, the way a mother would.

Sam understood now why Max had thrown a fit when Sam had forbidden him from seeing Y/N. It had hurt Sam that he couldn’t be enough for Max, that Max was looking for something more in Y/N. But seeing them together now, Sam could see he had been completely wrong. Max wasn’t asking something more, he’d been asking for what already belonged to him- Y/N’s love. Max had been right all along.

Sam pulled the covers and duvet off his bed and dragged to Max’s room where he laid them out at the foot of Max’s bed, so he’d be sleeping next to him on the floor. An alarm started going off on Y/N’s phone, and Sam jumped to turn it off. It was already 2 O’ clock. She had set successive alarms for every hour of the night, Sam presumed to check on Max. Sam turned off all of them. He was home now, he could take care of it.

He checked Max’s temperature once more- still normal- and then bent down to place a kiss on his forehead. It was almost November. Max always had bouts of viral or flu in the cold months. He should have foreseen it. If Y/N hadn’t been around…

The expression on her face was so peaceful as she held onto his boy, tears sprang into Sam’s eyes. This was everything he wanted in his life. Everything. Right in front of him. He bent down once more and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. She didn’t wake at his touch, but adjusted herself closer to Max on the tiny bed, the book falling off her hip with a soft thud onto the thick carpet.

Sam lay down on the floor, thinking of a night very long ago when Y/N had fallen asleep on the sofa in his house, back in Lawrence. He’d read to her from this very book that night- for the first time. Sam had slept besides her on the floor that night as well. A writer would have called the parallel poetic… but Sam saw it for what it was, shrouded in a mist of uncertainty all around him- a haunting ache inside his soul.

He couldn’t thank her for what she’d done for his Max today- not only would that gesture be insufficient, it would be insulting. No, Sam wouldn’t thank her. Instead, he would check up on Max every hour, make her breakfast in bed, and iron her clothes before she woke up, so she wouldn't be late for classes tomorrow. He would pack her a lunch and kiss her goodbye at the door. Maybe she would see through him and understand how incredibly grateful he was for today… and how tragically hopeful he was for the future, when he could do these simple things everyday without the excuse of an unsaid thank you.

“I love you, Darling,” he whispered. “It can only ever be you.”

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

A/N 2: It’s been a hard, awful few days. I must be made up of stronger stuff than I thought I was.

Please do let me know if you liked this part. Reblogs and comments are very much appreciated.

Five more chapters to go!

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imagine-darksiders · 4 years

Text

Homesick - Chapter 2

Behind the door.

Warnings: implied child abuse, abusive parents, blood, nosebleeds, angst, themes of childhood trauma, ptsd

Tags: Darksiders, DeathxAzrael, hurt/comfort, angst, Reader, Found family, Reader needs a hug

Chapter 1

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“What lays beyond that door?”

Azrael's innocent question causes you to stiffen and your steps falter on the landing, knowing precisely to which door he's referring, but unwilling to even spare it a backwards glance.

The momentary delay hardly lasts for more than a second and goes seemingly unnoticed by the angel, whose gaze appears too focused on the locked, mahogany door that stands quiet and guiltless at the furthest end of your landing. Hanging back near the top of the staircase however, with eyes sharp and turned just enough in your direction that they catch the hitching of your chest, Death does notice.

Then, he blinks, and you're suddenly twisting your head over a shoulder to look beyond Azrael at the door in question, a smile on your lips but not in your eyes.

“Oh, that's just a storage cupboard,” you say casually, waving a dismissive hand through the air and continuing your journey to the opposite side of the house, “I've been in and out of there all week stacking boxes of junk up to the ceiling. Now, come this way, all the best human-y stuff is stock-piled in my bedroom.”

You're too quick to disregard the door, too eager in turning to walk towards your room on stiff legs and Death wishes the angel would turn to look at you so he might also see what the Horseman sees, if only to confirm that he isn't imagining things.

Alas, letting out an intrigued little hum, Azrael clasps his hands loosely behind his back and sweeps after you, all the while pivoting his head this way and that to take in everything your humble home has to offer.

------------------

You had so nearly forgotten what the joy of discovery looks like in another person. To see the eyes of someone else grow wide and bright with unbridled wonder at a world you've long since lost a taste for.

Azrael's fascination at the most mundane of human objects manages to put a genuine smile on your face, though the ensuing pain still throbs like the beat of an insistent drum every time your cheeks press against your bruised eye.

Luckily, the angel appears to have missed your subtle wince.

After first having dragged him away from your television, you've managed to introduce him to many of humanity's other wonders that lay dotted around your bedroom.

Before long, Death had even slunk inside to join you both, taking up the mantle of an uninterested observer and absently perusing your book collection in the corner whilst keeping a surreptitious eye on the goings on of his companions.

You've perched yourself comfortably in a bean bag, content to simply sit back and observe whilst Azrael explores your room, his wide, white wings folded neatly against his back in order to spare some of your ornaments from being knocked off their shelves.

“This... ursine mammal,” he says, pausing beside your bed and poking a finger into the fur of an old, stuffed bear sitting atop your pillow, “Does it serve some purpose?”

You're too preoccupied with fighting back a laugh to answer him right away, and by the time you realise he's watching you expectantly, Death pipes up in your stead, cutting off any explanation you might have offered.

“I imagine it's only there for decoration,” he muses, casting a critical eye over your bookcase and the dozens of unread stories scattered about on the shelves, “But then, I have to wonder if half the things in this room aren't just ornamentation.”

Knowing what he's implying, you spare the back of his head a scowl. It isn't as though you've had a lot of time to read those books he gave you, not between rebuilding your own home and helping humanity come to terms with life post-apocalypse.

“Ah!” Azrael's head shoots up and he tears his eyes from the bear, glancing towards you instead. “It is symbolic, no? In resembling a most ferocious predator, this bear represents the perfect guard for your home.”

He looks so damn pleased with himself, you almost don't bother to correct him, instead wrestling your grin into a pensive frown and nodding slowly.

“Uh, sure! That is a pretty... exciting way to look at teddy bears.” Hopping to your feet, you make your way over to the bed and sweep a few of Azrael's primary feathers aside, picking up the toy bear and squeezing it to your chest. “But mostly humans use these for comfort at night, when we sleep. We usually get given them as children. And, as we grow older, I... guess we just get too attached to get rid of them. Most humans keep their childhood toys long into adulthood.”

“Why am I not surprised,” Death huffs, shaking his head with a smile hidden beneath the bone-mask, “You humans will get attached to anything that sits still for long enough.”

Azrael, on the other hand, looks as though you've just revealed to him one of humanity's greatest secrets. Rubbing his chin in thought, he says, “Remarkable! I've heard that humans are rather famous for the bonds they forge with other species, yet I never imagined that could extend to inanimate objects as well.”

“Yeah, you'd better believe it,” you smirk, placing the bear down on your pillow once more, “Someday I'll have to tell you about the woman who married the Eiffel Tower.”

At once, the Archangel blinks hard, eyebrows nearly disappearing into his hair line. “A tower? Surely that’s a jape?”

So perplexed is his expression, you throw back your head and let out a bark of delighted laughter. “What are you, Shakespeare? Nobody says ‘jape’ anymore, Azrael!”

Off on his own side of your little bedroom, Death's neck twists around slightly to regard both you and the angel as you engage in a light-hearted back and forth about the use of archaic vocabulary. He doesn't even realise that one corner of his mouth has begun lifting at the sight.

There is a truth about the Horseman that even he is reluctant to acknowledge, and that is that the constant slew of bad things happening in the Universe is... wearing. It’s wearing. To be on a constant path that always seems to lead towards battle or tragedy? Sometimes it feels as though his entire existence has merely consisted of one battle after another.

He saves one world, only for another to be torn apart, he destroys a species, and another asks him to fight their war for them, he helps the makers but in doing so, inadvertently kills their elder. Century after century - a millennia of bloody battles and terrible sacrifices and trying to keep his siblings safe - If he ever stopped to think about it...

Death’s eyes slip slowly shut.

He has worked... so hard, hasn’t he? Is it really so wrong if he enjoys these moments of fleeting repose?

All of a sudden, a strangled sound leaves Azrael's throat and Death is yanked from his peaceful reverie. “Y/n!?” the angel exclaims, his expression shifting to horrified in less than a second, “You're bleeding!”

Apparently, mentioning your name and blood in the same sentence is enough to get Death's voice to crack as he whips around properly and barks, “What!?”

Baffled, you raise a hand to your nose, dabbing at a sticky wetness gathered there whilst the taste of salty liquid drips onto your upper lip. “Oh, so I am,” you observe casually, only to have a pair of chilly hands curl unexpectedly around your forearms.

Without warning, the terrifying visage of the Horseman is looming mere inches from your face and in another instant, one of his hands presses itself to your forehead and firmly – albeit gently – tips it backwards.

“Um... Death, we've talked about this. Personal space, remember?”

The Horseman remains eerily silent as he stares transfixed at the blood oozing from your nose and you squirm uncomfortably when the grip he has on your arm begins to grow even tighter. Meanwhile, his wordlessness allows Azrael to fret aloud in the background.

“I knew this was a bad idea,” the angel mutters, pacing back and forth behind Death, never tearing his eyes from the red straining your face, “You shouldn't be having all this excitement. You should be resting.”

It's difficult to hold back your groan of exasperation as you lift your arms and knock Death's hands aside, stepping out of his reach.

“Oh for - It's just a nosebleed! Honestly, what has gotten into you two?” With a hefty sigh, you skirt around the rigid Nephilim, dodge one of Azrael's wings as it tries to curl instinctively around you and march into your ensuite bathroom.

Almost immediately, the angel tries to follow, but he swiftly has the door pushed shut in his face before he can enter and soon, they hear your voice filtering out to them from the other side. “I'm not a baby, guys! Nosebleeds are no big deal, it's just happening because of... well, you know.”

Azrael's stomach twists itself into knots at the sight of yet another locked door standing between himself and his human friend. He's about to call out for you to let him see the damage when an icy chill sweeps across the room and he turns, his mouth falling open slightly at the sight of Death staring at him through unseeing eyes.

The old Nephilim's body has gone completely still and there's a haunted look about him, as though he's lost, or perhaps trapped in another time, another place.

“Horseman?” Azrael murmurs uncertainly, feeling the cold prickle at the hairs on the base of his neck. Seconds pass and he receives no answer. Hesitant now, the archangel reaches towards Death's shoulder and, when he isn't immediately shoved away, places a hand on the frigid, solid muscle that bunches under his gentle touch. “Death,” he tries again, and this time the Horseman's head snaps up to stare at him, as if only just realising he's there.

The angel ducks his head to better catch Death's eye, his voice soft enough that only the two of them can hear it. “Are you alright, old friend?”

A long silence stretches between them with only the faint sound of running water from your bathroom tap to fill it.

Then, giving a start, Death roughly shrugs the comforting hand off his shoulder and stalks past the angel towards your window, leaning his elbows heavily against the sill and stubbornly refusing to acknowledge Azrael's concern. He doesn't think the archangel has ever been that close to him before, close enough that the subtle scent of old books and clean linen invaded his nose and chased away the awful stench of your blood, effectively leaving his mind clear once again.

'Idiot,' he chastises himself, eyes still wide behind the bone mask. How could he have frozen like that? In front of Azrael no less. Creator, he'd never live that one down. He had – for lack of a better word – panicked, and it's as embarrassing to admit to himself as it is to have been caught panicking. But...

The sight of your blood... The smell of it, sweet and strong enough that it even settled on his tastebuds...

It's pathetic, really. He is Death. He's seen and caused far more bloodshed than arguably any being in any realm. So why then does your spilled blood hold his dead heart in such a cruel and unforgivably tight chokehold?

The redundancy of taking a calming breath isn't lost on him, yet he does it anyway, tipping his head up to peer out of your window, chest rising and falling with motions he could only have picked up after spending so much time around you.

It's begun to rain, he notes idly. Tiny droplets of water patter down onto the dusty window panes and Death follows the path of one until it merges with several others and is lost in the fray.

Down in the streets below, many passers-by have dived for shelter, yet there are still two figures who remain. One is an angel, whose golden complexion shimmers when raindrops trickle steadily down his face. He's standing in the shadow of a water-logged bus stop and beside him, leaning just a little too close, is a serpentine demon, scales black and glittering like obsidian. The odd pair rest almost shoulder to shoulder underneath the bus stop's awning, each sharing a brief respite from the rain with what was once a well-loathed enemy.

Death blinks upon seeing that their hands are intertwined. Dainty, golden fingers curl loosely around clumsier claws and suddenly, the Horseman feels as though he's intruding on their secret moment, so he turns back to face your room.

Azrael has drifted closer once again and there's a knowing expression on his face that causes Death to frown. Sure enough, the archangel spares your bathroom door a hasty glance before he looks at the Horseman once more. “...Death,” he says slowly, “It's... all right, you know. If seeing Y/n’s blood upset you-”

Hackles are raised in half a second, a set of sharp teeth clack together and Death hisses, “You think I'm upset?”

Judging by the flat look he receives, that is precisely what the archangel thinks.

Despite the obvious vehemence behind Death's tone, he's careful to keep his voice down, ever mindful that you're only a room over. Perhaps getting defensive isn't the best idea.

“There is no shame in it, Horseman,” the angel coaxes softly, “Y/n is my friend as well. There has already been far too much human blood spilled this century.” He casts another, baleful glance towards your bathroom, quietly adding, “I didn't think I would be seeing it again, not this soon. And especially not from our human.”

...Our human.

Death is unnerved by how natural that sounds coming off Azrael's tongue.

Expertly, the Horseman wills his shoulders to slump and his muscles to relax, then, with an unmistakable air of indifference, he folds his arms across his broad chest and turns himself deliberately away from the archangel, glowering at your bedroom wall.

And Azrael, wise enough to read the standoffish behaviour for what it is, allows his mouth to fall shut because he knows that, as far as Death is concerned, the conversation is over.

He has a care not to release a weary sigh. But with you shutting him out physically and the Horseman shutting him out verbally, it's difficult for even the composed archangel to keep exasperation at bay.

Just then, your voice calls out to them from the other side of the door. “Ugh, sorry about this guys. It's slowing down, but it hasn't stopped yet. I'll just be a minute!”

“So long as you're all right,” Azrael replies.

When he receives no response from you and no further input from Death, he lets his head drop into a disappointed nod, pressing his lips together. Suddenly, his presence feels a little too big for the space he's occupying. He needs to think.

Azrael leaves your bedroom with a far heavier heart than he'd gone in with, raking his fingers through fine, white hair and expelling a soft breath from his lungs, as if that might alleviate the weight settling across his chest.

So far, this first visit to your home has not gone as he'd hoped it would. Through no fault of your own, mind. But trying to focus on taking in everything you show him whilst he knows you're in more pain than you're letting on is woefully distracting. That's without even mentioning the creeping sense of unease that has been hanging over him ever since he first stepped foot through your front door.

Briefly, Azrael wonders if Death had noticed the way your breath hitched slightly and your reply had an almost imperceptible, underlying tremor when he asked you what lay beyond the door at the end of your landing. He'd have to ask the Horseman about that later, when he's in a more talkative mood.

Already, the archangel can feel the beginnings of a frown forging crevasses down the centre of his forehead. He composes himself in another breath and finally lifts his eyes from the carpet, only to stop in his tracks.

That door – that unassuming door to your cupboard lays ahead of him, quiet and solid as all doors should be, just sitting there under a flickering light bulb, as though it had been patiently waiting for him to notice it.

And notice it, he does, because something about the door has changed since he saw it last, something so obvious, yet also entirely unsettling.

Where it had once been shut tight, now it stands ever so slightly ajar.

Despite everything in him screaming that he must respect the privacy of his host, Azrael's curiosity grows too bold and he finds himself treading silently down your landing, his shoes making no sound on the grubby, cream carpet. Drawing to a halt, the angel's keen gaze sweeps over the wooden door, taking in hairline cracks and mottled rot that a hundred years has left upon it like battle scars on a warrior's face. Slowly, he roves his eyes down to the dull, brass door handle and he immediately falters, doing a double-take.

Sitting atop the handle is a very noticeable, very thick layer of dust.

His brows knit together until they nearly touch and he reaches out to swipe a finger delicately along the brass. When he pulls away, he lifts his hand for an inspection and, sure enough, the pad of his forefinger is now sporting the same, grey substance.

'Why would a door you claimed to use recently have so much dust upon the handle?' The feeling of unease that had been stealthily keeping to the back of his mind now pokes its head out a little more, creeping forwards, daring him to acknowledge it.

'Something's wrong...' a quiet voice tells him.

Azrael's hand reaches out once more, except this time, it curls around the handle entirely and rests there for a moment as the angel's mind starts to race. 'Y/n.... Are you hiding something from us?'

As soon as the thought enters his head, he can't shake it loose.

Yes - he trusts you - he knows you'd have no reason to lie to him, and especially not to the Horseman. And yet... Clearly there is something beyond this door that you're trying to divert their attention from and whatever it is has you spooked.

Feeling more and more like a common criminal, Azrael keeps one ear on the room behind him and slowly begins to twist the door handle, wincing when its rusty springs catch and squeak in protest.

His wings shiver with anticipation as he pushes the door open.

What awaits him on the other side is decidedly not a storage cupboard...

“A... bedchamber?” he murmurs to himself.

Within an instant, he's hit by an oppressive wave of must and wood rot. The smell spills like liquid from the room and seeps into your hallway, causing the archangel's lips to curl, though he's quick to smooth his expression out again because there's something far worse lingering below the initial stench, something that – even after a hundred years – still clings to the peeling wallpaper and broken, dust-choked bed in the corner of the room.

It isn't quite magic, more like the residue of a dark and terrible memory. Azrael knows as well as any angel that memories can be immensely powerful things and capable of haunting a place long after the living are dead and gone. Hesitating, he takes a moment to steel himself before stepping over the threshold and entering that old, foreboding bedroom.

At once, he notices that, as with the door's handle, absolutely everything is covered in a thick layer of grime and dust, the television on the wall, the various, glass bottles that stand on a table at the room's centre, amidst which sits a single, yellowing glass.

Against the wishes of his own nose, Azrael takes a brief sniff at the air and grimaces.

Alcohol.

Even the most pious of angels would recognise it.

He dismissively turns his attention from the bottles and glides over towards a worn dresser that stands to the left of the bed, a bed that stinks of an odour he desperately tries to ignore. Upon the dresser are a vast array of what you;d once called 'photographs,' all of which sit inside basic, wooden frames. Inquisitive, Azrael bends down and peers at them, a soft smile worming across his face when he sees a familiar human grinning back up at him.

You couldn't be much older than four or five, but he'd recognise you at any age. It seems even as a child, you possessed that same, mischievous spark in your eyes.

You're standing alone, and in spite of a clear gap where a tooth has fallen out, you're beaming up at the camera so hard, he imagines your cheeks had to have hurt. In fact, the more Azrael inspects the photo, the more he thinks your expression most resembles a grimace, not a smile. He shrugs it off however, and moves on. After all, the facial structure of humans is such that they're capable of expressions far more complex than those of angels or demons. Perhaps he’s only misreading it.

The next picture sees you looking a few years older, sitting in the lap of a tall, angular man wearing a white shirt that looks to have been frequently stained by all manner of substances whilst his face is stretched into a grin that makes Azrael's skin crawl. Captured in stillness, it looks menacing and shark-like. Worse still is the large hand that seems to have secured itself like a vice around your thigh, squeezing noticeably into the little, blue leggings you'd worn that day.

You aren't smiling as widely in this photograph....

The archangel's face begins to fall as well.

Humming, he moves on to the next picture and in an instant, that creeping unease suddenly rings in his head like an alarm bell.

Again, you're older here, perhaps early into your adolescence, and the smile you'd sported before is barely there at all. The same man is standing behind you this time, and his long, gangly fingers are clamped down over your too-small shoulders, fingernails digging so hard into the bare skin, the resulting indents are even picked up by the camera.

Your lopsided wince that could be mistaken for a smile at a glance shows off one side of your mouth and in it, Azrael can clearly see that you're missing a tooth.

He may not be the most well-versed on human biology, but he's definitely heard that children only lose the same tooth once. And that the process is a natural one.

Through the lense of the camera, your younger counterpart seems to peer up past the glass frame, past the fabric of time and space and straight into Azrael's misty, pale eyes, a silent yet clear plea in the tilt of your brows and the whites of your knuckles.

'Help me.'

All at once, the archangel feels sick. He staggers backwards, away from the dresser and doesn't even notice the golden halo on his back is thrumming with protective magics, pushing them outwards to envelope your entire house.

He doesn't need Jamaerah's second sight to know that you were afraid of that man who's eyes are stained the same colour as yours. Hazarding a guess as to why you were afraid causes Azrael's throat to tighten.

Swallowing hard, he tries to regain his composure. The archangel has always considered rationality to be one of the greatest weapons in his arsenal and if there was ever a time to use it, that time is now.

'Perhaps... I am mistaken,' he reassures himself, 'I don’t know human customs nearly as well as I-’

“Azrael?”

The angel gives a start and jerks his head around to face the door, only to find Death eclipsing it, his eyes blazing like twin fires.

Stepping forwards into the room, he hisses, “What are you doing in here?”

The Horseman is quite certain he's never seen Azrael look so guilty.

Instead of giving him an answer though, the angel slowly breathes, “Where is Y/n?” Soon, he droops in relief when Death throws a thumb over his shoulder and replies, “Still in the bathing room, tending to a bloody nose... You didn't answer my question.”

Beckoning the Horseman closer, Azrael keeps his voice to a hushed whisper and holds the last photograph up in front of him.

“What do you make of this?”

Azrael's behaviour strikes him as so uncharacteristically odd and secretive, Death actually hurries over to him and snatches the picture frame from his hands, making an effort not to appear curious about the room he's never been inside. The angel watches raptly as Death scans the photographs with his luminous, orange eyes. Then, all of a sudden, the Horseman's fingers tighten around the little, wooden frame, hard enough to make it splinter and Azrael knows his worst fears are being realised. He hadn't imagined it.

Death sees it too.

“You guys shouldn't be in here.”

A tiny voice, low and trembling calls from the doorway and the angel's gaze snaps up. Death, in the meantime, remains too fixated on the photograph to bother acknowledging your presence.

Azrael drifts towards you cautiously, as though you'll bolt at any second. He tries to decide whether it would be better to apologise for invading your privacy or ask you why you look so terrified.

“Y/n,” he starts, paying attention to the way your hands turn over one another incessantly, “We were only-”

“... How... How did you get in? The door was - it was locked! You can't be in here... Get out!” Your voice raises in pitch. There are tears leaking from your bruised eye, swiftly turning the skin underneath it slick and shiny and there’s still a trace of blood underneath your nose.

Death finally lowers his gaze from the photograph and holds you captive under a wide and menacing stare. “A storage room, was it?” he asks curtly, showing you the picture clutched between his ever-tightening fingers.

The moment you lay eyes on it, your back goes rigid and all the blood drains from your face. “Put that down!” you demand and lift your foot as if to take a step inside the room, but as soon as you cross over the threshold, you seem to remember something, and quickly jerk yourself backwards, stumbling into the hallway again and sucking down a ragged gasp, blurting, “Just – Just don't touch it!”

“Why not?” Death drawls and tilts his head to one side, calculating, “It can't be that important to you. You've had it locked in this storage cupboard for these past two years.”

He's pushing you, Azrael realises with a sinking feeling, he's trying to provoke you into an honest reaction, no doubt. The archangel doesn't like it, but he likes the look of that man in the photograph even less.

“That's none of your business!” you snap, heart pounding like a jackhammer against your ribs. Unfortunately, your response only seems to stir something in the Horseman, who draws his head back as though you'd struck him a physical blow and he growls, “I hate to disappoint you, but it is my business where your welfare is concerned.”

“My welfare stopped being your concern about two years ago!”

Death falls silent, jaw clenching.

He'd be remiss to say that your comment hadn't struck at a place he guards jealously. He's painfully aware of the angel's eyes burning a hole into the side of his head and he nearly squirms at the pitying look he's receiving.

It would seem that Azrael knows him a little too well.

“You never once stopped being my concern...” the Horseman mumbles, his gaze moving down to the image in his hand. A younger, smaller you peers back at him with woe caught like sleep-dust behind your eyelashes. Death's eyes shoot back up to you again, the softness gone from his voice when he growls, “Why did you lie to me?”

Tensions are high enough that Azrael doesn't think it prudent to mention you'd lied to him as well.

Apparently, a direct confrontation was not the best way to deal with this delicate situation, a fact that becomes clear when you cinch your jaw shut for a moment, gaze flickering to and fro between the angel and the Horseman.

Seeing two of your most trusted friends standing in his bedroom with a symbol of your shame and your trauma held quite literally in Death's grasp sends your heart rate skyrocketing, fear like poison dripping down into your stomach. You can hardly believe they'd invade your privacy like this. Death especially, who knows better than anyone the necessity for keeping some secrets buried.

He doesn't need to learn about that part of your history - neither of them do. You don't want to have them worrying. And God forbid they should pity you.

Squaring your shoulders, you spin about on a heel and begin to march purposefully down your landing to the stairs.

“Where do you think you're going?!” Death barks after you.

Chest heaving, you pause on the first step and cast a heavy frown over your shoulder at the Horseman, matching his ferocious gaze without a single blink. “If you won't leave that room,” you tell him, “then I'll leave this house. And I'll thank you both to be gone by the time I get back.”

And just like that, you continue to descend your staircase and disappear below the wooden balustrades. Seconds later and there's an almighty 'slam' that signals you've had an altercation with the front door before leaving through it.

