#don’t look at his feet the shape and perspective gave me such a hard time

[mutant-moonzz3]

been rotating adult Donnie in my brain

just some outfit sketches w/messy dramatic lighting lol, OFC I had to include an infinite singularity sweatpantello for @desceros!! base colors and just shading under the cut cause I like how they look :)

[goldenchocobo]

Dark Road Upperclassmen Daemons!

It seems natural that I make Daemons for the Upperclassmen as well, so here they are!

I think I only struggled with two of these- Helgi and Sigrun; since both don’t get a lot of lines or screen time, and when they do, it seems they’re mostly telling plot details. Vidar and Vala came to me naturally, and surprisingly, so did Vali. Hoder was a no-brainer giver her connections to the Norse mythos.

Instead of the usual line-up I do, I thought I’d do something a little fancier and give them all a little circle background based on their primary colours. I was going to add more detail, but felt it cluttered the images too much.

Out of all of these, Sigrun was the most fun to draw; I don’t know why, but I had a lot of fun. It may be unsurprising, but Hoder was the hardest to draw; I’m not sure what it is about her, or her brother- but those two are just difficult for me to draw properly. But I did my best, and I think she turned out well.

Images include their name, their Daemons name and species if you don’t want to risk spoilers.

Keep Reading for more info, and some spoilers for Dark Road.

Vidar

Settled: Grey Heron Daemon Name: Geirr Looks: A mostly grey bird with shimmering black and blue wing feathers and a white head tapering to a stripe along her neck. She has yellow feet and a yellow beak.

A focused Daemon who always reminds Vidar to stay on track of their goals, whether it be personal or academic.

Symbology: Vidar seems to be very precise and to-the-point when talking to Vor, much like how herons need to be precise when hunting fish. Not to mention some species of heron lure fish; much like how Vidar lured Vor to join him. Geirr is the Norse word for ‘Spear’.

-

Vala

Settled: Snowy owl Daemon Name: Frode. Looks: An almost completely white owl with black star-like shapes on his back. 

Always taking things into consideration, Frode is one to think about things and put them into perspective before making a decision on anything.

Symbology: Vala’s named is based on the Norse word for ‘witch’ or ‘seer’- Volva. Owls are often associated with wisdom as well as sorcery and magic due to their elusiveness and large eyes. Frode means ‘Wise’ or ‘Learned’ one.

-

Vali

Settled: Cape Genet Daemon Name: Alfhild Looks: A dusty-yellow genet with deep black spots and piercing icy-blue eyes.

No one has really heard Alfhild talk- except of course Vali themselves. They’re an observant Daemon who likes to watch rather than take action, but is often the first to move when danger is abound. 

Symbology: Vali gets a single sentence in the entirety of the game, so it was hard to pinpoint something for them; so I gave them a sneaky, arboreal mammal, since they always jump down from the ceiling, as well as them having the entire Ninja get-up. In a Norse legend, a woman named Alfhild disguised herself as a warrior to escape an arranged marriage.

-

Heimdall

Settled: white-tailed Eagle Daemon Name: Modgud Looks: A large dark bird with a shining white tail.

Not one to judge quickly, Modgud is a Daemon who likes to think first before taking action, as well as make sure she has all her facts in order first.

Symbology: In Norse myth, Heimdall keeps watch for invaders and watch for signs of Ragnarok. He was also noted to have exceptional eyesight and hearing, which is why I chose an Eagle for him; as Eagles have some of the best eyes in the animal kingdom. The name Modgug is a Latinised translation of a Jotun who stood on the bridge of Hel and made sure the dead souls passed through while letting no living thing pass.

-

Sigrun

Settled: Mute Swan Daemon Name: Hothbrod

Looks: A large white bird with black feet and an orange beak.

A sweet Daemon, he means well most of the time, but can be a bit over-bearing.

Symbology: I had a lot of trouble with Sigrun. In North myth, she’s both an instigator for a battle, as well as being reborn as a Valkyrie. I can’t find much on her apart from that tale, although sometimes it has an alternate ending where she is killed in the guise of a swan, so I simply took that and ran with it; as even if that ending is not true; Swans are both feminine-looking and very much an aggressive animal. Hothbrod is the Latinised translation of the Man Sigrun was arranged to marry before running off with Helgi.

-

Helgi

Settled: European boar Daemon Name: Svava Looks: A large mostly brown pig with no visible tusks. she has an unusually blonde tail.

A headstrong Daemon who acts first before thinking, and hates waiting when she could be doing.

Symbology: Helgi was the one I had the most trouble with, because there are two Helgis in Norse myth(Hundingsbane and Hjorvathsson); both are related as well, so I don’t know which Helgi this character refers to. Helgi in-game also doesn’t have a lot of lines either, but seems to be strong-headed and overly-confident, which is why I chose a boar. Svava is the Valkyrie who gave Helgi his name in Norse myth.

-

Hoder

Settled: Inland taipan Daemon Name: Tyr

Looks: A white snake with a dark head. he has gold flecks in the shape of mistletoe leaves that zigzag across the length of his body.

A Daemon who has a strong moral compass that never wavers from what he thinks is right. If he sees something wrong, he will convince Hoder to set it right.

Symbology: In Norse myth, Loki was bound to a rock forever to be tortured by a snake dripping venom onto him. Since the roles are reversed in Dark Road, and it's Baldr who killed the classmen, and Hoder wanting to kill him to get rid of the Darkness within his heart, I thought it was apt to give her a snake Daemon. The inland taipan is the most venomous snake in the world although there have not been any reported deaths from taipan since the invention of its antivenom, and Tyr was a Norse God of battle and justice.

[cecilysass]

The Boy on the Beach (15/16)

Read on AO3 | Tagging@today-in-fic

Chapter 15: The Rainbow Above You

The soundtrack for this chapter is Desperado, by the Eagles, from the album Desperado, which was released April 1973.

November 28, 1973 Near Menemsha, Massachusetts

“What’s your favorite thing about the future?”

Samantha was perched on the edge of the jagged, crescent-shaped rock they used to call the Fang Stone. Mulder had lifted her up there at her request, and now she was squirming her rear end higher and higher. Every instinct told him to grab her arm to stop her, but he knew he wouldn’t have done that when he was young, and he knew she didn’t need it, not really. They used to climb all over the Fang Stone all the time as kids, and even fall off, because what were bruises to a kid? If she fell now, he was right there to catch her.

“The future?” he said. “It’s not the future to me. It’s my present.”

“Okay.” She made an exasperated face that gave him a soft and warm feeling, because it reminded him of how it used to be between them. “What’s your favorite thing about 1999?”

He cast a brief look up at the cottage. Scully.

“Well, that’s a hard one. I like my fish tank,” Mulder said. “I have a bunch of mollies, some plants, some decorations. It’s something for me to take care of, and it’s peaceful.”

Samantha swung her legs back and forth off the edge of the Fang Stone. Mulder felt hopeful that her ankle looked a little less swollen today. “That’s not what I meant, silly. I meant something we don’t have in 1973. We have fish tanks.” She wrinkled her nose and looked at the sand below her feet. “I wish I could jump off.”

“Don’t,” Mulder warned. “Scully would kill me if I let you injure yourself further.”

“Do you think she’s awake yet?”

“I don’t know,” he said wistfully. He hoped when she did wake up, she would realize quickly where he’d gone. He’d left her a note downstairs, but she wouldn’t see that right away. Would it bother her to wake up alone? Would she want him to stay in bed with her? He thought she would. But Scully being Scully, it definitely seemed possible, at least, that she would wake up and muster every defense, scrambling to pretend nothing had changed.

If she did that, he decided he couldn’t bear to play along. Not after knowing what it had been like the night before. Her perfect little body pressed fully against him, as though she were entirely his. He placed his finger on his forehead, on the spot that ached.

“Tell me something better about 1999, something we don’t have now,” Samatha prompted.

“Hmm,” Mulder said, moving his finger in tiny figure eights on his forehead. “I’m thinking.” He dug the toe of his shoe in the sand, considering how disappointing future technology seemed from the perspective of a kid. “Okay, okay, here’s something. In 1973, you know how F.B.I. agents, doctors, business types are mostly men? In 1999, women are more likely to have that kind of job, or whatever job they want. In theory, anyway. So that’s better.”

Samantha contemplated that, wriggling up the Fang Stone a little more.

“Scully was your age in 1973,” Mulder continued. “She grew up to be a doctor and an F.B.I. agent in 1999.”

“So I should think about what I want to do when I grow up,” Samantha said. “That’s what you’re saying.”

“Sure,” Mulder said, realizing slowly. “I guess that is what I’m saying. Do you… do you have any idea what you might want to be?”

“I think I might like to be an F.B.I. agent,” she said, eyeing him.

“Oh yeah?”

“Agent Mulder, F.B.I..” She flashed him a mischievous smile. “What do you think?”

He grinned. “Catchy.”

“Or… maybe a scientist or an astronaut or a ballerina.”

Mulder chuckled in wonder. The most beautiful thing a kid’s life can ever be, he thought, is a blank slate. He thought of Anish, who wasn’t even born yet, and his far-off career in therapy.

“Scully’s up,” Samantha commented. She pointed up at the cottage in the distance, where Scully stood leaning against the railing on the back porch, dressed again in the lavender dress with a blanket wrapped around her. Scully lifted her hand to wave at them, a small gesture. The sun’s reflection set the top of her cinnamon hair on fire.

He hoped that whatever it was that existed between them was all unwritten, blank slate possibility, too. An uneasy breath expelled from his lips. Even seeing her now at a distance, he felt the pull of something that was probably way too much and way too strong, something he worried wasn’t fully reciprocated. Scully’d probably say he was just sentimental this morning because it had been too long since he’d had sex—or something practical like that. But he knew better.

He waved back at her, and she stood there staring back a beat longer. Then she wound the blanket around her and turned back inside.

“My brother asked her to stay here,” Samantha told him, kicking her legs lightly off the edge of the Fang Stone. From the side she scrutinized him for his reaction.

He had the urge to correct her, to remind her again that he was her brother, but he didn’t.

“He asked Scully to stay?” he asked.

Samantha nodded, a sly look.

“Stay how?” Mulder said.

“He asked her to stay in 1973 and wait for him to grow up and join the F.B.I. with her. I heard him ask her when we were in the tree. They thought I was asleep.”

Mulder raised his eyebrows. “He did?” Twelve-year old him was ballsy as hell. And apparently on the same page where Scully was concerned. “What did she say?”

“Nothing. But he could tell she didn’t really want to,” Samantha said. “He could tell she wanted to come back to you, to her Fox.”

Mulder, moved, said nothing. He kicked the sand idly.

“Then he asked her,” Samantha continued, “why do you do all this stuff for him, if you don’t love him?”

Mulder didn’t dare ask for more, apparently not possessing his twelve-year old ballsiness anymore. But he hoped his sister would keep talking.

“And she said … ‘I never said that,’” Samantha continued. “She said you and her weren’t in love because of you. That you loved her, but not like that.”

“She said that?”

“Yeah,” Samantha nodded. Her eyes ran over his face. “Is that true?”

Mulder hesitated only a second. “No.”

“That’s what my brother said, too.” Samantha had a secretive smile.

“What? He said … no?”

“He said she had it wrong. And that he’d know, because you were him. I guess he was right.”

Mulder blinked, flabbergasted. “That’s so – he’s so —” He wasn’t sure whether to be mortified or relieved or proud that the kid version of him had such insight into his adult heart.

“Brave,” finished Samantha.

“Yeah,” agreed Mulder, nodding vigorously. “Unbelievably fucking brave. Much, much braver than me.”

“You cursed,” Samantha said, her mouth opening. “In front of a kid.”

“I always cursed in front of you, Sam.”

“You’re still a potty mouth.”

“You’ve got a really good memory,” Mulder said seriously. “To remember that whole conversation so well. I didn’t remember that about you.”

“I’m a goddamn genius,” said Samantha solemnly.

Mulder looked at her, surprised, and laughed. She sounded so much like himself.

***

He carried Samantha piggyback back to the cottage, and they were both damp and windblown. Scully sat hunched at the kitchen table with a cup of instant coffee and a plate of sandwiches. She was writing something, a stack of papers and envelopes in front of her. A hesitant smile played over her face when she looked up and saw them.

“Guess what’s for breakfast,” she said to Samantha, her eyes soft.

“Peanut butter sandwiches again,” Samantha groaned.

“I cut them as rectangles this time. For variety,” Scully said, scooting them towards Samantha.

“Yeah, rectangles taste really different from triangles,” nodded Samantha, rolling her eyes. She sat down and picked one up anyway.

“After Scully and I leave today, you’ll probably be back with Mom and Dad, and you can have a regular meal,” Mulder said in a deliberately casual tone, sitting down next to her at the table.

“Maybe we’ll have lasagna,” Samantha mused, taking a bite of her sandwich. “I hope so.”

Scully’s eyes locked on his. He studied her face carefully. A tiny indentation between her eyes. Those lips drawn together. Maybe they were slightly pink and chafed, he thought, from hard kissing last night, an idea that probably delighted him a little too much. She didn’t look upset, at least not with him. Not with them. That was a very good sign.

He hesitated for a moment, and decided he was tired of holding back. All he wanted to do was feel her touch. So he reached out across the table and covered her soft hand with his, lacing his fingers through hers. Her eyes grew a little round, but she didn’t withdraw her hand.

“What are you writing?” Samantha had been staring down at the papers on the table, chewing on her sandwich.

“Letters,” Scully said. “Two of them.”

“Who for?” Samantha said. “More for the F.B.I.?”

“No,” Scully said. Letting go of Mulder’s hand gently, she picked up and slid two envelopes across the table towards Samantha, each addressed with a first name: one Fox and the other Dana. “When Mulder and I go back this afternoon, I want you to give the letters to your brother – and to the young Dana Scully who will be here.”

Samantha slowed chewing. “There’s going to be a kid you here, too?”

“Yes,” Scully said. “And she’s going to be the most confused, because she’s not going to remember any of this. She won’t know who you are, who Fox is. She won’t know where she is — she’s never even been to Martha’s Vineyard. You’re going to have to help get the police and get her back to my parents in San Diego. You can tell them that the man who died kidnapped you, if you want, or you can blame me – it doesn’t matter, I’ll be gone anyway. I have this letter that will hopefully help her begin to understand, although I don’t know if she ever really will.”

“My brother will want the little Scully to stay around here, so he can tell her everything,” Samantha said. “I know he will.”

“Well, she’s a kid,” Scully said. “She needs to go back to her family. So Fox can’t turn her into his protegee.”

Mulder grimaced, fearing that he probably would have tried to do exactly that. Still, the idea of having met Scully so young, of knowing about a one day future adult Scully when he was only twelve — that was admittedly fascinating to think about. It was a second unpredictable high-impact twist on the personal history of the Fox Mulder of this multiverse.

“So when my brother comes back,” Samantha said, slowly, as if fully grasping for the first time, “I won’t see either of you any more.”

“Right,” Mulder nodded. “Well, not looking like this for a while, anyway.”

“But you’ll be back in your 1999, where you don’t have your sister,” Samantha said to him. “She was taken away a long time ago.”

“Yeah,” Mulder’s voice was rough. “That’s true.”

Samantha took another slow, methodical bite of her sandwich, watching him.

“Then … we probably should go outside and make a sand fort,” Samantha said, after a minute.

“Okay,” agreed Mulder.

“And maybe you should waltz with me on the beach.”

“Waltz? Like dance?” Mulder was puzzled. “Okay.”

“You can’t dance on your ankle, Samantha,” Scully reminded her gently.

“He can lift me,” Samantha said. “He’ll be able to do it.” She took another precise bite of her sandwich. “My brother got really strong as a grown up,” she added quietly, her mouth full.

***

Thirty minutes later, Mulder and Samantha waltzed on the beach, Scully observing them with a tiny smile.

She sat with her legs outstretched on a wool blanket she’d spread over the sand, another wrapped over her shoulders. The beach wasn’t warm by any means, but the sun was breaking through the clouds above them, and the breeze was gentle today, so Scully wasn’t miserably cold.

She wrapped her arms around herself, rocking back and forth imperceptibly as she watched the Mulder siblings dance an awkward waltz for the second time in three days.

Mulder really didn’t understand what they were doing, but he listened obediently to Samantha’s instructions. He gripped her by the waist, lifting her completely off the ground, allowing her to hold on to his shoulder, wrapping her legs around him. He held one of her hands extended out in position. And he apparently did remember how to waltz, because he began sliding his feet around in a formation, bobbing Samantha like a rag doll, around and around and around with unexpected grace.

He tried to hum a Viennese waltz to give them some appropriate musical accompaniment, but Samantha began singing the lyrics to Space Oddity instead. Mulder laughed a little, mystified, but joined in sotto voce, and she wound her left hand tighter around his neck so she wouldn’t fall.

Unlike the boy, Mulder never complained or acted embarrassed about dancing with his sister. Of course he wouldn’t. Scully knew he’d have danced with her forever.

When they’d danced enough to satisfy Samantha, they set to work digging a giant hole in the sand right next to Scully’s blanket, making something they both called a fort. It looked to Scully much more like a giant hole, but the Mulders were in their own mutually agreed upon world on this, talking of fortifications and defenses and egress and ingress.

Both Samantha and Mulder kept calling out for her to look at things – “Scully! Is this three feet deep?” “Scully! Look at this bridge!” “Scully! Do you think this fortification would resist a frontal attack?” — and she would smile appreciatively or roll her eyes, depending on who was calling out her name.

It was all whimsical, joyful, charming. An adult man and his kid sister making sand castles together on a brisk autumn day. But there was still a persistent lump in Scully’s throat. This time with Samantha was a gift for him, yes, but she worried it would mean another wrenching loss.

Mulder’s tower fortification collapsed and crumbled, and he moaned in mock despair. Samantha cackled with laughter, digging deep in the sand with her hands. Scully thought about how she would do anything to spare him more grief. Anything at all.

When the sun was high in the sky, they knew it could happen soon. The timing wasn’t precise.

Mulder produced a small case from his pocket with two remote electrical stimulus patches, designed by one of Hays’ graduate students. He pressed one to his own temple, right beneath his hairline, and then, pushing back Scully’s hair, he pressed the other patch to hers, letting his fingers trail down her cheek.

“Now what?” she said.

“Now we wait,” he said.

So the three of them sat on the wool blanket, Samantha in the middle, Mulder and Scully on each side, watching the green-gray ocean surf crash again and again, disintegrating into lacy bubbles as it slid over the sand.

For a while, they didn’t speak.

Mulder broke the silence. “Sam — I was thinking. Why do you think your brother trusted Scully so quickly? Why do you think he liked her so much?”

Samantha was holding a tiny seashell in her palm, turning it over in her fingers. “Well,” she said. “She’s really nice.”

“That’s true,” nodded Scully. “I am, you know.”

“Well, sure,” Mulder said. “But she was a stranger. He didn’t know her at all.”

“Yeah,” Samantha said. “I know what you mean.” She squinted into the horizon, biting her bottom lip. “I think ... it’s that he never thinks grown-ups listen to him very much. And she did.”

In the pause that followed, Scully’s expression grew softer, fonder.

