#daphnes body is Weird i tried to fix it but it just looked so weird

[owencarvourmega]

spies + scooby doo !

[the-cult-of-russo]

Push and Pull (Part 20)

Pairing: Matt Murdock x OC

Warnings: cursing, angst

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Something roused Daphne from her sleep the next morning but she wasn't sure what. Her head felt like it was imploding in on itself and she winced when she opened her eyes. She was vaguely aware of a heavy weight over her middle as she lay on her side facing the wall. As her senses tried to gain their equilibrium, her ears picked up on frantic banging at her door. She heard a pained groan at the noise that was attached to the arm around her. 

"Daphne! Open the damn door!" It was Foggy and he sounded like he was having a meltdown. She slipped out from the arm, swiping some panties from her drawer and putting them on quickly. The banging was making her head hurt like a bitch and Foggy's panic had her putting on the t-shirt she’d previously stolen from Matt since it was big on her and long enough to cover her ass. She padded over to the door, grimacing at how the noise got louder. 

She swung the door open and Foggy almost knocked her off her feet as he rushed inside.

"Matt’s missing. He didn't go home last night and he didn't turn up for work. I can't get a hold of him! He- he could be bleeding out in an alley or something! We need to find him!" He panicked with wild eyes. Her brain felt like it was working through molasses and she blinked at him with bleary eyes.

"Didn't you hear me?! He could be dying!" He screeched.

"I'm fine," Foggy whipped his head over to the bed, confusion and shock on his face for a moment as his eyes landed on Matt. He was sat up now, sheets pooling around his waist as he rubbed his tired eyes. His hair was sticking up in every direction. 

"W-what? Oh! Well I guess you two made up then," Foggy quipped, sounding much calmer than moments before.

"It's too early for this shit," Daphne grumbled tiredly, pushing past him to get to the kitchen. She got started on making a pot of coffee. Her eyes seemed to be in a permanent squint at the light that felt like razors to her brain. 

"Not that I'm gonna complain about you two fixing things, but you couldn't have let me know? A phone call? Anything?" Foggy grouched at Matt who sighed in response.

"I was a little busy," Matt said dryly. Foggy nodded, cheeks a little pink as he glanced from Matt to Daphne and the tequila bottle on the coffee table before landing back on Matt again.

"Can I get some privacy?" Matt asked wryly, gesturing to his naked body. Foggy scoffed and threw the backpack he was carrying at him. Naturally, Matt caught it no problem.

"Clothes?" Matt questioned softly. Daphne glanced over at him briefly before grabbing two cups out of the cupboard. Her brain still wasn't functioning yet.

"Yeah well… I wasn't sure if I'd find you bleeding out or something and I figured it's a little less weird to take you to the hospital in normal people clothes," Foggy replied as he turned his back so he wasn't watching. He still sounded a little salty over the whole thing. 

"Well I was fine," Matt muttered, standing up and getting his clothes on. Daphne may have peeked at him. It seemed like Foggy had picked black sweats and a t-shirt for him to wear. 

"Alright, I get it. But this is… this is nice. Like old times right? You two having some crazy make up sex," Foggy started. Daphne shot him a glare as she poured out two cups of coffee. 

"I swear, if you make this weirder than it needs to be, I will stab you in the face," she threatened, narrowed eyes and a scratchy voice. Matt chuckled as he waltzed into the kitchen and Foggy looked offended.

"Wow. Note to self, Daphne is mean with a hangover," he huffed. 

"She's mean all the time," Matt quipped without missing a beat. She squinted at him, handing him a cup of coffee for him to sort out with sugar and creamer or whatever he wanted in it. Her hospitality ended at making the coffee and pouring it. He took it with a grateful nod and small smile. 

She flung three sugars into her own coffee and a generous amount of creamer.

"I don't get a coffee? Now I'm just hurt," Foggy muttered in contempt. 

"Are you hungover?" She asked with a quirked brow. 

"A little!" He pouted. She rolled her eyes but couldn't stop the smile on her face at his antics. Grabbing a cup, she poured him a cup and gave it to him. She walked over to sit on the sofa as the boys sorted their coffees out. Before long, Foggy flopped into the armchair and Matt sat next to her on the couch. 

"Sooo…" Foggy started, finger tapping on the mug he was holding.

"Foggy," Matt warned carefully, glancing in his direction. 

"What? You really expect me to not want to talk about it? It's me," Foggy snorted. 

"We had sex. It was great. Story time over," Daphne muttered, blowing on her coffee to try and cool it down faster. She really didn't want to have this conversation. It would have been weird waking up with Matt in her bed and dealing with that but of course Foggy had to come over to just sprinkle more awkwardness into the mix.

"You hear that, Matt? It was great," Foggy grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. Matt smirked, trying to hide it as he took a small sip of his coffee. 

"I can share with the group what Karen says sex with you is like if you want?" Daphne asked with a devilish grin. Foggy's eyes widened and his cheeks flushed, mouth opening and shutting. Matt laughed, glancing to his side at her.

"I'm actually curious what she says," he probed, continuing their teasing. 

"No! No, no, no! We don't need to go there! I'll shut up, I promise," Foggy squeaked. Daphne smirked triumphantly and slurped some of her coffee. Karen hadn’t even spoken to her about sex with Foggy, she hadn't even been sure it had happened until now. 

They drank their coffees with some comfortable silence. There was only a twinge of awkwardness in the air. Matt and Foggy ended up talking about a case they were currently working on as she nursed her hangover with a coffee. Once the cups were empty, she was mildly surprised when Matt stood, gathering the cups and moving over the sink to wash them. Her green eyes scanned her apartment and she pouted at herself. She’d made such a mess the night before in her drunken state and she hated it. 

"Alright, as much as I'd love to spend time with you two assholes, I need to clean this place before I rip my hair out," she muttered as she stood up. 

"You did make quite a mess," Foggy grinned teasingly. She flipped him off and leaned against the kitchen counter as he stood. Matt used the backpack to store his suit and mask, only just making it fit. She was hopeful that they'd leave without incident but she almost forgot Foggy was Foggy. 

"You know what, we should go on another double date. Karen would love it," Foggy mused as he and Matt walked to the door. She blinked at him unimpressed as Matt thwacked him across the head.

"Stop," Matt huffed, shoving him closer to the door. Foggy grumbled under his breath as he opened it. 

"I'm not sure I wanna be Captain of this ship anymore if you both bully me like this," he grouched.

"Out!" She said firmly, pointing to the door. Foggy smirked, holding his hands up in surrender as he slipped out the door. Matt glanced her way as she padded over. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but settled on just nodding. She was grateful. She wasn't sure what he would have said. 

She watched as Matt took Foggy's arm in case anyone saw him and she shut the door as they walked down the hall. Breathing a sigh of relief, she set to work cleaning up the place. A tidy apartment and a few cups of coffee later, she found herself soaking in the bath and relaxing. She didn't have anything to do that day so she took the time for some TLC. She couldn't do anything with the Grimes case until the ball later that week and there was no new news on the Italians from Brett. There wasn't even any progress with the Keiran situation because his mouth was still wired shut and he wasn't in great condition. It was a rare moment of calm for her.

As she relaxed in the tub, her hangover started to wane and she found her thoughts straying to the night before no matter how hard she tried to fight it. It had been wildly different to her previous times with the vigilante. Usually they skipped foreplay, just getting right to the rough and dirty stuff and that was that. They'd got what they wanted. But the night before was a whole world away from that with all the intimate touching and how they took their time. She couldn't remember everything but she kept getting bits and pieces of it as it clicked together like a jigsaw puzzle. She remembered how excited she was to see him, how she told him she'd missed him. She remembered how her stomach fluttered when he used his fingers to ‘see’ her face properly. She remembered how it was the best sex she'd ever had. But it was all so intimate. She hated herself for it. Never had she been that way with someone before but she'd been drunk and so had he. She’d let her guard down fully with him. She was annoyed at herself for not letting him leave when she should have. 

She didn't so much regret it, since there was no way she could regret the way he made her body feel. But she felt weird about the vulnerability of it all. How it made her feel. She was just glad he didn't make a big deal out of it like last time. She’d told herself she wouldn't fuck him again, no matter how good it was, because it seemed to make things messier. But her plan had failed and now she just had to hope they would move past it. Yet she still found her mind drifting to the way he touched her, like she was made of gold, and it made her stomach feel weird. 

---

The week seemed to fly by and although Foggy came to see her most days with coffee and food, she hadn't seen or heard from Matt. She wasn't sure how she felt about it. It was only two days away from the ball now and Mrs Grimes had called her to tell her that she was on the guest list. She also sounded very disappointed she didn't have a plus one but thankfully didn't press it. Now she knew the plan was definitely on, she needed to go and get a dress. That's what led her to walking to the firm. She needed Karen. Karen knew about the ball and she needed a woman's eye. Foggy had slipped up once when he came to see her and told her he'd told Karen about the plan. After getting an earful from Daphne, he replied with how she specifically said not to tell Matt, which he hadn't, so he didn't do anything wrong. She couldn't argue with that logic and she didn't really blame him for telling her. It made it easier for her anyway since now she needed Karen's help to pick a dress. 

She hadn't called her to ask, she figured she'd just go find her. She was dreading going shopping, it wasn't something she ever enjoyed. And this was in an upper-class part of New York and she knew she didn't belong there. When she got to the firm, she could hear raised voices coming from inside. She lingered at the closed door, her curiosity burning and stopping her from making herself known. 

"We need to tell her, Matt!" Foggy yelled. She didn't think she'd ever heard Foggy be genuinely angry before and she raised her brows a little.

"No! Telling her is only going to put a target on her back!" Matt retorted hotly.

"She has a target on her back either way, and I can’t keep lying to her! She's my girlfriend now, Matt. It's not fair!" 

"It's not your secret to tell!" 

"No, just one you're forcing me to keep!"

It was painful listening to them argue if she was honest. Like being a little kid and hearing your mom and dad fighting about getting a divorce. She didn't like it. She opened the door and the pair turned to her in surprise from where they stood in the waiting area of the firm. She guessed Matt hadn't known she was there in the heat of the moment.

"Pro tip, you won't need to worry about it if you keep yelling like that. I could hear everything and it could have been just as easily Karen at the door," she said blandly, giving them a stern look like she was telling off children. 

She closed the door behind her and walked into the room with a sigh.

"Tell him, Daphne. He needs to tell Karen the truth," Foggy pleaded.

"I think Daphne would agree with me on this," Matt bit out.

"Hey! Whoa! I'm not getting in the middle of this," she muttered with her hands raised. They started arguing again and she couldn't even make out what was being said in all the noise. 

"Shut up!" She bellowed. Deathly silence took over the room as they both looked her way.

"Sit the fuck down. Both of you," she ordered hotly. She expected them to argue as they went back to glaring at each other for a moment, or as much of a glare a blind man could give, but then they reluctantly sat down. 

She stomped over to the desk, turning around and perching herself on the edge of it. 

"What exactly do you think will happen when Karen finds out the truth, Foggy? You think she's just gonna be like 'okay' and move on? She's gonna be pissed. She's not gonna see it as you guys trying to keep her safe. All she's gonna feel is the betrayal of the lies. There's a big chance she won't talk to you both for a while. She believes in Daredevil, she'll come around once it wears off. But that initial sting is gonna cause some shit, so I hope you're ready for that," she explained seriously. He looked torn up and glanced at his hands in his lap at her words. 

She turned to Matt then who was sitting with his mouth set in a grim line.

"I get why you kept it from her, and eventually she will too. But the longer you keep this from her the worse it'll be. I know it's not something to take lightly. Once you tell her, you can't go back. But there's gonna be a line you cross where she won't be so understanding about lying if you keep it from her for too long. And it would be better if she hears it from you instead of finding it out some other way," she muttered.

"That didn't help at all. You're saying if we tell her she'll be pissed but that we should tell her?" Foggy frowned. 

"I'm saying you both need to grow up and deal with this like adults. Talk it out and work a compromise. Karen deserves to know the truth but you need to do it right and make sure Matt's ready for it," she glared.

"Matt's never gonna be ready for it! I'm not just gonna sit here and keep this secret, I didn't sign up for this! And I'm not gonna sit here and take advice from an emotional mess like you!" Foggy yelled at her. She felt a punch to the gut at his words, genuinely shocked by his hostility towards her.

"Hey! Don't talk to her like that," Matt warned, his jaw tense.

"Oh right. I forgot it's only okay if you do it," Foggy sneered cruelly at him. Matt stood up looking ready to take a swing at him. Daphne felt her anger go from simmering to boiling and she slipped off the desk and stepped closer to Foggy. 

"You know what, Foggy? Fuck you. I get you wanna tell her, that you don't like lying, but it's not black and white here. And you did sign up for this. You told me about what happened when you found out the truth yourself. You chose to come back, to be the best friend again. You chose to stick around, so you don't get to sit there and throw it back in his face when you feel like it! You don't forgive someone just to dangle it over their head later! That’s called being a shitty fucking friend! You're either in or you're out with this, there is no in between! So maybe you should pick a damn side and get your head out of your ass instead of blaming Matt when you chose to be here!" She roared. Foggy looked genuinely taken aback by her ferocity but she didn't stick around to hear him be an asshole.

She pushed passed him roughly, storming out and slamming the door behind her so hard she heard it rattle. She was fuming as she stalked down the street. She wasn't exactly Matt's biggest fan and she loved Foggy, she really did. But she wasn't going to sugar coat shit with him when he was playing victim. Foggy had decided to stick around and it rubbed her the wrong way how he was acting with this. Like he couldn't grasp how much of a life changing big deal it was for his best friend. She told him how it was and it was up to him to decide what to do with her words. She honestly expected better from her friend. He’d really hurt her with his words and she wouldn't have expected that from him of all people. It was uncalled for.

After wandering the streets to calm down, she got out her phone to call Karen. She hadn't been around and she hadn't gotten the chance to ask where to find her. And as awkward as it might be after the argument she'd just had, she still liked Karen and needed her help. Mrs Grimes had told her the dresses might need some alterations so she didn't have time to waste since the ball was two days away. After a few rings, she picked up.

"Daphne, hey!" It sounded like she smiled down the phone.

"Hey! Are you busy?" She asked, shaking the shitshow she'd just been involved in away from her. She didn't have time for their drama.

"I was just dropping something off at the Bulletin and then heading back to the firm," she explained.

"Could I steal you for a bit? I need help with the whole ball gown debacle and I could really use your advice," she asked hesitantly. 

"Sure! It sounds like fun. I'm almost done here if you wanna meet me?" It didn't sound like fun but she didn't correct her.

"Alright, I'll be there soon," she hung up after and made her way to the Bulletin. 

Before long, the pair were standing outside of La Grande Vie and Daphne was filled with dread. The people milling around inside the store were all well dressed and although Karen somewhat blended in with her formal wear, Daphne stuck out like a sore thumb in her boots, jeans, plain tee and hoodie. Her purple hair in a messy high pony. She blinked up at the sign for a moment, wondering if it was too late to just tuck tail and run.

"Fuck. I feel like I'm in Pretty Woman or something," she grumbled miserably.

"Something you're not telling me?" Karen smirked. Daphne snorted and shook her head, biting back a whine as Karen grabbed her hand and all but dragged her in the store. 

An older man in a silk, pink patterned shirt came up to greet them with a warm smile.

"Hello, welcome to La Grande Vie, my name is Louis. How can we help today?" He asked with a French accent. He seemed genuinely nice but Daphne didn't miss the curious glances he kept sending her way.

"Uh… Mrs Grimes sent me… for the ball gown?" She phrased it like a question, like she was unsure if she should even be here. His eyes lit up as he clapped, looking overjoyed.

"Of course! Ms Weaver, welcome, welcome! And who is your lovely friend?" He asked with a smile, looking at Karen who blushed slightly.

"I'm Karen. Moral support," she smiled shyly. The man laughed a little, no doubt in understanding. It didn't take a genius to figure out this was Daphne's first rodeo.

"Please follow me, we will select some dresses we think suitable, but you will get to decide which you like most," he said as he ushered them to the back of the store. There were some thick black curtains and he walked through them, the girls in tow, to reveal some kind of private back area. There were plush looking seats and a changing area behind another curtain. It was all so fancy. Louis gestured for Karen to sit which she did but then he stood in front of Daphne, seemingly examining her from head to toe. She felt her cheeks flame red at the scrutiny and Karen shot her a wry smirk.

"I have some dresses in mind to go with your beautiful complexion and fun hair. You are a wild one, yes?" He asked with a knowing grin. Daphne snorted, lowering her head.

"She most definitely is," Karen piped up amused. Louis rushed off acting as if Christmas had come early for him. Daphne moved to sit and wait with Karen. Just as she was about to remark on how out of place she felt, a beautiful woman walked over with a tray, champagne flutes resting atop of it. 

"Drink, ladies?" She asked with a polite smile. 

"Thank you," Karen said and the pair took one each. Daphne's was gone in seconds. 

"Okay! Let's begin!" Louis beamed as he walked back in, clapping his hands. There were a few girls, all as equally beautiful as the last, following him with dresses. She felt like a troll next to them. The ladies ushered her in the very roomy changing area, closing the curtain behind them.

"Are you ready for a fashion show, Ms Karen?" She heard Louis ask from the other side of the curtain.

"I am," Karen giggled in response. Her friend was having far too much fun with this.

Daphne wasn't sure what she hated more. Shopping in general or dresses. But by the time the girls were getting her into her 6th dress, she was ready to give up. All of the dresses had been beautiful but she was under no illusion that any would suit her or that she'd like them. But she didn't have to like them, they just had to be lavish enough for her to blend in at the fancy ass ball. But Karen and Louis seemed to have other ideas and had no issues with telling her no when they didn't think one hit the mark. 

One of the girls zipped the dress up for her and she glanced at herself in the mirror. This one she liked the most. It was simple yet at the same time ridiculously pretty. It was a rich black colour, a velvety texture that was soft to touch. It had small off the shoulder sleeves with a v cut out the middle to create a harsh, deep sweetheart neckline. It clung to her body tightly, dipping into her small waist before flaring out dramatically in princess-y style. It was hard to picture the full look though with her hair and make-up done. 

The girls helped her into the simple black wedges. She'd been firm on the fact she couldn't walk in normal heels and Louis had picked these for her. The curtain was pulled back in the same dramatic flourish as the last billion times, but instead of Karen and Louis giving her a scrutinising gaze, Karen looked pleasantly shocked, covering her mouth and Louis stood up beaming.

"This is it! This is the dress, is it not?" He glanced at Karen to back him up and she nodded.

"Wow… Daphne, this is just… this is the dress," she murmured in awe. Daphne blushed, shifting on her feet. This day had been weird from start to finish and it wasn't even over yet. It felt weird to be looked at so closely by anyone and the spotlight was firmly on her. 

"Alright. I'll take this one then," she smiled with a shrug. She'd been waiting to say that with all of them but she did feel a pang of reassurance at their reactions this time around. 

Louis ended up taking measurements from her so he could alter anything needed and said the dress and shoes would be sent to her apartment the next day. After Louis' dramatic but endearing goodbyes, the pair finally left the store and Daphne could finally breathe. 

"Glad that's over," she snorted, the pair walking arm in arm. They'd been in there so long that it had started to go dark. 

"It wasn't so bad," Karen smiled at her.

"Easy for you to say. You were spectating," she muttered with a playful glare. 

"The dress really is something though. You'll be the belle of the ball," she teased, getting an eye roll from Daphne. 

They both said their goodbyes with Karen saying she would come over the next day to do her hair for her and help her get ready. Daphne was grateful for the support. They ended up getting in separate cabs to head in their different directions. Daphne's was home. Today had really taken it out of her and she needed to rest up for the impending doom of the ball. Once again, after sleeping with Matt, her nightmares had gone. She knew they'd turn up again eventually but she was enjoying actually being able to sleep while it lasted. Once home, she got ready for bed and snuggled under her blankets with a sigh.

