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twilight-orchid · 3 years

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How The Demon Brothers React After Fighting With Their SO

tw: some angst with resolution at the end, mentions of past arguments, insecurity.

Lucifer:

This man is petty as hell.

He doesn’t do the silent treatment, but he acts like you aren’t dating.

If you need to work on something together, you’re a co-worker.

At RAD you’re a classmate.

Around the house you’re just a housemate.

His poker face is immaculate and it will not crack when you’re around.

If someone didn’t know what was happening, they’d probably think you two barely knew each other.

However, you won’t notice, but as soon as you look the other way his eyes are on you.

He’s used to arguing with his brothers and is no stranger to explosive fights that end with he and the other person not being on speaking terms.

But you’re different.

He tries to go on with business as usual, but he can’t think about anything other than how much he misses you.

Yet, he lets it continue because he just can’t put his pride aside and apologize.

If you decide to sleep in your old room it’ll both hurt his feelings and royally piss him off.

He thinks you’re being childish and will be pretty rude about it, but that’s because internally his blood just ran cold.

It adds a degree of seriousness to the argument that he’s uncomfortable with.

Yes he’s mad, but he can’t lose you.

If you still sleep in his bed, he makes sure to scoot over to the very edge so he doesn’t cuddle you in his sleep.

In fact, the first night after the argument he’d probably put a pillow between you just to really punctuate the fact that he’s still upset.

I’d say it could go 4 days to a week tops without you making up.

After a point though, he just can’t function until the issue is resolved. He can’t sleep, he’s falling behind on his work, and he’s just generally not doing well.

You get called to his office one night and find him at his desk surrounded by piles of paper, disheveled and exhausted.

“MC, come sit down. I’d like to talk this through. Please.”

Mammon:

He’s so dramatic.

You dare defy him? The Great Mammon can’t believe this tiny fragile human would have the audacity.

The theatrics are just a front though.

His ‘The Great Mammon’ act is a mask for his insecurity, one he hasn’t had to use with you in awhile.

Even as the words leave his mouth he regrets them.

He’s going to be very uncomfortable with everything until the argument is resolved, but most of all himself.

He’s learned not to take his brothers too seriously when they toss insults his way, but words have a way of morphing to belief over time.

Internally he is going to be super hard on himself.

Regardless of if the fight was his fault or not, he’s going to kick himself constantly for making yet another mistake.

He’s over the argument pretty fast. The anger quickly melts into anxiety.

Are you going to leave him? Do you hate him? Did he hurt your feelings?

That being said, he doesn’t know if you’re still mad and he doesn’t know how to ask.

As a defense mechanism, he defaults to how he treated you when you first arrived in the devildom.

Calls you human, disregards you, stuff like that.

If you decide to sleep in another room, before midnight expect him to be knocking on the door.

“Oi, MC. You awake? I just - I can’t - *sigh* Can we talk about this?”

If you sleep in his bed, he makes a point of sleeping with his back to you.

Less because he’s actually mad and more because he doesn’t want his image of you as he drifts to sleep to be a look of anger.

Though as soon as he passes out he’ll roll over and tuck you into his arms on instinct.

I’d say any after effects of an argument with Mammon would be resolved in a day, maybe two tops.

Leviathan:

Arguing activates his trolling the forums mode.

Goes back to calling you a normie and contradicts everything you say.

He’s less mad about the argument and more using the bitterness to cope with how upset he is.

He feels like a break up is less of an if and more of a when.

Why would someone as amazing as you settle for weird otaku like him?

Honestly doesn’t understand why you’re with him in the first place, so when there’s a serious argument he assumes its over.

Tbh don’t know how you and Levi would sleep together being that I doubt two could fit in a tub, but any deviation to your routine sends him into a panic.

It’s his reality check that the situation is serious and he needs to fix it NOW.

He’d have trouble apologizing in person. He can’t think of what to say, he stumbles over his words, and he feels like he’s on the verge of a panic attack.

Instead, expect a long ass text message.

He says how sorry he is, how much he misses and loves you, and legit begs you to forgive him.

If you sleep with him like normal, he’ll probably try to make up after laying there for awhile. His mind is going a million miles an hour and there’s no way he can sleep.

Still really has trouble verbalizing how he feels, so give the poor boy a break and take over the conversation.

He hasn’t had a serious relationship before and he doesn’t know what he should do to make it better.

So the after effects will last however long it takes him to read several mangas, watch some anime, and play a few games to see how the characters get over arguments in the story.

Satan:

Satan makes sure not to fight with you over minor issues.

He’s worked tirelessly to tame his wrath and he refuses to feed into it over a minor issue.

Thus, if you fight with Satan it’s a major argument and it’s explosive.

The aftermath isn’t much better.

He doesn’t want to risk blowing up again, so he’s frighteningly calm.

He’s an absolute master of the silent treatment.

He won’t say a word to you until he’s certain he’s calmed down enough.

For the first few days he’ll straight up leave a room if you enter.

For a good while the only way you can expect to communicate with him is through his body language and the expression in his eyes.

Satan’s biggest fear is losing control and lashing out at you.

He couldn’t live with himself if he hurt you and he can’t stand the thought of you being afraid of him.

He’s a whirlwind of emotions, so he isolates himself until he can figure out how to deal with it.

Not just from you, but from everyone else too.

Satan will not share a bed with you for at least the first night.

If he got worked up enough to actually fight, it’s gonna take him time to simmer down.

And he’d rather not risk doing or saying something he regrets in the meantime.

Once he’s ready, he’ll approach you when he’s completely calmed down and has thoroughly analyzed the situation.

He’s considered both of your sides, tried to pinpoint what caused the disagreement to turn into a fight, and made a plan of action to prevent it from happening again.

“MC? I’ve been thinking quite a bit about what happened. Would you please talk it through with me?”

He won’t apologize for the argument if he feels like he was right, but he will apologize for letting the disagreement escalate into a fight.

Satan could go weeks without making up if necessary, but he tries to resolve it within a couple of days.

Asmodeus:

Wants to give you the silent treatment, but is physically incapable.

He can’t stand to have you ignore him.

He’s the type to go back to normal then suddenly remembers you guys had a fight.

“Wait, no! I’m not talking to you! I’m mad at you!”

His biggest downfall is that he’s so stubborn.

If he thinks he was right, he will die on that hill.

There are arguments with his brothers that happened a thousand years ago and he could still tell you exactly why he was right.

But with you, he realizes that doesn’t matter too him nearly as much as it usually does.

If it means going back to normal, he’ll forget who’s right or wrong.

If you sleep in another room, he’s beyond offended.

“What?! Well fine! I don’t want you in my bed anyway!”

Laying in bed alone is a different story though.

He can’t sleep. All he can think about is you. Your face when you sleep next to him, your smell, the feeling of his arms around you.

He 100% cries.

Finally goes and knocks on your door with wet, glossy eyes.

“MC? Can we talk about this? I can’t get my beauty sleep and my tears are wiping off all of my skin care lotion!”

Will throw himself into your arms before you can answer.

If you sleep next to him still, he rolls over and watches you sleep.

It puts him at peace and he decides seeing your sweet, resting face every morning is worth more to him than the argument.

He’ll initiate the conversation the next morning.

I think Asmo could make it a few days if it was a really serious argument, but he will not function well until you make up.

Beelzebub:

Wants to make up immediately.

He doesn’t like to argue, even less so with you.

Whether he was right or wrong, he blames himself. He’ll take all the blame in the world if it makes you happy.

He’ll go make you your favorite food and bring it to you.

If he thinks you don’t want to talk to him, he’ll leave it outside your door and text you to let you know it’s there.

He’s honestly devastated if you decide to sleep in another room.

You guys migrate to your old room when you want privacy from Belphie, but you almost never sleep separately.

Seeing you grab your pillows and march out of the room nearly stops his heart.

He goes completely numb and silent as he just stares at the space you had just occupied.

Like Levi, he thinks this means the relationship is over and he genuinely does not know what to do with himself.

He can’t even bring himself to eat, he just wants to lie there, lost and trying to grapple with his emotions.

He’s another one who will absolutely cry, but unlike Asmo he will make sure no one knows it.

If you still sleep in his bed, he’s very nervous about it.

He doesn’t know if it’s okay to touch you, what he can or can’t say, stuff like that.

He just lays there stiff as a board not even able to close his eyes.

Honestly the fight would probably have to be resolved before bed. His anxiety just can’t take it.

I don’t think he’d initiate the apology. Not because he doesn’t want to make up but because his confidence is rock bottom in these situations.

He catastophizes and honestly thinks you hate him.

If you don’t initiate the apology soon, Belphie will. He can feel what his twin won’t say, and he knows Beel won’t approach you about it for fear of making it worse.

Belphie will lock you two in a room if that’s what it takes for you to make up.

Belphegor:

The embodiment of if looks could kill.

He won’t talk to you, won’t look at you, basically pretends you aren’t there.

If he must interact with you he’ll roll his eyes and sigh the whole time.

Tries to sleep through any interaction so he doesn’t have to deal with it.

He feels almost betrayed by the fight.

He thought the relationship was stronger than to have such a huge divide, so he’s really insecure about it.

After the first day, the anger has melted away to guilt.

He ‘s not guilty that you fought, but he is guilty about how he treated you after.

Guilt and self-blame have become unwelcome friends at this point. Guilt over Lilith, over his plans to destroy the human world, everything.

But more than anything else, the guilt for the fact that he attacked you weighs on him every day.

He moved past it quickly after, essentially pretending he hadn’t killed you, but that’s because he just couldn’t confront what he’d done.

He feels like the luckiest demon alive that you forgave him, let alone opened you heart enough to love him, and now it’s all in tatters.

Another thing to regret.

If you decide to sleep separately, it’ll hit him like a bag of bricks.

“You - what? Where are you going?”

It’ll take him a second to process what you were doing, but then he’ll roll over and let you leave.

“Fine. Don’t let the door hit you.”

No one will see him for awhile.

Belphie sleeps all the time anyway, but he just can’t make himself get out of bed.

If you don’t approach him to apologize, Beel will tell you that he’s been nauseous and randomly emotional which must mean his twin is coping very badly.

Will beg you to go make Belphie happy again.

If you sleep in his bed still, the argument will be resolved by morning.

He can’t keep himself from embracing you in his sleep, and it’s hard to say you’re mad at someone when you wake up in their loving arms.

It’s hard to pinpoint how long it could last with Belphie. If you don’t apologize first, he won’t let himself be conscious long enough to approach you.

This is both my first hc post as well as my first obey me post so I’m sorry if le boys are ooc. I just got this idea and couldn’t stop thinking about it so here we are. Especially Belphie, he was hard to me for some reason. Let me know if you guys agree or disagree and if you want to send a request or ask, my box is open!

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thefanficmonster · 4 years

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Tell Me It’s Not Too Late

(Sequel to Switchblade)

Corpse Husband x Reader (Female)

Warnings: Heartbreak, Swearing

Genre: Angst, Fluff

Summary: When is it considered ‘too late’ when it comes to expressing feelings? Is there even a time limit? Is the chance only momentary - is it a second that passes you by with no possibility of returning? All Corpse can do is hope that’s not the case. Cause if it is.....he’d rather not think about that.

Requested - sort of, but not in a typical way. Thank you to all the readers of ‘Switchblade’ that wanted to see the story have an ending that’d lead to a new start. Here it is, guys! Hope it lives up to what you expected. Love you all to the moon and back. 💖💖💖

I end my stream after almost three hours of constant scares. I sigh, slipping the headset off my ears so it’s hanging around my neck. I don’t feel that fulfilling feeling that I’m always met with upon ending a stream. I look at the countless scratches and little holes on the surface of my desk - evidence of the fear and frustration I experience while playing certain games. Not all of them are caused by that, however - Coming home after possibly the most humiliating night of my life, that desk and a few other pieces of furniture suffered my wrath and are now decorated with stab wounds that were a result of uncontrollable rage, hurt, self-hatred and self-pity. It took me a while to put an end to my hazardous, switchblade wielding rampage throughout my house, but the tears didn’t stop until the early morning hours.

I didn’t care that my feelings weren’t reciprocated. That was and is the least of my troubles. The most amount of hurt comes from the fact that I ruined something wonderful for myself. Corpse is the only person I’ve felt this close to all my life and now, due to my own poor decision making, I no longer have him. He no longer wants to be a part of the shit-show that is my life. Especially not now that he knows how messy things get when I show my forever-hidden feelings. I can’t blame him. I know I’d be running for the hills if I were him. He deserves a person who knows what’s going on in their life. Who has themselves and their surroundings figured out. Not someone who has an irregular streaming schedule and catches feelings for her best friend, ruining the friendship altogether in the process.

As I stand up from my chair, accidentally hitting the handle of the switchblade on the edge of my desk. I look down at it and how tightly I’m holding it. I seem to not be able to let go of it. Almost like I see it as my last bit of link to Corpse. The remnants of the connection I felt between us.

Maybe I should return it.

No, that’d be weird. I’d either have to go over there and give it back or send it via mail which is worse. It just feels like a harsh gesture - mailing something so meaningful as though it’s as worthless as the bills people get in the mail. I can’t send it through others, I don’t want anyone else getting involved. The more people know, the more real it is.

I’m aware I’m being both overdramatic and irrational, but you have to understand how much pain I’m in. I can’t guarantee the pain will go away or even lessen if I let this switchblade go, but it’s the only thing I haven’t tried.

Only problem is - I can’t let it go. I can’t find it in me to destroy it or throw it away. A part of me is willing to take the suffering of keeping it just cause it wants to hold on to that little connection it resembles. It’s evidence it existed to begin with. I believe it’s worth the pain. The hurt will go away eventually, but the memories are forever. I’ll look back at the time I had an amazing person such as Corpse to call ‘best friend’ and I’ll have something to prove to myself that it wasn’t a fever dream.

“Oh for fuck’s sake.“ I mumble as I finally uncurl my fingers from around the damn thing and put in down on my desk.

I take the headset off and proceed to head out onto the balcony to light what I call a ‘stress cigarette’. I’m not a regular smoker, but when everything just caves, I prefer to resort to a quick puff rather than grabbing a drink. I can say no to a second cigarette but not to a second drink. That second will then turn into a third and so on. And I don’t trust myself when drunk. I don’t personally know, but I’ve been told I’m rather unpredictable.

For the first few seconds while I’m standing there I don’t notice the pouring rain by some strange miracle. I can only focus on the chill of the breeze and the fresh breath that’s finally entering my lungs. I take a moment to breathe in the cool air before I start mixing it with the cigarette smoke.

With my eyes closed, I hear more than I feel the rain on me. Storm noises always distract me from the actual storm, they calm me down. However, the sudden loud thunder causes me to open my eyes in a matter of milliseconds. I frown, slightly upset that I didn’t catch glimpse of the lightning that the thunder probably followed.

I’m not upset for too long, though. A lightning flashes right opposite me, creating the most mesmerizing of pattern you can see in the night sky during a storm. It’s so bright, it allows me to see my whole, usually unlit garden perfectly in that second or two it graces the sky.

Wait

My balcony has a clear view of my entire front yard and all it takes a glance to the left to be able to see the front doorstep.

Don’t freak yourself out, it’s just a trick of the light

I stay quiet and as still as a statue as I await another flash of lightning, my heart speeding past the point of a healthy pulse and into the realm of a near heart attack. The storm seems to be on my side because maybe a minute later another lightning bolt cuts through the black of the night.

Sure enough, there’s a person standing outside my front door.

Fuck, what do I do?!

The person doesn’t appear to be moving. They are standing just as still as I am, facing towards the house.

I thank the universe the lights inside the house are off. I turned them off cause I wanted the ultimate scary experience playing that game. The only light is the faint glow of my computer screen which is, thankfully, barely visible. I slowly start backing up towards the sliding glass door, never taking my eyes off the figure that I can just barely make out now that my surroundings have fallen into darkness again. If it weren’t for the lightning I would’ve never been able to see them.

I manage to get back inside, soaked as though I just got out of a pool, without making a single sound. Just to be safe, I shut my monitor off. I grab my phone to use as a flashlight in one hand and the switchblade just finds its way into the other, my fingers curling around it tightly, more on instinct than to use as a weapon. I know I probably won’t be able to stab whoever’s out there.

I tiptoe my way down the stairs where all the lights are also off. I flick the blade out as I hesitantly and shakily make my way to the door to look through the peephole. I let out an unsteady exhale as I look at the the figure who is now standing further away and seems to have one arm in the air, curled at the elbow.

Just as I’m about to pull away from the door to dial 911 another flash of lightning illuminates the yard, the figure along with it.

Can we go back to it being an intruder?

It’s no intruder, surprisingly - to my dismay.

I turn my phone’s flash off and reach for the switch next to the door, flicking the light on before opening the door and walking out.

“I NEARLY STABBED YOU WITH YOUR OWN BLADE!“ I yell in a desperate attempt to be heard over the waterfall of rain.

I can finally see him properly thanks to the light in my hallway. He looks like he hasn’t slept in years. He has his hood up but his black locks are sticking out in every direction from under the soaked material, not being protected from the droplets whatsoever. I read the shock in his eyes, almost like he didn’t know I lived there. He doesn’t make an attempt to approach or walk away from me so we just stand there, in the rain, staring at each other as though it’s the first time we’ve seen one another.

I snap out of the trance he has put me in, shaking my head at the ridiculousness of the situation as I step towards him, grabbing onto his wrist, “Come on, we look like drowned rats.” I don’t give him time to react as I drag him inside, closing the door once we enter. “OK, from the top now: Why were you embracing your inner serial killer on my front porch?” I keep blabbering, diverting my gaze to anything but him. “Fucking hell, I could’ve stabbed you! You could’ve gotten really badly hurt! I -...”

“You know, I wish you stabbed me.“ He finally puts an end to my sorry excuse for frustration, I’m aware I look and sound miserable. His voice drags my eyes straight to his, fixing them there. “I know you can’t kill a cockroach on your own, and I know you most definitely wouldn’t even scratch a person, but I wish you had hurt me. Inflict fifty stab wounds on me and you still won’t hurt me as much as I hurt you.“ His hand swiftly pushes the hood off his head, grabbing onto his drenched locks as an expression of pain paints itself on his face. He’s the one diverting his gaze now, “I know what you mistook my silence for and I want you to get that out of your head.“

I wince at the pang in my chest, barely restraining my hand from flying up to rest over my heart, “Don’t humor me, Corpse! I’m not a child and this is not a game!”

“I’m not humoring you. I’m telling you...“ he makes a step towards me, grabbing hold of my ice cold hands, “I’m telling you I’m an asshole that freezes up when it’s least acceptable. I’m telling you I’m the worst at expressing how I feel. I’m telling you I can’t open foil. But you already knew all that. And you still liked me.“ He breaths in, refilling his lungs before continuing his rant, “I know you can be very chaotic. A real handful. A fucking tornado. But I love you. I love you as every natural disaster you represent. And if you could humor me...“ One of his hands releases mine, coming up to push a strand of hair away from my face, resting his hand on my cheek. “...by giving me one more chance. You always let me try multiple times when I stumble over what I’m trying to say. Can you do that, for me? For us?“

I let out a dramatic sigh, rolling my eyes. “If I say yes will you stop showing up like that on my doorstep?“ Of course, my primal instinct is to act tough and cool when my heart rate is once again going at the speed from back at the balcony. The skin of face and neck is red and burning hot. My eyes are rimmed with tears, I hope he doesn’t notice.

“Yeah. I’ll start coming in through the chimney instead.“ He visibly relaxes, a smile dancing at the corner of his lips. He lifts the hand that’s still holding the switchblade, prying it out of my grasp. “No sharp objects, please.”

He drops it in the pocket of his hoodie, finally leaning down to erase any last bit of doubt I have left. This kiss teaches me a lot of things.

Love isn’t linear - nothing about it is linear. Not falling in nor falling out of it. Feelings aren’t digital or binary - it’s not always as black and white as we might want to believe. Feelings don’t just come and go. They are always present, but it depends on us weather they’re suppressed or expressed. We fear the latter cause we fear vulnerability and change. But we also crave the positive outcome we have a 50% chance of getting. It’s a fifty-fifty game, but here’s the thing: if you never express your feelings it’s a zero-a hundred chance that you won’t receive the outcome you’d like.

I took the fifty over the zero chance and regretted it for a day or two. It gave me closure if nothing more. It let me stand under the spotlight and carry my pride on my shoulders despite the tears in my eyes.

My feelings being reciprocated is just another benefit. But no longer being able to call Corpse ‘best friend’ cause he’s now got a bigger and better title is the positive outcome I have been dreaming of.

He makes it all worth it. He is worth all of it.

And if I had to go through all that again, you can bet your ass I would.

@susceptible-but-siriusexual @simonsbluee @save-the-sky @hacker-ghost @itsminniekat @bi-andready-tocry @imtiredaffff @jazzkaurtheglorious @hereforbeebo @fandomgirl17 @chrysanthykios @maehemscorpyus @loraleiix @letsloveimagines @annshit @i-cant-choose-a-username-help @enigmaticmaze @divine-artemis

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bakugohoex · 4 years

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I saw that your requests were open! So excited!! Could I request just a little something with Jean taking his S/O to the sea. Maybe they were part of the survey Corps with Jean and Marco but dropped out after Marco's death, and after all this time Jean cheers them up by taking them to the sea?

”i told you i’d show you the sea one day”

pairing: jean kirschtein x female reader

cw: mentions of death and fluff

word count: 1400+

a/n: i kinda went from the sea prompt and included marco’s death but stemmed from it a lot more to make the reader become a lot more heartless, hope you enjoy it though

summary: in which after the death of marco you had become distant, now a year later still in the survey corps after the regaining of wall maria you and the rest of the squad finally get to see the sea that jean had promise long ago to you

↞ back to attack on titan masterlist

You remember the day as clear as day, the battle of Trost. The day your best friend die, the day the boy you had grown up with and joined the cadet corps with died. You still remember collapsing with Jean, tears flowing from your eyes and how in that moment you had become cold. Lifeless and dull you stopped caring for others, more reserved and only one thing on your mind.

Killing titans, you still talked to your comrades in the survey corps, you still spent time with them. But you weren’t the same, you didn’t sympathise, you didn’t even bother when they’re was a problem, every word that came out of your mouth was blunt and dull. Even Jean the boy you had grown close with as cadet’s noticed your distance, noticed how you’d kill Titans ruthlessly, how you were never the same since the event.

It was a year later and the regain of wall Maria had occurred, people were happier and for once you were happy being surrounded by the new wildlife and birds that chirped outside the walls. Even if you had become distant in the months after Marco’s death, after gaining wall Maria you had seemed to be going back to your normal self. The one who Jean had fallen for the first day he had met you, of course he was going to confess but everything happened and the past year. It had been tough on both of you, he knew that and when he went with you tell Marco’s parents.

His heart shattered seeing you cry in Marco’s mothers arms, her own sobs muffled by how tight the hug was. He knew from that moment you had changed, knew that you’d never be the same and now here you were smiling at the people growing crops.

It was genuine, a smile he has missed, and he knew the promise he had made you a year ago would finally come true.

He had walked past the cadet’s after dinner moving to you and Marco with a smirk on his face. “Armin told me about this story he read in his book.” He heard Marco say, it intrigued him, making him sit beside you.

His crush on you was obvious to Marco who smiled at how you and Jean were too close for people who were just friends. “Ooo go on.” You were happy back then, Jean always thought you had a crush on Marco. How he was so wrong, the multiple times Marco had told you to tell Jean about your own crush was a common occurrence.

“The sea.” You and Jean both gave a confused look, a word unknown to you both. “It’s a large body of water, and it fills the entire world apparently.”

Marco had spoken so happily, confident that he’d see it one day. “That sounds like a lie.” Jean muttered.

“Ye of little faith.” You laughed in Jean’s face, but he stared down at your laughing face, how was he supposed to know that that was the last time he’d hear you laugh, hear you mock him, see the bright smile that melted his heart.

“Okay well I promise one day I’ll take you both to see the sea.” He puts out his pinkie to you, you gladly take it smiling.

“We’ll all see the sea one day.”

It was a distant memory for Jean, but he remembered his words, and seeing the smile he had missed made him happier. “You seem happy.” Jean spoke riding beside you.

“I never thought we’d get here, I guess I am happy.” There was something to your voice, it wasn’t back to normal, but it was getting there.

“I’m glad you’re happy Y/n, I missed seeing you smile.” Your breath hitched at the sound of his voice.

You looked at the boy, the boy who you loved, the boy you had become cold to protect. Ever since you lost Marco you knew you had to protect Jean, make sure he was always safe, because if he died. It would ruin you. You knew you’d be fine, knew that you’d protect Jean till your last breathe, giving a wide smile at the boy.

His heart softened at how you moved your horse closer to him, “I missed it as well.” You bit your lip to surpress the wider grin you would show him.

“I hope you continue to…to smile and be happy.” You looked at the brunette and, in an instant, you saw that he would always be the one. Always be the one stick by you, be the one who held you when Marco died, the one who bandaged you after you nearly got killed by the female titan, the one who hugged you when you two were apart. The single person who’d be with you till the end.

“You make me happy.” It was a confession of some sorts, and his cheeks had become rosed smiling as he looked down.

You could see the grip of his horse loosen, still smiling, “you make me happy as well.”

You both had been in your own world and seeing the change in landscape, the change to sand. You both knew it, knew the promise was going to be achieved soon. He looked out into the blue sky, no titan insight, you were far gone the walls, the outskirts where no titan lived.

Eren and the others had rode up a hill and you could almost sense their admiration, “you ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” You took a sharp breathe feeling the summer heat bite onto your body.

“Race you.” You laughed at the sound of his comment, he had missed the high-pitched laugh as he rode his horse away, you followed swiftly and approaching the top of the hill.

You both stood in adoration at the sea, the sea that Marco had told you both about. You both looked out to the horizon, a soft smile rested on both your smiles, “I told you I’d show you the sea one day.”

“You kept the promise.” You both rode down with the rest of your friends, taking your shoes off, Jean put his hand out.

You took it, his hands soft and filled with comfort, “he’d have loved it.” You both watched the waves crash down, watched at how Marco should’ve been with you both. You get out of the daze grasping his hand harder.

You drag him along to the sea almost in a run as you both splash in the water, “It’s salty.” He scowls after trying to taste it and instead getting some in his eyes.

“You idiot.” You laugh splashing in the waves with him, Sasha and Connie coming to play around with him.

You noticed there movements knowing what they wanted to do, you smirked following there lead as the three of you jumped onto Jean pushing him into the water. You felt the water engulf you all, Jean’s arms had stayed around your waist, keeping you down, the water moving besides you. You could hear Connie and Sasha behind you two already moved on to torment someone else.

“I missed you.” It was the truth; your old self had been coming out and now on top of him. The classic smirking grin you always had planted on your face, it really had been a long year without it.

The gap between the two of you was small and instead of speaking, your crashed your lips onto his. His grip tightening to your waist, a kiss in the sea was something to say the least, but you didn’t care. You could taste the saltiness in his lips, they were soft and perfect, the pace slow and loving, he didn’t care who saw. The sun may have been radiating on you and the beauty of the sea was encapsulating but the only thing he saw was you. And as he let go of your soft lips, a heavy blush speckling your face, he got up helping you along the way.

Standing in front of the sea, he hadn’t expected your arms to wrap around his torso, smiling he hugged you back, kissing the top of your wet hair. You both watched over the sea, watched over the new world and the new beginnings. Whatever was out there you both knew you had each other, and you would always protect one another till the very end.

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yurtletheturtlehenderson · 3 years

Text

COSMIC - S3:E2; Chapter Two, The Mall Rats - [Pt. 1]

A Will Byers x Reader Series

Baffled with Mike's sudden behavior, El seeks out Y/n and Max for advice while Will struggles to get through to Mike and Lucas. Billy takes his co-worker on a field trip, and Steve and Dustin enlist a helpful ally in their top-secret mission.

WARNINGS: possible allegory to r*pe when the mind flayer does his little ✨ possessing ✨. It's not meant to sound like it, but when I wrote Will getting possessed I'm pretty sure some people compared it to that and I just want to be sure yall are safe reading this so [■■■■■■] these guys are back. Hope this helped! + oh yeah also brief mention of gore and v*mit [yes I censored that, let's move on] but they all fit inside the warning markers.

A/n: can't remember if I put this before but f/d = favorite drink

||𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

An eerie silence stretches across the town of Hawkins, from the bustling new heart in Starcourt Mall all across town to the edge of its grassy hills. Sitting in the shadows of these grasslands, tucked in with blankets of discarded steel and machinery all being pulled back into the earth to be properly claimed is the stomach of the town; Brimborn.

Unlike the heart, it is shrouded in darkness, death, and decay. It sits abandoned just miles off the main roads and welcomes nothing but trouble. Once nothing but an empty husk of potential had long since reared its head and swallowed a darkness—the sickness of Hawkins—that now resides deep in the belly to be digested.

And it had just gotten its first taste in months.

Billy Hargrove stumbles out of the darkness of the steel stairway and into the forgiving light of the moon.

His face nearly collides with the concrete on at least three occasions in the time it takes him to run back to his car. His adrenaline spikes with every frantic beat of his heart and heaving of his lungs. The rubber soles of his boots punch the concrete, only hammering in the fear of being pulled back under. He can't understand what he just saw, nor can he hold off the feeling of nausea brewing in his gut much longer as he fumbles for his keys in his pocket.

It would seem he has enough luck to get inside the car and start it. The sound of tires squealing against the pavement is music to his ears. He's back on the road just as soon, head pounding painfully as he tries to keep his shaking hands that grip the wheel from throwing him off the road. And they are able to do so for several minutes—several minutes of Billy choking down air and adrenaline while the smell of burning diesel from his car stings the back of his throat. And yet still it wasn't the worst sensation in his mouth by far. He could still taste the rot sitting on his lips and tongue... from that... that thing...

He doesn't know where he's going apart from away—as far away as he could get from Brimborn until he sees a box of light in the distance just off the side of the road. A payphone. He could call someone. Hell, if this thing was chasing him—if it got him someone should at least know what little he did. His car lurches off the road with one swift yank on the wheel and suddenly his tires are screaming against the asphalt again. Clumsily Billy throws open his door and tumbles out onto the streets, stumbling to the payphone he had spotted.

He's already on the phone before he realizes; time was still moving in blurs catching every other moment as he blacked out. Yet another miracle he managed to make it down the road safely in his car. Billy's chest heaves up and down as he drowns in panic, trying so desperately to get ahold of each breath.

His eyes, bloodshot and wild, sweep the darkened streets and he jumps when a soft click goes off in his ear.

"911, what's your emergency?"

At once, everything comes back to Billy, still in flashes.

He remembers a lurch in his gut when the car spun out, followed by a searing pain in his temple that spread throughout his skull in a dull ache. He can smell smoke from the busted engine. It was covering up a smell of rot and sewage and... and an overwhelming sense of copper like an old change jar. It was similar to the smell coming from the blood running down his face. Its texture almost similar to the slime he felt on his fingertips when he saw the state of his windshield.

