#demons run chapter 16

[simpingforthisonedeer]

Chapter 16: New Moon

Summary:  We turn to Spade Kingdom as history is made and Zogratis siblings are doing their best to be there for one another in these confusing times. The new regime under Queen Ciel of Spade knocks on the frontier of Clover Kingdom, looking for what was once theirs. Jayce keeps the secrets of the Wizard King as he struggles to shoulder the burden of all the work he was left behind with. Fuegoleon embarks on a project that will change his life. Yami and William finish up their insignias to present to Julius when a little girl walks in and throws them in for a loop. A nurse in a far away land wonders why this stranger brings her an impending sense of doom.

Notes: 

- Check the notes at the end after reading! They are super important and provide explanations for some stuff. Science or reminding yall of plot points mentioned in previous chapters. - No NSFW - 5.7 k words

“Do you think he is dead?”

Zenon Zogratis kept quiet.

“I mean he has to be if we suddenly came out of the…haze.”

Yesterday, three siblings were planning a strategy for the next battle to push into Clover Kingdom in Dante Zogratis’s office but then, the hold over them just vanished. The malice that motivated them to scorch this kingdom to the ground just…disappeared. There was an hour of panic and existential crisis then Dante went catatonic. Vanica Zogratis stayed quiet in thought for once while Zenon sprung into action. He pulled back all troops and locked up those he knew weren’t just simply listening to orders but actually wanted to hurt people. He lugged Vanica around to use force where it was needed and Dante joined soon after, with a new resolve glimmering in his eyes.

“He fucked with our heads I get that, but why make us forget Aika? I didn’t matter what we remembered or not—”

“That was a different spell.”

Vanica and Dante looked at Zenon with furrowed brows.

“How do you know that?”

“Do I need to explain magic sensing to you two?” He asked quietly as he turned to look at the snowfall. The streets were blanketed in a soft layer of white and people were daring to step outside again. He felt like he was hearing music for the first time again as a miscellaneous group of kids and adults sang songs of home and about flying and being free.

The cathedral in the capital opened its doors once again and a sweet chorus sang. And the whole city sang with them, out loud, under their breaths, and in their hearts.

Across my memory

“Then why did we forget her?”

“It’s not only us, Vanica.” Dante sat next to Vanica with his hands clasped together. “I heard some of the guards and former classmates of hers talking about them suddenly remembering her all at the same time. Some are theorising that she must have hidden her existence for some reason and that she died so the spell must have disappeared with her.”

“That seems most likely, yes.”

“But why at the same time as our brother’s brainwashing?”

Vanica gasped.

“You don’t think?”

“They must have found one another and fought and both died at the same time.”

“But that means Julius should have also died and we would have received news by now if Clover Kingdom’s Wizard King is dead.”

“Not necessarily,” Zenon interjected, slowly pacing back and forth in front of his siblings. “If Lucius died, Julius wouldn’t die just because they share the same body.”

“Isn’t that the basis of them sharing the same body and Lucius choosing to keep Julius alive?”

“I don’t know why Lucius kept Julius alive but I know for a fact that while they ‘share the same body’ their bodies are not the same. Julius had a papercut and when he switched with Lucius, the cut was gone.”

“You noticed that? How?”

“He spent most of the time in Lucius and Julius’s lap so I’m not surprised,” Vanica teased, scooching closer to Dante’s side as he wrapped an arm around her.

Zenon froze when fond memories hit him.

Far away, long ago.

Julius would laugh as he would tickle little Zenon, revelling in his squirms and giggles and then abruptly switch with Lucius so he could experience it first hand too. Zenon would stop slowly when he realised that the hands stopped and they were a bit colder, fingers a bit longer as they laid on his head. He would stare up at his older brother, confused and be met with dark hair and an impassive face and he would hug Lucius anyways, hoping that it would make him happy just as it would make Julius happy.

Glowing as dim an ember,

Things my heart used to know.

Zenon never knew if it worked, but even if it did, it didn’t matter because here he was, far into his adult life, with a reputation as a psychopath and a tyrant, believing that he was serving his country.

All because of him.

Things it yearns to remember.

They were now under house arrest as Queen Ciel assumed the Spade throne, trying to get the domestic and international matters in order.

A knock sounded on his bedroom door and it swung open without giving them a chance to reply.

“I have a message from Queen Ciel.”

Speak of the Devil. Ironic.

“She requests that the most sensible sibling, Zenon Zogratis, come help her figure out some of the paperwork and other matters.”

“Did she throw in that insult too?” Vanica drawled.

And a song someone sings.

“No, I did,” the messenger smirked as she looked at their anti-magic bracelets.

“Whatever, but believe it or not, we actually did the paperwork and the planning and the decisions together ,” Dante lied. “So you would need all three of us to be of any use.”

Zenon went with it, nodding as the messenger looked at him for confirmation. Dante and Vanica would hate to feel left out and he would rather not deal with the whining when he would come back.

“Alright,” the messenger’s magic whizzed through the air, tying them together, tethered to her. “Follow me.”

Zenon sighed as his two older siblings giggled conspiratorially, and they marched to their uncertain futures.

Once upon a December.

Sister Lily sang a song she had been hearing since last night, wafting from the West, where she heard just this afternoon, was liberated from the Zogratis siblings. She smiled.

Hage laid still at the frontier, the Demon Skull casting a shadow as the Sun set in the West and Sister Lily prayed to the Goddess for the people of Spade. She prayed that they may live free again and smile at the same Moon and stars as her.

Asta and Yuno, the oldest children at the church, bounded around the tree where she sat. While Asta chased him in good-natured fun, Yuno had a determined look on his face.

Sister Lily touched her cheek and sighed.

Ever since that day when Yuno was supposed to give a letter to the Mayor and Asta followed him, they both came back, looking extremely beat up. Yuno hadn’t shed a single tear since that day. When asked why, he said he decided to never cry because he needed to be strong if he wanted to be Wizard King.

She didn’t know what to say except support him in his dream. When Asta said the same thing, she felt sad. As much as he was a strong kid with his heart in the right place, she couldn’t encourage him because when he realises that it is completely out of his reach, he will despair.

She could not lie to him like that.

“Sister Lily! Can you hear that?”

A stampede slightly shook the ground and she quickly hid the two kids behind her legs as she looked at the Grand Magic Zone past the forest in worry.

She could see some firelit torches shining between the trees and smoke. It wasn’t an army. It was neither fast nor big but it was a sizable group of people making their way over.

Sister Lily fiddled with the keystone in her pocket given by their new neighbours. Raymond and Lydia said they were retired Magic Knights and were willing to help if need be. She hesitated though. What if it was nothing?

When the first line of men broke through the tree line, she activated the keystone. She wasn’t taking my chances.

The group made their way to her, the only person in sight.

As they got closer, she could see their clothes a bit more clearly. They were men and women of the Spade Kingdom with their fur-lined cloaks and heavy chains keeping them together. These were soldiers.

Sister Lily’s heart raced as she silently prayed for Raymond and Lydia to come quicker.

Jayce stumbled and braced himself against the cold stone wall. Ever since that day he had been plagued by uncomfortable dreams, sometimes edging on the nightmarish side. He could feel himself getting sick with the lack of proper sleep. The dreams, he feared, were not really dreams but memories. Memories of Julius Novachrono. They were not all of his memories, just the disturbing parts of his childhood in Spade Kingdom.

It came to him as a surprise that he was not from around here but he was not the one to judge. Jayce was also not from around here, but from the neighbouring Diamond Kingdom.

Diamond kingdom where many of his sealed sigils exist.

Every seal, every oath, every promise, all sorts of magic broke down in that room that day.

Between visiting Evan, studying, doing Miss Aika’s paperwork as her proxy, and redoing the broken seals not only in Diamond Kingdom but all over the world: in dungeons, caves, under the sea, in uncharted forests and territories but he had some people as capable at sealing magic help him out in various regions. Jayce was so grateful that he only had to execute the final runes of some of them.

Regardless, it was safe to say that with no proper sleep or food for two weeks, he was haggard as all hell and felt it in his soul. He was understandably afraid to even look at himself in the mirror.

“Yo!”

Jayce turned around, not even bothering to hide his exhaustion.

“Mister Arthur,” he looked past the man and saw the Magic Knight Captains following him. That’s strange but Arthur often was. “And Co.”

Fuegoleon waved in greeting as Arthur peeled him off the wall and supported his weight on him. Jayce shook his hand gingerly once he was close enough.

“Congrats on Captainship again, Fuego. It looks good on you.”

“Thank you, Jayce. But weeks of no sleep does not look good on you.”

He laughed hoarsely.

“How is the paper Miss Aika assigned coming along?” The Captains gathered around them, failing to hide their eagerness to listen. Fuegoleon has been working on an idea that Miss Aika had given to him as a present for becoming Captain. She had not even sat down with him and properly congratulated him but simply sent him a letter and a package of books for him to read and research. Books about fire magic, mundane sciences such as chemistry and physics, electricity and magnetism, a rare book about Time Magic by an unnamed author, and for some reason, spirituality and transcendence through magic that is entirely theoretical and never been achieved before. At least on public record. She gave him such an assignment as a gift.

“Well,” Fuegoleon sighed. “I finally have a title for it.”

“I didn’t know you were working on a paper,” Jien sidled up to him, poking in the side light-heartedly, but inwardly, he was dying of curiosity. Fuegoleon is undoubtedly very smart but he had never heard of the man doing any sort of research or writing a paper. “What is it about?”

“‘Reversibility of Entropy through the Attribute of Fire: An Expansion on Laplace’s Demon.’ That’s the title.” Fuegoleon bore a slight frown as he said it.

“Reversibility of Entropy…” Jien tapped his chin as he searched his memory. “People with the Fire attribute did try that before but research has shown that entropy cannot be perfectly reverse engineered unless…” His eyes widened as realisation struck him. “Unless you can use Time Magic!”

Jayce grinned as the fog lifted from his head. Miss Aika was crazy.

“She is trying to teach you Time Magic!” He exclaimed.

Fuegoleon nodded grimly.

“It didn’t make sense why she would do that but after that day…” She was using him as an experiment essentially, to see how people can develop Time Magic through fire.

“Why would she try to teach you Time Magic?” Nozel raised a curious brow. There was something they were not telling about that day two weeks ago when the Captain’s meeting happened.

Fuegoleon looked to Jayce who nodded.

“Because, Miss Aika, like Sir Julius, also uses Time Magic.”

Nozel and the rest of the Captains were silent for a second, then burst into noise.

“What?!” Nozel hissed.

“Is it a weaker version of Time Magic or?”

“There is a reason why there is no record of Time Magic ever.”

“Yes, even Sir Julius’s ability to wield it is a historical moment but everyone knows it’s strange.”

“Mhm. Even his grimoire looks strange.”

“Well, we hide it from the general public because it’s a tactical advantage but we also don’t want negative attention from foreigners overseas. They would want to use it for all sorts of things.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Jayce exclaimed, holding his head, taking his time to put together a coherent sentence. Everyone quieted down and looked at him.

“There is no record of Time Magic? Ever?”

“Weaker forms of it had existed before but not to the extent Sir Julius has. Wielding it is believed to be forbidden.” Charlotte offered.

“Why?”

Everyone looked away, uncomfortable with the question posed. Jayce was confused. Why the sudden awkward atmosphere?

Nozel squared his shoulders and spoke up.

“Because a long time ago, the Time Devil, Astaroth had declared when he was summoned that Time Magic will never be wielded by anyone because it’s too much power in any human’s hands.”

“Nozel!” Fuegoleon snarled.

“Hold on. Why is everyone on the edge about this?”

Arthur sighed. “Because in the Clover Kingdom, knowing about devils, forbidden magic and stuff is taboo.”

“That’s the issue? Haven’t all of you maimed and tortured before?”

“I mean yer right but you don’t have to say the quiet part out loud,” The tall, lanky Captain with blades on his forearms harrumphed.

“Then y’all can relax a little bit. So you’re telling me that it’s a little suspicious that they both happened to have Time Magic, both know each other, are born on the same day, share the same blood type, and are a little in love?”

“I don’t buy into that hanky panky superstition stuff,” Gueldere began “but same day, same blood type, and same magic that is supposedly forbidden?” He shook his head. “That sounds awfully suspicious to me.”

“Yeah, just like you,” Jack nudged him in a thinly veiled insult.

“It’s not superstition.” Fuegoleon said as his frown deepened. “In a world of magic, it is an indication of important events.”

“Shouldn’t we all be moving along,” Arthur dramatically waved down the hall. “To the study to meet with your Master that you are oh-so-suspicious of?”

“Well, you don’t think that with your two thousand years of knowledge, it’s a little suspicious? Has there really never been any Time Mages as long as you have lived?”

“Wait, he’s two thousand years old?” A Captain whispered to another.

“No, there have been no Time Mages but there are now and yes it is a significant event and as for the coincidence, extraordinary individuals have extraordinary backgrounds,” Arthur explained in one breath. “There is no conspiracy, there is nothing. Don’t go poking your heads where it doesn’t belong now if we can please move along.”

Fuegoleon looked like he wanted to say more but he kept quiet. He could ask after the meeting.

“Can you walk?” Arthur whispered to Jayce, his arm tightening around his waist.

“I don’t know,” Jayce murmured. Just as quickly as he regained his energy, he lost it again. His body felt heavier and his stomach turned. The older man just sighed and picked him up.

“Where are you headed?”

Jayce didn’t even care to be embarrassed to be carried at his grown age. He was far too tired for it. The last time he saw Arthur, they might have been like cats picking fights for seemingly no apparent reason, but next time they see each other, they always go back to normal. That was simply their dynamic. He laid his head on the man’s chest and sighed,

“The study. The armchairs look really comfy.”

“What a coincidence, we’re headed to the same place.”

Jayce was swimming in and out of consciousness. He just wanted some sleep.

“Mmm.”

Sukehiro Yami brought his painting up to sunlight to see the pencil sketch beneath the painting. The Black Bulls insignia is coming along very nicely. He even used his expensive metallic gold paint for the accent colour, and in his humble opinion, it definitely catches one’s eye.

He looked at William Vangeance’s draft of his own squad’s insignia from the corner of his eye. Yami didn’t know much about the guy except that his Qi was all strange and wrong from the handful of times he worked with him. And today, he found out he was also shit at drawing.

Yami was making all sorts of faces but he most probably can’t even see because peripheral vision is blocked by that ugly mask of his. He had always wondered why he would wear that mask knowing that a good bit of his vision was blocked.

But each to their own, I guess.

His fingers itched to reach for a cig but he refrained considering that he was sitting in a lavish study, stuffed floor to ceiling in books on top of books. Julius may actually get mad for once if he waved a lit one near his books. He’ll be considerate for once.

Only for Julius though.

Yami and William froze when the doors to the study creaked open. They turned expectantly for the Wizard King and Captains to walk in but to their surprise, it was a little girl with long blonde hair who invited herself in. She carried some art supplies under her arm and closed the door quietly behind her.

She toddled over to the coffee table the Captains-to-be were hunching over and made herself comfortable on the floor and table-space opposite to them.

“You guys mind if I use this table?”

“Not at all,” William assured her instinctively but he was still unsure who she was or if she could even be in here.

“Thanks.”

They just stared at her as she kneeled on the floor and spread her supplies out on the table. It looked like she had already finished lining her sketch and just got to colouring. She stuck her tongue out as she concentrated. What felt like forever passed as they stared at her but it had only been a minute.

The little girl sighed as she set her pencil down, exasperated.

“Have you two never seen a kid or something?”

“Where are your parents, kid?” Yami blurted before William could.

“I think it’s more polite to ask someone their name first but okay.” She picked her colour pencil up and continued filling in between the lines. “My mom is on a work trip and my dad is also working.”

“What’s your name, young lady?” William asked, slightly embarrassed. He doesn’t see many kids around except maybe on missions or errands in populated areas. He can’t think of anyone at the Magic Knight headquarters who may have a kid. In his field, everyone would almost instantly know if anyone at work had a kid.

“My name is Holly. Thank you for asking, Cool Mask Guy.”

Yami stifled a laugh at William’s shock. Almost everyone thought that mask of his was tacky but that kid’s quick and honest compliment must’ve been nice.

“Why thank you, Holly.” He smiled. “Do you know anyone in this building?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’m not some random kid that wandered into the Magic Knight Headquarters.”

William laughed.

“That’s good! Do you like my mask, Holly?”

“Mhm.” She looked up to take a closer look at it. “It looks good in an ironic way.”

It was Yami’s turn to laugh.

“Haha, thank you,” William covered his mouth as he chuckled. “My name is William, by the way. William Vangeance.”

“Cool name too.”

Holly turned and looked expectantly at Yami.

“Yami Sukehiro.”

“Is that first name, last name or last name, first name?”

“Huh?”

“‘Cause I know in the East you say last name, first name.”

He huffed in amusement. No one had ever realised that before.

“Just call me Yami.”

“Nice to meet you, Yami.”

The three fell into companionable silence after acquainting themselves. After a while, Yami had finished his drawing and sat back to stare at the sealing. Holly got bored of colouring for a bit so she started a new drawing, using the two men in front of her as models. William looked up from his sketching and smiled when he saw that she was drawing them, and she was especially being careful with the way she drew his mask.

“Want to know a cool fact about my mask, Holly?”

“Sure!” She chirped. She seemed to be warming up to them.

“The Wizard King was the one who made this for me when I was younger and he made different sizes of it as I grew older.”

Yami listened indifferently. He didn’t know that but that sounds like something Julius would do. He’s got a soft spot for kids.

Instead of amazement, William was met with a warm smile.

“Yeah. Julius is cool like that.”

“You’re on a first name basis with the Wizard King?” William asked, in half confusion and amusement.

Holly went back to her drawing causally as she said, “Yeah. I think I can be since he’s smooching my mom.”

Yami’s head snapped to her, nearly giving himself whiplash.

Blonde hair, light purple eyes, working dad.

“Are you Julius’s secret love child?”

Holly looked up at him in shock and fell back laughing.

William and Yami just stared at her helplessly. If she was his kid, they felt a little betrayed because Julius hasn't told them a single thing about his life even though they have both known him since they were children. He was so charismatic that most people forget to inquire about him or his family. But even when they did, he had always dodged the question. He did let it slip once that he had a sister but no one dared to make any jokes about it. One guy tried it. He tried to make a poorly constructed joke about becoming Julius’s brother-in-law and everyone in the vicinity who heard the joke saw Julius’s face and found out first hand how terrifying he can be.

“I don’t think his secret love child would be hanging around the building where he works!” Holly guffawed, clutching her stomach. She slowly came to as she wiped tears away, feeling a little bad for the men she left in suspense.

“He’s just courting my mom. I think it’s really cute.”

Yami and William shared a look. Wow. They both sat back in shock.

“Why do y’all look like that?”

“Well, we’ve never heard of our Captain—well, not captain anymore but, we’ve never heard of him courting anyone,” William explained.

“He looks pretty good for his age. And he’s really nice and cool. Why couldn’t he get a date before?”

Yami could not stop laughing at that.

“It’s because I didn’t want to.”

Holly leapt to her feet at the familiar voice of her mother’s lover. He stepped out of the mini passage between his office and study and smiled warmly at them, the corners of his lips reaching his tired eyes.

“Julilus!”

William and Yami stood up at his arrival, the latter man wiping tears as he spluttered with laughter.

“Holly!”

Holly ran and jumped up into Julius’s arms and hugged him tight. He buried his face in her shoulder as he felt oddly emotional. He suddenly missed the days when his wards were younger and now they’re about to become Captains, he missed the memories of his childhood, hugging his younger siblings. He was at his wits end about his past coming back to him but he had to be composed. He was doing his best not to think about Aika because he was losing his peace of mind every time he did. It was a little hard not to when he was hugging her daughter but he has been through harder things in life. He can do this.

Julius pulled back with a sniffle and gave Holly a watery smile when she furrowed her brows at him in concern.

“I’ll be fine,” he whispered.

He had to be fine. He was the Wizard King.

Julius turned his attention to Yami and William.

“Congratulations you two,” Holly stayed close to him, resting on his hip, propped up on his arm. “Chairman Kira has finally approved your Captainship.”

“You knew he would,” Yami smirked, his left hand resting on the hilt of his sword and his right brought up to his chest in a Three-Clover Salute. William mirrored him with a polite smile. Julius did know he would. His foresight was a blessing.

“We would be honoured to dedicate our grimoires to you, Sir,” they declared in unison.

Julius beamed with pride. He was so, so proud of how far they have come. Two scraggly little boys who had no dependable adults in their lives; he was glad they had grown to not only depend but look up to him and followed his path to become a Magic Knight and then a Captain. He wanted to peer into the future but he refrained. He was sure one of the two would follow his footsteps to become Wizard King as well.

Julius absolutely refused to let them be pawns in Lucius’s game, raised to be lambs for slaughter.

A young woman, a nurse, wiped down her patient. The man lying in bed was tall with dark, dark hair with purple eyes. Well, purple eye. His other eye was covered with an eye patch for her and everyone else’s safety because it thrummed with ominous mana. Everyone felt like they should avoid it and it was no problem because it doesn’t seem to be causing him any issues.

Purple eyes were common, especially where she was from. In her culture, people believed that it was a sign of great potential; for magic or for life. Mainly for magic though. She lived in a Grand Magic Zone after all.

It was a region called Bain, snowy and white. Only specks of colour were the dark wood and leaves of evergreen trees and plants. It was fine by her though because it was not like she could leave. Her people have adapted to survive in the snowy Grand Magic Zone and have a lot of mana but they cannot survive outside of it because there was so little mana everywhere else. Because of the environment, they also had light skin and even lighter hair to absorb energy from what little sunlight they received. Warm blood, almost literal fire, coursing through their veins, which also makes Fire Magic common amongst them.

So the dark hair was somewhat of a rare sight. The man was clearly not from around here.

They do have adventurers and travelers that pass through their Grand Magic Zone but even then it was kind of rare for this dark of hair.

If she was being honest, she was jealous. She wished she had dark hair. She wished she could be an adventurer and see the world. She heard there are places in the world that are just fantastically green all over or even blue. She wished she was from a place where she wouldn’t have this light hair.

Hyperfixation on his hair aside, the young woman massaged her patient’s calves with her Fire Magic, keeping them warm and blood flowing faster as she eased her mana into the flesh.

Most people’s mana just get overwhelmed after a few days of staying in this region but after a week of staying here, his mana which was depleted before, was actually replenishing at the same rate as natives here. Healers have concluded that he was from another Grand Magic Region and was allowed to stay.

“Listen if I just place the pillow over his face,” her partner whispered in induced madness. “It will open up one more bed for us in the ward. These travelers keep taking up spots that us native folks desperately need!”

She just sighed. This clinic was only for outsiders to use specifically so they don’t take up beds and medical attention away from the natives. But she didn’t even bother correcting them because the homicidal behaviour was due to her patient’s unique mana as a Forbidden Magic user.

She had exposure to forbidden magic before so she was fine but her partner wasn’t. Usually they wouldn’t be in this room but they were a bit short staffed today so they had to step in.

“Okay, Mier. Time for you to step out.” She pushed them out with only a bit of resistance but to her shock, they swiftly side stepped her. Mier grabbed a glass bottle near them, broke it against the wall and lunged at her patient.

She could only watch in horror as her body didn’t move.

Mier threw themselves against the prone man but when they fell on top of him, they fell on the bed.

The man disappeared.

“Sad to see someone lose their sanity like that.”

The young nurse jumped when a voice spoke beside her. She pressed her back against the wall as she looked up in fear at the tall man. Her patient had woken up.

He raised his hands and backed off.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She stayed quiet and breathed deeply when anxiety threatened to clog her mind. But in that brief moment of silence, Mier threw themself again at her patient but the man held them at an arm's length and flicked them between their eyes, hard enough to knock them out.

They went slack and the man caught them before they fell to the ground.

“Sorry, I don’t want him to hurt me so I had to do that.”

“Them,” she corrected him reflexively. But she regretted it because she might’ve made the situation worse. He was definitely toying with her but she didn’t want to incur his wrath.

“Sorry, I didn’t want them to hurt me so I had to do that,” the man smoothly corrected himself as he placed Mier onto the bed he was previously in.

She relaxed. Wow. He took it really well and corrected himself immediately. That told her a lot about his character.

“What’s your name…Miss?” She nodded as she conjured up a shaky smile.

“Gwynevere.”

“Like the Princess of Sunlight?” He asked with a charming smile.

She blushed as she looked at his feet. He was trying to make her feel at ease and she appreciated that.

“Yes.” She was the Princess of Sunlight but he didn’t need to know that. “What’s your name? We…we couldn’t ID you.”

“I have a few names but one that is most known in this area is ‘Sarkany?’” He asked and looked at her to see if that rang any bells. She stared at him blankly. It didn’t.

“Could you go talk to your supervisor about it and maybe bring me some clothes, Gwynevere?”

That’s right. He was standing barefoot and naked in his hospital gown and she should probably let someone know he had woken up.

“I will be right back then.”

He nodded with a polite smile and she walked out without turning her back to him.

He was quick and not lethargic at all meaning he must have been awake for a while but he seems relatively harmless for now. She needed to be careful regardless.

Gwynevere went and explained the situation to the Head Healer. He tsked when she told him what happened to Mier.

“These outsiders will put their hands on anybody, I swear.” She explained to him that Mier was trying to kill the patient but he didn’t care. “Did he tell you his name?” “He said the name ‘Sarkany’ should be familiar.”

The Head Healer grew pale when she said his name. Maybe it did mean something then and she just didn’t know.

“Okay, Okay,” he hastily put his coat on. “Get the man what he wants and treat him as if he were our own.”

Gwynevere grabbed onto his sleeve as he turned away to supposedly go see the man.

“Wait, sir. Who is he?”

“I’m so surprised you don’t know but you are out here from that castle of yours to learn about us common folk and the world anyways so know this: That man is Atropos Tolliver and he is Eidolon’s best agent. He is very strong and not someone to mess with.”

“Oh.” She didn’t know what to say to that. She did know about Eidolon but not about Atropos Tolliver. She could tell he was strong and it made sense.

She brought some loose, brown pants, white shirt and a long strip of cloth to tie around his waist while her supervisor spoke to the man she was assuming.

She neared the door and she heard voices talk.

“No, no. Mier may have had trouble but Miss Gwynevere was the perfect caretaker.”

“Thank you, thank you! I’m glad to hear that her training has paid off. I am so sorry I didn’t recognize you earlier, Sir. You didn’t make your portrait public so I hope you understand…”

“Absolutely. Please don’t treat me any differently and contact the guild for the expenses. They should pay it in full.”

Gwyn walked in and felt strange when their eyes turned to her. She handed his clothes to him and stepped back as she looked at the floor.

“Thank you,” he said solemnly and she felt her ears burn.

Later after he checked out, he stopped her as she passed by him.

She craned her neck up to look at him in his one eye.

“I studied Medicine when I was your age.” Gwyn’s eyes widened in surprise. “You demonstrated excellent use of mundane and magic techniques in your physiotherapy for me. Well done.”

“How long were you awake?”

“Long enough. I apologise if that makes you uncomfortable.”

She shook her head.

“No, I was just wondering…You’re welcome. I was just doing my job.”

He patted her on the head as he walked out.

Gwyn stared at his back and wondered if she would ever see him again. Why did she feel that way? She didn’t know. Her heart was beating fast and it was in her throat. That man was scary for reasons she knew, but she wondered about what she didn’t know. The red cloak he borrowed billowed in the wind and the door snapped shut behind him.

That was not the last time she would see him.

Notes:

- In the first scene, the song “Once Upon a December” from Anastasia is playing and the lyrics are displayed in the scene.

- Next chapter, how will the former Wizard King and his wife deal with the uninvited guests? How will Julius and the Captains react when they see Yami and William’s squad insignias? When will Gwyn see Atropos again?

- As you could’ve guessed by now, Atropos is Aika. Aika having transformation magic and it being limited to her being a man was referenced in earlier chapters with Aika’s conversations with Julius.

- Sarkany was also a code name used for her in this region of the world. It’s the name that Sven, the assassin, used when he came to kill Aika.

- Julius is suffering right now but we don’t get to see the depth of it until the next chapter.

- What is Fuegoleon working on? You can ask me all about it on my tumblr or find out in chapter 17 or 18.

- Laplace’s demon is an old idea of determinism in Newtonian days that basically says that if you know the past, you could explain the present and if you know the present, you could predict the future with equations and such. When we’re talking about the future, we’re talking about the movement of objects and particles and such. This idea of determinism in science was cast aside when scientists realised that the world has random components and forces in it that cannot be predicted and this is the science of chaos. A part of why determinism in science doesn’t work is because the entropy of the universe, the disorder of particles as they expand, is very chaotic and unpredictable after a certain extent. So you cannot reverse entropy, physically or mathematically.

- So, Fuegoleon is trying to use his understanding of fire and heat to reverse entropy but that would mean using Time Magic. But it doesn’t have to be time magic specifically, but it can be time magic as a magic form. Magic forms are basically sub classes of the attributes in Black Clover. For example, trap magic even though Zora has Ash Magic, transformation magic when Julius has time magic, memory magic even though Ralph has fire magic, etc.

[jyoongim]

~ MasterList/Taglist ~

Mostly hazbin hotel Alastor imagines!!!

you can find all writings for the Radio Demon❤️📻 under #jyoongim tag in posts for what’s not linked!

Please comment so you can be added to ever growing taglist🩷

Taglist

Some have warnings and others don’t so read at your own risk!!!!

Key notes: I don’t not write male inserts

MINORS IF YOU ARE NOT 16+(I’m giving grace) DO NOT READ OR COMMENT!!!!!!!!

Fem!= female bodied reader

Yan!= yandere

NSFW = smut (sexual content) 18+

Fluff= fluff fic

Ch= chubby reader

DC= dubious content

NC= non-consent

Plat= platonic pair

I might post these to A03 so please be on the lookout for!!!!

✨Horny game✨

Alastor Requests

Acts of service

Cockwarming

Submissive Alastor

Jealous Alastor

A reminder to All

Pretty princess

Love language

Deal of a lifetime

Short fluff

Perfect wife

Retired pornstar

Run Darlin

Appetence

Ears

In the club

Nonbinary

More like a cat

Not so big and bad

Valentine special ❤️

Valentine special 2❤️

Cannibalism 1 / Cannibalism 2

Ruined Redemption

Bagged a baddie

We meet again

Mornings after

His sweet melody

Snatch & saved

Pretty lady

Friends

3 in 1

Jealous hubby

Behind Bars

Need someone older

Nine tails

Agape

Unwillingly Yours

——————————————————————————————————-

Short Alastor series

A Deal With God

Price to Pay

Anyway you want me baby

Dangerously in love

Always a Radio Star

——————————————————————————————————

❤️~BLOOD & BLISS~ 🩸

Chapter one

Chapter two

Chapter three

Chapter four

Chapter five

Chapter six

——————————————————————————————————

🎻ℜ𝔬𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔪𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔯𝔞𝔡𝔦𝔬🎻

Chapter one

—————————————————————————————————-

A03 LINK!!!!

Love you all😩 happy reading!!!!

[lou-struck]

Up All Night

Belphegor x reader

~Belphie gets splashed with Night Cricket essence and is cursed to hear their calling all through the night.

W.C: 3.5k

Warnings: Brief mention of Obey Me Chapter 16, slight angst, Belphie being crabby and kinda mean since he is tired.

Poor Belphegor can hardly keep his eyes open. It may be the early afternoon, but the Avatar of Sloth just arrived back at the House of Lamination after taking a make-up test at RAD. The reason he had to retake the test was not because he got a poor grade or anything; he just was too tired the day off and chose to sleep through all three of his alarms and, subsequently, the exam.

But now that that's over with, he can finally take his afternoon nap,

His head hangs low as he sluggishly trudges through his home. Searching for the perfect place to rest his head. His favorite cow-printed pillow secure in his arms as he pokes his head into your room.

Much to his disappointment, he sees that you are still out running errands or doing something equally as exhausting. Normally, he would have no problem falling asleep in your bed, but today, he is feeling a bit adventurous.

Today, for some reason. He is home alone which means he is presented with with rare opportunity to fall asleep anywhere. 

But where should he go?

Lucifer's office?

Leviathan's Bathtub?

That really comfy carpeted spot in Asmodeus' closet?

All this thinking only tires him out more as he wanders into the quiet living room. And when his violet eyes come to rest on the long plush sofa, he knows what he must do.

'I haven't slept there in a while," he says to himself. His legs feel like they are made of lead as they carry him toward the rose-scented cushions. He doesn't even bother to pay attention to the Akuzon package that rests on the little side table that he passes.