She kept thinking of the fight with Foggy and Matt and it made her feel sad. She hated that they were fighting, it was so weird. They were best friends, Nelson and Murdock. They shouldn't be acting this way with each other. And she couldn't deny that she was hurt with how Foggy acted with her. She said she didn't want to get involved but they'd dragged her into it anyway. All she did was tell the truth and he'd been an asshole to her. Something she expected from his counterpart, not him. Matt hadn't snapped at her, he'd even got mad at Foggy when he was a dick to her. They seemed to have swapped roles and she didn't like it. She had no idea what Foggy would choose to do and it made her nervous for Matt. No one really knew just what the consequences would be of telling Karen and it was a big deal. She didn't know what would happen to their friendship if Foggy went through with it or if he'd even stick around anymore. 

She frowned as she lay there. There was a reason why she didn't make friends or connections and this was it. She felt like there was always some drama or something to stress about in her personal life. Yet she couldn't remember what it was like when she was alone and she was sure she wouldn't want to go back. That's why she was so worried. Depending on what Foggy chose to do, her life would become very different and she'd only just gotten used to it how it was now. She fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion with her mind spinning from uncertainty. 

[verobatto]

Destiel Chronicles

Vol. LXVII

It was a love story from the very beginning.

You are the one in my heart (Part III)

(11x14)

Hello! Third part of this topic here! Very romantic!

I want to say thank you to @destielle , my beta fixing all this mess and making it readable! Thank you girl! 😘💕

We gonna talk about 'The Vessel', episode 11x14, it’s the one in which Dean discovers that Cas is possessed by Lucifer which leads to a huge change in his priorities.

Casifer takes advantage

When Dean and Sam call Castiel for his assistance with time travel, the cunning Archangel sees an opportunity in it.

Gif credit @mostly10

Dean has plenty of trust in his friend Castiel, but this will drive him into a series of events that won’t end good. So the whole point of the scene where they outline the plan of getting a specific weapon together is to get one point across: Dean’s trust in Castiel. Which also occurs to Casifer as he will take advantage of it.

But not just Dean trusts him, Sam, too.

When Casifer is not able to get inside the submarine, Sam thinks he’s sharing the same concerns with his friend Cas, reading wrongly from Casifers reaction. Lucifer gets so disgusted and done with all the corny love, worries and "sincere brotherhood" between Sam and Cas that he gets mad, maybe kind of jealous even, and reacts by openly showing himself and hurting Sam by reaching for his soul. 

That's when Castiel fights his way back to control, blocking Lucifer and speaking to Sam for a brief moment. And that’s when we find out what was raging inside Castiel's hurt heart to make him say yes to Lucifer…

Gif set credit @subcas

SAM: Cas? Why?

CASTIEL: I wanted to be of service to the fight. And only Lucifer can beat her.

SAM: You chose this? You have to fight, Cas! Eject him now!

CASTIEL: I can't! It's taking all my strength to keep him from killing you. And besides, we need him!

SAM: No Cas, we don't. We'll find another way to stop Amara!

CASTIEL: We need him to save Dean.

SAM: You can't time travel.

CASTIEL: Only Lucifer can.

Castiel wanted this. Castiel was feeling so useless and therefore desperate that it led him to do this.

And now Lucifer has the As. Sam and Cas need him to get Dean back from the time travel.

The Vessel

There's a scene in the submarine, where Delphine asks Dean to kill her. That’s a nod to the title of the episode, because we are representatively talking about Castiel here. Because Cas is the vessel. 

This is a Berens episode, so we should keep in mind that he likes to parallel cut scenes to make us see something, opening up new perspectives, connections… and he chose to parallel Daphne asking Dean to kill her with American Marines fighting a war against Germans. Why? Because to kill the vessel for the greater good is a war decision. BECAUSE LETTING  LUCIFER FIGHT USING CASTIEL'S VESSEL EVEN IF IT MEANS CASTIEL DYING FOR THE GREATER GOOD IS A WAR DECISION.

Pay attention to this…

DELPHINE (whispering) Kill me.

DEAN I don't have to kill you. Okay, I can just cut it, it will work.

Dean doesn't want to kill her, even if that's the wiser thing to do. 

DELPHINE Not with this. It's spell-bound to my blood, my heart. It’s power lives and dies with me. Do it!

This is a reflection of Castiel's vessel being possessed by Lucifer.

Lucifer knows 

One of my favorite scenes is Lucifer mocking Sam while mocking Dean's feelings for Castiel…

LUCIFER: I will touch your soul. Just because you asked so nicely, and I'll use your spell to blast through the warding and retrieve Dean and the uh, Hand of God, and then when Dean comes back and he finds this place decorated with your guts, I will tell him the truth, Sam. I'll just say, 'Dean - '

[LUCIFER pauses and smiles, before putting on his CASTIEL voice.]

Gif credit @danistiel 👇

- 'Dean… he knew the risks. He wouldn't take no for an answer.'

SAM: Lucifer.

LUCIFER: In the flesh.

Lucifer not just imitates Castiel's voice, but Castiel's puppy eyes as if he was looking at Dean. He is mocking the eye fucking, the feelings Dean has for his angel. He is mocking it because he knows about their relationship, every angel and demon knows about them, and now Lucifer knows it too, because he is inside of Cas. Because he senses Dean's longing for Castiel and vice versa. And he mocks them.

So… Lucifer knows… Sammy knows… and Amara noticing Castiel's beautiful blue eyes, calling him "blue eyes" is noticing his charm, too.

"I was just a witness"

Before I continue talking here I want to clarify something: Dean felt sorry for the submarine crew, but he was MORE WORRIED AND SADDER ABOUT LOSING CASTIEL IN FRONT OF HIS EYES.

With that being said, I want you to recall the way Delphine dies while using the Hand of God. She literally exploded because her body (her vessel) couldn't handle such a power. Dean saw that with his own two eyes.

After this he witnesses Casifer handling the Hand of God, of course he didn't know the weapon couldn't be used twice then. That's why Dean screams NO!!!! desperately, with horror in his eyes, because he thought right there Castiel's vessel could be destroyed in front of him just like Daphne was.

Then… at the end of the episode, we have this dialogue between Sam and Dean.

SAM: So.

DEAN So. Cas.

SAM: Yeah. What do we do?

DEAN: What else? We hunt Lucifer, trap the bastard, and save Cas.

SAM: Like I said. Lucifer may be in control now, but Cas may not come back willingly. I mean he chose it.

Gif credit @pinkman

DEAN: No. No, not possible.

Dean brings up the Cas topic, sitting alone, brooding, sad, worried. Sam sees him and approaches him like a good brother, to comfort him. 

Sam tries to explain that it was Castiel's choice, but Dean doesn't want to believe him, he says: ‘NO. NO, NOT IMPOSSIBLE.’ He denies it three times, with such a broken heart, you can tell from the look in his eyes.

So… what does Sammy? He changes the subject…

SAM: So how'd you get through today? I mean what did you do?

DEAN: Nothing. Sam, they…

[DEAN stares out over the water as he shakes his head. He looks close to tears.]

Gif credit @spacedudeee

DEAN: I was just a witness.

But Dean keeps talking about Cas here. He is sad, and mad at himself because he didn't see the signs. He didn't see Castiel's depression, he didn't want to hear his own voice saying Cas was acting weird. He wasn't there for Cas. And now he is in great danger. He could lose Castiel forever. And that's the one thing in his head, in his heart. That's the only topic he can think about. The following episodes will show us DEAN IS DESPERATE, DEAN ONLY WANTS TO GET CASTIEL BACK AT ANY COST. AMARA IS NOT THE CENTER OF HIS ATTENTION ANYMORE. ALL HIS THOUGHTS AND WORRIES ARE FOCUSED ON CASTIEL.

SAM: Do you wanna talk about it?

DEAN: No. No, story for another day.

Gif credit @hallowedbecastiel 👇

Gif credit @sammyhale

Sam also knows why his brother is so down. He knows it, but as always he respects the time Dean's needs to take first.

The camera zooms out, leaving behind a devastated Dean. Is he sad for the crew and Delphine? Of course, yes. But he only got to know them because he couldn’t see what was happening with Cas. And now it’s lost forever. Just like Cas could be.

We already know from previous episodes that Castiel is the one Dean is pining for, the one he is in love with, the one he desires. The only one in his heart. Writers enlightened us about that and now they're showing us unshed tears in Dean's eyes… because he could lose the love of his life... forever.

To Conclude: 

This episode talked about CASTIEL. And how Dean regrets not noticing his friend wasn't his friend anymore. This feelings are so strong and sad in Dean's heart that he even was about to cry.

Losing Castiel because he didn't see it coming, will be a heavy weight on his shoulders. 

And we saw the foreshadow of the war decision we will meet again in episode 11x18. War decision vs Heart decision.

Hope you liked this! See you in the next one!

Tagging @metafest @magnificent-winged-beast @emblue-sparks @weirddorkylittlediana @michyribeiro @whyjm @legendary-destiel @a-bit-of-influence @thatwitchydestielfan @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @lykanyouko @evvvissticante @savannadarkbaby @dea-stiel @poorreputation @bre95611 @thewolfathedoor @charlottemanchmal @neii3n @deathswaywardson @followyourenergy @dean-is-bi-till-i-die @hekatelilith-blog @avidbkwrm @anarchiana @dickpuncher365 @vampyrosa @foxyroxe-art @authorsararayne @anonymoustitans @mybonsai1976 @love-neve-dies @wildligia @dustythewind @wayward-winchester67 @angelwithashotgunandtrenchcoat @trashblackrainbow @deeutdutdutdoh @destiel-is--endgame @destiel-shipper-11 @larrem88 @charmedbycastiel @ran-savant @little-crazy-misha-minion @samoosetheshipper

@shadows-and-padlocked-hearts @mishtho @dancingtuesdaymorning @nerditoutwithbooks @mikennacac73 @justmeand-myinsight @idontwantpeopletoknowmyname @tenshilover20 @teddybeardoctor @pepevons @helevetica @isthisdestiel @dizzypinwheel @jawnlockwinchester @horsez2 @qanelyytha

@imjustkipping @destielle @agusvedder @spnsmile @shippsblog @robot-feels

If you want to be added or removed from this list, just let me know.

If you want to read the previous metas From s11, here you have the links: LXII, LXIII, LXIV, LXV, LXVI

Buenos Aires, June 23 2020 6:37 PM

[drops-of-moonlights]

WINX REDUX AU SUMMARIZED: Season 4 (The White and Black Circles)

Or, in which I give the basics of what I’ve changed about the story for the AU. It was originally way more descriptive but if I kept it in that style I would have finished in 2039 and I ain’t got time for that. Let’s cover Season 4!

    WINX REDUX AU SEASON 4 - The White and Black Circles

The summer break has ended, and the girls are back in school, still somewhat tired from the last adventure but better overall.

The first week goes more or less as usual, but on the first Sunday, at 4AM, Bloom realizes she’s being observed. She turns around and sees a shadow in her room, and immediately transforms.

The shadow leaves just as fast, and after a small chase, the other Winx also wake up and help Bloom chase the shadow, who in the meantime has turned into a wolf.

Some teachers catch wind of this and also go after them, but the shadow-turned-wolf turns into a bird and escapes through a window.

The Winx and teachers are worried about this, and a quick check-up with the girls as well as the magical analysis performed on the school reveals the person that entered was a Witch, and that he seemed to have a very worrying aura mark on him - the Black Circle.

The girls are confused as to what is an aura mark, and Faragonda elaborates that some groups of magi used to “bind” their Auras together via a ritual, that left an imprint on them in an agreed shape.

The Black Circle being after Bloom worries everyone, as they might think her dangerous, but Faragonda herself admits she doesn’t know much about them - information has been scarce for millenia. (if ya want info, look here!)

On Earth, in a dark forgotten place, Duman arrives back with information - Bloom hasn’t come back to Earth all summer, so the recent magic outburst in Gardenia wasn’t from her.

This worries Ogron, as if it’s not Bloom and it’s not Selina (who they have finally added to their ranks), that means there’s another magi on that city.

Faragonda then relays the girls what they DO know about the Black Circle - and how they’re responsible for Earth’s magic stagnation. Given they targeted Bloom specifically the Winx think they might be looking for another magi on Gardenia, as they knew who she was and where she probably lived.

At this point, Bloom is determined to learn more about them and see if there’s another magi on Gardenia and hopefully save them. Faragonda advises against this but Bloom goes regardless, as she feels responsible for the town she’s lived in all her life’s safety.

The other Winx plus Diaspro decide to go as well, but Bloom tells Dia that she should remain here. They have a small argument about it but Bloom points out they’re gonna need someone as backup in case something bad goes down, and she can contact everyone they might not be able to on Earth.

Reluctantly, she agrees, and after some preparations (involving Bloom leaving Kiko with Daphne, which also had to take much convincing in not going with the Winx), the Winx teleport to Earth at last.

They stay with Bloom’s parents for a few days (who are happy to see their daughter again but also trying to see how can they handle 6 girls living in their tiny house), but soon the girls start looking for jobs after forging some identity stuff since the girls don’t have any of that that would work on Earth.

It takes a few weeks but soon everyone gets a job (Bloom is a waitress at the Frutti Music Bar, Stella works in a clothing store, Flora got a place as a security guard on a supermarket, Musa’s helping out Vanessa in her flower shop, Aisha is working at a gym, and Tecna got a place as a tech repairer), as well as a nice-size apartment they can all fit in.

Bloom meets up again with Andy while working, and catch up on lost time, while also meeting Roxy for the first time as her co-worker. She feels weird around her, for some reason.

Days go by and Bloom meets up with Mitzi again, telling her that she’s taking a free year and decided to get back to Gardenia for it. Mitzi informs her that she doesn’t see Selina as often, apparently working with her grandma Eldora on the outskirts of the city.

Bloom thinks back on that weird feeling she had about her around 2 years ago, and considers some things about it that don’t make her particularly excited.

She keeps this to herself, however, as she’s not sure if she’s overthinking stuff again.

The Black Circle members have arrived at Gardenia, starting to pick up faint magic traces around the places the Winx are working, but more specifically around the Frutti Music Bar.

After a few days of looking it up, they realize the extra energy comes from Roxy, meaning she’s the magi they’ve been looking for. Bloom realizes the same after seeing her interact with Artu and some other dogs, feeling the magic around her.

The Winx and the Black Circle both discuss and decide to simply ask Roxy outright, but it doesn’t go well. The Winx approach her first but she simply believes they’re insane and runs away, and the Black Circle try to convince her but the Winx’s interference makes them turn hostile. Battle ensues.

The girls are barely even damaging them - Gantlos’s good at disrupting their magic, Anagan is too fast for them, Duman’s shapeshifting is hard to deal with and Ogron’s control over blood is hard to fight against even with Aisha’s help. Roxy hides as far away from the fight as she can, scared out of her mind.

The Winx are more or less beaten but still give a fight, trusting each other completely even when they might be dealt even more pain.

This act is what finally earns them Believix, the culmination of the last 3 years of friendship and loyalty, and the tides of battle start to turn.

However, the battle is abruptly cut when both parties realize Roxy isn’t there anymore, and not wanting to cause a scene (as they definitely made some noise), they call it even and retreat.

The Winx believe the Black Circle wants to take Roxy’s powers away for their own gain, and refuse to tell Faragonda for now until they get confirmation. Black Circle 4 believes the Winx have other plans with Roxy and become paranoid they involve the White Circle, and refuse to tell this to Ydillith or Eldora for now until they get proof.

The Winx meet up with Roxy again and start explaining stuff properly this time, as well as analyze her magic level and Source thanks to Tecna.

She’s a morpher and has a source of Animals, they ask Roxy if she wants to come to Magix for safety but refuses, she still does not trust them much and she would like to remain on Earth thank you very much.

Few days pass, Bloom slowly teaches her about magic, Roxy starts having weird dreams about a woman in white, supposedly a fairy who reaches out to her.

She tells this to the Winx and also tells them she’s been having weird visions of a barn, and after looking some stuff off she actually has pictures of said barn in her room despite never having gone there.

The Winx plus Roxy then decide to go check it out after a quick google search, and the Black Circle takes notice of this, following them from afar.

The barn has been abandoned for a few years by now and the Winx are wary, but Roxy can feel something calling to her in that place.

The Black Circle appears and the Winx immediately start a fight, not letting Ogron talk at all.

During the fight one of Bloom’s spells gets redirected and the barn is set on fire. The barn Roxy is currently investigating.

Everyone mildly panics and in a weird twist of fate both Aisha and Ogron use their powers to douse most of the fire while Bloom absorbs the smoke, and in the ashes inside Roxy finds a white ring.

Ogron gets in and tries to get her out, but freezes when he sees the ring on her hand. He tries to warn her about it but she ends up blasting him away, her powers starting to show.

The Black Circle bails out and the Winx then start fixing the damages, even if the place is abandoned it doesn’t deserve to be destroyed.

On the trip back home everyone reminisces about why the Black Circle got so scared about the ring, and start to see if they can find any info about it.

A few days pass, and the girls have made no progress - if info about the Black Circle was scarce in Alfea, info about the ring is even more scarce - but they do learn about the White Circle, and what is known about it.

At the same time, Andy’s band is practicing on the Frutti Music Bar, and after seeing Musa sing a bit they decide to invite her for practice, which she accepts.

After the jam session, they ask her if she wants to sing with them for their next concert, which she agrees to - she’s excited, it’s been a while since she has performed in public.

Roxy decided to keep the ring rather than giving it to the Winx at the moment due to her connection to it, but she can feel it becoming… stronger somehow.

The ring is shining brighter and brighter and it’s starting to encircle her, she can feel a voice (tired, vengeful, bitter, angry) screaming in her head, getting louder and louder.

A red and gold aura surrounds her, fiery wings sprout from her back, magic comes from her eyes, a red witch mark on her left eye, now also red, a look of anger in her face.

“Roxy” immediately leaves the bar, ring floating in her hand, looking for “them” and rising to the skies.

Musa takes notice of this, however, and notifies the Winx, who then transform in a hidden place and start following her as well.

The Black Circle 4 are on their “base” (Ogron’s temporary house near the docks), planning what to do next. They still don’t want to contact the higher-ups in case they’re just paranoid, but as they try to come up with something “Roxy” shows up, wrecking the place.

Her voice is warped and echoing, and the Black Circle recognize it - Nebula, the Witch of War, has taken over Roxy, and is using her body to enact her revenge.

She makes quick work of the 4 men and is about to deal the final blow when she’s stopped by the Winx, demanding to know who she is and why did she take over Roxy.

Nebula tries to ignore them but the girls are adamant, and don’t notice the Black Circle getting away.

The Winx use their Essence Dust in a convergence spell on the ring itself rather than on Roxy, and manage to undo the possession, Roxy falling to the ground unconscious.

The Black Circle realize it’s time to finally talk about this and finally contact Eldora, who was going to Gardenia with Selina anyways soon.

The Winx also realize it’s time to finally update people so they contact Faragonda, telling her about Roxy and what they’ve found.

Faragonda immediately offers to study the ring on Alfea as it will be safer than to keep it around there, and also notifies the Winx that they will have to redo their year as they’ve already spent way too long on Earth to just be a short trip.

The Winx also take the chance to get an update on their friends and partners - Diaspro is doing well but has spent most of the year in Quarzis due to some political affairs having gone south, and might have to redo the year as well. Sky and Riven are doing fine though they’re going through a lover’s spat at the moment, Nabu has started to consider enrolling into Alfea to expand his knowledge, and Helia has managed to achieve Enchantix. Brandon, Nex and Timmy are doing fine as well, though they are tired of having to deal with the aforementioned lover’s spat.