For some time, the house is weighed down under a blanket of silence as the pair of unearthly beings are left to stand in the aftershocks of their actions.

“Oh dear..” Azrael's stare is vacant, worried, and he has several fingertips pressed to his lips. “I fear I've reopened an old wound..”

“No. This... isn't your fault,” the Horseman sighs, “I should have addressed this sooner. I've known for some time there was something Y/n didn't want me to know. And, I suppose, I'd always suspected that this room might lead to some answers.”

Taken aback, Azrael turns a mystified look onto the Nephilim. He'd expected Death to lay the blame upon his feathery shoulders, after all, he was the one who first ventured into this so called 'storage cupboard' and upset the proverbial applecart. Still, he finds it somewhat odd that the Horseman – a nosy creature if ever one walked the nine realms – hasn't ever tried to see for himself what lay beyond the door. Tilting his head, the angel asks, “You never thought to investigate?”

At the question, Death averts his gaze and shrugs one of his pale shoulders. “Admittedly, no, I did not.”

“Well... Why?” Azrael presses, though he already has an inkling.

After a moment of frowning pensively at the photo in his hands, the Horseman turns to look at him and he's once again thrown off by the level of emotion in those wild, striking eyes. Death really has grown since knowing you.

“I never brought it up because....”

“.... You didn't want to jeopardise your friendship,” Azrael finishes for him softly, and Death is only grateful that he didn't have to say it himself out loud.

At the same time, the two of them peer back at the photograph and the archangel is surprised at himself for the anger that boils in his lungs at the sight of that man’s hands on you. Death however, isn’t in the least bit surprised at the presence of his own rage.

“Horseman...,” Azrael says, his voice eerily calm, “You don’t supposed.... Y/n might be trying to hide something else, do you?”

"The bruise...”

Furious, orange eyes meet cool and misty white.

“It isn’t out of the question,” Azrael breathes, “A random attack from human zealots? Or-”

“- Or something a bit closer to home,” Death finishes as he tosses the photo onto the nearby bed and turns to face the door.

Outside, rain continues to hammer relentlessly on the house whilst a streak of lightening illuminates the bedroom and the two, imposing beings inside, one with dark magics crackling at his fingertips, and the other with a halo of solid gold on his back that thrums with violent energy as the glyphs on his wings begin to glow electric blue.

Without a word, the Angel of Death and the Grim Reaper slip from your house and stride out into the coming storm, their ancient minds focused solely on tracking down their human.

#darksiders #darksiders 2 #darksiders 3 #Azrael #Death #Reader #abuse #child abuse #angst #Angel #Nephilim #Horseman of the Apocalypse #Hurt/comfort #found family #demon #guardian angels

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greenninjagal-blog · 4 years

Note

I really like your fic recs and I don’t really keep very up to date with the latest sanders sides stuff on ao3 so, favorite fics from the past week?

Oh uh... lets see today is 8/5/2020... and I’ll do my fav fics that have just been posted or updated this week:

Swept Away - Part Three of my favorite Sirens au, where Logan gets swept up in a storm and wonders if anyone will miss him (they will).

The Variables - Logan bought a house in the middle of nowhere so he could avoid having to ever talk to anyone else ever again. The ghosts have other plans.

You Can Picani Family You Want - Emile fosters two kids and quickly learns he’ll do anything to see them smile.

Atypical Destiny - LAMP soulmates are determined to make their polyamory work, even if no one else thinks it will.

‘Cause Every Time We Touch, I Get This Feeling - Touch starved Janus falls for touchy-feely Patton.

Rays on My Skin - Virgil is six when he discovers that he has multiple soulmates and absolutely none of them speak his language. Oh and also three of them don’t know he exists.

If You Give a Side a Lion - Remus and Roman have some things to work out, but first it looks like theyre gonna have to save the universe, along with three other guys, an alien prince, and his assistant. A Voltron AU that I didn’t know I needed.

The Story of Emile the Seer - Emile is unfortunately born with the ability to see the future. Theres a lot of awful things people would do about that.

Alleyway - Logan finds a baby in a dumpster in an alley and decides to keep it.

Slower Than Words - Virgil can’t see. Patton can’t hear. But theyre stuck in a cell together while people conduct unethical experimentation on them, so maybe they can learn to communicate?

Old Scars, Future Hearts - Virgil has a problem asking for help when he’s overwhelmed, but this time? This time the others are already angry at him. And they wont want to help him if they’re angry at him, right?

the shapes in the silence - Virgil turns into a cat-sized Dragon when he gets overwhelmed which only becomes a problem when Patton finds him hiding in the pantry and thinks he’s a figment from imagination and not another side. And if the Light sides like him so much as a dragon....well maybe he should stay that way.

breathing and other rhythms that used to be easy - A Nightmare brings Virgil back to the dark side of the mindscape, just to check, just to make sure, just to see that Deceit and Remus are still breathing and thats it. In and out. They won’t even know he was there.

Road Trips and Missing Persons - Patton goes out for groceries and doesn’t come back home because he gets kidnapped by a child with a knife. Virgil is on the run from his crazy mother after she killed his father. Janus will do anything to get to his brother before his mother does. Remy isn’t actually dead. And Logan will strangle his entire family for not answering their phones.

Bounty - A sequel to Abduction in the Space Family series: Space, aliens and Virgil is a human in the middle of it all. Excellent series, 20/10 and I will cry about it. thanks.

The Curse of Hanahaki - In which Remus plays himself by cursing Imagination so that anyone who falls in love will cough up flowers. Aka Hanahaki but with a tangible plot.

fall out of in love with me - Deceit asks Remus to make him a potion to dilute his intense feelings for Virgil before they crush him at the absolute worst possible time for Virgil.

A Wager. - Virgil meets professional gambler and they mage a wager they both come out winning in.

i’ll sink for you - Deceit can hypnotize anyone, but Virgil is all to willing to be his plaything.

Save the Moment - Patton takes pictures of everything. Janus notices more than he should.

Lavender - Patton can’t handle the sound of Logan and Roman’s argument, but thankfully Janus steps up to the plate.

Mind Over Matter - Being a human in Space is just asking for trouble. Being forced to fight in fighting ring just makes Virgil another sad statistic. However, choosing not to fight his clearly harmless opponent....that makes him different.

The Apartment - Virgil moves into his first apartment and becomes best friends with the elderly man who lives next door and tells fond stories of his numerous grandkids that can never seem to make time for him. Virgil is unaware this is how to get himself adopted into a new family.

sweet tea in the summer - Roman and Patton are the sweetest of lovers through the years.

How two exasperated doctors adopted three robots - Rival Scientists Janus and Logan both have the great idea to see what their company is hiding on the same night. They were not prepared for the answer, but they can definitely get used to it. (Bickering Loceit? uh hell yeah.)

Breathe Out - Virgil will become minion for one chance to get out of the closet, thanks. aka: The other darksides are terrible, and Janus thinks that he and Virgil might be able to work well together, and somehow that puts Virgil on track becoming a Light side whether he wants to or not. (And I gush because everything this author writes is amazing)

The Debate - Part of The Other Side of the Mirror au, where Janus, Remus, and Virgil are Thomas’s core sides and big bad scary Logan shows up to ruin everything. Except that he’s actually helping and Janus might have to reconsider if the other sides are actually as bad as he’s made them out to be.

And It Fell Away - Patton and Virgil are part of the Earth Kingdom army. Janus is part of the Fire Kingdom infantry. It seems that the only thing they all have in common are their need to escape the current battle and then the war itself, if just to save their own lives.

Come Alive - Patton tries to end it all but not-so-friendly vampire Janus stops him. Now there’s just an agreement: Patton spends one year as a vampire in the underworld city for the supernatural, and if they decide living still isn’t worth it they can take a stake to themselves, but...Janus is willing to bet they can find at least one person whos worth it. Ft: everyone falls in love with Patton at first sight, as it should be.

by the book - Librarian Virgil runs the adult section of the library, but his most interesting visitor is the tiny child who talks too fast and has really super attractive dads.

Pen Pal - Logan’s roommates all get together and Logan doesn’t think he has a place there with them, so he withdraws and turns to his pen pal for company.

Wedding Crashers - While standing at the alter for his arranged marriage to a princess he will never love, Logan doesn’t think his really lovers are coming for him. He’s pleasantly surprised.

You Haunt Me And I Like It - Ghost Virgil has had a lot of roommates before without ever needing to show himself, but this one is just too skeptical for him to leave alone.

Wow that is a lot more than I thought I had!

Looking for more fics? I’m got more lists here on my Fic Rec Masterlist!

#greengabs #fic recs #good god there were so many

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i-dream-of-twilight-sparkle · 4 years

Text

Chapter 31: The Sands of Time & Family

The next morning, with one more day left to go until the wedding. Twilight and Spike wake up to once again deactivate all their security measures. Before getting to doing something they mutually agreed was best for the day: More spirit summons for friends who’d like to see any deceased that they miss dearly. Pear Butter, Bright Mac, and Sunset had all returned to the soul shield last night. Though they will be summoned back down for the Wedding tomorrow.

Spike gets the idea of finding Fluttershy to let her see many of the deceased spirits of her many pets over the years. They in fact find Fluttershy at the cottage, and kinda suspecting she knows what they’re visiting for. She grins and gets Twilight and Spike to follow her to her pet cemetery. Soon, Fluttershy surrounds herself with many of the small spirits of her beloved pets from the years as an animal caretaker. Pets of all kinds that are more then happy to see the pony that took care of them, in some cases, their entire lives.

Fluttershy quickly in deep bliss as she gets nuzzles, and affection from the spirits of the animals she’s had to bury. Even Mr. Mousey gets to have a reunion with his family. As a spirit he’s even standing up again rather then be in his wheelchair-bound state, as he hugs his wife and grown-up son. She even brings many of them back to see her currently living animals. Both living and spirit animals come across and each other, both kinda confused when some of them can’t touch the others. Though there are some that recognize each other, as well as of course other animal families that Fluttershy’s taken care of aside from Mr. Mousey’s that can.

Twilight and Spike tell Fluttershy they can let Fluttershy spend time with her many animal spirits for the rest of the day while they head elsewhere. Fluttershy does express a little concern about what she was told about the shield having less protection with too many spirits summoned. Though Twilight assures her by saying the size of the spirit matters more then the number of spirits summoned. So it’s actually pretty safe to summon down many of the smaller animals where is it’s summoning full-grown dragons that brings out the most risk. So as long as the collective size of the spirits aren’t bigger then 2 full grown dragons. It should be relatively safe to have the many spirits down here (Though just for the sake of safety they may also try to not make sure it the amount isn’t bigger then one dragon spirit too)

They bid adieu to Fluttershy to spend the day with animals both living and the deceased brought back as spirits. Their next stop is to see Pinkie and her Family to see Granny Pie.

Pinkie hasn’t really mentioned Granny Pie a lot since mentioning her while they were walking through the everfree to confront Nightmare Moon. But Granny Pie had died sometime before the Elements all collectively met.

Once Granny Pie was summoned down it became pretty obvious now where Pinkie got her personality and probably even somewhat color. Granny Pie was of a bit duller Pink then Pinkie was, but even as the old timer she was pretty bouncy. Pinkie’s Parents as well as Maud, Marble all welcome back their grandmother. Limestone at first tries to pretend she didn’t miss Granny Pie, but moments later she loses composure and it turns out she missed Granny Pie the most of all the Pie sisters. Outright tearing heavily as she hugs her grandmother.

Granny Pie also gets to meet Maud and Pinkie’s special someponies Mud Briar and Cheese Sandwich. Quickly seeing how each are much like the granddaughters they’re dating.

Pinkie Pie and Granny then do a sort of reprise of Giggle at the Ghostly, but this time around change the lyrics around a bit.

((To the tune of the Giggle at the Ghostly/Laughter Song))

Pinkie Pie & Granny Pie: Giggle with the ghostly!

Guffaw with your granny!

Clap with the cemetery!

Whoop it up with the wispy!

Laughing at the Reaper!

Snortle with the spiritually!

As with Fluttershy and her animals, Twilight & Spike let Pinkie and her family spend much of the rest of the day with Granny Pie as she moves on to the next ponies she wants to help.

She goes to gather the Pillars of Equestria to see many of their friends from before they went into Limbo. Somnambula having already seen the miracle of spirit summoning when they were seeing Jinn backs up that Twilight’s spirit summoning is real. Starswirl seeing his old apprentice Clover the Clever, Mistmane sees Sable Spirit, Meadowbrook sees her mother, Flash Magnus sees all his squad, while Somnambula and Rockhoof meet friends from their villages. Twilight herself being kind of excited herself for being able to talk to those from more then 1000 years ago to get some more personal account of what it was like then aside from the many times she’s already asked the pillars themselves about then. Though most of all the pillars of Equestria are just thankful to Twilight and Spike for discovering this.

Next, Twilight and Spike meet up with Celestia and Luna and give them a chance to many ponies that were staffers or guards that became so loyal and trusted that they became personal friends with the sisters. Luna seeing many of her friends that been left behind when she turned to the darkside when she became Nightmare Moon and got sent to the moon. Luna showing she’s back to normal, with her old friends thankful for it.

In some time, all the spirits hear that Celestia and Luna are retiring soon to make way for Twilight. And all of them have grateful words for the sisters to wish them well in their retirement. Both Celestia and Luna can hardly hold back tears as they smile with the words they receive from the support of those who dedicated their lives to supporting one or both of the two sisters. Some of them also wish luck on Twilight as she succeeds into their role. Unlike the others though, Twilight and Spike send them back sometime later as Celestia and Luna do a few more royal duties that day. Though they tell their former staffers and guards there will be much more time to see them if they happen to come by or go see Spike in their retirement. All of them understand and let Spike send them back to the soul shield.

From there, only one more was on Twilight and Spike’s mind: Malakhar & Kubuya, so they can summon Hisan Minat, Malakhar’s grandfather. They quickly get back to Saddle Arabia through the gum portal and the couple getting married having both seen spirit summoning early in the day yesterday understand what Twilight and Spike are here to do. They go into Malakhar’s and Kubuya’s room in the palace.

Twilight: You ready to see your Grandfather again, Malakhar?

Malakhar: Of course

Twilight: Sorry if me and Spike didn’t get here sooner. We had… a lot happen in regards to seeing Applejack’s parents for the first time… and Starlight’s Mother as well.

Malakhar: Oh, Starlight Glimmer’s mother is deceased too?

Twilight: Yeah, but finding out that was only the tip of the iceberg of the twists given she was also Sunset Shimmer. who was Princess Celestia’s protege before me.

Malakhar: Sunset Shimmer… I feel like I’ve heard that name before. But I must of only been a little colt at the time. Maybe it was during a random visit from Celestia. Don’t think I saw Sunset herself, just passing mention that she and Celestia were at the palace.

Twilight: Another part of it is that Sunset went missing about 2 weeks after she gave birth to Starlight and thus Starlight never found out who she was. As it turned out she died not anymore then 3 weeks after the birth of Starlight.

Kubuya: That’s so sad…

Malakhar: I definitely understand summoning both Applejack’s parents and Starlight’s mother first. I had my Grandfather for a good portion of my life. Applejack lost both of her parents when she was only a filly, and as you just said Starlight never got to meet her mother until yesterday. Both very noble uses of spirit summoning.

Twilight: I can tell you everything that happened with both Applejack’s parents and Sunset later, as it’s probably best we get to seeing your grandfather soon. Besides, they will probably be summoned to attend your wedding so you two will get to meet them yourselves!

Kubuya: Wow, we’re getting spirit guests, ay?

Malakhar: That will be really cool, heck… if he says yes, we can get my Grandfather there too to see us getting wed.

Twilight: Mmhmm, now how about we get going. Malakhar, we only need your hoof to make this work. You know what to do from there.

Malakhar: Got it!

Malakhar approaches close to Spike to touch the Dragon’s Tear, closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and begins to mentally message his grandfather.

Malakhar: (Hello Grandpa, this is your grandson Malakhar. I have seen Princess Twilight’s son Spike summon down spirits more then once by now. And now it’s your turn. I can’t wait to see you again. You should see that I accomplished your dying wish with your own eyes, and I would like you to meet the mare who will be my beautiful wife starting tomorrow…)

Malakhar finishes, and now it was up to Spike to complete it. Focusing one more time, the Dragon Tear once again starts glowing. And within a few moments, another pony-sized comet comes into the room from the open window. Everyone in the room has seen it at least more then once, so no more surprised looks just awaiting for the comet to shift into a glowing sphere and forming into the shape of Malakhar’s grandfather.

Hisan Manat fully fades in, and he looks around.

Hisan Manat: Say, this is the palace isn’t it?

Malakhar just walks up and hugs his old grandfather.

Hisan: Whoa! You’ve grown so big, Malakhar! If I weren’t a spirit, I’d be afraid of you cracking some bones!

Both Malakhar and Hisan just laugh.

Malakhar: I’ve missed you so much, Grandpa...

Hisan: I’ve missed you from up there as well…

Hisan turns toward Twilight, noticing of course the genie attire and of course she was Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic that he asked Malakhar to genify.

Hisan: Greetings, Princess Twilight. It’s nice to personally meet you, I’m well aware that Malakhar succeeded in genifying you even from up there. Giving many of us spirits usually get at least some of the bigger current events told. But it is nice to see the attire up close to be absolutely sure it happened. Thank you Malakhar for fulfilling my last wish. Though back to you, Twilight… you feeling good about being a genie thus far?

Twilight: Well… by now I’ve generally accepted being a genie as part of my identity by now. After all, there are a few major parts of my identity that are younger then being a genie. Such as being a princess, and Spike’s mother. Though I will admit, it is a little awkward seeing you now.

Hisan: Awkward? In what way?

Twilight: You were the one who made Malakhar’s mission to specifically genify me, correct?

Hisan: Yes… my very last words were “Please, genify the Element of Magic” before my soul left my body

Twilight: I don’t want to concern you too much, as I know how important it was given it was your dying wish and all… at the same time though it doesn’t feel right to really… thank you for it… given I was sort of tricked into being a genie…

Hisan: t-t-Tricked?!

Malakhar suddenly has a very nervous face

Twilight: Malakhar told me to do the instructions requiring to genify a pony… but without informing me what would happen if I did…

Hisan gives his grandson a stern face

Hisan: Malakhar… what were you thinking?! You could of blown the one shot you had with that Dragon’s Tear!

Malakhar: I’m… sorry… Grandpa… I didn’t think Twilight was going to agree easily, if I had just went up and said “Hey Twilight, would you like to be a genie?”

Twilight: To be fair, Hisan… if Malakhar had said something akin to that... I might of thought he was insane and walked out. As at the time, I thought Genies were only myths.

Hisan calms down a bit, though still has a suggestion to Malakhar that might of made getting Twilight to try being a genie a little smoother then.

Hisan: I guess you might of been more aware that Twilight’s more logically thinking, so perhaps you’re right that saying you can transform her into a genie would of left her skeptical.

But perhaps you could have also at the same time told Twilight about the 3 day time limit to get freed immediately… before you genified her anyway. You also could have warned that part of the process is the bottle is the entire body slowly funneled into the bottle. Even if Twilight was skeptical, at least she was forewarned, and told that it would be easily reversible if it didn’t work out.

Twilight puts a hoof under her chin

Twilight: Heh, I guess I might of been still skeptical, yet curious if that’s how it went down. I might of even joked by saying something like “You seriously think that bottle’s going to fit me in?” and I might of chosen to humor the notion by giving it a try.

And then it would be sort of my fault that I had that somewhat terrifying moment of being sucked in the bottle for the first time. I’d be humbled by being proven wrong and not angry as I was.... or well maybe I would of still been a little peeved... but more at myself then at Malakhar.

Maybe I even wouldn’t have immediately asked to get wished out of it to try out being a genie for a little while thanks to knowing about the time limit. I don’t know if I would of stayed a genie in that scenario… but it would of at least been a better first impression...

Malakhar: Yeah… that does sound like that probably would of been a smarter plan in hindsight. If only you had lived long enough to see Twilight on her first time here. You might of gotten Twilight to potentially stay a genie whether or not Spike was there.

Spike: I don’t know if she would of said stayed one if I wasn’t there. After all, it was I who turned her opinion around despite her being angry at Malakhar the time. Though to be fair, it probably would of been a lot easier for me to convince her to stay one… if she had a better first impression of becoming a genie.

Hisan is rather intrigued.

Hisan: You convinced Twilight to stay a genie despite her being angry? Tell me more!

((Story continues after the break))

Spike: I guess first of all Malakhar in part didn’t tell Twilight how to get back to normal as otherwise if he did… Twilight would of surely done so immediately. He told us to find a book at a nearby library to explain how being a genie works. We eventually got to reading the book, but not before Twilight discovered the first perk of being a genie... that being getting out of her bottle is always an enjoyable feeling. Sort of cheering her up, as we learned more and more about how genies worked... Twilight actually started to get curious about the kind of things she can do now as a genie that would of been impossible as a unicorn and quite frankly impossible as an Alicorn too. Enough so as to actually decide to try it a little longer even after hearing how to get back to normal.

Learning about the time limit brought back some tension however, as Twilight couldn’t have known at the time she was going to become an Alicorn that can’t die from aging… I really wanted Twilight to stay a genie myself since it would mean she would be around for at least a good amount of my life, though I understood that outliving her friends and family was still a big con. I told Twilight that I’d respect her decision even if obviously one might of saddened me more then the other. Obviously in retrospect even if she had said no, then the whole Alicorn thing would of still made it possible… though then it would have overrided Twilight’s decision to remain mortal. Becoming a genie just turned out to be the time where Twilight was first asked if she wanted to be there for me longer then for a normal pony’s lifespan.

Perhaps… this is when my birth mother’s desire for the perfect mother started to accelerate being granted as it subtly influenced Twilight’s mind. As the desire was dormant within Twilight’s mind the moment she hatched me. The desire wanted just the right conditions that would result in Twilight to be a good mother for me, and making Twilight wanting to be my mother as early as a filly would of been way too early. So it waited, occasionally picking up at moments that would grow our relationship slowly into a motherly bond. Such as telling me that she’d never send me away when that was the fear I had when we faced Sombra’s fear door...

Twilight: Huh… could a desire from a Dragon’s Tear really work like that… at the very least it did do it in a way where it felt earnest, I could not tell at all if it was something dormant in my mind… I never felt like I was ever going to say or do something otherwise before something changed my mind… I don’t feel like I was slowly hypnotized into eventually considering myself your mother.

Hisan smiles

Hisan: When a Dragon’s Tear is not being used to make genies, a desire said into one mostly waits and looks for the nearest living being that’ll best either help get the desire done or even grant it entirely. Spike’s actually wrong that it just laid dormant and picked up every now and then. That was actual honest feelings you felt as you spent time with Spike. It didn’t make you choose to stay a genie, that was still your decision in the end. You ultimately became Spike’s mother on your own will. The desire just knew ahead of time you would agree to get a longer lifespan or even become immortal if it meant you could take care of Spike longer somehow. I don’t know how, but it did.

Twilight: That’s actually a pretty big relief… I was scared for a moment hearing that last part of what Spike said that this might have implied my motherly bond was never genuine...

I imagine though it makes sense that it was still my decision because I don’t think me becoming a genie was what the desire was accounting for… because another part of it was the Perfect Mother desire wasn’t the only desire connected to me... as it was entwined with Celestia’s own desires in looking for a successor. It was accounting for the fact that I would one day become an Alicorn.

Hisan: Perhaps, though given you didn’t know at the time you’d become an Alicorn. Becoming a genie sort of started granting the desire early. You would of probably ending up adopting Spike either way, but being faced with the choice to become a genie accelerated you and Spike’s realization, cause at that point it was the only thing you knew that would allow you to live longer.

So it was ultimately your special bond that saved my dream of at least having one genie around. So thanks both of you, and probably Celestia, as well as Spike’s birth mother too. The threads of life all connecting like this is most amazing.

Twilight: You’re welco… or well, I don’t know if your welcome is the right words. As it’s not like our direction our lives took was all for you. But I guess it still managed to conveniently fulfill your dying wish.

Speaking of dying though, a good thing about discovering Spirit summoning is it really nerfs the biggest concern I had about becoming a genie. I’ll be able to see and talk with friends and family even long after they’re gone just like how we’re seeing you now.

Hisan: That is true, not even the genies of old had that luxury, so it was always a reason why it was a bit of a tough sell. As there were often plenty of ponies that many of me and Malakhar’s ancestors thought would make good genies, but due to being modest as part of the criteria many of them so modest to ever accept the idea of far outliving their friends and/or family. They’d usually need more of an actual reason to live so long,

Twilight: And I guess… having a dragon that would become my adopted son was mine.

Hisan: Indeed! It’s also true that one day if we get a good amount of Dragon Tears around, the existence of spirit summoning will lessen the concerns about that. So perhaps some day soon even if that’s still decades or centuries from happening. We’ll have genies back in a big way. Of course, you’re capable of genifying others if they wish for it too, Twilight. Though I assume you have a good reason why you haven’t

Twilight: Yeah… I’m being careful. I at least like using something like the genie simulation where they feel what it’s like to be genies but have none of the magical power. And most who would want to wish be a real genie is kind of suspicious, because they might have an ulterior motive.

Which is why I’d rather trust Malakhar if he ever decided to try to find the next genie. After all, it’s your family that’s been vetting potential genies for generations.

