#canon-divergent

[endlessnightlock]

Share a bed 41

Fifty Reasons To Share A Bed

Thanks for the prompt @jroseley <3 <3

41) Because your cat sleeps on my chest. (I’m not here for you… of course.) 

Set between the first and second THG books.

Canon-Divergent.

"Bad night?" Prim asked as Katniss stopped to pull her boots on before heading out to do whatever she filled her days with while their mother worked and Prim went to school. Katniss had been so different since she'd come home. She worried about her sister.

“Yeah, it was; sorry I woke you up,” Katniss admitted.

That wasn't why Prim had mentioned it. But now that the door was open---"I don't know if you're aware, but you were calling for Peeta in your sleep again," she said.

Katniss visibly stiffened.

“I wish you would at least talk to him,” Prim said, picking Buttercup up and scratching the big baby behind his ears.

Katniss stared out the window and across the road where Peeta’s house sat, silent as the grave. No one but Haymitch ever visited there. If it weren’t for the tail of smoke coming from the chimney, it would be easy to think the house was empty. “He's avoiding me too. It’s complicated,” she said before leaving.

Prim sighed. Ignoring each other wasn't going to reconcile anything.

Buttercup began purring in Prim's arms, a low rumble that vibrated through her fingertips. She studied her big orange tomcat, and an idea took root in her mind.

"Hey boy, we have some work to do," she explained, carrying him into the living room and sitting with him. As she brushed out his fur, Prim explained the details to him. Buttercup's gold eyes glowed with extraordinary intelligence. He blinked at her, occasionally capturing her wrist with his paws and licking her hand.

KPKPKPKPKPKP

Prim watched out the window as Peeta crossed Victor's Village with Buttercup in his arms. He navigated the walkway and the front steps, balancing the cat before disappearing beneath the porch roof. Stealthily, she snuck out of her bedroom and hid in the back stairwell where she could eavesdrop on his and her sister's conversation.

"I don't know why Buttercup keeps coming over," she hears Peeta say.

"Me neither. He's obsessed with Prim," Katniss said. "But, uh, thanks for bringing him home. I'll make sure to shut him in tonight."

"He's fine. He doesn't really bother me, just sleeps on my chest," Peeta admits.

"It's a nice place to sleep," Katniss says, shocking Prim so much she has to stifle her laughter to keep them from hearing her.

Her sister was an idiot when it came to her feelings, plain and simple. She knows Katniss better than everyone else, but still, Prim thought her crush on Peeta was pretty obvious to everyone watching from home. Why else would Gale be so jealous of Peeta?

Peeta and Katniss both laugh quietly. "Yeah, I like knowing someone else is there at night," he said.

"Probably gets lonely at your house with your family all in town," Katniss said, voice soft.

"Yeah. Too far for them to walk to work, so my mother says."

"Still feels like I'm alone a lot of the time, even when everyone is home," Katniss admitted.

"No one else understands what it was like," Peeta supplied the answer they both had to be thinking.

"No. No, they don't."

Prim left after that, allowing Katniss and Peeta some privacy to talk now that they were beginning to patch things up. Her work was done, and Buttercup's as well.

"Tonight, you need to stay with me," she whispered to the cat when he nosed the door open and strolled into her room. Buttercup sat down and regarded her seriously. Prim had no idea how he understood her, but she knew he did. Later that night, when Buttercup was curled up at her side, she heard the back door open, followed by heavy footsteps to Katniss's room.

Prim just knew her sister would sleep better tonight.

[im-immortal]

Small Miracles

Beth Greene is not dead. Though it is not for a lack of trying.

After eight long years spent in the CRM's grasp, struggling to find reasons to continue surviving, Beth finally finds her reason: Rick and Daryl are alive, and they are closer than she ever could've guessed. Now she must take advantage of her only opportunity to escape and track them down.

Along the way, she revisits all of the places that changed her into who she has become. And she is forced to remember who she truly is at heart despite how unrecognizable she finds herself.

