#i only drew the wolf button up last part because i knew i was going to pajamafy him for the rest of the thing

[evilfarmin]

hunter you're glowing! no not like that.

[1] [here] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

[sserpente]

A/N: Surprise! Here’s the thing—I don’t normally write sub!Loki at all. However, since Christmas is a time of gifting and making wishes come true and it has been requested quite a few times in the past, I decided to take on an anon request. I can’t write fully-fledged sub!Loki, I just can’t… so I hope this will do! There’s another anon request in there too. I hope you all enjoy it!

Words: 2357 Warnings: sub!Loki-ish, fluff, smut

Additional NSFW warnings: light bondage, oral, usage of anal sex toy

-

You cursed when you stubbed your toe on the door, shutting it aggressively all the while flinging your bag into the corner like it was the reason for all of your problems. You were trembling, anger and exhaustion gnawing at your guts.

When you let out a desperate sigh as you kicked off your winter boots, Loki tilted his head. He had appeared in the threshold leading to the living room on your floor—an entire floor on Stark Tower, all to yourself. Today, however, this very circumstance did not cheer you up in the slightest.

“A good evening to you too, pet.” He said, eyeing you with curiosity.

“I bloody hate working in retail!” You spat in response. “Why are people being so idiotic, can you tell me that? Oh, I want a refund on this obviously used item which I don’t even have the receipt for, oh, can’t you hurry up I need to catch a train—I had hours to spend on browsing but I want to pay for this immediately or I’m just gonna leave, oh, can you recommend a gift for my niece, I barely know her or her interests but surely you’ll find a gift for her because I am too lazy to use my own brain?” You were fuming. Loki chuckled.

“My dear… breathe.” He was never this gentle with any of the other Avengers but then again, you were the only one he had taken a romantic and sexual interest in. You sighed when he approached you to pull you into a tight embrace, forcing you to calm down for him. Your hands wrapped around his middle almost automatically, allowing him to lift you off the ground and carry you into your bedroom.

Loki spent most of his time in your flat here in Stark Tower. Here, he wasn’t always under suspicion of plotting world domination again—and in fact, all he did was reading, stealing your sweets and learning more about Midgardian culture, first and foremost Christmas. Last week, you had forced him through all Santa Clause films and he had actually ended up enjoying them in the end.

Another sigh escaped your lips as you pressed your face against his chest, letting his hand stroke over your head. Perhaps you should finally let the cat out of the bag and tell the others about your relationship. Loki could be so sweet… and he loved being pampered by you, even if you made sure to take your time teasing him thoroughly first.

“Is there a particular reason you left me a gift this morning?” He changed the topic. Oh yes. You had almost forgotten about this. You had shoved part of Loki’s Christmas gift into his green and gold socket above your bed before you had left this morning. It was Christmas Eve and since you would be spending the 25th with the other Avengers, you had decided that him receiving part of his gift in private would be more appropriate.

“Me?” You asked, playing innocent. “That must have been Santa, Lokes.”

“Are you going to tell me what exactly it is?” He probed. You giggled, looking up at him with innocent eyes.

“I was hoping you’d ask. Where did you put it?” Loki conjured it up seemingly out of thin air—you’d never grow tired of seeing him use his seidr—and handed you a black plastic packaging which contained an equally black butt plug with a prostate massager for men. Loki and you had recently had a conversation about toys for men as opposed to women only and much to your surprise, he had shown quite the interest in the topic. The faces of the Avengers would have been priceless, had you put it under the Christmas tree for him along with his main present.

You grinned. “Lie down on the bed for me—and magic your clothes off, will you?” Loki smiled at your request. He did not often let you command him around like that—but when he did he knew you needed it, to have some fun with his arousal for you to distract yourself from work and other sorrows, much like today. You shouldn’t be in such a bad mood on Christmas Eve, after all.

Still smiling gently, he did as he was told and then slightly raised his eyebrows for you to make the next move. You winked at him after admiring his semi-hard cock for a bit, disappearing in the bathroom. Once you had returned, hands washed, clothes changed and sex toy sanitised properly, you got to work. Loki’s eyebrows shot up all the way when you produced the bondage rope you kept in the drawer right next to the bed and then climbed on the bed as well, straddling his strong thighs.

“Please? Let me play.” You pouted. Loki sighed—allowing you to tie his hands together and then to the bedpost. Both of you were very well aware that he could rip himself free at any time—it was more a matter of it looking pretty and downright hot to have the God of Mischief tied up and at your mercy, at least hypothetically.

He shifted on the mattress just a little when you reached for the toy again which you had already coated in a thick layer of strawberry lube and brought it to his anus. It was designed to directly stimulate his prostate and you positively couldn’t wait to see his reaction.

“What are you doing?” His question was a warning; reminding you it was a privilege he was playing submissive for you and that the… situation could change at any moment. You swallowed, your own arousal pooling in your knickers like a waterfall.

“Trust me? It will feel good, I promise.”

Loki sighed once more—and gasped when you slowly and carefully worked the butt plug inside of his rear. His cock twitched, joyful anticipation mixing with impatience. By the time it was snugly in place, he was as hard as rock and moaned upon you wrapping your hand around him, giving him a few strokes with your hands partially still covered in the strawberry lube you had used.

Loki bucked his hips almost immediately, growling when you drew your hand away again. You chuckled. “You look pretty adorable like that, you know… desperate for pleasure…”

He growled in response. “You will be the one desperate for pleasure and begging me for my touch if you keep this up for long.” He threatened. Your giggle intensified. You felt so much better already.

“Just you wait.” You said, pressing the button of the small bullet vibrator inserted into the butt plug. Loki tensed up when it hummed to life, sending continuous vibrations through his anus and stimulating his prostate.

Then, taking mercy on him, your hand returned to his impressive length, jerking and pleading for attention. A few drops of precum had already formed on his red tip—it was too tempting to ignore. Unceremoniously, you bent down and closed your lips around him, licking over his slit and lapping up all he had to give for now.

Loki tugged at his restraints. A little more strength and he’d tear them apart altogether and he was barely just containing himself anymore already. Knowing he could stop this anytime and pin you down underneath him to just take what he desired for some reason only fuelled his arousal. He bucked his hips in an attempt to plunge himself deeper into your mouth but you were being particularly relentless today. He growled once more, watching how a grin formed on your lips. With a smacking sound, you released him again, continuing to stroke him all the while the prostate massager kept vibrating inside of his rear.

“Does that feel good?” You asked, almost timidly. Loki was an experienced lover, you knew this much. How many Asgardian women had had the pleasure to learn what had earned him the nickname silver tongue you did not want to know and yet, even though his confidence in bed and knowledge of pleasing a woman was exciting, at the very same time it intimidated you.

Loki nodded, blue eyes locked with yours. “Yes. Keep going, my dear.” It almost sounded like an order—one you’d do better not to defy. You took it as an invitation and pressed the button of the vibrator again.

The setting was on high now—but not high enough to tip him over the edge just yet. You needed to hear him whimper first. You had managed once, a few weeks back when Loki had allowed you to tie him up and tease him for a while for the very first time. In the end, it had resulted in him flipping you around and fucking you roughly from behind so hard you had been unable to walk the next day. Your cunt clenched upon remembering how deliciously sore you had felt. It was a risk you were willing to take again.

Loki bucked his hips once more, thrusting up in a steadier rhythm now and desperate for more friction… which gave you another idea. Biting your lower lip, you stood from the bed and peeled off the comfy trousers you had changed into, right along with your underwear. If only Loki could see the wet spot on them as you stepped out of them, he would be grinning like a cat who got the cream but fortunately for you, you were in charge tonight—or at least, for now.

He eyed you like a hungry wolf, growling in an animalistic manner as soon as your slick pussy lips rubbed against his tip and you massaged your clit with it for a while before slowly, painfully slow, sinking down on him and sheathing his cock deep inside of you. You moaned, throwing your head back. Riding him always felt so much deeper than when he was on top… unless he hauled your legs over his shoulders that was.

“More…” He choked out, his blue gaze getting almost feverish, about to turn him into a mindless beast. You stilled, not moving an inch and just kept him inside of you all the while the vibrator in his rear kept stimulating him. He gritted his teeth when you failed to move, bucking up his hips in a desperate attempt to get you to ride him but you decided to take your time. Leaning forward, you began covering his chest and neck in light kisses, tongue darting out every now and then to taste him. Loki was already sweating, his limbs shaking and you knew then just how badly he needed his release. The restraints keeping his hands above his head on the bedpost gave a suspicious tearing sound as he thrust up into you once more.

He was close. He was so close. Smiling, you kissed him and moved back up and into a sitting position. Your fingers found the switch of the vibrator, turning the setting even higher. There was no need for you to move and ride him anymore. Loki came by himself and finally, gave you the whimper you had so desired to hear from him. Your lips parted when he starting twitching inside of you, spilling himself with a groan. His warm seed coated your walls, his cock jerking until he was all but spent. Once he had caught his breath, you turned off the vibrator… for now.

“Get that lovely quim of yours up here.” He ordered with a hoarse voice, once more raising the question whether you had ever truly been in charge of his pleasure. But who were you to defy him? Biting your lower lip, you let him slide out of you, whimpering at the loss of feeling so deliciously full, inched forward until your most private parts were only inches from his mouth and then carefully sat again, your thighs to either side of his head.

Loki wasted no time. Humming contently, he licked over your slit and clit, suckling on your outer lips and circling your sensitive bundle of nerves, tongue pressing against it, massaging it, until you dug your fingers into his raven hair, urging him on. You were so incredibly wet for him it wouldn’t take you long to gush all over him either and so you did. Loki ate you out like you were his last meal, pampering your clit until your body couldn’t take it anymore and you fell, seeing stars as your orgasm crashed over you like a tidal wave, drowning you in pure pleasure. You only realised once you lifted yourself off his face because he would not stop that he had wrapped his fingers around the bars of the top of the bed. The bondage rope was torn apart beyond repair.

You smiled, allowing him you wrap you in his arms as he flipped you both around so you came to lie on the bed more comfortably.

“Feeling more relaxed now, my dear?” He asked with a sly smile.

“Much better. Thank you.” Loki hummed in response. “I’m pretty hungry… how about an early Christmas dinner? Just the two of us, without the others.”

“That sounds promising. But first I will need you to get that thing out of me.” He said, eliciting a devilish grin from you.

“I think I’m gonna leave that thing where it is for now. You’ll get a taste of your own medicine. Remember that golden butt plug you made me wear on Christmas last year? Revenge is sweet. So…” You paused. “Are you going to help me cook?”

Loki’s expression darkened, sending pleasant shivers up and down your spine. “You are going to remove that right now.”

“Nope,” you announced smugly, freeing yourself from his embrace and climbing off the mattress. “I’ll be in the kitchen, whenever you’re ready.”

Truth be told, you never made it to the kitchen. Loki was after you in a matter of seconds, dragged you back into bed and made sure you came to regret teasing him like that. Oh, and you most definitely lost count after at least five more orgasms.

-

A/N: There’s a hint in there for another smutty Loki Christmas Imagine soon to come. Can you find it? ;-)

If you enjoyed this story, I would appreciate it so much if you considered supporting me on Kofi! It’s either for caffeine or red wine, I’ll take both. ko-fi.com/sserpente ♥ 

[ressyfaerie]

I would love love love to see something along the lines of a Tyka mer au?? Especially if Kai is the merman!! I do love them ever so. Any age rating/idea I am so down for, pretty please!! 🥺🙏❤

Keep up with the great Tyka content it makes my day!

I know who you are and you always give me the best fic inspiration! I read your Tyka mer comics and I am INSPIRED. This might be longer than expected! But here I gooooo

So now that I finished it, I’ll be putting it in a readmore since it’s VERY LONG!!

It’s very rare that I write in first person! But this story definitely called for it, and I AM COMPLETELY IN LOVE. You’re going to want to ask for more, I can already tell.

So here it is:

When I was young, I was saved by a merman.

I remember how the cold seeped into my veins. My head was pounding from the force of hitting the water.

I was too young to know how to swim.

I couldn’t move even if I wanted to.

My body was numb, I descended into the dark blue sea, I saw the light glimmer from the surface, and felt water invade my lungs.

That’s when I saw him.

A flash of blue and milky skin. I felt the smooth scales wrap around my body. I saw his face, clear as day. His purple eyes, silver hair, and blue face markings. His face looked panicked, bubbles erupted from his mouth forming inaudible words. His face turned blurry, and my vision grew dark.

I woke up on the beach. No one believed me when I told them. Just a child’s fantasy gone overboard.

I always wondered how I made it back to shore without knowing how to swim, or how I missed all the rocks.

Someone must have saved me.

The more I visited the beach and saw no sign of a blue finned merman my belief started to dwindle.

Growing up I drew pictures, I even based my imaginary friend off my hero.

In my teens, my best friend Max reminded me of him.

“Tyson! I was just telling my friend about that mer-boy that saved you when you were a kid!”

I laughed it off, “it was a fairytale, Max. Nothing more.”

Years before, Kenny and Hilary sat with me on the beach one day after training.

“Could he still be out there?”

I cleaned my surfboard, looking off into the mysterious ocean.

Hilary passed me a bottle of wax for my board, “you know, I read at least eighty percent of the ocean remains undiscovered.”

Kenny looked up from his laptop, “every mermaid sighting has been proved fake. I still think what you saw was due to a lack of oxygen.”

I gave him an angry look, I didn’t mean to.

“Uh… but miracles have happened.” Kenny tried to reassure me.

I knew the truth.

Mermaids and mermen weren’t real.

After my Mom died, and my Dad left with my brother to explore the world, I had two things, my Grandpa, and my imagination.

Thinking of that boy was my playground. I’d bring sandwiches to the beach, and pretend to talk to him.

I made friends. And became a surfing champion. With my success my imagination drifted away.

I guess I really wasn’t ready for what came next huh?

“Tyson!”

Hilary and Kenny made their way towards my desk, I slammed my textbook closed, I was done with studying anyways.

“There’s a carnival in town! It’s close to your house, you want to come with us tonight?” Her eyes were bright.

I felt a pat on my shoulder, I looked to my right, Max’s blonde hair caught my eye.

“Carnival? Count me in!”

“I’m going too…” Kenny mentioned awkwardly, “Tyson?”

I rolled my eyes, carnivals were for kids. Besides I was planning on catching some waves tonight, but the weather was supposed to be really calm. I guess I could spare the time.

“Alright, sounds like a plan.”

I was right. Carnivals were for kids.

Doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun though.

We rode ride after ride. Kenny had to sit on a bench after he got sick, Hilary rubbed his back.

“Looks like it’s just you and me, partner!” Max slapped my back, “let's get some more snacks!”

Max pulled me towards another booth. I love food, but after a dozen different snacks, and a dozen different rides, I had to admit, I wasn’t feeling too well.

Max handed me a candy apple, I took a bite and felt my stomach turn.

“Bluh,” my lip turned in disgust.

“Wanna take a break from the rides?”

I nodded.

We lost Kenny and Hilary ages ago. Walking through the parts of the carnival with fewer people, we came across a mirror maze.

“Tyson, let’s go in!”

“Sounds fun!”

It was no surprise when I lost Max right away.

I could hear his excited giggles and him shouting my name, I tried to go in his direction, but eventually his voice faded out, and I found my way to the exit.

“Max!” I shouted into the maze, but there was no reply back.

He might have gotten out already…

I walked through the carnival looking for my blonde haired friend. No luck. There was a fortune teller, I made a mental note, Hilary would have liked to go back there.

Then something caught my eye.

ANASTASIA’S HOUSE OF WONDERS

It looked like a cardboard standee, with dark tents behind it. It couldn’t have been that big. I saw some people leave out the exit. There was someone in front of it. They were dressed in a creepy joker costume.

“Hey man,” I got his attention.

“Do you dare enter the house of wonders!”

“Uh, maybe? Is it cool? Like… what’s in there?”

“Things that will make your blood boil—”

“Things?”

“And creatures unknown to this world!—”

“Creatures!?”

“And above all—”

“Oooo what else!?”

“Look kid.” The grey haired joker lowered his arms and sighed, “can you just let me finish my speech?”

“Oh, yeah sorry.”

“I’m Bryan the sharpshooting joker! For only a few bucks—find yourself immersed in a new world!—”

“Okay,” I raised my hand, “that’s enough.”

“Oh thank god” Bryan’s voice dropped a few octaves.

The guy seemed kinda chill, so I leveled with him.

“So dude, is it actually worth my time in there?”

Bryan nodded, “yeah, it’s actually really cool.”

“Alright, sign me up.” I handed him a couple bills.

“Enjoy.” He counted the money.

Before I left I looked under his costume hat, “wait, don’t I know you?”

“Maybe?” He grumbled, accidentally revealing his true persona.

“Yeah! You were in the last surfing championship! You’re that crazy intense guy Bryan! What the heck are you doing here?”

“Uh, sidegig.” He lowered his mask, “have fun in there, kid.”

“Okay…”

I brushed off the awkward encounter and turned to the entrance. It was covered in two extravagant curtains. I pushed the fabric to the side and walked into the darkness.

Wait, is this a haunted house? Damn I shouldn’t have gone without Max!

The first thing I noticed was there was a lack of… people. Tesla coils and odd gimmicks littered the floor of the first hallway. I rolled my eyes, remembering carnivals were for kids.

The next room was bigger than expected, it was a dome with a button in the middle. I pressed it, who could resist a big red button after all?

Suddenly a snow storm picked up. I covered my face, “ah!”

It stopped before I could figure it out, I stared at the sleeve of my red jacket, where snowflakes started melting.

“Alright, that was definitely real snow! I’ll admit I have no idea how you did that one!”

I shouted to no one, but it still helped my nerves.

I—couldn’t figure out where the exit was.

I walked to the edge of the dome, it looked like a carnival tent, I tapped the edge, it rang back with a metallic sound.

“Uh.” I grew worried, “an exit would be nice?!”

I heard a sound from the other side of the room, and some fabric fell from nowhere, revealing another dark room, “thank you!”

Cautiously I made my way to the dark room.

I wish I hadn’t.

Inside were weird animals in green jars.

“Oof, these can’t be real.”

I tapped one, the baby bird inside moved.

“I assure you, they are all real.”

I turned to the corner. A.. man? He had a raven masquerade mask, and when Tyson locked eyes with him, he screamed and revealed massive black wings from his back.

“What the!?—”

I fell backwards, falling on my rear.

The bird boy made his way towards me.

“What are you?!”

“I’m Ian, the birdman.” He sounded tired.

“And in there,” he pointed to the next room with a black talon, “you’ll find my wolf friend.”

“You’re what!?”

I sat up, “naw, I’m done with this place. Your costumes are a bit too real for me.”

He shrugged, “that’s what they all say.” he sat on a crate with a loud thud, “enjoy the rest of the tour.”

I went to the next room because that guy was freaking me out. I really wanted to head back the way I came, but I couldn’t seem to find it.

Also, that guy seemed kind of familiar.

The next room felt colder than the rest. My heart raced when I saw a cage.

“Uh, hello? This haunted house is getting a little weird…”

I heard the clanking of chains, and a flash of red. On the floor of the cage was a boy, a bit older than myself.