His pillow bumps the table and sends the little package tumbling to the ground. The box rolls a bit, and the sound of breaking glass reaches his ears.

'I hope that wasn't important,' he yawns, shrugging off any concerns he had and plopping down onto the couch and falling into a deep sleep.

Unaware of the nightmare he has created for himself.

~ 

The front door had just shut behind you when you heard a shrill screech of horror coming from the living room. Your breath hitches as you drop your floral printed tote bag to the ground and rush towards the sound, magic brimming at your fingers, ready for anything.

But as you rush through the doorway, you see the purple-haired Avatar of Envy on his knees, hunched over a fallen Akuzon package. The magic at your fingers fizzles away, and you sigh, seeing that Belphegor still sleeps comfortably on the couch despite his older brother's meltdown.

"Belphie, what did you do to my package?" Levi screeches, reaching over the couch and shaking his youngest brother roughly from his slumber.

He stretches out like a cat and smacks his lips sleepily as he sits up. "Oh, hey Levi. What's in the box?"

Levi sighs and looks down at the open box. Pulling out what looks to be the neck of a broken bottle. "It was the night cricket essence I ordered, but you broke it."

The Avatar of Sloth looks lazily between the box and his brothers. "Oh? I guess I did. I'm sorry, Levi."

"What's night cricket essence?" You ask, stepping into the room and sitting on the edge of the sofa where Belphie's legs are.

"Night crickets are a special kind of bug known to keep demons up at night; I wanted to put a few drops of their magic into my energy drinks so I can stay up all night to play games."

Your eyes widen at Levi's explanation; the Otaku hardly gets enough sleep as it is; he doesn't need some hardcore magical caffeine supplement to keep him wired. "No, you definitely should not do that, ever."

He crossed his arms and huffs, "It's not like I can anymore. He broke the bottle, and the shop I got it from just got shut down."

"I wonder why?" Belphie chimes in, sitting up just a bit more to grab your hand. Even though you are seated on the same couch as him, he feels like you are too far away.

Levi's face is a deep crimson color and he looks like he is ready to burst. "That's not the point. You broke my package and now I won't be able to play through my new game all in one sitting. Everyone is going to find all the hidden items before me, and I'll look like a complete loser on my server."

"Yeah, that is what will make you look lame." The avatar of sloth quips back with youngest sibling-level sass. You bite the inside of your cheek as you try to keep a straight face and not damage Levi's already fragile ego. 

"Anyways," you clear your throat, trying your best to desolate this situation. "Levi, you really shouldn't buy things like that. It could really mess you up. And I hate to see you uncomfortable."

Levi looks at you with a grateful smile. "Oh, Mc, you really do care. Even if I am just a pathetic little shut-in. I'm going to make my avatar in the game look just like you as extra motivation to stay alive." he grins, rushing down the hallway, ready to play his game.

Now alone, you look to Belphie, who looks like he is about to fall back asleep holding on to your hand. "Don't you dare," you scold, taking your hand out of his. "You are on dinner tonight, and you are not sleeping through it again and buying takeout."

"But everyone loves Hell's Kitchen." he yawns, looking at you with a pleading expression. 

Standing strong you ignore his puppy dog eyes and give him a knowing look. 

"Fine, you win Mc." He sighs, taking your hand. "But you have to help me since it's too tiring for me to do it all on my own." You fight the chuckles as he leads you into the kitchen to be his sous chef for the evening."

~

Hours later, Belphie finds himself in his bedroom. His stomach is full, his teeth are brushed, and he slips on a cool pair of pajamas. 

He may be able to fall asleep anywhere, at any time, in any condition, but it always feels better to slip into something cool and soft against his skin at the end of the day. 

Beel emerges from the bathroom, a tired smile on his face as he wipes a bit of toothpaste from his lips with the back of his hand. "The Roasted Cockatrice you made tonight was delicious; you should make it more often, Belphie."

He smiles at the taller demon as he slides under his lavender-scented covers. The softness of his quilted down, embracing him like an old friend. "Thank you, Beel; if you like it so much, I can make it again for you sometime, and you can eat as much as you want."

Beel gives him a big, happy smile as he gets into his bed on the other side of the room. "I think I am going to dream about it tonight."

Belphie laughs as he sets his DDD down on its bedside charging port. "Careful Beel, the last time you dreamt about dinner you ended up eating your pillow in your sleep."

He frowns and looks at his mattress, "I really liked that pillow too," recalling the memory foam pillow you got him from the human world. He sighs and slips into his sheets. "Goodnight Belphie."

"Good night, Beel." With a flick of his wrist, he turns the bedroom light on and lets his head rest against the pillow, ready to head off into dreamland.

Minutes turn to hours as his cool sheets heat up uncomfortably, and the enviable sound of Beel's soft snoring can be heard from the other side of the room.

This feeling of restlessness is unknown to the Avatar of Sloth as he tosses and turns, waiting for sleep to take him, but it never comes…

~

The next morning, you find yourself at the breakfast table sipping on a chilled glass of freshly pressed blushberry juice and basking in the early morning shenanigans of the Avatars of Sin. 

Next to you, Beel is devouring a mountain of protein waffles after what you can assume to be an intense early morning workout.  

Out of the corner of your eye, you notice Mammon sneakily trying to pluck all the blood strawberries out of the communal fruit bowl without anyone catching him. And so far, no one has. Especially since Asmo's flash keeps going off as he takes and retakes pictures of the adorable latte art Satan made for him. 

At the table head, Lucifer reads the newspaper, the ghost of a smile on his face as he tries to hide his contentment with this family time.

All of a sudden, Asmo drops his phone and lets out a gasp. "Oh Belphie, what happened to you? You look horrible hon."

Your head snaps to the doorway, and your gut fills with concern as you take in Belphie's appearance. His skin is sickly pale, his hair is ruffled beyond what one would call bedhead, and his usually bright violet eyes are framed by deep dark circles.

Had he slept at all last night?

"Shut up, Asmo," he grumbles, dragging himself to his seat and grabbing the pot of coffee from the center of the table.

You could hear a pin drop in the room as everyone watches him pours an impossibly tall mug for himself. He completely ignores the thick wisps of steam that dance on the lip of the mug and inhales the entirety of the dark roast-like air.

Beel swallows the waffle that had been caught in his throat and gently places a hand on his twin's shoulder "Belphie, are you okay?"

"Does it look like I am okay?" he snaps, jerking his shoulder out of his grasp "I heard you stomping all over the place this morning. It's impossible to get any sleep when I have to listen to you all night long."

Your eyes widen. Did Belphie really just say that to his twin? His favorite being in the three realms? Beel's face falls, and he is about to utter a small apology, but he is interrupted by a firm cough from Lucifer, who sets his newspaper down on the polished table.

"Clearly someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," he says, staring down his youngest brother with a gaze of fiery crimson. "You should think about what you are about to say next, Belphegor, or you will deeply regret it."

"Whatever, you guys aren't worth my energy." he gets up and walks out of the room, leaving the room in uncomfortable silence. You glance over to Lucifer and meet his gaze. His jaw is clenched, but he gives you a nod of encouragement that has you exiting the room to try and find Belphie and figure out what has gotten him so upset.

You don't have to go very far. Belphegor's steps are unenergized and painstakingly slow, allowing you to easily catch up to him in the hallway. Gently, you reach for his hand to stop him.

"Belphie, what is wrong with you?" you ask, "You never get mad at Beel like that."

His gaze narrows, and he rips his hand out of your grasp way harder than he usually would. "Well, maybe if he learned how to function without sounding like a stampede of elephants is marching through the room when I'm trying to sleep, I wouldn't have to get mad at him."

"Belphie…"

"And why did you follow me?" He says, his features twist into a cruel smirk that has you taking a hesitant step backward. "Is the nosy little human trying to make themselves feel all important by getting involved in our business? Why don't you get out of my face and get back to the human world where you belong."

Ouch…

Pain flashes in your gaze and he finally realizes that he went way too far. "Mc, I-i didn't mean it~" he tries to come closer to you, to apologize, but it's too late."

Your reply to him is cold and dismissive. "Just go get some rest Belphegor. You obviously need it." You glare at him and turn to walk back towards the dining room.

"Mc, wait." He tries to call after you, but you're gone. And when you sit back at your seat at the table you notice that your breakfast tastes far less sweet than it did a moment ago.

~

You have avoided Belphie for the better part of the day, and you have tried not to think of his cruel words. You want to give him time to fix his cranky attitude, but honestly, you don't know if you want to talk to him right now.

It is now way too late in the evening you are hunched over at your desk working on something for RAD when you hear a weak knock on your door. You glance at your little clock. It's 3:45 in the morning. 

Who would be knocking on your door at this hour?

You pad across the carpet and open the door slowly to reveal the disheveled (and honestly pathetic-looking) Belpheghor. 

"What do you want?" you say, tightening your grip on the door, ready to shut it in his face if he says anything rude, but you freeze when you take in his appearance. He looks worse for wear than he did earlier. Clearly, he did not take your advice and rest earlier.

"Please," he murmurs out. "Please let me in"

He looks so pitiful, your cave; opening the door wider to allow him inside. His head hangs low as he drags his feet across your carpet in a zombie-like fashion.

He slowly sits himself down on the edge of your mattress and stares down at his hands as if there is some kind of apology tattooed on his fingers.

"M'sorry." he mumbles at last, his voice raw from frustration. "After what happened last time… I told myself I would never do anything to hurt you ever again. I just wasn't thinking, and it slipped out."

"Clearly," you huff sourly, still licking your wounds from yesterday morning. "If that's really what you think of me, then that's fine, but Beel doesn't deserve to be snapped at either."

He opens his mouth in protest, "It's not like that; you know how much you mean to me, Mc. I'm just not acting like myself." He looks like he is about to cry, and it tugs at your heartstrings. "It's no excuse, but I'm tired."

"Then how about you just go to fucking sleep already then?" you respond. You may just be a human, but the demons aren't the only ones capable of inflicting hurt.

"Because I can't." he raises his voice, and you flinch under the sharp edge to his voice. 

Immediately, he steps back for your comfort. This small act of consideration, even in the heat of the moment, makes you see him not as the monster in your mind but as a piece of your heart.

You think about what he is trying to say.

He can't sleep.

How is that possible?

 He is literally the Avatar of Sloth.

 One time he fell asleep on a rollercoaster because it took too long of a pause at the top before zooming downward.

"What do you mean you can't sleep?" you ask softly. Your feet move on their own, gently closing the distance between your bodies as you sit down next to him on the edge of your firm mattress. "What's going on Belphie?"

Your proximity is like a weighted blanket to him, and he leans in closer to your touch. "I haven't slept at all since that nap I took two days ago by the fire."

"Two days?"

You may not know the ins and outs of the effects that each brother's sin has on them, but you know that Belphie doesn't just sleep all the time because he wants to; he has to. Two days for him must be agonizing. 

Thinking back to the other day you try to think of any little details that may lead you to why the poor demon next to you is unable to catch a wink of sleep. 

You remember sitting next to Belphie on the couch…

And Levi was screaming about a package…

The Night Cricket Essence!

"I think I know why you haven't been able to sleep," you say, reaching for your DDD and pulling up your browser. Searching for anything you can about the demonic caffeine supplement thingamabob. 

The effects pop up instantly, along with several warnings about the consumption of the product. You make a mental note to talk to Levi about his purchase history later, but you continue to scroll about the product. 

"What are you looking at?" Belphie asks, leaning over your shoulder. He is so exhausted he slumps into your side, but you don't mind in the slightest. 

"The effects of Night Cricket Essence," you reply. "It says here that you should only add a few drops into a drink to keep you awake, but it must've vaporized when you broke the bottle.

"So I inhaled the whole bottle?" he blinks.

"I think so," you muse; it seems to be the only way to explain how someone as powerful as him could be affected.

"When will it wear off?" he groans, leaning back onto the mattress. 

"No clue, sorry. I'll keep looking," you murmur, trying to find some kind of a cure. 

You scroll and scroll and scroll until you stumble across something that sounds promising. 

If consumed in excess, the effects of Night Cricket Essence may be counteracted with a cup of chamomile tea.

Is that all it takes? A cup of tea?

It's worth a shot

"Come with me, Belphie, I want to try something to help you." Despite his restless exhaustion, your soft voice and kinder eyes are able to coax him onto his feet. He follows you out your bedroom door and into the kitchen.

He sits down at the counter as you scamper about the room, grabbing everything you need to make the both of you a nice cup of tea. 

For demons, getting ahold of human world tea is next to impossible, but you had just come back from a trip with Barbatos to stock up on some hard-to-find blends. Chamomile included. 

It doesn't take long for the tea kettle to whistle as you pour him a cup. You hand it to him carefully before pouring your own. 

"Let's hope this works," you mumble, blowing on your own glass, but he wastes no time. He drinks it desperately, and a few droplets strip down his chin and onto the tabletop.

By the time he comes up for air, the cup is empty, and you know this is an immediate difference in his appearance. His eyes droop, and he looks at you with a sleepy smile. 

"Thash goose" he stumbles out. You may not have the same twin telepathy that he and Beel have, but you know what he means as he sets the cup down clumsily. 

"How are you feeling?" you ask, sliding around the counter and pressing a gentle kiss to the crown of his head.

"Tired," he mumbles, tilting his head up so you would kiss his lips. His movements are sluggish, but the sensation of your lips on his is enough to keep him going a bit longer. “Can I has slee in yer ruum?” 

"You want to sleep in my room?" you ask, watching as his lids get heavier and heavier.

"Yesh, wanna cuddle."

You smile as he clings onto wakefulness, waiting to hear your answer. "You can stay with me." Your acceptance brings a smile to his face as he sinks onto the tabletop; his head hits the wood with a thud as he finally dips into his well-deserved rest. His soft breathing fills the room as you finish your tea. Once your little tea break is over, you will have to put him on your back and carry him to your room.

~

Three days later, you are once again at the breakfast table. When Belphie finally emerges from your bedroom looking extremely well rested. The others, having been made aware of the situation, breathe a sigh of relief when he takes a seat next to Beelzebub. 

"Good morning Belphie." Beel smiles hesitantly at his twin through his breakfast sandwich.

"I'm sorry for how I acted earlier; I hope you're not too upset with me to go out for lunch."

The smile that appears on Beel's face makes your heart melt as he nods eagerly. "Can Mc come with us too? Food always tastes better when I eat with both of you."

Belphie glances over to you as you nod and directs his attention back to his brother. "I think that can be arranged."

Tagging: @enchantedforest-network

[boinin]

Blue Lock volume cover analysis

An examination of unusual features and chains among the 28 volumes released to date. Subject to revision.

Like this? Want to reference these points in your own analysis on Reddit, YouTube, wherever? Go ahead! A shout out to this post is appreciated. Straight up plagiarism isn’t.

Volume 8: Mikage Reo

Reo's chains are noticeably shaded green. Guess whose eyes glow green when they're fired up...

In addition, @thyandrawrites has a theory that Reo ties/reties his hair up as a way to maintain emotional composure. The volume covers tend to represent the character's personality or struggles in some sense. If so, this is an early nod to the emotional trials Reo endures during the series.

Volume 10: Tokmitsu Aoshi

No chain weirdness here, but Tokimitsu is surrounded by black gunk in his cover. This may be a visualisation of his anxiety and the way he copes with it: running at speed and bulldozing through his opponents.

Volume 11: Ego Jinpachi

Ego's cover depicts him totally immobilised by the four chains bound to his neck. To date, no other character has been more restrained by the chains. This likely represents that Ego's fate is utterly dependent on the outcome of Blue Lock. His cover also suggests that Blue Lock (and football) consume Ego's life.

Volume 12: Shidou Ryuusei

Shidou's chains have a blue glow, much like Sendou's in volume 27. This glow is far closer to Shidou's collar however. It could imply that Blue Lock is the beginning of Shidou's pursuit of football.

He's also depicted with demon wings. The collar or chains don't impede his movement significantly, unlike other characters. In addition to portraying his incredible physicality, this could also visually represent how Blue Lock has failed to subdue Shidou.

Volume 16: Oliver Aiku

Aiku's chains are wrapped tightly around his arm and he's pulling them taut. The chains themselves appear rusted and cracked, most notably on his collar. This could represent Aiku's relationship with football. He grew jaded with being a striker in high school. Becoming a defender, then the match against Blue Lock, revitalised his enthusiasm. Hence, the chain is holding fast: he's just as ensnared by football (and Blue Lock) as the others.

Volume 17: Itoshi Sae

Sae and his chains are bathed in radiant gold light, which is associated with both divinity and wealth. His chains crumble in one place, and remain barely intact. I offer two interpretations for this. Firstly: unlike the others, Blue Lock does not have a strong impact on Sae—his success as a footballer is completely independent of it.

Secondly: if we take the chain to represent Sae's footballing career, the crumbling chain could allude to a time when football negatively impacted him. Perhaps whatever happened in Madrid? But he came back stronger, as the rest of his chains appear even more golden.

Volume 18: Teieri Anri

Anri is the only character depicted without chains or a collar. While working with Ego is a prison sentence in its own right, the artwork suggests that her ambition and future isn't connected to the outcome of Blue Lock. It can also be interpreted as a nod to the hierarchy within Blue Lock. Anri is Ego's boss and thus, she is free while he is constrained. However...

Zoom in on the reflection on her phone screen. It appears to reflect a wide grin—which can only be one person's. Taking into account her passivity in chapter 247, this detail positions Anri as Ego's accomplice: willing to do his bidding, no matter how amoral.

Volume 19: Michael Kaiser

Kaiser's collar and chains are made of glass, through which his blue rose tattoo is visible. As chapter 243 told us, a blue rose represents the impossible to Kaiser. Glass chains suggests that his ego or ties to football are fragile, and could be broken easily. Symbolically, glass can also represent transparency. As a character, Kaiser is upfront about his talent and desires. Nobody is in doubt about his footballing mantra or his intent to undermine Isagi.

Volume 20: Alexis Ness

Ness's chains are entwined with blue rose brambles, all but for a short length to the top right of the image. While Ness came to love football independently, seeing it as magical, the rose brambles show that his connection to football is now inseparable from his devotion to Kaiser. It also reflects that Ness would not be a professional footballer without Kaiser, as per chapter 242/243.

Volume 24: Hiori Yo

Hiori is the only character shown holding the end of his chain, which is secured by a football-shaped weight. This suggests that Hiori himself is the one in control of his career, rather than external forces. Football is a burden to him, albeit something he can carry. Therefore, Hiori is not ensnared by the chains (or Blue Lock) to the same extent as other characters. Appropriate for a character guaranteed to succeed as a footballer, but who ultimately may not choose to pursue it.

Volume 25: Niko Ikki

Niko's volume cover is hilarious. I'll leave the explaining to Tomo-tan, who lays out the humour and genius of Niko's cover in this great Reddit post.

Volume 26: Don Lorenzo

Members of the New Generation World XI have no chill when it comes to their covers, and Don Lorenzo is no exception. His collar shows bite marks, as though chewed through. Gold teeth are good for more than caramel popcorn, apparently.

Lorenzo's chains are accompanied by what looks like electricity. This suggests that football reanimated Lorenzo from near death, as per chapter 216. It's a visual nod to his playstyle, which resembles the incessant pursuit of a zombie. Guess we can call him Snuffy's Monster.

Volume 27: Sendou Shuuto

A blue glow appears on Sendou’s chains, halted from travelling further by his fist. This may represent the threat Blue Lock poses to Sendou's footballing career. He's already been kicked as the striker of the national team; now in the Neo Egoist League, he must battle for a place on the new U20 line-up. No easy feat, as his sweaty face implies.

Another detail worth mentioning is that the trajectory of one of Sendou's chains appear to align with the chain Aiku's pulling in his cover. This similarity, and the fact that they're both holding their chains, may be interpreted as a nod to their status as former U20 teammates—likely the only ones that will make the new team, going off the latest NEL auction table.

[syndxlla]

best friends don’t look at each other the way we do

A low stakes, high reward and self-indulgent Zelink fan fiction. Canon-compliant. Takes place between both and totk

Chapter Six: This is Home

Read chapter five here

My masterlist

Song: Run To You by Leah Michele

Summary: Link is brought on to investigate a new strange monster plaguing the farmers in Hateno. He is faced with a new type of post-traumatic experience he doesn’t expect to have.

Warnings: canon-typical violence, suspense and horror, PTSD, squint and theres very base-line sexual content, GRAPHIC descriptions of animal mutilations!

Word Count: 3.5k words

Authors Note: I didn’t update for two and a half months and said “lemme give you guys the best chapter yet” (imo). Thank you for being patient with me. I restarted school, closed one musical, opened and closed a 30 performance long run of another musical and literally fell in love with a man 16-years-older than me in that time lol. Also I wrote this in one sitting and I’m starting chapter 7 now 🫡. Its unedited be nice.

Also please do not make fun of me for using a Leah Michele song for this chapter its so good and it works really good so just shut up. Kloveyoubye

The summer starts to get hotter. A week passes and nothing changes, neither of them ever address the hand holding, Link is fixing the hole in the roof and Zelda is reteaching herself how to fix a clock, an activity she originally learned at the age of seven. Everything is so normal, the sun starts to set a little later, and the fireflies have started hatching.

Link never really thought he would end up in a position to do housework. He tried to get Bolson to fix the hole before Link bought it, but it would take a certain number of wood piles and when Link went out to get them he got a little distracted. And by distracted he means ending the sandstorm in the desert caused by the Divine Beast. It just got put on the back burner, and now here he is, using basic tools to hammer in new shingles. He wipes his brow, his shirt off again. He takes a look at the hammer in his hand, thinking about the savage Lynel sword that same hand has swung.

The passage of time is weird.

Maybe he does want to go back to work. Going from Demon slayer to roof repairman in two and a half weeks is a little jarring.

He hears a groan of frustration from inside the house, and makes his way inside, where it's much cooler.

“Everything alright?” He asks, looking at the girl who’s hunched over the kitchen table.

“No, this is absurd.” She slams the machine on the kitchen table. “I can’t remember how to do the most basic thing in engineering ever.” She frowns.

Link chuckles and places a dirty hand on her shoulder as he walks past her. He moves to the water basin and wets a cloth that he wraps around his neck. “I don’t know the first thing about that stuff, so you have me beat.” He shrugs. “Man, what I would give for an hour at Lurelin right now. Or better yet a weekend at Tabantha. I bet the weather there is a comfortable 60 degrees.” He sighs. Trying to slyly put the worm in Zelda’s ear about a possible trip.

Zelda groans, “I agree. I don’t remember it getting this hot.”

“This is just the beginning, wait until it’s the midsummer festival.”

“A festival?” Zelda’s face lights up.

Link nods, “It’s something they started about thirty years ago. It’s right here in Hateno. People from all parts of the kingdom will travel for it.” Link drinks some water, leading against the counter at the hip. Zelda makes special effort not to admire how his obliques curved. “There’s music and dancing, it’s quite fun. I was invited last year as a special guest. The “chosen hero” or something like that.” Link shrugs.

At that moment they hear a sharp knock on their door. It startles both of them. Link moves to answer it, setting the rag and cup down.

“Dantz, what is it?” Link says as he opens the door to a distressed farmer.

“Master Link, so good to see you,” His voice is shaky, “I didn’t know who else to go to.” Link listens more intently, Zelda even stands. “Two more of my cattle have been killed. When I heard you were back in town I knew you could help me. I don’t know who—or what—is killing them, but it's not a moblin. It’s something darker.” He’s speaking a mile a minute.

“Slow down,” Link stops him, “When did this happen?”

“In the night, I came here as soon as I could. They were covered in something… unnatural. Please, Link.”

Link turns back to look at Zelda. “Stay here.”

“What? No. I’ll come with you!” She moves to him and Link stops her. If this is anything like what Cado saw at the castle, he didn’t want her to be anywhere near it.

Link completely turns around and puts his hands on her shoulders, “Zelda, you cannot.” He stays sternly.

“Why? You don’t have to baby me. I can help you.”

“Zel-“

“I’m better! Please don’t leave me-“ Before she finishes the sentence she’s falling back down, like she was going to faint again. She had gotten herself worked up and now her heart was weary again. Link catches her before she falls, her knees knocking together.

“Oh, Goddess.” Dantz says. “Should I help?” He asks and Link snaps, telling him ‘no’ a little too forcefully.

“Zel, come on, let's get you to bed.” He wraps her arm around his shoulder. “Dantz, I’ll be there within the hour. I’m sorry.” Link says in a calmer tone.

“I understand, Link.” He nods and turns to leave.

Zelda can’t get up the stairs and Link picks her up, carrying her up to her room. He places her in bed as she starts to cry.

“Hey, hey it’s okay.” He brushes her hair out of her face. She takes his hand.

“No. It’s not.” She replies. “Stop telling me it’s okay.” She groans. “It’s ridiculous that I can’t do anything without this happening.” It was the second time this week.

“I have to go help them.” His hand is held back by her, but she eventually lets it go.

He turns to leave her, pulling his green tunic over his messy hair, and getting ready for combat. He isn’t even anticipating a fight, but he wants to be ready. He puts his gloves on, and straps both his sword and shield to his back. He even gets his bow ready because he has no idea what it might be. It sounds serious.

It’s the first time he’s been entirely suited-up since the castle. He forgot how natural it feels. He forgot how much he felt like himself.

Zelda has gotten up and stands at the railing of the loft. “Be careful.” She says in a weak voice.

Link looks up at her, he wants to stay here with her and hold her and let her know that it's going to be okay. “Please rest.”

He walks out the door.

The cattle are lying dead in the corner of the pasture. Flies buzz around them. Dantz and Link examine the scene, a pit in both their stomachs.

“What could it be?” Dantz asks.

Link crouches down, getting a closer look. The gunk is a deep maroon color, almost like malice but thinner, almost like a glossy serum as opposed to a thick slime. Link takes a risk and touches a bit of it that was strewn across the grass, rubbing it between his fingers. It didn’t seem to hurt him the way malice did. He sniffs it, it’s rotten and foul. He gags almost immediately. Link wipes his hand off in the grass.

“I’ve never seen anything like this.” He admits. “And I’ve seen a lot.” This was only confirming his worst fears.

“The other ones that were killed were left like this too.” Dantz explains, “There isn’t even any meat taken out of them, only their eyes are gouged out.” He points out.

“Whatever is killing them is doing it for sport.” Link stands back up and folds his arms. “This is bizarre, I must say.” It was starting to be late afternoon, he still had a few hours of sunlight. “What did you do with the other ones that were killed?” Link asks.

“We tried to clean them up and butcher them for food. But the meat inside was rotten, like it was poisoned under the skin.”

Link hears a giggle from behind them and turns around to see the two daughters of the rancher watching them from behind a post. When he catches them staring they both hide.

“How old are your girls?” He asks.

“Siva is eighteen and Catli is sixteen.” Dantz replies. “They are my pride and joy, I can’t let anything bad happen to them.”

Link advances towards them, “Girls.” He smiles, charming as ever. They both sneak out from behind the post, sheepish and giddy. The older steps forward.

“You’re the hero.” She puts her hands behind her back. Link nods.

“Can you girls show me the edge of your property?” He asks, wanting to test a theory. They both happily nod and start to lead him, he notices especially how Siva looks at him as she walks by. She was very agreeable: long, dark and curly hair and alluring eyes. He follows them. They take him past the fence and through the forest, the younger chatting and asking questions about his quests and whatnot. He just smiles and nods, answering with basic “yes’” or “no’s”.

Link’s theory starts to prove right, he sees a set of two acorns on the ground, then a pair of two foot tracks, and eventually, at the end of the property, where two songbirds lay dead at the bottom of a tree, both covered in the same strange goop. Whatever this is, it’s looking for things in pairs. Like two sisters.

Link would never imagine putting these girls in danger, and would send them home in about an hour or two when it started to get dark, he just wanted to lure out whatever was killing with a pair.

He sat down at the base of a tree, and listened as the girls talked themselves up, clearly competing with one another for who can be the most impressive to the hero. Link decides to let them have their fun, it’s not like he was getting this attention from Zelda.

Zelda.

She’s all he could think about. He listens to the girls for a full hour, but doesn’t comprehend a word they’re saying because all he can do is think about the woman he left at home. He wishes he hadn’t left her home, she’s probably sad and lonely. Or maybe she isn’t, perhaps she’s enjoying some alone time. He doubted it, though. He was sure she was fuming at him for just leaving her, for going in such a rush. Proximity can cause problems, maybe this was good for them.

Link must have zoned out because all of a sudden the younger sister was gone, and he was left alone with Siva. This was dangerous territory.

“Where did your sister go?” He asks, clearly uncomfortable.

“Oh! I told her to go get her tapestry to show you! Of course.” Siva says in a tone that was a little too flirty for Link’s liking. She sits next to him, facing him. Link knew the look on her face, and he knew he should stand up and put an end to whatever was about to happen. “Because you know… now we’re alone.” She sighs and leans in.

Stop. Stop. Stop. He tells himself but doesn’t move, he lets her place her lips on his.

Link is not an experienced kisser. He’s had a few drunken nights in the last three years where he ended up in a Gerudo’s bedchamber or a stable-workers hideout, and while those were all agreeable experiences, he’s never actively sought them out. It was always nice to get the tension from his journey off, though.

Link makes the mistake of kissing her back, and she’s sighing into his touch and he’s pulling her in. Being alone with a woman he’s been in love with for three years and not being able to touch her or talk to her the way he wants to has left him with a lot of pent up energy, it felt good to get it out.

Link puts his fingers through her hair, and starts to kiss down her jawline and neck and she’s letting out the prettiest little sounds.

And then he starts to think about Zelda. The sounds Zelda would make, the feeling of her hair intertwined in his fingers, how her lips would feel against his…

Zelda.

Zelda.

“Zelda.” He sighs, and then Savi is pulling away.

“Hm?” She asks, and Link is dazed and confused, thinking with anything other than his brain. He doesn’t know how long they were kissing because suddenly it's much darker outside, and if Dantz caught them like this, Link would be the one hunted down and killed, not whatever monster is out there.

Link immediately feels stupid, this was a rookie mistake. He shouldn’t have let it happen.

“What?” He responds to her, and then out of the corner of his eye, he sees something run behind the tree. “Shit.” He jumps up. “You need to go. Right now.” He pushes her back towards the house. It wasn’t far, she’d be okay. “Please don’t tell anyone about this.”

She nods, also remembering their reason for being out here. She runs back home and Link shakes his head, trying to refocus. He sees it again, it’s fast, moving from tree to tree, but further away. Link grunts and starts to slowly follow it. He isn’t sure if it saw him. It’s tall, and it’s dark. He would guess it’s a Moblin by its size but it's much too fast to be a moblin. Perhaps a wizzrobe? But he could hear its feet on the grass. Link starts the stalk, prowling towards it like a predator.

He doesn’t think it knows he’s following, because he’s able to follow it halfway up Madorna Mountain before he accidentally steps on a branch that snaps loudly. Again, a rookie mistake. Link was out of practice, rusty. He silently curses himself for that. The beast turns around to look at Link, but he’s able to hide behind an oak tree. It was still a little light out, and the lights from down were getting smaller and smaller as they worked their way up the mountain.

Link stayed vigilant. It’s been a long time since he’s had to fight a new enemy, and he wasn’t sure how powerful this was going to be. It gets quiet, he doesn’t hear it move. Even with Link’s impaired hearing, he had a knack for the details, but not today, not now. A cricket chirps but it’s silenced halfway through its sound. The wind goes still. A cloud covers the moon.

He girds up, and moves from behind the tree to keep following it, but he’s met with a horrific sight.

The creature is standing there, about six feet away from Link.

It startles him. He’s met with a feeling of dread.

It’s tall, probably seven feet. It’s hunched down, a humanoid-sort of beast that looks like a shadow covered in the same maroon gloop as the animals.

Link freezes up, he is paralyzed with fear because he knows exactly what it is.

He knows who it is.

It opens its eyes, those awful, yellow, glowing eyes. He chuckles at Link and it fills his skull. It wasn’t quite human, like it was a pile of goo that was regaining its strength and slowly rebuilding itself into a human. Into a phantom.

They stare at one another, his laughter taunts Link. Link can hear his heartbeat in his ears. His palms start to sweat. He is met with the images of three weeks ago. The battle, the castle, the evil.

Ganon.

Or at least some form of him.

He doesn’t move, he just laughs at Link. The boy swallows, and he wants to run, but he rolls his shoulders back.

“Courage and Bravery are two different things.” Zelda’s words ring in his memory.

He grabs his sword.

