#i thought I'd make the fall off a small cliff but did not

[thederpiverse]

The disrespect

(no audio cuz my OBS is big stinky)

[angstywaifu]

The Lost Sister - Part 6

Synopsis: Xaden is known as an only child due to his sister who 'died' during the Rebellion. Little do they know she didn't die and has been so close this entire time.

Garrick Tavis x OC A/N: I couldn't resist posting this so close to the other part. I'd say I'm sorry for the slight cliff hanger.... But I'm not. Also I've started writing some of the stuff around threshing, what do you guys think Ophelia's signet should be? What dragon will she have? Also what should we make Garrick's signet? I've seen a few theories on his being pain due to his dragons name, and honestly kinda leaning towards it. As per usual if you want to be on the tag list let me know! And if you guys have any prompts or ideas for small little one off stories/one shots, please pop them in my asks! Would love to give some other ideas a go. Probably leaning more towards our rebellion boys (Xaden, Garrick, Bodhi and Liam), but happy to give some others a go.

The Lost Sister Masterlist | Masterlist

Garrick leans against the wall at the end of the bed, his hazel eyes watching me like a hawk. He hadn’t take his eyes off me since scooping me off the floor. I’m a little disappointed he managed to put a shirt on before bringing me here. I could have used the view while the healer works at cleaning the blood off my face and mending my nose. Every time I flinch or wince as the healer works, I swear I see Garrick’s hand twitch as if wanting to reach out and stop her. The healer walks away to get me some healing balm to take with me to help the last of my nose heal and to help with any bruising that may decide to show up. As she rounds the corner, Garrick pushes off the wall and pulls up a chair next to my bed. He reaches up and tilts my head towards him with his right hand. His eyes assessing my face and the work the healer has done. When he’s satisfied I’ve been healed adequately his eyes meet mine. His hand still lingering on my face.

”You two really did a number on each other.” He says with a chuckle.

”You finally going to tell me what the hell is up with you and Imogen.” I say more aggressively that I intend.

Garrick flinches at my words and his moves his hand from my cheek to his lap as he looks down and starts to fidget with this hands. Some of his dark curls falling in front of his eyes. Definitely not the response he was expecting from me.

“I promise you there is nothing going on-”

”Bullshit.” I spit out cutting him off mid sentence.

He looks up at me shocked and almost scared. Something I can safely say I’ve never seen from Garrick towards me. Granted I don’t think I’ve used that kind of tone towards him before in the entire time I’ve known Garrick, which is pretty much my entire life. He hangs his head and goes back to fidgeting with his hands, the chair creaking under his weight as he moves around. Clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

“For me there’s nothing going on with her. We hooked up a few times, but that was it.” He admits, his shoulders sagging with the confession before looking back up at me with sad eyes that almost plead forgiveness from me. “But I made it clear I wanted nothing serious. But it is becoming clear those hook ups meant more to her than just something casual.”

”You never struck me as the casual hook up type.” I admit to him.

He slowly nods in agreement before looking away again, intently focused on his hands again. “Honestly I’m not. But there are times while you are here where you just need someone. And the person I needed. The person I wanted more than just a casual hook up with.” His eyes flick up to mine, and I swear my heart stops as if I know what’s coming. “Well I kind of thought they were dead till recently.”

His words come out so quietly I barely hear them. But I do. My heart rate starts to pick up as his words sink in and silence falls around us as we just stare into each others eyes. There is no doubt that Garrick meant me. It’s not like anyone else has come back from the dead recently. Garrick who I spent most of my child hood and teenage years crushing over, has just confessed they feel the same way and all I can do is sit here and stare at him like a deer about to get torched by a dragon. And I’m sure my face probably looks similar to that deer right now. His words start to sink in as he stares at me hopefully. His eyes pleading at me to say something. Say anything back to him. But I can’t. All I can do is stare at him in shock, despite wanting to hear this exact confession from him for years.

At that moment the healer comes back with the healing balm, completely oblivious to the tension in the small closed off area. “Here you go lovely, just apply it to any bruising as it appears.” She says sweetly as she hands it to me.

I tear my gaze from Garrick as I stand and take the healing balm from her, before quickly walking out of the room. I hear the chair Garrick was sitting on scrape against the floor. As soon as I’m out the door I take off. I vaguely hear Garrick call my name as I run back to the riders quadrant.

Part 7

Tag List: @riorgail @going-through-shit @fw-gt @bbkissme99

[tennessoui]

I'm begging on my hands and knees for more Twilight au, and those are words I never thought I'd say! Anakin being able to resist compulsion, and Obi-Wan seeming instantly obsessed, and poor Shmi! Pretty please 🥺🙏

hey!! sure! here's some more!

(2.5k)

Having a sheriff for a mom sucked a lot when he was a kid growing up in a small town. There was probably nothing Anakin was rebelling against more at eleven, at thirteen, at seventeen than the rule of law his mother represented. 

All things considered, she was pretty good at separating her home life from her worklife. It was Anakin who was bad at respecting the separation, Anakin who couldn’t keep son out of delinquent.  There’s only so many times he could be pulled out of wreckage and bars and buildings with Keep Out No Trespassing signs on them before he got The Sheriff at home and out in public.

He’d hated it growing up and had come to grudgingly respect it later and in fits and starts. His dad dying had, terribly and ironically, helped a lot. His mother had had a stroke just before and then Anakin had been faced with the possibility of being an orphan, and the terror of that had mellowed him out.

Sorta.

He still hates a lot of things about his mother’s job. Especially the fact that she’s the sheriff of a very small town.

And when people talk, she listens.

The thing about small towns is that everyone’s always fucking talking. And other people are always fucking lsitening so they can talk later. One big fucking community, which means when Anakin comes home from his weird doctor’s appointment with Dr. Kenobi, a few hours later because he took a detour biking along the edge of the seaside cliffs just to spit in the good doctor’s metaphorical face, Shmi Skywalker already knows more than Anakin ever planned to tell her.

Like, for instance, “Sheila says that Dr. Kenobi thought it would behoove you to spend some time at the local library volunteering.”

Anakin pauses, backpack half-slung off his shoulders. He hangs his stuff up slowly, careful to keep his tone very light. “Did Sheila say what I told him after he said that?” 

His mom’s silence is very loud.

“I don’t want to do i—”

“I asked the new librarian about it on my way home from the station. She thinks it’s a wonderful idea. Apparently we used to have a program like that in the forties but it died out during the war.”

“Mom, come on—”

“It’ll look good on resumes, saying you created and supported a local reading program.”

“Yeah, but I’m a bit too old to be applying for babysitting positio—”

“It’ll look good for me as well,” Shmi says in her sheriff voice. “Elections are coming up soon. It’ll be good, if my kid was involved in the community.”

Anakin’s glad that his back is still turned to the living room, where his mom is sitting. “Are you gonna run again?” he asks, paying special attention to his tone this time.

“Why wouldn’t I?” his mom replies. “I’ve been sheriff for a decade and a half.”

Anakin lets his eyes fall closed for a second, knowing that his face can’t be seen. This is how they end up half the time: Shmi’s ardent belief that she is invincible, going up against Anakin’s desperate desire for her to be so.

And they just don’t talk about it. As if they’re actually in agreement.

He knows how this is going to shake out.

“Do you have any plans tomorrow?” His mother asks.

Anakin’s eyes remain closed. “I guess so,” he says.

—--------

Mrs. Kenobi—call me Satine—is sort of scary up close. She’s tall. She glides between bookshelves. Anakin’s never met someone who glides before. And she’s so intensely, incredibly, blindingly perfect that Anakin would rather be anywhere but in her vicinity. There’s something incredibly unnerving about the symmetry of her face, the sharpness of her cheekbones. She’s obviously an absolute knock-out, just drop-dead gorgeous, but it makes Anakin’s skin crawl and his heart beat fast, but not in a good way or a normal teenage boy way.

Anakin tries to keep the unease off his face as Satine leads him through a tour of the library, a gentle hand on his forearm. That’s another thing Anakin doesn’t really like. She’s wearing satin gloves. He doesn’t know anyone who wears gloves anymore.

It’s just all a bit…unsettling.

“I put in a few words around the school yesterday afternoon,” Satine tells him. They pass by the mystery section, the fantasy section, and take a hard right into the young adult section. The shelves are smaller here, and Anakin feels rather stupidly gigantic as he and Satine walk through them. “To some parents picking their children up after school. They agreed it would be good exposure to bring them to the library for an hour or so of reading before supper.”

Anakin highly doubts it will be, but Satine hasn’t really asked him.

She sweeps past his figure and pushes open a pair of double doors with a flourish better suited for a Russian tsarina hosting an elaborate ball than a small town librarian showing off a small, cramped, and dusty room filled with padded seats and threadbare rugs.

And then, as if she has been waiting to put the last nail in the proverbial coffin, Satine adds, “A few students from the local high school will be here as well.”

“Sorry,” Anakin says, “are you saying I’m going to be reading to high school students? Can’t they do that themselves?”

After all, Anakin went to high school here. Academics hadn’t been too rigorously challenging, but they’d taught the fucking basics.

Satine raises one perfectly plucked eyebrow in his direction. “They’ll be volunteering as well.”

Oh. Right.

“It looks good on their college applications,” Satine waves a hand through the air and the words linger there. Anakin looks out the rather dirty window, jaw clenching. “I’ve already chosen a handful of books I think the young ones will enjoy.”

Anakin, committed to his fate, pads over to the titles placed carefully ontop of a short, stout side table. 

“Peter the Rabbit,” he reads off the top. “Peter Pan. Alice in Wonderland. Treasure Island. The Prince and the Pauper—look, you’re the librarian here, but don’t you have anything written this century maybe? Harry Potter, even.”

“These are classics,” Satine tells him, her nose raised into the air as if she has encountered something particularly foul-smelling. She turns away, presumably to return to the front desk so she can welcome half the fucking town inside the library so Anakin can read them fucking Anne of Green Gables and become a better person.

“These are fucking boring,” he mutters to himself, flicking the cover of the first book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz open. Publication date: 1900. “I’d rather be in Kenobi’s office getting lectured at.”

There’s a sharp noise of disapproval from the doorway, and Anakin’s head snaps up to see the tail end of a very heated look from the librarian before the door closes behind her.

He shivers, alone in the emply room, and it takes several long minutes for his heart to settle back into its normal pace. 

—----------

After the fourth kid sneezes, Anakin closes his book with a snap and stands from the very small chair they’ve got him sitting on. “Come on,” he tells the cluster of children he’s been assigned to. “We’re getting out of here.”

“Are you kidnapping us?” One of them, a snot-nosed kid who’d started the sneezing says, rubbing at her cheek beneath her glasses. “Cause mommy says that’s not allowed.”

“I’m not kidnapping you,” Anakin snaps back, barely holding in his natural follow-up to the sentence which is of course, I don’t want to be around any of you in the first place. “Also, just for future reference, you shouldn’t ask if someone’s kidnapping you after you already start following them.”

The girl scowls and reaches up her hand to hold onto Anakin’s. 

For the love of Christ.

“We’re just going to go into the main part of the library,” Anakin tells his children, all six of them. “They have windows out there.”

They have windows out there and they also have parents. Parents who absolutely should be doing other things with their lives and precious hour of extra freetime.

Parents who are clustered instead around the library’s front desk as the town’s newest librarian holds court.

“Is reading time over?” one of the kids asks him, turning his head to look up at Anakin.

Anakin thinks about it. “Do you want reading time to be over?”

The kid thinks about it back. “Yeah,” he decides. “You don’t do the voices good.”

“It’s a boring book,” Anakin tells the kid. “Voices aren’t going to make it better.”

“Voices always make it better,” another kid says. “They make everything better.”

“Oh look,” Anakin says. “Is that your father?”

He gestures vaguely towards the cluster of drooling middle-aged somethings focused on Satine.

The kid peeks around his thigh and then shakes his head. “No,” he says. “That’s Dr. Obi.”

“Dr. Obi!” The kid holding Anakin’s hand says, and she lets go.

Anakin gets a bad feeling about this, a feeling that only doubles when he turns around to see Dr. Kenobi sauntering towards him, hands tucked into the pockets of a long dark jacket that makes him look even more pale than he already is.

He scowls automatically as the man gets closer. “Dr. Obi.”

Dr. Kenobi spares him a look that’s far too amused for Anakin’s pleasure before he crouches down to the level of the kids. “Hello there, young ones,” he says, opening his arms to accept a hug from the traitor of a girl Anakin’s just spent thirty minutes reading to. “Are you eating all your vegetables? Even the brussel sprouts?”

“I like brussel sprouts,” one of the kids reports sounding proud, and that starts a cacophony of opinions about brussel sprouts from all around Anakin.

“Wow! One of mine just absolutely hates them,” Dr. Kenobi says. “She refuses to eat them, so you’re very brave, Michele.” He lets go of the girl and turns his golden-brown gaze up to Anakin. “And what does Mr. Skywalker think?” he asks, raising a hand for Anakin to take. It’s very obvious he’s asking for a hand up and Anakin is obeying before he thinks about it. He snatches his hand free almost too soon, but Dr. Kenobi doesn’t even have the grace to lose his balance and fall over. 

His hand is like ice in Anakin’s, and Anakin stuffs his fingers into the pocket of his jacket automatically a second later.

“Do brussel sprouts help with circulation?” he’s biting out before he can stop himself. “Cause you may need some then.”