But she has an unexpected ally along for the journey. Just the same as her, he is somewhat of a living miracle. Except he's no longer living... he's a walker.

[written for Bethyl Holidays Fest 2023 prompt: Silent Night] Moonshine Awards 2023 Third Place Winner for Best WIP ZA, and Second Place Winner for Best WIP Reunion/Fix It!

Chapter 18 // Part 10: Georgia Institute of Technology

“Hola, güera,” he finally greets, speaking slowly and with a menacing tone. Beth blinks and slowly shakes her head. One of the men steps forward and rips the duct tape from her mouth with no care. She’s pretty sure it rips away all of the hair from her upper lip. She hisses in pain and turns her head away for a brief moment, stifling the sting as her eyes water. She glances from Fur Coat to his guards, and then to the men who brought her here, before finally craning her neck and looking back at the woman who spoke English earlier. But the woman retains a stoic face, hands gripped tightly around the rifle she keeps at her front, refusing to meet Beth’s eyes. Beth turns back to Fur Coat sitting upon his throne and waits. He raises his eyebrows expectantly. “Hola, güera,” he repeats slower, his tone sharper. Then he asks her a question, but she cannot understand it. Her throat goes dry. She swallows hard before responding, “No habla Español. Uh—señor.”

[th3p0rtalmaker]

"Hector's Let It Go" - An Old Au (and my First Song Parody)

Back when I first started writing Brotherhood fanfics (about 3 years ago), I had an idea for an au where Hector was regularly visiting Edmund in the castle ruins while he was stationed in the Great Tree. One day Hector receives a letter from Quirin and/or Adira about finding the Sundrop, or maybe imploring him to leave the Great Tree to come visit them. Hector starts to feel guilty/ashamed because he's REALLY tempted to go make up with his siblings, which would be a violation of his oath and the ultimate act of betrayal towards Edmund (in his mind). While riding to the castle, Hector decides that he'll come clean to Edmund about the fact that Quirin and Adira have been sending him letters for months, if not years, and he's been reading them while fantasizing about going to meet them.

But after arriving at the castle and spilling his guts, Hector finds out that Edmund is in possession of the Mindtrap - and he's been using it on Hector. In a frenzy of terror and mental breakdown/unraveling, Hector is able to get ahold of the Mindtrap and break it, severing it's connection to/control over himself, Adira, and Quirin. (This causes all three of their tattoos to burn/scar their hands before disappearing, even tho the three knights are spread across the globe at that moment.)

Hector then has the Elsa Moment he deserves, escaping from Edmund and going straight to the Moonstone chamber so he can claim it's power in an act of self-defense/making sure Edmund doesn't have a chance to use it on him like he did with the Mindtrap. (And of course he's decided to go meet up with Quirin and Adira and tell them what's been going on.) I started on the choreography for this part but never quite finished it. I did, however, write a full parody of "Let It Go" for Hector to sing while making his way thru the castle, claiming the Moonstone, and then triumphantly leaving the castle to go find his siblings. (It's based on the epic metal cover of Let It Go by Connor Engstrom, which I've linked at the bottom of the post so you can know what Hector's version is supposed to sound like!)

Verse 1:

The moon hangs low

for my questioning soul:

The betrayer...

or betrayed?

How do I define my kingdom?

The ones I love?...Or the throne?

The breaking in my chest,

These crumbling castle walls...

Home and fam'ly gone,

How'd I lose it all?

Let no one in - the kingdom sleeps.

Ever farther,

The Moonstone's power creeps.

Once loyal pet,

Now on my own...

'Cause now I know...

Chorus:

Let it go, let it go!

Can't hold me down anymore!

Let it go, let it go!

Can't excuse a choice that poor!

Lies have poisoned ev'ry word you say!

Time to change my path,

I choose where my loyalty lies today.

Verse 2:

It's sad to see my passion,

was a tool of the throne.

All the thoughts that once controlled me,

were not even my own!

It's time to make my countermove,

time to knock him down a peg or two!

Vengeance, justice, same thing to me!

I'm free!

Chorus:

Let it go, let it go!