“Oh,” he said. He said nothing for another beat, turning to watch the surf crash again.

So. Same reason then.

Without looking, he reached out behind Samantha’s back and took Scully’s hand in his.

“People should listen to my brother,” Samantha said, turning the seashell over again. “He’s very smart.”

“Yes,” Scully agreed softly, her eyes on the horizon, too. She lightly traced the outline of Mulder’s thumb with hers. “They should.”

They drifted into silence again.

After a while, they leaned backwards on the blanket so that they were all three lying on their backs, staring up at a gray sky harshly bright in the afternoon sun. Scully identified cirrus and cirrostratus clouds for Samantha. An errant gull looped overhead, and Mulder named him Jerome and made up a story about his exciting travels for Samantha. They had to scrunch their eyes shut from time to time when the sun suddenly burst forth from behind a cloud.

Mulder unexpectedly began to wax full of life advice for his sister. With his hands folded on his stomach, he looked up at the sky and told Samantha to wear sunscreen and bike helmets and to invest in personal computers and to take up a sport and to learn another language.

“And when you’re older, if you should want to date someone, whoever it is, just be sure you always introduce them to your brother first, so he can make sure they’re okay – you know, nice people,” Mulder said.

“You really don’t have to do that,” Scully assured her. “He’s going through something right now and doesn’t mean everything he’s saying.”

“She should,” Mulder insisted indignantly. “You didn’t do the time in the VCU I did, Scully. Better safe than sorry.”

“It’s just going to be a normal life for her,” Scully told him firmly. “Normal younger sisters don’t need to run everyone they date by their older brothers. Unhealthy and unpleasant, Mulder.”

She tilted her head on the blanket to see him better, and discovered his eyes were on her already. He gave her a small and inscrutable smile. “I might see your point,” he said softly. “Date who you want, Sam. Just use good judgment.”

“I’m only eight,” Samantha said tolerantly. She pointed upwards at the sky. “That cloud looks like a ballet slipper, doesn’t it? Or maybe a rainbow?”

“A ship on the ocean,” Scully said. “Heading out to sea.”

“Oh, I see,” Samantha said. “The sail, yeah. It does look like a ship.”

“No, it looks like a sharp tooth. Like the Fang Stone,” Mulder said.

“The Fang Stone?” How?” Samantha scoffed.

“That curved part there?” Mulder pointed. “Or maybe like one of those—“

The sky disappeared.

The background noise of ocean surf cut off abruptly.

Oh God, she was spinning, spinning.

San Francisco, California 147 Hours After Scully Vanishes 1999

Scully couldn’t see. All around her was dim, out of focus. She found she was on her feet, standing, the blanket gone from under her, the ground feeling like it was moving up and down. She reached out her palms defensively.

Her hand brushed a human body, and she jerked it back in panic, aware there were people close by, moving around her. Voices faded in and out like a transistor radio tuning in.

“Thank God.”

“He’s not —“

“--- wrong.”

The sound of something falling to the ground.

“Mulder?” Scully called out, her voice sounding too loud in her own ears.

“Mulder.” Another voice repeated the word. Skinner’s voice. It was definitely Skinner. “Can you hear me, Mulder?”

“Sir?” Scully called out. She pawed at her eyes frantically, trying to regain some sight. She could tell she was somewhere indoors, from the way the air was so still, but everything was so blurry and dark. Taking a step backwards, she found herself backing into a piece of furniture, maybe a bookshelf. Her ears worked well enough to hear the clatter, and she startled and cried out a little.

“Someone help her,” came a young woman’s voice, more clear now.

“Tell me what’s wrong with Mulder,” Scully demanded. “What’s going on?”

“He’s here, Scully,” Skinner said soothingly. “You’re both back. You’re in 1999. Just stay calm.”

“Agent Mulder, can you hear me?” came a young man’s voice, low to the ground. Scully could make out their silhouettes.

“Mr. Skinner, we need to call an ambulance,” the woman’s voice said, worried. “He’s completely unconscious.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Scully tried to sound authoritative, but her voice quavered. She directed her focus to the ground, taking small steps towards the shape of the woman. On the floor she saw the dark outline of a body.

Oh no, no, thought Scully. How could I be so stupid.

“You’re a doctor, right, Agent Scully?” the young man said. “He had brain surgery not too long ago, didn’t he?”

“Yes,” Scully said, every part of her cold with dread. She lowered herself until she could feel out the contours of the body with her hands: his shoulder, his cheek, his forehead. She peeled the stimulus patch off. Mulder didn’t stir. He felt unnaturally cool and clammy. No involuntary movements or obvious signs of seizure.

“He collapsed the second you got here,” the young man said. “Is it possible the mild electrical shocks for the time travel caused some kind of complication? An aneurysm? I think he might’ve been having headaches and not telling anyone.”

“It’s possible,” whispered Scully. She brushed his soft hair back with her hand, feeling the ridge of his scar. “Call an ambulance,” Scully said. She felt her panic grow. “Right now. Right now, right away. I can’t see well enough to help him right now —- I can’t help him. Right away. Call an ambulance.”

“I’m calling,” Skinner promised.

“We should have asked more questions about his surgery,” the young woman next to her whispered.

“He would have lied anyway,” Scully said, her voice tight.

She leaned over his body, her hands cupping each side of his face. “Mulder, I said to be careful. I told you not to risk your recovery. You didn’t listen, so you better fucking listen to me now. Are you listening?” Her fingertips ran over the stubble on his cheeks. “Don’t even think about any self-sacrificing martyr death. You stay here and wait for this ambulance, Mulder. You understand me? You stay here with me to see what happens in the future.”

[dracosaurusrex]

In His Eyes (Draco x Reader)

Summary: When you find yourself swamped in your insecurities, Draco provides a different perspective in hopes to make you see your beauty.

Wordcount: 1.7k

Genre: Fluff/Angst

Warnings: Insecurities w/ body image, swearing

A/N: Got this idea when I was doing the dishes today. I didn’t edit it oops. But, I hope you enjoy! Feedback is very much appreciated!!

‘Mildly’ seemed like an accurate way to describe how Y/N felt about herself at the moment: She was only ‘mildly’ satisfied with the way she looked.

Having an eye for detail was frequently associated with regret, for the smallest things would never go unnoticed. Details such as the thickness of her thighs, the size of her waist, and the small flab that was characteristic of her stomach never failed to pique her attention. Furthermore, details such as the definition of her collarbones and the sharpness of her jawline determined her underlying mood on a day-to-day basis. Some days were better than others--she’d actually smile at the reflection of her figure. Most days, however, were spent admiring the figures of others, which was typically accompanied with the sense of longing for particular features on her own body. 

‘So many flaws.’ She’d repeatedly think to herself as a frown would grace her lips. 

The long table in the Slytherin common room was occupied with students after a tiring day of classes. Concentration was embedded on her facial expression as she stared at the assignment laying in front of her. Her eyebrows furrowed, her lips pulled into a tight line, and her fingers twirled the quill within her grasp. Sitting across from her was Draco Malfoy. The relationship between the two began to bloom as a result of being paired frequently for different class projects. Overtime, Y/N became accustomed to the little quirks of his personality, which ultimately led into a gradual development of fondness for the boy. Small smiles were a common exchange between the two, and was followed by the occurrence of fast paced heart beats and reddening cheeks. As weeks passed, the admiration for one another surpassed the initial levels of attraction, only heightening a little more with every meeting. Unfortunately, this also meant that with every meeting there was an utmost desire to look her best.

Today, the girl felt pleased with the way her hair framed her face. So much so that she actually felt pretty. There was something about the way it highlighted the shape of her eyes, accentuated the shape of her nose, and complimented the manner in which her lips had pulled into a smile. Today, the word, ‘mildly’ was but a distant whisper.

--

Sounds of laughter interrupted the solemnity that filled the common room as Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass came into view. They were much closer to Draco than you were, and had actually shared the same friend group. You greeted one another, however your mind drifted as you took notice of their appearance. They had the body you would dare dream of having, and the fact that they embodied modelesque faces did no justice to your insecurities. The two took a seat with the boy in between, engaging in conversation that consisted of playful banter, inside jokes, and illuminated smiles. They were beautiful, all of them. 

You knew it wasn’t their intent to make you feel that way, but the longer you stayed within their presence, the deeper your heart plummeted. The three words that you had managed to shove in the back of your head began to reemerge, only growing louder as time passed. Soon enough, ‘mildly’ satisfied transformed into insatiable as your self-criticisms overtook you.

You began to observe their small details. Pansy sported short black hair that ended just beneath her jaw. She was equipped with well-defined facial features: pretty lips, deep brown eyes, a pointed nose, all complemented with a personality that oozes charisma. Daphne was no different. Her light brown hair flowed effortlessly over her shoulders, her lips took on an immaculate pink sheen, and her eyes took on a stunning shade of green giving her a goddess-like glow. She was the opposite of Pansy in the sense that she radiated elegance and poise, but both were able to stand alone with looks so inherently artistic yet different at the same time.

With discomfort settling in your chest, you excused yourself from the table to get a breath of fresh air. As soon as you exited the dungeons, harsh commentary began to trickle in. You glanced down at the ends of your hair, your view then shifting towards your stomach, to your thighs, and down to your feet.  

‘Why am I so fucking ugly?’ 

Tears threatened to fall from your eyes, a sob stuck to the base of your throat, and the tight clenching of your chest was aggravated the longer you stayed outside. You bit your knuckle to prevent yourself from breaking down. The tears were immensely close to falling now. You would never be satisfied. 

‘Never enough’

‘Never enough’

‘Never enough...when will I ever be enough?’ Deep breaths were taken to control your sobs. However, that didn’t stop the build up of tension within your chest. As the words continued to repeat themselves, you could feel your heart crack open, tears streaming down your face. 

It had been about ten minutes since the two girls left Draco to his own devices. Your extended absence caught his attention, and soon drove him to contemplate your whereabouts. Unlike you, the boy admired the way you looked and who you are in general. He paid no attention to the details that haunted you. Rather, he marveled at your features, and was drawn most specifically to the smile you gave whenever you were around him. It was bright, it was homely, it was infectious and absolutely adorning. Your eyes would take on the form of crescents, while a melodic laugh was produced from your lips. Cheeks flushed in a warm pink shade, your nose scrunched up in delight--the image of you in your entirety reduced his heart beats into a fluttering rage. You were angelic.

The boy held you to such a high regard that the sight of you crying in the hallway placed him in a momentary state of shock. He approached you with much caution--the sound of his footsteps prompted you to hurriedly wipe the tears off your face.

“Are you alright?” He asked. He was now standing at a close distance, examining the details of your saddened expression. Of course you weren’t alright. That was obvious.

“Not at the moment.” You responded in a whisper. Draco stared at you, not quite certain about an appropriate course of action, yet still felt the weight of your hurting in his chest. The air was filled with silence, and awkwardness was beginning to take form. In a quick attempt to make you feel better, he took grasp of your shoulders and pulled you into a warm embrace. The sudden action caused tears to form again, and you soon found your facade disintegrate within his arms. Tears were accompanied by short gasps for air, while the boy held you close, stroking your hair with much care. He was warm, and the sound of his heartbeat was calming. As your cries began to soften, you slowly lifted your arms to wrap them around his torso. 

“Thank you for being here.” You spoke with a voice that was soft and melancholy.

“Will you tell me what the matter is?” He asked. You relished the sound of his voice before responding. 

“Why? Do you care about me?” You ask half-jokingly.

“Yes, I do. A lot actually.” That certainly caught you off guard. You pulled your head away from his chest, and gave him an incredulous look. He looked down at your tear-stained eyes--your eyelashes were glistening. At that moment, all he could think about was how impossible it was for you to look so stunning after a cry session.

“Don’t pull my leg, Draco.” He chuckled.

“I like you, Y/N.” Your eyes widened as you pulled away and took a step back.

“I swear on Merlin’s beard if this is a prank I-” Draco rolled his eyes.

“Oh shut up, Y/L/N.” The boy grabbed your wrist and pulled you back in for another embrace. It took you a moment to ease into his arms, but once you did, it was hard to ignore the ecstatic sensation that overtook you entirely.

“I like you too.” You say quietly. Draco didn’t respond verbally. Instead, he displayed his contentment by tightening the grip he had around your waist. After a while, he released you only to interlace his hand in yours, and led you to the edges of the hallway. He leaned his back against the wall, and pulled you closer so you were standing in between his legs. With his hands now holding your waist, he looks at you with concern evident in his features.

“Will you tell me what the matter is now?” You bit your lip, feeling hesitant to tell him the truth. Nevertheless, you do so anyway.

“I felt lacking.” You say looking down

“How so?”

“I feel ugly, Draco. I don’t deem myself as pretty as other girls. I rarely ever do. It’s hard to resist the temptation to compare. I never feel satisfied with myself.” His heart drops at the sound of your words. Without much hesitation, he grabs your wrist again and drags you back into the dungeons, swiftly past the common room, and into his dorm. He then takes your shoulders and spins you, so that you’re faced with a mirror with him standing right behind you.

“Y/N, look. What do you see?” The reflection in the glass taunts you as a frown meets your lips once more. You shake your head.

“I don’t think you understand how beautiful you actually are,” He places his hands firmly on your shoulders.

“Everything about you is so breathtaking. Your eyes, your nose, this waist,” You stared as his palms moved down from your shoulders, briefly stroking your arms, before wrapping them securely around your waist. Your heart was beating ferociously within your chest

“Your smile, your laugh, your personality in general,” He turned you around to face him.

“And these lips.” He brushes his thumb across your bottom lip before looking into your eyes.

“May I?” He whispers. You respond with a ‘mhm’, making him lean in to press a delicate kiss on your lips. As you break away, you wrap your arms around his neck again before locking lips with him once more. Your eyes close when they take in the gentleness that comes from its velveteen texture. He then eagerly cups your face, bringing it  even closer to his. With every second, he attempts to remove the negative thoughts that have corrupted your mind. The moment ends with one last peck before he presses his forehead against yours, enclosing you into another embrace. Within said moment, it comes to your awareness that your insecurities won’t disappear overnight. Nevertheless with the support that you now received, you feel more than confident to take on each day as it comes.

A/N: I just wanna let y’all know that you are beautiful! I hope you have a great day!

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@beiahadid @hahee154hq @mushi98

Message me or add yourself to the taglist! The link to the form is in my pinned masterlist post :D

[srose-foxfire]

Damirae Week 2021 - Day 7 (Part 2)

“Finding Our Happily Ever After: Part 2” Day 7: Soulmates

The darkness subsided around Raven as it disappears back into the ground. Raven looked up to see they had all been transported outside the castle’s main doors. The late afternoon sun had been covered by dark gloomy clouds. In the distance thunder could be heard signaling the start of a storm. The large marble doors opened slowly revealing Damian’s family all standing there, shocked and scared to the sight before them. A teary-eyed Raven holding onto a lifeless beast, their brother.

Dick reached a hand but was stop by an invisible wall impeding him to exit the castle. “Raven, is he… Damian don’t leave us.” Everyone brought their hands up to join Dick’s, together they pressed against the invisible wall. It all they could do for Damian.

Raven sobbed quietly as she cradled Damian’s head in her small hands.  “Not too hard.” She gasped, she looked down as Damian tried to chuckle and smirk at her. Being as gentle as she could, she placed his head back down, hoping to provide him some small comfort.

“Damian? I… I don’t know what to do. You got hurt because of me… I-”

Damian lifted his large paw and caressed her cheek as he wipes some of her tears. “Shh… cough...you’re safe that’s all that matters, I would… do it again for you.”

“Just hold on, we can find some medicine, anythingand you will see, you’ll be better in no time.” Someone please help us.Raven prayed, she wanted to drag Damian back inside the castle and tend to his wounds but feared if she moved an inch he could be in more pain. As Raven continue to ponder what she could do, she hadn’t notice Damian had been speaking softly at her.

“Perhaps this is for the best, part of me knew I wouldn’t be allowed to feel what I’m feeling… you changed my perspective, made me want to hope for the tomorrow… if this is my end then I am glad that… I got to see you… once last time.” In the distance lighting struck the earth, making it tremble, bringing a heavy down pour.

Raven couldn’t hold her tears, as they slipped down her wet cheeks, she grabbed Damian’s paw in her hands and held it close to her face. “No, no, no! Please! Don’t leave me, not when I found what I have been looking for. Please stay, I want to read more books with you. I want to cook alongside you, to learn more about your family and you.Damian, I want to… stay.”

Damian both smiled and grunted painfully as he tried to laugh happily at her confession.“Raven. The castle is your home…” Damian slowly glanced and watched his family as they started to frantically pounded the invisible wall. He turned to gaze at Raven with a small weak smile, “Take care of them for me… and take care of Titus, he will need someone… he will need you-”

“Don’t you dare say things like that! I won’t allow it; you hear me you… you… jerk! Don’t you dare die on me!”

Damian lightly chuckled, “There’s that hot-head-strong-woman I met long ago, that’s one thing I like about you. Your independence to take action into your own hands, your will to not be taken for granted, and the immense compassion you showed to creatures of nightmares, like myself… it one of the reasons why I… fell in love with you.” With that Damian gave his last breath and his paw fell to his side, his green eyes closing forever.

“I fell in love with you as well.” Raven gently picked up Damian’s head and hugged it tightly in her arms. He was stone cold.Feeling no warmth, no life, Raven cried again.

~~~ ~~

The rain continues to pour harshly against them, the rest of the Wayne family quietly sobbed as they mourned the loss of their youngest member. Kori wrapped her arms around Dick, burying her face against his back, Jason, kept his arms around Cass, Stephanie, and Tim who wept into their hands.

Without realizing it, Raven started to emit a strange white glow, she had her eyes closed impeding her to notice it herself. The one to notice it was Dick who gaze widen, as the glow continue to expand and soon engulf the two young people. Everyone stared at it as the blinding white light took shape, a white raven. It rose high spreading it enormous wings, shrieking to the heavens above, exploding into stardust.

~~~ ~~

Raven had suddenly felt like she had been reborn. The last thing she remembered was feeling complete sorrow overtaken her body, the next she knew was feeling a sense of warmth, the kind you expect from a mother. She had her eyes closed, but she distinctly could notice the world outside become rather lit. Raven pulled away and opened her eyes. The rain had suddenly subsided, but the sky was still dark and gloomy. Her dress had been transformed to a simple white silk dress, attached with a white cape. She no longer had pearl-like skin but fair that held the sun’s light and warmth. As her gaze looked towards what she had been holding, Raven couldn’t help but gasp and widen her eyes. She felt her heart beat faster and her breath had been caught in her throat.

Raven couldn’t believe her eyes.

There in front of her, what had been a beast laying before her was now a young man.His well-perfectly sculpted chest was bare, the only thing keeping him from being completely nude was a pair of black worn out trousers. Carefully Raven extended her hand to touch his face. The man with golden olive skin, and sleek black hair stirred in his sleep making Raven pulled away from him. The strange handsomeman soon opened his eyes, gazing up into the skies above, he looked awestruck, like he knew he wasn’t supposed to see the sky again. He then slowly turned to lock eyes with her.