The Master Sword unsheathes with a light ring, and it glows in the darkness.

In an instant, the monster is screeching and howling like a Lynel and melting away from the light of the sword. The pure power of the holy blade made the beast slowly melt into the ground, like an ice cube in the desert. It covered its eyes, and screlted into the forest, echoing no doubt into town.

Link walked closer to it, waving the blade, spinning it in his hand until the creature was completely put away.

Whatever that was, it isn’t very strong. It will surely get stronger, though. Link had a feeling this was not the end of it. It left behind a puddle of goop. Link’s stomach dropped when he realized why it was killing for sport and in pairs of two. It was probably seeking Him and Zelda. Unable to differentiate what living things were hylian and what was cattle or animals. The stealing of the eyes surely had something to do with it regaining its strength, but what?

How did it know to come look in Hateno already?

After sheathing the sword and thanking the Goddess, Link took a moment to bury the secretment. He still felt sick to his stomach. Why did he freeze up like that?

Maybe that final battle had more of an effect on him than he thought.

He heads home, explaining to Dantz what had happened and what he saw, sugar-coating it a little and just saying it was a ghost. Link wasn’t sure how long it would stay away for, but hopefully long enough he could talk to Impa about it. Clearly the Master Sword was protecting him. He made a special effort to avoid Savi.

When he gets home, he drops his equipment off, pulling his gloves and boots off and leaving it all in his little corner downstairs. He pulls his shirt off. He would sleep out with Epona again tonight, he would need to to avoid the nightmares. His Mare had that effect on him. The feeling of safety and home.

Zelda was asleep, snoring lightly in her bed. He stayed quiet and went to sit at the table, grabbing a baked apple to silence his rumbling stomach. Guilt washed over him as he remembered what he did today. Savi came onto him, but he knows he shouldn’t have let that happen. He was ashamed of his conduct.

The laughter of the phantom rang in his ears. Flashes of its grin and glowing eyes projected in his mind. He felt ill.

Link disassociated. He sat at the table for three hours and it went by in minutes.

What snaps him out of it are the screams of terror he hears from upstairs.

His mind immediately jumps to the worst possible situation. He grabs the master sword and sprints upstairs. He sees nothing but a scared girl, crying from a nightmare.

“Zelda, what is it?” He asks, setting the sword town and running to her. He kneels by her bed and takes her hand. “I’m here, what’s wrong.” He whispers.

“You’re here?”

“I’m here.”

“B-but. The guardian, it got you. It killed-”

“It was just a nightmare, it wasn’t real.” Link reassures her. “I’m here, breathing, alive as ever.”

Zelda shakes her head, she’s clearly so traumatized that she cannot differentiate dream from reality anymore, she probably thinks him saying that is the dream.

“Here, feel.” He grabs her hand and places it against his chest where his heart is. “Feel that?” He asks, “Bum-bum. Bum-bum.” He whispers. “That’s my heart. Its pumping, it's beating.” Zelda sobs and he pulls her into his chest. “It’s okay, I got you. I’m here.”

He holds her for a moment and then stands up, “I’ll get the stool if it will help you sleep.” He turns to go.

“Stay with me.” She asks, tears wetting his collarbone.

“I’ll be right here, I’ll grab the stool.” He says.

“No, stay with me.” She says, and gestures to the bed.

“What?”

“Please. I cannot sleep without you by my side. I’m too afraid I’m going to lose you again.” She sniffles.

“Zelda I can’t-“

“Why?” She asks. “Because of decorum? Because I’m royal? Because you don't want to get caught?” She picks up her hands ‘None of that matters anymore’ she signs.

Link nods, “Are you sure?”

“Please.” She pleads.

Link moves back to her, trying to control his racing heart. Zelda scoots over to she’s closer to the wall, and Link carefully crawls into the covers of the bed. There wasn’t a ton of room, there would be no way for them to lay in the bed without being in full contact. “Is this okay?” He asks as he pulls the covers up.

She nods.

“Hold me?” She asks.

Link looks at her and it takes every ounce of his self-control not to kiss her. He nods and lays his head down, his chest facing up. He pulls her into his chest, wrapping his left arm around her shoulders and his right arm over his stomach to her waist. She tries to control her breathing, and it gets easier as their hearts begin to sync up.

Link wants to cry too, because this is the safest he has felt in a hundred and three years. This is the most at home he has ever been. He mentally-pinches himself because he’s sure he’s dreaming. But he doesn’t wake up, in fact, he starts to fall into the deepest sleep he’s ever had.

Every muscle in his body starts to relax, his eyes get heavy, and the scent of the girl on his chest fills his dreams with images of fairy forests and gentle ocean waves and the time of day when the sun moves into twilight.

This is home.

[lunarthecorvus]

Inej Ghafa parent's fanfiction recommendations part of Lunar's soc fanficiton rec series

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what a mother was by @cameliawrites

Wordcount: 62k Chapters: 8/8

Characters: Inej Ghafa's Mother, Inej Ghafa's Grandparents, Inej Ghafa's Aunt, Inej Ghafa's Father, Inej Ghafa, Kaz Brekker

Tags: Mother-Daughter Relationship, Motherhood, Family, Romance, Coming of Age, Prequel, Time Skips, Suli Culture & Religion, Canon Compliant, Original Character(s), Canon-Typical violence, Period Typical Racism, Sick Character, Grief/ Mourning, Attempted Sexual Assault, First Love, Implied/ Referenced Homophobia, Eating Disorders, Bittersweet, Angst, Eventual Happy Ending

Author's summary/notes: "She could recount every detail of the day she married Kolhat: the geraniums her sister had embroidered along the sleeves and hem of her dress, one of her father’s old handkerchiefs tucked into her pocket, her mother’s silk veil draped over her hair. She could recall the day she met him, when she was all of twenty years old. Inej was not yet twenty. Shanta still felt as young as all that, and she felt far older." . . . Before she was Inej’s mother, Shanta Ghafa had a mother too. or: ten years and six suitors in the life of Mama Ghafa. My summary/notes: A beautiful retrospective of Mama Ghafa's past, the life she has lived, and all she has loved and lost. Camelia is just an amazing writer and every part of this fic was beautfully written. You can feel the grief and joy of Shanta's life and it added levels and depth to her character that I never would've expected. While reading this I couldn't believe that this wasn't canon and its own book. I would kill to read this for the first time again.

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Sankta Margaretha and Other Tales of Sorrow by @oneofthewednesdays

Wordcount: 18k Chapters: 8/8

Characters: Inej Ghafa, Inej Ghafa's Mother, Inej Ghafa's Father, Kaz Brekker, Jesper Fahey, Wylan Van Eck

Tags: Post-Book 2: Crooked Kingdom, Hurt/Comfort, Family, Angst, Implied/ Reference Rape/ Non-con, Canon Typical Violence, Graphic Description of Corpses

Author's summary/notes: When his daughter was stolen from beneath his nose on the outskirts of Os Kervo, Samir Ghafa lost his faith in the saints. After a letter arrives bearing the insignia of the Lantsov double-eagle, he finds his hope rekindled. But when he learns of the demon of Ketterdam, he begins to fear once more… My summary/ notes: I'm not sure how to write this without directly spoiling it.. but a certain opinion Inej's father has about someone is surprisingly uncommonly found in fics and its so interesting to read how the opinion is formed and how Samir acts because of it. Then consequently how the others act and feel because of Samir's actions. (I was laughing my ass off while writing this so vaguely)

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Ten Minutes in the Life of a Pear by @oneofthewednesdays

Wordcount: 8.9k Chapters: 4/4

Characters: Inej Ghafa, Inej Ghafa's Mother, Inej Ghafa's Father, Kaz Brekker, Asha, Hanzi

Tags: Panic Attacks, Healing, Implied/ Reference Rape/Non-con, Canon backstory, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Post-Canon

Authors summary: Four glimpses into breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert with the Ghafa Family. My summary/ notes: A heartwarming fic reflecting on the pain and the way relationships both platonic and romantic can develop and grow throughout the different points in life.

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Runs in the family by DopamineAddict

Wordcount: 99k Chapters: 16/18 (hasn't been updated since march)

Characters: Inej Ghafa, Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa's Mother, Inej Ghafa's father, Wylan Van Eck, Jesper Fahey. Tante Heleen, Specht, Roeder, Anika

Tags: Revenge, Family Reunions, Canon-Typical violence, Coming of Age, Inej Ghafa needs a hug, Past Rape/ non con, Post-Book 2: Crooked Kingdom, Kaz is scared of Inej's parents he knows hunger for revenge when he sees it, the Ghafa's might be a bit non canon but we only see them from Inej's pov in canon so..

Author's summary/notes: As the Ketterdam harbour grows closer, Priya and Devnand Ghafa steel themselves for the truth of whatever their daughter had been through over the past two years. And for what they might do about it. My summary/notes: Priya and Devnand meet their daughter again after years, they learn about her and what's she's been doing, but the other question that will be answered is what have they been up to since Inej has been taken. (This fic is just incredible, it changed how I saw her parents)

[balsamfir-fics]

a hope redefined (prelude)

Genres: angst, post S1 canon, more angst, romance, eventual smut, established childhood crushes to strangers to lovers, post-pining, becoming machine herald (sort of), eventual dad!vik, political tensions, growing up, the human condition

Pairing: Viktor/AFAB Reader

Warnings: series will have eventual smut, mentions of difficult pregnancy/injury/civil war. this prelude mentions spicy activities.

Summary: Viktor shouldn’t be alive.

He shouldn’t have survived the blast of the Council attack, and even if he did his sands of time should have soon run out. And yet here he stands, part man and part machine, in a future he never planned for and an augmented body he never expected to have.

With no template to follow, Viktor forges a new path towards happiness as he grapples with reconciling the man he once was and the man he could become. Complicated as this path may be, he knows better than to waste an opportunity to spend his remaining years with you, the person he’s kept in his heart ever since you were children. Amidst the chaos of an antebellum Runeterra, Viktor finds his freedom, his future, and his family.

Chapters: Prelude

Chapter Word Count: ~1.3k

Author Notes: Unedited. Threequel and final part to a hope never forgotten and a hope at risk. This can be read independently of its predecessors, though reading those first will better contextualize Viktor and YN’s relationship. Previous fics summarized below if you don't have time to read them!

Prequel summary: YN is Heimerdinger’s adopted daughter; YN and Viktor are childhood friends who grew up together between the ages of 10-16 and separated at 16 immediately after an unspoken confession of love. The uncertainty and cowardice of youth prevent YN from keeping contact until twelve years pass. Over the next five years the two keep orbiting each other, gravity pulling them closer, until Viktor’s hospital stint as per Episode 5 forces YN to reckon with their lifetime of love. The end of A Hope Never Forgotten sees Viktor’s seventeen-year-long hope and longing fulfilled.

A Hope at Risk follows canon for episodes 5-9 of Season 1, with some references to LoL lore for post-Season 1 events. Viktor hides his prognosis and the nature of his Hexcore experiments from YN for as long as possible, until his life is in jeopardy after the Council attack and YN finally finds out. YN and Jayce share the decision-making burden in not destroying the Hexcore so that Viktor's life can be saved. Viktor withdraws while processing all of these black-swan events (Hexcore integration, new city of Zaun, his Zaunite and Piltovan identities, etc), but hopes to work through his demons enough to return to YN. In the meantime, he moves to Emberflit Alley in Zaun where he hopes to rebuild who he is and figure out who wants to be.

If missed, the prior work notes that Viktor refers to YN as 'Sparrow' sometimes, which is because he finds her lively and likeable.

This last work refers to Arcane Season 1 canon first and foremost, then interprets post-Season-1 events by incorporating elements from older LoL lore. The majority of this piece will not follow Season 2 canon as it's not out at the time of writing, but Viktor's plotline in this work is written to be as plausible of a Season 2 fan theory as possible.

The first work in this series deals primarily with hope as per the title; the second deals with themes of loss and survival. Both are about decisions made and avoided. This final work reckons with recovery, rebirth, and rebuilding.

Hope, as the past five years has taught Viktor, is not quite the out-of-reach temptress he once believed it was, but rather a willful act of empowerment that even he is entitled to pursue.

It’s a bit of an odd lesson for him. During decades of wanting, but not having, he thought perhaps hope was a thing intended only for others — never him. He now thinks back to those days, remembering his own failure to quell the little flickers he felt, despite what he considered to be careful, methodological, and supposedly fool-proof efforts. How could his sixteen-year-old self, shown blissful perfection for mere minutes before having his heart torn away from him, ever have fathomed that there was something that came after despair? How would he, at 28, know that the little flame of hope he forgot to extinguish would grow to a blaze of success? Even more important — how could he have ever known that a sickly boy from the undercity could be given a second lease on life?

These second chances he never expected to receive (and one, even, that he still struggles with accepting) are the reason he is here today, he reminds himself. And here so happens to be in the arms of your post-coital form, watching as you struggle to calm your breathing. This affirms two things that he thought to be impossibilities: you’re his partner, and he’s — somehow — alive.

Such boons come with their own set of costs, of course. The cool metal of his peculiar augmentations serve as a daily reminder of what he gave up for science, for life, and for society. In part, he surrendered some of his humanity; though he's grateful to live another day in your presence, something that nearly feels sentient lives within him as sustenance. Nevermind the brief euphoria he felt running at the docks; the Hexcore might be a curse, he thinks, but it saved his life. In other ways, he lost control over his moral sensibilities; the breaths he’s allowed to take now were given to him against his consent, and the corrupted Hexcore remains, undestroyed, within him. Skye’s life was taken by the very thing keeping him in the mortal realm, and he endures the guilt of her death with every second his life goes on longer than hers.

He’s spent the greater part of the past few weeks in agony, mostly of the emotional sort as the foreign, willful hum of the Hexcore inside him makes quick work of healing his most severe injuries. Tormented by his conscience, his fear, and a profound sense of losing himself, Viktor knows he’s made a series of hurtful decisions to part from his entire family in Piltover. He knows that some of these relationships will have seen their heyday and may be beyond repair — not for lack of effort, but by the predicament of the turbulent political climate created in the aftermath of the Council attack. But such efforts must be taken one step at a time, one person at a time. Fixated on working on himself so that he might stand by you as his full self and not a broken, conflicted version, he furiously set plans in motion no matter his uncertainty. At his first sign of some satisfactory progress (to his standards), he allowed himself the small luxury of reaching out to you. He’d intended to only start a conversation, hoping to restore the full effect of your relationship as best as one might during a powder keg of a political situation. At most he’d expected that you might see each other in a few months to a year after letting letters and counseling do the work of rebuilding.

Naturally, you (fearless, fearless you, Viktor thinks) showed up on his doorstep at first chance instead. He would never complain, but after two nights of your warmth in his bed and the impossible pleasure of your daily company, the worries that prevented him from seeing you earlier seep back in.

As if you can sense his rising anxiety, you stir against him now after having come back down to Terra. He smiles at the dazed, incomprehensible murmur you make with your lips against his bare shoulder. You ease him, somewhat, but the kernel of worry remains. Viktor presses kisses to the top of your head. You tighten your arms around him, blinking back into reality under the dim Zaunite glow that filters into his bedroom.

“It’s still early,” he hums. “I’m sorry I woke you for…” (You raise your eyebrows knowingly, pressing naked self into him more intently). Viktor elects to finish his sentence carefully. “…For certain activities.” He coughs, making you smile at the dichotomy of his bashfulness after rather intense morning spent with his face between your legs. “You should get some more rest.”

Never one to be told what to do, you frown slightly, then prop yourself into an elbow. But Viktor is adamant you take care of your health (never mind that he’s notoriously bad at doing the same for himself), especially in these polluted depths. Pulling you to the washroom for the loo and a quick rinse, he then leads you back into his small bed for a few more hours of shut-eye. Later when he tries to wake you for a tardy breakfast, he chuckles at the trail of dried saliva you hurriedly wipe away — at least it’s a strong indication that you’re able to sleep soundly despite the constant bustle in the streets of Zaun. His small unit is a far cry from the sweeping wings of the Heimerdinger Estate that you’re accustomed to, and it’s still much less comfortable than even his modest apartment back in Piltover. In the least, he’d managed to pull together a rudimentary air filter from spare materials he brought with him from the academy lab and hopes that it lasts long enough for the duration of your stay.

Then he realizes something. He has no idea how long you’ll be here in Emberflit Alley with him. Hopefully not long, he thinks. Not because he wants to stop seeing you, no — rather, Zaun is no place for a Piltovan at present, and the small alley he’s in now was chosen for its seclusion instead of its relative quality of living. The dangers to you in the former undercity are many; if not to your health by means of pollutants, then by the constant stirrings of war that are whispered in the streets, emboldened by the Council attack and the topside confusion that remains unresolved. The pit in his stomach grows. You shouldn’t be here. No matter how much he would prefer to bask in your presence.

Nonetheless, you are here and these precious minutes are not to be wasted. You sit up, concerned by the change in his expression as thoughts race through his brilliant mind. “Vitya?”

“Hm?” He shakes his head slightly as if to rid himself of his thoughts, then pushes himself off of the bed to lean against his crutch. “Ah, I made a quick meal in case you might be a bit peckish. It’s not much, but it’s enough.”

You survey him, waiting to see if he might share what he was thinking of. Viktor merely tilts his head in the direction of his kitchen with a half-smile. He waits patiently as you grind your teeth in your decision to stay in bed longer or satisfy your hunger, electing to savor the moments he can with the extra time he’s been given, and pushes away his niggling concerns for now. His leg twinges as if to remind him who he has to thank, but when you slot yourself into him and support his side (arm wrapped tightly around his waist), he melts into your warmth and feels his worries — temporarily — fade into the background.

The road ahead might be immensely difficult and fraught with tragedy, he thinks. But mornings like these make it all worth it. As he wraps his own arm around your shoulders and nestles your head onto his, Viktor silently vows to help ensure that you and Runeterrans — all Runeterrans, not just the privileged few — get to have a future filled with such mornings.

[whatswrongwithblue]

The Fire in the Sin

Chapter 2 - Reflections

Word count: 2,600. Read on AO3. Series Masterlist. <- Previous Chapter

Chapter summary: The story of Mina's (Alastor's wife) life and death. Trigger Warnings: Canon typical violence, canon typical language, suicidal ideation, religious trauma if you squint, forced marriage, mention of abortion, mentions of dubcon, terminal illness, drug use, domestic violence, murder.

Series Summary:

In the 1950's, Alastor met the woman he would eventually marry but unfortunately his Radio Demon persona went for her soul rather than her hand. He has to learn what it means to love, and cherish, without possessing and he does. Their relationship is beautiful, strong, unbreakable . . . but he carries a dark secret through their marriage for decades until eventually he has to face the consequences of that secret and leave her, without warning, for seven years. He returns, finding her at the Hazbin Hotel, and has to convince her to forgive him, while being literally bound to secrecy, unable to tell her any of things he now is desperate to explain to her.

(This is a duel timeline fic, timestamps will be a the top of every chapter.)

Chapter 2 - Reflections

October 4th, 1917

California coastline, near Sonoma

Mina Gallagher looked out at the Pacific Ocean and wished she was dead.

Fantasized about it, more like.

Growing up in Ireland had given her a enduring love of the ocean. She was in awe of its power; how it could go from calm as a child’s rocking crib to an omnipotent force capable of ripping sea cliffs apart in a matter of hours. Her small, weak body craved that kind of strength, and she would slip her shoes off to stand in the shallow, icy waves, praying to it as devotedly as her parents prayed in mass every Sunday.

As a teenager, she would run away to the shoreline any chance she could and let the ocean be the only witness to her desperate tears. She had thought about swimming out into it then, letting a rip tide carry her away to freedom . . . and certain death. Same thing, really. But she hadn’t the courage then.

When she was married off at 16, she stood through the whole long torturous ceremony, daydreaming not of a groom as most girls did, but of stowing away on a ship and fleeing to America.

A year later, with her husband in pieces in his coffin and her dead baby not yet dispelled from her womb, she got that wish granted. Only she had been no stow away; she had been a proper passenger, with her fare paid for by her new manager.

Her voice, and her body, were his for the time being. They often snuck out on deck late at night and he would fuck her from behind, thinking she enjoyed the thrill of potentially being caught as much as he did, but in reality, it was so she could watch the waves ahead of them and ignore the man grunting from behind her.

Men were such pigs, but they were easy to manipulate. He had thought he was using her, but it was the other way around.

It took her a couple more years to be free of him but eventually she was able to dispose of him. Not as violently satisfying as she had dealt with her husband but with a poison that she was able to frame his assistant for.

There were many downsides to being a woman born around the turn of the 20th century but getting away with murder was one of the rare benefits. No men were comfortable admitting that a quaint little five foot nothing girl was capable of causing them harm, let alone hacking them to bits or slipping arsenic into their drink, so she was never the prime suspect in either of those cases.

The Irish Siren was the nickname the Americans had given her and they loved her scandalous life story and the lyrics that were inspired by it in a way that her conservative Catholic homeland could never.

If she had lived to see the roaring twenties, she really could have come into her own.

Mina coughed into her napkin and it came back bloody.

She had been able to make a living touring the nation, completely reliant on her “God given” talent to sing until the age of 24. Not long after that birthday, the coughing started. By the year’s end, it was clear her singing career was over. She was the Irish Siren no more.

The Atlantic ocean had always felt like home to her, so she had stayed on the east coast for as long as she could. Back home in Ireland, the Atlantic was mercurial and always in motion but here in America, she saw its other face. This Atlantic was calmer, steadier, and more reliable. The fair weather, high humidity, and low elevation of the Carolinas were supposed to be good for those suffering from consumption and she was able to continue making a decent living as a poet. She couldn’t sing anymore but she could still write, though she kept her favorite, darkest pieces to herself.

Eventually the itch to travel one last time consumed her thoughts, a stronger acting force than the disease consuming her body, and she saved up enough money to cross the country by train and buy a house on the west coast. She had always meant to see the Great American West and now that her time was growing short, it was now or never.

The Pacific Ocean was so much more than she expected. Here on the coast it was often overcast and rainy, and tricked her mind into being nostalgic for her lost childhood home. She had loved Ireland’s landscapes, enough to almost make her forget how much she had hated her life there.

It was so big, this new ocean. She purchased a globe so that even in the evenings when it grew too dark to see the water, she could still admire the sheer dominating size of the thing. There could be so many secrets hidden beneath its depths. Lost civilizations or ancient Eldritch style monsters long forgotten by the modern world.

If she had worshipped the Atlantic Ocean, she had well and truly fallen in love with the Pacific.

Mina stared out her window, watching the rain, and accepted she would have to wait for another day.

Her plan was to row out on the next sunny, calm morning, get out as far away from the shore as the tide and her sickly body could take her, swallow the rest of the laudanum, slit her wrists, and jump in the water. Let the ocean and its creatures, depths, and secrets have her body. It was better than a casket and a last devotional ceremony to a God she had turned her back on long ago.

She coughed again, and the wracking overcame her frail form, forcing her to sit down and double over. Afterwards, she breathed in as deep as she could, but it was painful and hardly satisfying to her oxygen starved body.

That perfect day had to be very soon or she wasn’t going to live to see it.

From what seemed like a distance, she heard a knocking, and realized it had been going on for a while but she was so lost in her laudanum she hadn’t noticed.

It was probably just her one and only neighbor, a bizarre middle-aged man with more money than wits, and a rather strange collection of exotic animals that tended to get loose. He came over more often than her physician, asking if she had seen any of his escaped creatures. The conversation always turned into a proper visit, and she didn’t have the energy or the patience for his strangeness today. So she ignored the knocking and continued in her reverie. Maybe the would-be visitor would assume she had finally died and would leave her in peace.

She laughed out loud at that thought and triggered another coughing fit.

The world turned glossy again and several minutes to several hours could have gone by as she watched the ocean waves in her drug induced stupor until a voice from behind her lifted her from the fog.

“Hello, Mina.”

She turned in her seat to face the man in her doorway, unsure of who he was at first. After a heartbeat, her mind registered the face.

“Johnathan,” she said, acknowledging him as if she had any idea of why he was standing in her living room like he had every right to be there.

She thought she had done away with him for good. In no uncertain terms she had made it clear to him that unless she wanted to continue being dissatisfied in the bedroom, there was no point in him staying in California for her. She was too sickly to perform any kind of proper wifely duties for him, too barren to give him any more heirs and frankly he had enough of them already, and she was clearly dying soon anyway. The only reason he had to continue to propose to her was for her money, and she had told him frankly she wasn’t stupid enough to leave her fortune to a man such as himself. That had gotten her slapped and though she hadn’t been physically well enough to fight back, she had born the shiner proudly in the mirror for a couple weeks. At least she had been left in peace because he had stormed out of her house after that argument and not returned. She had hoped either the war or the pandemic would kill him, or that she would be dead herself before he had the opportunity to bother her again.

“More prospecting business dragged you back to town, eh love? Come to try and marry a corpse while you’re at it?”

“You were always such a cold-hearted bitch,” he said, and she noticed he was slurring his words even more than she was. “I’m surprised there’s enough heat in you to keep that cunt warmed up.”

She had her faculties about her enough to know to stand up and begin putting distance and furniture between him and her. He had never spoken to her that way before, not even when he had hit her.

Johnathan was always a short-tempered little shit with those he deemed beneath him but he had been well mannered with her up until his last visit. She was lonely and often drunk or drugged since her diagnosis and had allowed herself to be entertained by him now and then.  But she was realizing too late that she had become arrogant and careless around men in the last couple years of her life and forgotten how dangerous an animal they could be when they didn’t get their way.

And Johnathan looked like he regretted not giving her more than a hard slap all those months ago.

Mina ran, as fast and hard as her tired muscles could carry her, and made it all the way into her rarely used kitchen before he was able to catch up. Not that she had any plan or real means of escape.

But she did have knives.

She was able to grab one out of a drawer but then he was on her, slamming her face into the edge of the counter and she dropped to the floor.

Somehow she managed to roll onto her back and face him, all without dropping the knife. But he saw it and was able to grab her arm before she could drive her weapon into him.

Her arms were as weak as everything else in her body but her grip was still strong enough so that he couldn’t pry her fingers off from the around the hilt, at least not while also trying to hold her legs down as she desperately tried to kick at him.

Johnathan gave up his attempt at removing the knife from her hand and instead turned her wrist so that the deadly point was now facing her stomach.

“Stupid bitch,” he hissed out when she got a good hard kick into his shin. “I don’t want to kill you, stop fighting!”

Oh, he just wants to beat and rape me, how considerate, she thought.

Her face was bleeding badly from where it had made contact with the countertop and she tasted her own blood. Johnathan had strength, size, and health on his side of this battle but she had something he likely hadn’t considered.

She had already come to terms with her death. And she was really, truly, quite insane.

Mina stopped trying to hold him away from her and let the knife plunge into her abdomen. It hurt, but there was little wind to knock out of her lungs anymore and she had so many painkillers in her blood at this point, so she hardly felt more than a deep pressure.

Johnathan’s face was brought suddenly closer to her as he wasn’t expecting the sudden stop in resistance against him so she closed the gap between them by sitting up just a couple inches and bit hard into his cheek.

She clenched her jaw down as tightly as she could and felt the flesh tear and a new taste of blood spurted across her tongue.

He screamed and she laughed.

Mina let go as he pulled away suddenly, clasping a hand over his face and still screaming. She wasted no time in yanking the knife from her own stomach and swinging it up and then down again, burying the blade to the hilt in his neck.

It made a squelching noise as it sank in and Johnathan’s screams were replaced with a wheezing expulsion of air.

She brought the knife out and then right back into his chest.

He fell backward and she stabbed again.

And again.

She didn’t stop until the fatigue in her arms made her stop.

Mina struggled to her feet, using the kitchen counter to pull herself up, and looked down at the body of the man she had just slaughtered with her bare hands. He had not been her first victim. Not even her second. And her only solid thought was it was too bad she couldn’t have done that more often, to more men.

She was so out of breath and getting really, really tired now.

Looking down at herself, she realized most of the blood pouring down her dress was her own and remembered she had been stabbed.

Right. Today would be the day after all.

She stumbled through her house and out the back door.

The rain hadn’t stopped but it was alright because she really couldn’t feel the cold.

Just make it to the water. That’s all I want, to feel it one more time.

But it was so far away.

Her house sat a good 200 yards from shore and she was barely off her back porch before vertigo caused her to stumble to the side. It took almost all her remaining energy reserves to get back up and when she did, her vision was so blurry and her head was spinning to the point that she nearly vomited.

She looked down at the hand that was pressed to her bleeding abdomen, trying to will herself to walk the rest of the way down to the water. It was no good. She was surely going to pass out any second now. If she hadn’t been so out of her mind from lack of blood and opium, she likely would have cried.

When she looked back up, she saw the strangest thing.

A panther was crouched, maybe just ten feet from her, still as a statue and looking right at her. Its coat was shiny and mostly black, but light enough in some places that a dark golden-brown pattern of wide spots could be made out along its sides.

Maybe the knocking had been her strange neighbor after all, at least at first. Come to tell her he was missing a member of his collection and to not venture too far out from her house today.

The panther’s irises were green, with gold around the edges, and her poet’s mind declared it the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen.

But it doesn’t have a panther’s face, she thought, that’s the face of death.

It leapt for her then and she simply sat down. When it landed, she had a moment to feel its weight push her back into the sand beneath her.

She kept her eyes open as its teeth found her neck but she was already too far gone to feel any more pain.

Next Chapter ->

[blayeart]

Frankenstein’s Monster - Love Without Judgment (Fanfiction)

This story is an alternate universe within the world of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. (1818) It takes place after chapter 16 when the cottagers reject the monster, and he burns their cottage down once they abandon it. …At the peak of his anguish, he encounters a generous woman who offers him aid. He clings to his new protector with all hope in the world. OC x Canon / Romance / Comfort 

Ch.1

It was spring when she beheld the creature for the first time. He quickly stumbled down the road past her home as villagers shouted and tossed any item his way that could do harm. She cracked open her front door to catch a glimpse of the commotion outside. That was when she saw the cause of the villager's cries. The creature's height stood far above the greenery that lined her cottage. He held his bloodied hand close to his chest, a recent injury. What a sight. But she did not scream; she simply held her hand over her gaping mouth and watched as the creature ran as fast as his legs could carry him, blood trickling a faint trail. Men and women cursed his way: “Demon,” “Evil,” and “Monster.” They were convinced he was only here to do evil, such as kill children or destroy crops. “An omen from the devil,” one villager told her, “not to be trusted.”

But she watched with sympathetic eyes. How did he end up this way? What has he done to deserve such treatment? Were these acts of violence towards him deserved? After all, it was somewhat reminiscent. But a being like him, what could he be? And with such a humane expression, as if he were on the verge of tears, she wanted to find out for herself. Once the crowds subsided, she packed a medicine bag and bravely followed the blood trail.

She made her route into the woods, hoping it wasn’t too late to find him. The springtime brought fresh growth, such as wildflowers and tall grass. After what felt to be an hour searching amongst the brush, she heard the cries and groans of a tortured soul. Behind a thick oak, he sat, gripping his wrist in anguish. He clasped at the sizeable bloody gash on his palm. Frightened villagers likely caused this injury. Their eyes met, and he cowered, hiding his face above all else. He was more aware than anyone of what he looked like. While he waited in suspense for her screams, she took a moment to look him over. The sight was a frightening one and caused her to halt and step away. Her body told her to run but she stood her ground, seeing as he clearly was not a threat at this moment. Nature suited him; his form seemed to blend into the bark. He wore tattered clothes that hardly fit him. He was also barefoot and dirty. But what surprised her most was that even hunched over on the ground, she could tell he was a massive.

“How are you not afraid?” He spoke with a deep, gravelly voice, full of confusion. As he began to behold her, his eyes could not tear away anymore. She was a beautiful woman with a lovely dark complexion; average in size but still petite compared to him. She wore a grey skirt with a white apron, her sleeves were long and loose, and her waist was cinched by a corset.

“I am a little afraid,” she admitted, circling the oak while taking in the sight of his ghastly complexion. “Are you a demon?” She held back any sign of kindness for now. His discolored skin, soulless orbs, many scars, and long black hair made him feel otherworldly. She might not have dared approach him if she had found him standing. Meanwhile, her words stirred him.

“I am not! I am-” But he looked down in defeat and anger. He did not want to say what he believed he was- a monster. Instead, he returned his attention to the stinging pain on his hand. This caught her attention and at last, she kneeled before him to get a look at the wound herself. He was speechless and too scared to make a sudden move and frighten her. Because God knows, he had only ever frightened those around him. 

