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puck-luck · 2 months ago

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airline affection | cole caufield

warnings: drinking (tequila), sex with a stranger, protected p in v (me breaking my pattern fr), fingering, handjob, semi-public sex, hair pulling, mentions of a round 2 but not explored in this fic (will probably not be explored in a part 2 either because i like how this fic ends), use of Y/N (my least fav)

pairing: cole caufield x fem!reader

summary: cole caufield and fem!reader basically join the mile high club, despite their feet being on the earth.

wc: 3,772

There are a lot of things that you hate about winter storms. The number one thing, though, is when it delays your plane. You’re usually impatient in airports. The energy in these buildings seems to spark something in you that just makes you restless. You’re almost always checking the time and your eTicket to make sure nothing changed since the last time you checked it a minute prior. You’re running through your checklist of to-dos and making sure you have everything you need in case your flight gets so delayed that you need to book a hotel.

You’re already pretty sure that you won’t make your connection, although the three-hour layover between landing and departure was a nice cushion. It’s not like your flight has been delayed by much, anyway. It’s just an hour. You’ll still have time. Maybe if you’re lucky, you can sprint across the airport and still make it with plenty of time to spare.

If not, getting a hotel in Montréal for the night wouldn’t be too bad. The city seems interesting enough, though… knowing yourself, you probably won’t venture out of the airport and hotel if you are stuck there for the night. You’ll want to get on the first flight out since you’re already anxious to get home, so you’ll just bite the bullet and go to bed early.

The minutes continue to drag on and you watch your layover grow slimmer and slimmer, until you know it’s futile to make it from one terminal to the next. Especially once the gate agent behind the desk turns on the microphone and you hear his voice, automatically more grating because of the news he presents, announce that the plane has been delayed another forty minutes. He can’t help it, but you still wish you could go over and tear into him and vent out all of your frustrations.

You instead stand up and drag your carry on behind you towards the airport bar about a hundred feet from your gate. You snag a seat at the dark, polished wooden bartop, tucking your carry on between your stool and the bar itself. Even though you don’t believe anyone would actually steal your carry on while it’s right by your side, you take the precaution anyway… even if it makes you uncomfortable. You order a drink from their specialty cocktails– something with tequila and lime and pineapple– and seethe to yourself.

When you lift your eyes to the mirror behind the bar, nestled behind rows of liquor bottles, you catch a glimpse of a strong jaw and a pointed nose. You double take at the tousled mop of hair on this man’s head and linger on the dimples bracketing his glowing smile.

You can’t feel bad or angry when you’re looking at a smile like that.

He’s with a group of guys, drinks in hand, and they’re laughing. You can’t tell if this guy was the person who made the joke that sparked the chortles around his table or if he’s laughing along with something one of his friends said.

Lifting his glass of beer to his mouth, the man happens to catch your eye in the mirror.

You blush and duck your head, startled that you were caught staring at this guy. You stare at the rim of your glass and trace the condensation on the side, letting a dewdrop gather on your fingertip and seep into the miniscule ridges that define your touch.

After enough time has passed, you dare to peek at this guy again.

His gaze was waiting for you. His grin changes imperceptively, neither growing softer nor wider but changing somehow, and he lifts his glass in a tiny toat. It’s an acknowledgement of your stare and a casual ‘hi,’ should you choose to take it.

You feel yourself blushing again and lift your hand in a miniature wave before you pinch your bottom lip between your thumb and index finger to tame the change in your expression. You’ve never been good at controlling your face, especially not when a cute boy is going out of his way to notice you. It’s not like this never happens, but you still get a flutter in your stomach whenever it does.

You sip from your straw, gulping down a couple of moutfuls of your drink. To entertain yourself, and to avoid looking in the mirror again lest you make eye contact with this guy, you pull out your phone. You’re fully intending to text the group chat with your closest friends, saying that there’s a hot guy behind you in the airport bar, when you notice the aforementioned hot guy taking the seat to your right.

“Hi,” the man says. His voice has a distinct quality to it– not in a bad way. It just sounds like all of his words come from the back of his throat. His pitch is lower than you expected. Just from one word, you can tell that he talks with the confidence of a much taller man.

“Hi,” you reply. You take a sip of your drink after speaking.

“Are you a nervous flier?” he asks.

You eye him, eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

He gestures to the drink in your hand. “You’ve been downing that thing. Trying to get a buzz before your flight takes off?”

“Oh,” you say lamely. You shake your drink, the ice cubes clinking in the glass. “Not really. I’m just annoyed. Delays, you know. I’m drinking in memoriam of my connecting flight.”

The man laughs, to your surprise. That wasn’t even a good joke, but here he is. He raises his glass, holding it out to yours and clinking the rims together. “In honor of your connection,” he says, then raises his glass to his lips. He raises an eyebrow and you do the same after stalling for a brief moment.

You’re not even in a good outfit. You’re in airport clothes, just leggings and a baggy sweatshirt, plus a baseball cap so no one sees how greasy your hair is underneath the cap, and this guy with– holy shit– massive fucking biceps is flirting with you. He’s leaning close to you, too, and he smells nice. Old Spice, maybe.

“So, how long until your flight?”

You look at the time on your phone. “Thirty minutes.”

“Cool.” He nods. “Can I get you another drink?”

You consider the offer.

“Or,” he lowers his voice to a whisper and brings his mouth close to your ear. “If you’re interested, I could provide you with another kind of stress relief.”

Your mouth gapes as he pulls away and fixes you with a confident, yet kind smile in the face of such a flagrant offer.

“Think about it,” he murmurs. He catches the eye of the bartender. “Two chilled Casamigos blanco shots, please, under Suzuki.” When the bartender turns to pour the shots for him, the guy turns back to you. “A confidence boost. I’ll be over there, with the guys. Come find me if you want to make good on that second offer.” He takes one of the small glasses from the bar and clinks it with yours before heading back to his table.

You stare at him, swiveling in your stool as he goes. Your jaw is still hanging open. It’s only once this guy– whose first name you still don’t know, by the way, except that it might be Suzuki?– returns to his table that you right yourself in your seat and touch the shot before you.

You whip out your phone and take a picture of the shot. Hot guy in airport just bought me this shot and offered to have sex with me???? You type with frantic fingers, sending the message to the group chat you’d been planning to text before the man came over and made a move on you.

Your friends are well aware that your flight was delayed. They have been waiting for an update and this one is more than welcome, simply because of how dramatic and unexpected it is.

send pic!! One of your friends replies, which the other friend emphasizes.

You’re able to snipe the man through the mirror of the bar, pretending like you’re taking a picture of the liquor selection. If they zoom in, your friends will be able to see his side profile and judge it accordingly.

Good enough for an airport crush, the second friend says.

you’ll basically be a member of the mile high club if you do it, says the first.

You pocket your phone and fix your eyes again on the shot before you. It’s acclimating to the room temperature of the bar, but you can still see sharp shards of ice floating in the clear liquid.

Fuck it.

You take the shot and close your tab. Why shouldn’t you fuck this dude? How many people can say they’ve hooked up with an airport crush rather than losing them to distance and time? It’s not like you’ll ever see this guy again. You take a brisk, short breath and set your jaw.

Once again dragging your carry on behind you, you approach his table and tap his shoulder.

Immediately his face splits with a smile. “I hope this is a good sign.”

“Let’s go,” you say without room to argue. You sound a lot more confident than you feel, but you’re also riding on the absurdity of the situation. You’re about to have sex in an airport. With a stranger. That goes against every rule of stranger danger that you’ve ever learned.

“You can leave your carry on with the guys,” he says. “They’ll watch it.”

You grip the handle. Leaving your luggage with a bunch of randos is where you draw the line. “No, I think I’ll bring it with me.”

He shrugs. “Suit yourself. C’mon.” He takes your other hand and leads you out of the bar, looking both ways before darting to the right.

A hundred feet later, he’s locking the door to the single-stall family bathroom and pushing you up against it.

“What if someone knocks?” you ask.

“We’ll be quick,” he says, not answering your question. He kisses you before you can speak again.

Like everything that this man has done so far, the kiss is sudden and surprising. He overwhelms you and, while in the first second your eyes had grown wide in shock, your eyelids flutter shut and you melt into the kiss.

His tongue prods at the seam of your lips and you welcome him in, tasting the beer that lingers in his mouth. He is quick, like he promises– his hand is making its way past your waistband and when he touches the band of your panties, you jerk back.

“Wait,” you say.

The man pauses, his hand drawing back up to your stomach and resting there.

“What’s your name?”

He cracks a smile. “You scared me for a sec there. I’m Cole.” He lifts his hand from your stomach and finds your right hand, fitting them together in a handshake even though it’s a weird angle. “What’s yours?”

“Y/N,” you reply.

Cole drops your hand and lets out a little chuckle. “Cute. Anything else?”

“No, that’s it.” You put a hand on the hair at the nape of Cole’s neck. “As you were, soldier.”

There’s no time to cringe at the statement before Cole is kissing you again and inching his fingers into your panties. He’s laughing at the little nickname you uttered, his kisses growing shorter and sweeter as his mouth moves with his chuckles.

You don’t speak much after that, but Cole does make a litany of quiet moans and sighs tumble from your mouth.

His fingers are blunt and certain with each movement. Cole’s cock presses into your hip as he touches you. With the constraints of your panties, because he hasn’t taken your leggings or underwear off, the pads of his digits flick over your clit and draw wetness and slick from your pussy.

Within minutes, the digits are making their way to your entrance. It is not slow and reverent like you have experienced in the past, but you like that. You like that Cole is kissing you as his fingers work inside of you with a singular purpose– to open you up and prepare you to take his cock.

Your legs are shaky and weak when Cole adds a second finger to your heat, then a third. They’re pushing inside of you, pushing in and out and thrusting until your hole has stretched to fit him. His tongue has moved to your jawline, tracing down the column of your neck and leaving wet kisses in the wake of the trail.

Unable to handle all of the pleasure he’s giving you without doing much at all, and unable to bear the uselessness that you feel while his hands are busy and yours are not, you push your hand down the front of his pants and grasp his length.

Cole smiles into your skin and sucks a hickey just above the collar of your sweatshirt.

You grip the member, feeling the hot flesh rub against your palm when you fist it. You try to picture Cole’s cock from touch alone, feeling the ridges and veins press into your grasp. Your thumb and index finger circle the crown of his cock, following the curve on the underside of the cockhead that reflects his cupid’s bow though not nearly as prominent.You come up to his very tip then all the way back down, feeling the soft thatch of hair at the base. He fits comfortably in your hand and there’s still room for you to move up and down, and you relish in the choked groan that he paints into the crook of your neck.

His efforts double when you touch him, which makes you work harder, and then it just becomes a competition. You try to beat each other out to see who can relent first, but it just dissolves into a fit of laughter when you realize what the other person is doing.

Cole guides you toward the sink with his other hand pressing into your side, finally working his hand around to pull your leggings down. He struggles since his fingers are still buried in your cunt and your hand is rather distracting as it pulls on his cock, but he eventually manages to get the tight fabric down to your mid-thigh.

“How’s this going to work?” you ask, your bare behind coming into contact with the cold sink. You jump a bit and reach for the paper towel dispenser with your free hand, tugging a few sheets loose so that you can lay them on the edge of the sink and put a barrier between your body and the germs.

“Gonna bend you over a bit, if that’s okay,” Cole says. His words are certain, although he’s sure to check with you and make sure it’ll be comfortable.

“Okay,” you agree, allowing him to turn you around. You lay the paper towels down and lean against the sink, bending at the hinge of your hips. You look at Cole in the mirror and grin.

He matches you. You watch him shove a hand into his pocket, coming back with a condom. He tears the wrapper and rolls the silicon onto himself. He slides his cock between your ass cheeks and thrusts slowly, just to feel the way that you grip him. After a couple of smooth movements, he brings his tip to your entrance and breaches the tight ring, which had drawn back into itself when Cole removed his fingers.

His hand comes up to cup the back of your neck, keeping you in place. You’re grateful for the touch because you do lurch forward when he buries his cock into your pussy, thrusting forward until his abdomen is flush with your behind. Without his hand holding your neck, you probably would have knocked your forehead into the mirror hanging on this airport bathroom wall.

“Careful,” Cole murmurs with a tilted smirk. “Can’t have you getting a concussion on me, Y/N.”

“Maybe be gentler,” you bite back without any heat brewing behind your words.

“You want me to be gentle?” Cole asks. He draws out of you as slowly as he can, then fucks back into you at the same pace. It’s so slow that all the pleasure is lost on you– it just feels like something mechanical is filling you and leaving you. You know he’s just being difficult and even though you’re stubborn, it still makes you go back on your request.

“No, I want you to fuck me,” you tell him, pushing your hips back. “Really fuck me.”

“Good,” Cole says. “Hold on.”

You fit your hands around the curves of the sink, gripping the slippery fake-marble as best you can. You watch Cole in the mirror.

There’s something poetic about that– you spotted him in the mirror of the bar less than twenty minutes ago and now you’re watching him draw out of your pussy until just his tip remains.

He bites down on his lower lip as he thrusts forward, finding a brutal rhythm. His hand goes from your neck to your shoulder, his fingertips curling over to the front of your body and digging into the flesh above your collarbone. He keeps you more securely in this place in this position, even pulling you back to meet his thrusts.

A strand of hair, wavy and delicate, falls over his forehead. His cheeks dimple as his face contorts through the movements. He’ll grimace and grit his teeth, but you know it’s not because of pain or anything negative. He’s doing his best to stay quiet, you think, just like you are. The door of this bathroom separates you from the gates and the hoards of people traveling to a new destination and none of them want to hear two people having sex– except, you know, a perv. There are bound to be a few in the crowds. Still– you don’t want them to hear you.

There’s a vein in Cole’s neck that is popping out from the hyper-focus he has on your body. He’s looking down, eyes fixed on the space where your body welcomes his driving hips and his unrelenting cock.

Punishing thrust after punishing thrust has you hurtling towards orgasm. In this position, and with Cole pulling you back onto his cock, he’s hitting all the spots inside of you that have your stomach turning and clenching and twisting. It doesn’t help that the edge of the sink is digging into your abdomen and applying pressure.

“Can feel you getting tighter,” Cole grits out. “Come on, Y/N. Come.”

His voice is tight when he speaks, like he’s trying to hold himself together until you unravel. The timbre is hot as hell and you let out an involuntary whimper, dipping your head.

Cole brings his other hand to your hair and yanks your head back up. His eyes meet yours in the mirror, narrowed like he didn’t want you to look away from him even though he wasn’t looking at you, and the jerk of pain on your scalp sends you over the edge.

You come, entrance spasming around Cole’s shaft as the climax takes over you. Your jaw drops and your eyelids flutter.

Cole loosens his grip on your hair and your head falls forward– he allows it this time. His hand comes to your hip and keeps you steady, along with the hand on your shoulder, as he chases his own orgasm. You ride out the aftershocks and Cole prolongs them, if only a little bit. He bucks forward a few times before you can feel his cock twitching and spurting cum into the rubber wrapped around him.

After coming, Cole fills you with hard thrusts four or five times. Then, he draws out of your heat and removes the condom, tying it off and tossing it into the trashcan. He covers it with a layer of paper towels before returning to you and wiping you clean.

You’re the one to draw your panties and leggings up, feeling satiated. It’s clear that you’ve been fucked, knowing your own body, but you don’t feel like you’re gaping. There’s a dull energy around your core, but it’s indescribable.

Cole tucks his cock away and reaches behind you to put a bit of soap on his hands, then hip-bumps you out of the way to have full use of the sink. He grins at you through the mirror.

You hover awkwardly for a chance to wash your own hands. As you do, Cole comes behind you and kisses your cheek.

“That was fun,” he says.

You hum, agreeing with a nod.

“Have a safe flight,” Cole bids you before he slips from the bathroom.

It’s probably better that you’re leaving at different times; you wait a few minutes before nonchalantly leaving the room yourself. There’s no one nearby that is giving you a second look and you’re astonished that no one knocked on the door while you were fucked thoroughly by a stranger– yeah, you’re still on that– but you also feel a bit proud. You did something wild and no one is the wiser.

You head back to your gate with your carry on wheeling along behind you, finding a seat and waiting less than five minutes before you board. You’re in one of the first few groups because you’re insane about checking in and being on time. It also helps that you’ve been flying on this airline forever and you have a boatload of rewards points.

As you’re fastening your seatbelt in your window seat near the wings, the same one you always choose, a familiar voice greets you.

“Would you look at that,” Cole says. He lifts his carry on into the overhead compartment and double-checks the row number. “What are the chances that we’re sitting together too, Y/N?”

Your face floods with heat and you immediately know that there’s a red blush coating your horrified expression. You were operating under the impression that you’d never see Cole again… and now you have to spend a whole flight beside him.

“What do you think about round 2?” Cole asks in a low voice, sly and conniving. He leans back after the proposal, dimples as deep as you’ve ever seen them. He fastens his own seatbelt and knocks his knee against yours.

The universe might be out to get you.

But you might take him up on that offer too.

#puck-luck's fics #andy writes anything🍄#andy <3s coley🎟️#cole caufield #cole caufield smut #cole caufield fanfiction #cole caufield blurb #cole caufield x reader #cole caufield x you #cole caufield x y/n #cc13 #nhl #nhl smut #nhl fanfiction #nhl fic #nhl x reader #hockey smut #hockey fanfiction #montreal canadiens

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elysianslove · 5 years ago

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Hewwooo! This ask just came into my mind and I wanted to share. So Yuuji has a girlfriend that is a civilian and at first Sukuna is annoyed by her but as time passed he starts to take a like on her since she's always so nice to him despite him being a curse. And he's just so confused about his feelings because him being the king of curses falling for a weakling? Ridiculous. I want to read your interpretation of this idc if its hcs or scenario. Do whatever you like❤

hi my love!! i really hope you like this!! i made it into headcanons so i can go over a larger span of time more smoothly, so i hope that’s okay!

i’m getting so many sukuna requests hell yes 🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️

okay so let’s make it that you’re yuuji’s gf from before he ate sukuna’s finger ( yeah btw wtf is up with your bf ??? )

he called you as soon as they’d announced the death of his grandpa, because it had felt like you were the last family he had left. seriously you’re his whole world

you’re there when megumi starts explaining stuff about how this finger’s super dangerous and people will die you and yuuji are like 😃✋🏼 wha

but also so unbothered bc he can’t be serious

turns out he is serious laugh out loud

yuuji makes you go home as you’re at the school gate and you’re like mf what??? no???? i’m not leaving you??

he ends up making you wait and then he just never comes back

megumi explains everything to you

but again you’re like 😃✋🏼 pause wtf

you keep texting him and calling him and he’s not responding you’d be angry at him if you weren’t so fucking worried

and so eventually he finds you again

after eating sukuna’s second finger (again, what the fuck sir)

now megumi had told you he was now like ? possessed ? by a curse? it sounded like gibberish to you tbh and it was the last thing you were thinking about when you finally saw him again

all that mattered was that he was okay and alive and in your arms

you’ve never hugged him tighter tbh

so anyways ! yuuji does not want you to meet sukuna

like ever

but when he meets you one day really frustrated from a mission, you ask him about it, and he just vents out everything to you. he tells you how the responsibility can be so overwhelming sometimes, and how sukuna can be so infuriating and you can’t imagine what it must be like having this guy in your head

and then you just go

“can i meet him?”

at first he’s like absolutely not ma’am are u insane

but then you convince him, telling him you trust him and reminding him he has control

so he shifts

you really were expecting something horrendous like seriously you were anticipating fainting from fear

he’s just your bf

with a rougher edge

you like instantly relax

even if this guy’s expressions are nothing like yuuji’s, you remind yourself that it’s still yuuji inside, no matter what

“i like your — tats?”

what do you even say to a curse???

he’s scowling at you so much you might piss yourself but you just repeat constantly that he can’t hurt you

“you disgust me,” he spits out

yuuji shifts back so quick, and just groups you on his arms

“that wasn’t me, i swear,” he says to you and you have to calm him down and tell him it’s okay !! it’s not his fault the guy’s an ass

now! yuuji’s pretty comfortable with your level of physical affection

in fact, he loves it so much. it’s one of his favorite things about you.

so he’s always welcoming an embrace from his favorite person in the world, but it’s so hard to ignore sukuna’s words in his mind repeatedly saying how this is so revolting

he tries his best to pay him no attention

sometimes y’all will be cuddling and a mouth appear somewhere on yuuji’s body and it’ll say “get ur hands off my vessel human!” and ngl

it always makes you laugh

like how comical is that

eventually, over time, the hugs are

kinda nice, sukuna realizes

like he’s a thousand year old cursed spirit

he’s not really gotten any affection yk

like ever

and it’s not that he ever wanted it

but being with you

or well, him possessing yuuji and yuuji being with you and you being with him through transitive property (thank you grade 7 math)

it really like softens him

kinda

a little bit

like the tiniest bit

some part of him, he probably thinks it’s yuuji and not even him and that he’s just confused but really some part of him grows to anticipate the hugs

and when you kiss yuuji

god

your mouth feels so good he wants to feel it for himself

it’s like angering him how you’re growing onto him, so he asks yuuji to shift them

and they do shift

you’re a little surprised bc yuuji gave u like a 3 sec warning before those familiar markings appeared on his skin

“i never thought i’d see you again,” you admit.

and he just kisses you

like full on the mouth

no warning

you pull him back in shock, and rest a hand on his shoulder to keep a distance between you two

“i don’t know where this is coming from but it doesn’t feel right, sukuna.”

and you’re just

you’re just so nice

why are you so nice???

“i love yuuji, so much, and even though you’re sharing a body you’re still a whole other person. it feels wrong.”

god why are you so good? it’s infuriating????

yuuji shifts back, starts apologizing again like the first time

“you have to stop apologizing for something someone else did, babe.”

when he’s alone with sukuna that night he’s like dude, dude, bro, my man — we gotta talk boundaries bc wtf

sukuna just goes “not fair u get to kiss her”

like yeah??? she’s my girlfriend tf ????

so sukuna resorts to watching (or feeling) from the sidelines again

as he grows more and more affectionate towards you

until he’s just as protective over you as yuuji is

until he realizes that

what yhe fuck

maybe he has feelings for you because, one of the main things about you is that the two times you’ve encountered him, you’ve never treated him like a curse. even if being treated human was once considered belittling to him, having you dote on him like that, speak to him as softly

it made his brain go brrrr

so he asks yuuji one day, “can i kiss your gf”

like that’s something you just casually ask

took a lotta convincing but eventually yuuji says “if she says yes then okay”

it takes like

90 minutes for both you and yuuji to decide that you’re okay with it. sukuna’s like fuck it ion wanna anymore lmfao

but anyways

yuuji shifts into him

and

he doesn’t even wait the impatient mf

he just kisses you so suddenly, cupping your neck and tugging at your hair like damn how long has he been wanting to do this

clearly way longer than even he thought

after that yuuji doesn’t exactly share you, but yeah he’ll let sukuna kiss you every now and then

sukuna’s still not fully accepting of his feelings towards you, but he learns to appreciate you

especially your kindness towards him and yuuji, and the tenderness of your touch

he never would’ve seen it coming when he awoke in this teenage boy’s body, but he can admit that you’re definitely an added benefit

#jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen headcanon #yuji itadori x reader #itadori yuuji x reader #itadori x reader #sukuna #jjk sukuna #sukuna x reader #sukuna headcanons

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stellar-imagines · 4 years ago

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SCENARIO REQUEST: ❝stupid rumour.❞

[ Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia ] [ Characters: Bakugou Katsuki ]

「 Bakugou who has a crush on you ― the transfer student who has trouble speaking and writing Japanese but can understand the language He helps you on your language skills and develops a crush on you. Then you heard rumours of Bakugou liking Uraraka and you started become distant.」

BAKUGOU KATSUKI

"I thought I told how to do this one so many times and how did you manage to fuck it up?" Bakugou groaned, looking through your midterm paper.

"I'm really trying my best but kanji is just no good for me alright?" you grumbled, snatching the paper from his hands. It was quite embarrassing to be struggling with Japanese literature and other subjects.

Sure you were born and raised in Japan but due to some business issues, your family had to move to [Preferred Country]. And to be honest, you spent most of your life in [Preferred Country] instead of Japan so you weren't really familiar with kanji at all. It wasn't only kanji, its just the Japanese language in general. You didn't have much problems talking but when it comes to reading and writing, it was a problem so when it comes to studying, you were in big trouble. You have been whining about failing your tests and Bakugou — who happened to be your personal tutor. He got tired of your whining and decided to help you in hopes of making you shut up.

You can't really tell why Bakugou decided to help you in the first place. The two of you never got along that well to begin with. The ash blonde was very competitive by nature and when you showed promise during training, he seemed to have made you his target somehow. Bakugou never actually cared about the people in the class but you were different somehow. He was always easy to rile up and you enjoy messing around with him sometimes. It was almost safe to say that you spend most of your time with him.

Since the day you transferred into UA, you struggled with your studies. Kanji now appeared to be an alien language to you and during tests, you struggled to understand the question. Bakugou picks up the scattered paper on your desk one by one, skimming through your mistakes and assessing your performance. You didn’t do that bad and only failed Japanese History and Literature. Your scores were really low and it barely hit the passing mark.

Sometimes you like to think that you and Bakugou had something special but you're just a transfer student. Bakugou and Uraraka probably have a relationship that you could never understand. He respects Uraraka's strength after that one incident during the Sports Festival tournament. You stared at the two who happened to be queueing for lunch, having a conversation that you can't hear from where you were sitting. After a while, you took your eyes off them and sipped your drink.

"Do you think he likes her, [First Name]?"

"I'm sorry what?" you blinked, turning your attention towards Hagakure who sat across you.

"I'm talking about Ochaco-chan and Bakugou-kun!" the invisible girl gushed, her sleeves waving about to show her excitement. You blinked a couple of times, unable to process. Judging from her tone, you assumed that she thought you understood what was going on between the two. However, that wasn't the case, you yourself are clueless.

"But [First Name]-chan and Bakugou-kun are close in their own way too! Something going on between the two of you?" Ashido who was sitting next to you decided to direct the topic towards you instead.

"Nothing is going on between us. In fact, I think at some point he's gonna stop teaching me because of how I always disturb him." you muttered with a chuckle.

"Typical Bakugou. You can still join our studying sessions if you want. My offer still stands." Yaoyorozu smiled gently. You shook your head in response and gave the same answer as you did when the black haired girl proposed the idea to you.

Originally, it was Aizawa who forced Bakugou to tutor you in the first place. You had failed your tests miserably at first and your homeroom teacher seemed to notice that you struggled with communication sometimes. And Aizawa had this crazy idea to assign Bakugou to tutor you. He had hoped that the ash blonde will grow to become more social and cooperative. Honestly, you thought that it was such a bad idea at first. Bakugou was very rough with his words, impatient and is short tempered. You've tried to be nice and dismiss his behavior but at some point you just found him very amusing. You weren't sure if the two of you actually got along well or not.

However, you like to think that you both are actually on good terms. Even though he gets frustrated whenever you struggle to solve a question, he would leave you alone and give you pointers. He also likes to reward you with small treats like your favorite snacks and drinks. Bakugou also pays attention to your behavior a lot. Since the two of you are always studying everyday after school, there will be times where you will be so worn out from training. If that's the case, Bakugou will go easier on you.

"I've heard from someone that Bakugou has feelings for her since first year." Hagakure whispered as she saw Uraraka approach the table. The conversation was cut short when your brown haired friend arrived at the table with her pork katsu don. She looked between everyone, wondering why you all grew silent all of a sudden.

"What were you guys talking about?" she asked, taking a seat next to you. Acting completely natural like a smartass you were, you decided to just continue eating your lunch as if you were never a part of the conversation to begin with.

"We were talking about how there's this rumour of Bakugou having a crush on you since first year." Ashido chirped. Uraraka let out a noise akin to surprise before waving her hands defensively.

"Wh-Wha!? That's not possible!" she said quickly before glancing over at the ash blonde and then towards you.

"Why not?" you asked, raising an eyebrow.

"W-Well, that's because....." the girl seemed a bit nervous and you see her glancing at Bakugou a couple of times.

You rested your elbow on the table, letting out a knowing hum. It didn't take long for you to get the hint that Uraraka might actually reciprocate his feelings. A small frown was etched on your face as you looked away from the girl seated next to you. Bakugou would never just suddenly stop to stare at someone, especially knowing that he can be caught staring. It was just as you had suspected earlier. 'To think that I thought there's something special between me and Bakugou.' you thought to yourself, keeping yourself out of the conversation while the girls teased Uraraka for getting so defensive.

The next day, Bakugou was packing his things and thinking ahead. He could already hear you grumbling something to yourself as you cleared your own desk, preparing to head back. There was a homework assigned to everyone and you will — for sure — be begging him to help you with it, even though its due in 2 weeks and you have plenty of time. Just as he was about to call out your name, Kaminari and Kirishima approached his desk.

“Hey Bakugou! Some of us are planning to go watch a movie after school, want to join?" Kirishima asked. Bakugou raised an eyebrow at this, looking slightly annoyed.

"Why would I wanna go with you extras?" the ash blonde grumbled.

"Because it will be fun! Everyone is coming right?" Kaminari turned towards the group of girls that has gathered around your desk.

"Yeah, most of us are!" Ashido chirped happily.

"Come on Bakugou-kun! I think its a great opportunity for you and [First Name]-chan to take a break once in a while. And besides, she's been looking forward to this movie." Uraraka told the ash blonde.

Bakugou glanced over at you, seeing that you were somewhat looking forward to relax today. It was Friday, and probably the best day to take a break from all that studying. The ash blonde had been pushing you a bit too hard and maybe this is his chance. Bakugou reluctantly agreed but not before telling them to not chose some stupid movie. He shook his head, telling himself that he's not doing this just because he thinks that you deserve a break and that he likes you or anything. Just as he finished packing, he looked over towards you, seeing Hagakure approach your table with a skip.

"[First Name], let's go watch a movie! Even Bakugou is joining! Ochaco-chan just invited him." she exclaimed, motioning to the ash blonde who glared back at her. Your excitement died down a bit, glancing between your invisible friend and Bakugou.

"Um, I think I will pass! I think I'm gonna start with that homework we're given, it's gonna take me a while to finish that after all." you said, quickly gathering your items.

Seeing you leave the class quickly made him confused. Uraraka muttered about how weird it was for you to skip out on going out, especially knowing that you were all going to go watch a movie that you have been looking forward to for so long. Bakugou decided that it was not worth his time to think too much into it and leave you be. He's not your babysitter and it doesn't matter to him what you do anyways. All while he was watching movie, he was thinking about how you should've been here watching the movie.

Just when he thought your behavior on that day was only you not being your normal self ― you did something that he had never expected before. It happened on the day after the movies. He had already expected you to be knocking onto his door and begging him to explain to you about all the homeworks that were given and about that Science quiz on Monday. Sure you came to his room with a handful of your notes and textbooks ― like usual. Your hair was slightly messy from hurrying to meet up with him at the same time ― like usual. It was nothing out of the ordinary, something you both were accustomed to. You always came late, looking like you just rolled off the bed and went straight here.

It was the same old routine until he heard those words.

"Sorry Bakugou! I'm going to be studying with Momo-chan today, she's offered to partner up for the Japanese History project." you announced.

"Hah?" was all Bakugou could only respond with. He was confused. Normally, you would be begging him to become your partner because you're so used to him. What has changed in you?

"Also.....she offered to help me with my studies so you don't have to waste your time on me anymore. Thanks, Bakugou. I won't be bothering you starting from today onwards." you bowed and quickly left him behind.

'Whatever, I don't care.' was what Bakugou said to himself.

There was so much that he wanted to tell you. But he made no effort to call out to you as you hurriedly made a run for it to the elevator. He shouldn't be bothered by this so much. After all, he was only teaching you because Aizawa told him to. The ash blonde told himself that over and over but he couldn't help but longingly stare at your back as you ran away from him as if he was the plague. 'There's no turning back on this. I made up my mind to not be a burden anymore!’ you told yourself. From that point on, you made it a goal to not interact with Bakugou at all.

He was already confused to why you decided to have him to stop tutoring you in the first place. Bakugou didn't seem to bothered by it that much but it did make a lot of people ask him about what happened between the two of you. The two of you were normally seen together most of time and to see you both on your own is just weird. You were now spending time with the girls most of the time and instead of Bakugou, you had moved on to asking other people to assist you with homework.

He wasn't going to lie but the thought of you running to others and asking for help didn't sit well with him.

Today after school, you were seen in the common area doing your homework together with Yaoyorozu. Bakugou had went down from his room to get himself a drink. Now that he doesn't have to teach you anymore, he was much more free. He could finish his homework much faster than usual. Bakugou watched as you grinned happily after being praised for getting some work done. On his way to the kitchen, he passed by Kirishima who looked like he was taking a break from his own studying.

"Hey, did you two have an argument or something?" Kirishima asked Bakugou who had opened the fridge to get his drink.

"Hah? What you on about?"

"I'm talking about [First Name]. All of a sudden you stopped partnering with her and tutoring her." the red haired mentioned as he looked over at you.

"Why should I care what she does anyway? She's not my girlfriend!" he said, glancing at you in hopes that you did not hear him at all. Lucky for him, you were too immersed in the conversation that you were having with your partner to even care about what was going on in the kitchen.

"But don't you both like each other or something?"

"Who said that!?"

"It's pretty obvious, bro."

Bakugou really doesn't want to admit it but he really likes you ― a bit too much that its starting to get obvious. He was now starting to get worried that you might catch on to his feelings. He looked at you for a moment, watching as you worked on a few tough questions, eyes narrowed at the book in front of you. It was a habit that he learned after being with you for so long and he never said it out loud but you look very cute like that. After a while, Midoriya and Uraraka joined you and Yaoyorozu. Bakugou's eyes narrowed at Midoriya who was helping you with some of the questions.

That should've been him! ― was what he told himself.

Little did he know, you heard the commotion in the kitchen. Though whatever Kirishima and Bakugou was talking about was unknown to you, you could feel them looking at you. Shaking your head in response, you reminded yourself that you vowed to not get in Bakugou's way anymore. When Midoriya and Uraraka joined your study session, you decided to just focus on your homework now. You can’t lie about the fact that you missed Bakugou’s company. Even though he was always impatient and complaining about how slow you are, he never once left you on your own. Not to mention, he was surprisingly a great teacher.

The Bakusquad ― Bakugou never really liked and approval of that name ― were hanging out in the common area. Bakugou was here against his will, dragged by Kirishima and Kaminari who wanted to play some games together. At the dining table, a few students from Class 1-A were gathered around sharing some treats while the Bakusquad played some games by the couch. Bakugou was seated on one end of the two seater sofa, mindlessly scrolling through his phone and rethinking his life choices.

"There was this rumour that you like Uraraka or something." Kirishima mused while he looked through his phone.

"What?" Kaminari suddenly perked up, drawing his attention away from the video game.

"Hah?" Bakugou raised an eyebrow.

”I’m talking about Bakubro here!” the red head male spoke a bit louder to gain the other boys’ attention.

”Oh now that you mention it, I remember! There was this rumour going on about Bakugou liking Uraraka or something.” Sero piped up, not drawing his eyes away from the game he was playing against Kaminari.

“I thought Bakugou was dating [Last Name] already.” Kaminari pointed out.

”I know right?! I know they both like each other but are afraid to admit it.” Kirishima added in with a triumphant smile.

“No one fucking said that.” Bakugou glared at the boys who began to give him the looks.

”Come on, you were so overprotective of her at that one time when we studied in the library together!” Kirishima started, now his posture upright and eyes filled with determination.

”Oh right! When there were these random people hitting on her, you sure told them off!” Kaminari added to Kirishima’s anecdote.

”But there seems to be some tension between the two of you right now.” the blonde hummed, pausing the game to turn his attention to the conversation.

It took him that conversation to actually realize how much your ignorance has affected him. Not only did you decide not to ask for his help anymore, but you made it your mission to avoid him at all costs. You avoided sitting with him during lunch, not partnering up with him during hero training and clearly turning down invites from your friends whenever you hear that Bakugou will be joining as well. He had confronted you in front of everyone, demanding you to meet up with him.

And of course, it was hard to run away when he asked you right in front of everyone. The only solution Bakugou came up to get you back and clear this up was to confess his undying love to you.