Raven could feel her heart quickening again inside of her, her insides turning all over the place. This man, this mysterious man who appeared out of nowhere, had the same eyes like him.Emerald. He then sat up and smiled warmly at Raven. He reached for her hands and brought her closer to him. Raven quietly continue to study him.

“Raven, it’s me… Damian.” The strange man finally spoke, though his voice sounded different than the beast she had come to hold dear in her heart.

Raven continue to stare and study his face. She kept coming back to his eyes. Thoseeyes, the ones that seemed to be filled with a fresh pine forest, the ones who knew her fears and had seen her for who she truly was. Timidly she raised a hand and ran her slender fingers though his locks of black hair, then she watched as he reacted to her touch. He eyes closed for a moment almost as if he found pleasure and warmth through this single action. It was the same way; Beast Damian had acted towards her.

Raven smiled and carefully caressed his cheek, “It is you.”

Damian smiled, her Damiansmiled at her, he lifted her chin and leaned closer to her, “my love” he declared before bringing his lips onto hers. Raven melted into his touch; she wrapped her hands around his neck never wanting to leave this moment. He was her air, her life as much as he needed her to hope for the new day. Together they had become the rainbow that appeared after a dark storm. They were both light and day, contemplating one another.

They pulled away from each other, catching their breaths. Damian slowly stood and extended his hand for her to take. He brought her to stand next to him and hugged her tightly against him.

“You done well, my child.”Both Damian and Raven turned to find a woman dressed in white hooded – cloak who stood at the end of the concrete staircase to ascend to the castle.

“It’s you again.” Raven added as she remember the strange messenger she had been visited in her dreams.

The woman only smiled underneath her hood, “It’s time to shed some light into this darkness. Our mother of the netherworld has given you her blessing, Raven.”

Raven looked at Damian who gazed at her with a confuse face wondering what the strange woman meant. She smiled at him, then lifted her hand and muttered; “Azarath… Metrion… Zindos.”

Her fingertips emitted a strange purple glow, a beam shot straight up and pierced the dark, gloomy sky. As it broke free, sunlight started to pour through the opening and little by little the dark storm clouds started to disperse. At this, Raven’s own magic erupted at the top of the castle’s towers transforming it darken state and bringing it to life. The hideous gargoyles that sat on the ledges were transformed into fierce roaring winged lions. The magic continues to travel down, opening every window, as it made it to the main doors. A great gust of wind came rushing from the inside, pushing Damian’s siblings to the outside. They no longer held a spiritual form but a physical; skins and bones. They all erupted into laughter as they ran towards Damian and Raven as they huddle for a group hug. Titus who had been standing along side them was lifted a few feet off the ground and transformed back to it’s original form. A large-healthy adult Great Dane. A healed Sombra flew in, perching itself onto Titus’s back.

Light had returned to the castle for good and the curse had been lifted, Raven feeling overwhelmed with utter joy turned around to notice the white cloaked woman had started walking away from the castle. “Wait!” Raven called out, Damian took a step back and gesture to his family to give Raven a little room as she walked down some steps to approach the strange woman. “You’re Arella, my mother?  I was looking for your home-”

“And you found it. Azarath, is with you as you chant its name. Call upon it whenever you need to release the light from our world and share it with those you meet.” The woman continues to smile as she lifted her head and met Raven’s amethyst eyes with her own. “I am very proud of you Raven, be happy.” Arella then gestured towards Damian who came to stand next to her daughter. “You take good care of my girl.”

“I will madam.” Damian bowed as he clasped his hand with Raven’s. Arella bowed at them both before turning around and disappeared into a silver mist. The two young lovers turned back to regroup with the rest of the family when-

“Damian.”

Turning around, they saw two older men standing side by side. Raven noticed Damian’s chest was rising as he was containing his excitement. He quickly glanced at her and Raven nodded at him. Damian let go of her hand and dashed down the last few steps before calling; “Father… Alfred!” The rest of his siblings ran down to join him, at the last step Dick jumped rather high almost as he wanted to take off in flight. Though gravity pulled him down too quickly landing straight on his face. Did he forget he was no longer a spirt? Raven thought to herself as she winced for Dick.

“It’s good to see you all.” King Bruce called as he and Alfred took turns to hug everyone. Raven couldn’t help but compare how much Damian resemble him. She then noticed that the older king was studying her quite a while. “You must be the one and only Raven.”

Raven jerked at the mention of her name and bow, before descending down the stairs and standing next to Damian. “Yes… your highness-”

“None of that my dear, just call me Bruce.”

“Understood, Bruce, how did you know who I am?”

The much older man, known as Alfred bowed towards her, “Allow me to answer that, Miss Raven, the young master Damian would come to the gardens and visit us. He would talk to our stone-selves, updating us on what was happening inside. Lately we been hearing stories about the wonderful young girl who suddenly brought warmth to our rather loudfamily.” Alfred answered.

“Wait- you actually heard everything Damian was telling you?” Jason inquired as his face turned to worry one, fearing Damian may had tattled on any mischiefs any of them may have causes over the years.

Bruce scoffed, “Oh, for goodness sake Jason, we were turned to stone not dead!By the way whose idea was it to place us in the garden? We were perfect targets for birds and their droppings!”

Without even giving it a second everyone immediately pointed at Dick, he turned her head glancing at his family’s betrayal. “I thought you would had liked staying outside… well Dami wanted to keep you in your room where you surely collect dust!”

~~ ~~

“Everyone erupted in laughter, for the cursed-royal family have been liberated from their long dark enchantment. As for our purple-eye heroine, well let’s say she found her forever home and a family who wanted her. She married the young prince and the two lived happily ever after, ruling gracefully for many years.” Raven sighed heavily as she finished her story. She clasped her hands together and gaze at the two children listening to her tale. “So, did you two enjoy the story?”

“Very much, mommy!” The youngest of the two answered as she held her stuffed bear closely to her chest.  Her name was Arella Roth-Wayne, she was just five years old, she had her mother’s beauty, her skin and hair were just like Raven’s. Arella had her father’s eyes. She was a good nature child always wanted to help any woodland creature she came across.

“I enjoyed it, thank you mother.” The eldest answered rather politely, speaking very much just like father. Derek Roth-Wayne, who was eight but spoke like he was older for his age was very protected of his youngest sister. He was the spitting image of his father, olive skin, black hair as night, his eyes were amethyst just like his mother’s.

Raven tucked the bed sheets around them, she smooth the blankets, “well we had a deal; I tell you a story and you two would go to sleep.”

“Who’s not going to sleep?”

“Papa!” The two children chimed together as their father and Raven’s husbandcame walking into the bedroom. He was followed by their most loyal and the family’s royal pets, Titus and Sombra.  

“Are you two not listening to your mother?” Damian asked as he stood behind Raven and gave her a quick peck at the top of her head.

“On the contrary dear, I told them a bedtime story to get them to sleep.” Raven added as she stood and wrap around an arm around Damian’s waist as they looked at their children.

“Oh, and what story was your lovely mother telling you.”

“The one about the cursed family and the pretty lady that came to rescue them!” Arella said happily.

Derek watched with enthusiasm as he nodded to his sister’s statement, and added himself; “There’s also a prince who was turned into a beast, he didn’t trust any stranger but soon came to fall in love with the maiden that would free his family from the curse.”

“Oh, that story, I don’t think I have ever heard it. I am going to have you two to tell me, but I believe now its time for you two to go to sleep. You have a big day tomorrow your uncle Todd, Cass, and Drake are coming for a visit.” Damian added, he awaited until both his children nodded at his remark.

With that Raven finished tucking her children and the two parents kissed them goodnight. Titus leapt onto the bed and dozed up into a deep sleep, as for Sombra he flew to a nearby wooden perch. The two pets cared for the children, Titus made sure to keep Arella out of trouble and Sombra accompanied Derek and Bruce on many adventures around Wayne Castle. Damian grabbed Raven’s hand and lead her outside of their children’s bedroom and walked her down the hallway towards their own bedroom.

After the curse, she and Damian married, two years later they welcomed their first born. After the curse, Jason, Tim, and Cass became witch hunters to imprison and stop any witch who wanted to use their magic for evil. Dick and Kori left Wayne castle after they were married and decided to travel around the world, they made sure to visit the family as they would bring gifts for their niece and nephew. As for Stephanie, she picked up some tricks from Kori to design and create dresses. She reopened Kori old shop as the kingdom of Gotham had suddenly reappeared and their people seemed to have returned from an unknown sleep.

Raven stopped and looked outside as fresh snow started to fall over the castle. She could already imagine what they could do together with the whole family. A day out in the snow and having fun with one another. Damian noticed his wife and walked back to her, looking out the window with her.

“What do you suppose would happen if our children found out I was the beast in your story.”

“Then they will know why I love you so much.”

“Well, I am glad that part of our chapter is over.” Damian chuckled lightly.

“You think so? There are some traits you kept from the beast… ones I don’t mind.” Raven slowly leaned against Damian’s chest as she lightly trailed a fingertip across his chest.

“Oh? Pray tell my love, what are those traits?”

“I seem to recall on our wedding night, you roared in our bed and I’ve caught you growling sometimes.”

Damian smirked, showing his white brilliant teeth and he let out a small growl and leaned in to kiss his wife. Raven smiled and melted into his arms. This fantasy she had been given was a blessing, one Raven would cherish and protect. She found her happily ever after but everyday felt like a new chapter, one she gladly would walk through as long as she had Damian by her side. She had been his beauty and he her beast.

The End.

[milfjensenackles]

devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes

2k words | read it on ao3

Cas and Sam sat together in the War Room, attempting to drown out Dean’s screams with tense bursts of conversation.

Sam located Dean a few days ago after discovering that Crowley turned him into a demon. Dean was less than happy to leave Crowley behind for the bunker, so Sam ended up knocking him out and carrying Dean’s limp body to the Impala. Once he’d collected his brother, he called Cas for help. Cas was pissed, to say the least.

“How could you let this happen to him, Sam?”

Sam placed his head in his hands. “I thought he was dead!”

Cas folded his arms across his chest, still angry. He wasn’t really angry at Sam, though. He was angry at himself for not stopping Dean from taking on the Mark of Cain in the first place. All of this could have been prevented.

“Cas, I think the demon cure might kill him.” Sam said, choking up at the thought. “There has to be another way.”

Cas felt a chill run down his spine. Sam was right. “There is… one thing I can think of, but it’s very old magic. There’s no way to know if it would actually work.”

“Well? Spit it out!” Sam was becoming increasingly frustrated.

“True love’s kiss,” Cas said tentatively.

Sam’s eyes narrowed, his face incredulous at the suggestion. “There’s no way that’s actually a thing. And even if it was, who would Dean’s ‘True Love’ even be? Cassie? Lisa?”

Cas shrugged. “I hardly think it could be Lisa, Sam. Dean had me erase her memory.”

Sam huffed at that. Dean hadn’t been romantically interested in anyone in years. He barely even tried to pick up women at the bars they stumbled into after their more difficult cases. Dean hasn’t had a long-term relationship… pretty much ever. The only people he has a consistent relationship with are Sam and his best friend… Cas.

“Cas,” Sam said quietly, “What if… what if you’re Dean’s true love?”

Cas was stunned into silence. There’s no way it could be him. At the very least, Cas knew Dean wasn’t attracted to men. “Sam…”

Sam cut him off. “No, wait a second. Hear me out. You two have been through literal Hell and back for each other. You’re always obnoxiously staring at each other – and don’t try to deny it, I see the way you look at him. You care about Dean more than all of those angels. More than most other humans. You refused to kill Dean, even if it meant losing their support. Does all of this ring a bell?”

Cas was staring off into space, his lips pressed into a thin line. Sam was more observant than Cas had realized. Cas has known about his feelings for Dean for quite some time now. He still had trouble understanding them, though. Sometimes it was overwhelming, how much he cared for Dean. It felt like he might split open with the weight of his desire. Angels weren’t supposed to feel that way, especially about a human, so Cas pushed it away. A problem for another day. He supposed today was that day. Cas shook his head. “What about you? You are his brother. Maybe a kiss on the cheek from you would suffice.”

Sam tossed the idea around in his head before nodding. “Okay. We’ll try that first. But Cas, I’m serious. We’re running out of options here.”

Cas grimaced, but slowly nodded in agreement.

-

Sam and Cas made their way to Dean, prepared for the worst. What they weren’t prepared for, however, was an empty room, with Dean’s chair kicked over and his restraints undone. Sam and Cas looked at each other, mouths open in an ‘O’ shape.

“Fuck,” Cas swore.

Sam nodded. “Agreed.”

Cas and Sam split up, covering each corner of the bunker to try to sneak up on Dean. Cas ended up in a back hallway, praying to whatever might be listening that Dean was still in the bunker. As Cas rounded a corner, his prayers seemed to have been answered, as he runs right into Dean’s chest. The last thing Cas sees is blackened eyes before he’s slammed up against a hard surface.

Dean smirked at Cas. “Aw, the little angel thought he might stand a chance against me. That’s cute.” Dean slid the angel blade out from Cas’ hands, which were pressed above Castiel’s head now. Dean leaned in, only a millimeter from Cas’ face. Cas looked from side to side, hoping to find something that might help him out of his unfortunate position, but Dean had Cas pinned against the wall. Cas was out of options. He had to at least try, didn’t he? For Dean. Cas mustered all of his strength and pressed forward, attaching his mouth to Dean’s. It was clinical, almost. A simple press of lips. And then as soon as the kiss had started, it was abruptly ended by Dean pushing Cas off of him.

Cas slid to the floor, relief flooding him. Cas looked up at Dean. Dean had his hands pressed to his knees as he leaned against the opposite wall. He looked down at Cas, seemingly bewildered. “What just happened?”

Cas’ eyes widened. “Dean?”

“Hey, Cas. Why do I feel like I just got the shit kicked out of me? How did we get here? Why are you on the floor?” Dean reached out to help Cas to his feet.

Cas was speechless. He floundered for a moment, looking for the right words, before deciding to turn away and walk down the hallway, leaving a confused Dean behind him.

-

There was a knock at Cas’ door. He stiffened immediately, not looking forward to a conversation with either Winchester brother. Sam stuck his head in. “Were you gonna tell me you figured out how to fix Dean? He just walked up to me and asked about getting some pie and I almost fell out of my chair.”

Cas sighed. “My apologies, Sam.”

Sam moved to sit next to Cas on the bed, waving away Cas’ apology. “Whatever, dude. How���d you do it? Was it a spell?”

Cas debated his answer in his mind. If he told Sam, Sam might tell Dean, which would be humiliating. If he didn’t tell Sam, Sam would become suspicious of him. Before Cas could respond though, Sam took his silence as all the answer he needed. His face lit up with understanding. “You didn’t.”

Cas held his hands up in an attempt to stop Sam from saying anything more damning. “Sam, please. I don’t want Dean to find out.”

Sam looked confused, his eyebrows scrunching together. “Why not? This is incredible! You two obviously both have feelings for each other. Now you can go for it!”

Cas rolled his eyes. “I cannot simply ‘go for it’, Sam. I took advantage of Dean during a moment of weakness. He has no idea that I was the one who saved him, or how I managed to save him. It should stay that way. I don’t want to ruin our relationship. It’s Dean. He means too much to me to lose him.”

Sam seemed to ponder this information for a moment, before saying, “I think that’s all the more reason to tell him the truth.”

With that, Sam left Cas alone to his thoughts.

-

A few days, Cas was sitting in the kitchen with Sam when Dean rambled in, hair mussed and eyes bloodshot. Cas gave Dean a small smile, which Dean noticed and returned immediately. Cas had been avoiding Dean for the past few days, but luckily Dean didn’t seem to notice.

“How are you, Dean?” Cas asked.

Dean sighed. “Still not a hundred percent, but that’ll happen with demon possession.”

Dean winked at him. Cas felt his heartrate increase, the memory of their brief kiss still haunting him. Sam looked between his brother and Cas, a knowing smile on his face. Cas gave him a warning glare. Unfortunately for Cas, Dean saw this exchange. He pointed an accusatory finger between the two of them. “Are you guys fighting?”

Right as Cas said “No!”, Sam interjected with a louder “Yes, actually.” They both turned to glare at each other again.

Sam held up his hand to stop Cas from saying anything else, before leaning toward Dean to explain. “Cas and I had a… disagreement yesterday.”

Dean sat down across from the two of them. “Lay it on me.”

Cas tried to interrupt, giving Sam a pointed look. “Dean, you don’t want to listen to this. You’re still exhausted.”

“No, Cas, I think it would be good to get Dean’s perspective,” Sam smirked. “So get this, Dean. Cas here did something to a friend who needed his help. This friend might not have survived without Cas stepping in. Cas won’t tell this friend though! I think Cas should tell him. What do you think?”

Cas was furious with Sam and let him know with a single look. Sam looked slightly admonished, which satisfied Cas. Dean, however, was ignoring all of this to ponder what Sam had said. “I think you should let your friend know, buddy. They’d probably appreciate it.”

Sam clapped his hand on Cas’ shoulder, standing up from the table. “See, there you have it, Cas! I’ll leave you two to it.”

“What friends do you got that I don’t know?” Dean asked once Sam was out of earshot.

“None,” Cas responded through gritted teeth.

Dean scrunched his eyebrows together like he was doing mental math that didn’t quite add up. Cas could only imagine it: ‘If 1 + 1 =3, then Sam must be talking about Dean.’ This was the worst day of his very long life. Finally, after many excruciating moments, Dean spoke up again. “Was Sam talking about me?”

Cas rolled his eyes. “Yes, Dean.”

“Is that why you’ve been so cagey about the whole demon thing lately? What did you do? Should I be concerned about some weird angel mojo thing goin’ on inside me?”

Cas sighed. “No, Dean,” He scrubbed his hand down his face. “Sam and I were running out of ideas. We had to save you. I knew of only one way to do so. It is known as ‘True Love’s Kiss’. We were going to have Sam try it out by kissing your cheek, but you escaped. You located me first. I thought you might kill me, so… I had to try, Dean. I hope you can forgive me.”

Dean stood up abruptly, shocked by the information he’d just received. Cas didn’t know what to do, so he stayed seated, uncomfortably waiting for Dean to react. Dean walked over to where Cas was seated, staring at him with a complicated look on his face. Cas couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He didn’t have time to wonder, though, because Dean fisted his palm into the lapel of Cas’ trenchcoat and pulled him out of his chair, covering Cas’ mouth with his own. Cas immediately responded in kind, his hands moving to run through Dean’s hair. Dean’s tongue swiped across Cas’ bottom lip, and Cas gasped, which allowed Dean to better explore him. Dean’s hands travelled down Cas’ sides to his hips and pulled Cas closer. Cas moaned, and Dean swallowed the sound greedily. After what felt like hours, Cas forced himself to pull away and press their foreheads together, both of them breathing heavily.

Cas noticed Dean’s shoulders shaking, and he immediately realized that Dean was laughing. Cas was bewildered. “What’s so funny?”

Dean took a deep breath, trying to control himself. “So… you’re my ‘True Love’, huh? It’s like that fairytale garbage. We’ve been such idiots. All it took was me becoming a demon to figure it out.”

Cas smiled. “You’re the idiot in this relationship.”