“Let me see your hand.” She commanded, and so he did. She pulled out a bottle from her bag and began to explain. “I’ll clean your wound, but this will hurt. Is that alright?” He nodded and couldn’t imagine this pain to be any worse than what he had experienced so far. She poured water gently over the cut, in which he only flinched from the sudden cold. As the blood flowed off, she brought out another bottle, this time explaining that this pain would indefinitely be worse. Indeed, even he does not know the pain of alcohol being poured directly on an open wound. “This will hurt far more, but again, the feeling of pain is a good thing.”

“I trust you.” He admitted quietly, though he had no reason to. As the solution was poured over the wound, he instantly curled up in place and groaned, trembling from the unusual, shocking sensation. Yes, pain. It seems he was fated to always receive pain from those around him. “Arg- It hurts.” He did everything in his power not to tear away from the women. He did not want to seem ungrateful, as this was the only person who attempted to help him. She held his forearm as a sign of support and that he must wait for the pain to subside. It felt like forever, but finally, he overcame the strange treatment. The gentle touch of this woman had been such a blessing that alone kept him still and patient. In silence, she brought out a long strip of cloth and carefully wrapped up his wound. During this time, he discreetly observed her face. So beautiful, he thought, an angel is before me. But her face also filled him with a kind of torment that he may never have her. Too lovely for the likes of me. I must have tripped at some point and am hallucinating.

“Now do not remove that bandage for a while, and try not to close or open your hand; a gash like that can easily reopen.” He did as she instructed and laid his hand back onto his thigh, keeping his hand in a relaxed pose, just like she gestured. He took a moment to collect his thoughts as she placed her bottles back into her bag.

“You have shown me more kindness than any other human I have met.” He spoke precisely, recalling the cottagers he loved so dearly. “No… not even a single being has looked at me for more than a moment without condemning my death. In fact, only the blind will give me that time of day. So why have you decided to show me decency?” It was strange, she thought. His tone was hostile. Like hatred was all he had ever known. And it was true; he anticipated fear and anger from those around him. But he needed to understand why now- was he finally shown tenderness? The small woman looked thoughtfully at the creature before speaking.

“When you fled the village, I felt you were innocent. Most are so quick to judge and be fearful of what they don’t understand. After all, I have been treated the same.” 

“A beautiful woman such as yourself being ridiculed?” She huffed at his doubt.

“Oh, you would be surprised by how close-minded these villagers are, even towards people that look like them.” She stopped before starting again. “You see, I practice medicine. The kind that will heal your wound in a reasonable amount of time.” He liked her voice; she spoke with a sense of purpose. “But medicine like this confuses people out here… because surely it must be the work of magic or some other kind of witchcraft.” She raised her brows mockingly. “Anyways… the villagers fear magic.” With a sigh, she calmed herself before saying much more. Afraid saying too much will draw out her memories. “I guess we are both devils in their eyes… So please, do not tell anyone what I’ve done for you this evening. They will burn me for it.”

“Burn you? Your own village would hurt you for acts of kindness?” She tilted her head with a sad but confirming expression. Yet he could believe it. This world was filled with horrible people, so his rage returned. “I am- once again, disappointed in the men before me. I was on my way to satiate my rage… To find my creator and try to put an end to this misery. I can still feel in myself- an unchecked hatred that wants to end all of humanity for its wrongdoings.” His head bows down toward his bandaged hand. “Oh, how I want them to feel the pain I suffer, to walk the dreaded path I have walked. Maybe then- I will be seen as an equal. But no- I am past trying to find humanity in such creatures.” He stopped himself and returned his gaze to the lovely woman beside him. It was as if he had forgotten that he had an audience that listened and stayed put. “I look like death, am treated like death, and therefore I tread the same path as death. But you- you are still here. The picture of beauty and youth before me… If I have to end all of humanity, I promise to leave you alone, unscathed.” He takes a moment to burn her image in his mind, but he wants more. He wants to reach out to her and experience the warmth of her skin on his. Just as she held his arm moments ago, despite all his vengeance, he ached for love. 

Meanwhile, she sat and listened. Feelings of intrigue and shock passed through her mind as he spoke. Despite all that he had said, she felt no closer to understanding what he was. He shifted forward slowly and lifted his unwounded hand towards her face. “May I touch your cheek or hair? I will not hurt you.” Oh, he was hopeful of experiencing the touch of a woman. Instead, she took his eager hand, stopping his advances.

“First, tell me your name,” she asks with a smile. But he cannot smile, as the question surprised him. 

“My name?” he looks around the forest, searching for an answer. “My name… My name is Adam.” 

“Such as from the Old Testament?” 

“Exactly! So you are well educated as well as skilled.” This compliment humbled her. He went on. “My creator- did not name me. But I am the first of my kind. Therefore, I have given this name to myself, rightfully so.” But he felt envious of the love that the real Adam received from his God. 

“Please, you keep bringing up this creator. Who are you referring to?” He paused after her question. There was much to explain. He feared the entire story would frighten her and prove he was a monster after all. Yet he knew he had to be vulnerable now more than ever. This was his second chance to win over the heart of a potential companion. But the overwhelming rejection from De Lacy and his family was still fresh in his mind.

“You see, I was not born from a woman like you and all others that walk the earth. I never experienced infancy or a dream-like childhood. My creator was but a single man…” Adam took a slow breath. “Two years ago, he constructed me from corpses, likely to satiate his twisted fantasy to create life in unconventional ways. However, he did not want me. Just like every other who beholds me, he fled in fear.” His eyes wandered to the dirt below him. “Leaving me truly alone and wretched… Since then, my life has been hell. Without a home or a family, I struggle to find any sort of meaning...” Adam held his tongue, no longer desiring to speak on the matter. “Oh, pardon my manners. You must tell me your name.” He redirects his attention to the maiden. 

“My name is Charlotte.” She tipped her head with a melancholy look. “I am… a little shocked to hear your story, Adam. Is this possible?” She observed him more closely but continued. “I struggle to comprehend the pain you’ve endured. I… wish I had found you sooner.” She did not feel the same disgust that most others have. It was apparent he had been treated horribly for most of his life.

“You have done more than that. I wish to repay you for your kindness somehow, whether you need me to bring wood to your home, clear snow in the winter, or any other laborious task you think I am fit for.” His offer was generous, and she pondered it. But then she chuckled as she began to imagine smaller tasks around her home that he could assist with.

“It’s humorous, actually. I have a few high places in my house that need dusting and some furniture I’d like to rearrange…” Charlotte was the owner of a large home that needed proper attention. She tapped her thumb on her chin. After hearing his story, she no longer feared the creature as she thought she would. Instead, she was intrigued to learn more. He was also a well-spoken and decent man; he would be a welcome mind to brighten up her home. Though he was not the most friendly-looking, she was not the type to judge.  

“Your home? You’re inviting me into your home?” He was taken aback.

“Or would you rather not?” She teased.

“Oh, no- I would be more than happy to come with you.” His experience with shelter up to this point had been little to none. For months, he lived in a tiny hovel with little space to move around. Before that, only the light of a fire kept him warm in the frozen winter. To stay within an actual structure was a comfort he was unfamiliar with. He wanted this more dearly than anything. And to be in a home with his lovely new protector? Had God finally taken pity on him? Oh, how eager he was to finally experience this joy. To earn her friendship and presence for as long as possible.  

“Alright, but let us wait till nightfall. I’m worried if anyone sees you enter my home, they will come for both of us. We shall keep it a secret.” And so they did. Night fell, and they returned to Charlotte’s home with darkness as their disguise. Her house sat near the edge of the village. Her home was made of stone and wood, with a lovely garden. He remembered it briefly from when he escaped the town earlier. She quickly beckoned him inside, but he had to bend down to enter through the door. Before locking up, she quickly looked up and down the road to ensure that there were no peeping eyes. 

Her home was very dark, and he stood awkwardly for a moment when a small light appeared. She began to go about the living space, lighting one oil lantern at a time. Once it was easier to maneuver with dim light, she sat by the fireplace and gestured him over again. After adding new lumber and debris, she began to use a bellow on the cinders. 

“You live alone?” Adam had just come to this conclusion. 

“Yes.” She answered simply, with no further elaboration. As the cinders glowed furiously, she gave him the duty to bring the light to a gentle flame. He pushed the handles of the mechanism until the fire was flickering. Meanwhile, she disappeared into another room, so he waited patiently. There was joy in the comforting warmth of the fire, which he was already familiar with. The living room was quite comfortable, with many decorations and artwork hanging from the walls. A well-made couch sat in the center, and he couldn’t help but brush his fingers through the wool carpet below him.

Charlotte returned, gently tapping his shoulder and praising his accomplishment. Her hand softly grazed the back of his head before she turned away again, removing her shoes and apron by the door. This gentle gesture caused him to watch her move about the room. She touched him so easily, he thought. He approached her from behind with some hesitation, and his hand came down to pat her head. She flinched away from his unexpected presence.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you...” Charlotte took note of his shy nature as he backed away. Though his presence still did cause her to falter, she wanted to look at him objectively. Adam was like a child when it came to being with other people, but still, a considerable man whose head nearly brushed her ceiling. He looked down at her with kind, woeful eyes. Charlotte took his hands and pulled him to the couch before the fire, so they were closer in height now.

“Now don’t rub my head like that, you’ll pull on my hair… See, like this.” She reached up to rub the back of his head, gently gliding her fingers over his hair. He understood right away and initiated the touch in return. She smiled and welcomed it. His large hand glided over the top of her head, avoiding her braiding. It was evident to both that this was hardly an act of friendship. But contained a certain amount of affection, which neither of them disliked.

[nkirukaj]

The Radio Demon & the Billboard Doe (17)

Pairing: Alastor x Fem! OC

Warnings: Swearing; Sexual implications

Genre: Angst/Fluff (& Humor!)

Word Count: 9.6k

<Chapter 16

17. The Skill of Empathy

“It’s time to rise, my dear,” he pets her head and strokes her scarlet hair

“No,” she breathes out almost inaudibly. Her grip on his body grew tighter, trapping him in place 

“Belle, I have business to take care of.” He’s laughing, trying to pry her off playfully 

“You always leave me after. Stay with me.” Her face is buried in his chest

“Darling…”

Voe raises her head to look him in the eye. Her face was somehow immaculate, despite the previous night’s activities. She bats her bright and innocent eyes, adorned with thick luxurious lashes at him; pleading with him to stay. No matter how much he looked, he was always stunned by her beauty. From the size of her eyes to the chaotic placement of her spots, to the shades of her two-tone lips. He softened his eyes.

“Fair enough.” He sighs and relaxes back into the mattress. She sinks into his chest and lets out a little squeak. He pulls her closer and lets out one of his own. 

“Alastor,” 

“Hmm?”

“10/10”

When he awoke again, it was hours later, he sat up on the grass, noticing that Voe was gone after she’d asked him to stay. His ears fell in disappointment. He stands, wiping grass blades off his skin, he picks up his clothes and dejectedly walks over and places them on his armchair. The door creaks open and Alastor jumps, startled by the intrusion. He goes into the bathroom and closes the door.

“Alastor?” it’s Voe’s voice

“Yes?” he speaks through the crack in the door

“Where are you?”

“In the bathroom, my dear”

She chuckles “Did I interrupt your business?”

He huffs “No. I was unaware that it was you entering. I don’t want anyone to see my…equipment.” he furrows his brow

Voe shakes her head “Oh Alastor you’re so cute. Well, while you’re in there why don’t you hop in the bath I ran for you?”

He turns to see the tub filled with water, he wonders how he didn’t notice it before.

“It’s got bubbles!” she sounds giddy “It should help relax your hooves!”

Alastor rolls his eyes and takes a step into the tub, shocked by the heat.

“It’s hot! You seem like you’d like it hot! I know I do!”

He slowly lowers himself into the water, letting it relax his body. He lays in the tub silent until Voe knocks on the door.

“Alastor? You haven’t said anything? You didn’t drown right?”

“No, my dear I am trying to relax,”

“Okay!” she says in a sing-songy voice “Don’t forget to scrub!”

He rolls his eyes once more, no one needs to tell him how to take a bath. He dunks his head under the water if only to see how long he could go without breathing. He comes up after two minutes, wiping the hair out of his face.

“Would you like some help?” She asks in a way that makes it clear to him that she’s smirking

“With what?”

“Your bath,”

“I know how to take a bath, my dear!”

She huffs and stomps away from the door, Alastor chuckling amongst the bubbles. The last person to ever run him a bath was…his mother. He thought of her in this moment and how she’d always wanted grandkids to give little bubble baths to as well. He smiled thinking of her, and how he’d always promised to give her some, despite never actually planning to do it. He furrowed his brows, regretting lying to his mother. He thought about how she kept recommending women for him to marry, and how he’d never found interest in them or attraction to them. He’d seen hundreds of beautiful women in his life (and afterlife)time, and never had he felt drawn to them the way songs about romance had always described. He’d never been in love. He’d never felt sexual desire for anyone in particular. Sure the sexual feelings emerged, but not for anyone. She’d always teased him about being so picky, but he wasn’t really sure. Then he had died, and his heart fell thinking of all the many ways he felt he’d failed his mother. This being one on a long list of them. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been lost in thought before he heard another knock on the door.

“Okay, did you fall asleep?” 

“No.” he breathes out “Just getting my back darling!”

“I can help! If you need help,”

He chuckles “I suppose I need a little help,”

The bathroom door creaks open and Voe steps in barefoot. Alastor laughs at the sight of her fully done up, with a shower cap on.

“What? There’s humidity in here!” she puts her hands on her hips “I need my hair to stay straight!” she bends over “Now what do you need help with baby?”

“Scrubbing my back, dear.”

She bites her tongue and grabs a loofah, dunking it in the bath water and squeezing soap onto it. She rubs the loofah on the Overlord’s back just rough enough for him to feel it on his skin, there’s a slight pain in some areas that Alastor winces at.

“Sorry, I gave you some new scratches,” she speaks, chuckling in his ear

“It’s all fine,”

The rough feeling of her scrubbing his back satisfies him, letting his mind wander into blissful territory. He can feel one hand on her shoulder as the other works the loofah. The free hand then snakes its way to the front of his body, up and around his throat, tightening its grip as the other hand scrubs harder. Forcing his head up to stare at her smirk, as she grips his throat tighter and tighter; almost cutting off his breath, Voe leans down and bites his exposed neck to which he responds with a bleat! She chuckles darkly as she rinses off his back with the loofah, leaving bites all over his shoulders and collarbone, he moans unsure of if he likes feeling taken care of or not, when abruptly she pulls away from him. 

“Hurry up and get out, I got you a gift.” She tosses over her shoulder as she exits the room

He watches after her, standing as the water quickly drips off his body. He steps out of the tub with his hooves landing on the mat. He covers himself with a towel, draining the tub before exiting the bathroom after her.

She pulls out a dark red, long fleece robe and drapes it around him; standing on a stool to do it. 

“Where did this come from?”

“I bought it for you,” she smiles, patting it flat on his shoulders. 

He turns to her “Why?”

She shrugs “I don’t know. I was out shopping and saw it and thought, ‘This is so Alastor’, so I bought it. Do you like it?”

He runs his hands across the sleeves of it “I do, my dear.” He pauses before continuing “Thank you, Belle.”

“You’re welcome!”

“I shall cherish this for eternity,” he says cupping her chin. Voe nuzzles into his palm, holding his wet arm. She moves his palm over her lips, leaving small kisses on it. He watches her, warmth rising up his neck and cheeks. He just let her, not knowing what to do.

“Come and sit,” she says, descending from the stool and walking over to a chair, patting the back of it.

He sits and she stands behind him, wrapping her arms around his neck

“Is this okay?”

“Yes,”

She leans down to him “Are you comfy? Do you need anything?” her lashes flutter

“No, I’m fine,” he says, not at all used to the generosity

She shrugs “Okay, just let me know if you do,” she pulls her arms back and walks away 

“I most certainly will,”

Voe wanders around the chair (now wearing tall socks and sneakers), clearly having something on her mind to say. He stares, waiting to see how long it will take for her to speak up.

“What was your mom like?” she blurts out

The question startles him, more than anything else this day. How is it that he had just been thinking of his mother, and now she was asking about her? “She was….perhaps the most wonderful woman you could ever possibly meet,”

She sits in the other chair “What else?”

“She was hardworking, loving, and strong. She did her best to take care of the ones she loved.”

“What did that look like?”

“Cleaning and cooking for our house and others, spending all of her hard-earned money on clothes and food for us, telling me stories and singing…” he trails off, thinking about his mother once again

Voe grins “Gosh, it’s hard to imagine you as a little boy,”

He smirks “I suppose. And yours?”

“Hmm?”

“Your parents,”

Her eyes widen “As I’ve told you my dad is a psychiatrist, but my mom…runs a daycare! Which was awesome, because I love to see all the little kids when I visit!” Her tone gets a little downtrodden “I mean, when I used to visit.” she’s silent for a few moments before picking it back up “I used to go to my mom’s daycare as a kid, so it would be killing two birds with one stone! And when I was in high school I volunteered there as community service. I honestly love playing with kids, their minds are so creative and imaginative, and they don’t play by stupid unspoken social rules that don’t make any sense-“ She glances up at him leaning on his arm watching her. She blushes, playing with some of her hair, self-conscious under his gaze.

“Aww, weren’t you so sweet?’

“Don’t make fun of me,” she laughs a bit

“Who’s making fun? My my, you take everything as an insult!”

She turns back “Sorry.”

“No need, my dear.”

“Usually when people said stuff like that they were making fun of me and didn’t realize it,”

“I would never make fun of you,”

She snickers “That’s a lie,”

His smirk is quite evident “Well, not about this, I find the topic fascinating!” He snaps and is now fully dressed

“Aww, I like you better bare.” she pouts jokingly

“And I prefer myself clothed,”

She rolls her eyes “You’re sooo boring,” she smiles, standing out of her seat

Alastor places his hands on the armrests of the chair “And why are you obsessed with me?” he asks, crossing his legs and leaning forward

Voe slinks over to him, bending down towards his face. She places her hand flat on his chest, pushing him back into his chair “Because…” she licks over her teeth “You’re my buck.” She grins 

“And you’re my doe.” He reaches up, pulls her face closer, and kisses her forehead.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Angel Dust bursts through the door while Voe applies some foundation, lightly dancing the brush across her face. 

“Yes?” 

The spider approaches her quietly. When he reaches her, he sits in a chair beside her. 

“Now Voe, I’m gonna ask ya one more time. And I hope ya won’t lie to me.” He leans in and whispers “Are you and Al doing the dirty?”

Voe carefully places the brush on her vanity, standing and approaching her bed, beckoning Angel to follow with a tap on the mattress. He joins her, anticipating her response, her expression unable to be deciphered. She gestures for him to give her his ear and he obliges, her leaning in as closely as possible. And in the softest and lowest pitch he could imagine, she gave him what he was after. 

“Yes.”

“I fucking knew it!” Angel hits the mattress with four fists, then punches the air with two. “I knew it! I knew it! I knew it.”

A playful smile danced on Voe’s lips before she grabbed one of his arms and spoke. 

“Shh.” She continued to speak in a light whisper “Alastor doesn’t want this getting out. So this stays between us okay?”

“Why not? He doesn’t want people to know he’s fucking the Vees top bitch? It would finally let everyone know he’s a real person.”

Voe moves closer “That’s exactly it. He doesn’t want anyone to know he’s a real person. He wants to seem,” she pauses, looking for the word “above such things. And besides, it’s only because of mating season. These urges are uncontrollable.”

Angel’s gold tooth glinted in the light as he revealed it in a mischievous smile. 

“I don’t think it’s just cuz of mating season toots. I think he’s got it bad.”

Voe blinks, staring at him blankly. “What do you mean?”

Angel looks back at her perplexed at her lack of understanding “You know, he’s got it bad for ya’”

“You’re going to need to explain Angel Dust because repeating it doesn’t make it easier to understand.”

“You know,” he scratches the back of his head “Like you said, he likes ya’”

“Uh huh…”

“Like, he wants to date ya’”

Her face lights up with understanding “Oh! No, that’s not the kind of relationship we have.” She waves him off “We’re like, friends.”

“Friends who fuck?” He raises his eyebrow

“That’s a lot more common than you think Angel.” She says flatly 

“You can’t honestly say that you like this.”

Voe shrugs “This is how it has to be,”

“Nobody likes being a secret toots.”

Voe does not respond to this. She stands and sits back in front of the vanity, applying the foundation again.

“I should know,” 

She turns to him “Let’s talk about you,”

“What about me?”

“You lying to me about what’s going on with Valentino,”

Angel does a double take “What?” he’s almost laughing at how ridiculous the conversation change was.

“You’re condemning me, but you’ve been lying to me,”

“About my personal life?”

She squints “So is the whole thing with me and Alastor,”

“This is different,”

“Why?” she slams the makeup brush on the vanity. She sits in silence, looking down at her hands. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell,”

“Because wanting to hide the person you’re fucking is different than wanting to protect your friends from getting the same treatment as you.”

“But what treatment Angel? What treatment are you protecting me from?”

Angel looks away, pursing his lips. He turns back to her, his eyes wide and full of despair. Voe’s stomach falls, seeing the look on Angel’s face. It only turns more horrifying as Angel finally opens up and tells her about all that he has suffered at the hands of her boss’s coworker. The disgust and anger boiled up in her throat and out to her limbs, fingers, and toes. She could not believe the depravity her friend had suffered. Her face hasn’t changed besides a single tear rolling down her cheek. She chokes down a sob on behalf of her friend. She looks back up, her eyes red and welling up.

“I…don’t know what to say,”

“You don’t have to say anything, please don’t do anything,”

Voe drops her head to avoid being seen crying, she covers her eyes with her hand.”

“Aw, don’t cry, look I’m fine!” he smiles, wrapping his arms around her.

Voe hugs him tightly “You’re not fine! You had a black eye!”

“Eh, black eyes are a dime a dozen in Hell,” he waves her off

“Stop!” she looks up at him “I’m so sorry Angel, I kept pushing you and pushing you!” she clutches his fluff “I didn’t know! I can’t believe I’ve just been sitting here while this was happening to you! I’m so sorry Angel!”

Angel takes a breath, smiling a little “Anthony,”

Voe sniffles “What?”

“That’s the name on my contract. My real name.”

“Really?” he nods “Oh my gosh, that’s so Italian!” they laugh together “Did people use to call you ’Tony’?”

He grins “Yeah,” she leaned into his chest laughing. He exhales, happy that she’s no longer crying “I’m just ’Tony’” he grins

“You’re not just anything ‘Anthony’. You’re like, my best friend. I love you.” She smiles, taking him in for a hug.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Two knocks on the door were enough for Lucifer to open it. Voe greeted him and waved sheepishly as she stepped inside the room. He was incredibly understanding when she told him that she needed to discuss something with him, and now that they were in front of each other, she wasn’t sure she could do it. They sat silently for a while, eyes darting all around, anywhere but each other.

“If I’ve done something wr-“

“I need to tell you something-“

They speak at the same time, laughing at the awkwardness of the situation. 

“Go ahead,” Lucifer told her, his eyes so soft and gentle, full of passion and adoration. His eyes almost made her want to renege on this entire ordeal, to keep him for herself once more, however, Voe was taking some time to develop the skill of empathy.

“I need to tell you something,”

“Yeah?”

She breathes in, inhaling all the willpower she needed to speak “Charlie and I talked. She came and told me that there were some…feelings developing on your part. Is that true?”

Lucifer scoffs “I told her to keep that a secret. I wanted to tell you that myself,” he smiles

Voe inhales “Can you tell me about your…feelings?”

Lucifer blushes “I think I might be…falling for you…I don’t know?” he rubs his arm

Voe is unaware of how to proceed with this discussion, Lucifer takes her hand into his gently. “Why?”

“Why what? You’re wonderful! Smart, caring, and I feel like we connect”

Voe’s stomach drops. This was one of the hardest things she’d ever had to do.

“I don’t know what I would do without you,”

“Okay, please stop!” She pulls her hands back and holds

He stares at her, blush rising up his face. “Oh, okay,”

Voe looks into his face and feels something she has never felt before. Guilt? Yeah, guilt. She liked Lucifer so much, but falling for him? She couldn’t muster that feeling for him, for anyone. The only person she had come even close to feeling that for was- well, it wasn’t Lucifer.

“I’m sorry,”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for! You’ve done nothing wrong! You never have to apologize again.”

“But I do, I feel awful right now.”

“You don’t have to. You’re an amazing young woman Voe, and I am so happy to have met you,”

“No, you don’t get it!” 

He stares “Okay, what do I not get?”

This was too difficult, does she lay it on lightly or rip the band-aid off? “Lucifer,”

“Hmm?” Ugh, he looked so cute and innocent. He didn’t deserve this but-

“We were never exclusive,”

His smile fades off his face and the pit in Voe’s stomach hits harder.

“I didn’t even know that you thought we were,”

“I just- we just had so many talks and we were so close to each other. And we were “ he looks off to the side “Intimate,”

“You’re not the only person I am intimate with. I’m sorry.”

“What do you mean?”

Voe widens her eyes “What do you mean, what do I mean?”

“Well, who else have you been…fucking?” He sounds somewhat frustrated

“Wait really? You want to know..who?”

Lucifer hits his thigh “I mean..please?”

Voe blows air out of her mouth “Okay,” She plays with her fingers as he stares expectantly “Well, there’s Velvette,”

“Who?”

“From the Vees, she’s my boss,”

“Oh, well okay. You guys are like a thing or…?”

She shakes her head “No! Not at all!”

He looks slightly happier “Oh! Well okay, well that’s fine. No biggie.” is what he said, but Voe could tell he was lying.

“Yeah,” she nods

“Anyone else?”

Voe drops her shoulders “I don’t want to lie to you, but I don’t want you to be sad,”

He waves her off “Oh, please. I won’t be sad,”

“I feel like you will,”

“I promise I won’t,”

“I don’t think you can promise something like that,”

“Okay well look, is it Alastor?” Voe purses her lips “I mean, I’ve been hearing about you two getting close,”

“Who did you hear that from?”

He looks to the side “Well, Charlie… Vaggie…and Angel Dust goes around giggling about it.”

Voe rubs her forehead “Ugh, they need to learn to mind their business,”

“So it is true?” his eyes fall

“Yes,” she states flatly “But! But, it’s only because of nature!”

He shakes his head “You don’t have to explain yourself. It’s fine, it’s okay really,” he taps her hand and quietly exits the room. Voe sits uncomfortably, dropping her head in her hands.

There’s a knock on Alastor’s door as he sits in his armchair reading a novel.

“Enter,” he states, waving his hand to unlock the door.

It is Voe who comes in, she looks timid and unsure of her steps, which is a way he had never seen her. 

“I did it,” she says entering the room 

“Did what my dear?”

She sits in one of his chairs “I ended whatever me and Lucifer were doing,”

Alastor’s ears pricked up “Is that so?”

She nods “I chose you,”

Alastor’s smile turns into a sly smirk “Good decision,” he lowers his novel “How’d he take it?” he begins to snicker

“It’s not funny,” her tone is stern

“Of course not,” Alastor can barely control his glee

“I’m serious, he was hurt and I felt so bad,”

“Well, that’s his fault for thinking anyone would care about him besides his daughter,”

She stands and storms up to him “Don’t be fucking rude. Lucifer is a great man and he does not deserve to be hurt like this! I feel awful!”

“Maybe you should do something for him. Perhaps get him an apple?” he flashes a shit-eating grin that lit her up positively and negatively. 

“This is serious. I really hurt him,” she holds her arms

He leans forward “Did you apologize? I certainly hope not,”

“I did before I told him, but I don’t think it was enough,”

“He’ll get over it, or maybe he’ll go back to making rubber ducks in his ivory tower,”

She leans over him “You’re an ass,” she speaks through her teeth

“And yet you chose me,” he leans back placing his hands together on his lap

“Yeah, I did,”

“You hate to admit it but, we are just alike,”

Voe stands and stares at him, with nothing to say for once. 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lucifer wasn’t seen for a few days after that. Voe was worried, but there was nothing she could do. She tried to put it behind her, especially since today was November 1st! 

Voe wasn’t sure if her birthdays counted anymore, but she sure as hell was gonna celebrate it. 

Today she decided on a simple off-the-shoulder cocktail dress in her signature color. Just a placeholder until the runway show later that day. For makeup, she decided to go big, with false lashes and everything. She chose to body wave her hair, with a middle part, trying something different. She clipped some earrings on her ears and wiggled them in the mirror, she took a glance at her nails adorned with jewels. She is quite pleased with her appearance on this day. 

She skips down the stairs happily, making her way down to the bright and early. 

“Voe! Happy Birthday!” She makes glitter with her hands

“How’d you know it was my birthday?”

“You’ve been telling us for the past few days,”

“And all of last week,” Vaggie groans

“Oh! Okay well, thanks!” She smiles

“You look so pretty!”

“Thanks!”

“Happy birthday, bitch!” Angel comes and wraps some of his arms around her

“Did you get me a gift with all your money?”

“Even better! I got ya money!” He out a wad of cash and hands it to her

“Sick!” She takes it 

“Happy birthday Mommy!” Niffty scurries up to her holding up a roach crown “You are Queen Roach!”

Voe takes it, trying not to look disgusted “Thanks,”

“Love you, Mommy,” she says creepily while hugging her leg and Voe pats her on the head

“Oh, we’re giving out money?” Charlie asked and added another stack of cash on top of the one Angel had given Voe

Voe is quite excited “Nice!”

“You’re just in time for breakfast Voe!” Charlie was excited to finally have all of the residents downstairs at once “Then after, we have today’s activity, I’d like to hope that you’re willing to spend your birthday time with us?” Charlie’s eyes plead as Vaggie rolls her eyes, likely at Charlie basically asking for permission.

Voe shrugs “Yeah sure, why not?” 

The Princess is giddy “Amazing! Thank you!” Vaggis groans and Charlie does a double take “I mean, good. You should,”

They indulge in a breakfast of waffles/pancakes/french toast, bacon/sausage, eggs, croissants, and sliced fruits. Voe aye slowly, as she only took bites when others weren’t looking. She enjoyed the breakfast conversation, not that she was a part of it. This was one of the few times that Voe was fine with just existing in the presence of others. She didn’t know what it was, but today just felt so different than other days. Today she felt like being part of a collective, a group. It just felt right this morning.

Today’s activity was something a bit different than the other activities that Voe had been present for. Today Charlie wanted them to go around the room and acknowledge what they had done in their lives that led to them being sent to Hell, and why it was wrong of them to do that. It was something that Voe couldn’t really comprehend, who’s to say what got them sent to Hell specifically? How could they know what exactly was the nail in the coffin for each of them? 

A red demon named Eric went first, saying that he was a racist and a misogynist while alive, but turned the corner right before death, but guesses that clearly wasn’t enough. A girl named Erin told the group about how she watched her best friend drown in the ocean, and next was Angel discussing his life in the mafia and how much he regrets it.

“Like the real mafia? Like the one they make movies about?” Voe asked

Angel rests his chin on his hands “Yeah, but it ain’t as glamourous as it looks,”

“It doesn’t really look that glamourous,”

“Yeah, it wasn’t,”

“Is that it? Is that what I was supposed to do?”

Charlie tilts her head “Well, no..how do you feel about that now?”

Angel chuckles “I mean there was this one funny moment where we was interrogating this guy, and he wouldn’t tell us where the money was, so we cut his fingas off. I was like 17. And then instead of tellin’ us about the money, he tells us that he’s cheating on his wife” he cackles “Like we gave a damn! Like why you tellin’ us that?! We care about the money! And then he’s like “Please, don’t tell my wife!” once we’re on the last of his fingers, so then we kill him, and then go tell his wife, just because! Like, fuck you, am I right?” he laughs

“And how do you feel about that now?” Vaggie asks flatly

“I guess bad. ‘Cuz his wife was like really sad about him being dead. Like, don’t borrow money if ya can’t pay it back!” He gestures around “Also he made fun of Tony’s spaghetti,” Angel crosses his arms

“Wait you Tony or another Tony?” Voe questions

“Another Tony,”

“How many Tony’s were there?”

Angel furrows his brow “Don’t question me,”

“Okay, moving on,” Vaggie rolls her eyes “Alastor!”

They turn towards the microphone feedback the Radio Demon emits. He looks toward the woman who called his name, smile intact.

“Alastor! Why don’t you come join our activity?” Charlie asks him

“No thanks, I’ve got lots to do!” His tone is cheery and uplifting

Charlie squints in frustration “Alastor,” she repeats more sternly “Come and join our activity!”