Daphne gets contacted later by Bloom alone, and after talking about Kiko and their parents Bloom confides in Daphne that aside from Roxy, she feels an old friend of hers might also be a magi and is worried about her.

Daphne asks if it's that Selina girl she met a few years ago, and Bloom is dumbfounded - the blonde explains she felt strong magic around her when she was last on Earth but didn’t mention it to Bloom as she wasn’t sure it was her magic or just Earth’s low ambient energy screwing with her.

Bloom starts to get worried about it more but thanks Daphne and cuts the call, immediately calling Selina to see if she’s available soon. She tells her she’s currently out of town but she will be there in a few weeks, so they can meet then.

A few days pass, and Roxy’s getting a better handle on her powers after becoming afraid of them thanks to Nebula - enough that when a fire breaks out near them with the Winx going to help, she finally manages to transform into her Charmix, and now the Winx can start teaching her more advanced stuff. Roxy also tells her dad about her magic at around the same time, and he’s surprised but not overtly, and tells her about how he became her dad, having found her one day at the beach with a very weird cloth around her.

Several more incidents start to happen on Gardenia, and the Winx start to gather a reputation as heroines, though thanks to Believix’s changes to their form their identities are still hidden.

Around the same time, Musa keeps helping Andy’s band with their work, and during a performance at the Frutti Music Bar they get noticed by Jason Queen, a famous talent scout that offers them a small gig.

Everyone is excited about it but also clarify that Musa’s not really part of their group, and since he commented on her voice they’re not sure what to think.

Jason offers them the gig regardless, and does mention that Musa can simply work as a solo act later on to differentiate - after all, collabs are a thing.

A few more days pass of the Winx training Roxy, but she starts having dreams again with the lady in white, and the girls get concerned a bit, though they are surprised when Roxy mentions she keeps talking about the “White Circle”, and the name similarities catch everyone’s attention as they start investigating.

It was the official name of the kingdom of magi that existed almost 2 millennia ago, that was wiped out by the Black Circle, info about them as scarce as info on their destroyers. (You can, however, learn about them here!)

The Winx start believing the White Circle might still exist, and that they could be what the people trying to contact Roxy want - to free them from their prison.

A few more quiet days go by before the Black Circle 4 suddenly break into their dorm, trying to talk with them and also get the White Ring, wanting to properly explain everything since they might not be aware of what the White Circle truly is.

They’re not given the chance, however, as the Winx immediately transform and start attacking them aided by Roxy.

The Winx do have the Ring back with them as Faragonda couldn’t detect anything about it, and the fight goes on long enough that they end up going around the entire city.

Bloom and Roxy end up cornered by Ogron in a train station and Roxy uses the ring again, this time channeling the Fairy in White, who still gives Roxy more control. Bloom has fainted at this point.

At least, she does up until Ogron falls into the train tracks, as a train is coming fast.

Roxy tries to help him as she does not want him to die like that, but the Ring removes all control, the voice in her head telling her this is what he deserves for opposing “them”.

Roxy is confused and scared once more before an elderly Fairy in pink and a young Witch in green stop the train dead in its track, saving Ogron and taking him.

The Fairy in pink warns Roxy about the ring and that she would like to explain everything properly, and the Witch in green seems to be focused on Bloom before leaving with the rest of the Black Circle.

The rest of the Winx regroup and Bloom wakes up thanks to Flora’s magic, and Roxy tells them about what happened. Bloom has a bad feeling about the Witch in green, and decides that they need to solve the Ring’s mystery right now and see what the White Circle deal is.

After a ritual, the Winx learn about the Island of Tir Nan Og and how it was the place of the main castle of their kingdom, and thanks to Bloom being a folklore nut the girls also learn of its placement near Ireland.

After a few days of preparations and with Stella’s crosier, the Winx teleport to the island with Roxy in the hopes everything will be explained soon.

After some mishaps with shadow monsters and everyone giving Stella the biggest side-eye of the century, the girls finally figure out what the Ring is for - it’s a key, specifically the last key needed to undo the barrier spell on the island and finally free the White Circle.

At around the same time, Eldora shows up again at the Peters’s house to see if they know about Bloom, and finally reveals who she is - she’s a founding member of the Black Circle, and after the last incident she wanted to properly explain everything.

However, Mike and Vanessa tell them about the Winx’s trip to Tir Nan Og, and she panics, realizing it’s too late.

The Winx plus Roxy finally meet the White Circle, and are surprised at their appearance - 5 Ascendix magi are at the front, followed by an army of Glamourix, Enchantix and Valiantix magi, with some seemingly wearing a transformation they weren’t aware of, matching each Ascendix.

Morgana formally introduces herself to the Winx alongside her Generals (Diana, Aurora, Nebula and Sibylla). Roxy recognizes Morgana as the Fairy in White and Nebula as the woman that possessed her, and is reluctant around them.

Morgana then starts talking about her plans of reconquest, of how they’ve lost much land during their imprisonment and that it’s gonna take quite a while before they can “enforce” their will over the planet again.

The Winx pick up on what she means and confront her, about how she’s planning to basically take over the world. Morgana counters with saying that it’s only natural, the world has been overrun with non-magi and they cannot govern themselves.

Morgana offers them a place in her ranks as thanks for freeing her but they immediately refuse, telling her they will not allow her to simply take over the world - it’s doing just fine without them.

Nebula and Sybilla are angered by this but Morgana stops them, letting them go but warning them that if they interfere, she will not show mercy.

The girls go back to their dorm and find the Black Circle 4 there, and after what just happened they decide to finally learn their story.

Eldora is also there, and after the 4 finish, she calls Yllidith and tells him they will need to call up some reinforcements, meaning they need to start communication with the Naerys System again.

A portal appears in front of them, with Diaspro, Helia, Nabu, Daphne and the Specialists coming out of it, the girls having contacted them on their way back.

They’re all worried about what happened and are surprised by the Black Circle,but they listen to their story and decide to start planning for what will happen now.

A few days of calm pass before the city is suddenly overrun with giant plants, destroying some buildings as well as giant bugs appearing on the streets.

The Winx plus the Black Circle and their friends start trying to save as many people they see, and they decide to split to cover more area.

Bloom finds her parents as well as Mitzi and her sister Macy being cornered by a giant spider, and while she immediately jumps to save them giant mushrooms start surrounding the arachnid, warding it off.

Bloom looks for who could have done that and sees a Witch in green in the roofs.

She recognizes the Witch as Selina and immediately goes to confront her, having her suspicious confirmed that she was a magi.

Selina confronts her as well about the fact she never told her about her powers, but they’re both immediately called out by Mitzi after Stella frees her from the web, demanding the two of them to come down right now.

They have a stern talk about magic and about how long they’ve had these powers, and about how neither of them saw it fit to tell each other, their oldest friends, about the fact they can sprout wings from their backs now. Mitzi is hurt but overall not surprised, and after calming down starts teasing them about how their childhood fantasies are true now.

Everyone is able to laugh about it after finally properly talking about it, and having been open with her emotions also earns Selina her Glamourix. Mitzi questions what that is, but Bloom tells her she will explain everything properly once everyone is safe.

They rally everyone back to the Frutti Music Bar (as the vines don’t seem to affect that place for some reason), and after meeting with the Black Circle again they believe this is the work of Diana, the Witch of Lush Nature. 

The gang also meets Yllidith there, an elderly man who claims to be the Fairy of Dawn Fire.

With Flora’s help and some extra magic, they manage to find from where Diana’s magic comes from - the Amazon.

After some planning and with stronger rituals the Winx, Eldora and Ydillith teleport to the Rainforest, everyone else left back in Gardenia in case things go south again.

They manage to travel the land more or less fine, but they somehow stumble into a small secluded area, a small spring marked by pillars.

The Winx decide to approach it as it irradiated strong magic, with Ydillith and Eldora looking out for any signs of trouble.

The girls find a small, almost translucent flower floating in the middle of the spring, and when the girls interact with it they can feel a rush of energy coursing through them.

They look at each other and realize that a) holy crap Tecna’s hair is brown, and b) they all seem to be in that weird transformation they saw the Earth magis in.

They reunite with Eldora and Yllidith and they elaborate that they found the Shrine of Dianix, Diana’s handcrafted form to differentiate her followers from the rest.

at around the same time some of Diana’s followers find them and start chasing them, and a fight ensues.

After a bit Diana herself joins the fight, calling Eldora and Yllidith traitors to the White Circle and elaborating on who they are.

Diana also reveals that Eldora was once her tutor in magic having the same Source, and feels personally betrayed by how she left the White Circle.

The battle goes on, and after a bit both sides start getting tired. However, their fighting has masked another sound - a sound of destruction.

They all stop and decide to rush to the origin of the sound, finding Nebula and her followers destroying part of the forest, taking wood to craft more weapons, as her forge has been lost to time and has to do with what she can.

This makes Diana livid, and starts attacking Nebula for having destroyed her sanctum all willy-nilly. The Winx and the Black Circle decide to help as well, and being outnumbered, Nebula retreats.

Diana manages to calm herself down, and renounces her title as General of the White Circle - she cannot support those that will destroy nature for their own goals.

She joins the Black Circle officially now, and Eldora is happy to be able to connect with her former student once more, seeing her as a second daughter.

Diana undoes the spell on Gardenia and everyone returns to as close as normalcy as they can, with the Winx telling everyone else of how it went.

Yllidith and Eldora try to contact the other realms for help and do manage to get with the Order of Mana, but sadly preparations will take quite a bit, so they might need to wait.

A few more days pass and news come from Northern Italy that several towns have pledged alliance with the White Circle, claiming to “return to their rightful place as their servants”. This is, quite obviously, suspicious as all hell, and our heroes aided by the Black Circle 4 and Selina teleport to some caves near the Sibillini Mountains, where the “servants” seem to be working.

Ogron recalls the place as Sibylla’s sanctum, a place where she acted as the Judge of the White Circle.

Bloom and Selina have a proper talk on the way about how and when they discovered their magic, and of how each girl chose the path of fairy or witch.

Roxy starts to be more or less harassed by Morgana, using magic to get inside her head trying to convince her to come to their side. She doesn’t tell everyone yet, but they start to become more frequent.

On the way they are attacked by some of Sibylla’s magi followers as well as their mind-controlled servants, which forces the gang to be careful with their attacks.

The Winx default to fighting off the magi, while the Specialists try to contain the brainwashed folks as the Black Circle makes a convergence spell to dispel the mind-control (they tried Essence Dust, didn’t work on its own).

They succeed in freeing the people and defeating the magi, and finally reach the deepest part of the caves.

Sibylla decries them as traitors to the true kingdom much like Diana did and that they will face “Justice”, before starting a fight with them aided by some of her followers, displaying Sibyllix.

The fight is long, but they manage to overpower Sibylla and defeat her. She retreats back to Tir Nan Og, and her influence also disappears from the place.

Everyone goes back to Gardenia once more and start planning on what else to do, as the White Circle is starting to advance even further and they need to strike soon.

The planning takes a week and a half before Aurora herself shows up on their makeshift base, freaking everyone out.

She tells them that she’s there to join them - she was never interested in this reconquest, she just wanted to be back home with her followers. However, Nebula and Sibylla are making that difficult, wanting her back on their side and wrecking havoc on Antarctica, her sanctum.

Aurora also notices Roxy’s pains and, as proof of her turning, undoes Morgana’s spell - Morgana may be queen, but she’s not stronger than her (in her case former) Generals.

She requests the specific help of the Winx and Roxy, as Morgana seems to have a special interest in them, Roxy more than the others.

After a bit of last-minute planning Aurora, the Winx and Roxy depart for Antarctica, thought first Aurora brings them to a different place in the frozen scape - a small shrine-like ice construction near the shorelines close to Argentina.

She asks the Winx to enter it, and when they do, they gain Aurorix - the form created by her. She keeps Roxy from gaining it as she wants the Winx to blend in in her troops, and for Roxy to be noticeable in her Charmix.

Once everything is prepared, they go to her actual sanctum - a giant tower of pure ice slightly levitating above the ground. They find Nebula there trying to rally her followers to action, aided by Sibylla, but they remain loyal to Aurora and no one else.

The Winx quickly disperse into her people to go unnoticed, and Aurora and Roxy rise to her tower’s entrance.

Aurora tells her that she has managed to gain Roxy to her side, and if they manage an agreement, Roxy will willingly join Morgana for whatever she wants - they all know Morgana is strangely fixated on her, and they’re curious as for why.

Aurora wants details on what Morgana’s overall plan for the Earth is, and if they tell her, Roxy will go with them.

Nebula is eager to share the plans, but Sibylla can sense Aurora’s hiding something, and before Nebula can speak Sibylla activates the tower’s magical flight, rising it to the air.

The Winx immediately drop their pretense and chase after the tower, and with this Nebula recognizes them.

Sibylla stops the tower again and calls out Aurora for her betrayal, as the Winx join her sides. Nebula immediately gets a hold of Roxy and tries to simply kidnap her, but Aurora immediately freezes her to the ground.

At the same time, however, Sibylla does the same for her, disrupting her magic with her own control over sound and rocks and tries to make a deal: if she leaves them leave with Roxy, she’ll leave the tower alone and will let them go scot-free.

Nebula objects to this, wanting proper revenge on the Winx, and this gives Bloom an idea.

She jumps to the Ascendix magi and decides on another deal - she and Nebula will have a duel. If Bloom wins, Nebula and Sibylla leave the frozen continent with nothing, leaving Roxy behind, but if Nebula wins, they get them all as prisoners.

Sibylla considers it for a bit but Nebula immediately agrees, wanting a fight at last and not leaving Sibylla with a choice.

Bloom drops her Aurorix form and goes back not to Believix but to Enchantix, as a sort of handicap - Believix would give her an unfair advantage as being near the Winx makes Believix stronger.

The duel starts, and it initially it goes more on less in favor of Nebula (what with being in the currently most powerful transformation discovered and all), but Nebula’s more impatient and close-combat than Bloom is, which leads to her getting tired faster.

Bloom plays a long game evading and defending and nailing her with arrows when possible, and after a sudden attack on her Bloom finally uses her Dragon Aura fully, knocking Nebula out and winning the duel.

Sibylla angrily holds her promise and leaves with Nebula, but tells them this isn’t over yet, and that the worst is yet to come.

Everyone regroups on the South Pole after bringing back Aurora’s tower, and with the promise of her support, they start planning the last stages of the conflict.

On the way back, Aurora does seem fit to inform them that even if they defeat Morgana, her daughter might still remain - Aelianna, the Princess of Tir Nan Og who was sealed away for millenia in the hopes she could come free them.

Everyone is surprised about this, as nothing they’ve found on the White Circle ever mentioned a daughter - and after mentioning this to Yllidith and Eldora, they were also unaware of this.

Roxy feels her throat tighten at this news, worrisome thoughts filling her head.

Reinforcements from the Naerys System have arrived, and with their help they manage to force the White Circle’s forces back and back even further.

This last move will decide the outcome of the war - an all out assault on the Castle of Tir Nan Og, forcing a siege on them and breaking them apart entirely in the process.

The White Circle starts preparing for said siege, knowing it imminent and concocting a last-ditch resort plan.

Preparations are complete, everyone is as ready as they can be, and the trip starts.

The Black Circle alongside the reinforcements arrive first to Tir Nan Og, and manage to more or less easily deal with the first lines of defense.

The second lines prove more difficult, but the aid of Diana and Aurora make the duels more smooth overall, reaching the courtyards of the castle.

Sibylla, Nebula and Morgana are there, calmly waiting still, and before a fight breaks out Morgana announces their surrender, throwing everyone off.

As proof of her word, she gives Ogron the White Ring, holding most of her power, as she claims. All the magis around them also drop their weapons, which adds to her claims.

Everyone can tell something’s suspicious going on, buy Ogron does accept the ring.

Morgana smirks, and the ring explodes into a beam of pure shadows.

Ogron manages to back away fast enough, but the power expands, destroying everything around it turning into ash.

The White Circle retreats further into the castle as they cast a barrier around the entrance, and slowly everything starts to be absorbed into the darkness.

Everyone tries to contain the spell but it’s almost impossible, and a retreat is ordered.

However, Nabu rushes to the front - after all, his Source is Darkness, he might be able to do something about it.

Summoning his staff he manages to redirect the spell back to their casters and most of it dissipates against the castle taking a few towers with it, but there’s still some of it left and it threatens to expand once more.

Nabu then decides to absorb the darkness into his staff and into himself, pushing his magic to the limit and almost overloading his body.

He does manage to absorb all of the spell but his body ends up incredibly damaged, and he falls to the ground seemingly dying.

This great act manages something else - achieving Enchantix, removing most of the negative effects of what he just did.

He’s still dying, however, as the pain remains and it’s close to overtake him fully.

Most of the healers rush in and try to keep him alive for as long as they can before he can receive proper treatment, Helia between them.

In a desperate move to save his friend, and despite most of the team’s protests, Helia uses the Spell of Renewed Life on him, removing the last of his injuries and revitalizing him almost fully, earning Altheix.

However, Nabu has fallen into a deep coma, and detransforms while unconscious.

Helia and the Specialists offer to take care of him for the time being while everyone else charges after the remaining members of the White Circle, and the team advances into the castle proper.

Once there they manage to defeat the last few warriors inside, cornering Nebula, Sibylla and Morgana in the throne room.

In a last ditch attempt to get her to her side, Morgana reveals to Roxy that she’s her mother, and that she is Princess Aelianna of Tir Nan Og.

She tells her that this is her kingdom, this is her birthright, and that she should be alongside her, overseeing the planet, guiding them with their magical might - without them, the world has fallen into strife and pain. She has been attempting to contact her all this time in her dreams, trying to push her to do what she should, but she has refused, and she doesn’t understand why. Can't she see that we’re doing what’s best?

This is Roxy’s absolute breaking point, and angrily spits back to Morgana that she will never join them - she has done nothing but harass her, get inside her head, try to break her inside and out so she can join her side, and she thinks being her mother is gonna change that? The White Circle needs to be stopped, and the Earth does not need rulers like her.

Her blunt answer and outing of her feelings manages to earn her Glamourix, and Nebula and Sibylla are livid at this. If she dares to reject the crown like that, then she will die with the rest.

Morgana runs deeper into the castle even still, Nebula and Sibylla remaining to fight.

They’re vastly outnumbered, however, and while they gave a great fight, they’re soundly defeated and taken prisoner.

The Winx plus Roxy rush after Morgana during this, and in the deepest part of the building, they finally fight her.

She proves a difficult fight, as her powers over light are immense and even together they barely make a scratch.

Despite everything, however, she cannot bring herself to hurt Roxy, and after a few moments, the Winx use this to their advantage.

Roxy puts herself between every single attack Morgana makes, forcing her to undo the magic and try again, tiring her out and make her careless.

Getting even more frustrated she finally breaks, and simply starts attacking everything at once.

This ends up exhausting her greatly, and with the best opening they can get, the Winx plus Roxy use a convergence spell on her, knocking her out of her transformation and ending the war. The Black Circle has won, and Earth has gotten its freedom back.

Some weeks have passed, and everything is a mess: Nebula, Morgana and Sibylla have been taken to Magix for their crimes, and there’s a high chance their magic will permanently be limited to the point its unusable. The entire planet has to deal with the fact magic exists, has always existed, and it’s now coming back, with more and more people discovering they can use it, not to mention the fact life on other planets exist and they now have communication with them.

Thanks to the Black Circle’s help, however, the process has been smoother than it would have been otherwise, even if dealing with politics is a pain.

Those from other planets go back, the Specialists and Diaspro having to deal with the fact they more or less ditched school to go save another planet, and worried of what consequences they will face, same goes for Daphne.