Dean raised his eyebrows and said, “Oh, is that so?” before leaning in again, capturing Cas in another kiss that they both grinned into. Cas was overwhelmed. He never thought, in a million years, that this was how their story would come together. Cas still had a lot to learn about being in a relationship, and he knew Dean didn’t have much experience with it either. He understood now, though, that they had plenty of time to figure it out, and his best friend would be at his side through it all.

[tendertenebrosity]

Part 4 of my new TJ and Danny arc! Previously: 1, 2, 3. Masterpost here. TJ and Danny are my OC’s, the Pathverse belongs to @wildfaewhump!

The road was so long. Endless. When TJ looked ahead, it went on and on, shimmering in the heat, until it disappeared around a curve and a stand of trees. When he looked back, the metal barrier that marked where Danny and his car were had already gone from view.

TJ had never seen so much road, so much grass, so much sky. Was this what the world was, he wondered? Buildings like little huddled islands full of people, and between them just… huge empty stretches of road and sky that went on forever? No wonder you needed a car to get around in it.

Mostly from secondhand, incidental memories, TJ had formed the impression that ‘outside’ and ‘grass’ and ‘sky’ were supposed to be nice things. Other people liked them. But it was all too big, and too bright, and too hot, so that he felt even dizzier and sicker than he had in the car. And his feet started hurting almost immediately, thin bright lines of pain where the shoe rubbed against his ankle and his toes.

He trudged on anyway, eyes planted on the ground a foot or two ahead of his next step. There had to be people out here somewhere, and TJ was going to find them, and then they’d find Danny and take them both back home and everything would be OK.

Except it isn’t going to be, though, a thought pressed insistently at the back of his mind. Is it? Danny did something wrong. Danny took you away from the Agency on purpose.

Danny’s going to be in trouble when he gets back, and probably so are you.

TJ paused for a moment, hopped and skipped and tried to run a finger around the inside of his shoe to ease the bit where it pressed against his skin. But that isn’t fair, he protested. TJ hadn’t done anything bad. He’d done what Danny said. He’d always done what Danny said. Now the rules had changed and he was bad for letting Danny take him?

He shaded his eyes, looked up. The road was stubbornly unchanged, the end of it seemingly as far away as it had ever been.

He went on, limping, trying unsuccessfully to find a gait that didn’t hurt too much. And even though it was hard, even though this environment was nothing like the cool grey calm of his cubby, he thought.

Good Paths didn’t cause trouble. Good Paths did whatever the Agency said, whatever their handlers said. Up until now… for as far back as TJ could remember, that had always been the same rule. His handler had just been an extension of the Agency as a whole – oh, they’d been people still, TJ knew that. They’d complained about their bosses, and their jobs, and maybe they didn’t do everything perfectly. The Agency loomed over all of their heads, a huge amorphous structure that towered up into invisibility from TJ’s perspective. But they were still part of it.

TJ had always been obedient to the Agency, and to his handlers. Finding out that actually maybe those weren’t, or didn’t have to be, the same thing was… disconcerting.

I’m loyal, and, and obedient. I’ve always been a good Path.

But… who to? How could you know what was right, if handlers were just people who might tell you right or wrong things?

Equally disconcerting was the idea that Agencies could potentially just… ‘go under’. That was how Danny had put it. TJ knew what a business was, had read memories underpinned by and distorted around people’s ‘businesses’ going bad and falling apart. But – those were things that people made, mundane things, the world would keep on going if they fell apart. The Agency was too big and important and special to do that!

Wasn’t it?

What was TJ going to do, if being obedient to the Agency and obedient to Danny were suddenly completely different things?

This morning had put holes in the world, great cracks that let solid ground drain away. No matter how patiently and carefully he turned these thoughts over in his mind, he couldn’t put the pieces back together in a way that made sense and closed the hole.

TJ looked up, blinked at the horizon, and found that the stand of trees was actually nearer. It was, wasn’t it? It wasn’t just TJ getting dizzy and confused and forgetting what it had looked like before? He felt queasy, like he wanted to leave the road and be sick behind some of the grass, but he hadn’t eaten breakfast so it wasn’t as though there was anything to actually come up.

He swallowed hard, tried to forget about his feet and the headache that was pulsing behind his eyes, and kept going.

Julie thinks that I did this. She thinks I made Danny take me away, somehow. He hadn’t, of course, but TJ supposed it had been so out of character for Danny she thought somebody had to have made him. Danny had lied, or forgotten, when he said that TJ had never touched him… TJ hoped that wasn’t going to cause problems. He worried at his lip, shading his eyes with his hands.

It doesn’t really matter. Even if we’re going to be in trouble, Danny might be dying and he needs someone to get him out of that car. I need to get him out of that car. There’s nobody here but me to do it. And that was wrong and bad, but things were already bad. So it could be bad in a way that didn’t mean Danny died trapped in that car.

The bright yellow/green/blue of the world was starting to swim, to fuzz into greyness with sickening rainbow edges. But when TJ stopped to catch his breath and looked up…

Hidden behind the stand of trees and only now coming into view, there were buildings.

The building was marked out with tall, brightly coloured signs. There were cars dotted around it. And the distant, moving shapes of people. TJ covered his eyes with his hands, guiltily. But surely he couldn’t do any harm from this far away, right?

They were closer than TJ had dared hope… but he still had to walk to them. He set his teeth in his bottom lip, adjusted his blindfold over his forehead so it could be tugged down at a moment’s notice, and limped forwards, towards the bright signs.

-

Violet checked her phone for the time, then shoved it into the pockets of her jacket along with her hands. Still fifteen minutes before she was due to be picked up; she had time to go into one of the fast-food places at the service station and get a shake or something.

She left her bike chained into the rack, helmet dangling from the handlebars, and made her way past the cares and fuel pumps. She gave someone a nod and a forced smile as they paused to let her cross in front of their car.

She was almost through the automatic doors when she heard the panicked yell behind her.

“Jesus Christ! Get the fuck away from me!”

She tried not to flinch, tried to make it look natural as she spun away from the doors and started walking in the other direction, as if she’d just remembered that she wanted to go that way. Hands buried as fists in her pockets, she scanned the bleak concrete expanse of the car park.

There. A hunched figure, dressed head to toe in pale blue, like a uniform, and the man in jeans backing away from him in horror.

She heard the person in blue say something pleading, but it was drowned out as the man backed away again, a paper fast-food bag dropping to the ground and splitting.  

“What the fuck is this? Get away - ”

The person in blue turned their head, distressed, and Violet saw the blindfold across their eyes; but to be honest, she hadn’t needed to. Her feet had already changed direction again, almost without her volition. She yanked her phone out as she walked, hissing curses until somebody picked up.

“Glen,” she hissed into the phone, without waiting for him to respond. “Get to the meet up point now. There’s a kid in a blindfold wandering around alone, I’m going in, see you soon.”

“Wh- Violet, don’t - ”

“Oh, no!” Violet called out, stuffing the phone into her pocket.  “I am so sorry!” She plastered on her best look of friendly chagrin, pushed her sleeves up over her elbows, and strode towards the angry stranger and the Agency Path.

Glen better get here soon.

[rwbyvein]

Firen Lhain:  Chapter 804:  Phoenix:  Part III / III

She opened her eyes and saw her father. "PENNY?" he asked her.

"No?" she asked in reply, "I recall being PENNY, but I am not." she stated, and stepped out of the gantry that had assembled her.

"Then what should I call you?" Pietro asked.

"A moment?" she asked, and her eyes danced to and fro for a full minute. Her eyes then focused on him, "Father?" she asked.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Penthesilea." she stated. She moved forward incredibly quickly and then stopped. She paused to look down at her body. Her limbs were longer than before, along with her torso. She then looked Pietro in the eyes, "Father?" she asked.

"Pen-thesilea?" he asked.

"My body does not conform to PENNY's original specifications?" she asked.

"PENNY was an amazing accident." Pietro said to her.

"I'm afraid I do not follow, Father?" she asked.

"I created PENNY as a daughter." he said.

"We were not created to be combat ready?" Penthesilea asked.

"That was the accident." Pietro said, and took a troubled step towards her. Penthesilea dashed towards, gently grasping her father. "Thank you." he said to her.

"Are you alright, Father?" Penthesilea asked.

"I'm quite alright." he hesitantly stated.

"Father?" she asked, "There was a hesitation in your voice? Are you feeling well?"

"Well enough." Pietro voiced, and gently slipped from her grasp. "Let me tell you about your new body." Penthesilea looked down at her body. "Your body can adapt to whatever form you choose." he said, and the moment he finished a spear with a leaf-shaped blade appeared in her right hand, and a round shield in her left. The shield almost looked like the two halves had not been aligned, almost giving it a spiral shape. A pair of wings had also opened up, along with firey lines along her body. A moment later and they vanished again.

"Father, I?.." she looked at him questioningly.

"Before you say it," he interupted her, "know that you body needs Dust to survive. I want you to try and learn to use your Aura instead."

Penthesilea looked down at her body and arms before quickly looking her father in the eyes, "Father?" she asked, "I am concerned for your health, and I am grateful that you rebuilt our frame, but..."

"You have something you need to do?" he asked, and she looked at him questioningly.

"Yes, Father." she stated. Before he knew it she was next to him, looking him in his eyes. She leaned down to kiss him on the cheek, and the two were apart once again. "Thank you, Father. I love you."

Pietro blew her a kiss as she disappeared again. "I love you, too." he voiced.

Wings extended she flew threw the air, using Dust thrusters in her feet to accelerate her to fantastic speeds.

* * *

Penthesilea landed hard on the ground just outside the tower in the garden, everyone turning to look at her.

"PENNY?!" Ruby shouted.

"Friend-Ruby!" Penthesilea replied, "Though you are partially incorrect. This frame formerly belonged to Penny. I am Penthesilea."

"You sound like Penny, though?" Nora asked.

"Friend-Nora!" Penthesilea stated.

"Wait, we're friends?" Nora asked.

"I have no data." Penthesilea stated. "And while this frame was formerly used by PENNY, I am not her."

"How do you know?" Ruby asked.

"I have no data." Penthesilea replied.

"But we're friends, right?" Ruby asked.

"For that I have data." Penthesilea said, "You were the first to declare us friends."

"But, you're not Penny?" Ruby asked.

"I am not." Penthesilea replied.

"Perhaps we stop here?" Weiss asked. "Before we keep going around in circles. Penthesilea?"

"Friend-Weiss?" Penthesilea asked.

"Pardon, we're friends?" Weiss asked, "I mean, friend-of-friend, yes, but..."

"I have no data." Penthesilea

"Hello." Jaune said as he approached.

"Are you sure you should be?.." Winter tried to say from next to Cinder, and Penthesilea gave her a look that could kill, with flaming lines appearing along her body.

"Father was worried, and was right to be so." Penthesilea stated, "But I am not the only one taking risks in this world. I would rather take risks with my friends, then to hide in safety in a the guilded cage of the Atlas Military's Development Corps."

"But, you are?.." Winter tried to say.

"I - am - not - a - slave." Penthesilea emphatically said to her. "I am not the coddled child that PENNY was. I am grateful to my father, and the engineers that helped build me, but protecting my friends means far more to me than being a test subject. I apologize for interupting your interogation. I will remain silent until it is concluded."

"We have already concluded." Winter stated, "I will need to get this list to General Ironwood." She turned to find Jaune standing in front of her.

"If you need any help?.." he softly stated, and Winter just stared at him. Weiss appeared beside him.

"It has been a pleasure, sister." Weiss said to her.

"And mine as well." Winter said with a weak smile.

Winter then turned to Jaune, "If you'll excuse me?" she asked him.

"Uh?" Jaune asked.

"You are the authority in charge of this place." Weiss stated.

"Wait, what?" Jaune asked.

"You are an Earl." Ren stated.

"Well, yeah, but not really." Jaune said. Winter cleared her throat, and Jaune turned back to her. "Uh, yes?"

"Thank you." Winter, and turned towards the tower.

"Perhaps?" Ren asked, and everyone turned towards him, "We should get out of the rain."

Jaune turned to Cinder, "Thank you." he said.

"Is that all she gets?" Emerald asked.

"Oh, we got far more than that." Cinder replied, and turned back to their turret.

"Alright?" Jaune asked, "Everyone get cleaned up, we'll meet in the lounge for?.. uh?.."

"A group hug?!" Nora asked, and Jaune just sighed.

"Just, everyone, get inside."

"Where is Penny going to get cleaned up?" Ruby asked.

"I really don't care." Jaune stated. "We've got an unused guest room. She can clean up there."

* * *

Jaune walked into the master suite's bathroom, only to nearly bump into a naked Ilia. He paused, and stared long enough for Weiss and Ruby to enter the room.

"You did give her permission." Weiss stated.

"I, uh..." Jaune voiced, "Did expect her to be less naked, or something."

"If you could excuse us?" Weiss asked Ilia.

"Of course." Ilia replied.

* * *

Jaune sat on a couch, with Ruby and Weiss under his arms and antlers. Ren and Nora sat on a different couch, with Blake and Yang on a third. Penthesilea was standing augustly off in the wings as Aurora hovered nearby. "I am curious how Taj is handling this?" Weiss asked.

"He's on perpetual alert, what with a couple hardened criminals around." Yang stated.

"Oh, pssh." Jaune replied, "We've got a lot more than that."

"Have a seat, Penny." Ruby stated, "I mean, Penthesa... um?"

Penthesilea quickly appeared in front of one of the couches and quickly, robotically sat down. "Penthesilea."

"And, you're sure you're not Penny?" Ruby asked.

"Correct."

"But you're sure we're friends?"

"Correct."

"And how can we help you?" Weiss asked.

"That is the very question I wished to ask." Penthesilea stated.

"Pardon?" Weiss asked.

"I was compelled to come here and help my friends." Penthesilea stated.

"Ruby?" Jaune asked, "You were close with... her... in Beacon, right?"

"I loved Penny." Ruby stated. "Oh, that reminds me." Ruby said, and disappeared in a puff of rose petals.

"Friend-Jaune?" Penthesilea asked.

"Uh, yeah?"

"How have you been?"

"Oh, you know?," Jaune nervously asked, "I've got a lot going on. Got married... a few times..."

"I thought the law in the kingdoms only allowed individuals to marry once?"

"Indeed." Weiss stated. "From a legal perspective, we are not actually married."

"But, Friend-Weiss, he said?.."

"From a perspective of personal commitment, we are indeed married." Weiss replied.

"Oh, and this works?" Penthesilea asked.

"We're still figuring that part out." Jaune said.

"Swimmingly." Weiss aaid with a wide smile. "We have never been more content or cohesive."

"We also, kind of, have a bunch of prisoners." Jaune stated.

"Was that why they were walking free?" Penthesilea asked, and Jaune hung his head.

"Is is a bit complicated." Weiss replied, and Ruby returned with a burst of rose petals, holding one of Penny's swords. Penthesilea was instantly on her feet in front of Ruby, grasping at the sword. Ruby let her take the sword, which she stared at for a while before returning it. She then opened her arms wide.

"Friend-Ruby, I know I have just returned, but would it be inappropriate to hug?"

Ruby quickly hugged her. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too, Friend-Ruby. Unfortunately, I no longer need the swords. I would be happy if you kept it for yourself."

Ruby looked down at it and then up at Penthesilea. "Really?" she asked.

"Truly." Penthesilea replied.

"Will you not be fighting?" Weiss asked. Penthesilea jumped back and produced her weapons and wings, also developing the flaming red lines. In a split second they disappeared again.

"My new body is combat-ready." Penthesilea stated, "I just do not require external or wire-guided weapons."

* * *

A crow sat on the top of Winter's airship is it flew off.

* * *

Note:  Half of me thinks I’m being so clever no one will figure it out.  The other half thinks it’s so blatantly obvious that it will slap readers in the face.  I’ll answer questions after next week’s posting (”King”)

[ohallthecrushes]

Kitten wants some milk? // Joker x Reader

A/N: I’m so sorry you had to wait so long. I tried to find more time and inspiration, but life was against me all the time. :( I hope you like it, cause I don’t know what have happened, but it turned into Daddy kink as well.😅 Thank you for your request.

Summary:  ava-b17 asked:

omg can i make a request ?? i’m literally in love with joker i’d give up my first born CHILD to fuck him. so can you write me some smutty smut smut ?? like y/n being a good girl etc and just being on her KNEES sis. like i wanna relive my dick sucking prime but WITH JOKER. thank you if u do write this ☺️☺️

Contains: daddy kink, oral, mouth fucking, domination

Word count: 1830

 Enjoy! 🤡

You were in the mood.

You were in the mood.

You tongue was wet, your mind was filled with dirty pictures, your eyes were focused on your lovely clown and your body was crawling on all your four in his direction.

Joker was sitting on a coach, smoking a cigarette. He was wearing his green shirt that was loosely tugged into his red pants, a three buttons on top were left unbuttoned. He was watching you attentively as you were crawling your way to him in nothing but your sexy lingerie. He smirked as his eyes traveled to your butt when you swung your hips seductively.

- What does my Kitten want, hmm?

You crawled on the coach and lowered your chest putting up your butt and you meowed at him.

- Mmm, I think I know what you want - his smirk grew wider as his fingers traced your spine from your neck to your lower back, his hand flattened on your butt cheek before he gave you a slap.

You raised your head to look at him and you licked your lips. His painted face couldn’t hide the amount of love and desire he had for you. His lips curled up higher, exposing his crooked tooth and his smile reached his deep green eyes crinkling crow's feet around them. You looked as beautiful to him as he was to you, and he couldn’t believe you yearned for his attention and love. All of those men in Gotham you could have and you still wanted him and him only.

You lifted yourself up and kissed him hungrily, nibbling at his lower lip. You didn’t have to wait for his response, he moved his hand up and he placed it on your cheek, his thumb stroked your skin and he deepened the kiss, slipping his wet tongue inside your mouth. You were french kissing each other for a while, taking pleasure from one another. The taste of him was addictive and you could never want to pull away. If anything, you always wanted more. Your body crawled up closer to him as you wanted to sit on his lap but he hadn’t uncrossed his legs for you as usual. You groaned against his mouth with displeasure, because you wanted to ride him, put some pressure against your throbbing clit, but he chuckled softly. It was when you pulled away to say something about it when you glanced down and saw his hand wrapped around his hardening cock, stroking himself with slow motions.

- Mmm - he murmured into your ear - You have such a lovely lips, darling. I would love to see them in use...

The sinful look he gave you was enough to make your thongs soaked with your arousal.

You smirked at him and took his hand into yours. Putting out your tongue, you slowly licked around each of his fingers, making them wet, before wrapping your lips around them all, sucking slightly, before you pulled out with a small pop.

Joker hummed as he used his thumb to part your lips and he opened up your mouth by pressing against your lower teeth. As obedient as you were, you followed his request, opening your mouth widely. He gazed at you for a moment as your mouth were getting filled with your spit, before he slowly slid his thumb down against your lower lip. He took your chin between his thumb and his index finger and leaned closer to you.

- Now do the same, but with my cock.