Kenobi’s head tilts very slightly to the side as his eyes catch and hold onto Anakin’s. “Oh?” he asks lightly. 

“You’re cold,” is all Anakin mutters in return. He swipes his other hand against the back of his neck. “”S poor circlutation, isn’t it? Something in your diet maybe?” Dr. Kenobi blinks at him and then breaks into a wide smile. “I can assure my diet is very…circulation-mindful,” he says. “Blood health positive.”

Anakin’s mouth thins into a line. He guesses that’s what he gets for trying to give health advice to a doctor, especially a doctor like Kenobi who just so happens to be devastatingly attractive and also smart.

And also an asshole. And also married.

Speaking of which. “Are you here to fend off your wife’s admirers with a scalpel?” Kenobi’s eyebrows raise. “Young ones,” he turns his head away from Anakin, down to the children.

The strangest feeling breaks of Anakin the second Kenobi looks away, almost as if a strange pressure he hadn’t even realized had been building was suddenly dissolved.

The very small beginnings of a headache begin to thrum in his temples.

“Young ones, it’s time to find your parents, isn’t it?” Kenobi says, and like fucking magic, the crowd of six children around Anakin disperse, children swarming away from him towards the group of adults surrounding the front desk.

“Can you teach me how to do that?” Anakin blurts out, even though he’d meant to ignore Kenobi now that he doesn’t have to make nice in front of small kids. Not that he was really making nice in the first place. But now he definitely doesn’t have to.

Kenobi gives him a half-smile, eyes heavy-lidded. “It’s a special sort of skill that takes, above all else, much practice.”

Anakin scowls. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Does Kenobi think he can’t commit himself to something even as mundane as a fucking commanding persona? Does he think he doesn’t have it in him to be–-

Kenobi’s eyebrows go up again. “Has anyone ever told you that you are exceedingly defensive?” 

“You’re extremely nosey,” Anakin snaps back, crossing his arms over his chest. “Don’t you have better things to focus on right now anyway?”

He gestures loosely towards Satine, who has started playing with one of the mother’s bracelets as the other woman stands and looks at her rather dumbfounded.

Kenobi follows his gaze and then lets out a huff of laughter. “Satine can take care of herself,” he says, even though it hadn’t really been Satine that Anakin was worried about.

He’s about to open his mouth to say so when Kenobi turns back to him. His eyes are piercing, a dark, captivating sort of gold. 

“Do you find my wife beautiful, Anakin?” he asks.

Anakin blinks. His headache is getting worse, which is probably down to what can only be a trick-question fashioned to look like a grenade lobbed at his feet. “I don’t think there’s a good answer to that,” he mutters, rubbing absently at his forehead. “What the fuck.”

“An honest answer is a good one,” Kenobi says lightly. “Tell me honestly.”

The words feel pulled from Anakin’s stomach, and he’s opening his mouth before he realizes it. “No,” he says. 

Kenobi’s eyebrows crinkle together. “No?”

Anakin curses his stupid impulse control. “She’s beautiful,” he adds quickly. “Really. But…it makes me uncomfortable.”

Kenobi’s lips purse, and then there’s something like disappointment in his eyes as he examines Anakin. “Ah yes,” he murmurs. “I’ve been told my wife can make countless young men feel rather uncomfortable. It’s normal in men your age, Anakin. Sexual ar—”

“Uncanny,” Anakin blurts out. He doesn’t mean to, but he also doesn’t want to listen to  Kenobi trying to lecture him on fucking arousal in the public library. When it’s not even relevant. “She’s so beautiful, it’s uncanny.”

“Uncanny.”

“Yeah, like. Monstrous.”

Kenobi’s mouth falls open, pink lips parted in what looks like honest surprise.

Anakin’s own eyes widen as it hits him that he’s just called Kenobi’s wife a monster to Kenobi’s face.

“Shit,” he says. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that. I’m going to go.” 

He throws a look at Kenobi, whose eyes are lit with something a lot like interest and then across the library to where Satine’s head is turned, cocked, and eyebrows up high on her forehead, as if she’s just heard everything he’s said.

He decides rather immediately that he’s going to take the backdoor exit.

[hirsheyskisses]

It Takes Two. (Prologue)

A Shocking Meet

RORONOA ZORO X READER

Prev. | Next.

Pirates.

They rule the seas, they claim the lands. The elders speak of ruthless men who take what does not belong, of women so cunning and sly they'd take all of your worth right from under your nose.

The mothers spoke of the Captains, who'd hang children and throw them to the seas, who'd slaughter your siblings and take it all away.

The children played games of Marine and Pirate, further settling the idea of what a pirate was.

Scum of the earth, scum of the sea. Some were even rejected by the sea: they'd eaten these magical fruits known as the Devil fruits. 'They have the eyes of monsters.. they have the power of the devil himself. Once you've eaten a devil fruit, there is no sea that will accept you.

So why? Why had you never seen one? Sure, it was unlikely they'd ever find this place, as even a Logue Pose could never lock onto it: this small mass of land was barely more than a hunk of beautiful rock. But surely, there'd be tales of pirates somewhere?

"So this is where you ran off to!"

Your head turned just a bit, smiling at the sight of him. A tall, snow white haired boy stood behind you with a smirk resting on his features.

"Shouldn't have been that hard to find me," you shot back, standing and moving away from the cliffs edge. The sound of the water crashing against the rocks was lulling: you and Killian both knew it.

"So sue me! You switch where you act all deep and wise every other day-"

Killian bumped his shoulder against yours. You raised your hands in defense, grinning. Your thoughts lay forgotten, "act? You forget, I aced the flying tests long before you did!"

"Flying has nothing to do with brains, Featherhead!"

"Oh really? I dare you to recite from memory the proper movements for a barrel twist."

Contrary to popular belief, there were many different forms of a barrel. Sure, the roll itself would always be a tuck and turn, but a twist was erratic. You had to know where and when to pull out and back into it, how fast to do it and how to launch an attack. It was, after all, an offensive maneuver.

"I'll take your silence as an answer, Kill."

"What difference does it make if I can't describe it? I can still do it!"

He glowered, and you couldn't resist a chuckle. "Because we'll have to teach the kids one day. Duh."

"Whatever. I'd make a way better teacher!"

"I'll leave you in the dust!"

"...the usual?"

Your banter quickly turned into the usual: a race. You'd known Killian for as long as you could remember. Both of you being born to a race of halfbreeds - taking on the features of a feathery, winged, tailed beast. There were a few of them on the island: the elders called you Viserons. Long ago, they were known for their speed, being the fastest amongst the dragons. Somewhere along the lines, a devil fruit had come into the picture - Elder Kisu had called it the human human fruit, and thus came fourth the humanoid Viserons.

"Let's go!"

3.. 2.. 1!

Wings flared into the air and a quick snap, both of you dove off the island peak. The wind whipped through your hair as you dove straight for the ocean water, snapping them open the second before you hit it and, with powerful thrusts, came height.

"A second later and you'd be a wet bird!"

Killian came to your side. His wings tips came to touch yours. They were such a beautiful snow white. Your tail curled inwards,

"We'll see who's a wet bird!"

The tufts of feathers in your hair pricked forward, and you continued to gain altitude, Killian hot on your heels. "Going higher won't help you, slowpoke!"

"Oh yeah? Remember that barrel twist?"

The clouds weren't even close to the limit. Breaking the cloud barrier in a puff of white wisp, and then you let your body fall.

Any mind to Killian was lost: falling, falling, falling. It was such a freeing feeling. Tucking your wings in you fell faster. The calculated wing beats not far above you told you Killian was gaining, but that wasn't important, now was it? The wind whipped through your hair, chilled your skin in such a delightful manner: now! Wings snapping open, you caught yourself, right wing extended slightly farther to ensure the real twist. A grin spread upon your features as your body began to even out with the horizon, your other wing snapping out to catch yourself.

"I'm not done yet!"

In a flash of black and white, Killian whizzed past you. A hand was on his hat to ensure it didn't go flying, and the chase was on.

You weren't sure how much time had passed. Could've been hours, could've been mere less than. Usually, the two of you would've turned back by now, but the wind had felt so good to chase away the lingering thought of what truly is a pirate? Your birth island, Shigan, was nowhere in sight. Which was fine- being a Viseron had more perks than just wings - your bodies were drawn to masses of land, and while judging of distance may not always be accurate, the strongest gut feeling was usually the closest island.

Nothing but endless blue water and cloudy gray skies was in your sight.

That was when you realized: where's Killian?

Slowing to a stop, you came to realize: he was nowhere in sight.

"Kill?"

You called out. Now that you'd stopped, you realized one thing. The gray clouds were no longer gray. They were a horrifying dark black. Each powerful pump of your wings was getting met with resistance by the growing wind, the air carrying the scent of rain and the tingle of possible lightning.

"KILLIAN!"

You shouted, head craning as you began to lose altitude. Had he turned back? Had one of you flown so far and lost sight of the other?

No time to worry about that. If Killian was ahead of you, he'd already be in the head of it. If he was behind you, he'd have long seen this so sudden storm.

"Crap.. I can't feel.. any land nearby." You cursed, the wind pushing you off balance. Head for the eye of the storm.

"Got no choice! You've got this!"

As you dove, your body was quickly growing soaked. Thunder roared in your ears, lightning flashed before your eyes.

Dive, twist, rise, dodge. Don't fight the wind, flow with it. Don't become a bigger target than necessary.

Dive away from the strikes of lightning, twist with the wind, rise from the giant waves. There wasn't a moment of peace as you fought against the roaring storm: one wrong move, and you'd be in the sea. It was bad enough trying to fly, with your feathers slowly but surely soaking through.

There was no end to the storm. Your clothes has long since been Soaked through, you couldn't see through the endless torrent of falling water, and to make matters worse, your skin began to tingle.

Well, shit.

You didn't even have time to truly feel the dread before a blinding flash of light sent you tumbling towards the unwelcoming sea.

"She's got wings! How cool!"

"Look at the tail, it's so long."

"She's drenched is what she is."

"I wanna touch her wingsss!"

"Back off, Luffy!"

"Give me some space, please! She's probably suffering from hypothermia.. need to see if there's any other injuries.. sanji! Can you go get some extra blankets? We need to warm her up."

"On it! Oh what a beauty she is.."

I can't recognize those voices. God, am I even awake? I can't feel my body right now.. what happened? I need to.. open my eyes..

It didn't take long for the true unconsciousness to take you once more.

. . .

"Gah.. my head.."

You groaned, hoisting yourself out of bed and rubbing the back of your neck. Shitty didn't even begin to describe how you felt: what happened? Why did it smell so weird in your room, more importantly?

"So you're awake. 'Bout time."

Turning your head, you were met with the intense gaze of a green haired man.

..green hair. Not white hair.

"...WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

It wasn't a face you recognized. In a split second you'd grabbed the pillow and threw it at the strange man's face, wings snapping open as you launched yourself at him.

"woah- HEY RELAX-"

A strong hand grabbed your arm and shoved you against the wall, and you winced in pain, but not hindering your knee to his groin.

Heh.

The man's eye twitched and you could almost see him questioning his very existence, though his grip never wavered. That was fine, you decided, as you clenched your teeth , fangs glinting,

"I'd suggest letting go. I bite."

"Why you little shit-"

"Zoro! Are you manhandling the patient?"

This time, a feminine voice spoke. The man released your wrist and backed away quickly: grumbling something about she attacked first before retreating back to his seat.

"I dunno where I am, but don't think I'll go easy on you! Where's Killian?!"

Your voice was rough, and the female came into view: a rather beautiful young woman with bright orange hair.

"Relax! We're not holding you hostage- we found you drifting on some planks during the storm. You're lucky, aren't you?"

Storm? Right. I remember that..

Your eyes narrowed and you sidestepped to keep both newcomers in your vision, feeling rather trapped. Getting a closer look at the room you were in, it was easy to recognize it as an infirmary. Nursing sheets, medicines, bandages- oh, hey, there's bandages on my head. Didn't even notice until now.

"...I mightve gotten struck be lightning. Or been too close to the strike."

You replied slowly, tail curling around your leg. "That doesn't explain to me who you are, where I am, or why you saved me."

"Of course, where are my manners? I'm Nami, and the brute over there is Zoro. He might be a little scary looking, but he's really just a big idiot."

"Brute? She's the only brute! She kicked me in my nuts!"

You watched Nami inhale a breath, cast a glance at you, and offer the most amused smirk she could. For what its worth, now that you were awake, you felt a little bad. But apologies would have to wait until after you figured out their intentions.

"Of course she did! Waking up to the sight of a strange man can do that. Anyways. You're on our pirate ship, the Going Merry and-"

"..PIRATE SHIP?! YOU'RE PIRATES?!"

You intervened, instantly backing yourself into the wall. Your wings flared open instinctively, feathers Puffing up as you reached for the nearest thing you could throw at them. Currently, said object was a spoon.

"Woah, hey! We're not brutes - well, Zoro is one of the exceptions but- you can calm down. If we were gonna hurt you, wouldn't we have done it already?"

You were completely aware of how fast Zoro had stood and moved closer, and you eyed him warily. She has a point, though.. and you got a strange feeling that if he really viewed you as a threat, you wouldn't have gotten away.

"Hey! What's the commotion abou- GUYS SHES AWAKE!"