You were really nervous to talk to him and for some reason, you had a feeling that you were going to have your heart broken. Bakugou, by all means, isn't oblivious and notices a lot of things around you. So it was no surprise that he realized that something is up with you and that you are ignoring him. He probably has figured out the reason behind you avoiding him already. And you couldn't help but think your reason was really dumb.

“Look, I have no idea what you’re telling but let me just say this.” you started it first, as you don’t wanna regret not saying anything any sooner.

”But I want to tell you that I don’t want to get in your way anymore. And I approve if you want to date Ochaco-chan." you were fiddling with your fingers. So you were aware of this rumour but never made the move to ask Bakugou himself if this was true and decided to just blindly believe in some stupid rumour that some random extra had spread. Bakugou almost wanted to strangle whoever did this because it gave you stupid ideas.

"You are a fucking idiot for believing in some extra's words instead of asking me. Why the hell did you avoid me instead of confront me about the rumours, hah?" the ash blonde was trying his best to remain calm and patient.

"Because.....I was afraid that those rumours are true." you admitted.

"And I'm here to tell you that its not fucking true. Round Face is madly in love with fucking Deku and she's not even trying to hide it. Everyone fucking knows that." he told you.

"So you don't like her?" you asked.

"Stop doubting my words." he flicked your forehead. You shut your eyes and rubbed at the sore spot, muttering a few words about how unnecessary that forehead flick was. Seeing how you looked very unconvinced with his words, his hands squeezed your cheeks together and forced you to make eye contact with him.

"Listen to me, you little shit. I am going to say this once and I am not going to repeat this. Because I have no fucking idea why you are so blind to all of this. You can be dumb at lot of things and frankly, I'm glad that you are." he sighed and you let out a gasp, offended by his words.

"Hey, I'm not dumb―" he cuts you off by squeezing your cheeks to the point where your words were all muffled.

"You're so helpless in your studies without me, its like you can't live without me. But it makes me feel special because you never ask someone else for help and always look for me. Even though you're shit at your studies, you have a really freaking strong quirk. You can be so fucking annoying and drive me insane sometimes but goddamn, how can you be so fucking adorable at the same time?" Bakugou started to get a bit frustrated now and he almost couldn't believe the words he was saying right now.

You reached to grab his hands and pried them off your face to allow yourself to speak.

"I am not going to listen to you do this any further―"

Once again, Bakugou cuts you off by leaning down and pressing a kiss to your lips. You were startled but after a brief seconds, you started to kiss him back. It's what you imagined it to be like, sweet yet fiery at the same time. You melt into the kiss, lifting a hand to cup his cheek while he cards his hand through your hair. You were the one to pull away first, taking a deep breath and you held your gaze. Bakugou looks oddly calm but you could see the red tint on your cheeks that was starting to reach the tips of his ears.

"You're red."

"Oh shut up, you're ruining the fucking mood."

Total: 3593 words Published: 07.06.2021

Thank you for requesting! ｡٩(ˊᗜˋ)و*｡ Not angsty at all actually. At least in my opinion. We hope you liked it! ― author Lou

Thank you for requesting it! We decided to let you readers decide where you're from Hope you enjoyed this! ― author Natsuki

Requests are closed! Matchups are closed!

Please do not mind the grammar mistakes and typos.

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angelanimedesaray · 4 years ago

Text

Wings in the Dark Chapter 2: Suspicions

AN: Yeeaaahhh this one’s pretty much all from Levi’s POV. Get ready for some cat and mouse, guys.

Also I’m working on a playlist. hehehe. I love my playlists. Some songs just fit SO WELLLLL!!!!

Characters: Levi, Vampire!Reader, Erwin, Various BG Characters

Pairing: (Eventual) Levi x Reader

Warnings: Language

Word Count: 5102

<----Previous Chapter Masterlist Next Chapter---->

*Levi’s POV*

Levi leaned against the stone wall beside him, arms crossed over his chest and the shade of the roof mostly hiding him from view as he stared pensively out at the open field. The horse training was finished for the days, and the horses were being allowed time to roam in the open field for the time being. One individual, however, was spending some one on one time with a mare, walking through some common techniques to get a horse to trust you.

At first, he’d wondered why she was using such a long rope, since he was fairly certain the distance between a horse and a potential rider during this exercise wasn’t supposed to be that far. Quickly Levi realized that if she got much closer, the horse was not having it. It was truly afraid of her, though she appeared to be making some headway, if she was able to lead the horse around on the long rope while the other horses stayed clear.

Horses that had been trained and bred to retain nerves of steel and ignore their fears, especially in the presence of Titans and the chaos of a battle, and apparently all of them were at least skittish around her. That’s what he’d heard from the stablemaster, anyway.

Not a minor detail to be overlooked. And a problem, if she couldn’t get around it. Clearly, though, she was putting in the effort and time to fix it, and she didn’t mind going at the proper pace instead of trying to rush it. From what he’d been able to observe, she was also approaching the situation with an admirable amount of patience, no outward signs of frustration or anger when she reached a setback and had to back up a foot or so on the rope instead of shortening it a little more. Her approach changed slightly each time, too, attempting to adjust to fix whatever she’d done wrong the previous try.

Well, at least she had some positive character traits to be discovered alongside the worrisome fact about the horses he wasn’t going to ignore. So he could give her some merit while his suspicion raised a little more.

“Captain.”

Levi turned at the sound of his title, noticing the individual approaching him from the main building, a file in hand. He snapped a salute when he reached Levi, then held out the file for him to take. “You asked for the file on Cadet Y/N L/N.”

Levi nodded and took the file from him. “Thanks. You can go,” he said in a distracted tone, already opening the file as the soldier walked away.

His eyes scanned the information in the file, which was surprisingly scarce. Her place of residence was formerly Wall Rose, there was no living family, no record as he thought there might be after their spar. She ranked sixth in her class--which didn’t at all match the spar they’d had, and gave further credit to his belief she was purposely holding herself back even when it mattered for placement. Maybe she wanted to avoid the spotlight? She wanted her talents to be recognized, but she didn’t want them front and center since she was still trying to scrape by without her full potential being noticed. She excelled in individual evaluations, especially the physical and instinctual, but seemed to have some problem with others. It was noted in her file that she was a loner and outcast during training, suggesting teamwork might be a point of issue with her. The opinion of her classmates might shed some light on that matter--it could have easily been the other party and not necessarily her that was the issue. Some of her classmates had joined the Scouts as well, if he remembered correctly, so there were some around that could be asked.

Levi reached the end of the file far sooner than he expected.

There weren’t any official documents giving age or place of birth, just an inked in note marking that she was in her early twenties--older than most new recruits, strangely enough--and the name of the town she was born in. There weren’t any legal documents, and no visible records of her existence before she started leaving a trail behind in Wall Rose two years ago, with a rented space in her name and her official application to join the Cadet Corps the only real official documents here.

That shouldn’t have been possible. Of course, if she lived in the Underground beforehand, it would make perfect sense for her to have no trail until she surfaced, but it was right here in ink that she was born within Wall Rose.

Had she lied? Had she somehow managed to get topside without official immigration and slipped right through the fingers of the authorities? The Underground would have fit a little comfortably in his working picture of her--loner, exceptionally skilled in combat and other physical areas, not having a record before two years ago, the street fighting skills…

He wasn’t going to write off the Underground yet, but how she might have gotten topside needed some fleshing out before he could consider it more seriously.

Appearing out of the blue and an unknown past only made Levi’s unease grow. Maybe if there was more, he could have deduced what her reason for joining the military--hell, joining the Scouts--was.

More questions, and not much in the way of answers.

Dissatisfied, Levi returned to his position resting against the wall with the file now tucked under an arm, watching as the speckled grey horse with the black to white mane gradually came closer to her as the rope slowly shortened, but it’s caution and unexplained fear still kept it out of her arm's reach.

The new recruit in front of him was so nervous he was trembling. He might have thought he was hiding it well, but it was plain as day to Levi, who was leaning against the wall sipping on his cup of tea with eyes fixed forward on the recruit sitting on the other side of his desk. He’d called the young man in as a sort of character reference for L/N, asking him to state his opinion on the young woman’s abilities and if they were an asset to the Scouts.

His final question, however, had caused the recruit’s suddenly shifty demeanor, and Levi’s gaze narrowed slightly at him when he hesitated.

“Are there any qualities you feel she possesses that would be harmful to the Scouts?”

The recruit across from him couldn’t look Levi in the eyes, on the brink of saying something, but for some reason holding himself back. Levi waited for several moments before there was a spark of impatience starting to grow in him.

“Spit it out.”

The recruit’s shoulders hunched slightly, and he started to haltingly speak. “She doesn’t exactly get along with other people.”

Well, that could mean a lot of things. Levi wasn’t the friendliest person in the world, but that didn’t stop him from doing his damn job. Antisocial didn’t necessarily count as something that negated her ability to perform in the field. This kid needed to be more specific.

“Does she start fights with her comrades?” Levi asked bluntly.

“No, but she has been in a few--”

“Does she fail to communicate in the field?”

“Never, though--”

“Is she incapable of working as part of a group?”

“Not really--”

“Does she take actions that could cause harm to other members of the team in the field?”

“I haven’t--”

Levi let out a slow sigh. He kept interrupting the recruit because he didn’t need long winded answers that spun the narrative a certain way. He already knew he couldn’t entirely trust the feedback this kid was going to give him, because either he would downplay her abilities and up-play her flaws to make himself look better, or vice versa to make her look better, all based off the assumption Levi was asking because Levi was looking to have her join his squad.

It wasn’t too far off the mark, but Levi was considering adding her less and less the farther he dug into her background. And while he knew he couldn’t trust much of what the kid was going to say to his face, that wasn’t the point. It was what came after this that mattered the most, and it still gave him something to work with to get a little further in his investigation.

She communicated and worked just fine in a group, and while she had been in fights before, she hadn’t been the one to start them. It was starting to look more like harassment of some degree on the other side that kept her from interacting much with her peers. Aside from the pretty much confirmed antisocial behavior outside of the field, of course.

“You have to be more specific than ‘she doesn’t play well with others.’ I don’t always get along with other people--that doesn’t keep me from doing my job,” Levi deadpanned.

The recruit was really struggling to get it out now, his face all twisted up as he tried to rework his words. “While her skills are undeniable, socially, her relationship with her peers is...poor.”

Is that really what this amounted to? No one liked her because she wasn’t friendly enough with them? “Your complaint is that she’s not a social butterfly?”

“It’s more than that, sir, she’s not…”

Levi waited another five seconds before he decided this wasn’t being productive anymore. Time to kick him out of the office and go on to the next part, then. “Either come up with a solid answer, or I’ll take your silence as a no so you can leave to take care of that constipated look on your face.”

The recruit looked put out and frustrated, but he ended up standing from the chair and leaving, Levi watching him silently from over the rim of his cup and eyes lingering on the door after it had closed.

This sneaking around behind the scenes getting dirt on people was usually more Erwin’s speed, but Levi had been around Erwin long enough to pick up a few tricks of his own to use when necessary, like in moments like this. Levi could be subtle when he wanted to.

A few moments after the recruit walked out his door, Levi finished his tea, set down the empty cup on his desk, and followed after him, keeping far enough back that he wouldn’t be noticed. Just as he’d suspected, the recruit found his way back to another pair of recruits and proceeded to go about cathartically bitching about the situation.

Levi missed the part where the other two asked why Levi wanted to talk to him in his office, but since that wasn’t the important part, Levi wasn’t too concerned, stopping just around the corner and pressing his shoulder against the wall to listen in to what they really had to say about L/N when it wasn’t being filtered by the intimidation of speaking with a superior.

“Of course miss ice princess is being considered for Captain Levi’s squad. Why wouldn’t she?” the recruit who had been in Levi’s office was fuming.

“I don’t get why you two are so upset--if Captain Levi’s already asking about her, surely that’s because she has the potential, right?” asked the young woman in their group.

“You didn’t train with her--you didn’t see how downright infuriating she was! If it wasn’t for the occasional lost spar round or missed question on a test, or a margin behind someone else in an endurance test, whatever it was, she still somehow managed to look perfect. Even if you were ahead of her, it was like she was right there behind you!”

“Not to mention she didn’t even seem to try,” the third one muttered.

“Exactly! We’d work our asses off, and then she would waltz in and do whatever they asked her to as if it was as natural as breathing! It was so--so--so infuriating!”

“Sounds like you’re jealous,” the woman surmised.

“Wouldn’t you be upset? She didn’t even try! Then to make matters worse, she always acted like she was above us. Yeah she usually beat us all in everything, but she didn’t even try to be nice about it.”

“Yeah--I know this girl who tried to be friends with her part way through training. But she was always treating her like a plague--she’d move further away from her, or she’d ignore her attempts to talk to her or actively dodge her. She made it pretty damn clear she wasn’t in the Corps to make friends. And she was like that with everyone--she never let anyone get closer than necessary to her. Sure, she’d give you some tips in the middle of training, but it was always just what was necessary, and she never let the conversation move to anything personal. She’s a bitch,” the friend added.

“I figured all that time spent by herself, she was just focused on her training. It got me certain that she was going to be top of the class--some say she should have. Hell, I thought she’d be pissed when she got sixth, but I swear she looked pleased. Pleased! And I thought she wanted to at least make the top five with how fucking perfect she seemed.”

“Okay, so she was antisocial in training and she’s good enough at what she did that it made you all jealous. I still don’t see anything that would make you hate her so much. I’ve seen her around a few times and she doesn’t seem nearly as frigid as you all say. Distant, yeah, but she seems...warm, if a bit melancholy,” the woman said thoughtfully.

“Don’t let it fool you. She’s probably just trying to make a better impression now that she’s where she wants to be and is about to get placed--possibly in the best squad, now, too, apparently.” There was the sound of a boot scuffing the stone, then a thwack of a broom handle being thumped against the offender’s head. “Ow! And she’s not warm and she’s not innocent. I don’t know what she was doing, but she was up to something during training, even if we couldn’t prove it.”

“Oh? And what was it? She managed to get an extra loaf of bread on her plate?” the woman asked almost mockingly. Clearly she wasn’t convinced by their ranting.

“One of the most infuriating things about her was how she could break the rules and still get away with it! She used to sneak out all the time at night while we were in the Cadets, but no one could ever catch her. Even when we gave the instructors a warning that she would be sneaking out again soon, she still wouldn’t get caught, and we’d get in trouble for lying about a classmate. Not once was she caught, and we had classmates that could attest to her not being in bed at some point in the night, so we knew it was happening! But we could never prove it. It still drives me nuts to this day!”

“If you kick this floor again, I’ll hit you even harder--you are not messing up the cleaning job I’ve been working so hard on!” the woman fumed suddenly, and there was a bit of a scuffle before things calmed down again.

“I swear, if Captain Levi puts her on his squad I’m going to be so fucking--”

“Look at the bright side, you probably won’t have to deal with her anymore if that happens, because you’re nowhere near that league,” the friend teased. It sounded like there was going to be another scuffle breaking out, so Levi finally stepped around the corner to make himself known.

“Oi.”

The two boys immediately panicked, while the woman snapped to attention, eyes flickering to a fresh scuff mark on the stone with a clearly upset face to see the two were already back to mucking up her hard work. Levi ignored the two who were scrambling to their feet and trying to snap to a salute, walking past all three without even glancing at them.

“Get back to cleaning. And find another place to bitch about superiors,” he added before he continued down the hall and out of earshot once more.

Idiots.

There was nothing wrong with a little bitching to get it out of your system, but at least have the decency to do it somewhere less public where anyone could find and hear you.

However, Levi officially had some honest first hand accounts of her relationship to her peers, and a lead he could follow further into this mystery.

She snuck out a lot at night when she was in the cadets, huh? He wondered if she was still doing that now…

It seemed he had something to do now in the hours insomnia kept him from sleeping. He could keep an eye out to see if she was sneaking out, and try to figure out where she was going on these little escapades if they were, in fact, continuing after leaving the Cadets.

The more he looked into her, the more uneasy he became. He was already at the point where he knew he was going to have to bring up his concerns to Erwin, but he was going to make sure he’d gone as far as he could with this investigation of his before he went to Erwin.

For the first few nights after hearing about L/N’s nightly escapades in the cadets, Levi didn’t catch anything amiss. He was well aware of the best spots in this building to sneak out at this point, and had several points he liked to retreat to for some alone time that just happened to give him a good view of the surrounding area. He was fairly confident that if she tried to sneak out, he would be able to spot her as long as he was looking--which he was.

By the fifth night, he seriously considered the possibility that if she was doing something shady such as meeting a co-conspirator in the the night, the wise thing would be to cut all communication once she was inside the Scouts. If her nightly actions were something dastardly like that, then it was entirely possible that he wouldn’t see her sneak out because she wouldn’t make the attempts now in such a high risk area.

Still, Levi kept an eye out, always near a window at night so he could peer out into the darkness and see anyone trying to slip away if it did happen.

At long last, almost three weeks after the recruits had first arrived, he managed to catch a fleeting glimpse of a hooded figure moving in the darkness away from the building. Believing it to be L/N, he got up from his seat immediately, taking the less forgiving but more direct route of climbing out the window and down to the ground so he could close the distance before she left his sight entirely and he lost track of her. Going through the building down to the ground floor and to a proper exit would have taken him too long, so his unconventional route was one he didn’t second guess.

Landing quietly on the paved stones, Levi crept forward at a walk that was barely restrained from becoming a jog for the first few moments, keeping to the shadows like his quarry as he attempted to follow after her. He wasn’t armed in case there was trouble, mostly because he didn’t get the luxury of enough time to grab a weapon--he’d only caught a fleeting glimpse, so he’d had to act instantly.

Levi managed to catch up to where he would want to be on a tail after two streets, feeling himself settle down internally once he was the desired distance away. She didn’t slow down, plowing forwards with a purpose that told him she knew exactly where she was going and she was going to waste no time getting there--he just had to keep up.

Yes, she. He didn’t have confirmation that it was her, but he was operating off the assumption it was between the story he’d heard and the fact he’d been waiting for something like this to happen and her to be the culprit.

He continued to follow her street after street, taking several corners, occasionally losing sight of her before he caught movement again and continued on the path. After a few minutes, however, he realized these direction changes weren’t exactly pointed and purposeful, but random. They happened too suddenly and without warning for them to be planned.

She knew he was following her, and she was trying to shake him.

Hoping to make her think that she lost him, Levi slowed down his pace, allowing her to pull a little further ahead, far enough away it would be more difficult for him to follow, but at the same time it would give her the impression that he was too far away and that she lost him.

Levi managed to make it a few more streets this way, catching the edge of a cape or a flash of movement as she turned a corner to give him a direction, until suddenly, he realized he couldn’t hear footsteps or any other sound in the night, and he no longer had even a fleeting visual on her in order to give him a sense of direction.

That wasn’t possible. Pulling back had been risky, yes, but he’d been sure he could still keep track of her. And he should have at least been able to hear footsteps in the distance, because she would have had to speed up to lose him so suddenly.

Did she have ODM gear hidden under her cape? Had she taken for the skies to get out of visible range of the streets?

Wanting to test the theory before she could get too far, Levi used window sills, boxes by stalls, wooden awnings, whatever he could to climb up to the roof of one of the buildings, turning around swiftly with his head on a swivel as he tried to catch a glimpse of movement, a figure moving through the night either on ODM gear or on the streets down below.

Nothing. It was just him standing alone on this roof in the night’s silence.

Where the hell had she gone?

“Levi...why didn’t you bring this to my attention sooner?”

Levi scowled, meeting Erwin’s serious expression head on before he turned to move again, occasionally crossing the floor at an extremely slow pace, stopping for a while before he would turn around and move again. Considering Levi usually remained stationary, it counted as a sign of unease.

He had just come to Erwin with what he knew about L/N, which admittedly wasn’t much. For the most part, he was simply telling Erwin about his concerns and a bad feeling that he’d been harboring since meeting her. He did have some legitimate red flags, like her apparent trips out into the night that were continuing here at the Scouts and her lack of a record from before two years ago with nothing to show she might have been from the Underground.

“Because it was just basic curiosity at first, but the more I heard, the more I had to be concerned about,” Levi said pointedly, lips pulled down in a prominent frown as he mulled over everything in his mind.

“Well, based off what you’ve been able to find out, if she is a threat, how much of a threat would she be,” Erwin asked patiently, his eyes continuing to track Levi as he moved about the room. Levi stopped, turning his head slightly in Erwin’s direction.

“Erwin...she had me. In that spar on the training grounds. But at the last second, she shifted and threw the match,” Levi explained quietly.

“...I see.”

Levi turned around all the way to see Erwin sitting forward in his chair, hands laced together in front of him and pressed against his lips, eyebrows furrowed together in contemplation.

“Don’t mark her as an enemy in your mind, yet, Levi. Let this play out a while longer, first. This may be a situation where we need to spring the trap after it’s set to truly know the situation. So far, she hasn’t done anything to hurt humanity’s mission regarding the Titans. I don’t like how many unknowns there are with her, either, which is precisely why we have to approach this correctly. There’s as much a chance we could be wrong as there is that we can be right about her intentions.” Erwin’s hands carefully folded back over one another on top of the table, Erwin turning his gaze on Levi with that expression of his that usually appeared when he was mentally calculating a gamble. “Continue your investigation as you see fit, so long as you don’t outright antagonize her. We don’t want to risk driving her off, if these skills your glimpsing are as strong as your intuition tells you they are. She could still be a great asset if she’s truly on our side. Keep an eye on her, try to figure out at least if her intentions align with our own or run against them.”

“And you?” Levi asked suspiciously, looking to see if that gambling air about Erwin was tipping over into the dangerous side of things.

Erwin hummed. “I’ll do some digging of my own, see what I can find. Of course, if you can’t find anything concrete by the next expedition, going beyond the walls will allow you to get not only a stronger grasp on the skills she’s bringing to the table, but will help with figuring out her general intentions.”

“I don’t like the thought of having to babysit while we’re out there,” Levi returned flatly. Expeditions were far too unpredictable as they were without adding a mysterious woman of unknown capabilities and intentions along for the ride with the task to keep a sharp eye on her and evaluate her every move.

“Then perhaps you’ll want to find out if you can trust her out there or not, first. I know you can’t guarantee finding the answers to all of your questions in such a short amount of time, but you could at least find out if she will have the back of her fellow scouts on the first expedition,” Erwin said with a pointed look. Levi could already tell this mess might get a little ugly, but at the very least, knowing he could trust her not to turn and kill someone on the expedition would go a long way in making his job digging into her background a lot easier.

After Levi gave a nod of confirmation, Erwin continued. “In the meantime, I’ll make sure she’s placed in the formation so that she’s within your sight at all times. Considering the rumors you’ve stirred up that you might be looking to recruit her to your squad, it would only make sense for you to be watching her out in the field to see how she does. It’s also a nice excuse for you to make a few more direct inquiries to L/N, herself. You’ve done plenty of work in the background, I think it’s safe to say you can start approaching her as well. Subtly, of course.”

“After she shook me last night, she might already be on edge,” Levi pointed out. She had to have known someone followed her. There were no guarantees that she knew it was Levi, and he didn’t think she’d had the chance to confirm who was following her any more than he’d had a chance to confirm if he was following her.

“Then be careful about it. But whenever you come to a decision about whether she’s a danger or not, I want to know. This will go a lot smoother and faster if we’re sharing information.”

“I’m not stupid, Erwin,” Levi said with a long-suffering sigh, straightening up. “Anything else?”

Erwin’s lips twitched upwards towards a smile, his hands moving to a drawer to pull out some paper and ink. “Have fun making a new friend.”

Levi scowled again, turning to leave after it was clear Erwin was ready to move on to the next thing. He was a little worried about this task to test L/N’s intentions to help the scouts before going out into the field, especially because he knew that look of Erwin’s meant he would set it up and Levi would simply have to observe.

But, he did have his own ways of testing her out as a person, and some people he could get to help without having to inform them of everything behind it. He was already observing her from a distance and could safely continue to do so. With the rumors going around he was looking to take her in under his wing, he could use that to his advantage to ask a few questions and approach her at the right times.

Yet, despite the fact he knew he would have help in prodding at her to see a bit more of what she was made of, he couldn’t help but notice that his sense of unease that had been tickling in the back of his mind was not shrinking. If anything, it only seemed more prevalent. As long as he continued to have this feeling of unease about her, he wasn’t going to let the matter rest. He was going to figure out what she was hiding, if only so he could assuage or confirm his suspicions before they grew wildly out of control.

At least it seemed Erwin shared his concern, confirming it wasn’t all in his head, and there was cause to worry. He only hoped they could figure out what was going on here before they had to spring the trap, as Erwin had suggested.

Levi shook his head. He could worry about that, later. First, he had a recruit to get a feel of before they went outside the walls, and he had to make sure he didn’t spook her while learning what made her tick.

Thankfully, he already had a pretty good idea where to find her in her down time, with all the work she’d been putting in to fix the one glaring flaw in her ability to go outside the walls.

The stables.

Next Chapter---->

Levi Tags: @clary-quinn @humanitys-hottestsoldier @whalerus @sunny-flo

Wings in the Dark Tags: @regalillegal @animeluver23 @theshylittleelfgirl @queenthorin1 @dilucs-thighs

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thecheesiestcheese · 4 years ago

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Hey everyone! I know I haven’t posted on here in forever, but I was going through some old notes of mine on my phone and came across this old piece of work that never found the light of day. Figured I’d let you all give it a read. I tried to fix any grammar mistakes, but there’s probably still a few. I also have a second chapter that’s pretty much done as well, just sitting there collecting dust. Hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you all think!

Bella Bonding Survival 101

This was not going to end well.

Beca just knew it.

Every time the Bellas do team bonding, something always goes wrong. For example, during their first year together, the girls decided to have their first official bonding session at the city park close to Barden.

Chloe and Aubrey were setting up everything they brought for a picnic later on, while Jessica and Ashley found a place beside a tree, cuddling with a book in each of their hands. Beca could be found sitting down with her back against a tree, headphones on and eyes closed, not having anything to do, since she wasn’t allowed to bring her laptop along, due to a certain redhead’s insistence of needing to enjoy nature and maybe Aubrey’s threat of ‘pitch’ing the laptop far, far away. Amy, Stacie, and Cynthia Rose were down a little ways walking along the side of the city pond, Amy seeming to take an interest in mocking the geese nearby. Lilly was nowhere to be seen, although Beca swore she saw her in a tree earlier shooting acorns at squirrels.

A few minutes go by when Beca feels a presence beside her. After quickly debating whether or not to acknowledge who was there, the brunette decides to open her eyes just in case its the she-demon herself there to take away her music as well. Luckily enough, she is greeted by a smiling Chloe looking down at her. Not even needing to know what the redhead was wanting, Beca pats the ground beside her offering an invitation. Chloe’s smile grows even wider, making her nose crinkle and plops down beside the small brunette immediately grabbing one of Beca’s earphones for herself. Being use to Chloe and her rule for no boundaries, Beca let’s her. As they sit there, the small brunette starts to zone out only to practically jump into the air due to a loud scream, followed by shouting.

Gathering her bearings, Beca looks down to the pond to see something out of a circus and couldn’t help but to laugh. It seemed that the geese that Amy was mocking had finally had enough and was chasing the trio around the pond.

Stacie could be seen throwing one of her shoes, completely missing the target while Cynthia Rose and Amy made their way around the pond, all the while Amy could be heard shouting, “Vertical running! I’m vertical running!”

The rest of the girls laughed as they watched the chaos happen in front of them. They all stopped though, when they noticed the three Bellas heading their way with the geese right behind them.

Eyes widening, Beca scrambles to her feet, helping Chloe up, joining the rest of the Bellas and making a run for it.

That day ended with them soaking wet and smelling like wet dog.

Another time for team bonding was when the Bellas were preparing for the World Championships.

Granted, it was technically Beca’s own fault for not paying attention to where she was going. In her defense, she was too heated to take in her surroundings.

That day ended with Beca in a bear trap.

Don’t get her wrong, team bonding is fun and she loves the Bellas, but Beca is starting to see a pattern and she’s growing weary of it.

That’s why when the idea of skydiving as a team bonding exercise was introduced by none other than Aubrey, Beca immediately shot it down.

“No. Absolutely not,” the small brunette shakes her head, not wanting to hear another word.

“Aww, but Beca, imagine the bonding time we could have,” Chloe pouts throwing her best puppy-dog eyes at the brunette. “Most of us haven’t seen each other in months and I think this would be a perfect way to catch up, especially while on tour!” The redhead exclaims while also taking Beca’s hand in her own, squeezing it.

Looking between Chloe and the rest of the girls, she’s met with pouts from all sides. “Fine.” She mutters. She’s quickly engulfed in a hug by Chloe making her blush then someone in the distance yells ‘Group hug!’ making all the Bellas rush in, crushing Beca further into her best friend.

Once the hugging fest was over, the girls decided to grab dinner at a small French Bistro they saw a few days ago while they were out shopping, getting a break from the USO tour. They all get back to their hotel in one piece, the girls splitting up.

Amy, Emily, and Flo head over to the bar, Amy already calling for shots all around. Jessica and Ashley head over to claim a table big enough for the gang. Lilly and Cynthia Rose started a game of pool, Lilly looking like she won the jackpot. And Chloe disappears once she sees Chicago, saying that he could get them free access to skydiving. Beca frowns slightly as she watches Chloe run into Chicago’s arms. An arm is draped around her shoulder pulling her focus away from the scene playing out in front of her.

“Keep frowning and your face will be stuck like that,” Stacie smirks.

Shrugging the taller brunette’s arm off her shoulder, Beca glares, crossing her arms. “Thanks,” she deadpans her face still impassive.

“I think it’s been permanent since freshman year,” Aubrey remarks making her way over and hands over a drink to each of the brunettes.

“Do I even want to know what’s in this?” the small brunette asks cringing catching a strong whiff of alcohol.

The tall blonde just smirks. “You looked like you needed it.”

Beca rolls her eyes. “Shouldn’t you guys be over at the bar or something?” motioning her hand towards the bar where Amy was giving Emily shot after shot of god knows what. She should probably stop them, but Stacie grabs her arm and starts pulling her over to Jessica and Ashley, Aubrey following closely behind.

“You need to relax. Let loose a little of that pent up frustration.” Stacie’s voice is muffled while drinking whatever concoction Aubrey gave her. Setting her glass down, a sly smile appears on the leggy brunette’s face, her eyes glinting with something Beca couldn’t quite figure out, but had a feeling it wasn’t going to be anything good. “Maybe we need to find you a tall blonde, I’m sure we could find someone here.”

“Dude! No!”

“I’m not sleeping with Beca!”

The loud commotion could be heard throughout the whole bar, catching the attention of many onlookers, including the girls at the bar. Emily could be seen spitting mid drink, eyes wide, Flo patting her back as she makes some comment related to Guatemala.

Amy quickly makes her way over. “Aww yeah, Shawshank! If I hear moaning of ‘auu-beca’ tonight,” pointedly looking at the tall blonde, “I’ll be taking twenty dollars to go out. I don’t know how you could pass up a good bloe though.” She comments while setting down a tray of shots that the girls were going to down, sooner rather than later.

Both of the girls groan, Beca’s face growing red, Aubrey’s showing disgust. “I would have to be completely inebriated before I even thought about sleeping with the hobbit.” Aubrey takes a long drink grimacing as the alcohol burned down her throat.

Beca raised her hand in the air, her head facedown on the table. “Likewise.”

Stacie rolls her eyes. “I wasn’t implying that you two should get together.” Groans could be heard. “But now that you mention it, I’m thinking I should have.” The tall brunette smirks. “Don’t worry Aubs, I know you’re more interested in taller brunettes.” She winks making Aubrey blush.

“Wait, what are y-?” Amy gets cut off.

“Nothing! She’s implying nothing.” The blonde stresses looking anywhere, but the Bellas.

Actually feeling bad for Aubrey, which never in a million years did she think she would ever feel anything other than anger towards the former Bellas captain until they spent time together outside of a cappella learning that they actually had more in common then they thought, Beca drags the focus back on her.

“So,” she clears her throat, “If not Aubrey, then who were you suggesting?” The shorter brunette shifts nervously in her seat averting her eyes every time she made contact with Stacie, having an inkling that she already knew who she was referring to. Stacie was grinning like the cat who caught the canary.

“I don’t know, why don’t you tell me...”she drags the wait out knowing she was making the brunette squirm, “..little maus.”

Beca covers her face with her hands too embarrassed to look at the girls. “Don’t remind me.” Knowing they most likely won’t believe her, Beca still tries to convince them. “She was just intimidating. She’s freakishly tall and we all know I’m small.” She shrugs looking indifferent when really inside she was anything but that.

“Alright shortie, you keep saying that, but we really know what you mean.” Amy winks. Beca just groans. She’s definitely not getting out of this one.

“Now wait you guys!” Emily blurts out. “I mean she was intimidating. Who wouldn’t be!” She exclaims loudly waving her hands around in the air. “I mean, she did call Beca a troll,” she drawls, “but tiny maus is a term of endearment soo...” Emily trails off. “Yeah, I’ve got nothing.” She slightly shrugs giving Beca a look of apology.

“Just face it Beca, you were interested in Kommissar, I’m pretty sure we all were.” Stacie claims, the other Bellas nodding along even Amy. “I don’t blame you. Besides, I think the German goddess was interested right back. In fact, I’m kind of surprised she didn’t try anything now that I think about it,” Stacie mentions, a curious look upon her face.

Someone coughs. “Oh, I know exactly why she didn’t.” The girls all face Cynthia Rose who looks like she knew one of the top secrets in the world.

Even Beca becomes curious as she gets closer to the edge of her seat. “Well?” Beca starts to grow impatient.

Cynthia Rose locks eyes with the tiny brunette. “Let’s just say a fiery fox seemed to have their claws in someone, not letting them out of their sight.” Smirking, she continues. “If that wasn’t the case, Kommissar would’ve ate you up...if you know what I mean.” C.R. winks.

At that moment Chloe seemed to appear out of nowhere. “Hey guys!” She beams. “So Chicago said we could do tomorrow afternoon if that worked for everybody.” Chloe is only met with silence. “What’s up?”

She looks around the group, eyes finally landing on Beca who seemed to be showing all signs of embarrassment. “Uh, what’s going on? What’d you guys do to our poor little DJ?” She coos taking the empty seat by Beca. The redhead wraps the brunette in her arms in a hug. “What’s got you all embarrassed?” She asks sneaking a quick sip of the brunette’s drink.

Beca remains silent.

“Oh, Shawshank has just realized that Kommissar was interested in her. She would’ve ate her up, if you know what I mean.” Amy says repeating the last part that C.R. said.

Beca could feel Chloe’s arms around her tighten.

“What?!What do you mean?” The redhead demands, eyes narrowed with a hint of agitation in her voice. “That dummkopf is the enemy! She just wanted to get into your head.” Chloe fumes.

Beca refuses to make eye contact. She could feel Chloe’s stare burning a hole in the side of her head.

“Well, it worked,” Beca mutters.

“You’ve got that right little shortie!” Amy and Stacie hi-five.

“She had you all kinds of flustered.” Stacie fans her face jokingly. “But who can blame you? It’s hard to resist tall intimidating blondes. Stacie comments winking at Aubrey.

Aubrey rolls her eyes. “Can we just move on from this conversation?”

Chloe immediately jumps in. “Yes! I think we need to forget about the past and talk about the present.” The redhead nods her head seeming to need to reassure herself. Beca finally looks up, making eye contact with Chloe beside her. Chloe sends her a smile, her face still holding a slight look of irritation. Beca sends a small smile back receiving a tiny squeeze from Chloe’s hand. They’re both interrupted from their staring contest by the girls laughing.

“Damn Em! I never thought I’d hear you say that!” Cynthia Rose laughs clapping the younger brunette’s back.

“Oh look, Bloe has decided to grace us with their presence again,” Amy announces. The rest of the Bellas were still laughing at whatever Emily said. “Hey, aca-child, wanna tell our two captains what you said?” Amy nudges Emily with her arm. Emily’s face turns bright red, but what she says next she can’t stop. Later, she’d tell them that it was because of the alcohol.

It’d already be too late.

“If we can’t find a tall blonde, other than Aubrey.” The blonde sends her a grateful look. “Then I think we could find a tall brunette who maybe or maybe not also has an interest in music and is here. As in the hotel....right now...Over at the bar.” Emily points her finger, the others follow with their eyes.