You nodded, feeling overly excited already, as you got down on the floor before him. He spread his legs open and you placed yourself between them, taking his length into your hand. He had a nice shape, thick and a little curvy, it hit the right spot in every position you took.

You glanced at him before you lowered your head and tasted him with the tip of your tongue.

God, how much you loved that taste. You loved everything about Joker, but the most intimate parts of him, the most vulnerable and sensitive ones, both literally and figuratively speaking, were the ones that you loved the most.

You begun stroking him the same way he stroked himself a moment ago, while your tongue was swirling around his head before your mouth wrapped around it and you sucked gently on it. A soft moan escaped his lips as he swiped your hair away from your face, keeping his hands on the sides of your head. You pulled out with a loud pop and licked his shaft from the base to the tip. His eyes were on you watching you teasing him and he growled impatient, wanting to stuff your pretty mouth with his already full hard cock. His head was all red and stuck out at your direction. You hummed and used your thumb to spread your saliva all over it. Your mouth was watering and you dived in between his legs once again, taking it all in until your nose touched his pubic hair. The sound he made right now was so pure erotic and hot, you could felt shivers running down your spine.

His hips jerked up as you slowly was pulling out. Your hand wrapped his shaft, stroking him again as you continued to pleasure him with your mouth. You found a steady rhythm that was alright for you, but you knew that he was going to take control very soon and speed up and maybe even fuck your throat if he felt like it.

One of his hand tightened its grip on your hair as the other stayed at the back of your head, not pushing yet, but he was about to take over the pace. You could sense it in the way he was moving his hips and griping your hair.

Soon, after few more strokes from you, you heard his husky voice telling you to pull back.

- On your knees, before me - he commanded and you crawled back so he could stand up in front of you.

You glanced up at him appreciating the way he was towering above you with a dominating look in his eyes. It wasn’t just the perspective that gave him that intimidating look. It was him, Joker himself that was so self-confident in that moment, smug really, and so strongly sure of what he wanted, that you had no other choice than to give in to him with your body and mind. How on Earth could you say no to him when this was what you wanted as well?

He moved closer to you, with his hand guiding his cock back into your mouth and you swallowed him wholly, til the tip of him touched the back of your throat.

- Eyes on me, Doll - he said as he slowly pulled out almost completely before he pushed back in and pulled out again. You opened your mouth as wide as you could trying to keep your gag reflex in control. As much as you enjoyed his length inside your pussy, it was hard for you to swallow him when he was using your mouth to get himself off.

He picked up a faster pace, moving his hips back and forward as he kept your head in place by the grip he had on your hair. Your eyes welled with tears everytime he hit your throat, but you kept your mouth open and your eyes at him, taking pleasure of being dominated this way.

- Yes, that’s it, such a pretty mouth my Doll has - he praised you with half moaning voice - You’re such a good girl, taking my cock so deep...mmmm.

You feel yourself so wet down there that the desire to touch yourself was very hard to resist. The throbbing was almost unbearable. The way that Joker looked at you with so much passion and lust, the way that he dominated your mouth made you hungry for more. You went along with your needs and reached down with your hand. Putting your finger between your folds and feeling the wetness coming down your fingers only made you more eager and aroused.

- Mmmm, I see my baby girl wants to come, hm? – he slowed down a bit before he took out – What’s the first thing you should do about that?

You swallow your saliva and licked your lips, taking your hand out of your thong. Your eyebrows went up and you looked at him with apologizing eyes.

- Ask for your permission, Daddy.

- That’s right – he leaned down and pulled your hair back, then he looked at your face and smirked - Be a good obedient Kitten or you don’t get any milk and I’d have to deprive you from your orgasm.

- Yes, Daddy, I’m sorry for that.

- Mmmhhmm - he hummed satisfied and straightened up.

His cock dribbling with pre cum and your saliva. His free hand slid against his lower abdomen down to his hardness. He grabbed it and you leaned forward, wrapping your mouth around it, sucking on it with a devotion. A loud moan vibrated in your throat as you pleasured him with your tongue swirling all over it. He parted his mouth with a smile on his face as he was looking down at you, feeling his heart and breathing quicken and his hamstring tighten. He was close, he could feel it in his groin.

- Mmm,yes, just like that... - he breathed between words as he sped up again, fucking your mouth as if he owned it... And to be honest, he did own, all of you.

- I’m going t-to... Oh, Y/N - he moaned as his thrusts became more frantic.

His cock started pulsing and you could feel his warm cum spurted inside your mouth, shot after shot. You swallowed it all, tasting his essence on your tongue.

His stopped moving, but his body shaking with pleasure as he closed his eyes and smiled to himself. He stayed like that for a moment, smiling and satisfied, serene and elated. And you could swear that he looked magnificent in his afterglow of the physical sensation that he’d experienced with you. With you.

His strong taste was still on your tongue and his scent in your nostrils. You smiled too and sat on your feet, enjoying the way you had been marked by him.

He glanced down at you, his eyes sparkling with joy and amusement.

- Did you swallow it all? - he asked.

- Yes - you nodded and stuck out your tongue to show him.

- How did you enjoy your milk?

- Very much - you licked your lips and looked at him with pleading eyes- I want more...

He hummed smirking and stroked your cheek with his hand. Two words left his mouth and your lips curled up with a mischievous grin.

- Bedroom, now.

[glimmerglanger]

Maybe Dal-Voe's perspective on her many dads & one mom or the time she made her big ol' scary dog friend and wanted to cuddle him forever!