Roxy is now an official member of the Black Circle, and she’s helping with searching for new magis around the country and trying to explain everything as she can. She will enroll to Alfea next year to further develop her magic in a more controlled space, as Earth will remain a mess for a few more years.

Eldora is considering getting help from the System again to build their own school dedicated to the use of magic, as most people will not trust interplanetary trips yet, and so magic can be better studied and controlled, avoiding a repeat of the White Circle’s situation.

Nabu has not woken up yet, and an analysis shows the spell absorption has more or less put him into a magic-induced dream of sorts, so for now Helia will take him to Ohm so he can be under the care of actual professionals, him also wanting to help out.

Bloom, Aisha and Stella are more or less forced to come back to their kingdoms as they need to act as ambassadors for both their realms and Earth, having experienced first hand everything that went down, with the other Winx going back as well to check on their families and help integrate Earth into their world.

Bloom, Mitzi and Selina promise to keep in contact fully this time, and after saying goodbye, everyone goes back to Magix, happy to have restored Earth’s magic even if that wasn’t the plan.

Everything is more or less peaceful once more, even if the path is still bumpy, and for now, everyone can relax...

[phantoms-lair]

Based on this by @cirilee​

None of them really had any time to process what happened. It seemed one moment they were trying to figure out why Shaggy and Scooby never showed up at school, the next a strange wizard named Vincent had appeared, been blatantly supernatural, apparently because he didn’t have time to convince them gently, then teleported them to a creepy old house in the Himalayas.

Any thought of protest died when they saw Shaggy in a wheelchair, looking like he was a half step away from the grave.

“Like, sorry guys,” Shaggy said with a weak smile.

“Sorry for what?” Daphne asked, running to his side.

“For not getting help the moment he realized there was a problem.” Vincent had his arms crossed and was looking annoyed.

Shaggy shrugged. “Like who could I ask? Last couple of times you didn’t exist or were an actor.”

Vincent didn’t budge. “And you had eighteen years this iteration.”

“Yeah, that’s on me.” Shaggy admitted. “But this is usually the best part and I was hoping to get through it.”

“The best part of what?’ Fred asked, confused.

“Of us, man. Of life. Of having the freedom to go out and explore before responsibility pulls us down.”

Vincent put a comforting hand on his shoulder, “Perhaps you should let me explain. I gave you a lot to process.” “I know, and, like, I think I understood a third of it. But I should at least tell them what I did know. I should have done it before. Just didn’t know how.” He shifted a bit uncomfortably. “This...isn’t the first time we’ve done this.”

“I am fairly certain this is the first time a wizard kidnapped us.” Velma pointed out, wondering what was happening to her friend.

“No. Well, first time this go round. That’s the thing. All of this, being friends, growing up, solving mysteries, we’ve done it so often.” He shuddered and Scooby curled up to him, whining softly.

“This isn’t important. We need to get you to a hospital.” Velma insisted. Strange impossible stories could wait.

“A hospital can’t help, Velms. Only thing that would happen is freaking out the staff.”

“This is magic? A curse?” Daphne surprised, trying not to think of what would traumatize a hospital staff.

“That’s what I thought, but this is beyond magic.  So, like I said, we’ve done this before. Became friends, grew up, solved mysteries, and then I died.”

Scooby crawled into his lap and his friends were rendered speechless.

“I didn’t stay dead,” Shaggy quickly added. “I just remember wanting to stay with you guys more and...everything started again. We were kids, we grew up, we solved mysteries. Things were a little different though. Our families, the world itself. And it happened again and again. It was like reincarnation, only across different versions of Earth and we were always together. Some were pretty great others...not so much. You never remembered, but it was okay. We were together. Then,” He looked down. “Like two or three lifetimes ago I starting feeling not so great. And things seemed to be getting weird, like the world was more malleable or something. But I didn’t really have anyone to go to, not till this lifetime. I figured I’d track down Vincent after graduation, but I ran out of time.” He looked at the wizard, as if passing the story off to him. “While I disapprove of Shaggy waiting this long to get help, as he apparently met other magical versions of me and said nothing, I was able to determine what had happened. And it’s very unprecedented.” Vincent took over. “Shaggy mentioned the worlds you were reincarnated were different. From what I surmise, you’ve been reincarnating across the multiverse, and the multiverse itself is key to what been going on.”

“Go on,” said Velma in a tense tone.

“The multiverse is truly infinite, new worlds are brought into existence, with their own magics and physics. And each time a new world comes into existence a new deity is created with it. In order for said deity to truly understand their purpose they’re incarnated as a mortal to live out a life in another reality before ascending and taking their place. It has happened countless times before and will happen countless times again. But only once has said deity lived their mortal life and, instead of ascending, forced himself into reincarnation, dragging four mortal souls along with him.”

“Wait.” Fred interrupted. “Wait wait wait wait. You’re telling us that Shaggy is a...a god?”

“A nascent one, like a chick in an egg.” Vincent confirmed. “Albeit one that has put off hatching for what would seem to amount to centuries. While over time his power has grown, spilling out around him, the shell -so to speak- has not gotten any smaller.”

“I believe your exact words were ‘My power has become too vast for this flesh vessel to contain’.” Shaggy quoted.

“And you had no idea what I meant when I said it, so I was trying to be more clear.” Vincent shot back. “But the long and short of it is: Shaggy’s power is killing him. He doesn’t have much time left.”

“But you said he’s a god! If he’s immortal how can he die?” Fred asked, distraught. He needed to fix this, how could he fix this?

“His body isn’t.” Velma said in realization. “God soul, mortal body. The chick has gotten too big and it’s breaking through the egg. It’s going to-” She cut off as she realized what was happening. What always happened when too much pressure was put in a vessel unable to contain it. No wonder he said the hospital would be traumatized; he wasn’t just going to die -he was going to explode.

“Still, we’re not going to let you die that easily, Norville!” Daphne sounded close to snapping. “If the problems that you have too much energy, then let us share your power. We’ve been together over several lifetimes and we’re not leaving you now.”

“Apparently you’d all need to, like, marry me intergalactically.” Vincent had tried to explain it to his a number of times before they’d settled on that.

“Heck yes!” “Yeah, sure.” “Alright”

Shaggy blinked in surprise, a blush spreading over his cheeks. There had been no hesitation, even joy. “Really?”

“Honestly, even if your life didn’t depend on it, it feels good. It feels right.” Fred shrugged.

“I don’t remember the past lives we lived together, but when we met in this one I knew on sight that you guys were the most important people I would even meet and that I belonged with you.” Daphne explained.

“I don’t like this business with magic, past lives, and god souls, but honestly same.” Velma shrugged a bit uncomfortably. “All of you are so important to me. I don’t understand how a wedding is going to save you, but I’d be happy to marry you, all of you, even without such a need.”

“You guys...you can’t…” Shaggy shook his head. “I stole your souls from your home reality because I was too selfish to let you go.” Sure he didn’t understand what he was doing, but he had done it. “You guys were totally supposed to go to heaven, get the whole eternal reward thing and I just kept dragging you away. If you do this, there’s no afterlife ever. No reunion with lost loved ones. Just eternity as an immortal. This is, like, really really permanent. I can’t take that from you again.”

“This is not a simple wedding. It is a joining of selves, allowing his divinity to spill into your soul.” Vincent explained. “It will allow him to survive to the natural end of this lifetime, but either way this is the end of the cycles. Whether it is today or many years down the line, Shaggy can no longer put off his ascension. He’s only managed this long because his bond with Scooby Doo had already acted as a siphon. But if you accept, the divinity will change you, even in this lifetime. You’ll be different, and when you die you’ll ascend with him, forever separated from this and every other world you’ve ever called home. A ‘divorce’, so to speak, would shred both of your souls. Hera would have ditched Zeus ages ago otherwise.”

“TODAY!!!” Daphne shrieked. “Shaggy’s going to die today?!?!”

“Shaggy is not going to die, because we are going to marry him and live out our lives here before going to do God stuff.” Fred crossed his arms as if daring Shaggy or Vincent to argue. “You can’t,” Shaggy said weakly. “I stole you. It’s not right.”

“Shaggy, would you say we deserve to be happy?” Velma asked.

“Like, of course!” How could she think otherwise?

“We’ll, you’re my happiness, along with Fred and Daphne, so I’ve got two words for you.” She looked him in the eye. “I do.” Velma leaned down and gave him a long deep kiss.

There was a sudden flare of near blinding blue light that seemed to emanate from Shaggy before it flowed through the kiss into Velma. She broke the kiss, laughing almost giddily. “Oh wow. That is a feeling.”

Shaggy seemed to be struggling to catch his breath, but on the whole, looked healthier than he’d been since they got here. “Like, yeah.” was all he could add, dumbstruck.

Fred and Daphne shared a look and nodded. Fred leaned over the wheelchair while Daphne scooped Velma up in her arms. “I do,” they both said together, giving their loved ones the same kiss Velma had before.The blue light flaring in both Shaggy and Velma and spreading to the other two. They then switched partners, and then came together, affirming and reaffirming their love.

“Raggy?” Scooby asked, looking up at his best friend.

Shaggy always knew what Scooby meant. He hadn’t said anything, after all. Scooby was asking if he accepted it. Accepted his dearest ones’ love and promise to be with him, to even give up being human for him. And it was selfish, but…

“I do! I do! I do!” Shaggy leapt from the wheelchair, no longer needing its aid. He grabbed the three of them, his dearest friends, now and forever his spouses. He had only wanted a chance to explain and say goodbye. But they had stayed with him. They had saved him and even loved him.

The blue divine light flowed freely from all of them, even Scooby. It wasn’t a flare of power, but a manifestation of pure happiness.

Wherever they were in the multiverse, as long as they were together, it was home.

[oneharry]

bestfriend!harry part two??? mhmmm

IT’S FINALLY HERE

I HOPE YOU ENJOY

IT’S A BIT DIFFERENT BUT I’M TRYING TO GO SOMEWHERE WITH THIS

HERE’S PART 1 BTW

Y/N is frantically running aroundthe apartment, trying to pick up some of the mess. They’ve been pretty carelesswith the way they kept the flat lately, because well, she’s a busy woman, andHarry still seems pretty down. He offered to pay some of the rent, which hedidn’t even have to do. She doesn’t want to ask for more.

She also tries to hide theembarrassing things laying around (like the outstanding amount of wine bottlesin the recycling bin, the cheesy workout DVDs, some corny romance novels andthat huge, neon-coloured vibrator Perrie got her when she came back from herJapan student exchange five days ago, to name a few). What’s left clutteringaround is mostly Harry’s, now, and as much as she doesn’t want to bother him,it needs to be cleaned up.

“Harry,pick up your shit a little, will ya?”

Harry mumbles out an unclearresponse from the sofa. The sofa, or what’s been primarily used as his bed forthe past three weeks, now, at least on most nights. Some nights, Y/N’s notsleeping at home and he gets to sleep in her bed. Some other nights, he gets tosleep in her bed for no good reason. She’s not out. She’s also in the bed.

Harry gets up from where he’s beensitting for three hours’ worth of How IMet Your Mother. He takes his time stretching his arms, groaning, as Y/Nwalks by to pick up some of the clutter and prods her fingers in his left side.It results in him bringing his arms back down quickly, yelping.

“Ow! Hey, don’t do tha’.” She laughsat his reaction.

“Then help me out a little, yeah? Idon’t want Sam to be repulsed by your mess.”

He chuckles and bends over to pickup some dirty clothes from under the sofa. He stands back up for a while andlooks at Y/N with a smirk.

“Ya really think a few hoodies lyingaround can keep a man from liking you?” he asks, cockily. “Geez, Y/N, do youeven know yourself?”

She sighs and rolls her eyes, whilehe actually awaits a response. She can’t help but smile at him.

“I know we’re married, but noteveryone feels the way you do towards me. Some people don’t even like me, canyou believe that?”

After Harry’s breakup, him and Y/N –who had also hit a (much smaller) wall herself after a series of datingmisfortunes – jokingly suggested that they should just marry each other. So,for the last couple of weeks, their lives have been punctuated by the aftermathof that tipsy inside joke: “Turn that shit down, sweet lumpkins, m’tryna take a nap,” “Yo, soulmate, did you make coffee?” and “Would you mind taking out thetrash, my sexy mystery rain man?”

Before Harry’s previousrelationship, Y/N always called him affectionate pet names on a more seriousnote. She does that with a few other close people in her life (mostly Perrieand maybe Liam) but it was way, way more frequent in Harry’s case. She stoppedabruptly at one point, he pretended not to notice. He did find it disturbingthough. But nothing else changed, so he didn’t think much of it. They now somehowmanage to bring it back ironically.

What’s even more ironic though, isthat they can joke about being in a very committed relationship, but they nevertalked about that kiss on the first night after the breakup. They also nevertalk about the multiple other occasions on which kiss happened. They,correspondingly, never talk about the cuddles, the very close, non-platoniccuddles, how Harry isn’t even ashamed of enjoying being the little spoon (whichhe was in his past relationships), and how when he isn’t the little spoon, heholds Y/N close enough so at some point she definitely feels his thickeningmember through his sweatpants or boxers, but she says nothing at all. They bothdon’t say anything, like they’re just friends who do that, like that’s a sanerelationship to have, like it can just bea thing. It’s all eating Harry alive.

The pet names, how the back of his stomach kind of bubbles up when shecalls him love of my life, no matterhow many layers of sarcasm there are, it all hurts. He’s angry that he can’tun-taste her lips and tongue, that he can’t un-live that enthralling momentwhen they absent-mindedly made out listening to Tame Impala, he kissed down herchest and abdomen and came strangely close to eating her out. It all messeswith him more than anything ever has.

“Listen, there’s some behaviours I’dlike for you to adjust,” Daphne said, fixing the slim strap of her clutch bagaround her body.

Y/N’s first thought is to somehowbelieve that Daphne must be drunk, but she quickly reasoned with herself,remembering that her and Harry just got here. The Yorkshire woman actually usedthis occasion – her asking for a moment alone with Y/N in Liam’s room – to dropher jacket on the bed with the others, specifically next to Y/N’s. Y/Nswallowed, annoyed, thinking that her jacket will probably smell likecigarettes for days if she didn’t wash it right away.

“What’s that?” Y/N asked trulyintrigued. Daphne chuckles, innocently.

“Can I ask you this – and I reallydon’t mean to be rude – but why would you even call Harry pet names?” Y/Nshrugged.

“Because I care about him, I’d say,”she replied. Daphne nodded along as she spoke. “We’ve been friends for years,we developed nicknames for each other, and stuff.”

“No, I get this. S’just that Harryhas a girlfriend now,” Daphne said while waving at Y/N, like she was trying tosignal her presence, like Y/N didn’t notice her enough. “Dunno, it’s weird. Youreally don’t feel weird about it at all? Calling someone else’s boyfriend ‘honey’ and ‘love’?”

“I don’t think of it like that. It’snot a romantic gesture. I call Perrie and Liam ‘babe’ all the time and they’re both in relationships.”

“That’s different.”

“How is it different?”

“Well for starters,” Daphne clearedher throat, leaning against the edge of Liam’s desk, trying not to display howannoyed she was, “you’re way closer to Harry than to anyone else. Also, Perrieis straight. She couldn’t be attracted to you. Liam doesn’t date girls either.”

“He does, though. He’s bisexual.”

“Well, his partner doesn’t seem toworry about you.”

“Why is that?”

“I don’t know, you’re friends.”

“Not really. We don’t hang out. Onlywhen I’m with Liam and he’s there,” Y/N paused. “He just likes me, I guess. Isthat the difference?”

“Y/N, I don’t hate you.”

“Yeah, but you don’t like me. Youdon’t have to like me, Daph,” She walked up to Daphne, who actually didn’tsmell like cigarettes. She smelled annoyingly good. “I know you’re not reallyfond of me, I’m not that stupid, I see it.”

“Y/N…”

“I understand it can freak you out abit that I’m so close to your boyfriend. I respect you, so I’m going to cut thepet names, but you need to understand that Harry and I love each other. Not inthe way that you and him love each other, at all. We’re best friends and wecan’t put everything we’ve had for the last eight years aside to leave room foryou.”

Daphne just stared at Y/N andnodded. She hated that Y/N was right. Her and Harry have a thing that she willnever understand, but that she has to deal with.

“I’m sorry Daphne, that wasincredibly harsh.”

“It’s okay, Y/N,” she chuckled. “Youand Harry have a thing. I don’t want to come in the way of that. I just need toadjust myself to that. I’ll be fine. Thanks for understanding, I see why Harrycares about you so much.”

She was cut off by Louis knockingand opening the door without waiting for a response. He stopped moving abruptlywhen he was greeted by Daphne and Y/N’s straight faces.

“Am I interrupting anything?”

“No! We’re all done,” Daphne replied,grinning. “We were just chatting.”

“The room is yours,” Y/N added,getting up, walking out and patting Louis on the shoulder, “you and Liam canbang all you want.”

Louis laughed at Y/N, and Daphnesighed. She hated how everyone liked Y/N. She was likeable, and Daphne had noreason not to like her, except wishing her own relationship with Harry was asprofound as his friendship with Y/N. All Daphne could do is be friendly, toeveryone, which she already was. Perrie once described her as annoyingly sweet, which was prettyaccurate.

She got up and tapped Louis’ shoulderas well.

“Just make sure you remove the jackets from the bed before you do thedirty, yeah?” That made Louis laugh.

“No,” Harry said.

“What? No to what?” Y/N asks,confused.

Harry realises he actually had beenpondering on his own for a while and that the context was lost. He chuckles.

“I find it hard to believe thatanyone would not like you.”

“I know some people who don’t likeme,” Y/N responds, cleaning the dining table.

“Really? Like who?”

“Your ex.” Harry sighs. She pointsat a towel on the floor for Harry to pick it up.

“Daph didn’t hate you.”

“But she didn’t like me. Pick up thedamn towel, love.”

Harry can’t think of any way torefute that. Daphne always wanted to be nice, and she never wanted to deceivehim. She always found a way of convincing Harry that she liked Y/N when she soobviously didn’t. She tolerated her, and she was always publicly sweet to her,but it seemed like chore, like community service. Yet, she was somehowirreproachable. The reason it looked so much like she was doing it against herwill was hard to pinpoint.

Harry reaches down for the towel andY/N playfully spanks him as she walks behind him to get to the bathroom,probably to get ready for her date coming over. He is a bit startled at first,before becoming angry at himself for getting slightly turned on. He wonderedwhen those interactions became so normal.

“My back hurts today,” Harry said,out of nowhere, really. “Dunno. Probably slept weird.”

Y/N gazed travelled from the tellyto her new unofficial roommate, who was shifting on the couch, trying to find acomfortable position. He was clearly dropping hints that he didn’t want tosleep on the couch tonight, for what literally would only be the fifth night inthe week and a half he had been staying here, but she pretended not to knowthat. She decided to push the tension even further, slightly amused.

“Want a massage?”

Harry’s whole body tensed for half asecond, but he then played it off like it was no big deal at all, like thethought of it didn’t already make something in his chest feel swirly.

“Yeah, sure. F’ya want.”

He turned around a little so hisback is facing her and cracked a big smile as he felt her hands start to rubhis aching back. His shoulders dropped a bit and she chuckled.

“We should get you a propermattress,” she suggested. “Maybe at least an inflatable one. This sofa sucks.”

Harry winced as Y/N’s fingers workedon a bad knot at the bottom right of his back. The throbbing pain slowlyworsened before suddenly stopping, getting him to exhale loudly in relief. Herhands were incredibly soothing. She was very good at massages; despite beingpersuaded of the opposite.

She scooted a bit closer to him, andsomehow, without seeing it, he sensed it. He felt a sudden heat around him anda shiver up his spine. His back tensed up slightly. Y/N laughed.