“O-M-ACA-G! Emily! She’s just as bad as that blonde giant!” Chloe shouts standing up and grabbing the attention of the Bellas and even the group of girls at the bar. Beca shrinks down into her chair, gulping down what was left of her drink.

“Hey Red!” Amy holds her hands up in slight fear, “Take it easy! We’re just stating the obvious.” The blonde looks over at Beca. “I mean, you did say that she smelt like vanilla and complimented her outfit, right?” The rest of the Bellas hold their breath, torn between what Beca’s reaction would be, but also fearing for her life or Amy’s.

“What the hell Beca?!” could be heard throughout the room.

Beca just groans.

She’s actually starting to wish that she was skydiving right now.

Instead she sinks further into her seat, face burning.

Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.

#bechloe #chloe beale #beca mitchell #pitch perfect #bechloe fanfic

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chloelucia13 · 5 years ago

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Chapter 12: The Mind Flayer

Pairing: none for the moment (currently Jonathan Byers x Platonic!Henderson!reader)

Prompt: You always thought Hawkins was the most boring town of all, stuck in a vacuum void of excitement and entertainment. Well, it seems that way until the world decided to flip upside down, literally.

Chapter Summary: Returning to the lab proved more difficult than you had thought, and it wasn’t just because of the demogorgon-like creatures that littered the town. But when everyone was finally out, a savior finally showed up on the Byers’ porch.

Warnings: LOTS OF ANGST, maybe a tiny bit of fluff, language, lots of conflict, descriptions of violence and gore, AND JONATHAN IS BACK BABEY

Word Count: 3082

A/N: Finally some drama! I’m really excited to hear what you guys think of this chapter, and I’m especially excited to release next week’s chapter because it literally made me cry when I was writing it. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy! As always, the taglist is open! Let me know what you guys think!

Catch up here!

Tags: @just-my-fandom, @nightbu-g

You hadn’t realized just how long you had been standing that day until your feet ached with every step you took.

“You’re positive that was Dart?” Lucas asked as you all walked along the train tracks, making the trek home.

“Yes, he had the same yellow pattern on his butt,” Dustin responded shortly.

“Wait, hold on,” you spoke up. “You named that thing?”

“Obviously, keep up Y/N.” He huffed.

“He was tiny just two days ago,” Lucas brought up.

“Well he’s molted three times already.”

“Malted?” Steve questioned confusedly.

“Molted. Shed his skin to make room for growth. Like hornworms,” Dustin explained.

“When’s he gonna molt again?” Max asked.

“It’s gotta be soon. When he does, he’ll be fully grown. Or close to it. And so will his friends.”

“Yeah, and he’s gonna eat more than just cats,” Steve deadpanned.

“Wait, a cat?” Lucas cut in, stepping in front of Dustin to stop him. “Dart ate a cat?”

“No, what? No,” Dustin scoffed.

"What are you talking about? He ate Mews,” Steve responded, even more confused than he was earlier.

“Mews? Who’s Mews?” Max asked, seeming almost as lost as Steve.

“My cat,” you huffed.

“Y/N! Steve!” Dustin whined.

“I knew it! You kept him!” Lucas accused, shoving Dustin slightly.

“No!”

“No?”

“No, I... He missed me. He wanted to come home.”

“Bullshit.”

“I didn’t know he was a demogorgon, okay?”

“Oh, so now you admit it?”

“Guys, who cares? We have to go,” Max interrupted, growing impatient.

“I care! You put the party in jeopardy! You broke the rule of law!” Lucas continued, ignoring Max.

“So did you!” Dustin countered.

“What?”

“You told a stranger the truth!”

Dustin shone his light in Max’s face, and Max looked away in annoyance and disbelief. “A stranger?” she spat.

You and Steve shared a look as they continued to fight, both of you silently arguing on who needed to butt into the conversation and stop it before it went too far. That silent argument quickly ended, however, when you both heard a loud screeching in the distance. Steve shone his light in that direction, and you walked slowly beside him towards the source of the sound.

“Guys?” Steve voiced.

The kids ignored him, continuing to bicker.

“Guys!” you shouted, startling them all and making them look at you, panic rising in your throat. The screeching continued, and the two of you jogged forward.

“No, no, no. Hey guys? Why are you running towards the sound?” Max asked as Dustin and Lucas began following behind you and Steve. “Hello? Hello?” She let out a huff before hurrying to catch up with you all.

The screeching continued in the distance as you all stood at the edge of the cliff that overlooked the Hawkins Forest.

“I don’t see him,” Dustin sighed.

Lucas raised his binoculars to his eyes as he surveyed the forest, pulling them away a moment later with a look of worry on his face. “It’s the lab. They’re going back home.”

***

You were silent on the rushed trek down to the lab, unable to even imagine speaking without bursting into tears. You felt like it was your fault. Like a butterfly effect. If you had stayed at the lab for Will, none of this would’ve happened. These strange creatures wouldn’t exist, and no one’s life would be at stake.

Bile had been lingering in the back of your throat since you had seen all the lights in the lab shut off, and at this point, you thought you were about to pass out from panic and guilt.

Luckily, you all had made it to the fenced area around the lab in record time, and you were now making your way around the fenced area to get to the automated gate.

“Hello? Who’s there?” a voice shouted just past the clearing of trees, and it made you jump. You immediately gripped onto Steve’s wrist, shaking like a leaf as you all made your way through the clearing, Steve’s flashlight shining through the dark night.

As soon as two figures came into view, their voices echoed in unison. “Steve? Y/N?”

“Nancy?” Steve spoke, shocked.

“Jonathan?” you whispered out, mirroring his shock.

“What are you guys doing here?” Nancy asked, all of you rushing forward to gather together.

“What are you guys doing here?” Steve echoed.

“We’re looking for Mike and Will.”

“They’re not in there, are they?” Dustin asked, and your stomach churned.

“We’re not sure.”

“They are,” you choked out, staring up at the looming building. “I-I was supposed to come back for them. I just went home to grab this stupid thing-” you waved your machete in your hand- “and now they’re stuck in there a-and...” You trailed off, tears welling in your eyes.

An ear-splitting screech broke through the air, and you let out a silent sob. The tears began to flow freely as you rushed over to the gate, wedging the tip of the blade between the two bars that held the gate closed. You tried with all your might to wedge them open, but to no avail. “No, no, no,” you cried out, hooking your fingers into the chain link and jangling it. “Fuck!”

You felt a hand on your shoulder, and you immediately flinched away from it, turning around to see Jonathan standing there. “Y/N,” he whispered, trying to calm you down. “The power is back on.”

You nodded, fervently scrubbing the tears away from your cheeks before stepping away from him. The creaking of the gate motor sounded, and you watched as it slowly inched open.

“Come on, Y/N, we’ve gotta go!” Jonathan shouted at you as he hopped in the driver’s seat of his car.

You shook your head. “I-I need to stay here. I need to make sure they all get out. I can’t,” you explained, your voice cracking with every word.

You knew Jonathan didn’t have the time to argue, and you stepped aside to let them drive in and pick them up. He sped past you, leaving you and Steve and the kids at the gate.

“You okay?” Steve asked, stepping over to you.

“No, I don’t think so,” you whispered, sniffling.

“I’m sorry, Y/N.” He patted your shoulder.

You nodded, standing there for a moment. “You’re right, Steve.”

“About what?”

“I only like the people who don’t care about me.”

He examined your face, trying to find the right words to say.

“Guys!” Max shouted, and you looked up to see Jonathan’s car, followed by Hopper’s car. You all immediately cleared the way to let them drive through, and Hopper pulled up next to you all.

“Let’s go,” he urged, and you all clambered into the car before speeding off.

***

You silently sat in the dark dining room, your knees tucked up under your chin as you stared blankly into the living room at Will’s sleeping figure, Jonathan sat next to him. You could hear Hopper yelling demands into the phone just feet from you, but it felt like it could’ve been 100 yards away. It was like your head was underwater, everything sounding warbled and muted. You knew that feeling all too well, that sensation. You were dissociating, completely checked out as your brain replayed every horrible thought on a loop until you felt as if you were going insane.

“Hey Y/N, you there?”

You felt a tap against your shoulder and you jumped to your feet, grabbing onto whatever touched you and holding it tightly in your fist.

“Y/N, Y/N! It’s me! It’s Jonathan!”

Your vision cleared and you saw Jonathan’s wrist clasped tightly between your fingers. You immediately loosened your grip and shook your head, wrapping your arms around yourself. “Sorry,” you voiced flatly.

He rubbed his wrist, his eyes flickering over your form. “Are you okay?” he whispered.

“I’m fine.” You squeezed past him, out of the dining room and into the kitchen.

A moment later, the kids and Steve hurried into the kitchen, gathering around the kitchen table. Hopper, Nancy, and Jonathan all entered after them, everyone bunching up around the table as Dustin laid down a book.

“The mind flayer,” Dustin announced, referring to the creature printed on the page the book was opened to.

“What the hell is that?” Hopper voiced from behind the group, disdain in his voice.

“It’s a monster from an unknown dimension. It’s so ancient, it doesn’t even know its true home.” Dustin glanced around the table, noticing the disinterest and confusion on everyone’s faces. “Okay, it enslaves other dimensions by taking over their brains using its highly developed psionic powers.”

“Oh my god. None of this is real. It’s a kid’s game,” Hopper interrupted, already growing frustrated.

“It’s a manual. And it’s not for kids. And unless you know something that we don’t, this is the best metaphor-”

“Analogy,” Lucas corrected.

“Analogy. That’s what you’re worried about? Fine, an analogy for understanding whatever the hell this is,” Dustin huffed.

“Okay, so this mind flamer thing-” Nancy began.

“Flayer. Mind flayer,” Dustin corrected.

Nancy let out a sigh. “What does it want?”

“To conquer us, basically. It believes it’s the master race.”

“Like the Germans,” Steve generalized.

“Nazis, Steve,” you sighed, rubbing your eyes.

“Yeah, the Nazis.”

“Uh, if the Nazis were from another dimension, totally,” Dustin agreed. “It views other races, like us, as inferior to itself.”

“It wants to spread, take over other dimensions,” Mike added.

“We’re talking about the destruction of our world as we know it,” Lucas continued.

“That’s great. That’s great. That’s really great. Jesus!” Steve rambled, turning away and pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Okay, so if thing is like a brain that’s controlling everything, then if we kill it,” Nancy voiced, picking up the book.

“We kill everything it controls,” Mike completed her thought.

“We win,” Dustin concluded.

“Theoretically,” Lucas corrected.

Hopper took the book from Nancy’s hands, examining the page. “Great. So how do you kill this thing? Shoot it with fireballs or something?” he grumbled.

“No. No, no fireballs,” Dustin chuckled. “Uh, you summon an undead army, uh, because...” He began to stutter, remembering who he was talking to. “Because zombies, you know, don’t have brains. And the mind flayer, it... It likes brains.It’s just a game. It’s a game.”

“What the hell are we doing here,” Hopper huffed, closing the book and tossing it onto the table.

You let out a sigh, stepping away from the table and hopping up onto the kitchen counter, sitting there silently as everyone began to bicker.

“If anyone knows how to destroy this thing, It’s Will. And maybe Y/N,” Mike spoke, pulling you from your trance. “He’s connected to it. He’ll know its weakness.” Mike turned to you. “And you were in the upsidedown with him. You’ve been with him through this. And you knew something was wrong with him, that day at the school.”

You shrugged. “It was just a feeling. And I haven’t experienced anything Will is going through. I don’t know how much help I’ll be.”

“But wait,” Max interrupted. “I thought we couldn’t trust him anymore. That he’s a spy for the mind flayer now.”

“Yeah, but he can’t spy if he doesn’t know where he is,” Mike countered.

***

You were sifting through one of the few closets full of stuff in the Byers’ house when someone cleared their throat behind you.

“Hey Y/N, can we talk?” Jonathan asked from behind you before moving to sit next to you on the floor. You nodded silently in response, prompting him to continue talking. “I... I really appreciate you helping Will and Mom. It really means a lot.”

Again, you just nodded.

“Are... Are you and Steve dating?”

“What?” you voiced, finally taking your gaze away from the pile of fabric to look at Jonathan. “No, God no.” You scoffed before turning back to the pile, pulling out an old comforter. “Are you and Nancy dating?”

“I... I don’t know. I think so.”

You hummed, picking up the pile of sheets you had found that would work as decent coverings for the shed.

“I-I just asked because you and Steve were together with the kids.”

“Yeah, well he’s been one of the only people who has given a shit about me these past few days, so maybe that’s why.” You pushed yourself to your feet and turned to walk away, only for Jonathan to step in front of you.

“Y/N, what are you talking about?” He reached out and rested his hand on your shoulder. “You know you can talk to me, right?”

You rolled your eyes and scoffed. “I don’t really think I can anymore. I mean, I was gonna the day after Halloween. You know, the night you left me at that party so you could take Nancy home? But then you disappeared with Nancy, so maybe I just shouldn’t waste my fucking time trying to talk to you.”

“Y/N-”

“We’ll talk about this when Will is better. Or will you even be around?” You shoved past him and stormed out of the house, over to the shed.

“Let’s get this shit done with,” you told Steve, tossing the sheets to the ground by his feet. Both Steve and Nancy gave you a confused look before exchanging a look between themselves. “What?”

“Are you okay?” Nancy asked, reaching out towards you.

You turned away from her, grabbing a sheet off the floor. “I’m just fine.”

***

You were almost fast asleep with your head laying against the kitchen table when Hopper, Joyce, Mike, and Jonathan all stormed in. Bob grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil and everyone gathered around him as he began to write down a series of dots and dashes.

“What happened?” Dustin questioned as everyone watched over Hopper’s shoulder.

“I think he’s talking, but not with words,” Hopper sighed.

“What is that?” Steve asked, his brows furrowed.

“Morse code,” Lucas and Dustin and Mike replied in unison.

“H-E-R-E,” Hopper spelled out.

“Here,” Max cut in.

“Will’s still in there. He’s talking to us.”

“So we need to keep him aware, keep reminding him of where he is,” you stammered out. “Maybe he can tell us how to help him.”

Jonathan immediately rushed out of the room, and a small glimmer of hope began to reside in your chest, making your heart race.

“Maybe you can talk to him,” Mike spoke, and you nodded slowly.

“I mean, I can try.”

Jonathan rushed back in with his radio in his hand, and Hopper and Joyce followed behind him into the backyard and to the shed.

Hopper stopped in the doorway, grabbing Will’s radio off of the kitchen counter. “I’m gonna send you what he says. Write it down,” Hopper instructed before leaving.

***

The letters “C-L-O-S-E-G” were written out on a piece of cardboard when Hopper entered the room.

“Y/N?” he voiced, and you rose to your feet. “It’s your turn.”

You nodded, following Hopper out into the shed. You closed the door behind you before you slowly moved over to the empty seat positioned in front of Will.

“Hey bud,” you whispered, sitting down. “It’s me, Y/N. Do you remember me?” You searched his fearful eyes as he shook his head. “We... We were stuck in the Upside Down together. I had found you there, in Castle Byers.”

Tears were already welling in your eyes. “I protected you while we were there,” you continued, your voice cracking. “You were so tired, so cold. One night, a day or two before we got out, you... You weren’t doing so well. But you didn’t want to fall asleep, you were scared. So I told you stories that my mom would tell me to get me to go to sleep. And I sang you Joy Division.” You wiped away a few of the tears that had fallen down your cheeks. “That was the only time I saw you smile when we were there, and it... It gave me hope. It helped me believe that we would get out of there. And we did. And I know that you feel like you’re still stuck in there, I know that you’re scared. But I’m here with you. We’re all here with you. And it’s gonna be okay.”

A small sob began to bubble in your chest when he stayed silent, but it quickly turned into a gasp of horror as you heard the ringing of the telephone sound from inside the house. Will’s head immediately snapped in that direction before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and a strange sound echoed in his chest.

You stumbled out of the and backed away as Hopper and Joyce rushed forward. “It knows. It knows where we are,” Hopper voiced gravely.

Joyce immediately ran over and grabbed the syringe filled with a tranquilizer and injected it into Will’s arm, effectively knocking him out. A moment later, a familiar screeching filled the air.

You all worked to free Will from his binds before you all ran back inside, slamming the door shut behind you. Steve handed you your machete as soon as he saw you, and you gripped the handle tight.

Nancy took a shotgun from Hopper, and you, Nancy, Steve, and Hopper all stood in front of everyone else, wielding your weapons. A loud thud echoed from the side of the house, and you all shifted to face that way.

“What are they doing?” Nancy voiced.

Snarling sounded to your right, and you all shifted again. Its screeches grew louder and louder, and your heart began to thud in your ears.

And then, silence.

A moment later, glass flew all around the room as the body of one of the creatures flew through the front window, rolling limply onto the floor. You all inched closer towards it, ready for it to lunge.

“Holy shit,” Dustin exclaimed.

“Is it dead?” Max asked, hesitant.

Hopper pushed its head with his foot, watching as it lolled around.

You opened your mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the creaking of the front door. Startled, all of you turned in that direction. The lock on the door slid out of place, and the other lock on the doorknob turned before the door inched open.

In the doorway stood a girl, one that you recognized immediately.

You all lowered your weapons as Eleven stepped through the door, blood dripping from her nose.

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keanureevesisbae · 5 years ago

Text

“Never out of practice” - Chapter 2

Summary: When Darcie’s father loses an important case, a killer seeks revenge, by kidnapping the entire Angel family. Though John thought that he was officially retired, he has to save his Darcie and her family, because he can’t lose her.

A/N: this is one of my favorite chapters of this story. we get to know John a little bit better. Hope you love it as much as I do.

John Wick x OFC Darcie

Word count: 3.9k

Warnings: Smut

Masterlist // Previous chapter //

John knew that one day, he was going to marry Darcie, but since they were taking it slow, he always thought that he’d propose to her in about two years of dating, maybe even more. He could’ve known that that would change.

Waking up to Darcie’s beautiful face every single morning, is the best way to start his days. One day she woke up before he did—usually on Sunday—and when he walked into the living room of her apartment, he saw her sitting on the floor in his oversized shirt, scratching Oreo’s belly, while Tiki was licking his face. She was giggling and John realized that he never wanted this dream to end.

John never thought he would find love again, but with Darcie, he got another chance and he was not going to let this slip through his fingers. He nearly lost her once, he is not losing her a second time.

Yesterday, when he took her father for a drive in the Mustang, he confessed how much he loved Darcie. Everyday he realized how lucky he was to be around her, to get to witness her kindness and be loved by her.

And then… he just did it.

He asked Christian for his blessing. John had yet to find a ring, he had yet to think about how he was going to propose to Darcie, but one thing he knew: he wants to spend the rest of his entire life with her.

Texting both of Darcie’s best friends the next day was the only logical thing to do. Since Jennie had to go to work, Raye decided to go with him for a first look for engagement rings.

‘I still can’t believe you’re going to propose,’ Raye says, as they walk to the jewelry store John really wanted to check out first. ‘This is beyond exciting!’

‘You really don’t think it’s too soon?’

‘No, I don’t think so. She is totally crazy about you. When you’re not in the cafe, we sometimes have to tape her mouth shut, because she simply can’t shut up about you. But, to ease your mind, mister Mustang, Jennie is going to ask her today what she thinks about marriage and stuff.’

‘You girls don’t talk about that?’

‘Barely, we mostly talk about food, because men are stupid and food is not.’ She looks up and pokes his side. ‘Well, you are an exception of course. We do talk a lot about you and especially your cute toosh.’

John’s cheeks burn. ‘Thank you, Raye.’ He opens the door for Raye and she squeals when she sees all the shiny diamonds as soon as she steps inside.

‘Right,’ she reminds herself, ‘we’re here to look for an engagement ring for the future Mrs. Wick.’ Raye gasps. ‘Oh my God, you’re going to be Mr. and Mrs. Wick. This is so adorable.’

For a second John wished Jennie was her with him instead, but knowing Raye, she will make this first glance for engagement rings pretty memorable. Besides, he doesn’t have to buy a ring right away. A small orientation is enough and he wants the input of her friends.

They glance through the glass displays, but no ring is good enough for Darcie. She needs something elegant, but also something to show the world that she’s taken.

John remembers that dark day clearly. Two weeks ago a group of salesmen walked into the cafe and while they were ordering, someone was insanely interested in his Darcie.

When she brought them their order, the man started talking to her and there is nothing wrong with that. People are allowed to talk to her, obviously. John didn’t want to be possessive, but seeing this man checking her out without shame, made his blood boil.

‘So, sweetheart,’ the man said, ‘why isn’t your number with the order?’

Darcie had chuckled. ‘I don’t just hand out my number to customers.’

‘Come on,’ he tried to coax her, flashing her a smile. ‘Make an exception for me.’

‘Well, I already made an exception and he is now my boyfriend.’ She turned around and pointed at John. ‘That’s him over there. Gentlemen, enjoy your drinks.’ Darcie walked up to John, a smile evident on her face. She must’ve sensed his frustration, because she placed a kiss on his bearded cheek and said: ‘I’m your girlfriend, remember that.’

It had eased his mind of course, knowing that she had only eyes for him and he had known that for a while. Every time they went out on a date and Darcie looked gorgeous, he catches men staring at her. He understood, because she is an absolute vision, but he needed other men to back off.

And an engagement ring might help with that.

‘Wait,’ he says to Raye, placing a hand on her arm to stop her. ‘What do you think about this one?’

He points to a ring with two bands woven into each other, with a rectangular bright diamond, perfectly cut. Compared to all the other rings he has seen, this one is delicate and would fit perfect around Darcie’s finger.

Raye stares at the shiny ring for a moment and says: ‘It looks gorgeous. I mean, Darcie would’ve liked all these rings, but this one seems to fit her the best. I’ll make a picture and send it to Jennie.’ Before John can say something, she quickly adds: ‘No worries, I’ll make sure Jennie doesn’t let Darcie see.’

While Raye texts her friend, John asks the clerk if he can see the ring up close. The man shows it to him and the more he looks at it, the more he is certain that this is the ring. Did he really find a ring this soon in the process? Should he look for another one? Or is this it?

‘Well,’ Raye says, pulling him back into reality, ‘Jennie is in love and wants you to propose to her.’

John chuckles. ‘I think this is the one, Raye,’ he says, showing her the ring. ‘I mean, you can see Darcie wearing this right?’

‘Totally,’ Raye says, staring at the diamond. ‘God, it’s beautiful. I wonder how much it is.’

John asks the clerk how much the ring is, though he knows that he’ll buy it anyway.

‘Ten thousand five hundred and sixty dollars, sir.’

Raye nearly faints. ‘Oh my fucking God, that is so insanely expensive,’ she says in a loud voice, causing people to look over at them. ‘You sure you love Darcie that much? I bet there are other rings that are a close second.’

John looks at the ring again and says to the clerk: ‘I’m buying it.’

‘What?’ Raye says. ‘You are going to spend more than ten thousand dollars on a ring for her?’

‘Of course,’ John says shrugging. ‘This is the perfect ring for her, there is no way in the world I’m not buying this. I want to propose to her with this ring.’

⟢⟡⟣

‘Did you ask her about marriage?’ John asks, while he is sitting in his car, his phone on handsfree. It’s eight p.m. and he is about to pick up Darcie from the cafe. Jennie already went home, but he needed to know. She promised she’d ask.

‘Of course I did,’ Jennie says. ‘I asked her whether or not she wanted to marry you one day.’

Jennie keeps quiet, causing John to grow a bit impatient and asks: ‘And?’

‘And she said that she had multiple daydreams about you standing at the altar, looking at her as she walks down the aisle.’ She starts to laugh and says: ‘If you are worrying about her saying no, let me tell you this, John: the girl is smitten. She is so happy with you and though she didn’t say it in exactly these words, she really wants to spend the rest of her life with you.’

John leans back in his seat, sighing deeply. He is not proposing tonight, though he really wants to. If it was up to him, he’d marry her tonight.

‘What’s on your mind?’ Jennie asks when he doesn’t say anything.

‘Nothing,’ John says. ‘I want it to be perfect, you know.’

‘I understand, but I can guarantee she will love it no matter how you’re proposing. Wait, no, that’s a lie. I know this has nothing to do with proposing, but please listen to this. Back in high school, the most popular guy asked her to go to prom with him. In the middle of the cafeteria, microphone and all. Everyone was watching. You could feel the anticipation rise with every passing second.’

‘What did Darcie do?’ John asks, with a smile on his face.

‘Oh, poor girl nearly fainted. She finally managed to pull herself back together and said: “I’m going to take your request into consideration”. In front of the entire school, right into the microphone.’

John hears Jennie laugh and he can’t help but laugh as well. ‘Well, I don’t want that to happen.’

‘Oh my God, you really don’t. After she said that, she walked away and he followed her. They did eventually go to prom together and they became prom king and queen. She stood there, with the crown on her head, probably wishing she could just disappear. Poor girl is scarred for life, everything that has to do with that kind of unexpected public attention. So promise me you won’t propose to her in public with a crowd.’

‘I won’t. Look, I’m at the cafe, Jennie. Thank you for today.’

‘Yeah, totally. Just tell us when you’re going to propose, okay? We really want to help you to make it as perfect as possible.’

After he hangs up on her, he turns around to look at the dogs. ‘What do you say, kids?’ he asks. ‘You think she is going to say yes when I propose?’

Tiki barks and jumps to the front seat, while Oreo wags his tail, smiling at his owner.

John chuckles and grabs the leashes. He walks to the cafe, with the two dogs walking in front of him. He hid the ring in her apartment, but he placed it in the safe with his three guns and m.o.. When he sort of moved in her apartment, he told her about it, said that having guns around, made him feel safer. More secure. She said it was okay.

She did know the safe combination, he wanted her to know, but knowing Darcie, she’ll never look inside. She told him once that she didn’t want to know about all the guns he owns and how he can use them and he respected that.

Now, it comes in handy.

He opens the door of the cafe. There is no one there, but he hears a: ‘John, I’m almost done!’ from the kitchen.

Within seconds she flicks off the kitchen lights and her entire face lights up. ‘There are my babies,’ she says, crouching down and spreading her arms, inviting the dogs to rush to her. ‘Oh my God, I missed you two so much.’ She gives them both a big kiss on top of their heads. ‘Were you good to your dad today?’ she asks in a high pitched voice.

‘They were very good,’ John answers, staring at his beautiful girlfriend. Since it keeps getting colder and colder, her sweaters are getting thicker and thicker. She owns a lot of knitted ones and he can’t decide which one is the cutest, but seeing her in this light pink color, makes his heart skip a beat.

Personally, John never really cared about colors. He barely saw the difference. Once Helen painted an entire wall in a soft yellow color, but it took him four hours to notice it, after she pointed it out to him. But Helen mostly liked the warmer beige kind of colors.

The amount of pink and other pastel colors that Darcie has in her house, is really overwhelming and he can’t not notice. But sleeping underneath the pink blankets and sipping his morning coffee out of a baby blue mug, makes him feel at home. He loves every second of it and since the colors make her happy, it makes him happy.

Darcie walks over to him and wraps her arms around his shoulders. ‘I missed you so much, honey,’ she whispers in his ear, causing shivers down his spine. He pulls her small frame against his, lifting her off her feet.

‘How are you doing?’

‘I can’t wait to go home,’ she admits.

He presses a long kiss on her cheek. ‘You want me to give you a piggyback ride to the car?’

‘We’re adults, John. I can walk.’

‘I’m going to carry you to the car no matter what.’

He keeps his promise, because five minutes later, they closed off the cafe and Darcie is on his back, holding on tight, while he holds the leashes of their dogs. She presses soft kisses on his neck. ‘I love you, mister Wick,’ she says.

‘Really?’

‘Mhm, so incredibly much. The entire day I’ve been waiting for the day to end, so I could see you again. Does that sound too clingy?’

John laughs. ‘Not at all. I wish I could spend every single second with you.’

‘You’d get bored of me.’

‘Not a chance.’

He helps her in the passenger seat. While John drives off, he keeps on talking about the cute things Oreo did today and how Tiki is such a hyperactive one, compared to her brother.

But he barely gets a responds. ‘Sweetheart, what’s wrong?’

‘I figured you haven’t watched the news,’ Darcie says. ‘My dad lost the case. Pete Stanford is a free man.’

With the whole proposal and looking for a ring, he totally forgot that was today. He holds her hand and gives it a tight squeeze. ‘I’m so sorry to hear that.’

‘My dad was devastated. He worked so hard on it and now… I don’t think he has lost a case ever since he owned Angel and Moon.’

‘How is he doing?’

‘Well, he kind of wants to be left alone now. Tomorrow he will stay at home with my mom, they will talk about it and hopefully he can go back to work on Monday, without him feeling guilty.’

John kisses her fingers. ‘I’m sorry, baby. Is there something we can do for him?’

‘Don’t think so, maybe next week.’ From the corner of his eyes, he spots that she looks to the side. ‘You are so thoughtful, thinking about what we can do for him.’

John almost feels giddy, but he simply clears his throat. ‘Well, your dad is family. Of course I want to do something for him.’

Once they are home and the dogs waddle off to the couch, curling up beside one another, Darcie walks off to the kitchen, to make herself some tea. Though John wished he could do every single thing for her, she usually swats his hands away. ‘You already do so much for me,’ she would say to him. ‘I’d like to have the illusion there are things I can do.’

John leans against the kitchen counter, crossing his arms and looking at the petite woman next to him, making them some tea.

‘You’re looking at me with your bedroom eyes,’ Darcie says with a chuckle, forgetting about her father and the case. ‘Does this sweater turn you on?’

He loves it so much when she jokes around like that. The better he got to know her, the more frequent those kind of comments became. ‘Well,’ John laughs, ‘everything you wear or do turns me on.’

She was pretty confident about ten seconds ago, but now she blushes. She pushes her mug to the back of the counter, so the dogs can’t reach if they disobey and place their paws on the edge of the counter. She stands on her toes and gives him a long kiss. ‘Really everything?’

John hoists her up, throwing her over his shoulder as he walks them to the bedroom.

‘John,’ she squeals, smacking his back. ‘What are you doing?’

He places her carefully on the bed and takes off his white shirt. ‘What do you think?’ he asks, closing the door behind him. ‘Someone informed me that I was looking at you with my bedroom eyes.’

Darcie smiles at him, almost turning him into a puddle. This woman has a certain effect on him, he never knew anyone could have. She takes off her knitted sweater, revealing a tight tank top. After she throws the flimsy material to the side, she’s left in her white lace bra.

God, he loves it when she wears that one. John helps to unbutton her pants. Her skin is slowly losing the sun kissed color, after spending the entirety of summer in short skirts and dresses.

Seeing her body on the bed in her bra and pink underwear, makes him almost lose his patience. He wants her, now.

He crawls on top of her, pressing his lips against hers and she wraps her legs around his hips.

‘John,’ she mewls, ‘I need you, please.’

Hearing her talk to him in that needy voice… He almost cums in his pants at that moment, but he composes himself, letting a cheeky smile form on his lips. ‘I know you do, baby,’ he whispers.

John stands up and unbuckles his pants, letting it drop to the floor. When he sits between her thighs again, she somehow turns him on his back, straddling his hips. Barely does she take control like that, mostly because she’s still too embarrassed to let go like that.

Gradually, her moans are becoming a little louder. He hates it that she thinks that she’s not good enough for him, not sexy enough and every day he wonders what he could do to make her realize that he is in it for the long run, that every thing she does, is good enough for him.

He could propose.

Darcie places her hands on his shoulders, pushing him further into the mattress. Her soft lips are pressed against his and his hands wander to her hips. Every place she kisses him, leaves a burning sensation behind. His neck, his collarbone, the scares on his chest. His underwear is getting real tight.

Her fingers hook around the waistband of his short and she pulls it down, revealing his painfully hard cock, some pre-cum covering his tip.

Darcie licks the drops away and John groans in frustration. Her hand wraps around his thick cock, licking the base.

She barely does this, but when she does, it nearly kills him. His chest rises up and down in a fast pace and he can’t help it but let a strangled moan escape from his lips when she takes him in. Normally she goes about halfway, but he doesn’t know what is going on with her tonight, but she takes him in further than she’s ever done. He can feel his tip at the back of her throat.

‘Fuck, baby,’ he manages to choke out. He sits up straight and grabs her long straight locks, so they don’t get in her face. It takes him all his will power to not buck his hips. He watches her as she bobs her head, slightly gags when she takes him a little further.

Her innocent eyes look up and to make things even harder, she winks at him. He grabs her by her shoulders, to pull her on top of him. ‘You,’ he pants, ‘are gonna be the death of me.’

Darcie smiles at him. ‘John,’ she whines, ‘I was just getting started.’

He unclasps her bra, revealing her perky breasts. He folds his lips around her hardened nipple. ‘You like these panties?’ he whispers against her sensitive skin.

She lets out a chuckle. ‘No, it was the only— Oh my God, John! Did you just rip it apart?’ She looks down, to see her underwear in shreds in his hands. ‘Impressive,’ she chuckles, grabbing his face, before kissing him.

Her tongue explores his mouth, his hands wandering from her lovely hips, to her ample behind.

To his own dismay she lets go, to reach for a condom in the drawer of the nightstand. She rips the foil package open and rolls the rubber on his cock. Still on top, she holds his member in her delicate hand and brings it near her wet entrance.

Darcie feels so fucking tight around him. He watches her slowly sinking on him, until he is balls deep inside of her. She places her hands on his chest and starts riding him.

He needs to keep his shit together, because he is about to cum. His thumb plays with her clit, hoping to send her over the edge before he is.

Like always, only soft whimpers leave her lips.

‘Come on, baby,’ he whispers, ‘let me know you feel.’

When he gets zero response from her, he bucks up his hips, setting the pace. Taken by surprise, a moan leaves her lips.

‘That’s my girl,’ John smiles. He pulls her close to his chest and turns them over, so he is on top again. He speeds up his thrusts, unable to hold in.

‘Fuck,’ Darcie groans.

Her walls are tightening around him. ‘Let go, sweetheart,’ he whispers, ‘I’m really close too.’

Her legs start to shake and for the first time, her soft gasps turn into loud moans, filling the room. ‘Fuck, John,’ she cries out and that sends him over the edge. They ride out their high together and John pulls out of her, causing her to whimper at the loss of connection.

John throws the condom in the bin and does what he always does; engulfing his sweet tiny Darcie in his arms.

‘Mister Wick,’ she pants, ‘I love you.’

‘I love you too, baby.’ He tilts her head and says: ‘Don’t get embarrassed, but I love it when you take control like that.’

She does get embarrassed. ‘Really?’

‘I do,’ he says, propping himself on his elbow, so he can look at her a bit better. ‘And you were louder tonight.’

‘I know.’ She hides her face in her hands. ‘God, I bet I sounded like a moron.’

‘Don’t do that,’ John tells her, pulling her hands from her face. ‘Look at me, baby.’

She hesitates for a second, but when she looks up, her eyes squinted together, almost as she is afraid of what he might say.

‘It makes me happy when you let me know how you feel. You should let me know how I make you feel, okay?’ He pecks her nose and whispers: ‘That’s very important to me.’

Darcie nods. ‘Okay.’

‘The fact that you can be hot as hell and as cute as a button two minutes later, it drives me crazy.’

‘Shut up,’ she laughs, trying to get away from him, but he is a lot stronger and holds her close to his chest. ‘John, let me go. I need to clean my face.’

‘One kiss,’ he says. ‘Just one.’

‘Okay, okay.’ She presses a short peck on his lips, but John pulls her back, his fingers tangled in her hair. ‘John,’ she groans against his lips. ‘You said one kiss.’

‘It is one kiss.’ He can’t seem to let her go, but he knows his Darcie. He knows that she is going to clean her face no matter what and he lets her go.

‘I’ll be back here before you know it.’ She gets up out of bed, grabs John’s shirt off the floor and throws it on. She sends him one last smile, before she exits the room.

John can’t help but smile. Yeah, he really wants to marry her.

Taglist: @toomanystoriessolittletime @flhorah @allie1804-fan @cynic-spirit @raven-black102

#keanu reeves x oc #keanu reeves fanfic #keanu reeves #keanu reeves x original character #keanu reeves x ofc #john wick x oc #john wick fanfic #john wick #john wick x original character #john wick x ofc #never out of practice

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spaceraspberries · 4 years ago

Text

(The first chapter of my 18+ Undertale Fic ‘Monsterous Skeletonus’ is complete!)