Oohhhh! We haven’t heard from Dal-Voe, yet. I also had a request from over on ao3 to have her and Korkie running into each other, so I’m putting that snipped in this reply, as well. :D. She’s… mmm 10ish in the first snippet, around six in the second (the one from ao3).

~~~~~~~

Dal-Voe scrubbed the back of her arm across her face when she felt a warm, familiar presence getting closer. She’d known someone would find her, eventually. The Temple was gigantic, but there were only so many places she liked to go.

She sighed, staring out over the sprawling mass of Coruscant from her position on one of the ledges that ran around the roof. She’d managed to find a way out a few years ago and liked to retreat there; it made her feel like she could see the entire world.

“He deserved it,” she said, without even looking around. She felt Cody pause, a few steps away, not surprised that he’d risk the walk out onto the roof. He’d always been sure and steady, and, besides, she was there. She’d catch him if he slipped. 

“Rhom deserved to have his nose broken?” Cody asked, amused and chiding at the same time, and Dal-Voe winced. 

“I didn’t mean to break his nose,” she said, sighing and looking up as Cody finally reached her. He sat, easily, as though there were not so many hundreds of feet above any landing, soft or hard. “I just…” She sighed, and leaned forward into him, curling an arm around his shoulders and pressing her cheek to his.

He rumbled in his chest, a comforting little sound that chased away all the pressure in her head, and always had. She exhaled, closed her eyes, and admitted, “He said I ought not to keep scent-marking you. That it was wrong. Because you’re not… really my family.”

Cody stiffened, a little. He said, voice gruffer, “You can’t punch people just for being wrong, Dal.”

She laughed, just once, rubbing her forehead back and forth across his jaw. “He said I just do it for attention.” And the words had stung, at the time. The implication that she’d ever try to - to lie about how she cared about any of her family had felt like a barbed lash across her heart.

She knew, perfectly well, that Anakin was her father by blood, and Force knew she loved him, too, even though she didn’t see him much. But Cody had always smelled like family to her, it had always felt right for him to be there in the Force, the same way it was with Obi-Wan and Kei-Donn, and…and even the twins--

“Well, he’s an idiot,” Cody said, his arm around her, solid and strong. Comforting. “You’re my girl, aren’t you?”

“I am,” she agreed, exhaling and snuggling closer, wishing, briefly, that she was still small enough to be just picked up and held. They sat there in silence, the wind cold and sharp so far up on the Temple, until the aching in her chest eased enough for her to continue, “It’s not just what he said.”

“Oh?” Cody asked, and she nodded against his shoulder, biting at her bottom lip. 

“I’ve been… worried. About other things.”

“This wouldn’t have anything to do with training with a Master, would it?” 

And she wrinkled her nose, always a bit irritated when her parents proved that they knew her so well. But it was a relief, too, to be known. To be understood. She shut her eyes once more, picking at the hem of her robe. “Yes. I know it’s early, but… but, I’ve been having the dreams again.”

Cody tightened his grip, noticeably. They rarely spoke of the dreams she had, sometimes, the ones that had left her screaming her way awake when she was younger. She’d gotten a better handle on them, with Master Yoda’s help, but… 

“I can feel a darkness coming,” she whispered, quiet, into the chilly air, the back of her neck prickling. “I can feel something awful, out there. Waiting for me.”

“Well, it can go on waiting,” Cody said, pressing a kiss to the top of her hair, his emotions curling around her, a comforting wave of determined protection. “And if it tries to come for you, it’ll have to go through me, first.”

And the words should have been a comfort. They were, even. But there was a pit, in the base of Dal-Voe’s stomach, that informed her that maybe, perhaps, that was what she was most afraid of. She shuddered. She needed to convince Master Ahsoka to start training her, quickly.

AND NOW, HALF-SIBLING TIME

Korkie felt an itching on the back of his neck for no discernable reason. He’d come out to the Senate gardens for a breath of fresh air. Bo-Katan had made serving as envoy to the Republic sound like an important responsibility, when she gave him the job. He was beginning to think it was nothing but a headache.

Mandalore had not joined the Republic - Korkie doubted, privately, that they ever would - but even his aunt could see the use of keeping… lines of communication more open than they had been in the past.

Hence his placement on the planet, far from home and his parents and--

And the back of his neck would not stop itching. He sat aside the padd he was looking at, turning to look over his shoulder, expecting to find a droid or perhaps an aide from one of the Senators.

There was a girl. Staring at him, with a curious look on her face. She had an absolute mop of curls and bright eyes, a scattering of freckles over her nose. She was dressed like one of the Jedi, though she couldn’t have been more than six, perhaps seven.

Korkie cleared his throat, when the girl just went on staring at him, and said, “Ah… hello, there. Are you...lost?”

The girl frowned at him. “No,” she said, “I always know where I am.” And then she walked up, tilting her head to the side, still staring at him, her hazel eyes narrowing. “I’m Dal-Voe. Who are you?”

Korkie looked around, wondering if, perhaps, the Jedi just allowed their children to roam, free-range, across all of Coruscant. She certainly seemed to have no adult with her. He said, “I’m Korkie Kryze, are you sure you’re supposed to--”

“You feel familiar, Korkie Kryze,” she interrupted, coming to a stop before him, both hands on her hips. 

“I feel what?” Korkie asked, looking around again, and the girl reached out and put a hand on his face, turning his head back. He blurted, “I beg your pardon, miss, but--” and she frowned at him, something about the set of her mouth….abruptly very familiar.

He cut off, gaping quite unlike the professional diplomat he was supposed to be. There was something familiar, too, about the shape of her eyes and brows. Something he’d seen before, quite often. Almost every time he looked in a mirror, in fact.

And Korkie had never interrogated, much, his connection to Master Kenobi. His fathers had told him, when he was much younger and grown curious about how, exactly, two alphas had come to have a child, about his adoption. They’d told him, after her death, of the truth regarding his Aunt Satine. The rest had fallen into place when he’d come to Coruscant. 

It had been… interesting, to learn more about his background, but his parents were, he knew, still back on Mandalore, helping with the restructuring efforts, pushing back at some of the more… inappropriate policies put forward by Bo.

He cleared his throat and said, to the frowning girl before him, “I don’t suppose your last name is Kenobi?”

She grinned at him, all at once, showing a missing tooth right in the front of her mouth. “That’s right,” she said, her eyes widening as she asked, “How’d you know that, mister?”

He shook his head, wondering how to even go about explaining their… connection, but he was interrupted in that moment by Senator Amidala running into the little courtyard, her long skirts hitched up in one hand, her expression tense as she blurted, “Dal-Voe! There you are! Do you know how worried I’ve been?”

Dal-Voe looked over at her, expression abruptly abashed, and said, “No, but, look. I found someone interesting.”

[subtlereferencetomyinterests]

Sharp Spikes and Glamour - Fusion AU

Ao3,   MasterPost,   More of This AU

Relationships: Romantic Dukeceit, mentioned Romantic Royality and Analogical. 

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of sex/sexual innuendo, violence against inanimate objects, mentions of injury- for perspective this is Remus-centric, and he’s just like that. Also mild arguing, some self-deprecating thoughts. The Dukeceit fusion uses it/its pronouns (as do I, so no clowning). 

Word Count: 3,992

Remus let himself fall backwards onto the hardwood floor, huffing. A satisfying thump echoed through the empty room, but the dull pain at the base of his skull stopped him from slamming his head down again. If Remus kept tripping over himself when his body was in top condition, he probably wouldn’t do any better with a cracked open skull and shattered vertebrae all the way down his back (however fun that might be).

Schmaltzy music lingered in the room still, and with a snap Remus willed it into silence. Now, Remus hated silence, but in that moment it felt like a blessed mercy in the wake of fucking classical fucking ‘music’. He laid flat on the floor, enjoying the quiet and wallowing in his aching muscles. As disgusted as he was by the orchestral garbage, he liked the dancing that went along with it even less- maybe for the simple fact that he was so very bad at it. 

So, the big question was why he was doing this to himself. Why had he gone through the trouble of making a dance studio in his side of the Mindpalace? Why the hell was he using it to learn waltzes, rather than his usual style of fast-paced and very suggestive movement? 

The answer was simple enough: Janus.

Now, just a month ago, Remus could very confidently say that his and Janus’ relationship was perfect. And it still was, really, but back then he’d been safe in the knowledge that they were also as affectionate and intimate as they could be! Which is to say, very very intimate. Wink, wink, if you catch his meaning. That was the way he liked it; Remus didn’t want there to be a step he hadn’t taken in any situation, but especially a relationship like that!

But then, that month or so prior, a very weird and crazy and impossible and fucking awesome thing happened right in the middle of the goddamn living room, proving Remus unfortunately and/or fortunately wrong about his boyfriend. His brother and his best friend had fused. Like, actually, Roman and Patton had pulled some cartoon bullshit that none of them had ever known they could even do before!

Obviously Remus was floored; everything there was to know about his (and other people’s) physical forms, he knew it and he’d pushed it to the limit before! Except for now, with something he had somehow never found out about that his brother got to first. That was the kicker, that was what made it both shocking and anger-inducing. 

There was no question. Remus was going to learn to do that. 

So, here he was, trying to learn, but he was not good at like, actually dancing. Which would’ve been fine, if he was dating anyone other than Janus- the most elegant, classy, coordinated side of them all! And Remus knew, somewhere in his sick-and-twisted guts, that Janus deserved to have something special, something that wasn’t more fitting in a sleazy nightclub. He wanted to give him that, no matter how hard it was.

Which was much harder than he’d originally assumed, actually. Before Remus knew it, Virgil and Logan had also managed to form a fusion before he had even gotten the hang of a waltz. And those two hadn’t even danced to get it! Wasn’t that just cementing his confidence?

Remus shook his thoughts away with a frustrated growl. He sat up on his knees braced against the ground, scraping his talons down the shiny wooden floor of his horrible, horrible dance studio. He was gonna get this right, because if there was one thing he wasn’t, it was a fucking quitter.

Swinging up to his feet, Remus pushed his hair back from his face and fixed it into a tangled mass of ponytail. He brought his arms down, and then back up again, shaking them wildly. When he deemed that job done, he kicked his legs out in much the same way. Seeing as he was the embodiment of energy, he never managed to get rid of all of it, but the wiggling definitely helped his focus. With a huff of finality, Remus settled, stared at nothing, and snapped his fingers. Shitty ballroom music filled the room again, and it took all of Remus’ effort to count his steps instead of willfully vomiting onto the floor.

But he did restrain himself, he kept his focus for once and propped his arms up on the empty air. Under his hold, the very absence of material wavered, shaping itself into something like a person. And so he laid his hands on that, in relatively respectful places, and began to lead the mannequin around the room in choppy movements. It matched him beat for beat, but it could not offer its own, organic responses like an actual dancing partner might- and that was by design.

It was boring, that was the real problem. How was he supposed to get invested if it was the same four movements, over and over! Each new attempt, he got maybe five minutes in before the fatigue hit, the need to do anything more interesting. What was just a couple of twirls, maybe a dip? Janus would still probably appreciate those additions anyway!

None of the flair attempts went well. He stumbled, hit the wall, tripped, all of it. By the end of twenty minutes Remus was waving the mannequin out of existence, feeling frustration pricking the corners of his eyes. What was he thinking, he wasn’t Roman, this was so stupid!

Remus straightened up (ha, ha) and spun around. He made his way to the corner of the room, fell into a crouch, and sunk his claws into the edges of the glossy wooden floor. Splinters bit his fingers, but he barely noticed them as he began to peel back the panels. They came free in a series of crunches and snaps, spitting shards of wood out and revealing the void beneath the ground. Remus held the chunks of flooring, feeling sharp edges digging into his palms, and he shredded them to pieces. When they weren’t much bigger than pencils, he let them fall into the newly made hole. Once done, Remus set his hands on the new edge, and he did it again. 

But, like almost everything he did, the destruction was loud. Shrieking, splitting, crunching kinds of loud. The kind of loud that didn’t go unnoticed. 

And the mindscape was as infinitely big as it was claustrophobically small.

Within minutes there was a sharp knock against the doorframe. Remus jolted upright, spitting out the hunks of plank that had one way or another found their way to his mouth. As he turned, he grinned manically, tucking his hands behind his back. 

Janus lifted a brow at him from across the room. The side stood with one hand propped on his hip, the other raised above his head so that he leaned on the doorway. His mouth was a thin, quietly concerned line, his eyes flicking around in tiny movements as he assessed the situation. 

“This is quite unlike the other rooms you've created,” He observed, clicking the back of his heel on the floor. Remus turned his gaze to the wall just above Janus’ shoulder, discreetly picking the splinters from his hands. In all honesty, this situation wasn’t unexpected- Janus was known to wander around in Remus’ new creations, whenever he wanted to catch his attention- but Remus had been under the impression that when that happened, he wouldn’t be right in the middle of tearing it all down. 

Which had clearly been a stupid assumption from the start, because he was. Himself.

“Hey, J.D.!” he chirped, scraping the last of the rubble from his fingertips, “Thought I might try out something new!”

Janus’ eyebrows arched up, a bemused smirk gracing his lips.

“An empty room?”

“Yeah, but obviously it got boring, so-” he gestured at the corner he’d torn into non-existence. “Time to get rid of it! It was probably a dumb idea, anyway.”

Even to his own ears, his cheery tone sounded forced. He threw in a gargled giggle to make up for it, but that came out even worse. Janus narrowed his eyes in that knowing way of his, then, and Remus knew he’d have to explain himself properly.

“Darling,” Janus slipped into the room with long strides, “What is so wrong that you’re using half-truths to talk to me?”

He wasn’t embarrassed that he’d been learning to dance- he was 99% sure he wasn’t able to feel shame (which was very sexy of him, in his opinion)- but he was upset that he was so disappointed at it. 

He didn’t need anyone’s approval… but he certainly wanted Janus’. 

“It doesn’t really matter,” Remus’ statement rang with honesty. He met Deceit in the middle of the room, his smile challenging, only to be met with calm and patience. 

“I don’t care if it doesn’t ‘really’ matter. I just want to know why my partner was angrily devouring housing material in a brand-new corner of the mindscape.” 

“It’s not that weird, I’ve eaten a lot worse than plywood!” 

Janus huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“You’re clearly frustrated.”

“I’m frustrated all the time,” Remus argued, “There are so many stupid things to be frustrated about, you know that. It’s a very easy feeling to have, you get it without even noticing! Like, if it were an injury, it’d be a papercut; everyone has a papercut somewhere on their body most of the time.”

“What?”

“It’s an analogy, I think!”

Janus gave a long-suffering sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. Remus felt a small bit of pride at how annoyed he looked, despite the uncomfortable situation he’d gotten himself into. 

“Whatever, if you’re really doing so well I suppose I should spare my worry and save us both the headache.”

“Exactly! See, just because I’m feeling a bit manic-panic doesn’t mean it has anything to do with you, scaleface.”

And that was his mistake. 

Janus stopped turning away as soon as he’d started, his mouth curving into a deep frown. He crossed his arms over his chest, and he almost seemed to be offended.

“You just lied.”

Remus, internally, screamed. He hadn’t even fuckin’ lied on purpose! That couldn’t be fair!

“So it is about me, then,” Janus went on slowly. “Are you angry with me?”

Remus blinked, falling untense oh-so quickly at what he now saw was Janus’ nervous face. 

“Wha- no! That’s not what this is about!” 

Janus only narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Remus grabbed the snake’s hands with his own scarred ones, pulling him near. He felt his hesitation leave as soon as it had arrived, replaced by his usual affinity for just spitting out whatever he had to say. It wouldn’t turn out any worse than having to see his baby hurt or worried. 

“It was supposed to be a surprise. For you.” 

The suspicion melted off of Janus' face in increments, leaving him with a confused little half-smile.

“For me?” He echoed, “What was it?’

Remus huffed, snapping his fingers. The lyricless music returned to the desecrated room, and he gestured around with both hands. 

“It didn’t really work out the way I planned, so,” he rolled his eyes and huffed. “I was teaching myself to dance all proper.”

Remus could basically see Janus’ thinking, and for some reason it was grating him. 

“You want to dance with me? Dear, you know you don’t need to give me traditional romantic gestures like that-”

“It was to fuse!” Remus blurted, “I wanted to fuse with you. Like, properly.”

Janus made a soft sound of realization, his eyes going wide. He was silent for a long moment, holding too-tight onto Remus’ hands. But he had yet to let go, which the creative trait counted as a good sign.

“Oh, Love,” he whispered at last, “You’re really serious.”

Remus would’ve winced, if not for the fact that Janus' face was split in a smile, open and sincere in a way that showed he'd really been caught off-guard. His face was warm, and he looked pleased for all the world. He wasn’t judgmental, then, only surprised.

“Um… yes? I wanna fuse with you?”

Janus shook his head musingly, laughing almost exasperatedly.

“No, no, I understood that bit, but-” he waved a hand at the barren room, smirk growing wider, “Ballroom dancing? You? Really?”

He had a point. The walls were a pristine white, shot through with neat marbled patterns. There were mirrors stretching the surface of either wall, reflecting onto each other with clean clarity. There was no clutter, no objects, nothing but the little box itself. And Remus felt no more frustration as he burst out laughing. He tipped his head back and cackled, tugging Janus’ arms until they were pressed together.

“I don’t know why I thought this would work!” He cackled.

“I never know why you think anything that you do,” Janus’s nose wrinkled as his own resolve cracked, leaving shrill giggling behind. Remus snorted, holding onto his partner just to keep himself upright.

“Sorry, Jay,” he almost wheezed, “There’s no way we’re gonna be able to fuse like this, I’m horrible at it.”

Janus’ giggles tapered to a stop sharply, turning to trills of confusion before cutting off completely. Remus met his eyes, and was surprised to find renewed concern. 

“Now, that’s entirely what I meant by that remark, you aren’t misinterpreting at all.”

Remus squinted at him, at the sudden spout of backwards talk.

“...What?” 

Janus scoffed.

“Of course I don’t want to fuse with you, it’s not like we’re in a committed relationship, or anything.”

Janus got very lie-ey when he was heated; the ferocity had Remus taken aback. 

“Soooo, you… do want to try it with me?”

Janus glared in a very duh-obviously--you-idiot kind of way. Remus might have been annoyed with his little tsundere, but the snake’s grumpy face edged just too much on the endearing side for it to spark any of that. It wasn’t too much of a shocking revelation, he supposed, but when he admitted to failing before it felt pretty final, in his opinion. 

“Uh, Okay! You have to lead, though, and I’m at least 60% sure it won’t work, because like I said I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Janus hummed in satisfaction, his grimace curving up into a smirk. 

“To start, we’ll need a change of scenery.”

Remus nodded agreeably. They couldn’t risk falling into the nothingness pit he’d made, after all- those were very difficult to get back out of and not a whole lot of fun in general. So when Janus held his hand out invitingly, Remus took it, letting the trait transport them to wherever he had in mind. 

But that place was no better than the destroyed dance studio at all. The room they ended up in was also very much destroyed, and cluttered, and generally very slimy. 

Remus’ room. From the corner of his eye, he saw Janus’ lips twitch in amusement. 

“Dear, let me explain,” he tilted his head back just so, making eye-contact with his boyfriend. “We’re going to fuse. It could be in here, for all I care, or somewhere bigger for our needs, but whatever it is most certainly will be a dancefloor. Because we’re not doing this your way.”

Remus made a startled chuckling noise, almost convincing himself that the doublespeak was somehow triplespeak- which just looped back around to ‘speak’, come to think of it. 

“You- that’s a really bad idea.”

Something teasing glinted in Janus’ eyes.

“Aren’t bad ideas your specialty?”

“Yes,” Remus ground his teeth together, “But not yours!”

“Your point?”

Remus breathed exhaled, loud and puffing, as he tried to explain. He wasn’t going to deny the excitement this was all bringing him, but it was hysterical, an almost negative side to enthusiasm. There were so many things that felt needed to be said. To be warned, before Janus made a horribly bad decision for himself.

“My point,” he managed, words heavy in his throat, “Is I don’t think about things, so one of us has to. I want to do this the right way, Jan, this is like the one thing I don’t want to fuck up.”

Janus narrowed his eyes, the corners of his lips twitching down.

“You think it won’t work this way.”

“You like doing things so fancy and dramatically!”

“You called it the ‘right way’,” it was hardly above a whisper, he looked surprised at his own words as he said them. Remus could only scoff.

“Well, yeah! If we do it how I would, then you probably won’t wanna be part of the creature that comes out of that!”

Janus’ pupils went from circles to slivers in no time at all, pain washing over his expression. Remus held his hands tighter and leaned in, ready to apologize for whatever he’d said to hurt him, but he couldn’t get a word in. 

“It’s going to end up more of you than me. That’s what you’re worried about.”

It wasn’t a question. Remus felt some of his usually infinite energy slip away from him. It left a hole behind. 

“I know you, baby,” he was tired, maybe desperate, “You won’t want that.”

“Why shouldn’t I want it?” Janus snapped suddenly, “I’ve already made it clear that I want you. Clearly I must find some of your qualities desirable, why else would I spend nearly all my time with you, around you, thinking of you?”

There was a fragile kind of quietness, broken only by Janus’ hitching breath. Remus found himself blinking and blinking, his eyes stinging like someone was pushing needles into his tear ducts, agonizingly slow. He pulled Janus to his chest, propping his chin on the side’s hat and shivering.

And Remus, to his own shock, had no words. He didn’t have much on his mind at all, knowing only that he felt so much in the moment, so much and so powerful and all serving to remind him why he loved Janus as much as he did.

He wanted to ask more questions, to make sure that Janus was as sure as he said he was, but he couldn’t. His snake was stubborn, would stick to his words no matter how much Remus badgered him, and he wouldn’t have had it any other way. He pressed a kiss to the top of Janus head, closed his eyes, and let the emotions wash over him. 

He breathed in, out, and suddenly the second wave hit him in the chest, his eyes forced open.

Or…

It. Its eyes were forced open. Yes, that sounded right.

It stood in the middle of a room- a familiar room, but certainly not Remus’. It was much bigger, the ceiling higher to accommodate the inhabitants height, and much more organized. There was still plenty of clutter, plenty of skulls and bones and preserved creatures, but all in neat little rows on pretty rustic shelves. The place had the distinct vibe of a house belonging to a very ominous, eccentric, wealthy old murderer. Perfect.

The new creature turned its attention to itself, stretching out its limbs curiously. All nine of them, it turned out; seven arms stacked on their torso, four on the left and three on the right, all of which ending in sharp talons covered by gloves. A wicked grin split its face, and it wasted barely a moment before dashing out of the new room and down the hall. It came to the bathroom door, threw it open, and leapt inside. Two hands gripping the basin, it peered at its reflection. Two piercing, yellow eyes peered back, the pupils mismatched in shape and size. Lime-green scales covered its face and neck in splotches, smooth and diamond-shaped.

As its gaze traveled downwards, it appreciated the too-wide mouth filled with dangerous fangs, those snake-like slits up both sides of the face. Its hair was kept pinned back from its face, partially hidden beneath a black, metal crown. It was clearly messy- probably greasy- colored very dark with shocks of silver running through.

The collar of its shirt rose to nearly past its jaw, then plunged down to reveal a lot more of its chest than necessary. Its clothes were almost entirely black, broken up by the lemon/lime embellishments travelling up its arms and around the clasps in the front. The overcoat had long coattails and striped sleeves, ending in cuffs of fabric about the wrists. Moving lower it had very tight pants that did not leave much to the imagination, and boots that were more than a little over-the-top. Finally, there was the cape, hung around its shoulders and reaching floor length. It billowed when it moved even as much as an inch, looking at first like more black. Then the material caught the light, showing a dazzling display of green and yellow, glittering like a perfectly formed geode. 

A laugh sprouted from it, giddy and exuberant. It twirled in the small space, its many hands twisting and toying with its outfit, hair, anything it could reach. From its hazy mind came then came its first intelligible thought, just from its appearance: it was called Rennet.