I know with whom my life bonds lie!

Let it go, let it go!

Your well of power's dried!

Where I will, is where I'll go!

Try to stop me now...

Bridge:

I'm not your marionette, not

your royal fool!

My will is stronger than your

magic tricks and mental fricks!

My one-track mind can fin'lly

find a brand new path!

I break my oath today,

this pris'ner's free at last!

Chorus:

Let it go, let it go!

Now I'll right ev'rything you've wronged!

Let it go, let it go!

My home will be reborn!

Here I stand in the light of day!

Let the games begin,

Adira's face is so gonna' make my day! 

[lambourngb]

Chapters: 2/4 Fandom: Top Gun (Movies) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tom "Iceman" Kazansky/Pete "Maverick" Mitchell Characters: Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, Bill "Cougar" Cortell Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Prostitution, Alternate Universe - Pretty Woman Fusion, Military Homophobia, Period-Typical Homophobia, Sex Work, First Time, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Serious Topic Romanticized For Fun, Angst with a Happy Ending, Tropes, Fighter Town Kinktober Summary:

Traditional employment was hard to come by with a dishonorable discharge.

[annaofthenorthernlights]

Give me another bit of a sugar rush

for @99goosebumps

Fandom: batb1991

Pairing: Belle/Adam & Belle/Beast

Words: 5304

Rating: E

So, it came that Belle and Adam were alone in the castle between the years, making themselves comfortable in only their bedroom, the library, and the kitchen…

READ ON AO3

Happy new Year to all who see that post within the next few hours and days 🤗

[massgrav]

And since you set out to reach for your hopes and dreams I've stayed here with this hurt inside For with these wounded wings, I never left this barren soil Where all my wishes slowly faded away.

—

Another one for today.... still had a few heart pieces to stab

[jhsgf82]

The Winter Market

My entry for the 2022 “This Would Have Happened Anyway” challenge by @promptseverlark​

Read on AO3 HERE 

Synopsis: (Canon-divergent) Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark have never spoken, that is until one day they run into each other at the Winter Market, a new endeavor perpetrated by the newly reformed Capitol. Will Peeta finally gain the courage to speak to Katniss? And will Katniss finally be able to thank him for saving her and her family's lives? Will a friendship, or perhaps more, blossom?

[sassinake]

Chapters: 33/33 100k Summary:

Kylo Ren manages to knock out and capture Rey on the Supremacy. She escapes her cell, but remains trapped on the new flagship and hides between the bulkheads where her scavenger skills prove useful. She soon discovers she is not the only stowaway on board The Steadfast and many other ships of the First Order, revealing to Kylo important flaws in the "lawful and disciplined" organization. Kylo, freed from Snoke's possession, realizes that power comes with responsibility. Starts Reylo-centric. Then, all hell breaks loose.

Note: it's a coalition of characters that orchestrates the Rebellion.

[stardustacefics]

All We Got Now Is Brokeback Mountain

Pairing: Jack Twist/Ennis Del Mar

Summary: What would have happened if they never separated after their first summer on Brokeback Mountain; Jack and Ennis get a small home together in the country.

W/c: 800 

Chapter 1: 

“Jack, wait.”

Jack poked his head out of his truck window before turning on the ignition. He had something akin to hope glinting in his eyes. “Yeah?” 

Ennis looked down at the ground, shoving his hands deep into his jeans pockets as he shuffled over to Jack’s truck. Once he was just inches from the window, he peaked up bashfully, wincing slightly as the sun shone in his eyes. “…I want to see you again,” he said faintly. 

Jack’s face broke into a wide grin and he sighed. “Oh, thank god,” he laughed, looking up at the sky. “I didn’t know what I was gonna do, never seeing you again,” he said, suddenly very quiet, smiling softly to himself. He reached a hand out the window and reached towards Ennis’. Ennis slowly took it and ran his fingers along Jack’s knuckles, still red from their fight. He squeezed Ennis’ hand tenderly, looking directly into his eyes as he did, falling in love with the way that it made Ennis’ eyes melt instantly. 