(It’s gonna be a -very- slow burn, but there will be a whole lot of the UF Skelebro’s (G included!) in later chapters and a whole lot of eventual smut to go with it, even if the plot is gonna be heavier than a semi as it maps out 👀)

(Once I get it proof read fully I’m going to post it on A03!)

.................

‘Alright, alright! Easy now. We don’t need anyone breaking a leg, do we?’

‘Ugh, why do we need to go -all- the way down here? It’s not like the machinery for this shit doesn’t exist. I feel like a old school miner or something, y’know?’

‘Hey! That’s no way for a brave explorer to talk, Meg! Don’t you want to see what’s down there? Could be all sorts of cool, weird stuff!’

‘Like what? More rocks and dirt?~ Oh! Maybe some ‘sand’ even? Give me a break’

‘Guys, d-don’t start arguing. We’re going to be down here f-for a while so it’s best to get along~’

.................

The varying chatter of excited, muffled voices ringing down into the unknown, inky blackness of what was assumed to be a rather hidden among the weeds and rocks but still wide crevice leading into Mt. Ebott that had been only recently discovered, the forested area had been well scouted out over the past few weeks and had been mapped well so that the current team leading the charge wouldn’t have to contend with trying to figure out where their destination would be by sight alone.

The ‘team’, otherwise known as FTL (Future team leaders. A cheesy name if there had ever been one) were simply a group of third year Geo students who had been tasked with taking core samples from the innermost caverns of Mt. Ebott for substrate testing. It wasn’t exactly a glamorous job by any stretch of the word but it was good experience for the youngsters in terms of field work, the leader of the group of ragtag students, a rather burley, bearded man named Sean and his partner Gunter already being at the bottom of the cavern as they waited for the rest of his team to follow suit, the impatient Sean watching as Meg and Desmond, the third and fourth oldest on the team respectively, carefully sidled their way down the craggy rock surface, arguing all the way much to the usually cheerful but honest mans chagrin.

“The more you guys complain the more time your gonna spend down here getting the damn samples. We still have to set up camp too so I suggest you guys pick up the pace”.

A collective groan coming from the duo grappling down, Desmond and Meg soon reached the bottom of the dimly lit cavern while two other members on the surface still suited up, Terra and Mira, a pair of naive adventurers if there ever were any, looking seriously nervous as they prepared to begin the descent down into the unknown.

“You ready?”, Mira smiling nervously at the freckle faced Terra as her friend nodded back hesitantly, it was more often than not that Mira was the braver one between the both of them, Terra being more of the ‘I’ll just follow you for safety sake’ type ever since they were children and Mira often having had to assume a’leadership’ role because of it.

Not that she minded it at all though! If anything, the short-stack of a girl enjoyed leading her best friend through the forest and hills when they were merely kids, the both of them often fighting imaginary monsters and imagining what it would be like to climb the forbidding and dangerous Mt. Ebott that had the reputation of housing -real- beasts and all sorts of angry spirits for centuries.

Well, according to many a scary bedtime story it did at least, Mira no really longer believing such childish fantasies and thinking them about as real as a monster under the bed. The girl had always been terrified as a kid by the thought of some horrific creature climbing down the mountain and snatching her up in the night when she misbehaved, her being unable to look back at those times without laughing at how her own imagination used to run wild.

“Y-yeah, let’s just take it easy though, alright?”.

Terra blushing nervously as Mira grinned and the both of them began the slow descent down into the inner workings of the massive Mt. Ebott, the dark slag that covered most of the upper surface area soon gave way to crumbly, brown flecks of caked in dirt about halfway down that rained into the depths below at the smallest touch, the bright entrance to the surface growing smaller and yet smaller still as eventually it was merely a pin prick of light far, far above the teams head when Terra and Mira finally hit the weirdly soft and rather squishy ground beneath.

“See? We made it down okay~”, Mira helping to unclip Terra’s equipment as she could tell her fellow team mate was uneasy, she was used to Terra being a bit of a worry wart but she seemed to be especially unnerved today for some reason, “Told ya we would make it in one piece”. Sticking her tongue out playfully at Terra as the girl batted her hand away with a sigh once she was unclipped, Mira laughed as Sean meanwhile approached with bottles of water for both of them.

“Hey now! Looks like you made it all in one piece!~”, Sean smirking broadly as he playfully patted the nervous looking Terra on the back, the girl smiled small as she watched the others in the group already beginning to set their bags down alongside the smooth, stone covered walls of the wide, expansive cavern they had landed in.

The circular area where they stood being lit by a few torches that Gunter, a rather quiet short man that was second in command to Sean had placed around what would be their designated base area, it was easy to tell that whatever this place was it must have been pretty damn old, scraggy bits of moss and thick, thorny vines creeping up the strangely, almost ‘carved’ looking walls that were reminiscent of a oversized well in a way.

The dirt covered ground being rather soft and squishy as was mentioned previously, it wasn’t ‘wet’ but had the texture and feel of a half absorbed sponge that had been wrung out and left to dry, bits of dried plant matter, green and yellow, making up a bulk of the signs of life that had floated down from the surface to the seemingly lifeless cave over the years, a large pile of the shriveled mess having formed a rather neat mound directly below the gleaming entrance far above.

Meanwhile, the lack of hardiness in the soil was proving difficult for Desmond to drive the stakes for his tent into by his annoyed grunts and frustrated strings of cusses.

Nature wasn’t for everyone apparently.

A naturally formed but crooked arch towards the east appearing to lead deeper into whatever lay beyond the teams immediate landing spot, it was oddly convenient, almost as if it was beckoning anyone who fell or grappled their way down here to enter it and take a chance with whatever dangers laid beyond Its dismal, abyss like entryway.

Mira getting a bit of a odd vibe from the area as she decided to stick by her team mates side for now, there would be plenty of time to explore later, her taking a sip from her water bottle with a content sigh as Sean soon formed everyone in a loose huddle to discuss their next plan of action.

“Alright!”, Clapping a hand to get everyones attention as he visually assessed that his team was safe and sound, Sean held his constant, positive outlook proudly even as most of his members looked exhausted from the day trek up Ebott and grappling down here, “Now, we all know why we’re here, collecting samples and all that fun stuff. Of course, to avoid outside contamination from -that-“, Sean pointed upwards at the tiny prick of light to the surface above them, “We are going to have to do a bit of traveling inwards once morning hits!”.

“Oh! Does that mean we get to see how far all this goes?~”, Mira speaking up as she genuinely seemed excited about the possibility of traveling farther into the cave system, she ignored the sound of Meg behind her muttering something annoyed under her breath, “I hear some of these caves can stretch for -miles-!”.

“Andddd your exactly right, kiddo! Of course, we only need to collect samples unspoiled by outside contamination. We won’t need to travel too terrible far in for that, but I wouldn’t discount the idea of another trip down here if funding for this pans out”, Sean winking at Mira as the pint sized girl blushed and internally swooned, a intentional, rough cough from Desmond seemed to break the pair out of whatever little ‘thing’ was blooming between them as he motioned to the tents that still needed to be set up.

“Yeah, uh, a-anyways, another thing guys, I don’t want to see anyone wandering off either, got it? We have no idea where these caverns might lead and the last thing we need is to have to send out a rescue squad to find one of you. I’m sure everyone has heard the horror stories of those idiots who decide to go off alone and wind up wedged under a boulder or something”.

Sighing a bit awkwardly to himself as he seemed to get the hint across to his team judging from the murmurs of acknowledgement they gave, Sean was a natural leader and the head of this group obviously....but sometimes it was a bit difficult to get everyone on the same page, the only real ‘friendship’ between them all outside of being grouped students and cavers being Terra and Mira, two of the youngest mates among them.

This was going to be a long, difficult journey if they couldn’t all manage to find a common ground to communicate on, but at least in the end their mission was likely to prove successful now that they had arrived safely in the interior workings of Ebott as planned with barely a scratch.

Soon enough everyone would be back on the surface and they could all go their separate ways, but for now there was work to be done in terms of getting tents set up and dinner ready, the long hike just to get to the top of Ebott having been almost a full days worth of energy.

“Meg, you get a fire and dinner set up since Desmond already has the tents”, Pulling out a small note paid from his pocket as he scribbled something down while he spoke, Sean than looked at Terra and Mira as his usually eager eyes seemed to grow a bit more tense in thought as he rubbed his temple slowly with his free hand.

“And you two....Just...don’t do anything stupid, okay? We don’t want another Cauldron incident. That -especially- goes for you Mira, got it?”.

“Uh...yeah, y-yes Sir”, Mira blushing and nodding once as she glanced at Terra who now had a chance to smile and nudge her friend back playfully, neither of them particularly were proud of the unspoken ‘Cauldron’ incident but it was good reason for them to stay put and out of the way.

...........................

The team taking the next hour or two to set up tents and unpack gear, the plan was for a three day excursion to take samples from the depths of Ebott for both sediment and groundwater exploration. Of course, no one had really ever been -in- this mysterious cave system until now to map it out, the next few days having the potential to be longer or shorter depending on exactly how difficult the terrain proved to be to navigate.

By the time Meg had managed to scrap together a decent fire and everyone had settled down around it for a meal of rationed leek and potato Soup, the group seemed to be more than happy to simply have the chance to relax and take off their worn jackets and boots, The night sky far, far above them having the faintest sparkle of stars and moon mist to indicate the time of day on the surface.

Mira sitting to the left of Terra and near Sean on a blanket while Gunter sat near Desmond on the ground and Meg had perched herself on her bag, it could have almost be called a crude form of camping in a way if any of the said campers shared any sense of shared camaraderie.

“I’ve always heard weird things about this mountain, y’know? Things like ghosts and goblins and the like”, Desmond sipping his soup as he spoke with a sly grin, the flannel shirted man seemed to enjoy the way he made the nervous Terra especially perk up and shuffle ever so closer to Mira like a lost pup.

“How they especially like to eat little kids that wander away from home....Yeah, I bet they are just waiting to snatch some new prey up when they get a chance~”.

“Real mature, Des. I bet it took you all day to come up with that one, right?”, Meg rolling her blue eyes as the man continues to grin and simply drank his soup, Mira meanwhile seemed to be quite curious about what Desmond was getting at though as she suddenly became a bit more attentive.

“Well...I’m not a kid and neither is Terra, so we should be fine~”, Smiling lightly as she kind of wanted Desmond to continue talking about his little stories of what might be in these mountains, her gaze silently urged him to keep speaking as she let Terra cuddle close to her for warmth.

Desmond chuckling and shaking his head at Mira’s assertion that she wasn’t a child, he closed his eyes for a moment in thought, “ Nah, you don’t wanna hear stuff like that before bed, believe me”.

“B-but, I mean it, I’m really curious about -all- that kind of stuff! Cryptids, ghosts, you name it! I-I mean I don’t -believe- in any of it...it’s just, uh...fascinating I guess”.

“Mmm, I think he might be right, Mira. Besides, we should be hitting the sack soon anyways. Everyone’s got a big day ahead tomorrow”, Sean raising a brow at Mira’s apparent interest in what might be lurking around the inner workings of Ebott, his input seemed to only fuel Mira’s insistence in knowing more about what she thought Desmond was ‘hiding’ from her because he saw her as merely a kid.

“Come on, just -one- story?~ You can’t just lead me on like that”, Mira feeling Terra cuddle a bit closer to her even more so as she seemed to be persistent enough to convince Desmond to give in, the man sighed and put his empty cup down as Mira internally cheered that he seemed he was going to tell them more about his creepy tales.

“Alright alright, but only one, got it? Man, you kids these days know how to work a old mans feelings”.

........................

................

.........

Sleep coming easy for the exhausted group by the time Desmond had sufficiently managed to spook nearly everyone out with his tale of a creature called the ‘Crooked handed woman’, Terra had, as usual, decided to remain by Mira’s side even when they were comfortably safe inside their tents and was cuddled up next to her best friend once the group had decided to call it a night.

It wasn’t as if Mira minded much that the perpetually nervous girl wanted to share a tent, her honestly thriving off the warmth that the both of them being this close gave in this unnaturally cold cavern.

Desmond’s tale still ringing in the back of Mira’s mind as she fell into a mild sleep not long after getting herself comfortable, the thought of some old, crone like hag with skin like old onion paper and a twisted and gnarled hand with a ‘mind of its own’ was enough to keep her up a little after everyone else had fallen asleep, the occasional sound of what Mira assumed was dried leaves shuffling outside her tent instinctively making her cuddle up a bit more in her sleeping bag to feel smaller.

Yeah, maybe it hadn’t been the best idea to beg Desmond to tell his tale after all....

‘T-there isn’t anything out there! Stop being stupid and get your mind off of it already!’

Maybe Desmond was right to not want to tell his creepy stories when what she really needed was to sleep for tomorrows expedition deeper into the cave, Mira sighing a bit to herself as she watched Terra’s soft, unworried, sleeping face next to her own as she slowly tried to lull her body into rest as well.

............

......

-scerch scerch...scritch....~

‘W-what? What is that?’

Mira cracking her groggy eyes open after a minute or so of letting her mind rest, the sound of rustling ‘leaves’ outside of her tent had for a second or two became a bit louder than before, her senses instinctively going on high alert as she waited in silence to see if she wasn’t truly just going crazy from exhaustion.

...............

.........

‘scritch scritch....-c r u u u u n c h-

.............

The sound of what Mira could best describe as one of the Lit-A-Fire portable logs that had been put out by Sean earlier snapping slowly in half, the girls heart was pounding in her chest by now as it was more than obvious that someone, or some t h i n g, was out there just beyond her tent, her wide eyes focusing on the still sleeping Terra in front of her as she debated on waking her friend up to investigate.

‘No, she is just gonna freak out. Just stay put Mira...I-it’s probably just Sean or someone out there....’

............

-c r u n c h-

The sound of another one of the logs seemingly being split in half reaching Mira’s ears as she squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to panic, a odd tapping noise, almost like long nails clicking on stone, was a new sound to emerge after a few seconds of silence, the story she had heard from Desmond earlier returning to her already panicking young mind ten fold.

The old lady with her crooked hand and it’s long, gnarled nails....t-there was no way it was real, right?

............

.......

-tap tap-

A terrified, muffled squeak coming from Mira as she buried her head in her bag, the sound was now right outside of her tent as she felt Terra stir besides her, her not wanting to see who or whatever was attempting to seemingly try to get her attention as the front zipper of the girls shared tent opened rather slow and quietly.

“G-go away!!”.

Mira bolting up and slamming a pillow directly into the face of a most perplexed looking Gunter, the sleepy, heavy set man crunched his brow together as he put his hands up in a mock fashion to show he surrendered.

“Hey there, just calm down!”, Shaking his head once as he tried to speak quietly to avoid waking Terra, Mira blushed heavily out of shame as she immediately seemed to realize how stupid she had been to think that the kindly second in command to Sean had been some kind of ��monster’.

“Was wonder’in if ya had the first aid in here. Kinda stepped on some of the logs while going to take a leak...and, well...”, Gunter running a hand along his hairline as Mira immediately went to hand off the box of medical supplies to the sleepy looking man that resided safely by the tent entrance, the pink blush she had sprouted didn’t leave her face as she sighed and retrieved her pillow she had thrown at him as well.

“Sorry bout that....”, Speaking quietly as she hugged the parcel to her chest, Mira was merely given a nod by the typically introverted Gunter as he went to zip the tent back up, her and the still sleeping Terra once again being left in the dark, Mira feeling like a total fool for letting Desmond and his stupid story get to her to the point of her actually thinking some terrifying beast had been shuffling about outside.

..............

........

-Scritchhhhhh~

Laying back down to -finally- get some much needed sleep, Mira paid little mind to the sound of what she assumed was Gunter bandaging up his wounded foot, her giving a mighty yawn as she wrapped a arm around Terra and-

..........

-B A N G-

.............

A heavy, extremely loud jolt rocking the pairs tent and apparently the others nearby as she could hear the sound of confused yelling and tired murmurs almost all at once, the startled Terra too blinked her eyes open as she gave a scared, confused look to Mira, her putting a finger to her lip to silently signal to the younger girl to remain quiet as she unzipped and peeked out of the tent to see what the heck was up now.

.......

-B A N G!!!-

A heavy, hot pressure nearly collapsing the heavy canvas tent in on both Terra and Mira as the girls let out a terrified cry of confusion as the fabric fell around them, Mira even under the mess could tell that Sean was shouting indistinguishable words to the others in a apparent panic at whatever was going on, Meg’s just as muffled, frantic pleas mixing in with his orders as Mira tried to yank Terra out from under their collapsed tent as another heavy bang and a sudden, strange whistling noise erupted around them again.

“T-Terra! We need to get out of here!!!”.

Terra, fearful tears streaming down her face as Mira grabbed a hold of her wrist while a bright flash of what could only have been described as a ‘ball of green hued flames’ slammed into the opposing wall nearest where Desmond and Meg’s tent had been, Mira squirmed out from the remnants of tent fabric as she didn’t bother or try to look at whatever or whoever was causing this havoc, her only instinct telling her to run as far away with Terra as she could while she still had the chance.....

Whatever was going on m-must have been some weird, natural cave phenomenon....that was the only real explanation Mira could come up with on the fly e-even if it made little sense logically....

Flames just didn’t shoot out of nowhere like this though.....but maybe since Ebott was rumored to be a long dormant volcano t-that had something to do with all of this?

As little sense as it made it was the -only- logic running through Mira’s imagination as she tried to block out the frantic sound of yelling and screaming back from base, the loud crack of a shotgun being added to the fray as Mira practically dragged Terra towards the archway nearby.

The dimness of the cavern making it nearly impossible for the pair to get their footing as the torches from earlier had been put out by Sean in anticipation of a good nights rest, Mira blindly ran towards the stone archway that led deeper into the yet unexplored inner cavern, her bare feet scrapping painfully along the much rougher, cement-like surface of the pitch black entry way into the unknown depths.

Her nearly crushing Terra’s wrist in her grip as she pulled the hyperventilating and crying girl along, the sound of the carnage from the base camp was now only a muffled, distant drone as the wide eyed and fully shocked Mira eventually stopped to take a breath once they reached a narrow alcove that was eerily silent and still compared to the chaos outside.

“Y-you alright?~”, Whispering softly to Terra as she held her sobbing friend close to her chest, Mira tried to shush Terra but it wasn’t doing much good, the easily terrified girl unable to calm herself as she clung to Mira tightly.

“I want to go -home-, Mira! Coming down h-here was a mistake! I -knew- it was a bad idea and now look what happened! We need to g-go back and help them!!”.

“I know, I wanna go home too....but I don’t think going back there is the best option right now”, Mira trying to give Terra a little smirk to lighten the mood but failing miserably, it didn’t help much at all as Terra simply broke out into a fresh round of sobbing, “We will figure this out, okay?~ I-I’m sure things aren’t as bad as they seem and we probably just over reacted. To be honest I bet this is one of Sean’s stupid pranks”.

“Thats -not- funny and you know that isn’t true!! F-for all we know Sean a-and Desmond and everyone else is hurt back there! I don’t know what happened but whatever a-accident or...-thing- tore up all our tents...but we are going to have to go back and help them!”.

The sound of the distant drone of chaos back from the base slowly growing less urgent as a unnerving silence began to replace it instead, Mira gave Terra a look that said to not even try it, her keeping her grip on her friends wrist as tight as ever.

“Listen...”, Mira taking a hold of Terra’s trembling hand as she tried to be the braver one between them, she sensed that the agitated girl was going to run off the first chance she saw to who knows where and wasn’t going to take the risk of letting that happen.

“Your going to stick with me until we can figure out what’s going on, okay? Going it alone in this place...seems a bit, uh, dangerous...”.

“B-but Mira!-“.

Mira letting out a deep, exhausted sigh as she shuffled Terra to her chest for comfort with the girls protesting, it was partially to avoid letting her see the nervous tears forming in her own eyes, Mira not being cut out to be a leader on the fly like this by any means.

“We need to see if there are any other exits out of here. I know this is scary a-and all, but I know you can do this, Terra~ I know your really brave deep down even if you don’t think it”, Giving her friends hand one last squeeze of determination as Terra seemed to brighten up slightly at Mira’s kind words, the darkness ahead of them seemed to be silently daring the inexperienced pair to take it on, there being no chance of going back now as Mira gave a slight tug of Terra’s arm to prompt her along into the unexplored and potentially hazardous new world, “We are going to get out of here together, I promise”.

Unfortunately for the unwary girls, the journey ahead of them wasn’t going to be easy and the chance of either making it back to the surface at all was slim, a certain green eyed, rather dirty furred ‘beast’ already being well aware of Mira and Terra’s presence~

#Undertale #undertale fic #fanfiction #horror #slow burn #undertale fanfiction #o.c

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ipaintwithwords · 4 years ago

Text

Christmas Short Story Exchange

Wolves Without Teeth

Fandoms: Life is Strange, Life is Strange 2 Characters: Sean Diaz, Lyla Park, Daniel Diaz, Chloe Price, David Madsen (mention), Brody Holloway (mention) Tags: Post-Redemption Ending, Post-Save Arcadia Bay Ending, light angst with happy ending, mentions of depression/antidepressants, reminiscing, ambiguous/open ending, POV heavy, pretty scenery and dogs and ghosts

And I run from wolves breathing heavily at my feet And I run from wolves tearing into me without teeth

♪♫♪♫♪♫

Millions of stars lit up the vast, deep indigo canvas of the night sky along the coast of Oregon. It was a quiet, peaceful night, the kind that was made for intimate strolls and heartwarming conversations and marveling at the beauty of the ocean, hand in hand, barefoot on the shore, accompanied by the light April breeze and the soft whispers of the waves. It was made for campfires and laughter, grilled fish and cold beer, and acoustic guitar covers of songs that people don’t listen to enough on Spotify, even though they really should - it was a night made for moments ephemeral and eternal at the same time, a series of overexposed polaroid images in the sand.

However, for the young man driving under the endless rows of majestic pine trees, the night was but a spectacular backdrop for his hours spent on the road. Slightly more memorable than the day before, and infinitely longer than any other day of the past week he’s spent driving, one hand on the wheel, the other one either stroking the gentle crosswind with a cigarette between his fingers or buried in the thick, brown fur of the adolescent wolfdog snoozing on the passenger’s seat, curled up like a content, well-fed little roll with her favorite blanket between her front paws.

That night, he was holding onto the wheel with both hands. Eyes fixated on the highway, his anxiety was skyrocketing in his chest, flooding the back of his mind with dark thoughts and his head with an unbearable migraine, building up slowly but steadily, creeping into his skull, even the empty - and otherwise numb - socket of his left eye. Not that he was a stranger to headaches, but unlike all his past encounters with nasty migraines, this time he had no idea what to blame: the cigarettes, the lack of sleep, all the synthetic food he shoved down his throat the past few days, his ridiculous deadline drawing near by the minute… Or perhaps the fact that for the first time in fifteen agonizingly long years, he was back on a road he never thought will see again.

The only difference was that this time, he was on his own. There was no comforting presence beside him, no hula dancer figurine on top of the dashboard, no excited chatter coming from a kid high on adrenaline on the backseat. It was just him and the shores of Oregon, his sad music and his snoring dog (who wasn’t exactly the chatty kind, which, honestly speaking, never truly bothered him; he adopted her for the very same reason) and this stubborn, intrusive, demanding migraine that seemed to have made a cozy little home for itself in his forehead like it was meant to live out the rest of its life under his skin. And somehow, it managed to grow even stronger when out of the blue, the music was interrupted by the steady, low buzzing of his phone.

All of a sudden, violent waves of frustration crashed down over him as he took a quick glance at the device’s screen. Tightening his grip on the wheel until his nails started digging irritated crescents into the faux leather, he grit his teeth while staring at his phone, its buzzing resonating in his temples as if someone was trying to drill into his brain. The buzzing lasted for a solid two minutes before the screen would finally turn dark again and the pulsating sensation in his temples quieted down a little - only giving him a few moments of calm and quiet, though, as his phone started ringing again the moment he was about to sigh in relief.

“Oh for fuck’s sake!”, he grunted loudly in anger, waking the peacefully sleeping wolfdog pup with either his hoarse voice or the annoyed dash of his hand as he reached out for his phone to pick up the incoming call and be over with it as fast as possible. He knew exactly what’s coming for him, and he was in the mood for anything but fighting with his best friend on the phone right now.

“What the fuck, man?!”, hissed a young woman on the other end of the call with a furious whisper-shout, as soon as he pushed the green button. “Are you being serious with me right now? Where the fuck are you, Sean?”, she hissed, and Sean heard a door slamming shut behind her, most likely the backyard door, to be precise, as she stormed out of the kitchen for a smoke.

“You knew I’ll be busy this weekend”, much to his surprise, he magically managed to keep his voice calm and his words collected when he answered after a few moments of hesitation. “I DMed you and I also texted the group chat yest-”

“Yeah, and I thought you’re just trying to back out of going to Walmart with us!”, his feeble attempt of coming up with explanations was met with an angry snap from the young woman. “And I actually can’t believe that we’re having this conversation? Like I can’t comprehend the fact that for whatever fucked up reason, you are actually ditching your own brother’s birthday weekend”, she scoffed, lighting up a cigarette with two impatient click-clacks of a cheap 7-Eleven lighter.

“I have a deadline, Lyla, and it seems like you’re the only person who can’t accept that”, answered Sean with a deep, resigned sigh, only trying to resist the sudden urge of smoking for a brief second before he rolled down the window and reached for his cigarette case. “I talked to Daniel about it, alright? He was the first person I called”, he murmured under his nose, shoving a crooked cigarette between his lips. “And to be honest, I still don’t understand why you guys insisted on throwing this huge ass party for him for an entire weekend... Y’all know he prefers his PS4 and pizza over twenty of us being all over him for three days, right?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it was me who’s about to ruin his birthday! Fuck, man, thanks, now I can see that it was me all along”, Lyla let out a burst of dry laughter, more threatening than the sharpest blades in the world. “You are unbelievable, Sean.”

“I’m doing everyone a favor by skipping, y’know”, said Sean, sticking his hand out the window, unleashing the tiny smoke-dragons of his cigarette into the night. “‘Cause let’s be real, we both know that it’s me who’d ruin his birthday” he added with a shrug, making Lyla snort in disbelief.

“I can’t think of a single reason why his favorite person in the world would do that, so please enlighten me with your wisdom, Sean-Wise”, suddenly, her tone softened, bringing a massive lump to Sean’s throat.

“The last thing he needs right now is his useless, depressed brother”, he answered quietly, unable to resist the suffocating grip of anxiety on his neck. “And thankfully, he understands that his useless, depressed brother needs to submit an unreasonable amount of work ‘til next Wednesday, so… Yeah. We’re both doing each other a favor, to be honest.”

“Sean, I… Useless? Why would y- What do you even… Hollup for a sec” sighed Lyla, slightly frustrated, as a small voice suddenly called for her. “Yes, baby, what’s up?”, she said, words and smile warmer than the morning sun, and Sean couldn’t help but smile too when he heard her switch to Korean the next moment, most likely reaching for her daughter Hannah, and gently pushing a strand of dark, silky hair behind her ear like she always did.

“Sorry for that, Miss Thing is getting cranky because she only ate five times today”, Lyla returned to the call after a good minute, and Sean could clearly see her roll her eyes as the door shut close behind Hannah. “So where were we…”

“You were about to give me a Ted Talk on self-love because I called myself useless”, said Sean with a faint smile, before carefully flicking the cigarette butt out the window. Lyla didn’t answer immediately, at least not with words - her silence, on the other hand, was heavy with worry, a calm before the storm Sean knew too well. After all, thirty-three years of friendship teaches a thing or two about another person, especially a friendship like theirs was.

“You know, I had a feeling this is gonna happen”, when Lyla finally broke the silence, she couldn’t conceal the sad, resigned bitterness in her voice. “At least tell me where you are, man…”

“I’m in Oregon… Driving along the coast, actually”, Sean answered, giving his dog an affectionate scratch behind the ear, and making her turn her all-knowing, golden eyes from the night view on him. “Don’t worry, I’m not alone. Chestnut’s here too.”

“Dude, she didn’t even bark when she heard my voice”, said Lyla, with a very obvious and even more dramatic pout on her face. “But wait, what the fuck are you doing there? In Oregon?”, she asked, and this time, it was her confused frown that Sean could see crystal clear as if Lyla was sitting right next to her.

For a brief moment, he truly wished she was.

“I’m chasing ghosts”, when he spoke eventually, it felt as if there was someone else talking with his mouth, unseen powers forcing the air out of his lungs and his tongue and teeth to form the words that echoed for a seemingly endless moment in the car and inside Sean’s head.

And before he could even blink, the echo sunk even deeper, into the darkest pits of his scarred, hurt, lonely soul, as he found himself staring at the unmistakable silhouette of Arcadia Bay in the distance after a slight turn in the road.

He spent the night at Otter Point, in his car, right next to the very same visitors plaque he broke down at, for the first time since fleeing Seattle on that nightmarish afternoon all those years ago, to a man he just met - a man who changed everything, although fifteen years later, Sean wasn’t sure anymore that it was for the better. He wasn’t sure whether he’d still be alive at all if it wasn’t for Brody and his golden heart that night, but he was certain of one thing: that compared to all the horrible things that happened to him, to them, death would’ve been but a merciful release.

Death didn’t come for them, however, at least not in its form that’s known to most people. Instead of taking them, it decided to befriend the Wolf Brothers and tag along on their journey, from the suburbs of Seattle to the iron gates of the Mexican border - and after that, the lifeless, ashen grey walls of a suffocatingly small prison cell in Washington. It was there that night too, in Sean’s car, a worn, cherry-red station wagon just like Brody’s, and inside his head, too, buried deep under the quiet, unsteady chaos of his thoughts. It was in every breath he took, every pill he swallowed, every minute he spent awake wondering what is he even doing, and there was nothing, absolutely nothing that could make it go away, that could make death change it’s stubborn mind and to leave Sean Diaz alone, because, throughout the years, it simply grew too fond of him.

And with time, Sean just… Accepted it. He accepted being handpicked by death itself and stopped fighting it because no matter how hard he tried to avoid it, to get rid of it, to pretend that everything was fine, nothing helped; nothing but the acceptance and the handfuls of numbing bitterness he consumed at least two yellow tubes of each month for the past, God knows how many years. Of course, things could’ve been a lot worse, and Sean was fully aware of that - he knew that he was extremely privileged for being able to settle back into society relatively easily after being released from his sentence of nearly two decades spent in one of the country’s biggest federal prisons.

Frankly speaking, it wasn’t about settling back into society as much as it was about doing something he secretly always dreamed of, even before the story of the Wolf Brothers began on that chilly Friday afternoon, in a completely ordinary, perfectly average October of a past, long-lost life. In fact, if someone told sixteen-year-old Sean that everything that’s about to happen to him will eventually lead to a new life in which he is a comic book artist who gets paid for drawing the weird shit in his head, sixteen-year-old Sean would’ve probably laughed until his stomach hurt and happy tears started rolling down his cheek.

And yet, there he was that morning, on top of a hill above the Oregon coast, moderately enjoying his cheap instant coffee in the back of his station wagon (and after a glance at his peaky-faced reflection in the mirror, extremely judging his lack of self-discipline regarding taking care of his beard) while waiting for his tablet to charge fully so he can proceed with the next strips for the fifth chapter of The Adventures of the Pack. Chestnut was running around in excited circles, chasing grasshoppers and butterflies and occasionally, her tail, not particularly minding either her owner or the breathtaking view of the coast, and along with it, the quiet town of Arcadia Bay.

At first, he didn’t even think of making a stop at a seemingly insignificant place like Otter Point on his not-so-spontaneous journey - for some much-needed inspiration or for bittersweet reminiscence, he wasn’t entirely sure anymore -, but while going through dozens of maps and routes and painful memories on a sleepless night before his trip, he stumbled upon a picture Daniel sent him for one of his birthdays spent in prison. A picture from Away, to be precise, of a cozy little bonfire and four people with marshmallow sticks in their hands and tipsy smiles on their faces - a picture that kept him up awake for the whole night, with tears stuck halfway in his throat, desperately trying to fight their way through the walls Sean has built around himself. And the moment he saw David in the picture, he decided that after all the phone calls and visits and almost fatherly check-ins from the man throughout the past fifteen years, the least he can do is stopping in David’s hometown for a quick page or two on his way down South.

“Man, it must be tough being you”, Sean chuckled as he put his empty mug on the small writing desk in the corner of his on-the-go bedroom, looking at Chestnut playing in the dry dirt alongside the road with a wide, amused smile on his face. “Careful, though… I’d rather not break my neck trying to rescue you if you fall down” he added, climbing out of the back of his car with nimble reflexes, the sudden movement answered with excited bark coming from the wolfdog pup.

“Would you look at that”, said Sean with an impressed little snort, walking up to the fence and bending over to rest his arms on it, eyes roaming the endless, unbelievably blue ocean and the gentle waves washing up against the pale sands of Arcadia Bay’s shores. “Can’t decide if it’s beautiful or the most boring shit I’ve ever seen, to be honest… What d’ya think, huh?”, he raised his eyebrows, peeking down at Chestnut yelping next to him, and giving her a loving scratch behind the ears. “Come, check this out”, he beckoned to the visitors plaque next to them with his chin, patting Chestnut’s side gently as he stepped up to the laminated board, full of colorful images of the local wildlife and the town’s various attractions.

“Yeah? That’s where you wanna go?”, he laughed, as Chestnut suddenly stood up on her rear legs, front paws propped against the plaque, curious golden eyes fixated on the picture of Arcadia Bay’s imposing lighthouse. “Y’know what, why the fuck not, we got all the time in the world… At least ‘til next Wednesday'' Sean sighed, looking up from the slightly faded photograph to the actual lighthouse in the distance, peeking out from countless majestic pine trees, its bright, white light rotating with a slow and steady speed on the opposite end of the bay on top of a cliff.

There was something strange, something unsettling about the tall, robust tower that Sean couldn’t exactly put his finger on. He found himself staring at the lighthouse as if it held all the secrets, all the answers to all the questions he’s been searching for all his life - he couldn’t move, he couldn’t blink, he couldn’t even catch his breath for what felt like an eternity, even though it was but a mere moment. As if something was calling him, an invisible, eerie force locking his eyes on the lighthouse, Sean just stood there petrified, and if it wasn’t for Chestnut and her eager little woof startling him back to reality, he probably would’ve stayed there like that until sunset.

“Yeah, why the fuck not”, he murmured under his nose, shaking his head like he just woke from a weird dream as he turned away from Arcadia Bay and walked up to his car, trying to ignore the uncanny tingling in the back of his head - and the unmistakable feeling of being watched by a pair of all-seeing, otherworldly eyes.

It took surprisingly long to get to the other side of the bay from Otter Point. By the time Sean reached the lighthouse, the sun was high in the spotless blue sky, radiating its warm light so dazzlingly he had to shield his eyes with his hand as he exited the car. He parked the station wagon in a small clearing surrounded by fragrant, sky-high pine trees, at the bottom of a meandrous set of wooden stairs half-eaten by the soil, and began his short hike up to the lighthouse with Chestnut trotting by his side. The forest around them was peaceful and bustling with cheerful and welcoming Spring life; they saw busy bees and chirping birds and dancing butterflies everywhere as they made their way uphill, following the glimmering sunspots on the ground.

“Alright, same rules apply, okay? No running along the edge, it’s rocky down there”, said Sean when they reached the top of the stairs, grabbing Chestnut’s collar the very last minute before the pup could just storm off to explore the uncharted territory. “Stay… Staaay…”, he raised his eyebrows as the pup looked up at him with giant eyes full of excited sparkles, wagging her tail like the clearing in front of her was the last one on Earth to roam. “Good girl. Run along now, but carefully, please”, he said after a moment or two, as he let go of Chestnut, watching her dart off as a fired arrow with a proud, fatherly smile on his face before following the pup to the clearing.

The lighthouse stood tall on the edge of the cliff, watching over Arcadia Bay like a robust, all-seeing guardian. Seeing the tower up close, Sean felt the same magnetic energy that practically hypnotized him from all the way across the bay, only this time, he felt it ten folds stronger, as he stood there and stared at the lighthouse, tilting his head back as much as he could to take in the breathtaking sight in all its mesmerizing entirety. It felt like he arrived in another dimension where time didn’t work as it did on his own; as if a heavy, velvety curtain fell on the world, closing around the cliff and creating an odd, languid void where the pace of time just wasn’t the same. It was quiet, yes, peaceful, even, but at the same time, the air was strangely disturbed, unsettling and mysterious - and eerily inviting.

