#i wanted to hopefully branch out and make some new friends

[kiame-sama]

Humans Are Extinct- (Yandere!TWST x Fem!Reader) Monster AU pt 4

(Since my computer died, I will use some of the other monster AU art I haven't used in a chapter yet instead. Hopefully I can rustle up another computer soon or get Ol' Peepaw Sammy (my 10+ year old laptop) to run my drawing software without having a heart-attack.)

Warnings: collaring, aggressive kindness, yanderes are rampant in this story, invasion of privacy, romantic yanderes, platonic yanderes, monster AU, some history for the monster AU, mention of Humans being eaten, Teachers and Crowley are going to have a ROUGH time, more characters being introduced, reader insert, fem reader, Driders, Crows, Minotaurs, Shadow-men, Selkies, Dragons, Fae, Bats, Harpies, Unicorns, Nemean Lions, Grim is less boisterous/confident in this AU given his rough life but he is still the sassy and clueless kitty-creature we all love, reader is called several affectionate pet names by platonic yanderes (Pup/Cub/Chick)

~~~~~~~~

"So... What happened here?"

You cuddled your new monster friend close to you as you looked upon the building you had been carried to by Rook. He had been swift to return you and the cat-monster you befriended to the building the supposed teachers had been leading you towards. Even as you sat on the large spider's back and stared up at the building, you could see the apparent change that had overcome it.

It mostly looked the same as it had when you had run away from it, but there were several improvements and adjustments that had been made in the short time you were away. Where the windows had been boarded up, they were now all clean and fixed. Where the siding of the building had been in obvious disrepair and even falling off in some places, it now looked like it had received a needed bit of care and reconstruction.

"I can answer that!"

You let out a yelp at the sudden interjection, unconsciously reaching out to Rook's torso and clinging to the spider-man in fear. The way you yelped made your sudden visitor giggle in amusement at your behavior. Hanging from what appeared to be a dead tree branch above you was that same pink and black haired guy that had been in the Dragon's nest with you. He had an impish smile as he regarded you, that smile slipping ever so slightly as his eyes flicked over you and how tightly you held to Rook.

Rook was actually both amused and felt endeared by the fact that you grabbed onto him in a bid for protection from the Drider. It was so very sweet to him to see he had earned some goodwill and trust from you by rescuing you from the Undying Ursus Minor. Even when you relaxed upon realizing who was speaking, you very clearly held tightly to your soft companion, Grim.

"Oh? Did you make a friend out in the forest?"

The Bat Fae dropped from the branch, righting himself before he even hit the ground as he approached your little group. He took a long moment to look at Grim before he gained a kind of impish smile.

"I'll have to inform Malleus about your new charge. We wouldn't want this little one getting burned to a crisp by Malleus. Besides, I know how protective and adoring Children of Man can be when it comes to their cherished companions. The last human I met died for their companions."

Grim seemed unsettled by the Bat's presence and you could feel the way his torn wings seemed to pull closer to his body. Maybe it was the fact that the Bat had wings that were a lot like Grim's, and maybe it was the fact that this newcomer had been so keen to startle you. Regardless, you felt a strong need to protect your new friend as he was the only one who didn't seem to have some kind of twisted agenda planned for you.

"Anyway, Malleus and the other Housewardens showed up after you ran away- not a wise move, might I add- so several of them decided you should be somewhere safer than an old run-down building. Malleus did most of the fixing, but it seemed even Schoenheit was keen to make several additions to your accommodations. They're still mostly here, Malleus went back to his nest to give you some space."

You carefully slid off of the back of the large Spider man, noticing the unusual softness of his fur along the back of his Spider body. There was a kind of intimidation you felt now that you were back on level ground, as the height of Rook's Spider back did make you feel somewhat safer. Now you were on level ground and felt very small next to the blond who towered over you.

In some ways, you wanted to question the unusual Bat, but it quickly became clear you were not going to get that chance as the more adult-appearing men approached. The Crow was in the lead and was flanked by four others that seemed to be older than the monster men you had encountered en masse when you first entered this twisted nightmare land. Two of the men you recognized as the two who came with the Crow to retrieve you from the odd Dragon that had claimed you. The other two were unfamiliar to you, but no less beastly than the first.

One of them seemed to be an older man somewhere in his fifties with gray hair and clear creases along his brow and mouth. Attached where his lower half should have been was the body of some kind of big cat, a pair of oddly large wings sprouted along the shoulders of the cat body and the lower back of the man. He almost seemed to walk with a slight limp as his back leg had clearly suffered some kind of damage in the past.

The second newcomer was a man that seemed to be wreathed in shadows. All you could really make out from the darkness was the skeletal white mask adorning his face, lining up on the same place his own skull would be. His bright purple eyes pierced through the darkness and gleamed like gemstones beneath the brim of his top hat. He seemed younger than the others, but you found it difficult to accurately gauge his age due to the shadows that wrapped around him.

"Now that you're done racing off with no regard to your own health, foolish little chick, it seems I must have a lengthy conversation with you regarding the dangers that are ever present to someone as magically lacking as you."