Then suddenly, he felt like someone was watching them. Maybe there was, maybe there wasn’t, but either way, the hairs on the back of Ennis’ neck were standing on edge and he couldn’t ignore it. He reluctantly pulled his hand away from Jack’s, his fingertips lingering for a moment longer as they fell to his side. 

“I’m sorry,” Ennis whispered. 

“I know. It’s alright,” Jack whispered back, watching Ennis earnestly. “It’s alright.”

“I’m sorry,” Ennis whispered again. He looked down at the ground and shoved his hands into his pockets again, tightening them into fists. 

“I don’t want to leave,” Jack said. “Not without you.”

“…Then don’t,” Ennis muttered, his eyes pleading. 

A peaceful smile grew on Jack’s face. 

~ 

Ennis was sitting on the steps of their front porch looking out at their yard as the sun rose. Their yard. In their house. Their house in the countryside, away from everyone else and with a beautiful view of the mountains. Jack found him sitting in that spot the morning after they had first moved in, and he has found him there every morning since. So, naturally, every morning, Jack brought out two mugs of coffee and sat with him. They usually sat in silence, drinking their coffee, but Jack never minded. He just enjoyed Ennis’ company, and that was more than enough for him.

“I never thought I could have this,” Ennis said one day, taking a sip of his coffee and holding it delicately with both hands. 

“Me neither,” Jack answered from where he was resting his head on Ennis’ shoulder. “It’s like we’re still up there in Brokeback, every day.” He started to laugh. “Honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Ennis looked down at his drink, swirling it gently. “Do you ever think about it? About what would have happened?”

Jack nodded, taking a big gulp of coffee and staring out at the distance. “Not my favorite thing to imagine… What do you think would have happened if we didn’t?” 

“Don’t even wanna think about it,” Ennis mumbled, his voice starting to tremble. “Now that we have this… fuck, I could never get it out of my mind. Get you out of my mind. Now that we have this, and I know what it’s like to have this life…”

“You’re getting carried away, Ennis,” Jack said, gently grabbing his arm and giving it a comforting squeeze. “Should have never brought it up.” 

A half smile formed on Ennis’ lips, and he looked back down at his coffee. “Yeah... Suppose you’re right.” He kissed the top of Jack’s hair before messing it up a little bit, laughing to himself. 

Jack sat up and looked him square in the eyes, placing his hand on Ennis’. “I know it’s hard for you. And that it was even harder back then.” 

Ennis leaned in and captured his lips in a long kiss, cradling Jack’s cheek in his hand and holding him close. When their lips parted, Ennis’ brows were still furrowed in concentration, trying to pull back the tears. “I’m okay,” he whispered. 

“I don’t want you to be just okay. I want you to be happy.”

“Jack,” he said, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. “I’m happy. More than I’ve ever been.”

Jack smiled back at him, then rested his head on Ennis’ shoulder once again, snuggling in closer than before. “So am I.”

After some time, Ennis sighed and looked up at the sky. “I’m 25 now, Jack. I’m only 25, and I already have everything I could possibly want. And it’s the weirdest and best fucking life, all at the same time.” He started to laugh. “Does it really get better than that?”

Jack laughed along with him under his breath. “Maybe at 26,” he smiled up at Ennis. “And every year after that.” 

[lunastarhawk]

Her Name, a Riptide

Part 11 of Julian post-route Tides of Memories (on AO3)

Who needs canon when you can have... *gestures vaguely* whatever this is becoming.

Summary

Haunted by the devastation wrought by the Red Plague, and shunned by the medical community over her unconventional experiments, Julian's former apprentice nonetheless carries the key to the final piece of the puzzle to Julian's missing memories of Altheia. And as he coaxes it out of her, it threatens to tear Julian's world apart.

*~*~*~*

Excerpt

“Can we uhh… can we sit somewhere, hmm?  Please?”  Julian dared to step to the side a little, holding one hand towards the waiting room door.  “I saw you have a cosy waiting room here, and we can sit and catch up and… I’ll explain everything.”