After what felt like half a lifetime of staring at the lighthouse, Sean noticed a worn bench on the edge of the cliff. He watched Chestnut sweep across the clearing, very much occupied with chasing something that looked like an azure-blue butterfly at first glance, before walking up to the bench and sitting down on it, turning his gaze towards the magnificent view of the bay below him as he reached for his cigarette case in his pocket. With the first puff of bitter smoke, he closed his eyes, and for a while, he just listened to the waves crashing against the rocks at the bottom of the cliff and the squawking of a few stray seagulls circling around the lantern room, before bringing himself to unzip his backpack and pull out his tablet and sketchbook from the messy depths of it.

He only hesitated for a brief moment before he put the tablet back in his bag, and along with it, his deadlines and professional responsibilities, settling with his trusted sketchbook instead. He preferred drawing on actual paper with an actual pen anyway, and he felt like procrastinating a little before letting his work swallow him in one bite. Flipping through dozens of pages of unfinished drawings until he finally reached a blank page, Sean started sketching Arcadia Bay with strainless ease, his eye constantly moving back and forth between the sketchbook and the view until the chaos of thin, black lines started to come together and he didn’t have to look anymore.

And this is when the time truly stopped around him, as it always did when Sean took the pen. It was just him and his vision of the world under the sun, and of course, Chestnut running around the clearing, her lanky, brown form always somewhere in the corner of his eye.

“You’re really pressed about this butterfly, aren’t you”, he chuckled as Chestnut ran across his feet relentlessly, making Sean look up from the content little wolf he’s been sketching for a while without even realizing that he started adding it to the drawing. He didn’t even notice anymore, since this was the case with many, if not most of his drawings - as if he was physically incapable of finishing a drawing without wolves in it, or for that matter, drawing for someone who wasn’t his brother.

“I mean, it’s a pretty fucking stunning butterfly if you ask me”, answered a mischievous voice beside him, completely out of the blue, startling Sean so unexpectedly that he almost fell off the bench.

“De puta madr-!!”, he exclaimed in fright as he turned his head, and the next moment, he found himself staring at a young, slim girl, leaning against the crooked fence on the edge of the cliff. “I mean, ugh Jesus. Sorry, I didn’t see you there” he added quickly, clearing his throat as he looked the girl up and down, wondering how long has it been since she got there - and most importantly, how in the world didn’t he notice her when she arrived.

“It’s kinda rare that anyone does, to be honest” shrugged the girl, stepping away from the fence, piercing blue eyes shifting from Sean’s colorless face to the sketchbook in his lap. She was tall and slender, wearing ripped jeans with a leather jacket and a black beanie, electric blue hair framing her narrow, elfish face. She looked like she was in her late teens, early twenties, maybe, and even though Sean was certain he’s never seen her before, somehow it felt like he’s known the girl for his entire life. “What are you drawing? Can I see?”

“Sure, take a look” he said, scooting over a little so the girl could sit next to her. “It’s a… I don’t even know what, that started off as a landscape sketch” he explained, scratching the inner corner of his empty eye socket and suddenly wishing he put on his eyepatch before coming up to the lighthouse. The girl, however, was way too invested in his sketchbook to even notice that there was something unusual about his appearance, and even if she did, she didn’t seem to be taken aback by it - or at least she didn’t feel the urge to stare, unlike most people Sean has met throughout his life.

“This is really cool, dude” the girl said after a while, looking up at him with a wide, impressed grin before turning her gaze back to Sean’s drawing. “Are you like, an artist or something?”

“Artist is an overstatement but yeah, I draw comics for a living” Sean answered, reaching out for Chestnut when he noticed the pup is running towards him. “This one isn’t for work though. It’s a… Gift. For my brother”, he added, his smile suddenly fading with the words, and not returning even when Chestnut wriggled her way in between his legs and placed her head in his lap, staring up at him with giant puppy eyes.

“Something gives me the impression that he’s the small one”, the girl chuckled, pointing at the younger wolf on Sean’s drawing, chasing a butterfly on the edge of the cliffside looking over Arcadia Bay, next to his bigger, scruffier, one-eyed brother, relaxing under a pine tree.

“I have no idea what makes you say that” said Sean with a faint smile on his face, gently fondling Chestnut’s head in his lap. “The older I get, the more it feels like it’s the other way around, to be honest”, he sighed quietly, feeling his entire chest harden all of a sudden as he took a glance at his sketchbook between the long nails of the strange girl next to her.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” asked the girl bluntly the next moment, carefully closing Sean’s sketchbook and putting it between them on the bench. “I don’t think I’ve seen you in Arcadia Bay before, and that’s pretty shocking considering that we’re talking about a town of 200 people where nothing ever happens…”

“Yeah, I’m just traveling. Thought I’d drive through town and check out the view from here” Sean answered, and as he pulled out another cigarette from his pocket, he couldn’t help but notice the sudden sparks of longing in the girl’s eyes. “You want one?”

“Not gonna lie, I could kill for a smoke… But no thanks. I… Can’t”, the girl gulped, watching with eager eyes as Sean reluctantly put the cigarette in his mouth. “Oh, no, it’s okay, I don’t mind. The smell’s gonna do the trick” she said, exhaling the smoke of the first huff with a strange, almost euphoric smile as Sean lit his cigarette at last.

“Oh man… You got some superior shit right there” she said, her smile slowly growing into a content, wide grin. “But anyway… As much as Arcadia Bay is the most boring shithole in the whole wide world, I hope your trip was worth it in the end.”

“Sounds like you lived here for a while, huh?”, Sean asked, eyebrows raised, to which the girl let out a sarcastic snort. “Oof. That bad?”

“There are no words to describe just how bad, my dude” the girl answered, shaking her head and wrapping her arms around her long legs pulled up to her chest. “I’ve been stuck here my whole fucking life. Wanted to leave since I was fourteen” she continued, the playful cheer suddenly leaving her voice and leaving behind gloomy shadows on her face. “Should’ve gotten the fuck outta here the first chance I got”, she said sourly, planting her chin between her knees and staring blankly in the distance, to a faraway place Sean couldn’t follow her to - and even if he could, he wouldn’t want to.

“So why didn’t you?”, Sean blurted out before thinking twice, but before he could even think of a way to apologize for possibly having crossed a line, the girl laughed out loud and dry.

“Have a wild guess, dude. ‘Cause of love, of course”, she snorted again, only this time, sarcasm was replaced with something much darker in her tone. “I was just waiting for the right time y’know. Back then, I had no idea that no such thing exists. Not for anything, not for anyone. There is just you and time, and time is nothing but a massive fucking trap, waiting for you to get stuck in it” she said, eyes darker than the coldest nights of winter. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to explode like that.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize for anything”, Sean shook his head, placing his burnt-out cigarette butt under the bench next to the previous one. “I’m just not sure I get what you mean.”

“No worries, I wouldn’t expect you to get it anyway” the girl shrugged, and the next moment, she turned her gaze to Sean, all-seeing blue eyes staring right into his soul. “You know, people hardly ever come to the lighthouse anymore, except when they should be somewhere else. And even if they come, they barely notice me. It’s nice that you did. And that you listened, too. I’m not sure where you’re supposed to be now, but I’m glad you’re here” she smiled, patting Sean’s hand with a surprisingly cold palm briefly, retreating almost immediately as he shuddered next to her.

“Yeah, I’m glad I took a little detour too” he smiled back at the girl before his glance wandered off to his sketchbook lying between them on the bench. “But I think I should get going now. I’d love to stay and chat, but… I’m ridiculously late already”, he added, a concerned frown taking over the upper half of his face, and a bewildered grin the lower, as somehow, at that moment, he realized there’s a chance that perhaps he has given into the nonsense of his own depression slightly more than he should have in the first place.

“Yeah, you probably are”, said the girl with a playful wink, standing up from the bench and stretching her long arms above her head. “Man, what a spectacular fucking afternoon. I mean, look at the Sun. Such a radiant bitch boss, for real”, she declared lovingly, making Sean laugh out loud for the first time in the past few days, or even weeks, maybe.

“Need a lift?”, Sean asked the girl as they turned their backs on the lighthouse, and started walking towards the staircase leading to the small clearing at the bottom of the cliff.

“Nah, thanks, but I’m not done here yet”, the girl said, shoving both her hands in the pockets of her skinny jeans. “Got some wandering to do, y’know… Contemplating the beauty of Spring and all” she looked at him with a somewhat shy smile, and Sean decided not to risk crossing any more lines with any more questions.

“I guess this is where we part ways then” he nodded his head when they reached his station wagon, waiting patiently next to the tourist map of the cliff. “Enjoy contemplating the beauty of Spring, I guess?”, he smiled at the girl, opening the door of the passenger’s seat for Chestnut.

“Yeah, thanks, man. You take care too, okay?” answered the girl, and the next moment, before Sean could say anything, her eyes suddenly widened. “And don’t forget to sketch up a cool portrait of me or something if you got the time, will you?”

“Stop reading my mind, a’ight?” Sean laughed, waving at the girl before sitting in his car, a sudden burst of energy washing over him as the door closed behind him. The urge to drive as fast as he just can was stronger than he’s ever felt it before, but somehow, he managed to control it, closing his eyes and leaning back on his seat for a long, silent moment before reaching for his phone. Swiping away dozens of notifications, he then opened his contacts and pressed call on the first name on top of the list - the only number he’s ever called, really.

The ringing stopped right after he pressed his phone between his ear and shoulder, and turned the car key under the steering wheel.

“Hey enano. I’m on my way.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Hey! Thank you for reading! ❤

This short story is my contribution to a Christmas Short Story Exchange we did with my best friends. (It is also my first ever fanfiction in English!) I was writing for one of my best friends who got me into Life is Strange years ago, so when we pulled each other’s names and I found out I’m writing for her, I immediately knew that I’ll work with the Diaz brothers and Chloe.

2020 Christmas Short Story Exchange Word count: 5353 | Written December 22nd-27th. I’m on AO3 now! Head over for more fanfictions. ❤

#fanfiction #Life is Strange #Life is Strange 2 #Sean Diaz #Daniel Diaz #Lyla Park #Chloe Price #Post-Redemption Ending #Post-Save Arcadia Bay Ending #under 10k #story #writing #writers on tumblr #short story #fan fiction #fanfic #light angst

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multikpopwriter · 6 years ago

Text

Little Secrets | m.t

【ｍａｓｔｅｒｌｉｓｔ】

pairing: moon taeil x female OC

genre: fluff, frat boy au, college au

warnings: mentions of sexual contents

words: 1.6k

prompt: Taeyong takes Taeha, his younger sister, to the frat house for the first time. He expected everyone to be enchanted by Taeha’s beauty, but the lack of reaction from the frat members frustrates him, especially with the eldest Taeil, who ends up doing their homework instead of talking with Taeyong.

Taeil was popular musician already making a name for himself even though he has yet to get a degree. It was no secret that Moon Taeil was already successful without a degree, but he still chooses to pursue one. He was always stuck up with the idea that instead of making music and making a name in the industry he wants a quieter job, that's to teach kids music.

"Guys, I have someone to introduce you to" Taeyong calls the attention of the people sitting in the dining area doing and minding their own business. In the room were the following frat members: Taeil, Yuta, Mark, Jaehyun and Jisung.

"All of a sudden? We aren't at a frat party" Taeil gives the young leader a weird look.

"I have no plans on bringing this person to a frat party, much more our own" Taeyong smiles a bit.

"Who is it?" Yuta was getting a bit impatient with this little mind game. I mean everybody that was seated at the dining table was thinking who it could be that Taeyong doesn't want to bring her to a frat party.

"It's my sister!" he pulls a girl by her wrist to be seen by everyone sitting in the dining area. All of those who expected Taeyong's special someone was disappointed and went back to their business.

"Why is everyone suddenly not interested?" Taeyong looks around the room and noticed that Taeil looked like he was interested. "Hyung, this is my sister"

"I heard it the first time, bro" he makes a 'tsk' sound. "I'm only surprised that a classmate of mine was actually your sister all along"

"You share classes together? But my sister takes up--"

"Education" Taeil shrugs his shoulders.

"But aren't you a music major?" Taeyong was confused.

"I am" Taeil couldn't believe that his own frat leader had no idea what his program was. "Major in Music Education" Taeil shakes his head at the younger.

"Right, Taeha, can you send me your share for the group project" Taeil tells Taeyong's younger sister and the two of them both act unbothered by the new news that they were a lot closer than they thought. Before Taeyong ever realized, he was out of their conversation, they were talking about how to prepare lesson plans and telling each other advices on how to improve their lesson plans.

"Hey, Taeha, do you want to spend time with your brother?" Taeyong tries to interrupt their conversation.

"Taeil, you should really bring out a laptop" Taeha tells Taeil completely ignoring her brother's request.

"Right" Taeil stands up from the table and lightly brushes along Taeha's hand. She gave Taeil a look before giving him a small smile. He walks up the stairs of the house and as soon as he enters his room, he clutches his chest. This wasn't good, the two of them thought that they would never meet each other in the frat house, much more pretend like they haven't been dating for a whole two years now.

Moon Taeil and Lee Taeha have been dating since they first became classmates and have kept their relationship a secret because they were both scared with what kind of reaction Taeyong would give. They planned to keep it a secret until Taeil graduated which was this year.

He tries his best to calm himself down, this wasn’t good for his heart. His phone began to vibrate. It was a text from Taeha.

'I don't want to sound impatient, but I'm tired of pretending in front of my brother. When will we tell him?'

Taeil takes a deep breath.

'I think we should tell him when it’s only the three of us'

it takes a while before Taeha replies with 'okay'. This wasn’t good, her simple reply felt unreadable to Taeil’s clouded thoughts. He takes a deep breath and with all the courage he has left Taeil heads down with a laptop in his hands and to his surprised the other frat boys were comfortably talking with his girlfriend. Taeha was laughing along with the other frat boys and it was making Taeil feel a little bit uncomfortable.

"I got the laptop" Taeil calls the boys' attention. He then squeezes himself in between Taeha and Johnny who looked the most comfortable talking with one another. Taeil quietly opens the laptop as conversation continued to be exchanged.

"I mean, I didn't really expect Taeyong's sister to look this cute" Johnny takes a sip out of his drink.

Taeil freezes and Taeha was quick to notice this. She bites down on her lips, Taeil was never jealous or agitated because of her, it was her who was constantly jealous of other girls. "Stop flattering me" Taeha plays along and Taeil's head snapped up and gave her a look. All she did was respond it with a smile.

"I have a question Taeha" Doyoung who was sitting accross the table from them called her attention. "Among the guys in the frat, who do you find the most attractive?" Doyoung's question made Taeil cough.

Taeha gave a quick glance at Taeil. She could feel his legs move up and down under the table, it was a sort of tapping manner that she hated, but Taeil only did it during times where he can't really do anything. Taeha smiles to herself.

"Taeha, we need to finish this by tonight" Taeil suddenly speaks up, looking her in the eye.

Taeha smiles at Taeil. "I'm sure we still have time to finish that tonight" Taeha was enjoying herself.

"I mean, the most good-looking member would probably be my brother" Taeha flashed a smile at Doyoung. Taeyong, who was seated at the far end, looked very satisfied with the answer.

"I meant, aside from your brother" Doyoung clears his answer.

Taeil audibly sighs beside her. He gives her a side eye and made sure that his presence was heavily felt by her. He was rubbing his legs against her, now his sweaty and agitated hands were holding onto hers under the table.

"I've never really thought about it" Taeha makes a thinking face, while her hand was being squeezed by Taeil. "I mean if I were being really really honest..." Taeha pretends to scan the table, then she stops at Taeil. Then she looks at Taeyong who was giving her a weird look, almost as if he noticed that there was something odd going on between Taeil and Taeha.

"There is one person I'm really really attracted to" Taeha's confession catches everyone offguard, especially Taeyong. Taeil on the other hand, no longer had jealously in his mind, right now, he was scared that Taeha would suddenly burst out that they were dating. "My boyfriend" Taeha smiles at everyone and they pause.

"We asked you which frat member" "You have a boyfriend?" Doyoung and Taeyong speaks at the same time.

Taeil bites down his lips. He glanced towards Taeyong and rather than furious he was absolutely curios and this somehow calmed him down. Taeil lifts Taeha's hand out on the table catching not only the other frat members off guard but also Taeha.

"I'm the boyfriend" Taeil gives the boys a loopsided smile.

"Wait! You're dating Taeha?" Taeyong was now standing, the leader couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"He is" Taeha was the one to respond. The whole table was absolutely quiet.

"Wait..." Ten rubs his temples. "How long have the two of you been dating?"

"Two years" Taeil responds very softly. Hiding his face as everyone was pushing them down with their thumbs.

"TWO YEARS?" Taeyong couldn't believe it. "The two of you have been dating for two years and I've known nothing about it?" Taeyong runs his hand through his hair.

"I'm sor--" "I need to think this through" Taeyong leaves the room and everyone knew that this wasn't going to end up good.

Taeil takes Taeha into his room where the two of them fell absolutely silent. Taeil was pacing back and fort the room, he was trying to think. He was trying to think of ways to approach Taeyong and explain to him why the two of them kept it a secret. "Babe" Taeha calls Taeil's attention and suddenly stops walking to look at her.

"Sit with me" Taeha pats on the empty space of his bed. Taeil complies and sits beside her. Taeha wraps his her arms around Taeil's, her head leaned against his shoulder. "You should understand that we're dealing this together, right?"

Taeil takes a deep breath. Did he make her worry. Taeil slips his hand away from Taeha's grasp, he turns his body towards his direction before pulling her into his chest. "As long as we're together I'm fine" Taeil kisses Taeha's forehead. Taeha lifts her head so that she could see Taeil's face.

"My brother's not a bad person, I'm sure he'll understand" Taeha assured him. Taeil couldn't help but smile, Taeha was always the calm one between the two of them. She was always level headed, but at the same time she was cute and clumsy. She's that mixture of both.

"I know he isn't bad" Taeil gives her a little peck on the lips, something he rarely does. Taeha was caught off guard, she was blushing hard and Taeil couldn't help but think he was the luckiest guy in the world to have her in his arms blushing this hard from a little peck on the lips. "You know what, let's just talk to him tommorrow" Taeil smirks and Taeha's eyes grows big.

"Wait? Are we doing it now? Here?" Taeha slightly panics and her cute side showing.

"Where else?" Taeil slowly lays her down on his bed.

【ｍａｓｔｅｒｌｉｓｔ】

#taeil #nct 127 #taeil imagines #nct imagines #nct 127 scenarios #moon taeil #nct #nct fanfic #nct 127 fanfic #moon taeil imagines

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quinlinkin · 6 years ago

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take it from me ( i’d be lost without you ) ↳ Q’s twdg writing challenge

character(s): aj, aasim, louis ship(s): aasim/louis ( lousim ) word count: 838 author’s note: so this doesn’t quite revolve around actually doing any hunting, but alas- lousim from little aj’s perspective is way too adorable lmao

[ ao3 link ]

*credits to the wonderful @stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale for creating this challenge! you can view the entire prompt list + further details here. happy writing!!

― ☼ ―

day seven ; hunting.

AJ has always been an observant kid. He’s the type to ask questions about anything and everything under the sun, to endlessly wonder about how things work, or why people act in all the vastly different ways that they do. He is curious by nature, sometimes perhaps overbearingly so, and Clementine has undoubtedly dealt with her fair share of frustrations because of it.

Today, he’s been assigned on hunting duty for the first time since Clem’s accident. It’s no secret to anyone how positively excited he is to have earned her trust enough to officially join the others as a part of the group.

In his eyes, he’s one step closer to being all grown up.

So, he’s eagerly waiting by the front gates for his comrades to join him, his very own bow clutched securely in his hand. He’s proud to say that the recent archery lessons has produced some increasingly promising results. Aasim had even said so, himself.

Which, speaking of- He can see Aasim approaching now, and unsurprisingly, Louis trails closely behind him. Ever since coming back from the Delta’s boat, the two have practically been inseparable. AJ had asked Clem if it was because of all the trauma, and she had told him it was partly the reason why. Predictably, when he’d asked her about about the other reasons, she’d told him plain and simply; they were together now. The same way she and Violet were, as an example he could more easily understand.

AJ thought it was nice, that they had each other to depend on. He knew how happy Violet made Clem, how they always helped each other through the bad times, especially. He hoped it was the same for them, too.

“Hey, little dude,” Louis greets cheerfully, extending his fist out or AJ to bump it.

He does exactly that, grinning up at him. “Hi, Louis. Hi, Aasim.”

Aasim gives him a short wave. “Got your bow?”

AJ proudly holds up the object in question. “Yup. You got yours?”

Louis chuckles, and Aasim’s lips quirk up accordingly. “You bet.”

“Well, come on. We got lots of work to do.” As impatient as ever, he’s already pushing open the gate before waiting for any kind of response. Louis aids him in his efforts, even if AJ will always insist that he can do it all by himself.

It’s not five minutes into their trip that AJ’s curiosity peaks.

From what he can tell, Aasim and Louis liked to keep mostly to themselves. He’d only ever seen them kiss once, and apart from Louis slinging an arm around the other in what appeared to be more of a casual manner than anything else, they kept their displays of affection more or less on the down-low.

Naturally, when AJ catches sight of Louis’ hand slipping into Aasim’s as they walk together in front of him, it immediately catches his interest. So, he watches them. Head tilted and lips pursed, his eyes roam back and forth from their entwined fingers to their faces, where he can see them exchange the briefest of smiles and a few sparing laughs as Louis occasionally leans in to whisper something in Aasim’s direction, just quiet enough that AJ can’t hear.

Maybe it’s his budding curiosity. Or, maybe he’s simply growing irritated towards their continued hushed conversation, as if they’re completely oblivious to the fact that he remains right there behind them.

Either way, he finds himself blurting in the next moment; “Are you guys in love?”

Aasim trips over nothing. Louis’ head whips around so fast AJ wonders if it’ll fall right off his shoulders. They both end up gawking at him, until Louis finally manages to find his voice.

“What, uh… What makes you ask that…?”

AJ shrugs nonchalantly. “I dunno. Clem says she loves Violet. So… I was just wondering, I guess.”

Louis and Aasim blink at each other, both of their faces turning a slightly darker shade of red as the seconds tick by. AJ truly doesn’t understand the severity of his seemingly innocent question.

“Um…” Louis eventually goes on, considering that Aasim has apparently been stunned into silence. As AJ watches him, a sudden, indescribable look crosses over his features. “Yeah.”

That’s apparently more than enough to effectively snap Aasim out of his trance. Except, now he’s gawking at Louis instead of AJ as he blurts, “Yeah?”

Louis regards him with a certain amount of shyness that looks strange coming from him. “Well, I mean- I do… so… yeah…”

AJ, although observant towards a lot of things, is blissfully oblivious when it comes to others.

That’s all he needed to hear. His question has been answered, after all.

“Oh. Okay,” he says, brushing past the dazed pair to continue on down the trail. And as he goes along, he casually calls over his shoulder, the weight of the situation entirely lost upon him, “If we see any rabbits, can I be the first one to take a shot?”

Louis, despite himself, simply has to laugh.

#twdgdrabblechallenge #twdg #twdg aj #twdg aasim #twdg louis #lousim #Q writes

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rockscanfly · 8 years ago

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i fear no fate (for you are my fate)

Chapter 2 of and this is the wonder thats keeping the stars apart (i carry your heart) is up!

Story Summary: Like all Atlanteans, Kaldur was born with his heart outside of his chest. (Monster AU where Kaldur's immortal as long as his heart stays frozen. Which is fine--all he has to do is never fall in love. But then he meets Roy, an escaped simulacron trying to find a way to become A Real Boy (TM), and things go downhill from there)

Chapter 2 Summary: Roy meets Kaldur, Kaldur meets Roy. They become friends, assemble a family, and fight crime.

Read here or below the cut!

A coward would have thought twice about interrupting two sorceress’s midnight mid-term study session to seek a personal favor. Especially if one of said sorceresses was from one of the most powerful magical lines to walk the Surface Realms, and the other was a kinetimancer who could cut off your oxygen supply and send you through a wall with a flick of her wrist.

Kaldur’ahm of Shayeris was no coward.

But Sha’lain’a of Shayeris had not raised a fool, so he made sure to bring two bottles of wine when he knocked on the door to their suite.

(‘It’s super good, I promise’ Dick had assured him earlier that day while Wally perused the snack selection. They were shopping at the liquor store down the block from the Conservatory, and Kaldur was still baffled by the sheer variety of ways that the surface dwelling races had come up with to poison themselves. Richard patted Kaldur’s arm companionably. ‘Everyone loves Moscato, trust me.’)

Raquel opened the door, eyes wide and slightly crazed. She had a half-eaten stalk of celery in her hand, which Kaldur thought she was holding rather like a large knife. She glanced at Kaldur, then down at wine bottles peeking out of the bag he held. “Zee,” she shouted over her shoulder. “I’m breaking up with you and eloping with Kaldur!”

“What? Why?” Zatanna called back from their living room. “I mean, yeah, who wouldn’t, but why now specifically?”

Raquel tugged Kaldur into the door, lifting his arm up by the wrist to display the bag to her girlfriend. “He brought wine.”

Zatanna hopped up from her spot on the floor. Judging by the array of papers surrounding her Kaldur couldn’t quite guess if she was in the middle of a midterm or a spell. Then again, it was probably both. “Let me see that,” Zatanna muttered, reaching into the bag. “Moscato? Oh, honey, you’re not eloping with Kaldur. I’m eloping with Kaldur.”

Raquel pecked her on the cheek, snatching the other bottle and padding to the kitchen for some glasses. “We’ll do it in Utah. Make it a three-way affair.”

Kaldur cleared his throat. “While I am flattered,” he said, standing stiff and formal, “I am afraid you ladies are too late.”

Zatanna gasped, collapsing back on the couch. “Oh, Kaldur’ahm,” she exclaimed. “Say it isn’t so!”

“Yes,” Kaldur said, voice grave. “I am afraid my heart belongs to...another.”

Wine poured, Raquel set both glasses on the coffee table before draping herself dramatically over the couch arm. The position also, conveniently, allowed her to rest her head against Zatanna’s chest. “And who has stolen our noble knight’s heart?”

Kaldur kept his eyes glued to the wall. “The most beautiful of all beings,” he said grimly. “The sea.”

Zatanna cackled, and Kaldur ducked, laughing, as Raquel launched several couch pillows at his head with a wave of her hand. “You cheeseball!” She yelled, giggling helplessly.

The three of them settled down, the two women scootching aside on the couch to make room for their guest. Kaldur instead chose to sit a wooden stool from the kitchen. Zatanna rolled her eyes at him, but didn’t comment. Getting Kaldur to share the couch with them was a battle she and Raquel had stopped trying to fight months ago.

“Thanks for the break,” Zatanna said instead. “I think if I had to memorize one more Sumerian symbol I was going to blow up half the building out of frustration.”

Kaldur shrugged. “I heard from Wally that you two were in need of respite.” He fidgeted, crossing and uncrossing his legs at Raquel’s ‘Really?’ look. “And I am in need of your assistance,” he admitted.

Zatanna shifted, settling so Raquel’s head was in her lap. “I don't really have the time to make a charm right now,” she said slowly. “Once Monday is over, I can, but you're going to have to wait until then.”

“It's not time sensitive,” Kaldur assured.

“What is it?” Raquel questioned, smiling contently as Zatanna ran her fingertips through her hair.

Kaldur resisted the urge to touch his neck. He held up a hand, spreading his fingers to emphasize the webbing that joined his fingers. “I would like a charm that allows me to appear human,” he said simply. “I have been at the Conservatory for half a year now, and while it's been fascinating…” Kaldur trailed off, suddenly self-conscious.

“It wasn't what you had in mind when you came to the surface,” Raquel finished for him. “You want to see what it's actually like up here, huh?”

Kaldur flushed. Raquel had always been disturbingly good at reading him. “Yes.”

Zatanna hmm’d, heels tapping lightly against the couch as the wheels turned over in her head. “This is pretty rude, Kal,” she complained. “Here I am trying to pass my Sumerian Constructs class and you're tossing something this interesting my way.”

Raquel pinched her. “You've got an A, Zee. Trying to play humble when we all know you're a genius. Besides,” Raquel turned to grin wickedly at Kaldur. “Be nice to Kaldur—he’s cute.”

Kaldur flushed. Raquel had enjoyed teasing him since they first met, exclaiming that there was finally someone worth looking at in ‘Grayson’s little posse’. It was harmless, he knew. Raquel and Zatanna had been together since their first year at the American Conservatory for the Sorcerous Arts. Three years later both women were moving into their Master’s studies and were each known in their own right as two of the most powerful sorcerers of their generation.

Zatanna, who was descended from two powerful bloodlines—Turkish on her mother’s side and Italian on her father’s—was an advanced scholar in Ancient Rites and anthropology. Her current work centered around reviving and modernizing rituals from Mesopotamia and Egypt. She was also skilled in the art of enchantment, and supplemented her income as a researcher by selling useful charms.

Raquel’s work was equally brilliant but opposite in direction to her partner’s. She was a leader amongst a growing group of sorcerers who married science and magic in their work. Her area of research was the use of magic to convert kinetic energy into static structures. She had grown up in Dakota City, a major center of industry and home to one of their country’s best known applied physics laboratories, and the influence continued with her when she moved to Gotham to study at the Conservatory.

They had met Kaldur at a seminar on ancient Mesopotamian sorcery. Zatanna had been there for her studies, Raquel for some precious qualtiy time with her girlfriend, and Kaldur in his role as the Atlantean envoy to the Conservatory. They had hit it off at the reception, especially when Zatanna realized that Kaldur was the ‘reserved fish guy’ currently sharing a suite with her close childhood friend Richard Grayson.

Richard Grayson, who was apprenticed to Bruce Wayne. Wayne was a powerful Warlock and one of the few surface dwellers with connections to the Atlantean Royal Family. When Kaldur’ahm had expressed his desire to serve as an envoy to the Surface Realms for Atlantis, Queen Mera had arranged for Kaldur to stay and learn at the American Conservatory for the Sorcerous Arts for his first three years, so that he could gain a understanding of their magic and culture. Wayne had been contacted to serve as Kaldur’s sponsor, a role he could fill as a sitting member of the Council on Magic that governed sorcerous affairs on the Surface.

Kaldur’ahm had lived with Richard at the Conservatory for half a year at this point, and it was no accident that his and the apprentice’s social circles overlapped almost completely. Wayne was a powerful man with an understandable caution towards the mysterious and secretive Atlanteans, of whom only rumor and conjecture were really well known. He had made sure that his apprentice kept an eye on their visitor.

Kaldur’ahm understood the man’s caution, and was not offended. Atlanteans were secretive, yes, and for good reason. The secret of their hearts and immortality was not something the Atlantean Crown wished to be widely known to those who dwelled on the surface. Atlanteans were powerful, yes. But if enough surface dwellers got it into their mind to search the world’s oceans for the hearts of unbound Atlanteans, it could spell catastrophe for their species.

A sharp rapping on the window interrupted the girls’ teasing and banished the cloud of Kaldur’s thoughts. Kaldur blinked, surprised to see a blonde woman hanging from a rope outside of the living room window.

“I think you have a visitor,” he said, pointing over Zatanna’s shoulder, unsure if this sort of thing even counted as unusual behavior. Six months on the Surface and Kaldur still found himself constantly awed by the things the people above the sea found ‘normal’.

Zatanna turned, jumping in surprise when she saw the woman making an impatient face at her from outside her window. “Artemis?”

Raquel bolted upright, vaulting the couch to open the window. “Crazy, how many times to I have to tell you to stop appearing outside out of windows?”

The woman slipped nimbly from the rope into the room, flipping her long ponytail over her shoulder and embracing Raquel warmly. “First off? I’m still banned from your campus. Second? I brought a friend. And he’s not exactly fond of authority figures right now. There was no way we were signing in at the front desk.”

Raquel hugged the woman back. “And where’s this friend?”

The woman looked pointedly at Kaldur. “I’ll show you mine when you show me yours. Who’s this?”

Kaldur stood, bowing formally. “My name is Kaldur’ahm of Shayeris. I am of friend of Zatanna and Raquel’s.” He looked up, raising a brow. “And I must assume, so are you.”

Zatanna groaned, sitting up and leaning over the back of the couch. She beckoned the woman over for a hug. “He’s cool, Artemis. Kaldur trusts ‘the man’ here about as much as you do. He’s Atlantean.”

The woman—Artemis—relaxed, giving Zatanna the hug as commanded. “I thought you guys were supposed to be fish people,” she said to Kaldur. “You look pretty normal to me.”

Kaldur sighed, pulling down his high collar with one hand and presenting his spread fingers with the other. It wasn’t the first time a mannerless Surface dweller had inquired about his looks, and he doubted it would be the last. “Some of us look more aquatic than others,” he said, tone level. “Though I do find the assumption odd, considering Atlanteans are not under the impression that Surface dwellers share the traits of land dwelling animals.”

Artemis turned to look at Raquel, who was at this point leaning out the window to try and catch a glimpse of Artemis’ friend. “He’s sassy. I like him.”

“Us too,” Raquel answered, then called up the rope. “Hey! You can come down now—we don’t bite.”

Artemis sighed, pulling back from Zatanna. She leaned out next to Raquel, yanking sharply on the rope. “It’s good, Red!” She called up. “These guys can help.”

Moments later a man slid down the rope, rolling into the room and crouching to stay below the sightlines of the window. “Shut the blinds,” he hissed to Artemis.

She did so, nudging him with her foot once the view to the nighttime cityscape was fully blocked. “Up, you paranoid drama queen.”

The man stood, crossing impressively muscled arms. “It’s not paranoia if they’re after you, Blondie.”

Artemis sighed, grasping the man by the shoulder and tugging him over center of the room. “Ladies, fishsticks, meet Roy Harper. Well, a Roy Harper.”

Zatanna got up from the couch, circling the man who stood tensely. “Weren’t you kidnapped a few years ago?”

“No,” Roy growled out. “The first guy was. I’m just a copy.”

Zatanna flinched back, shooting Artemis a look. “He’s a golem?”

Artemis shook her head. “Not quite. The guy who made him? About as far from a holy man as you can get.”

Roy’s eye twitched. “Right here, lady,” he bit out. “Do I look like a walking piece of pottery to you?”

“Well excuse me!” Zatanna snapped, whirling to face him. “But if you’re not a golem and you’re not the real Roy Harper, anything else you might be is something extremely illegal and not something I want in my apartment!”

“You said they could help me,” Roy growled at Artemis. His eyes darted to the window.

Artemis rolled her eyes. “Well if you’d stop being a rude asshole for like, five seconds, they might actually want to!”

Kaldur decided to step in. The tension in the room was threatening to snap. “My apologies,” he began, standing and stepping over to Roy. “My friend is tired from a long week, and it is late. Let us begin again.” Kaldur extended his hand to the other man, a gesture of welcome and respect he’d picked up from Richard. “My name is Kaldur’ahm of Shayeris. Zatanna and Raquel are good friends of mine, and good people. You will come to no harm here.”

The redhead eyed Kaldur’s hand suspiciously, then cautiously uncrossed his arms to shake it. “You’re a freak too, huh?” he said. “Alright, sure.” He turned to Zatanna and Raquel, begrudgingly chastised. “Sorry. I’ve had a long night, too.” He deflated, releasing Kaldur’s hand to cross his arms again, though now he looked more self-conscious than agitated. “A long week, honestly.”

Zatanna softened. “Okay, yeah, me too,” she admitted. She gestured for Roy to sit on the couch. She moved to join Raquel on the loveseat, where the other woman handled her her still full wineglass. “Thanks, babe.” Zatanna knocked back the full glass, fixing Roy with a patient look when she finished. “Alright. Let’s try this again. Wha��” she caught herself, flinching when Raquel pinched her for being ‘rude, Zee’. “Sorry. Who, are you?”

Roy’s explanation of who he was took half an hour, the time during which Kaldur studied him, fascinated to meet an inhuman Surface dweller. .

Roy explained that he was a magical construct, created by a Warlock named Lex Luthor—by their dark looks at the name Kaldur guessed that the man was well known to Raquel and Zatanna, and ill liked—for purposes Roy himself didn’t know.