Alastor squints himself, spotting Voe on the couch, who waves cordially. “Alright, why not?” He takes a seat in the large armchair “What childish game are we playing today?”

“We’re discussing how you all feel after the things you did on Earth,” Charlie responds

“I felt wonderful!” Alastor places his hands on his lap

“That’s it?” Vaggie wonders

“That’s it,”

“You have no regrets?”

His grin is cocky “None at all,”

“What if those people you killed had families?” Charlie proposes “That doesn’t make you feel a little bad about what you chose to do?”

“Okay,” Alastor starts “Let me explain this to all of you, I had my reason to do the things I did. I do not have to explain any of my choices to any of you, because you are all children and you’ll never understand. Charlotte my dear, you are not a sinner do not act like you are. Do not include me in your little redemption games,” He explains calmly

“Okay,” Charlie speaks through her teeth “Who wants to go next?”

The room is silent for a moment, tension in the air as Alastor sits, smiling all the while.

Voe clears her throat “I’m not supporting him because that was rude,” She side-eyes Alastor “But it’s a fair point, Charlie, you’re not a sinner.”

The awkward silence continues.

“Alright, birthday girl,” Vaggie starts “I have a question for you. Do you want to be redeemed? Or are you in the same boat as Alastor? You think you’re too good for this?”

Charlie scoffs “Ugh Vaggie!”

“Or are you just here for free bed and breakfast? Because you can live in Vee Tower,”

“I just agreed that Charlie’s not a sinner,”

“I know what you said. I’m asking you why are you here. What progress have you made on the path to redemption?”

Voe leans forward “How am I supposed to quantify that?”

Vaggie shrugs “I don’t know. What things have you done?”

Voe shrugs back “I don’t really think about them, I just do them,”

“I didn’t think so,”

Voes sits on the edge of the couch “You didn’t so what?”

“That you had any evidence of being on the path to redemption,”

“Okay Vaggie, enough-“

“Wait, hold on what do you know about redemption Miss Angel?”

“I know you don’t sit around wasting people’s time, or come up with ideas and don’t even help out. I know you don’t walk around here thinking that you’re better than everyone else because you have a few followers. Congrats, you’re just like any other Overlord.” She puts her hands on her hips “You know we don’t need you here. You can live at Vee Tower.”

Angel looks over a Cherri Bomb “Holy shit, this is the best activity I’ve ever been to!”

“I know right, pass the popcorn!”

“First of all!” Voe stands “Once again, I have to point out that neither of you are sinners! So you have no idea what it is to try and redeem yourselves! You don’t know the experiences I’ve been through that led me to make the choices I did on Earth! Charlie, no offense but you don’t even know what Earth is like. So neither of you can decide if I’m making strides for redemption because you don’t know what that looks like for me! The fact that you both think that the path to redemption follows a template where it’s the same for everyone, proves that you shouldn’t be judging anyone on this! For instance, take this activity! Yeah, I’ve done some shit things when I was on Earth, and maybe I don’t feel bad about them! Your first instinct is to condemn me for not feeling bad about them, but you never ask why I don’t feel bad about them! You seem to think that sinners do bad things, just for the sake of doing bad things, but you don’t think that maybe we do bad things because that’s how we’ve been taught to survive. Earth takes advantage of kind people, we all don’t have the luxury of being sinless. You’re condemning me, but you haven’t even taken the time to get to know me! Did you know I’m autistic?” She looks around the room, pointedly at Vaggie “Hmm? Did you?”

“Well, no. But you don’t join the group activities. How are we supposed to know?”

“Yeah, I don’t join because I’m uncomfortable around you. Especially in terms of saying unrehearsed things in front of an entire crowd. Every time we converse you do this to me. Do you think this makes me want to open up? And since you didn’t know I’m autistic I’m certain that you’re unaware that my autism makes me struggle with the skill of empathy. All these things that seem so simple to you are so hard for me! They’ve always been hard for me!” Voe choked on her words “I had to deal with this up there!” she pointed up “I don’t need it down here.”

“Ugh, when are they gonna start throwing hands?” Cherri whispers “This is the most boring fight ever!”

“Are you kidding? This is drama! The pinnacle of entertainment!” Angel eats his popcorn

“Whatcha guys talking about?” Sugar pops up between them

Angel is startled “Wait, you weren’t here the whole time?”

Sugar shakes her head “No,”

“I am so tired of people questioning my actions, my choices, and how my brain works. I can’t even understand it, you think I can explain it to you?!” Voe rolls her eyes up to stop tears from ruining her makeup

Angel smirks “I love today’s activity. It’s all about anger. Damn girl what did you do?! You so defensive!”

“Ya such a dick,” Cherri nudges him with her elbow

“What? I wanna know! Don’t you?”

She purses her lip “Yeah,”

“I wanna know what’s going on,” Sugar pipes up

Voe sits back down “I did a lot of stuff okay?”

“Oooh, like what?” Angel leans on one of his arms near her head “Wait, was you a murderer too?”

“No,”

“Mmm, well that’s a little disappointing,” She glares up at him through her lashes “I think we all need to clear the air. What happened in your past?” He wraps his arm around her

Voe sighs “Well for one, I may or may not have broken up multiple marriages,”

“She broke up multiple marriages,” Angel whispers to Cherri

Voe chuckles “That’s actually why I’m dead I think,”

“Ya think?”

She rolls her eyes “I got.. shot in the heart while shopping for groceries. By the husband of my last conquest,” She smiles painfully “At least that’s what I remember,”

“Ahhh, how much you wanna bet he killed his wife?”

“How much do you wanna bet on before or after?” Cherri asks

“Before,”

“After,”

“Before,”

“After,”

“You bitch,”

Cherri smirks “Mhmm,”

“So you was a badass, that probably got people’s partners murdered or beat?” Voe groans “Geez I wonder what the internet was like when you died,”

“Ugh probably full of sexist men talking about how they’d kill her too,” Cherri sounds disgusted

“After fucking her,” Angel added, Cherri nods in agreement

Cherri shrugs “Eh, not too bad anyway. I accidentally bombed a building with children inside,” Voe’s eyes widen

“At least ya not a murderer,” Angel smirks “We still love ya toots”

Voe smiles at him trying not to cry, hugging the spider, leaning on his fluff.

“So…” Sugar interjects “Did I miss the morning activity?”

“Latte, please,” Angel scolds

Voe had pulled herself together after the morning activity, and she had run back to her room to get some floss since she had food stuck in her teeth from breakfast. It was somewhat pleasurable to floss until she felt the pain. She did this a few times, pulling the floss from her mouth and examining the blood on it. She throws it out and exits her room, not sure where to go.

“Glad to see you’re in a better mood, my dear”

Voe jumps slightly, turning around to see Alastor. She’s a little embarrassed, still feeling slightly emotional “Eh I guess,” she smiles a small smile. He pulls her to the side, and she looks somewhat irritated “What do you need?”

“I smell your blood, where is it coming from?”

“My mouth” She opens her mouth and points inside “A part of my gums is bleeding from the floss”

Alastor grabs her by the chin and plants a kiss directly on her lips, using the opportunity to snake his tongue into her mouth and lick around her teeth for the slightest taste of her blood. 

When he pulls away, Voe is astonished at his actions. 

“Now you see why I had to pull you away,” he grins, rubbing his thumb back and forth on her cheek, then gently letting go of her chin. “Well, what has you dolled up?!”

She puffs out her chest “You didn’t hear? It’s my birthday,” 

“Oh, how wonderful!” Alastor claps “I do wish you had informed me earlier, I could have gotten you a gift!” he pressed his finger to his temple “Ooh! Would you like me to bring back a sinner’s head for you? Or perhaps some fresh meat?” He grins giddily at the idea

“Hmm, tempting,” Voe jokes “It is quite a stunning display to watch you kill, but no. I want a real and tangible gift.” She shifts her weight to one side.

Alastor thinks “Well, let’s see what I can do...Ah! I know!” He claps and manifests a box in his open palm. He stretches out his arm to her and she eyes the object. “Go on, take it,” grin wide as ever

She wraps her fingers around it slowly, lifting it up from his hand and opening it, reacting with widened eyes. 

It is a silver necklace, shining and shimmering, cool and smooth silver. It’s a simple chain and clasp, leading down to silver cursive of a word, no, a name that was surprisingly not her own.

“Alastor,” she reads on the necklace

“Yes?” he responds with a shit-eating grin

She smirks holding it, her eyes darting up toward his face “You were the one who told me to keep us a secret, but you want me to wear your name on my body?”

“Only as a reminder darling,”

“Of what?”

“Who you belong to,” his eyes shine brightly when he speaks

She scoffs and laughs “Sir, I belong to no one.”

“Ah yes, I shall rephrase.” He makes a close-lipped smile “A reminder of who your buck is,”

Voe smiles at him, crossing her arms “Fine, I will wear this if you wear my name on you,”

Alastor closes his eyes and snaps, then moves to roll up his sleeve. He reveals a red leather bracelet on his right wrist, with silver wording, similar to the wording on her necklace, spelling ‘VERA’.

“Satisfactory, my dear?”

She nods “Indeed,”

“Lovely,”

Voe tries to clasp the necklace on, her eyes flying up to Alastor once more “Would you like to put it on me?”

“Of course my doe,” he stands behind her, clasping the necklace shut. When he looks down and sees his name, just hanging around her neck, it fills him with desire “You can wear it under your clothing, and I shall cover mine with my sleeve. Though, knowing my name is around your throat, does something to me dearest.”

Voe takes Alastor’s palm and wraps his long claws around her neck, forcing her head up.  He tightens his grip.

“Gimme a kiss,” she speaks through his grip

“My doe…” he looks around the empty hallway

“It’s my birthday, you have to! And I’m still a little sad! Kiss me you handsome demon,” she glances at him, her lips puckered “Please baby, I want a kiss so bad,” placing her hands on his chest

“Such a needy little thing, are we?” He raises his brow

Alastor squeezes her throat and places a kiss on her waiting lips, but is stopped by her when pulling away. 

“Yes, I’m so needy for you,” she pulls him back down, her hands in his hair “Birthday kisses please,” she moans before his lips return to hers, backing her into a wall. Alastor removes his hand from her throat and places them both around her waist, pulling her body as close to him as possible

“You’re so sexy,” she whispers when they pull apart to breathe 

“Tell me something I don’t know,” he breathes against her lips, smirking, moving his mouth down to licking and biting her neck. Alastor roughly grabs the side of her neck as he sucks on it extra hard. Voe is so caught off guard by this kind of pleasure that she makes a doe bleat. Alastor’s eyes snap open as he removes himself from her throat leaving a bright red mark. His grin reaches his hairline and is beyond evil as he stares down at her, pleased by the reaction.

Voe knows exactly where he’s going just by the look on his face. “Alastor…I know what you’re thinking. Don’t-“ his smile gets even wider “Alastor no!” He leans back in, pressing her to the wall “Alastor please! I have a show tonight-“ she’s cut off by his aggressive sucking on different areas on her neck and chest, leaving bright red marks all over her. She can’t help but bleat and moan, wrapping her arms around him while Alastor does as he pleases to her. 

So Alastor did exactly what Voe asked him not to do and left her throat and chest covered in hickies. When he finished placing them, he tilted up her chin admiring his work

“What a masterpiece,” 

“Alastor!” She huffs

“Hmm?”

“You’re a dickhead!”

He blows her a kiss.

So now she was at work wearing a scarf, sweating her ass off. She walked into the studio and everyone was bustling just like she expected.

“Finally you here! I said two hours early!”

Voe looks at her watch “It is,”

Velvette grunts “It’s an hour and thirty minutes before.” Voe flattens her eyebrows “Come on, let’s get you dressed. Why are you wearing a scarf? Take that off!” She grabs onto the scarf around the doe’s neck, yanking it off. Voe’s hands leap up to cover the bruising. “What’s that on your neck?” she pulls Voe’s arms down. “Seriously? Right before the show?” she groans. Voe tries to smile it away “Anita! Makeup! And take that chain or necklace or whatever off. Doesn’t fit the look”

She’s whisked away and sat in a chair for makeup. “Oh hold on, let me take off my chain,” she turns to the makeup demon “Is there somewhere I can put this?”

She looks unsure “I’m not sure,”

“Okay,” she drops the necklace inside her purse “Okay, I’m ready,”

Once her makeup is done, she is moved to a different room to get dressed. All the moving bits of the show, including lights, cameras, audience seating, and other models, had her preoccupied to the point where she was completely unaware that Velvette was growing a bit suspicious. As Voe was sent from room to room preparing for the show, Velvette found herself wandering into the corner where her flagship model stashed her things. 

Velvette slowly opened the drawer at the vanity and did nothing but brushes and other makeup tools with perfume and press-on nail sets. Velvette purses her lips, opening every drawer. She is just about the exit when she spots a purse on the floor near the vanity mirror. She bends down, grabbing it. She rifles through the bag, tossing things on the floor like condoms, pads, tampons, mineral water, juice powder packets, laxatives, tissues, phone chargers, energy bars, candy, and chocolate.

“Ugh, I need to make that girl a diet plan,” She rolls her eyes

Tossing and tossing a neck pillow, headphones, weed in a baggie, rolling paper, and a lighter. Velvette gets frustrated to the point where she just turns the purse upside down dumping everything else out and dropping the bag on the ground alongside it. Something catches the light in the room, the doll bends on the ground and picks it up. It’s the chain that Voe had on when she came in. She held it up to the light and read the name on the end of the chain, then took a picture. She drops it back down and wipes her hands on her jeans.

“Melissa!” she calls “Clean this up!”

Voe stands backstage adjusting her clothes waiting for her turn to go out. She pushes up her breasts, making it more comfortable for her. Her hair was up in a curly high ponytail with loose wave curls cascading down the front, that framed her face. Her dress is a rose red covered in sparkles with a long slit up her leg and one strap over her shoulder. The makeup had covered her bruises and around her neck was a rose quartz choker with a large letter V adorning her chest. She looked amazing, and for once, she hoped- though it was unlikely- that Alastor was watching.

“You see if you wanna get the right dick pic, angles matter. You can’t just take any random shot,” Angel says to a male demon “I know I’m a dude, but I know what the ladies like”

Angel’s conversation was cut short as he felt a dense object hit his head twice. He turns his head in confusion and frustration.

“Heh?”

It’s Alastor, retracting his cane and placing it down by his side “You. Effeminate spider,”

“What? Heh? Oh. What’dya need Smiles? Changin’ ya mind about somethin’?” Angel shimmies his shoulders

Alastor emits radio feedback “No,” his tone is even “Turn on the television,”

“Okay…?” he picks up the remote and turns the TV on “Didn’t think you were into fashion, Smiles,” Angel jokes

Alastor rolls his eyes and focuses them on the television as Voe walks out on the runway. They can hear applause through the TV.

“Here’s Voe the Beau! The basis for this entire collection, wearing a sparkling rose red one-strap gown designed and created by Velvette!”

Alastor’s eyes are plastered to the screen unmoving, he is emitting a low radio hum that gets louder by the second. Angel pokes his arm with a finger. Alastor’s eyes turn black.

“Uh, Smiles? I can’t the television,”

“Voe! Voe!” she’s called by a reporter. Voe approaches the demon’s microphone, pushing her hair out of her face. “How does it feel to be in your first show?”

Voe smiles brightly “It feels amazing, especially since I helped plan it. I am so lucky to be where I am today, in terms of status and opportunities. I am so grateful to be in the position I am,”

“Who would you say is your inspiration for all the confidence you have?”

She stares blankly for a moment “I’m sorry, I was thinking of my parents. I can only credit them for my confidence. But they’re not dead so,” she chuckles

“We heard today is your birthday is that true?”

She nods “Indeed it is. I have existed for 28 years now,” her smile lights up the screen

“Lots of demons on the internet claim that you could make quite the Overlord. Perhaps even more powerful than the Radio Demon or even the Vees themselves, how do you respond?”

Voe has a look of shock on her face “I’ve heard the word ‘Overlord” thrown around, and some people have said they were willing to give me their souls, but I’ve never thought about overtaking any other current Overlord. Especially not the ones that got me here in the first place.” She catches a glimpse of Vox behind the audience.

“Are you aware that if you did become an Overlord, that would make you a new generation?” A younger reporter asks

She leans down to the mic “I did think about that. Maybe I should become one and try to shake things up!” She jokes and laughs

“We can always count on you Voe, to stand out!” one reporter finished

She grins at the camera, putting up two peace signs, before the broadcast returns to the overall show.

“You can turn it off now,” Alastor tells Angel as he walks away

“Oh, he’s got it bad…” Angel grins

When Voe returns backstage she glances over and sees Vox glaring at her as he whispers to Velvette. He watches her up until she disappears behind the curtain. She was told not to touch anything on her, so she stood waiting for people to undress her and remove her makeup and hair. 

“Alright, let’s wrap it up! Treat these dresses better than you treat yourselves! They’re worth more than your lives!” Velvette approaches Voe “You, my love were perfect tonight!” she cradles Voe’s chin

Voe is flattered “Thank you! Couldn’t have done it without you,”

“Oh now stop it, don’t get humble on me now,”

“No, I mean it. You’re a great boss,”

“And you are the best employee any sinner could ask for,” She boops Voe’s nose “Seeing you out there, had me thinking you’re practically one of us,” Velvette grins

Voe is confused “One of who?”

“The Vees of course,” the doll spreads her arms apart “Wouldn’t even have to change your name,”

“Oh, I’m not sure if I’m welcome,” she takes a step back

Velvette takes a step forward “Oh you, will always be welcome here,”

“Really?” Voe’s hair falls “Vox doesn’t seem to like me very much,”

“Don’t worry about Vox, he’s a big baby,”

“I thought he was in charge,”

“No, I’m in charge. You listen to me. Okay?”

Voe nods “Okay,”

“By the way,” she turns to face Voe “What’s with all the hickies on your neck earlier?”

Voe blushes “Oh that, I um, just got a bit adventurous.”

“Oooh, with who?” Vel raises an eyebrow

Voe shrugs it off “Just a friend,”

“A friend huh? You wouldn’t lie to me would you darling?”

She shakes her head “Of course not,”

“Hmm, very well. Would you like a ride home?”

“I think I’ll be fine on my own. Thank you,”

Velvette puts on a fake smile “Well goodnight darling,” she waves

“Goodnight,” Voe walks away to get redressed

Velvette keeps the smile until Voe disappears around the corner. Vox appears in the room via one of his cameras, his comrade turns to face him.

“If you’re going to do something then do it fast,”

Vox chuckles “What’s the rush, my dear Velvette? I want to make sure that my moves are perfect,”

Velvette crosses her arms “You know they’re fucking,”

Vox rolls his eyes “Valentino and one of his new whores? Yeah-“

“No, not Valentino! Alastor and Voe!”

Vox’s eyes turn wide and hypnotic “What did you just say?”

“Voe is fucking Alastor, or Alastor is fucking Voe, either way! They’re getting much too close for comfort!”

“How…do you know this?” He leans down to be at eye level with her, looking angrier by the moment

“I saw today when she was changing. She had a fucking plethora of fucking hickies and while she was getting her makeup done, I saw in her bag a necklace with Alastor’s name on it!”

Vox’s eyes grow large “A what?” he tries to keep his volume low, as if that equates to keeping calm. 

Velvette shows him the picture she took and Vox’s rage increases. “You need to fix your plan to drive a wedge between them,”

Vox laughs stiffly “Are you jealous that your new toy is fucking Alastor?”

“Are you jealous that Alastor isn’t fucking you?!” The doll bites back

The two Overlords stare intensely before lunging at each other, going into a full-on make-out session. They start removing each other’s clothes as Valentino enters. 

“Oh, what the fuck?!”

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Voe enters the empty hotel. It was quiet and dark, so she didn’t have to answer questions or entertain conversation. She went straight to her room, stripped immediately, and hopped in the shower. Finally able to put an end to this straight hair. They had always liked it curly. When she finished, she came and sat on her bed in a towel, flopping down on her back. She had no energy to cover herself with lotion at this moment in time. She hears a knock at her door and groans quietly. She gets up and opens it.

“Guess who? It’s your favorite Overlord!” Alastor sounds cheery

Voe widens the door “Hmm, I don’t know if you’re my favorite.”

“Now my dear, I thought we weren’t going to lie to each other,”

“When did we agree to that?”

Alastor squints “Touché. May I come in?”

“What are you? A vampire?’ She walks towards the bed, gesturing for him to enter

“So how was your night darling? You looked fabulous!” he closes the door behind him

She flops back on the bed “It was nice. Fun.”

“You looked wonderful,” He edges closer to her bed “From your dress to your beautiful smile,”

Voe sits up “Aw thanks. A compliment on my smile means a lot from you,” she says jokingly with a smirk

“Of course. I’d do anything for the birthday girl,” he boops her nose

“Anything?”

He nods “Anything,”

“Would you…put lotion on me?”

He smiles warmly “Of course my dear!” He dissipates his cane

She sits up and hands him the lotion “Start with my legs please,” She bats her lashes at him, but he is already on his knees, removing his coat and rolling up his sleeves.

He takes her feet one at a time into his hands “Ha, I haven’t seen toes in a while,”

She giggles “Lucky me, right?”

He holds her big toe in between his fingers “Lucky indeed,” then pokes the sole of her foot, causing her to squirm and giggle some more

“What was it like when you first saw yourself after you died?” He hesitates “I will admit, it was surprising at first. I didn’t know what to make of it,”

“What did you think of being a deer?”

“Ah. Quite surprising, but I got used to it.”

She smiles “Do you think it was a downgrade?”

“From how I used to look?”

“Yes,”

“Hmm, no. I feel more powerful now.”

The doe sits up “Well of course you do, but were you more attractive?”

“I wasn’t focused on that dear,”

“Well, I’m asking you now,”

“And I don’t know,”

She crosses her arms as Alastor gently runs his hands over her calves “Hmm, I think I’m more attractive now,”

“I wish I could have seen you before the upgrade,” He smirks up at her

Voe chuckles “Eh, I don’t look that much different,” she looks down at him 

“Your parents were so lucky to have created someone so beautiful,”

Voe hums in agreement, staring off into the distance. She thought of her parents and her little sister. She thought of their support, talks with her father, days out with her mother, and how her sister admired her. She didn’t even notice the tears running down her cheeks until she began sniffling.

Alastor’s head snaps up “Did I hurt you? I apologize,” he removes his hands

Voe shakes her head “No, it’s not you. It-it’s nothing,” she wipes her tears

“Now I know we never promised, but I would like it if you did not keep things from me,” his voice is soft, quite unlike how it was when they first met

Voe rolls her eyes up “I just…I miss my mom,” she chuckles through the tears, wiping them

His gaze softens “That is not nothing darling. We’ve all had days where we’ve cried about our parents. Wonder what and how they’re doing. Maybe think of telling them how your day was, and then you realize that you can’t,” He looks up again and her tears are rolling down harder. He blushes “My intention was not to make this worse. I apologize again,”

Voe shakes her head “Don’t apologize,” she barely gets out and tries to hide her face

He stands and pulls at her hands “Don’t hide from me,” he lifts her chin as the tears continue down her cheeks. He wipes her tears with his thumb.

“I miss my mom, my dad, and my little sister. Every year on my birthday I would do whatever, so that’s why I didn’t think of them earlier. At the end of the night though, I would always come home to them with a homemade cake and they would sing Happy Birthday to me, I didn’t realize that I missed it until I came home tonight to nothing. It was dark and silent! It made me think of all the birthday songs I took for granted!” The tears run down like a waterfall. 

Alastor remains silent, as he listens to her and thinks of the touching moments with his mother.

“They never knew! Never knew what I was really like! They saw me as a wonderful beautiful person! I know for a fact that they believe I went to Heaven, and here I am down here with the Hitlers and the KKK and serial killers, no offense,” she sniffles some more and he nods “They never got to know that I was an awful person!” she sobs, dropping her head

“Now hold on,” he touches her arm “You made mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, but that doesn’t mean you are a terrible person,” he holds her as she continues to cry

“Who are you? Where is Alastor?” she laughs as the tears flow

“Huh, I haven’t the slightest idea,” he kisses her hair as she laughs into his chest.

“My mom, she used to sing this song she wrote for me whenever I was sad,” she takes her time breathing “I hummed it to you before, when you were upset,”

Alastor raises his eyebrows “I should love to hear it,”

Chapter 18>

[mechformers]

Ma Miles - Ch. 15

7k words

Chapter warnings: Injuries, depictions of wounds, blood, Mo'at's mind is dirty, the reader is giving Quaritch a "sponge" bath (I swear, I tried my hardest not to make it...sexy), soiled underwear (I'm really so sorry, but the guy's been unconscious for quite a while - I don't make the rules lol)

I'm a day late, I'm so sorry... Thank you so much for leaving comments, though! It's my absolute weakness and it makes me so incredibly happy to know what you're thinking and feeling. So really, thank you so much!

(If you want to be tagged with the updated chapters, please leave your @ myusername in the comments! ) Previous chapter | Masterpost | Chapter 16

The worst was not behind you. In fact, the worst stood right before you in the form of your worst nightmare come to life. You hadn’t been long in the air on the second day when a screeching sound of an obviously distressed ikran called in the distance, only for Hawnu to call back to it, responding to the call. Your ikran sent worrying emotions through your bond but it wasn’t before the other ikran came closer, and you recognized it, that you understood why. 

Cupcake flew toward you, her distressed, desperate screeches almost painfully loud as she flew in circles before you. She was still wearing the heavy armor that the sky people had adorned the ikrans with. It seems to have been ripped in places by something big and strong enough to inflict such damage to an ikran. Hawnu chirps at Cupcake, before changing direction, silently asking you to bear with him through the bond. Putting your hand on his neck, you shift Neteyam’s weight against you before turning your head to look at Mo’at. The older woman just nods, her expression one of surprise, yet…not? You don’t have time to wonder what it was about as Hawnu picks up altitude before rounding a corner you knew all too well. 

Looking to the other side of the cliffs, you gasped at the forest view that plagued your dreams as much as it soothed you. The what if’s had been spinning around in your mind for weeks, never leaving you alone for long enough to find rest. Would things have turned out differently if only… Hawnu lands on the edge of the cliff, his powerful wings folding forcefully as he steps further from the edge before lowering down. Already, you can see the Na’vi laying motionless a few yards away. While Mo’at and her ikran land, you steel your nerves before absentmindedly breaking tsaheylu with Hawnu. Securing Neteyam on his back, you look back at Mo’at before stepping down. In the back of your mind, you already know who it is.

A heavy weight settles in your stomach as you approach the demon. He’s lying on his side by the tree line, the shadow just barely covering his body. Turning the demon around on his back, your heart clenches painfully at what you see. The demon’s face is swollen, blood long since stopped running, the fluid caking over where gravity had led its trail. The cuts littering his body are just as swollen as those on his face are, the infection has long since started. He’s too pale, his breaths shallow and his body alarmingly thin compared to how massive he had been only a few weeks past. Beside him, rotting meat and fruits lay all but untouched. Cupcake had obviously tried to fend for him alone, the ikran most likely with him when... 

“Does he live?” Mo’at asks, her voice clipped, almost emotionless. 

“Yes,” You confirm, your own voice hard. “He’s badly hurt,”

You say it more as an afterthought as you rise. Looking around the cliff clearing, you try to collect your thoughts, try to decide what to do. In reality, it shouldn’t be a question at all, not after what he had done to your son, to you - to the Na’vi people and Pandora. Leaving him here would mean death. Of that, you were fairly certain. If he was this close to his home without the sky people having picked him up, it would mean that he truly had no one else than Cupcake to take care of him. 

Turning your back to him, you walk back to Hawnu. The demon had caused all of this, had brought this on himself. Eywa was ready to accept him into her warm embrace, but he had rejected her and all of her children in the worst way possible. Getting up on Hawnu, you spare him one last look, seeing how Cupcake moves closer, nudging his motionless body as she chirps at him. His body is all but lifeless as he flops around to his side. 

Shouting angrily to the skies, to Eywa, to… everything, you get off of Hawnu again. You can hear Mo’at’s approving hum as you all but stomp over to the demon. Rolling him over to his back again, you take your knife and start cutting at the armor-like coverings he’s wearing. Huffing to yourself, you wonder what good it is when the material gives way too easily before your knife. You fumble a bit with the big chest piece, even though you had watched the recoms take them on and off before. Having removed all weapons and armor from his body, leaving the demon in his tight-looking little tweng, you try your best to sit him up before hoisting him over your shoulder. 

It’s almost impossible, his sheer mass, although he’s grown thin, almost too heavy. You wobble your way over to Hawnu before falling to your knees when you try to put him down again. Kicking his deadweight off of you, a split second of fear strikes you at causing even more damage to him. The demon’s body just slides against Hawnu’s flank, however. Getting up to your feet, you walk over to Cupcake, trying to get a handle on how her armor works. It’s punctured in odd places, as if something had bitten her neck, but when you touch your finger to the holes, there’s nothing but firm skin beneath. The armor had obviously protected her, but it needed to go. 

Turning back to the discarded weapons, you take the big knife out of its sheath. Cupcake is surprisingly calm as you struggle to cut through the armor binding her. Only when the last piece of armor falls, does she screech loudly and spread her wings as she shakes her long neck. Her joy is enough to put a smile back on your face. Putting the knife back in its sheath, you stare down at it for a moment before bringing it with you, stepping over the demon as you reach for Hawnu’s bag. 

“Can you do anything for his wounds?” You ask Mo’at, noticing how she’s still staring at the demon. 

It is not lost on you how the story goes. You had been at hometree yourself during the attack, but when some people had fled with the first smoke, you had been lucky enough to have been grabbed, escaping the massacre that had followed. Your Olo’eyktan, Mo’at’s mate, had lost his life that day, and shortly after, Tsu’tey had followed. All thanks to the demon before you. 

“When Eywa spoke to me of change to come, I did not expect it to happen this soon,” Mo’at starts, deep in thought as she continues to stare at the demon, “That this change would be him…” 

She didn’t have to finish her sentence, you already understood, and why she had joined your journey suddenly became so clear. Mo’at had stayed behind when her family left the Omatikaya, the Tsahìk no doubt training her replacement for the day when she could join her daughter again. 

“How long have you known?” You can’t help yourself from asking, not even when Mo’at’s all-seeing eyes shift to you, pinning you down.

“Eywa spoke of a difficult change to come shortly before Neytiri and her family left the Omatikaya. I interpreted the challenge would be to let them go, but when you arrived with Neteyam still alive, the Great Mother showed me that the changes were still to come, that it would be the hardest challenge of my life,” The way Mo’at clenches her fist lest you understand just how difficult this was to the Tsahìk. “No challenge will ever be more difficult than the demon, Y/n,”

“No medicine will help him in this state. The demon will need to be cleaned.” Mo’at hums cooly before looking at Neteyam, “Your ikran cannot carry his weight in addition to the two of you. My grandson will fly with me,”

There’s nothing you can say about that. She is your Tsahìk, your clan’s spiritual leader, and therefore the one in charge. What she says goes. Walking over to Neteyam, you’re grateful that the young man sleeps well.  They would need to find a place for him to rest soon anyway, so you might as well search for somewhere safe to stay for the night. The demon would, undoubtedly, need a thorough cleaning with the way he stank and his wounds caked with old blood and puss. You just hoped he wouldn’t wake up anytime soon. 

Carrying Neteyam over to Mo’at, helping her lift the young man up to sit in front of her on the ikran, you turn back to stare at the demon again. His heavy mass had been daunting the short distance you had carried him over to Hawnu, but to actually lift him to sit astride your ikran would be a nightmare. For a second, you wondered if hauling him over Hawnu’s back would be alright, but you quickly cast that idea aside. For some unfathomable reason, you had decided to help the father of your son, and help him, you would. It still didn’t mean you had to be happy about it, but at least you could look Spider in the eyes and say that you tried. 

Sighing deeply, you pray to Eywa for strength as you pull his arms over your shoulders, hoisting him up to lay over your back. On wobbly legs, you manage to rise high enough to lift his leg over Hawnu’s neck, but as you try to push, the sheer mass of the demon slides down your back instead, his weight too much for you to hold back. Like a bag of seeds being dropped to the ground, the demon coils into a heap as he hits the ground. 

Growling, you bend down to harshly pull on his stupidly heavy arm. The demon is impossibly heavy, impossibly long, and stupidly uncooperative in this unhelpful state of his. Eventually, you manage to drape him over Hawnu’s back, his long legs dangling on each side as you try your best to balance him on Hawnu’s back, only to realize that he’s sitting the wrong way around. Hissing with annoyance, you step up on Hawnu’s back, shoving the demon back as you take your place. Balancing his body you push your legs beneath his, grunting at the added weight it brings to your own balance. In the end, the demon is all but sitting in your lap, his massive body held against yours. Making tsaheylu with Hawnu, you beg for his forgiveness, asking him to be strong while you try to balance the demon’s weight. 