Hisan just claps

Hisan: I knew you’d be careful, I did right by telling Malakhar to genify you, you were the best choice out of the elements just because I knew you’d think before making your wishes. In the right setting, some of you other friends might of made good genies. But there was at least one big concern about each of them.

Twilight: I myself have kind of figured that myself too. Applejack is a little bit magic-averse, Rainbow Dash couldn’t be a Wonderbolt and a Genie, while Rarity would be a consideration… she has a career, plus I’m unsure if she’d like the whole bottle thing. Fluttershy at least early on might of come with fears of her kindness granting wishes when she doesn’t even know if she’s being used by someone with ulterior motives, and Pinkie Pie… is Pinkie Pie.

Hisan nods

Hisan: I agree maybe Rarity might have been the next best choice. But I had only one Dragon Tear, and it felt appropriate to genify you as you’re known to be a fair bit more modest then Rarity is. Not that Rarity would be too vain, but she probably would of used some of her power for some degree of personal luxury where as I suspected you would put more thought into all you do as a genie.

Twilight nods herself, and smiles

Twilight: Thank you, Hisan. It’s been quite an interesting conversation. Glad I got a little insight into all this genie stuff from you. It probably would have been more valuable to me if you there when I was first genified. I would of certainly gotten a quicker understanding. I now know why Malakhar always held you in such high regard.

Hisan: I want to give some thanks myself in return, I’m glad I got to see that I did right with asking Malakhar to genify you in more ways then one. You’re exactly the genie I hoped you would be.

Hisan looks around the room and takes a look at Kubuya who’s been generally silent the whole time.

Hisan: Hey, Malakhar. Who’s the other mare here?

Malakhar: Oh that’s right… ahem… Grandpa… I’d like you to meet Kubuya Atka. Who will be my lovely wife starting tomorrow.

Hisan gasps, but quickly smiles for his grandson.

Hisan: That’s great news Malakhar, congratulations on your coming wedding!

As Hisan looks closer at Malakhar’s soon-to-be wife. As Kubuya just gently waves with a sheepish grin.

Hisan: Say… I feel like I’ve seen you before actually… you were a lot younger then likely, and I don’t think I ever got your name before today… but I definitely feel like I recognize you…

Kubuya: Really? I must admit… I’m not sure I remember ever meeting you…

Hisan: It’s understandable, you were only in your teens. But I remember seeing a young mare of your color scheme working at the library while I was there. We likely never met because I was just a random occasional customer.

Kubuya: Ah yeah, I didn’t quite start getting check-out desk duties there until real close to adulthood. I just sorted books or assisted my boss until I eventually got promoted.

Hasan: I also remember you, because of your cutie mark

Kubuya: Huh, my cutie Mark? Surely you just thought it was just a bookmark, right?

Kubuya looks at her flank

Hisan: It is a bookmark. But the flower on said mark is distinct in your family’s lineage isn’t it?

Kubuya: Well, yeah… it is… since I’m a descendent of Jinn’s. But why are you mentioning this.

Hisan: Because… say I had never thought about genifying an Element of Harmony. And if I had lived sometime longer then I did, I may have tried to recruit you as the one genie.

Kubuya: Wait… really?!

Hisan: It would of been a decent amount of years before I did it, and I would of still had to make sure you had the temperament and were willing to become one but yes. I had thought at one point that perhaps a descendent of Jinn may be the best choice to have the first genie in so long. But you were too young, and I heard of the news of the Elements of Harmony that would make Twilight Plan A, and shortly afterward I died before it could happen. Plus, I never told Malakhar about you beforehand because I wanted him to focus on Twilight as soon as it became obvious I wasn’t going to live much longer.

Kubuya: Well… I’m kind of flattered you considered to make me a genie at some point. I’m not sure if I would of made the criteria, or how exactly I would of felt about being asked… but I probably would of at least considered it. Though I’m getting married tomorrow, so it’s definitely a little too late.

I’m aware that some genies in the distant past have wedded mortals long in the past. Though if they wanted children, they had to magically switch genders with their special somepony, or find some other way to incubate the foal since the foal is never born a genie.

Hisan: Don’t worry, I wasn’t going to ask if you’d like to be a genie now as I’m aware it’s best you stay as you are if you do indeed plan to be wedded tomorrow and have children.

Malakhar: Speaking of having children, Me and Kubuya did talk at one point of possibly having a child of ours become a genie. Though we agreed we’d make sure we raise them well and see if they find interest in being one themselves when they grow up to adulthood.

Twilight: You two want your child to be the next genie?

Kubuya: We’d be proud to be the parents of the next genie. But we do want make sure that’s what they want first. There’s so many intricacies that we have to think about it in regards to both our future child’s personality, how well we take care of them, and/or if they find themselves with goals in which becoming a genie might be detrimental to.

Malakhar: We’d need either another Dragon’s Tear… in which the only one we have on hoof is Spike’s, but its found a better use in summoning spirits. Or we could ask you to genify the next one through a wish should we not have another Dragon’s Tear show up within the time.

Twilight: I’d be willing to help out if you truly believe you found a good choice for the next Genie whether it’s a grown-up child of yours or somepony else here. As it’d probably be nice to have a fellow genie friend here and living in Saddle Arabia. Though either way, we might be speaking too soon.

Hisan: We have lots of time before we get anywhere near there. Just focus on the wedding tomorrow, and go from there.

Malakhar: Oh right… Grandpa, we actually wanted to ask if you’d be willing to be summoned back down tomorrow to see us getting wed. It’d be great to have you there.

Hisan smiles

Hisan: Nothing would make happier, I would love to be there.

Malakhar: Thank you, Grandpa.

Hisan: Will your mother and my son/your father be there too?

Malakhar: Yeah

Hisan: Probably would be good to see them myself again too

Twilight: Huh, I don’t think I ever met your parents Malakhar. Hope there wasn’t a big reason for that…

Malakhar: Nah, I still love my parents. I’m just not quite as close with them as I was with my Grandfather. My father wasn’t as much into pottery or the whole genies thing, since my grandfather’s obsession was a little much for him growing up. But I got interested enough that I sort of became the son that he hoped my father would be. My mother’s really nice, but there wasn’t really ever a reason to mention her In the time I’ve seen you, there just was never a relevant time to talk about them.

Twilight: Ah, I see. Well, regardless I can’t wait for the wedding. It’ll be nice to end this roller coaster of emotions these past few days with a happy matrimony.

The rest of the room nods, as they continue talking. Elsewhere in the palace though, the Sultana has taken today as an opportunity to get to know Moondancer and has been giving her a tour of the palace similar to the one she gave the Elements while Twilight had a meeting. Both the Sultan and Sultana first met with Moondancer as Twilight and the others spent time in Equestria seeing Applejack’s Parents and/or Sunset Shimmer, the royals quickly embracing her as their son’s special somepony.

Moondancer: Thank you so much for this wonderful tour, miss Sultana.

Sultana Elona: Please, call me Elona.

Moondancer: Oh! Then… thank you… Elona. You have some excellent displays in the Palace. When I’m living here, I can’t wait to be able to take my time and examine everything here.

Sultana Elona: And we can’t wait to have you around the palace, both me and the Sultan have already taken a liking to you. And seeing how happy you and our son is very heartwarming.

Moondancer: I’m glad to know all of you are so nice, I was sort of scared before the ball that like Rarity before one of the Grand Galloping Galas that Twilight went to, I’d have my hopes up meeting a prince only for them to be too stuck up or his parents were going to disapprove of me being a commoner. and a foreign one at that...

The Sultana smiles

Sultana Elona: I assure you that we have no such problems with either. I’m native here, but I was once myself only a commoner here in Saddle Arabia. I was a nurse that healed my husband, who was the Prince at the time, from a near-fatal stab wound in the chest. Once he had recovered, he asked me out. And well… the rest is history, as you can see where I am now.

Moondancer: D’awww, that’s so cute… no wonder you referred to the medical section as your favorite part of this tour.

The Sultana just nods

Sultana Elona: Now follow me Moondancer, there is one more stop before our tour is finished.

Moondancer: Okay

The Sultana bring Elona to an end of a hallway, where eventually they come across a large Dragon’s Tear replica

Moondancer: Whoa… this… is this… a full-sized Dragon’s Tear…

Sultana Elona: It’s the full size, though it’s not a real one. Otherwise we certainly would have used it ages ago.

Moondancer: Twilight’s told me a few times about the Dragon’s Tear. I’ve heard how amazing they can be, though I’ve been hearing that just yesterday they have discovered something entirely new about them.

Sultana Elona: Indeed they have, my husband told me all about it. Apparently, Twilight and Spike has learned they’re capable of summoning down spirits of the deceased. They come down in transparent ghostly forms, and we’re free to talk to them and everything.

Moondancer: Say WHAAAAAAAAT?! That’s incredible! I have to catch up with Twilight to hear about all this sometime...

Sultana Elona: Perhaps during Malakhar and Kubuya’s wedding?

Moondancer: Yeah, that sounds like it’d be the perfect time to see her then. If I know Twilight, she’s probably been using the past two days to use the newfound spirit summoning to help out needy friends with those they miss or see any deceased historical figures she can possibly get.

Sultana Elona: Probably! But by the way, this Dragon Tear replica isn’t actually what the last stop is.

Moondancer: Huh? But there’s nothing else here. It’s an entirely dead end…

The Sultana raises an eyebrow and grins

Sultana Elona: Is it really?

The Sultana presses a hidden button. The replica starts moving as the part of the wall with the Dragon Tear replica shifts forward and then starts rotating high up in the air. Revealing a long stair case behind it. Smaller Dragon Tear replicas slowly light up the staircase walls that serve as lights to lead the way.

Moondancer: Whooooooa! A secret passage! Are we going down there?

Sultana Elona: Of course! Follow me!

The Sultana and Moondancer go down the long flight of stands. Once they’ve reached the end, Moondancer looks around and sees… a motherload of bookcases and shelves. She goes wide eyed, with her mouth agape, her glasses nearly slipping off her snoot before she uses a hoof to put them back up.

Moondancer: I… I…. Is… is this… is this the….

Sultana Elona: Royal Library? Yes, yes it is.

Moondancer beams a huge grin and barely can contain her excitement. She starts trotting around making a high-pitched squeal of excitement

Moondancer: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHEHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Moondancer: This is amazing! I don’t think I’ve ever seen books like this in Canterlot before! I could spend decades… if not my whole lifetime with all of these books here…

Sultana Elona: Many of these books are from the many generation of Royals that lived here. This library was first built by the Sultana that started my husband’s dynasty generations ago. Part of the job of being Sultana is actually to keep this library running, and add whatever the Sultana wishes to do so, as well as pass along knowledge to the next one.

Moondancer: But wait… shouldn’t you have waited… untill at least when me and the Prince got engaged? We only started dating two days ago…

Sultana Elona: Maybe, but I thought it was important to show you this place anyway. We know you’re a bookworm much like Twilight is, and we want you to be as happy as possible here once you have moved. Heck, not even Twilight knows about this room because she’s never here long enough. She can’t stay here long enough to read most of these books, cause she has duties in Equestria.

Obviously she’d be bummed if she saw this place but knows she won’t be able to stay too long to see what’s in here. But if there’s something in here that you’d think would interest Twilight. It’ll be something to tell her personally yourself the next time he comes to Saddle Arabia or at least through the mail.

Moondancer: Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh… Elona… you’re the best… er… potential mother-in-law ever!

Moondancer embraces the Sultana in a big hug

Sultana Elona: You’re very welcome, Moondancer. By the way, this place also has more dancing books that have never been shared to the public. Since they were specific to some Sultanas who were great dancers. I can already tell you’re a better dancer then me, just based of what I saw during the ball. So you’ll certainly get some good use out of them.

Moondancer: Oh yes! That’ll be great to see too! Thank you so much! Is… it ok if I find a few books I want to read for the rest of the day? I promise I won’t stay up all night reading books, as I do intend on being there for Malakhar and Kubuya’s wedding. But I’m eager to see which books I’ll want to check out first.

Sultana Elona: Of course, Moondancer Feel free to explore to your heart’s content. I have to go though, and I’ll be closing the door, but there will be a button to open the wall again from the other side when you decide you’re done. Ok?

Moondancer: Yes, again… thank you so much. I’ll see you in the morning for the wedding!

Sultana Elona: Seeya at the wedding, Moondancer.

The Sultana goes back up the stairs to leave Moondancer to explore the library. Meanwhile, Twilight and Spike have finished talking with Malakhar and Kubuya. They actually decided to send Hisan back to the soul shield as it was getting late anyhow.

Spike: Soooooo… off to bed before the wedding?

Twilight: Yeah, but first… I have something serious to take care of shortly before we have our happy day at the wedding.

Spike: Cozy Glow’s statue, I take it?

Twilight: Yes… though actually... make that two things…

Spike: Oh… you also mean… him… don’t you…

Spike briefly closes his right eye and places his hand on his eye scar. While Twilight nods.

Twilight: I’ll be right back, Spike. Here take this piece of gum so you can get back to Ponyville.

Spike himself nods and proceeds to himself to Ponyville. Twilight herself goes to Ponyville but close to what Starlight did, specifically went to where the statue of Cozy Glow, Queen Chrysalis, and Lord Tirek are currently petrified. She flies up to the top of the statue where Cozy Glow’s forever frightened face.

Before she met Sunset and learned of Cozy’s past, that face admittedly sort of haunted her. Not much was known about Cozy before her petrification. Cozy Glow at that point was known only as one of Twilight’s students at the Friendship School that seems to have taken the word that Friendship is Magic too literal in that it’s powerful. And there was some sort of feeling that maybe one day they’d let Cozy out soon to attempt to reform her much like they did with Discord.

But after learning about Cozy’s true nature, along with having a huge role in Sunset’s death, being much of the reason Starlight’s life was so hard early on, and how her goal would of ended up in the extinction of all life on the planet. Twilight now looks at Cozy with more contempt then either Chrysalis or Tirek. Twilight carefully takes the petrified Cozy off, and makes a completely separate pocket dimension to carefully place her in. Only Twilight herself will have access to it.

Now Twilight makes another portal, but this time in the Saddle Arabian dungeon. Where former Vicegerent Zathir, the psychopathic pony that hijacked Twilight and her friend’s last visit. There’s a heavy amount of guards here, the captain of which bows before the approaching Twilight though he does wonder why I’m here.

Royal Captain: It is a pleasure to be in your presence, Princess Twilight. But… what are you doing here?

Twilight: I need to make a “special” visit to a certain pony here. Let’s just say, once I’m done you won’t have to worry about feeding him anymore

Royal Captain: Wait… you aren’t going to execute him… are you…?

Twilight: No, I’m not executing him. I understand that would probably be disastrous, given it’d likely release some consequential dark magic onto Saddle Arabia. But you should recall Equestria has had ways to deal mostly permanently with threats that aren’t likely to be reformed soon.

I will also be taking him to a pocket dimension where no one will ever reach him ever again.

The Captain nods

Royal Captain: Allow me to take you to his cell

Twilight follows the captain to where Zathir is being held. Even the guards themselves have been kind of gotten tired of having to force-feed each day Zathir so that he stays alive. His entire room confinement is too soft in all parts of the room for him to try to kill himself by banging his head, and his hooves are tied down by a straight jacket.. He’s also muzzled. When the guards need to feed him, their strongest hold him down, so he can’t bite to tear the wall until finding a hard enough surface.

Royal Captain: Here it is, do what you will.

Twilight: Thank you, Captain.

Twilight teleports into Zathir’s cell. Startling the disgraced criminal. Zathir’s voice can still be heard though it’s still somewhat muffled by the muzzle

Zathir: Wha… Twilight… what do you think you’re doing here? Are you going to join in on the guards constant torture of reminding me of my failure…

Twilight: Not really, I’m actually here to… let’s just say… change your sentence…

Zathir raises an eyebrow

Zathir: I’d be most grateful to a genie for the first time in my life if it was the sweet release of death… but I have a feeling you’re not going to be that merciful… are you…

Twilight: Actually, I’m sort of… getting you out of here…

Zathir goes wide-eyed

Zathir: Wait… you’re… pardoning me?

Twilight: Nah, it’s not a pardon either.

Zathir is utterly confused

Zathir: Just what in the world are you planning…

Twilight smugly grins

Twilight: You could say… I’m granting you immortality… the once proud Vicegerent Zathir’s legacy... completely... set... in... stone...

Zathir: Wait… no… please…

Twilight zaps Zathir with magic that petrifies him from the hind hooves reflexively making him stand as the stone petrifies more of his body

Zathir: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooommmppppppppphhhh!

Zathir now’s affixed in stone with his look of horror as he realized Twilight’s making it so he can never die. Twilight once again pulls up the pocket dimension where she put Cozy, and levitates Zathir’s petrified body into it. She then teleports out of the cell with a satisfied face, where the Royal Guard captain is waiting.

Royal Captain: Has the deed been done?

Twilight nods

Twilight: Mmhmm, the guards here no longer need to worry about keeping Zathir alive. And you’ll have no need to fear a death with consequences of dark magic toward Saddle Arabia.

Royal Captain: Thank you, Princess

The Royal Captain and Twilight salute each other before Twilight heads back to Ponyville. Even with Zathir all taken care of, she puts up the protection spells in the castle once again. So they can rest easily before Malakhar and Kubuya’s wedding tomorrow.

UP NEXT: Epilogue: The Wedding

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mrspettyferr · 5 years

Text

19 Years Later

Inspired by the epilogue of Harry Potter

No matter how many years had passed, it was strange to see the isolated planet of Ahch-To crowded with so many ships and people. The Lanai did their best to round up the anxious children, many of which were playing with practice sabers or trying to catch a glimpse of the thala-sirens lounging among the jagged cliffs. Some chased after porgs or skipped along the rocky paths. The padawans were more disciplined, chatting in small groups or staying close to their parents.

For Rey Solo, she was caught up in the memories, watching it all with a quiet sense of contentment. The once ruined huts and structures had been rebuilt, made of dilapidated stone and rock. There were even temples now, classrooms for the younglings and padawans, and landing pads made of grey slab had been built offshore to accommodate the incoming ships.

Some of the Masters had made an appearance, floating among the grassy hills and rock-like structures, their pearly glow frightening some of the younger children. Lando Calrissian was among them, grinning wickedly as he always did on this day. He enjoyed watching the disbelieving students as they came to realize that many of their Masters were, in fact, Force ghosts. Luke Skywalker would be among them, but of course he always made his grand entrance at the opening ceremony.

“Oh!”

Rey was pitched forward as Leia bumped into her, the young girl’s knapsack bouncing on her back as she rushed past.

“Leia, don’t wander off too far!” Rey called after her. This was her third year, and she was finally of age to select her Kyber crystal. It was all she talked about these last few months.

Not far behind came the endless arguing that had not stopped since they left Takodana.

“They don’t really eat people,” Anakin said, sounding less confident than his words implied. “That’s just a stupid rumor.”

“Yes, they do,” his twin sister insisted. “And they’re going to eat you if you don’t—”

“Hanna,” Rey warned.

“They won’t eat me, of course,” Hanna went on, tucking back a strand of wavy black hair that never quite managed to stay confined to her braid. “They only eat darksiders.”

“I won’t be a darksider!” Anakin argued, his dark eyes flaring, his cheeks flushing. “Maybe you will be!”

“Maybe you’ll be neither,” she said with a smirk.

“Hanna, that’s enough,” came Ben’s deep voice as he finally emerged. He was wearing his formal Senator robes, which looked out of place among all the green and sunshine.

“What?” Hanna asked innocently. “I’m only repeating what Master Luke said.”

“He didn’t say that. He—” Ben paused, seeming to think it over and coming to the same conclusion as Rey.

“He probably did,” she muttered, shaking her head. She turned to the twins. “Thala-sirens are harmless. Now, grab your bags and we’ll find Uncle Finn and Aunt Rose.”

After the opening ceremony and welcoming feast—which parents were encouraged to attend—they would travel to Naboo, the new seat for the Galactic Senate. Ben was a Senator, and they—along with the kids—often traveled between Takodana and Naboo, where they kept an apartment. Rey, having no desire for politics, ran her own mechanic shop right out of their home on Takodana. It was a castle, after all, and she preferred the smell of oil and rust to the cantina that Maz had established. Maz spent most of her time traveling the galaxy with Chewie. After the war, she had practically forced Ben into restoring the castle to it’s former glory.

“You destroyed it, least you can do is fix it,” she had said. But when they finished, more than a year later, Maz hadn’t moved back in. She only waived them off and said, “Take it, it’s yours. I have no need for it. But the statue stays.”

It didn’t take long to find their friends. Finn was crouched down before his daughter, triple checking her bags and sprouting more advice that Rey was sure Paige did not ask for.

“Stay away from the cliffs. Storms bring in strong currents. Don’t go near the nexus, you know it’s forbidden until seventh year. And don’t listen to Lando, the porgs aren’t venomous. But if they do bite you, just—” His gaze whipped up to Rose, who was watching it all in amusement. “Did you pack enough bandages? What if she—"

“It’s school, not the military, dad,” Paige grumbled.

“I just want you to be prepared,” Finn insisted, reaching out to pat her impossibly curly black hair.

“I think you’re prepared enough for all of us,” Rose teased. She waved when she spotted Rey, Ben, and the twins approaching. Finn followed her gaze; then he bounced up, grinning wide.

“Uncle Finn!” the twins chorused, running forward and half tackling him with a hug.

“Hey! Look at you two. Wow, how tall you’ve grown, Anakin. And Hanna, is that…a blaster?” He looked at Rey with mild alarm.

“Yeah! Want to see how good I am?”

“No, no,” Finn said quickly, throwing up his hands. “Let’s keep that holstered before…anyone…” He was glancing nervously around now. “…sees…a child with a blaster…”

Rey shook her head, a smile tugging at her mouth, and pulled him into a hug as the twins went to Rose and Paige.

“Giving the eleven-year-old a blaster now?” he muttered so only she could hear.

“They should know how to use them properly,” said Rey. Then she amended, “I caught the kids playing with them as toys and figured it was better to instruct properly. Don’t worry, she’s not allowed to keep it here.”

Finn’s body rumbled as he laughed. “It’s been too long.”

“It has,” she agreed, pulling back. “How’s Poe? I missed him at our last trip to Naboo.”

“Ah, the General is always busy.” Finn still gave his friend a hard time about the title, especially when he had to use it in public. His expression faltered slightly as he looked past Rey to Ben, who had approached with quiet stealth.

“Solo,” Finn greeted a little formally. It took him almost a year to break the habit of calling him Ren.

Ben inclined his head. “Soldier.”

Finn coughed and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Commander, actually.”

“I fail to notice the difference under Dameron’s command.”

Finn muttered something under his breath, but a reluctant grin tugged at his lips.

Rey and Rose exchanged a look, rolling their eyes. Despite the fact that Ben had worked with the Resistance to defeat Palpatine all those years ago, a bit of tension still remained between the two of them. Rey didn’t know if it would ever truly fade, but they were civil and on occasion, even friendly.

Rose on the other hand was more forgiving, and now she offered Ben a warm smile. “Good to see you, Ben.”

His lips parted slightly—not a smile, but a friendly enough gesture. His smiles were rare, reserved only for his family. “You as well,” he said.

“Mother, I want to find Grandpa Han” said Hanna, tugging on Rey’s arm, a slight whine to her voice.

“Me too,” Anakin chimed in.

“Can I go, too?” Paige asked Rose.

“We need to get you all settled first,” Rey said. “And we need to find your sister…”

Her voice trailed off as she searched for Leia. The girl was a curious thing, disappearing all over the castle when she was a child. She was probably looking for Han, too.

Rey wasn’t sure if it was because of the sacred grounds, or some other unexplained thread of fate, but the Force ghosts could manifest permanently on this island. They could manifest anywhere, if they wanted, but it was more difficult. Here, they were free.

Han refused to call himself a Master, and spent most of his time telling the students stories. But occasionally he would teach them about mechanics and piloting, insisting even Force wielders should learn the basics. Leia on the other hand did insist the students call her General or Master, to both Luke and Han’s amusement.

Rey felt a surge of relief when her eldest finally appeared, panting, as though she had just climbed the steep stairs to the monastery at the top of the island. Her brown hair was straight like Rey’s, her bangs messy and ribbon half undone, as though she had rolled out of bed and done very little to tame her hair. Which was usually the case. She looked sweaty and her ivory robes were already spotted with dirt and earth.

“Where have you been?” Rey demanded. “I told you not to wander off.”

“Everywhere,” Leia answered breathlessly. When she finally caught her breath, she straightened a bit, her eyes widening with some newfound enlightenment. “I’ll say this, though. I’m never drinking that green milk again.”

They all laughed, and Ben finally smiled.

- - -

Once the students were all settled into their lodgings, it was time to head to the Great Temple. Each new student would be called forward and tested, like they were when they first showed signs of being Force-sensitive. But this testing was necessary before entering secondary school here on Ahch-To, to reveal which side of the Force they leaned closer to, if either.

It was still a concept that was met with some reluctance. After Palpatine’s fall, more and more children and even teenagers seemed to become Force-sensitive. Old ties to both the Empire and the Republic, to the First Order and the Resistance, created a rift. This sense of division had been long engraved, a strong reason why peace could never be established for long.

When Rey and Ben had come together to defeat Palpatine and his army, they had done so by uniting factions of the First Order and the Resistance, by embracing the light and the dark side. By achieving balance.

Soon after, both Rey and Ben felt a call to Ahch-To. When they arrived, they found not just Luke, but other former Masters: the great Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Anakin Skywalker. Among them an idea bloomed, of restoring not the old Jedi Order, but a new order: the Order of the Force.