“Hey, relax.”

He took a deep breath and tries tofocus on the television, but Y/N touch made it harder than he thought. She keptkneading his back until she felt like he was finally relaxed (which he neverwas, his body felt like it was on fire). She then leered and ran her fingers onthe back of his ribs. He wormed around a bit and giggled loudly.

“Ah, Y/N, tha’ tickles!”

She snickered and he turned around,with a defeated sort of pouty smile. She, for some reason she didn’t want toconnect with, found that smirk extremely attractive, and her body absentmindedlykind of stopped all activity to just, stare,and Harry didn’t really react. He stared back, his face slowly approaching hers.

After their lips locked for a shortthree seconds, they looked back at the screen almost in an inhumane manner,like there wasn’t a single feeling involved in the kiss. In reality, Y/N wasactually weirdly overwhelmed, and Harry had a whole entire Big Bang in hischest. But they don’t talk about that.

As their movie ended and the creditsrolled, Y/N turned off the TV and yawned.

“M’going to bed,” she mumbled, stretching.She slowly got up and lazily walked to the bedroom. Harry just silently staredat her. She looked back at him as she stood in the room’s doorway.

“Aren’t you coming, H?”

Y/N touch, lately, feels like thebest thing to ever happen to him. But it’s weirdly narcotic, and he feelshimself starting to actually crave or even need it. She fills that need,always. It’s like she senses his lust and actually wants to quench it. It’salmost like she also feels it, sometimes.

Harry throws the towel in thelaundry basket by the bathroom door and smiles to himself. She didn’t need toslap his butt just now. She did it anyway. And every time she kissed him, shedidn’t need to.

It feels so natural, like there is absolutelynothing unusual of off about them showing that kind of affection towards each other.No word has to be said. Maybe it’s a rebound. But he was already confused atthe end of his relationship with Daphne. Maybe it’s loneliness, because they’resurrounded with so much love – Perrie is already planning on buying a condowith her boyfriend, and Liam just loves his, and gushes about him so much he’son that thin line between adorable and irritating – and maybe they crave thatsame sensation.

He wants those small things (andbigger things) to keep happening. And he wants them to happen with Y/N, and Y/Nonly, somehow. He denies the obvious reason why. But what he is fully consciousof, is that Sam is coming over, and he despises the thought of her with anotherman. He is very, very aware of that.

[laurelleghuleh]

OCAF | Ch. 11 “The 57° Expedition”

Warnings: read the masterlist first

Songs: "I Found” by Amber Run, “Rise” by League of Legends, The Glitch Mob, Mako, The Word Alive, “Way Down We Go” by KALEO

DAPHNE’S POV

I didn’t know how long I’d been running but at that point, I couldn’t feel my legs anymore. All around me it was pitch black and I couldn’t see a thing. But I knew I needed to run, and fast. Creepy sounds echoed alternating with loud thuds all around me. I didn’t have a clue of where I was or where I was going.

The thuds suddenly became heavy steps and an unmistakable evil laugh roared from behind my back. “The master,” I thought. And soon after I could recognize in between those strange noises coming all around me, my sisters’ cries and screams. “I can’t take this anymore…”. I was out of breath.

I turned around, and in the darkness, I started to identify something, like a pair of feet… bare and giant feet. A fucking titan was now chasing after me. “What the fuck is going on??” My master’s laugh soon turned into an animalistic grunt coming from that beast. I kept running as fast as I could but I really couldn’t take it anymore.

The only thing that came into my mind at that moment was a name, four letters: Levi. I started to repeat his name like a spell, or a prayer as if it could make all of the fear disappear. As I kept running, I turned again to see if that monster was still chasing me. Of course, it was. Its heavy footsteps echoed all around giving me chills. “Levi... Levi” He was all I could think of.

I turned to focus better on my run but I suddenly bumped into something. Well, someone.

“Hey, little marathoner, where were you running so fast?” I heard him saying as he caught me by the shoulders to stop me. “Levi…” I whispered still panting, almost out of breath, as soon as I recognized him. “Were you looking for me?” he said, softly smiling.

He rarely smiled like that, however, I felt like I had seen that expression just a few minutes before. In my bedroom, right? But now… Where did I end up? And where was the titan?

I faintly nodded in response and glancing all around I noticed I was in the middle of a meadow, it was probably noon and Levi was right in front of me.

“Levi…” I said again, instinctively getting closer to him, resting my forehead on his. He squeezed my shoulders, deeply inhaling and then whispering, a few inches from me: “Not here”. He paused and silently stared at me. Then his husky voice resonated between us again: “Let’s go inside first. I’ve been waiting for you for so long, Daphne”.

At the sound of his words, I leaned closer, kissing him softly. “Levi” I whispered once again, smiling back at him. I couldn’t help myself: I felt so safe, rested, in peace. The chase was over.

The military alarm suddenly woke me up and rubbing my eyes I started to realize I was back in my room, in my bed. And alone. I extended one arm, brushing the cold sheets beside me. He must have been gone for a long time … He was there yesterday night, right? I didn’t imagine that, right?

I got closer to the spot where he had supposedly rested, awkwardly thinking about what to do. I felt so fucking childish… How old am I? Twelve?? In the solitude of my room, I secretly inhaled the sheets: that unmistakable cool scent was still there and seemed to temporarily refresh my thirst for him.

I couldn’t linger there anymore: the sun was rising and the expedition was about to start. Even though I would have given anything in exchange for another couple of minutes just to roll myself in what remained of him, I really needed to go get ready.

Stretching my body, I realized there was a blanket over me. I don’t remember putting this- Levi. I immediately imagined what must have happened after I fell asleep. How long did he stay? Was he feeling uncomfortable? Did he catch some sleep too? Did I do something stupid while sleeping?

But there was not enough time for my silly questions…

I got up and rushed into the bathroom, trying to wash away those thoughts and images while I quickly got ready for our mission. Once I was done, I looked at my reflection in the mirror: “You better make it out alive today”. “Yeah, so you’ll please your dear captain…” said a voice in my head. “Stop it” I threatened,  aiming my index finger at my reflection.

“We both know those weak walls of yours are already crumbling down, you little liar. Let’s see how long will you keep up this tough face” it spoke again. “Shut up” I growled. “If you don’t kick the bucket today…” it teased me. “I said shut up!” I screamed, looking furiously at myself, and almost drooling.

I had to survive.

I got back to my room and rapidly dressed up. I looked around to see if I was missing something and that’s when I saw it: his jacket, placed on my chair. I took it in my hands, admiring  it, and caressed it carefully as if it was made of glass. He must have forgotten it last night… Lost in my thoughts, I was brought back down to earth by a knock on my door.

Once I opened it, I found Levi on the other side, with his arms crossed over his chest, impatiently beating his foot on the floor. “G-good morning, Captain” I greeted him

“Were you looking for this?” I playfully added, handing him his jacket.

“Yes,” he promptly replied, grabbing it from my hands and then wearing it.

“Well, how are you feeling today?” he asked with his usual unfazed tone.

“Better, thanks…” I quickly replied. He only nodded and slightly moved his feet as if to leave. Luckily the hallways were still empty, so I seized the moment and I told him:

“Hey before you go… I wanted to thank you for yesterday night… I hope I didn’t bother you much-“

“No, You didn’t,” he said, completely unfazed. He is so unreadable. “However, I really owe you one…” I added. Fixing his ascot, he said, looking at me dead in the eyes: “Survive the expedition. That would be enough for me”.

At the sound of his words, my eyes opened wide and my lips slightly parted, wanting to add something, anything. But we were soon interrupted by a loud voice shouting: “Good morning, everyone!”.

Hange greeted us, coming from behind Levi, and vigorously patted  his back, almost making him lose his balance.

“Do you wanna die before the expedition, idiot?” he immediately attacked her. But she literally ignored him, walking past him and heading towards me.

Mike was right behind her and as soon as he got closer to us, he started sniffing soundly. I looked at him with a big question mark painted on my forehead. What the fuck is he doing?? He got closer to Levi, then he glanced at me, squinting his eyes, and sniffed again in my direction.

“Four-eyes, keep your stupid dog away from me,” said Levi, annoyed.

But Mike soon walked away, murmuring: “I swear I smelled pheromones”.

I swallowed loudly trying to maintain my composure, while nobody else seemed to mind his words as much as I did. Like Hange, who quickly took me under her arm like she hadn't even heard him. As we started walking down the hallways, she asked me: “Well? Are you ready for today?”. I looked up at her and I confidently answered: “Yes. 100 percent”. “Excellent” she proudly added, escorting me out of the building, while Levi was silently following us.

When we arrived at the stable the area was already packed with most of the soldiers.

Soon a familiar voice called out my name, so I turned around to see Petra waving at me. I quickly walked towards her, greeting her back.

“Here. Take this sack. There’s something to eat before we go” she said, softly smiling at me. I looked at her and almost blushing I thanked her. After all, she had always been nothing but kind to me.

We all jumped on our horses as the rest of the soldiers arrived at the stable and soon after we departed. We were all lined up with our respective squads. When we were ready, Levi ordered Eren me and: “The newbies behind me”. Then there were Petra and Oruo right behind us and Eld and Gunther after them.

Once we reached Karanes’s gates, we headed out, initiating the 57th Expedition outside the walls. Riding fast through what remained of a village I was taken aback by the desolated view. The difference between Karanes’ district and those ruins was beyond devastating, even for me. But soon, the sound of heavy steps on our left brought me back on track.

A titan was approaching us. A 10-m class.

At its sight, I immediately felt my blood boiling inside my veins and a violent urge to defeat it. I can do it. As I reached the blade on my right side, Levi quickly tilted his head and told me:

“Don’t fuck around and stick to the plan”. I looked at him furiously: once again he was right. But I felt so restless, so impatient. I wanted to do something. Therefore, I bit my tongue and turned my focus back on our course. Soon the support team reached the titan and fought against it until it collapsed on the ruins of what was once a house.

Continuing to ride, we were now on an open field and at some point, a green smoke ignited the morning sky. And then another one and another one. Levi immediately ordered Oruo to fire one to inform the others about our position, while we continued riding non-stop.

Everything was going as planned.

Suddenly a black smoke bomb ascended straight into the sky. An abnormal, I thought. I don't foresee anything good. But soon my attention was captured by Levi’s calm voice who called me and commanded me to fire another black smoke. “Yessir” I promptly replied as I shot it.

After a while, we reached a dense forest. No lookouts with us, just wagons. The situation was getting weird. Eren suddenly seemed to voice everyone's concerns when he called the captain and asked him for an explanation. Levi quickly shut him up, ordering him and all of us to keep going, without asking any other dumb question.

We continued to proceed and from Captain Levi there were still no orders. What the fuck is going on?

I tried to bite my tongue, but I wanted so badly to jump on Levi’s horse and punch him until he gave us orders. The waiting was literally killing me when suddenly another black smoke lit up the sky. Behind our backs, unnervingly heavy steps started echoing and increasingly getting closer.

"Get ready. It's coming," Levi finally said, and at that moment, right behind us, a titan with feminine features appeared and began to chase us relentlessly. I'd never seen a titan run so fast. I’d never seen many titans but I could already tell that that one was on another level. But Levi continued to stay silent and proceeded straight ahead, without adding anything else.

In the meantime, behind us, some companions were dying trying to defeat the titan and the concern of the rest of us continued to grow in the silence of our captain. Among us, Eren was shaking in uncertainty, when at a certain point he brought his hand right in front of his mouth as if he wanted to bite it and transform himself.

Petra immediately intercepted his move, trying to stop him, but she was soon interrupted by the impassive and cold tone of Levi, who, turning to Eren, said: "You're not wrong. Do it if you want. Now choose... Honestly, I do not know what to recommend. Whether you rely on your own strength or even those of your mates, no one can predict the final result”.

I couldn’t help but squeeze the reins hard, my eyes widening as I listened to his words.

Then he continued: "So, in any case, remember that the important thing is to never have any regrets". At that point, he turned back to focus again on our route, but he soon glanced at me, slightly rotating his head in my direction, like he wanted to address those words to me too.

No regrets.

At that moment I realized I had so many. And too many of them involved him.

Petra tried to persuade Eren, telling him to trust us. He was obviously swayed by her words after the captain’s speech. Therefore, he decided to give up, tightly closing his eyes as he tried to repress his anger, as he kept riding fast, staying true to following Levi’s orders. Never looking back. Never having regrets.

At some point, a loud noise of shots caught us by surprise as thousands of harpoons were now blocking the massive figure of the titan right behind us. Levi immediately ordered us: “Further ahead, tie the horses and move on to the three-dimensional movement. Now I have to proceed alone. I entrust the command to Eld. Protect Eren, at any cost”.

I opened my mouth but nothing came out, soon realizing I couldn’t tell him anything at that moment. He never turned. He never gave me the opportunity to look at him one more time, as he proceeded ahead. Levi.

We positioned ourselves on a tree thanks to our devices and awaited (not so patiently) for new instructions. At one point, in the unbearable silence of the wait, Eren blurted out: "This was the plan from the start, wasn't it? But apparently recruits like us didn't deserve to know the details of the expedition, did they?"

Oruo silenced him immediately: "How boring you are." And then Petra proceeded to defend the division commander and Levi. But Eld soon broke off their bickering: “I think there is a precise reason why the commander didn't trust us. Among us there must be someone else who can become a titan or a spy who collaborates with the enemy”.

Oruo immediately gave me a dirty look, so I fiercely stared back at him. Eld blocked him with an arm before he could do something stupid, saying: “The captain trusts this girl. And so should you. Or are you doubting our captain, uh?”. He was mimicking Oruo’s words from a couple of days before, during our survey, making him feel like a hypocrite.

“The spy is the same person who killed Sawney and Bean. That's for sure” Eld continued, finally averting any suspect on me. Yet the situation remained the same. We were there, on those branches, waiting to know something, while we had been kept in the dark about the truth of that mission.

I couldn't help but think about where Levi was at that moment. Yet I had complete faith that he would get away unharmed.

Then Eld told Eren: "It will soon be clearer to you why the Survey Corps have been entrusted to Erwin Smith" and immediately Petra added saying: "And also consider the faith that Captain Levi put in him". Levi's words from the night before came back to my mind: Erwin would never allow me to go, nor would Levi ever disappoint or fail him.

At a certain point, we were all taken aback when the retreat smoke bombs painted trails in the sky. I couldn't believe it. Was it really over? "Come on, let's go and see who was hiding inside that fucking beast," said Gunther urging us to go.

It's over, I thought. It’s really over. I made it.

Eren and I immediately exchanged a knowing glance, trying to hold back our enthusiasm while we were setting our devices, but Oruo immediately came to ruin our little party: "Cool down, brats. A mission ends only when you get back inside the walls, is it clear?”.

“Yes, I know that very well” promptly replied Eren.

I hated when Oruo tried to poorly imitate Levi. He wasn’t even half of him.

We were hurrying through the trees with our devices when another smoke bomb appeared in the sky not far from us. Gunther promptly said: "Captain Levi certainly fired it. Let's hurry up and join him!”. Soon after Petra rushed to shoot another smoke bomb to signal our position to Levi.

Levi. I sincerely couldn’t wait to see him again. And at the same time, I couldn’t stand that childish wish of mine.

Finally, a uniformed figure made its way towards us through the trees. Could it be Levi? But Gunther answered my thoughts, shouting: "Here is the captain!" and soon approached him. But I felt that something was wrong. The person who was making his way through the trees seemed to point fiercely towards us, still hooded and ... as I got a better look, he didn't look like Levi at all.

I tried to yell, "Gunther wait!", But it was too late. Gunther made contact with the alleged captain and was suddenly thrown away, spinning around in his own harnesses, lifeless. And before we could chase it, that hooded figure had already disappeared from our sight.

A roar exploded behind us, giving off a blinding light. Eld shouted: "It's the spy! That’s the titan's guest! Here it comes!". I turned quickly, finally seeing the monster appear behind us, running like a possessed towards us.

Levi, where the hell are you?

Eren looked over his shoulder, staring furiously at the approaching enemy, but immediately Eld stood in front of him saying:

"The three of us will take it out of the way!" Then he turned to me shouting,

“Daphne get Eren out of here! Go back to the Headquarters!”. Eren and I opposed shouting in unison: "No way!”. Then I added: "We will stay here and we will fight!".

But Eld replied without the slightest hint of hesitation: “I'm in charge now. And these are my orders! Now get the hell out of here!”. Soon Oruo added: "Look, we can do it by ourselves" I turned around to soon meet Petra's eyes, and she nodded to me and then whispered, "Go, please."

I bit my tongue, thinking back to Levi's words and I decided to make a decision, hoping not to regret it. What Eld ordered were also Levi’s orders.

Therefore, I grabbed Eren by the collar pulling him away with me in the direction of the Headquarters, shouting behind me:

“I want to see you all safe and sound! That goes for you too Oruo. I’m the only one who can beat the shit out of you!”.

"Yeah, sure, keep dreaming, girl" he replied laughing. And so, we left.

As we proceeded, Eren couldn't help but look back over and over to check on the fight of our companions, but when I decided to turn around too, I witnessed the worst of the scenes.

They had managed to corner the titan, after having repeatedly hit it and blinded it. But suddenly the monster, which had hardly recovered, caught Eld, Oruo, and Petra by surprise. They fell victim to the titan, one after the other. Right before our eyes.

A blade seemed to pierce my chest.

In a split second, I felt like I could witness images of the last days with them intertwining with what I imagined must have been their lives before, their victories, their expectations, their regrets. And a silent rage started to spread all over me.

My eyes were still glued on the titan, while my legs unconsciously continued in the headquarters’ direction. That rage soon became a fire and at that moment I knew what needed to be done and I was surprised at the ease with which I came to that conclusion. But all I’d done was to just remember myself what my mission was about. And my mission was to protect Eren, at any cost.

And most importantly, I would rather have died before I had left Eld, Gunther, Petra, and even Oruo’s deaths go in vain.

To be honest, it all happened in a snap: all I could think of was my thirst for revenge.

Eren began to scream furiously at the titan, as Oruo's body fell, lifeless from its jaw. So, I decided to push him away, turning to that monster, ready to sacrifice myself in a blink of an eye. But suddenly I felt someone vigorously throwing me away.

The last thing I remember is Eren, his bloodshot eyes and him shouting at me to run. A roar, a blinding light, and then darkness. Nothing.

LEVI’S POV

I tried to hurry. I had to get back to my squad as soon as possible. I had to know they were all okay. That the brat was safe. And that Daphne was still alive.

Making my way through the trees as fast as possible, I began to hear loud rumbles and disconnected noises from afar. Before long, the worst-case scenario appeared before me. The lifeless body of Gunther and further ahead was Eld, Oruo, and Petra perished against some trees.

I flew over them to ascertain they were truly dead. I don’t know what was going through my mind at that moment. Perhaps nothingness, like an abyss. Maybe all or too much. Too much to the point that I couldn’t do anything other than proceed in silence.

As I advanced, I noticed something familiar hanging from a tree. Another body. Another soldier. Daphne.

Please, no.

But approaching her, I noticed that her body was slightly moving. Tell me that you are still alive. As soon as I reached her, I tried to pull her up on a branch. Her cape was stuck, and looking at her, she must have just knocked her head somewhere. Holding her body close to me, I started calling her.

She kept moving her head. She was definitely alive. I tried to get her hair out of her face, and so I called her again: "Daphne! Say something!". Meanwhile, I gave her a quick look, searching for wounds or bruises, but there seemed to be nothing. Luckily.

She seemed to recover slowly and as soon as she opened her eyes, she widened them, and then clinging to my jacket she whispered, "Levi... Eren... The titan... Petra... the others-".