Another lurch in his heart when something shrill cried out as it scurried by.

And then his face was in the dirt. Something had hooked his leg and reeled him in. Billy remembers the pain of his nails clawing at the dirt. And then concrete and then metal stairs. He can feel it all burning his stomach too like road rash. A blood-curdling scream tore from his throat as his fingers burned, they were in searing pain as they clung so desperately to the iron doorway where they eventually lost their battle.

[■■■■■■]

What followed never held the absence of more pain, that was all he knew. From his chin colliding with every metal step, to the thousands of tiny feet clawing at his body as the swarm closed in. And ultimately the unbelievable anguish of that thing invading every cell in his body. It all happened so fast, even in the moment and he was left but nothing but the horrifying image of a bloodied tentacle attacking his face.

Every attempt at a scream was shoved back down his throat along with the dark and bloodied mass spewing from its insides like icy vomit. He could feel it going everywhere, soaking through into his bloodstream and it traveled throughout his body.

[■■■■■■]

And just as Will Byers had experienced half a year ago; Billy felt every essence of warmth cease to be, and all that existed was icy darkness. And there it remained.

He could feel it even now as he stood underneath the flickering lights of the phone booth.

I̵̢͖̘̪̞̻̜͍̪͛̌͘͝s̴̮͈̮̟̮̥͔̃͘ ̶͉̂͛ş̷̳͉͖͖̠͉͉͇͖͆ó̴̝̰͉̟͙̘̝̥̲͂͌̒̿̅͝͝m̵̖̐̌̽̐͋̊̏͝e̵̛̜̘̰̫̩̋̅̊ͅo̷̢̫̻͙͕̫͚̮̅͗̃̃̐͊̋̕͜͠ǹ̶̡̞͖̪̯͉͓̖̜̳̉͝e̷̬̞̣̝̬͕̱̫͊̏ ̴͕̇̌͆͑̄͋̄t̴͎̯̥͉͌̕h̶̹̚͜e̴̯͔͓̬̗̞̥̳̠͜͠r̶̨̬͎̬̙͉̩͐͜ë̸̥̣̺̘̭́̇̽̉̓̐̕͘?̵̼̠͛̋ ̸̪͒͋H̸̭̺̞̬̖̎̓̇̐͆͐̚͝͠ͅe̸̢̲͎̭͊̄͗̌͌͝l̶͉̉͜͜ḽ̵̠̟̻̅̏͗̏̒̌͜͝o̵̖̙̼͓̽̓̎?̶̩̱͎͍͉͓̅̑̈͋͝

Darkness. That was all that was left after the distorted voice died out with the rest of the booth. His eyes flew everywhere, but not for long. An impossible chill fell over his already frozen body when he realized what was so wrong.

The world outside the phone booth was not how he left it—not how it was only moments ago. The beautiful summer night sky was swallowed by storm clouds, taking all warmth with it. The air was heavy and sticky, a combination of humid and cold all at once. It was hostile, and it wreaked of decay. But what startled Billy most was the glistening array of vines that engulfed the earth and everything on it.

In a sickly daze, he stumbled in front of his car. Its headlights seemed to shine brighter than the moon and yet it was not enough to illuminate the oncoming army of figures marching through the fog.

"What do you want?" He asked, feeling brave. When they didn't answer, he stalked forward several steps and raised his voice in a panic. "Hey! I said, what do you want?"

No answer. Just the haunting sound of the marching of the faceless army. He matched their step, just a notch slower thanks to the fear filling his lungs. Billy was too afraid to notice the scarlet lightning raging up above his head.

"I said, what do you want?!"

The faceless army stopped but its leader remained in a steady march straight for him. Try as he might, Billy couldn't bring himself to take another step. He could only watch with bated breath, heart in his lungs beating so loud he could hear it in his ears as the figure revealed himself to him. When he did, Billy's next breath was stolen right out of his chest.

Standing there before him was another Billy Hargrove.

||𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

"Are you sure you know how to ride that thing?" I quip, watching as Max tumbles off her board for the sixth time since she got on.

"Do you wanna give it a try?" she asks, smirking. "Wanna see if you can do a kickflip?"

"Oh, that's not a question I need answered," I say, finishing another sip of my f/d. I put it back down on the curb beside me where I sit, and lean back with my hands propping me up in the grass. "The question is, can you do a kickflip?"

"I can, I told you," she huffs, turning her board back over. "I did one this morning,"

She mounts her board and tries again. The board flips under her feet but never comes full circle. Her feet land on the edge of the underside and she stumbles back. Max releases another frustrated huff, moving the bits of hair that had fallen over her face.

"I'd give that a solid 4.0," I comment.

"Why are you here again?" She asks, stopping to look at me. Her face is stern but anyone could see she was teasing. Mostly.

I laugh and stretch out my legs.

"Cause you love me?" I offer, sheepishly.

Max clicks her tongue, pretending to think about it. "Mm, no I don't think that's it."

"But you don't deny you do?"

"Whatever," she scoffs, hopping back on her board.

"You do love me," taking a long, loud sip of my drink I grin with my eyes and she rolls hers.

I tip the f/d all the way back, lick my lips, and sigh.

I ultimately decide I've put it off long enough and I rise from the curb.

"I'll be back. I gotta whiz,"

Max eyes the empty glass of f/d I have in my hand and smirks. "Surprise, surprise. You're gonna run us dry at this rate,"

"You guys ate all my Mac n Cheese," I wink, and she blushes. "I'm just doing the neighborly thing and repaying the favor,"

Max rolls her eyes and scoffs, and feeling victorious I disappear inside.

||𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

Max's eyes linger where Y/n had disappeared and her lips threaten to hook upwards in a small smile. She quickly shakes her head, forcing herself to focus back on the task at hand.

Maybe if she got a running start.

Max takes off on her skateboard and gives it another try. The board barely moves.

Her third attempt is the closest but still wields no results.

And when she tries a fourth, her board flies out from under her and cruises down the road.

Where it lands at El's feet.

Max straightens, unsure of where this was about to head. She watches carefully as El picks up the skateboard and makes her way over.

Was this really happening?

El had never wanted anything to do with anyone other than Mike, and Y/n.

So what was she doing here?

"Hi," she says.

"Hi?"

El hands her skateboard over to Max, her steely composure melting a little.

"Is Y/n here?"

Max's shoulders fell, any hopes she had growing in her chest dashed.

"She's inside," Max said, trying to mask her disappointment. "She'll be back out in a minute,"

Max took her skateboard and returned it to the concrete, ready to hop back on. But El's words stopped her in her tracks.

"Can... we talk? All of us?"

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Welp. Another day, another migraine for Robin Buckley. She couldn't even pretend to care anymore as she numbly hands over what had to have been the sixth dozenth ice cream cone of her first shift.

"Have a nice day," she drawls, passing the cones to the over-eager couple.

"Thanks!" They turn away, heading for the door, revealing the next over-eager customer in line.

He bounces up to the counter, wearing a Roast Beef tee, bright yellow ball cap, and a toothless grin.

"Hi!"

Robin blinks. "Hi," she says carefully.

His smile never wavers, even when he seems to catch on to her cluelessness. He gestures to himself.

"I'm Dustin," he clarifies.

"I'm Robin,"

"Pleasure to meet you," man, this kid's optimism was a little unnerving. Impressive, but unnerving. But hey, at least it was something new. He glances over her shoulder and back to her expectantly. "Uh, is he—? Is he here?"

"Is, who here?"

The sudden and obnoxious sound of rubber shoes squealing against the freshly waxed linoleum floors ripped their attention to the employee-only door. It had been thrown open as the figure before them had nearly crashed through. There stood an overzealous Steve Harrington wearing his usual Scoops Ahoy uniform and a growing grin.

His mouth falls open in a gape, unable to contain his excitement and he throws his arms up.

"Henderson,"

Dustin laughs excitedly as Steve begins bouncing around the counter to greet him.

"Henderson! He's back!" He cheers. "He's back!"

"I'm back!" He cries, gesturing past a Robin and her startled expression to the giant Scoops Ahoy sign. "You got the job!"

"I got the job!" Steve blows an imaginary trumpet before going in for their handshake.

As it always did, the handshake gradually morphed into a false battle, imaginary lightsabers drawn and clashing. Each of them create their own sound effects. Dustin thrusts the invisible blade of light into Steve's abdomen, who in turn illustrates his fake wounds. The pair of unlikely friends fall into a fit of giggles, while a less than impressed Robin watches in boredom behind the counter.

The name had already registered, but she was still a little shocked at the other Henderson she never had a chance to meet. She always forgot there were two, and if Robin was being honest, she preferred the other one so far. Sure, the girl stared a lot but she seemed less... well whatever this was.

Looking at her coworker, she tilts her head and cocks a brow. "How many children are you friends with?"

The young man sighs, exasperatedly swiping a hand over his mouth as he gestures to her, giving Dustin a tired look.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"No," Steve laughs through a cracked smile. "No way! Hotter than Phoebe Cates? Nah,"

Dustin hums, swallowing a bite of his ice cream, and nods excitedly.

"Brilliant, too! And she doesn't even care that my real pearls are still coming in. She says kissing is better without teeth,"

"..." Steve nods, trying his best to not let his nervous laughter shine through. "Wow! Yeah, um—well that's great! I'm proud of you man, that's rom— that's kind of romantic. That's like... wow!"

Dustin hums happily in agreement, swallowing another bite of his ice cream. He shakes his head.

"Do you really get to eat as much of this as you want?"

"Yeah," Steve shrugs. "I mean, sure. It's not really a good idea for me though. You know, I gotta keep in shape for the ladies,"

-"Yeah, and how's that working out for you?" Dustin and Steve follow the voice across the shop to see Robin shooting them a knowing look.

"Ignore her,"

"She seems cool," Dustin's smiles.

"She's not," Steve says, eyeing the foot traffic outside Scoops Ahoy momentarily. "So, where are the other knuckleheads?"

"They ditched me yesterday,"

As Dustin digs out a spoonful of his U.S.S. Butterscotch Sundae, Steve laughs off the boy's last comment in disbelief.

"What? No way,"

"My first day back. Can you believe that shit?"

Steve's face falls when he sees the look on Dustin's face. He sits up in his seat, growing angry.

"Woah, seriously?"

"I swear to god, mhm."

"No, no not Y/n though?" Offered Steve, sounding genuinely surprised. "I mean, I don't think she wanted to admit it but she was pretty psyched about you coming home,"

"Yeah, Steve. Even Y/n," Dustin snaps. But judging by the look washing in after his outburst, he doesn't seem very committed to his anger. He sighs into his ice cream. "I mean, she tried to stick with me but she had to leave with Byers or something. Said she was worried,"

"That blows," Steve says, sighing into a hunch over the table. "I'm sorry, man."

Dustin nods, eyes still drilling into his Sundae. No doubt dwindling on his growing separation from his sister and friends. Feeling bad for the kid, Steve still remembers the events of the previous year. And if, like then, it had something to do with Will, then... Well, he couldn't really blame her. But he was broken up just seeing Dustin like this.

"Hey, I'm sure it's fine," Steve tries. "You know her better than anyone; if she's worried about something she has a good reason. I'm sure she's just being cautious, but that doesn't mean she doesn't want to be here with you. I'd just give it time,"

"I guess," Dustin frowns, his spoon playing with a cherry on his ice cream. He suddenly perks. "Doesn't matter now, though. They're all gonna regret it, anyway. Big time. When they won't get to share in my glory."

Steve sits up, growing curious.

"Glory? What glory?"

A sort of cocky smirk grows on Dustin's face and he scooches further in the booth, closer to Steve. His voice lowers a considerable amount, only doubling Steve's curiosity.

"So last night," he begins. "I was trying to get in contact with Suzie,"

Unfortunately for Steve, he catches the playful look on the kid's face and nervously nods along. The 'no teeth' comment and the small, uninvited image it forces onto his mind threatens a shiver.

"and I uh," Dustin leans in further, pausing to scan the ice cream shop as he hides his mouth behind his hand. When his next words come out, they're barely a whisper as he looks into his bowl."I intercepted a secret Russian communication."

Steve only blinks, his mind racing to catch up with the words he thought he heard. He blinks again.

"What?"

"Uh," It's clear Dustin is trying to look as casual as possible, but every attempt at doing so was only obscuring his words more. "IinterceptedasecretRussiancommunication,"

"Just speak louder,"

"I intercepted a secret Russian communication!"

The shop goes quiet, everyone including Robin who stood behind the counter stopped to look at them. Steve shifts in his seat, hastily shushing the boy as discreetly as possible.

"Jesus, yeah. OK, well that's what I thought you said." Both of them look around the shop again, relieved to see everyone had gone back to their conversations assuming they misheard. Either that or wanting to keep out of it. "Wait, what does that mean?"

"It means, Steve, that we could heroes. True American heroes."

"Ahh," Steve says through a blooming smile.

"Mm-hmm,"

"American heroes," Steve said, liking the sound of the words on his tongue.

"Just think. You could have all the ladies you want. And more."

"More?"

"More."

"I like more."

Dustin hums, and as the two think on it they can very nearly picture their glorious, hopeful future before them.

"What's the catch?"

"No catch, I just need your help."

"With what?"

Dustin only smiles, turning to his backpack beside him. Unzipping the bag, he retrieves a small red book that he displays with a hopeful smile. The title read,

RUSSIAN - ENGLISH

ENGLISH - RUSSIAN

"Translation."

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

5 Ways To Help Palestinians Through Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions - [link]

20 Organizations That Support Black Women During Black History Month and Beyond - [link]

Stop Asian Hate Linktree: A variety of resources dedicated to helping those affected by, and stopping Anti-Asian Violence - [link]

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

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heyitsjay03 · 4 years

Text

Fighting for Tomorrow

Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I do not own AOT! All rights go to the respective owner(s) :) Reiner x Fem!Reader, eventual Captain Levi x Reader, Sasha x Sister!Reader Word Count: 8.9k words TW: gore/blood/violence/death, adult language/swearing, loss/grief

-------- You can read parts one, two, and four here! Just give the number you want a little boop :)

The rain beats down on us nearly as hard as the Commandant does. The hoofbeats of his horse squelch and merge with the thunder above us. “Cadet Braus!” The Commandant yells, sidling up next to me. “You look like you’re getting tired! Are you exhausted?”

“No, sir!” I pant, willing my legs to continue on in the mud. “Just gettin’ warmed up, sir!”

“Are you sure? You’ve been ahead of the group for a while now- you should take a break!”

“I’ll politely have to decline sir!”

“And why is that, cadet?”

“Because I’m gonna be in the top ten, sir!”

“You hear that, maggots?!” The Commandant calls to the rest of the recruits behind me. “Cadet Braus is gonna be in the top ten! Who else wants to be in the top ten?!”

Various grunts of agreement resound behind me.

“That’s more than ten!” the Commandant yells, “It seems you have some competition, Cadet Braus!”

“Aye, sir!”

“How about a wager? Whoever can beat Cadet Braus back to the barracks gets extra merits for this exercise!”

I let out a breath, swiping my hand over my forehead to clear the rain from my eyes. The pack of equipment on my back is weighing down on me- making my steps sink deeper in the mud. The ODM gear at my sides bangs on my legs. My ears strain… and I can hear someone at my left.

“Looks like we have a taker!” The Commandant yells.

My eyes dart to the left. Annie runs alongside me, huffing with each step. Her hair is plastered to her face, mixed rain and sweat slicking her pale skin. My whole body stretches and strains and screams with effort as I will my legs to go even further, even faster.

Annie’s eyes widen as she watches me, falling behind for a moment. She quickly snaps out of it and picks up speed. The two of us stretch forward in a dance of advance and retreat. The barracks’ warm glow appears over the mud of the hills.

My lips turn up into a smile and I feel the pain in my legs fall away. The breath in my lungs is fresh and clear- no more tightness in my chest. Even the weight of the pack on my back is gone.

I’m sprinting now. Mud squishing, rain slicing, heart beating. The glow of the barracks gets closer and closer and closer. I can smell the freshly-cleaned linen, the hearth. It coaxes me closer, urges me to go faster.

My hand reaches out and I slam my fist against the wall. “Commandant!” I pant, slouching over and heaving in breath. “I finished first!”

The Commandant’s horse pulls up before me, the Commandant looking down at me. There’s a faint trace of a smile on his lips. Wordlessly, he dips his head.

I go into a salute and watch as he and his horse pull next to the mouth of the woods. Annie trails in just behind me, shrugging her gear off. I smile at her weakly. “Great run,” I mutter, “Ya almost had me.”

Annie’s eyes flick up to me, quiet and intense. I reach a hand out for her to shake, the other hand gripping my knee to keep me upright. She stands up straight and takes my hand, giving it a quick shake.

And then she walks away with her gear.

I stand up against the wall. My eyes flutter as raindrops fall into them, blurring my vision slightly. The rest of the group trails in. Mikasa, Eren, Bertholdt, Connie, Jean, Sasha, Ymir, Christa, Armin.

Reiner’s behind them all. Hair stuck to his skin, raindrops beading down his face and onto the soaked cape around his shoulders. A smile crosses his face as our eyes meet and he picks up his pace.

I laugh a bit, taking off my gear and letting it rest up against the wall of the barracks. “There you are,” I say as I jog up to him in the rain. “Was gettin’ worried.”

Reiner smiles down at me, “Was your own fault- left me in the dust.”

“You were jogging,” I roll my eyes, “You could’ve kept up with me if you wanted to.”

“Had to make sure no one got left behind.”

“Jeez…,” I scoff and grab his collar, pulling him down towards me. “How in the walls did I manage to fall for a softie like you?”

Reiner shrugs, “Must’a been my incredible flirting skills.”

The two of us chuckle and I press my lips to his. “You’re warm,” I mumble, pulling away.

“You’re freezing,” he mutters, “C’mon. Let’s get you inside.”

--.--

The wind runs its airy fingers through my hair as I swing through the trees. My fingers let go of the trigger, only to switch back to pressing it again. The wires of my ODM gear shoot out and stick into the bark of two trees on either side of me. I’ve broken off the group and shaken off Ymir. It’s just me and these two Titans.

My blades glint beside me and I turn my head to look at myself in the blades. I’ve gained a bit of muscle, all toned and smooth under my skin. My skin is even more tan from the days spent in the sun. I’ve got another scar on my collarbone from messing around with ODM blades that one time with Connie and Jean.

I swing again, circling the clearing where two Titan models stand. There’s a foam section on the back of their ‘necks’- their napes. My grips on my swords tightens and I swing down towards the clearing.

The wind is tearing through my hair, cracking like sharp whips in my ears. It only urges me faster. A short scream leaves my lips as my blades dig into the nape of the first. My fingers quickly switch and I angle myself around the Titan’s back, falling down underneath the second Titan’s legs. My back arches away from the ground and I activate my ODM gear- shooting up towards the sky. I force myself to one side, sending me spinning in mid-air. My blades trail along the nape- taking out a deep chunk that falls to the floor behind me.

“Ha!” I yell, smiling. The ODM gear activates and I head back into the woods in search of my next kill.

Through the trees, I can see three people swinging to the west. I follow them from a distance and hear Jean, Connie, and Sasha arguing.

“You stole it!” Connie yells, “That was my kill!”

“That wasn’t yours!” Jean shoots back, “I found them!”

“You’re both just mad because I got the kill and you were too slow!” Sasha calls back, giggling.

My eyes hone in on their target- another Titan. Fifteen meters. Easy pickings. My ODM gear activates again and I launch into the clearing, brandishing my blades.

“And you’re gonna be mad when I steal your kill!” I yell, spinning down to the Titan’s nape.

Screams of protest and anger grow behind me as I feel the blades dig into the foam. Pulling away, I look up and see a chunk of the foam fall down the wooden Titan’s back. I cackle, swinging in circles around the trio. “Top ten here I come!” I laugh.

“Not if I can help it!” Jean snaps, swinging up to me.

The two of us pop out above the trees, staring at each other as we fall back down to the ground.

“You’re on, Kirschtein!”

--.--

“C’mon then, darling,” Reiner says charmingly, a smirk plastered on his stupid face. “Let me have it.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were getting off on this,” I say back, getting into position.

Reiner shrugs, “Eh. Maybe. Come over here and find out.”

I roll my eyes and dig the ball of my foot into the dirt. My grip on the toy knife tightens as I lunge forward, aiming for his chest. His hands shoot out for my chest and my stomach- intending to flip me.

I duck down, dodging his arms. As I shoot back up, I place the knife just under his chin. Panting, we stay there for a moment. His eyes trail down my figure before coming up to meet mine. “Damn…” he mumbles, “That was…”

I press the wooden knife to his throat a little harder. “We’re in public,” I scold, “You’ll scare the kids.” I pull away, flicking his nose.

“Eren,” I call, waving him over as he watches us from the sidelines.

He hurries over, brushing his hair out of his eyes. “How’d you do that?”

“You have to find their weakness,” I explain, “Whether it be physical or in their attack. Rei’s a big guy and can easily outmatch me in most styles of fighting. Lucky for me, though, he doesn’t keep his hands up enough to keep me from finding an ‘in’.”

“Pfft,” Reiner scoffs, rolling his eyes as his arms cross over his chest. “I let you win.”

“I know you’re joking, love, but let me explain to the kid first,” I wave him off, still focusing on Eren. “So what you have to do is find your opponent’s weakness and use it against them.”

Eren nods slowly, taking the knife from my hands. “So… what’s your weakness?”

“Being too badass,” I smirk, tousling his hair. Eren ducks away and scowls. “Fine… It’s a few things. For one, I’m not the tallest person in the world. People like Rei, Bert, or Ymir easily have an arm’s length advantage over me. And I’m not good with defense. You’ll always see me strike first.”

“Which is why you two work so well together,” Eren's eyes brighten with realisation. “Reiner- you’re good at defense and _________, you’re good at offense.”

I can feel my face turn a slight shade of pink and I tousle his hair again, “...jeez, kid. Don’t make me blush.”

“Nearly two years of dating and you’re still all blushy,” Reiner coos, the smile on his face echoing in his tone. “How cute.”

“‘Cute’?!” I snap, turning around to face him. “I’ll kick your ass- I have kicked your ass! Multiple times!”

“Oh really? Then how ‘bout you go pick a fight with someone else? Prove how ‘not cute’ you are.” Reiner teases, an eyebrow raised as he looks me up and down.

I scoff, rolling my eyes. “Fine. I will. I’ll even let you pick my opponent.”

Reiner heads off, weaving through the various groups to find me someone to fight. Eren stands beside me and scoffs. “You two are so weird,” he mumbles. “One minute you’re all over each other and the next you’re pushing each other’s buttons.”

“It’s called being comfortable,” I laugh, watching as Reiner claps a hand on Bertholdt’s back and drags him over here. “You’ll have that one day.”

“I’ll be too busy slaying Titans for that.”

“Yeah, yeah… I didn’t think I could either. I was stuck on being a Scout and saving my family, I just… I didn’t think it was in the cards for me.” I roll my eyes and laugh, “And then that blond idiot stumbled into my life.”

“You talkin’ about me?” Reiner asks, walking up to us with Bert. He’s got that look in his eyes- all playful and teasing. What a softie.

“Yeah- about how much of a softie you are.” I gesture to Bert, “You explain what’s goin’ on?”

Bert’s eyes flick from me to Eren and then to Reiner. A small bead of sweat trails down his forehead. He gulps. “...yeah.”

“Aw, c’mon, Bertie,” I laugh softly, getting into position. “You act like you’ve seen me fight.”

“That’s the thing,” Bert chuckles warily, a crooked smile on his lips. “I have.”

“Oh…,” my shoulders slump slightly before tensing back up again. “Well. You’ve got an advantage. I haven’t seen you fight so I’m going in blind.”

“Hey, Reiner, I-” Bert starts, trying to hand the toy knife back to him with shaky hands.

“Aw, c’mon, Bertholdt,” Reiner chuckles, hands kneading Bert’s shoulders. “You’re afraid of her? She’s like… so much shorter than you.”

“Yeah, but-”

“C’mon, then. Show ‘er how it’s done.”

Bert’s eyes are wide as Reiner steps away to stand beside Eren. Finally, he sighs and tenses his jaw. “Fine…,” he mutters, “Let’s go then.”

“Fantastic,” I smile, bringing my fists up to guard my face.

Bertholdt takes a deep breath and I ready myself. Go for the gut- when he’s winded, hit the backs of his knees. He’ll bring himself down.

Bertholdt and I charge for each other. The knife between us, I turn to the side. Grabbing his wrist, I twist it back. My left elbow digs into his stomach at the same time and he hunches over. My leg wraps around his and pulls at the backs of his knees, sending him toppling over. I step forward as he does and am out of the way before he hits the ground.

A cocky smile plays my lips as I hand Eren the knife. “That… is how it’s done.”

--.--

“Sasha farted,” Mikasa says calmly.

My hand flies up to my mouth, smacking against my face as laughter threatens to bubble out. My other hand gripping Reiner’s bicep, I try to remain quiet as the Commandant scolds Sasha. Connie sitting next to me is snickering. I elbow him and press a finger to my lips, only for the two of us to tremble with pent-up laughter. Reiner is tense and still but I can feel the rumbling in his chest as he tries to stay calm. Sasha’s face has drained of all color as she stares open-mouthed at Mikasa.

The door closes and we erupt into giggling. “Holy shit,” I wheeze, wiping a tear from my eyes. “Holy shit… Holy shit, holy shit. Ho. Lee. Shit.”

“I can’t breathe!” Connie howls, holding his sides.

“Shut up!” Sasha snaps before turning to Mikasa. Her hands on Mikasa’s shoulders, she starts to shake her back violently. “How could you say that?! In front of everyone? In front of the Commandant?! I thought we were-”

She’s cut off by Mikasa shoving a piece of bread into her mouth. “We are,” she says simply. “It was the only way to get him out of here fast without him asking any questions.”

Sasha’s eyebrows unknit as she chews on the bread. Her grip falls away from Mikasa’s shoulders and she crosses her arms over her chest. Pink dusts her cheeks as she pouts.

“Aw, jeez, Sasha,” I mumble, “Everyone’ll forget it in a few days. It’s not a big deal. ‘Sides, the ones that won’t forget are going to the Scouts. You won’t have to worry about-” The table grows quieter as we all realise what I said. “Shit…” I mutter, feeling the weight of the choosing ceremony settle in amongst us.

“You still wanna… go... to the Scouts?” Connie asks beside me.

I nod, “It’s been my goal since day one.”

“You guys, too?” He asks, looking at Eren, Mikasa, and Armin. Each of them nod.

“...Sasha?” I ask quietly, my eyes flicking to her from over my cup of tea.

“Military Police,” she says firmly. “I… I won’t have to worry about food there.”

A weight leaves my chest, sliding off with her words. Military Police means she’ll be far away from the exterior- safe. I won’t have to worry about her getting hurt and I can protect the kids better. The only thing she’ll have to worry about is if she’ll be seated closest to the food that night.

She’ll be safe.

“And you?” I ask, turning to face Reiner. He’s been too quiet for too long.

His eyes meet mine as I duck into his vision. A small smile crosses his lips and he shrugs. “...I… I’m still deciding.”

That’s been his answer for months now. ‘Still deciding’. It’s driving me insane. If he could just make up his mind already, I could stop worrying.

--.--

“You have three choices!” The officer in front of us yells. “The Garrison Regiment- who reinforce the walls. The Scout Regiment- who ride into Titan country to take back land for humanity. And the Military Police- where you protect the people and serve out the orders of your King.”

The officer gestures down to us. “Naturally, the only ones that can join the Military Police are the top ten- sorry, eleven- scorers that we announced earlier.”

Christa. Sasha. Connie. Marco. Jean. Eren. Annie. Bertholdt. Me. Reiner. Mikasa. We’re set apart from the group. My chest puffs out a bit with pride as I stand in a salute. Not just me, either. Mikasa, Eren, Sasha- we’re here.

Carla, I hope you can see your boy.

Mom… Dad… I hope you’re proud.

We made it.

--.--

The room is buzzing with excitement, so thick and pure you could almost taste it. People are laughing, drinking, eating, cheering. Others are dancing on top of tables, belting out drinking songs.

Eren, Mikasa, and Armin sit across from me. Sasha and Connie are on my right while Reiner sits to my left. His hand is around my waist, tucking me into his side. I lean into his chest to soak up his warmth like a happy, slightly-buzzed, little sponge. In front of me is the pile of cadet evaluations someone stole from Sadies’ office.

My eyes scan over the first cadet evaluation. “Ooh,” I laugh giddily. “‘Connie Springer is exceptionally note-worthy regarding ODM maneuvering but’-,” I stop, bursting into laughter.

“Well?!” Connie snaps, slamming his glass down on the table. “Finish it!”

“‘But is a few sandwiches short of a picnic’.” I finish, giggling. The group erupts into laughter as Connie’s eyebrows furrow.

“The Hell does that mean?!”

Armin leans over and whispers something in his ear. Connie’s face turns bright red and the grip on his drink grows tighter. “Hey!” He snaps, “I’m not stupid!”

The group’s laughter surges. Connie scoffs and sinks down into his seat.

“Aww… Poor thing.” I laugh, rubbing his head.

He shakes me off and takes a gulp of ale. “Just do the next one already.”

“Me! I’ll go next!” Sasha yells, waving a hand over her head.

I nod, turning my gaze down to the pile of evaluations in front of me. Picking up Sasha’s file, I take a drink of ale and open it up. “‘She has unconventionally good intuition’,” I lift my glass as the group cheers. Sasha smiles, puffing her chest out proudly. “But also doesn’t share this intuition with her classmates, making her a poor teammate as a result.” Sasha shrinks, shrugging and rolling her eyes.

“Who’s next?”

“Reiner!” Someone calls out. I scan the group as Bert raises his eyebrows at me, smirking as he takes a sip from his cup.

I nod and snake Reiner’s file out, opening it. “‘Stalwart in both mind and body’- I can attest to that.” I tease, earning some cheers and groans from the group. “...‘and well-respected by his comrades. Also-” my hand clamps down over my mouth as laughter threatens to spill out. “...‘has the constitution... of a grass-fed ox’.”

The group howls. I close the file and turn to Reiner, who was reading over my shoulder. “Aww… poor Rei…,” I tease, placing my hand against his face. My thumb rubs over his pink skin as he scoffs.

“Let’s read yours next,” he laughs, reaching behind me and snatching mine off the pile.

“Now- wait, hang on-”

“Who wants to read _________’s?” Reiner yells, holding the file above his head so I can’t reach it. The group erupts into cheers, lifting glasses and fists into the air. Reiner looks down at me and shrugs. “Gotta give the people what they want.”

I roll my eyes, groaning as I sink back into my seat. I take another sip of ale as Reiner clears his throat. “‘Although talented in bladework and maneuvering… she is relatively lackluster in the classroom- caused by her genuine dislike of being stuck indoors. Also has issues trusting in new people- and a stubbornness rivaling that of a donkeys’.”

The crowd cheers.

“To Hell with rules!” Connie yells, lifting a glass.