But it started with an academy, of training, when they became of age. On Ahch-To, Masters—both living and gone—taught light and dark histories and theories. Luke had been right, in a way. It was time for the way of the Jedi to die—not die entirely, but to change and grow.

The Force was the Force, the light and the dark and everything in between.

As they approached the temple, Leia scrambled inside to find her friends, Hanna trailing after her. But Anakin hesitated outside the entrance. Two girls and their parents moved past, trying not to stare. Rey was used to the staring, to the attention of being a war hero.

Frowning, she pulled her son aside, but before she could ask him what was the matter, he blurted, “What if I’m a darksider?”

Rey and Ben shared a glance. Their bond allowed them to communicate telepathically, but they didn’t need to in this moment. Ben crouched down, his huge frame nearly swallowing up Anakin.

“Leia was named after your grandmother,” he said quietly. “And Hanna, after your grandfather. But you…Anakin Ren Solo. You were named for two people. Both of which were powerful in the light side of the Force, and the dark side. They made some mistakes and bad choices, but even when they drifted too far into the dark side, they still found their way back to the light. They found their way home.” His eyes flicked up, meeting Rey’s, and her expression softened. “They are a testament that should you ever fall, no matter how far, you can still rise.”

“But what if—what if I’m neither?”

“Then you will be like me.”

Anakin’s eyes went wide. “What do you mean? No one is more powerful in the Force than you, Dad.” He winced and shot an apologetic look at Rey, whose brows had raised slightly. “Except you, Mom. And High Master Skywalker. Does he count?”

Rey laughed, and Ben smiled a bit. “For many years I was conflicted, torn between the light and the dark,” he said. “I had to learn to find the balance. And maybe someday you’ll learn the same.”

The children knew some of Ben’s past as Kylo Ren, as Rey and Ben knew they could not hide it. He had dedicated the past nineteen years to restoring the galaxy, but some would never forgive him for the role he played among the First Order. And they did not want to lie or bury the past by denying it. But the children knew even less of his involvement with the First Order and the tragic upbringing that tore him apart for so long. Someday, when they were older, he would tell them all of it.

Even with Ben’s admission, Anakin was still insistent. “But if I do lean to the dark side—”

“—then it only shows how passionate you are, Anakin,” Rey said gently, crouching down next to Ben. She reached out and brushed a strand of unruly black hair from Anakin’s eyes. When he made a face at her words, she added, “Passion comes from the heart. It’s part of what makes you human. And we will love and accept you no matter what side, if either, you lean toward.”

“Every student is different,” Ben added. “It’s only an evaluation to help the Masters find the best approach to their teachings. You, and only you, get to choose which path you walk. And you will never walk it alone, son. We promise you that.”

Anakin nodded, finally reassured. He took a deep breath and straightened, then marched into the temple with his chin high.

Rey and Ben stood, and caught Leia’s—Grandmother Leia’s—eye across the temple. She was the most regal of Force ghosts, elegant and noble, and her eyes shone with pride. Then she turned away, greeting a group of students who were demanding her attention.

“He’ll be all right,” Ben murmured, wrapping an arm around Rey.

She thought of Leia, Han, and Luke. She thought of Lando, of Obi-Wan, of Yoda. Of Finn and Rose and Paige. And she thought of herself and Ben, all looking after their family. They would never know the loneliness that Rey and Ben had. Never know what it felt like to be unloved or abandoned, to feel isolated and alone. They would never allow it.

“I know he will,” she said. “They all will.”

She glanced up, and when Ben felt her gaze, he looked down at her. His expression softened, as it only did for her and their children.

“Come on,” she said, “let’s go see what theatrical entrance Luke has in store this time.”

Ben groaned, but allowed her to tug him inside. “I refuse to applaud such dramatics.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t know anything about dramatics, Ben.” They found two empty seats in the back, next to a couple of Twi’lek’s that greeted them warmly.

His mouth twisted. “I would hardly call—”

“Shh, it’s about to begin,” she interrupted as the candles dimmed and the Force ghosts took their places at the front of the temple.

Ben sighed and took her hand in his own. Rey squeezed it, remembering the first time she had touched his hand across the stars on this very island. She felt him looking at her, and when she peered at him, she knew he was remembering the same thing.

So Rey smiled, and Ben smiled back.

All was well in the galaxy, and for the Solo’s, who finally had all they had been searching for.

Connection. Compassion. Family. Love. Acceptance. Belonging.

They would hang on, and never let it go.

#reylo #rey x kylo ren #rey x ben solo #mrs pettyfer writing #reylo babies #reylo family

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1stunseeliefaelass · 4 years

Text

Darksiders Arthurian Tales Revisited

Chapter 25: Little Light of Love

Death and Morgen ignore the comment and the trip continues on as normal. The guard takes the time to whisper under his breath. Nergal sees him do so, but can't figure out what he said. He still keeps his eyes peeled on the man as they ride on. Arn is just admiring his knife now that it's sharpened as Esmie gives him a gentle ruffling of the hair. After some time, Death sees the token has reached their destination. From there the carriage stops near the front of the village. A few of the folk around are a bit concerned when the occupants each come out. Mostly towards Death and Nergal. Arn gets some suspicious stares but nothing too serious. Esmie takes him off to the side to avoid the staring a bit and he accidentally bumps into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you...okay?", Arn stammered as he focused on the lass in front of him.

"Yes I'm fine, no harm done.", She said waving it off.

Arn couldn't help but stare as he took in her features from her nut brown hair rolling down her shoulders, her wolf-like ears, and her tan complexion reminded him of the girls back home in Spain. What captivated him the most was her eyes that shined like fresh polished jade.

Course he was thrusted back to reality when she questioned him, "Um, everything alright?"

Arn cleared his throat before he answered, "Um uh, yeah. Yes. Everything is fine."

"You're new around here aren't you? I've never seen you before.", She asked quizzically

"Yes I am new." He responded nervously

"You got a name?" She inquired.

"Uh..Arn, and you are?"

"Anna. It's a pleasure to meet you." She said with a smile.

Arn stood awkwardly for a moment before she spoke

"You know this village has a few sights, if you want I can show you around."

"I..um, I kinda..." Arn tries to say only for Esmie to encourage him to accept.

"Ok" being Arn's response.

"Great. My shift ends late this afternoon, where would you like me to meet you?" She asks him.

"That carriage I arrived in would do I guess." Arn said after looking around.

"Alright. I'll see you then." She says happily before waving to him.

"See ya then." Arn muttered embarrassed before Esmie hugged him elated with her son's little date.

With that Anna hurries off blushing hard whilst Arn follows his Mother in the opposite direction. Being nervous as all hell and blushing just as much as Anna. Morgen happened to notice it and makes a note to allow him the time to achieve this little date. Flashing a wink to Esmie as the two glance at each other briefly. With that Morgen went to the small library in the village. Death couldn't help but notice how familiar she seemed with the place.

"That was fast. Guessing you got out more than I thought."

"Not really, I just know the place from my days as a knight. Although could we keep that on the low?" Morgen whispers to him.

"Right of course."

With that Morgen began searching the small library for anything on the Dream Realm and it's magic. Suddenly a Pixie flitted right in front of her face. "I thought you looked familiar, just needed that closer look miss. You looking for anything in particular? I've saved up quite the collection of spells for you over the years in case you ever came on back."

Death watched the Pixie in suspicion as Morgen answered her, "Yes actually. You wouldn't happen to have anything on the Dream Realm and magic from it would you?"

"Hmm that's an odd request. Can't imagine why you'd need it. But I've never known ya to use any new magic without good reason. So I'll look through the collection for you. May take some time though, so feel free to come on back again later miss."

With that the Pixie whistled and more of her kin came out from various spots. From there each one set to work finding the requested items where they could. Nergal remains near the carriage, looking around as he keeps a close eye on Morgen, the guard, and Arn. He felt the boy was acting a little weird. Part of him said it was probably his teen awkwardness showing, but he wanted to be sure. The guard found Nergal being so close to be annoying, so he had to think of an excuse to get away for a short while. Nothing to arouse suspicion though, just something so mundane he may not follow him.

"Ah this trip was a long one. Need to take a piss, and stretch my legs a bit." He said hoping that would deter Nergal from following.

Nergal just nods and places a tracking spell on him. One that tracks where he goes and can listen in on what he says.

The man finds a bathroom area to use and also calls someone with a crystal in his ear, "We've arrived. Be here before we leave."

Nergal hears every word through his spell however, no matter how brief he kept it, "That's right you fool. Now I have a reason to crush you."

He walks over to the guard as he's leaving the toilets and places a strange nightmare curse on the poor bastard. He then leaves him in a position that suggests he's high on one of the toilets. In truth he has sleep paralysis mixed with fever dream hallucinations. He ends up shitting himself as well unfortunately, as he sees everything melt and distort around him as something underneath him begins to try and devour him.

Nergal then warns Morgen through telepathy, "Careful we may have company soon."

"What sort, and how do you know this?" Morgen asks him.

"Your guard betrayed us."

"Shit. Who should we expect?" Morgen inquires.

"He didn't say. Just be safe sister, both of you."

"Thank you Nergal. Be careful about how you manage the guard." Morgen tells him.

"Hahahahaha...Don't worry. I've already taken care of him. Hahahahahaha!" Nergal informs her.

Morgen then grabs Death's arm as they walk around, "Nergal is warning us to be careful. Seems our driver was insincere and betrayed us. We should expect company soon."

"Fucking fantastic. Ok, where is that driver so I can personally see to...you know what you don't need to know the details."

"Nergal's already handled him, in quite an interesting fashion I imagine too. Given his laughter."

"H....Ah. Oh somebody bless that person." Death says suddenly feeling slightly bad for him now.

Morgen actually finds a certain path and smiles, "I know this old path, it actually leads to a favorite spot of mine. If you care to see it."

"Sure, sounds like a good idea given everything."

Morgen then leads Death down the path. At it's end is a wooded clearing with a hidden yet big cabin. Morgen checks it out and seems to get a solemn look as she runs her hand along the wood door.

Death naturally checks on her, "You alright?"

"Fine, just reminiscing. I've missed this old cabin, as me and my fellow knights often came here. I don't know if anyone is left anymore, but I'm sure they won't mind us looking around in here. Perhaps."

"I see. Well let's get inside then." Death says before looking for a way in.

Morgen however casts a brief spell before the door unlocks. She then goes inside with Death following her. There's a massive fireplace fit for cooking meals for many. Many covered yet comfy looking seats and couches that look fancy. Morgen stands in front of the fireplace and looks upon a massive portrait. She looks forlorn as she looks upon it.

"Your order I take it?" Death asks gently.

"Yes. I...don't know if...any of them are even alive anymore. I...wish I could've...said goodbye to them without a massacre.....without anyone having to die that night...." Morgen explains sadly.

Death places an arm around her, "I am sorry for that. I'm sure they were good people, especially if they served with you."

"They all were. Rogier is the older gentleman next to me. He was the closest thing to a mentor many of us had in regards to blade work. The boy next to him was his squire. I was...unable to save him. Uther butchered the boy....and I could do nothing. He was so young, I dare say he was younger than Arn."

"Oh I see. Perhaps we should find another room to occupy? That way you don't have to think about this too much."

"Right. That'd be for the best. Thank you for being understanding at least. I can hear Rogier telling me now about choosing a partner. And his often long list of requirements for any suitors sent my way." Morgen explains snickering a bit.

Death smiles a bit behind his mask and brings Morgen away from the room. Eventually the two come across a door with her name on it, and naturally they figure they'll check it out. Morgen uncovers the furniture inside, finding it untouched by any dust thanks to the covers. Death found another door that led off into stairs going down.

"Hey Morgen, where does this go?"

"Oh that? It leads to a personal bathing room. Granted it looks like a small cave in there, but I still enjoy the place. It's so quiet and private down there, and the water can either be warm or cool." Morgen tells him.

"Oh. I suppose it wouldn't hurt....to see it I guess." Death says a bit nervously.

Morgen snickers a little more and goes down the stairs. Death follows her and is slightly worried what may happen from here. Sure enough he sees what she was talking about. The entire place is covered in carved stone. Even a few stalactites and stalagmites are in the room, with holes in them for makeshift shelves.

"Ah great, this is reminding me of several things. Some good, some bad." Death admits.

"Oh my apologies." Morgen tells him.

"No problem. If you feel safe here then I'll have to feel safe here. Anyway so..who else knows about this place, that's alive at least?"

"No one I know of. Uther has never found it once. Can't imagine anyone of his loyalists ever coming across it either." Morgen tells him before deciding to see if the water system still works. Course for that test, she knows she should probably be nude.

So she goes to remove her clothing and Death immediately asks her in full surprise, "GAAAAHAH! What are you doing?!"

"Well I can't test this with clothing on now can I?" Morgen inquires sarcastically.

"A you could've at least warned me, and B you could stick your hand in it! You know, like a normal person would?"

"Since when have either of us been normal?" Morgen asks simply.

"I dunno when you were saying to that Aries fellow that you wanted a normal life? Why not start by partaking in behaviors such as, using you hand to test the water? Savvy?"

Morgen sighs with a hint of annoyance before placing her clothing that was off back on again. With that she makes her way upstairs with an ever so slight huffiness to her. Death is now very confused and wondering why she isn't just flat out telling him what's wrong.

"She does know she can just tell me what's on her mind, right? So why storm off all annoyed like I'm stupid or something? Surely I couldn't have missed something AGAIN." Death growls to himself in equal annoyance.

Then he hears a voice giving off mocking laughter, checking the water nervously he sees a green eyed reflection of himself laughing. Sure enough, Crom has come out to play again. "Wow....I'm honestly wondering....why I even bother trying...you do an AMAZING job at pushing folks away on your own.....that was TRULY BEAUTIFUL.. Hahaha."

Death tosses a rock into the water after him to shut him up, Crom just gives him an indignified look before saying, "Seriously ruining my mojo? Like you ruined her mojo? And I'm just talking to myself now, great."

"You want another rock lobbed at you?"

"So childish. Maybe you could instead think about things maturely for once?" Crom says coyly.

"One more word and I swear I'll..."

"Hear me out! Hear me out. Morgen was trying to catch your attention. She's probably in a 'certain mood' so to speak." Crom tells him.

"Get to the damn point!"

"Oh by the gods how dense are you? She's attracted to you and really wants to feel you. In MANY ways." Crom states.

"I do not want to discuss this with y.."

"I am a FERTILITY GOD. I deal with fire, sex, plants, and babies. I believe I know what I'm talking about."

"Why should I trust you? A being who JUST EARLIER TODAY possessed me?" Death inquires in a distrusting and angry tone.

"Maybe because without me helping you out in this situation you're going to get nada. Hey I pretty much feel what you feel because we share a body. And I can tell our bones have not been used in MILLENNIA. I NEED THIS! I AM A FERTILITY GOD THAT HAS NOT BEEN FERTILIZING ANY SOIL FOR YEARS! I! NEED! THIS! NOW!"

"You as always, truly disturb me. Hell how do I know you didn't enjoy LILITH?!" Death growls at him.

"Ugh...even I know when soil has been plowed too much. Not to mention...despite my mental state...I CERTAINLY WON'T STICK MY DICK IN CRAZY!"

Death then busts out laughing, "Little hypocritical for you? Don't you think?"

"Fine be that way. Have fun with her on your own."

With that Crom leaves Death alone again and Death himself heads back up after Morgen. Figuring if he's going to save her mood and perhaps make up for the blunder that was on his part, he'd better contribute somehow.

After a moment of thought he called out to her, "Water's warm, I'll be waiting. Don't want to have another hair incident."

Morgen shook her head, wondering why he thought that was supposed to improve her mood. Course Death meanwhile used the now growing steam in the room to his advantage. He gathered it around the bath itself and removed his own clothing in the meantime as he waited. Hoping she comes back down. Luckily she does so, and is pleasantly surprised by a sudden sweet smell in the air. As Death also chose to light an incense stick or two.

Morgen then hears him whisper into her ear, "Over here."

Course Morgen still can't see him, even when turning where she'd heard his voice, "So what's gotten into you this time?"

"Just thought I'd make up for my blunder earlier." He says from somewhere in the room, Morgen then hears him whisper in her ear again as he grasps a bit of hair gently, "Though you could've just told me."

Morgen turns again but is unable to see him still. Suddenly she feels his hand grasp hers and pull her in close to him. She quickly realizes he's nude and of course responds, "Well....I wouldn't say this attempt failed. That's for sure."

Morgen's just about to begin removing her clothing before a sudden heavy knocking throws them both off, "Oh COME ON."

"Of COURSE we had to get interrupted by someone." Death expresses with anger alongside her.

The two of them hear a voice they don't recognize shouting through the door, "LADY LE FAY, I AM HERE IN THE NAME OF OUR GOOD KING UTHER PENDRAGON. ON MY HONOR, I AM TO RETURN YOU TO HIM AT ONCE. YOUR COMPANION IS ALSO EXPECTED TO COME WITH US! IN CHAINS!"

"Why am I not surprised a pompous ASSHOLE is the one interrupting us?" Morgen asks herself in deep annoyance.

"Can I kill him now?"

"In time. We can't be reckless about this." Morgen says before helping Death get his clothing back on. Course she can practically feel how angry Death is on the inside. "Careful, you may add more steam to the room if you get any angrier."

"I was actually a bit excited about this I'm not going to lie. To have it FUCKED UP by this ASSHAT, is certainly going piss me off." Death tells her.

After a bit of time, Morgen came up to the door with Death. She also calls out to the man from earlier in a mix of sarcasm and rage, "To my Stepfather's oh so fucking important lackey, I would discuss this matter with you. You have NO IDEA what you've just screwed up right now. Believe me."

"Well something tells me you're whoring yourself out to a subpar organism." The man says arrogantly.

Morgen's eye actually twitches as Death growls in growing rage. He actually tells her, "Let him in, go ahead. I've got a thing or two to say as well now." Morgen then does so and Death immediately grabs the man and throws him across the room, "That's for calling me a subpar organism. I AM FAR MORE A MAN THAN YOU'LL EVER BE!"

Morgen in the meantime places a shield up to keep the other men out and asks Nergal, "Would you kindly handle these pests? They've interrupted something VERY enjoyable for Death and I. In fact we barely even got started, if at all."

"Hahahahahaha. Gladly. Do close the door while I take care of them." Is his only response before the men begin to see strange lights around them.

Death in the meantime grabs the man and punches him in the face, "And THAT'S for insulting the lady. How DARE YOU call her that?!"

"And how dare a filthy mongrel lay with a Princess?"

"Can I please kill him?" Death questions Morgen.

"You know what? Go ahead. I grow tired of his insolence." Morgen states coldly.

Realizing she's actually serious, the man actually begs for his life, "Wait my lady please! Reconsider your verdict! I uh....I can give you money...asylum...supplies...maybe find a way to get Barrcus back in your hands. Please my lady!"

"You would beg for your life on your hands and knees, to a woman whom you consider a whore? So unbecoming, and hypocritical."

"I may make your death quick, if you give us the location of where Barrcus is being held." Death expresses to the man.

"I-I-I don't know....I can find out and I will tell you! Please just let me live!"

"Who said that cowards die many deaths and brave men die only once?" Death asks.

"S-shakespeare." The man stutters out.

"Good words to live by, don't you think?"

"Wait please don't! I've cooperated!" The man pleads.

"And?"

"I t-thought you said I could live!"

"When did we make that arrangement?" Death asks.

He begins to panic and stutter badly as he looks at Morgen again. His eyes begging for mercy, like hers often did from Uther. She finally raises her hand, "Before we end you, we have a friend we'd like you to meet. Get Nergal."

Death nods and opens the door back up to see all the men have become statues made of diamond outside the cabin. He's a bit shocked, but calms his nerves enough to move aside for Nergal to enter.

"So, who's the sorry fool Uther sent after Morgen this time?" He inquires as his third eye is on full display.

"This gibbering idiot right here. We figured you'd want to talk to him, personally." Death informs him.

"I would indeed enjoy a small discussion. There anything I should know about? Any health or mental conditions?"

"Aside from obvious anxiety problems, he did call Morgen a whore. Albiet indirectly, but still." Death tells him.

"So delusions of self grandeur, how fitting. Why don't you two go back to enjoying yourselves? I'll deal with him."

"Ok then." Death expresses with a slight shudder, not wanting to know what Nergal is about to do.

Morgen doesn't either and follows Death back to the bath downstairs. Luckily the steam is still around and the incense burning. Both of them begin removing their clothes after they shut the door with magic. Morgen once she's nude searches around for Death again, who decides to play a briefer second round with her.

"Marco.", He whispers coyly in her ear.

Morgen snickers and replies, "Shouldn't I be the one saying Marco here?"

"Fuck...Polo." He says embarrassed nearby.

Morgen waits a moment and calls out after a giggle, "Marco?"

"Polo." Death whispers into her left ear with a snicker.

Morgen smirks and decides to use her feet to sweep around herself as she searches for Death. Again she calls out, "Marco."

"Polo." He says quickly to the right of her this time.

Morgen reaches out though and quickly grabs his arm, "Gotcha."

Death snickers and says, "Alright you got me, so where were we?"

He then pulls her into him again and holds onto her. He can't help but run his fingers through her hair a bit and just at the tip of his senses he catches a scent. Cautiously, he smells her hair whilst his other hand slowly runs up and down her body. He mostly explores her rear, back, and breasts though. Morgen begins gasping quietly as he explores around and blushes as he gets a whiff of her hair. Morgen brings her lips to his chin just below his mask, kissing the area gently. He then removes his mask before scooping Morgen up. She hears Death pull up a chair and feels herself being sat upon his lap. Both of her legs being placed on either side of his waist. Death then begins to sniff around her neck, then after finally getting attuned to her scent he starts to kiss her neck. Morgen begins to moan a bit now, and also begins to try and take in his own scent. Her senses aren't as strong as Death's, but she's still able to get it. Course feeling her face on his head was enough to get him going a little more. He wasn't satisfied with her neck anymore and gently brought her face down to caress it. Her eyelids flutter as he brushes her cheeks. Finally he brings her in for a sweet kiss. His free hand giving some attention to her rear with firm yet careful groping. He could feel her hands running through his hair as they kissed. Finally they broke from each other and began taking a few deep breaths. Death decided he was done with the 'formalities' and Morgen agreed with that. Death then carries her into the water and carefully begins insert himself into her. He's as careful and gentle as he can be, not wanting to hurt her after all she's been through. Morgen is also careful, as she doesn't want to cause him pain either. Course she's surprised by the feeling of a few barely noticeable ridges. As well as some slight bumps that seem to be pulsating. Each thrust is slow and deliberate, with what feels like a pulsed extension that shouldn't be possible but is. Death himself for his part noticed how tight Morgen was getting the more he continued. He couldn't tell if it was on purpose or not. Eventually after a few thrusts to help things along, he's as far inside as he'll get. Death makes sure that whilst he's using more strength to fight the water, that he's still careful with each thrust. He listens keenly as Morgen begins to moan louder, eventually screaming too. Luckily Nergal put a silencing spell on the door, so no sounds make it to him and his prisoner. Morgen eventually places both her hands on Death's chest to brace herself and match his thrusts better. Course Death is actually quite sensitive there, so it only eggs him on more. Morgen actually decides to lightly rub around his nipples as he thrusts harder and faster.

Death jolts slightly at her touch leading to Morgen asking him, "Are you...alright?"

"Fine fine...it's just that...area is a bit sensitive."

The sounds that do escape his lips, grunts, growls, and the rare quiet moan, let her know she's doing well herself. Finally they both reach their climax together, and with a final scream and loud grunt they finish. Death gently lays down into water with Morgen whilst she makes sure their finish ends up down the drain. Creating a current there until it's all the way down it. Once done, Death holds her close and leans his head back. Morgen meanwhile slowly falls asleep in his embrace, being thoroughly worn out after that.

"Gone to the moon and back, and brought back a beautiful glow." Death whispers as he lovingly strokes her.

He then hears a knock on the door upstairs, "You two finished in there by chance?"

"Yes Nergal we are. Ugh...just give us a moment." Death calls up to him. Death then goes to pull out and sees it's not as easy as he'd hoped it would be. "Ok give us a..little bit longer than a moment."

As Death is trying force himself out, Morgen wakes up still exhausted, "What...are you doing?"

"Currently trying to pull out." Death responds through gritted teeth.

Morgen decides to try and relax as best she can, which isn't easy given the fact there's an obvious knot now. Course Death isn't helping either as he's trying to essentially fight himself. Morgen eventually uses what's left of her current strength to lift herself up. Hoping to make that easier on him. She then braces herself against the sides of the bath before summoning her wings.

"Uh Morgen..be careful..your wings will be more fragile..if they're wet." Death warns her as he continues trying to force himself out of her.

"Shhh...just trust me on this. Relax yourself and I'll do so too. Once we're relaxed, I'll begin to hover and you work on pulling slowly and carefully. Sound good?"

"Ok." Death tells her before they work on this. Separating at last with a sort of 'plop' sound.

The man Nergal tortured currently has a third eye on him now. Death in the meantime decides to dress Morgen gently so that she won't wake. Once he's dressed as well, he uses a spell to dry them both off by collecting the water and tossing back into the pool. Finally he scoops up Morgen and walks upstairs with her.

Upon finding the man, Death freezes, "Uhhhhhh Nergal, what did you to him? He's just sitting there.", suddenly the man turns his head to reveal his new eye, "GAH! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"

Nergal chuckles as Death jumps slightly, "Impressive isn't it? I made him a little more...subservient. That's all. The effects are only temporary, but they are effective for our purposes."