This time you were met with a man with a long nose, the door having been thrown open. In an instant, a man with a straw hat and a-

A tiny deer?

"She's awake! She woke up even sooner than you said she would, Chopper!"

The straw hat person practically bounced over to you, and you withdrew quickly.

"HI there! Your wings are so cool! Can I touch them?!"

You pressed yourself further against the wall, wings tucking in protectively. "Touch them, and you're a goner." You threatened, feeling the swordsman- Zoro, Nami said his name was, move closer. You shrank away from him.

"Awhh! No fun!"

"My most humble apologies," you growled, voice dripping with sarcasm, "but I dont trust pirates."

"I guess it makes sense.. you're welcome to leave whenever you like, but atleast let Chopper finish his check-up." Nami stated, offering you a big smile. Your feathers tufts pinned to the side, and your gaze was once again brought down to the little deer.

"If you could.. please sit back down. I'd like to check your vitals!"

Oh my God it's A TALKING DEER- HES SO CUTE-

You couldn't help it. Kneeling down you put a hand on his head, smiling. "You're so cute! You're the doctor?!"

Chopper, as he's been called, flushed. And then started doing.. a weird dance?

"I'm not cute you big dummy! That doesn't make me happy at all~" He was clearly smiling though, and you laughed, shaking your head as you moved to sit on the bed, ensuring you kept everyone within your visual range.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy! The Captain! What's your name?!"

Of course the energetic one is the Captain, you thought, feeling a little weird. Chopper moved closer and began touching and prodding at you, occasionally asking you to stretch a limb or breathe.

"(Name). I'm (Name) from Aero Mountain." You replied, and Luffy, his name was, grinned. "Nice to meet you!"

"...likewise. I think."

"Still though.. why were you out flying during a storm?"

Right.

"I didn't intentionally do it. I was racing my friend and I got caught up in it.. i hope Killian is alright.

"You wouldn't have happened to see him, would you?"

You added hopefully. Nami shook her head sadly, "sorry, (Name). We haven't seen anyone else, in the skies or otherwise. We'll let you know if we do." Your head drooped a bit, but then remembered -

"Hey. Uhm.. Zoro?"

The swordsman angled his head towards you, an eyebrow raised.

"....sorry for kneeing you in the balls. You guys seem.. alright. I guess."

"Tch. Yeah, it was a good reaction. I guess from your point of view it was pretty scary."

Something told you he really only said that because Nami was glaring daggers at him: you also got the feeling she could keep them in line.

"...you guys don't really fit the picture of pirates I've always been told about."

You stated, glancing at the adorable Chopper. You'd always thought if you ever encountered pirates, you'd be met with terror, with large men carrying battle axes and women who'd tear off your head. These guys..

They just felt nice.

They all chuckled at your remark and Nami replied, "these guys really aren't that bad. Rowdy, sure, but bad guys? No. Surely you've met a decent pirate before?"

"Haven't met any, actually. According to the elders, pirates haven't reached our island in almost a century."

"Really? Surely they'd have reached it by now?"

"That's what I thought, too. But Logue poses aren't strong enough to attach onto our island. In fact, the only way to reach it is with a Viseron."

"A Viseron? What's that?"

Luffy perked up and you raised your wings, "I'm a Viseron."

"..that doesn't really answer the question. Besides, having wings and a tail."

Zoro eyed you and, yet again, you shrank a bit under his gaze. Even so, you could see the slightest hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

"Well.. hundreds of years ago, Viserons were dragons. The fastest amongst them, if you will. Elder Kisu said a devil fruit came into the picture, and we eventually became more human than dragon, retaining only certain features." You lifted your wings to prove a point, unraveled your tail, and allowed your feathery tufts on your head to prick back up.

"As far as anyone is aware, the original Dragons went extinct a couple centuries ago. I get the feeling most dragons did."

"Ooooh! So cool! Do you have any special powers?!" Luffy asked, and, with no given warning, his neck stretched. Stretched around your body to look at your wings.

"WH- save that, what are you?!"

"Immm a rubber man!"

"....you get used to it." Zoro stated, and Nami pitched in, "that's everybody's reaction. Including ours."

"Rightttt..."

"..anyways. I can fly pretty fast, I can.. sense- islands? Or rather, masses of land. I'm a Logue Pose that isn't always reliable." You shrugged, "and my feathers are sharp. Don't touch-" you smacked Luffy's hand away.

Chopper finally stopped poking and prodding st you, he'd changed your bandages and took a step back.

"All done! You should Probably take it easy for a bit, the muscles around your wings are pretty strained." Chopper replied, "I don't think you gotta tell me that. ..by the way, how long was I out for?"

"A week."

Zoro stared at you as your jaw gaped a bit, but you quickly righted your expression. "Ah.. Great." I was on a pirate ship for a week. But I guess if they were gonna do something, it would've been done by now..

You stood and bowed, "thank you for taking care of me." You righted your posture as Nami batted a hand, "don't worry about it! I'm glad you're okay." "Yeah! ...so can you carry people while you fly?!"

Luffy asked that. You stared at him and shrugged. "To some extent. I can gain the same altitude or speed, nor would I be able to pull off any offensive or defensive maneuvers. ...but yes, by all technical terms, I can."

"Ohh cool! Take me flying then!"

Luffy practically attached himself to you, and without missing a beat you backed yourself into a wall, though without much force, and crossed your arms.

"I don't give free rides."

"Awhhh! No fun."

Luffy untangled himself from you and backed away, and you shook your head.

"Listen.. if there's anything I can do to repay you, please let me know. Otherwise, I don't want to overstay my welcome."

"Oh please, you're fine! You can always pay us back in berry!" Nami grinned, and you couldn't resist a chuckle.

"Besides, how do you plan on leaving? Chopper said you shouldn't be flying." Zoro questioned, a hand resting on his sword. What was a relaxed posture to him was a rather threatening looking one to you.

"Shouldn't doesn't mean couldn’t." You shot back, feathers puffing indignantly. "You're almost as bad as Zoro with bed rest!" Luffy laughed, and Nami bonked him over the head, "like you're any better!"

"Anyways.. please, you're more than welcome to stay with us. We could even bring you back to your home island!"

Nami glanced at Luffy, who instantly nodded his head in agreement.

"If it's all the same, I'll stay, but I won't be guiding you back to my island. The Elders would exile me for such a dangerous feat, nor do I wish to endanger those I care for. If we settle on the next island, i can fly back to mine for payment. It'll have to be a matter of you trusting me." You explained, part of to you hoped they wouldn't take that personally. The thing is, you just couldn't risk it. You didn't even know if they were actually good people yet, either.

"Thats fair." Chopper piped in, and the other three nodded. "Now cmon! Sanji should be getting done with dinner. You should join us!"

You didn't get much of a choice in the matter, with Zoro herding you out the door and Luffy chanting, meat, meat, meat! All the way to the dining hall.

. . .

It was approaching the middle of the night. Stars lit up the darkened sky, and the sea glistened gently under their shine. Leaning over the Going Merry's railing, you thought on the chaotic events during the day.

During dinner, you'd met Sanji, a .. rather eccentric cook, putting it plainly, and Usopp, the long nose one who'd ran off to inform the others you were awake. He was interesting, and so far, he'd yet to run out of stories to tell you of. Luffy and chopper had been chaotic during dinner, to say the least, and Nami spent quite a bit of her time wrestling them into control, and then laughing along side you. Zoro seemed to spend more time drinking than actually eating, and multiple times he'd gotten into some form of argument with Sanji.

"What a weird bunch.."

"I heard that."

You almost jolted out of your skin at the sound of his voice, coughing as you spun around to be met face-to-face with the crews swordsman.

"GAH! Some noise next time, would ya?!" You placed a hand over your chest, half being dramatic, and half recovering from the fact he almost made you fall over the railing. Zoro snickered, joining you against the railing.

"Pay more attention then, Feathers." Ah, yes. The nickname Luffy had dubbed you over dinner. He seemed to switch between using your actual name and the nickname, which, according to Nami, means he likes you. Not sure what good that knowledge does me, but whatever.

"Oh gimma a break! Traumatic event and all."

He scoffed and looked at the sky, "...any sign of your friend? I'm assuming you're still looking for them."

You nodded your head, feeling a sense of guilt. "Yeah.. I'm hoping I had flown ahead of him and he saw the storm before I did. If he didnt.. well.."

Zoro seemed to understand what you left unsaid, and cast you a swift glance.

"If your friend is anything like you, I'm sure he's fine." He grunted at last, shaking his head. "I don't think anybody can just get struck by lightning-" "don't think I was struck, I was probably just too close-" you intervened, "-yeah yeah. My point is, not everybody just gets struck, and gets saved by driftwood. I bet your friend found some, too, or he didn't get struck at all."

"I hope so."

A silence fell between the two of you, and you leaned farther over the railing, staring down at the water. To some extent, you could see the fish swimming just out of reach, and a smile graced your face as you reached a hand out.

At the same instant, you felt a hand on your back, gently gripping at your shirt.

"Careful now, or you're gonna end up a wet bird."

Huh.. how funny. That's one of the last things Killian told me.

You broke into a fit of giggles, leaning back up to stare at the swordsman. "Wet bird I may be, but I can still swim better than anyone on the crew, I bet."

"Wanna test that?" Zoro responded with a grin, and just as you readied yourself to respond, a rather panicked voice came from across the ship.

"Guys?! Come quick!"

It was Nami. Both you and Zoro ran to meet Nami, while Sanji, Luffy, and Chopper, came a bit slower, still groggy with sleep.

"What's wrong, Nami-swan?"

"Nami?"

Sanji and Luffy questioned simultaneously, while the rest of you waited in silence.

"The Logue Pose.. it won't lock on to an island."

[shions-new-blog-of-stuff]

"You're Still You"

Plaga Leon x OC

Part I

Part II

Part III

The clicking of a nail clipper echoed on the room, followed by the scratching of a nail file. Catherine's brow furrowed in concentration.

"They wouldn't even let you trim your nails?" she asked.

Leon and Catherine sat on the bed, his hand held by her. Seeing his hands up close, revealed his fingertips were darker than the rest of his body--looking like smudged ink. It was still dark outside, a little past midnight. The lamp light cast off shadows around the room.

"I had a room, with a shower. I got three meals a day," Leon replied in a despondent tone, "and not much else. But I did get them cut down... frequently. They grow back a lot faster than usual. It was one of the first things the lab guys discovered about me."

"So...you regenerate...like those gray skinned creatures on the island?" Catherine scooped up the clippings and threw them in a little trash bag.

Leon nodded.

Catherine sighed and paused to think. She tucked some hair behind her ear.

"That should do it," she said with a faint smile, "go on and hop in the tub. I forgot uncle has clothes for you in his room. I just hope they fit."

She stood up from the bed to make her way out the door, "Be right back. If you're hungry I can put something in the microwave for you."

Leon's hand grabbed her wrist, gently pulling her back.

She sat on the edge of the bed, "What's wrong? Where's it hurt?"

"As much I'm glad to see you again..." Leon began to say, "Sweetheart, you--you can still go home. Forget all this."

Catherine shook her head, feeling tears well up.

She took a deep breath and looked straight into his crimson eyes, "That night. I could have gone home. But I couldn't ignore someone needing help. And because of that, call it luck or fate or whatever...I got to meet you, know you. And..."

Her voice trailed off as she took another deep breath to compose herself.

"I think... I think it was when we were getting chased by that monster...the one Saddler called 'it'. When you saved me from falling off the cliff...I think it was that moment, that I wanted to be with you, always."

Leon felt warmth in his ears and stomach. Without realizing it, his hands lightly held onto Catherine's upper arms.

"For me it might have been the night of the concert, the outbreak. If I was just a second too late...I could have lost you to the virus. I wanted to tell you how I felt, but, work, you know?"

Catherine leaned in and buried her face in his shoulder, "I don't know what the future's gonna be like, but..."

She thought back to the gas station, "Leon...never in a million years I'd leave you in the cold."

Pulling back, she was smiling through her tears. She was taken by surprise when she felt Leon's arm move to the small of her back.

His face leaned in close, the tips of their noses brushing against each other, before tilting his head for a passionate kiss.

@mishwanders @squashfics @notrattus

[featherisderp]

Short story showing some of Meta Knight's dad dynamic with his children in the Dawn's New Star AU?

No?

Too bad! :D

Meta Knight sighed, causing Kirby to turn around and tilt his head. "Poyo?"

"Kirby, I have confidence in your ability to sense danger, however, we have been walking for a while now and you have yet to inform me as to why."

He stared up at him, then seemed to think, before looking up at him again and making a chirp sound, then he turned around and kept walking.

"Kirby…" Despite the admittedly useless response, he followed the infant. Eventually Kirby had led him to the beach, then looked around and seemed to get panicked. He spun around and started waving his arms, frantically trying to explain something far too fast to be understood. "Child-"

"Poyo poy!"

"Hey, Meta Knight!"

Both of them looked towards the cliff. Tiff was at the top, lying on the ground with her head over the edge. 

"Do you know why Kirby brought me here?"

She seemed to think for a moment, then shrugged. "We saw a cool crab by the water, maybe he wanted to show you."

"Poyo! Poyo!" Kirby began jumping up and nodding.

"...I see." That made sense. If there had been another stray monster or evil entity attempting to take over their planet for seemingly no reason, he'd probably have been in more of a hurry.