Zatanna and Raquel listened intently, interrupting occasionally with questions that Roy was reluctant to answer. When they asked how he’d managed to escape Luthor he shrugged, saying only that it wasn’t something he was sure he’d be able to do again if Luthor found him. Kaldur noticed that his eyes seemed to glow brighter when he was uncomfortable or repressing a strong emotion.

Roy was very unwilling to go into the details how Luthor had managed to maintain control of him for the first few months Roy had been cognizant of his own existence. It was an instinct Kaldur could understand—he knew well that it was a dangerous thing to share such information with others. It was hard to trust, when the wrong person learning too much about you could result in your enslavement.

“Alright,” Zatanna finally said, sitting back. “Well, if nothing else you’ve convinced me to help you. No one deserves to be under the thumb of someone like Luthor.”

Roy’s shoulders dropped, tension leaving them. “Thanks,” he said, only a little begrudgingly.

Artemis put a hand on Roy’s shoulder from where she stood behind the couch. “Thanks, Zee. I honestly wasn’t sure who to go to.”

Kaldur interrupted, voicing a question that had been on his mind throughout Roy’s narrative of his escape. “My apologies, but why are you unable to go to the authorities? From Zatanna and Raquel’s reaction, it appears to me that it is this Lex Luthor who has committed a crime, not yourself.”

Roy laughed bitterly. “You really aren’t from around here, are you? Luthor committed a crime, yeah. But I am the crime.”

Raquel snapped her fingers, jostling Zatanna as she sat up straighter in the loveseat. “That’s it! You’re a simulacrum, aren’t you?”

Roy shrugged, uncomfortable. “Fair’s fair. Yeah, got it in one.”

Zatanna looked at Raquel, then back at Roy, confused. “But simulacrums aren’t sentient,” she said. “And, no offense, but you’re way too rude to be anything but. And you’re too...solid.”

Roy froze up, looking up to Artemis with a pleading look in his eyes. She squeeze his shoulder, reassuring. “You can trust them, Red,” she assured.

Roy looked back to Zatanna. “You weren’t...entirely wrong when you asked if I was a golem,” he said begrudgingly. “I’m...kinda both. Luthor made my body from clay, and he put words in my head. But he used necromancy to animate me, not holy magic.”

Zatanna paled. “So the real Roy Harper…”

Roy hung his head, shamed. “Dead, as far as I know.”

A moment of strained silence passed. “You do not appear to be made of clay,” Kaldur ventured.

Roy smiled at him, bitter. “Yeah, two perks to being a necromantic abomination. I got the first guy’s memories,” he said, knocking with his knuckles against the side of his head. “And I at least look human.”

Zatanna looked quizzical, her curious nature getting the better of her. “Can you be injured?”

And like that Roy was back to looking suspicious. “Kind of a personal question, don’t you think?”

Zatanna threw her hands up, placating. “Sorry, sorry. It’s just.” She breathed, trying to find the words.

Artemis found them for her. “Look, Red,” she said to Roy. “Zatanna can help you, but if she doesn’t know what will and won’t hurt you it's going to be hard for her to figure out how. We don’t really know how your body or your spirit work. If we’re going to hide you from Luthor we need to figure out how to hide at least one of them.”

“Excuse me if I don’t exactly have a lot of trust for sorcerers right now,” Roy grumbled, curling in on himself. “But...fair point.”

Kaldur sighed, standing from where he had taken his earlier seat. “My apologies,” he said to the group when their eyes turned to him. “But I think all of you are too tired to work through this problem reasonably,” he said, eyeing Roy in particular. The redhead was obviously exhausted, and it was keeping him from thinking clearly. “The quarters I share with an absent roommate are closed to the larger Conservatory populace and have been well warded in deference to my King’s wishes that I not be observed or spied upon during my stay here. I would like to extend the offer for the two of you,” he gestured to Artemis and Roy, “To rest there until Monday evening. By then Zatanna and Raquel should be recovered, and you can productively seek a solution to your troubles.”

Kaldur himself was suprised at his readiness to help this almost total stranger. But on a certain level it made sense to help this Roy Harper. He too had been in positions where he felt to be an outsider, unknowing of who to trust. The first few weeks in the Corps he had been cautious of his squadmates and instructor—he was the only member of the group with any noticeable aquatic traits, and he had heard horrible tales hazing and violence against other Shayerin recruits. It had only been Tula’s—and later, Garth’s—kindness that had allowed him to emerge from his metaphorical shell and feel his somewhat belonged amongst his peers.

That it would also give Kaldur a chance to finally interact with Surface dwellers outside of the Conservatory or magical community was merely an added bonus. He was not restricted to campus, of course. But he was the first to admit that his own reserved nature made meeting new people difficult. Especially outside of formalized structures like those he had spent his entire young adult life in. And, despite their brief acquaintance and rather incomplete introduction, Artemis and Roy already seemed fascinating.

Artemis looked at Kaldur, approving. “I was thinking that I should take Red here back to my place for some rest. But your campus is definitely safer from Luthor or his goons. We accept.”

Roy turned, glaring at her. “Like hell we do!”

She glared right back. “You’re not spending another night sitting at my kitchen table and waiting for Luthor to come for you, Roy,” she bit out. “I know you don’t actually sleep but you haven’t had any rest at all and it’s making you irrational. If Kaldur has a safe place for you to stay it’d be stupid not to take him up on it!”

Roy stood up, fully facing her. “And how do we know we can trust him?”

Artemis threw her hands in the air. “Because Zee and Raquel do, okay? Look, you took a chance when you chose to trust me. And I trust them.”

Kaldur stepped forward, laying his hand gently on Roy’s shoulder. The man whirled on him, eyes wide and glowing. Kaldur stood firm. “I will allow no harm to come to you,” he promised solemnly, holding Roy’s eyes steadily with his own. “You have my word.”

Roy inhaled shakily, fists gripped tightly as his side. “I don’t know you,” he said, blunt. “For all I know your word could be worthless.” He glanced over he shoulder, back at Artemis’s pleading expression. “But, okay. We accept.”

Kaldur smiled, soft. He squeezed Roy’s shoulder. “It will be two days before Raquel and Zatanna will be in a position to help you,” he assured. “In that time, I would be glad to get to know you.”

Two days passed, but on the promised Monday evening the group found that their options for keeping Roy safe from Luthor were far from optimal. Roy’s body was animated by Luthor’s magic, and erasing the Words inscribed on the roof of Roy’s mouth would risk dispelling that magic entirely.

Leaving the Words meant that Luthor would still have control over Roy if he found him again. Artemis, who Kaldur had learned was a Mundane by nature and a Hunter by trade, offered up the practical solution of creating earplugs Roy could use to block the sound of Luthor’s voice. It seemed like a decent solution, at least until Zatanna performed a closer examination of Roy’s body.

“You’re not like a normal human,” she said, diplomatically ignoring Roy’s whispered ‘yeah, no shit’. She was examining Roy’s arm where the simulacrum had allowed her to peel back a layer of his skin to examine his flesh. It was the same light brown material all the way through, no blood vessels or bones.

“You look like you have ears, but you don’t actually hear through them. Your hearing is from magic.” She sealed up his arm, pressing the seam closed and smoothing over the incision with water until his skin was as whole as it had been before he’d allowed her to partially dissect him. “Earplugs aren’t gonna cut it. Frankly, I’m surprised you need rest.”

Roy rubbed his skin, self conscious but more relaxed than he’d been mere days ago. He’d had time to get to know Kaldur, and had come to the conclusion the Atlantean would have little to gain from turning him in to Luthor or the Council.

While the famous Bruce Wayne’s apprentice was supposedly Kaldur’s roommate—it should be noted that in two days Roy saw not hide nor hair of Richard Grayson, a figure he distantly recalled from stolen memories—Kaldur himself seemed to have little but cautious respect for the Council’s power. He didn’t seem overly concerned with their rules or what they’d think of a simulacrum like Roy. Roy supposed that it was a result of the moderate distrust that existed between the Surface realms and Atlantis.

Either way, he’d spent two days in the Atlantean’s apartment and come to no harm. Zatanna and Raquel had so far declined to turn him in either. He was by no means certain of anything like loyalty from the three, but the sanctuary they had so far extended was enough to earn begrudging trust. “Don’t look at me,” he shrugged. “I didn’t exactly have much of a say in the process.”

Zatanna sat back, eyeing Roy appraisingly. “No. And since we can’t figure out a way to give you more of say without killing you, we need to find a way to hide you. The charm Artemis gave you will only hide your magical signature for a couple of weeks at a time, and the materials she used aren’t exactly easy to get ahold of.”

Raquel looked up from the text she and Kaldur had been poring through. “We just need to hide his signature, right? Wayne isn’t exactly fond of Luthor, so as long as Red here sticks to Gotham he should be easy enough to keep out of physical sight.”

Artemis, who knew very little about magic or magical constructs aside from ways to disrupt and destroy them, looked up from re-stringing her bow. “I wouldn’t be so sure,” she said slowly. “Luthor has a lot of influence, even in Gotham. If one of his goons spotted Roy it’d be as bad as Luthor tracking him down through his signature.”

Kaldur hmm’d, an idea coming to mind. “The night you arrived I had asked Zatanna to create a charm for me that would hide my appearance,” he admitted to Roy. “I have already gathered the necessary materials for one that would last several years. They’re hard to get on the Surface, but they are common enough in Atlantis.” Kaldur turned to Zatanna. “Could they be used for Roy, instead?”

Zatanna looked dubious. “I’ve never made anything with Atlantean materials before,” she said. “Are you even sure my enchantments would work?”

Kaldur reconsidered. “No,” he admitted. “I am not.” He was quiet, turning the problem over in his mind. Ah, of course. “But I might know who could tell us,” he continued, flushing with guilt. It had been... months since he had last contacted Garth and Tula. To contact them only now, when he required a favor, felt inexcusably rude.

Then again, he thought, self-deprecating, I have been inexcusably rude.

“How would you feel about a teleconference with an Atlantean sorcerer?”

Tula had been able to, again, come to Kaldur’s rescue. Only after taking a few minutes to chew him out through the two way mirror she had gifted him when he had left, of course.

With Tula’s help Zatanna was able to construct a charm from the kraken bone and seasilk that Kaldur had collected. It would hide Roy’s signature from anyone more than a few feet from him, and would alter his appearance to anyone besides Artemis, Raquel, Zatanna, and Kaldur himself.

After that Roy and Artemis were able to return to Artemis’s apartment, though Kaldur extended the invitation for them to stay with him whenever they liked. He shared a full suite of rooms at the Conservatory with Richard Grayson, but the younger man was often absent, flitting in and out only occasionally. After years living in Corps barracks and the Academy dorms it had been comforting to have roommates again.

The pair accepted, though often enough it was Roy alone who ended up staying the night. Artemis’s apartment was respectable but small, and the simulacrum admitted with some embarrassment that it felt claustrophobic to share the space when Artemis was asleep.

“It's like if I turn the page of a book too quickly I’ll wake her up,” he admitted to Kaldur one day, watching idly from the couch as Kaldur stepped through a kata in the Atlantean’s spacious living room. The smooth series of kicks, punches, and ducks that Richard had taught him helped Kaldur center himself. It was different than the training he was used to—Atlanteans rarely fought unarmed. But it was similar enough to swordplay in motion that it served the same mental function. “At least with you I don’t have to worry about sound travelling.”

Kaldur paused mid-strike, eyeing the man with amusement. “Are you referring to the soundproof walls or the ill conceived notion you people have that I sleep in a bathtub?”

Roy snorted, throwing a pillow at Kaldur’s face. The Atlantean knocked it from the air, stepping back into the flow of his exercise. “Sound proof walls, huh?” He leered. “And what do you mean, ‘you people?’”

Roy became a fixture in Kaldur’s life, even more so than any of the other friends Kaldur had made on the Surface. He spent more nights in Kaldur’s quarter’s than Kaldur’s actual roommate. Richard mentioned the man he saw frequently in the apartment only in passing, and really only to tease Kaldur.

“Morning, Kal,” Richard greeted one day through a mouthful of toast while making a rare appearance in their shared kitchen. Richard—or Dick, as he liked to be called for reasons beyond Kaldur’s imagination to Zatanna’s endless amusement—waited until Kaldur had begun sipping his morning tea to continue. “Hey, is that guy you have over all the time even human?”

Kaldur didn’t sputter into his tea, though it was a close thing. “Quite certain,” he lied, looking at Dick directly. “Why? His manners are terrible, but surely he hasn’t managed to offend you enough to warrant such insinuations.”

Dick shrugged, swallowing the last bite of his toast and washing it down with milk. The man avoided caffeine on the regular, calling it an ‘emergency measure’. “Not really. I just keep finding him chugging boiling coffee at three a.m. Kinda weird.”

Kaldur peered at Dick over his tea, easing a gently amused eyebrow. “You room with a literal sea monster,” he reminded Dick.

Dick shrugged. “Yeah, but that's like. Gotham weird.”

“And chugging gallons of hot caffeinated water in the late night is what kind of weird, exactly?”

Dick sat back, contemplating the ceiling and, Kaldur assumed, the state of his existence. “Point,” he admitted. It wasn't the end of his occasional questions about Roy, but it was the last one regarding Roy’s ‘what’ instead of his ‘who’.

It didn't keep the sex jokes at bay, for instance. The boy was, after all, still a teenager and was inordinately curious about Atlantean sexuality.

Their little group grew close over the semester, with Roy and Artemis occasionally (and then not-so-occasionally) enlisting Kaldur’s help in their hunts for dangerous magical creatures around Gotham. Artemis was contracted by the city to keep the streets safe from monsters and escaped constructs. Kaldur had been hesitant at first, considering he hardly counted as ‘human’ and Roy was technically an escaped construct himself. But the majority of the monsters they ended up hunting were non-sentient, and none of the constructs demonstrated intelligence like Roy’s. Sometimes Zatanna and Raquel would accompany them, delighting in the chance to put their skills to practical use after weeks of grueling theory and research.

Roy and Kaldur grew closer especially, bonding over their shared status as outsiders to Surface affairs and their preferences for privacy. They each had their own reasons for preferring to remain anonymous from most people, so when the girls would ‘go out’ Kaldur and Roy usually ended up on Kaldur’s large couch, taking advantage of the entertainment center the Conservatory had provided for Kaldur’s ‘cultural’ education. They watched bad movies, catching Kaldur up on Surface culture and Roy up on what he had missed since his original had been kidnapped three years ago.

Roy was the first person Kaldur had met on the surface who never mistook his reserved manner for being shy. He had a way of drawing out Kaldur’s more judgemental observations about the Surface. He delighted in them, calling Kaldur ‘sassy’ and deliberately provoking sarcasm from the Atlantean as often as possible.

Kaldur, for his part, understood Roy’s gruff manner better than anyone in their close circle. The redhead reminded him at times of some of the older, professional warriors in the Corps. He didn’t expect Roy to be overtly demonstrative of affection and respected the simulacrum’s long silences, not trying to force conversation or attempting to use humor to shock him out of them. It led to Roy gradually opening up to him, sharing memories of his ‘life’ before and his anxieties, both things he normally kept closely guarded.

Affairs continued in this manner, with Kaldur growing closer to his newfound family and learning more of the Surface than he’d ever really imagined.

And then a patrol in Gotham’s harbor went terribly right, and all hell broke loose.

The night had begun fairly normally. Zatanna had declined to join them on their patrol. She had a friend-date with Richard that night. The two had been close since childhood, and Richard had complained recently that he never seemed to see her anymore, despite them going to the same school.

So it was just the four of them - Artemis, Roy, Raquel, and Kaldur. Artemis hadn’t been issued any specific mission from the Gotham police that night, so instead they decided to patrol along the docks. Kaldur knew from experience that feral, sea dwelling creatures had a bad habit of seeking out human prey in high-magical signature cities like Gotham, and there had been whispers of recent disappearances in the area.

What they found was much more troubling than a rogue siren or grindylow, however.

“Well that’s not suspicious,” Roy said, pointing to an armored vehicle parked outside an abandoned warehouse.

Artemis shrugged. “It’s Gotham,” she dismissed. “But we can check it out. If it's not the kind of thing we’re supposed to handle, we can call the PD.”

It turned out to be something no one was equipped to handle, except maybe the Council. From their view atop an adjacent building, the group could see inside the warehouse. It was mostly empty, save for a strange pod, which was being wheeled out the doors and towards the armored van by armed guards.

Roy grasped Kaldur’s arm, blunt nails biting the Atlantean’s thick skin. “I recognize those fuckers,” he whispered. “Those are Luthor’s goons.”

Artemis nocked an arrow, aiming for the feet of the guard wheeling the pod towards the van. “That thing looks human sized,” she said quietly. “Red, you get the guys on the door. Rocket,” she addressed Raquel, using the nickname the woman had earned after one of her spells had sent a particularly nasty wendigo crashing through three solid concrete walls. “Shield the windows, keep them from firing on us. Kal, get ready to rush. We need to free whoever’s in that pod.”

The plan worked well. Artemis’s arrow expelled a short burst of gas that knocked out the first guard and obscured the vision of the rest. Kaldur—immune to most toxins—was able to vault to the ground and get to the pod. Inside was a boy of about sixteen years, seemingly asleep.

The trouble came when Kaldur opened the pod, intending to carry the boy to safety.

His eyes snapped open the moment the pod did. He leaped, roaring, and began attacking the guards.

Roy leapt down from the building, disarming the guards as they tried to shoot at the boy. While a good idea in theory, it was then that things began to go horrible wrong.

Kaldur watched in horror as the boy put his fist through one of their armored torsos, screaming in rage before tossing the body aside.

“Holy shit,” Roy yelled, running towards the boy. “Calm down! Hey, cal—”

The boy grabbed Roy by the shoulder, twisting until there was a sickening crack, then tossing the simulacrum through the wall of the warehouse. Roy went straight through, landing in a heap on the ground outside. Raquel leapt to the ground, rushing to his side.

Kaldur, briefly distracted by his concern for Roy, almost didn’t notice when the boy turned on him.

The first missed blow shattered the support structure Kaldur had been standing next to, raining debris on their heads as Kaldur rolled out of the way.

“Kaldur!” Artemis shouted, “Get out of there!”

Kaldur dodged past the boy, sprinting out the door as the boy slammed into the concrete where Kaldur had been mere moments ago, leaving a sizeable dent.

As Kaldur cleared the door an arrow sailed by him. Seconds later the building collapsed, glass and debris blowing outwards as the magical charges inside of them detonated in the dilapidated structure.

Kaldur had just managed to duck into Raquel’s force shield, a bubble that shielded her and her surroundings from sight and sound. It also used light to refract the world around them, essentially rendering anything inside the bubble invisible.

Raquel, it should be stated again, was a very, very talented kinetimancer.

Artemis joined them a moment later, abandoning her position on the roof to check on Roy. “What the fuck was that thing?” She demanded, handing him one of the tubes she kept tucked into her quiver—a vial of magic infused clay.

“Looked like the same thing as me,” Roy grunted, accepting the tube. “That should be enough to slow him down, but probably not kill him. Hopefully his head wasn’t crushed.” Roy turned to Raquel, who was maintaining the force field. “You got that charm Zee made? The one for subduing sentients?”

“In my pocket,” Raquel murmured. “Now hush, I’m keeping this thing up for a bit in case any more of Luthor’s goons show up and it takes a lot of focu—”

She was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a large iron girder, which flew overhead as the ruins of the warehouse shifted violently.

“Holy shit,” Artemis whispered, eyes wide as they watched the boy emerge from the wreckage of the warehouse. Her fingernails bit into Kaldur's forearm, her terror leaving dents in his thick skin. “We just dropped a building on him and there isn't even a scratch.”

Kaldur darted a glance at Roy. The simulacrum shrugged back at him, smearing wet clay into the missing chunk of his shoulder where the boy had thrown him. “Must be a newer model,” Roy replied. The wet clay appeared to boil in his wound, bubbling and changing color until it melded in with his skin. A few seconds, and it looked like the shoulder had never been injured at all. Roy continued. “I repair easy but I still break.”

Kaldur watched as the boy shook off the last of the dust, eyes casting out to find them. As long as they stayed in the radius of Raquel’s spell he shouldn't be able to hear or see them. “You are certain he is of your same maker?”

Roy snorted. “Unless someone else is experimenting with necromancy and alchemy to create indestructible, human looking simulacrums? Yeah, I’m sure.”

Kaldur sheathed his swords, gently brushing Artemis’s hand from his arm. He stepped around her to Raquel, taking Zatanna’s rosary from her pocket while she continued to focus on maintaining their cover, eyes alight with the violet of her magic.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Artemis hissed, still eyeing the boy warily. He had begun to leap around the rubble, tossing chunks of buildings out of his way as he searched for their hiding place.

Kaldur looked at Roy, then back at Artemis. “When you first met Roy you said he was angry and terrified—”

“—Artemis you shit—” Roy interrupted, trying and failing to clap his partner on the side of the head.

Kaldur held up a hand, firmly demanding that he be allowed to finish. “You said he needed your help,” Kaldur continued to Artemis, reaching out and squeezing her hand reassuringly. “If this boy is of the same maker, perhaps he too is in need of help.”

Both archers looked at him like he was wearing a squid on his head. “Roy was at least verbal,” Artemis said slowly, as if to a child. “He never outright attacked anyone. That thing is feral.”

“He'll kill you,” Roy said bluntly. “We can’t get close enough to get Zee’s draining charm on him without risking him killing one of us. I’m tough, but even I'll die if he smashes my head in.”

Kaldur shook his head. “I won't,” he said simply, then ran out of the circle before either of them could attempt to stop them. He was certain that if it wasn't for Raquel’s ward he would hear them screaming at him to get back to the circle. As it was all he heard was the roar of the boy as he spotted Kaldur sprinting toward him.

The boy leaped, launching himself high in the air before smashing into the ground immediately in front of Kaldur. Kaldur dodged to the left, barely avoiding being crushed.

“Peace, friend,” Kaldur shouted, twisting to avoid another blow as the the snarling boy began to chase him around the parking lot. “I mean you no harm.”

Either the boy couldn't hear him, didn't understand him, or simply didn't care. His eyes were crazed, alight with the same blue glow of the enchantment that animated Roy.

Kaldur continued to duck and roll, dodging blows that shattered the asphalt. He thanked the gods that he’d allowed Dick to spend the first three months of his tenure on land running him through the apprentice’s ridiculous acrobatics regimen.

They continued in this manner for what felt like hours—in addition to being stronger than Roy, this simulacrum was faster, and seemingly inexhaustible. Finally, Kaldur felt he had learned enough of the boy’s movements to go in for his next move. He drew Zatanna’s rosary from his pocket, ducking quickly under the boy’s arm to slip the beads over his head.

He miscalculated, however. A fact that came home to him with a sickening, wet crunch as the boy’s fist punched through his ribs and out his back, narrowly missing his spine.

Kaldur crumpled immediately, white hot agony blinding him. The boy fell beside him on his hands and knees, panting harshly as Zatanna’s charm sucked the energy out of him.

Shocked blue eyes stared down into Kaldur’s, awareness dawning as the frantic sparks of magic that danced around tan skin dissipated. “Who are you,” the boy demanded. His voice sounded like someone had gone at his throat with shards of glass, shredding it until there was nothing but scar tissue. It was like he’d never spoken before.

For all Kaldur knew, he never had.

Kaldur grit his teeth, willing his gills to stop flapping uselessly in the open air, trying to bypass the wreck of his shredded lung. He managed to shift his hand, reaching across the ground to weakly grasp the boy’s hand in his own. It was sticky with Kaldur’s own gore and viscera. The boy didn’t flinch.

“A friend,” Kaldur choked out, before darkness took him.

Half a day later Kaldur woke up in Artemis’s apartment, fully healed from his injuries. Artemis, ashen faced and sick from relief, had been the only one there. She explained that Raquel and Roy had taken the boy to Zatanna’s father’s house out in the city limits once they'd ascertained that Kaldur was in no real danger. The pain had been enough to knock him out, but by the time Roy had rushed over to him when he fell his wound had already sealed over.

She also explained that immortality is the kind of thing ‘you tell your fucking friends about before you charge into a death match, you self sacrificial fuck’. She explained this rather sternly, while furiously hitting him repeatedly with a throw pillow.

When Roy and Raquel returned sans simulacrum, Raquel hugged Kaldur and smacked him upside the head. Which was a fair reaction, in Kaldur’s estimation.

Roy, however, avoided Kaldur’s gaze and flat out refused to speak to him. Which was, frankly, a lot more upsetting than having a lung punched out.

But they had bigger problems to deal with, as Raquel would go on to explain. Like the fact that the simulacrum they had found was a copy of Clark Kent, a sitting Warlock on the Council of Magic. And that Bruce Wayne knew about him, and about Roy, and was not happy about being kept in the dark.

A/N: Shoutout as usual to the amazing @shadesninde for being a boss ass beta. Trust me when I say this thing would have been a lot less coherent without her help. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! If you have any questions about the magical system or other random ass details of this AU, feel free to drop into my inbox!

#kaldur #artemis crock #roy harper #zatanna zatara #young justice #yj #koy #raquel ervin

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poorvioletdraws · 5 years ago

Text

Tom vs. The Underworld

9. Ska Show

“Hey! There’s a Ska Show downtown this weekend, everybody. Let’s go!” Raya announced as she rushed through the cellar door.

“Ska Show?” I mumbled to myself.

Indigo looked up from polishing her trombone and said, “You know, how are you consistently always the last to arrive?”

Raya realized she was rather late this time and hastily apologized. “Oops, I’m sorry! Some really good lyrics came to me while I was getting ready and I must’ve lost track of time writing them down.”

“Hey, hey, I for one am use to your tardiness especially if you bring such great news!” Blair replied as ze put an arm around zir friend.

“We haven’t been to a Ska Show in a while, we could probably see new bands to the scene too.” Tiras pondered with a smirk. “And see how much better we will be since they would be our competition.”

I was still a bit puzzled so I asked them, “What’s a Ska Show?”

The group, besides silent Kraven, gave me a resounding “What?!”

“Dude! You’re telling me you sung a Less Than Jack song the first time you met us but have never been to a Ska Show?” Tiras questioned me with a startled expression.

I nodded hesitantly.

Tiras shook his head as he said, “Oh no, no, no. This won’t do at all. Have you been to a show before at least?”

I thought about it and told him, “Well, I’ve been to a few Love Sentence concerts.”

“Nah, bro. A show. There’s a difference.”

“There is?” I arched an eyebrow with some peculiarity in my response.

Indigo explained, “It’s mostly local bands playing and it’s done at a smaller venue, so tickets to get in aren’t outrageously priced. It’s much more intimate but so much more wild. You can be right up stage and really enjoy the music and meet the bands.”

“And the skanking in the pit!” Blair added as ze did a dance to music playing in zir head.

“Skanking?” I repeated rather confused.

Tiras succumbed to his inner excitement as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in. “Well, bro, it’s gonna be your lucky night because this weekend we are going to pop your cherry!”

“What?!” My voice cracked with my yelp. If I could see myself in a mirror, I’m sure my face would probably be pretty red right now.

Blair and Indigo couldn’t help but giggle as George rolled his eyes from the immaturity of his friends.

Raya cleared her throat and was holding her hands up to her own face. “Ahem… He doesn’t mean… in that way…” She blushed as she tried to clarify.

“It’s set. We’re taking you to your first Ska Show!” Tiras beamed while throwing his fist into the air. The others clapped in support.

It sounded fun, but how different could it really be from a concert? It was definitely a good chance to see a venue of bands that will perform music kind of like what we are doing since that is the genre of music everyone decided would work based on our instrument choices. We had been playing together for a week and our sound was really coming along. Raya was still working on original songs for us so our sessions consisted mainly of us playing cover songs from bands we liked. Blair and I even got the group to do renditions on Love Sentence which was really fun in my opinion.

Speaking of Raya, I decided to glimpse over at her amongst the chatter. Everyone was preoccupied with what to wear or who we’ll see this weekend, but Raya seemed to slowly send her amber eyes my way. She smiled sweetly at me and I couldn’t help but blush while feeling my heartbeat skip. She explained to me that me being ‘the one’ from what she dreamt was pretty much her envisioning our band finally coming together. Though I really wish she meant it how it came out and that she had feelings for me too. She may not have meant what she said to me in the way I wanted, but it really made me feel so welcomed by her and that I still had a chance. I was still fighting over whether or not I should tell her how I feel about her.

“Ugh.” I groaned in playful frustration and buried my head into Tiras’s arm which was still wrapped around my shoulder.

Tiras blinked a bit confused and asked, “You good, bro?”

- Nighttime had fallen over Chernabog City as we all returned to Inferno Park. We left Lucitor Castle much later than our usual end time since we were so fired up over the show this weekend. Our floating platform pounded into the ground and we all began to go our separate ways.

“Great practice, everyone! See you all this weekend!” Blair waved goodbye as a shadow appeared from under zir and swallowed zir up.

“Don’t forget, Tom said he’s picking us all up at Indigo’s!” Tiras called out to zir as the shadow faded away. He then turned to us and threw up a fist. “See ya!”

I waved goodbye and watched him and Kraven head off in the opposite direction.

“Hurry up, let’s go, Raya.” Indigo called impatiently to me as her and George were already heading down the path that leads out of the park and into the city.

We all walked a little ways in silence before I decided to finally say what had been building inside, “Um, Indigo? I had something to ask you...”

“Yea? Go for it.” She answered without lessening her stride.

“Do you think a guy and a girl who are friends could ever be anything more than just friends?”

Suddenly, I noticed her freeze up and spin around to face me in a flash as she said, “So you do--Uh, I mean, how would I know about that, heh.”

I paused and began to twiddle my fingers together to collect my thoughts before clarifying, “Well, you and George have been friends since you were little and I’m pretty sure there hasn’t been anything going on between the two of you that would be mistaken as a ‘more than friends’ kind of relationship.”

“Affirmative.” George quipped.

“Hey! Butt out, girl talk.” Indigo stuck her tongue out at him.

I cleared my throat and continued, “Anyway… You’ve had boyfriends before… I guess, I just want to know is how do you know if you should remain friends or pursue something more with them…”

“Hmm… Well…” She put her hand to her chin and seemed to think really hard about what she wanted to say. “You kind of just know. It is a different kind of feeling so it’s hard to explain. You have your friends, but then you have someone else who is just something more to you.”

“What do you mean?” I asked her.

“Well… Like maybe you have a lot of stuff in common, or you have a lot of fun together no matter what you both do. Or you just find them attractive in ways other than physical appearances, or if they are literally a person you can’t get out of your head and always look forward to seeing. It’s that kind of feeling I guess. And they feel the same about you. They want to see you happy from loving you in return as well.”

George halted in his tracks and suspiciously turned back to the girl as he said, “Who is this imposter disguised as Indigo?”

“Oh, cut it out!.” Indigo fumed and lightly swatted at his shoulder. George gave a content grin to himself and continued walking forward.

What Indigo said, it is definitely true. I have been feeling exactly what she described towards him. I still had one other doubt hanging in the back of my mind however.

“Do you think I can make someone happy one day?” I asked her.

“You already do.” She responded instantly.

“Hm? Really?”

Indigo stopped and stared at me as if I already knew the answer. She gave me a half smile and replied, “All of us.”

Upon hearing her words, I couldn’t help but smile. I’m definitely grateful all of my friends came into my life. And Tom most of all because it does feel like he was meant to be so much more to me. I tried to tell him how I felt about him but I regrettably chickened out and used our band forming as an excuse to hide my confession. Next time, I’ll be more confident.

I smiled back at her and said, “Thank you… You’re such a great friend, I knew I could ask you since you are so much more experienced at this kind of stuff than me...” We started walking again as I decided to open up further to her, “I was unsure but now after talking with you I think I’m more confident in following through in asking him if he feels the same about me…”

Indigo grew a mischievous smirk across her face as she commented, “Awww, our little Raya is growing up. Who is it, who is it? Heh. Definitely not George, and I’m sure it isn’t Kraven… Tiras, eh?”

I shook my head and blushed a bit as I was ready to actually confirm my feelings about Tom to someone for the first time. “No, none of them… It’s--”

“I’m going to need you all to back up!” A shrill voice pierced through our conversation, gaining our attention. A group of demons seemed to be forming at an alley in front of us.

“What’s going on over there?” Indigo questioned as we all headed toward the commotion.

There was the law enforcement of the Underworld, The Furies, at the center trying to keep the crowd back away from what appeared to be a crime scene of a bloody assault painting the alley walls.

“Another demon has been abducted, but this time there’s evidence of a brutal struggle.” We overheard a bystander speaking with another next to him.

“Abduction?” Indigo whispered back to our huddle.

Having remembered something relating to this incident, I just had to share with my two friends, “Oh! My Mom was listening to this on the news last week. Monsters and demons have been going missing within the city.”

“From what?” Indigo asked.

I shrugged, “I have no idea--”

A tall green monster shoved passed us to be heard among the crowd. “It’s the Mewmans fault! They’ve been coming here in droves and call themselves something else!”

“Yea, hoomans or sometin’.” A flying demon added.

“Why are we allowing them into our world?!” Another monster growled.

“Now that our treaty is void, they are trying to takeover and are starting by getting rid of us one by one!” The tall green monster shouted his objection.

“Yea!” The crowd roared in agreement.

One of the Furies tried to give a directive to the lead protestor. “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to calm down, we are doing our--”

“Calm down?! Calm down and wait until I’m next?!” He interrupted her.

Another one of the Furies tried to reason with the other monster, “Our alliance still stands, our Lord and Lady--”

“Our Lord is a Mewman! I knew he had a hidden agenda since he married Lady Wrathmelior! He probably planned this all along!” The tall monster snarled as the crowd became even more riled up.

“Sir, if you are going to speak ill of His Majesty, I’m going to arrest you for--”

The tall monster continued his onslaught, “I say if the Furies won’t stand for us, then we need to get those Hooman-Mewmans out of our city ourselves before another demon goes missing!”

“That will violate our alliance and we will arrest you for conspiracy!” The Furies said simultaneously.

“AGH!!” The tall monster screamed as he shoved one of the Furies closest to him. And with that, an all out riot broke out amongst the bystanders and the Furies!

As a demon came flying back towards us from the fight, and barely missing us, George began to say, “Perhaps it would be prudent to—”

“Run!” Indigo finished for him while grabbing our hands and leading us away. We weaved in and out of the ruckus and sprinted off down the street until we couldn’t hear the shouting any longer.

We caught our breath at an intersection a few blocks away and saw more backup Furies rounding the corner to head back the way we came from.

“What’s—happening—to the—Underworld?” Indigo huffed.

George had a foreboding look as he watched the Furies pass us, “Years of love have been forgot, In the hatred of a minute...”

“They spoke badly about Tom’s Dad… Do you think he knows this is going on? Should we tell him about this…?” I said worriedly.

George and Indigo shared troubled looks of uncertainty.

As I gazed up to the towering buildings above us with the twinkling of the city lights emitting from them, I had a feeling that the world we knew was about to get a little more complicated. -

I exited my skeleton-horse-drawn-carriage eager that the day has finally come. Well, night actually. The night of the Ska Show.

I decided to pick Raya up first, partly because I wanted to spend some time with it being just us since we haven’t really had much of that after meeting her friends, and then the other reason being that I didn’t know where everyone else lived. Heh.

Raya was waiting for me at the edge of her property line, which she had instructed me to do to avoid her parents or siblings being overbearing/nosy. Though I didn’t mind their antics, they were a pretty fun bunch after all.

“Hi there, Tom!” She said in that sweet tone of hers that made my heart melt. I was about to greet her back but then eyed her attire and became confused.

“H-hey… You look… totally normal?” Compared to how I was dressed that is. She was dressed in her typical attire of hooded jean jacket and shorts while I went all the way out. I had searched on the Underworld Wide Web for Ska outfits and, although not as flashy as I thought it might be, I definitely looked like a poster boy for the culture.

“Oh no, I’m so overdressed, aren’t I?” I asked her worriedly.

“Well…” She looked me up and down a little hesitant as she said while blushing, “You look great though…”

“Ugh…” I groaned and hunched over in defeat.

She explained, “You’re going to want to be in something comfortable that you can really move in. So yea, you didn’t have to get all dressed up. I guess we should’ve told you that, come to think of it.”

I stood up to face her as I admitted, “I’m sorry, I guess I just want to impress you with this being my first time at a show, heh.”