I could only nod my head to make her understand that I already knew everything. Then I asked her: "What happened? How did you end up here? And where is Eren?".

Looking around, as if lost, she said:

"We were going back to the Headquarters when Eren shifted and... I don’t remember anything else from that point. I think I banged my head somewhere...". As soon as she realized her own words, she squeezed my jacket even harder and shouted:

"Eren! Eren has transformed and attacked the titan!" Then, clumsily getting up, she told me: "Hurry up, we can still get them".

"Listen, Braveheart, you might have a concussion, hold on to me and let’s go," I tried to tell her, pulling her by the cape, but she soon objected:

"No, I can do it on my own". How fucking stubborn you are. And that being said, she began to fly in the direction where she believed we would have found them. Therefore, I followed her without protest.

As long as you’re alive…

Still flying, we started to glimpse a titan. Only one. And soon after, on our left, we noticed something else between the trees: another soldier. So, Daphne shouted: "That’s Mikasa!". We immediately approached her:

"Cadet, where the hell do you think you’re going?".

"Sir, the titan has captured Eren, it keeps him in its mouth!" she answered.

There was no time to waste, so I ordered them: "You two, distract it. I’ll recover the brat". Fortunately, Mikasa and Daphne were among the best cadets still left, so they managed to hold off the titan, without getting killed, hitting it repeatedly in strategic points.

I caught it by surprise and once I cut off his jaw, I rushed to recover Eren. We failed to kill the titan because of the hardening technique it possessed, yet, after all, the mission was accomplished. Eren was safe.

But the worst was yet to come.

The amount of lives lost created what felt like a walk of shame as we entered back into the city, igniting an internal anger within me. Daphne was a few feet away from me, pulling the reins of her horse and some of our fallen comrades. She had her eyes fixed on the ground as she tried to keep up with the soldiers in front of her.

I didn’t know what to tell her. I didn’t even know what to tell myself.

Meanwhile, Eren was lying in a wagon to my left. I glanced at him to see if he had recovered. He nodded at me, distraught at our defeat, and then whispered to me something that stuck in my head all night.

The more we walked, the more I realized there was a piercing pain in my chest and along my legs, especially at one of my ankles. Even Hange had noticed my slight limp and as soon as we were in front of the headquarters, she threw herself on me, shouting that I must see a doctor or something.

"Leave me alone, four-eyes," I told her in my usual tone. I really didn’t want to see anyone at the moment, let alone a doctor. So I walked away without saying anything else and made a beeline to my room. I removed my harness and my uniform, feeling like I had taken off a massive boulder off of my shoulder.

Under the flow of water, I was surprised by a river of thoughts I could not cut out of my head. I thought of my companions, Petra’s father who had approached me on the way back, Eren’s words, and Daphne.

Seeing her hanging there with her life on the line shook something within me. Something I couldn’t quite label. And I probably shouldn’t. She was alive and that’s all that mattered.

My thoughts were soon interrupted by that unbearable pain and there, under the water, I noticed there was a deep wound on my chest and that my ankle was slightly crooked and swollen. When I was done with my shower, I went straight to the bedroom with the medical kit to try to fix myself.

But at some point, someone knocked on my door.

[tara-firma-blog]

Torn // Chatzy Transcript

Tara is a cockblock, Eli makes it better, Damian and Daphne have Actual Moments, Hadeel uses that cubus charm on Toby, Bei is a Beiby Gayby for Leo(nardo), and Jonathan is king of everyone’s heart

Damian: "I would say it was one time, but well." He replied a little bitterly, looking away. It was easier to be with Daphne. To be all the good and all the bad without feeling like a villain for it. He tapped his fingers against the bar top. "One drink?" 19:33

Hcdeedee: "I'd really rather not be in the enclosed space where its dark and I'll have to waste money on many torches." 19:36

Toby: "Well, I'm sure there are plenty of low level enemies in there just waiting for us to kill them you know." He said pointed out, taking a sip of his drink. 19:37

FlynnRaider: Leo shrugged. It would make sense. "I've always been told I'm an intimidating figure. I wouldn't really be surprised. Still, getting /some/ sort of action would have been nice". Leo was vastly unprepared for the attention he got in the states as a result. Relationships were a mystery to him. "Yeah, I grew up on the coast. It was beautiful. Moved to the states for my studies though" 19:37

Hcdeedee: "Probably, but it's so much nicer in the woods." 19:39

Daphne: "It's cute how you act like I can stop you," Daphne grinned, reaching up to pinch Damian's cheek. She was comforted knowing that here, drinking gave you a debuff instead of sclerosis. 19:39

Damian: He wiggled his brow as he leaned in and pretended to bite at one of her ears. "Well you might be able to." He straightened and grinned. "I think I read that druids can whip my ass. Since I'm a wolf." 19:40

Bei: "I thought I heard some sort of vague accent..." Bei hummed while an amused smile flickered across his features. Slowly the stupor of the day, of the flashbacks, seemed to be slipping away. Not gone, but certainly no longer at the forefront of his mind. "I figured New England... Not Italy." He looked down at his beer. "I'm an immigrant myself. Chinese, parents moved to America when I was a child." 19:41

FlynnRaider: "Yeah, I never could quite kick it," Leo said with a grimace. His italian roots were always obvious. His supposed that it was okay though, his only ever fling had called it "sexy". "Lucky you. I made the big move myself." He sipped on his drink, aiming for casual. Social drinking wasn't something he was well versed in. 19:47

Daphne: Daphne pressed her face to his shoulder and inhaled "That explains why you smell like dog" Happy dog. She loved that smell. "I could whip your ass anyway. Remember when I ran into your shins with my chair?" That's what he got for taunting her. "Well, shin?" She corrected herself. 19:48

Bei: "For what it's worth..." Bei started tilting the beer in his hand. "I can't slip from Mandarin to English without a disgusting accent slip. I wasn't able to shake it until I was well into high school. The teasing was horrendous." 19:50

Damian: "What is your obsession with sniffing me?" He wrinkled his nose. "I'm the one with nose powers in the current time and place." Damain grimaced at the memory. "I only have half a lower shin on one side. Take pity." He grinned at her. "One drink each. Maybe two. Then strip joint or bed." 19:50

FlynnRaider: "Kids are awful," Leo agreed with a roll of his eyes. He didn't miss highschool, he'd been tall and gangly, if you could believe that. Hadn't grown int himself yet. "Thankfully I missed out on the welcoming/ american highschool experience. I didn't come to Pennsylvania till uni." 19:53

Bei: "Pennsylvania?" Bei asked, tipping his head a bit. "Where at in Pennsylvania?" 19:54

FlynnRaider: "Philadelphia, specifically. Studied History and Art History there. Double major." It was a bit embarrassing to admit, a tough guy like him. But it was his passion. The school boasted one of the best programs in the country. 19:55

Bei: "I could never imagine studying History myself... then again, I was never much the school type anyway. I was far more interested in doing than learning." He hummed before looked to Leo. "Though, I suppose that does go to show how small the world is. That's just under two hours away from where I live. Really, a day trip. My parents used to love going to Philadelphia... Thought the Liberty Bell was the greatest thing ever." 19:58

Toby: "Alright, alright. We'll go to the forest then." Toby wasn't put out either way. One way or another he was going to try and level up. "You know, we could also try going down to the water." 20:00

FlynnRaider: "Let me tell you, it's come in handy these days. Knowing all the names of the weapons, the clothing, that kind of thing," Leo joked. He'd never thought his degree would actually be applicable in his daily life. "I can't say I ever saw too much of the city though, which is a shame. Too focused on my studies. And I've moved now anyway." 20:00

Daphne: "You smell like a Good Boy. Like Brinkley. You know, that therapy dog." Daphne wrinkled her nose at the drink the barkeep pushed toward her. She had been diagnosed prior to her 21st birthday and had never had the opportunity to acquire a taste for booze. "They have a strip club here?" She asked, bewildered. 20:02

Bei: "I'll bet. If I ever have a question, I now know where to go to." He smiled before he took a sip from his beer. "Oh? Where did you move to? Somewhere warm and not prone to a foot of snow in one go?" 20:03

FlynnRaider: Leo snorted. "More like covered with people who walk too slow and sells shitty hot dogs. New York of all places. A tiny shitty apartment in the Bronx, if we're getting specific." 20:04

Damian: "Ew. He's a drooler." Damian wiped his hands against his thigh with a shiver. Taking his drink, he nodded before taking a long drink. Setting it down again, he smiled. "Yep. Girls. Boys. And in between. I figure you can admire naked beauty and I can try to get laid." 20:05

Bei: The answer seemed to catch Bei off guard and he sat up a bit straighter. "...New York?" 20:06

FlynnRaider: "Yeeeees?" Leo answered questioningly. "Not the classiest of places but I didn't think it was /that/ bad." 20:07

Bei: "...New York, New York?" 20:08

FlynnRaider: "New York, New York." He arched an eyebrow. 20:09

Bei: A slow smile spread across Bei's face, similar to the Grinch but far less menacing. "Huh." He hummed as he took another drink. 20:10

FlynnRaider: Leo grumbled into his drink. "Care to share?" 20:11

Bei: "Oh, nothing." He replied coyly with a shake of his head. 20:11

FlynnRaider: Flagging down Jonathan, Leo narrowed his eyes at Bei. "Seriously? This is how it's going to be?" He sighed and rested his chin on his hand in annoyance. 20:13

Daphne: Heat rose in Daphne's face. Naked bodies were... weird. They just made her feel awkward unless it belonged to somebody she knew. Then she didn't care. 20:16

Bei let the quiet linger just a moment longer before he leaned in a bit, not enough to breach personal space, but closer than he'd been before. "I'm from New York as well. That's all." 20:16

Toby joined the chat 20:16

Daphne: "I hope you're not expecting a wingman" 20:16

Damian: He chuckled and patted her back, "I'm fucking with you. I just need a drink." He held up his foot, the sole of his left boot flapping. "Look at this sad state of affairs. I deserve a drink, Daf." 20:17

FlynnRaider: As Bei leaned in, Leo leaned back in his chair in response, face heating slightly. "Oh, uh, small world." There was a beat of silence. "Whereabouts?" 20:19

Bei: Bei took the fact that Leo leaned back as a clear signal and straightened out, once giving the other the space he'd had before. "As cliche as this is going to be, Chinatown." 20:20

FlynnRaider: Leo tried his best to ignore the pang of disappointment he felt as the other leaned back. He supposed that was his own fault. But maybe he could fix it? Shaking it off, he smirked and leaned forward on his hand. "Wow, really doing your part to shake off the stereotypes." 20:25

Bei: Bei winced though his expression was open and playful and followed by a laugh. "Blame my parents. They set up there, opened a shop to support us... and it was an easy place to come back to after..." He trailed off, the smile faltering a bit as he tipped his nearly empty glass. "...after my injury." 20:27

Tara entered for the first time 20:28

Daphne: Daphne blushed. She should have known he was teasing. Daphne went to drink but... the flapping. The flapping was incessant. And Damian knew how annoying it was; he had to or he wouldn't be doing it! So, she reached out and tore the sole off. "There! I fixed it!" 20:29

FlynnRaider: Leo's playful look immediately dropped. This was clearly a more serious topic, it should be handled delicately. He couldn't help his eyes flicking over Bei's body, though logically he knew any injuries wouldn't have transferred over. "Injury? I hope you're alright..." 20:30

Bei: "I'm fine." Bei replied, just a beat too quickly as he shrugged it off. "I moved back to New York and took a job as a local cop. Let me tell you, the strange shit you see as a cop in New York." 20:30

Tara joined the chat 20:31

Damian: Damian looked wide eyed at here then wiggled his socked toes out the bottom of his shoe. "You punk ass kid, Daf." He grabbed the sole and tried to reattach it. "I wasn't gonna buy new ones dammit!" 20:32

FlynnRaider: Leo let him drop the subject without pressing Some things were best left alone. "A cop, how honorable." he flattered with a small laugh. "But I bet you I can top that. You see even stranger shit as a bouncer. All the crazies come out at about 3 am" 20:32

Tara: By this point, Tara was somewhat convinced that since this game had so many Americans, she was going to get carded before she could even get drunk truth or dare going. It was going to happen, dammit, even if she was the only one playing. So her first part of the plan? Sneak into the tavern (check), say nothing (so far, check), sit in the corner (creepily, check) and spring it on them when they were too confused to argue. Yeah. That was it. 20:33

Bei: "I can guarantee you I've been called out at 3am to half of the clubs at some point." Bei countered, his easy smile returning before he leaned back a bit, making sure to give Leo his space. "What club?" 20:33

Daphne: Daphne shrugged. "You could just go barefoot like me," she chirped, wiggling her toes at him. 20:37

FlynnRaider: "Those calls must be fun. I can't imagine the amount of times you've been hit on." Whoops. It just kind of slipped out. That was about as close to flirting as Leo could get. Regaining his composure, he shrugged. "Industry Bar. Not the prettiest scene but it pays the bills." 20:39

Bei: "No one wants to hit on a cop that's arresting them for a drunk and disorderly. Trust me." Bei replied, shaking his head. At the name of the bar, he felt his expression betray himself and give away his surprise. "Wait... You're a bouncer at Industry Bar?" 20:40

Damian: "I'm not a fucking heathen." He grabbed her foot and pulled, nearly dislodging her from her seat. "Heathen." 20:40

Tara: Raising her eyebrows sketchily, Tara leaned in to a conversation of which she had no idea of the topic. "So you know what goes really great at industry bars? Activities that really get the whole crowd involved." 20:41

FlynnRaider: If it was you I would, was all Leo could think. But he didn't voice those thoughts, obviously. He raised his eyebrows at Bei's surprised expression. "Yeah. You know it? I work most nights" 20:42

Bei: There was a long pause as Bei stared as Leo. Then, slowly, realization began to dawn and his eyes widened. "Oh, holly hell..." 20:44

Bei glanced sideways at the young woman, caught off guard. He'd focused so much on Leo, he'd hardly noticed the other people around. "...Oh?" 20:45

FlynnRaider: Leo's eyes widened as well, mirroring the man across from him. "Is.. there something wrong?" 20:46

FlynnRaider: He followed his gaze to the women next to him, staring at her blankly. 20:46

Tara nodded sagely. She had not seriously expected that they would get this far. "Yes. How interested are you... in games?" 20:46

Bei: It seemed as though Leo wouldn't get an answer. "It depends on the type of game, I suppose." 20:47

Daphne: Daphne poked Damian in the ribs with her stave. "Bad dog," she scolded, trying to keep from grinning. 20:48

Tara: thought that almost all games were good, but she had to cater to people that just were not used to actually enjoyed themselves. "Games typically played at parties... but with higher stakes." 20:48

FlynnRaider: This was becoming something he did /not/ want to get involved with. "Uhhhh.... is their an opt out option?" 20:48

Tara: Frowning, Tara supposed that she had come on a little strong. "My name is Tara, if that helps, and I consider myself an expert at games. Opting out is always an option, especially if you enjoy a heavy sense of regret." 20:50

Bei arched an eyebrow at the young woman, clearly amused. "Well, Tara, I might just think you were an NPC looking to get some people in trouble." 20:51

Toby joined the chat  20:51

Damian: "You are an asshole." Damian released her foot and grabbed his drink. "You are an ass and I'm telling on you to Jonathan. My new best friend." 20:51

Toby: Hummed in content as he sat off in the corner of the bar. Nursing his second tankered of mead. 20:52

FlynnRaider: Leo's eyes darted back and forth, watching the exchange. He was content to just observe from the sidelines. 20:53

Tara: That was probably supposed to be offensive. "If I were an NPC, I would probably be, like, totally more predictable. And less awesome. Talking to NPCs is really boring," she said, pouting. "It's just truth or dare. It's fun." 20:53

FlynnRaider: "I... can't say that I've played much truth or dare," Leo admitted. 20:54

Bei glanced up at Leon, an eyebrow arched. "You've never played truth or dare?" 20:55

Tara: Good! She had managed to rope in the one who had been reluctant to play. "I bet that guy over there would play with us," Tara said, pointing over at Toby. "It's a rite of passage to play." 20:55

Toby: Looking up when he heard a voice, Toby lifted a brow. "A rite of passage? To play a game most of us haven't played since elementary school?" 20:56

FlynnRaider: As much as he tried to stop it, Leo's cheeks flushed red. "Do I really seem like the wild partying type in uni to you? It's not like, a necessary human requirement" 20:56

Bei: The amused expression from earlier was back, and Bei had to stop himself from making some sort of flirtatious comment about the color in the other's cheeks. He'd made it clear he had boundaries, and Bei had seemingly already crossed them once. "I would go so far as to say it's a rite of passage as Tara seems to suggest... but it is a staple of most young, dumb experiences." 20:58

Tara: Oddly enough, Tara thought he did look a little like the wild partying type if she squinted hard enough. "Yes, thank you. Definitely something at least close to a rite of passage to play truth or dare... While drunk!" There. The gauntlet had been thrown down. 20:58

Daphne: "mhm, yeah, ok." She stood on tiptoe and kissed Damian's cheek. "I'm going to bed, you grump so you'll have to do the sex elsewhere." 20:58

FlynnRaider: "I was significantly lacking in young, dumb experiences," Leo grumbled. "Don't remind me." He was, of course, referring to his lack of relationships over the years. He never really got to be just a teen. 20:59

Bei: "Well, it seems this lovely young woman is offering you the perfect opportunity to rectify that." 21:00

FlynnRaider: "I'm not /nearly/ drunk or stupid enough for this" 21:01

Toby: Running a hand over the back of his neck, Toby shrugged. "Yeah, alright." Knocking back the rest of his drink, he got up and went to join the others at their table. 21:01

Bei: "Well, looks like you need to down a few beers then." He challenged with an arched eyebrow. 21:01

FlynnRaider: He glared at the other man. "I'm usually the one monitoring peoples drinking, not drinking myself." 21:02

Tara: Two of these strangers were talking about something that Tara still had no idea about, but the other one was definitely game. "Perfect!" she said brightly, going for the least gross-sounding beer that they had. "Should we find more peopld?" 21:02

Damian: "Nooooo. I'll go with you." He pouted and made grabby hands. 21:03

Toby: "Do we need more people?" He wondered out-loud. 21:03

FlynnRaider: "Do we need to play at all?" Leo countered. 21:03

Tara: "Well we don't need more people as long as we can hang on to the one who's too afraid to play," Tara said without thinking too hard about it. 21:04

FlynnRaider: "the one who's too afraid to play?" Leo yelped, insulted. "I'm right here you know!" 21:05

Bei: "Sounds like you've been challenged." 21:07

Damian: Loudly and in the background, Daphne and Damian stumbled out. Laughter following after them. 21:07

FlynnRaider: Grumbling, Leo glared at them while downing a beer. Staring them challengeingly, he slammed it onto the bar. 21:08

Tara sipped at her new drink, entirely pleased that she had found these enjoyable people that did not like her very much. "Yes, o frighted and soon-to-be-drunk one. I dare you to hold your friend's hand for... five minutes." 21:09

FlynnRaider: "I- what?" He blinked, shocked. "I don't have much truth or dare experience, I admit, but I'm /pretty/ sure that's not how you play." 21:10

Toby: Toby: "Oh you've got to be kidding me? That's the first dare that you're going with?" He teased looking at Tara. 21:11

Bei sat back in his chair, his glass held lightly in his hand utterly unaware that he was the friend to which Tara was referencing. 21:11

Tara raised her eyebrows at Toby. "Oh, but you see, this is actually the best idea I've ever had. And since you guys didn't give me your names, you don't get to choose truth or dare." 21:12

Toby: Leaning forward, he held out his hand to her. "Toby. Toby Ross." He said with a smirk. 21:13