The others lift their glasses and I do the same. “To freedom!” I laugh, smashing my cup up against the others’. I bring it back down and take a long sip of the ale in it.

“How’s it feel to be in the top ten?” Thomas asks, sitting down beside Armin.

“Eleven,” Armin corrects, “Actually.”

“Christa and Sasha got the same exact score- so technically it's still the top ten scorers,” I say, shrugging. “But I don't really care.”

Thomas, Armin, and Reiner chuckle. “Well?” Thomas asks, “How’s it feel?”

I breathe in deeply, closing my eyes. “...like I’m gettin’ drunk,” I laugh, taking another drink of ale.

“Cheers to that,” Reiner mumbles, hitting his cup against mine. The two of us take another swig, giggling at each other as we peek over the rims of our glasses.

“You’re an idiot,” I laugh, placing my cup on the table. “How in the walls did I ever fall for you?”

“It was that damn walk,” Reiner says, slamming his cup down a little harder than he wanted to. “In the woods. When I helped Eren.”

“That was when I fell for you?”

“No, when I fell for you.”

“...really?” I ask, turning to face him. His cheeks burn a slight red and his golden eyes are half-closed as he looks down at me. Slowly, his tongue comes out and wets his lips- all while staring at mine.

“Yes, ma’am,” he says, reaching up and tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “Seein’ you in your element- the moonlight, the woods… Making those jokes and laughing with Armin and Eren… All I could think about was how beautiful you looked.”

My face turns bright red, burning hot with embarrassment. “You…” I trail off, trying to snatch the next coherent words in my short-circuiting brain. “You’re…” I laugh softly and shake my head. “I think you’re pretty good-lookin’, too.”

His lips press against mine softly. He tastes like ale and mint. Slowly, Reiner pulls away. His eyes flick around the table before bouncing back to me. “It’s crowded in here,” he whispers. “Let’s get outta here.”

“And do what?” I ask coyly, snaking my arms around his neck. “What sort of lewd, lecherous, lascivious things are you trying to steal me away to do?”

“Why don’t you come with me and find out?”

My lips turn up into a smirk and I pull away. “Sasha?” I call, tapping her on the shoulder. “I’m trusting you to make sure Connie, Eren, Jean and Armin don’t drink too much.”

She nods, “I’ll make sure. Where’re you going?”

“Um…,” I trail off, “On a walk.”

She shudders, “Ew. Just… be safe.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure thing, Mom...” I mutter, getting to my feet. “Let’s go, Rei.”

--.--

My fingers graze against the edges of the suitcase. They’re fraying and the leather has cracked. Pieces of string poke out of the sides, allowing gaps to form around the edges of the suitcase.

I still haven’t found someone to transfer everything to my name. With training and testing, I just haven’t gotten the time. I will find someone though. I’m not giving up. I can’t give up.

Reiner’s hands find my waist, clutching me as if I were to fly away at any given moment. His lips leave feathery kisses against my shoulder. Slowly, he trails upwards and nibbles my ear.

“You’re distracting,” I hum, turning my head to give him more room to work. “Keep going.”

“Two years,” he whispers against my skin, “Two whole years- and you’re just now coming to that conclusion?”

I laugh airily, my eyelids fluttering closed as he finds that spot in the crook of my neck. “I’ve known for a while… Remember that ODM incident?”

Reiner chuckles, sending warm air fanning over my shoulder. “You nearly crashed. Commandant Sadies had to send me to the barracks.”

“You were being distracting on purpose,” I laugh, “There was no reason for you to be stripping.”

“It was hot.”

“It was raining.”

“It was payback,” he mutters, “You were bein’ a brat.”

“I’m always a brat.”

“More than usual,” Reiner’s hands run down my sides. I shudder with pleasure and he stops. “...that was hot,” he chuckles. “Look at yourself.”

My eyes flick up to the mirror in front of us. I didn’t even feel my arms reaching up behind me and tangling around his neck. My fingers are gently massaging his scalp. I can feel my back arch slightly into his chest, my hips flush against his.

“You’re beautiful,” he mumbles into my hair.

“Stop it, handsome, you’ll make me blush.”

His eyebrow arches and a smirk plays his lips. My eyes widen as I realise what he’s thinking. “Don’t you dare pick me u-!”

“You’re right, darling, no more teasing,” he says, picking me up and throwing me over his shoulder. “Let’s get right down to it.”

“Rei-” I laugh, feeling him climb onto my bed. “Reiner Braun! You put me down this instant!”

Reiner laughs, pulling me off his shoulder and laying me down on the blankets. He wastes no more time. Kisses are hot and twisting, all sloppy and eye-rollingly erotic.

“You are the best thing… that’s happened to me,” he says between kisses.

“You’re-” the words get stuck in my throat as his mouth starts to suck on my collarbone. All I can do is shake and run my trembling hands through his hair, pulling it gently.

“Don’t get too excited,” Reiner chuckles, eyes flicking up to me. “You have a long night ahead of you.”

--.--

I groan, pulling the collar of my shirt up further. My entire neck throbs and pulses. Even my collarbones are sore. And my legs.

And then he’s just gone. Just a little letter by my bed. ‘Had to go. Bert needed me. Love you- Rei’. That blond asshole. I’d punch him if I wasn’t in love with him.

At least he left a note, I guess.

“_________!” Eren yells, waving me over to the spot where he, Armin, Sasha, and Mikasa stand.

I push through towards them, giving them each a small smile. Eren’s eyes are glistening as he stares out into the street.

The Scouts were coming back, led by Commander Erwin. Eren had burst into the dorm and dragged me out to come with him and the others.

“Things are different with the Scouts now.” Eren comments, beaming at the Scouts on their horses. Various people cheer for them from the sides of the streets. “People are excited for them.”

“Yeah,” I groan, massaging my temple as throbbing pain shoots through my head. “They’re being loud as Hell about it.”

“Maybe it should’ve been you I was watching out for last night,” Sasha teases, nudging my side.

“I didn’t even drink that much,” I mutter, “It was just-”

“There’s Captain Levi!”

Everyone turns back to the street, chattering with excitement. “They say he’s like a squadron all on his own!” Someone else comments.

“That guy?” I ask, looking up at the black-haired, grey-eyed, bored-looking man sitting on his horse. “...wait… I know him.”

“He’s the most popular Scout in the Regiment, of course you know him.” Eren says, rolling his eyes.

“No, I actually know him… Remember when Shiganshina fell? And I was with that wagon, helping their soldiers out? One of the soldiers that came to help was him.”

“Really?” Eren asks, his eyes wide as he turns to me. “What’s he like?”

“...quiet. And snappish.”

“Like Mikasa!” Sasha laughs.

“Yeah… a lot like Mikasa, actually…”

“Hey, guys!”

My head snaps towards the voice, feeling myself bubble with happiness. “Hannes!”

“Heard you all graduated yesterday,” Hannes laughs, a bright smile on his face. “You four really are something.”

“Five,” I say, grabbing Sasha’s arm and pulling her closer to me. “This is my little sister, Sasha.”

“Ah!” Hannes’ eyes light up as they flick between us. “I can see the resemblance.”

“Sasha, this is Hannes,” I explain, “He’s been the one that’s gotten us in and out of trouble. And he was the one that got me out of Shiganshina.”

“Nice to meet you, sir!” She smiles, shaking Hannes’ hand.

“How’ve you been?” Eren asks, “I heard you got promoted to Captain of the Corps of Engineers.”

The group collectively chuckles.

“You punk,” Hannes scoffs, flicking Eren’s nose.

Slowly, his smile fades and his eyes lose their brightness. “I’m sorry… that I couldn’t save your mom… I know it’s sudden but... it haunts me every night.”

Eren’s smile falters and settles into a determined line. “It’s not your fault. We’re not kids anymore. None of us are going to let such sorrow happen again. I’m gonna beat those Titans. I swear it.”

--.--

“You didn’t…” I mumble, staring at Sasha as she salivates over the cut of meat. “Sasha! You’re gonna get caught! Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“I wanted to do it myself,” she mumbles, eyes still fixated on the meat. “But it’s okay! I’m willing to share.” She presses the meat up under her nose and takes a long sniff.

“You’re an idiot…” I mutter, shaking my head.

“A scary idiot.” Connie adds, his eyes wide.

“Put it back!” Thomas snaps, “You’re gonna get caught.”

“But imagine the sandwiches.” Sasha froths at the mouth, stumbling towards a container.

“Do you have any idea of how rare meat is since Maria fell?” Mina asks.

“Yeah, but look at it this way,” Sasha hums, placing the meat inside the container. “Once we take back Maria, we’ll have all the room we need to raise livestock. They won’t even look for this one piece of meat.”

“She’s got a point,” I murmur, raising my eyebrows and shrugging.

The group goes quiet, all salivating at the mouth and staring at the meat as Sasha closes the container. It smells amazing. Like it was gifted to us by the gods.

“...I would really like a slice please!” Thomas erupts, eyes squinting and fists clenched on either side of him.

Connie drops the brush he was using to clean the cannons, “Hey- if he’s getting some, I want some, too!”

“I’ll take some, too!” Mina laughs.

“Hell, I’ll take some,” I smirk, tying an upper section of my hair back into a ponytail. “Save some for Reiner, too. Big lug’ll want some, too, I’ll bet.”

Eren’s eyes are wide as he looks from each of us. His mouth hangs open and parts of words fall out past his lips. “C’mon, Eren,” Samuel chuckles, picking up a brush and scrubbing out the inside of a cannon. “The longer you stand there with that look on your face, the more suspicious they’re gonna get.”

“Yeah, man,” I joke, nudging him with my elbow as I walk past. “Don’t ruin this for everyone.” I bend over, grabbing a wooden box filled with cannon ammo. Straightening back up, I haul the box over to Sasha. She’s busy scrubbing the metal of the cannon, muttering to herself about ‘how delicious that meat smelled’.

“Hey, I’ll take over,” I smile, taking the rag from her hands. “Go take this to Connie.”

Sasha’s eyes narrow. “...why?”

“Because.” I state, nudging her with my elbow. “Now get a move on.”

Sasha smiles and gets to her feet, snagging the ammo box. She walks over to Connie, who looks up from his work and smiles. The two start chatting- planning little devious pranks on Jean. I start cleaning the cannon metal.

I wonder what my blond idiot and his tall bastard best friend went. Always up to no good.

I roll my eyes. I went and fell for a child. Not that I’m any better in that regard but still. What a dork.

But he’s my dork or whatever.

“Hey,” I say, getting to my feet and turning towards Eren, who’s looking out over the side of the wall towards the interior. “Ya gonna help ‘r are ya gonna just stand there?”

Eren turns to me and smiles gently. “Come here,” he says, gesturing to me to stand beside him. I throw the rag over my shoulder and walk to stand beside him. “If you lean just a bit over the side, you can hear everything.”

My feet toe the edge. I look out over the roofs and houses, the streets and carts. People are bustling around, talking and laughing and running around. Children run through alleyways and hillsides. I close my eyes, letting the wind tousle my hair. The sounds below swell with each breeze. My arms come out on either side of me. The wind runs up my sides and my clothes flutter in its touch.

It’s like I’m flying.

“Hey, don’t lean too far over,” Eren laughs, grabbing my collar and pulling me back slightly. “I don’t need Reiner chewing me out because you fell down the wall.”

I roll my eyes, “Tch… Can’t even let me have a little fun.”

“By the look of your neck, you had plenty of fun last night.”

My cheeks turn bright red as I tug my collar further up along my neck. “H-hey! Shut up about that!”

Eren shrugs and laughs, “You can deny it all you-”

It all happens too fast. Like a collision of events. The lightning just beyond the wall. The Collosal Titan appearing. The arm smashing against the wall, wiping clear the cannons and sending us flying over the side.

My hands find my ODM controllers and the wires launch out, gripping the side of the wall. My eyes look around. Mina, Connie, Sasha, Eren, Thomas- “Where’s Samuel?” I scream, looking around at each of the figures clinging to the wall.

“Sasha!” Mina yells at my left. I turn towards her and watch as Sasha runs down the length of the wall, heading towards the figure plummeting towards the ground. A wire shoots out of her ODM gear. The prongs pierce through Samuel’s leg. Sasha stops in her spot and looks up at me.

A smile crosses her lips before she turns down to Samuel. “Try not to move!”

“Sound off,” I yell, “Who else is hurt?”

“I’m good!” Connie yells back.

“All good here!” Mina calls out.

“Just a scratch!” Thomas yells.

“Where’s the scratch?” I call back.

“Left forearm!”

My finger comes off the trigger, letting the prongs shoot back into my ODM gear. Using the momentum of falling, I shoot the wires out again and swing up to where Thomas is. Landing beside him, I roll my sleeves up. “Let me see it.”

Thomas starts to roll up his sleeve, revealing a gash running up along his forearm. “‘Just a scratch’, huh?” I ask, ‘tch’-ing my tongue as I examine it. It’s not too deep but it’ll mess with his ability to fight if I don’t take care of it now.

“Okay, listen,” I mutter, shrugging off my Cadets jacket. “This is only temporary. As soon as we get the Hell outta here, you’re gonna get some fresh bandages… and don’t tell Reiner.”

“Don’t tell Reiner wha-?”

I cut him off, slicing a piece of the bottom of my shirt with my blade. “He got me this shirt,” I mutter, taking his arm and wrapping it around his ‘scratch’. The blood soaks into the light green material. It slowly turns a sickly brown… but it’ll do.

“Make a fist,” I instruct. He does so without strain. “Good. You should be able to hold a sword in that hand.”

Thomas nods, “Thanks, Mom.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I smile before my hand comes up and bats the side of his head. "'nd don't call me 'Mom'."

“There’s a hole in the wall!” Connie screams. My eyes widen and I look down below us. There’s a gaping hole at the base of the wall, stone and brick scattered around it. “They’re gonna get in! They’re gonna get in, they’re gonna get in!” Connie repeats over and over again.

“...oh, shit.”

--.--

“As members of the Cadet Corps that passed the final maneuvers, you are now considered fully-fledged soldiers!” The officer yells as the Cadets weave through the pillars and each other to the gas canisters.

I hurry to the wall, having someone hand me a pair of gas canisters for my ODM gear. “Sasha!” I call, putting the gas into my gear. “Sasha Braus!”

Sasha stumbles to me, trembling and her eyes wide. Her mouth falls open and closed- but nothing comes out. I grip her shoulders and shake her gently, staring at her. “Can you hear me?” I ask, eyes flicking between hers.

Sasha nods, her eyebrows curving upwards. “...yes.”

“You listen to me very carefully, Sasha,” I say calmly. “You have to listen to me.” She nods again. “You’re going to be okay, do you hear me? You’re going to be okay... if you listen to me- you stay close to me at all times. If I’m separated from the group, you don’t hesitate to follow me- do you hear me?”

“_________, I can take care of myself,” she starts, shrugging my hands off her shoulders. “I placed Top Ten, just like you.”

“I know but this isn’t like training,” I mutter, eyes roving around the room as Cadets and soldiers frantically ready themselves for battle. Some are throwing up from nerves, others are sobbing on the floor. “This is battle. It’s always different.”

“You’re going in for the first time, too, _________. Why are you talking like you’ve done this before?”

I'm not answering that honestly. She doesn't need to know about the life-or-death fights I'd managed to get myself in.

“Remember when I used to go hunting with you?” I ask, scanning her eyes.

“...yeah.”

“It was always different hitting a target than hitting something in the wild, right?” Sasha nods. “It’s like that. It’s just... the deer can and will kill you without hesitating. So you stick with me. We can get out of this.”

Sasha’s eyes soften and slowly, she nods. I breathe out and wrap my arms around her. “I love you,” I whisper, running a hand through her hair. “I love you so much.”

Sasha’s arms tighten around me. “...I’m scared.”

Another shaking breath passes my lips. “I’m scared, too,” I mutter, pulling away and resting my forehead against hers. “But we’re gonna be okay. You and me and Connie and Jean and Armin. Mikasa. Eren. Reiner. We’re all gonna be okay.”

A determined smile appears on her lips. I press mine to her forehead and wipe my sweating hands on my pants. “I need t’go find the others. You tell Connie and Jean what I told you. The more of us working together means the more chance of us surviving.”

Sasha nods once and runs into the crowd. I sigh, running a hand through my hair while my legs tremble beneath me. Where the Hell is Reiner?

--.--

There’s a silent buzz that echoes through me. My veins. My skin. From the depths of my stomach to the edges of my fingertips. It buzzes and hums- but silent, nothing heard.

It’s felt.

My body twitches with excitement, all nervous and energetic.

I remember something like this. In the woods, drawing a bowstring back to my ear. The shaky but determined exhale of breath as the bowstring was loosed. The buzz concentrated in my ears, in my fingers then. All soft and almost unnoticeable. But now…

It’s different.

Amplified and harsh. My leg bounces up and down- I can’t stop it. The tremble in my hands, in my gut. Chills running rampantly through my skin and so wildly I can feel it under my hair.

It’s not fear, no. Had it been fear, I would’ve known.

‘Adrenaline’. Medical books and Doctor Yaeger’s teachings in the lamplight come rushing back to me. This is pure energy. The pulse of determined energy; wild and untamable. It controls me now. I can only direct it.

My eyes turn down to the blades at my hips.

Yes. These will be where my energy is directed. Every twist and spin and curve and turn will be where my energy is. Not to run away from the enemy. But to run straight for it.

“_________.”

I look up from my blades. It’s Jean. There’s deep trenches in his face- worry. I get to my feet, feeling my eyebrows knit together. “...are you alright?” I ask quietly, brushing the hair from his eyes.

Jean’s eyes meet mine and he shakes his head. “...I was supposed to leave tomorrow.”

I nod, recalling the scuffle he and Eren had gotten into just a few minutes ago. “And you will.” I say quietly, taking his face into both of my hands. “Do you hear me? You will.” He opens his mouth again to speak. Before he can get anything out, I stop him. “Have I ever lied to you?”

“...you told me iodine would burn.”

Rolling my eyes, I gently smack the side of his face. “I said that because I wanted to see if you would make a scene or not,” I mutter. “Have I actually ever lied to your face before?”

“...no.”

“Then why would I start now?”

Jean’s eyes soften and I can feel his body begin to radiate confidence. Over his shoulder, I can see Hanna waving an arm over her head. I lift a single hand up and she nods, running out of the courtyard. Turning back to Jean, I stare him in the eyes. “You listen. You’re gonna be fine and we’re gonna have one helluva celebration when you get sent off tomorrow.”

Jean nods, smirking. “I’ll be waiting to hear you sing.”

I smile and press my lips to his forehead, “See you in a few.” Running towards the courtyard’s exit, I stop and wave one last time.

“Bye, Mom!” He calls as I round the corner.

“Call me that one more time, Jean, and the Titans won’t be the only thing you have to worry about!” I yell back.

--.--

“...how ‘bout you, _________?”

My eyes slide up to the voice. Slowly, I blink away the glaze. Franz and the others are staring at me, waiting for a response to something. “Sorry?” I ask, getting to my feet.

“I was just asking if everyone’s alright,” Franz answers, his eyebrows knitting together in concern. “...are you?”

I laugh slightly and shrug. “As ‘alright’ as I can be right now.”

The group collectively chuckles- all quiet and heartless.

“Just wondering how you’re doing,” Franz says quietly. “You aren’t nearly as… bubbly right now.”

“‘Bubbly’?” I ask, smiling. “We’re about to go into battle after knowing each other for three years and I’m just now realizing you think of me as ‘bubbly’?”

The groups’ eyes shoot off into different directions- avoiding me. Franz stumbles over his words, eyes wide and hands up slightly in surrender. “Hang on- that’s not what I… I didn’t mean like… I meant it like-”

“Aw c’mon, man,” I scoff, punching his arm playfully. “I’m just messin’ with you. I know I can be… ‘lively’ at times.”

Franz and the others visibly relax. Floch scoffs and shakes his head. “I think Franz had it right the first time. ‘Bubbly’ is the word to describe you.”

Something deep inside me hardens as I hear his voice. The only one in my squad that I truly and genuinely cannot stand. Insensitive, rude, arrogant. Walls above, the boy drives me insane. He’s led to more fights in the squad than everyone else combined.

Floch lifts his sword, “Actually… I’d say ‘perky’.”

“‘Perky’?” I say quietly, an eyebrow raised as I look at him.

He nods, flicking a piece of hair from his eyes. He raises his sword to gesture to my chest. “...perky.”

I smile sweetly despite the urge to tackle him off the roof bubbles in my veins. Slowly, I breathe in and out. He just wants a reaction. That’s all it is. Same with every idiotic moron with that mindset.

“Really, I mean, Franz- you’ve noticed it, too.”

Franz shakes his head and sets his jaw. “I respect my squad leader-”

“Yeah, okay,” Floch mutters, rolling his eyes. “C’mon, not even you, Gordon?”

My eyes slide over to Gordon, who notices me do so. His face pales and he frantically shakes his head. “No, no, no… Not me.”

“Hanna, how ‘bout-”

I’m at his throat before he can get the next few words out. My blade is pressed up against his neck. With morbid fascination, I watch as he gulps. “Enough,” I snap, “Enough of this shit. You want t’get your ass beat by me so badly, we can have this out right here and right now. Maybe if I break your jaw, you’ll finally shut the hell up and leave the rest of us in peace.”

“You’re bluffing,” Floch mutters.

I press my blade just a bit harder. “You wanna find out?”

“Hey,” Hanna says gently, appearing next to me. “Let’s not do this right now.”

My eyes flick between Floch’s. Sweat is beading down his forehead and I can see his hands shaking gently. I scoff and pull away, “You’re right. Waste of energy and.. we’ve got bigger problems right now, anyways.”

Hanna sighs, pulling my arm to lead me away. Franz and Gordon force smiles as I meet their gazes. Franz stammers out something- a change in topic or something. I don’t really hear him. I’m too busy waiting for Floch to open his mouth. As I turn around, I can hear Floch chuckle. “...I knew it.”

Hanna doesn’t have enough time to stop me as I turn around and strike Floch’s nose. There’s a crunch as my fist collides with his skin and I can feel his nose give. Gordon runs for us as Hanna holds me back. Gordon picks Floch up off the roof tiles. Franz appears next to me, his mouth open slightly as he stares at Floch’s bleeding, broken nose.

“Don’t ever,” I hiss, “Ever. Think I will hesitate.”

“Squad 32!” Someone yells from another rooftop. “Squad 32! Report!”

Glaring at Floch, I shrug Hanna’s grip. “Squad 32 leader reporting!” I yell, walking to the edge of the roof.

A pair of soldiers standing on the roof down below us look up at us. “Move out!” One of them shouts, waving us forward.

Turning to the others, I smile and pull out my blades. Each of them stare at me- all terrified beyond belief, all nervously gripping their swords and shifting in their spots. The buzz, the hum is back and even stronger than before.

I let myself fall backwards off the side of the roof, pressing the triggers of my ODM gear. Feeling myself shoot back up towards the sky, I let out a small laugh.

It’s time.

--.--

“Sound off!” I yell as we zip through the air.

“On your left!” Franz yells back, appearing briefly in my vision before slipping back down underneath me.

“I’m here!” Hanna says from above me.

“Gordon? Floch?” I call, launching my ODM wires out and swinging upwards.

There’s no response.

Angling myself, I spin backwards and let the ODM wires pull out of the building they had lodged into. Now facing the other way, I watch as Floch and Gordon weave through alleys and buildings a ways away from the rest of the group.

I fall back down to the earth, shooting my wires out to put me right beside the two slackers. “You’re gonna get left behind if you don’t hurry the hell up!” I snap, swinging beside them.

My eyes dart to movement just beyond a clocktower. “Eyes up!” I yell, propelling myself to the front of the squad. My blades slice through the air as I brandish them. Rounding the corner, I can see our target. Fifteen meters. Ugly son of a bitch, too.

My ODM gears shift and I launch the wires directly into the Titan’s collarbone. Its arms swing out towards me and I duck down underneath them, letting go of the trigger as I fall. The arm collides with the building beside me. Rocks graze my face- leaving little slices of raw skin behind.

My feet land on the tiles of the same building. I jump onto the Titan’s hand as it snakes it off the broken section of the roof. Running along the arm, I raise my swords and launch the wires into the side of its neck. I jump and swing around its back, slicing my blade along the nape of its neck.

The Titan immediately goes limp and falls to the floor, tugging the wires of my gear along with it. Planting my feet just under the cut, I ride it down. It crashes to the street, rocking dirt and debris from the building.

“_________!” Franz yells, “There’s two more in the other street!”

“Two over here, too!” Floch yells, appearing on the rooftop above me.

“Franz, Hanna- take care of the ones over there! I’m going with Floch and Gordon!”

Franz and Hanna each nod, whirring off into the other street. Steam surrounds me and the air is thick with heat and the smell of flesh. My fingers twitch, propelling me up along the clocktower. Floch and Gordon land just under me.

My eyes scan the street Floch was telling me about. Two Titan wander aimlessly through the street, bumping into buildings and houses. “Gordon, you and Floch take the one on the left,” I say, pointing the end of my sword to a brown-haired Titan. “As soon as you’re done, you help me finish that one off. I’m gonna lead it away from you two while you work.”

The two swing off the tower and into the street. I roll my shoulders and launch my wires into the roof of the building just behind the second Titan. My fingers press the triggers and anchor the wires into the Titan’s chest. As I gain momentum, I release the triggers and shoot them out into another building’s walls- allowing me to speed past the Titan’s ear.

It takes notice of me. Turning away from the other Titan, it mindlessly follows after me. “Yeah, that’s right,” I whisper, digging my feet into the wall. “Come on…”

The Titan’s eyes hone in on me. My grip on my blades gets tighter, my fingers dancing along the triggers. Its hands reach out for me and I jump off the roof, falling down to the street. The Titan charges into the building above me. The wires of my gear dig into its side, pulling me up onto its back. Slowly, it pushes itself off the ruins of the house as I run up its back. My blades slice through its neck before it can fully get up. As the body falls back against the building, I swing onto another rooftop.

The steaming blood on my blades starts to evaporate as the other Titan hits the street. Floch and Gordon swing onto the edge of my rooftop, running to me. “I thought you said we’d help,” Gordon pants.

“I got it in a good place,” I shrug, chest heaving slightly.

There’s a scream that tears out, cutting into our words. “Let’s go!” I yell, heading for the sound. It sounded like Hanna.

Jumping off the roof, the ODM wires lodge into the bottom of the roof of a building across the street. I’m shot straight up. My eyes scan up and down the street. One Titan lays on the ground, steaming and quickly deteriorating.

My stomach churns.

The other Titan. It’s… chewing… on something.

On someone.

Hanna has her back to a wall, holding her swords out at the Titan. She’s screaming and I can see the glisten of her tears from here.

Falling back down, I shoot my wires into the back of the Titan. As my feet land on its back, the Titan drops whoever it’s chewing on. I can hear Hanna screaming clearly now.

“It’s an Abnormal!”

Shit.

The Titan twists and I don’t see the arm until it’s too late. It collides with my body, sending me flying into the wall across the street. The sound of my backbone cracking echo in my ears- blunt pain running through my muscles. Falling forward, my fingers just barely graze the triggers.

It’s enough.

I’m shot forward and under the Titan’s legs. Grunting, I slide against the cobblestone. “Gordon! Get Hanna out of here!” I scream, massaging my side briefly.

The Abnormal’s neck snaps towards me as I yell. My grip on my swords gets even tighter. The Abnormal sprints towards me, footsteps uneven and shaking beneath me. I hit the triggers and swing into the sky, feeling a burst of wind just behind me as the Abnormal bats at me.

There’s a brief moment when I think it has me. When I mistake the tightening in my chest for its hand.

But it’s only a moment.

I spin backwards, feet landing on its hand before I’m completely upright. As I straighten up, I run down its arm. “Eyes!” I scream to my squad members, “Eyes, eyes, eyes!”

Someone’s wires launch into the Abnormal’s bicep and the glint of blades flash across its face. The Abnormal lets out a mangled form of a scream as blood seeps from the gaping holes where its eyes used to be. We don’t have that much time.

A yell of my own leaves my lips as I jump off the Abnormal’s shoulder and curve along its back. My blades sink into its nape. The body falls along with me, shaking the ground under my feet as I struggle to stand up.

“Hanna! ...Hanna! What the hell are you still doing down here?” I ask, running to her.

“_________!” She yells, head snapping up to look at me. “Help him!”

My eyes slide down to the body in her hands. Franz lays in a puddle of his own blood.

Just the top half of him.

“We’ve gotta do CPR on him!” Hanna says frantically, getting herself on top of the body. “Help me!”

“He’s dead, Hanna!” Floch snaps, landing next to me. “There’s no point-!”

“We can bring him back!” She snaps, her eyes wide and body trembling. “We can-”

“Titans incoming!” Gordon yells from the roof above us. “We can’t take them all! We need backup!”

I nod slowly, swallowing the thick lump in my throat. “Hanna,” I say quietly, placing my hand on her shoulder. “You have to listen to me-”

“No! I… I’m not leaving him!”

“Titans!” Gordon screams, “We have to go- now!”

“Hanna, come with us!” Floch snaps, grabbing her shoulder and trying to tug her to her feet. She refuses, pulling out of his grip.

“You’re going to kill him!” She yells, tears streaming down her face as she resumes chest compressions. “You- You all are going to kill him!”

Floch grabs my arm, leaning in and whispering. “If we don’t leave right now, we’re all going to die.”

“Hanna,” I say quietly, “We need to-”

“Get out!” Hanna demands, “Get out of here!” Her eyes flick to me, “Go!”

An arm wraps around my waist and I can feel myself being tugged into the air. “Floch!” I yell, vision suddenly clearing as I watch Hanna and Franz’s bodies get smaller and smaller. “You ass, let me go! I’m not leaving her there!”

“I’m saving your life!” He yells back, activating his gear as we start to swing downwards. “She was gone- she wasn’t coming with us.”

“You don’t know that!”

“We need you alive!”

“We need her alive, too!”

“...she wasn’t alive,” he says, just barely audible over the wind. “Not really.”

--.--

“Get off’a me,” I snap, shoving Floch off as we touch down onto the roof. “You- you left her!” I yell, stumbling as I try to stand up. Pointing at him, my eyes narrow. “You left her behind!”

“I saved your life!”

The eyes of the others are on us as we circle each other like predators. “_________, what’s wrong?” Bertholdt asks, appearing next to me.

Jean swings onto the roof, landing next to Floch. “Where’s Hanna and Franz?” he asks, looking around.

“They’re dead,” Floch answers.

“Hanna wasn’t dead!” I scream back, “She was alive!”

“She was going to get us all killed!”

“I... am going to get Hanna.”

My hands snake out from under my jacket. A hush falls on the group as they stare at me.

“...you’re wounded,” Jean says quietly. “_________… We can help you- just… Just sit down.”

I shake my head, gripping my controllers. “She’s running out of time.”

“You’re running out of blood,” Jean mumbles, stepping closer.

My eyes flick down to my hands as they grip my controllers. A thick coating of blood drenches my arms and stains my skin. It seeps down my sleeves to my elbows, crusting in certain places. “I can make it,” I mumble, walking to the edge of the roof.