Selina remained utterly expressionless, save for a tightening around her eyes, one spilled tear streaking down her cheek.

“Oh, no.”  She hissed.  “No, no.  I’ll not fall for that.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”  Julian was completely baffled.  “Fall for what?  I just want to talk.”

“Yes, yes, I know.  You love to talk.”  Her smile was humourless, bitter.  “I had a friend, once.  She was your partner.  She loved you very much.  You loved her, too.”  The smile, bitter though it was, dropped, along with her voice.  “She died.”

Julian’s breath caught, and it carried a tremulous whine when he exhaled.

“I know.  Please let me explain.”

But how could he even begin to explain, really?

“The Doctor Devorak I know wouldn’t have loved again,” she said.  “You loved her too much.  You were hers. That’s how I know you’re not him.”  She gave a twisted, whimsical smile.  “That, and your neck is straight.”  She took a step back.  “Please leave.”

“You don’t understand.”  Julian pressed his lips together, scrunched his eyes tight shut.  There was only one way he could make her listen.  He opened his eyes and fixed them on hers as he blurted out, “Altheia’s my partner now. Again."

Selina spluttered a laugh.  Theo gasped.

“Miss Theia?  But she-”

“She died,” Selina said, through gritted teeth.  She stepped up to Julian, toe to toe.  He resisted recoiling as she craned up to look at him through steely blue eyes.  His chin was almost on his chest as he looked down at her.  “Do you know how she died?”

“I… I do, yes.”  Julian spoke very carefully.  

“Do you know where she died?”

Julian exhaled a choked sob, and whispered, “No.”

He didn’t want to know.  Not yet, not like this.  But it didn’t matter what he wanted.

“In my arms.  At the Lazaret.  I put her body into the furnace.  As you told me.”

Julian’s head whirled, as that wave that crashed over him threatened to drag him out to sea.  He shook his head, over and over.

“I didn’t know…”

Selina barked a laugh.  “Ah, there, now I know for certain.  You know, you almost had me convinced.”

“What? ”

Julian could barely stand upright, barely see, barely think.  His only remotely rational thought was an inability to comprehend how Selina somehow didn’t believe that he was who he said he was.

“Doctor Devorak was there,” she said, a chill in her voice.  “He watched her collapse, outside the clinic. She never regained consciousness. I held her, on the ground.  He took her vitals.  He pronounced her dead.  She wasn’t dead yet, mind.  But she would be soon, he said.  He scribbled out the death certificate.  Saving another doctor the job, he said.  You know, they came pre-printed then.  With numbers.  We didn’t ask names anymore.  So he didn’t write her name.  Her number was 2-03-13.”  The sound that came from the back of her throat was something like a sob caught within a laugh.  “Take her to the Lazaret , he said.  And while you’re there, offer your help.   And then he left.  Like he never even knew her.”

Julian took a step back.  His chest constricted painfully and breaths would scarcely come, his lungs burning as if the air were fire.  His vision blackened around the edges.  He leaned his weight on one hand on the wall.  

“No,” he whispered.  “I… I wouldn’t… I couldn’t… please believe me…”

It was ridiculous, he knew, because she’d been there, and she remembered, which was more than he could say.  But his heart broke as surely as if Altheia were there on the floor now, taking her last breath.

“He went back to the palace,” Selina went on coolly.  “He called for me later.  I was his brightest apprentice, he said.”  She laughed suddenly.  “Which was true, in as much as all his others were dead.”

Julian’s legs could hardly take his weight.  “I… remember you…”

“Do you?  Yes, I suppose you would.  He would.  But he never spoke of her again.  Not once.  It wasn’t from loss of love, I knew that.  I know that.  It was shock, I was sure of that.”

“It wasn’t…”

His voice was barely a whisper, he couldn’t catch his breath for speech.

“So you see, you can’t fool me.  You need to leave, now.”

*~*~*~*

The beautiful banner is image is by ladywarlock03.