“Are you okay?” I asked knowing it was an actor.

I heard a deep growl, and he lifted himself off the floor. I gasped when I saw his face.

A white wolf with a red mane bared his teeth at me.

I took a step back.

I felt the room grow cold, as the wolf tensed and growled.

It lunged forward and snapped it’s jaw, it hit the bars of the cage with a strength that boy shouldn’t possess, I turned and ran.

I ran through a wall tearing down fabric sprinting through tents.

It was dark, I couldn't see anything and didn’t know where I was going.

“Ah!” My foot got caught on a stone and I fell forward.

“How is this place so big! It did not look like this from the outside!”

In front of me was a curtain, it just barely touched the floor, I could see light shining from under it.

If I can’t find my way out… I might as well head for the light.

I lifted the curtain up and shielded my eyes from the bright white light.

In front of me I could just make out the wheels of a traveling train car. The front of it wasn’t metal, it was glass. Bright fluorescent lights hung over it. There was a sign next to me, I rubbed my eyes and could just make out the writing.

Newest exhibit! A rarity of its kind! Stay back, he splashes.

“What?”

Then I saw it.

The flash of blue, silver, and purple.

A merman threw himself against the glass repeatedly, tossing his fists against it. His wrists were in chains, and his constant assault against the glass only amounted to hollow thumps echoing through the tent.

I felt my body freeze.

It was the merman from my childhood.

Is this real?

I slowly made my way to the sealed aquarium.

The boy must have seen me enter the ring of light, because he stopped, he started floating, and stared at me.

“Hello?”

The merman didn’t move, he simply floated in place, I could see his chest move up and down.

“Do you recognize me?”

I made my way to the glass, getting a good look at the boy for the first time.

I placed my hand on the glass. I saw how red his wrists were from the chains.

He put his hand against the glass, only a thin separation between us. I smiled, and looked into his purple eyes.

I think he smiled at me. He opened his mouth slightly and a few bubbles popped out. I chuckled, and he looked back at me.

I stared up at the top of the tank, the lid was thick glass. A massive padlock kept it down. He saw me look at it, and he shook his head frantically.

I nodded, and placed my head against the glass, “you’re not supposed to be here.”

I jumped and hit the lock with my hand gauging how tough it was.

The merman waved his hand and mouthed words shaking his head.

“I’m gonna get you out of here!”

I looked around the room for a tool to use to break the lock. The only thing I could find was the sign I had seen previously.

I grabbed it, and tossed it to the ground, ripping it off its base.

The merman kept throwing his fist against the tank to get my attention, I ignored him knowing I had to help him.

I climbed the edge of the train cart so I was standing on top of the glass looking down at the silver haired boy. He floated on his back and kept banging on the glass with both hands.

It seemed like he was mouthing the words ‘get out get out!’

I used the stick tool I had made and bashed the lock, making loud sounds through the room. I kept doing it, but it didn’t budge.

The merman was banging on the glass mouthing the same words.

“I’m trying!”

I jumped down, knowing I would have to find a different tool, but I bashed it again in frustration.

The merman was frantically pointing now.

“What? What is it?” I watched his lips.

‘Behind you!’

I felt someone grab my shoulder, before I could scream they grasped my shirt and yanked me to the floor, dragging me away.

“Hey! You’re not supposed to touch people in a haunted house!”

I kicked and screamed while watching my merman frantically swim in circles and hit the glass with his tail. He was trying to get to me, but I knew it wasn’t going to work.

The man threw me into another room. I couldn’t see anything in the dark, I was tossed on a chair and sat up. He turned on a light with a click, and an old fluorescent bulb hung from the ceiling. I blinked a few times trying to find my way in the new surroundings.

A silhouette of a man sat on the opposite end of a table.

“You think you can try to take one of my treasures?”

“He is not yours!”

“Months ago I captured him. He’s rightfully mine.”

“Who do you think you are?!” I screamed at him, knowing full well this full grown man could cause me serious harm.

“He’s a rarity, I won’t let him fall into the hands of some snot nosed teenager with a superiority complex.”

I spat, “do you own this crazy place?”

“I do.”

“Don’t think I didn’t recognize your workers. I surfed with most of them in last year's competition.”

The man simply laughed, I finally got to make out some of his facial features. He was an older man.

“And why does the world champion desire my merman?”

“I don’t desire him, he needs to be free!”

“Ha!” The man’s voice bellowed.

I frantically searched for answers, for a way out—for the both of us.

“I’ll buy him from you!”

“Like you could afford him.”

“If I win the next competition—”

“You won’t.”

I grinned smugly, “you don’t know that.”

“You won by luck, my team is far superior.”

“Your team of monsters? Isn’t that cheating?”

“And you think being a descendant of a storm dragon is fair?”

“I’m a—what?”

The man shook his head.

“I know who you are, Tyson.”

“You gonna tell me who you are?”

The man chuckled in response to my anger, making me even more furious.

“The name is Boris. I take care of these boys—”

“By imprisoning them? Leave my merman alone!”

“Excuse me? Yours? Did you not just meet this creature?”

“Let’s say I’m feeling friendly.” I crossed my arms.

“He seemed to react to your presence, what did you do?”

I panicked, “how long were you watching for!?”

“Long enough. I’ve had him here for a few months, yet I can’t seem to break him.”

“Break him?” I was in disbelief, my childhood hero was not some horse at a stable!

“Yes, perhaps you could help—”

“No.” I grimaced.

Boris tapped his fist on the table, “well, it seems we are at an impasse.”

“You’ll never have my help.”

“I think I can live without it.” He stood up, he was much taller than me. “Please leave my circus, and don’t come back.”

“I’m not leaving without the merman.” I stood my ground.

“That’s a shame.”

I felt something heavy hit my temple—

I woke up on a grassy hill. I rubbed my head.

When I managed to sit up I overlooked the carnival from across a field. The lights were all out. It had to have been late for it to be completely closed.

Boris…

Now that I knew my merman was real, and that he was captured by such an evil man I had to find a way to get him back.

I’ll steal him. I’ll figure something out…

You better watch your back Boris.

I stared in the direction I thought my blue finned saviour would be in.

Hold on, I’m coming for you.

[magalidragon]

targaryen’s seven | a Jonerys drabble

A/N: I could not help myself and just threw down this Drabble. I  don’t want to post it on Ao3 just yet because is not a full one-shot nor is it going to be multi-chapter (in the near future, maybe one day I will come back to it) but thought you guys might like it.  Enjoy!

The wind bit at her exposed skin, cheeks pinking without any aide of blush or tint.  It whipped over her silver curls and braids, already pulled back taut from her face.  It would have chilled anyone’s bones, except hers.  Her bones were heated from the heavy thud of her heart against her breastbone, the rush of blood in her veins, and the fire raging inside her soul.  The fire which rose to sparkle in her lavender eyes, redden her plump and pursed lips, and thirsted for revenge.  

In the dark winter in the North, far beyond the everlasting lights and skyscrapers of King’s Landing, the craggy peaks of the Vale, and the marshy flats of the Riverlands, no one walking by on the quaint lantern-lit light posted street with its cozy restaurants, pubs, boutique hotels, and little shops devoted to preserving the heritage of the Realm’s largest, sparsest, and remotest kingdom.  

The woman standing against one of these lightposts, her hands in the pockets of her designer black trenchcoat, hardly paying attention to the bustle of people.  There were locals intermixed with tourists—it was the Dawn Festival soon—going from building to building, stopping to take photos in front of silly little cardboard cutouts of ice zombies and Northmen.

Only a few stopped in their tracks to glance at her, for she stood out among the darkness and the cold snow, her silver hair a moonlit beacon, her entire demeanor that of someone who should not be trifled with nor confronted.  One glance of her purple eyes and they were on their way, bewitched almost to forget she was even there to begin with.  

She lifted her left wrist up to peer at the heavy silver men’s wristwatch, ticking softly under the wail of the wind.  Daenerys Targaryen tsked under her breath.  “He’s late,” she murmured.  She supposed it was silly to think he would actually honor her summons.  He would not be coming then.

Well I suppose I will have to go looking for him.

Her heavy black combat boots crunched under the fresh snows, hands returning to her pockets, walking slowly down the sidewalk.  The last time she was here had not been pleasant.  The Northern History Museum had been far more difficult to crack than she’d originally planned.  She had barely made it out of there with the silver wolf circlet she’d broken in to steal.  Retrieve, she preferred, even if the authorities had different views on the matter.

The silver wolf circlet allegedly belonged to a Northern queen, who rebelled against the kingdoms and ultimately died of starvation when all her allies abandoned her. It was exceptionally expensive and the funds of which now had been siphoned into a series of orphanages the Northern government had been sorely neglecting.

Her walk took her from the local streets a bit farther off the beaten track, the lamps extinguished or nonexistent, the people fewer and fewer, until she was the only one on a darkened street.

Dany paused in front of a pub, glancing down at her phone.  A message from her hacker—Missandei—informed her his cell phone had been pinging from that location an hour ago.  She glanced up, smirked at the worn sign-- The Wildling -- hanging on one hinge.  It was not for charm, but because the owner no doubt didn’t care about it.  Perfect.

She entered the pub, which suddenly went quiet.  Everyone stared at her.  Dany reached up to pull at one of the buttons on her coat, her smile amused, gaze sweeping from one end to the other of the less than desirable establishment.  She was not a local, she should not be there, but she did not care, purposefully striding towards the ancient bar, where a gigantic man with thick red beard and wild eyebrows surveyed her with bright blue eyes.  

“Ale please,” she ordered, sweet.

The man chuckled.  “You’re not from around here.”

“Nope.”

“You lost?”

Dany smiled, taking another look over her shoulder at the clientele, all of whom were still staring at her. She met the man’s gaze again, shaking her head.  “Nope.”

They looked at each other, unblinking, for what seemed like several minutes, but was only a couple.  A boom of laughter finally broke their silent pissing contest, the man slapping his dustbin lid sized hand on the bar, pointing at her, grinning darkly.  “I like you.”  He reached under the bar for a pint.  “Attitude like that, first one’s on me.”  

“I was hoping you could pass something along for me to one of your regulars.”

“Can’t say anyone you know would be in my pub,” the man said.  He set her pint glass full of darkened ale.  He grinned again.  “But try me.”

Dany slipped her fingers into one of the inner pockets of her coat, removing a slim black box.  She set it down on the bar, pushing it with one red manicured finger towards him.  Another enigmatic smile did the trick. “This is for Jon Snow.”

The entire pub might as well have gone on mute.

The jovial bartender immediately hardened, those twinkling blue eyes now chips of ice.  He was gruff.  “Don’t know a Jon Snow.”

“I think you do Tormund Giantsbane.”  Dany climbed off her stool, took a long pull from the ale glass, and wiped the foam from her upper lip.  The gruffness of the bartender dropped like a mask at her sudden use of his full name.  She liked to stun them.  It was fun that way. She turned, calling over her shoulder.  “Put it on his tab.”

The heavy oak door swung closed behind her with a deafening thud.  Dany liked the taste of that ale, making a note she would have to return if she was ever in the mood for it again.  She tugged her phone out, now a message from her ghost, warning her that this was a bad idea and they should try some other way.  

Barristan had said the same thing.  So had Daario.  Grey and Gendry might have also agreed, if Missy and Arya hadn’t been as forceful as they had with their displeasure.  Sometimes it was bothersome to have members of a team fucking, but Dany accepted the two couples because they worked well together and did not usually let their personal issues bleed into the world.  

Plus they all had reason for this job.  Well, not Daario, but he would do anything she asked because he was in love with her.

They all tried to convince her to get someone else.  There were plenty who would kill to be a part of her team.  To join them in this endeavor.  No one else would do, she told them, calm and quiet.  

It had to be him.

She returned to her car, parked in a community lot near the main square, and paid the exorbitant parking fee, even if it probably would have been easier to just use one of Missandei’s contraptions to hack her way out of the 15 stags.  She drove off, humming along to a silly pop song playing from whatever radio station had been on when she picked up the car at the Winterfell International Airport.

Ah Winterfell, so many memories.  The castle loomed large over the city that bore its name.  It was a museum now, even if the Stark family still retained some ownership of it.  Somewhere on the other side in more modest accommodations a few of the Stark family still lived. 

The Starks weren’t as big as they once were.  They were desperate for cash.  All they had were their titles, such as they were.  Dany thought about Arya Stark, her ghost, who technically bore the honorific Lady, but if you thought of calling her that you would get a knife in the gut.  It was part of her reason for taking this job.  

They all had reasons and now she just needed the final player in the game.

In lieu of a hotel, as much as she would like someone to pull back her linens and prepare a fire for her when she turned in for the evening, she rented out a luxury cabin several miles away.  It afforded her privacy, stunning views, and a large sunken tub.  Dany liked a sunken tub.

She parked, walked up to the front door, and smiled to herself at the threshold.  So obvious. She slipped in the key and entered, turning to plug in the code for the alarm panel.  When she turned back, she slipped off her coat, and walked into the large stone paneled living room, with its great fireplace—already crackling—and mountain filled wall of windows.  

“Hello Jon.”

The chair before the fire turned, revealing its occupant, who sat rather bored, legs crossed and fingers tapped against his temple.  He looked the same as ever, she thought, if not better.  Dark raven curls, wild around his face, which had been chiseled from marble.  Dark beard dusting over his jaw and upper lip, his gray eyes black in the shadow of the fire.  All black ensemble, which she knew hid a body that was as chiseled as his face.  Smooth planes and sharp edges, he was a masterpiece.

And he was deadly.  

The gray eyes glinted, just a hint of red.  Could have been from the fire, or it could have been something else.  

Her smile peeled over her teeth.  “My white wolf,” she purred.

Jon Snow smiled in return, although it did not meet his eyes, rather cold, as cold as the storm that began outside, the faintest hints of howling wind sounding.  “Daenerys Targaryen,” he said, in his rumbling Northern burr.  He kept smiling, until he wasn’t.  

And then he was at her throat, his fingers digging into the slim column, tilting up her jaw, his breath mingling with hers, warm and raspy.  Her eyes threatened to roll back into her head and her body ignited, fire consuming her.  He barely touched his mouth to hers, barely breathing.  “I thought I said I would kill you the next time I saw you.”

Now it was her turn to smile.  She lifted her hand, his eyes rolling down to it.  The cold steel of her dragonhead knife was against his jugular.  Even if his thumb was pressing down on her carotid, threatening to cut off her oxygen, she knew he wouldn’t.  Just like he knew she wouldn’t kill him.  Draw blood maybe, but she could never kill him.  “Darling, I think you forgot, it was I who said that.”

“Hmm.”  He drew in her scent, nostrils flaring, and eyes going red again.  The wolf, she noted, her skin prickling, and her body straining towards him.  Not to break free, but to join him. There would be time for that later. His thumb dragged over her bottom lip and she darted her tongue out to touch it.  He groaned, his nose pushing to hers, laugh deep in his chest.  “You came looking for me.”

“I will always come looking for you.”

“I don’t want it.”  His dark brows arched, the feral wolf flickering over his features again, hiding his obvious desire for her.  She bucked her hips against him, reminding him.  He laughed.  “Peace offering, huh?”  He immediately let her go and flicked the box towards her.  He growled.  “You stole that from me.”

“And I’m giving it back.”  She opened the box, revealing the white wolf head pommel from the ancient Valyrian sword he kept in one of his many safehouses.  She sighed.  “I realized that it really belongs with you.”

“No, you realized no one would buy it.”

She shrugged, flicking the box towards him and he caught it one-handed, setting it down on a table behind him.  “Po-tay-toe, Po-tah-toh.”

“I’m not joining you again.”

Ire flared, her eyes darkening to indigo.  “I am no longer asking you nicely.”

“Funny was that what it was when you tried to kill me?”

Of course he would bring that up.  She waved her hand dismissively.  “It was an accident.”

Jon dragged the collar of his shirt down, pointing at a knife scar on his collarbone.  “That is not an accident!”

“Oh yeah, well you stole from me!”

Now it was his turn to shrug it off.  “That money needed to go to the Night’s Watch,” he mumbled, arms crossing over his chest.  

They squared off against each other.  This was not how she planned it to go, but nevertheless.  She narrowed her eyes on him, staring.  He stared back.  No one blinked.  Until they were at each other, grappling, tugging, and tearing at each other, mouths a frenzied clash of tongues and teeth.  She drew his tongue in between her lips to slide along hers, moaning into his mouth when his large hands slipped from her shoulders to cup the sides of her breasts, straining in their cashmere sweater cage.  She lifted herself against him, remembering every feel of him, every dent and ridge of muscle, every nervous quiver, and every bump and drag of scars.

He tore from her first, a hand tangled in her immaculate braids, fingers digging into the ridge of her skull, and another on her hip, holding her to him.  “The answer is still no,” he whispered.

Dany shook her head, whispering.  “You haven’t heard my proposition.”

“I’m out.”

“Even when I tell you the mark?”

He shook his head again, although she knew him.  She’d known him since they were teenagers, misfits and unwanted, trying to scrap by on their wits and wiles.  They had bled together, fought together, fucked and almost died together.  They’d gone to jail together.  She nibbled his lower lip again and he flinched, barely, but she felt it. He still wants to know. “No,” he repeated.

“Yes.”

“I don’t want it.”

She cocked her head, her fingers smoothing over his cheek, dropping to cover his heart with her palm.  Eyes steady, breath even, she smiled again.  “I need my second Jon.  I need my partner.”

They all wanted her to bring in someone else.  Even someone she might have worked with in the past, none of them matched to the trust she had with Jon Snow.  He was her equal, the one she could trust above all else, the one who knew her deepest and darkest fears and desires.  Jon Snow came from nothing like she had and built himself up.  He was the only one she would ever feel comfortable doing this job with.  

There was also the fact that she was still in love with him.

Trivial thing really, she lied to herself.

Whatever they said about him, she didn’t believe it.  He was out, he was done, he’d gone straight…all lies.  He was just like her.  They were wild, they could not be tamed, and he could never settle for a boring law-abiding life.  

The irony of Jon Snow was he was the most honorable criminal she had ever met.

“No.”

Now it was time for the final play.  Her other hand cupped his head and fingers twirled with his hair at the base of his neck.  “Even if I tell you that we’re going for the Targaryen crown and dragons?”

His dark eyes lifted to hers, his breath stilled.  He said nothing.  

Her tongue dabbed her upper lip, her pupils dilating wide, smile curving again.  “The crown and the eggs will all be in a single location, for the Conquering Day Celebration, and Tywin Lannister himself will be there, to give a speech, to commemorate the day.  Robert Baratheon, Cersei Lannister, and that little fucker Tyrion will all be in attendance.”  She brushed her nose over his, whispering.  “Can’t you feel it Jon?  That wolf inside your heart?  The one howling?  What does he want?”

She knew what it wanted, just like he did.  All she needed was for him to say it.  

Jon closed his eyes, shivering, and his arms tightened around her.  “Revenge,” he murmured.  He didn’t need to say it but draining the Lannisters of their stolen riches would also be a bonus.

“Exactly.”

He gazed down at her, lips dropping to hers again, and she knew it.  She knew before he even whispered the words to her, before he kissed her and before they decided to start talking terms.  