I noticed Raya pause for a moment. She smiled softly at me and placed a hand to my shoulder, “Don’t apologize, you still look great no matter what you wear.”

I felt a warm feeling envelop me from her words. I blushed as I told her, “Thanks…”

She turned our attention to my carriage and asked excitedly, “Is this your ride?”

“Yep, I made it myself.” I told her modestly while rubbing the back of my head.

“You made it? That’s amazing!” She beamed with awe.

“Wait ‘til you see the inside.” I hinted as I regained my confidence. I opened the door for her and we both entered.

I quickly peeked my head from inside before closing the door and commanded my steed, “Let’s go, Skeleton Horse!”

Being inside of Tom’s carriage was like stepping into an extension of his room. He had a lounge area with six flat screen tvs, a photo booth, a karaoke machine, a cereal dispenser, and even a vintage five disc cd player with automatic shuffle! All of us could definitely occupy our time in this one place for the night if we wanted, it was wicked cool!

I can’t believe how much he has done for us. For me… An ordinary, city girl. He is every bit a prince but he is so much more than that to me. Even without all the materialistic stuff, he is an incredible guy inside and out. And we may not have known each other for a long time but I feel like we just clicked. However... Will I have the confidence to tell him how I feel? Am I prepared for how he might feel in return? What if it’s rejection? We will always remain friends regardless, right…? Should I really go through with this…?

I had been admiring Tom’s throne chair and thinking about how he couldn’t possibly be any more amazing than he already is when he came up beside me and asked, “Snack?”

He presented a bowl of cereal to me and I gladly accepted it. “I can’t believe you built all this. It must’ve taken such a long time. Your friends must really enjoy it.” I said between bites.

Tom ruffled the back of his hair and gave me a hesitant pause before telling me, “Well, actually, the person it was intended for was my ex. But she never really got around to seeing it… You already know how the story goes though...”

I stopped mid-munching and looked his way a little surprised from what he said.

“Hey, it’s totally okay, really.” Tom responded while taking a seat on his lounge sofa, “I’m glad I get to share it with you… You and all of your friends.” He gave me a gentle smile and then proceeded to take a bite from his own bowl of cereal.

I was overcome with a strange feeling, like a need to make him feel acknowledged for all he has done. I instantly sat beside him with my own bowl of cereal now in my lap and held onto his elbow in a way as if he were going to disappear if I let go.

Tom was startled by my sudden approach and quietly said my name, “Raya?”

I took a deep breath and let my emotions flow, “I know you say it’s okay, but… But it hurts me to hear someone would take you for granted! It’s just so hard to believe. Since I’ve known you, you’ve always been… someone who made me feel like I matter. And... I hope you never feel like you don’t matter because… Anyone would be glad to have you as a friend. I f-for one definitely am!”

Tom was speechless but seemed to have an intrigued gleam in his eye from what I was telling him. So I continued.

“And I’m so sorry if whoever made you feel like you didn’t before… B-but you’ll always matter to me. I’m so glad we met… Thank you for everything!” I felt my eyes beginning to well up in my emotional state. My whole face was probably glowing an embarrassing bright red but I felt this was the right moment to confess. But these were tears of elation. It’s exactly like Indigo said. I was happy to be with him and want to always be with him. I wanted him to always be happy too in return. I needed to tell him now.

So I looked into his eyes intently and mustered the courage to finally confess. I tried to keep my voice from shaking as I told him, “W-what I said before, about you being incredible a-and everything I dreamed of... It wasn’t just about the band... What I really meant to say was that--”

“Oomph!” Tom and I yelped in unison as we bumped into each other due to an abrupt halt of the carriage.

We could hear what sounded like Blair gushing over the skeleton horse from outside as Indigo scolded zir for running into the path of the carriage.

“Must be at Indigo’s, which is why we stopped… Sorry, what were you saying?” Tom asked me with equally red cheeks.

I regained my composure and shook my head while I told him, “N-nevermind.”

Ugh, why am I such a coward. T_T

- Since we picked everyone up at Indigo’s place, my carriage was pretty packed and I didn’t have a chance to ask Raya what she wanted to tell me--which was making me very anxious. How she looked in that moment was so enticing... Just thinking of it, my arm even started to tingle from where she had touched it. Was it my imagination or was she about to tell me something I have been wanting to hear? Now I’m even more confused as to what to do!

Tiras came up behind me and gave me one of his friendly pats to my back. “Nice, ‘fit. Excited, bud?”

Having been spared from my inner turmoil, I regained my composure and responded, “Oh, yea, yea.” I almost completely forgot where we were all heading. I need to try and keep myself occupied instead of on my yearning heart. It is probably just my overactive imagination anyway.

Suddenly, George came walking up beside me and began reciting, “When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face, Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance, And think that I may never live to trace, Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance; And when I feel, fair creature of an hour, That I shall never look upon thee more--”

Tiras stepped in front of him and interjected, “None of that right now, come on, man.”

George rolled his eyes and sat down on the lounge chair behind us. “So…” I started off saying to try to get back on topic, “What all are we going to do at this show?”

And as if on cue with my statement, we came to a stop once again. “Tom, bud, you are about to find out.” Tiras declared while holding onto my shoulders.

We all exited my carriage to a sidewalk in downtown Chernabog City. The street was pretty busy at this time in the evening--though I was coming to find that it always seemed busy here in the demon city no matter what time of day. I turned to my skeleton horse-drawn carriage and raised my hands, creating a flash of fire that engulfed it from below and consuming it into the earth. Before Blair could get excited over what I just did, Indigo hurried us to the entrance of the venue.

We stood at the back of a growing line that fed into a building shaped like a black mountainous structure. ‘Isles of the Blast’ were in bright blocky lettering headlined above while the entrance had huge brimstone double doors guarded by monstrous gargoyle statues.

“‘Kay, this is pretty metal.” I gasped in awe.

The showgoers waiting in line before us were dressed in styles ranging from all over the place. There were those in typical punk rock attire and those with button up shirts and fedora hats. Some demons wore studded vests and bondage pants while others wore flowery shirts and shorts. Despite how they were dressed, they looked comfortable while I definitely stood out amongst them all. Some eyed me and looked intrigued to know who I was, though I wasn’t sure if the attention were a positive or negative at this point.

“Are you in one of the bands?” A female demon dressed in a polo dress like the other group of girls she was with behind us asked me excitedly.

I was a bit perplexed by the sudden question and didn’t really know how to reply, “Uhhh…”

Luckily, Tiras came to my rescue. He held onto my shoulder and seemed to puff up his chest proudly as he spoke, “Nah, we aren’t any of these bands playing tonight, but just you wait, we will be playing here soon. We are the band the Seven Undeadly Sins!”

The group of girls all seemed to become giddy from Tiras’s statement.

“Ugh, we haven’t even practiced any of our own songs yet and he is already spreading our name.” Indigo grumbled to the rest of our friends.

“Yea, yea! I play lead guitar in the band too.” Blair announced from the side of her, completely ignoring her complaint.

Indigo muttered, “OMD, can this line move any slower?”

“A very little thief of occasion will rob you of a great deal of patience.” George remarked.

Indigo’s groaning continued.

“It’s alright to be excited for our band to perform one day, we—eh?” Raya had started to assure her friend but noticed how interested the newcomers behind us were becoming in me.

“Yep, he is the lead singer and when he sings he’ll blow everyone away! You should hear him.” Tiras boasted to them.

“A singer?!” One squeaked amazed.

“Oh! That’s so cool!” Another girl demon chirped with admiration.

The group of girls chatted away and encircled me, begging to hear me sing. Honestly, I didn’t want this kind of attention. Especially in front of Raya. I don’t want her to think I’m easily infatuated by swooning girls, or even give her the idea of me being interested in anyone else but her.

“We’d love for you to sit with us at our table, then you could sing to us! That would be mad rad!” One of the female demons suggested.

While the other girls in her group agreed, totally in love with the idea, I saw Raya turn away from us. I only caught sight of her expression for an instant, but that was all I needed to see. It looked like she was disappointed.

I had to stop this.

I cleared my throat and told them, “Thanks for the offer but, actually, I came here with my friends and since this is something special to them and they are all special to me...” I looked in Raya’s direction as she turned her head back to me surprised. I smiled as I finished saying, “... I want to share in this special event with them too. Especially our songwriter...”

Raya smiled back at me and blushed. For a small moment, it felt as if her and I were the only ones there.

“Aww thanks, bud!” Tiras praised me with a strong hug, obliviously taking my comment to heart.

“Hey, that’s cool. We can’t wait to see your band play live one day then. Hope you all have a good time at the show.” The female demon was very understanding in her response while throwing a horned hand sign up. Her and her group turned away and proceeded to talk amongst themselves again. I let out a sigh of relief.

“See that! We already have fans.” Tiras gloated delusionally.

Indigo scoffed, “Fans? More like groupies if you kept running your mouth.”

“Huh, what’s wrong with that, any exposure is good exposure right?” Tiras theorized.

Indigo folded her arms and dismissed his philosophy completely. “Ugh, you’re hopeless. And you say I don’t know how to read a situation.” She then peered over to Raya and smiled in a way that seemed as if both of them had their own secret. “Luckily Tom has his eyes set on what matters.” I caught her winking at the other girl. Raya blushed again and looked away from us.

Could what I’m thinking really be happening? Could what I’ve been waiting for really be coming together?

Kraven suddenly stepped forward, his loud steps alerting us that the line was starting to advance.

As the rest of my friends conversed with each other about what to do once inside the show, I remained deep in thought deciding on what I should do over my conflicted heart. And I realized up until we made it in, Raya had been quiet too.

It was dim inside the venue. Flickering light from wrought iron chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and the stage lighting were the only means to see. It was already loud inside with the growing size of the crowd, I wondered how it would be once the bands started playing. There was a row of booths lining the perimeter walls and a dining section to order food and drinks on the opposite wall of the stage. Shirts, bags, and other merchandise were being sold from table setups by the bands to perform tonight. Staff were setting up instruments and sound equipment for the first band on stage while rock music played over the ceiling speakers during the wait. There was a second tier up above for viewing the bands and all the mayhem the pit would surely create. However, the stage was on a much smaller scale than the ones at the huge concerts I’ve been to with an even smaller area before it.

“Are we all going to be able to fit? Won’t it be kind of crowded?” I asked them while we walked over to choose a booth.

“That’s where the real fun begins.” Tiras explained. “This isn’t your typical screaming fans kind of pit. We get wild!”

“Moshing, skanking, crowdsurfing, you name it!” Blair added excitedly. “In that small area?” I was still apprehensive.

“Yep, yep, real close! But if you bump into anyone, don’t take it personal.” Blair grinned with a thumbs up.

“It comes with the territory. It’s all done around in a circle. Don’t worry, you’ll definitely see what we are talking about when the music starts.” Tiras seemed to chuckle mischievously with his statement.

Seeing how they all play at the arcade during flamethrower tag, I’m sure I’m in for quite the surprise from this group.

We all stopped at a booth somewhat in the center of the row lining the wall left of the stage.

“Anyway, this will be our spot right here, got it?” Tiras pointed out. “Lets link up in front of the stage once the music starts. I think the first band opening is one of the ones we heard last time.”

“Oh yea, I saw on the flyer. Dance To Fire. They were crazy good.” Indigo remembered.

‘Hmm, sounds cool, but that acronym though? Yeeesh, not so much.’ I thought to myself with a shudder.

“Hey, there’s one of them now. Catch ya’ in a bit!” Blair said as ze took off through the crowd and toward the stage.

I looked after zir a little confused but realized everyone else was starting to disperse as well. Kraven began to head off toward the dining area for--you guessed it--food. Indigo dragged George away with her to check out t-shirts being sold. Blair was already talking to bandmates and Tiras was mingling with female showgoers in a booth down from us. Which now left Raya and I standing at our own booth together. Alone together.

I itched the back of my head and stared at the floor. She probably wants to go do something on her own like the rest of them... Maybe I should do the same? Although, I was hoping we would all do stuff together…

I cleared my throat and said to her, “So… I guess you are going to head off too--”

But before I could finish, Raya interrupted, “You ready to see what a show is all about? I promise I’ll try to be the best tour guide I can be.” She smiled sweetly at me after her sentence.

I couldn’t help but smile back as I told her, “Lets go!”

We went around the venue looking at different tables set up by the actual bands to play tonight. They were selling their own merchandise like shirts, buttons, patches, hats, CDs, and all sorts of stuff. We spoke to a few of the band members and I even took a few pics with them using my compact phone. Now that was going to be a great memory to look back on for sure!

As we went on our way, we caught the attention of some of the other showgoers and chatted with them too. I definitely see the similarities between a show and a concert, but I also noticed some differences too. There was WAY more of a female audience presence at a concert (considering it was a Love Sentence concert) than there was here. The overall mood seemed a bit intimidating at first with some of the male crowd, but a lot of the impression came down to how they were dressed; they were actually pretty friendly despite their punky appearance (and they were digging my outfit a lot). So I’m actually glad I wore what I did, it was a real icebreaker for my first show experience!

For a change of scenery before the first band was set to go on, Raya took me outside for some fresh air, yet there were just as many people outside as there were inside. There were some patio chairs and tables (all occupied) and a section for smokers (not going over there, yuck), but there was some space by the railing that outlined the area. We stood over there at a spot where I could see the busy downtown street of Chernabog City in all its bustling glory.

“Geez, does this city ever sleep?” I remarked.

“You get used to it. It’s probably fairly quiet around the castle, right?” Raya said as she placed her elbows on the rail and stared at the tall buildings, the lights from them danced within her eyes romantically.

I tried to snap out of my trance and blushed a little, hopefully she didn’t catch me watching her like that. I placed my hands on the railing and looked at the city while telling her, “It’s pretty boring, honestly… I mean, I’d probably be at home watching something lame on TV right now or playing a video game instead of here with you if we.... never met up again...”

For a moment, we didn’t speak after what I said. Why’d I even say that? I mean, it was true considering how things ended up with Star and Marco... But how pathetic that sounds. Ugh.

“... Tom?” Raya finally murmured my name as if unsure to ask me something.

“Y-yea?” I replied a little hesitant.

“Do you think if you were never a prince… do you think we would have still met?” She almost mumbled her question into her sweater.

That is a rather strange thing to ask right now. Why is she thinking of something like that all of a sudden? I never really thought of something like that… Would we still have ever met if I weren’t Prince of the Underworld? I don’t really know how to answer her…

Finally, I said while gazing at my hands on the rail, “You know, remember how we talked about destiny back in Yomi Town?”

She nodded but didn’t say anything.

“Well, you said something along the lines of starting out on the paths of others and then branching out to getting where you’re destined to be...and…” I brought my gaze to meet hers and continued, “I’m glad I branched out on this path of meeting you. So much so I don’t even want to think of how it would be if we never met…”

Raya appeared to blush but kept her eyes on me.

Could this be it? Was this the perfect time? We were alone together and the mood was right. I should tell her how I feel. My whole face was probably glowing an embarrassing bright red but I felt this was the right moment to confess. I was happy to be with her and want to always be with her. I wanted her to always be happy too in return. I needed to tell her now.

So I looked into her eyes intently and mustered the courage to finally confess. I tried to keep my voice from shaking as I told her, “And even if I w-wasn’t a prince, I’m positive I would still have found a way to have met you because I… I really like yo--”

“Raya, Hey!” a green demon girl dressed in an obnoxiously all pink lolita style dress glomped onto Raya as if they were the best of friends. Another group of similarly dressed demon girls came to join her and stood by energetically.

“Oh? Hi Trudie.” Raya said in one breath hesitantly.

More like intrude. Seriously, the timing was perfect!

“Hey, where have you been hiding?” One of the demon girls said.

“Yea, we haven’t seen you or the others for a while down here.” Another demon girl mentioned.

“You guys are always so fun to hang out with at the shows!” Trudie squeed while hugging Raya more. Were they even close like that? I haven’t heard of Raya ever speak about other friends she hangs out with other than Tiras and the rest.

Raya started to say, “Oh um, yea, well--”

“Oh yea remember when Blair got on stage and dove into the crowd, hehe!” Trudie giggled with her friends.

“Hehe, I remember!” Another girl laughed, triggering others to giggle and chime in with their own past experiences with Raya and her friends.

This interruption just made everything tricky. As they conversed, I noticed Raya didn’t want to seem impolite and brush them off so she was trying to add more than one liners in response. Did she realize they totally killed the vibe? I didn’t even know how I could even bring up my confession again. I may not even have another opportunity for the rest of the night… Maybe I am letting my heart get the best of me. Should I even go forward with this anyway? I feel so conflicted right now. I need to clear my head.

“Hey Raya, I’m going back in for a bit.” I quickly told her as I turned to head inside the venue.

She glanced at me with a startled look and asked, “Oh, y-you sure?”

“Yea, yea, go ahead and stay and catch up.” I assured her, walking away from the group. I felt bad for leaving her alone with those girls she clearly wasn’t that close with, but seeing how she reacted to them gave me a weird feeling. Like, if I were to tell her how I felt about her and she rejects me, would she be just as awkward with me after that as she was with those girls back there…?

I found myself back at our booth completely consumed in my thoughts. I already told myself that I wasn’t going to pressure her with my emotions and there I go about to do it again. I value our friendship but want it to become something more so how do I go about making it happen..? Ugh, why is this so hard?

I ruffled my fingers through my hair and landed my forehead on the table. What do I even do? It’s like my heart wants one thing but my mind is causing me to question that want. Although the possibility of being turned down is there—which would make our friendship super awkward if that were to happen—my heart is still telling me to go for it.

“Perhaps you should listen to it.” George’s voice pierced through my thoughts.

“Gargozoth!” I exclaimed, not having noticed his presence beside me in the booth whatsoever. “Dude, you gotta start warning people before popping up like that, you’re going to give someone a heart attack.”

George watched me rather peculiarly. Though he was almost always expressionless, he stared at me in a way like he was trying to read something about me.

I slumped over the table at our booth and groaned, still frustrated from my recent failed attempt with Raya.

“Why are you so troubled over something so apparent?” George finally spoke to me.

“Hm?” I glimpsed up at him.

George continued, “You may think it difficult but oh so much you will witness if you just take a second glance and let your inner truth free. It’s fascinating how much distance one truth can fill between two people.”

“Huh?” I gasped a bit surprised from what he said. We don’t ever hold a conversation like this because usually I can’t understand him. But despite his poetic way of speaking at times, he is still pretty smart so of course he would catch on. Or was it just that obvious how I’ve been acting toward Raya that even her friends see it?

I shot up from my hunched over state and pressed him with an onslaught of questions. “Do you know? How do you know? Who told you? Do you all know? Am I really that obvious?”

He just stared at me with that blank and careful gaze of his and didn’t provide an answer.

I groaned again while lowering my forehead to the table and ruffled my hands through my hair in frustration.

“You like her.” George asked in a monotone but his statement was powerful for me to hear. I froze and didn’t know how to respond. Aside from my parents, this would be the first time I actually get to talk to any of them about how I’ve been feeling towards Raya--and out of all of them it was shockingly George I was deciding whether or not to unload my emotional baggage on. Well, here goes.

“That obvious, huh?” I mumbled into the table.

“If it were any more evident, it would have manifested into a snake and taken a bite out of you by now.” George quipped and sipped from his coffee mug.

I lifted my head up from the table and buried it into my hands while leaning back in the booth. “Ugh, I’ve never been more conflicted in my life. I don’t know if it is because of my recent breakup or that we haven’t really known each other that long but I don’t want to let any of that stop me from asking her out. Like, none of that even matters to me but I just don’t know how she will feel in return. My brain and my heart are practically battling with each other at this point.”

George reclined in his seat a bit as well and told me, “Oh for a life of Sensations rather than of Thoughts.”

Honestly, I felt as if I was speaking to a therapist right now; however, it felt like such a relief to finally let someone else know my feelings for Raya. So I continued to gush, “And I have this feeling so strong at times that I feel like I have no control and I might just act upon it and ruin everything. Like if I say the wrong thing, or just not the right thing even, I’ll end up getting rejected and ruin our friendship. Ugh, I’m falling apart here, man.”

“To burn with desire and keep quiet about it is the greatest punishment we can bring upon ourselves…” George replied to my rant in such a calm manner. Seriously this guy has the perfect response to anything presented to him. Doesn’t he understand this is kind of a big deal?!

I looked to him as I said, “What if she doesn’t want me?”

I could hear the first band on stage beginning to sound check their instruments. George fixed his eyes on me to say, “Worse is knowing you want something AND not knowing if you can have it…” He grinned slightly as he instructed me further, “Confess.”

“But what--”

“Confess.” George repeated. He then stood up from the booth and gave me a thumbs up while he headed in the direction of the pit to join the others, leaving me alone to collect my thoughts.

He’s right. I can continue to argue with myself over whether I should tell her how I feel, or I can just tell her. I’ll never know how she feels in return if I don’t say anything. I’m only hurting myself more by not confessing. What would be even worse is the possibility that I could lose her to someone else if she never knows how I feel about her. And that would be a type of heartbreak I don’t ever want to experience again.

So I shot up from the booth and followed George’s path to the stage. He was already out of sight by the time I was on the main floor and there were so many demons and monsters shoulder to shoulder that I felt unsure if I would make it through. But I had to join the others like Tiras told us so I continued my trek onward. Dance To Fire was doing an introduction on stage as I tried to maneuver through the thick crowd of showgoers. No matter what, I had to get to the front of the stage. That’s where Tiras said we will all meet up. That’s where Raya will be. And that’s where I’ll tell her. For real this time.

The lead singer of DTF wore a studded vest over his bare upper half and leather pants below. He drew out his wings from his back as he screeched, “Chernabog how ya doin tonight!”

The crowd answered him in an uproar.

“Excuse me--Sorry--My Bad--Coming through--Coming through--Excuse me!” I pardoned my way through each person, practically shouting for them to hear me.

“Hope you’re ready because I want to see everyone get wild!” The lead singer declared as fists from the crowd shot into the air with their eager cries. He carried on with his spiel, “That’s why this first one is by a band you all will sure enjoy! So sing along and skank with me! We are Dance To Fire and welcome to the Ska Show!”

‘I’m almost there, just a few more.’ I thought to myself, feeling my anxiousness burn into an ambitious confidence. I finally was making it through what felt like an endless sea of people and was beginning to see the horns on the heads of the demon band members on stage when all of a sudden they started playing and that’s when the crowd lost it!

“When I'm in the pit

I'm going to punch and kick

When I'm in the pit

Don't you know I'm going to f*ck up sh*t!”

The tempo came out fast and intense with the brass section blaring away against the guitar riffs like some kind of melodic battle; obviously a much more aggressive and speedy version of the original song they were covering. And a crowd favorite from the looks of it. The stage was nothing more than a memory at this point because I was pushed back by demons shouting and shoving everyone away from the front. All my hard work of getting up there was for nothing. Was this a fight? Is this what I’m supposed to do back? I’m so confused!

But soon I realized what the method to the madness really was. The bigger demons created an opening towards the front of the stage by pushing those standing by away from the moshers who were now moving around in a circular motion--away from being harmed. This kind of pit was like a merry-go-round of organized thrashing beasts showing emotional gratitude to the glory of the music with their dance skills. Participants were doing a sort of running man motion by striking out their elbows while alternating their legs to the beating of the drums--the infamous skank dance I’ve heard about.

And there, going around this massive spectacle of artistic expression, were my friends. Even Kraven was doing it! He was leading our group and swatting others away that dare get too close to the pit and upsetting the flow. Tiras was pogoing behind him with his fist in the air as Blair was screaming the lyrics after him and spinning about. Behind them was George and Indigo who both were doing a low skank and really digging each step into the ground. It seemed aggressive and violent at first but the more I saw, the more I understood the consensual camaraderie among the showgoers. Indigo tripped and almost lost footing but one of the bystanders outside of the pit caught her before her fall and helped her to keep pushing on. It was actually pretty awesome...

“And you want to be just like me

Wish I could be myself

And you want to be just like me cause I

Can't think of no one else--”

And then there was Raya who was trailing behind our group of friends. My heart sped up when I fixated on her. The combination of the music and her graceful dance style was hypnotic to me. She moved very nimble and almost untouchable by the ones around her. Even her eyes were shut as if this were a natural experience for her. The time and even the music seemed to slow while she went around the circle pit with each action perfectly executed--well, perfect in my eyes anyway. It was beautiful. She was beautiful...

“And you know it's really greatTo punch somebody right in the faceGonna push some little girls tonight…Look out now there’s gonna be a fight when I’m--” As she came around in the movement of the pit, closer to me, she finally opened her eyes and our gazes met. Being as mesmerized as I was from watching her, I didn’t realize until I was already swept in that she had reached out her hand to me and pulled me along with her by my upper arm.

“--In the pit--”

Reality returned to its normal pace and I tried to regain my senses. I told her with a shout in order to be heard over the loud music, “What am I supposed to do?”

“--I'm going to punch and kick--”

She smiled at me as she playfully replied, “Well lucky for you, you’re going to have a partner that is THE best dancer at the Ska Show.”

“--When I'm in the pit--”

I blushed a bit once I noticed her call back to what I had said to her when I first saw her again at the etiquette school. She really remembered that?

“--Don't you know--”

“Follow my lead or just dance how you want to, we don’t judge here.” She assured me with a giggle.

“--I'm going to f*ck up sh*t!”

Raya held onto me as we moved together through the circle pit. Our eyes stayed locked on each other as we went through the motions and she showed me the basic rhythm, still moving together with the rest of the group. I did some and we both laughed together if I made silly overexaggerated gestures with my movements. But I soon caught on and we both continued through the rest of the song skanking together; and Raya still remained connected to me as we went.

“(DTF) straight down to you whoooaaaa!”

As the song came to its end, the crowd roared and everyone in the pit stopped to face the stage and give DTF their much deserved applause. Everyone around us was screaming and shouting with their hands clapping in the air for more. But instead of clamoring for more and watching the stage, I was watching Raya completely enthralled by her.

I was remembering everything about her all over again. From Yomi Town until now, she was always such an amazing girl. Even with my angst and insecurities, Raya always treated me as if none of that matters. And although I am a prince, she treats me like I’m equal to her. I remember when I first met her, she had this innocence about her that seemed like she were invincible. And the more I got to know her, I realized it was a happiness that was different from any other. I wanted to be a part of that happiness. I want to be a part of that happiness now and for as long as she will have me. She needed to know that.

Raya glimpsed over at me to make sure I was still enjoying myself and caught me gazing at her. But I didn’t look away in fear I would chicken out. I’m not back down now. The timing was perfect.

“You alright?” She asked me curiously.

“Love your energy tonight, lets go right into one of our own now!” I heard the lead singer yell to the crowd but it just sounded like background noise to me. I gave her a half smile and told her without breaking my stare. “I’m better than alright. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else with anyone else.”

Raya seemed to stop listening to the surroundings as well as she focused on what I said. Her eyes were dreamlike and her lips were slightly parted, almost as if she were anxious for what I was about to say next.

“Here we go!” DTF shouted in unison with the crowd’s cheers as they began blasting an intro to a song at the very same time I tried to confess to her again.

“Raya, I really like you a lot, will you--”

“YEAH!!” A demon with dreadlocks screamed while headbanging his way between the both of us with a shove to Raya.

“Hey! Who do you think you are pushing her like that!” I fumed at the demon with clenched fists.

“What did you say to me?” The dreadlocked demon stopped jamming to the music and faced me.

“Tom, it’s alright, I’m fine.” Raya coaxed in a way to deter conflict as she held my shoulder.

But I was too angry over the fact that he put hands on her so rudely; we weren’t even in the pit anymore for him to have done that. So I continued to defend her as I told him, “You owe her an apology.”

“How ’bout you make me.” The dreadlocked demon argued but then glanced over to Raya and smirked. “Better yet, how ’bout I make you show me how much you want that apology, babes.”

That’s it, I couldn’t take how he was treating her any longer.

“I’m gonna pound you into--” I wasn’t even thinking at that point anymore as I went to grab the other demon by the collar but a light blue hand beat me to it.

“Watch what you say to my friends.” Tiras growled and tightened his grip around the other demon’s shirt collar.

“Oi! Get your hand off our bud!” Another group of dreadlocked demons stepped up behind their friend. Indigo, Kraven, George, and Blair came running up to Tiras’s side as well after realizing what was going on.

“Oh yea? Well tell him to watch his disrespectful mouth and nobody would have to put him in check.” Tiras let go of their friend with a push of his chest hard enough to send him back toward his calvary.

“Sup bro, you want to get down, let’s go!” The newly freed demon challenged. I noticed that some of the showgoers were now focusing their attention on our confrontation instead of the band. The venue staff were beginning to take notice too which definitely couldn’t be a good thing either.

“Let’s go? Ha!” Tiras grew a smug grin and warned him, “Don’t want to embarrass you but you better be careful how you speak to our Prince of the Underworld and his council.”

“Council?!” Indigo questioned with furrowed brows.

Seriously, why are you telling them all this? -_-

“You’re the Prince of the Underworld?” One of the demons asked me.

Tiras wrapped his arm around my shoulders and drew me in to him. “That’s right, so you might want to start groveling for forgiveness."

The entire venue was now observing our conversation, even DTF had stopped performing and were listening to us.

“Whaaaat?” The lead singer gasped through the microphone. “THE Prince? We are so honored you came to see us tonight, Your Highness! Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the Prince of the Underworld!” He announced enthused.

But instead of more cheers, there was an odd reaction from the crowd; a mix between awe, confusion, and… hesitation?

“The Prince of the Underworld is here?!” A demon whispered.

“Where? I want to see!” Another demon said.

“That was the Prince that we spoke to when we were in line!” One of the female demons from earlier squealed to her friends.

“You’re really the Prince of the Underworld?” The dreadlocked demon questioned me. “So your Dad is the King?”

Tiras scoffed, “No duh, so you better--”

Suddenly the dreadlocked demon spit on the floor in front of my feet, leaving Tiras and myself speechless.

“The King is a Mewman. You’re half-Mewman.” The dreadlocked demon sneered.

“So what? Why would what he is or what I am matter?” I responded, equally agitated.

“Because he doesn’t care about the Underworld!” The dreadlocked demon hissed.

“Wha?” I gasped with a loss for words.

“My Dad said his family allowed the Mewmans to come here.” One of the other dreadlocked demons mentioned to his group.

“Yea, and that they’re the reason for all the abductions that have been happening.” Another one added.

“Uh-oh, not this again…” Indigo mumbled to George.

“Psshhh, what are ya’ll? Some conspiracy thumpers? What bull…” Tiras folded his arms, refusing to believe any of them.

“Tiras!” Indigo chided him.

“The Queen and King are amazing, they care about the Underworld, so shut up!” Blair angrily responded to them.

“Blair!” Indigo chided zir also.

“If they cared about the Underworld then why let the Mewmans come here and infest it? Why are demons going missing every day and they are doing nothing about it! How can we trust and respect a leadership like that, let alone his son?!” The dreadlocked demon snarled.

“Call the Furies.” I heard a venue staff shout to another in the distance.

The crowd was beginning to gossip amongst themselves unsure of how to process such devastating information.

Raya quickly tugged at my arm sleeve and told me in a concerned tone, “Tom, we should go. None of this is true, you know that.”

“What are they talking about?” I looked to her as if she could provide an answer for such unfounded nonsense. This is the first time I’ve ever heard about any of this. Is this really what some of the populace in the Underworld thinks of my parents? And what some of them think of me?!

“Now, now, everyone,” The lead singer on stage began to say to calm the crowd, “Let’s keep it chill. We’re all here for fun, especially with such an honored guest--”

“Down with the King!” A demon shrieked while throwing a drink at the stage.

“Shut up, anarchist!” Another responded to him from another side of the crowd.

“Throw out the Prince!” A demon demanded.

“No! Don’t harm our Prince!” Another argued.

The scene was becoming even more riotous now. Raya was right, we should go before--

“Agh!” A demon came running towards us with his arm pulled back and every intent to make me the target for his fist.

Tiras pushed me away fast enough so my assailant’s fist missed me and plunged into the face of another demon to the side of us.

“Gah!” The demon that was punched shrieked as he pummeled the other back into yet another demon, causing a chain reaction of a massive all-out brawl in the venue. This is exactly what I expected would happen earlier about having such a confined space to move around.

“Huh, a fight broke out a lot sooner this time than the last time.” Tiras seemed to brush off the fact that we were in the middle of a giant free-for-all which started over my very existence.

“You’re kidding right?!” I exclaimed.

“Furies on the way!” A teenage demon shouted while running through the front entrance. Sirens were heard in the distance.

If it wasn’t utter chaos before, it sure was now. The entire venue went into complete pandemonium as everyone--including DTF--started fleeing before the authorities came.

“Hey, isn’t it a good thing that they are on the way? We haven’t really done anything wrong?” I asked while running alongside Tiras and the others.

“No, dude, it doesn’t matter! They’ll take in whoever they catch and hold you for 24 hours as they investigate the situation and I’m not trying to get in trouble with my Pops again!” Tiras shouted back to me.

But to our dismay, we came to a sudden stop because our exit was blocked by the countless showgoers trying to feed out all at once.

Tiras was trying to push through with the rest but it was no use, it wasn’t happening soon enough. Amid all the commotion, I searched frantically for Raya but couldn’t find her.

“Raya! Where are you?!” I called.

“Tom?” I heard her yell. “Tom!”

She came running up to me with Indigo by her side.

“Hey, are you both alright?” I asked them and they nodded an affirmation.

“Well, no one is getting through this way, that’s for sure.” Indigo scoffed.

“Where’s the others?” Raya questioned while peering around for the rest of our friends.

“Blair probably used zir shadow to get out. George I’m not so sure.” Indigo responded.

“Where’s Kraven when you need him--” Tiras began to mutter but he soon found his answer. Almost immediately, Kraven came running toward the exit and, thanks to his massive girth, he plowed through the masses and cleared the way.

“Haha! Way to go, bud!” Tiras cheered.

I began to say, “Where should we--Oooff!” But suddenly I was pushed forward by another incoming horde of fleeing showgoers and was swept outside.

Once on the street, there were flashing lights from the law enforcement of the Underworld, The Furies, coming from a block away as they shouted for us to comply with stopping our evasion. I tried to find the others again but it was no use. All I saw were strange faces trying to get away.

“Tom!” Raya called my name as she shoved her way out of another wave of demons exiting the venue and caught sight of me.

“Raya!” I called back to her. I had my arms out as if to hug her but instead of slowing her pace, she grabbed onto my upper arm and pulled me with her as we ran away from the ruckus.

“Hey, I got two fleeing this way!” One of the Furies alerted their fellow officer and a team of them were now after us.

As we ran, I asked her, “Raya, what about the others?”

“Time to head home.” Raya answered but didn’t lessen her pace.

“Huh?”

“Whenever this happens, we all split up and head home. Then we meet up in the morning at Tartarus to make sure no one was caught.” She explained.

“Seriously?” I remarked. This is exactly the reason why they all need mobile phones.

Raya and I weaved in and out of the crowded sidewalk in hopes of losing the Furies that were tailing us. But they were steadily approaching faster and faster no matter how busy downtown was at this time of night.

“Quick, in there!” She shouted while pointing to a narrow alley entry.

We darted into it but instead of continuing any further, Raya tugged on my arm and stood firm to bring me to a stop. She kneeled down to touch the ground, making the earth suddenly rise and seal the alley off as if the entrance never existed at all. We heard the Furies unknowingly run by our hiding spot.

We waited a bit before Raya took down the wall. I then scanned the area to make sure it was clear of any Furies before we ventured through the crowd again. Raya pointed out a park at the center of the city that we could cut through to get back to her house faster. So we entered it.

Even though the circumstances leading up to our abrupt end of my first Ska Show experience was a bit hectic, I still had a great time for what I saw. I’m going to have to ask my parents about that stuff some of the demons were saying--is that what’s been going on in the Underworld? I wonder if my Dad knows that’s what some of the people think about us... And I hope the others were alright. Though I don’t think I really have to worry seeing as they are used to this lifestyle and they are a strong group. Plus, Raya didn’t seem too worried either. I guess we will see tomorrow when we meet up at Tartarus. And despite such controversy, they really had my back back there. They really were such great friends...

As Raya and I were able to regain some form of comfort again while making our way through the park, I realized something. The park was pretty deserted considering this time of night, so we got to walk through it just the two of us. And seeing as I was still determined to finish what I had started at the venue seeing as I kept getting interrupted, this was it. This moment of just the two of us was what I’ve been waiting for all night.