"Poyo poyo poy…" Kirby looked at the ground.

"...It's gone?" As the child slowly nodded, Meta Knight gave him some head pats. "I suppose we can wait for it to come back. I'm not busy."

He instantly perked up and smiled, then started jumping around.

"Hey, Meta Knight, how badly do you think I'd get hurt if I jumped off of this."

He instantly formed his wings and stared up at her. "Don't you dare, Tiff!"

She stared, then slowly smiled. It was the same look she had given him every time she did something she knew she wasn't supposed to. Then she shrugged. "I can't learn to fly if I don't jump off cliffs."

Then she fell. Meta Knight was about to fly up, but Kirby was somehow on his Warp Star and caught her just a moment after. She giggled as he brought to the ground, where Meta Knight let his wings fall back into his cape and wrapped himself up. "You are difficult, child."

"At least I'm not evil." She flopped onto the sand. “I’m a good child, according to you.”

"Poyoooo." Kirby slowly gave her pats on the face.

“You are a good child.” Meta Knight walked towards the water. He started into the ocean for a bit and thought back to the first time he had seen one. No doubt Galacta would somehow read his mind and then go on about the memory if he were here. Luckily, the bird was sleeping in the tree in Cappy Town. Popstar was a peaceful place. Not once in the centuries he’d been here had there been any sort of hurricane or tsunami. He was thankful that Nightmare had never thought of simply flooding the planet to wipe everyone out. It probably wouldn’t have worked, but neither did his other several plans.

He was suddenly hit with something that seemed like a clump of sand and heard Kirby gasp. He sighed and turned around. Kirby was staring at Tiff who had her hands behind her back with an oddly well feigned look of innocence.

“What’s the matter, Meta Knight?” She tilted her head and Kirby made direct eye contact with him before pointing at Tiff in the most obvious possible way.

“Why?”

“I felt like it.” She shrugged.

“I do not understand why you play innocent if you're simply going to tell me indirectly that it was you regardless.” He was rather amused, despite his serious tone.

“I don’t like lying to you, plus Kirby already made it obvious and I’m not about to blame him. He’s too adorable.”

Meta Knight looked at the small puffball, who was staring at him with wide eyes. “...I suppose.”

“Anyway, I’m bored.” She shook her head like a cat, then started swiping at her own fur.

“We’re simply waiting for Kirby’s crab to come back.”

Kirby smiled and ran towards him.

“Yea, I know, and I’m not suggesting we don’t do that, but…” She rolled her eyes. “I’m bored. There’s gotta be something else we can do while we wait.”

“Was throwing sand at me not entertaining?”

“It was for about a minute.” She walked over as well, then sat down by the water and tossed a bit of sand into it. “I’ve been here all day and Tuff left a while ago.”

“You are under no obligation to stay if it’s bothering you, Tiff.” He helped Kirby as the child began trying to climb onto his head.

“I want to stay, this is the furthest place from the castle.”

Well, that was concerning. He looked at her. “...Did something happen?”

“No.”

“Tiff.”

“Nothing happened.” Her eyes briefly flickered red.

He simply stared at her. He was worried by this. While it was easy to anger her, it shouldn’t have been as simple as that. Typically it still took a bit.

“Poyo!” Kirby squeaked happily as he finally managed to lay on Meta Knight’s head without falling.

“Does it have to do with Escargoon?”

She didn’t reply, just glared at the water.

“What did he do?”

“He didn’t do anything, I just don’t like him.”

“You’re acting strange.”

“You would notice if someone hadn’t blinked for twenty seconds and say it’s unusual.” She rolled her eyes.

“Tiff, that is very different and you are aware of that.”

“Look, the idiot made a taser! Happy? He doesn’t need a damn taser! It’s been at least two weeks since I’ve attacked or threatened him! I figured maybe we could just avoid each other entirely and that’d make everything easier for both of us but here he is making zappy guns!”

He stared at her. That was typically how these conversations went. She’d refuse to tell him anything and upon continuously being asked, she’d suddenly give in and say everything, including how she felt on the matter, usually in a rant. “Perhaps it’s not for you.”

“Let’s be honest, he hates me and there’s nothing else that’s acting as a threat.”

“Dedede still hits him often.”

“Not nearly as often as he used to and if that’s what it was, he would use something else. He doesn’t need a goddamn taser.”

He sighed. “Alright, so he’s created a taser to deter you. If you are avoiding him as of now, it shouldn’t be an issue, correct?”

“...I guess but…”

Given her tone of voice and the way she was currently avoiding eye contact, he was fairly quickly able to put together her actual concern. “He’s not going to hurt you again.”

“I know…”

“...Poyo…” Kirby attempted to reach to her and give her pats, but got nowhere close. Meta Knight did so instead.

“If it concerns you this much, I will deal with it.”

She looked at him. Her eyes had a white tint at the bottom, giving away her emotions yet again. “You’ll break it?”

“If that’s what you’d like. I’ll make it clear to him that he has long lost his right to create such weapons.”

“...Thank you.” After turning into a mix of white and blue, her eyes turned back to normal and she went back to looking at the water. “Can you also make sure he doesn’t have any… tranquilizers?”

“I’ve spoken with him a while ago on that matter. However, I’ll ensure he still hasn’t made more.”

‘Spoken’. Sometimes his choice of wording was inaccurate. He’d actually yelled at him and threatened to break his arms if he made any more. That was almost directly after he’d found out what he’d done and therefore at least a month ago. He was now realizing he had never told Tiff that Escargoon was well aware tranquilizers were would of the question.

“He’s an idiot. If he doesn’t want me to attack him, he should leave me alone.”

“I agree.”

After a bit of silence, Kirby hopped off his head and poked the water, then pulled out a blueish crab with big eyes. “Poyo! Poyo poy!”

Meta Knight stared at it. It was a neat color.

“Oh! That’s the crab he wanted to show you!” Tiff got up. “I told him you’d be surprised to see a crab version of you.”

He smiled, staring down at the tiny puffball, proudly holding up the crab. “I am quite shocked.”

Kirby made a happy squeak and put the crab down before gently patting it. “Bye, cab!”

It was always adorable hearing the child say actual words, even if he pronounced them horribly wrong. Tiff suddenly jumped onto his head, disorienting him and making him stubble a bit backwards. She then jumped off, shoving him into the water. He nearly fell over but managed to regain his balance before doing so, only getting a little soaked. Tiff was laughing hysterically and Kirby stared at him before also giggling. Meta Knight walked back onto the shore and sighed, then grabbed Tiff by the arm and launched her into the water. She clearly hadn’t been expecting that as she fell into the water entirely. She jumped back up and attempted to throw some at him. Water, however, was certainly not meant for throwing.

“Alright, let’s get back to the castle. Garlude may have a puzzle or something you could do.” He turned around and began walking away.

“Okay!” He heard her climb out of the water and follow. “You made my fur all soggy!”

He chuckled. “It was merely fair.”

[maddieg0531]