“When do we start?”

[nothingbutfangirlsmut]

My God of Mischief

Loki several chapter fan fiction.

Rated: Mature

Background: Loki is left behind leaving Blake, Bruce, Thor, and Valkyrie to make their way off Sakaar and threw the Devil’s Anus

(If you read part 23 before 5/11/20 you might want to go back and reread that one first before moving on. I made a big booboo and had to completely redo that chapter.)

Part Twenty-Four

I came to with someone shaking me. I cracked my eyes open to see Bruce kneeling in front of me. A look of worry plastered on his face.

"You okay?" He asked me.

I nodded not sure if I could actually form words at the moment. Bruce unstrapped me from my seat then helped me to my feet. The sight outside the window was like nothing I'd ever seen. This must be Asgard. I was literally at a place of legend. I stepped up behind Thor's seat as Bruce stood behind Valkyrie.

"I never thought I'd be back here." Valkyrie said as she watched out the window.

"I thought it'd be a lot nicer. I mean not that it's not nice it's just, it's on fire." Bruce said quickly.

Something in front of Valkyrie started beeping causing us all to look down. She pressed a button then a small hologram popped up.

"Here, up in the mountains. Heat signatures. People clustered together. She's coming for them." Valkyrie informed us.

You can drop me off at the palace. I'll lure her away." Thor told her.

"And get yourself killed?" She asked in disbelief.

"The people trapped down there are all that matters. While I'm dealing with Hela I need you three to help get them off Asgard." Thor commanded.

Bruce leaned forward to get closer to Thor.

"How the hell are we suppose to do that?" He asked the god.

Thor chuckled.

"I have a man on the ground." Thor said simply.

Bruce and I took the seats over as Thor and Valkyrie worked on getting the plan in motion. A loud bang behind me had me turning around to see a massive gun laying at Valkyrie's feet.

"Here, now the ship has a gun." I heard Thor say from behind me.

"You sure about this?" I asked Bruce quietly.

He shrugged but smiled at me. I wanted to help Thor but I didn't have any special abilities like they did. I was just a normal mundane human caught in the middle of this mess. Oh how I wished I was back home safe with Dr. Strange.

We took off away from the palace to get to the Asgardian people. I glanced behind me to see Valkyrie now in some white outfit. It suited her and made her look a lot more badass. She worked quickly on setting the gun up. My heart pounded in my chest. I did not want to die. We made it over to the mountains to find absolutely no one.

"They must have evacuated at the last second." Valkyrie said.

"Where would they go?" I asked.

"Probably to the bridge." Valkyrie answered.

Bruce was quick to turn the ship around. As we neared the bridge we could see a large group of people stopped. Something big and black was at the end of the bridge facing them.

"What the hell is that?" I asked squinting my eyes.

"Hela's mut" Valkyrie said as she readied the fun to fire.

Bruce brought us closer. He kept the ship at an angle that Valkyrie could fire the gun. That big black thing was a wolf. A huge terrifying wolf. It started running as Valkyrie rained down bullets. I looked down to see the wolf unfazed by the bullets spraying it. Valkyrie groaned as she stepped back from the gun.

"This stupid dog won't die!" She shouted.

I heard Bruce sigh. He hit a button in front of him then stood from his seat.

"Everything is going to be alright now. I got this. You wanted to know who I am." Bruce said as he walked over to Valkyrie.

I jumped from my seat quickly running over to my brother.

"Bruce no! We don't know what will happen if you do this." I spoke frantically.

Bruce smiled down at me then kissed the top of my head.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Valkyrie asked.

"You'll see" Bruce said then squeezed my shoulder.

I covered my mouth to stop from screaming as Bruce jumped from the ship. A scream did come out of me as I watched him hit the bridge hard. His body lay unmoving. The wolf touched him with his paw then quickly stepped over him. Tears burned my eyes until I saw a familiar green. He did it! He had turned into hulk and grabbed the wolf's tail pulling it back from the Asgardians. He sling the wolf backwards then roared.

"Holy shit" Valkyrie said quietly.

"You knew about that?" She asked pointing down at the Hulk.

I nodded.

"Take the controls I'll need to get down there and help." Valkyrie told me.

"What? I don't know how to work this thing." I said in a panic.

"Figure it out" she said gesturing for me to go on.

I sighed then took the seat Bruce had been sitting in. I took a deep breath then grabbed the controls. The ship instantly jerked. I'm gonna kill us all. This is not good.

"Get it on the bridge!" Valkyrie shouted.

I turned the handle causing the ship to tilt up on it's side. It flew in a tight circle then crashed hard on the bridge.

"Stay here!" Valkyrie shouted then jumped out.

I turned to watch her as I accidentally hit a button. I heard the fireworks going off as the music tried to play but it only skipped then died out. I huffed then leaned back in the seat. As long as I stayed right here I should be safe.

I sat up in my seat as I heard a loud rumbling noise. It sounded like an engine. I got up from my seat then ran over to the open door Valkyrie had jumped out of.

"Your savior is here!" I heard the familiar voice shout.

A huge dark blue ship was slowly next to the bridge. A figure was walking down the extending walkway off of it. Is that Loki? It can't be him. A bright flash of lightning over the palace drew my eyes from the new comer. What the hell is happening? The fighting continued in the distance as I shrank back into the ship. I sat on the floor with my back against the wall. Everything is going to be fine. It's going to be okay. I jumped at the sound of someone jumping into the ship with me. I shot to my feet only to see the god of mischief standing before me.

"What the hell?" I questioned harshly.

"No time to explain sit down and strap in." He said quickly as he ran to sit in front of the controls.

I quickly took the seat next to him then strapped myself in.

"This is madness." He whispered.

"What's going on?" I asked him.

"Remember that Ragnorok thing my brother talked about stopping?" He asked as he lifted the ship into the air.

"Yea" I nodded.

"I'm about to cause it." He said simply.

"Excuse me?" I shouted in disbelief.

He couldn't be serious.

"Why did you come here?" I asked suddenly.

Loki glanced at me then back on the window. He chewed his bottom lip for a moment then sighed.

"Because this ridiculously beautiful, stubborn, goddess of a woman said some pretty accurate things to me. I wasn't going to but then Thor left me behind and I felt like the smallest piece of shit in that moment. I remembered the look on your face and I couldn't have that be the last time we spoke or saw each other." He explained quietly as he flew around the palace.

My heart lifted at his words. Was he serious? He came back here because of me? He helped save these people because of me? It was like a light bulb went off in my head. Odin has been right. My heart or love for Loki had been what brought him here to help save Asgard.

The ship lowered to the ground. Loki pressed a button then stood up.

"Stay here I'll be back in just a few minutes." He explained.

I nodded then watched him run off the ship, across the landing, then inside the palace. He was right when he said it would be just a few minutes. He was back in what felt like no time.

As he lifted us back into the air a loud crash had me craning my neck to look out the window.

"What the hell is that?" I asked in a completely panic.

The firey being rose up bigger than a mountain. Loki made the space ship swerve from side to side to miss the creatures hands and falling debris. Asgard was going to be ruined. Ahead of us I could see the bigger ship drifting away from the rainbow bridge.

"They're leaving" I said pointing at the moving ship.

"Indeed" Loki said then turned to miss more falling debris.

The smaller ship we were on was faster than the bigger one. It wasn't long when we were hovering right above it. Loki watched below as he carefully lowered the smaller ship onto the top of the bigger one.

—

—

Tags: @jedionironthrone @fabulously-majestic-alicorn @mehrmonga @rainbow-pandacorn @bauboshell @lovely-geek @girlwith100names @thecrazyoneshavetakenover @tiffanyhpentaholic @shaunamart @takenbymyfandoms @yourmonster-myfriend @sebastiangotmefucked @scarecrowsragdoll @imagine-adict

[puttingfingerstokeys]

stork and starshine

in which New Kang (her first appearance is in Storm Over Function) asks where babies come from and I once again refuse to fuck with spaces or italics because--say it with me--I’m fucking lazy! I had intended this to be sillier than it is, but as always the muse takes me where it wants me and it wants me to be a fucking hallmark channel tearjerker bullshit screenwriter so here, have some ancient queens being dads (okay Shang Tsung isn’t ancient--this will be like, idk twentyish? years before the... third MK tournament?? I dunno man I’m making this up as I go along. I have no kontrol. Any writer who says they do also likely has a bridge to sell you). 

Warring Exes 

restored timeline

A light tug on the arm of his luxuriant vermilion robe drew Shang Tsung’s attention up from the swooping strokes of his quill upon parchment. He regarded the room in an almost comically oblivious way, even going so far as to shade his eyes from some bright light, as if it was difficult to see. The tug came again and once more, he scanned the room.

 “Baba, here, I’m here,” said a voice which was more like birdsong than speech. Shang Tsung laid his quill aside then and turned to face his daughter, a girl of six with hair as dark as the depths of night before dawn and vivid, hazel eyes. She reached out toward him with small hands and he sat back, a stern look upon his face.

 “Liu Kang,” he purred, “we have spoken of this many times; when you desire something, what do you do?”

 “I take it!” She was very proud of her answer and he smiled, gesturing that she should go on. Her face screwed up, lips puckering in thought before she continued, finishing strong. “Or find someone who can give it to me!”

 “Indeed, and how do you communicate this desire?” The greed sparkling in his obsidian eyes was lost upon her, a child who had just learned self from other, but the pride was not. It sparked a fire in her the likes of which he had never seen and which he appreciated greatly. She would grow to be a wolf, not a snake.

 “I say it!” Everything from a child, it seemed, had to be delivered upon the wings of boundless enthusiasm. The girl had adjusted her posture, straightening and standing erect, a pose which showed nicely the fine clothes she wore, perfectly tailored to her tiny body and mimicking that of her opulent “Baba”. Her dark hair was glossy under the lamplight of Shang Tsung’s study and the gold and baubles in it caught and reflected that warmth. She was a stunning child and he could see even now that she would grow into a beautiful woman. He had no intention of allowing her to traverse the realms without knowing who she was. That would be her most powerful weapon of all, to say nothing of the sorcery he fully planned on teaching her.

 “So, tell me, what would you like?” He leaned upon one arm of his chair and watched her, luxuriating in parental bliss. He watched her eyes dart about, watched her cheeks go red, watched her little eyebrows pulling together at the center of her sweet, smooth forehead, one he had kissed more times than he could count.

 “I um… I want to know how people come into this world.” Liu Kang spoke each syllable with meticulous care, knowing how much was expected of her and wanting only to please. Shang Tsung’s face softened and her posture slackened with it. She was not a child in want, but she was not spoiled—per se. Her lessons were difficult and Shang Tsung would bear nothing less than perfection from his darling girl. But he was a good teacher and surprisingly patient. It pleased her to please him and he was pleased when she strove for this. They were well-matched.

 “You desire knowledge, my daughter,” he offered, opening a hand and conjuring a few shapes for her amusement—and his own, if he was being honest—before straightening and standing, pushing his chair away from the grand mahogany desk with the backs of his knees. He offered her one of his gilded hands, rings adorning his fingers, instead of golden claw gauntlets, his bracelets jingling as he moved. She took that hand and held it tightly, and together, they moved toward his library. “I will never deny you knowledge.”

 Shang Tsung’s study was a warmly furnished, dark room, lined with books and lit by braziers and enchanted objects wherever he desired them to be. Those books were his favorites—special editions, old manuscripts, things which were unattainable to others… But nothing could escape his grasp once he had set his mind upon it. The tomes he sought, however, would not be in that collection. 

 They stepped out into the library proper, a stone room cut into the very mountain of his keep and equipped with protective ventilation, enchanted barriers to ward against moisture and rot, and sconces every few feet, illuminating the vastness of it. She had come careening through here—there was no doubt in his mind that careening had been her method of travel—a few minutes before, just to come find him. He wondered if she had known he would be here, or if she had been sent.

 “I know you have said I was a gift, but I know the gifts people bring you,” she said, her voice grave with the knowledge of six accumulated years. “Did someone bring me like that?”

 Shang Tsung considered a moment, his hand upon the spine of an Earthrealm biology book, bemoaning the absence of an Edenian scroll or volume of the same subject. One finger ran down the title and publisher absently as he considered how he would answer this. He had never hidden anything purposefully from her, and the story of her arrival was a good one, a fascinating one, in fact. Still, he was unsure if the timing was appropriate. After a moment’s thought, he withdrew from the shelf and, still holding her hand in his, dropped to one knee before her, the light catching the gold in his hair as it caught in hers.

 “I will tell you the story of your arrival, Starshine, but not yet.” He touched her nose, a sweet little button of a thing. “We must find your father first.”

 She brightened at this and reached out to touch Shang Tsung’s nose in the same way. “Follow me,” she bade, tugging on his hand. He stood and she pulled, his heart swelling with pride. She was intelligent, perceptive, beautiful, thoughtful—everything a parent could want in a child. For a brief moment, he considered how little he deserved her. As she pulled him relentlessly through the winding halls of his castle—their home—he considered what, precisely, he had done in his entire life to deserve such an immense gift, something which could sate his greed once and for all. He had not known in his younger days that such a thing could be possible. He had thought the well of his desires endless. The thoughts banished themselves as she, with her tiny hand, and a bit of his sorcery, pushed her way—their way—through the last door to his throne room.

 “Father!” Her shrill, bird-like voice called out toward the balcony behind Shang Tsung’s opulent throne. On the balcony, a figure stood, facing the misty sea beyond the island. The fog had cleared this night and one might see for miles, study the stars, see many moons and skies of different realms. “Father!” She called louder this time and the figure turned. 

 The shoulders were broad, the stature gargantuan, at least seven feet tall, perhaps more, and, though light-colored robes and white hair were tossed about ceaselessly by the wind, a hat, in the simple style of a rice farmer—though far more lavishly adorned than a rice farmer’s had any right to be—stayed perched on top of the tall man’s head. Gentle, dark blue eyes caught the light of some moon or other as he moved forward to receive his daughter’s affection, dropping to one knee and opening his arms to catch her as she leapt into them.

 “Liu Kang,” rumbled Raiden, his voice the distant murmur of thunder, “you have found him for me. I am so proud.”

 “She is an adept sorceress,” Shang Tsung said, stepping out onto the balcony. “I have taught her well and will teach her more.”

 A shadow passed briefly over Raiden’s face as he remained on one knee, the girl in his arms, but it disappeared as suddenly as it had emerged. He was no fool. Liu Kang could not enter the world—any world—without defense. He could teach her no sorcery, could not even gift her with divinity which he no longer possessed. It was a wise path, if a dangerous, serpentine one. His consolation was that Shang Tsung would allow no harm to come to his precious girl—their girl—while under his tutelage. This was his greatest gift, this all-consuming, nearly-obsessive adoration. The way Shang Tsung’s face lit up when he observed their daughter was a balm for Raiden’s scarred, mortal soul.

 The sorcerer approached and, joining his family near the fine stone of the balcony railing, bent forth and grasped Raiden’s chin, delighting in the fine bones of his face, the set of his lips, the nobility of his nose. With his free hand, Shang Tsung removed the hat so that the moonlight could lay its silvery elegance over the former god’s features, illuminating them, highlighting each perfect imperfection, each part of him that had likened him to humanity, even when he had been divine. With Liu Kang caught between them, he brought their lips together, long and slow, the child wrapped in Raiden’s arms—he was helpless to resist, but it had been much time and more since he had wanted to do so.

 Only her muffled shouts stopped them and they pulled apart to her flailing protests. “Baba promised a story!” Her declaration was loud, almost thunderous. Shang Tsung’s serpentine smile at her demand mirrored Raiden’s soft grunt of incredulity, though this too was followed by a smile.

 “A story,” he echoed, “of what, I wonder?”

 Their eyes met over Liu Kang’s head and wordless knowledge passed between them. It was time she knew whence she came. Raiden’s nod was minute as he stood, Liu Kang in his arms, Shang Tsung before him, the strangest family in any realm, every realm… but happy, for all that.

[paperbagpetrichor]

Hold On | [Bertholdt x Reader]

This was written awhile ago (read: 2017); nevertheless, I hope you enjoy!

It was a clear, cloudless, beautiful day.  The sky had found itself in that elusive, impeccable state of hues, just darker than a pale blue but ever so slightly less saturated than a pure cerulean.  Not a single puff of whiteness dotted the admirable air.  A slight breeze blew now and then, gradually easing the sun’s sweltering heat into a pleasant warmth that remained in excellent equilibrium with the rest of the environment.  There was no remainder of the past few days’ previous humidity.  All in all, it was a day that you had dreamed for.  Not just because of the weather, of course; no, it was far more than that.

Today was the 57th Expedition Outside the Walls.

Otherwise known to you as the first time you’d truly see the world for what it was: one unconstrained, unconfined, and completely free from man’s touch.

For once you hadn’t needed a roommate to wake you up.  Your head had been the first one to pop up that morning, beating even the early-bird girl who lay in the bed adjacent to you, Mikasa.  Ymir had even greeted you with a pat on the back, glad to have the time she usually used to shake you from your vivid dreams to Krista.  At breakfast you’d wolfed down every morsel - something Sasha was not too happy about.

But no matter.  That spike of energy still remained within you, even as you sat through about twelve repeated verses of the same instruction plan, over and over, again and again.  The team you’d been assigned to - along with Ymir and Bertholdt - was led by Nanaba.  And she was nothing if not thorough.  

Just as Nanaba was about to dive into her final reiteration, Ymir’s snores snagged her attention, and she sighed.  “Ymir,” she snapped, successfully startling the girl awake.  You couldn’t help but giggle to yourself.  It was as though your roles were reversed - on any other day, that would’ve easily been you.  Even Bertholdt seemed to have noticed.  His eyes were rested upon your seated form for longer than you’d noticed.  

“Sorry,” Ymir muttered, narrowing her eyes and resting her chin in her hands.  “But I think we get it.  When are we leaving, anyways?”

Nanaba folded her arms, a smile growing on her lips despite herself.  “As soon as Commander Erwin gives us the signal.”  She paused for a moment, glancing over at another group, one of whose team members’ was not particularly pleased with his position and had entered a fit of shouting.  Nanaba cast a final glance back in your direction, then ran a hand through her short hair and departed with a quick, “I’ll be right back.”

It was evident that Ymir had been trying to catch up on some sleep as she muttered, “Jeez...can’t Daz ever calm down?  There’s no way he’ll get out of here alive.”  Her tone was that of someone discussing the dirt on their shoe, not that of someone dealing with life and death.

“He’s just afraid,” you interjected softly, unable to suppress your pity for your poor teammate.  He always seemed to have too many things on his mind...unfortunately, everybody else seemed to disregard that, and viewed him as pathetic.  “And - considering everything, he has a right to be.”

Bertholdt appeared as though he had been about to say something, but as your phrases drew to an end his eyes quickly settled on his feet as opposed to you, where they had been just momentarily.  A small bead of sweat had formed on his forehead.

“No, don’t tell me you’re scared, too, Bertholdt,” Ymir groaned.

“Hm?”  Bertholdt tilted his head to the side, contemplating Ymir with a puzzled look.  It took him a few moments for the question to sink in.  “Oh - no.  Just wondering why we were placed so close to the front.”  His last sentence was just barely audible.