Looking back at Mo’at and Neteyam, you signal that you’re ready to move. The smirk on Mo’at’s lips is not lost on you, nor is the raised eye when you huff at the demon as his head slides down your shoulder. He stinks and it pains your nose to have him this close to you. Taking off after Mo’at, you wobble slightly to find your balance until Hawnu manages to stretch his wings in the warm midday air. You needed to find a safe place to stay for the night, somewhere, preferably, close enough to a pond. But proximity to a pond also meant proximity to predatory animals in the woods. You would need Hawnu’s help to both get the demon up and down from a fitting tree. 

Following Mo’at, you let your mind wander to the demon in your lap. On so many levels, you wanted to just let him slide off Hawnu, lean your head over to watch him plummet to his death, and shrug your shoulders as you continued on your way. But you knew that this was your bleeding heart talking to you, its bruises fresh as the gashes bleed uncontrollably. You don’t even want to think of the reason why, but the thought springs forth anyway. 

During your months as the demon’s captive, you saw a side to him you hadn’t expected. Qualities that spoke straight to your heart, to your mind, and most importantly, to your soul. It was a young girl’s foolish hope to deny it any longer. You had fallen in love with the man in your arms, fallen in love with the father of your child in the most horrible of conditions. Yet, if you really dug deep, you couldn’t regret it. The man before you had such potential and you could only guess that it was what the Great Mother had seen in him when the atokirina had embraced him in his entirety all those months ago.

You don’t notice how your hand finds its way up to cup the back of his head, holding him protectively closer, nor the way Mo’at’s smiles as she looks back at you. Deep in your thoughts, there’s only you and him, fighting your way through the wilderness of Pandora to get to your son. There is no betrayal, no harsh foreign words as he takes your son away from you for a second time, there’s no anger and disappointment over making your son cry. There is no burning of innocent villages or killing of sacred animals.

A sharp whistle pulls you out of your musings, however, Mo’at gesturing for a descent toward a mountainside. Confused, you follow the older woman’s lead. Looking back you were relieved to see that Cupcake followed your lead, still flying close to Hawnu. Your confusion, however,  only increases when, upon landing, you’re met with nothing of significance. There’s nothing there but the wild beauty of the Great Mother. 

“Send your ikrans away,” Mo’at hums as she breaks tsaheylu with her own ikran before gathering Neteyam in her arms and siding off. 

Following suit, you ask Hawnu to stay safe and to watch over Cupcake, before clumsily sliding off of his back while balancing the demon. Leaning him over your shoulder, you back up until his long legs slid off of Hawnu and his full weight rested on you. Grunting, you fold your arms under the demon’s bottom, careful to slide your hands under his tail so as to not put pressure on it. Hawnu doesn’t need to be asked twice before taking off, his mighty wings spreading as he lifts off of the ground, cupcake and Mo’at’s ikran following his lead immediately. 

“Come,” Mo’at calls to you, the older woman already moving toward the mountainside. 

Walking with the demon hoisted over your shoulder like this is difficult. You’re not the strongest Na’vi, neither warrior nor gatherer. Your contribution to the clan never depended on your physical strength. Still, you put one foot in front of the other as your thighs burned under the demon’s weight. 

“What you are to see stays between us, child,” Mo’at turns to you, her expression one of stony seriousness, making your spine straighten as you nod your head in understanding. 

Giving a minute nod of her own, Mo’at shifts Neteyam in her arms before turning back to the mountainside. Stepping up to the vines climbing up the rockside she reaches into one of the small pouches on her hips with one hand. There’s a powder-like substance in her hand when it emerges and you watch with big eyes as she blows the powder over the vines, the flora glowing brightly before pulling back from the rocks, creating a door to what hides behind. 

“Do not touch the vines. They are poisonous,” Mo’at’s clipped voice calls as she enters the tunnel that has just been revealed behind the vines. 

The passage is small, meant for only one to pass through, but as you maneuver both yourself and the demon though, you move slowly to ensure that neither one of you touches the vines. What greets you once you pass through the dark opening is nothing but a narrow, dark passage. Still, you follow Mo’at as she continues to walk further into the tunnel. It continues for a long while, the temperature dropping the further into the tunnel you walk. The scent of moist cave increases and just for a second, you let yourself doubt your Tsahìk. But like everything else, your doubt is unfounded as the tunnel suddenly opens up to a huge cave. Before you, bioluminescent light awakens as you step further into the cave, the huge space waking to life as it reveals its wonders. 

“What is this place?” You hear yourself ask, wonder and awe icing every syllable of your words. 

“This is a sacred place, one of many hidden, only to be shared between Tsahìk for safe travels or spiritual guidance,” Mo’at hums as she places Neteyam’s still sleeping body up against a rock. 

Stepping further into the cave, you let your eyes wander over the illuminated walls to the right, following its lights until they rest on smaller illuminated cups of water, steam rising from the surfaces. On the other side of the cave sat what looked to be a couple of nests, the blankets removed as if the place had been unused for quite some time. To your left, a cooking area was made, the firestones neatly laid in a circle under a pot. The cave had everything one would need, but what truly took your breath away was the huge pond before you, its round surface nestled up against the rock wall. It was huge and when you stepped up to it, you could see that it continued underwater and further into the mountain. 

“You should wash the demon,” Mo’at speaks up as she fluffs a folded blanket before laying it down on the closest nest. “The cups over there are heated, the water changes with the current underneath, so don’t drop him,”

Once more, you feel the sheer massive weight of the demon on your shoulders, his presence momentarily forgotten as you inspected the cave. Now though, your shoulder burned as you tried to gently put him down, failing miserably when the mass of his body came rushing down once his weight was shifted. His bottom hits the ground hard and you hiss in sympathy as his tail takes the full force of his descent beneath him. Stretching, you look down at him, wrinkling your nose at the state of him. He’s soiled and downright disgusting where he’s discarded, his tweng beyond ruined where it holds onto his narrow hips for dear life. Cleaning him would be a nightmare.

“There are some spare clothing stored in the cave, but I do not know if any of them will fit him. The demon is quite big,” Mo’at calls from behind you, still fussing over Neteyam, changing his wound. 

Making sure that the demon won’t fall into one of the cups of water, you walk over to Mo’at, moving to the chest she points at. Opening it, you’re met with different kinds of clothing. There are capes, chest pieces, twengs, and leg protectors. They’re all in different sizes, but the demon is huge. Although his waist is narrow, it’s still thicker than any Na’vi you had ever seen, the sheer mass behind his body making him bigger than usual. Neither of the twengs you held up would fit him, his big bottom would be taking up most of the cloth, giving him little protection. But then again, the tweng he wore now offered no front or back cover so maybe it would be alright? 

Picking the longest tweng, a deep green with leather straps, you hold the cloaks up, hoping that one of them would be big enough to cover him. Eywa smiles upon you when the very first cloak you hold up turns out to be a broad and long one. Happy with the choices, you neatly place the other items back into the chest, bringing the tweng and cloak with you. However, when you approach the devil once more, the daunting realization of what you have to do dawns on you. It’s been many years since the last time you’ve had to clean a soiled tweng, and back then, it had been your son’s small toddler tweng. 

The man before you was certainly not a toddler and certainly not small. Hesitating, you look pleadingly back at Mo’at, hoping that she might show you mercy this once. As a healer, she surely must have dealt with this before, right? However, when your eyes meet, the older woman shakes her head firmly before getting back to whatever she was doing in the cooking area. Sighing deeply, you close your eyes as you once more ask the Great Mother to lend you her strength. It doesn’t work… When you open your eyes, the demon still lies there motionless and dirty.

Clenching your jaw, you put the new clothing down a safe distance from the cups of water before you kneel before the demon. Turning him over on his side, you try to look for the fastening of his tweng, but after a while, it becomes clear that there are none. Much like the demon’s leg coverings, his tweng does not have straps to hold it in place. Grabbing your knife, you cut his tail free before you turn him over on his back once more. Taking hold of the impossibly soft material, you cut the first leg free before moving over to the other, closest to you. 

It’s not lost on you how his bare body would be revealed to you without his consent, on how you would see his bare form for the very first time in a situation like this. But he could not stay in the state he was in. The alternative would be to tell your son that your stiffness cost his father his life when it easily could have been saved, had you not been so shy. Taking a deep breath to steel yourself, you let your knife slice through the material, bending it back and pulling the twengs down between his legs. 

“Hmm… not bad,” Mo’at hums from behind you, her face clouded with impressed humor as she stares at the demon. “Here, you will need this to lean him,” 

Taking the bowl and cloth from her hands, you put them down by the cup of water closest to you. Removing your own tweng and chest piece, you step into the water sighing with relief as the warm water soothes your nerves. For just a moment, you let your eyes wander over the demon’s body, his powerful muscles still impressive, despite how thin he had grown. Your gaze followed as his massive chest rose and fell with each shallow breath he took, his stomach moving as it caved between his ribs and hip bones. His thighs went on for ages, making way for his incredible height, where he towered over most Na’vi. The gift toe on each foot made your ears twitch. Although you were used to the extra digits from having Spider, to see the adult Na’vi version of it made you stop for a second. 

Sighing, you grab his ankles, gently pulling him inch by inch into the cup of water. His heavy body forces you to use everything you have to be able to pull him in, but slowly his knees rest on the brim, his legs dangling into the hot water. Clenching your teeth, you look up over the rest of him, dreading how the heaviest part of him still remained. This time, however, you were unable to stop your gaze from landing on the demon’s genitals. Immediately, your cheeks heat at what you see. You’re unable to keep the gasp from leaving your lips as your eyes grow big with intimidated shock and curiosity. The demon was, indeed, big. Even in his rested state, his member nestled heavy and thick in the crook of his hip, his testicles full and big beneath. 

Averting your eyes, you’re met with the knowing shrug of your Tsahìk, the older woman’s smirk bringing you even more embarrassment at getting caught. With cheeks burning, you reach for the demon’s hand, pulling him sideways until he is ready to tip over into the water. Stepping forward, you lift his arms to rest over your shoulders before pulling him in. It’s not ideal, the demon’s height and weight immediately pulling you down with him as the rest of his body follows. Gasping you hurry to keep his head over the water, spreading your legs to hold his weight as he drapes over you. 

Locking your arms around his waist, you breathe heavily as you let the moving water do its thing. Distantly, you wished you had something like this at home, the constantly shifting water bringing fresh, hot water to the surface as the dirty water disappeared. When you deemed the demon to have soaked long enough, you clumsily moved over to the edge to grab the cloth and bowl that Mo’at had offered you. Immediately, you recognize the strong scent of soap. Dipping the cloth into the water, you squeeze it gently before dipping it into the bowl. Gently, you let the cloth drag over the demon’s shoulders, letting the lazy studs form before being washed away again. 

Inch by inch, you clean the demon’s back. Pushing your thigh between his legs, you gently lean him back until his head rests on the brim and he’s spread out before you. All too gently, you wipe at the crusted blood on his face, wincing at the swelling as fresh blood bubbles forth, only to slide down his slack face. He looks almost gentle while his face is slack with sleep and it reminds you of how his face should have looked, all nuzzled up and content as he snuggles close to you. The thought makes your heart squeeze painfully in your chest, your ears flattening against your skull as you wince. 

Dipping the cloth into the bowl of soap, you continue to clean the demon, letting the studs gather over his arms, his chest, his torso until there is only one area that remains. Steeling yourself, you take a deep breath as you dip the cloth into the bowl of soap once more. Resting both of his arms over the brim of the water, you grab the cloth while cupping the demon’s member in your hand, bringing it down. Guiding the cloth, you clean his privates, making sure to get every crook and cranny as you lifted his tail out of the way. In the end, the only thing that remained was to hoist him up and out of the water. 

Which proved more difficult than you had first anticipated. In the end, after the demon slides you both back into the water, Mo’at offers to help. With an arm in each of your hands, the two of you manage to drag him out of the water. Sitting down beside him, you breathe heavily as Mo’at walks back to Neteyam, the older woman chuckling as she mutters to herself. Getting your breath back in your lungs, you take the offered blankets that Mo’at holds out to you. Picking a nest a little further away, you place the blankets around in a comfortable manner before stepping over to the demon again. 

Lifting him up while wet was even more difficult, but you managed to bend him over your shoulder as you wobbled your way over to the nest you had prepared. Gently laying him down in the middle, you take one of the blankets and start wiping his body down, drying off what little water remained. Holding up the tweng, you roll him over on his side as you place the leather over his hips. Binding it around his tail, you fasten the fabric before placing it comfortably between the demon’s cheeks. Rolling him to his back again, you gently cop his member and testicles as you drape the fabric over them, making sure to pull them back as you fasten the fabric to the front. Tightening the leather, you step back out of the nest, walking over to the cup of water to put your own tweng and chest piece on. 

When you finish, Mo’at is already sitting by his side, binding his wounds in paste and leaves while she chants silently. Something you didn’t know you were holding back shifts inside of you as relief washes over you. Turning her head, Mo’at looks at you with a knowing expression on her face. 

“Come,” Mo’at gestures with a shift of her head, “You should learn how to do this,”

And just like that, you find yourself learning how to dress the demon’s wounds, learning what to apply where and which salve and paste to use. Smiling to yourself, you enjoyed learning about this, enjoyed the fact that you now would know how to help if it ever was needed again. 

“What makes Neteyam sleep like this?” You find yourself asking when you’ve finished and Mo’at has approved of your work. 

“I mixed a sleeping paste with his food to make his travels easier. I had not expected our journey to be interrupted so soon,” Mo’at replies as she lays down beside her grandson, “The Metkayina clans are not too far from here. I had hoped to reach Awa'atlu tomorrow before eclipse,” 

“Do you know the Olo’eyktan and Tsahìk?” You ask while sitting down beside the demon, looking at him while he rests. 

“I do,” Mo’at looks at you, studying your face as she thinks. “They assisted Jake Sully after the attack on hometree. Toruk Makto gathered what clans he could reach before the sky people came for the Vitraya Ramunong, before he came,” She points at the demon. 

“Did they know each other, is that why they’re arguing?” You find yourself asking, flinching when Mo’at narrows her eyes. 

“The demon was Jake Sully’s leader when he first came to us. They wanted what was in the soil, beneath the hometree, and once they got that, they wanted more. But it did not seem as if the demon wanted anything other than Toruk Makto,” Mo’at starts, her face getting a far-off stare. “Jake Sully betrayed the sky people to be one of us, to protect the people and Pandora. This Colonel Miles Quaritch did not like that,”

“I’m sorry, “ You don’t know what else to say, “Is that why Neytiri never accepted Spider?”

“My daughter holds great anger for the demon. He caused the death of her father and the death of so many more than Eytukan. Spider is the son of the demon, yet he is your son,”

“Spider is nothing like the demon,” You hiss, your ears snapping back close to your skull in defense. 

“Spider is Omatikaya, Y/n,” Mo’at shoots back with such strength that it makes goosebumps spread over your skin, “Yet, he cannot deny his parentage. He has a foot in both worlds, it yet remains to see if it will be his strength or downfall,”

Closing your eyes, your tail wraps tightly around your thigh in an attempt at comforting yourself. I don't work. You want your son, you need to know that he’s safe, that he’s not hurt or lonely. Although Neytiri did not care for him like she would a Na’vi-born child, you knew that he was safe with her and Toruk Makto. Lo’ak and Kiri were with them and so, Spider would not be lonely. Sighing deeply, you open your eyes to stare at the demon. He had caused so much suffering and pain, and yet, here you were; taking care of him, nursing him back to health. 

“Trust the Great Mother, Y/n, she will guide the way,” Mo’at speaks before fluffing a blanket, “Everything happens for a reason,”

And just like that, the older woman lies down to sleep, leaving you to stare at the demon alone. Sleep doesn’t come easy that night. As you stare at the demon, your mind wanders the memories of your time together, analyzing, remembering, soaking up the hurt and pain, and when you woke again, your heart felt heavier than it had been for quite some time. You went through changing his wounds with Mo’at by your side, surprised to see the swelling and infection already starting to heal. You feed him enriched fluids, helping him swallow the small amounts of liquid before eating something for yourself. Packing up, you clean and put away what you had used before once more hoisting the demon up over your shoulder. The trek out of the cave this time felt longer and heavier than the previous night. 

You don’t struggle as much as you did the previous day when getting the demon up on Hawnu’s back, getting settled easier than before. You drape the cape over the demon’s shoulders in an attempt to protect his body from the unforgiving sun and the cold air as you flew. Smiling, you huff a small chuckle when Cupcake wanders over to smell the demon’s body, obviously approving when she chirps at you. 

It’s not until the first break that Neteyam awakens, the young man’s eyes widened as he realizes what his grandmother had done. He was not pleased, Neytiri’s frown mirrored on his face as he grumbled at Mo’at for keeping him ”out of the game”, claiming that he was supposed to be a warrior. To the older woman’s credit, she doesn’t rise to his childishness, only waving him away as she helps you prepare more paste and salve for the demon. Too late, you realize what seeing the demon with them does to the young man. 

“What is he doing here?” Neteyam hisses and it’s the most venomous sound you have ever heard in your life, “Grandma?!”

“Hush child,” Mo’at barks, but it’s of no use. In a matter of seconds, Neteyam has grabbed a knife and is charging for the demon. 

Before you know what you’re doing, you’ve discarded the salve you were mashing into a smooth paste and thrown yourself protectively over the demon’s body. You’re just in time as Neteyam’s knife slices through the air, the blade nicking your skin as you manage to dislodge it from his hand. It’s not lost on you that had he not already been weakened by his wound, the knife would have gone straight through your arms and into your chest. 

“Step aside, Neteyam,” You hiss furiously as blood drips down your arm. 

“You’re protecting him?” Neteyam shrieks and the sound makes your heart ache because you feel his pain. 

Protecting the demon goes against everything in your mind, yet, your body had reacted before you even had time to register what was happening, your body instinctively knowing what to do before your mind did. 

“It is the Great Mother’s will, Neteyam,” Mo’at interjects, wrapping her hand over her grandson’s shoulder. “We cannot question Eywa’s choices, no matter how much we disagree with it,”

“He killed Granpa, he killed Sylwanin,” Neteyam hisses, and the words sent such an instant reaction through Mo’at that it made Neteyam step back. 

“Who says this, child?” Mo’at hisses furiously. 

“Mom and dad said that-”

“Your mother and father are fools, blinded by rage. The demon did not kill my mate. A piece of wood from the hometree did. And Sylwanin’s rage was what got her killed,” It looked like the words pained Mo’at to admit, but at the same time, it looked like something loosened inside of her as her face mellowed out. 

“The sky people have caused much devastation and sorrow, Neteyam, but they are not to blame for every bad thing that has happened. They are not to blame for every warrior's death or every accident that has happened, no matter how much we will it. The Great Mother has a plan for all of us and for some, that journey ends before others. I believe that’s why we were given the Vitraya Ramunong so that we can speak with their souls,”

“My Eytukan knows and accepts his death, knowing that Jake Sully will do what he can for the people. Sylwanin and Tsu’tey are reunited, finally together like they always wanted to. Their journey has ended while ours still continues,” Mo’at holds Neteyam to her chest as the young man cries, her eyes meeting yours as you stare open-eyed at her. 

“The path Eywa has created for us is not always the easiest, but it is the right one,” Mo’at finishes, and for a moment, you feel as if she’s speaking to you directly. 

Looking down at the demon, you stare at his peacefully resting face. The ugly bruises have all but disappeared, the swelling has almost gone too. His cuts still remain, but even they have scabbed over, the paste and salve Mo’at have mixed, working faster than you thought possible. Stepping away from the demon, you clutch the cut on your arm, relieved to see that it’s not deep. Wiping the blood away from your skin, you take some of the salve you had been mixing, hissing at the sting that it causes when you apply it. 

Turning your back to the others, you start the process of changing the demon’s bindings again, getting him ready for the journey ahead once more. You’ve just finished feeding the demon, helping him swallow the liquid when Neteyam moves closer, his ears pinned back against his skull, his tail wrapped tightly around his thigh. 

“I-I didn’t mean to hurt you,” He stutters, unable to meet your eyes, “I’m sorry,”

“How is your wound, Neteyam?” You decide to ask instead, smiling gently at him.

“It hurts, but it’s getting better,” He mumbles, still unable to meet your eyes. 

“When the demon took spider, I went after him,” You start, deciding that the young man deserved to know how you had ended up where you were today. So you tell him everything, tell him about how you had taught the unit the Na’vi way, told him how they had accepted Eywa in their hearts, about how their minds started to follow suit. You told him about how the Great Mother had embraced the demon, sending a sign so strong you could not deny it. And when you had told him everything there was to tell, you told him about how something had changed, about how everything fell to ruin and the events of the Metkayina had happened. It’s not lost on you how Mo’at listens in on the conversation, or how her tail flicks as she comes to her own conclusions, filling in answers to questions only she knows. 

“I thought they would go home after everything,” Neteyam mumbles, his gentle eyes finally meeting yours. “I thought they would bring us home, that we would stop running. I didn’t know they… I didn’t know they stayed behind,”

“It’s alright, Neteyam. Spider is safe with your family and now, your grandmother is with us. Everything is as it should be,” Smiling at him, you lift his chin with your fingers, chuckling lightly when his ears twitch with embarrassment. “We should get moving so that we can see them again,”

“I would like that,” Neteyam smiles and you pull him close, giving the young man a hug. It seems it’s what he needs when he melts into you, his arms wrapping around you so tightly it almost borders on uncomfortable. Cupping the back of his head, you kiss the top. “You’re alright,”

Packing up, you’re on your way once more, soaring through the warm wind as the breeze of the Metkayina area greets you. It isn’t long before there’s nothing but sea around you and then, in the distance, the island groups of the Metkayina clans. The closer you get, the more horrifying the realization is that the villages you’re meeting are the very ones that the demon in your arms burnt to the ground. 

As you fly past the first one, you can see they’ve started to rebuild, but it’s a small comfort as you fly past it. The next two did not fare any better, until suddenly, there were no more burnt villages. Your confusion only rises as Neteyam guides you through the island tribes until you reach a huge smattering of seawall terraces, the pools beautifully glittering as the Metkayina people go about their day. Awa'atlu is beautiful where it opens up before your eyes, the sandbanks in the see-through water making a soothing pattern from the skies. 

Circling back to the seawall terraces, you call to announce your arrival, giving the people time to gather and collect themselves before you circle back, preparing to land. As the Tsahìk, you let Mo’at take the lead as your ikrans slowly descend on the furthest sandbank where the people have gathered. Cupcake follows Hawnu as he spreads his wings widely to make for a gentle landing, his powerful legs supporting you as he touches down, quickly tucking his wings back to make room for Cupcake to land beside him. 

Breaking tsaheylu, you scoot back on Hawnu’s back while getting the demon’s heavy legs off of your own. Balancing the huge man on Hawnu’s back, you slide down from your ikran, your toes curling happily as they land in the warm, wet sand beneath you. Leaning the demon to rest over Hawnu’s back, you step away from him to follow Mo’at’s lead, watching how Neteyam is waiting for you while Mo’at greets the people and the Olo’eyktan as he steps forward. But before you manage to finish your greeting, a voice that immediately makes your knees buckle calls from just behind the Olo’eyktan. 

“Mom!”

Chapter 14 | Masterpost | Chapter 16

[simpingforthisonedeer]

Hey I saw that you had a tumblr and that we could ask questions about Fuego’s project

Chapter 16 was honestly really cool for setting up a lot of situations. It had a lot of unexpected stuff that makes me really excited for future chapters🔥

I like how you made a big change to canon because if it’s no longer the dark triad that’s the problem, then what would future problems be? I also like how the past wizard king is still relevant and comes back. And man I like the complex relationships you write. Jayce and Arthur may fight but they know that at the end of the day that they’re still on the same team and have each others back.

I really liked the interactions between the captains even tho it was very little, it gave us some subtle ideas about their personalities and dynamics. But uh oh they know Aika has time magic now I wonder what that’s gonna lead to.

You write the relationships between characters so well and true to canon but also give us more than just canon shows us so good job🔥❤️

Also, it’s so much like Aika to just give out an assignment instead of saying congratulations but I hope she’ll at least praise him for a job well done when he’s done😂

So what is he doing tho? I read into the concepts that you elaborated in your end notes and damn my head hurt.

ANON AAAAAAAA YOU ARE SO SWEET YOU PRAISE ME TOO MUCH

I really do love writing the complex relationships between characters and especially the canon ones because they are all outstanding individuals and we deserve to see how they shine even more through each other. When they say friendship is magic i really wanna show that so thank you anon!!

So Fuegoleon's project.

Yeah it is a doozy but I guess I'll try to give you more context and elaborate more.

So my idea of giving Fuegoleon a project came from my frustration that he didn't really have a spirit dive form yet or any sort of magic awakening

I am also a big fan of Fire Force and science and I loooooved how it showed the versatility of fire and it's role in science because it plays a big role in literally everything.

Black Clover has also shown the potential to be flexible in its magic despite having strict attributes through the various magic forms that people develop like Julius devloping transformation magic, zora using trap magic, ralph using memory magic, and magna using soul chain deathmatch.

Fire as a concept and physical medium has both spiritual and scientific aspects to it and Fuegoleon absolutely deserves to wield some of its cooler aspects besides an oversized lizard.

Fuegoleon's paper title is "Reversibility of Entropy through the Attribute of Fire: An Expansion on Laplace’s Demon."

Let me elaborate on the terms used.

The scientific term IRL is actually the "Irreversibility of Entropy." Entropy is basically how chaotic and random the world is. A solid state object has less entropy than a liquid state object and a liquid state object has less entropy than gaseous state objects. Basically gas is one of the more chaotic states an object can be. In real life science, you cannot physically reverse engineer some processes in the world because some phenomenon disperse in such random unpredictable ways.

Fire requires fuel, oxygen and heat. Once you create a fire and then extinguish it, you cannot bring back the original flame without using new materials and you cannot certainly bring back the materials used to create it in the first place. We currently don't have any processes that can do that because it is physically and theoretically impossible unless you reverse time.

Fuegoleon's job here is to bring back the fire created and extinguished by mana. He can do it using his fire magic but he would easily fall into just recreating the fire instead of reverse engineering it. So spoiler for future chapters, but he would essentially seal his fire attribute but still be able to use mana and use his familiarity with fire to bring back fire that was once there in a certain space.

It's basically a really elaborate science/mana experiment that tests just how much he knows fire as a magic form and also as a non-magic phenomenon.

Laplace's Demon is the concept that if you knew the past and present variable in any sciency phenomenon, you could predict the future of it. And that if you knew it's present and future variables, you could predict it's past. And this has proven to be untrue in our world because there is just a lot of randomness so you can't accurately predict anything but in a world of magic, it can be done because the people in it can physically interact with and move things in a way that we can't.

But yeah, I'm sorry for including nerdy topics in my fic but im also not sorry cus it's my fic 😝

Thank you for reading and I hope you'll continue to enjoy it!

[velteris]

Frieren timeline

The only timeline available on the wiki isn’t super fleshed out with exact dates and counting backwards etc. So I decided to make my own.

Notes:

1. Spoilers for up to manga ch119 (the most recent at this time)

2. Even if it’s likely just a rough measure (“three hundred years ago”), I’m gonna assume when doing my math that it was exactly 300 years, because otherwise I can’t do most of the math

3. I skip most events that don’t have an exact year, eg Fern and Stark respective being taken in by Heiter and Eisen. I do make some estimates (eg Sein’s birthday, we only know he’s in mid-30s so he can’t have been born any further back than year xx).

4. Standardised year 0 as the year the demon king was defeated

5. Realised about 2/3rds through that I could be writing down chapter citations but at that point it was too late lol sorry

behold!

-3,000: Earliest mentioned date, by Frieren re: dwarf beliefs; most people believed the dead turn to dust, so pre-Goddess. Unclear when Goddess actually starts appearing.

[Emperor Boshaft alive, so is Milliarde, Frieren in village]

-1,000: Frieren becomes Flamme’s apprentice

-950: Flamme passes away*

-510: the last time Frieren fought a demon (quite likely Macht, as in year 80 she says 600 years ago, which would be -520. What’s a decade here and there?)

-420: Frieren restores her golden arm

-422: Aura became one of the seven sages of destruction

-322: the last time Frieren saw another elf, Grandfather Voll starts to protect village

-222: the last time Kraft saw another elf

-120: Fass finds Emperor Boshaft’s alcohol, Gehn starts working on his village’s bridge

-26: Himmel is born

-11?: Hero of the South visits Frieren and dies a year later; tells her she’ll meet Himmel soon**

-10: Hero Party sets out from capital

[Hero Party kills Immortal Bose and pushes back Aura sometime during this period]

-3: Goddess arc (Himmel is 23), Hero Party seals Qual***

0: Demon King defeated, Era Meteors, Macht starts to serve^

2: Denken born

20: Macht is braceleted

28: Continental Magic Association started (at latest), Lernen was first first-class mage

29: Denken came to Auberst with his wife (who died when he was in his twenties); Denken’s wife presumably passed away very soon after

30: last sighting of a Darkness Dragon (per random apothecary); Weis turned to gold and sealed

39: Earliest possible Sein birthday (he would be 40); humanity learns to fly

45: Wirbel born

50: 2nd Era Meteors; Himmel passes away; Aura reappears, demon activity increases in north and baby Wirbel makes promise

61: Stark is born earlier in the year after winter; Fern is born some time after harvest festival but before the last three months of the year

68: Graf Granat’s son dies in war against Aura

69: Sein’s friend Gorilla left

70: Frieren and Fern meet

74: Heiter collapses

75: Stark runs away from Eisen

76: Heiter passes away; Frieren and Fern set out on their journey

76.5: half a year spent looking for blue moonweed

77: Fern turns 16 (after spring, latest autumn)

78: 3+ Months spent at seaside town cleaning beach

79: wintered with Kraft, Stark’s 18th bday (after spring), meet Sein around harvest festival (time is a bit funky since it gets cold and then warm after this?)^^

80: El Dorado arc

81: first chapter after El Dorado. As of ch119, we are here, 31 years after Hero Himmel’s death!

and in the future…

97: Tod’s “curse” will engulf the star?

100: Next meteor shower. Fern and Stark would be 39.

149: Frieren promised to be back at hero’s sword village by this time

1079: Frieren may return to the Continental Mage Association :)

*Assuming she died soon after Frieren’s last shown convo with her where she said “it’s only been 50 years”

**Unclear just when was the Frieren/Hero of the South meeting, so it could technically be anywhere before, but -11 is the most recent it could be

***Frieren says it’s been 80 years in year 77. If she’s being precise then this is the date—but I have doubts as Qual was sealed in the Central Lands, and Hero Party should be well into the Northern Plateau near the goddess monument by this point.

^Technically I think Macht starts to serve a leetle bit before the demon king is defeated, but no time frame given for how long it took Macht and Glück to have those convos

^^To be more precise: they start the year’s winter with Kraft. Then it gets warm, and Stark’s birthday happens. Harvest festivals are usually in autumn, which is when they meet Sein, and then it gets cold enough for the gang to wear their winter gear again, and they spend a winter (or a cold snap?) with Sein. When they get to Auberst they spend an additional two months training with Fern while waiting for the exam to start. But when they finally leave Auberst in ch61, and aren’t wearing their winter clothes anymore, it’s still listed as 29 years post-Himmel death??? There’s a mention of it being because they’re in the volcanic belt… But seriously, year 79 goes on and on. I honestly think the authors just forgot to find a good spot to switch that over lol

[stitched-mouth-vs-the-world]

Welcome to Stitched's first Kinktober! I'm very excited to share what's in my drafts as I am very proud of myself for once. Chapters will be posted midday (BST) everyday, chapters that have been missed thanks to Tumblr will be posted today as soon as I can. If you can’t wait go to my Wattpad or AO3. Here's a run down of what to expect in this book:

Day 1: Master’s Whore (Creampie Kink)

Summary: Vincent Phantomhive fucks his maid just a room over from his 'happy' family.

Vincent Phantomhive x Fem! Maid! Reader (Fic)

Day 2: Making Porn With The Number One Pro Hero (Amateur Porn)

Summary: You had a sex dream about your boyfriend, the Number One Hero, All Might wants to make that fantasy a reality after you punch another All Might slut in the face.