Cloud 9

Oikawa x fem!reader

Fluff

Synopsis: Oikawa has a special surprise for your 2nd year anniversary

masterlist

~~~~

People always said that when you fall in love the world stops spinning. People say time stands still and it’s just you and your partner. I always thought that was a bunch of bull, that is until I met Oikawa Tooru. Every moment with him was like a dream. I always felt like I was floating on a cloud when we held each other close. But today felt different. Today felt like my cloud had ascended into space. I’ve never felt lighter. 

Today was our 2 year anniversary and Tooru of course went above and beyond. He had made me wear a blindfold, then shoved me in the car and started off to who knows where. I wasn’t allowed to take the blindfold off until he told me so. We got to our destination and he got out of the car but left me blindfolded in the passenger seat. I heard him open the trunk and mess with some stuff. Finally he opened my door and led me around to the back of the car. He took my blindfold off and I was shocked. The trunk was filled with pillows and blankets, the roof lined with twinkle lights and a picnic basket sat in the middle of it all. If that wasn’t amazing enough, I turned around to be met with a beautiful view of the city skyline. We were somewhere right outside of the city on a cliff overlooking the city lights. But the most beautiful thing was the man behind it all. His eyes were soft, showing a side of him reserved for me alone. 

“Happy anniversary” he said as he rested his arms on my waist. 

“Tooru, this is amazing. I don’t know what to say.” I tell him as I rest my head on his chest, “I feel bad for not getting you something equally amazing.” 

“You’ve given me the best gift of all—your heart.” His adoring eyes bore into mine. 

He leaned down to rest his forehead on mine. I closed the gap between us, my lips resting on his. We shared a short gentle kiss, but it was filled with more love than anything else. He pulled back to look into my eyes.

“There’s more.” He said with a smirk. 

I rolled my eyes, how much more could there be? He went back to the front of the car and turned on the radio. Dean Martin’s “Everybody loves somebody” started playing through the speakers. He came back over and grabbed me by the waist and we started dancing along to the music. Oikawa sang along while twirling me around. As we swayed back and forth he looked me in the eyes as he sang “If I had it in my power, I'd arrange for every girl to have your charms. Then every minute, every hour, every boy would find what I found in your arms” I couldn’t help smiling wider than I thought possible. His love for me shone brighter than the sun and he was going to make sure I saw it. He continued to sing while spinning me around. When the verse came back around, he dipped me down and held me there as he sang to me. I laughed at his silliness, but I didn’t ever want him to stop. He pulled me back up and we began swaying along once more. In this moment I believe the world truly did stop. In this moment it was just him and I. Nothing else mattered, just us two in this moment. As the song slowed to an end he leaned in for a kiss. I closed my eyes and leaned in to close the gap. When I was met with nothing, I opened my eyes, confused as to why he stopped. I looked down to see him on the ground, on one knee, holding a small box. I stepped back shocked and threw my hands up to stifle the gasp that escaped my mouth. He looked up at me with all the love in the world. 

“My love, these last years have felt like an absolute dream. I was worried one day I’d wake up from it but I never did and thank god for that.” He let out a small chuckle while I let out a not so small sob, “Whenever I was down you picked me up. You laughed with me and cried with me. We’ve had some bumps along the way, most my fault, but we’ve made it through nonetheless. You are the most amazing girlfriend anyone could ask for and I do not deserve you. Why you picked such a messed up, arrogant man as me, I don’t know but boy am I glad you did. Just to have you in my life is more than I could ask for, but I’m gonna ask for a little more. So would you do me the honor of staying along side me for the rest of our lives? To cry and laugh with me a little more. To put up with me for a little longer. To be my wife and grow old with me. Would you do the honor of marrying me?” Without hesitation I jumped into his arms, screaming an enthusiastic ‘yes.’ He practically fell over at my force. He wrapped his arms around me tightly. I buried my face into the crook of his neck, as I tried to contain my sobs. He pulled back to kiss me, this time he wasn’t so gentle, but neither of us cared. We sat there in each other’s embrace as our tears mixed. He eventually broke the kiss and looked into my tear filled eyes, “You want the ring?” He said with a small laugh

I rolled my eyes at his dumb questions, “Of course you dork.” 

“I mean I can just return it if you don’t.” I lightly hit his chest as I felt his laugh vibrate against me. He opened the small velvet box to reveal a beautiful white gold ring. The band formed a vine like shape with small leaves, each one encrusted with a small diamond. The vines wrapped around one big princess cut diamond. I gasped at the ring, completely captured by its beauty. He gently grabbed my hand and slipped it on my finger. I marveled at the ring, entirely captivated by the thought of being married to the love of my life. It really was a dream. I looked back up at Tooru to see him staring at me, eyes filled with absolute adoration. I matched his gaze and in that moment, everything anyone had ever said about love could never have been more true. The world stopped spinning, everything else disappeared, it was just Oikawa and I floating above everything on a cloud. Staring into one another’s eyes. Nothing mattered except holding each other in that moment. 

[moprocrastinates]

Fic title: i'd send you the sunset

eh, this is a very, very loose parallel to the other one I did... also, i didn't get the wording of your prompt 100% right... sorry!!!

He'd found her the first time on Endor, loose-limbed and quiet and at peace with the gaping hole in the sky where her father's machine used to be

Now, after the Battle of Jakku, where they'd lost so many and won the entire thing, she walks on the beach towards his little house, tucked off the side of the cliff

It wasn't anywhere near her old house, still standing in the middle of a field, several tens of kilometers away, but it was nice. Cute, even. It had a big window out front where he could see the ocean.

But Kes had said he'd be there. He had nowhere else to go, supposedly

And Cassian Andor as a farmer wasn't something she'd expected

Apparently, once the list of names of fallen rebels had been released, he'd all but bolted out of the Rebellion, lost, and in pain

(She'd been on that list. The bullets went through her shoulder, sides, legs, and sternum. Melshi had seen her go down and bolted to her, and Cassian had heard her cry over their comms, and she'd seen another soldier yank Melshi back towards the ship.)

Cassian had screamed. Louder, fearful. Terrified.

Please don't leave me, she'd thought. But the soldier yanked a thrashing Melshi aboard, and Jyn had had to watch as they tore off into the sky.

The Empire had been burned to the ground, but its hold still lingered. Deserting 'troopers fled the dunes, shooting anything that moved, even their friends. By the time night fell, it was ice cold, and she was completely alone with only the sound of shifting sand and winks of stars falling

That next morning, a lone and kind Nu-Cosian found her and took her home. Terpa cared for her for three months, nursing her back to health and quietly asking if the war really was over.

("I miss my daughter," was all she said when Jyn asked why she was helping a Rebel.)

Jyn spent those three months healing, helping Terpa sell and make useful and occasionally decorative wares, and thinking of Cassian all the while

(They'd never become more. She didn't know why. Well, maybe she did, because Cassian had always maintained a respectful distance, even when she'd stepped closer.)

Thankfully, eventually, a supply ship came in, Jakku having been riddled with carnage and debris and a severe food shortage since the battle, and Jyn had hitched a ride out, Terpa looking on with something like pride.

When she'd finally contacted the Rebellion, Kes had been delighted. "Andor's going to lose his mind," he'd laughed, and Jyn had heard a baby coo in the background. "He said he was going home."

So now she's here. In Lah'mu, kilometers away from the first place she called home, and only steps away from the last.

Nearby, the sun was warm and melting, dipping slowly under the smooth ocean in front of her. Just like Scarif, Jyn thought, and rapped her knuckles twice against the blue door.

One beat, two. Then, it was wrenched open.

Cassian Andor still looked as beautiful as anyone she'd ever known

Those brown eyes stared at her, unblinking. He didn't say anything, didn't move.

"Brought you a sunset." Jyn said, giving him a small smile and gesturing to the picturesque scene behind her. "At least this time there's no giant wave and a laser--"

she didn't have time to react when Cassian hurled himself at her, one hand behind her neck and the other around her waist.

The hug was tight, and she pressed herself as close as she could to him, hoping he understood what she was saying without words.

(She couldn't breathe. But that wasn't because of the hug.)

"Jyn," Cassian murmured like a prayer, pulling away to look her in the eyes. He brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes, fingers gently caressing her cheekbone until he cupped her whole face in his hands. "Welcome home."

And he pulled her inside.

[izzy-b-hands]

What Happens To The Heart-Ch 3

Ngl this one is heavy at the start with some backstory for Izzy. TW for infant death, premature birth (not graphic), and Izzy's mother asking him to do something no child should ever have to do, as well as her being emotionally abusive.

It also ends on a heavy cliffhanger, but let me reassure things will be okay. Normally I'd just let the cliff hang, but this chapter is A Lot so. Yeah.

We will get lighter again, I promise. Just gotta get through the painful bits first.

---

He doesn't always hate being bored, but now?

Hates it with every inch of his being.

"Someone could have at least had the decency to still be alive," Izzy grumbles aloud. He sifts hot sand through his fingers until it makes his skin burn, while the waves crash to break the otherwise unending silence.

He looks behind him to the trees and path to the village, as if someone might pop out on cue.

Nothing. No one. A silly thought, childish even. As if someone would magically be there just because he wishes they would be.

A small crab scuttles near him, and he lets it climb onto his hand.

"You have anything interesting to say?"

Tiny black beady eyes look at him.

"Me neither. Any idea what happened to that village?"

The crab uses its claw to flick sand off of its eyes.

"You killed them all? I'm impressed. Looked like an illness, but you're just that good."

He stands, and the crab sits on his hand obediently.

"You won't like it off the sand," Izzy says as he sets the crab down at the start of the beach. "See you tomorrow?"

The crab looks up at him, then scuttles off.

On the horizon, dark clouds roll towards the island. His lean-to will be no good in a storm, or rather, not enough.

He chooses the one house that seems empty of corpses. The smell of death still breaches it, but he closes the windows in the vain hope it might help.

Any bad food is tossed outside, his own things moved in.

Even then, a harsh scent remains.

"I would have noticed," Izzy mumbles. "If there had been a-"

There's one other room to the home he hasn't explored. He swings open the door, and the scent of death crashes over him again.

A cradle. Tucked against the far wall, covered with a thin sheet of muslin as an insect deterrent.

He forces himself to walk up to it, and picks up the bundle inside.

"I'm sorry," he murmurs, though there's no need to apologize. But it shakes him, brings his own corpses up to the surface.

--

"Here," his mother shoves the bloody bundle into his arms. "Get rid of it."

The baby gasps and wails. A baby brother.

"Mum-"

"Don't call me that," she spits. "Do as I say."

"Couldn't we-"

She yanks him close to her bed by the front of his shirt. "I can barely feed us as it is. You're more than enough strain on me; the last thing I need is another one grubbing around, taking up what little I make."

His mother falls back on her pillow, heaving again with exertion. She no longer seems to need him, so he leaves with the baby in his arms.

"I'm Izzy," he tells the squirming bundle. "Well, Israel. Mum doesn't even call me by that though."

The baby hiccups and sniffs, and he does his best to use his shirt sleeve to wipe his brother's mouth and nose clean.

"I'm your big brother," he continues as he makes his way to the far back field. "But there's Eli and Leah too, so you won't be alone."

His mother had said each time that the babies would be born sleeping, because she triggered her labor too early.

But each time, he walks to the field like this, with a very much living sibling.

"I'm sorry Mum won't name you, or let you stay," Izzy says as he gently sits by the first two graves. "But I'll name you. I did it for Eli and Leah too. Mum would, she just...can't."

His mother works hard. They're barely treading water most of the time, but she makes sure they both eat.

His father doesn't seem to mind one way or the other, and Izzy no longer cares if he cares or not. He only ever shows up long enough to get his mother's hopes up, and the last few times has left them like this.

His mother expecting, and Izzy the only one to help her.

"If I wasn't going to leave with Ed, maybe I could have hidden you and looked after you," Izzy murmurs and rocks his brother in his arms when the cool wind makes him cry. "But I can't. I'm sorry, but I can't. I can't stay here any longer, and I can't be the brother you need."

He's only delaying the inevitable by carefully unwrapping his brother long enough to get him tucked into his shirt, against his skin. The bloody fabric sits in his lap, turning to shades of rust as it dries.

"I know," he whispers as he rocks gently, as much for himself as his brother. "She didn't want me either. I don't know why she didn't kill me."

But he does know. She couldn't bear it herself. She needed one alive to do it for her, to sit with and hand her unwanted children to death.

He cries, and gently pats his brother's back while he thinks on a name.

"Tam," he decides. "That means innocent, Tam. Because you are. You didn't ask for this. Neither of us did."

Tam lasts longer through the night than he expects, for how small he is.

When Izzy realizes he's gone, he sobs.

He sings the lullabies Ed's mother used to sing to them both when they were younger, as he digs Tam's grave with his hands.

"I'm sorry," he says again as he wraps Tam in the bloody cloth that's both baby blanket and shroud. "I love you. I wish I'd gotten to know you."

He buries Tam, makes a small grave marker of stones, then lays in front of all three and weeps until he falls asleep.

--

Izzy looks at the small grave. Too small. He wonders if the baby had been wanted. What had they been named.

He washes his hands and clothes in the house, leaving him in his underclothes.

Outside, the storm swells and groans, battering the island with rain and wind.

The front door locks, but he pushes a heavy chair in front of it anyway, before going to the bed.

He lays, and weeps, and wonders what it's like to feel wanted, instead of needed for someone else's purpose.

--

"Ed, this must be it," Stede says, pushing his sopping hair off his forehead. "We have to stop here anyway. This storm-"

"I know!" Ed nods and struggles with the oars. "Give it a minute!"

He reaches over and moves Ed's hair out of his eyes. "How can I help?"

Ed snorts. "Just don't fall out. Are you going to hold my hair out of my way until we reach shore?"

Stede smiles. "If it would h-"

--

Izzy wanders out as soon as the storm clears, to see what it might have brought ashore. Might be nothing useful, but he can't bear sitting alone in the house with his thoughts.

He picks his way through a mess of shells, broken bits of driftwood, and dead fish.

"Wonder if the crab made it," he mumbles to himself as he walks.

Then stops dead in his tracks.

Ed, Stede, and the remains of a dinghy washed up on the beach.

[nhurtingymeknow]

I remember the night that we were at the show...

You had told me that a cute girl had spoken to you...

It wasn't long after she'd left me at the front and dipped back to you...

And over the weeks as we got close, she slithered closer...

At the beach, my intuition was on fire...

Scrutinizing myself while questioning your type, I kept pointing out girls "like her"...

Tiny, pretty, white girls. With the range of a White Claw...

Wearing emo T-shirts that run small...

When you gave it to her, I wondered if I could've had your T-shirt if I had her conceited deceit...

Instead I'm thicc with love and trusting kindness. Goodness knows I'm Black elite...

And I'd hoped that you weren't basic. That you wouldn't choose that bitch you'd lean in to whisper was mean...

The one who'd only poison your soul and rehash your traumas and oxidize your rusting self-esteem...

My best friend who knew it all. Who knew I was down for you on sight...

Who had assured me, "He's cute for you! You have so much in common. For you (Black woman) he might!"