Only you heard his muted words, and, despite all your faith in the upper level members of the Survey Corps, you found yourself curious about the exact same thing.  The majority of the teams assigned to the front had been comprised of only experienced soldiers - or at least an even mix of new trainees and their superiors.  So why had your team, set to ride just behind the first row of the right flank, been chosen with three trainees and only one Squad Leader?  It didn’t make much sense to you.  “Maybe it’s because Bertholdt ranked so high?”

“If that’s the reason, it’s a dumb one,” retorted Ymir.  “I at least hope Krista got a safer position than this.”

Ah, of course.  This was why she was acting particularly ornery this morning: she and Krista had been divided onto different teams, relatively far apart from one another.  “Don’t worry, Ymir,” you smiled, “Krista can take care of herself.”

Ymir couldn’t help but give a small nod before falling silent.

A sudden ear-splitting call jolted the three of you from your small talk, sending you scrambling to your feet and racing to mount your horses.  Nanaba had already found hers at the head of your line of three.  “Ready?” She called back to her teammates.

“Yup.”

You gave her a determined stare.  “Definitely.”

Bertholdt, next to you, gave you a timid smile and then replied, “Yes.”

He’d answered right on time; for, just a mere moment after he’d closed his mouth, Commander Erwin’s orders were delivered.

And, tightening your grip on your steed’s reins, you began your first steps outside the wall.

For some reason you were the only member of your team that was audibly infatuated with the scenery.  Miles and miles of fresh, overgrown, verdant grass, clumped together so closely that you couldn’t tell where one stalk ended and another began; a tall, dense forest of gargantuan coniferous trees in the background; an unadulterated view of the stunning sky, unlimitless in its sheer size.  You hardly took notice of the soft noises of amazement that were spilling from your mouth.

“[Y/n].” Bertholdt, on the other hand, had apparently heard them.  His horse fell in-step with yours as he closed much of the gap between the two of you.  “Stay focused.”

This yanked you out of your awe, but proved to be a needed reminder.  You had been more than prepared to fully submerse yourself in this new world and forget the mission entirely.  “Right.”  You leaned farther down, feeling the resistance between your form and the atmosphere greatly decrease, cape flapping about like a flag behind you.  This was why you were here: to plot a course from Karanes to Shiganshina.  Not to daydream about what could have been.  “Thanks.” Bertholdt was rather relieved that you didn’t notice the ever-growing redness of his face.

You rode on in laser-sharp focus for quite awhile without any further interruptions.  It was you, your team, your military branch, and your world.  Not the world within the walls - no.  The genuine, bona fide Earth, that ever-puzzling enigma constantly clouded with enigma so much so that you had been prevented from seeing it for all your fifteen years of life.  All of them until now.

And yet ‘now’ was the time when a purple flare exploded in the sky.  

“What?” Nanaba’s tongue slipped and she was exposed to be just as clueless as the rest of you were.  

“Emergency,” Ymir muttered, gritting her teeth as she tried to pinpoint the location of the flare’s origin in comparison to its range to Krista’s group.

You weren’t exactly dying to say something.  A strange sense of trepidation had seized your previous excitement, replacing it with something colder, something harder.  

Nanaba took a sudden sharp turn, yelling back, “Get ready!  Three abnormals approaching!”  She shot up a flare of her own - although it was black instead of the murky purple.

Your gaze followed her index finger, allowing your eyes to fall on the three aforementioned beasts.  They were relatively small - two five-meters and one seven-meter - but posed a threat nonetheless.  You waited, hands on the buttons of your 3DMG, ready to burst off at any moment, for Nanaba’s orders.  

But those expected orders never came, because at that exact moment another purple flare painted the sky, and Ymir flung herself into action.  “Ymir!”

“Damnit…” Nanaba ranted, performing a lightspeed head-twist round her shoulders to check and make sure you were still there.  A bit of the anger in her eyes disappeared as she saw the tensed figures of both yourself and Bertholdt.  “I need you two to try to reach the flare site.  Help with whatever is needed.  Ymir and I’ll get these, then rendezvous with you near the outskirts of the forest.  Got it?” Bertholdt beat you to an answer.  “Yes.”

“Good.”  And with that last, single word, Nanaba flung herself into the chaos.  

Lightly nudging his horse’s side, Bertholdt sped past you.  Upon noticing you weren’t by his side anymore, he cast an anxious glance back at you.  “We have to go.”

For whatever reason, a part of you - a small but nevertheless important part at that - whispered to you that something here wasn’t right.  No, not right at all.  You’d promised yourself that you’d never leave a teammate behind; wasn’t this exactly that?  

“[Y/n]!” Bertholdt’s message grew significantly louder.  He was practically yelling when he restated, “We have to go!  It’s Nanaba’s orders!”

Dammit.  Leaving Ymir and Nanaba behind drove a wedge deep within your heart, but your mind managed to grasp your body’s control for the time being, and it knew that it had to obey rules.  You desperately tore your eyes from the ongoing battle.  Staring wouldn’t have helped.  Ymir can take care of herself; Nanaba can take care of herself; together they’re practically invincible.  You had to keep reminding yourself this as you dashed after Bertholdt.

“They’ll be okay…” you murmured, perhaps to nobody but yourself.

“They will be,” Bertholdt reassured.  “We just have to do our part.”

You fastened your grip on your horse, fingernails digging into the leathery material of the stallion’s halter.  Just get to the site.  It’ll be okay.  It’ll be okay.

It took you all of ten seconds to realize it was absolutely not okay.

Within mere moments of entering a ten-meter radius of the flares’ source, the grass was no longer green.  It was red.  Red with the blood of your dead comrades.

“Oh - no…”

It was hard to find a spot that wasn’t littered with human remains.  The entire area was a massive above-ground burial site, its ghostly inhabitants severed from their bodies and tossed like limp toys across the Titan’s sickening sandbox.  Pressure built up at the back of your eyes and you bit the inside of your cheek to prevent the tears from spilling over.  You’d seen the destruction of the Battle of Trost, but that was almost nothing compared to this crimson carpet of carnage.  

You had been so focused on the magnitude of damage around you that you didn’t notice the only living person along with you draw closer.  “[Y/n]...” he began softly.

Head jerking round to face him, you nearly screamed at his sudden unwarned presence.  “This is - what...how could…?”

“Just hold on,” he urged.  “These people didn’t die without striking back - look.”  

You followed his gaze to a mound of giant, smoking, decaying bodies.  Titans.  These soldiers must have died fighting them.  It was no wonder...there were so many dead, it was almost unimaginable as to how many live ones there had been.

Oh.

“Bertholdt!” You shot out the wires of your 3DMG, anchoring yourself to the tallest nearby structure.  “Watch out!”

An eight-meter class was approaching with frightening speed.  Immediately after landing on your desired branch you launched yourself into the air, using a bit of gas to slow your fall as you flew behind the Titan, landing on its upper shoulder blades and running across the length of them, dragging your swords through the burning flesh of the monster.  Its hand nearly caught you but you completed the task just in time: as it reached for your spot, it began to collapse, and you darted back to where your horse had remained, relatively unfazed.  Bertholdt must have continued on.  “Let’s go, boy.”

Soon enough you were riding just behind Bertholdt, who appeared relieved to see you.  “I - haven’t found anyone yet,” he informed quietly.” You spared him the translation: he hadn’t found any survivors.  “Okay.  The second launch site was a little farther - we have to keep going.”

With a nod from your counterpart, your plan was set in stone.  As much as you hated it you began to successfully tune out the ocean of vermillion within which you rode.  Deep breaths.  They had died valiantly.

The ground beneath you began to shake rather abruptly, as though the earth itself was to split directly underfoot.  You shot a gaze over your shoulder and spotted the sight: a ten-meter abnormal.  “I might need your help.  Keep an eye out.”  And you dove once more into the waters of battle.  

Swinging around it, you managed to devise a perfect plan to hit it in its weak spot, but as you propelled yourself towards the Titan it did something you’d never seen before.

One minute your horse was there, waiting for you.

The next it was smashed against a tree.

An inexplicable rage began to flow through your body.  You’d had enough now.  Losing your comrades was bad enough - losing your trusty sidekick was another.  This horse had been yours.  Yours and nobody else’s, and you had loved it to pieces.  It had loved you, too.

But now it was in pieces.

Your throat emitted a strangled cry as you stabbed into the tender flesh of your attacker, cutting far deeper and far slower than you would’ve under normal circumstances.  This absolute demon deserved its death; every painstaking moment of it.  You were hardly aware of the fact that you were shouting for Bertholdt the entire time.  You only felt your mouth moving, not the words that it was forming, calling for someone who wouldn’t come.  Had he been hurt?  You couldn’t see through the smoke as your opponent gave way to its pain.  

“Bertholdt!” you yelled, trapped in the terrifying state of unsureness.  Where had he gone?  Was he okay?  Please let him be okay, oh, please, please, please….

Your time to think was cut short as a thirteen-meter ran out to the left of the tree you’d perched yourself on.  Was this possible?  Did you have enough energy - enough supplies - to take on another - much less a large abnormal? You didn’t have a choice.  As such, you braced yourself once more, and fired off into action.  Calculate where its blind spots are.  Where can it not see me?

The mental preparations had almost been finished when a fifteen-meter appeared, hot on the heels of its thirteen-meter friend.  “Bertholdt!”  It was pointless, but you couldn’t help it.  

You had reached a point of pure hopelessness.  You were going to die, just as all the soldiers you’d found today.  Soon enough nobody would remember your name because you were just another dead body rotting in just another grave, alone, so, so alone.

If this was to be your end, you would go down fighting.

The tears in your eyes began to bubble over as you shot out frantically for the smaller, close titan, readying your blades with shaky hands.  You had to remind yourself to breathe; to blink.  You had to force your heart to keep going.  Almost there, just a few feet left.

There was hardly a foot between you and the thirteen-meter when you felt what may have been to most excruciating shock of agony that you had ever - and would ever - experience.  Your maneuvering gear was suddenly slammed back into your hips, the belts that connected it to your body constricting until they cut the circulation off, the buckle of the strap running just beneath your chest digging deep into your skin.  A harrowing crack was heard as pain bloomed like a deadly flower across your ribs.  Your screams were high and loud and labored and torturous, your lungs inflating and pressing against the shattered portion of your left chest with every mammoth inhale.  You were crying now, crying so hard that the tears completely blurred your vision - or at least almost completely, because you then realized the cause of this horrendous pain.

The fifteen-meter titan had snapped one of your wires.  And then, perhaps worst of all, it had grabbed you in one of its gigantic hands.  

This was it.

You still found yourself screaming for him.  There wasn’t any reason; you knew that.  You knew you were only causing yourself more pain along the path of your death.  You just had to.  Had to go out knowing that there had been someone you’d really, truly, cared about; regardless of whether he cared for you the same way.  

Please.

Just as it was about to completely encase you in its grasp, a ragged voice that was almost at first unrecognizable blared off.  “Hold on, [y/n]!”

In a flash the two main fingers that had grabbed you were suddenly gone, sliced cleanly off by someone with immense skill.  You fell inelegantly to the ground, softening your blow with the small amount of gas that remained in your gear, and felt your hands grow wet with the salty liquid spilling from your eyes.  You couldn’t hear much of anything above your own sobs, but you felt the ground trembling beneath you as gargantuan steps were taken by the giant beasts that had nearly snuffed out your light.  There was nothing more that you did besides put your face in the grass and weep.  Weep for your friends, out there somewhere, perhaps meeting worse fates.  Weep for those that had died at Battle of Trost.  Weep for your pain.  Weep for your fractured rib.  Weep for yourself.  Weep for the dead.  Weep for the fact that you could have joined them.

Weep for the fact that the last living person anywhere near you could be killed within an instant.  

Weep for the fact that you could hardly move your body to help him.  

Two deafening crashes suddenly occurred, one directly after the other, and the ground convulsed for the last time.  

“[Y/n]!  Hold on.” You felt someone gently helping you to a sitting position, fingers timid and wary, as if their very touch could destroy you.  “B-Bertl…”

“What happened?” He demanded, putting a hand around your back to help steady you and ease the pressure placed upon your injury.  His eyes were brimming with fear and sadness and...something else that you couldn’t quite pinpoint.

Words came to you, but they failed to make it out of your mouth. “I - I…” you started, choking up, “I….”  

You flung the arm of your uninjured side around him suddenly, pulling him to you, burying your head in his chest.  You couldn’t speak.  But you could hug.  And Bertholdt, your greatest friend, your closest companion, your lifesaver, needed so much more.

His heart rate increased drastically as your face rested against it, the pumping of his blood audible due to your sheer closeness.  And he hugged you back - so gently, so carefully, as though handling a wounded butterfly for the first time.  “We’ll be alright,” he whispered, running a hand through your hair.  He’d wanted to do that ever since he’d first met you - both embrace you and play with your locks.  He was in need of just as much comfort as you were.

And you two formed that perfect equilibrium.

“Thank you.”  The two words managed to float effortlessly from your mouth.  “Thank you - s...so much…”

He pulled you closer.  “I shouldn’t have left you like that.”  His voice had relapsed into its typical reserved, soft sound.  “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”  And, as you two held one another, it was.

No matter how much suffering you had seen or endured or lived or experienced or suffered, this moment, this one simple, tender, marvelous moment...it was enough to take the pain away.

“You’ll be fine, [y/n],” he continued, perhaps not directed at you so much as for you, “we’ll be found, and we will be alright.”

And, as you two held one another closer, you were.

[bendywackyadventures]

The Ink Demonth Day 24

I was glad I got to do this for Crossover! So I had this idea of doing this crossover story of BATIM where Dipper, Mabel, Varian and Hilda are somehow sent to Joey Drew Studios and try to escape. I never wrote this idea as a story as I was nervous how people would feel of a crossover. Now with Day 24 being crossover I could write a small part to this. If you like it and want more I might come up with a few more stories for it. I don’t know? 

Well enjoy!

They didn’t know how they got here and why?

They didn’t know how they would escape?

They didn’t even know what was going on around here? All they remembered was a door opened it and then they stumbled into what appeared to be an abandoned studio. However, this abandoned studio turned out to be not so abandoned after all. It was filled with monsters, a demon wanting to kill them, and a deformed angel that will give them their freedom if they could help her with some eensy, weensy favors for her first.

This group of misfits as what the angel and the prophet call them was trapped in this inky maze and want to escape and get home back to their worlds. So who are these misfits lurking in Joey Drew Studios. Well one was an alchemist, the other was a girl fun for adventure, and their leaders were twins who went through stuff like this before.

They were on an elevator heading down bellow to level 14 to collect inky hearts for the angel. The ride down was much slower then the last floors making the wolf behind them shaking in fear. The young alchemist put his hand on the wolf’s arm to keep him calm.

“Its alright, Boris. You’ll be fine.” He said. The wolf gave a smile till the elevator started to slow down showing a room filled with ink. The elevator opened and the smell of ink hit them hard, the ink was all over the room. The group looked around as the female twin got up and saw the first inky heart on a fallen Striker.

“Well that was easy!” She touched the inky heart, but regretted it because of how slimy it was. “Eww. Varian you take it!” She yelled throwing the inky heart to the alchemist who was named Varian. Varian screamed throwing the inky heart like a hot potato before giving it to the girl’s twin brother.

“Dipper!” Varian yelled. The boy screamed and caught it as the ink dripped through his fingers.

Suddenly a screech was heard as a light started to run. The misfits looked through the balcony and out of the hall as a humanoid figure with a projection for a head ran out before walking to the other side of the hall.

“What is that?” Dipper asked shocked.

To answer his question, Alice spoke through the speakers hushing them. “Quiet.” She whispered. “There he is, the Projectionist. Skulking in the darkness. You be sure to stay out of his light, if you don’t want trouble. Just bring me back the pieces I need.” She explained.

“Yeah thanks.” Dipper replied. “Okay let’s all walk slowly downstairs without making a peep.” He whispered. The group slowly tiptoed down the stairs hoping not to slip or any noise to attract the Projectionist. Once they made it down ink started to soak their shoes and socks. The group gulped and kept on walking towards the ink, which was harder to do then in the other areas.

Mabel kept on walking till she saw a box with a pair of headphones and an audiotape she walked slowly hoping there was no traps or anything till she accidently pressing the audiotape due to her trying to stay quiet. The tape played and the recognized a familiar voice playing. It was the same man they heard back in the Music Department.

Norman Polk:

Now I’m not lookin' for trouble. It’s just the nature of us projectionists to seek out the dark places. You see, I’ve learned the ins and outs of this here studio. I know how to avoid being bothered by the likes of this... company. "That projectionist", they always say, "creeping around, he’s just lookin’ for trouble." Well trouble or not, I sees everything. They don’t even know when I’m watchin’. Even when I’m right behind ‘em.

Footsteps ran towards the tape and the Projectionist roared looking around the inky room. Nothing was there; everything was where it was before still the tape shouldn’t have played on its own. The Projectionist knew someone was here, but where? The monster turned and continued walking through the inky abyss.

The misfits hid upstairs hoping the Projectionist wouldn’t see them and so far so good. “That was a close one.” Hilda, who was the other young girl sighed.

“Very close.” Dipper added. “Lets just get the inky hearts and were done.”  Dipper commanded giving the group a nod. The group went to the other hallway away from the Projectionist to find the inky hearts.

The hallway was dark and other projections were there showing nothing. The misfits knew this was a trap to get them to believe the real Projectionist was on their trail. They looked through the ground and on the projections, but due to all the ink the hearts camouflage through the ink.

“Found one!” Mabel yelled. She grabbed the inky heart and gave it to Dipper. “See that was easy.” She beamed. Hilda, Dipper and Varian froze hearing footsteps running towards them.

“Uh Mabel?” Dipper asked pointing at the light coming towards them. Mabel was about to ask till they turned to see the Projectionist staring down on them breathing heavily.

Varian gulped. “No one make any movements.” He whispered, but there was a tremble in his voice. The misfits stared at the Projectionist with the later doing the same thing. It felt like an hour just staring till the monster was irritated and let out a loud screech. The group screamed and ran off before the Projectionist tried to punch them. The  ink made it hard for them to run as the Projectionist inky boots made it was easy for him.

In the corner of Dipper’s eye he saw there was an Little Miracle Station. “Let’s hide in there!” He yelled. Quickly, Dipper ran ahead of the group to get the Miracle Station open as the four struggled to get in. Dipper quickly shut the door, making the Projection tame again. The monster didn’t react to the kids hiding and just continued his walk in the inky Level 14.

“He’s gone.” Hilda whispered.

“Quick, open the door.” Varian added whispering as well.

Dipper shushed them. “Not yet. Give it a minute.” He whispered. After a minute Dipper slowly opened the door and the group fell in the inky puddle. “Okay let’s find the hearts before that…thing comes back!” Dipper yelled. The group agreed and split apart looking for the inky hearts. Even though splitting up was a bad idea since this Projectionist was able to hear the hearts they figured if they split and collected a heart at different times the Projectionist would be confused and would be running around in circles.