I can feel it. My balance is off- all swaying and shifting. My vision is worse. I can’t focus on anything. Everything is dancing around me as the edges of my vision go dark. The lump in my throat cuts me off, making it hard to breathe.

I can’t even take a step off the roof before my vision goes completely dark and I collapse.

--------

You can read parts one, two, and four here! Just give the number you want a little boop :)

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bitchin-beskar · 4 years

Text

Arachnophobia

Rating: M

Warnings: TW (mentions of panic attacks/confronting a phobia about spiders) no smut this time y’all I apologize, but there is plenty of hurt/comfort and cuddling to be had!

Word Count: 4.1k

Pairing: Din Djarin x Reader (no use of Y/N)

A/N: So, watching 2x02 was a bit rough for me, because I hate spiders. So, so much. Soooooo, this is a self-indulgent little fic (okay, not so little) that was 100% encouraged by/discussed with @mxndoscyarika! She’s honestly amazing and y’all should check her stuff out!!!

Please consider reblogging and leaving a comment! I love to hear what you guys think!

PLEASE BE WARNED. THIS STORY CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 10 OF THE MANDALORIAN. IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN 2x02 DO NOT READ (unless you’re into spoilers and stuff)

You’d tried telling the Frog Lady that it was a bad idea. You knew Mando would want the two of you to stay with the ship, especially with the rapidly dropping temperature. Mando got... antsy in areas that it weren’t easy to secure, and with the Crest damaged...

But she wouldn’t hear of it, insisting that she had to get her eggs warm. So, when she marched off in search of hot springs, you trailed after her helplessly, grabbing a blaster just in case.

You sat by the pool after scanning the icy hills covered with rocks behind the two of you, your blaster in your hands and ready to be fired at any hint of danger. Frog Lady was happily soaking in the warmth of the hot springs, and while you’d love to join her, something about this area gave you the creeps.

You looked up at the sound of crunching snow to see Mando marching towards the two of you, with the little child trailing not far behind. You could tell by the set of his shoulders that he was mad.

Standing to intercept him, you moved in his path, resting one of your glove-covered hands over the beskar chestplate. “Mando, she just needed to get her eggs warm.”

His helmet turned to stare at you, but you wouldn’t back down. “It’s not safe. I can’t protect the two of you here.”

You shrugged. “That’s why I brought this,” you gestured with the blaster. “I did try to stop her.”

Mando sighed deeply. “I assumed as much.” He tried once more to push past you, and this time you let him. He immediately began gathering the Frog Lady’s eggs, ordering her to get out.

You watched for a moment, before turning to try and spot your wayward little green son. You really really didn’t want him eating any more of the Frog Lady’s eggs.

There was a sudden rumbling, and you looked around, now a lot more worried than you had been before. You spotted the child waddling as fast as his little legs would allow towards the three of you, his arms already stretched out in a plea to be picked up. His whimpers were distressed, and in just moments, you saw why.

Those icy hills covered with rocks weren’t actually covered in rocks. They were covered in eggs. Thousands and thousands of eggs that were hatching.

A roar shook the chamber, and you watched in stunned terror as a giant, horrifying snow spider climbed over the hill, it’s grotesque mouth growling at you.

“Run! Run! Get back to the ship!”

Mando was yelling, urging the Frog Lady to move, starting to run as well, but you couldn’t. You couldn’t move. Your feet were rooted to the ground in terror. Your breath was shaky, you were gasping but couldn’t get in enough air. You hated spiders. They terrified you. And now there was one that was as big as the Crest looming over you, about to eat you.

Suddenly there was an arm around your waist, and you were being yanked backwards off your feet. Mando was beside you, tugging and pulling as he tried to get you to move.

“Come on! We have to go! Now!”

You managed to force your body to move, and although you were shaking from head to toe, at least you were actively moving away from the creature.

Stumbling through the ice tunnels, the three of you ran. The Frog Lady kept stumbling while carrying her eggs, so Mando quickly shoved the child into your arms before grabbing the canister from her, urging you all to move faster.

You refused to look back, even when Mando threw some charges back into the fray, and you heard the explosion.

You were so close to freedom when come of the smaller spiders leaped out into the tunnel in front of you, blocking your exit. One of them leaped at you, and you screamed, but Mando quickly shot it down with his blaster. Reaching out to you, Mando grabbed you by the arm, pulling you close.

“Don’t look.”

You buried your face in his cowl as your heard a hissing noise before there was an intense heat at your back. The squeals from the spiders as they died sent shivers down your spine. Mando’s arm stayed firmly wrapped around you as his flamethrower ignited hundreds of the little spiders.

When the squeals died down, Mando once more began urging you to run. “We’re almost there!”

When the Crest came into view, you could have sobbed with relief. Mando’s hand was heavy against your back, pressing you forward. “Go! Up to the cockpit! Hurry!”

You moved as fast as you could, the snow not doing any of you any favors as you tried to run. You ushered Frog Lady into the hull as fast as you could, helping her get her eggs up the ladder. You handed the child up to her, before climbing the ladder yourself.

You heard muttered curses, and you turned to see Din getting shoved further and further back into the Crest, the spiders overwhelming him. You climbed as fast as you could, stumbling into the cockpit right as Mando reached the ladder.

Immediately scooping the child up in your arms, you backed up, pressing yourself up against the control panel, as far away from the door as you could get. Mando rushed through, and the doors tried to slide shut, but the spiders were there, forcing their way inside. You shoved the child behind you to try and protect him, even though you were terrified.

One spider leapt for your face, and you barely had time to scream. Right before it grabbed you, Mando’s fingers closed around it, crushing it’s body in his grasp. He turned back to the door, igniting his flamethrower again, trying to force the spiders back.

There was a sudden blaster shot that wizzed behind you, and you turned in shock to see a spider being blasted off of the baby’s head.

Frog Lady held your blaster in her shaking hands, but she nodded at you when you whipped around to see her.

Scooping the child up in your arms, cradling him against your chest, you thanked her profusely.

“Are you alright, dear heart?” You murmured, looking down at the child who was shaking in your arms. “Did it hurt you?”

You were inspecting his little head and body for any injuries when a warm hand landed on the small of your back.

“Are you both okay?”

Mando’s voice was urgent, and his helmet scanned up and down, looking for any cuts or bruises on the two of you.

“I think so,” you muttered, your voice just barely shaking. “I think we’re okay.”

“Good. Let’s get out of here.”

Mando helped you sink down into your seat, his hands hovering slightly, as though he wanted to help, just wasn’t sure how.

You buckled up, securing your arms around the child as Din prepared to take off. He was rattling off some reassurances to the Frog Lady, but you didn’t hear any of them, too caught up in trying to hold yourself together.

The ship slowly started to rise, creaking and groaning, and you finally let out a sigh of relief.

There was a loud crash! The viewport windows darkened as something big and heavy landed on top of the Crest. You screamed as giant spider legs began stabbing through the transperisteel, one narrowly missing you.

The mangled, burned face of the giant snow spider leered at you, it’s circular mouth banging against the viewport, trying to break through.

Your breath was coming in quick pants, not nearly enough for you to get any oxygen, and you were beginning to hyperventilate. You were aware Mando lived a dangerous life, and that you might lose yours in the process of trying to find the kid his home, but you never imagined death-by-giant-snow-spider.

There was the sound of a weapon discharging, and a giant red blaster bolt slammed into the spider, knocking it away from the Crest. As more blaster fire rained down, Mando got up, turning to go investigate before he looked down and saw you, barely breathing.

He fell to his knees, his gloved hands cupping your shoulders. His helmet was tilted up at you, although it took you a couple moments to realize he was speaking.

“Hey, hey, you’re okay, just breathe. Breathe with me, sweet girl, just breathe.”

He grabbed one of your hands and placed it over his chest, exaggerating his breathing so that you could feel the rise and fall of his chest under the beskar. Your breathing began to slow.

“That’s it, just breathe. I’ll be right back, okay?”

He waited for you to nod before standing again, opening the cockpit doors and shoving his way through the spider corpses that filled the hallway.

You refused to look behind you, resolutely staring forward as you tried to stay calm. You could not afford to freak out right now.

The child was seated in your lap, playing with your fingers as you held him tight. He didn’t seem to mind, and his presence helped to ground you in reality.

The blaster fire ceased after a while, and it was another short wait before Mando made his way back into the cockpit.

“Good news is, those X-Wing pilots killed all the spiders.”

You turned slightly to look at him, pointedly ignoring the open cockpit door. “And the bad news?”

“They won’t help us fix the Crest.”

Your expression was incredulous. “Seriously? They just left us here?”

Mando just nodded, and you sighed, sitting back heavily in the seat. “The two of you should stay in here. I’ll get the heater online and re-route it up here. That should keep you guys warm while I patch up the hull. Looks like we’re gonna be here for a while longer.”

You mumbled your agreement, looking down at the baby in your lap. The sooner you could get off this kriffing planet, the better.

***

“Mando? You should come inside, it’s getting too dark.”

You stood by the hull of the ship, wrapped up in one of the spare blankets. Mando was busy welding one of the torn panels together, trying to restore the integrity of the cargo hold. He’d made a lot of progress, but it was getting late. And cold.

He turned his helmet slightly to look at you. “I’m almost done on this panel. Where’s the lady and the kid?”

You sighed, watching as your breath condensed in front of you, a clear indicator that it was too cold to be outside. “The lady is sleeping in the cockpit. I helped her get some blankets set up, and she has a little bed. The kid is snuggled up in his cradle. It took him a while to fall asleep but he’s out now.”

Mando nodded once. “Go on inside. I’ll be done soon.”

You started to nod before you had to cover your mouth with the back of your hand as you yawned.

“Get some sleep. It’s been a long day.”

You sighed. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

There were still spiderwebs decorating the inside of the cargo hold, but with the lights on it was easy to avoid them.

It looked as though the spiders had bypassed your bunk, which was a relief. You change into your sleep clothes quickly, crawling inside and curling up, falling asleep almost as soon as your head touched the pillow.

***

Running.

You were running.

A never ending tunnel stretched out before you, the ice slippery and treacherous as you tried to escape the thousands and thousands of spiders chasing you.

You couldn’t breathe, your lungs burning and your legs aching as you sprinted as fast as you dared on the icy ground. Mando was nowhere to be seen, and neither was the Child. You were alone, trapped in the ice, about to be eaten.

Something landed on your face, and you awoke with a scream.

Your eyes wrenched open, and you frantically batted at whatever was covering your face. You sat up, eyes adjusting in the dark, only to realize the thing that you’d yanked off of you was a spider.

You screamed again, falling backwards out of your bunk as you scrambled to get away. You fell against some spiderwebs, the sticky strings clinging to your arms and your shirt, and the more you struggled, the more tangled you got.

A broken sob escaped your lips as you wrestled with the webs. You were hyperventilating, crying, your continued screams echoing off the metal walls of the Crest.

The lights suddenly powered up, and through your tears you saw Mando rushing towards you. He crosses the hull in four strides, his hands grasping your forearms as he hauls you up and against his chest.

You grip the fabric of his shirt tightly, your whole body wracked with sobs as you tried to press yourself closer against him. His arms are around your waist, holding you in a crushing grip as he tries to calm your frantic whimpers.

He leans back against the wall of the Crest, spreading his legs slightly and bringing you to rest between them. One of his arms is tight around your waist, his hand gripping your hip tightly. His other hand is slowly stroking your hair, carefully removing the spiderwebs that still cling to you.

You sag against him, gasping as you try to suck in lungfuls of air. It’s been one thing after another today, and you’re exhausted.

By the time your heart has stopped feeling like it’s about to leap out of your chest, Mando has managed to remove most of the spiderwebs from your hair. You still have webs covering your bare arms and legs, and you shudder as you feel the residue adhering to your skin. You pull back from Mando slightly, trying to pull at the webs, but it doesn’t work, they’re stubbornly stuck to you.

Mando grasps your hands tightly in his, and you realize he’s telling you to stop. “You’re only going to hurt yourself doing that, hold on.” He starts to move towards the ‘fresher, his arm around your waist the only thing keeping you upright on your shaking legs.

He turns on the water, letting it run, the steam slowly filling the small room. He grabs your waist and hoists you up on the counter, your hands flying to his shoulders to steady yourself, not expecting the movement. He waits for you to let go before grabbing a clean washcloth, wetting it with the warm water before beginning to gently run it over your skin. You watch as the web residue softens, detaching easily from your body, and the more he removes, the more you calm.

The washcloth is warm, and Mando keeps his other hand anchored on your thigh, helping to ground you. He squeezes gently whenever there’s a particularly difficult section of webbing, and the heat from his palm melts the icy fear that still has a grip on your heart.

It takes a long time for your skin to be free from the webs, but Mando takes his time, making sure you’re completely cleaned before dropping the washcloth in the sink and turning off the water.

He tugs gently at the hem of your sleep shirt. “Take this off.”

You blink up at him, shocked. “W–What?”

He sighs. “Your clothes are covered in webs. Take them off.”

“What else am I going to wear?” Your other sleep clothes are with the rest of your stuff, covered in webbing like the rest of the ship, and you really don’t have any other options.

Instead of answering, Mando reaches over and shuts off the lights. There’s a rustling of fabric, and suddenly there’s warm cloth being pressed into your hands. “Wear this.”

It takes some fumbling in the dark, taking off your own clothes–not your undergarments, thank Maker–while still perched on the counter but you managed it, slipping the shirt Mando had given you over your head, the long sleeves falling over your hands as it settles around your hips.

“Are you done?”

You jump a little at Mando’s voice ringing out in the pitch black. “Y–Yeah, I’m done.”

You actually squeak when, a moment later, Mando scoops you up in his arms, cradling you against his chest. Your hands rest against bare skin, and you realize the shirt your wearing is the one Mando had been wearing minutes ago, which meant–

Your cheeks burned as you realized you were being cradled by a shirtless Mandalorian. His skin was hot, almost fevered, and you welcomed the warmth in what was still a very cold ship.

“W–Where are we going?” You murmur, reluctant to break the calm stillness that surrounds the two of you.

“You–” Mando says, his grip tightening slightly. “–need to get some rest. You’re exhausted.”

You immediately begin to squirm. “No, nonono, I can’t, I can’t go back in there, Mando, please–” Your voice breaks as you plead with him, desperate to stay away from your bunk. It takes you too long to realize the rumbling of his chest means he’s trying to shush you.”

“Shhh, sweet girl, I know. Shh.” He stops moving, standing still, just cradling you in his arms in the darkness. “I won’t make you go back to your bunk, I promise.” He begins moving again, easily dodging obstacles in the dark.

“Where else am I supposed to rest?”

You hear a hatch slide open, and Mando sets you down on something soft. “In here.”

You feel around, scooting back into the little cubby that barely seems big enough to hold you. “What is this?”

“It’s my bed.”

You stiffened, head whipping around to stare at where you thought Mando was. “No, Mando, don’t be ridiculous, I can’t take your bed, where will you sleep?”

Mando sighed deeply, resting his hand on your ankle. “I can keep working on the ship. You need the rest, sweet girl.”

Before he has a chance to turn away, you lean forward and wrap your fingers around his wrist. “Don’t–” You start, your voice breaking. “Don’t go. I don’t want to be alone right now.”

You feel warm fingers brushing against your jaw, tucking your hair behind your ear. You lean into his touch, closing your eyes.

“Are you sure?”

You nod, knowing Mando can feel it. He sighs again. “Lay down.”

You scoot back, feeling around the edges of the mattress. There’s really not a lot of room, so you lay down, pressing against the cold wall of the cubby. You hear a hissing sound, followed by a metallic thunk. The mattress dips as Mando crawls in behind you, and you try to make yourself smaller so that the two of you fit. There’s not enough room for the both of you to lay on your backs, so you roll onto your side to make more room.

The hiss of the hatch door shutting makes you jump. It’s pitch black, you can’t see anything at all. Your whole body is tense, and your mind is racing.

You jump as Mando wraps an arm around your waist, pulling you back from the edge of the wall, and against his chest. He throws the blanket over the both of you, tucking his face against where your neck and shoulder meet.

Wait–

“Mando?”

“Hmm?”

“A–Are you wearing your helmet?”

You feel his chuckle vibrate through his chest, and his lips press against your skin.

“What do you think, sweet girl?”

You don’t have any words to answer him, sitting in stunned silence as the ramifications of what’s going on right now strike through you at lightspeed.

“Relax,” Mando rumbles against you, drawing the word out as he breaths it against your skin. “I’ve got you.”

You close your eyes. How are you supposed to tell him that that’s the problem? He probably thought you were still freaked out over the spiders, which, to be fair, you were. It’s just... he was a nice distraction.

You force yourself to relax, letting the tension drain out of your limbs as you sink further into the mattress. You settle even more against Mando, his body a barrier against the outside world.

He gently starts to trace patterns on your skin underneath his shirt, his touch featherlight, even though you feel as though he’s burning you every time he touches you.

You’re relaxing even more, although you doubt you could fall asleep. Your nightmare from before still strikes fear into your heart, and you really don’t want to wake up with a dead spider on your head again.

The shudder that runs through you is an unconscious reaction to your previous ordeal, although Mando seems to take it as a sign that you’re cold. He draws his knees up, curling his body inward as he wraps himself even further around you, until the only thing you can feel is him.

The silence is heavy, but not uncomfortable. It covers the two of you like a blanket, pressing down and filling every nook and cranny, bringing an odd sense of peace.

You’d think that Mando was asleep if it weren’t for the fact that he was still tracing shapes on your stomach.

“Why don’t you ever call me by my name?”

His question is so quiet, you almost miss it.

“Hmm?”

You’re so tired, your brain doesn’t want to process anything more complex than simple yes or no questions, so humming is all you’ve got.

Mando seems insistent though. He nudges you a little bit until you’re laying on your back, and he’s leaning on his side, partially hovering over you.

“My name. I know you know what it is. You were there when Gideon said it.”

“Mmhmm?”

“Why don’t you ever use it?”

It takes you longer than it should to process his question.

“Haven’t given me permission.”

There’s silence. And then:

“What?”

You shrug your shoulders. “You n’ver gave me permission. ‘S not my place.”

There’s another beat of silence, and you’re teetering on the edge of sleep when you feel the gentle pressure of lips against your forehead. You sigh, relaxing into the touch.

Mando’s warm hand cups your cheek as he rests his forehead against yours, his nose bumping against your own with the close proximity. You can feel his breath on your face, mingling with yours. This close intimacy is something you never knew you wanted, but now that you’ve tasted it, you don’t want to let it go.

“Call me by my name, sweet girl,” his plea is whispered into the darkness, his lips just barely brushing yours.

You tilt your face up slightly, closing the gap, and just before you’re pressing your lips against his, you whisper his name.

“Din.”

His lips press ever so gently against yours, swallowing your sigh. It’s sweet and soft, and warm, and you could lay here under him for hours, if only he’ll keep kissing you like this.

His tongue coaxes your mouth open, gently, slowly. There’s nothing rushed or hurried, just gentle exploration in the dark. His hand falls to your waist, pushing his shirt up and stroking at your warmed skin, revelling in the skin-on-skin contact.

You cradle his cheeks in your palms, pulling him down so that his weight is resting just barely on top of you. It’s calming, soothing, being pinned by someone whom you trust with your life, someone who would rather die than hurt you.

Din kisses you until you’re breathless, and then keeps going. It’s as though his goal is to sear the memory of your lips against his skin, and it’s not something you’re at all opposed to.

You’re not sure how long you lay there, kissing in the dark, but by the time Din lets you breathe, your lips feel swollen and warm, and your whole body is tingling.

He maneuvers the two of you so that your back is pressed against his chest again, and he’s touching as much of you as he can possibly reach. Your legs are tangled with his, one arm is under your shirt and around your waist, the over crossed over your chest, palm resting over your beating heart. His face is once more buried in the skin of your neck, lips pressing gentle butterfly kisses against the skin.

You’re so relaxed in his hold, it’s easy to start to drift off. As your consciousness fades, you hear his whispered promise to you.

“I’ll protect you. Always.”

Tags: @theocatkov, @cosmicbug379, @marydjarin, @perropascal, @mxndoscyarika, @hayley-the-comet, @phoenixhalliwell, @ahopelessromanticwritersworld, @pedroepascal

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#SPOILERS #DO NOT READ IF YOU'VE NOT SEEN MANDALORIAN 2x02!!#din djairn x reader #arachnophobia #ugh #spiders #I hate them #so much #self-indulgent fic #mandalorian #the mandalorian spoilers #reader fic #fics #writing #no use of y/n

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rewritethestars5218 · 4 years

Text

Febuwhump 2021 Day 2 (16)

****I accidently switched the prompts for day 2 and day 16, so this chapter’s prompt is “broken bones.” I will write day two’s prompt on day 16.****

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29163078/chapters/71619516

__________________________________________

Admittedly, it wasn't one of Wild's brightest ideas.

The group had landed in Twilight's Hyrule, where they quickly dispatched a small cluster of bokoblins that were lurking a little too close to Ordon Village.

Most of the heroes were content relaxing in the village, but Wild was getting antsy.

Sure, playing with the kids from the village was fun, but Wild was itching to go out and explore.

He noticed Wind sitting off to the side, mindlessly fidgeting with his telescope.

Normally, Wind would be chasing around the children in the village and dazzling them with pirate stories, not sitting off to the side by himself.

Wild suddenly realized that it had been well over a month since they were last at Outset Island.

Wild frowned. It wasn't often that Wild felt homesick, but occasionally he found himself missing the openness of his Hyrule, and the company of his friends.

He could only imagine how it was for Wind, who was still a kid and who had a family waiting for him.

An idea suddenly struck Wild. He smirked as he made his way towards the sailor.

"Oh, hey Wild, what's up" Wind greeted when he saw the champion approach him.

Wild leaned over slightly. "Have you ever heard of shield surfing?"

Wind gave Wild a puzzled look before an impish smile started to form.

"No...but it sounds fucking awesome," he chirped.

Wild chuckled. He turned to see who was around. The only one nearest them was Sky.

Wild gave a quick whistle to get his attention.

"Wind and I are going to go for a walk," Wild said as he gestured to just outside the village.

Sky narrowed his eyes slightly, and Wild was worried that maybe he would 'pull a Twilight' and tell him they couldn't go.

"Just don't get into too much trouble," Sky said with a grin.

"Yes!!" Wind cheered as he jumped up from where he was sitting.

Sky immediately regretted his decision when he saw Wild's mischievous smile, but the two were already running out towards the forest before he could protest.

"So, what exactly is shield surfing?" Wind asked when they were out of sight of the village.

"Well, basically, you take a shield, stand on top of it, and ride it down a hill."

"You ride your shield down hills?" Wind blurted.

"I mostly do it on mountains. The snow makes me go faster, and it doesn't damage my shield as quickly, but I have done it going down grassy hills."

Wind laughed. "Hylia above, you're fuckin' crazier than me,"

Wild tilted his head slightly, "Language..." he ribbed.

Wind just scoffed. "Yeah, ok, old man," he jibed.

After walking for about 20 minutes, Wild found a suitable hill to shield surf down.

Wind was about to ask where they would find a pair of shields but stopped when he saw Wild reach for his sheikah slate.

Sometimes he forgot that Wild could carry nearly limitless amounts of items in that slate.

Wild tapped the slate, and two knight's shields materialized in glowing, blue tendrils.

"Those shields look nice. Are you sure you want to use them?" Wind questioned.

Wild just waved him off. "I have better shields. Besides, these are longer, so it should make it easier for you to balance on."

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Unsurprising to Wild, Wind was a quick learner. It only took a couple of tries before the sailor had shield surfing down.

It didn't take Wind long to set his sights on something more challenging.

"Let's ride down that hill!" Wind grinned as he pointed to a much larger, steeper hill in the distance.

Wild hummed, uncertain if he should give in. The hill in question was probably another 30 minutes walk from where they were, and Wild wasn't sure he should let Wind tackle such a steep hill right off the bat.

"Awe, come on Wild!" Wind pleaded. "Please! We won't stay long."

Wild sighed. Goddesses, he was a softie.

Wind let out a celebratory cheer, and he started jogging towards their new destination.

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"I don't know about this," Wild cautioned. Not only was the hill steeper than he first thought, but the grass was almost knee-high, making it harder to spot logs and rocks.

"Just let me try once," Wind pleaded.

Wild sighed again. This must be what Twilight feels like whenever Wild decided to go do something reckless.

The hill did look like it could be a lot of fun...

"Ok, one time. Just be careful. There's no telling what's hiding underneath the grass."

"This is gonna be awesome!" Wind cheered as he started running up the hill.

Once at the top Wild looked around to find what looked like the safest area to surf down.

After settling on a spot, Wild got on his shield. "I'll go first," he insisted. He would much rather test the path first to see if there was any debris hiding in the grass.

"What difference does it make if you hit a rock or if I hit a rock?" Wind groaned, slightly annoyed that Wild was babying him.

"The difference is I have done this countless times and know how to react when I hit something," Wild countered. "You haven't. The guys would kill me if I let you get hurt."

Wind scoffed but decided not to push the issue further.

Wild jumped on his shield and took off down the hill.

Wind watched at how effortlessly Wild cut through the long grass, amazed at how fast he was traveling.

Once Wild made it to the bottom of the hill, he turned around and gave Wind the thumbs up.

Wind stood carefully on the shield and slowly leaned forward, letting gravity do the work.

He quickly began to pick up speed, and for a brief second Wind almost lost his balance, but he recovered and crouched a little lower.

He felt a sudden flare of joy as he continued to pick up speed.

Wind thought this must be what it feels like to fly as he continued to race down the hill.

Wind decided to test his luck and leaned a little to the right to see if he could get the shield to turn.

Sure enough, he started veering towards the right.

What he failed to realize was that he had created a new path, one that Wild did not test out first.

It really shouldn't have come as a surprise that he ended up crashing into a rock.

The collision caused the back of the shield to flip up, launching Wind into the air.

Wind wasn't sure which was up. All he knew is he was tumbling through the air at an alarming rate of speed.

His limbs flailed as he sailed through the air. He felt his right foot collide with the ground and felt a sickening snap as the rest of his weight came crashing down on his ankle.

Wild cursed when he saw Wind get launched off the shield. He started running towards the kid before he even hit the ground.

Wind tucked in on himself as he tumbled the rest of the way down the hill.

He didn't even realize when he stopped because his head was still spinning. It wasn't until he heard Wild shout his name that he dared to open his eyes.

Wild dropped hard to his knees when he reached Wind, his hands ghosting over the sailor, afraid to touch him.

"Are you ok?!" Wild fretted.

"That fucking sucked," Wind groaned, and Wild let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. At least the kid was conscious.

"I bet it did," Wild scoffed, trying desperately to calm down. "Where are you hurt?"

"Other than my pride," Wind began, which did earn a nervous chuckle from Wild. If he was joking around, he couldn't be that injured.

"I'm pretty sure I broke my ankle." Wind finally admitted.

Wild cursed. "I am so sorry Wind," he began.

"What are you sorry for? This was my fucking idea," Wind argued.

"But I knew this wasn't a good idea," Wild countered as he started searching through his slate.

"It was my fault. I was screwing around on the shield," Wind countered as he slowly sat himself up.

Wild cursed again, and Wind furrowed his brow.

"I'm out of healing elixirs,"

Wind couldn't help but laugh. Of fucking course they wouldn't have any healing potions.

Wild hit a few more buttons on his slate and cursed for the third time.

"What?!" Wind asked.

"I forgot we aren't in my Hyrule," he admitted.

"So we can't teleport," Wind concluded.

Wild nodded. "Are you sure your ankle is the only thing injured? You didn't hit your head or anything?"

"I'm sure I'm going to have a lot of cuts and bruises, but the ankle is the only part injured," Wind assured.

Wild went to pick Wind up when he saw a flash of light reflect off something to his left.

He managed to summon a sword from his slate just in time to turn and block the blade of a dynalfos.

"What the fuck is that?" Wind shouted as he tried (and failed) to stand.

Wild grunted under the monster's strength but managed to push the beast off of him.

He jumped back towards Wind. "I don't know. It almost looks like a lizalfo,"

The monster started to advance towards them.

"You need to hide!" Wild shouted as he prepared to take on the spiked beast.

Wind wanted to protest, but he knew he would only be a distraction to Wild if he stayed where he was.

Wild charged at the oversized lizalfo, slashing at it feverishly with his scimitar.

The monster was well armored and quick, easily blocking Wild's attacks with its shield.

The second it had an opening, it began to swing at Wild with its ax. Wild tried to backflip out of the way, but the dynalfos suddenly spun around, his bladed tail whipping around and slashing Wild across the chest.

Wind felt his heart stop when he saw Wild hit the ground. He promised himself he would never be useless again, but here he was, unable to protect his brother.

He was screaming Wild's name as the dynalfos started walking towards the fallen hero, ax in hand. He attempted to stand, but his leg immediately gave out the second he put pressure on it.

Wild slowly pulled himself up, his one hand clutching at his now bleeding chest.

He rolled over just as the dynalfos readied what would most likely be a fatal attack.

Suddenly, there was a flash of white, and the dynalfos was sent flying through the air.

Wind's eyes went wide. He had no idea where Sky came from, but he was sure he had never been as happy to see him as he was at that moment.

Sky stepped in front of Wild protectively, the Master Sword glowing dangerously in his hand.

Wild and Wind watched as Sky lifted the Master Sword towards the sky, the blade now crackling with accumulating energy.

The second the dynalfos stood, Sky swung the sword down, expelling a slash of energy at the monster, knocking it clean off its feet.

Then, with a quickness Wind rarely saw, Sky dashed towards the fallen monster and lept into the air. He brought the Master Sword down violently, the blade finding a gap in the dynalfos' armor.

The monster let out a howl before it disintegrated into black smoke.

Wind would have cheered at the brilliantly executed attack had he not been completely stunned Sky's sudden appearance.

Sky sheathed the Master Sword as he turned back towards Wild.

He knelt down next to the champion as he took out a red potion from his bag.

"I told you not to get into too much trouble," Sky chided as he helped Wild sit up.

Wild shoved the potion away. "Give it to Wind; he broke his ankle."

Sky gave a worried glance over at Wind, who was still getting over the shock of what he just saw.

Sky pushed the bottle back at Wild, "Lucky for you, I have extras."

Wind finally snapped out of his stupor. "Where...when....how the hell are you even here right now?" Wind sputtered.

Sky scoffed humorously. Once he was satisfied that Wild would be ok, he stood up and made his way towards Wind.

"I had a change of heart," Sky stated as he crouched down and handed Wind a potion.

"Maybe Twilight is rubbing off on me, but I wasn't comfortable leaving you two gremlins out here unsupervised. Turns out I was right."

"I'm not a gremlin," Wild protested as he slowly stood up.

"You're the worst of the bunch!" Sky declared.

Wind rotated his ankle a few times, testing to see if the potion worked.

With Sky's help, he stood up. Even though the bone had healed, his ankle was still tender.