"Ok...but why does he have an eye on his forehead? Wouldn't that be you know...a giveaway for that? You know, like something's off because he has an eye on his forehead?"

Nergal shakes his head, "Always the worry wart. Close your eye would you please?"

The man does so and goes back to the blank staring into nothing. Death is still creeped out, then both he and Nergal realize his shouting didn't wake Morgen somehow.

"How did she not hear me?"

Nergal then examined her closely, "Please tell me you pulled out. Cause at least then I'd have a false read."

"WHAT?"

"You didn't did you? Please say you didn't finish inside her."

"LAST I CHECKED I WAS INCAPABLE OF HAVING KIDS! My daughter only exists or existed because she was born during the time of the horde's rise." Death tells him.

Nergal just facepalms, "Even if they did make you infertile, YOU HAVE A FERTILITY GOD IN YOUR MIND! Who's to say he doesn't have access to certain things within your mortal coil."

Death thinks about it for a minute and begins cursing himself in several tongues old and forgotten. All of which Nergal actually knows due to his own age.

"Watch your tongue. You'll want to keep your mouth shut if you don't want Uther finding out. Make sure to keep your mouth clean as well for the child's sake too."

"THEY'RE NOT BORN OR EVEN DEVELOPED YET!" Death shouts at him.

"Practice makes perfect."

"I HATE. YOU."

"No you don't. You have a strong dislike for me, but you don't hate me." Nergal says simply.

Death begins to pace as he tries to think of what to do. Eventually he sits down, takes a deep breath then inquires of Nergal, "If you can tell before anything has even come up, before any development has begun, could Verdak find out?"

"Verdak's a special case, he probably already knows without even needing to look upon her, or be in her presence."

"Aw shit." Death mumbles to himself.

"Yes 'Daddy Dearest' is already aware I have no doubt. The question should be, if he'll tell Uther or not."

"If he does Uther's going to explode! Even more so than before! Argh I am such an idiot! What was I thinking?!" Death yells.

"Pull yourself together man! As far as I can tell, he won't put Morgen in danger. Not after the sheep incident. And I also fear what might be happening to him."

"Wait what?"

"I've been feeling this small disturbance in the Dream Realm. Both sides are growing in power. As when one grows so does the other." Nergal admits.

"And I'm guessing that just makes things worse in this current situation?!"

"It can if we aren't mindful. For now Morgen won't be bothered as she's not that powerful. But if she's to defeat Uther, that will have to change. And with her growth, will come more dangers to her. She'll essentially become a target to Nightmares who are...far less safe and reasonable than I. They will KILL HER if given the chance. Until she gains enough power, she'll be a sitting duck. And her being with child will only make it worse if they end up with Dream Entity blood or as a Dream Entity themselves. She'll have an even bigger bullseye on her, and it won't be on her back."

"How can I keep her safe while she's growing in power? I'm not a Dream Entity myself, I can't truly fight these things. They can enter both our heads if they truly wanted." Death tells him beginning to panic slightly.

"You're going to need a prophet of Ukutome, or a disciple, someone that can channel his power." Nergal states calmly.

"Ok who the fuck is Ukutome?" Death asks still panicking.

"Easy Horseman. You'll retain more if you're calm. To start with, Ukutome is a devourer of Nightmares themselves. With the right wards, he can be alerted instantly when any dangers make themselves known. He's also devoured dark gods and goddesses that have tormented others like a Nightmare would. To alert him properly, you need a dreamcatcher. A specific one tailored by one who either worships Ukutome or serves as his current champion." Nergal explains.

Death shakes his head, "And where might I find them?"

Nergal sighs, "I do not know. The last known champion was within Arcadia."

"No....not the Arcadians..."

"No but...this one was in the area." Nergal tells him.

"They're dead, aren't they?"

"Yes, as far as I can tell. But not by Nephilim hands if it helps your conscience any." Nergal states.

Death sighs before saying, "So in other words....we're screwed?"

"Not necessarily. Barrcus is rather attuned to spiders for a simple Fae. Even a Drow isn't THAT attuned to them. Barrcus can speak to them, control their bodies, and command them to do his bidding. Something seems off about them."

"Well he did meet this spider tribe. I don't know where granted, but that's how he became so spider like as he puts it. He did that after Morgen injured him badly by what I hear." Death explains.

"Ah intriguing. I would hate to do this....but I must unfortunately go speak with this spider." Nergal tells him as he laughs nervously.

"Why are you afraid?"

"Remember, I did say he devours Nightmares. And it's NOT a painless process if you must ask. Secondly, he and my Father are....VERY MUCH ACQUAINTED. As Ukutome married one of Aries' other daughters. Hell he's the main reason why the Dream Tree is a thing still. Well...the one in the Dream Realm anyway." Nergal points out.

"So there's a possible chance you'll get eaten?"

"Yes. And for now I'd rather like to wait until we return to Titania's home before attempting this. That way I can return to a stable spot with healers close by. Although if you could get Aspen to bring herself over there it'd be appreciated." Nergal says.

"Right. Shall we head back to the carriage? Or do we still want to wait until Arn and his Mother are ready to go?"

"For the boy's mental state, we'd best wait until his date is finished. From there we can return. Besides, it gives Morgen and yourself time to relax more." Nergals tells him simply.

Death just nods and sits down on the couch he'd laid her down on. Gently caressing her face and apologizing to her softly every so often. Eventually he does fall asleep himself, with his hand on Morgen's face. Nergal then chose to head back to the carriage to check on things there. Meanwhile Arn is eagerly awaiting his date. Esmie had helped him look a bit more presentable while also making sure he wasn't going to be found out easily by anyone suspicious. She even helped him find a bouquet of flowers for the girl. A simple gift for a first date but one that's always appreciated usually. After that Esmie backed off so he could greet her in private.

Arn is extremely nervous as the sun begins to dip slowly past late noon, "Where is she?"

Finally he sees Anna running down the road to him, "Sorry Arn! Had to complete more errands than I thought."

"I'm just glad you showed." Arn told her with a smile.

"Again I'm so sorry." Anna tells him.

"It's fine truly...oh and these are for you." Arn says before revealing the bouquet behind his back.

"Wow these are amazing!", she exclaims before sniffing them.

"So...where would you like to go?"

"Oh well, my favorite place to go is in these abandoned ruins near the village. Papa always gets annoyed when I go there, but I still visit them anyway. There's so many amazing things there." Anna replies happily.

"Sounds fun. Maybe we can grab some food beforehand?" Arn inquires less nervous but still on edge.

"Oh yeah of course. Just this way is the most amazing restaurant. It's tiny, but makes great food I promise." Anna says with delight before leading him there.

Anna then wraps her arms around him, making his ears stand on end after they pop out in his surprise. Once he calms down Anna lets out a giggle. Joined by Arn's light chuckle as he began to escort her. Naturally Esmie is delighted and she smiles as Anna hugs him.

She's then surprised by Nergal, "Just so you know, once he's done we need to leave. We can't stay too much longer."

"I know I know. I'm just so happy to see him enjoying himself. Happy to see him being a young boy instead of a hardened warrior."

"Well unfortunately for the boy....the hardened warrior will need to be called upon soon." Nergal states bluntly.

Esmie sighs, wishing her precious pup had never been taken away. That he'd never been in this mess. That this fate hadn't been his own. But she also remembers that he's at least happy now. So she should try and be happy for him while he's out with Anna. Nergal notices her face and knows instantly what she's thinking. He can't feel much sympathy due to his limits, but he certainly wishes he could feel it and thus understand her feelings more.

"Sorry that brings you great pain. But a necessary evil is required." He tells her in an attempt to be more sympathetic.

The attempt isn't lost on her luckily, "You have a hard time with sympathy, don't you?"

Nergal notes her sympathetic tone and replies, "I need no pity. Emotions are often lost on me yes, but that's only because I cannot feel them. At least not with ease like anyone else can. I wish I could do so, but I cannot. I can't even fake them. Yes a truly tragic tale."

Esmie notes his effort at humor and offers a simple giggle for him, "You at least try, most cannot even be bothered to do so anymore. Especially in my line of work. You learn to keep your emotions in check, as otherwise your heart will keep breaking. Or you'll just be devastated by every horrible thing that happens to those around you, to those under you despite your best efforts."

Nergal nods in agreement before saying, "I'd like to hear the tale. If you're willing to share it now."

"The tale that is my life? Very well if you insist. May pass the time anyway." Esmie replies simply.

From there Esmie begins to recount her life's story. How she grew up a poor woman with a dream of earning great wealth. After many years of hardship her dream warped into her founding the Bounding Bunny, her own tavern and inn. Course as time went on she began to bring in girls from all walks of life to work for her so they could live and eat at the inn. Earning their keep by working as they each saw fit. Most girls worked their nights under the sheets, whilst others simply waited on customers. Both sides however still had problems, the occasional assaults and rapes were always so heartbreaking to learn about. Not to mention how it destroyed the girls each time. Esmie however then brings up how through one demon, she found a way to fix that problem. This demon brought his friends and his friends brought theirs, pretty soon she was a bounty hunter hotspot. Not only did those boys treat her girls right, they even helped them out from time to time and protected them. The demon who brought her this fortune was named Argus. Soon enough he found the love of his life on a trip to France, a lovely werewolf named Clawdette. He even spoke about her to Esmie a few times, with great adoration and more. Suddenly they made things official and Arn came along not too long after. Esmie squees for a bit about how adorable Arn was when he was a wee pup before expressing the tragedy of how he ended up in her care. How Argus and his beloved wife died in a sudden house fire, leaving their toddler pup all alone. Esmie immediately took him in to honor her friends' memories and swore she'd do all she could for him. By raising him as her own. Unfortunately Arn would be taken away from her and put into the slave trade one day. From there Esmie admits she'd been fighting through a pit of despair and growing hopelessness as she counted the days he was gone. That even though she's found her baby boy again, she feels she failed him and his parents. She feels like he may never be like the little boy he once was ever again, or even remotely close to it.

Nergal however, has his own take on it, "Heheh..so what you're telling me is you took a poor boy in after he lost his parents? Made sure that he had someone that would love him? A Motherly figure with unconditional love and kindness to give him? You gave him hope, gave him a reason to keep his sanity. Look at him now, he's on his first date. I'm sure, that both his parents would be proud of him. And, that they would be glad for you being there to make sure this could happen. To ensure he was alright after all that suffering he went through. You did not fail him, in the slightest. If anything, you succeeded. So if may I ask, what are you?"

Esmie shook her head suddenly as she'd been in deep thought as Nergal said those kind words to her, "Oh that? Well...I'm a Werebunny. Just capable of being in a hybridesque form so to speak. And believe me, it took a LOT of time to learn how to do that."

"I can imagine given how 'horrific' wererabbits can be. Yeesh, and I thought some of the Nightmares I knew were scary. You could definitely model a few nightmares off of your kind." Nergal tells her blankly.

Esmie snickers at that before saying, "Right. Also, gracias. Thank you truly for those words amigo. Really."

Nergal nods at her, "Glad I could...part some wisdom. As my title shows hmhm..."

"Ok that...was a cheesy joke."

"Wasn't intending on it, and everyone's a critic."

Meanwhile Arn and Anna had been enjoying their dinner together. It was a bit awkward with a long silence between them before Anna finally broke it.

"So Arn uhm....where are you from?"

"Huh? You wanna know where I live?" Arn inquires a bit caught off guard.

"Well where you were born, but where you live works too silly hehehe."

Arn sighs in exasperation before saying to her, "Well...I was born in France from what Mama told me. I...remember very little about it though. Mama herself lives in Spain, and...I'm hoping to go back there soon. I've...missed the place so much."

"You've been away long?" Anna asks.

"If it's alright I would prefer not to talk about it....it's not pretty." Arn tells her sounding a bit down.

"Oh ok, I'm sorry."

"Oh no problem. Anyway....what about you Anna? Did you always live here or were you born somewhere else like I was?" Arn questions her curiously.

"I was born and raised here. Like most others in the village. Although Papa says we came from Spain."

"Really? Do you ever visit Spain? Or want to?" Arn asks her getting excited.

"I've asked Papa many times, but he always says we have no money to go there. That our lives are here. But someday, I wish to earn enough money to go there. It's my biggest dream to see Spain for myself."

"Well uhm I'm not sure where you'd go first, but I'm up on the Northern coast if you ever want to come on down. The port town I lived at is truly lively and always full of joy most days. You'd probably like it there." Arn tells her with delight.

"I can hardly wait then, ehehehe. What about you? Do you have any dreams for your future?"

#Darksiders Fandom #Darksiders Fanfics #Darksiders OCs #Darksiders Arthurian Tales Revisited #Death

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deadmandairyland · 4 years

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I’m watching reviews of the Resident Evil 3 remake. From what I’ve seen so far, general consensus seems to be that it’s good, but not as good as the RE2 remake, and probably not worth buying at full price. One common criticism was that they left out a bunch of stuff the original had. From what I heard, they pretty much cut out puzzles from the game (and to be fair it’s kinda silly that an entire city would require solving the soup cans to get through), which I think might be the reason why iconic locations like the clock tower were cut. But that’s still a shame because while I haven’t played the game myself yet I cannot imagine this game without the clock tower. But I’ll reserve my judgment for when I play the game myself, which I probably will eventually, if only because I have a big collection of RE games on my PS4 that is distinctively missing a 3 and it’s bugging the hell out of me.

But since I’ve already seen comments about this remake possibly being a step backward compared to the RE2 remake, I feel like now is a good time to make a post that I wanted to make for a while but didn’t really have the motivation to make until now. Because while I wasn’t as hyped about an RE3 remake as everyone else was, I couldn’t deny that I wanted it to happen... because then it would mean that there might even be a Code: Veronica remake, which was an idea I was actually more excited for.

Though I do love RE3, Code: Veronica holds a special place in my heart. It is what first got me interested in the horror genre as a whole. At the time I was--and, let’s face it, I still am--a bit squeamish, so horror didn’t really interest me until I--not even joking--looked up the IMDB page of one of the voice actors from a cartoon I was into at the time and found out he had a role in a Resident Evil game, and I looked up clips from it, and I saw this cutscene and I was like “Wow, I really like this.” ...And no, not because of the naked woman, I promise you.

But enough about all that. This post is already getting long and I haven’t even gotten to what this post is about: I want to share what I would like to see in a Code: Veronica remake.

(I’ll try to keep this brief)

First off, one thing that the RE2 remake was highly praised for was how streamlined everything was. The layout of the police station made a bit more logical sense (adding stairs in the main hall helped) and placement of items was done in such a way that backtracking didn’t feel like as much of a chore. I feel like this last bit is especially important because if there’s one thing Code: Veronica is criticized for, it’s how ridiculous the backtracking is... and I have to agree. Now, granted, I do like some of the ideas CV threw around--the metal detector and the optional stuff like running back to the solitary cell to give Rodrigo medicine come to mind--but there were times where the mandatory backtracking got in the way of the story being told and I think that’s the main reason why I want to see a remake of this game.

Because think about it. In the first RE game, what is everything leading up to? What do all the files and backstory of the game lead you toward? The laboratory under the mansion, right? Same with RE2: everything in the game leads up to the laboratory. Now to be fair these are endgame areas, so backtracking out of them would be kinda silly anyway, but I’m not bringing them up because they’re endgame areas. These locations are built up to through the plot and the files you find throughout the game. Imagine if after you reached the laboratory in RE1, you found a key that you needed to unlock a door all the way back in the guardhouse, and you had to do all sorts of other shit before you could finish the laboratory. Even if it wasn’t the final area of the game, having to backtrack out of it when there’s so much build up for it would ruin the flow of the game, right? So let it be clear that this is not an endgame issue, but rather a story flow issue:

Once you reach the private residence, you should never have to backtrack to another location on Rockfort Island.

Now, granted, the developers had enough foresight to realize that once you reach a certain area in the Ashfords’ mansion and hear this song, you are no longer required to go anywhere else on the island until it’s about to explode, because they knew that going back to bumfuck elsewhere at this point would have really killed the downward spiral Claire has become unfortunate enough to get caught up in. However, I feel like they didn’t go far enough with it. I personally feel that as soon as you walk through the front doors and hear THIS song, you should never have to go back to the prison or unlock anymore rooms in the palace! That should all be over and done with by this point! Because like the laboratories in previous games, every file, every cutscene, every fucked up thing you see in the prison, literally everything up until that point in the game is building up to this fucking house and the secrets within. It should be a point of no return up until the place starts to fucking explode.

Second, either make Chris’s segment of the game shorter or give him someone to interact with. That’s the unfortunate thing about Chris’s portion of Code: Veronica. Say what you will about Steve and Alfred, but at least Claire is interacting with them regularly throughout her portion of the game. Cutscenes can do wonders with breaking up monotony; without them, the game’s basically just all fetch quests. Honestly, while I do think it’s a shame that Chris only got one chapter in Darkside Chronicles, I understand why he was only give the one chapter: the meat of the story happens in Claire’s segment of the game. That being said, I do hope they would consider going with the second option before the first. There are characters Chris interacts with in the game; he just doesn’t interact with them enough. Wesker is more of a behind-the-scenes villain than Alfred, and Alexia sadly doesn’t really do much. Giving both villains more to do would greatly enhance Chris’s part of the story.

Now that the gameplay stuff is out of the way, it’s time to address the elephant in the room: Alfred. Honestly, I have no idea how they would portray Alfred in today’s political climate. I don’t really want them to hold back with him, because he’s basically a walking homage to classic horror villain tropes and he has the potential to be a very serious and dangerous villain, but I get the feeling that no matter what Capcom decides to do with him, either they’ll get a lot of backlash for transphobia or making the mentally ill look like Hitler, or they’ll get a lot of backlash for pandering to SJWs and making light of prison camps by pulling back their punches with the original Korekiyo Shinguji. I don’t know, maybe I’m overthinking things, but I’ve been on Tumblr for a long time and I’ve seen some crazy shit on here (and Twitter... and YouTube... and 4chan... especially 4chan) over the years, so I can see literally any of these scenarios happening. Personally, though, I do hope their portrayal of him (including how the other characters view him) is closer to the Darkside Chronicles version than the Code: Veronica version, if only because I’d rather the protagonists feel bad for him than be like “Man, I know you’ve murdered a ton of people and might have a thing for your sister, but God forbid you crossdress, I mean that shit’s just fucking weird.” Yeah, that was pretty bad, not gonna lie.

Well, so much for keeping it brief. But that’s basically all I can think of off the top of my head for what I would like to see in a Code: Veronica remake. That and being able to see Rockfort Island in all its fucked up glory in fabulous HD and with a free camera, that’s be sweet.

#resident evil #resident evil code veronica #alfred ashford

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lananiscorner · 5 years

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Quotes and conclusions from the Darksiders Genesis E3 demo

So I finally had the chance to check out the actual E3 demo gameplay for Darksiders Genesis (both the dungeon demo and the boss fight demo). Things I’ve learned:

Boatman Coins are back in-game! So likely we’ll even meet Vulgrim!

Strife’s animations involve a lot of really careful footwork. Actually makes his moves look almost elegant. He’s a typical glass cannon though (can deal the damage, but can’t take too much).

He can create a kind of shadow copy of himself that can distract enemies.

Still not warming up to the look of his ultimate form.

He considers the work of the makers and the angels “a little too pretty for [his] tastes” and pretty much his second idea when entering Mammon’s dungeon is “hey let’s nick some demonic weapons for ourselves while we’re here”.

He swears a lot more than his siblings. Also, I think the writing team either forgot or ignored that God is usually called “the Creator” in this universe.

The vitriolic sibling love is back. (War mocks Strife’s mask, Strife then tells him he wears it to disguise how much he despises War. When they reach the apparently painful to remove McGuffin, Strife points out that someone should grab it... and then cheekily waits until War resigns himself to doing it.)

Strife is really, REALLY trigger-happy.

Seems to have some serious ADHD (easily distracted, shoots the demon he was going to interrogate only a few seconds after it looks like things are not going anywhere, talks A LOT, shoots first thinks later, ...).

That said, still very smart and on-point in his observations when he actually needs to be (accurately notes that demons being organized is a very bad sign, summarizes the main problem of the mission in one witty sentence, and points out that killing Mammon means Samael will take over his hoard and rebuild his own armies even stronger).

And here’s a quick, mostly faithful transcript of the dialogue in the demo (”mostly” because I couldn’t find a video of the boss fight with subtitles and I didn’t quite get one or two of the words there):

War: The Inferno Vault... we should be wary of anything so large constructed by demons.

Strife: They aren’t usually so well-organized. The thought is kind of scary.

War: It can only exist to forge weapons that stand against the forces of heaven. And to tear down the work of the makers.

Strife: Nah, their stuff’s a little too pretty for my tastes anyway. I got an idea! Hey, hey, maybe we can get something for ourselves while we’re here?

War: We’re here at the will of the Council. Stay focused on our mission.

Strife: Mission. Right. You mean like looking for a needle in this fiery hay stack... for a shady little imp we just released from a prison cage... so she can find our missing demon lord, who may or may not have been killed by another, more powerful demon lord?

War: I suppose if we took a useful item or two, it could... aid our endeavor.

Strife: Yeah! That’s what I’m saying!

Strife: God damn, it is hot in here! My visor’s fogging up.

War: One of many reasons I choose not to hide behind a ridiculous mask.

Strife: Helps me hide how much I despise you. I’m going back outside.

War: This must be the Ember Spark Dis spoke of.

Strife: I guess one of us should grab it.

Strife: ...

War: Would you like me to do it?

Strife: Hey, I’ll watch your back.

Strife: Ah, I knew it! Level collapse! Waves of enemies?

War: We’ve already killed everything.

Strife: Haha, I know. I just wanted to hear you say it.

Mammon: No, no, no, no, NO! Lucifer promised I’d be safe! He said I’d be protected! He said— He said—He promised— *starts throwing his treasures at War and Strife* Take it! Take it all!

Strife: Come on, we’re the Council’s enforcers. You really think you can buy us off with this worthless— *excitedly catches hold of a golden toy rocking horse* TOY! *whips out guns* Okay, you almost had me! *shoots Mammon*

War: Brother, wait! *Mammon dies* We could have questioned him about the Animus.

Strife: Oh... right. Right, right, right. *hears Mammon cackle in his hoard* Oh look, he’s alive. Happy?

Strife: *holding Mammon at gunpoint* What’s wrong, Mammon? No more coin tricks?

War: What’s Lucifer planning?

Strife: Start talking, bitch! We might spare your miserable, pathetic life.

Mammon: Lucifer’s shown me treasures beyond any that exist in this world. Your threats mean no— *headshot*

Strife: Guess he didn’t feel like talking. Too bad.

War: You wouldn’t have spared him either way.

Strife: Yeah... figured it was worth a try. What about all this stuff?

War: Leave it.

Strife: Samael knows about this place now. There’s probably enough here to rebuild his army ten times over. You good with that?

War: *stares*

Strife: Okay. Fine. Let’s go. *holds up toy horse* But I’m taking a souvenir.

War: *smacks toy out of Strife’s hand*

In conclusion: I’m looking forward to playing as Strife, the over-dramatic, ADHD-ridden glass cannon among the Horsemen.

Oh, and one funny little tidbit from another video: apparently Mammon’s codename in development was Smeagol McDuck, which is a pretty accurate summary of him.

#Darksiders #Darksiders Genesis #Strife

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shirtlesssammy · 5 years

Text

7x22: There Will Be Blood

Then:

Team Free Will is back together and ready to battle some Leviathan!

Now:

Dick Roman, large and in charge, is now taking over SucroCorp, a leading manufacturer in high fructose corn syrup. He’s being interviewed on the news.

It’s here that he tells the world about how they’re going to remove additives and make a pure product for people to consume. Cut to several shots of slow, lazy Americans shoving sweetened foods in their mouths while watching the news story. (And I spy a wild Andrew Dabb in the background of one shot!) He ends the interview with “We are diving whole hog into what keeps Americans living longer... and tasting better.”

After the interview, Dick is handed a suitcase with the leviathan tablet in it. He tells his secretary to replace the journalist he just talked to with a leviathan. He then heads to the meeting room where they’re holding a trussed up Kevin Tran. He hands Kevin the tablet and asks him to read it. Kevin says he can’t.

Dick sees they’ve entered hardball negotiations. He knows how clever Kevin is so he hands him a letter of recommendation to Harvard (couldn’t he have just paid them off to get him in?) Kevin declines. They next show Kevin that they’ve kidnapped his mom.

At their hideout in the woods, Dean and Sam are getting nowhere on how to handle Dick Roman. Dean suggests making a weapon and taking him out. Sam wonders what will happen to the rest of the leviathan? Will they all just drop dead? Maybe.

OMG. They’re reading the word of God. Dean ponders if God is telling them everything (Just enough to make you squirm like a worm on a hook, Dean.) Ghost Bobby watches the brothers struggle with their task.

Later, Dean’s brushing his teeth when the air turns cold. He turns to find Bobby. Bobby’s worked out what they can do to get their ingredients. They already have Cas’s blood. They need Crowley’s and an Alpha’s blood as well. Dean counters that all the alphas are dead. Cas killed them all. Bobby suggests getting Cas involved but Dean tells him that “Cas isn’t exactly in the problem solving mode.” Bobby gets mad enough to crack a mirror when Dean is a little slow to jump on his plan. Bobby!

Sam shows Dean that Dick Roman acquired SucroCorp and now Dean’s precious pie is in danger. “Bastards.” The computer slams shut and their conversation ends. Time to listen to Bobby’s ideas.