The plan worked as Dipper and Hilda found an inky heart and Varian found another one giving them three and only two left. The Projectionist screeched, but the three hid as the monster looked around confused where the inky hearts being taken. The monster screeched hearing another heart being taken, but came to where the dead Striker was and saw no one in sight. The monster kept on walking looking for the misfits.

Dipper was relieved his sister was alright and the trio went to look for her. They found Mabel, and now only have to find one more heart. “Just one more and were done!” Mabel cheered.

“There it is!” Varian pointed out seeing the heart. He went over to grab it and gave it to the group completing their final task.

“Tell me.” Alice’s voice startled the kids. “were they still withering in your hands?” She asked. Dipper was about to respond, but got cut out, “Bring them to me now!” She snapped. “I don’t like to wait.”

Dipper glared and the group was ready to run back to the elevator, ready to head up and be free. Or so they think, the Projectionist jumped right in front of them screeching loudly. The kids screamed and ran for it going the other way as the monster chased them. The kids escaped on the other side of the hall and headed towards the stairs to the elevator. The Projectionist was on their tail dashing as quick as possible to escape. They made it to the stairs and started to slam the buttons to get up. The Projectionist made it up and was about to catch them, but the elevator closed and started to head back up leaving the monster to screech in defeat.

The group sighed in relief, glad they escaped from the Projectionist. They hoped that was the last they’ve seen of the Projectionist.

[paimaniagalaxia]

PATIM: Carnival Break

Written: @paimania​ and @jordanthecat11​

Bendy and the Ink Machine © theMeatly/Joey Drew Studios

Word count: 2,220

Characters: Pai(Skye Stein/Paige Drew)/The Ink Demon/Boris/’Alice Angel’

Summary: Pai decides to take a break from the loop that she is stuck in. During Chapter 3, she summons the Ink Demon to have some carnival fun. She, him, and along with Boris travel down and bond with one another. Just having a wonderful time.

Traversing through these halls was just mind looping, well being in a LITERAL LOOP, for Pai. Thy young protagonist of this ever changing story by the hands of the creator (that traitor). As much as she wanted to follow along with the tale and do the errands she had to finish for the angel-- The girl needed a break. Lucky, she was in a section in Heavenly Toys that lurked a certain demon. 

The Ink Demon. Since Pai was on the part where she was cutting down the cutouts, with her axe in hand she whacks one of them down but doesn't go into a miracle station once the demon's ink starts to coat the main entrance of Heavenly Toys. She wanted to see him, and this was the only option that came into her scattered mind.

The moment the last cutout was smashed, a black swirling portal appears from the top of the stairs.  It would always set him off, as he enjoyed looking at the little cartoon cutouts of himself.  But after going through so many loops, eventually becoming aware of them, he notices a pattern.

This was the work of that blasted angel, who would always send out her little ‘errand girl’ to do her bidding.  Fortunately, though, he knew that girl and found her to be quite interesting.  The moment he saw her, his smile grew genuinely wider and he proceeded to run down the stairs to her, only to slip and fall on his butt like the little devil himself.

Honestly, she would of been quite terrified of the demon but after each cycle-- She could understand they were stuck here together for a long time. Pai was basically one herself once she gets insane enough, but that was always used as a last resort. 

She stifles her laugh once the mighty Ink Demon came tumbling on his bum down the stairs. Just like the dancing demon himself like in the cartoon reels. The errand girl walks over and holds out her inked claw hand to him. Hoping he would take it. 

"Need some help little guy?"

The Ink Demon groaned in pain, rubbing his backside to ease it. Then he looks up, noticing the girl holding out her hand. He understood it as her wanting to help him, so he nods and takes it with his gloved hand.

Pai gives a warm smile as she felt his hand take hers. Cold, but soft since it was his gloved one. She backs up, helping the demon get up onto his feet and lets go gently.

"There we go, tall and proud. Sorry I had to bust one of your cut outs... Mind stuck in the loop too." She jokes playfully.

The Ink Demon pulls himself up once the girl backs up to lift him off the ground.  He stands up tall with his hands on his hips, posing like a superhero.

“Eh,” he shrugs off with his hand, knowing Pai wasn’t at fault for destroying the cutouts, as proven many times they’ve encountered each other in the loop.  Even if it was annoying, he wasn’t going to blame her for it.

Seems like he has grown numb and didn't care about the cutouts as he used to. Pai figured that she apologized since 'Alice' might not like them interacting like this. She already didn't like her very much anyways, this would just add fuel to the fire.

Pai gives a small laugh, seeing the ink demon pose like a hero before giving her request. 

"Say, since the elevator hasn't been tampered by that angel yet... Would you like to join me in some carnival games with Boris and I?" She asks, knowing that Boris was still waiting for her in the elevator.

“Ooooo...” the demon says before nodding yes.  “Let’s play!  Let’s play!”  He takes Pai by the hand, pulling her gently as the two run over to the elevator to meet Boris.  When they get there, Bendy waves hello to the cartoon wolf in a friendly manner.

----

Meanwhile, Boris was used to being things done in the loop, knowing his fate and all too well. so, when he saw the Ink Demon come over with Pai, he quickly waves his hands outward. Crossing them in an X shape in a repeated manor. Saying this was a 'bad idea'.

"Oh come on Boris, we are just going to have some fun..." Pai reassures him and leads The Ink Demon in carefully so that he would fit inside the elevator."

“Yeah, fun!” The demon said as he ducked his way inside the elevator, being careful not to hit the top bar.  

As soon as he was in, he pushed the button to their destination, whistling a merry tune as they made their way down.  It was the theme to the Little Devil’s cartoons, which he enjoyed so much after seeing them over and over again. His favorite pastime. And hopefully one that he could share with Pai, too, before they have to go back to the loop again.

Boris just shook his head, it seems the Demon was harmless enough in this loop around again. So a bit of a break shouldn't be too bad, terrified to be this close to him, but harmless. He looks over at Pai to see her smiling over at The Ink Demon, and was kind of happy to see her happy for once. She always seem so tired and angry going through this chapter before going after him. It was a nice change of pace, so why not join in.

"So, Mister Ink Monster. You can talk?" Boris replies in a semi-Russian like accent.

The Ink Demon looked over at Boris, surprised to hear him talk.  He knew he didn’t talk as much when he was around him, but it felt nice to hear him all the same.

“Eh...sometimes,” the Ink Demon replies reluctantly.  “Some words...not all.”

"Oh... I understand." Boris replies back. "You have to keep up with that whole monster thing... Or Joey didn't give you that gift."

"Don't talk about Drew..." Pai sneers a bit, as she hated hearing that name.

Even the Ink Demon growled when hearing Boris mention Joey Drew.  The man who made him what he is and resented him. Called him a ‘weird abomination’ and threatened to keep him locked up, all because he wandered down the halls and looked over people’s shoulders.  

His fists curled up into balls, as the memory of him left him angry, but he was trying to hold back on blowing a fuse for his friend’s sake.

“Almost there?” He asked, gritting his teeth.

For Pai, she couldn't recall much. There was just that deep hate for him, and every time she goes into his apartment. Telling her, "Oh, you're back. So wonderful to see you my little girl. I'm sure you are having a wonderful time, make sure to smile and keep pushing through. I know you can do it." was all he said and pushes her back in. 

And there was nothing she could say or do, since her mind goes blank for some reason and just remembers that part before the loop starts again.

"Oh y-yes... We are reaching the bottom of the studio now..." Boris stutters. Now he felt even more terrified, he was in an elevator with TWO in demons.

As soon as the elevator stops and opens its doors, the Demon steps out first, then makes way for his friends, examining the place they landed.  Seemed a bit empty, but they did have a long way to go before reaching the carnival warehouse.

“Portal?” He asked, in case the others didn’t want to travel as much by foot.

"A portal does sound like a good idea." Pai agrees with the demon.

"You sure I won't form back into an ink puddle. I am kind of needed to be that 'brute boris' character... Don't want to be imperfect you know." Boris counters a bit nervous.

“No, no,” The Ink Demon replies, insisting that they’ll both be safe as long as he’s with them in the portal.  He summons enough ink to create a swirling whirlpool, then grabs both of his friends by the hands.  

“Hang on.”  Within seconds, he brings them to the portal, stepping through flawlessly into the giant warehouse of carnival games.  “Here we are!”

Pai and Boris hold onto The Ink Demon's hands as they enter into the portal. Boris was relieved to make it out in one piece, but looks over at Pai. just in case if anything happened to her. 

Luckily, nothing did and she was just as normal as she was before and sighs relieved.

"Thanks Inky!" Pai nicknames The Ink Demon and admires what the small carnival warehouse have. Sure, it wasn't her favorite chapter to be in, but knew The Ink Demon had one big part in it, scary but was there and gone.

"Oh, you gave him a name? Now you're going to get attached to him. Please you don't like that name there Mister Ink Demon...?" Boris looks over at The Ink Demon.

The Ink Demon blushes and giggles when he hears her call him that name.  It was cute.  And he didn’t mind it one bit.

“So...what now?” He asked, looking around at all these games.  They all looked like so much fun.  He didn’t know where to start.

"Oh, he likes it... Figures..." Boris groans a bit and follows the two down to the carnival games. He leans up against one of the shelves, keeping and eye on Pai and 'Inky'.

"Hmmm... Maybe we should try the milk bottle game!" Pai suggests as she picks up the baseball, ready to toss it at the milk bottles.

“Oooo!” The Ink Demon says in awe before clapping his hands together joyfully.  This was going to be a fun game, he could tell.  He steps aside so that Pai can take her turn first before going next.

Pai closes one eye and rears her arm back. She knew she was not the best shot at aiming, hence why she never tries to get the Tommy gun and more so she was prone to violence. With one quick keen eye, she chucks the ball at the milk bottles and well-- Misses. 

"Damn!"

The Ink Demon was surprised to hear such a word come out of Pai’s mouth.  It felt very strong and powerful.  But he could tell that Pai wasn’t too happy that she missed.  So he decided to step him, pointing to the ball asking if he could give it a try for her.

"Oh sure thing." Pai replies more calmly. Last thing she wanted was to have an anger episode and turn into a full on Ink Demon in front of 'Inky'. She hands him over the ball and steps back to give him some room.

“Thank you,” Inky says as he takes the ball.  He steadies himself, with one leg forward and the other one back.  Then, he swings his arm around until he lets go of the ball, sending it flying until it hits the inner wall and then over to Boris, almost hitting him.

“Damn!” He curses, snapping his fingers.

"BENDY!" Boris yells out as he was glad he didn't get hit. Luckily, he ducked once he saw the ball come careening towards him. He was more mad about the 'bad word' he said then after. "Don't you DARE say that word! That's a bad word!!"

"Did... Did you just call him 'Bendy'...?" Pai tilts her head confused, as she didn't mind Inky saying 'damn'. Since herself didn't see that as a 'bad word'.

“What?” Inky shrugged, pointing over to Pai that she had said it first.  He didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. 

 Then he turns to her.  

“Yes...me Bendy,” he confirmed, pointing over to his untouched cutout, thinking that’s who he really was.

Honestly, he really wasn't sadly. As much as to her dismay, she felt that he was more than just the little toon devil on the silver screen, but has been integrated to be innocent but prone to violence. Kind of like her. As much as she wanted to crush his little dream of being the 'real dancing demon', she didn't. Pai wasn't like Drew and would never be like him. She sighs and walks over, places a hand onto his arm. Giving the demon a soft smile.

"Yes, you are Bendy. You are the dancing demon everyone loves to be. Who can sing and dance,that is known around the world from here to France... You are him." Pai reassures him.

The demon smiled when she said that, leaning down to give her a rub on the head.  “And you are Pai...my friend,” he replied back to her.  “And he is Boris.  Both of you...friends.”

"Yes... I am Pai." she smiles happily, adoring that name a bit more. She looks over at Boris, to see him smile a bit as well.

"Yeah, we are good friends." Boris agrees with a smile.

Though meanwhile, from above the carnival grounds was that very 'angel'. Lurking in the shadows at the three 'so-called' friends. Even though they had this short break-- It wouldn't last. The loop must continue on, for soon she will be perfect again.

[emilemiblem]

Beginning (Traitor Ryan AU)

Now that Traitor Ryan is in Jeremy’s POV only, I figured I could post this scene that I wrote a while back when I had the intention of writing in dual POV. Ryan’s POV of meeting the Fakes in person for the first time, hope you enjoy!! 

The taxi drops him off in the more concerning parts of Los Santos, where the street lights are half out, and the buildings fall on the verge of demolition. Until tonight, Ryan had falsely believed each of the buildings was abandoned, mostly an eyesore to drive past as you enter the glamorous and corrupt city. He double checks the coordinates that had been sent to his phone one last time before he steps out of the taxi, bidding the driver farewell with his payment and stepping towards one of the more boarded-up buildings.

He can see light through one of the boarded-up windows as he approaches, a faint sound of billiards being played inside. If he didn’t know better, he’d assume that he was about to enter a seedy bar rather than the hideout of an infamous crew. Voices inside are muffled by the boards and steel door, locked from the inside and an electronic lock on the outside. He’s unarmed, something his partner would say was stupid in terms of who he was about to encounter inside. Always be prepared, Jeremy’s voice rang in his head. Better a bullet in them than a bullet in you.

Now wasn’t the best time to be thinking of his partner. Jeremy doesn’t even know that he’s here, about to meet with the infamous Fake AH Crew in the outskirts of Los Santos. As far as Jeremy was aware, Ryan had plans with friends of the agency tonight, work things that needed to be discussed that didn’t include the other half of the agency’s greatest pairing. He promised he would be home before midnight and left his partner with a soft kiss and a lie that he hoped wouldn’t haunt him too much later that night. Jeremy didn’t need to know what he was doing. His omission was intentional, to protect him. The last thing Ryan wanted was to get his partner involved with any of this.

He approaches the electronic lock and presses his index finger into the call button, stepping back as a loud chime sounds. He takes a quick glance behind him, sure that no one has followed him out here before turning back to the door and offering a welcoming smile as the door swings open.

A younger man stands before him, a golden necklace hanging around his neck and an equally welcoming smile greeting him. “Haywood?” He asks, eyes tracing Ryan up and down. Off Ryan’s nod, the man steps aside. “Right, in you go. Ramsey has been waiting for you.”

The inside of the warehouse feels like the outside, in terms of there not being much to looks at. He guesses that was the point of it all; Discreet, something the Rooster Corp or even the LSPD would least likely investigate given the fact it looked so ordinary. Everything the Rooster Corp have gathered regarding the Fakes has shown full-blown theatrics and flashing neon signs of ‘Look at how much money we have!’ However, it’s rather empty aside from some crates off to the side, a card table set up near the entrance with various cans of beer scattered about and what appeared the be the entire crew resting in chairs, one of the tipping back a long drink.

There’s a man at the center of the table, with a thick mustache and a rather slick suit. His hair is disheveled, most likely have been through a bit for the day and just wanting to relax for an hour or so. Meeting with Ryan was probably the last thing he wanted to do at such a late hour, and Ryan certainly did not blame him.

The man greets Ryan with a welcoming smile, getting up from his seat and holding a hand out for Ryan. “Nice of you to join us, Haywood. The name is Geoff Ramsey, but you already know that. Take a seat.” He reaches over towards one of his crew members, slapping the side of their shoe before pointing towards a mini fridge nearby. “Get the man a drink, we might be a while.”

The member, who wears a dark brown leather jacket with a wolf looking ferocious on the back, gives the man a scowl before setting his own bottle down on the table, pushing back and heading towards the fridge. The crew’s explosives expert, if Ryan remembers correctly. Infamous temper too, best not to get on his bad side.

As he takes a seat, Ryan takes in the crew members around him, attempting to place names to the faces that surround him. He knows the woman beside Ramsey as Jack Pattillo, Ramsey’s right-hand woman and rumored to be is secret wife. Disgraced Air Force pilot dishonorably discharged after an accident that left her training officer dead. She could easily fly circles around anyone no matter what aircraft she is given. Motherly, protective, another member Ryan knew better than to piss off.  

Michael Jones is the one bringing him a drink, though Ryan can’t help but raise an eyebrow at the man as he sets a can of Diet Coke down in front of him instead of something a little stronger. “Heard you weren’t much of a drinker,” Michael explains, taking back his seat and reaching for his cell phone, scrolling through it and ignoring any response Ryan could give. There’s a sticker on the back of his phone, a smiling face on top of a piece of dynamite. Explosives expert, it made sense.

Gavin Free was the one who welcomed him in if the accent was anything to go by. Golden Boy they called him, his luck never seems to run out. He was handsome too, which must be the reason why the Fakes turned to him for honeypots when necessary. His hacking skills were incredible as well, strong enough to rival those back at Rooster Corp.

There are others scattered about, keeping to themselves. Ryan assumes they must be the support team for the Fakes, the ones who cover their tracks and ensure that the missions go smoothly. All extremely talented, all masters at their skills. Ryan found himself anticipating work with them if things went over smoothly tonight.

“It seems you want to accept my offer?” Ramsey questions, crossing his arms with a small smirk. He looks mighty pleased with himself, and Ryan doesn’t exactly want to burst his bubble. Ramsey certainly was a factor in Ryan’s decision to show up tonight, but he wasn’t the ultimate reason why he was there. However, it was most likely best to play along with him if Ryan were to let this meeting go off without a hitch. “I must say I’m surprised. Rooster Corp would certainly have your head if they ever knew you showed up here.”

“Tell me something I don’t already know,” Ryan responds, taking a drink of the Diet Coke. It’s ice cold, refreshing on his tongue. “I’m sure you already know my reasons for even bothering to show up, too. I promise it isn’t because you’ve supposedly enticed me to come here.” He reaches into his jeans pocket, pulling out a small USB and tossing it onto the table. “Basic stuff on there, the larger stuff comes later on if you prove to me that I can trust you.”

Ramsey releases a loud chuckle, a smile sliding onto his lips as he reaches for the USB and looks at it before handing it off to Pattillo. “I like your bite, Haywood. I feel this is the start of a beautiful partnership.” He leans forward, a genuine smile on his face as he looks at Ryan. “I’m curious: If it wasn’t my excellent skills in the persuasion that brought you here, what exactly did? I’m a bit at a loss trying to piece together why a loyal and true agent such as yourself would bother with getting tangled up with a crew.”

“He works for Rooster Corp,” Michael says with disdain dripping from every word. “What explanation do you need? That place is more corrupt than the majority of Los Santos.” He downs what remains of his beer, tossing the bottle in a random direction. Ryan winces as the glass shatters.

“They kill innocents daily, don’t they?” Gavin chimes in with a laugh. “No better than us it appears.” He faces Ryan with a gleeful smile. “What’s your kill count?”

That wasn’t something Ryan thought he’d need to keep track of. He’s always considered the people he’s killed as targets that were a threat to the world’s safety, himself doing a favor and riding the world of scum. They were not worth a number in his mind. Innocents, however, he wasn’t sure who they were and if he had a hand in their deaths.

Ramsey must detect how uncomfortable he’s become, scowling at Gavin. “Our guest is not here for us to interrogate. He’s here simply because we are looking for a partnership.” He turns back to Ryan with an apologetic smile. “My apologies for them. They were present as Jack and I analyzed your file from the agency. While you don’t seem all too eager to discuss your, well, expertise, I do want to say that it is what drew you here to this meeting. While a permanent member of this crew is an option for the future, I will say you make an excellent candidate.”