Still, he protested when Sky insisted he climb up on his back, but the chosen hero shot him a look that rivaled even Time's 'dad stares'.

Once he was comfortably situated on Sky's back, the trio slowly made their way back to Ordon.

"What are you going to tell the others?" Wind finally asked.

"That you sprained your ankle looking for herbs with Wild." Sky deadpanned.

"Seriously?!" Wind complained. "That's going to make me sound so fucking lame!"

"Language!" Sky chastised, causing Wind to laugh.

"Seriously though," Sky continued. "Do you want to tell the others what really happened?"

Wild groaned. "Twilight wouldn't let out of his sight ever again."

Wind huffed in frustration. The story Sky came up with was embarrassing enough. Still, he'd rather deal with the embarrassment than deal with Twilight's over-protectiveness or the dad-lecture he would undoubtedly get from Time.

Despite the obvious shit-show the day turned into, Wind genuinely had a great time.

"Hey Wild," he called out. When Wild looked up Wind smiled. "Thanks for cheering me up."

#febuwhump #febuwhump 2021 #febuwhumpday2 #linked universe #linked universe time #linked universe twilight #linked universe wild #linked universe sky #hyrule warriors #linked universe legend #linked universe hyrule #linked universe wind #linked universe four

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itawonka-creates · 4 years

Text

This Jewelry Will End Up Killing Me - CH 2

[Prologue] [Ch 1] [Ch 3]

“You don’t have to fight.”

Looking at the girl, anyone would’ve thought she was standing on an unstable platform. Her hands could barely hang onto the knife in her hand and she struggled to look straight. Marinette’s voice was weak as she pushed out a sad, “I-I can do it.”

“No, you really can’t.” She’d probably die. The toads were extremely large; what Marinette said about them eating whole goats and children suddenly made sense. The ground vibrated with each hop as they hung around the empty field. He looked down at his own sword and started to wonder if it would even cut it. In his world, cutting a toad with his blade would be like cutting butter. Here, he had no clue. “Look, I’m going to test it out. If my sword doesn’t work then we’ll have to buy one from a shop.”

She looked over his sword and asked, “Didn’t it help you get here? Why wouldn’t it work?”

He shrugged and looked at the different toads in the field. Damian was glad they stayed away from the hill they were using as a vantage point. He walked a bit away from Marinette to take a better look at the area before muttering under his breath, “Tikki, is this going to work?”

Tikki popped her head out from under the gold-trimmed black mantle and looked at the toads. She hummed, “I believe so. Your weapons are fairly similar, but the lack of magical ability may not work in your favor here.”

“What’s the plan then?”

“In an emergency, put on the earrings. You may not be the true holder, but you will still have heightened abilities.”

“Is the true holder even around?”

“Yes.”

Damian sighed, “Let me guess. You don’t know who though.” Tikki shook her head while nervously giggling, much to Damian’s dismay. “For a goddess, you’re more useless than my brothers.” Tikki pinched his cheek and he yelped. “HEY!”

“What?” Tikki quickly flew into hiding and Damian regained his composure. Marinette walked over and leaned forward, “Why’d you yell?”

“No reason.”

Marinette frowned and rolled her eyes, “Sure.” She looked him over and asked, “How are the new clothes?”

Damian stretched a bit and thought for a moment. He kept his original boots and utility belt but wore a dark red shirt and black pants. The mantle was the finishing touch, at least in Marinette’s mind. Damian shrugged as he continued scanning the area, “It’s comfortable, but I want actual armor as soon as we make some more money.”

“Why do you call it that?”

“Call it what?”

“Why don’t you ever use the money’s name?”

“It has a name?”

“We just call it Tikki after the great goddess.”

“That’s weird.”

“No, it’s not. What’s weird is the fact that you made your outfit look like the bizarre costume you first came in.”

He finally found one that seemed the smallest out of the few in the area. He decided that would be the first target and pointed it out with his sword, “How about you? How are your clothes treating you?”

She looked down and frowned, “I’d rather buy fabric and make something for myself.” After Damian pointed out that fighting in her dress would be “a preventable hazard” and “dangerously stupid”, he pushed her to buy a less compromising outfit. He noted how she was quick so anything she can run in was preferable. Still, female armor and clothing for adventurers were more revealing than she anticipated. How Alya wore these outfits with the confidence of the Demon King himself, she had no clue. She ended up going to the boy’s section and buying herself some plain pants and a short-sleeved shirt. If it wasn’t for her small, but visible chest and ponytails she’d probably pass off as a boy fairly easily. She hated it. Still, she was surprised he’d do that to make sure she could move around and stay out of trouble.

Damian went as far as to buy her more comfortable shoes, but that was the most of their funds solely used for wardrobe. The outfit was horribly unflattering, but this was temporary. She dropped their things quickly in her home, not giving her poor parents the chance to ask questions, and leaving while Damian was out of sight. She felt like whining, but Damian was right; she’d fight better in this.

“Later. We don’t have that kind of time right now.”

“Promise?”

“Sure.”

She took a deep breath and nodded, “Okay. Let’s do this.”

“Just stay back for right now. I want to see how strong these are first. Once I figure out the best way to take them down, I’ll have you help with the next one.”

The look on her face displayed disbelief, “Really?”

It confused him but he had a feeling she didn’t get to do too much around here. Why? He had no clue, despite the clumsiness she seemed fairly competent. However, Damian wasn’t about to push her in the deep end and have her fight like this. She’d just get herself hurt. “Yeah, but for now just stand back until you’re comfortable.”

“Gotcha.” He stared down the smallest toad and waited for it to turn its back before charging. “Woah.” Marinette realized that his stats did not lie whatsoever. Damian moved in a way she’d only seen by veteran adventurers. She watched as he effortlessly pushed his sword through the toad’s skin and slicing into its side. It tried to swat at him and its scream brought the attention of the other toads, but he stayed focused on the one he just injured.

It was odd for her to be in awe of other adventurers. Her friends always headed the top tier list in her head, but neither came close to the precision Damian displayed. She gulped and thought to herself, “If he just registered as an adventurer today and this was his performance at his base stats, what’ll happen when he levels up?” Seeing him take down the toad and then immediately set his sights on the next nearest one made her tense. She knew he just registered as an assassin class, but he was right. Given the death toll he was racking up, it was perfect for him.

A voice from behind her nearly gave her a heart attack, “Who exactly is this guy?”

Her scream must’ve caught his attention because he immediately made some space between him and his opponent. Damian looked up only to see the same girl he saw on the rooftops with her arms wrapped around Marinette. The girl must’ve caught her from behind and it seemed that she had another man there as back up.

Damian wondered if he was getting robbed. Wouldn’t be entirely impossible, they walked around town with a sack of coins the past few hours. If these two have been spying on them since the market, then they might think they still had money. Damian cursed under his breath as he jumped out of the way from an incoming tongue from the toad he was fighting. Damian looked over to the three and what he saw made his blood boil. The man somehow got her knife, toying with and examining it. The girl had adjusted Marinette in her grip in what seemed like a headlock. Marinette seemed to be struggling while the girl poked at her and, worst of all, looked down her shirt all with a smile on her face. Marinette seemed mortified.

Damian growled and looked up at the toad. It reeled its head back, most likely getting ready to use its tongue again. However, boiling blood and adrenaline was a deadly combination. Without issue, Damian grabbed the incoming tongue and cut it off. The screech from the toad was something out of a nightmare, but it simply irritated him. He slashed at the throat, easily making it fall over. There was no way he could celebrate. Damian ran around the body and charged immediately at the stunned trio.

“Get the hell off of her!” The girl didn’t react at first, still in shock over what she just witnessed, but the boy quickly came in between them. Damian didn’t hesitate to swing at him, but it was blocked by the boy’s shield. By the ring that came from the impact and the look in the guy’s eyes, his strength was unexpected. Damian jumped back, putting some distance between him at the three to plan his next step. From the growing vibrations from the ground, they caught the attention of the rest of the toads. “Move!”

“Steal!”

There was a flash of light and he looked over at the girl. She held one of his batarangs out of his utility belt. “What?!”

The girl still gripped on Marinette’s arm, but their contact was broken by a slimy tongue wrapping around it. The girl instinctively pulled back and managed to get her hand out of the wrap. Marinette was not so lucky. Marinette was yanked up into the air and she reached out to the girl for help. “ALYA!”

“MARINETTE!”

“Alya?!” Damian cursed under his breath and looked at her partner, “Are you Nino?!” He nodded, a confused expression on his face. “Oh my- Get ready to launch me up!”

Alya tried to slice at the toad with her new weapon, but was causing little damage. “Marinette! Hold on!”

Marinette was slowly sinking into the toad’s mouth, “Get me out of here!”

“Nino! Now!” Nino flattened his shield while Damian took a running start towards the creature. As soon as Damian set foot on the shield, Nino launched him up. Damian didn’t hesitate to thrust his sword into the toad and drag it down its side as gravity did the work. The toad fell over and Marinette slid out of its mouth in a pool of saliva and slime.

Alya quickly ran over and grabbed her, “Marinette!”

Marinette stood up and started frantically wiping herself down, “Gross! Gross! Gross!”

Nino sighed in relief, “Good, you’re okay!”

“Not for long.” Damian pulled out his sword and motioned to the last four toads coming towards them. “Give Marinette her knife back.” Nino didn’t hesitate.

Alya tossed over the batarang and pulled out a shortened machete, “Alright, hotshot. Now what?”

“Nino, you have the shield. Keep Marinette out of trouble.”

“Got it!”

Damian looked over at Alya, “You ready to fight?”

“These bastards just tried to eat my best friend, of course I am.” Damian liked the answer.

“Let’s go.”

********************************

The sight hours later could’ve been a headline; four adventures covered in slime entered the adventurers’ guild with sacks full of toad meat. Alya was trying to comfort Marinette, who still seemed shaken up by the entire ordeal, while Nino tried cracking some jokes. Damian went up to the nearest register and pointed at the bulletin board. “We’re here to collect the reward.”

The poor woman, clearly disgusted by the four, took their meat. “Thank you.”

The reward was hefty, but they all agreed that the first thing they needed to do was get their clothes cleaned and take a bath at the nearest bathhouse. “Marinette, where do we get cleaned up?” Marinette didn’t say anything, instead responding with a soft whimper and Alya patted her back.

“Well, it could’ve been worse! You could’ve been eaten!”

“I was eaten!”

“Well, digested then.” Marinette hung her head and Alya sighed. She looked at both Nino and Damian before suddenly smirking, “So, who’s your boyfriend?”

Damian nearly tripped over his own feet, “What?”

Marinette whined before answering her friend, “His name is Damian Wayne.”

“That is not the part to focus on here!”

The shlop noise from Nino putting his arm around Damian’s shoulders made him scowl, “Damian, huh? How’d you meet Marinette?”

“She stared at me.”

Marinette crossed her arms and huffed, “You were dressed so weirdly, what did you expect?”

“What do you mean? He looks fine. Now you on the other hand…”

Marinette rolled her eyes, “He left his clothes back in my room, you should see th-”

“In your room?” Slime flew into the air as Alya flailed her arms, “What do you mean he left clothes in your room?!”

Damian groaned and pinched the bridge on his nose, “Can we talk about this after we get cleaned up?”

Nino grinned and pointed towards a few buildings, “We got two options. The cheaper option is to go to the public bath. Or we could go to the inn there, wash up and have a nice place to sleep. We’d have to get our clothes washed elsewhere either way, but-”

“You want the inn?”

“We would love the inn, thank you so much Damian! After all, we did help you kill those last few frogs.”

Damian groaned, “Fine but they better have spare clothes.”

“That’s one of the more expensive inns, so yes. Most likely.”

“Maybe we can get Marinette looking like a girl again.”

“Alya.”

“Hey! You made a cute boy. I know-”

“Marinette?”

The four turned around and Alya immediately frowned, “Chloe.”

“Excuse you, thief. It’s Lady Bourgeois to you, Miss Césaire.” Alya wiped some of the slime off her face and flicked it towards Chloe. Chloe jumped back in disgust, “Ugh! This is expensive!”

“Nino?” Nino looked up and almost melted on the spot when he saw a familiar blond running towards him. “Nino!”

“Adrien!” Nino pulled himself away from Damian and ran to meet Adrien somewhere in the middle. If Adrien noticed the slime covering his friend, he didn’t show it. Instead, Adrien jumped into Nino’s arms and squeezed tightly. “Dude! When’d you get back? You look good!”

“You stopped sending me letters! I thought you two died! I wanted to make sure you were okay!”

“Yeah, right! If I leave you alone for too long with little miss silver spoon over there then you’d go crazy.” Adrien laughed and wiped away some of the slime from Nino’s face. “Gross, right?”

“Very. What happened?”

Nino turned and pointed at Damian, “Marinette’s boyfriend was fighting toads and needed backup.” Both Chloe and Adrien blinked and took a moment to process the information before asking questions.

“Toads?”

“Boyfriend?”

“Stop saying that!” Damian groaned and turned around, “Let’s just go and get cleaned up.”

Chloe snorted, “I don’t know, the slime seems like an improvement. Don’t you think Marinette? The color really works for you. Actually makes you stand out.”

Marinette frowned and looked to her feet, “Yes, Lady Bour-”

“Marinette, don’t take that.” She looked up to Damian who took out the same sack Chloe had given them earlier, now full of coins, and threw it at her feet. Some of the coins fell out, but what made Chloe irritated was the slime that got on her dress.

“How dare-”

Damian decided to lay it on thick, “Thank you for your generosity, Lady Bourgeois. You’ll find your loan in the bag along with some interest. I figured an indirect method would be preferable given our current state.”

Chloe gagged as she reached down and picked the bag up with a handkerchief, “Yes, thank you.” She quickly handed the money to Adrien and threw the piece of cloth to the ground. “Well, Marinette you look atrocious. For a mediocre designer, this is terrible even for you.”

Before she could get any further, Damian asked Marinette, “Why are you working for her again?” Marinette opened her mouth but Damian immediately shook his head, “Don’t defend her. Just answer honestly.”

Marinette gulped and played with her ponytail, “To help out my family. The bakery if doing well, but the high taxes put us in debt. I thought I’d help out.”

Alya snapped her head over to her friend, “That’s the reason you’re working for her? You told me it was to make connections!”

Marinette flinched, “I knew you’d try to intervene-”

“Of course I’d try to intervene! I’m your best friend! I could’ve paid for everything!”

“I couldn’t do that to your family!”

Alya grabbed her arms and shook her, “Marinette, sweetie, love of my life, both me and my sister are adventurers. My family is fine!”

Marinette pressed her lips together and was about to apologize when Damian interrupted, “She wanted to earn the money herself without relying on people.”

Alya looked between the two a few times before growling at Damian and pulling Marinette close, “Is that why you took her to the fields? She could’ve gotten killed! She’s a designer!”

“Stop treating her like a kid! How do you expect her to do anything by herself when you coddle her like a toddler?” Damian held out his hand, “Marinette, give me your card.”

Marinette nodded, shifting herself in a way to slip out of Alya’s arms before walking towards Damian. She pulled out her card and Damian took it. He looked it over before turning it to the group, “She’s an adventurer. We registered today.”

Chloe snorted but when no one else laughed along with her, she coughed and asked, “Wait, are you serious? Marinette can barely pour water without messing it up.”

Nino ignored the statement as he walked up and hugged Marinette, “Dude! Finally!”

“Nino!”

“Oh come on, Alya. He’s right, you totally baby her. You guys act like she can’t do anything.”

“Yeah, Marinette’s awesome.” The group turned to Adrien and he shrugged, “I’ve seen her interrogate nobles based on their clothes. Anyone that can criticize Sir Damocles at a public even for his suit and tie combo and live to tell the tale with an intact reputation is someone to be feared.”

Alya’s mouth hung open in disbelief while she read the Adventurer’s Card over and over. Damian muttered to himself, “So that explains your behavior earlier.” Damian looked over the group and asked, “Hey, Marinette?”

“Yes?”

“How much is your family’s debt?”

Marinette gulped, “Around twenty two thousa-”

“Considered it paid.”

Marinette blinked, “What?”

“Consider it paid.”

“Wha – How?”

“You acted as bait for the toads.” Marinette flinched and was about to protest but he continued to say, “You earned your share of the reward. Even after paying Chloe back, there’s enough to pay off the debt.”

Chloe rolled her eyes, “Oh really? How much did you get? A few thousand?”

“Thirty five thousand Tikki.”

Chloe choked and nearly screamed, “TH-TH-TH-THIRTY FIVE THOUSAND FOR A FEW FROGS?!”

“Seven to be exact. Although if Alya and Nino want a share of the reward then I’m sure we can go back tomorrow and kill some more.” He looked to the couple and Nino had to shake Alya’s arm to bring her back to reality.

“Huh?”

“Do you want your share of the reward or can we use it to pay off Marinette’s debt?”

Alya looked at Marinette and sighed, “You know I love my Tikki, but I love you too girl.”

Marinette thought for a moment before throwing herself at Alya and squeezing the life out of her best friend, “Thank you.”

Alya didn’t hesitate to return the hug, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

Alya pulled back a bit and wiped a bit of slime from her friend’s cheek, “Oh my god, our little Marinette is an adventurer.”

“You sound like my mother.”

Alya took that as an invitation to play it up, “She’s growing up so fast.”

“Alya.”

“And with a man by her side, no less!”

“Alya!”

Nino sighed, “That doesn’t leave us enough for the inn though.”

Adrien sniffed his slime-covered self and nearly gagged, “Nino, I will pay you to shower at least.”

Chloe crossed her arms, “So I guess this is your resignation, Marinette?”

Marinette looked over to Chloe and nodded, “Yes.”

Chloe rolled her eyes, “You’ll be back. I’m great-granddaughter of one of the founders! The goddess has a special bond with our family, you know?”

Damian turned his attention to Chloe and asked, “The goddess?”

“Of course!”

Alya dismissed her claim with an annoyed wave, “She always says that.”

“It’s part of my family’s great history! The great goddess bestowed onto our family a great amount of fortune and prosperity for building the first church in the city. Jealous?”

“No, but I pity whoever has to listen to your family milk that for all it’s worth.”

Adrien was quick on his feet as he grabbed Chloe by the waist and held her back as she tried to lunge at Alya, “Chloe! No! If you get another assault charge, your father will have to force you out of the city!”

“Let me go!” Chloe flailed about for a minute before going limp and sighing, “I’m alright. I’m alright.”

“So if I let go right now, you won’t try to hurt our friends?”

“She’s not my friend.”

Adrien lifted her off her feet and scolded her, “Chloe.”

Chloe squealed, “I won’t!”

“Or arrest them.”

“Adrikins-”

“Promise.”

Chloe groaned and threw her hands up in frustration, “Fine! Fine! Promise.”

Adrien set her down and hesitantly let her go, “Okay.” Her face was flushed once she was set down and looked down to her feet.

Alya snickered, “Oh look, she does have an off button.”

“Alya! Stop already!” Marinette glared at her friend while Alya tried to protest.

“But-“

“No.”

“C’mon-”

“No!”

“Just one-”

“Alya!”

“FINE!” Alya crossed her arms and huffed.

Damian rubbed his temples, “You guys are more exhausting than my brothers.” The group turned to Damian and he realized that he said that out loud. Damian mumbled a quick curse and started to do damage control, “Um – I mean –”

“No, no, you’re absolutely right.” Adrien clapped his hands together and stepped forward, “And how rude are we not to invite our diplomat from Gotham to at the very least rest at our manor. Don’t you think, Chloe?” Chloe grumbled and looked away, not responding one way or the other. Adrien continued, “So on behalf of our great city, we invite you to come back to our manor. You will be given a room to rest, a bath, and dinner.”

Despite Marinette’s pleading looks, Alya asked, “Does that include friends of the guest?”

Adrien shrugged, “Sure.”

“ABSOLUTELY NOT!” Chloe stomped her foot and pointed at Alya, “I REFUSE TO HAVE THAT-”

“My name’s Alya.”

“IN MY HOME! SHE’S A THIEF!”

“Just because I started out in the thief class doesn’t mean I’m a thief! I only chose it because the abilities available early on help me during my investigations! I’ve been working on my magic! I want to be a mage!”

“Right, like I’m supposed to believe that! Why don’t I just call-”

“CHLOE!” Everyone flinched at the sudden bark, the shock soon set in when they realized it came from Adrien. Adrien took a deep breath after noticing the looks on the group’s faces. “Sorry! Sorry. Just-”

“They can come.” Adrien turned his attention back to Chloe who shuffled her feet. She had the look of a reprimanded child. Whatever her relationship was with Adrien, he held a great deal of power over her. “They can come.” Chloe visibly gulped and turned to Alya, “Just don’t take anything. Please.”

Any hint of Alya’s previous mischievous demeanor had completely vanished as she nodded. It was more of a reaction than a response. Nino was the first to recover, “Sweet! Living the high life for a night!” Nino grabbed Adrien’s arm and threw up a fist, “Drinks on Adrien!”

“I don’t drink, though.”

“You don’t have to. Me and Alya do. Thanks man!” Adrien laughed nervously, but still seemed on board with it all.

Chloe turned on her heel and started walking, “I’ll call two carriages. You all stink.”

Alya walked over to Nino’s side and grabbed onto his arm. He must’ve noticed her heightened nerves because he wrapped an arm around her and kissed her temple. “C’mon. We’ll be fine. Especially after Adrien shows us the wine.”

“I’m not showing you the wine.”

“He obviously showing is the wine.”

Adrien rolled his eyes and started walking after Chloe. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes immediately went to Marinette. By the surprised look on his face, he must’ve been expecting her right behind him with Alya and Nino. However, he noticed Marinette still hadn’t moved.

Instead, she walked towards Damian. Nino pushed his shoulder and nearly knocked him over, “What are you looking at?”

“Nothing.”

Alya came up from the other side and nudged him, “Oh! Is Adrien jealous?”

“Why? Marinette’s just a friend and they just met today.”

“Really? Today?” Alya looked over her shoulder, “That doesn’t look like a couple whose only known each other for a day.”

The boys looked back and both were surprised. Marinette was awfully close and friendly with the newcomer. His expression was one of annoyance or indifference, but he still allowed her to be close as they walked together. Alya shrugged, “I think they’re cute.”

Adrien hummed, “Yeah. Cute.”

#TJWEUKM #konosuba au #fanfiction #au #damianette #daminette #damimari #damian x marinette #maridami #fantasy #fanifiction #crossover fic #dc x mlb #miraculous x dc #maribat #marinette x damian

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arrow-guy · 4 years

Text

Broken Flock (5/??)

Summary: It’s been two years since you uprooted your life and left to figure out who you really are, leaving behind Bucky and Clint with little more than a note as a warning. Now, New York is calling your name and it’s time to go home. How will Clint and Bucky react to your return, and how will the time have affected your relationship?

A/N: Hello, hello, we return with a new episode of Disaster Boys and their Winged Friend. We’re picking up right where we left off last time. Please enjoy!

Page dividers by @carryonmyswansong

Word Count: 3k

Pairing: WinterhawkxReader

Warnings: Heights, falling

Part 4

“You sure you’re alright staying behind?”

“(Y/N), I’ve already told you, the two of you need some time outside of the city.” Clint pushes Bucky and I out the door. “Get your asses upstate and get some fresh air. If you’re back before dark, there’ll be consequences.”

Bucky raises his eyebrows. “Consequences? What’re you gonna do? Spank us?”

Clint grins. “Don’t tempt me.”

Bucky rolls his eyes and hooks his arm around my waist. “We’re leaving.”

“Good.”

“We’ll pick up a couple of pizzas on the way home!” I add before Bucky can get me too far down the hall.

Clint shouts his approval and Bucky shakes his head. The smile on his face betrays his annoyance and I laugh. Bucky gives me a half-hearted glare and reaches over to take my hand.

“You think this is hilarious,” he grumbles.

“I think it’s hilarious that you refuse to smile in public.”

“We’re in a hallway.”

“And you treat it like a public space!”

"Other people live in this building, (Y/N), it's not just us!"

"Is this the moment when you finally admit you live here, too?"

“How is that what we were talking about in any way?”

“You said us when you were talking about who lives here, not just Clint and I!” I poke him in the side. “You live here too. Admit it.”

“I’m not admitting anything.”

“Seriously?” Bucky rolls his eyes and moves in front of me to walk down the stairs. He doesn’t let go of my hand. “Bucky, you have spent more nights in either my apartment or Clint’s since I moved back in. You live here.”

“I don’t pay rent. I don’t live here.”

“Then you’re a squatter. A really well-paid squatter.”

“You’re an awful person.”

I hummed. “I know, but you like me anyway.”

“Unfortunately.”

I cackle and follow him down the last few flights of stairs. We load up our bags, the picnic basket, and the umbrella Bucky wanted into the back of the car. The umbrella tries to escape a few times and Bucky has to climb into the car and hold it in while I close the back hatch. Once it’s secure, Bucky helps me get into the car by, first, laying the back of the passenger seat down flat. I tuck my wings as tightly to my body as I possibly can and lay down on the passenger side and Bucky buckles me in as soon as I settle. I pillow my hands under my cheek and wait for the car to warm up so that we can leave.

“You look comfy,” Bucky says.

“This sucks, and you know it,” I grumble.

He laughs. “Maybe.”

As soon as we’re out of the city, Bucky reaches over to me and I take his hand. He softly tells me to get some rest and that he’ll wake me when we reach our destination. I do my best to stay awake as long as I possibly can, I eventually nod off and sleep for about an hour and a half before Bucky gently shakes me awake. It takes me a moment to wake up and realize where we are.

“We’re here already?” I mumble.

“Mhm.” Bucky squeezes my hand. "Come on. Let's set up."

I nod and unbuckle my seatbelt. I open the back passenger door and crawl out across the back of the car seat. I shake out my wings as soon as my feet hit the grass and stretch my arms over my head. I pop my back all the way up and down my spine and I sigh loudly. It takes me a moment to register that Bucky’s driven us out the literal middle of nowhere and parked at the edge of a massive grassy field. Behind us stands a giant wall of trees and beyond that is miles of rolling hills and fields of grass, rippling in the wind. I look at Bucky and grin. He smiles and shakes his head before jerking his chin at the back gate of the car. I grab my bag and the umbrella and trail after Bucky while he looks for the perfect place to set up.

After wandering around for nearly five minutes, Bucky finds a spot he likes and spreads out his blanket. I open the umbrella and drive the stake into the ground at one corner of the blanket. Bucky immediately stretches out across the blanket and I lay on my stomach in the sun beside him.

“Seriously?” he asks.

I shrug and spread my wings. “It’s been a while since I’ve been able to do this.”

He shakes his head. “You’re nuts.”

“Not all of us have metal arms, Buck. I'm not gonna burn myself if I sit in the sun for a bit.”

"You could still burn," he mutters.

I hum and fold my arms under my chin. "Worth it."

He shakes his head. “You’re so weird sometimes.”

“Someone has to be, and seeing as Clint’s not here, I’ve gotta pick up the slack.” Bucky laughs and I smile. “How’d you find this place, anyway?”

“Stark moved operations upstate for a while. Things got loud and crowded so I left and drove around for a bit. Found this open field and filed it away for later.”

“Have you brought Clint out here yet?”

“No, not yet. He doesn’t need quiet like we do.” He takes my hand in his when I reach out to him. “He’ll get his turn at some point. But today it’s just you ‘n me.”

“I’m kinda glad it’s just us today,” I confess. “We don’t get a lot of time alone together, what with you living at the tower.”

“I know. I get sucked into a lot of work with Steve.” He sighs. “I love him, he’s my best friend, but he’s such a fuckin’ work-a-holic. Acts like he’s still got shit to prove, even though he ‘n Tony are probably two of the most respected people on the planet.”

“Well, you know how it went the last time I tried to talk him into taking a vacation.”

“You jumped out a window.”

“He started having a panic attack thinking about the paperwork that could potentially pile up while he was gone.” I sigh. “I worry about him sometimes.

“Don’t worry about him too much. Sam and Rhodey have been helping more, recently. Rhodey is great with the leadership stuff, and Sam is the perfect backup when training starts getting a little out of hand.”

“That’s good.”

“Stark’s talking with that Pym guy to see if he’ll loan his guy to us for a while.”

“Scott, right?”

“Yeah, gave Sam a hard time a few years back, but…” he lowers his voice conspiratorially, “We’re not supposed to know about that.”

I laugh and he turns his head to grin at me. “And how do you know this?”

“Confidential, sweetheart.”

“Aw, Buck, come on!”

He laughs. “I was going back through old security tapes a while back and found the feed.”

“Putting all that training to good use, I see.”

“I gotta find my fun somewhere, (Y/N).”

“And you’re not one to go tugging on Clint’s pigtails, or anything.”

“Nah, he’d like it too much.”

I giggle. “Probably.”

Bucky shakes his head. “Anyway, Steve’s doing better than he was. Work might slow down enough that I could spend more time at the building with you guys instead of stuck at the tower. Well… more than just the evenings and the occasional weekend.”

“That’d be really nice.”

He nods and hums in agreement. His eyes flutter shut as he relaxes and I watch him doze for a bit before I pull my hand from his and wander out to the middle of the field. I close my eyes and tip my face to the sky, spreading my arms and wings, just to soak up the warmth. A gentle breeze kicks up around me and the faint rustling of grass slowly reaches my ears.

I sigh and begin to move my wings, lifting from the ground with each downbeat. When I can see nothing but the tops of the trees and the rolling hills of the countryside, I angle myself and fly in several wide, lazy circles over the field. Bucky and his umbrella are little more than a speck on the ground below when I circle back around the fifth time.

With one strong stroke, I break off from my course and glide out over the treetops. I climb higher and higher through the clouds until I can’t see the ground below me. I relish the strain of the muscles all up and down my body, groaning through months of disuse, but pleased to finally move after being stuck on the ground for so long. Up in the clouds, I swear I can breathe a little better than I could not even ten minutes ago. My head is clearer than it has been in nearly a year. I feel wonderful. Wonderful enough to pull my wings in tight against my back and free fall through every single inch of cloud cover before unfurling them and gliding out over the countryside.

I do a few loop-the-loops and have to pause after to shove my hair out of my face. Embarrassed, I glance around and laugh when I realize that absolutely no one could’ve seen me.

I take off again, dipping down below the clouds, only to find that I’m in a completely different place from where I started. I squint at the surrounding area, searching for any kind of defining landmark, and immediately backpedal when the Compound comes into view. I angle my wings into a sharp turn and take off in the direction I came from.

I figure I’m home free when I see the umbrella and I put on an extra burst of speed in an attempt to reach Bucky faster.

“Long time no see, (Y/N)!”

I jerk my head from side to side in an attempt to figure out where the voice came from. A second look over my right shoulder reveals Sam, slowly emerging from some kind of cloaking shield. Startled, I forget to move my wings and Immediately lose altitude.

“Fuck!” I yell out, flailing my arms as I plummet to the earth below.