All Might x Younger Fem! Pro-Hero! Reader (Fic)

Day 3:  Being FWB With Ramona Flowers (Casual Sex)

Summary: Imagine being FWB with Ramona Flowers.

Ramona Flowers x GN! Reader (Headcannons)

Day 4:  Before Her Show (Behind The Scenes Fucking / Affair)

Summary: Imagine secretly banging the World's biggest singer.

Envy Adams x Scott's Sibling! GN! Reader (Imagine)

Day 5:  Mommy’s Sweet Praises (Praise Kink)

Imagine Layla El Faouly with a major Praise kink.

Layla El Faouly x GN! Reader (Imagine)

Day 6: In The Dark Of The Night (Demon Fucking)

Summary: After arriving at and joining a Covent you so didn't want to join, Valak takes an unusual liking to you.

Valak x Nun! Fem! Reader (Fic)

Day 7: Just For Research (First Time)

Summary: When Rick discovers his top student is a virgin, he knows he must change that so she can write her paper on human pheromones.

Rick Sanchez x College Student! GN! Reader (Fic)

Day 8: Inappropriate Workplace Behaviour (Office Sex / Boss x Employee)

Summary: Lord Death can't stop jacking off to his decades younger secretary.

Lord Death x Younger! Secretary! Fem! Reader (Fic)

Day 9:  Naughty Girls Are Punished (Spanking)

Summary: Georgia decides to teach her mischievous girlfriend a lesson.

Dom! Georgia Miller x Fem! Reader (Imagine)

Day 10:  Hot Ice (Temperature Play)

Summary: Nadia has always liked ice. It was always nice to crunch down on after a cigarette and you liked how cold it made her mouth feels. So by accident one nice, it joins you two in the bedroom.

Nadia Vulvokov x Fem! Reader (Imagine)

Day 11:  Revenge, You Thought (Bondage)

Summary: John enjoys teaching his naughty little thing a lesson and you enjoy learning it.

John Brown x Fem! Reader (Imagine)

Day 12: Car Hookups (Car sex)

Summary: You and Oboro regularly meet up late in his car for sex.

College AU! Oboro Shirakumo x GN! Reader (Imagine)

Day 13: Pegging L Would Include… (Pegging)

Summary: You manage to convince L to part take in a kink you've been wanting to try out.

L x GN! Reader (Headcannons)

Day 14: Wet Fucking (Shower / Tub sex)

Summary: Whilst the Handler is away, you and Lila decide to make good use of the beautiful bathtub in the hotel.

Lila Pitts x Fem! Reader (Imagine)

Day 15:  Insatiable Needs (Marathon sex)

Summary: When Steve is unable to satisfy his new wife's insatiable needs, he calls a friend.

Estefania x Fem! Reader (Imagine)

Day 16: Mommy’s Baby (Lactation)

Summary: Carol's duty as a mother is to make sure her baby is always well feed. She's your Mommy now so she must make sure your well fed.

Carol from Cobweb x Fem! Reader (Fic)

Day 17: Bruno Needs A Spanking (Orgasm Denial)

Summary: Denying Bruno Madrigal an orgasm includes…

Bruno Madrigal x GN! Reader (Headcannons)

Day 18:  Slowly Stripping (Exhibition)

Summary: Julieta can't help but find something so hot about being fully nude in front of her lover.

Julieta Madrigal x GN! Reader (Headcannons)

Day 19: Choking and Gasping (Breath Play)

Summary: Morpheus discovers he loves the sound of hearing you struggle to breathe.

Dream x GN! Reader (Headcannons)

Day 20: Edge You To Death (Edging)

Summary: Undertaker enjoys ruining your orgasms.

Undertaker x Fem! Reader (Fic)

Day 21: (Nun Fucking)

Summary: Sister Irene teaches you a holy lesson.

Sister Irene x Fem! Reader (Fic)

Day 22: Only Good Girls Get To Cum (Mirror Sex)

Summary: Ming forces you to watch yourself fall apart from just her fingers, just so you know how much of and dirty girl you are.

Ming Lee x Fem! Reader (Imagine)

Day 23: Pegging Fantasy (Pegging)

Summary: Jaime tells you his biggest sex fantasy and you make it your mission to make it happen.

Jamie Reyes x Fem! Reader (Headcannons)

Day 24: Green Mommy (Monster Fucking)

Summary: Your girlfriend's new power has made your sex life a whole lot more interesting.

Jennifer Walters x Fem! Reader (Fic)

Day 25: Papa’s Pet (Public Sex)

Summary: Dr Brenner will absolutely use you teach someone a lesson about the consequences of trying to steal what belongs to him.

Dr Martin Brenner x Fem! Reader (featuring 001?) (Fic)

Day 26: Blindfolding The Snake (Blindfold Sex)

Summary: You blindfold your good boy and reward him for all his hard work.

Servant! Snake x Master! Fem! Reader (Headcannons)

Day 27: Othello’s Experiment (Pregnancy / Breeding Kink)

Summary: Othello's newest obsession is pregnancy and all the symptoms that come with it. You've so generously agreed to help him in his little experiment for his research.

Othello x Fem! Human! Reader (Imagine)

Day 28: (Threesome)

Summary: Nemuri, your girlfriend, is shocked to hear about a filthy fantasy you've been thinking about. But still, she's more than willing to help her lover made said fantasy come true.

Midnight x Mt Lady x Fem! Reader (Fic)

Day 29: (Vouyerism)

Summary: Gabe has been watching you for a while now and has finally decided it time to come out and introduce himself.

Gabe x GN! Reader (Imagine)

Day 30: (Size Kink)

Summary: Nana is big and buff for a woman. She is quite used to hearing negative things about her muscly figure. The first thing she's ever received a compliment about her body was when you, her young girlfriend and successor's older sister, make a comment on how sexually aroused you are by her big muscles and all the filthy things you imagine she could to do to you with them.

Nana Shimura x All Might's Sister! Younger! Fem! Reader (Fic)

Which ones are you the most excited for?

[ashleyh713fanfics]

Dazai X Odasaku's Sister CH15 and CH16

Double Upload:

Chapter 15: "She's Not Like You"

Chapter 16: The Misfortune of Being Dazai's Girlfriend"

Summary: Chuuya has experienced the absolute displeasure of knowing who Dazai is firsthand. He is cruel, and selfish in everything he does with no capacity to care. So the boy is certainly surprised when he meets the demon's sweet and seemingly opposite girlfriend. But is it all a trick, or has the demon finally grown a heart?

Warnings: pm!sixteen year old dazai, pm!sixteen year old chuuya, suicide mentions, slight violence, manipulation on both sides, odasaku death mentions, dazai being a simp and a clingy baby boy, poor chuuya is lost, confused and tormented from all angles for most of this.

(This is chapter fifteen and sixteen of my fanfic "Timeless" which is now on A03. I'll link the master list below so you can get the full story. Asagao's ability is to stop time for up to six seconds.)

Master List Here

A03 Here

Work Count: 9k total

Chapter 15:

Chuuya was about to lose his mind.

It was a statement the ginger haired boy felt so clearly, his internal thoughts running rampant with a tap of his foot and the loud noisy jumble in the back of his head, stronger by the second. 

The sanity that he had desperately clinging to so desperately slipped away the more he looked at the ticking clock in front of him, mocking his very breath. And with that loss a new stronger emotion took its place. 

Fury, he was absolutely and positively furious. 

Although to be completely fair, this emotion wasn’t new at all. In fact, Chuuya realized that perhaps his past sentence wasn’t completely accurate either, considering he had felt like he had lost his mind years ago. 

He was never this angry before the port mafia. Sure, he had a temper that was established very early on during his time with the sheep but never before had Chuuya felt this sort of raging hatred before. It coursed through his veins by the second, wanting nothing but to scream it into the air. 

And he knew exactly where these emotions started, what sparked them in the first place. 

Just thinking his name brought a sense of enraged fury. 

Dazai Osamu. 

The boy he hated more than anyone else in the entire world, a slimy and manipulative brat that could get under his skin and make him crack over and over again. No, that shitty Dazai never failed to make him stir up the absolute worst parts of him for that fuckers own entertainment. 

And ever since Mori had made them partners, he had never known a day of peace.

 Today as well, it was the same as all the others, the boy crossing his arms with a furious shout as he realized the truth of the situation. Even after he called the idiot and threatened him it seemed that his words did nothing to change the outcome he had been trying to avoid. 

That sorry sack of shit, he ditched again. 

Yeah, you read that right. The mission that Chuuya had specifically told that bastard not to flake on and guess what he did? Absolutely fucking flaked. Their assignment wasn’t even that serious either. 

They had been ordered to attend a meeting with a smaller group that was tied to the port mafia and was stepping out of the line from their usual restrictions. It was going to be an easy job, just a quick threat and yet the bandaged boy couldn’t have the audacity to show his face. 

Which led to where Chuuya was now, his feet kicking a nearby trash can as his gravity ability crushed the metal pieces into nothing in order to hear his phone immediately go to voicemail for the hundredth time. 

That bandaged wearing waste of space, he was going to destroy him the next time he saw this pathetic stupid little face. Making him look like an idiot and showing up alone. No, this time he was going to pay for real. 

No one messed with Nakahara Chuuya and got away with it. 

Grumbling to himself, the ginger haired mafioso then stomped away from their meeting spot, knowing it would do no good. It was obvious that Dazai wasn’t going to turn up, he was four hours late as it was. No, he needed to take matters into his own hands. 

So instead, the boy slipped away from the shadowy edge of the building back to the mundane bustling of the city just a couple feet away, his body blending in with the hoards of naive and frivolous civilians around him. 

There was something about the sight that made his shoulders tense though, never liking the oblivious and carefree looks on their faces. He never fit in with them, not even during his time with the sheep, and though he could try to blend in it was obvious that Chuuya didn’t mix into their world at all. 

He was a mafioso after all, a brutal gravity manipulator that only saw death and destruction while the people around him never had the misfortune of witnessing such a sight. They were pure and clean, separate from the dark cruel world of the underground.

And that’s how it needed to stay, the two sides separate, always parallel but never touching. It was safer that way, the distance kept them safe, secluded in their little bubble of self made security. He didn’t belong with the mundane and they didn’t belong with him, ever. 

Sighing heavily, the sixteen year old boy then moved past a small family in front of him only to feel his feet glue to the very spot he was standing in order for his mouth to hang open with furious shock.

No, it couldn’t be. There was no fucking way. 

Because sitting in a booth in a small restaurant across the street from their meeting spot was the very bane of his existence, the boy’s lips curved upwards in a mocking smirk from the large bay window as Chuuya felt his blood boil immediately. 

Dazai was here? And not only that, he was sitting down at some no named establishment having the time of his life while the ginger waited four hours for absolutely no reason at all?!

And the way he was seated, it was like the kid wanted Chuuya to find him, his body clearly visible from the extremely large clear glass window and from the streets as he chatted away with another stranger that was just out of view. 

That bastard, he wasn’t that stupid, he must've done this on purpose. That was the only solution. He knew that Chuuya would pass by here, that he would’ve gotten sick of waiting for him and left to find him like this. He had to, or else Dazai would’ve done a better job of hiding. 

Just the idea made him seethe in uncontrollable rage.

Oh no, he was not going to get away with this. He couldn’t just screw him over like this and rub it in his face. No, he was going to drag that sorry kid back to the meeting spot and beat him to hell for ever thinking he could fuck with him like that. 

So much so, Chuuya felt his feet move on their own, his mind focused on nothing but his own fury as he stormed across the street and into the small cafe before grabbing hold of Dazai’s wrist in order to pull him back outside. 

The bandaged menace didn’t object surprisingly, allowing the very angry ginger to pull him into the nearby alley before he felt his body get slammed against the wall. “You bastard, what the hell do you think you’re doing?! I told you that if you ditched our mission again you’d regret screwing with me.” 

Dazai wasn’t bothered though, his lips turning in fake thought before shrugging his shoulders casually. “Oh, that was today? I didn’t even realize it. Sorry Chibi, I guess you’re just too insignificant in my mind to remember anything you say.”  

His response made Chuuya see red, sensing the bullshit immediately. Sure, maybe to an ignorant stranger his words would’ve made sense but the ginger had the unfortunate displeasure of knowing this bastard for over a year now. 

And nothing he just said made any sense. “Don’t fuck with me, you know damn well it was today. Why else would you be sitting directly across the street mocking me? I know you’re game, Dazai. You picked that spot cause you knew I’d see you.” 

Dazai seemed to blink back in response at that, his lips curving up into something far more devious before dropping his previous innocent act. “Huh, maybe my stupid little mutt isn’t as stupid after all..” 

And though he was right about his game, Chuuya felt no satisfaction of winning, the boy tightening his hold on Dazai in order to throw his fist back with a screaming shout. 

There it was, that stupid dog talk again, he was goddamn sick of it. “I told you not to..!!”

Yet that’s when the bandaged boy simply raised his hands up to his chest, Dazai’s voice just as condescending as usual. “Chuuya please, not so violent in front of our guest.” 

Then all at once, Chuuya felt his hand pause, still reeling backwards in order for him to blink in confusion. What the hell was this guy talking about? It had to be another joke right? Another reason to get him to wiggle out of his wraith. 

Yet even so, the boy questioned. “Guest?” 

Dazai only nodded though, using his defensive hand to point behind his seething partner as Chuuya followed his direction in order to turn around in a huff. 

And there she was, just like Dazai had said. A strange auburn haired female staring back at him, the balls of her feet rocking back and forth in some sort of giddy excitement the moment he acknowledged her. 

 Who the hell was this, another threat? And why hadn’t he sensed her until now? Could it be that he was too wrapped up in his own furious rage that he had gotten this sloppy? 

But once his eyes adjusted, he couldn’t find any type of threat. In fact, she looked as innocent and naive as they came, the girl wearing a teal turquoise colored princess dress that fluffed out by her knees with a matching colored bow that tied her hair neatly back. 

That along with a pair of large glasses covering the entirety of her eyes. 

In fact, it was so off putting that the bright colors of her outfit contrasted the dark and gloomy alley walls when she moved, creating a dissonance between the grimy streets and soft gentle aura she displayed. 

And something about her seemed familiar, like an odd case of deja vu.  

Yet before he could question anything about her, the strange girl only gasped before racing up to him in order to take his gloved hand and shake it erratically “Hiii, I’m so excited to see you again! Oh wow, it’s like a dream come true, really.” 

Her moves were hasty, causing Chuuya’s arm to immediately go numb and pull back with guarded resolve. She didn’t seem dangerous but that didn’t mean anything. He knew better than to take her fangirl attitude at face value. 

Hold on, she said that they had met before. That was strange, the boy unable to place her face to his memory, although her attitude did seem vaguely familiar from somewhere. But where?

Taking a step back in discomfort, Chuuya raised a skeptical eye. “Uhh do I know you?” 

The girl seemed confused for a quick second before she immediately brightened back up in order to slap a hand over her face. “Oh, right! Last time we met was like a year ago so I’m sure you don’t remember me. Silly me, getting ahead of myself. I do that a lot. Oops..” 

She then began to ramble, her words far too jumbled for the poor boy to understand before the girl seemed to catch herself in a soft girlish giggle. “Where was I? Oh yeah, anyways it was great! You hit me in the face and then apologized and then stopped my nose from bleeding all over the place. I think about it all the time, how nice you were back then..” 

Chuuya felt the words sink in ever so slowly, the meaning of them bringing a strange sort of deja vu. Hitting a girl in the face..stopping her nose bleed..apologizing..now why did that sound familiar?

Hold on. 

Just then, his eyes began to widen in realization. Wait, he did remember that. This was the strange weird girl that he had met back in his apartment building, wasn’t it? No wonder why her odd behavior seemed familiar. She was just as bizarre as before. 

Seemed like nothing had changed at all from a year ago. 

Pointing a finger in accusation, Chuuya shouted back in disbelief. “You..” 

The girl, what was her name again? 

Oh yeah, Asagao. 

Asagao only clapped her hands though, unable to hold in her pure joy in her sparkling little eyes as she skipped up to him happily. “Yes, it’s me! Ah, you do remember me! That makes me so happy, Chu Chu!” 

Almost immediately, he felt his throat groan in memory. That’s right, she called him that stupid nickname before he left and wasn’t able to correct her. “It’s Chuuya, say it right, and why are you even here?” 

That was the question, wasn’t it? Why was this strange girl in front of him? It’s like she had materialized from thin air without warning, both last year and right now. She said she wasn’t port mafia but was that really true? He wasn’t sure. 

Asa’s eyes only lit up with recognition though, smiling softly in reply. “Oh, that’s easy. I’m on a date with my boyfriend.” 

At that, Chuuya felt himself pause. “Boyfriend..who..?” 

The girl only laughed though, the sound light and airy as she pointed to the spot behind him with obvious conviction. “Silly goose, he’s right behind you.” 

What the hell was she saying? There wasn’t anyone behind him except for..

Whipping his head around in question, Chuuya’s wild eyes wander around the alley only to find Dazai staring back at him wordlessly. But even so, the boy couldn’t process that reality, his head looking past the boy with confusion. 

There had to be someone else, anyone else she was referring to. 

But sadly, the rest of the alleyway was empty, leaving his heart to drop with dread and lingering concern. No, it couldn’t be. She was messing with him. There was no way. 

Feeling his brain malfunction, Chuuya then turned back to the waiting girl before shaking his head to will away the thought. “Nice try, there’s no one there expect..” 

He couldn’t even finish the sentence, the reality too horrifying and sickening for him to comprehend. This sweet innocent civilian, there was no way she was wrapped up with a sick fuck like Dazai. 

Feeling his head turn from the smiling girl and back Dazai about a dozen times, poor Chuuya desperately looked for another solution, anything then what was in front of him right now. 

But with nothing to ground himself, Chuuya couldn’t help but stutter. “H-Hold on, wait a damn second, you said you were with some guy named Osu.” 

Although that’s when he watched Asagao simply step past him in order to wrap her hands around the bandaged mafioso’s forearm before leaning into the man he hated more than anything and nodding casually. “Yeah, Dazai Osamu.” 

Then all at once, Chuuya felt his entire world explode. 

Red hot heat suddenly burst into the boy’s entire face, his head reeling and spinning with horror as the poor mafioso jumped back in a ragging shout. “W-WHAT?! There’s no fucking way, you’re kidding right? You’re not seriously his...” 

Yet before he could finish the sentence, Dazai’s slimy little bandaged arms shifted around in order to wrap them around Asa’s mid section and push her against his cheek with a mocking pout. “What’s wrong, Chuuya? Jealous I got a hold of this lovely little lady and made her my girlfriend before you could?” 

Dazai’s words didn’t help his flustered expression though, Chuuya’s mind running at a mile a minute as he tried to process the new information. “J-Jealous?! Why would I be? I just..I just don’t understand. What’s wrong with you?” 

Pointing a finger towards the girl in question, Asa only waved his concern away, laughing at the seriousness of it. “Ah, that’s a loaded question, Chu Chu. We would need all day for that.” 

She was treating all this as a joke, but Chuuya didn’t find any of it funny. What the hell was she thinking, letting someone as evil and awful as Dazai control her like this? This was worse than he thought. He had to knock some sense into her. 

Shaking his head, his finger then shifted towards Dazai. “No, I mean it. Out of everyone in the world, why would you ever pick..god I can’t even say it..I think I’m gonna be sick..” 

He only watched her bat her eyes in pure innocence though, not understanding his reaction in the slightest. “Why wouldn’t I? Samu is great. He’s sweet and kind and wonderful. He’s the best boyfriend I could ever ask for!”  

Sweet, kind, wonderful? No, there was no way in hell Dazai and those words fit together in the same sentence. This was the same man that had terrorized him every single day since they forcibly became partners. This girl must’ve had a screw loose in her brain in order to think such a ridiculous statement. 

 Dazai only hummed though, obviously enjoying the distraught and disgusted look on his face in order to tighten his hold about his girlfriend’s waist and pull her even closer to him. “Aww, you flatter me, love. You’re not half bad either. In fact, I think those sweet little lips of yours are pretty great also.” 

It didn’t matter if the two weren’t involved like that, Chuuya didn’t know the difference, the boy only thinking the absolute worst from his statement as his brain began to continue to malfunction. “B-But that’s not..he’s not…” 

Luckily for him though, Asa cut off his spiral, her body detaching from Dazai’s in order to skip up to him happily. “Oh, I know! Since you’re not busy anymore why don’t you hang out with us, Chu Chu? I would love to chat and get to know you some more. That is, if you wanted to?”

That sounded like the worst idea in the entire world, the boy finally answering in a complete and coherent thought because of how ridiculous it was. “Why would I ever want to hang out with that sack of shit?”

Asagao only lifted her hands up in response though, that same idiotic grin still on her face. “Because we are celebrating my birthday, and I would love it if we could become friends. Then that would make the day even more wonderful!” 

At that, Chuuya couldn’t help but pause. “Your birthday?” 

Giving another girl-ish cute giggle under her breath, Asa then nodded her head happily before spinning around in a little circle, her skirt swishing with each word. “Yeah! Well, sort of. It’s a long story. I’m making up for lost time. Oh! But Samu got me this pretty fluffy princess dress for the occasion. Doesn't it look cute?” 

And because of her erratic movements, his eyes had no choice but to move towards the brightly colored fabric before another wave of embarrassment moved to his cheeks. What was he even supposed to say to that? Compliments weren't his thing. 

But even still he tried, noticing the hopeful look she was giving him. “Y-Yeah..I guess..” 

His flustered blush was not lost on Dazai though, the bandaged boy narrowing his eyes before reaching forward in order to pull his girl back into his arms with a huff. “Oh look, the doggie is blushing. Careful Asa-chan, don’t stand so close. Chuuya here is a pervert.” 

Feeling his voice raise immediately, the ginger haired boy willed the embarrassment away in order to cover it with an emotion he knew far too well. Anger. “W-What, I am not! She asked me! What else was I supposed to say?!” 

Dazai then shrugged his shoulders in response, his head purposely plopping on top of Asa’s left shoulder before humming absentmindedly in order to play with a loose strand of her auburn hair. “I don’t knowww, seems like an excuse to me. Sounds like something a pervert would say to deny it.” 

The executive then pushed Asa backwards by his arms, the bandaged skin wrapping tightly around her waist like Chuuya was some sort of stranger danger he needed to protect her from. 

Which was absolutely ridiculous considering the poor ginger haired boy didn’t do anything to warrant such a response. This idiot, just what was he accusing him of?! He was getting more and more pissed off by the second. 

Pushing his hands into a ball, Chuuya felt his throat strain with fury in order to shout back roughly. “Shut up, I already told you it’s not like that! Besides, you’re one to talk. You’re the one that’s always saying disgusting shit offhandedly like a dumb ass.”  

I mean seriously, why was shitty Dazai even suggesting such a thing when he constantly told Chuuya about how he was playing with women. Pinning them down, having his hands full, entertaining his time, those were just some of the sick comments he had made. 

Hold on, when he was saying all that stuff, he wasn’t talking about Asagao, right? He hoped not, she was too sweet and naive to be in that kind of situation, and for his sanity the ginger brushed the idea off. 

Dazai only pouted his lips though, a look of disbelief in his uncovered eye. “Chuuya! Are you saying that you don’t think my girlfriend is cute?” 

Although that’s when he watched Asa gasp as well, her voice turned shaky and uncertain as she turned back to Chuuya with a newly depressed tone. “W-What? You don’t think I look cute…?” 

And just like that, all the insults and saved up responses he had in his mind disappeared completely, the brutal mafioso completely at a loss for the seemingly upset civilian before him. Damn it, why did she have to look so sad? 

Not knowing how to respond, Chuuya quickly put his hands out, desperately to stop her tears and the depressed air that he had unknowingly caused. “N-No, I didn’t..that’s not what I…”

But very quickly, the boy realized that he couldn’t win. Either way, Dazai would criticize his answer, causing the ginger haired kid to quickly groan in order to pull on his hair with growing stress and anxiety.

And the cocky ass look from Dazai didn’t help as well, almost like he knew how unraveled his partner was becoming by the second. That bastard, he was making him insane.  “Ahhh just shut up!!” 

He then heard that no good bandage wearing waste of space laugh at his misery, confirming Chuuya’s theory almost instantly. He was fucking with him on purpose to gain a reaction, and he had lost yet again. Damn it. 

Yet that’s when he watched Asagao reach forward in order to plop a hand on top of Dazai’s head, his chin still firmly resting against her shoulder comfortably. “Now Samu, take it easy on Chu Chu. He hasn’t even answered my question yet.” 

Dazai then grumbled in response as Asa’s hand moved down to the death grip on her wrist in order to tap her pointer finger onto his bandages in some sort of hidden code before the boy reluctantly let go. 

Moving his fingers from his messy ginger hair, Chuuya then paused his breakdown in order to find the girl standing a few feet away from him, her hand immediately grabbing his with a small smile. “So what do you say, will you come celebrate my birthday with me?” 

Her question was absolutely insane considering the hell he had just been put through. It didn’t matter how sweet and nice this random girl was, there was no way he was going to spend the entire day with a demon like Dazai. Over his dead body. 

But how could he tell her that? She was looking at him so hopefully, even though he was sure that this Asa girl didn’t even know who he was. “Listen I don’t think..” 

Yet before he could finish, Asagao reached down in order to grab his other gloved hand, holding both of them up with a small squeeze. “Please say you’ll come! I would really love it if you were there. I just know we could be great friends!” 

But Chuuya knew the only reason she wanted him to come was because she didn’t know about his mafia lifestyle. Yes, he had asked her about the port mafia when they first met but there was no way she could know about the bloody and brutal life he lived. 

Dazai probably kept her in the dark. That was the only solution. 

Because if she did know then there was no way any sane person would ever act this way. He murdered people and she was just holding his hands like nothing.  “Now hold on, I didn’t say yes..”

Asagao only leaned closer though, Chuuya catching the vague blue of her eyes behind her glasses. “But you’re thinking about it, right?”

Her pushy nature was starting to irritate him though. Why couldn’t she just shut up and let him finish? Instead she was putting words in his mouth, making him guilty for turning her down.

Because of that, Chuuya felt a bit of his temper seep out, ripping his hands away from her hold in order to take a step back with a bitter scoff. “Cut it out, I didn’t say that either!” 

Although that’s when he watched Asagao’s face fall for a second, her shoulders slumping back down just like before in order for her to sadly chuckle under her breath. “Oh..I’m getting ahead of myself again, aren’t I? Sorry, I didn’t mean to overstep. It’s just this is my first birthday in Yokohama with someone to share it with and I got carried away. All the others were so lonely before, but I understand if you’re busy…” 

Widening his eyes, Chuuya then felt his heart twist inside his chest with a guilty pang. 

Ah shit, now he felt like an asshole. She sounded so sad saying that. But how was he supposed to know that she was lonely, that she didn’t have any friends or anyone to share her birthday with? Damn it. How could he possibly deny her after that? 

And even though the last thing he wanted to do was spend time with shitty Dazai, the boy knew he could manage at least an hour or so. He guessed. Anything to make the guilt in his chest go away. 

Grumbling to himself with silent defeat, Chuuya then sighed before scratching the back of his head awkwardly, his voice slightly uncomfortable. “Fine. I’ll stay, just don’t make that face.” 

Then, like a light switch, Asagao seemingly jumped back to life, almost like her past sadness was fabricated completely in order to get what she wanted. “Wait, really?! Did you hear that Osu, he’s gonna stay! Ah, this is the best day ever!” 

Feeling immediately whiplashed, Chuuya then stood dumbfounded before feeling Asagao’s giddy and frantic arms wrap around his waist in a sloppy hug before jumping up and down once, shaking the boy completely. 

Hold on, why did he feel like he just got played? 

No, that couldn’t be. He had to be imagining it. He was just spending too much time with Dazai. That’s why her actions felt off. Stupid bastard was messing with his psyche now. Just great. 

Asagao then gasped before immediately letting go, almost as if her brain seemingly remembered some other random thought. “Well, what are you waiting for, let’s get going! I got lots of stuff I wanna do.” 

Clapping her hands together, the girl then turned around sharply, her steps quick and confident before she completely missed the door to the left in order to slam her entire face into the brick wall next to her as Chuuya gasped in horror. 

Shit, that looked like it really hurt. “...are you okay?” 

Asa only stepped back before rubbing her face once though, a goofy unbothered look still on her face in order to pat the brick with understanding. “Oh, yeah! I’m great. I just thought the door was closer than that ha ha ha.” 

Suddenly Chuuya couldn’t help but feel a sense of deja vu, recalling their first meeting. Damn, she wasn’t kidding when she said she had shitty eyesight. 

How did she ever get anywhere like that? Weren’t those glasses supposed to help? Great, now he was even more concerned about her. 

Lifting up his hand to help her, the girl simply stepped away from it, Asa’s hand finding the doorknob in order to enter back into the cafe as Chuuya watched completely and utterly dumbfounded. That girl was something else. 

He didn’t think he’d ever met someone like her before. So strange and odd yet so gentle and kind at the same time. He didn’t know what to make of her at all. And for some reason, one interaction with her had left him completely winded and exhausted, like he had just ran a marathon. 

Now that he mentioned it, he felt like that the last time they had met also. Completely and utterly drained of all energy. 

Giving out a heavy sigh at the feeling, Chuuya then turned around back to Dazai before a wave of displeasure washed over him. He couldn’t talk about this while Asa was around but now that she was gone he wanted answers. 

This cocky son of a bitch, he had to have some sort of underhanded motive for keeping a girl like her around, and he was going to find out what. “What the hell is your game?” 

Dazai only batted his uncovered eye with fake innocence though, something that made Chuuya feel sick. “Game? I don’t know what you mean.” 

He was lying, it was obvious, which meant he was using that poor girl for something. “Don’t fuck with me. That girl, you can’t be serious, right?” 

The only thing he received though was a cocky ass smirk, the bandaged boy stepping closer with a dark gleam in the corner of his eye. “I don’t think that’s any of your business, Chuuya.” 

And sure, Dazai was right in a sense. He didn’t really care about the types of women he kept around but he felt bad for Asagao, so much so that seeing a pure soul with someone like Dazai didn’t feel right. This kid would only make her cry, that was practically a guarantee. 

And call him weak or whatever but Chuuya didn’t want to see that kind of result for her. 

She was so different from them after all, it was practically obvious to tell from that one tiny interaction. Dazai and him had murdered, tortured and committed thousands of crimes. 

She didn't need to be around that. She didn’t deserve to have that light around her die like theirs had. “It becomes my business when you drag innocent civilians like her into danger just because you think it would be funny to watch.” 

And he was sure that Dazai saw this as some kind of sick game, that he was relishing in the corruption of this girl between his fingers but Chuuya didn’t agree with that ideology. The two worlds needed to be separate and this idiot was mixing what shouldn’t be mixed. 

Although something about his warning seemed to bring the boy amusement, Dazai’s lips curving up into a scoff as he whispered the words on his tongue. “Civilians like her, huh? What a dense word choice..” 

Yet before he could question it, the boy covered his comment with another, his tongue licking his lips in some sort of depraved manner. “You’re right Chibi, she is quite fun. In fact, she’s the most fun I’ve had in years.” 

Chuuya felt himself cringe in disgust at that, not warning to know what he was implying. “I mean it, shitty Dazai. Stop manipulating her. She’s not like you.” 

Once again though, Dazai only snorted, his lips carrying an ominous air to them as he chuckled under his breath to Chuuya’s dismay. What kind of reaction was that?

Taking a threatening step forward, the ginger haired boy narrowed his eyes, not understanding the joke. “What’s so damn funny about that?” 

The air was silent then, Chuuya watching as Dazai simply turned away from him in order to open the door back to the cafe with a small shake of his head. “I take back what I said, you’re still stupid.” 

At that, the boy felt himself grow livid, his head reeling with anger in frustration in order to snap back to Dazai with a shout. “W-What? What the hell does that mean?!” 

Dazai only paused in the doorway though, his hand moving towards the frame before looking back towards his idiot partner with a cocky knowing smirk, the ginger’s words playing in his ear in an amusing loop. 

She’s not like you. 

Oh how wrong poor little Chuuya was. 

And Dazai couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he realized it. 

Tilting his head to the side, Dazai then finished cryptically, a chill running up Chuuya’s spine as he unknowingly took in every single word with dread. 

“That’s for you to find out.” 

-----

Chapter 16:

Feeling even more drained than before, Chuuya took a couple more moments alone before finally deciding to enter the back door of the cafe with an anxious weighted sigh of frustration. 