Then, behind my back, I peeped her blowing up your phone. Telling her boyfriend you were nothing, and to me a good friend. Alllthewhile in your DMs, she perjured...

But you were still healing from your past, so intense. So distraught, I thought, for your ex's web--not this black widow. You were so quiet and tortured...

And the fact that I had expressed to her the dynamics. When romance as a Black woman is never assured. All of society doesn't simp over us for being simple Wonderbread and call us "wonderful", we actually have to be starrier...

Validating my point as you connived for each other, while I fell off the cliff of your Peter Pan nose. The countless freckles I wanted to worship. The cuts on your arm raised to be kissed and healed. But I respected your barriers...

I had hoped you'd choose me. Who fed your soul, made you laugh–not cry and brood, who crafted music in your name. Did everything in my power to make you feel safe; your magical dream warrioress...

But you proved that knowledge isn't wisdom. And books don't equate to experience. Though we all thought you were deeper, you didn't want the joy of Purple's freedom. Slime attracted slime, so in that mire, you both stay...Asé.

Because the night we met, when she said, "Don't fall in love with me. I have a boyfriend." You battled with the easiest choice of all to make...

A two-faced, backstabbing cunt whose boyfriend wasn't the first, and you won't be the last. The music nerd equivalent of a bootlegged song recorded on a TracFone downloaded on that wired Lime...

And when she pushed you enough that you ran away, it should've been your sign...

To choose this magnificent goddess who loved you so sweetly. Who would've cherished your being mine...

Cuz I'm a golden record so extra I'm going platinum! Come to think of it, you could never handle my grooves and style:

A robust, ethereal album bettering the world with my every rotation, I shine!

Once, I had hoped that you'd come and spin with me. But now I have peace as y'all get dizzy. And the Law restores the waste of my motherfucking precious energy, remarkable friendship, and divine time.

Zanpakutō by Nyk Morris

N Things

[secret-sageent]

Short story for a Twelfth Night victorian era adaptation that is brewing in my head... The Players Ceasar, they/he - a stablehand Lord Ernest Orsino, he/him - third son of the late Count Orsino Mentioned Count Constant Orsino, he/him - first son of the late Count Orsino Lady Serenity Orsino, she/her - daughter of the late Count Orsino

Ernest could hardly breathe he was laughing so hard as Ceasar and he barrelled through the corridors of the mansion, the shouts of servants fading as they ran. They past a portrait of some long-dead ancestor and Ernest grabbed Ceasar's hand, pulling them towards the portrait.

"C'mon," he gasped, "In here!"

"Ernest, what-" Ceasar gasped, giggling, but cut off as Ernest swung the painting aside and pushed them in. He pulled the frame closed behind him and slapped a hand over Ceasar's mouth to muffle the boy's uncontrollable laughter.

"Shhh," Ernest whispered through matching chuckles.

Ceasar pushed his hand away, a smile in his voice, "You shh! You're being just as loud as me!"

"Okay, okay, just...," Ernest quieted, grinning as he heard footsteps approach, go right past, and hurry away. They were silent a minute longer, and then Ernest released a sigh of relief and ran a hand through his hair, "Heavens, that was close."

Ceasar laughed, smacking his arm, "One of the heirs to the Orsino estate, stealing treats from the kitchen windowsill like a common thief! Your parents would be ashamed!"

Ernest waved a hand, just able to make out Ceasar's face in the gloom of the passage he'd led them both to, flushed red with exertion and amusement, "Please, I'm the third-born son, I hardly count as an heir. Once Constant kicks the bucket and Serenity falls ill with a deadly sickness, then I will start worrying about what my dead parents might think of me."

"You are a bad man, Lord Orsino," Ceasar shook their head, then peered into the darkness that led away from the painting, "We could probably go out now...or you could show me where this passage leads."

Ernest blinked in surprise; it hadn't occurred to him in their mad dash for freedom that Ceasar might be as curious about this passage as Ernest himself was when he found it. Years, or even months, ago he might have baulked at the idea of showing anyone the labyrinth of pa passages in the family mansion, a labyrinth that he had spent hundreds of thousands of hours mapping out until he knew each crack, each fallen stone, each secret entrance like the back of his hand. Now, however, there, with Ceasar, he found he couldn't bring himself to care.

"You don't happen to have a torch, would you?" Ernest asked.

Ceasar shook their head, and Ernest shrugged, "No matter. Come on."

He took Ceasar's hand in the gloom, leading him carefully through the turns and twists of the passages, guiding him over fallen rocks and holes in the dirt floor that animals had made into their homes. They were silent, both too busy trying to catch their breaths from their flight and not turn an ankle until Ceasar spoke up in a quiet voice that seemed befitting of the soft darkness.

"I didn't know this was here," They whispered.

Ernest smirked, "I'd be surprised if you did. As far as I know, only Serenity and I know about them. Probably a few servants too, but none of them have the passages mapped out like I do."

"Wow," Ceasar breathed. Their hand tightened in Ernest's grip as a light appeared ahead, but it wasn't the flickering orange and yellow of a torch or a lamp, it was the inviting glow of the sun outside.

Ernest grinned, and then they stepped out into a small clearing. Pines rose all around them, excepting the steep, rocky cliff that towered above them on one side. A small stream of water flowed down the rock face and into a tiny pond that reflected the blue sky above scattered with clouds.

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

that's it. no more thoughts. head empty. ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

[casspurrjoybell-28]

Alpha's Temptation - Extra Chapter

*Warning Adult Content*

Wren and Tristan - Part 1

'Who is that man?'

As I walk to where my friends are, I spot a tall, muscled Alpha dressed in a casual shirt and jeans who towers over all of us.

I've never seen him before.

He's got wavy, shaggy auburn hair that goes past his shoulders, not particularly styled in any way.

It's not quite as red as Lylah's and his freckles are fainter than hers but darker than Ash's.

As I get closer to him, my heart starts to beat faster, a strange feeling overcoming me.

And then it's like the whole world stops as we lock eyes.

'Oh God.'

'Mate,' he growls as he takes me in, canines flashing.

I know it immediately.

That he's the one.

My other half. My Alpha.

But for some reason, it's too much.

After chasing after guys that didn't give a fuck about me for years in hopes that one of them would be my mate... I thought I'd be happy.

But I'm not. I'm... scared. Scared of something new.

Scared of breaking the cycle of the way I've been living.

And most of all, scared that he'll see an omega like me as unsatisfactory.

"N-no. That can't be..." I stutter but my wolf wants nothing more than to lie down on my back, exposing my belly as an invitation for him to claim me.

I have to resist it. I can't do this, not with my friends watching.

So I turn and sprint for the woods, shifting into my small black wolf.

I hear a low growl behind me and I know he's coming after me.

Fuck. I'll never be able to outrun an Alpha, so I have to find a way to slip from his view.

I tear through the trees, hyperventilating.

I make various twists and turns through the brush, hoping to get him off my trail.

But he's too fast and I realize the scent of my heat is trailing behind me, a perfect path for him to follow even if he does lose me for a few seconds.

Tears build in my eyes as I panic.

What have I gotten myself into?

I try to increase my speed, running aimlessly forward when a deathly roar stops me in my tracks.

I skid to an abrupt stop, the fear in my bones.

Only then do I realize I'm basically teetering off the edge of a cliff.

My stomach drops. In seconds I feel a jaw close around the scruff of my neck, roughly hauling me back away from the edge.

I whine and squirm as he transports me a good thirty feet away from the edge, then finally plops me down.

He glares down at me, his Lycan eyes flashing nearly white and I whimper.

I can almost hear him telling me how stupid I am.

It's like I have no control, my body distressed and I start to shift back to my human form against my will, mortified as I reveal my naked self to him, curled up on the ground.

He shifts too, the bones snapping into place to reveal the giant Alpha that looms over me.

"You hate the thought of me as your mate so much that you would rather die?" he asks coldly.

His voice is deep and rough and I can't deny that I'm immediately attracted to it.

I sniffle, shaking my head.

"I didn't... I didn't m-mean to."

"Then why did you run from me?"

"I don't know," I confess.

"I could have lost you just now. I could've lost you minutes after finding you," he growls.

I understand his anger.

I can't imagine how horrible it would be if I drove someone... drove my mate... to fall to their death.

"I'm sorry."

Silence. Neither of us says anything more. I look up at him from my kneeling position, deciding that if he's going to stand up, baring it all, I should too.

It's the least I can do after the shit I just pulled.

So I get to my feet before him.

I take in his broad shoulders and sculpted chest, his abs for days.

A large portion of his pale skin is inked with tattoos, which I follow the design of downwards on his body.

But I don't dare let my eyes wander lower than his V-line.

He, on the other hand, has no reservations of any sort.

His eyes rake over me greedily, taking in every inch of my skin, every curve of my body.

He clenches his jaw as his gaze lingers between my legs, eyes flashing in hunger.

And when he gets to my face, his expression softens, examining every feature.

I feel the blood rush to my cheeks, feeling flustered under his intense stare.

He lets out a slow exhale.

"You are more beautiful than I could have ever imagined."

'What?'

I stare at him in shock, wondering if I actually heard those words coming out of his mouth.

Usually the only compliments I get are half-assed and driven by the desire to get in my pants.

And while he is looking at me in a sexual way, I don't think that's all there is to it.

Like this... me... means more to him than just that.

"Has no one ever told you that? How beautiful you are?"

I flush, shaking my head.

"They're idiots, then," he says, stepping closer.

I don't understand.

The way my heart pounds for this man, even after all these years that I've liked Jay.

If you asked me this morning if I was over him, I'd say no.

But now... He reaches out for me tentatively and I flinch, backing away. I'm still weary of him.

"Don't be afraid," he says, eyes stormy.

How can I not be afraid? He's intimidating.

Big. Naked and covered in tattoos.

I'm only 5'3", while I can tell he's way over 6 foot.

He's definitely taller than Jay, probably as tall as Daemon.

And my Omega simultaneously fears and desires him.

"Do you think I'd hurt you?"

I keep back, not daring to go any closer to him.

"I don't know."

"I would rather die than harm you," he assures me.

"And I'd never raise a hand against an Omega in the first place."

At his words, I feel relieved of some of the tightness in my chest.

He's being genuine.

"But h-how can we be mates?" I ask, still in disbelief.

Is this really happening?

"Do you not burn for me in your chest?" he glances downwards on me. "Or between your legs?" he smirks, eyes darkening in lust.

I follow his gaze to my lower body, realizing I'm getting hard just being in his presence.

He smells heavenly, like spices and earth and rain and I just want to bury my nose in his scent.

Just the sight of him makes me clench, getting wet.

He's all strength and muscles, such a stark difference to my small frame, my soft, slim body.

We're opposites but that makes him all the more enticing.

Because one look at his strong arms makes me think I might've been made to be in them, made to fit right in the cage of his chest.

"Don't resist it, my mate. You were made for me. As I was for you," he pushes on.

'Holy Heck. Did he read my mind?'

"I-I don't even know your name"

"It's Tristan."

"Well Tristan, this is all going way too fast."

He walks closer toward me, reaching out.

"I mean, I'm just not ready for..."

He takes my hands into his, slow and gentle.

My skin sings in delight at the contact,and I look down at where we touch.

My small brown hands in his large, rough, pale ones.

"Wren. I've waited twenty five damn years to find you," he says, voice filled with raw emotion.

"How do you expect me to act when you're finally right here in front of me. Naked."

He pulls me in and I don't resist this time.

My wolf is screaming at me to touch my mate and my body can't resist.

I can't resist.

"Let me claim you," he whispers, cupping my face in his callused hand, tilting my chin up to face him.

His light orbs stare into my dark ones, beckoning me.

And I find myself entranced.

"I will cherish you, take care of you. Protect you with my life. I will love you more than anything else."

"W-why would you do that?" I ask, my voice trembling.

No one has ever declared something like that to me.

The guys I dated to block out the pain of Jay forgetting me would keep me for a quick fuck then dump me.

But I think this time... he's serious. I can see it... the truth his eyes hold.

"Because you are my Omega mate. The only one I'll ever want."

"How can you be so sure?"

He pulls me in, our lips almost touching.

"One look at you and I knew."

His eyes search mine, search for an answer.

I tear up, so moved by his confession.

And the way he touches me like I'm precious, something to be treasured, loved.

[3wisellamas]

Deltarune Halloween Prompts Day 23: Humans (Under the Bed)

---

Ralsei would have loved to watch the sunset, if only there was a sun to set over his kingdom. Day turned into evening rather uneventfully, as it normally does in the Dark World, with the Darkners of Castle Town hunkering down for a good night's sleep, and the prince was no exception. Relieved to finally take off his ridiculous Halloween costume and being sure to brush his teeth after all that candy, he slipped into his comfortable green pajamas and did one last walkthrough of the castle by candlelight, making sure everyone else was well before finally retiring to his own dusty chamber.

He always meant to clean it, but just never found the time to do so -- but then, Ralsei didn't like spending much time in his bedroom anyway, outside of sleeping. The few keepsakes on his shelves hadn't been touched in years, and aside from his usual robe and scarf on the rack in the corner he didn't have a lot of clothes to organize.

There was only a small plant on the windowsill above his bed, a golden flower that Ralsei poured a little water into from the glass in his hand, before sipping from it himself and slipping under the green comforter.

He wasn't yet used to having others in the castle with him, so it took him a few seconds to fall asleep. The normally silent, peaceful halls now echoed with quiet, but still distinct, signs of life -- a low, steady beeping from Queen's chamber down the hall as she plugged in to recharge for the night, loud snores and splat noises coming from Lancer's room downstairs, the little jack already sleeping off his sugar crash. And from under Ralsei's bed, a soft, but incessant, scratching, as if something were clawing at the mattress from below.

Wait...under Ralsei's bed? He jumped up, shivering as he listened closer and looked around the dark room. He'd sworn he came in by himself, and hesitated to investigate, the thoughts of what could be under there racing through his mind. Had some animal gotten in? Perhaps a Rabbick, since they seemed to like hanging out in dusty places, or a Maus, searching for digital cheese in a non-digital castle, or even a Tasque, somehow managing to fit its bulky frame under there? Or...perhaps something else, from the desolate cliffs just outside of town?

The scratching started again, but even with numerous harmless explanations Ralsei still refused to budge. What was he even worried about? All he had to do was politely ask the other Darkner to leave!

"Excuse me, um..." Ralsei's voice shook at first, and he struggled to speak clearly to whatever shared his bedroom that night. "I'd like to get some rest now, so I must ask you to leave. Good night!"

The thing didn't move from under the bed, the scratching actually intensifying from Ralsei's words, and so did his shivering. "If I h-have to ask again, you'll be in big t-trouble!"

Finally, the scratching stopped, an eerie silence taking its place. Ralsei didn't see anything emerge from under the bed, so was it still there? He wasn't quite sure if he was comfortable with something else spending the night in his room with him, scratching or no, but if it wouldn't leave on its own, he might need to give it another gentle push.

Slowly, he stepped down from the bed, half-expecting something to reach out from under the bed and grab at his paws, but other than the freezing tiles he was unharmed. Gulping, he pushed up the covers to get a clear view, knelt down, and saw...

"Kris?!"