I manage to roll and face the sky and I take several deep breaths to try and calm myself. When I open them again, Sam is diving, arms outstretched in an attempt to catch me. His yells reach my ears and I pull my wings tight against my body, arch my back and flip myself to face the ground once more. About fifty feet before I hit the ground, I snap my wings open and streak across the field. Sam pulls up just in time to avoid crashing into the dry grass below.

I bank sharply and land a short distance from Sam. Anger rises in my chest and I ball my hands into fists.

“What the fuck was that, Wilson?!” I shout. “Are you trying to fucking kill me? If I had something on me right now, I’d throw it and your head!”

"I am so sorry, (Y/N)," he says, hands raised in defense. "I didn't think you'd get spooked like that."

"You were cloaked. How the hell was I supposed to know you were there?"

He freezes. “I… I don’t know.”

I let out a frustrated yell and, with one strong stroke of my wings, I send him tumbling to the ground with a massive gust of air. I storm off in the direction of the car shouting back at Sam each time he tries to defend himself.

“Come on, (Y/N), it was an accident! I’m trying to apologize.”

Bucky lumbers over, raking his hands through his hair. “What’s going on?”

“Sam just about killed me,” I grind out.

“What?”

I fold my arms and shake my head. “I got distracted and didn’t realize how far I’d flown and wound up a little too close to the Compound. I got out of there as fast as I could, and I thought I made it. But Sam followed me all the way back and decided to do so cloaked-” I look back and Sam and glare. He has the decency to look guilty. “-And startled me bad enough that I stopped flying. I fell a few hundred feet before I could get my bearings and get my wings out again.”

Bucky looks past me at Sam, brows pulled together in a scowl. “What the hell, man?”

“Look, something appeared on the scanner, I had to go check it out. How was I supposed to know it was her? We didn’t even know she was back in town!”

“Yeah, but you figured out it was her, right? Why would you follow her back after that?”

“I don’t know. None of us have seen her in two years, man. I guess I wanted to make sure it was actually her.”

“You could’ve done that from a distance, Sam,” I counter. “You know I’m not a threat. Scaring the shit out of me put us both in danger.”

“You’re right.” Sam looks between Bucky and I and sighs. “I’ll get outta your hair.”

“I hope this doesn’t end up in a report, or something,” Bucky says.

Sam laughs. “Don’t worry, it won’t. My lips are sealed.”

I give him a tight lipped smile. “Thanks, Sam.”

“Don’t mention it, (Y/N).” He lifts off the ground and grins. “I’d hug you, but I’m pretty sure you’d just punch me.”

“Damn right I would,” I mutter. Bucky laughs and bumps his shoulder against mine.

“See you next week,” Bucky calls.

Sam nods and Bucky and I watch him disappear into the clouds. Bucky sighs and shakes his head and leads me back to the umbrella, muttering to himself about hating his job. I slip my arm around his waist and tell him he doesn’t hate his job, he just really enjoys his time off.

We spread out on the blanket and eat our lunch. We don’t talk much and I take off to fly again when I’m finished. I stay much closer this time, choosing to just do laps around the field instead of exploring like I had been earlier. Instead, I content myself with doing different aerial maneuvers and buzzing by the umbrella every once in a while.

I fly for another three hours before I get tired. I drop down in front of Bucky and he cracks one eye open to look up at me.

“Done?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“I know Sam said he wouldn’t tell anyone, but I can’t help being a little paranoid,” I say. I offer him a hand up and he takes it.

Bucky yanks the umbrella from the ground and shrugs. “I’d say that’s just smart thinking, on your part.”

I hum and begin packing things back into the picnic basket. I shake out and fold up the blanket and tuck it under my arm as we head back to the car.

“Did you at least get to relax a little?” I ask.

“Oh, yeah. I think I napped most of the time.”

I laugh. “Good.”

Once everything is packed in the car, Bucky helps me back into my seat. The interior is warm and my overworked muscles are crying out for me to rest. The hum and rhythm of the car isn’t helping my case much, and I grow drowsy the further we drive. Bucky takes my hand as I begin to doze off.

“Did you have any kind of fun today?” he asks.

“Mhm.” I nod and squeeze his hand. “Gonna be sore in the morning.”

"Sounds like you had a really good time, then."

"Yeah." I nod off for a moment, but suddenly remember something. "We gotta get pizza on the way home. I promised Clint."

"I know, sweetheart, don't worry. We'll grab a couple'a pies on the way back into town."

"Okay."

I sleep the entire way home.

Bucky gently shakes me awake when we arrive and I groggily crawl out of the car. I grab the bags from the bar and Bucky shakes his head when I reach for the umbrella and picnic basket. He gestures for me to follow him into the building and we trudge up the stairs to Clint’s apartment. Lucky is at the door as soon as we’re inside and Clint barely looks up from what he’s doing when Lucky barks and announces our arrival.

“What’d I say about coming home early?” Clint asks. “It’s not even dark out yet!”

I shake my head and drop the bags near the door.

“(Y/N) got a little too close to the Compound and Sam followed her back after she got picked up on the scanners,” Bucky explains.

“He decided to surprise me and I nearly fell to my death.” I grab plates from the cupboard. “So there’s that too.”

“Holy shit,” Clint says.

“Yeah… But we have pizza.”

Bucky holds up the two boxes and Clint grins and clears his arrows from the coffee table.

“I knew there was a reason I kept you guys around.”

I roll my eyes and hand him a plate. “There’s more benefits to us than pizza.”

Clint flips open a box as soon as they’re on the table and takes three slices. “Right now, the main benefit is pizza.” He leans over when I sit beside him and kisses my forehead. “You’re still pretty great without it, though.”

“Aw, thanks, Clint.”

We eat in relative silence, doing our best to ignore Lucky’s pleading looks, though Clint gives in and tosses him his own slice. Bucky admonishes Clint but Clint just laughs and jokes about throwing Lucky another slice.

When I finish, I lean forward on the table, stretching the muscles all up and down my back. Clint reaches over and presses his knuckles between my shoulderblades, gently massaging away the steadily growing soreness. Clint and Bucky talk between themselves and I watch as Lucky climbs into Bucky’s lap and curls up.

I smile and listen to their conversation and let their voices and Clint’s hand on my back lull me into soft relaxation.

---------

Part 6

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57 notes · View notes

writing-the-end · 4 years

Text

WS Chapter 57- The Calm Before

Previous Chapter

Masterpost

Time for war! Or at least, first some good old reflection, tying up loose ends, and preparing for battle! Y’all ready, the end is coming near, I can’t believe we’re only three more chapters away from the end!

Ecto belongs to @cooler-cactus-block

Red belongs to @theguardiansofredland

Selene belongs to @to-dem-stars

Mentioned: Star belongs to @thatonewannabedragon , Perri belongs to @hyperfixatingparrot , Pierre belongs to @cabbagesenpai , Kai belongs to @the-cheshirefox , Storm belongs to @stormjay0 , Abyss belongs to @abyssvoidsstuffs , Bre belongs to @mintyhotchocolate (if there are any I missed lmk)

The first nether portal appeared just before the sky began to grey with the morning sun. Star was on guard at the time, and they quickly alerted the entire camp of the impending attack. The grounds scrambled to life, grabbing blades and falling into battle stations.

At the top of the rise, above the campground, the wanderers sit together. Watching the sun rise and a few more nether portals appear. Nothing has come through them yet, leaving a sense of nervous waiting across the overworld. The entire land holding it’s breath, waiting for the first move.

A brush of wind flutters behind the wanderers. Brushing through Avon’s wings, playing with Red’s hair, and tugging on Ecto’s scarves. Jessie hops across the three heads, settling into Ecto’s hood. She looks over her shoulder, before resting her hand on the hilt of her sword. “We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?”

“It feels like just yesterday we first met one another.” Red whispers, looking up at the other wanderers. He giggles. “I’m pretty sure Avon’s way to say hello is by pointing her trident at your face.”

“Ecto was the one that immediately started fighting me!” Avon reaches over and bumps Ecto in the shoulder. Jessie chirps, disturbed from her nap in Ecto’s hood. “You nearly jumped to your death.”

“I would’ve survived. It takes more than that to get rid of me.” Ecto laughs. She goes quiet a second, a weak and warm smile easing onto her face. “Thanks for coming back for me, both in Area 77 as well as the nether.”

“Of course we weren’t leaving you behind, you’re our friend! We stick together.” Red’s voice is laced with disbelief. It was never a thought to leave Ecto behind. She’s the most clever, the funniest. She’s a part of the team. “And look at what going through that portal has given us! So many friends, from a completely different world!”

The three look out, seeing Scar and Doc trading items. Potatoes for potions. Grian, Iskall, and Mumbo hunker low, Iskall and Mumbo with their hands on levers and Grian with his elytra ready to fly. Xisuma and Ren stand near the rear, arrows nocked and ready to fire.

“We’ve seen a lot as well.” Avon whispers. “Not all of it good.”

All three grimace, thinking of their homes. The empty skies of the End, the frozen wastes of the desert, the ghostly coral of the sea. But Ecto isn’t going to let them linger on the bad, not when so much good has happened as well. “I got to see the ocean, see a mesa.”

“The Nether, a woodland mansion. Two different worlds full of incredible builds. We saw so much.” Red adds.

“And we did it together. We fought a bit-” Ecto and Avon look to each other, and laugh, “A lot, maybe. But I wouldn’t have wanted to go through this with anyone else. Or even alone.” Avon sighs. She learned a lot. And...the struggles are worth it, to find good friends. People like Red, and Ecto.

They turn back, noticing the purple rifts shifting and changing. Blue wings open wide before them, and Perri lands on the hill. “They’re here. There’s people… they look like you guys. And I swear… I feel like I saw someone that looked like me. They’re waiting for more to come through. Maybe they’re waiting for you guys?”

The time has come. Everything they’ve done, everything since that first scent of brimstone on the sand of Red’s ocean, has led to this. Avon takes off, Jessie following after her. Ecto slides down the hill, pulling out her sword. Red sprints after the taller two, catching up by jumping into the moat and swimming down the canals.

The three pop back together, surrounded by hermits and other members of their world. Red squeezes between Tango and Impulse, noticing the vial of redstone at the flame haired hermit’s hip, the comparators in the hands of Impulse. He can still see the golden scars from falling into the rosepit. Where the totem healed over his wounds, slowly fading away.

Avon flourishes her trident, looking over her shoulder. Over the huddle they’ve got. “The nether has arrived, and as you can see… they’ve got a lot of weapons. I don’t think they’ll hold back. To the hermits- don’t forget that death is permanent in our world. If you start to get overwhelmed, fall back immediately.” Avon notices Red’s eyes, and offers an easy smile and a nod. “And try to be as nonlethal as possible. We’ve got some pretty persuasive people here. Show them that creation is a lot more fun than destruction.”

“Now that, us hermits can get on board with.” Scar laughs, Perri and Abyss nodding in agreement.

What Avon doesn’t notice as she directs the overlanders to their battle stations is that Red swiped one of Tango’s vials of redstone. He watches the dusted ore glimmer and glitter in the glass vial, and pops it open. A few hermits as well as Pierre notices Red’s tongue stick out as he pours some of the redstone out. A coy grin is shared across all three.

Ecto also notices, but makes a point to keep Avon busy. She wants to see this as much as anyone, and she knows Avon will take it away from Red if she sees. Avon turns to appoint Tango and Impulse to their pitfall trap, but Ecto grabs her and points out where Kai was struggling up a tree.

So when Avon notices the flecks of red in the kipling’s hand, pinching the redstone onto his tongue, it’s already too late. She leaps across the huddle to snatch the vial, but she’s half a step too slow.

A zinging sensation strikes across Red’s body, zapping from her tongue, all the way down her tongue and across her limbs. Toes and fingers curl and Red swears he can feel electricity course through every muscle and vein within him. Red’s black and orange locks stand out and his eyes widen. He jolts upright, causing an uproar from those watching as his tongue sticks out. Ecto laughs the loudest, with Avon groaning on the ground as they both see the redstone circuits completing themselves in his mouth. After a minute of electricity coursing through his body, numbing his tongue, Red manages to talk. He sets the vial down, patting it back in Tango’s pocket. “Tastes spicy...but also vaguely sweet?”

The laughter howls across the battlefield, even Red and Avon eventually joining in. Red has been attempting to taste redstone for almost as long as the wanderers have been together. Of course on today, of all days, he finally gets his wish.

The army sobers up, remembering the battlefield they stand on. Seeing hermits huddled together, fingers antsy on triggers and hips laden with totems of undying. Red pats his own pocket, feeling Fred nestled close to his heart. The other overlanders from their world are scattered about. Fighters like Kai and Storm at the forefront, Star in the center with their fists of hardened bedrock and Pierre’s fire charged redstone. At the back, Abyss pours some of Bre’s potion over her arrows. Beyond the moat, Perri waits beside Selene with her menagerie of health potions. And a crossbow- just in case the worst happens

“Who do you think is going to be the first-” Ecto’s question is answered before she even gets to finish her sentence. A flaming arrow careens from the center of the nether army, followed by a roar from Blu’s voice. Red blocks the projectile with a wall of water, steam rising from the extinguished arrow. Avon rolls away, commanding to return fire on the incoming army while Ecto dives into Red’s water. Swimming higher, to the crest of the wall. From there, she begins to pelt the invading force with cactus.

Two armies clash. The ragtag team of builders, wanderers, and everyone between against an army honed for death. For destruction. They’re outnumbered three to one, but they have an advantage- clever minds.

From the air, winged and elytra adorned warriors let loose arrows to disperse the army. Trying to be as least lethal as possible. Storm and Grian peel away, avoiding a fire charge shot at them. Singed elytra wings smoke, but Grian doesn’t hesitate to dive bomb the army. He tips his bucket, water pouring out over the crow.

And from there, Red slides in. Armored hellspawns flee from her, her whips of water and splashes of waves. The water singes their heated skin, incapacitating them. Red is measured with every strike. Just enough to hurt, but almost never enough to kill. She squeaks when a hulking hellspawn braves the water, potion effects swirling around his massive form. Water resistance potion, a hellspawn design like their flaming weapons. Red scrabbles back, but the rushing water continues to push her forward.

“No you don’t!” Etho shouts, before the sound of a cannon fires. A fire charge careens over the water, so close to Red that his cheeks turn rosy from the heat. It knocks the hellspawn off his feet, allowing Red passage further into the throngs of soldiers. Towards his inverse. He turns, seeing Etho and Pierre high five. Red gives a thumbs up, and chases down a squadron that attempts to flank from the side.

But the squadron has stepped into the desert. Into Ecto’s domain. She whistles to gain the group of flaming forms’s attention. They stop charging, staring at Ecto as she moseys around the sand. Digging her feet through the grains, kicking up the sand. She gives a sideways glance as they charge her. A slick smile crosses Ecto’s face, and she digs her feet into the sand at her side.

The sand collapses, the hellspawns with it. Trapping them deep in the pits, arrows flying out haphazardly. One arrow is snatched, Selene appearing in a flash above the pit of angry soldiers. As quickly as she appears, she disappears, handing the arrow off to Avon as she swoops low. Selene overs a smug smile, one hand still behind her back. With a snap of her fingers, she disappears back into battle. The tip is still flaming as Avon tips to her back and shows the flame to Jessie. The little dragon’s purple eyes glow, watching the flame. “Time for you to learn to breathe fire, little one.”

Avon tosses the arrow to the side, the blaze cascading down into the clash of swords and blast of traps below. Jessie and Avon land atop a large portal, the baby dragon mimicking Avon’s open wings. But when Avon launches her trident, it’s not the only projectile coming from the dragons.

A purple flame spits free, crashing into the hellspawns from behind. Knocking them off their feet, purple acid flames stinging at the army’s toes. And while the hellspawns are hopping free from the acid, Star reels back her fists and punches them. Sending the flaming foes head over heels into the grass. She turns to Avon, sticking out her tongue and giving a thumbs up. Avon only smiles, and imitates the gesture.

A crack is heard over the battlefield, yellow and green sparks wisping into the sky. Everyone turns, looking to see who caused a totem to break. Perri runs from the safety of the camp, aiding Kai as she helps a limping Scar from battle. She pushes her own totem of undying into his hands, laying him out and letting Perri heal his wounds.

The overworld was winning. Keyword ‘was’. The distraction, the sudden reminder that they are battling for their lives, it was all the nether army needed to gain an upper hand. Ecto scrambles up to Avon and Jessie, sweat beading across her forehead. “I...I think they figured out we aren’t shooting to kill.”

Red rises up, aided by a wave of water. “They’re using it against us. We can’t let our friends die.”

“We need to deal a blow to the hellspawns. Hit them somewhere it’ll hurt.” Avon whispers, holding Jessie and watching as the front line collapses. Lava is poured over water, turning the canals into bridges for the nether. Etho and Doc are arguing over a redstone contraption, each flick of the lever leading to no reaction by the machine. Perri holds onto a wounded hermit, one hand wrapping wounds while the other shoots her crossbow. Life and death, good and bad. Dark and light.

Inverses. Ecto snaps her fingers. “Where are we?”

“We? We’re in a plains biome.” Avon pitches her trident, trying to aid their friends.

“No, not ‘we’,” Ecto motions at the three standing atop the portal. “The other ones, the other we! They’re the idiots running this whole thing, if we go after them, we can collapse this whole operation. It’s the easiest, most direct way than just throwing bodies into some battle.”

“I haven’t seen Blu since the first arrow shot.” Red states. “But they have to be here. We just have to find them.”

“Then we find them.” Avon states. “And one way or another, they will be stopped. Let’s go, wanderers. One last time on the run.”

28 notes · View notes

intelligentdumbass · 4 years

Text

Can't I Get a Break? (part 1)

(Again, beware of typos. I have no idea how this turned into what it is now, but it is what it is.)

Hermes pushed the door open and nearly tripped on one of goldie’s many stray brushes. The floor was also littered with paintings and marble statues of varying shapes and sizes scattered all over.

“Apollo?”

“You need something Herms?”

The blonde was in the corner, sitting down on a cushion, his eyes still focused on the canvas on his lap even when his brother was already standing over him.

“Dude, what’re you doing here? The wedding is about to start!”

“Eh? I thought it wasn’t until two months from now?”

Hermes stared, and wasn’t sure how to respond.

“Look, I don’t know what day you think it is, but I wasn’t lying when I said that the wedding is about to start.”

Apollo frowned, but then laughed when his instincts told him Hermes was telling the truth.

“Ah, shit. The girls are probably wondering where I am-” He immediately stood up and ran off into another room. “You can go on ahead Herm! I swear I’ll catch up.”

When the god took a glance at the painting he left on the cushion, he suddenly understood. It was a work in progress of Asclepius’ worktable covered in ashes.

---------------------------------

Olympus’ garden was breath-taking; bioluminescent flowers blooming under the moonlight. The gods were having the time of their lives, drunkenly singing under the serene night sky.

Hermes couldn’t help but subtly gaze back at Apollo every now and then. Despite all the fun the sun god was having dancing with the muses, their conversation in the studio made him felt like something was off.

Then someone caught him off guard by wrapping an arm around his shoulder, and he instantly knew who it was the second he smelled the wine in his breath.

“Jealous?~” Dionysus wiggled his eyebrows.

Hermes raised an eyebrow. “Jealous of what?”

Dionysus motions to the muses; it was at that moment that Calliope had her arms wrapped around Apollo’s neck as the god gave her a small kiss. Hermes rolled his eyes, but oh little did he know, he was faintly blushing.

The younger brother sighed.

“Look man, if you’re going to keep this up, then you‘re absolutely hopeless. I mean, at this point literally everyone except the distracted dumbass you haven’t confessed to knows that you want a piece of that-”

“Hahahaha, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Anyway, have you seen Eris? I heard she wasn’t invited-”

“Hey! Don’t change the subject.” Dionysus glanced back and frowned. “Huh, where’d he go?”

Hermes followed his gaze and sure enough, Apollo was nowhere to be seen; just the muses chatting amongst themselves, along with a few other immortals. The wine god scanned the rest of the guests at the party, and gave his friend a confused look, who just shrugged in response. Then before he knew it, Hermes was being dragged by the arm over to the group of gossiping sisters.

Urania saw them first and waved, while Thalia gave the messenger a knowing grin.

“You looking for Apollo?”

He internally cursed. His brother was right, everyone did know. Before he could say a word, his companion answered for him.

“Yeah. Wasn’t he with you guys just a minute ago?”

Melpomene and Polyhymnia gave each other a look, before turning to Calliope. She sighed.

“He said something about taking a break.”

“Apollo? A break?” Dionysus looked up, at the moon. “But it hasn’t even reached midnight yet.”

The goddess’ smile became just a tiny bit strained. “I know.”

Hermes frowned. “Did you manage to catch where he ran off to?”

---------------------------------

The garden was huge; its depths filled with paths most don’t even know of. Luckily Hermes knew his way around it like the back of his head. After all, he’s got good experience sneaking inside the garden from one of its many secret entrances.

The other deities’ slurred laughter were getting more and more muffled, until it was replaced by the crickets and the foliage crunching under his steps. Then out of nowhere came the familiar sounds of a certain lyre. His brisk walk slowed into a halt. He found the god of music sitting down on top of a small hill, back resting against the trunk of an old oak. He had a feeling he would’ve found him here. This spot was one of their favorites, because it also happened to be right in front of a giant crevice that overlooked a big chunk of the earth. The view was spectacular.

Apollo didn’t notice Hermes’ presence until he had already sat down next to him, which made him flinch.

“H-” “Hermes!” He glared.

“What?”

“You could’ve at least said something! Gods, you nearly gave me a heart attack.”

The messenger resisted the urge to laugh and just innocently grinned, while his friend sighed. His gaze then went to the turtle lyre in the musician’s hands.

“I still can’t believe you kept that. I mean, it’s not just that you kept it. It’s the fact that I always see you actually use it.”

Apollo smiled, with a look in his eyes that basically said, ‘Why wouldn’t I?’

“It’s a very good instrument, even if it was just made by some annoying toddler. Besides, the other one gives me bad memories.” He pauses for a moment. “What’re you doing here? You couldn’t find someone to flirt with?”

“I was looking for you.”

“Did someone need me?”

“Nah, if that were the case then I would’ve already told you. I was just… concerned?”

The blonde seemed confused; now Hermes was the one who sighed.

“Did you really spend two months just, holed up in that room?”

“Maybe, what of it?” The lyre went silent.

Hermes frowned, but after a few moments of thought decided to stand up.

“Nothing. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, but considering what happened, you probably just wanted some alone time-”

“Nono, it’s fine.” His voice was so soft he almost didn’t hear it. “Please don’t leave.”

And so the god sat back down, this time inching a little closer so that their sides were touching. Apollo saw him glance at the lyre again.

“You want to play something? Go on ahead.” He hands it over. “I suddenly don’t.”

For a few minutes that’s all it was, Hermes strumming on his lyre while the crickets sung; Apollo staring into the distance.

“Wait.” For a brief moment, Apollo’s eyes lit up like a pair of miniature suns.

“Hm?” Hermes paused.

“Nonono, keep on playing. It was just… isn’t that the song you played to me? When you tried to convince me that it was totally worth trading half of my cows for?”

“Y-” “Yeah.” He was surprised. ‘How do you still remember that?’

Hermes continued to strum, but now his cheeks were starting to burn up. It doesn’t look like Apollo noticed though.

“Am I unreasonable, Hermes?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m one of father’s older kids, hell, his literal oldest son. You’d think I’d get used to this now.” He picks up a handful of dirt and just lets the soil fall through his fingers.

“Well, it… wasn’t really a natural death now, was it? Dude, if that happened to my kid I’d be pissed at dad too even if he had a reason for it.”

“I don’t know I’m just… I’m so tired of this.” At first it was a hand on his shoulder, but he quickly ended up hugging him; pulling him even closer and wrapping his arms around the messenger’s waist. “I’m so fucking sick of this shit.”

Despite how much that had startled him and the fact that he was internally screaming right now, Hermes still managed a smile. At this point, the blonde had his face buried into his shoulder. The younger god stopped strumming on the lyre and gave his friend a gentle pat on the back.

“I know that I shouldn’t be making a big deal out of this but-” “but I can’t not!” His rants were loud murmurs; like yelling but in soft whispers with the occasional muffled sniffs and whimpers. “I can’t stop thinking about things like this. I don’t know why. Is there something wrong with me? I know everything dies and that what Asclepius did was a crime against the fates, why can’t my brain just shut up about it!”

“Hey, Hey look at me.”

After half a minute of silence, Apollo reluctantly looked up.

“Don’t beat yourself up like that.” Hermes putted the lyre aside and wiped away some of the tears trailing down his cheeks. “You’re not unreasonable. I mean, have you seen the shit the rest of this fucked up family tree of ours has been up to? I’d argue you’re actually one of the most reasonable.”

“Oh, of course you’d think that-”

“Shhhh” He cut him off by giving him a small kiss on the forehead.

Apollo faintly blushed and then started staring off into oblivion again; resting his head on Hermes’ shoulder.

“I guess at least…” He murmured. “At least you guys aren’t going to suddenly die on me.”

“I don’t know about that. I can’t exactly guarantee that I won’t do a very stupid prank that might get me kicked into Tartarus.”

“Tch. Well, there might be a chance that I would’ve been stupid enough to do it with you, so at least with that we’ll both get chucked down into the abyss. Hey who knows, Dio might join us too.”

Hermes laughed, and even the blonde himself couldn’t help but crack a smile.

---------------------------------

“Well” Apollo sighed. “Thanks for putting up with that.”

“Of course.” He takes a quick look at the moon. “Maybe we should go back now. Someone might get worried.”

“I guess.” For a moment there, the god looked like he really didn’t want to leave.

“I mean, I don’t mind spending a few more minutes here if you want to-”

“No, it’s fine. You’re right; we really should be going back now.”

Apollo stood up first, and picked up the lyre; the messenger standing up not long after. The two deities had started to walk back when the younger god suddenly stopped.

“Wait.”

“Hm?” Apollo turned around and frowned. “Something wrong?”

“I… I need to tell you something.” He suddenly felt a little nervous, and couldn’t help but stare a little; maybe even briefly glancing at his lips.

Hermes took a step closer.

“I-” “ACH!-”

But before he could do or say anything else, he felt something hard smack him right in the face. He probably would’ve fallen back onto the ground if Apollo hadn’t caught him.

“Are you alright?”

“What…” Hermes rubbed his nose. “What the FUCK was that?!”

Then there was a distant cackle, and it sounded oddly familiar; almost like it came from a certain goddess of chaos.

Out of the corner of his eye, Apollo saw a speck of yellow on the ground. It was an apple made out of solid gold, and there was an inscription scribbled onto it, but that wasn’t why he was staring.

Once his brother had fully recovered from the shock, he let go, for him to stand on his own. The fruit glimmered and sparkled under the ambient moonlight, enticing the immortal to come closer. He crouched down and picked it up. It glowed against his hand, and it flashed against his eyes.

First he felt the heat, like the sun’s solar flares were gently flicking and liking his skin. Then he smelled the stench of thick, red, mortal blood. His limbs were heavy and his stomach tied itself into a knot; his head filled with the slow rhythmic beat of drums, except it wasn’t drums. He wasn’t in the garden anymore; he was in a temple, his temple. He knew because of the statues, but they weren’t the only company he had in this large, hollow room.

There was a stranger in front of him; their steps the source of those loud, steady thumps as they gradually got closer, and closer…

He was a god, he knew he could easily kill them, but instead he found himself backed up against a wall. Then they grabbed him by the throat, and drew their sword. In the heat of the moment, he somehow managed to catch a glimpse his reflection in the glint of their blade.

What he saw wasn’t his face.

But the face had his eyes.

Apollo instinctively dropped the apple and cursed fruit quickly fell back onto the ground. His face was drenched in sweat; his fingers twitching; breath hitching and heaving.

“Apollo? Goldie?!” Hermes rushed towards the blonde and cupped both of his hands. “Hey buddy, what’s wrong?”

The god inhaled, and exhaled; closing his eyes. He squeezed both of the messenger’s hands and forced himself to calm down. When he started coming back to his senses, he glanced around, but the apple was already gone.

“Hermes, where did that cursed piece of golden shit go?!”

Hermes blinked, surprised. “I… don’t know?”

But what he did saw, was a few black feathers as dark as the sky above them. They were scattered along the path that led back to the main event.

“…Hermes I need that fucking apple.”

“Huh? What? Why-” “Hey, HEY! APOLLO WAIT!!”

Apollo had started to run back towards the wedding, and Hermes was right behind him.

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#Apollo #Hermes #greek mythology #greek gods #MyWritingShit #golden apple #Rip Hermes

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btsvtworldsonfire · 3 years

Text

chapter 8 — tear

As soon as the Latin command left Alex’s lips, Baekhyun and Eunwoo swiftly and quietly slipped out of the ballroom with the Familiar. Once Alex closed the door, all three of them broke into a sprint through the long, carpeted hallway that muffled their hurried footsteps. It was a good thing the Familiar knew the quickest way out of the huge manor and into the garden.

“I fucking knew it,” Baekhyun cursed. “I knew this day was going too well. I saw owls over the Wisteria Forest this morning.” Eunwoo was suddenly flooded with panic.

“Is that a bad thing?” Alex asked.

“Bad for New Gods. It’s a symbol of-”

Eunwoo failed to explain because the first thing that he saw was the chaos in the greenhouse. Baekhyun followed Alex’s hand and saw Jaehyun having a staredown with Lucas. Behind the demon stood Prince Ten, but strangely, behind Jaehyun was Fear’s older son, Kun. Baekhyun and Alex didn’t even bother questioning it and simply ran up to Jaehyun’s aid.

“Don’t!” Kun yelled then grabbed Alex by wrapping his arms around her before she can get any closer to Jaehyun. “It’s too dangerous.”

Baekhyun gulped as soon as he saw what was in Lucas’s hands. He had a theory in mind, but he didn’t want to say anything.

Meanwhile, back at the party, the three Healers simultaneously stopped whatever they were up to. Their breaths hitched in their throats.

Seungkwan immediately stopped talking. His smile faded as his eyes filled with a mix of confusion and worry. Seokjin and Seokmin turned to each other, wondering what caused their friend to react this way.

Jimin was leading Bee to the dance floor when he felt it. His footsteps got slower and slower until he was standing completely still. He scrunched his brows together as he tried figuring out what was going on.

“Is everything okay?” Bee asked. Jimin’s trembling hand was the answer.

Hoseok was with Fey at one of the cocktail tables with a plate of hors d'oeuvres. “Say ah,” the Familiar hummed happily. The Healer smiled and was about to take the bite when he felt it. He slowly retracted, making Fey worry. She didn’t do anything wrong, so why did Hoseok seem so upset all of a sudden?

“Did I… do you not like deviled eggs?” she asked, giggling nervously as she tried to read his expression further.

“It’s not that. I think…” he looked up to her. “I felt something. Something strong.”

“My heart, i-it felt like it exploded in my chest,” Jimin said to Bee.

“It felt like somebody pulled my soul and slammed it into a void of despair,” Seungkwan thought out loud.

The people who were with the Healers looked more perplexed. What was going on?

The Healers, who all stood in three different areas of the room, looked at each other.