[endlessnightlock]

A New Path, Chapter 34

Artwork by @oakfarmer

The last chapter of A New Path is posted! You can read it on Ao3 or FFN. 

The day after aging out of the Reaping, Katniss crosses paths with Peeta. She thanks him for the bread and to her surprise, a tentative friendship begins. 

A canon-divergent, in-Panem, never reaped a/u.

Rated M for canon-typical violence and mild sexual content.

[im-immortal]

Small Miracles

Beth Greene is not dead. Though it is not for a lack of trying.

After eight long years spent in the CRM's grasp, struggling to find reasons to continue surviving, Beth finally finds her reason: Rick and Daryl are alive, and they are closer than she ever could've guessed. Now she must take advantage of her only opportunity to escape and track them down.

Along the way, she revisits all of the places that changed her into who she has become. And she is forced to remember who she truly is at heart despite how unrecognizable she finds herself.

But she has an unexpected ally along for the journey. Just the same as her, he is somewhat of a living miracle. Except he's no longer living... he's a walker.

[Moonshine Awards 2023 Third Place Winner for Best WIP ZA, and Second Place Winner for Best WIP Reunion/Fix It!]

Chapter 19 // Part 11: Nuevo Atlanta

"It is no longer just the old campus of a college, but an entirely new town. We are spreading out more every year. We have already reclaimed four blocks of the city, and we are working to reclaim more. It has become our territory, our property, our home. We’ve had twenty-three live births this year alone, and many more over the last eight years.” Twenty-three living, crying babies who require food and attention and safety, Beth thinks. She exhales a breath of disbelief. “How many people live here now?” Yesenia shrugs casually. “Over four-thousand, give or take. We are due for another census before the new year.” It’s like a punch to the gut. Beth stops in her tracks and looks around with a newfound sense of realization. This place had appeared big, and it is clearly prospering, but to think that over 4,000 living people are residing here? That’s unspeakable when it comes to the expectations of the CRM.  Populations like this simply do not exist outside of the Civic Republic and the Hidden City.  “What-why are you not listed on the map?” She asks, settling her gaze on Yesenia, who has also stopped and turned around to meet Beth’s eyes. Yesenia smiles coyly. “That is another story, mija. I cannot tell it properly on my own.” She gestures for Beth to follow as she begins leading the way forward. “Come. We should meet with El Concejo. They are expecting you.”

[loserchildhotpants]

inspired by @emeraldcas ‘s post about how they couldn’t let Cas’ body be left behind after the Empty came for him because otherwise we would have all seen Dean lose his absolute mind (I considered adding it to the original post but i don’t wanna annoy anyone skldjfhlskdhfj so i hope it’s okay i used it as an angst prompt)

The Empty sweeps in like a hurricane, it spins itself around Cas like spiders wrap up their prey, it binds him up tightly until there’s holy light bursting out from the blackness mummifying him; the bunker shakes, the dungeon trembles, there’s sound and motion as though a rocket is taking off and Dean’s sitting not five feet from its launch.

He looks until he can’t anymore, until he has to shut his eyes and cover them with his forearm, and still the light is so intense he can see through his eyelids, through the flesh of his arm and he can see the bone inside, like an x-ray. 

For a few beats, he’s utterly terrified, the noise and shaking mount, mount, peak, then stop; there’s a thump, the familiar sound of a body hitting the ground, followed by silence denser than a black hole.

Blinking spots out of his vision, Dean’s breath shudders in and out of him, Cas’ words are still ringing in his ears like a broken record he has no idea what to do with. 

His vision clears in time, and he finds himself in that dark dungeon right where Cas left him, sprawled on the floor, blood on his sleeve; a few feet away, Cas’ body lies still, eyes shut, lips just parted on a sigh.

The room is so still.

Dean feels like a soda can that’s been shaken around violently, a terrible pressure building inside him and the longer he stares at Cas the worse it gets.

“Get up,” he says hoarsely.

The body doesn’t stir.

“Cas, get up,” Dean orders again, his throat hot and constricted; the tone of his voice offers the room an addendum - ‘get up - you’re frightening me.’