~~~~~~~~

Several Housewardens and even a few Vice-Housewardens gathered nearby the Ramshackle building and watched the interaction curiously. It was true many had all pitched in to make the decrepit building a bit more liveable for you, but it was nowhere near the level of quality they believed an extinct species should have. They did what they could in the short amount of time they had, busying themselves with the project instead of charging headlong into the forest like many wanted to.

Rook and Lilia had excused themselves from the stern lecture the Crow was giving, opting instead to retreat to the nearby group. Many of those present took interest in Rook, as they could detect the scent he now carried due to carrying the fragile Human back to the safety of campus. A few even tried to take a subtle sniff of the Drider in an attempt to catch more of that uniquely Human smell.

"Roi du Poison, your faithful Huntsman has returned victorious with the little Human completely safe and sound!"

Rook was quick to take his place next to the peacock Harpy, practically beaming from the joy of another successful hunt. For all the beautiful muses Rook had claimed, he was closest with his muse Vil Schoenheit as the peacock Harpy had been one of the primary driving forces in Rook's life. From learning to care for his own appearance to taking care of Vil's pin feathers, he had few he could thank half as much as Vil.

Vil gave the slightest of smiles at having his second in command back by his side, his feathers ever so slightly rousing and fluffing out to show the Harpy was pleased. For all the eccentric behavior his Vice-Housewarden showed, Rook was nigh irreplaceable to Vil. Just knowing Rook had been the one to rescue the little Human was also another source of pride for Vil as it was another source of envy from the others.

"At least Rook can be trusted to bring the Human back promptly. I doubt the same would have been said of you, Leona."

The Nemian Lion was standing away from the group, but the clear way his ears angled back showed he was annoyed. Leona knew he wasn't trusted around the Human without supervision. He and anyone else from Sunset Savana would have to prove themselves 'domestic' to even be considered.

It was Sunset Savana that continued to eat Humans the longest and thus had been branded by the other Kingdoms and Queendoms as barbaric monsters. Leona didn't often pay attention in class- especially boring ass History- but even he knew the way Humans had been adored by so many others. Riddle went as far as not letting Leona out of his sight the second they arrived at the rundown excuse of a dorm. He knew the others wouldn't trust him around that fragile Human even with supervision.

"Piss off, Birdy."

Rook was not thrown by Vil's casual sniping towards Leona, the two proud Housewardens always seeming to be at odds. Instead, the Drider turned to the red-haired Unicorn with a pleasant smile.

"Roi du Règles, you will be pleased to know mon Trickster is Mademoiselle Trickster. You mentioned earlier you could sense her purity, non? That would make her a Human Maiden; the ideal boon companion for a Unicorn such as yourself!"

"Is she? Then it seems I must endeavor to even greater heights to protect her. No doubt the common rabble here will be eager to get at the only Human and only female on campus."