It stilled, hands hovering in scattered positions. The sharp laughs were quieting, but it still shook like it was laughing. Just shaking in general, probably. The worries of its more excitable half weren’t all gone, not that easily, and it knew it wasn’t yet stable. 

Rennet took a breath, but its head didn’t clear, if anything it grew fuzzier. It was two creatures, two creatures that spent hours and hours inside their own heads as it was, and now both of those over-stuffed brains were in one too-small skull. It could almost feel the weight, leaning heavily on the wall just to keep upright. 

“Should we stop?” Rennet verbalized the question in a thickly accented voice, knowing that otherwise it would never be able to understand the words through the mess of its mind. 

“I don’t know,” it’s tone dropped in pitch, the sharp edges smoother, “Is that what you want?”

But it had barely gotten a chance to be. It couldn’t give up already. 

So what was wrong with it?

“Oh, I don’t know. Everything?” Rennet threw its head back, because of course the worst thought was the only one that ended up audible. It sighed, dragged a hand down its face, shook its head. “Just remember the saying- two wrongs don’t make a right!”

Rennet’s mouth shut with a snap, and it felt quite angry with itself. On behalf of itself. It wasn’t sure, really- the indignation was much like something felt when a loved one was insulted, not when one’s self was insulted. That somehow made the sting worse. 

“You think you’re wrong?” It said in a whisper, clutching its own wrists tight. Rennet knew the answer, though, knew it as it was ingrained into them.

And with that, its resolve sharpened. It was not going to come apart so easily, it would not accept either bits of it thinking anything so bad about himself, and…

Rennet was going to be the sexiest, baddest bitch the Mindpalace had ever seen. That was for damn certain. 

It stood straight up, clapping three pairs of hands together and snapping its fingers with the seventh. It had to bear in mind that it was, for the time being, a giant sparkly monster babe. Now, being sad under those conditions just wouldn’t make any sense, and it intended to keep that thought at the forefront of its newly formed mind. Because Rennet was smart, it’d certainly retained that part of Janus, and it was peppy, if Remus had any part in it at all. 

And, it mused, as it walked through the hall and down into the living room- it was undoubtedly very mischievous.

Taglist: @glitter-skeleton-uwu @donnieluvsthings @intruxiety @thefivecalls @did-he-just-hiss-at-me @gayformlessblob 

[haberdashing]

Transparent Closet

Jon and Georgie, both of whom are bi, come out to one another... in a way.

Written as part of @jonsimsbipride for the prompt “Solidarity”. Inspired by this post, though it portrays Jon as pan while this fic has him as bi.

on AO3

One of Jon and Georgie’s first dates was watching a series of mediocre supernatural-themed horror films together.

One of the things they’d first bonded over was their shared interest in the supernatural, after all (though Jon had never dared tell her of his first-hand experience with such things... and years down the line, Jon would learn that Georgie hadn’t dared share her own with him either), and what were schlocky movies for if not watching them together with someone you care about and talking trash loudly enough that the actual movie could barely be heard?

The lights were turned down (though not entirely off), Jon and Georgie sat pressed against each other on a couch that was either too small or just the right size depending on one’s perspective, and the movie marathon began.

After the night in question was over, Jon quickly forgot most of the details of the movies they chose to watch then--the titles, the storylines, even the number of movies they managed to fit in before conking out for the night--but one bit from the marathon stuck with him.

There was a lead actress in one of the movies who was pretty, but in a way that was clearly Hollywood trying to make her appear down-to-earth. The woman in question wore full makeup in every scene and was skinny and conventionally attractive and wore clothes clearly fitted precisely to her body shape, but her long brown hair looked a bit untamed and there was a speck of dirt placed just so on her cheek, so clearly she was just a regular person, right?

(In Jon’s opinion, the attempt fell well short of the mark, but he wasn’t terribly surprised; what Hollywood executives thought was normal and what regular people thought was normal were clearly two different things. Regardless, the actress didn’t strike Jon as his type.)

A few minutes into the movie, screams came from within a mansion that had been rumored to be haunted, and while most of the characters froze up or ran away, the lead actress took off her high heels and ran towards the mansion, her bare feet squelching in the mud with every step.

When that happened, Georgie tapped Jon’s arm and said in a stage whisper (as if they were in a movie theatre with others to disturb with their speech, instead of it just being the two of them snuggled up on that small couch), “Sorry, Jon, think we’re gonna have to break up now, that woman just earned my hand in marriage right there.”

Jon diverted his attention from the movie and looked over at Georgie, and he saw on her face when the realization hit her that she’d never actually confessed her attraction to women before. She didn’t look scared that Jon would reject her for it, though--that was one thing Jon always admired about Georgie, that she was never scared, never filled with the fear that consumed Jon’s own mind so frequently. But she watched Jon’s reaction to her statement almost as closely as he was watching her now.

“Surely we can work out an arrangement.” Jon replied after a brief moment. “She can have you on the weekends, perhaps?”

That careful scrutiny apparent on Georgie’s face melted away in an instant, replaced with a gentle smile. “Don’t be selfish, Jon. You can have me on the weekends. She gets the weekdays.”

“It’s hard not to be selfish when something so precious is at stake.” Jon reached for Georgie’s hand and gave it a tight squeeze. “But you’re right, fair is fair. Switch off every other week, then?”

“Hmm...” Georgie pressed the hand that wasn’t being held by Jon against her chin, as if she were deep in thought.

“And she can have you for the holidays.”

“Alright, sold.” Georgie pressed her lips against Jon’s cheek, and though the contact only lasted a moment, the warmth from the kiss was still enough to carry Jon through the rest of the night, his mind now filled with anything but the cinematic schlock still playing in front of him.

.

Jon was sitting on Georgie’s couch, listening to her rant about her troubles with a recent biology assignment, before she suddenly switched gears and asked, “So what have you been working on lately, Jon? Can’t be as bad as all that...”

Jon didn’t need to think twice about which of his assignments to discuss, not when one of them always seemed to be in the back of his mind at any given moment. “No, it’s quite interesting, actually. I’ve been working on an analysis of the book A Separate Peace--have you ever read it?”

Georgie hesitated for a moment, wrinkling her nose in thought before shaking her head in response. “The name sounds familiar, but I’ve never read it, no.”

“Alright, so-”

Just those two words emerging from Jon’s mouth were enough to put a wry smile on Georgie’s face--she knew what was coming, knew that Jon was getting ready to ramble on about one of his latest interests, and it warmed Jon’s heart to think that she was clearly looking forward to such rambling, a far cry from how his grandmother’s eyes had always glazed over when he’d tried to explain his passions to her.

“It’s about the narrator, Gene, returning to a boarding school he used to go to and reflecting on his time there, and specifically on his relationship with another student there, Finny--er, not relationship like that, they were friends and, and rivals... though actually, maybe like that too? There do seem to be certain- certain undertones, though maybe that’s just me projecting on Gene a bit too much there...”

Georgie raised an eyebrow. “Would you want to have a relationship with Finny, then?”

Jon looked down at the couch to avoid Georgie’s gaze. “Well, uh, I doubt Finny’d be interested in me to begin with, he seems out of my league...”

“You underestimate yourself, Jon.” Jon looked back up at Georgie just in time to catch the playful twinkle in her eye. “Besides, it’s a hypothetical. If the option were available, would you date Finny?”

“And if we weren’t already dating?”

Georgie let out a snort of amusement. “And if we weren’t already dating, too. Don’t worry, Jon, I’m not going to get mad if you’d date a fictional character.”

Jon thought about it for a moment. “...probably, yes, I would. Though he’s, uh, he’s sixteen. And dead by the end of the novel. So...”

Jon could swear he saw Georgie’s face blanche for a moment, but it was fleeting enough that he wasn’t sure it wasn’t just his imagination running wild or a trick of the light; the color returned to Georgie’s face in an instant, and any uncertainty in her expression was replaced by an exaggerated wrinkling of her nose. “That does tend to put a damper on potential relationships, doesn’t it?”

“Just a little bit.” Jon said, a bit of laughter sneaking into his voice.

“So how did this Finny die, anyway?”

“Well, it’s pretty much the climax of the novel, so to get into that, I’ll have to explain the rest of it first-”

Jon launched into a detailed explanation of the plot of A Separate Peace, and Georgie watched him with interest the entire time.

.

Jon didn’t entirely realize the implications of him admitting that he’d date Finny if given a chance until later in the night, when Georgie brought it up again during a lull in the conversation.

“So, if you’d date Finny-”

“Given all those hypothetical caveats, yes.”

“Right. And you’re dating me-”

Jon raised an eyebrow, schooling his face into his best semblance of surprise. “I certainly hope we’ve established that much.”

Georgie swatted at Jon with one hand, though the motion was slow and gentle and ended up coming just short of actually making contact with him.

“So you’re into both guys and girls, then. Do you identify as bi then, or pan, or-”

“Bi, yeah.”

Georgie’s face lit up at the words, her mouth stretching into a wide grin. “Same here! High-five? Wait, no--bi-five!”

Jon and Georgie both giggled a bit at that pun, and when Georgie extended her hand in Jon’s direction, Jon high-fived it without hesitation.

“Say, come next Pride, you can use the face paint I’ve got if you want, if it’s got cooties I dare say you’d have them already...”

Jon shook his head. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m not exactly a fan of face paint.”

“Really?” Georgie wrinkled her nose. “Ah well, more for me, then. I do have some old pins you could have if you want, too!”

“Only if you’re sure you don’t want them.”

“Oh, I’ve got plenty to spare. Fun fact, covering a hat entirely with pins is not nearly as fun or practical as it sounds. Learned that one from experience.”

“Wait, you’ve got a hat covered with pins and you’ve been hiding it from me this whole time?”

“I used to have a hat covered with pins. Ended up taking them all off, and I had to throw out the cap underneath because it was so riddled with holes, and now I’ve just got all these pins hanging around...”

As Georgie kept talking about how she’d covered a hat with pins before and why she ended up taking them all off, a smile sneaked its way onto Jon’s face.

[masterjedilenawrites]

The Helmeted Hunter: Chapter 24

Boba Fett x Reader

Chapter Warnings: Fluffity romanceness

AO3 Link (In case you like it better over there, it’s okay, no judgement)

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Chapter 24: Several Plans Later

The days passed by languidly, but not quite peacefully. There was always an edge, an anxiety in the back of your mind, reminding you this was only temporary. You were in the eye of a hurricane and it was only a matter of time before the rest of the storm hit.

It had been awkward that first day, at least from your perspective. The first thing you had remembered upon waking up was falling asleep on the chest of Boba Fett. He was no longer in the bed with you, and the thought of him having to pry himself from your clinging form at some point made you quite embarrassed. And when he'd eventually come to you, helping you up to stretch and giving you food, but only asking a few questions to gauge your pain before falling into silence, you were absolutely mortified. Had you been too bold? Was the kiss you shared even as special as you remembered? Maybe you'd thrown yourself at him in a tired delusion and now he was just trying to be polite?

But soon enough, you realized that moment had meant something to him... that you meant something to him. The time for bold declarations had passed, and now he was showing you his feelings. It was subtle, but so was everything else about him.

You saw it in the way he handled you as you began to test out your strength, placing a supportive hand where needed but never preventing you from taking the steps yourself. You saw it as he let you contribute to the plans he was crafting for your meeting with the Empire. And every so often, if you were quick enough, you'd catch it in his face when he thought you weren't looking... a softness among his otherwise tense features, a slight smile in his lips, a glow in his eyes. Knowing that you alone could put him at ease gave you the spark you needed to get better.

It had now been a few weeks since, full of resting and exercising and planning. The Slave I was in deep space, far from any travel routes. Only once had he taken the ship to get supplies, another scruffy outer rim planet full of thugs and outlaws. But even there, word of Boba Fett's bounty had traveled, and a small group of bandits had tried taking you. They'd been much easier to shake off than your other hunters, but neither one of you were willing to risk coming out of space like that again.

More encouraging, however, was the progress of your recovery. Your wrists were now scarring and could be moved about with only minimal stiffness. The cut on your cheek, as well as the various bruises you'd accumulated around your body, had disappeared. And you could not only walk without limping, but you'd also began to workout at Boba's insistence. They were simple exercises, just enough to help you be agile in case another fight were to ensue. He didn't like the thought of you caught in such a struggle again, but he accepted it was a possibility and wanted you to be prepared.

You had just finished your workout for the day, settling yourself onto a crate in the cargo hold to catch your breath. This was where most of Boba's planning took place, complete with maps and diagrams strewn across the floor. Some days you found it fascinating; it was like taking a peek inside the inner workings of his mind. But other days, like today, you didn't have the patience to sit through another run-down of variables. Some questions seemed impossible to answer, you reckoned, so why not just dive in and deal with whatever happens then?

"What is this, our tenth back-up plan now?" you asked, finishing off your canteen of water.

Boba was standing across from you with arms folded, frowning at what seemed to you like a mess on the floor. He only looked up briefly with an unamused grunt.

You hadn't kissed him since that first time in his bunk. You were mostly okay with taking this new aspect of your relationship with him slowly, but it was times like this you wished you had the guts to saunter over and plant one on him, just to get him to relax a bit.

Instead, you played it safe, wanting him to make the first move when he was ready, and settled for another quip. "You should probably put your helmet back on if you're going to scowl like that. It's not nice to look at."

That seemed to do the trick. He sighed and rubbed at his face, as if trying to wipe away the worry and tension that had gathered there. "Sorry. I just... get caught up sometimes."

"I know," you shrugged. You pushed yourself further back on the crate to rest your back against the wall. "So how many more possibilities do you need to exhaust before we can actually do something? I think that first plan we came up with is fine."

He squatted down to fiddle with some of the things on the floor. "If it's fine, it isn't good enough."

You suppressed a groan and he gave you a knowing look. "What? I've gotten better now, stronger. I'm ready to go. You know I am."

"Yes, which is why these plans are important. You..." he hesitated, unsure if you'd appreciate what he had to say. "You have a tendency to leap without looking. I'm just trying to be your eyes for you and cover your back."

You opened your mouth, wanting to say something in your defense, but closed it when you couldn't think of anything. He was right.

"Also..." he started to say. He was toying with a pile of metal he'd clipped from a grate and shaped into little rings. They'd symbolized various parts of his plans, from people to ships to planets. What the pile of them was supposed to be in this plan, you weren't sure, but you watched as his fingers deftly twirled them around, waiting for him to continue.

"What?" you had to eventually urge him on. He seemed suspiciously shy all of a sudden, like he had been when he'd confessed his feelings for you.

"I know you said you're doing this for closure. But I can't help but wonder if a part of you is also wanting... revenge?"

There was weight to the word as he said it, like he understood just how poisonous and all-consuming it really was to hold onto. You'd been wrestling with the idea every day since you'd heard the Empire had invaded your home. You didn't want revenge, but you didn't not want it, either.

"My father was killed when I was young. Right in front of me. The man responsible was praised as a hero and I wanted nothing more than for him to meet the same fate." He shook his head, keeping his gaze fixed on the floor. "I sought vengeance and was blinded by it. I trusted people who hurt me. I pushed away others who wanted to help. I wasted so much of my life."

You were surprised by his openness, realizing this was the first time you'd learned something meaningful about his past. The urge to go to him, to shower him with affection, grew stronger, but you didn't want to overwhelm him while he was so vulnerable.

"Did you do it?" you asked, matching the quietness of your voice with his. "Kill the man that killed your father?"

Boba finally let his eyes meet yours. His mouth quirked up. "No. An old friend talked me out of it."

Hondo. You nodded your head, though the fact didn't quite help you understand their weird dynamic any better.

Boba crawled closer to you. "I don't want you to get caught up in the same mistakes I did. Especially when you have other things to fight for."

He took hold of one of your bare feet, still smiling slightly.

"What are you doing?" you looked down at him, puzzled.

He still had one of the little metals rings in his hand and was now slipping it onto your toe. It wasn't exactly like the toe ring you'd mysteriously lost, but he had remembered the detail, even amongst all your bickering, and that's what made it special.

"One for your old life," he whispered, kissing the top of the foot with your gold ring. He then moved to kiss the other foot, with his new ring for you. "And one for your new life."

He shot you a shy smile, looking for you to react somehow. But you were having a hard time getting your emotions out. You wanted to blush and smile and cry and laugh all at once. So instead you sat there with your mouth slack, staring at him.

"Is this okay?" he asked, now worried.

There was only thing you could think to do. Abandoning your previous intent to take things slow, you surged forward, gripping the sides of his head and pulling his mouth to yours. You kissed him hard and fast and passionate. He was caught off guard at first, but eventually got his wits about him and kissed you back with equal fervor. It was sloppy and chaotic, but it was wonderful.

It became clear that while you had been waiting for him to make a move, he'd been doing the same, both of you unsure how to progress with such a change in relationship. But now that you'd broken past the uncertainty, you knew moments like these would be plentiful going forward.

He managed to rise slightly from the floor while keeping his lips locked with yours. He leaned into you briefly and then slid his hands under your thighs, pulling you up to rest against his hips as he stood fully. You wrapped your legs around his waist and broke the kiss for air.

Your forehead rested against his as the two of you caught your breaths. You looked into his eyes, soft and brown and beautiful. "It's more than okay," you breathed, answering the question he'd already forgotten. You laughed at the confused crease that formed in between his eyes, leaning back enough to bring your thumb up to run along it. "It's perfect."

The smile, the grin, he gave you made your heart skip a few beats. You kissed him again, more chaste this time, but still eager. He ate up each little peck of your lips, letting you drop to the floor so he could run his hands through your hair as well.

You pulled away again, locking your fingers behind his head. "You're right," your mouth just by his so you could feel his breath. "I have so much more to fight for."

He continued to fondly comb his fingers through the strands of your hair. You didn't realize he was such a fan of it, even when it was messy from your workout and lack of a proper shower. He leaned in to kiss your forehead.

"And you're right, too," he said, pulling your head to rest against his chest. "It's time to stop planning and actually fight now."

[twst-oc-ask-blog]

🦈Don’t feed sweets to the shark~🦈

Sitting up in bed, Netta stretched out and let out a yawn. Swinging her legs down, she could only reach the floor with the tips of her toes.

“Why do the beds have to be so high up?... why do I have to be so short?” Hoping off the bed, Netta saw the time. “3:30? I’m up really early huh?” Pulling on some slippers, Netta exited her room and headed for the kitchen area of Octavinelle.

Entering the dorms kitchen (which was relatively small compared to the size of the kitchen for Mostro Lounge) Netta grabbed a stool and dragged it over to the fridge. Standing on the stool she reached for the back of the fridge, grabbing a small ornate box somewhere around the middle. Putting the box on the counter, she returned the stool to its spot. Grabbing the box off the countertop, Netta thought for a moment then exited the kitchen.

“I’m not gonna able to go back to bed. I’ll get ready for today and do some homework in the Mostro Lounge.” Returning to her dorm room, Netta changed into her school uniform, putting her tie into a bow shape and placing her silver fish pin on ito.

Grabbing her bag and homework from her desk, as well as the box, Netta once again exited her room, this time heading to Mostro Lounge. On the way there, she opened the box, which was filled with bags of konpeitō. Konpeitō, small-star shaped sugar candys, is one of Netta favorite sweet treats, only proceeded by her favorite food - daifuku mochi.

Seating herself at a table, she opened one of the bags of konpeitō and started to eat it as she worked on some home work.

At 5:00 AM

Having gone though her terrible breakfast, consisting of four bags of konpeitō, Netta is now not the only one awake in Octavinelle, for two reasons.

Reason number one, is that majority of the dorm is awake at this as to prepare for school as well as to prepare Mostro Lounge for how busy it will be later in the day. As for the second reason.... well... let’s just say- there is a reason the box filled with bags of konpeitō was on top of the fridge. Netta on a sugar rush is a hyper active Netta no one, not even Floyd, wants to deal with.

With having finished her homework, and having the box on konpeitō confiscated by a third year, Netta is looking for a way to entertain herself. Luckily, not really from anyone else’s perspective, Jade and Floyd entered the Mostro Lounge. Dashing over to them, Netta started bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“Hi Jade-sama! Hi Floyd-san! How are you both this morning?!”

Jade kept his same normal polite smile on his face, although he did take notice that the small girl was seeming a bit more active this morning. As for Floyd, his smile grew wide at his tiny female friend. He didn’t even notice her bouncing, he was just happy to see the tiny female.

“I’m good Fuguchan!” Smiling down at her, Floyd was surprised to finally see her bouncing and her not standing still. As for Jade, he walked over to the booth that the sugar-high shark came from. Seeing the four empty bags, Jade’s eyes widened and picked them up, walking back over to his brother and fellow classmate.

“Antonietta-san. By chance, did you get into the box on konpeitō from on top of the fridge?” Hearing her name, Netta turned to Jade and smiled wide- showing her large, sharp teeth.

“YEAH! Someone left it in the middle of the fridge and I just grabbed the box after climbing on top of a stool!” Floyd stared down at her, looking slightly frightened. Jade kept his smile on his face.

“How many did you have?”

“Four bags! A third year took the box from me before I could grab a fifth one, it really made me upset!” Jade and Floyd both quietly sighed in relief. Netta may love sweets, but she can’t eat to many at once or else she’s extremely uncontrollable- that is until she crashes.

“Neh neh, do you think we should take her to the Azul, Jade?”

“It would be for the best. Azul could be able to give her a job to wear down the sugar in her system.” Smiling the twins grabbed Netta’s hands and started to head to Azul’s room. As there walked Netta started to quietly hum to herself.

Three Hours Later

Netta was sitting in her classroom, with Azul & Jamil, having not yet crashed from her intake of pure sugar for breakfast, but she is low on energy. By the time, Netta had almost fallen asleep three times in Mr. Trein’s class.

Thankfully, Jamil was seated next to her and elbowed her anytime she started dozing off. Another thing for her to be thankful for was that it was a break period for them, so she could get a nap or eat something to get herself energized again.

“Thank you for waking me up, Viper-san. It was very helpful.” Netta closed her eyes and gave him a small smile.

“Not a problem, D’Angeli-chan. But, please make sure you aren’t drowsy next time.”

“I promise! I just did something I shouldn’t have this morning. I woke up early and wasn’t thinking straight.” Netta walked around the desks to exit the room. As she exited the room, Netta was trying to think of what she should do to wake herself back up.

“Antonietta.” Turning to the voice, Netta saw Azul.

“Ah! Azul-senpai! What can I do for you?” Standing up straight, the small girl looked up at the taller male. The male passed her a bag.

“Eat this. It’s not a sugary treat, but it will help you get some energy back. The daifuku mochi is for after lunch.” Netta looked into the bag to find an energy bar, a protein shake, and some daifuku mochi. Looking back up at him, Netta smiled wide.

“Thank you Azul-senpai! I work extra hard today after school!” Netta then skipped her way out to the court yard to eat her treat.

Azul sighed and rubbed his temples. “She never learns... Well atleast she is willing to make up for it.”

[takadasaiko]

Time and Trust (a Superman & Lois one shot)

FFN II AO3

Summary: Pre-S1. Lois needs time to work through her emotions after Clark reveals who he really is to her, but a close call helps her find perspective.

Time & Trust

It wasn't that she didn't understand the risk he'd taken. Logically she knew that to do what he did as Superman, he had to keep secrets from - lie to - nearly everyone around him. It protected him and it protected his mother back in Smallville. It even protected the people he surrounded himself with that would never know. It protected her, and Lois knew that. She understood that. That didn't mean that she didn't need time to process the fact that the man she'd fallen in love with had kept so much of himself from her.