“Cas, Goddamn it,” Dean mutters, getting to his hands and knees to crawl closer to Cas, to shake him awake, the reality of the situation is in his periphery, it’s closing in, but he can fight it a minute longer.

He turns Cas onto his back, but the body is unresponsive, limp; he holds Cas’ face in both hands, kneels over him, searches his face for a twitch of muscle or flutter of lashes, but nothing happens. 

“Cas,” he says again, hands moving down to Cas’ neck to feel for a pulse he keeps groping for, but can’t find; he feels himself go pale, the back of his eyes feel hot, “Cas - hey - no, no - no, no, no, no, no - Cas. Cas - Cas, I’m right here, I’m not mad, Cas, I’m here…”

Panicked, furious with growing terror, he pushes Cas’ layers open to feel at his chest for a heartbeat, he remembers positing to Bobby that maybe Angels don’t need to breathe; they don’t, he knows now, but Cas chooses to because he knows it’s unnerving to humans when he elects to suppress vital signs.

He knows Dean finds it unnerving, he knows it scares Dean. So, he breathes, his heart beats, he sighs, licks his lips, yawns, blinks - he wouldn’t do this to Dean. He wouldn’t go quiet like this.

There isn’t a heartbeat. 

There’s no soft breaths coming from Cas’ lips or nose, there is no motion of his eyes under their lids, his carotid is still, his chest lies flat, his skin is getting cold.

Dean’s right hand goes to Cas’ left wrist and he searches for a pulse he knows he won’t find and now his eyes fill with tears, because everything Cas just said is finally catching up with him, finally slotting into meaning and the levee is about to break.

And when it does, he’ll have no place to stay.

“Cas,” Dean says again, and he knows he’s saying it to a corpse, he knows the room is empty but for him, he knows trying to wake him is futile, he knows the dungeon is a mausoleum now, and he knows Cas loved him.

Summer morning skies are blue, meadow grass grows green, blood runs red, and Cas loved him.

Cas loved him.

His hands are bloodless, but they curl into fists in Cas’ coat anyway - all the blood in his body is in his chest where his heart is hemorrhaging love and despair, filling his body like formaldehyde and all the things left unsaid are floating in there, dead, useless. 

Tear tracks still stain Cas’ face, a drop still on the bolt of his jaw falls.

“Okay. Okay - okay,” Dean mumbles, sniffing, trying not to cry as he balls his hands up in that coat and tugs Cas closer to him, half in his lap; Cas’ head lolls back, Dean supports him behind his shoulders and Dean remembers a baroque painting a lot like this.

“You can’t do this,” he whispers, as if Cas has told him of his plan and Dean is unobtrusively trying to warn him that he might embarrass himself, “Cas. You hear me? You always hear me - I know you hear me, you always hear me.”

Tears spill; he heard you, he saw you, he knew you, and he loved you even after. 

“Cas, Goddamn it, don’t do this, don’t do this!” Dean begs, louder, tears coming in earnest now, his face screwed up, his hold on Cas shaking, the grip of his fingers too tight, “it’s okay if you went away, alright? I’m not mad, I’m not mad, just come back…”

Nothing is happening. Nothing is changing. Nothing will happen, nothing can change, because Cas is dead in his arms, gone from his body, from the dungeon, from the world, somewhere Dean can’t follow.

He curls in over Cas like he can protect Cas from something that’s already happened, like he’s a shield and if he just keeps believing he’s a shield, nothing else can hurt Cas or take him away anymore.

“I know I ask a lot,” he cries, his voice like broken glass, his face wet with tears that are falling onto Cas’ shirt and tie, “I know it’s too much - but I won’t ask for anything again after this, just come back, okay? You can’t be gone right now, Cas, you can’t - you can’t say that and be gone, I need you, I need you back, I can’t do this without you, there isn’t a fucking point without you, Cas, I promise I’ll never ask for anything again, just come back.”