That wasn’t something Ryan had considered on his way to this meeting, becoming a member of the Fakes, though he won’t say he’s surprised that the option is set on the table. Earlier discussions with Ramsey pointed towards that becoming his future, but despite the choice, Ryan has made to bother with aiding them doesn’t exactly mean he’s willing to accept the offer. The Fakes were still a gang, were a danger to society and overall a danger to innocent lives all in the means of keeping themselves wealthy and in power. No one in such a crew cared for the lives of innocent people if they got what they wanted in the end, and Ryan wasn’t exactly rushing for a chance to be a part of something such as that.

However, given recent events throughout the agency, Ryan was almost positive that the Fakes were far better people than he has been led to believe. Hence why the option of being a part of their crew was somewhat enticing, especially with the intel Ryan has provided them with. It was enough to really push a positive decision regarding his future, despite knowing the sacrifices.

  Ramsey doesn’t bother waiting for an answer before he’s tossing Ryan an old flip phone. “You can contact us from that phone and that phone only. I’ll contact you when I find something that might interest you, and you contact me if you come across anything beneficial to us.” He gets up from the table and heads towards the exit of the warehouse, Ryan following close behind and doing his best to ignore the burning eyes of the Fakes behind him.

“I didn’t want to bring this up with them inside,” Ramsey begins as they stand outside, Ryan already calling for a taxi to pick him up. “We need some new muscle in our ranks, a guy with a possible skewed moral compass when it comes to killing.” He pulls a lighter from the pocket of his slacks, lighting the cigarette in his other hand and taking a drag. “I’ve seen the footage of you out in the field with that partner of yours. Two of you are quite lethal.”

The mention of Jeremy, though offhanded, has Ryan tensing. “I don’t want him involved,” Ryan answers quickly, his tone a warning. “If you want me to help you, you keep him out of this.”

Ramsey grins at his response, and part of it makes Ryan feel uneasy. “Emotional compromise, eh? Never would have guessed the two of you were together like that.” He offers up his cigarette to Ryan, who holds a hand up to refuse. Ramsey simply shrugs, taking another drag.

Ryan doesn’t bother with denying exactly what Jeremy means to him. He knows any argument he could come up with would fall on deaf ears. Ramsey doesn’t give a shit what they are exactly or what they are doing behind closed doors. In the end, Ramsey was a crime lord who wanted nothing but results and money. The last thing Ryan needed to do was have Jeremy even slightly involved with this business, most of all keeping Ramsey out of their business. He was willing to hand over anything Ramsey and his crew needed in terms of the agency, but that certainly omitted any and all information regarding the agency’s Battle Buddies partnership. If all of this ended up being a disaster, Ryan would rather he fall on the sword than him and Jeremy.

The taxi pulls up not long after their conversation comes to an end, Ramsey bidding him farewell with an unspoken ‘see you soon’ between them. Ryan leaves the warehouse, burner phone in his hand, wondering just what he’s getting himself into if everything he was risking was going to be worth it in the end. Hell, would the people who deserved to get hurt in this even get hurt, or was Ryan simply hurting those who didn’t deserve it?

The thought stays with him as he arrives home that night, sliding into bed where Jeremy is already fast asleep. It keeps him up as he looks over at his partner, the one person he hopes doesn’t get caught in the crossfire, and he wonders if this will affect them.

[theotter99]

Uncovering Fables

Chapter 1 Part 2.10

For a moment, Drew and Alzena sat there, staring at Penelope in confusion. Alzena was sitting crossed legged on the bar counter now, which probably wasn’t the best place to sit, with her head tilted. Drew, his hand leaning on the counter top was thinking, deeply.

The breath slowly left Drew’s throat as he looked back over at Penelope and raised an eyebrow. “Are you exaggerating any of this?”

Shaking a little, Penelope stepped back. She was about to speak with Alzena stepped in. “Drew! Don’t say that. They almost died and that’s the first thing you think of?”

Drew sighed a little. “Look… an underwater cave? Something looming around that cave? A room that would crush you? Did that technology even exist back then?”

Alzena thought through this for a moment, trying to think of an answer. When she couldn’t, Penelope finally spoke up. “Y-Yes… I know that none of this seems possible. I really have no explanation for you and… I-I don’t really believe it myself… I am sorry for my lack of evidence. I have nothing. Nothing at all to prove my story. H-How can I prove my story? I don’t know if I can.” Penelope laughed nervously and gave a shrug. The sweat on her brows were noticeable from several feet away but this was probably due to how jumpy Penelope was in the first place.

After a moment of Alzena and Penelope staring at Drew, the bartender sighed a little. He rolled his eyes, still not trusting this. “Sure, I guess… And even then, this is still an interesting story to listen to. Even if it’s not very scary.”

Alzena’s heart dropped a little at this. Drew was right. She liked hearing Penelope’s story and she hoped that this Maria was okay and she was still great friends with Penelope but Alzena was here to get inspiration for her scary stories and the longer she was here, the less time she had for that. She quickly shook her head to push away the rude thought and decided not to act on it.

Despite this, Penelope could see the questioning look on Alzena’s face and she quickly spoke. “D-Don’t worry. I am getting to it… Scary events aren’t just scary right away… you know? W-We just have to be patient. It’s almost there.”

Drew slowly nodded at this. “I see. Well, this is still a decent adventure story. Kid, maybe you can write one someday?” Drew nudged Alzena’s arm and the girl slowly looked over at Drew, her eyes widened.

 “What?” Alzena slowly got off the counter.

“You heard me. You can write anything you put your mind to. Not just horror st-“

A look of doubt settled onto Alzena. “What? Um, I don’t really think so… I can’t even write a horror story right now.”

“Come on, kid. I believe in yo-“

“Let’s continue the story, Penelope.”

Penelope stepped back a little. “Um, excuse me?”

Drew and Penelope looked at one another as a fake smiles fell onto Alzena’s face as she clapped a little. “Let’s continue the story. I can’t wait to hear what happens next.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ms. Wolfe almost regretted moving to a different table. When she walked away from that prying man that somehow knew too much about her, she didn’t want to go sit alone. Now, as she looked over at the drunk that sat across from her, she wished she had.

The moment she left Clayton, she walked over to the closest table to her and asked the man there if she could sit with her. The man hiccupped as he slowly nodded. The man had box-like orange hair and holes in his earlobes. There was probably a time when the man used to be athletic but now it seemed like he hasn’t worked out in years and his beer belly wasn’t too appealing. Ms. Wolfe picked up the name Anton from him. It really didn’t matter. Ms. Wolfe just wanted to be anywhere else.

The only reason why she hadn’t left was because her food wasn’t here and the drunk offered to pay if she listened to his sob story.

So, Ms. Wolfe stayed put.

 Anton laid his head on the table as he muttered softly to himself. “Stupid business… Oh, look at me. I’m successful… He’s such an asshole… I could have been something too. I could have!” He looked up at Ms. Wolfe. “Don’t you agree?”

Ms. Wolfe sighed. “Yeah, sure. I guess.” She was now slowly planning to get this man sober. She was going to order a water and some crackers the moment the waitress came around. Now, all she had to do was wait for her. Where was she?

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Penelope took a moment to remember where she was in her story last. When she did, a smile spread across her face and she opened her mouth to spea-

And then a man stepped up to the counter to speak to Drew and Penelope’s line of thought was shattered again. He laid his empty beer glass on the counter. “Excuse me, I don’t mean to be rude.” There was a sense of passive-aggressiveness underlining the man’s voice. “But your waiters seem to be neglecting their jobs. I have been waiting for 20 minutes for a refill.”

For a man in nice clothing, the man’s muscles were thick and gave off the impression that his punches were strong. He wore a red button-down shirt with a black vest and pants. Even though he was average height, he stood up straight and gave off a confident, yet terrifying sensation. It felt like with just one wrong word or move and the man would crack in frustration. His striking blue eyes seemed to look into everyone’s soul as he looked around but even then, his eyes gave a look that said he was tired. Very tired. The edges of his black hair, that was tossed to the side, was bright red. It was clear that he dyed his hair before and had gotten lazy on the management of it and was now growing it out.

Drew Ember stepped back at the news the man gave. “Oh, I am very sorry Mister…”

“King. Mister King.” The man nodded.

“Yes… I will fix the problem right away.” Drew sighed in disappointment and quickly walked through the door by the bar. This must have led to the kitchen because soon, yelling can be heard from inside. Mister King, Penelope and Alzena all glanced at each other as this happened. Alzena gave King a small wave and King saluted back, still a little salty.

Soon enough, a few waiters and waitresses walked out of the kitchen with trays of food and drinks. A look of satisfaction came across King when his drink was finally given to him. He smiled a little and took a sip of it. Mister King seemed pleased with where he sat by the counter so he didn’t move. This only made Penelope uncomfortable about continuing her story as she stared at the ground.

After a few minutes, Drew finally walked back behind the bar counter. He was back to working like he should have, but he kept an ear open to listen to his kid and everyone else around her.

Penelope finally built up the courage to speak. “So, should I continue the-“

 “So, what’s going on here?” Mister King interrupted as he took out a paper napkin and a pen. He started doodling cartoons onto the paper and they were surprisingly good.

Penelope shrunk down a little and grew silent so Alzena quickly spoke as she started hopping back onto the counter again. “Oh, nothing much. We’re just started to tell scary stories. And they are real!”

“Real, you say?” Mister King raised an eyebrow as he looked between the two women. A full beat passed before the man started laughing, his face turning red. “Oh, that’s great.”

 Alzena pouted at this. “Hey! They are real!”

Mister King coughed a little before he made himself stop laughing. “Oh, I know. I know… I just find it funny that you seemed so entertained by this.” He glanced around, and that was when Alzena noticed that his eyes was sparkling. Was it a trick of the light? No, it couldn’t be.

“Well, why do you say that?” Alzena crossed her arms.

King shrugged. “Um, well… I just do.”

”Do you have any stories?”

“Yes, but does this really matter? Some stories are better kept a secret.” As Mister King said this, his blood boiled. He clenched his fists together and looked away.

Alzena, surprisingly, didn’t seem to notice this. “Ohhh, can you tell it? Please. It would be great. I’m sure of it.”

King raised an eyebrow at the crazy girl. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, of course!”

Mister King took an annoyed breath. “Sure. Fine, I guess.”

Alzena cheered a little.

Penelope just stood there, watching this. When it seemed like they were finally done talking, she softly spoke. “Can I continue now?”

Alzena glanced over and she quickly nodded as Drew strolled over to listen. “Crap, of course. I’m sorry. I completely forgot you were here.”

“It’s okay… that happens… Um, well… So Maria and I were sitting on the ground, hugging one another.”

As Penelope continued with her story, a man in a purple sweater in a nearby booth was trying to hold back his shaking body. Covering his mouth, he felt tears swell up in his eyes as he stared down at his table. There was nothing on it except for a simple phone that showed that the phone call that he made has been decline again.

Next 

Pervious 

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[katlyn1948]

Only Human: Part 3

So I decided to post part 3 of the 5 part series! I just want to warn you, that because I decided to rewrite the whole part after I had written nearly a month ago, that it may contain some grammatical and spelling errors. I write almost entirely on my iPad, which is so difficult! And before you ask, no I don’t have a laptop. Why? I don’t really know, considering I got back to school in the fall as a history major....fml. Anyway I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think! If you want more than 5 parts of if you want to see something different! Thanks and happy reading!

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Their travels on the high seas were less than exciting. For nearly four moons they had seen nothing but sea on the horizon. Arya was beginning to worry and although she had stocked her ship with enough supplies to last her crewmen for nearly a year without having to dock, the summer skies had proved hotter than expected, making the sailors irritable. The agreement to reserve their fresh water had not been taken lightly by some and Aries had warned Arya of a possible uprising if she didn’t reassure her crew. She affirmed that if land was not spotted by the time the next moon rises, then they would turn the ship back and sail for Westeros.

By this time, Arya was near ready to give birth. Although pregnant with babe, she would not let Aries take the helm when needed. She was a stubborn wolf, through and through, and wasn’t going to let her bulging belly get in her way. Her fellow crewman had been smart to not ask questions about her growing stomach and let the young captain command her ship.

Arya had remembered the first stares and whispers as her belly began to grow. It was easy to hide it at first, but as the moons progressed and her stomach stretched, there was no sense in trying to conceal it any further.

After their first moon at sea, Arya’s breeches were beginning to tighten around the waist, making it near impossible for her to lace them close. One of her chambermaids, Sienna, had let the seems out, giving her a few more moons of comfort. By the time her six moon drew to a close, Arya could no longer fit into her sailing breeches. They were too tight and too uncomfortable for her wear any longer. She hadn’t thought to pack any loose fitting dresses for her voyage, leaving her just her cotton blouse.

“I figured as much.” Arya remember Sienna saying after she had told her of her lack of proper clothing.

Sienna and left Arya’s chambers and brought back a small sack slung over her shoulder.

“I took the liberty of packing a few for you, considering your situation.” She rummaged through the sack and pulled out four free flowing dresses. They weren’t the kind that restricted women, but rather the kind one might wear in a sweltering heat. The sleeves were cut off of all, but one and there were buttons that ran all the way down to the hem. They looked inviting, and Arya couldn’t help but smile at the chambermaid.

Sienna couldn’t have been more than thirty and eight. Her sons were lost in the war and her husband had left soon after. She had no one and decided sailing on a journey west would benefit her the most. When Arya had told her and the other chambermaid, Alyse that she was expecting, she knew to grab a few of her garments that had treated her fair during her time of pregnancy.

“My thanks, Sienna. Without you on this voyage, I would surly be at a loss.” Arya confessed to the older woman.

Arya had shimmied out of her cotton blouse and threw one of the sleeveless dresses over her head. It was a bit long, and brushed the floor with ease. Although they were the same in width, Sienna had been much taller than Arya in her yesteryears. A few altercations were made and the dresses that Sienna had provided fit Arya perfectly.

“You look a vision, Lady Arya.” Sienna said, tears welling in her eyes. She never had a daughter and sharing this experience with Arya was the closest that she will get to ever having one.

Arya gave a small smile to the women and turned to look herself in the mirror. She looked different. Her hair was slightly longer and her face was rounder, no doubt that was the babe’s doing. It had been years since she had worn a dress and she never thought she would ever be in one again, but at this moment, she was glad that someone had thought to bring her a few.

That was nearly three moons past and Arya was near full term. The maester had warned that she could give birth at any moment. Arya was terrified of the prospect. Her anxiety had only grown with her belly. With each passing moon, she would feel more and more anxious about the birth of the babe. She feared that she wouldn’t be able to do it or that they wouldn’t be able to port near land.

Aries’ questions had lingered in the back thoughts. She was sure they would find something out here by the time it came for her to give birth. But as the moons rolled passed, so did the sea and she began to wonder if there truly was anything west of Westeros.

She was sure there was, how could it just be them in this world alone? She began to wonder if mayhap they charged wrong, but after combing through the nautical maps, Aries and Arya came to the consensus that everything was correct. It was beginning to worry her and Aries and Arya knew that sooner or later she would have to make a choice on to keep voyaging on of to turn back.

She had promised her crewmen that if there was nothing to find as the next moon rose in the night sky, then they would turn around.

Arya was staring at that moon. She had gone above deck to see the night sky and there among the stars, shone the bright light of the full moon. She looked beyond the horizon and saw nothing but blue ocean, much like his eyes that reminded her so. Nearly six moons they had been sailing and they had found nothing. Arya is true to her word and would tell Aries to begin the voyage home.

He was below deck with his lover, and she decided to wait until the morning sun rose.

She rubbed her bulging belly, fully grown. The babe had been an active one ever since Arya felt the first flutter. She remembered it as if it had happened the day prior. It hadn’t been a full day since Arya’s argument with Aries. She was angry with him and couldn’t believe his curtness. She had expected such, but she didn’t think he would be so brash about the situation.

She had walked off to go below deck and that is where she was when the first movement shocked her. It felt like little bubbles in her stomach. Different of those that came with eating a pot of stew. These bubbles felt like butterfly wings flapping gently inside her stomach. It startled Arya so much that she ran to Sienna and asked if it were normal. Sienna had assured her such, and Arya couldn’t help but smile.

Since then, she had caught herself rubbing her stomach nearly everyday, almost a if trying to protect it from the outside world. The babe was also one to no go quietly. Ever since the first flutter, the babe had been nothing short of active. There were times that it would kick Arya so hard, to would wake her in the middle of the night.

But this night was different. The babe was strangely still and calm. Arya could still feel it stirring, but the fervent moment had subsided. Arya wasn’t sure if she should be worried or relieved.

Arya looked out over the water once more to take in the moonlit ocean. It was a serene sight that most would not have the pleasure of ever seeing. The waves were oddly lively as Arya began to stare. They were crashing against the more with a slightly more intensity then that of still waters.

She looked up to the sky and noticed the clouds begin to cover the light of moon. The winds were beginning to pick up and Arya felt the lightest drop fall upon her cheek. A storm was brewing and they were about the be caught right in the middle of it.

Arya turned from the boat railing and began to make her way below deck. She hadn’t gotten two steps down when a thunderous roar boomed from the sky above. Arya let out a cry a of pain and noticed the water seeping down her leg. The babe was coming.

[dead-inside-mcgee]

The doctor and the demon Part 1

This is the longest fic I’ve ever written, pray for me. This is basically, Beauty and the beast, but with Antistein and a touch of Darkstache.

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Once upon a time, in a far off country, there lived a humble farmer and a medic. The two were as close as brothers. Chase Brody and Henrik Schneeplestein.

Together to two friends ran a farm and lived happily. Chase would trade Crops with merchants and neighboring towns. Henrik would help anyone who was injured, Chase made enough to support them, so Henrik rarely charged for his treatments. He knew many couldn’t afford to.

As winter drew nearer, the demand for crops raised. The two grew enough food the last the winter so Chase would bring a cart of their harvest to the next town over, to see what they would trade it for.

Every time, as Chase slipped on his coat and prepared to leave, he gave Henrik a kiss on the forehead and asked one simple question.

“I am leaving soon. Do you wish me to bring you anything, back?”

And every time Henrik would answer with the same request.

“I only wish for you to come home safely.”

Chase smiled and hugged him. He insisted, that Henrik should ask for something, anything.

“Will, if you insist on bringing me something. All I request is a red rose.”

“But you ask for that every year,” Chase exclaimed.

“And every year you bring it,” Henrik leaned in to kiss Chase goodbye.

Chase saddled up the horse, and with a little help from Henrik, attached the cart of crops. He road off right as the sun began to rise.

“I’ll be back before the first snow, I promise!” Chase called.

“I’ll be waiting,” Henrik called back.

As the sun fully raised into the sky, the roster stood upon the roof of a house and crowded it’s morning call. The town began to wake up, as children poured out of houses to head to school, and adults began to open up their shops.

As much as Henrik wanted to go back to sleep and rest till Chase returned, he knew injuries were quite common in the small town, and many would need his help.