“Something happened in the Death Realm,” the three of them said in chorus.

Back in the garden, Eunwoo arrived at the greenhouse to a scene of Clip stabbing a demon in the back and kicking it to the side. She moved quickly and pinned the foul creature down to the ground. Meanwhile, on top of some broken pots and unfortunate plants was Taehyung, wincing in pain.

“Which master do you serve?” Clip taunted.

The demon hissed. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m here with the ruler of the Shadow Realm. And I’m going to kill the Kim Performer.” It thrashed and screamed in an attempt to break free, but the Familiar was much stronger than the demon thought.

“Oh yeah?” Clip sneered at its threat. “Sucks for you then, demon. Taehyung’s protractor is here.”

Eunwoo couldn’t help but chortle in the middle of such a serious scene. He moved to Taehyung and helped the guy get up on his feet. The Performer dusted himself off.

“What do we do?” Taehyung asked.

“Do you know the incantation for opening and shutting a portal?” Eunwoo said to him.

“There’s such a thing?! I thought only New Gods can do that!”

Eunwoo sighed. “Seriously, your entire kind is not utilizing the gifts from Rhetoric. You’re all so traditional.”

“Tell me about it.” Taehyung rolled his eyes. “But even if you do teach me, how sure are you that it’ll work? I mean can’t you do it instead?”

“You need to learn how. I’m not gonna stay with you forever.”

“Okay but-- but how are you so sure that I can do it? I don’t know. What if I can’t do it?”

Taehyung never acted like this in front of anyone. Never. As the gifted Performer that he is, he never backed down from a difficult lesson. He was always so willing to learn even the most advanced techniques both as a swordsman and as a Performer. That’s why he became so fluent in Latin before Seokmin started attending school. That’s why he was taught how to wield a sword while Joshua was still learning the basics of his powers.

Taehyung was always confident with himself, and Eunwoo, who knew the Performer even before he was born, was surprised by this.

“What? Why would you ask that?” Eunwoo asked. “You know what you’re capable of.”

“I do but this is something I haven’t done before. I haven’t practiced.”

“Just trust yourself, Taehyung. You can do it.”

“This is some high-level shit though.”

“So? That shouldn’t even be what’s on your mind right now! We’re dealing with a demon here!”

“But opening a portal? That sounds-”

“Kim Taehyung.” The New God said sternly. “I know you can do it. Wanna know why? Because Jaehyun’s father himself gave you your gifts.”

Both Taehyung and Clip looked at Eunwoo in surprise. Only now did the New God realized what had slipped from his mouth.

“... what?” Taehyung and Clip said at the same time.

Eunwoo sighed. “Truth is, some of the New Gods sensed that the Ancient One was going to win over the Human Realm during the next Ritual. That’s why Rhetoric decided to bless the next child of the Performers himself. He wanted to give the Families and the human race a fighting chance.”

Taehyung fell quiet. Meanwhile, Clip was jeering at the demon that she had pinned down.

“So please, Kim Taehyung. Give it a shot,” Eunwoo begged.

The demon screeched at Clip that nearly made her let go. She screamed back at it then turned to the two boys.

“Less talking, more opening of gateways to other dimensions please!” she shouted. The demon was able to free one of its hands from Clip’s grasp but the Familiar quickly pushed it down.

Taehyung gulped. “Okay, what do I do?”

Eunwoo smiled. “Muster up the same energy as you would when you puppet a demon. Only this time point your energy in front of you. The incantation is aperi paulo porta.”

The demon screamed once again. “HURRY UP!” Clip yelled.

Taking a deep breath in, Taehyung closed his eyes and gathered his energy. Happy memories of him with his family flashed in his head. He took another deep breath in and more memories flooded his mind. One last breath in, and he saw a vivid image of him on a picnic with his parents. He remembers this. It was one of the few times his uptight parents decided to spontaneously take him out somewhere. They brought little Taehyung to a field of tulips and enjoyed a picnic on a small hill overlooking the flowers.

“Always remember Taehyung. You’re not just a Performer. You mean the world to us.”

Taehyung immediately opened his eyes and shouted the incantation with Eunwoo with all of his might.

“Aperi paulo porta!”

A cloud of black smoke appeared before the two. It grew bigger and bigger and bigger until it was a full opening to the Shadow Realm. The wind blew violently and shattered more glass and pots. Plants flew everywhere. Muffled screams and cries of the evil spirits who resided there filled the greenhouse.

It was a mess.

Acting quickly, Clip grabbed the vial of rust from her pocket and threw its contents at the demon’s face. It let out another annoying scream as the powder temporarily blinded it. With the demon weakened, she dragged it to the portal by its hair.

“Begone forever, you foul creature!” she cursed at it before shoving it into the portal. It sensed what Clip was trying to do so it resisted.

But the Familiar was stronger. She kept kicking it and pushing it. Neither of the boys helped because she had the situation under control. She continued using her strength against the demon until nothing was left of it in the Human Realm.

“Now shout the incantation with me. Porta semper clauserunt,” Eunwoo instructed.

“Porta semper clauserunt!”

The portal to the Shadow Realm closed in on itself, and the violent wind stopped with it. All three left in the greenhouse were breathing heavily. Taehyung and Clip both collapsed from exhaustion. Eunwoo tried to hold himself up but his legs gave out.

While all of the chaos was going on in the greenhouse, Jaehyun and Baekhyun were preparing to fight Lucas. They knew it wasn’t going to be easy because the demon was wielding a New God’s weapon. Ten and Kun sensed the terror in the two. The younger prince smirked.

“You’re scared, I see.” The prince scoffed. “Afraid you’re going to end up like Chanyeol and Yixing?”

Baekhyun almost murdered Ten right there and then if it wasn’t for Jaehyun.

Alex turned to Kun. “What does he mean?”

“Another New God killed Baekhyun’s closest friends and Ten saw the whole thing. Okay look, I don’t know what you know about New Gods, but the ugly truth is we also die,” Kun explained.

“What? But aren’t you-”

“We’re flawed. We’re incredibly flawed,” he butted in. “I know it makes absolutely no sense because we’re supposed to be higher beings, but the Old Gods are too selfish to make us closer to them than to humans. That’s why we have Mendae--flaws that either weaken us or cause us to go out of control.”

Lucas lunged after Jaehyun with the scythe. The New God jumped to the side and delivered a powerful kick to the demon’s neck. Lucas stumbled a few steps, but he quickly gained back his posture and swung the scythe again. He continued throwing one attack to another and Jaehyun kept dodging. Avoiding the blade was a matter of life and death -- literally. Not because he was afraid of bleeding to death from a huge wound, but because that scythe was strong enough to rip out a human’s soul and kill a New God. Even the smallest scratch can hurt them.

Frustrated, Jaehyun yelled “Lacta creatura est quam maxime dolore.” Lucas flew back and crashed into Ten and Baekhyun, who were busy throwing punches at each other the whole time.

Ten had the upper hand. He was much faster than Baekhyun so by the time Lucas was sent flying across the garden, he already had the New God beaten up to a pulp. Baekhyun propped himself up with one arm. He groaned in pain, cursing Fear’s son in his mind as he tried to get up to continue fighting. Ten was amused. He wanted to see how much more Baekhyun can take, so he walked over to him and kicked his stomach.

Alex could only wince in pain and watched Ten mercilessly beat up the New God. Kun on the other hand was nervously watching Jaehyun try and steal back the scythe while avoiding getting killed by Lucas. He hasn’t noticed what his brother was up to.

“Kun?” Alex started.

“Hmm?”

“Baekhyun… he mentioned something earlier. Something about seeing owls flying over the Wisteria Forest.”

“WHAT?!” He exclaimed, causing Ten to stop momentarily to look at his brother and for Baekhyun to recover from the painful beating. But he shrugged it off and went back to doing this thing.

“Is it bad?” Alex asked and turned to Kun. He had a deer in the headlights look on his face.

“Really bad. It’s-”

He was interrupted by the sound of a knife getting pulled out of its casing. He turned his head and saw that Ten was already approaching Baekhyun with his dagger.

“It’sasignthatanewgoddiedokaystayheredontmove-” Kun said in a panic before leaving Alex alone behind the force field. He didn’t even care anymore and threw himself onto Ten. Next thing he knew he was wrestling with Ten like when they were kids--except this time they’re trying to kill each other for real.

“Alex!” A deep and worried voice called out. The Familiar turned in the voice’s direction and saw someone running up to her.

It’s Wonwoo.

“Wonwoo! Thank god you’re here. Those New Gods are killing each other and I don’t know what to do!” Alex said to him.

He put one hand on her shoulder and gave her an assuring smile. He gently pulled her away from the force field and stood in her place. He carefully eyes Lucas, trying his best to read him. Wonwoo winced a bit because of Lucas’s resistance. He and Jaehyun were having a close fight but with Wonwoo’s interfering, Jaehyun got the upper hand and was able to stun Lucas with a non-verbal spell. Wonwoo finally got a good read of Lucas. Despite being terrified of what he just saw, he managed to weave a nightmare for the demon. It’s not as strong as he had hoped but it was enough to buy Jaehyun time to steal the scythe.

Jaehyun turned around and mouthed “thank you” to Wonwoo.

Kun had also won against Ten. Panting, he looked over to where Alex was and put down the protective force field. Once Jaehyun had Lucas properly restrained, Wonwoo releases the demon from the nightmare.

“I… what… how did you…” Lucas said in his dazed state. Jaehyun tightened the restraints.

“We’ll take it from here. Thank you for all your help Alex and Wonwoo,” Jaehyun said before taking the demon away. Eunwoo arrived at the scene and helped carry Baekhyun. Kun struggled a bit with Ten but the brothers quickly disappeared into the shadows and back into their Realm.

Something else happened as the New Gods finally left the Human Realm. A portal had opened in the mirror in the Familiar’s dorm. Jaemin, who was there the whole time, kissed the girl on the forehead and smiled. The kind of smile that made her wanna punch him again.

“This won’t be the last time you’ll see me. I know you’ll come back when the truth spreads to the others,” he said with a wink before slipping into the mirror for good.

Meanwhile, at the party, Yoongi and the eldest of each Family sprinted out to the garden to see what was going on. Hoseok immediately sensed that someone had fainted in the greenhouse, so he ran back to get Seungkwan and Jimin to help him heal.

Mark felt something sharp hit his chest. Odd, he wasn’t supposed to feel anything. But he was was sure he felt something sharp. And he felt it again. And again. And again. Not realizing that he was disappearing from Pau’s grasp and fading into nothingness.

“Mark! No!” Pau yelled, but it was too late. Mark was gone again.

“We’ll help find him later. Now c’mon! We have to follow the hyungs and your siblings!” Jungkook said to her while dragging her out of the ballroom.

“But-”

Everyone was gathered around Wonwoo and Alex who were trying to explain what happened. Alex recalled everything that happened. Soon Clip and Taehyung arrived and they too explained how they got attacked in the greenhouse. Seungcheol stepped away for a bit to speak to the Familiar who encountered the New God in their dorm.

As all of this was happening, Pau caught something moving in the corner of her eye. She jerked her head in its direction and once her eyes landed on whatever was moving, she felt a sense of expanding, exhilarating joy in her. Almost as if this feeling was lifting her above the ground.

“Mark!” she yelled out in elation.

Everyone turned their heads and couldn’t believe what they were seeing. There he was, the Keeper of the Shrine, in the flesh. Unlike his appearance earlier, he was dressed in the same clothes that he wore before he was attacked. He was looking at his hands like he’s never seen them before. He was still processing what on earth just happened to him.

He’s alive again.

When he looked up, the first thing he saw was Pau running up to him then enveloping him in her arms. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was actually feeling her embrace right there and then. He hugged her back, burying his head in her neck. His tears didn’t hesitate to spill out of his eyes. He couldn’t tell if they were tears of joy for being alive again…

Or if he was sobbing because of what he just went through. Probably both, he thought.

“I missed you.” These were his first words.

Mark pulled away shortly and locked eyes with her. His gaze was full of love and adoration for the girl in front of him. His eyes fell down to her lips and right before he could lean in, he saw a crowd walking up to the two of them. It’s a mix of the Familiars and some of the members of the Seven Families

Guess that kiss is gonna have to wait.

“Mark I… how? How was this possible?” Pau asked. Not that she didn’t want him but because it’s probably the question on everyone’s mind.

He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. He was still processing what he just witnessed before he came back to life.

“Mark?” Pau called out to snap him out of his thoughts.

“Jenny. She brought me back,” he answered promptly. Pau sensed the fear in his voice.

The Familiars exchanged looks. Aly looked the most confused out of all of them. How could that be when his spirit was in the Min Mansion?

“Mark, something tells me there’s more to that,” Pau said gently. “Please tell us. What is it?”

“She’s gone. Lucas did it.”

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stetervault · 5 years

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Has there been a "Stiles rescues Peter" rec list yet? I'm looking for anything from monster of the week to Eichen House to the Wild Hunt. The idea that I've already read them all is too terrible to contemplate. (Thanks for running an amazing blog!

Not specifically as far as I can remember. But it’s always a genre I can get behind :) Here are some I think fit that category, either as the whole fic or part of it. And thanks for following my blog!

A Moment, Then Silence by Therapeutic_Steter

anonymous asked: Stiles takes care of a heavy injured Peter, who has permanent damage since then. The pack doesn’t care, but Derek and Cora realise that he is family.

Scale Tales by Therapeutic_Steter

Connected drabbles revolving around Dragon!Stiles and his werewolf Mate, Peter.

Rhythm of the War Drums by HyperLittleNori (Shiguresan) (this one’s more them taking care of each other and saving each other)

The foreboding song of the drums rumbled through the stands above, made his heart, his blood pound with their increasing rhythm. He’d seen this so many times now, heard the sickening, morbid excitement of the rabble. He readied himself for the carnage, but even nearly a year after he’d first stood in this spot, it still filled him with dread.

As always, he watched the sandy arena through the barred steel gates. They vibrated with the movement, with the almost deafening sounds of the crowd and the drums. A sea of guards stood at his back, but they were not there for him…

Hooverville by twothumbsandnostakeincanon (somanyofthekids)

Town to town, train to train, tent to tent.

By 1932, the dust had begun to blow and the jobs were gone.

Anonymity was a byproduct of looking for work, which made it both necessary and convenient.

Stiles had enough secrets of his own to know to look the other way when he saw something that shouldn’t be possible.

The ghost of a tail giving enough balance to disembark a moving train.

Near silent Latin whispered on the edge of a tent encampment.

A flash of burning eyes.

He had more than enough to worry about without adding the oddities of others, and besides- having unusually sharp teeth certainly didn’t make a man worse than the ones running from the wife and kids they couldn’t feed.

So Stiles kept his observations to himself. He kept his everything to himself.

Until he met a man. One with eyes so blue they seemed to glow- and then they did.

Stiles tried to look away, but for the first time he was stopped.

“Don’t be like that sweetheart. Aren’t you curious?”

If I Could Kiss You Again by Triangulum

“Summer plans?” Peter asks, eyes on where Isaac is now trying to inch along the ceiling beam toward the wall where he can slide down a pipe.

“Leaving for Stanford in September. Saving the world and working in between now and then,” Stiles says. “Why, gonna miss me?”

“Considering I’ll be left alone with Derek? Yes,” Peter says.

“You’ll have Cora,” Stiles says. “And Isaac will be here to make up a few high school credits.”

There’s a shriek and a thud as Isaac loses his grip, falling on top of Erica and Boyd, sending them all to the ground in a heap.

“Yes,” Peter says flatly. “Thank god for that.”

Five times Stiles kisses Peter and one time Peter kisses him.

Stravinsky by rightsidethru

Duke Orsino:If music be the food of love, play on,Give me excess of it; that surfeiting,The appetite may sicken, and so die.

Twelfth Night; Act 1, scene 1, 1–3

Wolf Within by wynnebat

Instead of convincing Scott to regain his humanity by killing the Alpha, Derek offers another possible solution.

Fashion. Police. by Bunnywest

In which Stiles is a cop with an interest in menswear, Peter’s the owner of a menswear store with a definite interest in Stiles, and why is there always some maniac running around throwing tins of red paint and making death threats?

Fashion, baby.

Under the Songbird’s Wing by mia6363

Captivity easily destroys the will of escape. It can break the fiercest of animal. It can strip the most regal man and woman down to nothing but animal needs.

Captivity can, if met with unwavering determination, shape a person into something unimaginable.

Stiles is sixteen when he’s captured. Stiles’s first thought is, “I won’t die here.”

The Promises Of Yesterday, The Pledges Of Tomorrow by ShippersList

Stiles is a kid with serious concentration issues and definitely not a guide—let alone a guide strong enough to calm down a feral Sentinel wolf. It’s just not possible.

Keep You (Safe) Within my Shadow by lavenderlotion

Stiles has never been scared of the dark. The shadows are his friends.

Dance Under the Moonlight by Therapeutic_Steter

Anonymous asked: Fae!Stiles saving Peter from Pack’s stupidity and washing his hands of them. Please?

Through Space and Time by MaroonDragon

When Stiles pulls the body of Peter Hale into his ship, he doesn’t expect him to be alive. He also doesn’t realise he might have gotten more than he bargained for.

Promises We Never Made by Green

Peter runs off to wreak havoc without telling Stiles where he’s going. Then Stiles has to rescue him.

Rainwater, Morning Dew, Ozone. by lavenderlotion

When Peter is kidnapped, Stiles is left to come to the rescue.

Peter ends up hard.

Fear (Doesn’t Mean I Can’t Fight) by azerblazer

Peter is the damsel in distress, the Sheriff is the hostage, random unnamed hunters are the bad guys.

Stiles has a bat, a hoodie and a willingness to do anything to protect those he’s loyal to.

Bring it on.

Bone Rot by neglectedtuesday

Stiles watches Peter from across the room, although he feels like he shouldn’t. Like he shouldn’t try to insert himself, even by proxy, into the moments Peter is experiencing. Autumn spills into the living room through the open doors, lighting Peter from behind. He is bathed in soft light and Stiles lingers in the shadows, ignoring the symbolism of that. He’s bored of all the different metaphors for longing.

Slice by syriala

Blood magic was dangerous magic, but Stiles’ teacher was one of the best, and Stiles wasn’t too worried that it wouldn’t work out. It would cost him, dearly even if his teacher was to be believed, but Stiles had learned all about the sacrifices for this and he couldn’t care less.

Not This Again by RebaK1tten

There’s a rumor that the last episode of the show will have Peter getting killed, again. Perhaps to give him a redemption arc or something.

So this is a fix it fic. I decided Stiles has finished one year of college. And Peter’s back again!

Cleanse My Soul by Mysenia

cywscross asked: “We’re in the middle of a thunderstorm and you wanna stop and feel the rain?” + Steter? Thanks:)

Call My Name by KouriArashi

After moving to Beacon Hills, Stiles starts having recurring dreams of a man in some kind of prison, who needs his help. Things get so bad that he ends up in Eichen House, where he finds out that the man is real.

Shelter by ShippersList (more hurt/comfort than straight-up saving Peter)

A magical attack leaves Peter vulnerable and in agony, and it reminds him way too much of his time in a coma.

love me lights out by veterization

Stiles and Peter get snowed in together. (Or: what happens when you accept phone calls from people you haven’t spoken to in over five years.)

labyrinth by sinequanon

Stiles prefers goblins to werewolves. Except maybe Peter.

Til Death by Bunnywest

“How long do we have to find him someone?” Stiles asks.“Two weeks,” says Derek, eyebrows pulling down even further. The fierceness of his expression tells Stiles just how concerned he is.“He marries, or he goes to the camps. And you know what your father told us,” Scott reminds her.The camps……aren’t camps.Peter either finds a wife, or he dies.

Bigfoot Told Me You Were Coming by twothumbsandnostakeincanon (somanyofthekids) (Stetopher)

Peter and Chris are on the run when they stumble across Stiles’ home in the woods.

You Got Me Now by syriala

Stiles stormed into the warehouse, eyes roaming around, desperate to find Peter. The pack was close behind Stiles, but he didn’t pay them any mind when his eyes fell on Peter.

He was on the floor, not even shackled, like someone had just discarded him without a second thought.

Peter was naked except for his pants, and Stiles could see the wounds that marred his skin. He decided not to think about why they weren’t healed.

Bittersweet Creek by Guede

When Stiles finally steps off the westward trail to California, he’s the last of his pack. He starts building a den, but then he finds a dying man next to a burnt-down house and it turns out he’s not really much of a settler, after all.

The Alpha by Therapeutic_Steter

An Alpha always protects what’s theirs.

…..

“Has anyone seen Peter?” Stiles asked at the next Pack meeting, trying to play his concern off as his typical curiosity. It wasn’t like he and Peter had been trying to keep…whatever it was that was developing between them a secret, but most of the Pack was notoriously self-absorbed and hadn’t noticed yet. As it stood, Stiles was only sure that Lydia and Derek knew about it; Lydia because she put it together and warned Peter off hurting Stiles and Derek because he came back to the loft to find them snuggled on the couch looking through an old tome and he’d also warned Peter about hurting Stiles.

Why did they not think Stiles could hurt Peter? Stiles could totally hurt him. If he wanted. Which he didn’t, but that was beside the point.

Let Me Run Away With You by Whispering_Sumire (Steterek)

“So,” Peter says, after an hour or so of driving in tense silence, “I assume we’re going back to your beloved Beacon Hills?”

“No,” Stiles tells him, without even looking up from the restorative paste he’s administering to Derek’s wounds. And isn’t that surprising?

“No?”

“I took the GPS out of Roscoe and I hacked into some of your accounts to get him travel-ready. I don’t care where we go Peter, but I don’t want to go back to Beacon Hills,” there’s a desperation in his voice that makes Peter’s skin crawl, though he has no idea why, “please.”

“Okay,” Peter agrees softly.

[Or: The one where Stiles is in a very bad place, and Peter and Derek manage to unwittingly save him from himself while he saves them from themselves.]

Hostile Takeover by kiranightshade

Alternate season 4 where Peter gains a new roommate in Eichen…for about five minutes. Then all hell breaks loose.

For Great Justice! by Green

Stiles is a vengeance demon, drawn to Peter just as he’s waking from his catatonia.

“Whoever did this? We will make those fuckers suffer. I promise you.”

Enemy Action by pprfaith

Once is chance, twice is coincidence and three times is far too many bodies on the ground.

Whiskey is My Kind of Lullaby by taylorpotato

Peter is a simple saloon owner on one of the outer planets between the Aaru Belt and the Olympus Galaxy. He’s done with trouble. Done with adventure. So fucking done with rustlers. That is, until a cute young outlaw named Stiles wanders into his bar. Peter has this problem where he can’t seem to resist charming narcissists (perhaps because they remind him of himself). And when said narcissists turn his life upside-down, the worst part is he’s not even that upset about it.

#teen wolf #steter #fanfic rec #bamf stiles #hurt peter #awyeahitssam #ask #rec list

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witharsenicsauce · 4 years

Text

Chosen Stories From the War #13: They Call Me the Shrine Maiden

(Content Warning: This chapter contains brief descriptions of mensuration/menstrual blood)

When the Assassin awoke from a dreamless sleep to a still dark room, she felt deep in her bones something was wrong.

She began to reach for her blade, but the sudden movement made her gasp in pain, and for a moment she felt panic, reaching down to feel her scarred stomach. Had her stitches ripped? She had thought them healed.

No, the scar was as firm as ever, holding everything in place. Yet, as consciousness returned to her, the stabbing pain in her stomach grew in intensity.

“By the stars, please don’t let it be…” She reached her hand down lower, and when she brought it up bloody, she hissed.

She had forgotten all about this.

Kon-Mai slowly sat up, careful not to touch her sheets with her bloody hand, but as she turned the light on she saw that the effort was futile. Her bedsheets were already soaked down to the very mattress, rendering the entire set useless. Those stains were likely never going to come out, and were probably going to give whoever was charged with cleaning them a heart attack.

Standing up slowly, she held onto the side table. Her legs were tingling and everything below her midsection was wrought with incredible pain. She hissed again as she made her way to the bathroom, peeling her underclothes off as she went.

She never understood the reason why this happened. It seemed so counterintuitive, the way it left her helpless for hours on end. In her nine years of service to the Elders, Kon-Mai had only once questioned why she still bled, and it ended with Elder Abyzou...reprimanding her, for daring to doubt their judgement. It is a gift, she had said, a blessing from us to you. Be grateful. Be happy.

“Vhyata ux, Abyzou.” Kon-Mai hissed, hoping that on some level, her precious mother could feel her pain. She could already feel it creeping up her lower back, and her muscles were clenched tight from it. Looking in the mirror, she grimaced at her visage. It was no pretty sight, that was for certain.

However much she would have liked to crawl back into bed, Kon-Mai had an assignment today, and she had to be on top of it. The Commander was counting on her.

She had a job to do.

“That’s it. You got it.” Gur-Rai said gently as Dhar-Mon slowly inched his way down the hall, his hands gripping tightly to the walker provided for him. He led with his left foot, his right side still dragging along like dead weight. They moved at a snail’s pace, and would have been blocking traffic if they had not elected to get up at 0’dark thirty in the morning in order to have the space they would need. Gur-Rai didn’t particularly see the need for such solitude, but his older brother was having enough trouble as it was. And from the way he struggled, Gur-Rai was happy to accommodate him if it eased Dhar-Mon’s suffering just a bit.

A door opened from the radio room, and Bradford came strolling down the hall, freezing as he saw them. Gur-Rai looked up at him and smiled. “Good morrow, Central. Come to see our patient?”

“Well, I guess I am now.” Bradford forced a smile and nodded to Dhar-Mon. “...Warlock, is it?”

“Dhar-Mon, if you please.” He answered sheepishly.

“Sure, sure. How are you...feeling?”

“As the children say…” Dhar-Mon sighed. “I am...straight up not having a good time right now.”

Gur-Rai laughed. “I taught him that one.”

“You are very smart, Brother.” Dhar-Mon rolled his eyes. “Madron, if I may-”

“You don’t have to call me that.” Bradford chuckled but it sounded forced. “I’m not that...high up in command.”

“I must object. Were you not acting Commander when Senuna was in custody?”

“Technically yes, but…” He scratched the back of his head. “I mean, we humans don’t use terms like that, really, anymore”

“Oh?”

“Yep. Just Bradford or Central is fine. Or John, but there are about 238 Johns in the XCOM database so I try and avoid that.”

The Warlock growled, but it was more contemplative than angry. “What peculiar culture you humans have…very well, Central Bradford.”

“...I guess that works.” Bradford shrugged. “Did you need something?”

“I want to speak with your Commander.” Dhar-Mon added. “It is imperative, upon my recovery. I have much I wish to discuss with her.”

Gur-Rai would have thought that Bradford would jump at the chance, like he had with their sister. But the man seemed to go pale and silent for a moment.

“Um...yeah. The Commander is...meeting with a few other resistance leaders right now but I’ll let her know. We want to…” He nodded. “She’ll be happy to…”

Gur-Rai scowled. He could smell the lie on Bradford’s lips. Luckily, Dhar-Mon seemed to be none the wiser and nodded enthusiastically.

“Then I shall look forward to meeting her.” He said. “Should I bring an offering of any kind?”

“Off…? No, no no.” Bradford looked anxious and was beginning to back away. “No, you’re fine. I...have to go, I just remembered Tygan needs me to print off a bunch of supply request forms.”

“Until we meet again, Central Bradford.” Dhar-Mon bowed his head respectfully. While his eyes were averted, Bradford mumbled a half-hearted goodbye and scampered off, Gur-Rai glaring daggers at his back.

The middle Chosen put his hand on Dhar-Mon’s shoulder. “How are you doing, Big Guy?”

“I am quite well, Brother.” He sounded so chipper, and Gur-Rai forced a smile.

“Glad to hear it. And don’t worry, you’ll get to meet with the Commander.” Gur-Rai stared after Bradford. “We’ll make sure of it.”

Kon-Mai ripped the ruined sheets into thin strips, fashioning several makeshift pads for herself. Of course she didn’t have her normal supplies, THOSE were all still at her stronghold, and she’d likely never see them again. No, for now this would have to do.

Her back was killing her, the pain having spread from her pelvis up her spine, all the way into her shoulders. Her movements felt slow and heavy, and reaching for her katana was near agony, but she took a deep breath and forced herself through the pain. She slowly secured her weapons to her back and tucked her dagger in her belt, smoothing everything down in an attempt to look somewhat proper.

She was lucky. Compared to human women, her menstruation only lasted a day at the most. This would be over in a few hours and then she could forget about it until the next year, when the annual curse struck her again. In fact, it might even be over by the time this mission was under way.

She hoped.

Each step out the door hurt, and she wanted to crawl back into bed and sleep this away, but she had a job to do, and by her pride she would uphold it.

The sun was still barely up, only peeking above the horizon and painting the clouds red and orange as Kon-Mai stepped into the garage. There stood Bryni Lyndon, still in her civilian clothes, though she was pulling her Firebrand suit out of her locker.

“Oh hey, Sugar! You’re up early!” She giggled. “With how you were dancing last night, I thought you’d rise with the midday sun.”

Kon-Mai smiled forcefully. “Yes, but my duty calls me. Where is the mission location?”

“Right, uh…” Bryni picked up the data pad. “Oooh, southwestern Canada. Beautiful up there. You ever been?”

Kon-Mai wracked her brain. “...I have been to many places.”

“I’ll take that as a no then.” Bryni winked and popped on her helmet. “You’ll be helping a settlement relocate. Their camp got destroyed by an ADVENT raid, so they’re heading a bit more to the east.”

Kon-Mai nodded again, barely listening.

“You okay, Sugar?” Bryni asked. “You lookin’ pale as January snow.”

“I am...tired.” She said softly. “From last night.”

“Okay…” She couldn’t tell if Bryni believed her, but if she didn’t, she at least didn’t push the issue. “Your comrades ain’t even out of bed yet, so you can relax.”

Relax. Easier said than done. Kon-Mai took a seat on a nearby bench and pulled her legs into her lotus pose. The feeling of movement made her hiss, and she almost started crying, but managed to hold it in.

Perhaps meditating would make her feel better.

Meditating did not make her feel better. In fact, by the time her teammates got onto the plane, she was more agitated than she was before. None of them saw fit to attempt to talk to her, which Kon-Mai both saw as a blessing and an insult. Only one of them had attempted to introduce themselves to her; Bronté their name was, but she had met their handshake with a only curt nod and a scowl. The other two looked young and inexperienced, but then again this was a simple mission, and Kon-Mai was talented enough to pick up the slack for all of them.

They landed at the top of an outlook, the cold Canadian air flooding the chopper as the doors opened.

“Welcome to Tuber Hill!” Firebrand called. “I’ll be following you guys in the chopper, if you need anyone lifted up, just holler!”

Kon-Mai grunted as she got to her feet, nearly smacking her head into the Skyranger ceiling. She was so tall she had to basically crouch to get out, which was hell on her already sore legs.

The four emerged into the wilderness and looked around, Kon-Mai scanning the area. “Where is the point of rendezvous?”