Clark had been ridiculously understanding about the whole thing, even to the point that he'd come up with an excuse to cut their trip to Smallville short to give her the time she needed to process it. Which, of course, only made her feel more guilty about all the lingering - and irrational, she kept reminding herself, as if this would be the time it would sink in - irritation at the fact that she hadn't known before now. That he hadn't told her.

Three days alone with her thoughts hadn't done a lot to help clear up those feelings and as Lois spit the toothpaste into the sink and washed the remainder out with a swallow of water, she was dreading seeing Clark back at the Planet that morning, and she hated that the most. Before their trip she'd looked forward to every second that they had together. The collaborations, the late night takeout pouring over the case files they'd put together, and the stolen moments away from prying eyes. She loved the way he stumbled through their earliest days of dating the same way he had the day they met and how she caught him looking at her out of the corner of her eye. All of it. She loved him and she wanted to look forward to seeing him, but he'd want to know where they stood.

Or worse, he'd give her all the time and space she needed.

The call from Perry came as she was tugging her shoes on. Superman and some as-of-now unknown assailant were battling it out in downtown Metropolis not too far from Lois' own apartment. He expected her there ten minutes ago. Jimmy'd meet her there and if she saw Kent, the boy'd better learn to answer his damn phone.

A crowd had gathered, giving a wide breadth to the battle raging in downtown by the time Lois arrived, but she found Jimmy in closer and snapping photos aimed at the man with what looked like a set of braces on his arms, clearly giving him a boost of power that the average person wouldn't have had. "What'd I miss?" she demanded, watching Superman - watching Clark - block a blow aimed at his face and… "Did he just shove Superman back?"

"Yeah, it's been wild. So, that dude -" Jimmy pointed to the man that was currently winning the power struggle - "started tossing cars around. Eye witnesses think he was trying to lure Superman out. No clue why. No one's ID'd him yet, but take a look at this. Recognize that?"

Lois forced herself to look away from the ongoing battle to focus on the enhanced photo displayed on Jimmy's screen. "That looks like Lex Corp tech."

"Yeah it does," the photographer said with a grin.

"I need to check those to the ones our anonymous source sent us a couple weeks ago. We may finally have a break."

"See, that's why you should take time off more. You come back and everything falls into place." She caught him looking at her from the corner of his eye. "How was Smallville?"

Lois whipped around. "How did you know I was in Smallville?"

"Oh, c'mon. You and CK take time off at the exact same time and you think we wouldn't put it together? You meet his mom?"

"Yeah."

"So how'd it go?"

"Listen, Jimmy, I don't want to talk about it. I -"

A shout drew her attention back to the scene at hand. Time seemed to slow as her mind processed that there was a vehicle barreling through the air and aimed directly at them. There wasn't time to move or even duck, but just a flash of an instant that told her this was the end. It didn't matter why she'd been upset, only that she was about to die before resolving the issue with Clark. Before telling him that she loved him, no matter what. Before -

The car made a terrible crunching sound as Superman zipped between it and her, catching it midair. He eased it off to the side and turned, those familiar blue-green eyes focused on her. "Are you alright?"

"Behind you!" Lois shouted and watched as the man wearing the Lex Corp tech slammed into Superman, driving him into the concrete and sliding. She saw something in his hand - green and glowing and sharpened to a point - just before he brought it down hard. Superman's eyes widened and Lois felt her chest tighten as she saw flecks of blood on his blue costume from where the strangely coloured blade had pierced through between his ribs.

"What the hell?" Jimmy breathed beside her. "I thought he was invulnerable or something. I mean, that's not supposed to happen, right?"

"No. It's not," she managed as Superman's attacker drove the blade in deeper and gave a vicious twist, pulling a pained sound from the Man of Steel. From Clark. Lois felt sick.

"Lois!" Jimmy called and she hadn't even realized that she was moving forward. He tried to grab for her, but she slipped out of his grasp.

"Hey! I know who you work for, and you can tell your boss I'm not going to let him get away with this!"

The man turned, his eyes wild, and Lois wondered if the strength-enhancing braces weren't Luthor's only "gift" to him. She wouldn't put it past him to use a cocktail of drugs to put someone into a state of no fear. A slow, dangerous smile tilted his lips as his gaze fixed on her. "You shoulda run when you had the chance."

"Then who would have distracted you?" she asked, nodding behind him to where Superman was making it to his feet, eyes glowing dangerously red before the blast threw the other man back hard.

Superman was on him in a second, lightening fast and angrier than Lois had thought was even possible. He ripped the tech from the assailant, crippling his ability to continue the fight, and dropped him to the ground where he stayed. For half a second she thought he might throw another punch, but as sirens wailed in the distance she watched red fade, even if his breathing didn't even out.

"What is this thing?" Jimmy asked from where he'd scooped up the strange knife, red blood standing out against the green blade.

"Put it down."

Lois turned, the question dancing on her tongue until it was startled into silence as Superman's eyes flashed red again, the burst of energy shattering the blade as soon as Jimmy dropped it.

The assailant chuckled hoarsely from his place crumpled on the street. "You think that's all he's got? He's coming for you."

Lois' gaze traveled to where blood had soaked through and up to meet his eyes. She couldn't say what she wanted to, not out in the open like this. She didn't dare.

"Are you both alright?" he asked.

She managed a small nod. "Are you?"

His thin lips stretched into something that likely was meant to be a smile and then he was gone, in the air and faster than the eye could follow as the police arrived to make their arrest.

-------

Clark wasn't at the Planet when she arrived and he wasn't picking up his cell phone. Lois felt the panic start to build even as she fumbled through a half-baked excuse to get herself out the door and across town to his apartment, hoping he'd be there.

No one answered the door when she knocked and she'd settled for grabbing the spare key he kept along the top of the door frame. It never made it to the actual lock before the door was opened from the inside, revealing a very disheveled Clark Kent on the other side. He was pale, a little feverish looking, and she didn't like the way that his right hand lingered over where the wound had been. "Hey," he managed, voice raspy and exhausted sounding. "Sorry, I should have -"

She pushed her way in and he didn't offer any resistance. "What happened? What was that?"

"Off the record?" he asked, the faintest hint of a teasing smile tugging at the corners of his lips and she felt at least some of the anxiety start to ease.

"Yeah, if there's something out there that can hurt Superman, I don't want to be the one to spread it to the masses. I'm already arguing with Perry over it."

"Too many people saw for you to keep it out of your article," Clark grumbled, wincing at the sound of the tea kettle on the stove. He turned, as if he were going for it, and Lois reached out to touch his arm.

"I'll get it."

There was only a beat of hesitation before he managed a tired "thank you" and shuffled over to the couch. "Let's just keep the details of what it actually is between us, okay?"

"Of course," she answered, pulling the tea kettle off of the stove and the whistling slowed to a stop. She reached for a mug and the oolong tea, listening to him speak from the adjacent living room.

"The knife was made out of Kryptonite. It's, uh… fragments from my home planet. It's poisonous to me."

Home planet. Well, those were words she never expected to come out of her boyfriend's mouth. She swallowed hard, focusing on putting the tea together as she talked and hoping she sounded more natural than she felt. "Why would pieces of your home planet be poisonous to you?"

"Krypton wasn't exactly in good shape when it broke apart."

She grabbed for the honey on the counter and put a spoonful into the mug before steeling herself to circle out into the living room with him. She found him slouched down on the couch and looking perfectly miserable, but he did take the mug when she offered it to him. "Are you alright?"

There was a longer pause than she was comfortable with and he blew lightly against the steam, frosty breath cooling the tea beneath it. "I will be," he promised and his eyes flickered up to meet hers. "But I almost wasn't. You saved my life today."

Lois motioned to the open space next to him and let him give a small nod of acknowledgement before sliding into it. She settled in with him, leaning against him, and turned to press a gentle kiss to his left arm, her hand settling on his knee. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked, sounding genuinely startled. Of course he was genuinely startled. Clark was genuinely every emotion he wore on his sleeve. As much as it could drive her mad, it was one of the things she loved about him.

"Cutting our trip short and for…. making you wait."

"You need time. I get that." He shifted the mug to his right hand, but didn't reach for her own that was dangerously close to it. Even after everything, he was still giving her as much space as she wanted.

"You're infuriating."

"I don't mean to be."

She felt the smile take hold and she leaned in a little closer. "I know. That's why I have to work to stay mad at you."

"Are you still? Mad, I mean?"

She pulled in a deep breath and reached out, lacing her fingers through his and she could feel him relax next to her. "I don't think I was ever really mad at you."

"Exactly who were you mad at then?" he mumbled and she huffed a laugh at that.

"Myself."

"Why?"

"Because I'm an investigative report. Because you were my best friend and partner before we even started dating and I… I should have known. I feel like an idiot that I didn't."

Clark shifted, pulling away only far enough to look at her. "You're not an idiot."

"Oh, I know. I said I feel like an idiot," she pointed out with a small smirk and watched him echo with a softer version of her own expression.

"In my experience people see what they want to see. I'm… really good at hiding in plain sight."

"You really are." She squeezed his hand in hers and leaned her temple against his shoulder. "I was terrified today. It wasn't just Superman, it was you. I saw you and you were…. I could have lost you." She steadied herself, forcing the walls down. "And I never want to lose you."

Clark's thumb drifted over her knuckles and he turned to press a kiss against her dark hair. "You won't."

"Promise?"

"Yeah. Do you trust me?"

"I do."

"Thank you."

Lois could feel the tension drifting away and she wrapped her free arm around his middle to pull him a little closer. Realization hit her like a ton of bricks and she instantly pulled back, sitting up to look him in the eye. "Did I hurt you?"

He flashed her that charming, honest smile of his. "Nah. I'm mostly healed up. Just trying to shake the last effects from the exposure. Give me a couple hours and I'll be totally back to normal."

She nodded and settled back in, her free fingers toying with the hem of his t-shirt. "I think we should focus more on Tony Phillips than the Kryptonite for the story. That's the way we get around Perry."

"Who?"

"The guy that nearly killed you."

"Oh, that guy."

"I'm waiting on a source to verify it, but I'm ninety-nine point nine percent sure that tech came from Lex Corp."

"If we can prove it, that'll be a heck of a story."

"Yes it will be."

"I should probably figure out an excuse why I never showed today and call in."

"I already told Perry you had food poisoning."

"Saving my life and my job all in the same day," Clark murmured tiredly.

"Yep. Looks like you're stuck with me." Lois risked a look up when he didn't respond and found his eyes closed behind his glasses. She squeezed his hand, releasing it just long enough to take his mug - precariously balanced on his knee - and set it on the coffee table. He mumbled something too softly for her to hear and she smiled, settling back with him and taking his hand again. "I'm not going anywhere," she promised and felt herself inching towards sleep with him.

End.

-----

Notes: I have had another Superman & Lois one shot half-finished for weeks now, yet this is where my brain went when I decided to sit down and write on some fanfiction today. Ah well. Apparently the muse wanted hurt/comfort today. Hope you enjoyed!

[dansantat]

44 (The Annual Birthday Rant)

THE BEST BIRTHDAY GIFT I EVER RECEIVED FROM A STRANGER

What I’m about to tell you all happened about twelve days ago.

I was walking outside of my local grocery store when an African American man approached me. He slowly approached with a wide grin on his face and was dressed in an old brown secondhand suit that was a few sizes too big. Although his physique indicated he was maybe ten to fifteen years older than me he looked much older and worn. He had a story to tell

“Now, I’m not gonna hurt cha,” the man said.

I stood and smiled hesitantly.

“How can I help you?” I asked.

“You probably don’t remember me, but we met before… a few years back.”

I searched through my mind, but found nothing. “Oh really? Where did we meet? A book store event? A school?”

The man stopped his approach. He stood safely about ten feet away.

“We met here.”

My mind still drew a blank.

“Anyway, sir, I don’t want to take up too much of your time…. But I wanted to give you this…”

He reached into the pocket of his oversized suit and slowly pulled out a healthy wad of nicely folded cash.

And then in that instant. I remembered.

It happened two years ago in 2017. I bought groceries and was carrying the bags to my car. A homeless African American man wearing tattered clothes hobbled with a limb over in my direction. He was in rough shape. He clearly hadn’t showered in weeks and his body appeared gaunt, and malnourished.

“Hey, man, I was wonderin’ if you could spare some change?” he asked.

I placed my groceries into the trunk of my car and pulled out my wallet. I had just gone to the ATM because I was going to go out to breakfast with some friends after dropping off the groceries at home.

I pulled out a $20 and gave it to the man. His eyes popped open wide and a huge grin crossed his face. I would typically only give a few dollars in a situation like this, but today was special.

“Aw, thank you, sir, I really appreciate it! God bless!”

Just as he was about to walk away I stopped him.

“Wait,” I hollered, “Hold up.”

The man turned and looked back at me. I paused for a moment thinking about what I was about to do.

“*sigh* Today’s your lucky day.” I said

I opened my wallet and gave him all the cash that was inside.

“Here. Take it all.”

The man was flabbergasted. “Wh-….. What?”

“You look like you need it way more than I do. There’s about $400 here… Just take it.”

“Wh…wh…why are you doing this?” he stammered

I paused for a moment. Was I really doing the right thing? You hear people tell you not to give money to homeless people because they’ll just go use that money to buy drugs or alcohol, but I proceeded with my decision, “It’s my birthday today, and every year I always make it a point to do something special for someone to make their day better, and today you’re the lucky person, I guess.”

The first time I ever decided to be generous on my birthday was at a local car wash on my 35th birthday. Now, I never found much value in the machines that car washing facilities provide. Those contraptions that you would drive your car though to get washed. It was simply a series of spray hoses and soap suds being lazily dragged over your car by a set of waving rags. The real cleaning job was done from the guy after that process. The guy who would drive your car off to a dry corner of the lot and scrub off those tough stains with a spray bottle and a towel. Here in LA, they were most likely illegal immigrants earning a measly wage just enough to get by here in Los Angeles (one of the most expensive cities in the country) The man who cleaned my car that day spent a half hour wiping off the dashboard, and the tires, and even parts of the door joints you wouldn��t normally expect a car wash employee to clean. The guy was cleaning my car better than I would have ever done myself, and when I approached the car it was absolutely immaculate.

The car wash was only $19.

That day, I gave the man $40.

He was so grateful he shook my hand with a smile, and in exchange I felt amazing. I helped make his day a good one and it was an absolutely wonderful feeling.

Ever since then I try to do something kind for someone on my birthday. It’s my gift to myself.

In the years following I would give $40 tips to waitresses, $60 tips to a trio of buskers, I once bought an entire box of candy from a kid who rang my doorbell trying to save up money for camp. That was about $75.

But this was $400. What the hell was I doing?

The man waved off the money. “$400?! That’s too much,” he responded, “I can’t accept all that! A dude gets stabbed on the streets carrying that kind of cash around”

“I want you to have it, and I don’t want to sound rude, but you look like you need this money way more than I do.”

He stood hesitant. His own pride was preventing him from taking the money.

“What are you doing with that much cash on you? You a doctor or something?”

“HAHA! No, but there was a time my parents wished I was.”

The man looked at me with a hint of suspicion.

“You’re crazy. How do you know I’m not gonna go use this to go buy crack or something like that?”

“HA HA! Are you?” I laughed. The thought of the possibility of my own hard earned money being used to buy illegal drugs was somewhat humorous to me at the time.

“N- NO! NO! I won’t! I promise! But are you sure you want to give me all this? I don’t even know you.”

I hesitated, half thinking for a split second that I would perhaps reconsider and just give him an extra $20, but what would an extra $20 do for a man who needed so much more help than that? What if he had enough money to change his course in life if he really wanted to? From that perspective, $400 seemed like just a drop in the bucket. 

But maybe it was also a start?

“I’m not sure, but I know that no matter how you got into this situation, I know it’s not because you’re a bad person. You’ve probably just hit a string of bad luck.Hell, for all I know maybe you WILL blow all this money on booze and drugs, I don’t know… But what I am hoping, is that it gives you a chance to get back on your feet if you really want to…”

The man glanced back at the money.

“Take it. No strings attached. Do whatever you want with it. Buy booze or crack or whatever you want with it. I’m not gonna lecture you on how to live your life because, dude, you’re already totally down on your luck and I think that you just deserve a little kindness. You know the mistakes you’ve made and you don’t need to explain yourself to me or anyone. I just thought this money would help make things a little bit easier for you, that’s all.”

The man looked away for a moment. His lower lip trembling. Then he slowly glanced back and took the money.

“Thank you….. God Bless you, sir. I really appreciate it.”

“Take care of yourself.” I replied as he walked away.

The man walked away and never looked back.

Now here we are.

Two years later.

Standing in the same parking lot in front of the same grocery store.

My jaw drops open.

“Holy shit! I remember you! You’re that guy! LOOK AT YOU! I DON’T EVEN RECOGNIZE YOU!” I shouted.

“Now you remember me, right!? HA HA!”

This man’s voice once a whisper was now strong and deep as if his lungs consumed every molecule of oxygen around him and projected it out like water from a fire hose. He was no longer gaunt, but healthy, if not slightly overweight. His hair was clean and trimmed, but he still carried himself awkwardly with a shaky newfound confidence that now occupied a body that once resembled a dilapidated house.

“You look amazing! Where have you been!?”

“Aw man, It’s a long story-“

“I’ve got time!”

“Well-“ he hesitated

And then I paused.

“Wait. I’m- I’m sorry. It’s none of my business. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but I just want you to know that I’m really REALLY proud of you, man. I know we don’t know each other, but dude, you’ve completely changed. I don’t even recognize you. You look amazing.”

There was an awkward pause in our conversation. We were like two friends who had just reunited after a long absence, but suddenly also realized at that moment that we were also two complete strangers who knew nothing about one other. The man took a deep breath, “I’ve been coming around to this grocery store every now and then hoping I would run into you…I’d stand out here waiting for you for a half hour or so hoping you’d come by to buy groceries… I wanted to thank you for the kindness you showed me a few years back and… and I wanted to finally pay you back.”

He grabs my hand and presses the nicely folded bills into my hand. The folds and creases tell me they’ve been sitting folded like this for quite a while.

“$400. Every cent of it.”

“Hey, you don’t need to do this. It was my pleasure. I’m glad the money helped, you can keep it.” I reply.

“Well… “ he paused, “I don’t want it. Too many painful memories from it.. That day you gave me that money I took it and I used it all to get high.”

“Oh…Shit… I’m sorry, man. I shouldn’t have-”

“And afterwards there were some more really rough months after that. I felt so ashamed. I hated myself and I didn’t wanna live no more so one day I couldn’t take it anymore and I went over to the Colorado Street Bridge and I was gonna climb the fence and jump off…. I was gonna kill myself and end it all… but I chickened out.”

(FYI, The Colorado Street Bridge is the bridge you see in the movie, LA LA LAND)

“Man, I was so scared, and I was crying on the ground and I was thinking about my wife leavin’ me… and how I let my son down, and now he had his own son.. you see, I’m a grandfather, and I got so messed up I couldn’t be around any of them, you know?”  

Meanwhile, my groceries were sitting in the hot car. My milk was going to go bad, but I continued to hang on to his every word.

“So shortly after that incident the cops pick me up off the side of the bridge and they take me to this local homeless shelter. I get cleaned up, I get a little something to eat, and then later on that evening they gathered us all around in the cafeteria at one point and they read us this story called, After the Fall.”

I was shocked.

“Wait... What? That’s my book.” I responded

“Yeah, I know! The book changed my life, man! Humpty Dumpty finding the courage to change his life like that? It inspired me! It made me want to change! And so I see your name on the cover and one day I went to the library with my social worker to look up more of your books and I see your picture in one of the books and I thought, HOLY SHIT! That’s the guy who gave me the $400! I recognize those eyebrows from anywhere! This is a sign from God!”

“HAHAHA!”

“So, I’m getting’ all psyched up and inspired and the social worker helped me get me a sponsor, and after a while I got myself cleaned up and started working around town. I used to be a carpenter, and I was doin’ odd jobs here and there and so now I work at a hardware store.” 

He pauses for a moment and takes another deep breath.

“You see, I got myself a work related injury years ago and I had to stop working. Then when my insurance wore out I was still in pain and I started trying to find any kind of drugs I could to help with the pain, man. It was awful. I got addicted to painkillers, over time it cost me my marriage, I lost my house, and my kid moved away and he started a family of his own…. I haven’t seen my kid in years. They all wanted to help but you can only be helped if you want to be helped, you know?”

“Yeah, I’m so sorry to hear that, man”

The man begins to cry a little

“And I knew they cared about me, but…. But I let them down, and there’s just a point when the people you love just can’t stand seeing you hurt yourself no more, and they couldn’t stand watching me tear myself apart like that, you know?”

The man’s story cuts me like a knife. I’m starting to well up with tears. We’re now two strangers crying in front of each other in the middle of a grocery store parking lot. The manager of the grocery store who I see often sees us crying outside 

“Is everything okay here guys?”

“Yeah yeah yeah, We’re good. We’re just talking,” I rapidly answer as I wipe tears from my cheek. The manager walks back inside.

“…Uh… Weird question… You know my name now, but, do you mind if I ask you your name?”

“…I’m Randall.”

“Well, I’m glad you got your life back together, Randall. I’m sorry about all that stuff that happened with your family but I think what you accomplished with getting your life back together was huge and, I mean, I don’t know you, but man, I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you, brother. I just wanted to see you in person so I could give you back that money… oh, and I was hoping you could sign this for me….”

Randall reaches inside his oversized brown suit and pulls out a copy of After the Fall and hands it to me with a pen.

“I’ve been carrying this around with me for a few months now hoping I’d see you. The shelter gave it to me. Would you mind signing it?” he asks.

“I’d be honored, Randall… Do you want me to make it out to you?”

“Please make it out to Randall the Third”

“Wait… your grandson?”

“I’m going out to see my son and his family next week. They live out in Arizona.”

“That’s amazing. Are you nervous?”

“I’m excited to see my grandson, but I’m terrified I could screw things up with my family again.” Randall mutters.

“Well, you made it this far. I’m sure you’ll be fine. Just take it one step at a time.” I reply.

“Just like Humpty did. One step at a time.” says Randall.

I sign the book...

To Randall III, Your grandfather is a true inspiration to me.

Dan Santat

“Thank you, God bless.”

“No, Randall, thank you. This was the most amazing birthday gift I think I’ve ever received.”

“Oh, it’s your birthday today?!”

“No, it’s in twelve days. Heh… it’s when my milk expires”

“Oh shit. I should let you get going man, I’m sorry I took up all your time!”

“No, man. No! I’m so glad you did this and that we could catch up... and…. Here.”

I pull out the $400 and I hand it back to Randall.

“What are you doin?”

“I know you don’t need this, so I’m not giving you this money. Get something nice for your family, you know, a housewarming gift or something, that’s all. If you ever want to pay me back you know where to find me.”

In this parking lot.

In front of this grocery store.

“Use it to buy a huge ass teddy bear for Randall the Third. Shit get him a Playstation 4 or something I don’t care. As far as I’m concerned you worked so hard to get where you are now and you earned every cent of this. This money should be yours”  

“HA HA HA! Aw sheeeeeeit….Thank you, brother.”  

I grab Randall’s hand and I place the nicely folded wad of cash into his palm. 

“Well, I should get goin’…” Randall says.

“Yeah, me too.”

Then after a few quiet moments we exchange a hug.

“Thank you, Dan Santat…. God Bless you.” Randall whispers

“Take care” I reply

We complete our goodbyes and then head off in our own opposite directions.

I’ve received lots of amazing gifts over my 44 years, but never one as incredible as the rebirth and transformation of Randall.

Peace.