They start the ritual to call Crowley (seriously, what an elaborate process before Dean and Crowley’s summer of love).

At Dick Roman headquarters, Kevin finishes translating the tablet. They release Linda Tran for his good deeds.

Crowley says he’ll give them his blood after they’ve acquired the rest of the ingredients. He then goads them a little by saying that the angel blood will be the hardest, considering how much heaven hates them. Sam and Dean trade soulful looks. Crowley wonders if they have an angel up their sleeve, but Dean denies it. Crowley then tells them that there’s one Alpha that escaped back in the day. He’s in Hoople, North Dakota.

At the Gas ‘n Sip in Hoople, the boys discuss Bobby’s outbursts. Sam wants a plan for what they’re going to do with him. As he grows stronger, he grows closer to becoming a vengeful spirit. Dean then notices the other customers in the convenience store. They’re all really out of it. (Tag yourself: I’m the slushy guy in the corner.) Sam connects their actions to the Turducken sandwiches and realizes that anything with corn syrup is a problem. “Then what the hell are we supposed to eat?” Dean demands. Sam holds up a basket of bananas and water.

That night, they’re staking out the house of the alpha, but haven’t seen a thing. Bobby pops up and agrees to scout it out. He gives them the all clear and they head in to find dead vampires --only their heads aren’t missing; it looks like they swallowed something that did them in instead.

They also find a secret room with a girl inside (oh, wait, she’s not a girl. She’s supposed to be 20. She’s been a captive for 12 years. Yikes.) She’s one of the Alpha’s “special girls” but not anymore. Sam promises to get her back to her mother. They ask about the dead vamps. She tells them that humans willingly came to them about a week ago. When they started feeding, they all died. Sam guesses it’s the corn syrup. They then ask where the Alpha is now. She doesn’t know but she’ll try and help.

Later, the lone vamp that did not feed on a human comes back to an empty house-- well empty except for Edgar. He quickly takes the form of the vamp and kills him.

Meanwhile, Dean is STILL going through corn syrup withdrawal. “I can't live on rabbit food. I'm – I'm a warrior.” He’s in bad shape, guys. Sam asks what their next step is. They need to confront the Alpha, so they’re going to need dead man’s blood. To the morgue! Only Dean has a better idea. They see a sloth man drinking his Slushy Mushy on a bench and realize there is vamp poison everywhere. They ask for his blood and he wordlessly complies.

They proceed to talk about Bobby-the-ghost right over the dude’s head, while he stares at them and drinks his slushy. (God, I really want a slushee right now.) A cop drives by with his siren blaring, but as the car draws closer we hear War’s “Why can’t we be friends” and the cop boops the siren along with the music. I...just...WOW.

Dean and Sam drive out with the alpha’s “virgin” Emily to try and find his hideout. She gives them whatever details she remembers and they make their way to a creepy mansion. “This is where he took me,” she says. “Are you sure?” Uh. YEAH. It’s crawling with vamps.

They leave Emily in their bison-themed motel room (all hail Wanek) where she watches TV and learns about the wild Kardashian.

Ghost Bobby throws a mini tantrum at getting left behind (Dean locks his flask in the safe before they leave). But as Bobby watches, Emily jumps up, pulls out the cell phone, and says hi to someone named “Daddy.” She’s sending him a present! Never trust...a virgin?

Sam and Dean stalk the mansion, working on a plan of attack. Sam proposes a radical new tactic..going in through the front door.

The door’s ajar so Sam creeps inside and...gets SNATCHED immediately. Dean pursues and gets tackled for his trouble.

Bobby throws a tantrum in the hotel room. The cleaning woman heads in to check on the ruckus when Bobby goes full manifestation on her, then tackles her and possesses her. DAMN IT, BOBBY. Why’d you have to go darkside?

Wearing the cleaning woman, Bobby removes his flask from the safe and heads towards Sucrocorp.

At alpha vamp headquarters, Emily greets Daddy Vamp gleefully. Dean tells them that they’re just there to talk, but not before giving Emily some serious sarcasm for tricking them.

Sure, they were carrying machetes and infected blood but that’s water under the bridge, okay? Dean’s flippant bravado isn’t impressing the vamps; he gets bashed into the table for his trouble. The alpha starts ramping up to eat himself a Winchester (with a Winchester chaser) when Sam tells him that they know about the vampire plague that killed Emily’s little nest.

The alpha at first denies that the leviathans could have anything to do with it. He’d shared a lovely meal with Dick Roman, after all. Sam insists that they’re telling the truth and tells him that they need his blood for the weapon that can defeat Roman.

The Winchesters are shown to the study (maybe they have cookies and juice, like a blood drive) while Edgar meets with the alpha. They try to escape, but they’re locked up tight in there. Dean grabs a needle from one of the bloodied IV bags and a concealed stoned-man’s-blood syringe from his boot. (ALWAYS check the boots, bad guys!) It’s time to lockpick and stick.

The alpha promises to deliver Sam and Dean to the leviathans. Edgar, in turn, promises that he’s definitely totally NOT exterminating all the vampires.

Meanwhile, it’s vamptonite to the rescue as Dean and Sam get the drop on a vamp and watch him half disintegrate in front of their eyes!

The alpha expresses frustration with the terrible customer service of Leviathan Corp. and Edgar grins. Yeah, he admits, the leviathans totally want the vamps dead. The additive will kill any monster that eats humans. Now that the lines are drawn, it’s showdown time. Edgar insults Eve and the alpha attacks (NOBODY insults his mom!), but he isn’t strong enough. Luckily Dean and Sam take this moment to show up, slicing off Edgar’s head.

The Winchesters try to go after the alpha, but he tosses Dean across the room and offers an alternative idea.

He’ll give them his blood and they can take down the leviathans. I guess...that works pretty well. The alpha pours his blood into a wine glass, hands it over, and snarls a farewell. The Winchesters aren’t done yet, though. Emily may be a lost cause, but there’s still a young boy held prisoner. They bargain for his freedom.

Sam takes the blood and they head out (presumably to rescue the little kid). The alpha taunts them. “Your flesh is crawling. All you really want to do is kill me now. You hate having to wait and come back and try again.” It’s an accurate summary...they promise to finish up their storyline at a later date. (Boris: Sam Fucking Winchester, season 12 ftw)

Back at the hotel, they recap how dropping off the kid went (horribly, they were accused of kidnapping him and had to jump out a window). Once in the motel room, they find the place is a wreck, with cracked mirrors and an empty safe. Bobby’s in the wind…

Well, at least they’ve got two out of three kinds of blood, right? “It's a good thing we got Crowley in our corner. Right?” Dean surmises sarcastically, “Seeing as how it all comes down to him. What could possibly go wrong?”

What could go wrong, indeed? Crowley gets summoned by Dick Roman himself. It’s time to make a deal.

______________________________

We Know Dick about Quotes:

We are diving whole hog into what keeps Americans living longer... and tasting better.

I can't do this, man. I can't live on rabbit food. I'm a warrior!

Keep your friends close, your enemies, blah blah.

You sure you want to head in there, machetes blazing?

You get a trophy in Stockholm Syndrome.

_______________________________

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive!

#spn recap #spn rewatch #spn 7x22 #there will be blood #dean winchester #sam winchester #bobby winchester #crowley #dick roman #supernatural season 7

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vgckwb · 5 years

Text

ML: Are They Worthy? Chapter 47: Darkside!/Dark Kitty

Gabriel was pacing around his office. Nathalie was watching. “So, you want me to meet with Judgement Wolf to see if we can figure something out,” he said.

“That’s the idea” Nathalie said.

Gabriel looked at his assistant. “Do you think this could work?” he asked.

“It’s worth trying” Nathalie said. “You would want to pursue any avenue to bring back Emilie, right?”

Gabriel looked out his window. “Of course,” he said. “But I would need a way for him to get to me without him revealing my identity.”

“We can think of a few options” Nathalie said.

“Very well” Gabriel said. “Let’s make an attempt.”

Meanwhile, after school, Luka and Juleka were walking out of school. “Hey!” a voice shouted at them. The siblings looked at the point of origin. She was an older girl, about 17, and she had orange hair in a ponytail, glasses, brown eyes, a white shirt, a green hoodie that was unzipped, a red and black plaid skirt, black stockings, white and green tennis shoes, and a black case strapped upon her back. She ran up to them carefully. “You’re the two guitarists of Kitty Section, right?”

“Um, yeah?” Luka said.

“What’s this about?” Juleka asked.

The mystery girl set her case down, opened it, and pulled out a black bass. “I wanna join you band!”

“Ummmmmm, OK?” Luka said.

“I can join?!” she asked.

“No” Luka said. “I mean, not yet. We’d have to audition you first.”

“Yeah, and this is kind of a friend thing, and you just kind of showed up” Juleka said. “Sooooooo…..”

The girl smiled and nodded. “I get it. We can do that. Can we do it now?”

“Uhhh, we weren't planning on meeting today…” Luka said.

“Please?” the girl asked.

Luka sighed. “It wouldn’t hurt to ask Rose and Ivan.”

“I guess not” Juleka said. “I’m still not sure about her though.”

The girl giggled. “I’m sorry. I haven’t even introduced myself yet. My name is Ashe.”

“Well, I’m Juleka, and that is my brother Luka” she said, pointing at Luka who was texting.

“Well, I’ve got an OK from Rose. Now let’s see what Ivan says” Luka said.

Mylene was approaching Ivan, who was checking his phone. “So, do we have plans this afternoon?” she asked.

Ivan looked up sadly. His sadness transferred to Mylene. “The band just called an emergency meeting. Is it OK if I go?”

Mylene felt left out, but she said “Of course.”

“Great! And I promise you, we’ll do something tomorrow!” Ivan said. He gave Mylene a kiss on the cheek and left. Mylene felt bitter about the decision and got out her phone and started texting.

Later, Mylene was sitting on a park bench by herself. “Hey Mylene!” Marinette called out. Mylene turned to see Marinette waiving with Alya right behind her.

The two sat down next to Mylene. “So, what’s up girl?” Alya asked.

Mylene looked down. “Well, it’s just, Ivan’s been spending a lot of time with Kitty Section lately. I’m worried we aren’t spending enough time together anymore.”

“Do you think Ivan doesn’t like you anymore?” Alya asked.

“That’s insane. Ivan is crazy about you” Marinette said.

“Yeah, he got akumatized twice because he didn’t know how to tell you he loved you” Alya said.

“Not helping” Marinette said.

“It’s not that” Mylene said. “It’s just, whenever Ivan and I aren’t spending time together, and I’m not doing anything with you guys, he’s off doing something he’s passionate about. Meanwhile, I just spend my time missing Ivan. I just don’t know what to do with myself.”

Marinette and Alya looked at each other and nodded. “Well, we’re here now” Alya said.

“Yeah” Marinette said. “So, do you want to be with him, or like, figure out something you want to do on your own?”

Mylene looked up. “I like that second choice. You all have your own passions. I wanna find something for myself!”

“That a girl” Alya said. “So, let’s brainstorm. Your father’s an actor, do you wanna try that?”

Mylene shook her head. “You remember how I did during the movie we made. I don’t feel comfortable doing that kind of thing. At least not yet.”

“Well, you’re so kind and gentle. Why don’t you try volunteering somewhere?” Marinette suggested. There are animal shelters, charities…”

“My mom works at a food pantry sometimes” Alya said. “They always need help there.”

Mylene looked determined. “Alright. Let’s do it!” Marinette and Alya smiled. The three of them left.

Meanwhile, at the Liberty, Kitty Section was sitting down while Ashe was on stage. “Thanks for letting me try out” she said. “I know you just met me, but I hope you’ll be impressed.”

“Before you start, we have a few questions” Luka said.

“Shoot” Ashe said.

“How’d you find out about us?” Ivan asked.

“I saw some of your videos online” Ashe said. “You’re pretty good.”

“Why do you want to join us?” Rose asked. “Not that I would mind…”

Ashe looked at the band. “I really like music. I’ve always wanted to play in a band. The way I see it: you need a bassist. I can play bass. Simple as that.”

“What makes you think you’ll be a good fit for Kitty Section?” Luka asked.

Ashe smiled slyly. “From what I’ve seen, you guys play my kind of music. I really admire your energy and attitude.”

“Are you nice?” Juleka asked.

Ashe was taken aback by that question. “She means ‘Do you think you can friends with us?’” Luka explained. “We’re a tightly knit group. You could play well, but if you’re only here to play, than I suggest you leave.”

Ashe smiled. “I see. Well, I certainly hope we can be friends.” She sighed. “Most of mine abandoned me…”

The band was shocked. “I’m sorry” Juleka said.

“No, you’re right,” Ashe said. “Getting along is just as important as being able to play well. Now, are you ready?”

“Go for it” Luka said. Ashe began to play for them.

Meanwhile, Mylene, Marinette, and Alya arrived at the food pantry. Alya waived down the person in charge. “Hi Marie” she said.

“Hello” Marie said. Marie had black hair tied up in a ponytail, a grey shirt, jeans, black shoes, and an apron.

“This is Mylene” Alya said, introducing her. “She’d like to help around here.”

“Oh, how wonderful!” Marie said. “Just take an apron, and, let’s see… OH! I know. Lorenzo needs some help sorting cans. Why don’t you start there?”

“OK” Mylene said. She went to grab an apron.

“And, since you two have been here before, why don’t you help with deliveries?” Marie asked.

“Uh, sure!” Marinette said.

Mylene walked into a room and saw a lanky boy with black hair, olive eyes, a black hoodie zipped up with an apron over it, jeans, and black Chucks. “Um, are your Lorenzo?” Mylene asked.

The boy looked up. “Yes. And you are?”

Mylene smiled. “Mylene. I just started here. Marie says I should help you.”

“Well then, let’s get started” Lorenzo said. “I’ll show you the ropes.”

Mylene learned from Lorenzo and together, they sorted cans all afternoon. The two became fast friends. The same was happening over that the Liberty. Kitty Section was impressed by Ashe’s playing skills, and they started a jam session once the solo stuff was out of the way.

Once their sessions was over, Luka said, “Man, that felt great.”

“Yeah, I’d say you pass” Juleka said.

“Me too!” Rose said.

“I agree!” Ivan said.

Ashe looked at Luka. “Well, what do you think?”

Luka smiled back at her. “Yeah, I’d say you pass.”

“Yes!” Ashe said, pumping her fist.

Anarka rushed out. She looked worried, but then saw Ashe and was curious. “My, who be this?” she said.

“Oh. Right. This is Ashe” Luke said.

“Hi” Ashe said.

“Well, hello” Anarka said. She squinted her eyes and then returned inside.

“What was that about?” Ashe asked.

“I don’t know” Luka said.

“Yeah, usually mom is a lot more free spirited” Juleka said. “I should go check on her.” She went inside.

Luka looked at Ashe. “So, why do you play bass?” he asked.

“Well, I can play an assortment of instruments” Ashe said. “I’ve learned when I was very young. But the bass has always been my favorite. My mom plays bass, so I feel connected with her when I play it.”

“I see” Luka said.

Richard’s car pulled up and Richard got out. He looked onto the boat. “It’s her!” he called out.

May got out and got a look. She started to approach the ship. “Oh no” Ashe said.

“What?” Luka said.

“Ashley!” May said, getting close to the ship.

Ashe shrunk into herself. “Hi mom…”

“Mom?” Luka said.

“Yes” Juleka said, coming out on deck with her mom. “Apparently, she’s May’s child. She ran away when she and her dad were in Versailles. He called May, May told dad, and dad told mom, who upon seeing Ashe knew who she was, and called dad back that she had been found.”

Luka looked at Ashe in disbelief. “Is this true?”

“Yeah…” Ashe said.

“Ashley!” May said, getting on the boat. She hugged her daughter. “Don’t scare us like that!”

“I was fine” Ashe said.

May broke the hug. “Your father was really worried.”

“Good!” Ashe said. “He deserves it!”

“What’s gotten into you?” May said.

“Everything!” Ashe said.

May was shocked. “Well, I’m sure we can talk it over with your father once we get to London.”

“No!” Ashe said. “I hate it in London! I’m never going back! Everyone hates me there!”

“Honey, you can’t mean that” May said

“I do!” Ashe cried out. “School is a nightmare. Dad’s away a lot of the time. You left me. No one cares about me…”

May saw that her child was upset. “Well, I’m sure we can figure something out,” she said.

“NO! I’m never going back! You can’t make me!” Ashe grabbed her bass and ran off of the ship.

“Come on! We gotta follow her!” Luka said.

“Right!” Richard said. The band, Richard, May, and Anarka all chased after her.

Ashe found an isolated space. She sat down, took out her bass, and started strumming. She stopped and broke down crying.

Meanwhile, in Hawk Moth’s lair, Hawk Moth monologued. “Well well, a lonely soul who just wants to be free. Surely we can help this struggling artist. Fly away, my little akuma, and set her free!”

The akuma flew off and fused with Ashe’s bass. “Dark Kitty! I am Hawk Moth. Your new friends and new band are about to be taken from you? I won’t allow it! I’m giving you the power to make sure you and your band throw the best concert Paris has ever seen! The cover charge for the acquisition of this venue will be Ladybug and Cat Noir’s miraculous!”

“Yes Hawk Moth” Ashe said. The purple-black aura formed around her. The was about the time everyone else caught up with her. Once the aura faded, she now had the look of a black leather tank top with three belts on it, a black leather skirt, black stockings, black pumps, black shoulder pads with white edges that carried a black cape, and a black Kitty Section mask with a white horn and white streaks of lightning coming out of the eyes at the top.

“Ashley?” May said.

“It’s Dark Kitty now, mom!” she said. “And me an my band are about to put on the greatest concert Paris has ever seen! However, you aren’t invited. You can still see the concert, but you have to view it from the special ‘downer’ section.” She strummed her bass, aimed it at the three adults, and then transported them.

“Where’d they go?!” Luka said.

“I just told you” Dark Kitty. “Now, it’s time for us to set up!”

“Hold on! We’re not going to play like this!” Rose said.

“Yeah! We’re not your band!” Ivan said.

“What they said” Juleka echoed.

“You’re turning me away too?” Dark Kitty said. “After we had such a good time this afternoon?”

“We had a good time with Ashe! Not you!” Luka exploded.

“Pity” Dark Kitty said. “Still, I have the power. You will be there.” She strummed, aimed, and made her bandmates disappear. “Now, every good concert needs some attendees. Let’s work on that!” Dark Kitty began to prowl.

Marinette and Alya were out delivering food. “This is great” Marinette said.

“Yeah, but it would be easier if we had a car and could drive” Alya said.

Marinette bumped into Adrien. “Sorry” they said at the same time.

Alya started laughing. “I’m sorry. It’s just that moments like this make me realize that you two were always meant to be a couple.”

“Thanks?” Marinette said.

“So, what are you doing out here?” Adrien asked.

“Well, we’re helping the local food pantry by running some deliveries” Marinette explained.

“Wow” Adrien said. “If you’d have told me, I would have helped.”

“Well, it was kind of a spur of the moment thing” Alya explained. “We were trying to help Mylene out since she was feeling down.”

“I see” Adrien said. His eyes widened. “LOOK OUT!” He grabbed Marinette and ran off.

Alya was confused, but was then hit by a bass blast from Dark Kitty. “WOOOOOOOOO!” She said. She began walking off.

“That’s it!” Dark Kitty said. “Now, let’s find more concert goers!” She went off in a different direction.

Adrien and Marinette were hiding in some bushes. They nodded at each other. “Tikki! Spots on!”

“Plagg! Claws out!” They transformed and followed Dark Kitty.

At the food pantry, Mylene and Lorenzo were wrapping up for the evening. “I’ve gotta say, this has been a wonderful experience” Mylene said.

“Well, you’re welcome to come anytime” Lorenzo said. He smiled. “I had a good time too.” There was a silence. “Say, I know this might sound crazy, but would you want to go out with me?”

Mylene was shocked at the offer. She remained calm and said “Sorry. You’re a really nice guy and all. But I have a boyfriend already.”

“Oh” Lorenzo said. “Of course.” He sighed.

“It’s OK” Mylene said.

“Yeah…” Lorenzo. “It’s just, see, I had a crush on this girl but she moved away before I could do anything about it.”

“Oh no” Mylene said.

“Yeah. I’ve been in kind of a funk since” Lorenzo said. “I’ve been volunteering to get my mind off of it.”

“What a coincidence” Mylene said. “I decided to volunteer because I don’t know what I want to do with my life yet.”

“Hm. I guess we’re just two peas in a pod” Lorenzo said.

They heard some noise coming from the front of the food pantry. “What was that?” Mylene asked.

“I’ll check it out. You stay here and hide. Call the police if I don’t get back!” Lorenzo said, leaving the area. Mylene peered through the door only to see Dark Kitty putting Lorenzo under her spell. “WOOOO HOOOOO!!!!”

“Perfect! Pretty soon ALL of Paris will come to my concert!” Dark Kitty said. Mylene went back and hid. Dark Kitty saw the door flap.

She was about to investigate further when she was cut off. “Great. Another situation caused by a Kitty Section rip-off” Ladybug said.

“I’m the real deal. Dark Kitty’s the name, and I’m the latest member of Kitty Section” she said. “Everyone’s setting up at the Eiffel Tower. I’m out here rounding up a few fans!”

“Wow! A Kitty Section concert at the Eiffel Tower?! Can you Mark us down for tickets?” Cat Noir asked.

“Of course I want you two to attend, but the price of entry is going to be your miraculous!” Dark Kitty said. She fired off blasts from her bass, while Ladybug and Cat Noir dodged it. They kept dodging and moving around.

Judgement Wolf managed to sneak up on Dark Kitty and get a hit in. “Judgement Wolf!” Ladybug and Cat Noir said.

“That’s gotta Sting!” Cat Noir added

“Sorry I’m late. I had to hide to transform” he said.

“You! How lame of you to do a sneak attack like that!” Dark Kitty said. “For that, you’re going to the downer section!” She played her bass

“No!” Cat Noir said. He tried to save Judgement Wolf, but ended up getting hit and transported as well.

Judgement Wolf and Cat Noir ended up in a black box. “Well that Wentz south fast” Cat Noir said.

“OK, what are you doing?” Judgement Wolf said.

“Famous bassists” Cat Noir said.

“I see” Judgement Wolf said.

“Cat Noir! Can you get us outta here?” Anarka said.

“And please! Save my daughter! She was just Akumatized!” May said.

“Yeah, I’m sure your Cataclysm could break through this” Judgement Wolf said. He looked out the window that was there. “But maybe here is safer.”

“Why?” Cat Noir asked. He got a look out and he saw that the box was floating above the city close to the Eiffel Tower. He also got a look at the other members of Kitty Section who were just standing still, deep within a trance. “Oh. Yeah, we could escape, but Dark Kitty could just put us back here if she found us. Plus, we have you guys to worry about. Not to mention that drop. I think we need to bide our time for now. Ladybug will come through in the end.” They all nodded.

At the food pantry, Dark Kitty turned and said “Now Ladybug! It’s time for you to join them!” However, Ladybug was nowhere in sight. “Where’d she go?”

“Dark Kitty” transmitted Hawk Moth. “Don’t worry about her for now. You’re putting on a spectacle the likes of which Paris has never seen. You also have captured two of her teammates. She’ll have to come to you sooner or later.”

“Of course Hawk Moth” Dark Kitty said. She left the food pantry.

Ladybug hid in the back room and sighed once Dark Kitty left. “Ladybug?” Mylene called out.

“GAH!” Ladybug shrieked. “Oh good. I thought you were under her spell or something.”

Mylene shook her head. “Are you alright?”

“I’ll be fine” Ladybug said. “Are you OK?”

Mylene nodded. “I think so.”

“Good. I need you to stay here and keep out of sight” Ladybug said.

“I can’t just do nothing!” Mylene said. “If what she said is true, she has my boyfriend! I can’t let her get away with that.”

Ladybug sighed. “I understand how you feel. She has my boyfriend as well.”

“Cat Noir?” Mylene said.

“Yeah…” Ladybug blushed. “But the best thing for you to do right now is stay put. I have powers. You don’t. Imagine how your boyfriend would feel if you got hurt because of him.”

Mylene thought about it. “I get it.”

“Thank you” Ladybug said. “Now, let’s not go into enemy territory empty handed. Lucky Charm! A sword?”

“Wow. That’s a bit more violent than your Lucky Charm usually is” Mylene remarked.

Ladybug remembered the sword. “I’m not going to use it violently. I’ve gotta make a stop!” Ladybug left.

Marientte walked into Master Fu’s parlor to see Master Fu and Hao-yu. “Master! Hau-yu! Paris is in trouble and Cat Noir, Rena Rouge, and Judgement Wolf are incapacitated!”

“I see. Let’s fix that” Master Fu said. He opened up the miracle box. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, pick an ally you can trust to fight alongside you on this mission. Choose wisely; such powers are meant to serve the greater good. Once the mission is over you will retrieve the Miraculous from them.”

Marinette had a look in the box. She grabbed the mouse miraculous. “If she wants something big, maybe we should fight with something small.”

“An excellent choice” Master Fu said.

“Gotta go! By Master! By Hau-yu!” Marientte left.

“Does this happen often?” Hau-yu asked.

“Well it’s been getting more frequent” Master Fu said.

Mylene was sitting around in the back of the food pantry. “I wish there was something I could do,” she said.

“And there is” Ladybug said. Mylene was surprised. “Mylene Haprele. Here is the mouse miraculous. Which grants you the power of multiplication. You will you it for the greater good. Once the job is complete, you will return the miraculous to me. Can I trust you?”