The day went by as usual. There were fewer injuries today than Henrik thought there would be, so he supposed he could make a trip to the bookstore and return a book he borrowed. Unfortunately nothing could ever be that simple.  

Henrik was stopped by a tall, looming figure. He slowly looked up to see the man's face. The man was lean, and buff. He wore black pants and a black coat. His skin was pale, almost gray and his hair, a raven brown. Before the poor doctor stood the town asshole, Dark Iplier.

Next to Dark stood Dark’s henchman. Wilford Warfstache. Wilford was slightly taller than Dark, he wore a yellow, button up, with pink suspenders. His hair was bright pink, and as far as Henrik could tell, he was always drunk. Wilford trailed after Dark like a dog expecting a treat. It was kind of sad.

Henrik would be the first to admit, that he found Dark attractive, but other than that, Dark didn’t have much to go for him. He would never understand why every single, man or woman in this town seemed to be head of heels for him, or why Dark seemed to be Head over heels for the doctor himself.

“Hows my little doctor doing?” Dark said in a condescending voice, that made Henrik want to vomit. Dark put a hand under the doctor’s chin as if he were about to pull him into a kiss.

“I’m doing just fine. Thank you very much,” Henrik said trying his best to keep his cool. He slowly pulled away from Dark’s hand.

“What are you doing out on a day like today? Usually you stay inside and read like nerds do,” Dark said. Henrik wasn’t sure if he was being intentionally insulting, or if he was just an idiot. Judging by the look on his face, it was probably the latter.

“I’m going to return a book to the bookstore,” Henrik stated. He stiffened and hoped that if he showed no emotion, Dark would get bored and leave him alone.

Luck wasn’t on Henrik’s side as Dark snatched the book he was holding, out of his arms.

He opened the book to a random page, and flipped the book upside down. “How do you read this, there's no pictures?” He held the book at a different angle, as if that would do anything.  

Henrik clenched with fists and concentrated on staying calm. Luckily before Dark could do anything else to set him off, Wilford intervened.

“Com’s on Darky. Give ‘em ‘iz book back,” Wilford’s drunken’ state caused him to slur his speech and stumble over his feet.

Dark growled at the man, before begrudgingly giving Henrik’s book back to him.

“Thank you, Wilford. At least one of you is decent,” Henrik mumbled the last part.

Wilford grinned and leaned on Dark’s shoulder to steady himself. While Dark was distracted with Wilford, Henrik slipped away.

Dark push Wilford off of him and watched him fall. Once he realized Henrik left he shouted.

“Look at what you’ve done, you pink fool! He’s gotten away.”

“I didn’t do anything. You were the one you was buggin’ him over a book,” Wilford seemed to be more sober.

“I wasn’t bugging him. I simply wanted to ask him out,” Dark tried to defend himself.

“Yeah, sure,” Wilford unsteadily, stood up. “Why are you pinning after him anyway? He clearly doesn’t want you? Why don’t you go for someone who does?” He sounded like he had someone in mind.

“Because, you pink haired imbecile. He’s the only one in this town who matches my intelligence and good looks,” He said was if it were obvious. Dark wandered away to find a bouquet.

Once he was out of earshot Wilford muttered, “Intelligent, my ass.”

Meanwhile Chase was traveling down an old path. He swore that he knew the way to the next town, but as time went on it was clear that he was getting more and more lost.

It was getting dark and the forest was getting thicker and more twisted. Soon Chase had to go grab the lantern from the back of the cart.

“Maybe we took a wrong turn at that cross road,” Chase said to no one. The horse neighed in response.

It got darker and darker and soon the little lantern wasn’t going to be enough. In the distance a wolf howled.

Chase shivered. He hoped he could find some sort of shelter before those wolves found him. If not, he was dead. He couldn’t die, how would Henrik support himself. He shook his head, he will make it home and everything will be fine.

A wolf howled again, this time it was closer.

“We should turn back,” Chase said, his body shaking, not just from the cold. The horse neighed, Chase took that as a yes.

 He pulled the reins, right as he began turning he saw a figure move right on the edge of his light. He called out.

Twelve hungry looking wolves surrounded him. His horse buckled in fear, knocking Chase off and running away with the cart.

Ten of the wolves ran after the horse, the other two began advancing on Chase, who laid helpless on the ground.

When his horse knocked him off, his lantern smashed and set a branch on fire. In self defense he grabbed the branch and swag at the wolves.

He wasn’t injured, so flaming branch in hand he ran.

Chase was never a good runner, he knew that. After only a short sprint he was already growing tired. Right when he was about to lose hope and accept his fate he saw a fence and an open gate.

With a final rush a adrenaline he made it past and quickly shut, and latched the gate. A wolf scratched him through the gate, nothing to big, but man did it hurt.

Starting from the gate, all the way to a castle, there was a cobblestone path, lined with statues. The statues made Chase want to turn around and take his chances with the wolves.

Each statue was a detailed, and very terrifying monster that seemed to be staring into his very soul. They stood like they were waiting for him to pass by so they could snatch him up and eat him.  

Chase shuddered.

Walking down the path, the air around him seemed to get colder. After passing six statues, on both sides, Chase could see his breath.

The statue that stood above the doorway of the castle, made Chase change his mind about going inside. Instead he began circling around the side of the house, hoping he could curl up in the horse stable or something.

Along the side of the house, Chase found a garden. It was almost as big as his farm, full of plants he’d never seen before. The wind seemed to whisper to him.

Don’t go in the garden. It seemed to say. Chase waved it off, believing he might be going insane.

He wandered about, until he came across a field of white roses. In the center, there was a bright red rose, like the one Henrik requested.

The red rose, seemed to glow, or maybe it was just the moonlight reflecting off the drops of water that clung to the petals.

Almost in a trance, Chase trudged through the field. He was aware of the thrones, pricking him, but at the moment he didn’t care. If he couldn’t bring back anything from the town, he would at least bring back the one thing Henrik wanted.

Slowly and carefully, Chase pulled the rose up by its roots and held it up like it was a price he’d won.

In the blink of an eye a figure appeared before him. It was tall, far too tall to be human. Slowly he looked up, to see the figure’s face.

Chase was to frozen in fear to scream. The figure before him looked exactly like the statue above the doorway.

The monster lifted him up by his coats collar, and pulled the rose from his hand.

“Ten years,” The monster growled. “Ten years, I’ve guarded this rose, and you think you can just take it?”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know!” Chase pleaded. He was shaking, tears began spilling from his eyes.

“You’ll learn soon enough,” The monster said. It dragged Chase through the field, scratching up his coat and back.

Through the door and down a flight of stairs, until they came to a dungeon. It walked to the first cage and throw Chase inside.

Chase called for help, and rattled the bars until his throat hurt and his hands were sore. Defeated, Chase curled up on a pile of hay in the corner of the room and tried to sleep.

It was so cold he could see his breath. His ripped coat provided little warmth.

He didn’t know how much time had past, but later in the night, Chase saw a light coming down the stairs. He hoped someone was coming to save him or let him out.

Instead he saw, what looked to be, a floating candle. Chase was sure he was just tired and hallucinating. That was until the candle spoke.

“Hey! You there! In the cage,” The candle called. Now Chase was sure he was insane.

“What the hell?” He muttered.

“I want to help you,” The candle said entering between the bars, “I can keep you warm.”

“Are you gonna do that by setting me on fire?” Chase asked.

“No, no. Of course not,” The candle giggled.

“I must be going insane,” Chase said.

“Oh,no. You’re not. We’re were all cursed into becoming house things,” The candle explained. “Our master got it worst of all. He was the one who put you in here. You’ll have to forgive him, that rose is our last chance of becoming human.”

Chase groaned, too tired to really understand what the candle was talking about.

“I’m Marvin, by the way,” Marvin the candle introduced. “You should sleep now.”

Chase still wasn’t sure if this was real or not, but he did feel warmer so he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

[marshmallow-phd]

White Out

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Supernatural, Wolf Au

Pairing: Kyungsoo x Reader

Summary: Bouncing place to place was just how lived your life. Settling down just wasn’t in your plans, especially with your past. But when you meet Kyungsoo, there’s suddenly a future in front of you that you never imagined possible. With both enemies and friends of the pack arriving in town, you’ll be pulled into a danger that you never asked for. Will you stick around for Kyungsoo or will you do what you do best and run?

Warning: none

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11 I 12 I 13 I 14 I Final

**

Your wolf leapt at the growling enemy to your right. Unfortunately, that gave the one on the left an opening for you. His front paw slashed at your arm, tearing both cloth and skin, before you kicked him in chest, pushing him away. Steadying yourself, you found a large stick that was light enough for you to swing while still having enough weight to do some damage.

When the wolf charged at you again, you put all your strength into the swing, knocking the stick against the wolf’s jaw, earning a satisfying whine. Your own wolf was holding his own against the brown and tan wolf, pinning him into the snow and snapping at his neck.

Distracted by the other wolves, the gray one was left with an opening to you, using his own weight to crash into you and send you to the ground. He stood with one paw on your chest and the other pressing into your bleeding arm. The pain forced a cry out of your throat.

You struggled to get out from under the wolf. He almost seemed to be… laughing at you? The way his tongue hung out of his mouth and the air rushing in and out of his lungs mimicked the action too well to be mistaken.

Slowly, as if he was teasing you, the wolf lowered his jaws towards your neck, readying them to sink into the skin that was now exposed. And then he was off of you, your own black wolf having come to your rescue. The brown and tan wolf was limply trying to get back onto his feet. Your wolf locked his teeth into the gray one’s neck, pulling out a series of whines. Picking the gray wolf up with his mouth, your wolf threw him a good ten feet before running over to you. He licked at your injury before motioning to you to get on his back. This time you didn’t hesitate.

As soon as you were secure, he took off, running faster than he had the last time. That day was a run for enjoyment, but this one was a run for your lives. You noticed that the wolf’s neck was covered in scratches and bites. He growled when you reached out and caressed one with your fingers. You didn’t know where he was taking you just that it was away from the wolves and away from town.

The trees blurred by you for what seemed like miles. Your wolf never let up, never slowed down. Several times you glanced behind you, but the other wolves didn’t seem to be following you. You hoped that they were too injured to do so.

The trees around you began to thin until there were no more, revealing a large field with a beautiful farm house and detached garage right in the middle. The closer you got to the house, the more your wolf’s steps slowed until right before the porch steps, where he collapsed. You fell off from the impact, landing on your side. Where were you and why did your wolf bring you here?

“Kyungsoo!”

No less than five boys came rushing out of the front door, straight to the wolf.

No. It wasn’t a wolf laying there in the snow anymore. It was a very naked Kyungsoo.

You scrambled back, unable to comprehend what the hell was going on.

No one paid you any attention as they gathered around their friend.

A boy with dark skin shook Kyungsoo. “Soo, what happened? Soo?”

Kyungsoo groaned, barely able to push himself up on his elbows. “(y/n)?”

All the boys looked to you immediately. You shrank back, hugging your injured arm to your chest. Now that the adrenaline was out of your system, you could feel your nerves screaming in pain from the tears in your skin and the ripped sleeve of your coat was soaked in blood.

Sensing how afraid you were, one of the boys slowly approached you, his hands held out where you could see them. His eyes and small smile seemed friendly enough, but you couldn’t be sure. After all, you’d just seen a wolf turn into a man.

“Are you (y/n)?” he asked softly. After a moment’s hesitation, you nodded. He crouched down in front of you and reached for your arm, “Can I see that?”

You pulled your arm in closer, denying him the chance to look.

“I won’t hurt you,” he promised. “I’m a med student. There seems to be a lot of blood on your coat and I need to make sure that your arm is okay.”

“What’s going on out here?”

A six person emerged from the front door. This one had an air of authority to him; his glasses and suit reminded you of a teacher you had in high school.

“Junmyeon,” one of the taller boys stood up and turned to the new arrival. “Kyungsoo’s been hurt. I think he got into a fight.”

“Bring him inside,” the one named Junmyeon ordered, a flash of worry coming across his face before disappearing again. The boys nodded, picking up Kyungsoo together and hauling him up the stairs and inside the house. Junmyeon then looked to you. “You should come inside as well. Please, let Yixing look at your arm.”

The boy apparently called Yixing held his hand out to you. Seeing no other choice and desperately needing answers, you relented, taking his offer. He led you inside, through a large living room and back to a white kitchen. Motioning for you to sit down at the table, he disappeared into a hallway and came back with a first aid kit.

“Can you take your coat off for me?” he asked as he sat down next to you.

Undoing the zipper, you sucked in air as you stripped out of the coat, the cloth tugging on your wounds. Rolling up the long sleeve of your Henley, you tried not to look down at your arm.

Yixing stood back up and grabbed a glass bowl out of the cabinet and lifted your arm over it once he was seated again.

“This is going to sting,” he warned, picking up the bottle of rubbing alcohol. You just shrugged. You’d been through worse.

Your right hand did ball up into a fist in your lap as soon as the liquid hit your arm, but that was the only reaction you’d allow to escape from you. Yixing cleaned up your arm and examined the wounds closely.

“They don’t look too deep,” he told you. “And the bleeding has slowed down, I’m just going to wrap it for now, but I’ll need to check them again in a few hours to make sure they’re not infected and to maybe change the bandages.”

You simply nodded. Like you would be around in a few hours for him to do so. Knowing you, even though you wanted an explanation to all of this, you doubted you’d be able to stay.

“(y/n)?”

Turning around in your chair, you found Kyungsoo standing just outside the hallway, leaning against the wall. He was dressed now, in a simple pair of jeans, t-shirt and opened button down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Cuts and bruises decorated his face and neck, but they looked several days old when they should have been fresh.

Yixing stood up, gathering up the medical supplies and leaving the room. Coming over slowly, Kyungsoo took the now vacant seat next to you. He reached out to your now wrapped arm, but quickly withdrew.

“Does that hurt?” he asked.

You shrugged, not able to meet his eye. Now with him in front of you, all you could think about was how he’d been the black wolf the entire time. All the things you told him that weren’t for him to hear, every movement from the wolf that just seemed too human. You felt humiliated, like an idiot.

“What are you?” The question was out before you could rethink it.

“I’m a wolf,” Kyungsoo answered, his voice low as though he might scare you if he spoke any louder. “A werewolf.”

You couldn’t stop the short laugh that escaped. “A werewolf. Of course. Because my life wasn’t screwed up enough as it is.” You shook your head, fighting back the tears that were stinging the backs of your eyes. “So, has this just been a sick game this entire time? Seeing which I would like better, the dog or the person?”

“No!” Kyungsoo took hold of your hand, but you snatched it away quickly, folding your arms across your stomach. “Please, let me explain.”

You shrugged again, not sure on what you were about to hear, but you needed answers.

“I am a werewolf,” he repeated. Yes, you already knew that, but you stayed quiet. “But I wasn’t bitten. We’re all born like this. Even the two wolves that attacked us are werewolves.”

“Was everyone who came outside a werewolf, too?” you asked.

Kyungsoo nodded. “Yes. Everyone here in the house is part of the pack. Not those other wolves though. They were omegas, wolves without a pack. Junmyeon is the alpha of ours.

“How many are in your pack?”

He paused, thinking about it. “Right now there’s about seventeen of us here total.”

You nearly choked. “S-seventeen wolves?”

“No,” Kyungsoo said slowly. “Just about twelve wolves… and five mates.”

“Mates….” You repeated. Then, something clicked. The girls from the bakery. “Ji Yeon?”

Kyungsoo nodded. “Yes. She’s Minseok’s mate.”

“Was the word ‘girlfriend’ too mediocre?” you mumbled.

“No, it’s not enough. It’s deeper than that.” Scooting closer to you, Kyungsoo kept his eyes on your face as he explained, “When a wolf finds his mate, that’s it. They’re the one. No one else even comes close. It’s a mixture of the magic that created the first wolf and a biological pull.”

“A pull?” Now you were starting to freak out. Him telling you that he was a werewolf? Okay, fine. Whatever. But now he was talking about a pull and you couldn’t help but connect it with whatever it was that drew you to him, made you break your rules for him. No. Your body was just exhausted from the fight and now your mind was trying too hard to connect dots that weren’t there.

“Yes. A need to be with them. For the wolf, it can cause physical pain to be away from their mate. It’s how we know who we’re meant to be with.” Kyungsoo reached out to you once more, grasping your hand. This time you didn’t pull away. His skin felt too nice against yours. “(y/n). You’re my mate.”

“No.” You jumped up, knocking the chair over in the process, rejecting his declaration. “No, I can’t be. I’m not.”

Kyungsoo stood up as well, walking up to you. To your own surprise, you didn’t back away, not even when he rested his hands on your elbows.

“You are, (y/n),” he reinforced. “I’m happy around you. I have to be near you. And I would give my life for you.”

You shook your head violently. Salty tears overflowed down your cheeks. “Even if I am, you don’t want me. I-I’m not the kind of person that you want. No one ever wants to stay with me. You’re better off just leaving me by myself.”

“(y/n)!” Kyungsoo tightened his grip on your arms. Not in an aggressive way, but as if to give more meaning to his words. “I know you told me that people have left you. But I will never leave you. I can guarantee that. Please, give me the chance to prove it to you.”

You broke down. Ugly sobs made it hard to breathe. Kyungsoo pulled you into his chest, rubbing your back as you let it all out.

Finally, your tears dried up and pulled back just enough to see his face. You felt so… safe in his arms. Like a physical representation of his promise enveloping you to block out the rest of the world.

“Does this mean you’ll give me a chance?” he asked hopefully. How could you resist those eyes that always shined when they landed on you?

You sighed. “I’m… going to need time. But….” You took a deep breath. “I think I can.”

That “can” turned into a “will” the instant his face lit up into a second sun with the smile he gave you. He took your hand, lifting it up and lacing his fingers with yours while keeping his other arm firmly around your waist. Why did this have to feel so right?

“I know you don’t really like people,” Kyungsoo started, “so, we’ll take it slow on introducing you to everyone.”

“Thank you,” you replied gratefully. He knew you so well already. The small grin on your lips was nearly impossible to fight.

“I’d like to do that more often,” he murmured.

You pulled your eyebrows together. “Do what?”

He actually had the audacity to poke your cheek. “Make you smile.”

It was supposed to be a scoff, but a genuine laugh came out instead. Why did you have to be so susceptible to words like that?

“Kyungsoo!”

The back door to the kitchen came flying open and a very tall man that you hadn’t seen before came barreling inside. Like a coward, you hid in Kyungsoo’s side. A strange vibration in his chest that didn’t feel aggressive to you made you wonder if he was enjoying your sudden clinginess.

“What is it, Kris?”

The taller wolf – Kris? – blinked a few times, straightening up. “Tao came and told me that you were attacked by two omegas and that you’d been hurt.” His eyes flickered to you, confused. “You seem fine though.”

“They hardly touched me. I was just worn out from running,” Kyungsoo said. “I’m fine.”

“Where the hell were you?” From behind you, Junmyeon marched out of the hallway, heading straight for Kris. “You were supposed to be on perimeter duty!”

“I was out running it!” Kris shouted, making you flinch. Kyungsoo’s grip on your waist tightened protectively.