FlynnRaider: Crossing his arms, Leo sent an unimpressed look her way. "You essentially walked up and demanded we play. Not sure where you think your so called authority is coming from" 21:13

Tara: Taking Toby's hand, she grinned. "Tara Grayson. Well met!" Scowling at Leo, she said. "Excuse you, but I'm a Paladin, so I probably have... marginal imaginary authority." 21:14

FlynnRaider: "Well I'm a pirate so I probably have marginal imaginary refusal of authority." 21:15

Toby: "Or you're just drunk and your imaginary authority complex has gone to your head." He pointed out. 21:15

Bei snorted softly and shook his head. 21:16

Tara: Raising her glass, Tara insisted, "I have had *one* drink. One! I am not drunk. I am a noble and sometimes chivalrous being." 21:16

FlynnRaider: Scowling, Leo sulked on his stool. And to think, the night had seemed to be looking up. He risked a quick glance over at Bei. 21:17

Toby: "What ever helps you sleep at night, sweetheart." He said before lifting a hand to try and order another drink for himself. 21:18

Damian changed name to Eli 21:18

Tara: Okay, so clearly she was having less success with the night than she expected. "Excuse you, I sleep great at night. And hey!" She glanced from Bei to Leo. "Why aren't you two holding hands? Too chicken?" 21:20

Bei blinked and sat up a bit straighter. "Huh? Me?" 21:20

FlynnRaider: Leo's scowl only deepened. He simply grunted in response. 21:21

Toby: "Really? Guess you'll have to prove it to me sometime." Was he shamelessly flirting? Yes. A common occarance when he got drunk. Looking over to Bei, Toby started to chuckle. "I think she meant you my friend." 21:21

Bei set his now empty glass on the bar. "I've been dared?" 21:24

Tara: "Yes, you two. I dared you guys, like, three minutes ago," Tara said, rolling her eyes. Why couldn't people keep up? Apparently Toby wanted to keep up in some other way, which she was lucky enough to catch the drift of. "No offense, but I'm kind of throwing up in my mouth a little. Can you give me a minute?" 21:24

Eli: Eli sauntered into the tavern with a grin. He'd had a successful day of questing and needed a drink. Going to sit up front, he flagged down the bartender, Jonathan, and ordered a drink. 21:26

FlynnRaider: Eyes darting around looking for a quick escape, Leo spotted Eli at the other end of the bar. "Oi! Eli!" He called over. 21:26

Hcdeedee joined the chat  21:27

Hcdeedee: Holy crap there were so many more people than before in the tavern. 21:27

Bei: "I was not aware I'd been dared." Bei countered before he ordered another drink. 21:28

Eli: Eli looked over and smiled as he raised a brow. "Leo? How are you?" 21:29

FlynnRaider: "Errrrr - could be better," he grimaced,looking pointedly at Tara. 21:30

Toby: "Take all the time you need." He said with a shrug. Turning his attention back over toward the bar he smiled seeing DeeDee. "Save me." He mouthed to his friend. 21:30

Eli: He raised a brow, grabbing his drink and walking over. "What's gong on?" 21:30

Hcdeedee: Hadeel caught sight of Toby at the bar and sighed in relief. "BeeBee!" She called out, pushing past people to stand at his side. 21:31

Tara: Grumbling, "I am much too gay for this," she swigged back at her drink. "And I can totally hear everything." 21:31

Bei pushed himself to his feet and gestured for the bartender to cancel his drink. "And I believe that is my cue to head out." 21:32

FlynnRaider: Leo quickly stood as well. "I'll ah - catch you later?" he said desperately. And just when they'd had a good conversation going. 21:32

Eli: "Yeah of course." He looked from him to Bei and raised a brow. 21:33

Toby: Grunting slightly at the nickname, Toby looked down at Hadeel. "Why does it feel like we're back in high school?" He questioned looking at the group of people. 21:33

Bei nodded to Eli politely before he glanced to Leo and smiled softly. "I'm sure we'll see each other around sometime. Small world and all." He managed, looked up through his eyelashes before he turned and left, hands tucked into his pockets. 21:34

FlynnRaider: "No- I mean - I'm staying. Bei is going. I think." He collapsed onto his stool. Lord this was confusing. 21:34

Hcdeedee: "Probably because we're all playing a video game?" She shrugged and looked around for a drink. 21:35

FlynnRaider: "Yeah, see you around," Leo offered half-heartedly as Bei left. 21:35

Eli: Eli rolled his eyes before nudging Leo, "I'm sure Bei wouldn't mind the company, Leo." He looked over to where Bei was walking off. "Go catch up to him idiot." He hissed quietly at Leo. 21:35

Tara: Under her breath, she said, "If they had just held hands everything would have been great, but nooooo, they just have to be children about it." 21:35

FlynnRaider: Looking back over, Leo lowered his voice as well. "Catch up with him? He clearly wants space! He just left!" He hissed back 21:36

Eli: "Because you were clearly ignoring him." He snarked in returned and shoved him off the seat onto his feet. "Go after him and say you want some private time." 21:39

FlynnRaider: Stumbling, Leo looked back in shock. "Ignoring him? I wasn't! Can't I just PM him??" He would never understand boys 21:40

Toby: "Yeah, this isn't just a video. This is real life there DeeDee." He said shaking his head. "I need more beer if I'm going to listen to this anymore. Come on." 21:41

Eli: Eli grabbed his face and held his eyes. "Listen to me very closer. GO and kiss the boy." 21:41

Toni entered for the first time 6 seconds ago 21:42

FlynnRaider: Leo threw up his hands defensively. "WOAH - woah. Kiss?! Who said anything about kissing!" Leo laughed awkwardly. 21:42

Tara: Tara hummed "Kiss the Girl" softly, knowing that the reasonable guy and the jittery one wouldn't hear. 21:43

Eli: He gave him a sharp look. "Go. Now." He nudged him over. "Go get him. Or I will." 21:43

FlynnRaider: He grabbed onto Eli's arm desperately. "No - NO. This is not happening. Nobody is getting /anybody/. Let's just. have a drink, yeah?" 21:44

Eli: He raised a brow at him and opened up his menu. "I'm sure if I message him, he'd be down to meet." He hummed to himself. 21:46

Toby: "You know Bei is a really great guy." He said wanting to just stir the pot a little. "He's really great with handcuffs." 21:47

FlynnRaider: "Wait - WOAH. Let's be reasonable here. It's late. He's gone home - or wherever. We have no reason to contact him." Leo paused. "Why do you even have his username? Ugh, doesn't matter. Just - don't." 21:47

FlynnRaider: At Toby's comment, Leo went BRIGHT red. "I - what - I don't - " he stuttered. 21:48

Toby: Toby couldn't help but chuckle, as he sipped more at the beer he'd finally acquired. "Oh calm down, I was kidding. Mostly." 21:49

Tara: "Was that the guy that just walked out? How do you spell Bei's username?" Tara asked curiously. 21:49

Eli: "I know his username. We're friends." Eli waved at his friend list. "Leo come on. Go after him. Now." He shoved him again, elbowing Toby to stay out of it. 21:49

FlynnRaider: Leo sunk down into his seat, burying his head in his hands. This was a disaster. He was surrounded by drunk idiots. 21:50

Toby: Toby looked over at Eli, rolling his eyes before taking an empty chair. Feb 1

Tara: "So do you spell it like B-A-E? Because if so, I bet that one was hard to get," Tara mused. 21:51

Eli: "Go," He nudged him again. "He clearly liked you." 21:51

Hcdeedee: Hadeel trailed after Toby, curious to see if she could get him to buy another drink for her. 21:52

FlynnRaider: Leo's head snapped up. "He did /not/. You just think that because you think /everybody/ is flirting with you." 21:52

Toby: Glancing up at Hadeel, Toby lifted a brow. "Can I help you dear?" 21:53

Toni had no idea what the hell was going on. Frankly, ne had better things on ner mind, like how the inner workings of the game worked, and how to break it all apart from the inside. But seeings as there seemed to be such a large crowd inside the Tavern, ne figured what would one drink hurt? Of course, one became two and two turned into somewhere between ten and too many. Leaving Toni, a frustrated, horny mess, as the tall drink of water passed her....a drink of water, encouraging ner to slow down, while also looking the hacker over. Toni was really appreciating the attention. But Toni didn't show anything on her face. Of course, the alcohol was sure to change that soon. 21:53

Hcdeedee: "Aren't we getting more drinks?" 21:55

Eli: Eli rolled his eyes and looked over to Tara. "B E I." Then looking back to Leo, he grunted. "Everyone does flirt with me. Haven't you heard? Good looks alone." 21:55

FlynnRaider: Leo rolled his eyes. "Then why don't /you/ go hit on him if you're so insistent on it." 21:56

Eli: "Because he seemed upset about you, not me." Eli replied with a look. 21:56

Tara: "Thank you!" she said to the nice stranger. She would vote for him for guild prime minister, probably. Swiping through her menu, she went to go add this Bei person to her friends list. 21:56

FlynnRaider: He had a look of innocent confusion on his face. "Upset? I didn't really get that vibe..." 21:57

Toby: "I mean, if you'd really like to get another drink, by all means go ahead. Can you get me one too while you're at it?" Giving Hadeel a wink, he turned his attention back to the room. "Thanks doll." 21:57

Eli: Eli rolled his eyes hard and looked to Tara. "Sweetheart, help me out here." 21:57

Tara: For some bizarre reason, Tara's new name in this bar was 'Sweetheart.' She did not really like it. "What? Are we talking about his bae Bei?" 21:59

Eli: "Yes. Apparently, Bei was not into Leo here." He gave her a look. 21:59

Hcdeedee: Hadeel pouted, stubbornly staying put by his side. She only had so much gold and she'd be damned if she'd spend it on drinks she could get for free. 22:00

Tara: Tara was not sure if the prime minster guy was being serious. "Well apparently that is incorrect because Bei totally probably was. But what do I know?" 22:01

FlynnRaider: Leo just grumbled. "I'll believe it when I see it. I've gotten my hopes up one too many times. Not that uh - I'm hoping for anything." 22:02

Toby: Nudging Hadeel's shoulder, Toby sighed. "What's with the pout?" 22:02

Eli: "Or you are greatly missing on the opportunity to make out with a frankly super hot man because of fear of rejection." Eli said dryly and breathed out. "Two people, unbiased, saw he was at least into you. Why not message him now and see?" 22:03

Hcdeedee: "I'm saving my gold and was hoping you would pay for the drinks." 22:03

FlynnRaider: Leo crossed his arms and frowned. "If I PM him, will you leave me alone?" 22:04

Tara: "Actually I'm totally biased, because you two would have been really sweet... If you had just held hands!" Tara said, waving her arms around excitedly. 22:04

Eli: "What the beautiful lady said," Eli grinned at Tara before finishing off his drink. "Only if you ask him out on a date." 22:05

Toby: Toby rolled his eyes, fishing in his pocket for another two pieces of gold. 'Here. Those are the last ones I'm buying you, alright?" 22:06

FlynnRaider: Leo just gave Eli a look. "I will /not/. A PM is the best you're going to get. Final offer." 22:06

Tara looked at her messages, vaguely distressed. "So Bae with an A just blocked me, but Bei without is imaginary. Pity." 22:07

Eli: "Then I'll ask him out." Eli threatened flatly. "Bei's username is Beiby. As in gayby beiby." 22:08

Tara: "Scoooooore," Tara said, fistpumping. "Thank you, Prime Minister." 22:09

Eli: Eli nodded then did a double take. "Did you just refer to me as Prime Minister?" 22:10

FlynnRaider: "I wish you luck in your relationship," Leo said dryly. "And don't enable her." 22:10

Tara: "I did. I voted for you. Well, I will," Tara said as thoughtfully as possible, ignoring Leo the grump. 22:11

Eli: "I'm an enabler." He grinned at him and then threw an arm around him. "He was into you." Looking over to Tara, "Do I want to know?" 22:11

FlynnRaider: "Yeah, yeah. Thanks for the attempts at an ego boost. Here's a thought, lets find /you/ sombody" 22:12

Tara: "You might want to know," Tara said cryptically. "Ooo, this is such a romantic evening. I'm so excited." 22:13

Eli: "Well," Eli scanned the tavern. "Slim pickings." He sipped his drink, "Too bad Jonathan is an NPC." 22:13

FlynnRaider: Leo threw his arms into the air. "Alright. I give up. Time to get drunk." 22:14

Eli: "Excellent. Jonathan!" He called, "Shots. Keep them coming." 22:15

Hcdeedee: Hadeel grinned and raced to the bar to get the drinks. A little flirting got her two drinks for the price of one and she quickly returned with their drinks. "Thanks BeeBee." She kissed his cheek in thanks and set down the mugs. 22:15

Tara: "NPC romance is probably worse than star-crossed love. There's probably someone who looks like this one somewhere. Possibly as obedient." 22:17

Eli: "I don't want obedience." He screwed up his face. "I wouldn't mind that face. Or arms." 22:18

FlynnRaider: Leo ignored all his surroundings and just downed a shot. If he could forget the events of tonight, it would be a miracle. 22:18

Tara: "Oh, so you want a better Jonathan. I will make it my mission to find you one, my leader," she said seriously. 22:19

Eli: Eli shoved another shot into Leo's hands taking the empty glass. "Please do. I will..." He looked her up and down, "girlfriend?" 22:20

FlynnRaider: He supposed he was making up for all of his missed drunk nights in uni all in one sitting. not that he was complaining. 22:22

Tara: "Girlfriend please," Tara said with a nod. "I've been seriously almost considering praying for a pretty vampire girlfriend, but I'm only kind of almost picky mostly sometimes." 22:23

FlynnRaider: "Guys... where are we staying tonight..?" 22:23

Eli: "I will attempt to fulfill your dreams." He held out his hand. "Eli." Looking over to Leo, he raised a brow. "I can probably find you a place to stay." 22:26

Toby: "No problem darling." Toby teased. "How about we get out of here once the drinks are done. I'm not quite in a bar lurking mood anymore." 22:26

Tara: "But I can be extra patient, so please prioritize the future guild needs," Tara said fairly. "But now? Now considering it is sleeping time, I must find a tree." 22:27

FlynnRaider: Leo laid his head on the counter, closing his eyes. Just a minute, he told himself. "I'll just... be here. Gimme a sec..." 22:29

Hcdeedee: "Sounds good, no cute guys here anyways... Wanna check out that strip joint?" 22:29

Eli: "Okay. Bed time for all." He patted Leo's back as he got to his feet. "Don't worry. I'll get you to a bed." Pointing to Tara, "And you. You're with me. As your prime minister. I will provide a bed. Free of birbs." 22:30

FlynnRaider: Leo just groaned in response. "Can I just like... not move?" 22:31

Eli: "Only for a bit," He said as he checked his messages again. 22:32

Toby: "And what am I? Chopped liver?" He asked "But yeah, if you want we can head there." 22:32

Tara: "You're so good, Prime Minister. I'm going to friend request you now, and it would be an honor to be even considered one of your list," Tara said gratefully. "Also, Leo, you look really sad. You should get on sleeping not here with Jonathan or the Prime Minister will be jealous."

Hcdeedee: "No you're just old."22:32 

Eli: "Prime Minister will be very jealous." He agreed solemnly with Tara. "I'm SirenSong dear, if you can still spell." He steadied her as he grumbled at his inbox.22:34 

FlynnRaider: "I'm not sad," he mumbled. "I'm just drunk." Was this karma for all the smashed club goers he'd laughed at?22:34 

Tara: "I am the best drunk speller," Tara insisted, tapping that in. "There you so, sir. I'm TerraFirma. But also Tara. Duality, you know? You know. Can we go with the sad drunk now?"22:35 

Eli: "TerraFirma? Nice name." He smiled and handed her a water that Jonathan had pushed over. "Drink this so your body hates you less. And Leo of course you're not. Don't worry. We're just going to get you to a bed in just a second."22:36 

FlynnRaider: "I'm staying at the inn.... it's just down the road," he mumbled into the wood, gesturing randomly towards the door.22:37 

Eli: "Mhm, of course." He patted his head as he Tara nodded off against him."22:38 

FlynnRaider: Attempting to get up, Leo got approximately one step before he sagged into Eli. "Now I remember why I don't drink.."22:44 

Eli: "Yes. yes." He held both of them up, swaying a little himself.22:46

FlynnRaider: "I can probably make it myself. It's not far....." Leo offered and trailed off. Honestly, he just wanted a bed. Or a floor. Anywhere, really. He wasn't picky22:49 

Eli: He shifted, trying to continue messaging Bei for help. "Yes. Now sit."22:50 

FlynnRaider: Leo squinted. "Eli... you realize that didn't actually answer my question?"22:50 

Eli: "Sit." He repeated the order, as he sent a badly worded message.22:51 

FlynnRaider: Obediently Leo sagged to the floor. Stretching his legs out and letting his head fall against the bar, he closed his eyes. Just a short rest...22:52

 Eli: Eli tipped back his head and sighed loudly, "Fuck me."22:52 

FlynnRaider: Leo opened one eye. "No thanks. Friends is good for me."22:53 

Eli: "Not you," He nudged him with his foot.22:54 

FlynnRaider: "Who's the lucky lad then?" He inquired without opening his eyes. "And why are we still here anyway?"22:55 

Eli: "We're still here because Satan is outside." He murmured angry and picked Tara up in a fireman's hold.22:55 

FlynnRaider: "Lovely. We barely lasted a few days." He cracked open his eyes. "Where are you going?"22:57 

Eli: "Okay." He shifted Tara. "I am going to go drop her off, then I'll be back for you. Just... stay." He gestured, "Good boy." He walked off with Tara.22:58

FlynnRaider: "Right....." Leo mumbled. All he could do was watch as they disapeared into the night. Well, fuck.22:59 

FlynnRaider: He faded in and out of consciousness for the next little while. Occasionally falling asleep but something would always inevitably wake him and start the cycle over.23:00 

Bei exhaled as he closed his user interface and stared up at the sign for the bar. Eli owed him. He pushed his way inside and blinked, surprised to find no one in there... until he spotted someone on the floor. "...Leo?"23:02 

FlynnRaider: Leo barely cracked his eyes open, throwing up a hand to shield his eyes from the light. "...hmmmm?"23:03 

Bei: "Oh for heaven's sake..." He shook his head and bent forward. The height different proved to be difficult, but not impossible. He got Leo to his feet and glanced up. "Where are you staying?"23:05 

FlynnRaider: Leo tried to steady himself as he was pulled up but it was proving rather difficult. He sagged heavily into the figure of... Bei? "Didn't you... go home?"23:06 

Bei: "I did." Bei nodded and adjusted Leo so he was better supporting him. "And now I'm back." He made his way towards the door slowly. "Now, where are you staying?"23:07 

FlynnRaider: "There's an inn... down that way." He swirled his hand in a vague direction. Something was nagging him though. "This... is embarrassing. Wow, ok, let's never speak after this shit."23:08 

Bei: Bei smirked and let out a quiet laugh. "Oh, I have a feeling you'll never live this down. And it won't be because of me." He murmured, carefully directing them in the way of Leo's vague gesture.23:10 

FlynnRaider: He was far, /far/ to drunk too make out these kind of statements in his addled brain. "Not you? What? Who? Eli?" The questions spilled out before Bei could even answer.23:11 

Bei nodded. "Yupp. Eli is likely going to harass you endlessly."23:13 

FlynnRaider: "Eli has no ground to stand on anyway," Leo grumbled. "He fucking ditched me at the bar! Left me wasting away! Any random could have come for all this," he gestured towards his general body. Part of his mind was screaming at him to stop talking but he ignored it.23:15 

Bei: That earned an amused look from Bei as they made their way through the streets, leaving the tavern behind. "All this?"23:18 