Mylene nodded. “Of course Ladybug!” She grabbed the box and opened it.

Mullo popped out. “Ah. How exciting!”

“Oh my!” Mylene said.

“Don’t worry. I’m nice!” Mullo said. She reached out her hand

Mylene smiled and shook Mullo’s hand. She put the miraculous on. “So, what do I do?”

“Just say ‘Mullo! Get Squeaky!’”

“Ok. Mullo! Get Squeaky!” Mylene transformed into a hero with a pink headband going over her hair that has Cat Noir-like mouse ears, a mostly grey skin-suit with black hands and black boots, a black belt with a pink buckle, and a grey Ninja Turtles-like mask. “Wow!”

“Now, let’s get going!” Ladybug said. The two heroes lept into action.

Dark Kitty was getting everything set up for the concert. The crowd had amassed, the lights and sound were set up,the band had these stands they were on, there was a big TV attached to the Eiffel Tower, and news crews were reporting on it. “Oh! I’m so excited!” she said.

In Hawk Moth’s Lair, he had a thought. He nodded at Nathalie and contacted Dark Kitty. “Dark Kitty. I have a favor to ask of you. Tell Judgement Wolf to meet me at the Arc de Triomphe. I want to speak with him.”

“Really? OK” Dark Kitty said. She got on her stand and told her unwilling band mates “I’ve got another errand to run, but then we can start our concert. Isn’t this exciting?!”

“Yes Dark Kitty” they all said in unison.

Dark Kitty hopped on her stand and it became a board that she could fly through the air on. She flew to the black box and said “Hey wolfy! Hawk Moth wants to meet with you at the Arc de Triomphe. So I’m letting you go. Don’t try anything funny.” She strummed her bass and Judgement Wolf fell through the floor.

Judgement Wolf found his direction and landed safely. “Huh. I wonder what this is about” he said. He made his way to the Arc.

Once he got there, he was face to face with Hawk Moth. “Hello Judgement Wolf.”

“What’s stopping me from using my power on you right now?” Judgement Wolf asked.

“Straight to the point” Hawk Moth said. “My assistant Mayura is close to the concert. She’ll create a sentimonster if you don’t cooperate. And we wouldn’t want that now, would we?”

Ladybug is already down Cat Noir and myself. Plus, from what I’ve seen, all of the other known heroes have been put under Dark Kitty’s spell. If she can even find a new hero, that’s still going to make it a bigger mess than it could be. “Fine. What do you want?” Judgement Wolf relented.

“Good boy” Hawk Moth said, condescendingly. “I was hoping you could help me. Nooroo says you could.”

“That’s odd…” Judgement Wolf said. “I thought you didn’t want to reveal yourself.”

“I don’t” Hawk Moth countered. “But Nooroo says you could help me in other ways.”

Meanwhile, Ladybug and Mylene’s hero form arrived at the Eiffel Tower. They managed to keep out of sight. “Alright, we need to think of a plan” Ladybug said. “Hey, what should I call you?”

She thought about it for a bit. “Scouries” she said.

“I see. I like it” Ladybug said. “I bet Cat Noir will too.” The two heroes giggled. “Now then. Lucky Charm! A bag of marbles?” Ladybug looked at Scouries, the intricate set-up, the black box floating in the sky, and Dark Kitty’s bass. “I bet her akuma is in the bass.”

“Are we going to make her trip and fall? Like in the cartoons?” Scouries asked.

“Not in that sense, no” Ladybug said. “But we can trip her up. Here’s the plan.”

Judgement Wolf was in the midst of his conversation with Hawk Moth. “So, you need my help with something.”

“Yes” Hawk Moth replied.

“I’m not turning my back on Ladybug” Judgement Wolf said.

“Of course. If I thought you were that kind of person, I wouldn’t need to coerce you like this” Hawk Moth said.

“You are a tricky fellow” Judgement Wolf said. “What do you want?”

“Well, there are a lot of details to get into” Hawk Moth said. “I was hoping we could plan for future meetings here.”

“I see” Judgement Wolf said. “In that case, let’s lay some ground rules. No meeting on days with akuma attacks.”

“Agreed” Hawk Moth said. “But that doesn’t mean I’m just going to give up.”

“Same” Judgement Wolf said. “Also, we should keep the meeting place consistent. I hate having to run around and get vaguely sourced invitations to meet someone.”

“Very well” Hawk Moth said. He closed his eyes. “Well, it looks like the show is about to begin. Maybe you can go and watch it for yourself.” Hawk Moth left in a hurry. Mayura fell back as well.

“Well, that was interesting” Judgement Wolf said. “Let’s see how big this concert is going to be.” Judgement Wolf left as well.

The cameras started rolling. Dark Kitty called out to everyone “Alright Paris, are you ready to party?!” The crowd cheered back. “Then let’s get started. Hit it!” The band played “I Love Unicorns.” The crowd loved it. “Thank you! Thank you!”

There was some strange clapping. Dark Kitty looked down and saw that it was Ladybug. “That was a nice opening act there. Now it’s time for the headliner” Ladybug told her.

“Ladybug. You’re just in time for the show” Dark Kitty said. She used her bass to blast at Ladybug. Ladybug dodged it and leapt up to the lights. Dark Kitty kept blasting, but Ladybug kept dodging to the rest of the band, to the tv, and to the stereos. Finally she made her way to the mixing booth. Her earrings started to beep. “Ha! You’ve already used your Lucky Charm. All I have to do is wait you out!”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t worry about that just yet” Ladybug said. The TV went to static. The lighting fixture got detached and was hanging by a thread. The instruments began falling apart. The mic became unplugged. The TV fell off behind the band, luckily hurting no one.

“Grrrrrr. How did you do that?!” Dark Kitty demanded.

“I used my Lucky Charm, didn’t I?” Ladybug said.

Dark Kitty was still mad. “Well, seeing as you’re almost out of time, I just have to do this.” Dark Kitty aimed her bass carefully at Ladybug and strummed it.

Ladybug was teleported into the box as well. “Ladybug! They got you too?” Cat Noir said.

“Relax Kitty, this is all part of my plan” Ladybug said. She looked around. “Where’s Judgement Wolf?”

“Hawk Moth wanted to talk with him” Cat Noir said.

“I see. Well, we’ll talk about that later” Ladybug said.

“Care to Phil me in on this plan of yours?” Cat Noir said.

“Sinc we’re here, let’s free these people” Ladybug said.e

“Gotcha. Cataclysm!” Cat Noir called out.

Dark Kitty was standing there, having just dealt with Ladybug. “Now that that’s settled, let’s fix this!” She went to play her bass when she noticed little marbles sliding down the strings. “What the?” The black box exploded, and Ladybug and Cat Noir freed everyone.

Dark Kitty took her bass off to fix the problem, but she got kicked in the back by a returning Judgement Wolf. “Oops” he said. Her bass began to fall, but she went to grab the strap. However, once she got a hold of it, the strap broke off from the bass and the bass continued to fall.

“Equalize!” Scouries’s voice called out. A full-sized Scouries then appeared forming from a bunch of little Scourieses. She then used her jump rope to attack and subdue Dark Kitty.

“Nice” Judgement Wolf said.

“Thank you” Scouries said.

Ladybug and Cat Noir came back from rescuing everyone. “Where are they? Lemmy attem!” Cat Noir said.

“Relax” Scouries said. “It’s almost over.”

The bass crashed to the ground and broke, freeing the akuma. “Thanks” Ladybug said. “No more evildoing for you, little akuma. TIme to deevilize! Gotcha. Bye bye, little butterfly. Miraculous Ladybug!” She threw the bag of marbles in the air. The ladybug fixed all of the damage caused by Dark Kitty.

Ashe appeared out of the purple-black aura with her bass. “What happened?”

“Pound it!” the heroes said.

“So, I’ve been defeated once again” Hawk Moth said. I might be low now, but I do have a bass-line for my plans for the future!”

Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Scouries’s miraculous began to beep. “We should go. Are you OK by yourself?”

“Yeah. I think so” Ashe said.

Ladybug nodded. “Bug out!” The four heroes left.

Once they were hidden, Scouries asked “I know you know, and I know Judgement Wolf has to know, but why is Cat Noir here?”

“Well, we’ve resolved to be more open about our plans for dealing with Hawk Moth” Ladybug said.

“I can leave if you don’t want me to know” Cat Noir said.

“No. It’s fine” Scouries said. “Mullo! Un-Squeak!” She transformed back into Mylene. Cat Noir and Judgement Wolf raised their eyebrows.

“Good luck on Mr. Wolf’s test” Mullo said.

“Thanks” Mylene replied. She gave back the miraculous. “Well, I should get going.”

“Wait! How did you do all of that?” Cat Noir asked.

“Oh. Well, I activated my power, which caused a bunch of little clones of me to appear. I then hid in Ladybug’s hair as she took me around to various places. While she was distracting Dark Kitty, I was doing whatever I could to mess up the concert. Once Dark Kitty aimed her bass at Ladybug, I jumped off of Ladybug with the marbles she summoned and onto the bass to mess with that.”

“I see. How clever” Judgement Wolf said.

“Well, you know what they say. Les is more” Cat Noir said. Ladybug rolled her eyes.

“I really should get back to the food pantry” Mylene said. “Seeya!” She ran off.

Ladybug and Cat Noir ran out of time and detransformed. “Well, speaking of being more open” Marinette said.”What were you doing with Hawk Moth?”

Judgment Wolf looked at them and said, “He wanted to speak with me. I think he wants help.”

“You’re not going to give it to him, are you?” Adrien asked.

“It depends on the type of help he wants” Judgement Wolf said. “He didn’t seem to have an interest in using me. However, I suspect that there may be more to this than expected.”

“Well, I trust you” Marinette said. “Just keep us informed.”

“Will do” Judgement Wolf said. He left.

Marinette grabbed Adrin’s arm. “Come on. Let’s return this together.”

“RIght” Adrien nodded. The two walked over to Master Fu’s.

Ashe came out of the Eiffel Tower. “Ashley!” May called out. Ashe looked up and saw her mom, Luka and Juleka’s parents, and the band sans Ivan. May came up to Ashe and gave her a hug. “It’s OK.”

Ashe hugged back. “Thanks mom.”

The hug ended. “Tell you what. It’s pretty late. Why don’t you spend the night with me and Richard and I’ll talk with your father and see what we can do.”

“Thanks” Ashe said. She looked at Kitty Section. “If it’s alright with you, and if I’m allowed to stay, I would still like to be a part of the band. But I understand if you wouldn’t want that?”

“Are you KIDDING?!” Rose said. “We’d love to have someone like you.”

“Yeah. You kind of cool” Juleka said. “A little troubled, but we all are.”

“Besides, you’re practically like our step-sister” Luka said. “How could we say no to family?”

Ashe hugged Luka. “Thanks!” Rose and Juleka got in on the hug. “Where’s Ivan?”

“He said he had some business to take care of” Luka said.

Lorenzo entered the food pantry. “Mylene! It’s safe to come out now!”

Mylene walked out texting someone. “Oh, hi Lorenzo” Mylene said.

“Mylene! Thank goodness you’re alright!” Lorenzo said, hugging her. He broke the hug soon after. “Are you OK?”

“Yeah. I just hid here until the whole thing blew over” Mylene said.

“MYLENE!” Ivan said, entering. He saw her across the room. He ran up and hugged her. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine Ivan” Mylene said. “But thanks for asking. Lorenzo, this is my boyfriend.”

“I see” Lorenzo said. “You have a great girlfriend.”

“Thanks?” Ivan said.

“So, where do you go to school?” Mylene asked.

“Well, I just moved here last week. Starting tomorrow, I’m transferring to Francois Dupont High School” Lorenzo said.

“Really?! That’s where we go to school” Ivan said.

“Really? Well, then I guess I’ll see you around then” Lorenzo said. He walked out.

“What was that about?” Ivan asked.

“He’s just been having a hard time recently” Mylene said.

“Well, maybe we should help him,” Ivan said.

“I like that idea” Mylene replied. The two shared a kiss.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug fanfic #Marinette #Adrien #Alya #Vlad #Mylene #Ivan #Luka #Juleka #Rose #Anarka #Gabriel #Nathalie #Mullo

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thesffcorner · 5 years

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Book Couples of 2019: Ranked

I stole this idea from Sam at ThoughtsOnTomes, and I’ve done it two years in a row. So why not keep the tradition going in the next decade too and rank all the couples from books I read in 2019.

Before we start, some ground rules:

SPOILERS AHEAD;

All of the couples are from books I read in 2019;

All the couples must be canon; they are only on the list if they are written as explicitly romantic;

Worst to Best, i.e. couples I liked the least to couples I liked the best.

Let’s go!

TERRIBLE TIER:

50. Erika and Michael from Corrupt by Penelope Douglass

Is anyone surprised that these two are the worst couple of the year? If you are, you must be new here.

This pairing has all the tropes I hate in literature: an abusive, possessive alpha male hero who treats the girl like shit, but it’s ok because he loves her. He’s also willing to destroy her life over his friends, who as far as he knows raped her, so that’s fun too. Oh, and also it takes for her to almost die for him to tell her he loves her. We stan an emotionally stunted idiot.

As for Erika, she’s entitled, dumb, naive and completely virginal, in spite of being in a committed long term relationship. She has no personality other than her unrequited 14 year old crush, but somehow she’s supposed to be smart and independent? Sure, Jan.

49. Joe and Beck from You, by Caroline Kepness:

I don’t think I need to explain to anyone why I hated these two. They are both pretentious, horrible people and I’d say they deserve each other, except no one deserves Joe, not even Beck.

48. Marcus, Maria and Saya from Deadly Class by Rick Remendeer:

2019 was a bad year for love triangles, which is a trope I’m not a huge fan of anyway, but man did this year make me hate it even more. As the first example we have Marcus, Maria and Saya, who are by far 3 of the most obnoxious characters I have ever had the displeasure of reading from.

First we have Maria, who is just ‘crazy’, because women be crazy y’all! She’s promiscuous, even though she has a boyfriend, who she then cheats on with Marcus, back-stabs her best friend over him, and then gets dropped like a potato when Marcus realizes he can sleep with Saya too.

There are some attempts in the latter volumes to give her some depth and explain why she was dating Dio to start with, but you know, I’d rather you had opened with that.

Marcus, outside of being the absolute worst person in existence, treats Maria poorly, talks shit about her behind her back, cheats on her, let’s her take the fall for stuff he and Saya did and in general doesn’t want to be with her, but stays because sex.

His relationship with Saya is even worse; they like the same shitty music, and are both horny. Also Saya is a horrible tsundere cliche, which is already annoying in anime and manga, even well written ones, let alone when an American writer tries to emulate it. Badly.

BAD TIER:

47. Mariko, Akira and Taro from Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean

The second love triangle on the list, and this one wins by being the dumbest, most underdeveloped one of the year.

Mariko was the character I liked the most, but her connection to both Akira and Taro was tenuous at best, and more than a little frustrating.

Akira gets put in the friend-zone, except not really because he actually is proactive and tries to show Mariko that he values her, but then the book forgets about him so we can develop Taro, who is somehow even worse. At least Akira had a connection to Mariko before he fell for her; Taro sees her and decides she’s the one because she talks back at him thinking he’s just an ordinary samurai, not the prince, a trope that needs to fuckin DIE. Not to mention his faster than Kylo Ren turn to the darkside.

46. Odessa, Evander and Mereday from Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh:

The next triangle on this list, and this one hurts more because it actually had potential.

There is something really compelling about two women coming together to grieve the loss of a loved one, with the idea that Mereday has nursed a crush on Odessa since childhood, but because of social norms and her brother, she’s stayed away.

What we get instead is an uneven mess, where neither character feels like they are progressing at all, and a ton of contrivances as to why they won’t talk to each other, instead of building on the existing conflict of ‘Odessa’s boyfriend and Mereday’s brother is the same person, and he is dead’.

45. Poe, Auden and St Sebastian from A Lesson in Thorns, by Sierra Simone:

Speaking of potential, these 3.

This is one of those triangles where all 3 legs should be, and are written to be equal, but unfortunately, the author clearly liked the one I liked the least, the most.

I liked Auden and St Sebastian, wanted to find out what happened to make Auden treat St Sebastian the way he did, and why St Sebastian let him do it. I even liked the pull they felt for each other and the jealousy Poe brought up in them.

I also really liked Poe and St. Sebastian, their angst over being separated, their bonding over feeling like outsiders in Auden’s world, and the loss of their respective mothers.

The couple I liked least were Auden and Poe, which is the one Simone spent the most time on. I hated Auden’s entitlement, the blindness to his privilege, the unnecessary engagement to Delphine, and I likewise hated how horny Poe was 24/7 even when she’s supposed to be finding out what happened to her missing mother, which uh… is not good.

44. Arthur and Ben from What If It’s Us by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertali:

I wasn’t a fan of this relationship from the start, because I just couldn’t stand Arthur as a character. Even though he improved, the relationship didn’t.

The two didn’t have any chemistry, they weren’t compatible, and Ben had rather serious issues he should have been solving, instead of jumping straight into a new relationship. Arthur also fixated on stupid shit like a box of stuff, which is appropriately immature, but didn’t make me root for them to succeed as a couple.

Also I hated the ending.

43. Penelope and Sam from Emergency Contact, by Mary H K Choi

In theory, these two would be in the meh tier, but what pissed me off about this relationship is how underdeveloped it was. Sam was a character who needed serious counselling and therapy, not a girlfriend, and Penelope was just an immature teenager. I didn’t root for them to get together, I rooted for them to get help.

42. Malachiasz and Nadezda from Wicked Saints, by Emily Duncan:

These two absolutely have to go to the bad tier, even though they had potential and worked with tropes I like.

I love the idea of a villain-hero romance; it can be done right, and the push and pull between power and control, light and dark, etc can be invigorating. This, was not that.

Firstly we don’t know that Malachiasz is a villain for most of this; at most we think he’s some kind of assassin, but considering the whole mission the characters are on is to destroy Kalyzin and kill the King, that’s not exactly damning. Second, what should be these characters’ conflict, their religious views isn’t at all explored and Nadezda falls for Malachiasz way too quickly for someone who has been indoctrinated from birth to kill people who do blood magic.

Also there’s a set up for a love triangle in book 2, and when will my suffering end.

41. Celine, Bastien and Grimaldi from The Beautiful, by Renee Ahdieh:

Speaking of love triangles, we have possibly the worst one I read this year, in that it wasn’t even properly established!

I had the same issues with Bastien as I did with Auden; he had no personality, other than being rich and handsome. He also does the whole ‘this woman talks back to me, so she must be the one’, which is strike 1 against him.

Celine was fine as a character, but her connection and love for Bastien felt unwarranted, considering both his behavior and everything she knows about him, not to mention it somehow felt rushed in a 500 page book.

Grimaldi I just plain hated. Him stepping in to pretend that he was Celine’s lover when she’s lost her memories and clearly doesn’t love him, but ESPECIALLY him deciding out of the blue that he loves her after he detains and humiliates her for his own amusement made me rage quit this series.

40. Daisy, Camila and Billy from Daisy Jones and the Six, by Taylor Jenkins Reid:

Yeah, I know it’s weird to put the couple(s) from a favorite book of the year in the bad tier, but I really, really didn’t like these pairings.

Billy and Camila were infuriating. I get that people like that exist but Camila was far too forgiving considering everything Billy put her through. Billy was trash.

I also hated the way Billy treated Daisy, and I was furious that she had to live with knowing what was happening between them for decades while he got to go home to his wife and pretend nothing happened. Yeah, this book hit a personal spot, read the review if you want more coherent thoughts.

39. Noam and Dara from the Fever King, by Victoria Lee:

I am genuinely shocked they are this close to the meh tier, because boy was I not a fan of them.

I wrote a really detailed review of this book, and all my issues with Noam and Dara, from their age gap, to the weird sexual politics, to substance abuse, and especially to Dara reading Noam’s mind for months without telling him anything. Their relationship made me uncomfortable, and that was without adding the third leg of this Godforsaken triangle which is Lehrer, a man who is like 100 years old.

But hey, I still want to know what goes down in book 2, so they get to close out the bad tier.

MEH TIER:

38. Runa and Indigo from The Boneless Mercies, by April Genevive Tucholke:

Runa was a great character, but this romance is barely worth mentioning. It’s introduced at the very end, and it’s underdeveloped.

37. Jack and the Village Girl from Down Among the Sticks and Bones, by Seanan McGuire:

I tried to look up the girl’s name, I really did, but I couldn’t find it and I don’t remember it. I also don’t have the book so I can’t check.

I don’t know what I expected from a book about Jack and Jill, but Jill killing Jack’s girlfriend because she was jealous of Jack is… well not it.

36. Lowen and Jeremy from Verity, by Colleen Hover:

I struggled with whether to put these two in the bad or the meh tier. On the one hand, I cared not one bit about their relationship, even after we discover that it’s founded on lies and an attempted murder. On the other, there was nothing inherently wrong with their interactions and they did care for one another, even if was painfully boring.

In the end, I decided that boredom is a meh trait so, meh tier it is.

35. Annaleigh and Cassius from House of Salt and Sorrows, by Erin A Craig:

Instalove, the couple.

There was some potential, with the whole not knowing when it’s the real Cassius and when it’s Kosamaris or the Trickster pretending to be him, but it’s barely taken advantage of. In the end it’s just another ‘we’ve known each other for a week, but let’s die for each other’ plot.

34. Mei and Kai from The Bride Test, by Hellen Hoang:

I really struggled where to put these two, because as individual characters, they were fine, great even. As a couple? Yikes.

I loved Mei and wanted her to be happy, but the secret she kept from Kai was genuinely horrible, and I still can’t believe that the book resolved it by just not addressing it until the very end.

Kai was fine, not nearly as developed or likable as Mei, but the way he treated Mei in parts of this book were horrific, even if he struggles with expressing feelings and boundaries.

I ended up placing them in the meh tier, because at least they were never malicious to each other, which is more than can be said for the couples in the bad and terrible tier.

33. Rachel and Delphine from A Lesson in Thorns, by Sierra Simone:

These two get to be in the meh, not the bad purely because I actually understood their dynamic. I really liked the idea of Delphine discovering her sexuality, both in women and in BDSM, and overcoming trauma by taking charge of her own body and desires.

I also liked seeing Rachel realize that she had actual feelings for Delphine and having to deal with them. Too bad I’ll never get to find out how their relationship will pan out, cause fuck this series.

32. Stevie and David from Truly Devious, by Maureen Johnson:

These two were perfectly fine, even interesting at points, until the ending, which made me so angry that they get to squat in the meh tier.

Also Stevie going through David’s stuff? Not cool.

31. Yen and Vu Con from In the Vanisher’s Palace, by Aliette DeBodard:

The dynamic between these two was more than a little uneven, with the constant threat of murder and the knowledge that Yu would never be able to go home and see her mother, which is enough for me to resent any character no matter how cool of a dragon she is.

But… that human-dragon sex scene. Wildest thing I’ve read all year.

30. Henry and Diego from We Are the Ants, by Shaun David Hutchinson:

While I liked the book a lot, Henry and Diego were… not great. Diego was a character that at points came off more unreal than the aliens, from his wildly dramatic life story, to him not going to jail at the end, and his limitless patience when it came to Henry. Truly a manic pixie dream boy.

29. Olive and Ethan from the Un-honeymooners, by Christina Lauren:

This couple would have been in the great tier, had it not been for the last third of the book. Ethan not believing Olive, telling her that she’s jealous and dramatic for wanting to warn her sister that his brother is a cheater, and then making up for it with a stupid, grandiose gesture instead of, actually talking to her and learning his lesson? Nah, we don’t stan that kind of manipulative behavior in this house. The only reason they are in the meh tier is because they really were cute the rest of the book.

28. Isobel and Julio from An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors, by Curtis Craddock:

Not much to say about them, mostly because they met in the last third of the book. I would take a bullet for Isobel, and judging by the blurb for book 2, Julio might have beat me to it, so he gets to be in the meh.

27. Emily and Haskel from Passing Strange, by Ellen Klages:

Like Mei and Kai, I liked these two as separate characters more than as a couple. It’s not that there weren't any chemistry between them, it’s that they weren’t developed enough for me to care. If this were a longer work instead of a novella, they’d probably be higher.

26. Jonas and Florian from The Monster of Elendhaven, by Jennifer Giesbrecht:

I liked the idea of this relationship more than the execution. Jonas being horny 24/7 for Florian’s dainty wrists was understandable, but Florian being sad that Jonas isn’t his dead twin sister… less so.

However this does get points for having the strangest sex scene in any book I’ve read this year; yeah even stranger than the one in Gideon the Ninth.

OK TIER:

25. Ruby and Dov from The Wise and the Wicked, by Rebecca Podos:

While I didn’t love the book, Ruby and Dov were fine. I appreciated the trans rep, I liked the way their relationship developed and the oddball humor the characters shared, and I thought they were cute together.

24. Lila and Cassel from the Curse Workers Series, by Holly Black:

Lila and Cassel grew on me substantially between White Cat and the rest of the series. I liked the angst in Red Glove because of Lila being worked and I liked the rod trip they get to go on at the end of Black Heart.

23. Aurora and Kal from Aurora Rising, by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman:

There is nothing wrong with Aurora or Kal, even their bonding/imprinting thing reminded me too much of Twilight/Avatar.

They do have cute scenes together, but I’m just not a fan of the alpha male, macho boy ‘protecting’ the girl and deciding for her what he will do with their relationship. There’s room for improvement, is what I’m trying to say.