“Then how the hell did they get passed you!” Junmyeon yelled back. Thunderous footsteps pounded your ears and suddenly the kitchen was full of wolf boys.

“Junmyeon, he’s only one wolf–” one of the boys from earlier called out.

“No!” Junmyeon whirled on him. “Don’t defend him! Kyungsoo and (y/n) could have been killed by those omegas!” He turned back to face Kris. “I should have known better than to rely on you. Especially after Jiyoon.”

From the look on Kris’ face, you would have thought that Junmyeon thrown his fist into Kris’ jaw. Stumbling back, Kris glanced at Kyungsoo. “I’m sorry.”

He ran out the door, disappearing into the falling snow.

“Junmyeon, that was a low blow,” one of the shorter boys with a pointed chin said.

“Shut up, Baekhyun.” Junmyeon stormed out of the kitchen and back to the way of the living room.

“Come on,” Kyungsoo whispered, pulling you towards the hallway and up the stairs, “before they want to introduce themselves to you.”

Grateful, you let Kyungsoo lead you to one of the bedrooms on the second floor and shut the door once you were both inside. It was a simple room with a full-sized bed, a small closet, and a neatly organized desk.

“We can talk here,” he informed you. “Whatever you want to know, I’ll tell you.”

Sitting down on the bed, you pursed your lips. “Promise?” He nodded. Taking your shot, you asked, “Who was Jiyoon?”

Kyungsoo’s jaw dropped, not expecting that question in the least.

[lordyouko]

5(inukag) and 32(kogakag)..... 😁😁😁😁😁

@oitreedeb That is one hell of a pick.

@n0vic3-4nastasia Bless you for giving me an excuse to write more inucest. I’ve never written A/B/O dynamic before but I’ll give it a shot.

What @oitreedeb and @n0vic3-4nastasia chose kind of go together and novice- asked for #1 with inucest so I decided to combine all of them in a sort of short ficlet.

@oitreedeb - *grumbles* making me write Kou/Kag. Finnee.

Here goes:

5. bad sex/sex fails (Inu/Kag), 32. Forbidden love (Kou/Kag), 1. A/B/O (inucest)

_________________________________________________________________

“Mmf! Inuyasha! What the hell are you-”

Inuyasha hastily let go.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, “Are you ok?”

Kagome huffed, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face. “My god, Inuyasha, don’t you have like the vaguest clue – you know, how stuff… works?”

“I do,” Inuyasha protested. “Here, let me just-”

“No, no that’s ok,” Kagome said quickly. “Don’t worry about it. I mean clearly, you don’t want to.”

“I do want to,” Inuyasha tried again. “Of course I do, otherwise why would I be here in your bed-”

“You tell me,” Kagome retorted. “Why are you here? Because obviously, some parts of you don’t want to be.”

Inuyasha turned red then, and sat back, scooting away from her supine body.

Kagome raised herself onto her elbows, her shirt falling open carelessly where he’d clumsily unbuttoned the top few buttons, revealing her lacy bra barely covering her shapely breasts. Kagome noticed he didn’t even look at them once. In a corner of her mind, she wondered if he would have noticed if Kikyou had been lying here in her place.

“Because… I want to be with you,” Inuyasha replied, not meeting her eyes. “And – now it’s clear that – that I can’t.”

“Inuyasha,” Kagome said, voice becoming a little high pitched, a sinking feeling settling into her stomach. “What do you mean you can’t? If it’s a problem of – you know, performance, it happens to all guys sometimes…”

Inuyasha laughed hollowly. “No, no that’s not the problem. I – Kagome, I can’t because… because I’m an omega.”

“A- what?”

Inuyasha sighed, colour still dusting his cheeks. “It’s bad enough I’m a hanyou, and a bastard, but looks like that wasn’t enough for the universe because it decided to shit on me some more by also making me a – an omega-“

He glanced at Kagome; she still looked completely clueless. He swallowed hard. Damn, this wasn’t something he wanted to be explaining to the girl he had planned to spend the rest of her life with.

“An omega is a youkai that’s – that’s destined to be claimed by an alpha,” Inuyasha explained softly.

“Claimed?” Kagome repeated dumbly. “What is this, some feudal Japan thing? Because I’ll tell you, just because hanyou aren’t socially accepted doesn’t mean you have to-”

“This isn’t a society thing, Kagome,” Inuyasha interrupted, irrationally irritated by her defending him. “It’s my body. It’s – just the way it works. There’s not much I or anybody else can do about it.”

“You’re telling me the course of all youkai lives are predetermined from birth?” Kagome asked disbelievingly.

“No, not all,” Inuyasha said. “In fact, most youkai aren’t any of those things. They can choose who they want to be with, and who they become– ” bitterness laced Inuyasha’s voice. “But it’s not all bad for all the youkai who are born a certain way. Alphas have it made; it raises the honour of a family to have an alpha born in it. My father was one. And  –”

Inuyasha paused and with a short breath, changed the subject. “Anyway, omegas are just the opposite.”

“Ok,” Kagome said.  “So maybe if I-”

“Kagome,” Inuyasha said harshly. “You’re human. There’s nothing you can do.”

Kagome flinched, suddenly uncomfortably with the flinty look in his eyes.

“So what does that mean for you and me?” she asked softly, straightening up and beginning to button up her shirt.

Inuyasha swallowed around the sudden lump in his throat. “I –“

He lowered his head and let his bangs cover his eyes. “I can’t be with you…”

She’d been expecting the words, but they still felt like a stab to her heart. They were, after all, dashing away hopes she had been holding on to for so long.

“How long have you known?” Kagome asked, averting her eyes from his. “That you’re – you know-”

“…since I was a kid,” Inuyasha said. There was a moment of silence but Inuyasha didn’t elaborate. Kagome knew he was holding something back, but right now, the details weren’t seeming all that important.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?” she whispered. “All this time… you strung me along..”

A muscle twitching on his mouth was the only indication of Inuyasha’s pain. “There – there are no omegas or anything among humans, and I’m hanyou so I thought maybe… if I tried really hard I could-”

Kagome felt some of her anger melt away at the heartbreak in his voice.

“I never wanted to hurt you,” he whispered. “I really – I really wanted to be with you…”

Kagome made a soft despairing sound, and Inuyasha sprang to his feet; in a trice, he was at her window.

Kagome sat there dumbly on her bed. A part of her wanted to go after him, wanted to stop him from leaving like this, but she found she couldn’t move. Her body suddenly felt so heavy and she was so tired-

She knew he would have scented the tears that were gathering in her eyes. He didn’t turn around.

Kagome sat there on her childhood bed where he’d left her and finally let the tears escape.

____________________________________________________________________

Kagome debated never again returning to the feudal era. She had almost decided never to jump down that well again, when it occurred to her – her life there hadn’t been all about Inuyasha. She had friends there, friends who would be hurt if she just vanished from their lives without saying goodbye.

So she went. One more time.

She hadn’t anticipated how quickly her friends would be able to read her desolation on her face. It took them no time to notice how upset she was, and how standoffish and ruder than usual Inuyasha was and they put two and two together – they were broken up, for good.

Then there was all the consoling and the kind words, and Kagome had never before known those things could make one feel like bashing one’s head against a wall.

So she fled.

Away from Sango and Miroku and Shippou and Kaede, away from anyone who wished her well.

She didn’t know where she had ended up when she stopped at last, winded, and dropped to the grassy floor.

She didn’t cry; that’s all she had done for so long, after all. Inuyasha entered her thoughts unbidden, and she felt the tears gathering like dark clouds in her chest, but she didn’t allow them to her eyes.

Instead, she concentrated on breathing, one hand clenching in the dirt beneath her fingers. She watched a drop of sweat slide off her forehead and mix into that dirt. It vaguely occurred to her that Kikyou probably never got all gross and sweaty like this.

“Kagome.”

The sound of her name, here, in this time, out in the middle of nowhere startled her.

She looked up and her heart leapt into her chest.

“Kouga,” she said, and was surprised to find her voice raspy and small.

Alien blue eyes clouded over with concern and Kouga knelt down next to her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Kagome looked down at her hands, and could not answer.

The wolf leader didn’t press her; instead, he came to sit cross-legged next to her on the ground.

“So what are we staring at?” he finally asked, turning to look at her after a while when the silence got oppressive.

“Are you alpha omega whatever too?” Kagome asked, without preamble.

Kouga drew back in surprise at the question. Out of the corner of her eye, Kagome saw his reaction. She knew she was being rude, but didn’t care right now. She sort of hoped she had offended the wolf, and he would leave her alone in peace. She sort of also hoped he would stay here with her and drive away some of her loneliness.

“I’m a beta,” Kouga answered, to Kagome’s surprise.

She huffed a laugh, resolutely refusing to meet his eyes. “So you can’t be with humans either, then,” she muttered.

“Why do you care?” Kouga began teasingly, but stopped when he saw she wasn’t taking the bait.

“It means I can be with alphas and omegas. I can be with whoever I want to be,” Kouga explained. “Except an omega that’s been claimed by an alpha.”

“But no humans,” Kagome added snidely.

“Humans too,” Kouga said quietly.

Kagome’s head snapped towards him. “Really?”

“Yes,” Kouga said. “Why, what’s brought this whole – mmph!”

He had to brace a hand on the ground behind him when Kagome kissed him suddenly.

Blue eyes were wide as saucers when she drew back. “Kagome-” he whispered, fingers brushing disbelievingly over his own lips.

Kagome said nothing; she just looked at him.

After a moment, Kouga leaned down and took her in his arms, lowering his head to meet their lips once more.

Kagome’s hand clutched at the fur-lined armour on the wolf’s chest, and it occurred to her that this was wrong.

Terribly, awfully wrong.

She had only just broken up with the boy who she’s planned to spend the rest of her life with. And she wasn’t the girl who did this kind of thing. She didn’t jump from one boy to the next.

She should be mourning the end of her relationship with dignity and then, only after a large number of months had passed, should she even begin to think about being in another relationship.

Kouga’s tongue entered her mouth, gently but surely, and Kagome decided she absolutely did do this kind of thing.

After all, if the first love of her life could break her heart without ever being with her, the least she could do was this.

And now, at least she had a reason to keep coming back to feudal Japan.

_______________________________________________________________________

A/N: That was the first ‘chapter’. @n0vic3-4nastasia - the inucest will be in the next instalment. 

And, surprisingly, I’m having fun writing Kou/Kag. So @oitreedeb thanks for giving me a chance to write a pairing I never would have otherwise gone for ^_^

This will also be up on FF and AO3 soon.

[werewolfdays]

drabble

this is completely pointless and dumb and barely edited but it was fun so why tf not post it. 

I walked into our room, heading to the closet to change out of my work clothes. Jayde sat cross legged on the bed, laptop in front of her and focused on whatever was on the screen. Mostly engrossed in what she was doing, but still noted my arrival with a smile in greeting.

“You wanna train later?” She asked, turning her attention back to the computer.

“Actually, I have plans with Patrick.” I told her as I pulled my shirt over my head and skimmed through the closet to see what I wanted to wear. “You can join us if you like.”

“Who?” She asked, barely glancing at me.

“He’s one of the newcomers. Came here a few days ago after a car crash, I’ve been treating him.” One of Jayde’s flannels would do, I decided.  

“Oh, okay.” After a beat, Jayde paused and fully looking up at me, “Wait, what?”

“He has a few broken ribs. I told him he’d be okay but he keeps coming in with concerns about his pains.” I explained while buttoning up the shirt.

“No, I mean why are you hanging out with him?”

“He said he likes me and wants to get to know me better.” My shoulders rose in a shrug, “I think he’s nice so I said sure.”

Jayde blinked at me oddly. “How exactly did he ask you?”

I gave her a weird look, unsure why she was so concerned. “Uh, well, he asked if he could buy me a drink and spend some time with me.”

Jayde sighed and stood up from her spot on the bed, making her way to me. She had this adoring look in her eyes that I couldn’t figure out and when she got to me she placed her hands on my waist and pulled me closer to her.

“Baby,” She prompted.

“What?” I eyed her warily.

“He was asking you out on a date.” Jayde told me. In barely contained laughter she continued, “And you said yes.”

“No, that wasn’t…” only now did it finally click, “Oh, shit!” I exclaimed. My cheeks flushed in embarrassment and then I had another realization. “Did I just almost accidentally cheat on you!?”

Jayde was fully laughing now, “Nadya, no, no you didn’t.”

I groaned, “What do I do? I didn’t mean to lead him on or anything! Crap, I feel bad now.”

“Don’t feel bad, it’s not your fault.” Jayde said calmly. “If you still want to hang out with him, I’ll come with you.”

“He seemed cool and he was nice.” I pointed out weakly like that would make this better.

“Yeah, because he wants to get in your pants.”

“Oh, god.” I moaned in disgust, hiding my face in my hands and bumping my head on her shoulder in shame.

“It’s okay.” Jayde said, rubbing my arms in reassurance. “I’ll come with you and he’ll get it.”

That made me feel a little better. Having to explain the misunderstanding to Patrick made me feel even more mortified. I also had the urge to make light of the situation as a defense against my embarrassment.

“Okay. Can you have sex with me so he’ll sense it and I won’t even have to say anything?” I asked somewhat half jokingly.

Jayde chuckled and maybe even hesitated in consideration, but she eventually said, “I’ll let him know if he asks.”

“I’m glad you’re not angry about all this.”

“I can’t be mad at you for not realizing. And as long as what’s-his-name behaves then there won’t be an issue. Honestly, I just can’t wait to see his face when he realizes.” Jayde was probably more excited to go on this “date” than I was.

We got to the Den before Patrick did. I picked a spot next to the main fireplace and sat on the small couch, waiting for Jayde to grab us some drinks. Jayde and I spent a lot of time in this spot, it held a lot of comfort for me, but now I was a bit anxious. I wish I wasn’t so oblivious about this sort of thing and I was eternally grateful for Jayde backing me up.

Patrick arrived before Jayde got back and quickly spotted me. When he waved at me with a pleasant smile, I did the same, albeit a little awkwardly. He came over and sat at the chair across from the couch, thankfully not right next to me.

“Hey.” He greeted.

“Hi.” I tried an enthusiastic tone, but it fell flat.

It didn’t seem like he noticed. “Have you been waiting long? I hope I wasn’t late.” 

“No, no, you’re fine.” I felt more awkward than when Jayde and I were flirting in the beginning. Probably because I actually wanted to flirt with her.

“Cool.” Patrick said, seemingly not picking up on how uncomfortable I was. “Well, can I get you a drink? What do you like?”

“Actually, uh…” out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jayde approach us, drinks in hand. Thank god.

“I went ahead and grabbed us some.” Jayde answered. She placed my drink in front of me on the table, then her whiskey, and a third drink. Jayde set a bottle of Bud Light in front of Patrick with a smile that was in no way friendly. “I just guessed what you’d like, hope you don’t mind.”

I nearly rolled my eyes at her. “Um, this is Jayde.”

Patrick sized Jayde up, no doubt sensing she was a wolf and calculating her intent towards him. “Oh, I didn’t know your friend was going to join us.” He tried to sound polite, but there was an obvious tone of disappointment and apprehension.

Without taking her eyes off of him, Jayde sat down right beside me as close as she could. Any closer and she’d be on my lap. The couch was small, but there was still plenty of room for two people so she was just being overly obvious. “Girlfriend, actually.” She corrected and placed a hand on my leg.

I wanted to laugh at how blatant she was being and Patrick’s dumbfounded look was making it harder not to. Biting my lip, I silently reached for my drink and took a long sip.

“You didn’t say you were…” Patrick mumbled. His eyes went back and forth from me to Jayde, “I didn’t know you were a… You don’t look like you’re gay.”

I could practically feel Jayde bristle beside me and I glanced at her. She still had that smile, but there was something about her expression that Patrick should really heed. It was wolfish and dangerous like Jayde was just waiting for him to say something else like that. Strike one.

My hand grabbed hers, lacing our fingers together. It drew her attention and I gave her the clearest chill out look I could manage. Taking the hint, Jayde relaxed somewhat, but still eyed Patrick.

“Yeah, um, I kind of thought you just wanted to hang out as friends.” I stammered, “I didn’t really realize…” Where’s the button I can press to launch me as far away from here as possible?

“So, you didn’t think to come find me and tell me?” Now Patrick sounded offended.

“I thought we could still hang, just… not like that.” I said hesitantly.

“You thought.” Patrick stated in annoyed exasperation. “Well, you brought your girlfriend to, I don’t know, embarrass me? And then what? I’d laugh it off and we’d all be buddies?”

“She’s not here to embarrass you, she’s here because I didn’t know how to explain it to you on my own.” Feeling bad, I kept my tone patient. This maybe wasn’t the best idea in hindsight. “I just- I felt a little uncomfortable with it. I honestly didn’t mean to offend you.”

Patrick scoffed bitterly, but before he could say anything else Jayde cleared her throat, “Listen, Nick,” she started and downed her entire glass of whiskey like it was water.

“It’s Patrick.” He said with a scowl.

Jayde shrugged, “Eh, I knew it ended in an ‘ick’. Anyway, you can shallow you’re fragile pride and have a good platonic time with us or you can shut your mouth and piss the fuck off ‘cause I’m not liking your tone.”

Patrick’s eyes narrowed. “Well, I’m not liking yours.” He countered.

Oh boy, there’s strike two. Jayde leaned forward and stared him down with that chilling and terrifying glare that she can do. “What are you gonna do about it?” She challenged calmly in a low voice.

Nope, that’s not sexy. Focus.

“Okay, I think we all need to calm down. This isn’t an issue worth a fight.” I tried. The last thing I wanted was for Patrick to be stuck in the clinic and I hoped Jayde would realize that before she pounded his face in. Plus, I didn’t really think he deserved a broken jaw.

At Jayde’s more deliberately threatening expression I actually saw Patrick balk. Weighing his chances and realizing the odds probably weren’t in his favor, he growled and stood up, not even bothering to glance in my direction.

As he stormed off Jayde said, “Wait, you forgot your beer!” The only reaction he gave was muttering something under his breath that made Jayde snicker.

I sighed and took another swig if my drink, “I think that could’ve been handled better.”

Jayde brushed a strand of hair behind my ear, “Don’t let it keep you up at night. I was right, he’s a douche. Practically reeked of it.”

Nodding, I tipped the rest of my drink back, grimacing at the intensity of the alcohol in my mouth before I swallowed, “I’m really glad I’m a lesbian.”

She chucked in agreement. “You want another drink?”

“I think so, yeah. This was stressful.”

“Okay.” Jayde said.

Then she leaned in to kiss me. It was a warm kiss that was suddenly deepened when she parted her lips. I gratefully matched her intensity, allowing myself to accept her comfort. When her tongue brushed against mine with the taste of liquor, a new idea popped in my head. One that would be even more effective in taking my mind off of this awkward evening.

As Jayde pulled back and made a move to stand, my hand grabbed her wrist, “Or we could… go back to our room.”

After a second Jayde’s eyes lit up in recognition and hungrily looked me up and down to make certain of my meaning. I place my hand on her knee and slowly moved my hand up her thigh so she would get it. That was all the initiative Jayde needed. With a crooked grin, she grabbed my hand and quickly led us back to our room.