FlynnRaider: Leo tried to shrug but just ended up stumbling. "Yeah. This brooding bad boys bod. Words direct from the mouths of my sisters friends. I'm "ripped" apparently. Girls are weird" He attempted to make little air quotes with his fingers.23:20 

Bei: It took only a minute or two for them to reach an inn, the one Bei hoped Leo was staying at. "Well, it sounds like your sisters friends certainly have a type."23:22 

FlynnRaider: "Jokes on them. I'm kind of a dork." He would never have admitted that if he wasn't drunk, but oh well. "A dork wrapped in pretty packaging." As Bei stopped, Leo sagged against the smaller man.23:24 

Bei glanced at Leo and licked his lips before he breathed out and shook his head. No comment. Like he'd said, you got used to it. "What room are you in, buddy?"23:26 

FlynnRaider: Leo squinted his eyes, wracking his brain. Oh, fuck. "...223. Wait no, 322....232? 332?....." He trailed off, looking are Bei with wide innocent eyes.23:29 

Bei: "...you realize that is absolutely no help, right?"23:30 

FlynnRaider: Leo pouted. He didn't even know he could pout. "I'm trying, alright? I narrowed it down to 4, that's something. I got this," he said with faux confidence. He started to stumble down the hallway.23:32

Bei: "Leo, Leo stop." Bei moved after him and grabbed his wrist lightly, tugging him back. "You can't just knock on random doors, dude."23:33 

FlynnRaider: "Technically it's Leonardo," he said idly, not paying attention. "It's not like you have any better options." He blinked at Bei, as if the other man somehow held all the answers.23:35 

Bei: "Alright then, Leonardo." Bei replied softly. "You really can't remember your room number?"23:35 

Eli: (give him the d)23:36 

FlynnRaider: (SAVAGE OMG HE'S DRUNK CALM DOWN)23:36

 FlynnRaider: "I'm fairly confident that it's on the second floor? If me being confident right now counts for anything." Leo scratched the back of his head. "You can uh... go home now, I don't want to keep you." He flushed slightly.23:38 

Bei: "I can't just let you stumble around an Inn knocking on random doors." Bei huffed. He kept his grip on Leo's wrist and paused before breathing out. "Come on, you can crash in my room."23:40 

FlynnRaider: "It'll be like....one door," Leo tried to justify. He had no shame, even more so in this state. Bei's suggestion threw him into a mild confusion, though. "Your room? You're in this inn too?"23:42 

FlynnRaider: (poor bb is confused like what you have a room here?? what an idiot)23:43 

Bei: "I'm just down the street." Bei offered softly as he guided Leo back out of the Inn and onto the road. "Come on."23:44 

FlynnRaider: Leo didn't argue as Bei towed him along. He was just tired - /so/ tired. He didn't care about location anymore. When Bei looked at him he just blinked sleepily and smiled.23:47 

Bei: The walk was fairly brief, just a couple of minutes before the awkward duo was stumbling into the Dane's Inn. "Come on." He repeated, gently guiding Leo through the halls and back to his own room.23:49 

FlynnRaider: Yawning, he rubbed at his eyes. "Thanks," he mumbled. "Like, times 1000. I owe you. Like, anything you want. All my gold or somthin' He all but dragged his fete through the halls.23:51 

Bei: "It's not a problem, Leonardo." Bei murmured as he guided Leo back to his bed. He paused to make sure that the younger male was comfortable before he breathed out. "You okay?"23:53 

FlynnRaider: "Okay is a relative word. I feel like my heads been through a meat grinder." Leo sagged into the bed below him. It felt like heaven. "I can't take your bed though. Gimme the floor, you take this" He protested weakly, but his eyes were already fluttering closed on the pillow. He struggled to stay awake. "I've slept on the floor plenty of times. And you said you were injured...."23:56 

FlynnRaider: (THAT GOT LONG I HAVE A PROBLEM RIP ME23:56 

Bei blinked, caught off guard that Leo remember that particular tidbit of information out of everything. The concern was genuinely... touching. "I'm fine. Get some sleep, okay?"23:57 

FlynnRaider: "Not gonna take the bed...." he muttered as he slowly slipped into sleep. "Kick me off...."0:00 

Bei shook his head and waited until Leo was asleep before he turned and left the room, quietly shutting the door after himself.0:01

[the-cult-of-russo]

Push and Pull (Part 22)

Pairing: Matt Murdock x OC

Warnings: cursing, smut

This follows on directly from the last chapter 🖤

------

"The woods?" She asked apprehensively as he took her towards the trees. He just hummed and nodded in response. It was the only other way out really. They couldn’t go around the front of the house and on the other side of the woods was the main road. If they could make it then they'd be home free. It was a little chilly since she didn't have a coat and the sky was clear, twinkling stars and a bright moon hanging in the sky. The woods weren't too dense and thankfully the ground wasn't too uneven. She didn't need to be falling around the place. 

In the cover of the trees, both of them visibly relaxed and slowed their pace. She let go of his hand as she glanced around. She was still wound up from what he'd done and her skin was thrumming with excitement.

"I have an idea," she mused with a mischievous grin. He looked at her hesitantly and raised a brow. 

"What is it?" He asked.

"You've got your super senses. You can smell people, hear their hearts. You can find them, kind of like a sniffer dog," she smirked. He pulled a face at her and scoffed.

"A sniffer dog?" He asked blandly, making her snort. 

She stopped him, her hands on his chest and he gazed down at her perplexed. 

"I think you should find me in the woods," she grinned. He shook his head with a chuckle.

"Daphne-" he started, very much like he was going to tell her no. 

"Catch me if you can," she purred in his ear. Then she took off. She was careful, very much aware of her heels as she weaved through the trees. Once she felt like she was far away enough, she tiptoed to minimise the noise. Not that it would help when he'd be able to hear her rapid heartbeat. There was something exciting about it. 

She hid behind a tree and peeked out as he came in view. He closed his eyes, tilting his head as he listened. He had a predatory smirk on his face that sent a thrill down her spine. She crouched down, picking up a rock and tossing it in the other direction. His head whipped around to the noise before going to it. She bit her lip to stifle a giggle before moving around to another tree. But when she glanced around it, he was nowhere to be seen. She furrowed her brow a minute, a slight pang of panic that he'd just gone running off on her. But then a hand covered her mouth as someone pressed up behind her the other hand splayed on her stomach.

"Found you," he smirked in her ear, moving his hand from her mouth. His hand was still holding her close to him and she glanced over her shoulder at him. It felt like he was looking right at her before he leaned down and claimed her lips. Her bag dropped and she twisted in his hold, fisting his shirt and pulling him closer as the kiss got rougher, more demanding. She gasped as her back hit the tree and he pushed against her with a groan. 

She broke away for air and started fumbling with his belt, but he lay his hands over hers.

"Really? Here?" He asked incredulously. She raised a brow and smirked at him.

"How often can you say you've had sex in the woods?" She asked cheekily. He blinked at her for a moment before shrugging like he agreed with her. She grinned as she rapidly undid his pants, shoving them down with his underwear and he hissed as she grabbed his hard cock, fisting it. He hiked up her dress, the material bunching around her waist and she hooked a leg up high in his hip. He pushed her panties aside and slid into her easily, her wedges really helping it happen with the height it gave her. 

She gasped in relief at him filling her up. His teasing from earlier had her on edge and she needed release. He kissed her roughly, pressing her against the tree and grabbing at her hips as he fucked her hard. She was trying to be quiet, letting him swallow her moans and gasps. There was something exhilarating about this. Being out in the open like this. 

One of his hands reached down and started circling her clit and her back arched. He was the only thing holding her up right then as his body pinned her against the tree. She felt the heat creeping up on her and she broke the kiss as her head tilted back to lean on the tree. He nipped and sucked on her neck and she got lost in all of the sensations. She bit down hard on her lower lip to stifle her needy desperate moans as she came. She squirmed in his hold and he held her tight, muffled groans against her neck as he finished inside of her. 

They stayed that way for a moment, panting and coming down from their high. When he pulled out of her she groaned, and he held her steady as her leg fell back to the floor. She felt amazing and smiled to herself, straightening out her dress as Matt tucked himself back away and fixed up his pants. He reached down, grabbing her purse from where it lay and passed it to her. 

"Thanks," she murmured, slipping it back onto her shoulder.

She was slightly wary of his reaction, never knowing how he'd act afterwards. But thankfully he just took her arm as they went back on their way. She was aware of the fact he didn't really need to hold her arm out here but she didn't say anything. 

"I should have known you'd like the chase," he smirked as they reached the end of the woods. She grinned slyly and looked at him.

"You telling me you didn't?" She retorted. He chuckled, biting his lip as he gazed at the floor. 

"I definitely did," he murmured. 

They finally reached the road and she got her phone from her purse. She texted Mrs Grimes to tell her she got what she needed and told her where the driver should pick her up. The plan was that they'd take her home so she could look over the evidence herself for anything she needed for the Italian case. She'd make copies of it all before she handed it over to Mrs Grimes for whenever she decided to use it against her husband. If the cops didn't get to him first depending on how it all went. 

The drive back was silent but it wasn't uncomfortable. She was sated and calm as they sat together in the back. It didn't take too long before the driver was letting them out at her place once again. Once he was gone, Daphne and Matt lingered at the door to her apartment. 

"Kinda sad I didn't get to see any Daredevil moves," she mused with a snort. He chuckled as he looked her way.

"Maybe I'll bring you with me one day," he replied with a smirk. 

"I hate to admit it but… I'm glad you came with me. It made it way easier and it was kinda fun," she smirked. He snorted at her wording and nodded. 

"I'm glad I came too," he murmured.

There was a weird moment of silence between them as neither of them knew what to say. They probably looked weird in their fancy clothes standing outside of her crappy apartment building. 

"Let me know what you find out," he said, gesturing with his head to her bag.

"I will. It'll take a bit to go through, try and figure out what it all means. But there's a lot of names here so I think we might have some good info," she mused. She was a little excited to pour over it all. 

"Alright, I'll leave you to rest," he said softly. Both of them knew she wouldn't be resting though. She'd be looking over the files all night, sleep be damned. 

"Goodnight, Matt," she murmured with a soft smile.

"Night," he replied as he reached out and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. She turned on her heel and walked up the steps before slipping inside the building. Once inside her apartment, she kicked off her shoes, not bothering with her dress as she sat on the couch with it poofed out around her. She cracked open the book with a sigh. It was going to be a long night.

It was well into the next morning when she'd gotten through the first book. At some point she’d tugged off her dress, taking what felt like an hour just to get the damn thing off, and changed into some leggings and Matt's stolen t-shirt. Her hair was still up and the make-up was still on but she had been engrossed in the writings. She'd searched online as she went, looking up the names. They all lead to people who ended up going bankrupt or losing their jobs. The ones with the crosses were all missing and it was obvious what happened to them. She’d grabbed a notepad of her own as she made notes of anything she found of particular interest and tried to make her connections. The book proved useful in proving that Mr Grimes had been accepting money from the Italians for selling people's information. And he'd been keeping tabs on what happened to them. 

But it wasn't until she opened the second book that things really took a turn. It was the ramblings of a mad man. It was used like some kind of journal but it was all so vague that it didn't really make any real sense. The only thing she gathered from it was that he wasn't quite right in the head and that maybe he'd started to feel guilty about the deaths on his conscience. But he couldn't back out now as he knew too much. She had little sympathy though given the fact he'd willingly started it in the first place. 

Scattered in with the ravings of a lunatic were names that piqued her interest. She spotted Antonio mentioned a few times and she remembered him as the man she'd surveilled when she found out about the meet. There were more names and one name that seemed particularly important was Gorgio Nucci. Any time he was mentioned in the book his name was underlined and she figured he was pretty high up for that kind of treatment. It was definitely worth noting down. She knew that Rosalie Carbone was the head of the Italians but the more she read, the more she realised that these were a different faction. It seemed like they were trying to take over. 

It took her hours to try and make sense of the nonsense and the only real thing she got from it were names. That was more than what they'd had previously though and would definitely prove useful. When she got to the last page, she noticed one torn out. The very last page was blank but she lifted it up, tilting the book as she examined it. There were etchings from where the pen pressed on the ripped out page. Whatever he wrote, he was aggressive or frantic in his writing for it to be that deep. Lucky for her though, she could work with that. 

Padding over the kitchen with the book in hand, she set it on the counter as she rummaged through one of her cupboards. She smirked when she found what she was looking for. She flipped open the lid on the small thing of cinnamon powder she had, sprinkling it onto the page liberally. She crouched down a little, blowing gently to remove the powder that wasn't now sitting in the ridges from the writing. Her head tilted as she stood back up and read what was left behind. 

WEAPON = BLOODBATH

USS SAMPSON 

She blinked at it for a moment before grabbing her camera and snapping a picture of it. She mused that maybe the weapon was on the ship but it wouldn't make sense for the Italians to be storing something on a military vessel. The word bloodbath was underlined several times and it sent a chill down her spine. She really had no idea what the weapon could be or what they planned to do with it. 

Now she'd gone through it and made her own notes, she spent some time scanning all of the pages so she had copies of them, for herself and to give to Brett. Then she would give Mrs Grimes the originals. Once she was done it was almost evening again and she was completely exhausted. Settling on dealing with the findings the next day, she couldn't stay awake any longer. A million bobby pins and make-up free face later, she curled up in bed and fell to sleep almost instantly.

[heloisedaphnebrightmore]

L&L - Chapter 32. Torture [Alec Lightwood x Reader]

Title: Love and Leather - Chapter 32. Torture ➔ Chapter 33. Here! Pairing: Alec Lightwood x Female!Reader Published: 23 June, 2020 Author: Heloise Daphne Brightmore Love and Leather Masterlist | Masterlists

When you came to, you felt your shoulders being ripped out of their place. You looked up with a blurry vision to see you were hanging off some chains, digging into your wrist, being attached to the ceiling. The blood was dried around your arms, but fresh trails appeared as you tried to move your hands.

Your legs were fixed to the floor with another batch of the same chains. You tried to move, but every attempt made you scream inside. Every part of your body was in excruciating pain and you weren't sure how long you were able to stay alert.

"I see you are awake." Your heard the familiar voice coming closer. "I thought you were weaker than that. I am proud of you." He chuckled. "I wonder how long you will be able to handle my special attention." You growled in anger.

"What do you want with me?" You asked, but your voice disappointed you and it barely came out as a whisper.

"You see, I planned to have fun with you, but then you ruined it. You could have enjoyed the pleasure I was to give you, but you refused rudely. I don't take rejection well." He sighed innocently and you wanted to throw up at his act.

"Interesting. I'm surprised if anyone ever wanted you. Looking at you makes me sick." You replied in disgust. His eyes darkened and a furious expression spread across his face. He walked up to you and placed his hands on both sides of your body. You were unsure what he wanted to do, until you felt his hands squeeze you. You screamed in pain as your had dropped backwards. He was very well aware of your broken ribs and he wanted to make sure that you didn't forget it either. You gasped for air as he let go of you, but it seemed to make it even worse.

"Let's try that again." He cupped your face in his hands, placing his forehead on yours.

"You are a disgusting piece of shit." You hissed in pain and leaned backwards for a second to then collide your forehead with his. The pain from your concussion came back even worse, but seeing the blood dripping down his face made you smirk.

"That was a very bad move." He said calmly. He looked up at you, determination clearly showing in his eyes as he slapped you as hard as he could with the back of his hand. Your head snapped to the side and you could feel your jaw moving out of its place, before popping back in. You had no more energy left to scream. Silent tears rolled down your dirt and blood covered face. "Why are you making this situation any worse than it already is?" He questioned while walking around and stopping behind you. "This is all your fault, you know?! You are such a pretty creature, but because of your behaviour, look at you now. So filthy and shameful." He put his arms around your waist and placed his face into the nape of your neck. You tried to move, but the chains were stopping you. You felt his fangs scratching your skin as he moved to a more comfortable position. You had no time to think, he already dug into your skin, penetrating your vein. You wanted to scream, kick, hit, but your body didn't react. You just hang there with silent tears falling down on the ground under you. "You are so delicious, I could keep doing this all day." He whispered while detaching himself from your vein.

You weren't sure how long you were able to keep up with his tortures. You were losing blood fast and you didn't even have energy to attempt to escape. Your body basically accepted your faith, before your mind did.

"Why are you doing this?" You sounded horse.

"Because it's fun and because I can." He chuckled walking back around you and looking straight into your exhausted eyes.

"You killed so many." You thought about all the Shadowhunters and Mundanes they hurt.

"You see..." He started walking up and down. "It's good money to sell Mundane blood. But selling Nephilim blood, that makes you a whole lot of cash."

"It's all about the money." You scoffed.

"Yes and no, darling." He walked closer and hinted a kiss on your neck. "It's all about the fun while becoming disgustingly rich." He grinned caressing your cheeks.

"You are sickening." You spat in anger.

"Maybe, but you still couldn't keep away from me." He laughed with an evil tone.

"If I knew I had any chance to meet you, I would have killed myself instead." You replied grimacing.

"Interesting you say that." He walked behind you to bite on your earlobe. You hissed at the sudden sharp pain. "I was very surprised to find you out alone when I clearly warned your little Shadowhunter friend how much I was craving you. He knew all along and he let you walk out into the night. Careless little boy, he is." He chuckled while licking through the vein on your neck, feeling its pulsation. You shivered from disgust.

"What are you talking about?" You frowned.

"What was the name of that boy? Something with an A..." He sank deep into his thoughts. "Alec. Yes, that's it." You didn't understand how Alec had anything to do with it, until you remembered your conversation with him in the Hospital wing. He tried to keep you back from going out. He tried to even order you to stay in, but you didn't listen.

"He doesn't know I left." You replied, your head falling down. You felt like a complete fool. Once again you went with your dumb thoughts instead of actually listening.

"Oh, you didn't tell anyone?" He chuckled which gave you an idea. You knew Izzy was aware of your situation and you knew they would be after you already. However it gave you the upper-hand if he didn't expect them.

"No. I didn't." You replied, before he walked in front of you and grabbed you face forcefully, while slapping you with his other hand. You wanted to cry out in pain, but it didn't come.

"Don't lie to me. I heard the phone conversation." He smirked at you. "But nice try, I have to give you that. Even in this state you are quite quick." He kissed the side of your lips. You quickly turned your head and bit on his lip as hard as you could. He ripped himself away with a shout full of pain. "You bitch. Do you really want to die?" He asked as he grabbed you by the waist and pulled you close enough to dig his fangs into you. You screamed in pain, but soon it died out. It was a weird feeling. In a way you felt your body float. You didn't feel the chains around you anymore, you didn't feel his fang dig deeper in your vein, you didn't really feel much. It was like going numb.

You were present enough to see the door being kicked in. Oh Angels, were you happy to see Alec, Izzy and all your friends coming to rescue you. But you felt weak. As powerless as never before. The vampire detached himself from you to look at the intruders.

You saw another door open on the side, where a bunch of hungry vampires came to help out their leader. It all started getting messy, you didn't see who was who anymore. Your vision blurred, your power weakened. You saw redness all over the floor and walls, but you couldn't make out who it belonged to.

Soon you felt your body being lifted and you could actually feel your hands coming down next to your side, while someone held you by your waist. But by that time your eyes fluttered shut.

"Y/N." You heard a delicate voice. "Y/N, please stay awake." You felt her hands around your face. It was Izzy's soft and worried tone, without a doubt.

"Come back, you hear me?" You heard another, causing your tummy to throw fits. Oh Angels, were you happy to just hear him. You wished to see him, wished to touch him. But you couldn't. You were way too powerless to even move a finger. By the time your body got lifted, you gave up trying to fight the darkness. You needed each other.

Notes: If you enjoyed it, don’t forget to like the chapter. Thank you :)