It was then a certain displeased yell split the air, originating from the Human in question. The shout unsettled the various students present and even managed to make Riddle almost rear from the sudden interjection.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

~~~~~~~~

You stared incredulously at Crowley, your hands resting over the collar that now sat securely on your neck. Despite how you pulled and groped at the material, you couldn't find a way to unlock it and free yourself from the new and rather dehumanizing feeling of being collared. Even Grim got himself a matching Collar, though his looked more like a pristine bow. Both his collar and your collar had a little device hanging where the tags would be on a dog's collar.

"You've made it more than abundantly clear that you will wander away to areas that can be dangerous to your health if you are allowed to freely roam. I can't have you ending your life prematurely simply because you didn't have the sense to stay away from something dangerous. That collar of yours will make it much easier to dissuade you from going places you shouldn't."

Grim was still trying to wriggle out of his collar while you glared angrily at the overgrown Crow who put it there. You eventually had to stop Grim as the little cat-creature was beginning to thrash and could hurt himself if he wasn't careful. Luckily, the little beast soothed with your touch and stared up at you through his mismatched and scarred eyes. Even though you wanted to lay into Crowley for daring to put a collar on the two of you like you were some kind of pet, the man who had introduced himself as Divus Crewel spoke up.

"I know you don't like the collar, but try to think of it from our perspective, sweet pup. You aren't a normal sight here or anywhere in our world. If certain ne're-do-wells caught wind of a Human living on our campus, they may try to poach you if given the chance. We don't want to give them the chance."

You frowned angrily at the men but also somewhat understood where they were coming from on the matter. Though you really couldn't grasp the concept of Humans being extinct- given the fact you came from a world where Humans were the only truly sentient species- you did somewhat understand where they were coming from. Classifying an animal as endangered only made an increase in the demand for pieces of said animal. They were certain Humans were extinct, so you were more than just a prized commodity to collectors and hunters alike.

"How does the collar help against poaching? If someone wanted to get me with an arrow or a knife, a collar doesn't do anything to stop that."

"That is true in most cases, but your collar is enchanted. The collar keeps track of your location and will alert us as well as the Housewardens if anything does try to harm you. It can't stop a full attack, but it can deflect minor magic."

"Why did Grim get collared too?"

"Because, though I am loathe to let a beast of the forest stay with you, it is better you have some kind of magical protection with you. His skills are subpar compared to a Housewarden, but it is still more skill and magic than you have available to you. Best to keep track of the both of you."

Grim didn't fight his collar anymore, but he certainly didn't look happy as his little torn wings drooped and his ears angled downwards. He was clearly quite displeased but didn't seem too upset despite the fact he did not sign up for this kind of treatment. Once he resigned himself to the collar, he slightly perked up and raised his lopsided gaze to meet that of Crewel.

"Hey, seal-guy, does this mean I have to go to classes with my Hench-Hooman like a student and stuff?"

"It would be ideal to have (Y/n) attend classes, if only to keep her around professors and prevent the loneliness from negatively impacting her health. Humans were known to be a social creature, after all, and with no other Humans around the other students would be the next best thing."

"... So does that mean I can actually be a fancy-pants student and become the greatest mage to ever live?"

"Whatever keeps you by (Y/n)'s side. Though it may behoove us to enlist the aid of other students as well... They will have to prove themselves first, of course."

Crowley nodded along to Crewel's words as if they were the most obvious thing and you vaguely got the impression that the Crow really didn't realize what he was agreeing to. Though he was the Headmage- which to you meant he was the head of the school- he seemed far less aware of the situation as a whole and leaned on the other professors for that information. Something about him made you wonder why he was so eager to keep you on school grounds. It made you think back to his comment about the last human he met and you wondered if that had anything to do with how keen he was to keep you yet seemed keen to let the others take point in explaining things to you.

It was during this thought that the older looking man spoke, his voice aged and almost fatherly in how he spoke to you.

"Naturally, you are still the only true expert on Humans, being one yourself, so we will have to ultimately trust your judgement. I am of a mind with Divus that we should not be allowing a forest beast unrestricted access to you, but you seem to trust this Grim. Should you need something, you have but to ask us one of us. I also feel Mr. Rosehearts, Mr. Hunt, Mr. Draconia, and perhaps even a number of others would be keen to aid you. Don't ever go to Savanaclaw for aid. Though it may have been several hundred years ago, many of those from Sunset Savana and those of specific beastman lineages were instrumental in the extinction of Humans. Better to be safe than sorry with your safety."