He had absolutely no idea what Dazai had meant back in that alleyway but not knowing was honestly pissing him off even more. Whatever it was though, it didn’t sound good, almost like the boy was mocking his inability to see something that was in front of his face. 

But what didn’t he understand? Things looked pretty clear to him. 

And that was that this strange girl was in danger, in multiple horrifying ways. 

The first was Dazai obviously, that was the most blatant one. It was almost a guarantee in his mind that the loser didn’t care about her and was only using her for some sort of selfish purpose. 

Because that’s just how Dazai was. He was unapologetically cruel and inhumane. He did things for sheer entertainment even if the other party was desecrated in the process. 

And Chuuya knew that firsthand, considering he had the unfortunate displeasure of being on both the receiving and spectating sides. 

He comprehended the bastard so well, more than he ever wanted to in the first place, and because of that, Chuuya also knew that Dazai didn’t have the capacity to keep someone around without it having a benefit to him. 

But the question was, what was Asagao’s benefit to a demon like Dazai? What was the reason he kept her around? Was it merely for some sick kick or was it something that Chuuya wasn’t seeing? 

Because his interactions with that girl thus far had been as innocent as they came. Sure, she was weird and kind of strange but that’s about it. Dazai never bothered with civilians before so what made her so special? Or was the girl just a fly caught in a deceptive and manipulative web? He didn’t know. 

But the second reason she was in danger was possibly even worse than the first. Because if Dazai did hypothetically care about this girl, which was highly unlikely but Chuuya could play devil's advocate, then he had to know that just being out like this was putting her at risk to be hurt, kidnapped or even tortured by his enemies. 

The guy was an executive after all, Mori’s right hand man and he had made a million enemies during his time in the port mafia. He knew Dazai wasn’t an idiot so he must have known that attaching himself to such a weak and helpless girl would make her a target in an instant. 

That’s why Chuuya never tried or even toyed with the idea of dating, because he knew that any partner he gained would be in constant peril, and that was something the ginger haired boy couldn’t stomach. 

But here was Dazai, bringing his girlfriend out in public, pushing themselves in with hoards of people and letting her roam alone when he knew damn well the risk that was waiting around every corner. 

That made Chuuya’s first theory seem more plausible. He had to just be fucking around, because there was no way anyone would ever do what he was doing to a loved one. They would protect a partner, not make them balance on a line between safety and the instability of life.   

But either way, whichever it turned out to be, Chuuya was going to find out. 

Because if she really was in danger the ginger knew he had to get her out of it. Dazai would never come to her aid, he would never let her go so now it was up to him. 

Over his dead body would he ever allow a moral and pure person like her to be corrupted so brutally. No, he would stop it before that slimy bandaged prick could even try. 

Giving another full body sigh, Chuuya then turned the corner only to come out of his thoughts as he watched Asagao brighten up at his presence, her hand waving wildly from across the cafe in order to slightly bounce off her seat. “Chu Chu, over here! We got you a seat!”  

Almost immediately, a wave of disgust poured into his throat at her given nickname, the port mafia member reluctantly noticing the long empty booth in the corner as Dazai and Asagao sat together on the opposite side by the large window. 

Making his way over to her in order to slide into the empty booth with a groan, he got down to business. First things first, that name had to go. “Listen, if I’m gonna stay then you need to cut it out with that name already.” 

At first he thought she used it by accident but very quickly it was apparent that wasn’t the case. She was doing it on purpose, evading his actual name for a cute-sy replacement and he was sick of it. 

Asagao only turned her head though. “Aww really? But I think it’s cute.” 

Dazai then nodded in agreement before slinging an arm around her shoulder in order to pull her closer with a mocking reply. “Yeah Chu Chu, lighten up already. I’d say it’s growing on me too.” 

But that just made the situation even worse, the boy feeling his temper rise by the second. “Oh god, don’t you dare start. It’s not cute, it’s fucking annoying. I hate it.” 

And that seemed to be new information for Asa. “You really hate it?” 

Slamming his hands on the table, he replied. “Yes! It’s the worst nickname I’ve ever heard. Just call me by my name if you wanna talk to me, will you? It’s not that hard.” 

He then watched Asa pause for a second, seemingly taking in his words before her eyes flashed with something different, something that Chuuya couldn’t put his finger on. “Okay, I understand. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to call you that without permission. I promise I won’t say it anymore until you agree to it.” 

Chuuya only scoffed though, firm in his beliefs. “Yeah well, like hell that’s ever gonna happen so you better get used to just using my actual name instead.” 

Asa then smiled, the corners not reaching the tips of her cheeks in order to close her eyes with some sort of unknown acceptance. “Okay, Chuuya. I understand.” 

Good, she probably realized that this was a challenge that was impossible to beat, that’s why she was giving up so easily. Well, that was easy enough. Usually he’d have to fight someone on his decision more. How strange and refreshing. 

Dazai on the other hand only pouted his lips, tapping his fingers playfully on the table. “Aww Chuuya’s such a party pooper. He doesn’t let me say any of his nicknames either. Doesn’t stop me ignoring it. I say to do it anyway. It’s funny to watch him explode, trust me.” 

Glaring in the direction of the boy, Chuuya grumbled only for Asagao to lift a hand up and touch his bandaged wrist gently. “No, it’s okay. I went overboard anyways. If I want us to be friends then I have to listen and respect his wishes.” 

Her words were so kind and mindful, causing the ginger haired boy to blink in disbelief. Damn, when was the last time someone was so careful of his requests? Did she really want to be friends with him that badly? But why, he wasn’t anyone special. 

So much so, the boy couldn’t help to voice his question, desperate to know the answer. “Hey so uhh how did you even get involved with shitty Dazai in the first place? I mean you are way better than him. Why settle?” 

The bluntness of his question didn’t shake the girl though, her fingers tracing an invisible line down Osamu’s bandaged wrist as he watched her quietly. “I don’t see it as settling at all. Osamu is the only person I value more than anyone else in the world. The connection I have to him can’t be explained in words.” 

Huh, that was strange. Her response was so personal and yet so vague, something that Chuuya couldn't comprehend in the slighest. What did that even mean? And how could she value an awful person like Dazai so wholeheartedly? There had to be something he was missing. 

But before he got the chance, Osamu gasped over dramatically in order to flop his head on her shoulder and nuzzle into her neck in order to wrap his arms around her chest in a suffocating hug. “Aww Asa-chan! You’re too precious and adorable! Hey Chuuya, isn’t my girlfriend just the best?! I don’t know how I got so lucky to be even near the presence of an angel like her!” 

Asagao only accepted her “death by hug” though, the girl smiling lovingly under the suffocation but not returning the gesture which Chuuya found odd. If she was that happy by his touch then why wasn’t she returning it? 

It was like they had some sort of unspoken rule about it or something. 

Sighing to himself, Chuuya then grumbled under his breath, the response mostly to himself then the love birds across from him. “I have no idea. If you ask me she’s too good for a suicidal bastard like you.” 

If the two heard his comment though, they didn’t acknowledge it, Asagao simply closing her eyes in order to smile softly under Osamu’s firm embrace. “Ahh, me too Osamu. I also feel lucky. In fact, today is such a wonderful day to be alive, don’t you think?” 

Pulling away just slightly, Dazai then wrinkled his nose in disgust like she had just uttered something completely outrageous. “Don’t know, it feels the same like every other pointless day to me.” 

His depressing comment only made her silently contemplate the thought though, Chuuya watching her as she shifted back from the boy in order to gaze towards the open window in some sort of understanding. 

Then after a moment, she answered, her eyes distantly not connecting to the bustling crowds just past the glass barrier around her vision. “Hmm, well I’d like to think it’s at least a little different. Feels better that way, you know?” 

Chuuya didn’t fully get her response though, sensing the dissonance between the two immediately and calling her out on it. “What does that even mean?” 

Asagao then glanced back at the ginger haired mafioso before lifting her fingers up to her glasses in order to push up the surface. “Oh uhhh I just think it’s better to think about the possibilities that the world can offer. I mean if you go in with a good attitude then even the most evil things can’t really be all that bad, right?” 

Chuuya only scoffed at her sugar coated response though, throwing it away immediately. Sure, it was a nice sentiment to be so positive about things but he had seen firsthand the depravity and horrors that the world could offer by being in the underground back alleys his entire life. 

And her thought process was naive at best, knowing it would only cause destruction in the end. “That stupid thinking is just gonna get you disappointed when you’re wrong.” 

Asagao didn’t seem shaken by his rough response, almost as if she had already expected him to say something like that. “Maybe, but someone has to believe in the impossible outcomes, otherwise none of them will ever come true.” 

Her words were surprising, a complete contrast to the dark and pointless ideology that he had heard Dazai utter time and time again. Could these two really mix well together with such opposite views? That guy only saw death while she saw the life that bloomed from possibilities around her. 

And even though she knew that it may lead to disappointment down the road, she simply didn’t care, still choosing to believe in the best path even when the cobblestone was lined with only dead ends. 

How strange, putting so much faith in an unstable and cruel world like theirs. 

Hold on, was that why she stuck by an awful boy like Dazai this long, was it because of her inability to connect the red flags and danger in her mind? Suddenly things were starting to make more sense, why she could stomach such an insufferable bastard like him. 

Wait, did Dazai know this also, was that how he was taking advantage of her? 

It had to be, because why else would a demon like that guy ever care about a creature like her, so full of life and sparks of mortality, especially when he only wished for the absolute opposite. 

Yet before he could say anything else, the waitress came over in order to drop off a tray of tiny desserts at their table in order for Asagao to audibly gasp in joy. “Ah, it’s here! Dig in, everyone! I got a sampler tray for us cause I wasn’t sure what kind of sweets you like Chuuya. I hope there is something in here that looks good to you.” 

Looking down at the brightly colored desserts, Chuuya then surveyed the options with silent conjecture. He was never really a sweets kind of guy but it seemed rude to turn down the offer, especially considering she was so thoughtful in picking something he might like. 

And on her birthday no less. She was still thinking about everyone else around her first. How sweet. 

The boy then picked out a simple strawberry fruit parfait with silent acceptance as Asagao grabbed a chocolate coated cake before Dazai took a piece from her dessert in order to shove it into his mouth with a gasp. 

Leaning over to him with anticipation, Asa replied. “Well, what do you think? Is it good?” 

Dazai then smiled to himself in order to turn towards the girl and place his fingers onto her jaw and pull her forward with a knowing hum. “I don’t know, why don’t you try it, love? Here, let me..” 

Lifting the fork up in her direction, the mafia executive then pressed his fingers further into her cheeks, causing her jaw to open and her lips to part in order for Dazai to sensually speak back. “Now open those pretty pink lips of yours for me, darling and say ahh..” 

Chuuya then watched in stunned silence as Dazai pushed the fork into her mouth, feeding the girl like some sort of baby bird as Asa happily accepted the bite. 

Just what the fuck is wrong with them? Dazai he expected but he would’ve thought the girl would’ve turned down that kind of embarrassing pda, especially when they were near that huge ass glass window leading to the street. Did they really have no shame? 

What a couple of freaks. Get a room. 

Watching her eyes practically sparkle in response, Asa immediately licked her lips from the chocolatey taste in order to speak casually like nothing was out of the ordinary. “Wow, that is good! Thanks Samu!” 

Chuuya then resisted the urge to cringe as the girl then turned her eyes over him in order to catch him staring. “Oh, sorry Chuuya. Do you want some too? It’s really good, I promise..” 

Almost immediately, the boy put his hands up, already feeling slightly embarrassed by the display he had just witnessed. “No way, especially not after you got your germs on it.” 

Dazai then smirked to himself in order to pick up the fork once and wiggle across the table in Chuuya’s face. “Aww come on Chuuya! You want me to feed you too? Come here, I’ll give you a nice big bite!!” 

Feeling himself back away in absolute disgust and horror, the boy quickly shook his head. No way was he gonna let this idiot do that. He’d probably shove that cake down his throat and make him choke to death on it. “Back off, shitty Dazai! Don’t you fucking dare!!” 

Already placing his hands on the table in a mock attack, the bandaged boy turned his head in a challenge. “What’s the matter, Chibi? You were so intent on watching us. I thought you wanted a turn.” 

Chuuya could only stutter back, denying whatever the guy was implying. “That’s only because you two are in front of my fucking face. I had no choice, you freak!” 

Shrugging his shoulders in response, Dazai replied mockingly. “I don’t know. To me it just sounds like more evidence that you’re a pervert.” 

Almost immediately, Chuuya felt his face turn red. Not this again. Dazai was making him look bad for no damn reason. Obviously it wasn’t like that. “Will you quit it with that! I said I’m not a..!!” 

Yet his enemy only cut him off, placing his hands over his lips in a makeshift microphone in order to raise his voice to the entire cafe as he sang loudly. “Hey everyone, did you hear that? Chuuya’s a pervert, Chuuya’s a big fat pervert!” 

Slamming his hands on the table, Chuuya then lifted his body fully off the seat, the red ominous glow of his ability outlining his frame as he thought of all the ways to beat the shit out of the kid in front of him. 

Anything to make him shut his goddamn mouth. “Why you..!!” 

Yet before he had the chance to do so, both Dazai and Chuuya were halted when he heard a fit of laughter next to them, the two boys turning in order to find Asagao physically holding her stomach as tears pricked the corners of her ears as she tried to breathe. 

They seemed dumbfounded at that, the kid’s silent as Asa simply wiped a stray tear away in order to put a hand up in apology. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I’m just so happy. I’ve never experienced anything this lively before. It’s so different from my other birthdays. It’s great, really..” 

She seemed genuinely happy about their bickering, like the loud and rambunctious air was music to her ears which concerned Chuuya more than anything. Who in the hell liked yelling and arguing? He was right, there was something wrong with her. 

But Dazai seemed to understand more about her sentence, the boy sliding back down in his seat in order to place a warm hand to her head in absolute silence as she tried to desperately quell her laughter.    

And although their interaction was completely wordless, even Chuuya could sense some kind of hidden meaning to it. Like they were reading each other's minds. Weird. 

But the new air was enough to make the boy slump back into his seat as well, grumbling to himself as his anger dissipated.

What could he even say to that? Sure, he still wanted to throttle the idiot but after seeing that face from her he decided to resist. 

Just barely. 

“Whatever. Just hurry up and finish so I can go home already.” 

The rest of the dessert party was relatively normal. Sure, Dazai and Chuuya still snapped at each other every five seconds but Asa didn’t seem to mind, the girl happily eating away at her cake until there was nothing left. 

And once they were done, the three kids made their way back into the streets of people only for the gingered haired boy to watch Dazai kick his foot out just as Asa approached behind him. 

Then almost immediately, the poor girl walked right into his shoe, tripping on his outstretched foot, falling forwards with a squeak only for Dazai to shift his body and grab her by the waist rather dramatically before she could fall to the ground. 

Titling her body back into an intimate bow, the sixteen year old boy then snickered to himself. “My Asa-chan. I know you said you fell for me but you have to be more careful. My darling girlfriend, whatever would I do if something happened to you?”

His smooth talk was real rich considering he had purposely kicked his foot out so that she would fall. What a shady little brat, acting like her hero when he was really making fun of her inability to see. 

Asagao didn’t seem to notice though, her voice casual. “Sorry, Samu. I’m still getting used to the streets of Yokohama. Thanks for catching me though.” 

Dazai then gasped in an over the top fashion before snapping her body back up in order to shove her to his chest in a protective hold. “Not to worry my love, I will always catch you! I mean how could I not when you’ve already fallen from heaven and into my arms!” 

Chuuya only resisted the urge to gag at his pick up lines, feeling more drained then ever before. “Right so, can I go now? I’ve stayed long enough hearing this bastard's bullshit.” 

That seemed to shatter their little personal bubble though, Asagao immediately breaking away from Osu in order to run up to the gravity manipulator with a gasp. “What, no you can’t go yet. The day’s not over yet. I still have lots of plans.”

Raising an eye, the boy frowned. “Like?” 

Asa then lifted her hands up to the sky, shouting back happily. “Like karaoke!” 

Chuuya only blinked in confusion though, the words processing on his tongue. “...karaoke?” 

She wanted two port mafia members to sing karaoke with her? Oh you’ve got to be kidding me. That would ruin his image he was trying to go for. Besides, her plans sounded rather mundane, and that was something that Chuuya was never good at in the first place. 

Yet before he could argue, Dazai had latched onto Asa’s wrist in order to drag her behind him and down the road. “Come on Chibi, it’s my darlings day, whatever she says goes!” 

Chuuya then watched the couple as his partner practically yanked the girl around the busy groups of people as the ginger chased after them with concern. 

What the hell kind of hold was that? It looked like he was trying to kidnap her. “Hold on, why are you pulling her like that?” 

Dazai then paused for a moment, his hold unmoving from her wrist in order to glance back with a sly smirk. “Cause my love is hopelessly lost without me to guide her, isn't’ that right?” 

Asagao only nodded her head in response in order for the boy to continue his rough handling as Chuuya couldn’t help but follow behind them with apprehension. How could the girl possibly be okay with this? He wasn’t even holding her hand, he was just dragging her around like a dog on a leash. 

Great, now he couldn’t leave them alone. 

Not when he was still unsure what Dazai’s plans really were. 

Yet unknown to the spiraling Chuuya, the bandaged boy and the glasses girl then secretly glanced towards each other, sharing a hidden message with their eye contact and a small unseen nod before she felt Dazai’s fingers tighten around his hold. 

And as they went, a group of shadowy figures watched dangerously from a distance as well, their gaze focusing in on the executive and the auburn haired female that was attached to his side. 

But mostly the girl. 

Nakahara Chuuya had been in a million horrifying situations. 

He had seen wars, witnessed the most brutal of deaths and tortured the worst criminals he could possibly imagine. But nothing, and I mean nothing could have prepared him for this. 

Because right now the port mafia member, the leader of the sheep, the fearsome gravity manipulator was stuck sitting on a plush sofa, listening to Dazai badly sing and dance the latest pop songs over and over again for hours on end. 

And not only that, Asagao and Osamu seemed to encourage each other every single time, the two kids having a time of their life as they took turns with the verses, clapping and cheering like they were at an actual concert. 

It was an odd sight for sure. Because although Asa wasn’t half bad at singing, Dazai purposely sang horribly, probably to get on Chuuya nerves and make him want to run into oncoming traffic. Because if that was the plan he was succeeding. 

But as ear grating and overstimulating as it was, even Chuuya couldn’t help but admit that the two of them looked good together in some kind of fucked up way. The way they danced and shouted seemed to be in a sync that the ginger couldn’t comprehend. 

Now and back at the cafe they seemed to read each other's minds without a word, able to predict their next arm gestures or kicks in order to match it in a millisecond. 

It was kind of impressive to be honest, how well they matched each other without even trying.

Finally the song ended as Asa and Osamu gave each other a giddy high five and flop onto the sofa in order for the girl to lift out the microphone to Chuuya. “Ah, that was fun! You should really try it, Chuuya. It’s very freeing!” 

The boy only shook his head though, pushing the object away. There was no way in hell he was going to sing while Dazai was here. The guy would just make fun of him for it. “Nah, I’m alright. You can take my turn since you’re so good at it.” 

Asagao then smiled before pulling the mic back to her. “You think so? I’ve been practicing for this very moment. Glad to know all the singing alone in my room paid off finally!” 

Her response was depressing as hell, causing Chuuya to raise an eye in question. She said something like that in the cafe also. What was her life even like before she met Dazai? Because the way she was speaking it seemed kind of lonely and sad. 

Yet before he could speak on it, Osamu stretched out his arms in order to throw the heavy microphone directly into Chuuya’s face. “Honestly, it’s for the better if he stays quiet. I’ve heard Chibi sing and it sounds like a cat in a dishwasher.  Trust me, Asa-chan. You’re dodging a bullet there!” 

Then the boy pointed to the door with a hum. “I’m going to extend our time, try not to miss me too much while I’m gone, love.” 

Dazai then winked in her direction before leaving Asa and the ginger alone in an awkward and uncomfortable silence. 

Not knowing what to say, Chuuya then jumped up before also moving towards the door with a rushed reply. “I’m gonna go get a drink. You want anything?” 

Shaking her head in response, the boy then took in the answer before disappearing down the hallway in order to force himself to breathe from the strange new atmosphere. 

This place was so different from the places he usually frequented, littered with hoards of school kids in uniform around the same age as him. Even still, the mafioso still felt out of place in his own supposed domain. 

Perhaps if he wasn’t in the sheep or the mafia then this could feel more natural. 

Sighing to himself, Chuuya then couldn’t help but think back to the annoying and insufferable bandaged menace that he had been forced to follow around all day. He still didn’t know what to make of Asa and Dazai’s relationship but he still couldn’t help but be conflicted by it. 

Because nothing had explicitly shown him that Dazai didn’t care about her. Yes, he was still mean and cruel but there was something else about the two of them that Chuuya couldn’t place. 

The way the two looked at each other sometimes, the way they silently communicated with each other by simple and seemingly natural touches, it was something that the ginger hadn’t seen at all from Dazai in the time he’d known him. 

And it was blatantly obvious that Asagao was crazy about him but was it the same for the executive? Could it really be? Did Dazai actually have the capacity to care about someone else other than himself? 

Had he been wrong this entire time? You know, perhaps he judged the guy too quickly. Sure, he wasn’t a good person but perhaps he wasn’t all evil. Maybe, just maybe there was hope somewhere deep inside that pitch black heart of his. 

Turning the corner to get to the vending machine, Chuuya then froze as he saw a very familiar black jacket and bandaged arms appeared in his vision just a couple feet away. 

And just like that, every single bit of hope, every nice thing he had said in his mind about his partner flew out the window in an instant. 

Because standing a couple feet away was that very same boy, grabbing onto some random ladies' hands lovingly while flirting with her openly in front of the entire building as he swooned.“I have to ask. Would a beautiful lady such as yourself be interested in a double suicide with me?” 

And hearing his words, Chuuya only saw red.

 That bastard, that two timing, cheating little rat! His lovesick girlfriend was just steps away and he was just betraying her so easily, on her birthday nonetheless!! God, what a selfish horrible, ugly little prick. He wanted to beat his face in. 

How could he do that to her? Didn’t he hear what she said about him, about how she thought that Dazai was the most important thing to her? He really had no problem crushing her dreams like that. 

Although that’s when he heard a small female voice behind him, poking his shoulder once. “Umm Chuuya? Are you okay? You took a while so I got worried.” 

Feeling his face grow pale, Chuuya then immediately turned around before catching the concerned look in Asagao’s face. No, this was bad. She couldn’t see this. It would crush her, it would hurt her beyond reason, and on her birthday. 

No, he couldn’t let that happen, he wouldn’t give Dazai the satisfaction. 

Quickly reaching his hand forward, Chuuya then latched onto her eyes in order to push her backwards and away from the horrible disgusting sight. “Follow me, this way…” 

He didn’t let go until the two were fully outside of the building, his hand moving away in order to immediately shut down the danger as quickly as possible. “Listen, you need to break up with Dazai. Trust me, it’s for your own good.” 

At that, Asa softened, almost like she already knew where this conversation was heading. “Chuuya..” 

Chuuya shook his head almost instantly though. “Look, I know you wanna believe that he’s a good guy or whatever but that’s just not the case. He isn’t this sweet boyfriend you’ve hoping for. He’s a monster, he doesn’t care about anyone but himself and dating you is definitely some sort of sick joke to him. I just know it.” 

Once again, the girl was only unbothered. “Thank you for being worried about me, but Osamu’s not as bad as you think he is.”

Not as bad?! No, she was right, he was worse. Dazai was the worst person he had ever had the displeasure of meeting and Chuuya was desperate to get his slimy little fingers off of her as quickly as possible. Just because he had to deal with him didn’t mean she did as well. 

So much so, the control he had slowly started to slip away in order to make her understand the severity. “No, you don’t get it! That bastard is in there cheating on you right now, flirting with some chick with absolutely no shame! He’s disgusting.” 

Ah shit, he didn’t mean to spill that to her right now. But what could he do, he was just so pissed about her inability to see what was really wrong here. Yes, maybe she’d cry but at least she’d understand. 

She was silent then, causing Chuuya to hastily continue. “The truth is, you don’t know anything about him. He’s been playing with you this whole damn time! How much did he tell you about being in the port mafia? Has he told you he’s murdered and tortured thousands of people? Has he said anything about the disturbing crimes and disgusting shit I’ve seen him do for the last year? Face it, Asagao. He doesn’t care, he never did.” 

Grabbing hold of her shoulders in order to shake some sense into her, the boy finished plainly. “Look, I can get you out of here. I can help you leave him if he won’t let you but you need to do it now. By attaching yourself to him you’ve already put yourself in danger. People are going to see you as a target and I’m damn sure that Dazai won’t come save you either. Do you hear me, you’re going to die if you stay here..” 

And he was prepared to ditch this place in a heartbeat in order to make sure such a kind and pure soul was safe from the clutches of the demon. 

Perhaps Dazai didn’t have a heart but he did and the last thing he was going to do was allow the light in her to die just because that mackerel didn’t care enough to protect it. 

Yet before he could speak again, Chuuya’s entire body began to tense as he felt a threatening presence join them in the alleyway, causing the boy to immediately shove his arms into Asagao in order to push her behind him with a glare. Who the fuck..?

A group of individuals seemingly appeared out of nowhere then, one to the men clapping sarcastically at the scene before him. “Well well well, what do we have here? I thought we had a meeting today but here you seem to be having a grand old time after standing us up.” 

Chuuya recognized the men immediately, a groan sounding in the back of his throat. Ah shit, these were the guys that Dazai and him were supposed to threaten for stepping out of line and going against the port mafia’s orders. Looks like they got tired of waiting just like him.

And though he could understand their annoyance, the fact that Asagao was here with him made this situation a million times worse. This is what he was trying to avoid and now the lines between his world and hers were crossing into each other. 

Keeping his stance strained, the mafioso then shoved his hands into his pockets before giving the men around them a warning look. “The meeting got pushed back. My shitty partner decided to go MIA and I was just about to drag him back.” 

Although that’s when the man in the middle of the group started to laugh, his lips turning up into a twisted toothy grin in order to lift his hand out to his men for something. “Oh, that won’t be necessary, plans have changed.” 

Reaching behind him, the random thug then pulled out a very familiar black jacket, the fabric crumbled and messy as a deep set of crimson blood dripped from the ends. 

Oh fuck, this was bad. These guys didn’t want a meeting, did he? They wanted an ambush, to fully break free of the mafia’s chains.

And now they had Dazai as leverage to do it. 

Chuuya was then taken out his thoughts as Asagao shouted in pure fear, her voice shaky and uncertain, a flash of red auburn ran past his vision in order to reach the jacket. “O-Osamu?!” 

Feeling his throat stain with terror, the ginger quickly lifted his hand out to stop her only to hit air, almost like she was never there in the first place before blinking and finding her a couple inches from the fabric. 

Damn it, what the fuck was she doing?! “Hey wait, don’t..!!” 

It was too late though, one of the men activating their ability in an instant as red sharp strings sprung from his fingertips in order to latch onto Asagao’s neck and pull her backwards into enemy arms. 

The sharp skill instantly choked her, causing the girl to gasp out in fear only for her captives to twist her arms behind her back painfully with a sick hum. “Mmm and what do we have here?” 

Chuuya was livid though, his body already glowing with his gravity manipulation ability and absolute rage. “Bastard! Let her go, she’s not a part of this!” 

The man only laughed though, tightening the strings on her throat as Asa let out another suffocating gasp before tapping her cheek once. “I beg to differ, Nakahara. We’ve been watching this one very closely. Who would’ve thought we would get to meet the demon prodigy’s precious little girlfriend? I think we’ll keep her too just to make him squirm.” 

Analyzing the situation with a pounding heartbeat, Chuuya glanced at the men around him before cursing silently. From the way they were positioned any move could cause the ability around Asa’s neck to snap her head off completely. He was stuck. 

Grasping for anything he could, the boy glared back. “Nice try but Dazai doesn’t care about her like that. Taking her won’t give you any damn leverage.”

And he hoped that would be enough to let her go, to lessen her value to these dangerous men, but sadly he only received the opposite. “Oh, I don’t know about that. We witnessed firsthand how the executive treats her. The overly touching, feeding each other deserts in plain sight, saying that he doesn’t know what he would do without her, we’ve seen it all.” 

Feeling his eyes widen, Chuuya then felt his hands turn practically white from his grip. Fuck, this is what he was trying to tell that bastard since the beginning. He was practically throwing himself on her in public all day and now Asagao was a target because of his reckless behavior. 

Why wasn’t he more careful, why didn’t he realize this was going to be the result? Or did he truly just not care about Asagao at all? How evil, leaving her to defend herself like this for attacks when she couldn’t handle it. 

What a misfortune it was, being labeled as the misfortune of being Dazai’s girlfriend. What a death wish it truly brought to such a poor innocent girl in an instant.  

He was so angry. No, he was absolutely furious for her that he felt his gravity ability glow even brighter only for the man to quickly close his fingers as Asa suffocated even faster. “Now, let’s not be so hasty. We have the executive and the girl. So it would be beneficial if you just went along with our requests instead of that? Otherwise who knows what could happen to her?” 

Snapping his fingers, one of the guys then pulled out a pair of handcuffs before throwing them on the floor by Chuuya’s feet as the boy looked at the metal with disgust. 

They wanted him to put on these ability suppressors and follow them to god knows where?  You’ve got to be kidding me. There was no way in hell he was going to do that. 

 But if he didn’t then that meant that Asagao would be taken to Dazai and inevitably killed when that mackerel expressed his indifference to her. 

Damn it, he really had no choice, did he? 

Looking back up to the girl in question, her scared expression then locked onto his in order for small tears to prick the corners of her eyes. “C-Chuuya..” 

And just like that, Chuuya immediately reached down in order to quickly latch the ability suppression cuffs on his wrist, disabling his desire to fight back as the men around him laughed at the defenseless boy. “Good choice.” 

Then before he could answer, the red strings disappeared around Asa’s throat leaving her to collapse unconsciously onto the cold ground as Chuuya felt a painful knock in the back of his head at the same time, meeting her straight onto the ground. 

Before he blacked out completely, the boy cursed Dazai’s name, reaching his hand out towards the unmoving auburn haired girl in question with a silent promise. 

Damn it, I’ll get you out of here, I promise.

----

(This is a fourth part mini arc that will all connect together. These are the first two parts and I'll post the second two together as well. Thanks for reading!)

[devildomditzy]

My General List of OM! Headcannons

If it’s listed here, you can assume my fics/drabbles/headcannons are compliant to it unless stated otherwise. I’ll keep adding to this as I think of/remember more of them that’ve popped into my head at some point.

Remember these are my opinions, it’s cool if you don’t agree with them, but please don’t write a multi-paragraph essay about why I’m wrong on this post.

It’s chill. It’s cool. It’s a mobile app. I’ve managed a gamestop. I’m a certified gamer. You can trust me.

so, without further ado…

Belphie is also a red head (bc twins), but he dyes it because he likes to be dark and brooding

The white stripe grows naturally and is from an accident back when they were still angels, but he thinks it looks cool so he makes a conscious effort to not cover it up

After the events of chapter 16, Mammon rarely wants anything to do with Belphie, causing major tension when either of them have to be in the same room

Riding off that, Mammon does not let Belphie get anywhere near MC, and will make sure he never has a chance to be alone with them

Mammon gets those gold streaks in his hair whenever in his demon form because it’s sexy and i say so

Lucifer is not an extreme sadist, he’s a tired old grandpa trying his best to keep his energetic siblings in line, because if he didn’t, who would?

Asmo is a LOT more fucked up and evil than in the cannon game but not is a psycho way, in a Jennifer’s Body way you feel me?

Diavolo is up to…. something… his charisma and charm hide some very ulterior motives for dragging you down here

Barbatos knows about them too

Lucifer does too but does not agree with them to a full extent so he goes out of his way to secretly keep you from harm

Solomon can probably do some form of mind control which makes him 1000 times scarier to think about

Their lives as angels were just as hard and painful, if not MORE than what they are experiencing as demons

The hardest part of the fall was adjusting to becoming the avatars of sins, they were like almost feral there for a moment

They are always under tremendous amounts of pressure and self control to not revert back to that state

but it is possible :) and if they do :) run :)

On God they have hideous eldritch monster forms be not afraid fucking demonic ass beasts

That’s their real form ^^^

And MC sees them and goes “…eh.”

And they are floored

MC is monster fucker supreme

They can shape shift into whatever form they’d like

What you see (their cannon designs) is the product of years and years of figuring out what they wanted to look like, they can change overtime

That’s all I got at the moment! I’ll update this over time.