He prays and begs for so long, the grief is making him lose his mind, he can’t remember anything outside of Cas, it’s like all he can think of is Cas blowing into that barn, lightning and sparks and wind and power and faith, Cas bleeding for him, Cas dying for him, Cas returning, always returning, Cas healing him and saving him, Cas smiling at him, laughing with him, begging for his help, his forgiveness, Cas loving him, and Dean finds himself uttering, “give ‘im back, give ‘im back,” though he doesn’t know who he’s begging.

It could draw blood with how angry it gets when Sam finds him and moves Cas away from him, Sam crying softly and saying, “Dean, let go - Dean, please, Dean, I need you to listen to me -” and Dean keeps moving his exhausted, grief-beaten body back to Cas, reaching for him, demanding, “give him back! Give him back to me!”

When Sam ultimately surrenders to Dean’s ruination, he sits against a far wall in contemplative, sad silence, his face shining with what tears he cried, and Dean lies next to Cas’ body, as if they are both on their backs, looking up at stars; Dean tells him in a gravel voice, “I don’t know if I can get back up, Cas.”

He doesn’t know what Cas would say to that, but he knows the way Cas would look at him, and he knows Cas would outstretch an arm to him, offer his hand, and help him back to his feet.

He knows the way Cas would make him feel - like he can keep going. 

So, he gets to his feet.

[sevenofreylo]

Chocolate was a common item on core worlds, in the outer rim it was a rare luxury and Rey roamed the stalls of the bazaar, losing hope.

Ready to give up, she turned a corner at the end of a stall when a familiar furrowed brow, buried under several months old notices and ads, caught her eye. Rey hurried over to the notice board and unearthed the image:

WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE

CRIME: HIGH TREASON

1 MILLION CREDIT REWARD

FOR INFORMATION LEADING

TO THE CAPTURE OF THIS MAN

Original art on Twitter by ratsandlove (posted with permission)

The artist had even captured the perpetual scowl and constellation of moles on his face. Under the hair and the glasses, it was unmistakeable to anyone who had known him. It ached to see that nose and those lips.

Rey hesitated only for a second, then snatched the wanted poster off the wall, satisfied with how it tore off its pins. A distant, questioning curiosity edged at her awareness, but she ignored it as she viciously stuffed it into her pack.

The trip back was arduous: several days through the desert under two burning suns. But even without chocolate, the trip was worth it for rations that couldn’t be grown and the replacement part for the moisture vaporator tucked safely into her bag.

When she finally made it to the hidden glass dome she called home, her oasis in the desert, she breathed easier and the force sang with its joy and anticipation. The air in the greenhouse was heavy and moist—like the forests of Takodana.

Humidity, he called it.

A byproduct of all the moisture in their conservatory. Another word he’d taught her.

Inside, Ben awaited her arrival. Tall, broad, swathed in soft cotton greys and smiling. So unlike the drawing she’d brought back with her.

“I take it you found chocolate?” He asked, by way of greeting, pulling her into a tight hug.

“No, even better.” She pulled out the crumpled bit of paper, holding it out for them to look at together. “Do you remember your wig?”

He frowned, pouting, “My nose is not that big.”

“It’s a good likeness.” Rey tilted her head back and got up on her tip toes to rub her nose against his. “And I like your big nose.”

[crowfooted]

Chapters: 13/13 Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Relationships: Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Melissa McCall/Sheriff Stilinski Additional Tags: Future Fic, Dark, Angst, Revenge, Witches, Magic, Character Death, before the story starts anyway, BAMF Stiles, Emissary Stiles Stilinski, POV Peter Hale, Peter Has Feelings, but is still a gigantic jerk, Slow Burn Summary:

It's been over five years since the last time Peter Hale left Beacon Hills, when Stiles shows up on his doorstep. The pack has been killed, Stiles is the only survivor, and Peter is going to help him get his revenge whether he likes it or not...

[embersandlilies]

(fic) A Rake and A Liar

read on ao3

3.6k, explicit, one-shot

“I am a gentleman.”

Kate Sharma would have laughed in his face if not for the fact that the sentiment was delivered with such conviction by one Anthony Bridgerton.