The human was waiting there for him with a sick smile on their face, and burst out into laughter upon being discovered.

A deep blush filling his face, visible even through his fur, Ralsei sputtered, trying to recover his wits. "I...I wasn't aware you were sleeping over tonight..." Pulling Kris out by the hand and letting them brush the dust off their armor, he tried his best to give a friendly, if strained, smile. "But, if you would like to have a...sleepover, could you please use your own room? I can give you a few extra pillows to place under your bed, if you'd like."

Kris declined, still snickering as they finally left the dark prince to get some sleep, and made their way through the lonely castle halls. First Asriel, then Noelle, and now Ralsei...they wondered if perhaps Susie could actually be scared next.

[futzingbarton]

wrote some fusehound fic, figured i'd crosspost it here! set in season 10, because i started it then and love some angst

we once thought gods could bring us home.

Here, beneath the stone raven’s sheltering wings, is where Bloodhound sits to save themselves the dishonor of looking upon their home. Talos is plastered with their banner, the emblazoned title of CHAMPION staring back at them wherever they look, and it is easier to sit atop this cliffside sniper’s perch, facing the arena’s edge, than to bear witness to the destruction of all they hold dear. Behind them, Skyhook looms, and though the Harvester has stopped its violent beam into the sky, the heat of the lava that ripples through the arena curdles Talos’ once clear, still air.

The planet is dying. Despite their mask, and the bloody taste of victory upon their tongue, they can taste the death of their homeland. It is copper, it is heat, and it is vile.

They hear him clinking in their direction before the voice rings out.

“Houndy! How’s my favorite champion?”

The voice, while not entirely unwelcome, breaks apart their thoughts much like its owner’s weapons of choice. Fuse sits down beside them, not waiting for an invitation, and holds out a cold beer, already having opened one of his own. He deposits a few more bottles between them, careful to make sure none fall off the cliff’s edge.

Condensation drips down the walls of the bottle, and Bloodhound cannot help but to think of the ice gathered in Climatizer, and the way it steams into the lava below.

They take the beer, but say nothing.

“Figure we’ve earned a victory drink, eh? Good work out there!” Fuse clinks his bottle to Bloodhound’s and takes a drink, downing the small amount that was left. He takes another from the pile between them and holds it, waiting. Bloodhound does nothing, says nothing; they cannot drink, nor celebrate. Not yet. The smell of death is still too close, and Talos’ winter winds will only sting their throat more.

Fuse lets the silence sit between them for a minute, remarkably quiet. He is waiting for them to speak first, Bloodhound realizes, and they sigh, knowing that he may be waiting for quite some time yet.

“Talk to me, Houndy,” he finally says, hazarding a smile. “Clearly there’s somethin’ on your mind.”

And he asks it so easily, too. Like it is nothing to him. Like he can bear it.

“It will not mean anything to you,” Bloodhound scoffs. “You did not grow up here. These burdens are not yours to carry.”

Fuse snorts and opens the beers for both of them. “So?” he asks. “I've listened to countless drunken rambles in dozens of Salvo bars that meant nothing to me. But anything you have to say? ‘Course that'll mean something. Cuz it's comin' from you.”

Bloodhound looks up from the water droplets on the bottle and stares. Never before had they been so grateful for the impassive lenses of their goggles, or else Walter would have seen their bewilderment.

Composing themselves, they sigh once more. They reach up and detach the lower portion of their mask, setting it gently on the ground. They take a deep drink, letting the bitter lager drown out the taste of blood, and consider what to say. Fuse grants them silence as they drink together, the thundering clouds of Talos a fitting accompaniment to their thoughts.

“It is not anything noble or grand. Our daily lives are—” they falter, cough. Correct themselves. “Our daily lives were nothing to write stories about. They mean nothing to anyone but us.” Quieter, they add, “Nothing to anyone but me.”

Fuse takes a long drink and hums. “Stories don't have to be grand to mean somethin', Houndy,” he says with a shrug. “Like I said, it's comin' from you, so it means the world already.”

Bloodhound blinks. They clear their throat, and while something in them is curious, hopeful even, they falter. Hope has led them astray before, far too many times.

For what it is worth, Fuse allows the silence. He looks at them for a while, raising his eyebrows and grinning in open invitation, but when Bloodhound turns away, he lets them sit. Lets them stew. Though Walter is, like a handful of the other legends, worthy of their time and therefore their respect, he does not outweigh their planet. He does not outweigh their sins.

The dried grass crumbles beneath their gloved hands as they brush their fingertips along it. A sign of something frosting over far too quickly only to be thawed faster still. Roots that have been dried to dust…not entirely unlike themselves.

The striations of the rock upon the cliff face stare back at them, the untouchable majesty of something so ancient and stalwart and constant, something that withstood the test of time only to be undone by the touch of man. Stripes that tell the stories of ages and storms too great to understand stand tall around the arena, this spectacle of death. For all their prior judgment of Boone’s interpretation of the hunt, it is shameful to see how much further they have fallen. Would he blame them now? Would he understand? And truthfully, would it even matter? To be justified in the eyes of one person could never outweigh the rightful fury of those they have committed to death.

So lost they are in their contemplation, that when Fuse brushes his shoulder to theirs, they start at the touch.

“C’mooooon,” he says, voice low. “Try me. Swear I’ll be quiet.” Another wiggle of his eyebrows.

Despite it all, Bloodhound cannot help the chuckle that escapes them. They look back down to their beer, picking at the corner of the label as the condensation soaks it through. “Very well,” they say, and consider how to begin.

“I do not know Salvo’s weather patterns, but here, before…” they gesture behind them, in the direction of the Harvester, “The first sensation of winter creeping in, when you step out into the dawn’s soft light and your breath crisps up in the cold. You breathe in through your nose and start coughing right away, as the chill settles in your lungs.”

They look in the direction of the Geyser. “The microbial pools. The stench of sulfur and metal is even worse when there is not the smell of construction and fuel to overwhelm it. And though it burns your eyes to look upon it, every color we can perceive you can see in the pools. On clear days, the clouds reflect upon the still surface, and what lies beneath is far more beautiful than even the stars at night.” They look up, sighing wistfully, as though the stone roof of the raven’s wings holds within it the night sky. “And the stars? Too many to count, and so many that learning to navigate by them involves more mistakes than successes. Being in a ship and flying among them cannot compare to sitting beneath them on a warm summer’s night, with someone you—”

They stop themselves. No. Not that, not those memories. There is none of this that they can get back, and these memories ought to be of Talos, not of him. They clear their throat, hoping Walter does not notice their voice catching as they do.

“The first flush of birds from the forest,” they begin again. To their relief, Fuse does not comment on their blunder. “When you snap a twig underfoot, and the shame that comes with it. So you learn to walk quieter. You step softer, and with respect. My uncle taught me to go out every morning with the sunrise and sit at the same spot by the water’s edge. There, the animals would come to know me; the rabbits and birds began to ignore me in the same way that they would a tree, and would reveal their hidden lives without fear. I learned how to smell a prowler on the wind from those rabbits, and which plants and berries I could eat. And I learned how, when winter strips us of our comforts and compassion, those same rabbits could feed a village for a day.”

Countless, timeless little memories, all lost. Their goggles are fogging up now, with tears that have been waiting far too long to spill. Without thinking, they reach to wipe them away, and succeed only in rubbing at the lenses.

Walter does not hesitate when he reaches out to wrap an arm about their shoulders. Bloodhound wants to shake his arm away, wants to insist that they are more, that they have learned the lessons of the rocks and mountains and can shoulder the weight that they have brought upon themselves. But the bottle in Fuse’s hand drips against the fabric of their jacket and dampens the cloth, and it feels so much like cool rain against their skin that they let themselves pretend they are worthy of it.

“It was always others,” they finally say. “It was always someone else sacrificing something for my home. My parents died here. My uncle died here. My culture and my home dies here. And I alone have walked away the victor.”

They gesture to the banners across the field, their name brightening the screens.

“How does that make me a champion, Walter Fitzroy?”

[sanctuary-kingdomhearts]

Sanctuary Chapter V - Child’s Heart

   CONTENT WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER - This chapter contains blood, gore and a near death of a minor. If you are uncomfortable reading this please go to these markers [꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂] And we will catch you up with the important things you missed at the bottom. Thank you.

   "Why?" I asked him, looking up at the scariest thing I'd ever seen. He made me scared of the darkness for a reason, one I knew. His eyes, predatory and too similar to Clouds, watched my every movement. I'd made no attempt to run, instead choosing to sit down and still like he had told me to do. It wasn't what most children would do in this situation, which probably had him on guard.

    But, as I watched the massive katana glimmer in the moonlight, I knew staying still and waiting was the best course of action. I'm small, only five, and very short for my age group. Outclassed in terms of strength, width, and judging by how he moves, speed also. It would be foolish to try attacking him or run. One false move and I don't doubt for a moment I'd be hanging off the end of his long sword.

    "To make Cloud fall into the deepest darkness," The silver-haired man answered me, eyes trailing from me to the drop below, Radiant Garden's square not too far away. His eyes looked over it quickly, calculatingly.

    I furrowed my eyebrows, a frown forming on my face. Again, I asked him, "Why?"

    He didn't turn back to me, "I won't ever be just a memory." A smile quirked on his lips, a sinister smile that was one twitch away from being a smirk.

    I exhaled slowly, shakily. This man, what was he to Cloud? He smelled too much of darkness to be anything good, but I already knew that. He also smelled like Cloud's darkness, which he had a little too much of for a normal person, it was been dissipating though, subsiding, so I thought he was working through his problems, that the darkness was from his trauma or he was going through a tough period. Now, I don't know what I'm supposed to think.

    "Why me?" It escaped like a whisper out of my lips, one he didn't answer. He stood tall and watched the horizon as if Cloud would pop out from underneath the cliff face and attack him head-on.

    "Sephiroth!" A familiar voice shouted angrily. We both turned to look at the blond man rushing onto the cliffside with us, buster sword in hand. I also noted the fact he'd changed clothes, from the star-covered t-shirt and jeans to more suitable combat gear. I'm impressed by how fast he got here.

    "Cloud," Sephiroth said, his tone taunting and something else, laced with a word I didn't know.

    "Give her back, Sephiroth," He spat the one-winged angel's name like it was poison.

    The scary man laughed, "Why would I ever do that?" His grip on his sword tightened, I saw Cloud's battle stance widen, shifting for a powerful lunge, just waiting for the right moment.

    I could feel the tingle of my keyblade, the air morphed around me and tiny sparks of light appeared, I pressed it down, not yet. If I'm lucky, not at all.

    "I want to quell this awful thought plaguing your mind, slowly but surely, Cloud, you belong in the darkness. Playing the hero full of light was never for you." Sephiroth's wing spasmed, like the very idea of it was appalling, to him it probably was. If he did all this it had to be.

    "Let. Her. Go." Cloud demanded. "We can settle this ourselves." Even though I was feet away from him I saw his eyeline shift from Sephiroth to my still sitting form.

    "You derive your fragile light from other people, Cloud, if we wish to create a flower with only thorns we must first get rid of the petals."

    Cloud charged at the taller male, buster sword hitting the thin blade of Sepiroths katana. The silver-haired man didn't even look phased, keeping the same pressure as Cloud as they locked in a stalemate, even as Cloud pushed his footing.

    Sparks looked like they would have appeared from the interlocked blades, and it looked as if there were dents in the blades, same shape and size as the other in those blades, clean fits.

    And then Cloud's buster sword was hurled straight at me, I only barely managed to dodge to the side, rolling roughly on the ground. Standing up I found Cloud removing his sword from its impact point on the ground, looking at me with guilt. Distracted.

    "Cloud!" I tried to warn him as Sepiroth went to swipe at the blond, his bigger sword almost missing their collision. I don't know how Cloud had managed to move that fast, but I was thankful he was.

    They continued their fight. Meanwhile, I knew I needed to get out of here, go find Squall and Denzel, and be safe so Cloud wouldn't have to worry. But the overwhelming darkness here, I almost puked, it's suffocating.

    Shakily, I tried getting up again. Adrenaline ran dry as my life wasn't in danger at the moment, the darkness felt like it was physically pushing me down and I shrugged to fully stand. It was awful, this darkness, it looked and smelled different.

    It didn't feel like Clouds, and yet, it did. It had a different consistency and stench than the masked boys from so long ago too but didn't share the same attributes. It was a third, new type of darkness I'd never encountered before. I hoped to never encounter it again.

    Their fight was getting closer. I needed to run. Standing up in this darkness, that was hard enough, but trying to place one foot in front of the other and walk was almost impossible, trying to run probably was. I coughed, I felt it invading my lungs.

    Again, Cloud's sword struck near me, only barely saving me was Cloud himself, who managed to use the push off from Sephiroth's attack and avoid me. I stumbled back and fell, that's twice now. What was Sephiroth doing?

    I got up again, trying to make my way to the right to avoid them, and though the darkness was overwhelmingly powerful, I managed to run, not very fast, but I did it.

    This was terrifying, almost being cut open twice, along with the darkness around us. I shivered, if any heartless appeared, would I be able to handle it?

    No, I wouldn't be. I just have to be grateful this darkness wasn't clouded into an enclosed space, otherwise I'd be completely immobile.

    Their fight turned my way, and I noticed the way Sepiroth moved, not like they were fighting, but like he was herding Cloud in this direction, the way he parried his sword was like he wanted it to go flying.

    I gasped, rushing away as they got closer. That was his plan, he was herding Cloud, and his target was me. Why?

    This time Cloud's sword flew into the air, and if I hadn't stepped back I would have been cut down the middle. How does a katana even parry a buster sword like that? Master swordsmen truly have to know their blades well. Otherwise, how could someone do something like that?

    "(Y/n)!" Cloud looked back, having been unhanded to see me and the sword an inch from my face, he looked back to Sephiroth, having guessed what he was up to as well, "I told you to leave her out of this, what's your game, Sephiroth?"

    The dark angel exhaled slowly, "I told you, if one wishes to make a bramble of thorns, they first have to get rid of the flowers around it." Suddenly he was gone, and I felt the darkness shift behind me. I barely had time to think before I was at length with Sephiroth's sword.

    Cloud looked back, seeing the long sword an inch away from me. I was too scared to move, a lump in my throat, spine straight.

    Cloud unlodged his sword from the ground, looking fiercely ahead at the taller, smirking male. "Don't move." I don't know if he was talking to me or Sephiroth, but neither of us did.

    "I had planned for you to execute her yourself, but if you already know that was my plan then it would impact you as badly as it needs to. So I'll take it upon myself, just this once."