22. All the couples from the Witchlands Series, by Susan Dennard:

I was originally going to split these up in different tiers, but seeing as it’s been exactly a year since I read these books, and I don’t remember much about these couples, they all get to go in the OK tier.

First we have Ryber and Kullen from Sightwitch. I liked Kullen’s humor, which contrasted well with Ryber’s seriousness and diligence, but there’s very little of them as an actual couple. I hope we get to see them again in Bloodwitch.

Aeduin and Iseult were also fine. I know they feature more prominently in Bloodwitch, but what little we get from them in Truthwitch and Windwitch was some solid set up for a good Ben/Rey, Zuko/Katara type relationship.

Safi and Merik are my favorite, but that’s only because I love Safi. Merik is the weaker part of this duo, though I do enjoy their banter, and the scene in Truthwitch where they dance and start levitating was amazing.

21. Sam Cade and Gina from Stillhouse Lake, by Rachel Caine:

I was really surprised by how much I still like these two as a couple. The only reason they aren’t higher, is because they don’t stay a couple by the end of the book.

I genuinely loved how tender and slow their relationship developed, and how much character development Cade got to get to it. Him bonding with Gina’s kids, was super sweet and the scene where he asks Gina if he can kiss her warmed my shriveled heart.

GOOD TIER:

20. Frey and King Roth from The Boneless Mercies, by April Genevive Tucholke:

I think the theme for the good category is my surprise at how much certain couple stuck with me. When I read the book, I wasn’t thrilled with Frey and Roth, because a different romance for Frey had been built up.

But now, a year later, I still remember their scenes, especially the one where Roth tells Frey he is writing an epic about her, and asks her to come back to him. Good sh*t.

19. Kate and Shepherd from This Is Our Story, by Ashley Elston:

I was surprised at how much I liked these two as a couple. They were supportive and cute, while also dealing with some serious issues and angst. The ending was a bit dramatic, but the scene where Kate likes a 4 year old picture of Shep on instagram by accident SPOKE TO MY SOUL.

18. Grier and Shafeen from STAGS by M A Bennett:

This is another pairing that surprised me with how much I liked them. The book claimed that Henry was charming, but Shafeen was the real charmer, and I could actually believe that he is a gentleman who went to private school.

Grier was a bit dim, and more than a little naive, but I liked how she got through the huntin’ shootin’ an’ fishin.

17. Levi and Enne from Ace of Shades, by Amanda Foody:

I loved these two and they had great chemistry and banter, but they aren’t yet an official couple so I can’t really justify putting them any higher than good.

The scene where Enne plays for Levi’s life? Amazing.

16. Harrow and Gideon from Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Mur:

I wanted them to be in the great tier, but they just weren’t.

I loved Gideon; she was funny, a true himbo. But Harrow? I hated her for about the first 300 pages of the book. And when I finally stopped hating her, they had that weird bath sex scene and then Gideon DIED.

So I can’t put them any higher knowing that I liked only 20% of their actual relationship.

15. Cat and Tyler from Aurora Rising, by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman:

Cat and Tyler? Now that’s some good sh*t.

I am a sucker for the captain and his/her pilot pairing, especially if one of them is a smooth talking pretty boy and the other a daredevil always ready to fight. These two were excellent, not just in their chemistry and banter, but also in the angst because what kept them apart actually made sense.

I love that Cat broke a chair off of Tyler’s head when they met, Anne of Green Gables style, but I also love the scene where they first got together at the bar. Chef’s kiss.

14. Sebastian and Emir from Running with Lions, by Julian Winters:

Seb and Emir were really close to making the great tier, but there were just too many contrived reasons to keep them apart.

I liked the slow build from enemies to friends to lovers, but I just wish we had gotten more time on the lovers section without unnecessary drama keeping them apart.

13. Poppy and Cerenic from Sleepless, by Sarah Vaughn:

I freaking love Poppy and Cerenic, and they would have been in the great tier, had it not been for the rushed ending.

They were still excellent together; supportive, trusting and caring, and that scene where Cerenic kisses Poppy so she can’t put him to sleep? God tier.

GREAT TIER:

12. Mia and Grace from On a Sunbeam, by Tillie Walden:

I loved how cute and realistic, Mia and Grace’s relationship was, which a wild thing to say for a series set in space. I loved their friendship, how it slowly became a romance, the heartbreaking way they split apart and then found each other again.

The only reason they aren’t higher on the list is because they don’t end the comic as a couple, which works perfect for the story, but less so for my, uh, list of couples.

11. Millie and Flora from Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins:

I am a sucker for the stuck up snob falls for the earthy dumbass, and Flora and Millie were exactly that. They were a really cute couple; I liked the discussion of homophobia in the royal family, letting someone else define your life and the overall way the two of them got together. I also appreciated Millie being the one to fuck up and doing everything she could to fix her mistakes.

10. Daisy and Miles from Prince Charming by Rachel Hartman:

Daisy and Miles beat Millie and Flora just because reading their banter put tears in my eyes. I don’t think I’ve laughed out loud at any other book like I did this one.

There were so many great moments in this book, starting from Big Bird Hat to Sebastian getting punched by Alex, but the scene I love the most was the scene between Miles and Daisy in the cabin.

9. Severin and Laila from The Gilded Wolves, by Roshani Chokshi:

The amount of angst and sexual tension Laila and Severin have makes me wonder if this book perhaps should have been an adult.

I like both characters on their own, though I’m always a sucker for the trope of two competent and smart people making the other an absolute fool just by being in the same room as them.

I would have put them higher, but I just hate the way this book ended. Though since I’m mentioning scenes that were great… the dance. If you know you know.

8. Jack Zimmerman and Bitty from Check, Please! By Ngozi Ukazu:

Jack and Bitty are too cute for words. I love the way their relationship developed, I love their dynamic, how positive their relationship is while also dealing with real world issues, like families and gossip magazines.

Also this comic is amazing and free, go read it.

7. Hypnos, Zofia and Enrique from The Gilded Wolves, by Roshani Chokshi:

I didn’t know that my perfect pairing is where every character is Jonathan from the Mummy, but I guess that’s my jam.

Enrique and Zophia using their skills in math, languages and history to solve riddles together was great and hilarious, especially Enrique antagonizing Zofia just to see her reaction.

Hypnos is my favorite character and the banter between him and Enrique was excellent; I’m always a sucker for smooth-talking rich, misunderstood anti-heroes with tragic backstories (ahem, Lando, ahem). If this is to be a love triangle with one pairing at the end, I really don’t know who I’m rooting for.

6. Zara, Beatriz and Nadim from the Honors Series, by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguire:

Finally, some good fuckin food.

This love triangle fed me. It was the only one that was properly developed and established, I loved all 3 characters in it, and they all complimented each other amazingly.

Zara is a great lead, I really loved her journey; I would die for Nadim, though I’d probably have to fight Zara for that because her commitment to him was so wonderful. I also really love how slowly and carefully Beatriz was introduced as a love interest, and how well balanced the three of them are. Can’t wait to see what happens in Honor Lost.

5. Bri and Curtis from On the Come Up, by Angie Thomas:

Listen, their banter alone was enough to make me root for them. Also Curtis saved Bri from a freaking SWAT team so like… what more do I need to say.

They were just super cute and entertaining ok?

GOD TIER:

4. Nax and Ryan from The Disasters, by M K Englnd:

The only couple that came close to making me laugh as much as Miles and Daisy, except I related to Nax way more as the bisexual disaster he is.

I loved the way Nax’s always on the edge of a panic attack, and yet somehow still so charming personality was complemented by Ryan’s cool calm and collected demeanor, and their banter was hilarious.

I especially enjoyed Nax’ inner monologues, and the scene where they have to hide in a herd of goats had me in stitches.

3. Neil and Andrew from All for the Game Trilogy, by Nora Sakavic:

People should learn how to write an angsty slowburn from this series.

Andrew is an absolute piece of shit and Neal definitely deserved better, but I am not about to sit here and tell you that the scene where Andrew let Neal put his hand on his chest and Neal didn’t move it, didn’t send me into a weeklong crisis.

2. Rachel and Sana from Tell Me How You Really Feel, by Aminah Mae Safi:

Sana and Rachel were like two halves of my own personality and yet somehow infinitely cooler than I’ll ever be. Their romance was an excellent homage to every great teen rom-com, and I loved every page of it.

Sana was amazing; I loved her personality, the way she stood up for herself and dealt with problems. I also loved that for once the more feminine of the duo was the one who took charge of the relationship.

The only gripe I have with Rachel was that she finished the film before the screening, like hello, ex-film student here: I call bs.

1. Alex and Henry from Red White & Royal Blue, by Casey McQuiston:

Was there any doubt here? Henry and Alex were hands down the best written couple of 2019. Not only were both individual characters fleshed out and so well developed, their relationship, going from enemies, to beruging friends, crushes, and finally lovers willing to upheave international politics was amazing to read about.

Alex Claremont Diaz is my favorite character of the year and maybe even top 5 of all time, and if you haven’t read this book, read it. It will make you a happier person.

And there you have it, 50 couples ranked. Happy reading in 2020!

#book couples 2019 #book couples #reading #moni talks

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granddaughterogg · 6 years

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Azrael is a kinkster, yo. Azrael/Reader. Lemons ahead! Part 1

Chapter 1

Foreplay

Some people just burst with sexual energy. Their stare strikes sparks, their body language is hypnotising. You have serious trouble listening to what they say, because your mind is occupied with... very nonverbal things. You’ve met quite a few of such people lately. Azrael is not one of them. If you had to describe Azrael in one word, it would probably be: decent. Of course, the Archangel of Death possesses a lot more traits than this. He’s wise. He’s also candid, tactful and immensely empathetic. Yeah, he overflows with empathy. You’ve yet to see him lose his temper. Which is no small feat, considering how easy it would be to crack the shits in the company of your beloved Darksiders. Hell, there are moments when even you get a bit overwhelmed. They are four very distinctive personalities who bicker a lot.

There are days when Death is being more difficult than usual, War is pouting somewhere in the corner, Fury lashes out at everyone and Strife decides it’s the perfect time to tell a poop joke. You told him once what you think about poop jokes. Remains to be seen if the message has come through. On days like this you feel like pulling your hair out. Enter Azrael. Azrael the tactful, Azrael the charming. Azrael with this level, kind, yet irresistible voice of his. And magic happens. You suspect that the key to the angel’s success is that he respects everyone. He believes in equality. And his attitude comes through. He brings out the best in people. He and War are practically war buddies. Even though you find it impossible to imagine how their cooperation looked like. Death is actually fond of him; and people who Death’s fond of could be counted using fingers on a sawmiller’s hand. A very unlucky sawmiller’s hand. Fury loses her aggressive attitude when Azrael is around. Even Strife, who doesn’t like the guy that much – begrudgingly respects him. You feel that the angel should work in NATO. He could save humanity from many wars. That said, those are all not very sexy traits. You fail to imagine Azrael engaging in anything erotic. Of course, you’re a big girl now - and aware that it doesn’t take a testosterone-addled hunk to have an interesting sex life. Never the less, your angelic acquaintance always looks way too occupied with more important matters. Much more important. Speaking of looks. He isn’t classically attractive, but has a great profile. And beautiful hands. You always watch them eagerly whenever they emerge from all those fancy sleeves. Oops. Anyway, you two are now friends, right? It’s been a few months since War took you on a trip to Heaven. You’ve visited quite a few times since. Sometimes accompanied by one of the Horsemen, sometimes by all of them. The angel and the Darksiders had their own pressing matters to discuss, of course. But Azrael always made sure that you feel important and welcome. He would brew you great tea (seriously, you’ve never tasted better.) You two would talk at length; mostly about books. This guy is a crazy book magpie. He collects them all. Angel ones, human ones. he’s not too haughty to read the demonic ones either. If something has been written down, Azrael sooner or later will get his shapely, narrow hands on it. And then he’ll sniff it. He probably sniffs books.

I require pleasant company for the weekend. Would you care to come alone?

You got this mail on a Friday afternoon. Really terse, considering who the sender was. If, say, Strife wrote it – you’d suspect that someone clobbered his head with a thesaurus. But emails from Azrael were usually at least one page long. And he wasted entire paragraphs asking you about the weather, about how you were doing and so on. This message was almost...sloppy. Hectic. You pondered a little. Reminisced his subtle smile and those pretty hands, caressing some large-ass tome. Azrael probably obtained a first edition of Balzac or some such and he couldn’t wait to show it to you. Well, you were down with that.

Sure, I’ll come around. Just give me about two Earth hours, okay? I’ll pack the essentials and also change into something spiffy.

Excellent. I’ll open a portal next to your house. And yes, please do dress nicely. Although you always do.

Oh Azrael, you smooth-tongued lad. „Guys, I’m going to Heaven for the weekend” you proclaimed, standing in the doorway of your shared living room. (Yes, you and the Horsemen live together. You’ve bought a house. But it’s a different story for another time.) There were no objections to that. All Four had a day off from their murderous duties. They spent whole Friday lazing around on sofas, watching youtube or just dozing off. You’ve already learned that the Horsemen are like predators in that department. They don’t spend energy unless they have to. „So. You’re going now?” muttered War. He was lying on his back, one arm tucked under his head, the other – the iron one – hanging limply. It already carved a trace on the wooden floor. „Well, yeah. Azrael invited me” you answered absentmindedly. „Now I need to do my hair...no, first I need a bath!” Death was resting on another sofa nearby. He raised his head a little and gave you an inquiring stare. It was short and piercing, like a tiny electric shock. „Loosen up, girl” chuckled Strife. He had both of his eyes closed. A PS4 pad and a half-eaten doughnut rested on his tight abdomen; remnants of impulsive decisions, defeated by idleness. Sometimes you wondered how is it even possible to eat so much junk and still look like Strife does. „Whatever you’ll do, he’s still gonna be the sharpest dresser.” „Yeah right, but I don’t mean just him, but all the other angels, too. I don’t want his colleagues from work to think that he’s friends with some uncivilised slob��” „Colleagues from work” said War slowly and pensively, as he often does. „That’s a flattering way to put it, when he rules them all with an iron fist. You know that, don’t you? No lesser angel will dare to offend you. And if one does… „...then we’ll come over and have a chat with them” finished Strife. „It’s been some time since I’ve plucked pigeons.” „Thanks, guys. I appreciate that” you said, genuinely grateful. „But I’ll feel so much better about myself if I doll up. You know how Azrael is...so posh and all.” „He’s hella boring though” said Strife. „What are even you gonna do with him for two days straight? Drink his wretched tea?” „That too, yes.” You smiled. „But I can feel it in my water that it’s about a book.” You’ve been already closing the bathroom door behind you, when Strife said in a hushed voice: „It’s always about some book. That guy’s a pervert.” „Stop it, Strife. ” That was War. ‘What? I call it like it is.” Fury said nothing, because she was fast asleep. She snored tiny cute snores. Death might be a big, intimidating mass of bone and sinew. But he can move like a soft pool of shadow if he chooses to. He did just that to get you at the very doorstep. Away from the others’ earshot. „So, when can we expect you to come back?” He was standing next to the coat stand. You had no idea how he managed to blend in with the wall. As usual. His voice was relaxed, but you could feel the tightness lacing the words. „Azrael’s gonna send me back on Sunday evening” you said, looking into this closed off, seemingly impassive face. You knew it so well. „Death. Are you worried about me? I’m going to Heaven. Heaven. What could possibly go wrong in there?” ‘I’m not worried” he said, observing some wall crack right to your head. „Azrael is my friend. I’d entrust him with my life. I’m just...ascertaining things.” You let out a deep sigh. You felt so sorry for this man, unable to spit out a simple „I’m gonna miss you” even if his life depended on it. But that’s what he was saying. With all his body language. His back bent slightly more, his hands hanging a little looser than usual. As if the sadness weighed on him. You embraced him - abruptly, before he had a chance to step back. You pressed your cheek to his hard, exposed torso, which (contrary to the folk stories that we humans sometimes tell each other) wasn’t cold at all. „I love you so much, you know?” you whispered into his left pectoral. That horrible scar has long disappeared without a trace. „I am going to be back home on Sunday evening. Even if Azrael conjures me a truck of books. I promise.” Death’s large hands embraced your shoulder blades. The Horseman closed his eyes and pulled you close. Very close. And then he let go. „I know. Have fun.”

Heaven! Are there even words in any human language that could describe its glory? I don’t think so. What if I tell you guys that everything is high-rise and steep and haughty in there? That everything is luxurious, but never vulgar – and constantly bathed in subtle golden light? Are you going to be satisfied then? Angels live above the clouds. Rainy day is just an expression for them. Wait. I’ve got it.Imagine an Apple store which has been designed by Michelangelo. That was Heaven. Azrael lived in a lavish apartment at the top of one of the White City’s spires. At least you guessed that there must be more rooms than just this huge one. In which you’ve spent so many evenings, chatting passionately about this and that. A spacious room with a decorative rib vault and a shit ton of books everywhere. Books upon books. Carved bookshelves crammed with tomes; some covered in wood, some in silk or even animal hide. A whole lot of regular cardboard covers, too. Azrael updated his collection on a regular basis. Many of those human books were gifts from you. There were also scrolls of parchment and papyrus stacked together and threatening to fall over. Heck, you’re sure that you’ve spotted a bunch of dusty clay tablets in a corner. Next Christmas this guy is getting a Kindle. You sat in two soft, obscenely comfortable armchairs, covered with slightly worn out periwinkle velvet. Soft music poured from somewhere – relaxed, jazzy downtempo. You had no idea where do they get these earthy tunes from in Heaven. For all that you knew, Azrael wasn’t familiar with spotify. You drank the tea. This time it was green jasmine. With a drop of acacia honey added for good measure. It tasted like the first day of spring. Azrael put the cup aside, rested a cheek on his hand and gave you a gentle smile. „What are you thinking about?” You smiled back at him. „I think that you look ravishing today. That colour” - he pointed at your peach dress - „really showcases the tone of your skin.” „Wow. Thanks” you said. Internally you were squeeing in delight like an excited teenager. Azrael could be so chivalrous. OK, you thought, that’s enough with this line of thinking. Get your shit together, woman, before you tip something over and embarrass yourself. „All right”, you said, putting your cup away; the fine china clinked on the marble tabletop. „Nice little chat that we’re having. Don’t keep me waiting though. Bring out the book! The angel tilted his silver head ever so slightly. His eyes glinted with amusement. „The book? I beg your pardon?” „Well, it is about a book, isn’t it? Like usual. Some rare first edition long out of print, which you really wanted to share with me...Right? Azrael?” His eyes were as milky and opalescent as a cloud. And as serene. You started to blush under this constant stare. „What?" you asked, annoyed a little. His narrow lips curled up in a cryptic smile. „Come on, it’s not funny.” „Indeed” he said slowly. „I’m afraid that I owe you an apology. I lied.” „You...did what?!... When? Also, is lying even legal for you?” „Just right now. I wasn’t thinking about your dress, even though it is quite lovely. I was thinking...” he reached out with his long, slender arm. His fingers stopped mid-air, a mere inch away from your face. „...that I would like to kiss you.” There was a pause. During which your whole world twirled around, stood on its head and fell back to normal. Normal enriched with new, exciting possibilities, that is. "Oh. Right. Sure! I mean, go on. I can’t see why not…” What started as a nervous chirp ended in a mumble. Azrael put two fingers on your lips. You parted it; it was quite instinctive, really. You wanted him to touch you where you were soft and moist. He did just that. For a briefest of moments. Than he took his hand away. „Come here” he said in a low voice. „Okay. You mean...me, there? Right, that makes sense. God!” you whined. „ I’m so akward.” „Let’s keep God out of this” Azrael said with such a face that it was practically a wink. But then again, you had yet to see the Angel of Death winking. You stood up, not quite sure where your legs are – and came over to him as he asked. Azrael sat back in his armchair and pat his lap in an encouraging manner. It was the most un-Azrael thing that you’ve ever witnessed him do. Up until today. When the count of surprises was really going to pile up. You were in such a daze that for a moment there you forgot how to sit on another person’s lap. Especially when said lap is completely covered with sophisticated, flowy, floor-length angel robes. „I said: come here” chuckled Azrael. „Do you mind if I?...” he gestured explanatorily. You nodded. Stupid redness burned your cheeks. Azrael put his hands around your waist, lifted you up and put on his knees as if you were a cat. The silk rustled. He smelled nice. Definitely non-angelic. Like...roses, maybe? You knew that scent, you just couldn’t put your finger on it. „What now?” you whispered, stricken with this dumb, embarrassing shyness which you haven’t felt in such a long time. Which you hoped to never feel again. It wasn’t like that with the Darksiders. Not at all. Sometimes they would scare you. Or dumbfound you. But none of them has ever made you feel so small. Not like this highly restrained, immaculately dressed, back-combed man does. A man with beautiful cheekbones. That much was evident now, when you sat so close. They really were top notch. „Can I?...” you breathed. He nodded smilingly. All this time he didn’t break eye contact. You touched his cheek. It was pleasantly cool and softer than yours could ever be. Also, his face was covered with delicate fuzz, as bright as frost. „Do you even shave, Azrael?” „That is one peculiar question to ask” he said, still smiling. „That is one peculiar question to ask” you repeated, leaning in desperately and closing your eyes. „Kiss me then.” He weaved fingers into your hair and pulled your head in so sharply that you trembled. And then he kissed you. He was gentle - at first. Tested your boundaries. But you had no patience for such subtlety anymore. You immersed both of your hands in angelic locks and moaned urgently, while you pressed your lips to his. Well, you didn’t have to tell him twice. He laughed breathlessly at such eagerness and went in with the tongue. And what a brilliant, flexible and knowing tongue he had. As expected of an angel. Time stretched like the most polite and accommodating of rubber bands, so a thousand years (or two minutes) later you were all taut as a bowstring. And rather wet. When it comes to the technique, his was definitely second to none. Azrael was the figure skating master of kissing. Those nimble lips of his were driving you crazy. He knew what he was doing to you. And he was savouring it. „Mmmm...mhm! Don’t stop!” you groaned when the angel finally broke contact. He let out a small chuckle - and suddenly bit your lip. „Azrael!” you cried out. He smirked so smugly you wouldn’t believe it if you didn’t see it. You had no idea that this noble face is even capable of such a dirty expression. „Stop...laughing...at me!” You were in a daze. You lunged forward and bit him back. Azrael cried out a little and touched his lip. It was bleeding. You have drawn angelic blood. It was as bright red as your own. That chilled you the fuck down. „Oh, shit. I’m sorry!” you called, terrified. „I’m so sorry! I got carried away. Carried away...with you.” Azrael wiped his lip and shot you an inscrutable stare. Only now have you noticed how wildly dilated his pupils are. The vivid blush that coloured his pale cheeks. He wasn’t toying with you. He went along for the ride. „I wasn’t laughing at you” he said. „How could I? I was laughing TO you. Because you’re just so ardent. Impulsive. You feel a physical sensation and you follow it with reckless abandon. I happen to think that it’s amazing.” You felt like an utter moron. Something incredible has just happened. You had this little moment of magic, Azrael and you. And you had to destroy it. You let your worst instincts take the wheel. Just because this man made you feel inferior. „I apologise for at” you said, gently touching his bitten lip. „I would never want to hurt you like that. I have no manners. Maybe I should just go.” „What?...” Those pearlescent eyes went wide with surprise. „What are you talking about, my dear? Please don’t. That…” - he touched his lip - ”is nothing. A trifle unworthy of my attention. At least when compared with what I intend to do to you.” „What?” Despite your desperate suggestion, you stayed still in his arms. Your heart was pounding. Your body ached for more pleasure. You didn’t want to go anywhere. And Azrael was holding you quite firmly. „I planned to be prudent and unhurried” he stated, shaking his head with a little rueful smile, as if admonishing himself. „But with you...such approach is pointless. You’re like a flame. You burn through my reason.” He put his fingers on your swollen, wanting lips again. You let him slide them in this time. Slide them deeper than neither prudence nor unhurriedness would suggest. You sucked on them and you looked him in the eye, feeling crazy fearless. Suddenly you didn’t care whether you come off as uncivilised anymore. „I am going to undress you and tie you up. And then maybe I will whip you” said Azrael, looking you in the face with a tender smile. „I haven’t decided on that last one yet.” Oh. Oh. You felt like an ice cube melting on fire. Does that metaphor even make sense? An urgent, eager flame licked your innards. „The question being of course: what do you say to that?” „Yes!’ you cried out. „Oh, please, do it! I’m in. Yes to all of the above.” He kissed you again – deep and hard. Unabashed. You didn’t even try to stifle the moan that rose in your throat. „I can see that we are on the same page here” he breathed into your lips. Then he pressed his to the skin at the nape of your neck. You inhaled sharply. „I am so glad that that is the case.” ‘Wait” you huffed, putting both hands on the embroidered front of his shirt. „Did you just say: undress, tie up and whip then?” „I said exactly that.” It was amazing how quickly Azrael could put on that official, venerable face of his. "And then I’m going to fuck you.” „Good! I was just about to ask that...” It was worth it. If only to see how this self-satisfied son of something holy loses his composure. And regains it in a split second. „And not even once” he added. „Not twice either. There is a probability that by Sunday morning you’ll start to cry and beg me to stop fucking you.” You threw him a breathless, shit eating grin. Your direct future looked positively – heavenly. “Wonderful. I can beg alright, if it turns you on.” „Very. You shall see for yourself.” There was something in his half-lidded stare that made your insides tingle.

#darksiders #darksiders azrael #azrael/reader #lemon #lemons?#i warned you #azrael is a kinkster #azrael x reader

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