“Supposed to be up here…” Bronté mused. As they said that, a noise could be heard from down the hill.

“I think those are our guys!” One of her team, a short girl with thick brown hair, called out, pointing towards the mass of people climbing the hilltop. Expectedly, a good number of them faltered when they saw Kon-Mai, some children even screaming at the sight of her. Kon-Mai looked away from them, scowling, as the other, braver members of the tribe pulled them forward.

“Who’s in charge?” Bronté asked, stepping forward. Their glasses were catching the light and they lowered them a bit, exposing strangely piercing blue eyes.

“I-I am.” A young man with gauze covering one eye stepped up. “I’m Parthalán.”

“A pleasure” Bronté smiled. “I’m Bronté.” They pointed to the young girl to their right, who was leaning on her rifle. “That’s Amrita…” They pointed to the boy who stood just a few inches away. “That’s Christopher…” And finally, they gestured graciously towards the Chosen. “And this is Kon-Mai. We’re with XCOM.”

Parthalán nodded. “I see…” He was staring at Kon-Mai. “Is that a…?”

“A what?” Bronté asked, one eyebrow raised

“I mean...she’s not an alien, right? She’s a human, right?” Parthalán smiled, obviously thinking his question was more tactful than whatever he was really thinking. In reality, it grated on Kon-Mai’s last nerve and she bared her pointed teeth and hissed at him. The people behind Parthalán shrank back in horror at her display of aggression, and Bronté held up their hands, moving in between the two groups.

“Hey now.” They said. “We’re all friends here. We’re just here to escort you to where you gotta go, Parthalán.” They nodded between the two. “Okay? Can we all get along?”

Kon-Mai let her growl subside and took a breath, nodding. Parthalán also nodded, completely silent.

“Wonderful. So, where are you guys headed?”

“Well, the tribe’s decided on Bralorne-”

Amrita immediately let out a groan. “Are you serious?! That’s 30 miles from here!”

“Technically it’s 27.6 miles-”

“If we walk at a brisk pace, and that’s a big IF, that’s 13 hours. We’re gonna be walking all day!”

Kon-Mai cringed a bit at that. 13 hours on her feet? Any other day that would have been okay, but right now that sounded like hell.

“But we will do it.” Bronté said, their tone snippish. “Right, Amrita? We said we would.”

“We did indeed, and so we shall.” Kon-Mai straightened her back and looked at the group. “We shall guide you to Bralorne. All you must do is point us towards it.”

This walk was setting up to take a lot longer than 13 hours.

Kon-Mai had started out strong, but by now she was trailing behind the group, dragging her feet and trying to ignore the searing pain that had taken hold of her entire body. Had she a stomach, she would have felt nausea, but instead she felt a deeply painful twisting in the residual organ that used to be her stomach but she no longer knew a clear use for.

The people they traveled with were no help at all. It would have been a hard enough march, but they were traveling with sick and elderly, and with children who had to be roped in lest they run off into the wilderness. Kon-Mai kept pace with the ones who needed the most aid, and she hoped they believed she was there to help them. In reality, she could feel their eyes watching her warily. They hurried to keep ahead of her, and she realized they saw her herding them rather than helping.

She slowed her pace even more, feeling dejected, then enraged. Could these stupid humans not see she was trying to help them?! That was why she was here! She was in agony right now, and could easily have stayed at the Avenger and left them all to die, but no, she was here because they said they needed her. And now they had the gall to treat her like a monster?!

She heard footsteps beside her and looked down to see Bronté had fallen back to match her pace. “Hey, you alright?”

She stared down at them silently.

“You look like you’re having trouble keeping up.”

“I am fine.” She hissed through gritted teeth. “I am one of the Chosen, built for the most strenuous of challenges. This may as well be a gentle stroll!”

“Doesn’t sound like it.” Bronté looked worried. “You look sick.”

Kon-Mai scoffed. “I do not get sick.”

“Well, you look like shit.” Bronté reached up, as though they were grabbing her arm. “I can call a break if you wa-”

Kon-Mai slapped their hand away and hissed at them. “Do. Not. Touch. Me.”

“Hey!” Bronté held their hands up. “Stand down, Soldier, right now.”

“Do you seek to challenge me?!” Kon-Mai went for her sword. “Because your tone implies such!”

Bronté met her eyes with a hardness she did not expect. “I have authority on this mission. If you don’t want me reporting you to the Commander for insubordination, you’ll stand down right now.”

Kon-Mai froze.

“Now.” Bronté barked. “Hand, off the weapon.”

Slowly, Kon-Mai released her sword and stepped back from Bronté's piercing blue gaze. She had not expected this reaction, and truly it had left her stunned, at a loss for words.

“Don’t fall behind.” Bronté grumbled, a deep sadness in their tone as they went back up to the front of the charge.

Kon-Mai felt even heavier after that exchange, and despite trudging along behind the party, she wanted so badly to fall into the dirt and dissolve.

Bronté had touched her. That was unacceptable. It wasn’t her fault. But...she had just reacted. Bronté came back and...how dare they ask questions of her. It was none of their business. They wanted to help. They touched her so they could help. She was sick. They were right. They’d wanted to help and she had snapped at them. They had scolded her like a child.

There was no honor in this. She was acting like an animal, directionless and lost.

For the first time since her “death”, Kon-Mai looked to the sky. And for the first, agonizing time, she longed for the light of the Elders she had left behind. She longed for them to cradle her and give her their voices, direct her to where she would go next, what she should do. She was so uncertain all alone.

Kon-Mai felt tears burning at her eyes.

John Bradford had, for the first time in a month, had a semi-productive day. He’d managed to start clearing out some of the last alien debris in the storage closets, approved a few weapon upgrades Shen wanted, filed an entire stack of paperwork, sent off payroll to the resistance council, and only had two drinks!

He was feeling good, if exhausted, when he opened the door to his private quarters and flicked on the light.

“Hello, John~”

“JESUS FUCK!” He jumped back, grabbing his pistol and looking around, his eyes landing on none other than the infamous Darkstrider himself, splayed out on Bradford’s easy chair like he owned the place. “How’d you get in here?!”

“I came down the chimney, ho ho ho.” Gur-Rai smirked as he leapt to his feet. “We need to have a talk, John.”

“Please don’t call me that.” He put his gun away. “Fine. What do you want?”

“Oh it’s not what I want, John.” Gur-Rai crossed his arms. “What is your problem with my brother?”

“...” Bradford shook his head. “...I’m sorry?”

“As you should be, John. You practically blew him off today when you saw him in the hall. Kicking a man while he’s down? Shameful.” Bradford could see in his eyes that Gur-Rai was only partially joking.

“What do you want me to do?” Bradford sighed. “I’m a little busy trying to win us a war.”

“Remember who’s winning that war for you.” Gur-Rai winked. “You are very important, I’ll give you that, but your Commander went to a lot of trouble for me and my siblings.”

“Yeah, right. Don’t get a big head about it.” Bradford leaned against the wall. “For each of you Chosen, we have over 200 human soldiers, plus the Skirmishers, so you’re not all as special as I’m sure you’d like to think.”

“I would beg to differ. Not to undervalue their achievements, but I was literally birthed by gods.”

“Yeah, I bet they birthed you on the fucking toilet.”

Gur-Rai chuckled a bit. “Okay, we could debate this all night, but that’s not why I’m here.” He sat on the chair’s armrest. “Why won’t you talk to Dhar-Mon?”

Bradford was silent for a moment.

“He sacrificed himself for your rebellion.” Gur-Rai looked very serious now. “He would never betray the Elders, John, but he did. For XCOM.”

“Look.” Bradford ran a hand through his hair, pulling at the strands in his fist. “...I’ve known a lot of people in my time here. I’m an old man, Gur-Rai, and I’ve had to bury a lot of friends.”

“Well I’m sorry to hear that, but-”

“But the ones I regret are the ones I can’t bury.” He looked Gur-Rai in the eyes. “The ones we see out there again, who have been turned into monsters.”

Gur-Rai raised a brow. “If you’re talking about ADVENT troopers, they’re clones. I’ve been to the facilities.”

“Trust me, I’ve looked into enough of their eyes. Seen enough old friends, who don’t remember me.” He looked away. “...This isn’t the first time I’ve met your brother. And he has no idea.”

Gur-Rai’s mouth dropped open, before he quickly righted himself. “...He was a soldier?”

“Not exactly.” Bradford covered his face. “Lets just say, I regret a lot of things, but looking at what they did to him…” He shook his head. “I would have rather died than let it happen. And yet, here I am.”

“Yes. Here you are.” Gur-Rai said. “And here he is, ready to give you another chance.”

“This isn’t another chance at shit.” Bradford cried, slamming his hand into the wall. “They took him. What they gave back, what Dhar-Mon is...that’s not him anymore! That’s not a second chance!”

“Maybe not in the way you hoped for.” Gur-Rai shrugged. “But he is here now, Bradford. You say you care about him, do you really think pushing him away will get that message across?”

Bradford remained silent, conspicuously refusing to look the Chosen in the eye.

“This is your chance.” Gur-Rai said. “Take it or not, but either way, never disrespect my brother like that again.” His voice grew deep and low. “When you insult him, you insult me.”

“That sounds like a threat, Darkstrider.” Bradford went for his pistol again.

“It’s not a threat. It’s the truth.” Gur-Rai stepped over to him and leaned his arm against the wall. “No matter how we disagree, how our anger swells, we shall do each other no harm. I only love my siblings and my gun, Bradford. Do not fuck with either of them.”

Bradford sighed. “...I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good. Is the Commander free this Friday?”

“Friday? That’s the day she usually sleeps until 3.”

“Perfect. We’ll be over at 4 to discuss Dhar-Mon’s place in XCOM.” He winked. “Thank you so much, Bradford. This meeting went much better than I hoped~”

“Whatever you say, Darkstrider.” Bradford rolled his eyes as Gur-Rai ducked under the door frame and disappeared into the hall.

The previously good mood had been replaced with a sour feeling, like acid reflux. He sat down, reaching for his flask that he kept hidden in the bottom drawer.

“Maybe Tygan’s right.” He muttered. “I need to stop drinking.”

They made camp beside the Bridge River Delta, where the water widened out before it would eventually spill into Downton Lake. They had been walking for nearly 6 hours, and the sky was already growing dark, and the first few stars were appearing in the beginning of the sunset.

The Assassin took a distant seat on a tiny fjord of rocks, away from the main camp. She watched the villagers setting up fires to cook their meals, and arranging sleeping bags into little groups; some small, with simple nuclear families, and some with ten or twenty people all sitting, talking, laughing. Her comrades had woven in among them. She saw Bronté talking with a few of the women, heartily chowing down on a meal of noodles, completely enraptured by the conversation.

Kon-Mai closed her eyes. The wind brushed her hair back, hanging loosely from her ponytail from a day of hard travel. She tried to let the stimulus around her cocoon her, like a sleeve, but her sharp ears kept picking up the sounds of happy conversation. It was grating on frayed nerves, and the more she listened, the more isolated she felt, and as such, the more crestfallen.

She heard footsteps behind her and spun around, reaching for her blade, but the old woman behind her held up her hand.

“Be at peace, Child.” The woman chuckled. “I don’t mean to disturb you.”

Kon-Mai stared at the bowl of soup in the woman’s other hand. She met her eyes, and they were bluer than the lake before her.

“Did you bring me this?” Kon-Mai grumbled. “You have wasted your time. I do not need to eat.”

“Oh, nonsense.” She drew closer. “You’re a warrior. You need your strength, Child.”

“My kind do not eat for strength…” Kon-Mai put her sword to the other side of her. “I draw the energy of the earth itself into my body, like a plant with sunlight.”

“Well, this isn't food, anyway.” The woman chuckled. “I made it to help with your cramping.”

Kon-Mai stared at her, one eyebrow raised.

“I can tell your moon cycle is upon you.” She winked. “I haven’t dealt with that in years, but I know all the tricks for it.”

“...It will be over soon.” Kon-Mai spoke, but it came out a whimper. “You should not have come. I don’t need help.”

“But this will help.” She set the bowl beside Kon-Mai. “I insist.”

Kon-Mai stared at the concoction before her. It smelled earthy, like tea but...more. The scent alone was beginning to calm her nerves.

The woman sat a few feet away, taking a strange little wooden figure from her dress pocket and a dull pocket knife. She began to whittle away, her hands unsteady and shaking with each movement. She stopped for a moment, looking Kon-Mai up and down, then smiling brightly. “I am Sahkyo.”

“...Kon-Mai.” The Chosen nodded.

“It is quite an honor to meet you.” Sahkyo nodded. “Please, drink. It works best when it’s hot.”

Kon-Mai picked up the bowl slowly, still watching the woman. “...If this is an attempt to poison me-”

“Now why would I do that?” She chuckled. “Drink, Child, before it chills.”

Kon-Mai drank. At first it was incredibly bitter, and she almost spit it out. Then she tasted mint, and the deep, rich flavor of chocolate, and blackberries.

“What is this?” She asked as she brought the bowl down from her lips.

“An ancient recipe~” Sahkyo said, not looking up from her carving. “I make it on the regular. Never as good as the medicine we manage to get, but that does not come often, so we make do.”

She was right. Kon-Mai could feel the pain in her lower back fading, relief spreading through her bones. “Thank you…”

Sahkyo nodded, smiling brightly. “Anytime, Child.”

Kon-Mai stared down at her lap, head bowed and hands clasped. “I am sorry for my rudeness.”

“No, Child, do not apologize for pain.” Sahkyo insisted. “It’s no fault of your own.”

“Still, I was rude to you.” Kon-Mai brought her knees up under her chin. “I should have control over such things. To lose focus is unacceptable.”

Sahkyo stared at her. “Do you hear yourself? You’re being too harsh.” She scooted closer and put a gentle, weathered brown hand on Kon-Mai’s arm. “It is okay to hurt, and cry and feel pain. It’s what makes us human.”

Kon-Mai shifted away. “I am no human.”

“Well, I beg to differ. You certainly bleed like one.”

Kon-Mai grimaced and turned away, unsure of what to say. Even after her release from the Elders’ cruel grasp, it made her cringe to hear those words. The Elders had always drilled into her head that she was different from them, better than them, that they were the enemy and she was the Chosen.

She looked at the little wooden figure in Sahkyo’s hands. “What are you making?”

“It’s another idol.” She mused, holding it up. “For our most recently dead.”

“Another? You have others like that?”

“I do. Many people carve them, and I tend to them and keep them safe.” She smiled. “They call me the Shrine Maiden, but between you and me, my legs have seen more than enough action to strip me of that title~”

Kon-Mai chuckled. “Shrine...Maiden?”

“Yes.”

“Your people have a shrine?” She puzzled. The strongholds of her and her brothers had been built around altars, repurposed for other uses, but shrines were an archaic thing. From what she had seen on the Avenger, not many humans were still religious, and those who were did not make use of idols.

Sahkyo gestured for Kon-Mai to stand. “Would you like to see?”

Kon-Mai got to her feet, picking up the empty bowl as she followed Sahkyo into the trees, towards a solitary tent set up far away from the others in the camp. It was larger than the rest, and she recognized the wagon nearby as being near the back of the parade, as they had marched.

Sahkyo held up a flap. “I apologize for the mess.”

Kon-Mai stepped inside, blinking to adjust to the light, and looked around at the hundreds of little figurines scattered across the hut. Some were larger, some were no bigger than her finger. Some were simple, and some were carved with immaculate detail. Some were wooden, and some were made of stone or even metal.

“What are they…?” She got on her knees and reached for the nearest one. The face was simple, but the two dot eyes seemed to meet hers in a look of mutual curiosity.

“They are our ancestors.” Sahkyo said. “The ones who have died in battle, or of sickness, or were taken by time.”

Kon-Mai scanned the room, the hundreds of bodies lying in piles. “These are the dead?”

“They are their memory.” Sahkyo picked up another small one. “I am in charge of keeping them, cleaning them, making sure they are dry and warm.”

“Why…?” Kon-Mai reached for another one as Sahkyo began gathering them up, laying them out in little rows. “What is the purpose of all this?”

Sahkyo paused for a moment. “...To remember.” She picked one up. “This one? You can see he has a little tool belt carved across his chest. This was my husband, Devon.” She picked up another. “This one is too small, smaller than the rest. My son, who was born asleep.” Finally she took a large one, made of white stone. “And this was my daughter. She protected us all until the very end. A shrine maiden in her own way…” Her blue eyes looked deeply sad.

“And...they are gone?”

“They are gone. But…” She hugged the three figures to her chest. “When you have lost everything...when so little brings comfort, I find no shame in indulging what few things do.”

Kon-Mai laid the figures in her hands back down, wondering who they were as well. “...I am so sorry.”

“As am I.” Sahkyo sighed. “But sorrow doesn’t bring them back. Besides, I’m not wanting.” She smiled. “I have them all right here.”

Kon-Mai met her eyes again. “...Yes. I suppose you do.” She felt a yawn coming and stifled it, only to see Sahkyo chuckle.

“Do you feel any better, Child?”

Kon-Mai nodded.

The concoction had made her muscles relax, finally, and as a result when the darkness fell, Kon-Mai was hit with a wave of tiredness, and passed out immediately despite best attempts. She’d curled up outside of the shrine tent, in the low branches of a nearby tree, still poised to look out for danger.

Her eyes had never been the best. The one on the left wandered and dropped out of coordination with her right, and her sight all in all was never as good as Gur-Rai’s. But her hearing was impeccable. Even in her dreamless sleep she could hear everything. The rustle of wind in the trees as a light fog blew in, the chirp of frogs on the lake, the skittering of small insects across the bark of the tree…

The distant hum of an approaching machine.

Kon-Mai woke with a start and stared into the darkness, listening. At first, the silence of the night was all she heard. Then she heard it, faint clunk, clunk, clunk, the sounds of stomping, marching…

She let out an alien screech, spurring the camp into a flurry of action. Grabbing her sword and dropping to the ground, Kon-Mai shouted “SECTOPODS FROM THE WEST! ADVENT IS UPON US!”

Bronté was the first one to her, shotgun hanging from their hip and armor barely on. Christopher was following, but he was still in his underwear. Amrita was nowhere to be found.

“Which way?” Bronté asked, fumbling to tie their vest and hold their grenade launcher at the same time.

Kon-Mai gestured behind her. “They are close, nearly 60 meters.”

“Well, let's not give them a chance to get closer!” Bronté looked around. “Chris, go find Amrita and tell her to start rounding up the villagers, we need to get on the move as fast as possible.” They looked to Kon-Mai again. “You and me: you take the right side and me the left, we move in a pincer and come up from behind.”

“Trap them. Very clever.”

“Yep. Now move.” Bronté hoisted their gun and disappeared into the trees.

Kon-Mai closed her eyes, letting the psionic energy in her blood wash over her, cloaking her in an invisible shadow. Within a moment, she could feel the sensation of heat prickling on her skin. To the people around her, she was but a shimmering outline in the darkness. Before they could look too closely and break her concentration, she darted into the trees, her footsteps light as a feather.

The Sectopods were closer than she’d first thought, only about 200 feet away from the campsite and drawing closer every moment. She kept behind the trees, skirting alongside the platoon as they marched behind. There were a good amount of troopers, almost two squads worth of them, and…

Stun Lancers. Three of them. All that manpower meant one thing: they knew Kon-Mai was here.

She took a breath, tightening her focus, and saw Bronté on the other side of them. They were looking just as worried as she felt as the troops quickly closed the distance towards the helpless people. Kon-Mai reached out with the little psionic force she did possess and felt for Bronté's mind, feeling for it and finally finding them, the anxious ball of energy they were. Bronté seemed to startle, and they were silent for a moment, looking over to where she was. Then they smiled and held up a hand.

On my mark.

Three-

Two-

One-

Kon-Mai darted from the trees and dug her sword into the ground, her psionic cloak falling away. As the soldiers turned to her, she dragged her blade sideways through the dirt, bringing up a cloud of psionic matter, and with a spin of her blade sent it careening toward them. Six of the ten soldiers went down, as did two of the Stun Lancers. One of them fell over onto another trooper, who fired a rain of bullets through the Lancer in a panic.

Kon-Mai smiled, but she had to keep focus. Now the enemy knew where she was. And that would not do at all.

She darted back into the trees, this time jumping up to a branch and cloaking again, then slowly sliding down the splintery bark of the tree so as to make as little noise as possible. The troopers were firing into the leaves, unaware she had moved, and allowing her to quietly slip around beside them once again.

Now it was Bronté's turn. They stuffed a frost grenade into their grenade launcher and with a “thump”, jettisoned it into the midst of the fray. The soldiers didn’t seem to notice until the last minute, the majority of them still focusing on where they thought Kon-Mai was. But they sure did notice when the grenade went off, encasing half of the troopers, another one of the lancers, and one of the Sectopod’s legs in ice.

Kon-Mai darted from the trees and began hewing away at their frozen forms, their bodies shattering as her psionic blade made contact with their icy flesh. She spun, only for her sword to hit the baton of a Stun Lancer as it lunged for her. She slid backward, hissing, and darted to the side, but the Lancer was almost as quick as her and caught her with an arm to her stomach, making her stumble.

“Kon-Mai!” She heard Bronté shout, but she could not see them. She righted herself, holding her blade tightly in her fist at her side as she and the Lancer stared each other down, each waiting for the other to make the first move. A moment passed.

Kon-Mai moved her foot forward, and the Lancer lunged just as she fell back, slipping under their weapon and sending them stumbling forward. A faint.

And it had been worth it. The Lancer landed on one knee as Kon-Mai whipped around and drove her blade through it’s back, skewering it. It died gurgling, blood spilling from it’s helmet as it slumped over.

“Kon-Mai!” Bronté's screams were getting farther away. “The Sectopod!”

She looked up with a start, and her heart fell as she saw the Sectopod closing in on the helpless people.

“We cannot be too late.” She whispered as she darted forward, sprinting on strong legs. “I will not fail them.”

Amrita ran to the tent of the old woman, who was hurriedly trying to gather up all the wooden figures and place them securely into the carts. “We don’t have time for that! Leave them!”

“I can’t.” Sahkyo insisted. “Take the others if you must, and leave me here.”

“Lady, I can’t do that!” Amrita cried. “That thing is practically on top of us!”

“I can’t leave these to be destroyed!”

“YOU will be destroyed if you don't-” Amrita grabbed her pistol. “FUCK! FUCK FUCK FUCK! EVERYBODY SCATTER!”

Sahkyo turned as the red light spilled over her, the black mass of the Sectopod standing over her like the Devil. It stomped once, and Sahkyo slipped and slammed into the rocky ground, splitting her cheek wide open. The figures sprawled across the floor, now naught but kindling for the fire that was coming.

“No…” She reached for the nearest one, the one with the tool belt. “Please, not them. You can kill me if you want! Just leave them alone! Leave the figures, they are all we…”

The red light of the cannon charging filled her vision. Sahkyo closed her eyes.

Then there was a sound of whistling wind, and a crash. The red light was blocked by something.

She opened her eyes. “Child…”

Kon-Mai, using her own body as a shield, stood between her and the Sectopod’s cannon. She looked back at Sahkyo, smiling. “Your shrine shall be protected.”

Kon-Mai dove forward, running between the Sectopod’s legs. It turned to try and catch her, and as it did, Bronté fired their pistol into the mouth of it’s open cannon. It seemed to reel back, like an injured animal, and Sahkyo saw Kon-Mai had jumped up and was clinging to its side, her sword digging into the casing like a grapple.

The Sectopod thrashed back and forth, like it was trying to shake her off, but Kon-Mai held fast. She flipped herself upward, reaching down and dragging her sword up to her through the thick metal, and nearly slipped off as the thing began reeling back and forth like an angry bull.

Kon-Mai had always had good balance, but even this was starting to disorient her. She wanted to scream for Sahkyo to escape, but she couldn’t open her mouth without risking biting off her own tongue. She grit her teeth in silence, holding on by the skin of her fingers and the heels of her shoes as she rocked her body with the sway of the angry machine. She had to get closer.

Bronté shot another grenade under the Sectopod, and this time the explosion sent the legs splaying out, and it fell to a crouch. That was exactly what she needed.

Surging forward, Kon-Mai lifted her sword above her head and drove it into the cockpit of the machine, cutting through wires and metal. In one last desperate attempt, it began to fling itself side to side, but Kon-Mai twisted her sword and held tight, until the unit inside flickered and, with a pathetic sigh, died. Wrenching her sword from the body of the beast, she dove from it, landing just as the creature behind her exploded in a plume of fire and smoke.

Kon-Mai stood as Bronté emerged from behind her, their grenade launcher resting against their shoulder.

“I believe we won.” Kon-Mai mused.

Bronté smiled at her. “Fuck yeah, we did.”

Bralorne was quiet, the smoke from the still burning Sectopod clouding the midday sky and making it appear overcast and cloudy. But as the villagers walked into the old settlement with it’s run down wooden houses and empty mines, Kon-Mai saw the happiness in their eyes.

It didn’t take them long to begin setting up. Parthalán began assigning people their respective houses, some families doubling up to make room for others. Sahkyo set up her little shine tent near the middle of the town, and Kon-Mai took her own time to help her pitch the tent, and then sat with her in the shade, cleaning and polishing the figures, watching as the little town grew busy again.

The smoke was clearing. Children were already playing outside. Bralorne was breathing again.

“You would make a good Shrine Maiden.”

Kon-Mai looked at Sahkyo in surprise. “Why do you say such things?”

“You protected the dead with your very essence.” Sahkyo said without looking at her. “Even though this concept was foreign to you.”

Kon-Mai couldn’t find the words to reply to that.

“This place, these people, live again.” Sahkyo looked at her now, her white hair covering dark, weathered skin glowing with warmth. “And that is the job of a Shrine Maiden.”

“To protect the dead?”

“Protect the dead, and give hope to the living.” She reached over and took Kon-Mai’s hand in her’s. “And you, Child, have brought hope to us.”

Hope. To the humans. She looked down at Sahkyo’s hand, dark and warm against her cold blue skin.

“I was not created for this.” She whispered.

“Oh, I think you were, in some way.” Sahkyo chuckled. “Perhaps in a different way than how the aliens thought you would, though.”

Kon-Mai nodded slowly. “It is my duty to protect the people of this world. I have already hurt them...can one with so much blood on her hands ever be a Shrine Maiden?”

“You don’t need me to tell you that, Child. You already know~” Sahkyo bowed slightly to her. “Now, little Shrine Maiden, help me sort these by size. Largest to smallest.”

Kon-Mai chuckled, only to notice Bronté standing outside the tent. “Sahkyo…”

Sahkyo looked up. “Ah, the warrior from before.” She chuckled. “Now THEY are destined for great things.”

Kon-Mai nodded, watching as Bronté caught her eye and held it.

“I must speak with them.”

Sahkyo smiled and motioned for her to go ahead. “I shall be waiting, Child.”

As Kon-Mai met Bronté outside, she noticed their smile was sheepish. “Is something the matter?”

“No, not really.” Bronté coughed.

“Very well, I would like-”

“I wanted to say-”

They both stopped, waiting for the other to go, until Kon-Mai gave in and gestured for Bronté to speak.

“I wanted to apologize for yesterday.” Bronté said. “I get that I probably scared you with trying to touch you like that, and you just reacted.”

Kon-Mai blinked. “...No.”

“What…?”

“I am sorry.” She insisted. “My behavior was reprehensible, and not at all like a warrior should carry herself. I can assure you it will not happen again.”

“I mean, you didn’t mean it.” Bronté shrugged. “I could tell you were out of sorts. We all have days like that.”

“Even so-”

“Hey.” Bronté smiled. “You more than made up for it by taking down that Sectopod.” They reached their hand out. “I’ll be letting the Commander know about your exemplary work out there in the field, maybe when you get back she’ll have a promotion for you.”

“...In that case, I shall do the same for you.” She took their hand and squeezed it, a smile pulling at their lips. “And I shall look forward to working together again.”

“Oh hell yeah. I’d pick you for my team any day.” Bronté chuckled. “And, if anything feels wrong, please let me know, ok? I’m new to all this too, and it’s my job to make sure my soldiers are safe.”

Kon-Mai nodded thoughtfully, mulling over what they said for a minute. “...I appreciate that.” She smiled. “But you needn’t worry, it is sorted out now.”

“Still.” They raised a brow. “Just let me know, ok?”

“I promise I shall.”

Commander Senuna patted the concealer into place with her powder poof, covering the dark bags under her eyes with white dust. “I don’t know.”

She heard Bradford sigh. “Commander, I can’t make all these decisions for you!”

“I know that, but I’m being honest.” She took out her liquid lipstick and rolled the peach paint over her lips. “I really don’t know what we should do.”

“Well if we don’t tell him, he’ll find out eventually and wonder why we were hiding it from him.”

“Does he even care?” She dragged the mascara over her already long eyelashes. “The other two don’t seem to question where they came from.”

“The Warlock isn’t like his siblings.” Bradford said. “And even if that’s true, how long until they DO start questioning?”

“I don’t know.” She stood up, pushing her white cape out from behind her. “What do you want to do, John?”

He sighed. “I want to go back in time and-”

Senuna cut him off. “Well, sorry but it looks like time travel isn’t an asset of mine. Yet.”

He chuckled. “...Worth a shot.”

She blinked slowly. “What would we even say to him?”

“Maybe sorry?” Bradford sat forward, running a hand through his hair. “I just feel bad about it, Commander.”

“Bradford, no.” She shook her head and walked over to him. “It’s not your fault. It’s the Elders’.”

“It’s hard to think that when I heard him screaming my name. Begging me to save him as they dragged him away.”

There was a knock on the door, and Bradford shot up, taking a breath and righting himself. “Come in~” The Commander sang, sitting down in her fancy chair as Kon-Mai stepped inside, bowing respectfully.

“Hello, Commander. Central.”

“Hi there!” Senuna chirped. “Just the girl I wanted to see! You have a promotion available~”

Kon-Mai looked surprised. “I...do?”

Senuna winked. “Cpl. Bronté Dukakis said you performed spectacularly well under time and pressure, and showed remarkable skill in teamwork.”

“They also said you rode a Sectopod like a surfboard and stabbed it in the kisser.” Bradord chuckled. “So that got you some extra points.”

Senuna beamed as she stood up and saluted. “Kon-Mai Mordenna, I grant you the rank of Corporal.”

The Assassin smiled, somewhat in disbelief. “...Thank you…” She bowed deeply. “Thank you, Commander. I will uphold it with honor and grace.” She looked up shyly. “There is one other matter, though…”

“Fire away!” Senuna plopped back into her chair and put her feet up.

“I know what I would like my callsign to be.”

“Oh? And that would be?”

Kon-Mai smiled fondly. “Shrinemaiden.”

(This chapter, I was so nervous about posting, even if it’s necessary for later events in the story. I really tried hard to be tactful when describing what was happening with Kon-Mai and I think (hope?) I got it to a good place.)

Archive: https://chosenstories.tumblr.com/

#xcom #xcom 2 #xcom 2 war of the chosen #xcom assassin #content warning #cw: menstruation #chosen assassin

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