This is my chance. This is the perfect opportunity. But how will she react? Will she accept me? Should I really do this… Yes, I should. Like George told me. I just need to go for it no matter what. This feels right. I want her to know how I feel about her...

I decided to make my move as my heart began to race.

As we were walking, I carefully brought my hand to hers and laced my fingers with her own. I began to blush and quickly glanced away, now staring at one of the torches of a lamp post seated in close proximity to the path we were on.

Raya was slow to realize what I had just done but suddenly stopped walking once she did. She steadily turned her head in my direction and with cheeks as red as mine she murmured my name, “Tom?”

I nervously smiled and placed my unoccupied hand behind my head. “Y-yea? W-what’s wrong?” I tried to be smooth but I’m pretty sure she could see I wasn’t being as 'smooth' as I thought I was.

Raya was speechless as she was now watching our hands. They were still intertwined. That must be a good sign if she didn’t pull away, right? I felt the courage to confess to her starting to build inside of me again.

“Well… You see…” I cleared my throat but still had my eyes fixed on the burning flame from the torch. “I’ve been waiting for us to be alone and… I know this is sudden, considering what just happened but I just wanted to ask you…”

I can do this. It feels right. I feel like she wants this too... I repeated, “I just… wanted to… ask…”

My heart was pounding harder in my chest as if it were knocking for her own to answer. I must look her in the eyes and tell her. If I don’t, if I can’t do that… Then I don’t deserve her. She has to know I’m serious about this. About us.

I finally met her gaze and that’s when a nostalgic feeling sparked from inside of me. Looking into her eyes as the fire from the torch danced within them gave me hope. Like a sunset… I began to remember our time in that dimension and how beautiful it was. How beautiful she was. Her eyes glittered just like when we were there on that beach. I should’ve seen it all before; all the signs. How could I have been so oblivious? I didn’t want to miss my chance again.

So I took a deep breath and asked her earnestly. “Raya, would you like to go out on a date with me?”

For a moment, she still didn’t say anything. She had an almost dreamlike expression cover her face which made my heart race even more. Was it from the anticipation of her reply, or just that she looked so cute right now?

Raya finally broke her silence and said, “You… You’d really want to… Go out with someone like me? I mean, you’re a prince--”

“That doesn’t matter to me.” I interjected. “I’ve wanted to ask you for a while now… And I’m kicking myself over the fact it took me so long to ask you but I just wanted it to be the perfect time…” I paused for a breath and felt my hand tighten slightly around hers as if afraid to lose her. I continued with my confession, “But you know, every moment I spend worrying about if it is the perfect time is another moment I don’t have you… So, will you go out--”

“Yes.” Raya answered without hesitation. She then placed her hand on top of her other one that was linked with mine and gave it a firm squeeze of affirmation. Raya was all smiles as she said, “Yes, of course. I would love to!”

#TomVSTheUnderworldFanfic #TVTU #svtfoe #oc fanfiction #oc #starvstheforcesofevil #star vs the forces of evil #tom lucitor #The Underworld

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skiesofeternity · 8 years ago

Text

Skies of Eternity Chapter 4 (Tera x DAI crossover)

Rating: Teen and up

Pairings: DorianXMale Lavellan (in later chapters)

Warnings: None so far

Fandoms: Tera Online, Dragon Age Inquisition

You do not need to know about Tera online to read this story.

AO3 link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/6452602/chapters/14767501

Higher Resolution of scenes: https://miadrawsart.tumblr.com/post/158769843134/better-resolution-of-the-pictures-from-my

Chapter 4

Questions

“This is so much BULLSHIT!” Eruno yelled in frustration. She punched the stone wall of the cell, the guards stationed outside the bars fidgeted.

“Eruno. Behave.” Eirai warned her younger sister sternly.

Eruno huffed, dropping down to the floor on her blanket in a cross-legged position with her arms crossed in annoyance.

Zyllian sat with her back against the wall, her steel mask taken away. She wrapped the flimsy blanket around her neck to cover the lower half of her face. Tucking her knees under her arms, her thin-leather gloved hands curled into fists. The Reaper felt exposed without her scythes and armor but she did not put up a fuss like her younger sibling. She refused to show any weakness.

Eirai was beside Erune’s sleeping form on the straw cot. The eldest sister continued to stroke the young Elin’s hair as she slept. “We must be patient. Remember, we are foreigners in another world-it is best that we avoid instigating any kind of conflict.”

The squirrel Elin let out a noise of frustration and fell flat on her back, her bushy tail knocking around the dust. After a few minutes passed, she tucked her head back up. “By the way, what happened to lil’ sis? She ok?”

“She’s fine. She just used up all her mana that her body could hold.” The Reaper’s sudden voice startled the guards for a moment as they had barely heard the third Elin speak before. “She’s recharging it through the Dream.”

“But doesn’t she usually just need quick nap, or a good night’s sleep? She’s been out of it since she helped the elf-guy deal with the Breach.”

“It’s because we’re in a different world, and the only thing that links ours to this one is the Fade rift. It takes more effort to be able to reach the Dream from here. Hence why she’s taking so long.” Zyllian murmured. “I can feel her presence there and her body still needs time to regain her mana.”

“Because we are so far away from our world, we must be careful in using our willpower sparingly.” Eirai spoke. Zyllian nodded in acknowledgement. The four would have to rely more on their physical strength.

The three heard the sound of the main door of the cellar opening. They watched the guards salute as the two women from earlier come in, followed by a man with curly blonde hair and a thick fur coat over part his armor and the bald elf with the short, stocky man.

Leaping to her feet, Eruno grabbed at the bars and scowled at the one the redhead had referred to as Cassandra before the Elins had been detained. “So what’s the big idea?! We’ve been waiting here for a day now!”

Cassandra glared. “I would hold my tongue if I were you.”

“Oh yeah?!” Eruno pointed back. “You better have some explanation as to WHY you arrested us-especially AFTER I saved your ass back there!” Sneering, she continued. “You should be fucking grateful that my sisters and I came to help!”

Eirai rose and put her hand on her second youngest sister’s shoulder, telling her to back off.

The curly-blonde haired man looked at the four Elins. “So, these are the mysterious girls that claimed they are from another world?”

“As we told you Curly,” The short man spoke. “Popped out of the Breach.”

‘Curly’ moved closer to the cell, taking a closer look at their animal features. “Such strange ears and horns...are they demons?” Eruno snorted.

“I had never seen a demon take on such a strange form before, and I do not sense any Fade magic from them” The bald elf answered. “My wards in this room would entrap them anyways if they did try anything.” He thought aloud.

Eruno swerved on her feet with her arms crossed. “It’d be appreciated if all of you would just talk to us instead of discussing amongst yourselves about us as if we weren’t here. We aren’t animals. And of course you wouldn’t sense ‘Fade’ magic because our Willpower and magic is different from yours.”

“What do you mean?” The elf blinked in curiosity.

Eruno grinned. “You down wards right?” She gestured her head to the side. “They don’t seem to be working - my sisters can still access the Dream and we can still do this:” A spark of red spiraling energy flickered around her index finger.

“What?!” Cassandra, the blonde-haired man, and the guards immediately grabbed their swords. The elf and shorter man staggered back in shock. “How are you able to still cast magic?! What kind of mages are you?”

Eruno rolled her eyes. “We’re not mages. At least, the three of us.” She jerked her thumb at Erune. “Lil’sis is a Priestess so she is able to use magic in greater amounts-at least, healing and holy type.”

“A mage is a mage, even if they are a healer, they can still be a threat-such as you.”

Eruno’s tail flicked in annoyance as she glared back. “I told you, we’re NOT mages.”

“Eruno.” Eirai hissed. She looked at the others outside the cell. “My apologies of my younger sister’s behavior. She is still young and brash at times.”

“Are you the leader?” The hooded woman asked.

“In a sense, yes. I am the eldest of my sisters.” She crossed her arms. “Your apprehensiveness is understandable and it is probably best that we explain our part and hear your side of the story as well.”

“Very well.” The woman nodded in acknowledgement. “Perhaps you should start first.”

“As I had said before, we are Elins from the world Arborea…”

***

Keeper Zathrian’s voice could be heard from outside the araval. Quen slowly sat up, trying to avoid reopening the wounds under the various bandages. His little sister, Riella, snuggled deeper in the blanket made of druffalo hide.

The young elven boy pushed aside the flap of the tent and looked over at his Keeper. Before the Keeper stood a large group of people. Eight of them said they were Grey Wardens.

As he surveyed each of them, faint remembrance of their names came back to him.

Alistair...the awkward Shem who let the noblewoman, Ilena, do the talking.

Griff and Ren...two mages from the circle, both looked around curiously as they had never been in a forest before. Besides the Shemlan and elf was another mage, but she did not wear circle robes. The woman called Morrigan scowled to herself.

The casteless dwarf, Denev, stood close by a young red-headed Shem. The female Shemlan looked familiar to him. A sense of realization came to Quen as he remembered the woman’s name: [Leliana...]

Another dwarf was farther away from the group. Brandil, he was called. He held an air full of pride and arrogance. His arms were crossed in an impatient way.

The other two elves, cousins he remembered, one Dalish like his clan and the other born from the city. Lance, the city-born, noticed Quen looking his way and waved back. His Dalish-clan-born cousin, Verandra, with her vallaslin markings of Sylaise upon her face, stared back at the young elf.

***

The sound of a door opening roused Quen from his dream. As he sat upright, he heard a squeak of surprise-followed by a box crashing to the floor. Looking over from the bed he was on, he saw an elven girl with her eyes widened.

“I, I didn’t know you were awake! I swear!” She stammered.

He cocked his head curiously and opened his mouth to speak. “It’s fine. I-” The elf girl collapsed to her knees into a groveling position. Quen was taken aback.

“I beg for your forgiveness and blessing. I am but a humble servant.” Quen was definitely awake at this point, getting out of bed quickly as the other elf continued. “You are in Haven my Lord. As well as the strange four girls.”

“Hold on,” The elven girl flinched. “Why are you calling me “Lord”? And what about those four girls?”

She looked back at Quen. “They say you saved us. The Breach stopped growing. Just like the Mark on your hand.”

Quen lifted the sleeve of his clothes to look at his arm. The green scar on his palm had quieted down, still slightly throbbing and shining but to a much lesser extent from before. His nerves and veins no longer bulged under the skin; the spider-like markings were gone.

“One of the girls, the blue-haired one, helped you ” The elven girl spoke. “The two of you have been out of it this entire time. The people of Haven have been talking about you two for the past three days.”

‘She...helped me…?’ Quen thought to himself. “But what about my trial? And who are those girls?”

“I…it is not my place...” The elf girl hesitated, wringing her hands together. “Lady Cassandra would want to know that you’ve wakened. She said ‘At once’.”

“Where do I find her?” Quen shuffled around the room to find his belongings. His armor and boots were on the dresser beside the bed, alongside with his knapsack. He checked to make sure all of his things were there, especially the small object wrapped up in cloth at the bottom of the bag.

The other elf quickly gathered the contents from the crate she had dropped earlier. “At the Chantry,” She stood up, cradling the crate close. “With the Lord Chancellor. ‘At once’, she said.” Immediately, the elven girl shoved open the cabin door and was gone.

Quen continued to stand there for a moment, taking it all in with a deep breath.

He was alive. Alive.

The Breach had been stopped - and he survived it.

Whispering a silent prayer to the Creators, he sat down on the bed to put on his boots.

***

Somewhere around the same time Quen had awoken, Erune’s eyes fluttered open. Zyllian noticed and went by her younger sister’s side, stroking her hair. Erune purred, her cat ears twitching underneath Zyllian’s fingertips.

“Zyllian…” She smiled gently at her older sister. It was rare for Zyllian to show such affection to her sisters, so Erune never took these moments for granted.

Zyllian retracted her hand, standing up. There were a few guards stationed at the stairs that lead into the room of prison cells. Although the four were no longer locked inside one of the cells and given free roam of the room itself, the guards still kept a close eye on them. Eruno was doing handstands and push-ups while Eirai meditated in the corner of the room.

Erune then perked her head up. “The elven boy...is he alright?” Zyllian paused at the unlocked cell door.

“He’s been out of it, just as you have. But he’s fine.” One of the guards had left to inform the others about the fourth Elin finally being awake.

‘Oh...thank goodness…’ Erune sighed with relief, clutching the blanket close to her chest. As she rose from the straw bed, Eirai got up to fill her little sister in on the events and details of what had happened while she was asleep.

***

On his way to Haven’s Chantry, Quen was surprised to see the people saluting at his presence, considering the fact that they had given him looks of disdain three days ago.

Glancing back at the sky, he could see the Breach was still there, the clouds that swirled around it still glowing green.

As he stepped into the Chantry, Quen could hear the voices of Roderick arguing with Cassandra and Leliana. The guard stationed by the door, knocked and opened it to let Quen in.

The Grand Chancellor had both his hands on the wooden table, his face in what Quen assumed was a permanent scowl at this point. Leliana and Cassandra were on the other side of the table, Cassandra holding a thick book in her arms.

The moment Roderick saw Quen, the man attempted to instruct the guards to take Quen away in chains for trial, though Cassandra immediately then told the guards to disregard such actions and to fetch the others. Nodding, the guards closed the door behind them, a heavy air of silence followed soon after for a few moments.

Roderick glared back at Cassandra. “You walk a dangerous line, Seeker.” He spat.

“The Breach is stable, but it is still a threat. I will not ignore it.” Cassandra huffed.

Quen swore under his breath. He had hoped to close the rip in the sky but it looked like whatever he did was not enough. It had already taken a lot out of him to stop the Breach from growing and he did not do it alone. “I did what I could to close the Breach and it almost killed me.” He said.

“Yet you live.” Roderick grumbled. “A convenient result.”

“You were not there, Chancellor.” Leliana stepped in. “He was doing everything he could and the Breach was going to kill him before he could try and close it. If it were not for the aid of that ‘Elin’, he may have been dead. And then we would have had nothing left to close the Breach.”

“Elin?” Quen asked.

“The four girls who appeared from the Breach rift. Their kind are called Elins.” Cassandra said. Someone then knocked on the door and she told them to enter.

The four Elins came the room. The blue-haired cat girl smiled an air of relief when her eyes made contact with Quen’s, her hands clasped together in delight. It was still bizarre for Quen to see the girls with animal ears and tails that actually moved. Roderick wrinkled his nose in disgust at the sight of the four.

The rabbit Elin stepped forward to Quen, her right hand in a fist above her breast. “Greetings. We are the Fae sisters. I am Eirai Fae and this is my twin sister, Zyllian Fae.” She gestured at the white-haired Elin with the demonic horns. Zyllian watched Quen closely with sharp eyes.

The squirrel Elin grinned, jerking her thumb at herself. “I’m their younger sister, Eruno Fae! And this is my twin sister…” She put her arm around the cat Elin who fidgeted nervously.

“Erune. Erune Fae.” She spoke with a quiet voice. “Thank the Gods that you are alright.”

“These four are from another world called Arborea,” Leliana said. “It appears that the Breach and Rifts have appeared in their world-acting as a link between ours. They have been sent by their head organization, The Federation, in means of finding a way to aide in closing the Rifts.”

“A likely story.” Roderick interjected. “How do you not know if they are demons? Especially that one!” He pointed at Zyllian specifically. Zyllian ignored his accusations.

“We are actually the opposite of demons.” Eirai stated. “Our kind are originally Spirits of Nature given a physical form. Why we have animal features reflects nature itself.”

Such information was quite a surprise for Quen. How this ‘Elin’ said such things nonchalantly, as if she was used to explaining this. Perhaps what she said was true? Already their appearances were proof enough that they were odd. Such ideas of other worlds and species were never thought up so casually.

“Spirits? Hah! You may call yourselves that but we all know you can easily become demons.”

Eruno stormed into Roderick’s personal bubble, the small Elin glaring up at the man as if he was little of a threat to her. “For YOUR world probably. Have you NOT been listening? Are your ears old? We’re from a different world so things work differently there.”

Roderick started back, raising his finger as if to scold an adolescent. “Listen, child-!” Eruno batted his hand away.

“I’m 36 years old, you Senile Old Geezer!”

Roderick was taken aback, both by the insult and the Elin’s age. “W, what?! But you look just like a child!” The others, sans the Elins, raised their eyes in surprise.

Eirai sighed with annoyance while Zyllian grabbed Eruno by the shoulder and tugged her back. “That is another thing about our kind,” Eirai continued from before. “Our bodies do not physically age.”

Throwing his hands in the air, Roderick sputtered. “Well, even if they aren’t demons from our world-who’s not to say they aren’t here to attack us?”

“Because, Chancellor,” Cassandra hissed. “They surrendered to us willingly when we first arrested them. Their reason being here also leads to our other pressing issue. The Breach is not the only threat we face.”

“Someone was behind the explosion at the Conclave. Someone Most Holy did not expect.” Leliana stated.

“Whoever it was, they are probably also the cause of the Rifts being formed.” Eirai added.

Leliana nodded at the Elin. “Indeed. We both have the same agenda as to finding out who. They may have died with the others at the Conclave-or have allies who yet live.” With her last words, she glared at the Grand Chancellor.

Roderick flinched. “I am a suspect?”

“You. And many others.”

“But NOT the prisoner. Nor these things.” He pointed at both Quen and the Fae sisters. Eruno stuck her tongue out at him.

“The Divine called to him for help at the Temple. And then there is the woman we all saw who was also there when the Elins appeared.” Cassandra said.

“So, his survival from the Temple’s destruction, that THING on his hand, those girls-All a coincidence?” Roderick continued to question.

“Providence.” Cassandra walked around the table to look at Quen in the eyes. “The Maker sent him to us in our darkest hour. And he aided the Elins’ journey to our world to help Quen.”

Eirai raised a brow in curiosity while Eruno snickered to herself. “Heh, are we considered ‘Saviors’ for a Chosen One now?” She giggled, nudging Erune.

Quen immediately decided to interject. “But I am not a Chosen One! Wouldn’t it also be considered blasphemy, considering I believe in the elven Creators while you are hailing me as a Chosen for the Chantry?”

Cassandra looked at him sympathetically. “Even so, no one can deny what they saw when you first appeared after the explosion AND after the Elins arrived. The woman from the Rift...everyone has been saying she could only have been Andraste herself.”

Andraste, a historic figure to the Chantry. Later considered the Bride of the Maker who fought the Tevinter Imperium for the freedom of slaves.

“Nevertheless,” Leliana said. “The Breach remains, and your Mark is still our only hope of closing it.”

“This is not for you to decide.” Roderick protested.

Cassandra then slammed the thick book she had held in her hands on the table. The metal cover of the book had the insignia of an eye inside a sun. As she placed her hand on it, she looked at Roderick. “You know what this is, Chancellor.” Straightening her back, she carefully looked around the room. “A writ from The Divine, granting us the authority to act.

As of this moment, I hereby declare the Inquisition to be reborn.”

She then moved towards Roderick. The man stepped backwards, intimidated by the woman’s looming presence. “We will close the Breach. We will find those responsible. And we will restore order. With or without your approval.”

Roderick glared back at the Seeker. He then shook his head in disbelief before storming out of the room. The door slammed behind him, the wooden frame shuddering. “So… Inquisition?” Eruno piped up, grimacing. “What’s all that?”

Leliana smiled at the young Elin before looking back at the book. “An old Chantry Order from long ago. This was the Divine’s Directive should the Conclave fail: Rebuild the Inquisition of old. Find those who will stand against the chaos.” Her smile then fell. “We aren’t ready, though. We have no leader, no numbers, and now no Chantry support.”

“But we have no choice: We must act now.” Cassandra then looked at Quen. “With you at our side.” She then nodded to the Fae sisters. “And the Fae Sisters if you wish.”

“Why do you need my permission for them to join you?” Quen asked, finally having a moment to speak.

“Because,” Leliana replied. “These girls have an interest in you particularly.”

“You can close the Rifts.” Eirai pointed out. “And that is very important for our own mission. It is necessary to work together. However, it is best to have your permission since you are the one we were looking for.”

“In the end, it is up to you.” The women in the room all looked at Quen . The elf suddenly felt slightly uncomfortable being put at the center of attention. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he thought it all over.

Once again, he was put on the spot - at least the world wasn’t ending this time. He had made his choice before he went to the Breach. He wanted to help the people. And seeing as he was the only solution, he had agreed. He had made his choice before and it was his decision even now.

He looked back at the others, more confident now. “If your Inquisition’s goal is to try and restore order from all of this chaos…” Cassandra smiled and held out her hand to him. Quen took it, shaking in agreement. “Then I’ll do whatever I can.” As the two withdrew, he turned to Eirai, holding his hand out to the Elin. “And I would be grateful to have you and your sisters alongside me.”

Eirai shook his hand. “It’ll be a great pleasure to work with you.” She smiled

***

“Sis, why didn’t you mention anything about the God who helped us?” Eruno whispered to Eirai as the four settled into the cabin that was provided to them. The previous occupant of the place was one of the unfortunate victims from the destruction of the Conclave. She hadn’t wanted to discuss it in the open environment of the Chantry cells.

“Remember what the ‘God’ told us?” Zyllian said. “She wanted to stay out of the people’s affairs. Besides, these people take to their Gods on another level. They do not appear to them unless it’s seen as a divine intervention. Such as with Quen.” She set her small pack on the table in the room. “The people seem to think the glowing being who helped him-and us is their Prophet, Andraste, and being in her presence has ‘blessed’ us. It is better to play along with such notions for the time being since we don’t really know who that spirit really was.” As soon as she found her mask amongst her belongings, she put it on her face.

“Poor Quen though…” Erune murmured. “It must be strange for him to be hailed as the Herald for a religion he does not practice.”

“Even so, we cannot do anything about it. We are foreigners.” Eirai sighed. “We are here to help Quen and find out who is behind all of this. Once it is over, we can return home.”

“How exactly?” Eruno asked, sitting down on the bed, her tail swishing around. “How are we going back?”

“Princess Rida told me that the God who helped us get here would come to us when it is time. Be it in secret or out in the open, we will see.” Eirai said as she undid the bun in her hair, allowing her long magenta braid fall to her waist. “For now, we must wait and see how this ‘Inquisition’ turns out.”

Later that night, most of Haven had gone to sleep, few still up doing preparations in forming the Inquisition. Varric sat outside his tent by a campfire.

The merchant dwarf was in the midst of recording the recent events that had occurred in his journal. If he planned to make a novel out of it like the one about his friend Hawke, he doubted it would even be considered a historic novel based on its content.

Sure, the Champion of Kirkwall book had some exaggerated passages but they were meant to play up the heroics of his companions (and himself of course). But giant holes in the sky which connected to the Fade and four girls who came from another world? Varric mentally shook his head in frustration. This shit was just too weird.

“May I join you?” Varric looked up from the embers of the fire at the rabbit Elin named Eirai, who approached, carrying her bag. He nodded and watched as she dusted away some fresh snow on one of the logs and settled down on the hard bark. Eirai took a notebook with ripped pages out from the bag; alongside with a quill and ink bottle. The final item she withdrew was a short stone cylinder that was made up of a series of discs stacked together. Alongside each disc had segments that had markings unrecognizable to Varric. Opening the notebook, she began to write by the firelight, lifting up her head now and then to examine the Breach in the sky on the mountain.

“So…” Varric began, the Elin pausing in her writing. “What brings you out here instead of being with your siblings?”

The Elin looked at the dwarf. “I did not want to disturb them as they rested. As for what I am doing, I am writing a report for my superiors from my world. We do not know if letters can be sent back and forth so far, but I hope it will be successful. I am currently detailing what happened to the Breach here.”

Varric took out a bottle of wine he lifted from the tavern’s storage earlier along with two mugs, pouring himself a drink and one for Eirai. “Not every day you meet a completely different kind of people.”

Eirai smirked back as she took the offered mug to her. “Likewise, you are a dwarf and my world does not have people like you. The only similar species I’d say you look like is the Popori race-but you have human faces and much, much less hair.” She then eyed his hairy chest from his robes. “Not that you don’t have any hair, of course.”

“Popori?” Varric raised a brow as he took a sip of the wine.

“Small, humanoid animal people.”

Varric sniggered into his drink. “What a thing to be compared to. Rosy, you wound me.”

“Rosy?”

“Your nickname. Solas is Chuckles, Cullen is Curly, and Quen is Frosty. It’s a habit of mine.”

“And what prompted such a label for me?”

“Your hair color reminds me of roses.”

Eirai let out a laugh, taking a drink of her wine. It tasted like some of the other ales during her travels around Arborea. “And do my sisters have nicknames as well?”

Varric grinned. “Of course, I decided to go for a plant theme for you gals.” He took a moment to laugh to himself. “Fitting since you did say you’re Nature Spirits. Anyways, your youngest sister is dubbed ‘Blueberry’ and Eruno I call ‘Apples’.”

“Apples?”

“Her cheeks when she smiles.”

Eirai was bemused by Varric at this point. “And Zyllian?”

Varric brought his hand to his chin in thought for a moment. “Sweet Pea.” He concluded.

“Now I wouldn’t have thought you’d think of her as ‘sweet’.”

The dwarf shrugged. “It makes an ironic nickname at the least.”

The Elin chuckled in her mug, finishing her drink. The two went back to their writings for a while. Once Eirai had signed her letter, she ripped the inked pages from her notebook, rolling them up together. She then unscrewed the top off the cylinder from earlier and placed the rolled-up parchment inside the tube. The individual discs with the markings were then turned until there was a specific sequence of them between the two arrows on either end of the cylinder.

Placing her hands on either side of the tube, she closed her eyes and concentrated. The sequence of runes in the line began to glow for a few seconds. Once the runes stopped glowing, Eirai put the tube back into her bag.

Varric offered to pour her another drink, which she accepted. “Now what was that if I may ask?”

“A portable mailing device. It’s the fastest way to send reports to my colleagues. All one has to do is input a little bit of their Willpower to activate it.”

“Willpower?”

“A sub-form of magic. Everyone from Arborea is born with it. My archery skills in battle for example, involve a great use of it.” She demonstrated by forming a solid rod of light in her hand that morphed into an arrow.

“I was meaning to ask about that too.” Varric took a swig of his drink. “Your arrows were made of the light stuff, so that is…?”

“My Willpower, yes. Including the bowstring itself. Archers first learn to use a bow and arrow naturally before attempting to form a bowstring and projectile. Hence why I reach behind my back as if to draw one from a quiver. A personal habit which can be very useful if one’s Willpower is not strong enough in a certain situation and one must resort to using actual arrows.” The Elin then sighed as she diminished the projectile from her hands. “Which is a dilemma for my sisters and me right now actually. Being here away from our world is very limiting on our abilities. I can still form my own bowstring for my bow but I may have to rely on arrows made from the blacksmith here.”

Varric shrugged. “Well sometimes things happen and you find yourself in a situation where you have to make do with what you have”

Eirai smirked. “Wise words to live by.” She then proceeded to change the subject. “By the way, your crossbow was very interesting. May I have a look at it?”

“Bianca? Sorry Rosy, she’s one of a kind so I’m kind of touchy about others touching her.”

“You named your crossbow Bianca?” She laughed.

“Yep. My pride and joy.”

The two continued to talk by the firelight, sharing small stories with one another.

***

“Come on, get up! You’ve been lying there for five minutes!” A boy’s voice huffed.

“Let her be, Pilt! It takes her some time to fully materialize in the Dream.” A girl’s stern voice scolded back.

Erune’s eyes opened slowly. She was lying in a meadow of grass and daisies. Looking up at the light blue sky, she spotted a few shapes amongst the clouds.

Carefully sitting upright, she looked over at Kiecey, the young elven girl with soft golden hair, who was continuing to reprimand Pilt, the human boy ignoring his friend.

The two then noticed Erune was awake and helped her to her feet. “Finally,” Pilt grinned. “The others have been waiting for you!” He tugged her along, Kiecey following while shaking her head, a smile was across her face.

Erune was led to a grove of tall trees that stretched up towards the sky. She continued to follow the two children through the lush orchard until the three of them reached a pile of boulders surrounding a pool. An Amani boy sat atop one of the boulders, dangling his legs over the edge of the rock. A young Popori child was swimming in the water while a little human girl collected flowers that surrounded the pool.

Pilt called over to grab the attention of the three. The girl dropped her bouquet and ran over to hug Erune, her brownish blonde hair bouncing past her shoulders.

“You’re here!” Anya beamed. “It’s been so long!”

Erune smiled back. “I’m so sorry, Anya. There has been much going on in the waking world.”

“Well,” Jerdan stood up on the boulder, his scaled hands on his hips. “We have plenty of time for you to tell us all what has been happening.”

“But big sis Ruru was going to teach us some new songs!” Niyum protested as he rose from the pool, shaking the water from his tanned fur. “She promised she would the next time she came to see us!”

Erune brought up her hands. “One thing at a time, everyone.” She said gently. Smoothing out the bottom of her dress, she sat down on the grass. Jerdan scrabbled down the boulder to join the other children who all gathered to sit around Erune. “It would be best,” She began. “If I explained what has been happening first…”

As Erune wove her tale, the five children looked on with wide eyes and fascination. She told them of her sisters entering the Breach and walking through the Fade; exiting into another world and helping fight against various monsters to Erune helping the elven boy Quen close the large Rift for the time being; to the creation of the Inquisition. When she finished, Jerdan and Pilt began to ask the Elin questions about the new world. Kiecey even threw in some praise of her own to their Elin friend. Erune flushed, embarrassed by the attention.

Anya placed her hand on Erune’s. “Eru,” She said. “You should have more confidence in yourself. You’ve been working so hard.”

“Anya...thank you.” Erune smiled back at her friends. “I try…” She then perked her head up. “Now, what song would you guys like to learn?”

“Hmm…how about, a lullaby?” Kiecey thought aloud. Erune nodded, taking a deep breath to begin her song.

***

Quen tossed and turned on the mattress, sweat upon his face as his face contorted in pain amidst the nightmare he was having. The Mark on his hand flashed violently, its light flickering across the walls of the cabin. Green lines crawled up his arm like before after the Conclave. Frost began to form around his fingertips while the candle by his bedside sputtered to life and then blinked out before relighting itself again.

His mind was trapped, unable to escape the monstrosities that lingered there and chased him. Memories he wished not to relive.

In his nightmare, he let out a cry for help.

***

Erune paused in her singing, her cat ears twitching. “What’s wrong?” Jerdan asked.

“I, I don’t…I thought I heard someone in pain. But…” Her brow furrowed. “It doesn’t seem like it’s around here in this realm…” She rose to her feet. “The voice…it sounds like…his voice…”

“Erune.” Kiecey stood up with the rest of other children, each of them looking at her. “You have to go to him. It’s the only way to help him.”

“But how?” The Elin asked the elven child.

“The first thing you have to do, is Wake Up.”

Erune jolted awake. Eruno was drooling onto the pillow with her large tail wrapped around the both of them; Zyllian was cuddling Eruno’s tail while tucked into the blankets. Their eldest sister was missing from the room.

Untangling herself from the blankets and her twin sister’s tail, she quietly slipped on her shoes and walked across the wooden floor to the door, opening it and stepping outside into the snow covered by the night sky.

***

Varric paused in what he was saying to Eirai, something catching his eye. “Hey Rosy,”

“Hm?”

“Any idea why Blueberry would be out at this hour?” Eirai followed his hand where he was pointing. She watched Erune sneak across the grounds of Haven towards one of the other houses, away from the cabin she and her sisters were staying in. The older Elin huffed. She collected her belongings and bid the dwarf a goodnight as she left to follow after her youngest sister.

She found her sister enter one of the small cabins. As Erune opened the door, a bright green light filled the doorway that then dimmed as the little Elin closed the door behind her. Eirai quickly went up to the house and yanked the door open, shielding her eyes from the bright light, this time also mixed with a soft blue.

As her eyes adjusted, she lowered her arm. Erune was sitting on the floor besides Quen’s bed, holding his left arm. The Mark on the elf’s arm was flaring up again, acting like before when he was trying to close the Breach. His body spasmed on the bed, Erune quickly trying to whisper soothing words as the soft blue glow of her healing magic flowed from her hands.

“Erune? What are you doing?” The young Elin jumped at her older sister’s voice, turning her head.

“I...I heard him cry out for help...he’s hurting again…” Erune whispered with a worried look on her face.

Eirai nodded and let her little sister continue in her work. Quen let out a gasp of pain as the Mark reacted with Erune’s healing magic. The young Elin kept calm, letting a small hum dance from her lips. The humming eventually turned into a song. Eirai listened closely to the melody. It had been a song that Princess Rida taught her sister some time ago.

The song was an ancient lullaby hymn amongst the Gods of old. Some say it originated from the Titans who created their world. Whatever it was, it was in an ancient, long forgotten language

As Erune continued to sing, the blue light began to soothe the Mark, its green light dimming.

***

Kiecey hummed the song Erune had taught them before she left. The young elf danced around in the grass, her stocking and shoes put to the side as she let her toes dig into the soft dirt.

Anya watched her friend as she wove a flower chain. “You really like that song, huh?” Kiecey nodded, smiling. She continued to dance, wrapping her arms around herself, occasionally resting them over her stomach. She looked up to the blue sky dotted with clouds and butterflies and smiled.

***

Quen fell back in the dirt, the monsters drawing near. As he scrambled backwards, his back hit the remains of a broken wall. His eyes widened in fear, the moans of the disembodied creatures grew closer and closer.

Suddenly, everything stopped. Quen looked around, the monsters beginning to disperse into dust. A faint song could be heard. The tune was familiar, filling Quen with a sense of warmth and hope.

He remembered his mother humming a lullaby like this once to him when he was a child, holding him beside his father.

As his eyes closed in content, the dream world around him began to fade.

Quen woke with a start, the nightmares receding. He felt hands on his left arm. As he looked down, he saw Erune resting her head on the edge of his bed.

“She fell asleep. It was a lot of strain on her.” He snapped his head up to see Eirai in the doorway, walking over to him. “Your Mark...was being erratic. You were obviously in pain physically and from the looks of it,” She observed him closely. “Mentally.”

“Why is she...?”

“I… I do not know...she said she heard you call for help and then came here.” She was then silent, waiting for Quen to answer.

“It...It was a nightmare…” Quen finally said. He looked back at Erune. “Did she help me again?”

“Yes. She used her healing magic, and it seems your Mark has calmed down again.” Eirai furrowed her brow as she brought her hand to her chin in thought. “I do not understand though what is happening and why.”

“I have a theory…” The two turned back to the door, seeing Solas standing in the doorway. He held up his hands in surrender. “Apologies. I felt an increase in the Mark’s magic and thus came to investigate. But it thankfully seems to no longer be an issue.”

“What do you mean?” Eirai asked.

“The Mark is related to the Breach, which connects to your world and ours. Such is that it must be a strain on the Mark itself. Not only does Quen have to close the Rifts here, he is subsequently closing the Rifts in your world. There is an imbalance of power and that partially may have to do with the fact that Quen is not a mage. If he could wield magic, perhaps he would be able to handle the pressure of the Mark on his own.

I had tried using my own magic to help him but it was repelled. Somehow…” The apostate mage gestured at Erune. “Her magic acts as a converter, dispelling the Fade magic in the Mark...very fascinating...it would be in my best interest if I could study this further in the future if I may.”

Eirai sneered. “That is for her to decide.” She then knelt to help pick up Erune. “Anyways I should take her back.”

“Wait.” Quen sat up. “Is it...is it alright if she stays here?” He got up, looking for extra blankets and pillows in the room. “I do not want another experience of that again so…”

“That would be wise actually.” Solas said. “Her presence seems to alleviate the symptoms of the Mark.”

The elder Elin looked at the two of them before sighing in defeat. “Very well.” She then helped tuck Erune in the makeshift bed on the floor beside Quen’s bed.

Solas and Eirai then bade Quen a goodnight before closing the door of the cabin. Quen looked over the edge of the bed down at Erune’s sleeping face.

She reminded him so much of his sister when she was young and... He shook his head, it hurt to think about that other little girl since she was long gone. He reached out to pet Erune’s hair before falling asleep himself.

That morning when Quen woke up, he found the Elin snuggled by his side on the bed, holding his left hand.

#writing #dragon age #dragon age inquisition #tera #tera online #fanfic #fanfiction #lavellan #skies of eternity

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