    I didn't even feel it, as the sword found itself into the middle of my ribcage, just under my chest. It looked as if it went in slow motion as the thin blade stabbed clearly into me, it didn't pierce the other side, it couldn't have, because I didn't feel the second rush of pain. But the first rush came straight after the numbing feeling of it coming out subsided. Burning hot agony rushed throughout my veins, finding myself numb with pain up to my fingers. I couldn't scream, or cry, or anything, while the fire raged in my body I was left completely frozen, still and in shock.

    I felt hot, gooey stuff rushes down my dress, feeling it through all the fabric. I couldn't move my hands to check, but at my side felt my keyblade summon itself in my hand. I looked up at Sephiroth, the person who had stabbed me, I wanted to know, to see anything. Something, any emotion.

    But I didn't see Sephiroth when I raised my gaze, instead, the scene shifted. In a dark room with another blade stabbed through me in that exact spot, the structure reminding me of a keyblade. My attacker was covered in darkness but my hand reaches up to his face anyway, caressing it, I heard something similar to my voice whispering praises and sweet nothings.

    And then it was gone, the blade still Sephiroths as one of my hands clutched it, blood running along the cuts, my abdomen still stabbed through, and my gold and silver keyblade clutched in my other hand.

    It's a whisper that grows inside of me, one that quickly turns into a yell for me to live. A will to live not my own rushes into me, it gives me strength, power to do what I have to, to live.

    "Thunder," It was just a mumble, one I didn't think I'd be able to do, and the bolts from the sky that came after was something I never dreamed I would be able to conjure at the moment. But I felt like I could, and I did, voices screamed out to me to live.

    The dark-winged angel pulled his sword out, jumping back to avoid my attack as I fell to the ground, blood falling out of my mouth and staining the dirt below, there was a lot of it. Too much, I felt lightheaded. Black dots invaded my vision and my limbs felt numb, I couldn't even feel the keyblade in my hands. Green energy flowed all around me, a flower appearing over my head, causing my wounds to disappear and pain to cease, I smiled at the relief.

    Cloud caught me, bringing me into his arm, worried mako eyes stared into mine, scanning my face to see if I was dead. As if to check he brought a hand to my face, feeling the warmth still there. tears fell from his eyes and he hugged me as gently as he could manage, telling me I would be okay, that he would get help.

    "It's not worth trying to kill you, anymore," Sephiroth spoke up, "If I had known you were a keyblade wielder, I wouldn't have tried. It's no use trying to kill the immortal, I'll leave you to be your own downfall."

    He flapped his wing, and soon he was flying away into the sky. Cloud picked me up, and I was too tired to do anything but dangle. He told me not to shut my eyes, to stay awake, but I couldn't, all my mana had been completely used up and I needed to sleep, I wanted to stay awake, for Cloud, but I couldn't. My eyes shut and I drifted away.

꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂

  Aerith trailed over my ribcage, looking at the darker skin where Sephiroth had 'punctured' me. She frowned, "Whoever used cure did a very good job of healing your wounds, but I'm afraid there'll still be some scarring."

  She looked up to me, "I'm sorry, honey."

  I looked down at the darker skin, shaking my head, "That's always been there."

  Cloud and Aerith looked confused, turning to each other then back to me, questions not escaping them.

  "A long time ago I asked mom what it was," I pointed at it, "She called it a birthmark."

  They looked at the strange shape closely, before Aerith did a second take. It was a peculiar shape, a smaller circle-like shape at the bottom with three more circular ones a centimeter away. It didn't look anything like the smooth edge of Sephiroth's blade. Though Aerith wouldn't know that, we didn't exactly tell her what happened. She didn't need to know, to worry.

    As far as I knew, not even Denzel knew. Cloud told me something, about how he found me, that he sensed Sepiroth, even when no one else saw the winged man at the festival. I guess the darkness cloaked him, it could do that if he truly were part of the dark.

    Thinking back to Denzel, he must feel terrible. He was supposed to look after me and he tried his best, then he turns away for one second and I was gone. That had to have made him guilty.

    All of a sudden, I want to hug Denzel. The sensation in me wants to hug my brother and not let go until I know he's okay. It hurts not to be able to do so.

  Aerith hesitated, "Then I guess there's nothing else?" She looked between me and Cloud before getting up, "I'll go talk to Tifa about what to do, I'll be back."

  She left and Cloud and I were left alone, I worried Cloud might blame himself as Sephiroth said, but he just watched me silently.

  "You were so brave," He hugged me and I hugged him back, shaking my head. "Most kids, they wouldn't have been as brave as you. You did a good job today, and, and I'm sorry you had to go through that."

Something in me broke like a dam as water started to flow out of my eyes little by little, and I felt repressed emotions come back up to the surface. I wanted to tell him how I was feeling. I wanted to feel and it came out.

  "I wasn't," I confessed as we separated, he rubbed my back awkwardly and let me cry, the tears increasing as I talked. "The darkness around there was so scary, and when he, he did that, I felt nothing but calm. Why am I always calm, Cloud?!" I exclaimed. The tears turned to sobs.

  "Don't you see I'm different from other children?! I'm not like them, I want to be like them but I'm not. It's just so, so hard. Like something is stopping me from being me," I stopped, curling in on myself. "And then it felt like it wasn't even me who wanted to live when I attacked him, it felt as if I was on autopilot. Like it wasn't me."

  "I just, what am I supposed to do, Dad? Tell me how I'm supposed to feel." I looked up at him, pleadingly.

  He paused, looking down at me before hesitantly hugging me again. It seems the first hug was one of mindless relief, this one was thought out.

  "I can't tell you how to feel, but I promised we'd work on this together. And that's what we're going to do. Just know, whatever emotion you have, anger, sadness, happiness, we'll work through it, okay? I'm sorry you had to feel this way, no five-year-old should have to." He hugged me harder. I felt safe, which made me cry more.

  I spilled everything out to him, and when I was finally done crying. Puffy-eyed and ready for a nap. Curling up in the blanket Aerith brought for me when she came back, she put me in something she called a blanket burrito, I snuggled up to her, who was now holding me.

  "I want Zach, Denzel, and Papa," I mumbled. Behind me, Aerith tensed for a second before relaxing again. Giving me to Cloud she got up, "I'll go get them, okay?"

  I cuddled into him next, and he wrapped his arms around me and swayed me side to side. "Acting like a child now?"

  I nodded as well as I could with the blanket swaddled around me. "I feel sad without my family here, and I would feel happy if they were here."

  Cloud nodded, even though I wasn't looking at him I could tell he did by the way he shifted, and the sound of his hair swaying.

  "My second act as a child is to remind you that Aerith's going to kill you after she finds out what happened to her dress."

"I think she'd be more upset about the stabbing when we get around to telling her that story." Cloud joked, amused, but I felt his tensing up.

  "Papal's definitely going to kill you."

  "In more ways than one," Cloud mumbled.

  "Huh?"

  "Nevermind," Cloud shook his head.

   "'M sad I missed the rest of the festival too."

   "There's always next year, kid." Cloud ruffled my hair before Aerith, Squall, and Denzel came back, holding Zach Henry Claudstine Featherflump the First.

  We spent the afternoon together with Aerith, Tifa joining later, as a family. And for the first time, I felt like I could be, no, that I was, a kid. A child.

Cannon fact - (Y/n)'s birthmark was there when she was born, Sora posses no birthmarks.

Recap for those who skipped the CW section of this chapter -

    But I didn't see Sephiroth when I raised my gaze, instead, the scene shifted. In a dark room with another blade stabbed through me in that exact spot, the structure reminding me of a keyblade. My attacker was covered in darkness but my hand reaches up to his face anyway, caressing it, I heard something similar to my voice whispering praises and sweet nothings.

   Sorry, it's still CW but this is actually important to the story, so if you wanna understand the coming chapters you have to know this.

News!

  Sanctuary Side Story! Every five chapters you'll get a special or a side story, side stories are cannon specials are not. For Wattpad readers this'll be a separate book, for readers on other sites this'll be part of the same book/blog.

  Alright, that's it, bye!

[moonylantsovs]

Unlikely Match [ J.M ]

summary: You found yourself stumbling into Bellamy's tent at a really inconvenient moment, experiencing your first heartbreak, never expecting John Murphy to be the one to pick up the pieces.

pairings: john murphy x griffin!reader, slight bellamy blake x griffin!reader

warnings: angst, swearing, mentions of sex

A/N: This is an au for maggie's (@slytherinbarnes) bellamy blake series called 'sub rosa'. It isn't necessary for you to read it before this but I'd recommend you to because it's amazing! Also, this was supposed to be longer but my phone deleted it the first time I wrote it so this is the rewritten version

𝗆𝖺𝗌𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗅𝗂𝗌𝗍

You wouldn't call this a usual day at the delinquent camp, but it was close enough. Especially after everything you experienced in the past week. From a kid jumping off a cliff in front of you and making a decision to banish one of your own, to a mechanic flying down to Earth in a pod so you could contact The Ark and to John Murphy stumbling into camp, beaten up and carrying a disease you can't remember the exact details of the situation - that was always your sister's stronger side - but you can remember it spread like wildfire and it created complete chaos in camp.

But that was what the grounders wanted. To start killing your people off one by one from the inside. And John was the key. 

You didn't blame him for it of course, he wasn't aware that the grounders made him a walking contagious disease. But he was aware he gave them information about everything he knew about your camp so yeah, you were a little pissed about that.

Not as much as Bellamy was though, if you asked him he'd let John back into the woods without the care if the grounders captured him or not. You and your twin sister - Clarke Griffin - cared though and that was the only reason he was in camp right now and not running around the woods, alone.

You remembered Bellamy's words when you told him John wouldn't be a danger to camp. 

"Fine, he can stay. But he doesn't leave this camp or get a gun. He's your responsibility. So if he does anything, it's on you."

Truth is, Bellamy didn't mean what he said. He was just pissed John was staying after everything that happened with Charlotte. He knew it and you knew it too, so you brushed off his words and went back to camp, still choosing to keep a close eye on John during the next few days.

Now, you were making your way to Bellamy's tent. You weren't sure if you were going inside to apologize for how harsh your words towards him were during your fight or if you were coming to him as one leader to another so you could set things right and make the job of leading easier.

Deep down, you knew it was the first option but you didn't want to face your true feelings for him just yet. You wanted to at least wait until the war with the grounders was over before starting anything with him.

You stepped into the tent, calling his name, only to come face to face with a scene you never wanted to see again, it made you feel both nauseous and mad. 

Raven stopped putting her shirt on and her eyes widened at the sight of your figure standing at the entrance of the tent. You quickly put your hand over your chest, blocking out Bellamy's wide, guilt-written eyes.

"Sorry--" you stammered "I-- uh some people aren't back from hunting yet, so come find me when you're . . . done."

Ignoring Bellamy calling your name, you turned around and made your way past the delinquents that were still outside their tents and to the camp gate. The two kids that were guarding the gate were Miller and Starling, knew not to question why you - one of their leaders - was going outside camp, especially after seeing you already had a gun on you, and they let you out.

You needed to clear your head, the picture of Bellamy and Raven in the same bed half-naked was tattooed in your brain and you needed to get it out before you explode. You needed Clarke. But Clarke was still out with Finn and Myles, probably lost and you needed to find her but to do that you'd have to be able to look Bellamy in the eyes and you knew you wouldn't be able to do that.

A snap of a twig made you aim your gun - which you still didn't know how to shoot properly - at the bush the noise came from.

"Relax, Princess. I'm not planning on killing you anytime soon."

You recognized the voice belonged to John Murphy and immediately dropped the gun "What the hell, Murphy?"

He cleared his throat awkwardly "I uh-- saw you run out and then I saw Raven coming out of Bellamy's tent so I kinda connected the dots."

"And you were allowed out of camp why?"

"Because Miller saw it too and got worried so he let me out." John admitted, looking at you almost sheepishly.

You nodded in understanding and looked back down. The two of you never really interacted at a time he wasn't an asshole or tried to kill someone. He was the camp's psychopath and you were the invisible Griffin twin that hid in her parent's closet.

"Why wouldn't you kill me?" you asked hesitantly "I'm one of the reasons you got banished."

He nodded, rubbing his chin slightly "Yeah but you're also the reason I'm allowed to stay here. Plus telling Bellamy you'd keep an eye on me isn't a job anyone would take."

"How do you--"

"You're not very subtle." he interrupted with a chuckle "I saw you following me around camp with your eyes too many times for me to count."

Now it was your turn to smile sheepishly "Sorry."

"It's fine." John brushed it off with a shrug before noticing the sadness in your eyes and speaking up again "Bellamy's an idiot, you know that right?"

You scoffed at his words and shook your head only for him to speak up again "Well only an idiot would choose a one night stand over Y/N Griffin."

Both of you were surprised by the sincerity in his words. John felt a sudden feeling of vulnerability shoot through his body and he didn't like it one bit so he quickly plastered on his usual cocky smirk and added "I mean if you ever want to get back at him I'm right here."

You gave him a deadpan look "In your dreams, Murphy."

I mean yeah. He thought bluntly before shaking those thoughts away and grinning "Never said you need to sleep with me, Princess. There'd be a little payback both ways by making the king jealous. Just sayin'."

"Wouldn't you like that? you chuckled teasingly.

Yes he would. Because John Murphy could never get himself to figure out why someone as smart and as beautiful as you could fall for someone like Bellamy Blake. It's not like he's any better, but it just made him dislike the male even more.

"You know he doesn't deserve you, right?" John asked after a bit of surprisingly peaceful silence.

You just shrugged at his words, nor believing a word he said. But not because he had a habit of lying every time he opened his annoyingly smartass mouth. It was because you really couldn't see it. Raven was beautiful, the smartest person in camp, if not on Earth, and everything you didn't think you were.

Why would anyone think any different?

Noticing you didn't believe his words, John sighed and gave you a small smile "Well for your information, I'd pick you over anyone else any day."

"I thought the big bad Murphy didn't need anyone."

He stared at you for a few seconds with something unrecognizable in his eye and you were about to open your mouth to ask if there was something on your face when he beat you to it "Do you even know what my real name actually is?"

You narrowed your eyes in thought before a look of realization passed over your face "Wait 'Murphy' isn't your real name?"

"No. But it's last name and I go by it. My first name is John."

Before you could stop yourself you let out a snort - some would say it was completely unattractive but John thought it was adorable - followed by a chuckle as you repeated his name in disbelief "John?"

Said bot squinted his eyes at your amused, no longer heartbroken face, and asked "What?"

You shook your head with another chuckle "I never would have pegged you for a 'John'." 

"And I never would have pegged you for a girl that falls for someone like Bellamy Blake." 

He didn't even realize what he said until he did and was about to apologize, maybe begged you not to slap him but you laughed instead and nodded in amused "Touché."

And that's how you spent the rest of the night, sitting on a log right outside of camp and talking. Sharing stories about how each of you grew up and growing closer than you thought you ever would with someone like John Murphy.

But I guess there's a first time for everything.