He had been introduced to you as Mozus Trein, the History professor. Though you were curious as to why he seemed so fond of you, you figured it had something to do with you being Human and his natural love and fascination with history. You had to admit, it was nice that he didn't talk to or about you like you were a pet or some kind of exotic toy- an exotic animal, maybe, but not a pet. Most of the professors seemed to be of a similar mind- minus the Crow- and that somewhat helped put you at ease with them.

"So, does that mean it will only be Grim and I in here? No one else?"

"Well, the ghosts may pay you a visit and check in on you. Would you like someone to spend the evening here as well? I understand this is a new place and some company may put you at ease. It is my understanding that Mr. Draconia has already made a secondary nest in this dorm for you to use at your leisure, no doubt the others added beds or various furniture as well."

"No, I kind of like the fact that it's just me and Grim, I was just wondering because all of them are here," you gestured to the group of Housewardens and Vice-Housewardens nearby, "so I didn't know if they were staying or not. It is getting super late at night..."

"They should be returning to their dorms soon, though Housewardens and Vice-Housewardens are not bound by the same curfew as the other students."

He glanced at the others before back at you, a serious look of concern painting his features.

"Are you certain you would rather be alone tonight? Some wayward fools may try to enter the dorm when we leave."

The genuine concern in his expression and tone made you seriously consider his words. It was true that you didn't really feel very safe with anyone other than your small companion Grim, but the wizend professor did have a point. His prompting paired with the fact that you had made many poor choices for yourself this night did more to sway you than expected. You looked at the several monsters waiting nearby and had to conceed that someone keeping an eye out was not a bad idea given the already rocky start to your time in such a world.

"... I think you might have a point, actually..."

"How about this; you choose from the Housewardens and Vice-Housewardens who helped fix up this old dorm for you. Clearly they have at least shown they care for your wellbeing enough to put in an effort to make it livable. I will say now- however- should you choose Leona, I will choose someone else for you. I would love to say all our students are safe, but that just isn't the case and we can't take chances with you."

"That seems fair... But how do I know which one Leona is?"

"Leona is the Nemean Lion- ah, but I forget, you don't have Nemean Lions where you're from, do you?"

You shook your head. You could recall that there were Greek myths of Heraclies slaying a golden lion known as the Nemean Lion, but nothing like the monster men you have met.

"I will point him out when you decide who you feel is safest to stay with you."

"Okay. Grim, want to help me choose?"

The stout creature smiled eagerly in response to your question, holding up his front legs for you to pick him up. He was not like a cat in the sense that he was thrilled when you held him, but he did seem to enjoy your warmth and the fact he didn't have to walk when you carried him. As you cuddled Grim, professor Trein began to lead you to the group.

It was easy to feel somewhat safe with the older man and you kept close to his side as you two approached the group of fellow students. They all looked curious at the fact that you and the professor had approached them first. Perhaps you were going to thank them or ask them for something else to help you settle in.

"Listen up, you lot. I would hope others have enough common sense to leave (Y/n) here alone, but we all know that isn't going to happen. Since you are the ones that actually showed up to ensure our only Human is safe, it is safe to assume you care what happens to (Y/n). We feel it would be best to have either a Housewarden or a Vice-housewarden remain here for the evening in the event someone tries their luck."

Professor Trein then glanced back at you, nodding his head towards the group in clear invitation to approach. As you drew close, you couldn't help but take note of how all eyes quickly fell on you. Some of the people there were familiar to you, and some were not.

Rook was among the familiar, same with the Harpy that stood next to him. The only one whose name you recognized was Rook's as he had been the only one to actually introduce himself to you.

"... Can I choose Rook? He's the only name I know..."

"I would happily accept, Mademoiselle Trickster, but there is one far fairer and better than I at all but hunting. I suggest you choose Roi du Poison, the beautiful Vil Schoenheit."

The spider man made a sweeping arm motion to his side towards the Harpy, as if he were presenting the bird-man to you. The bird in question seemed surprised by the sudden introduction but took it in stride and instead turned his purple eyes to you. As you locked eyes with him, something odd happened. His feathers seemed to quiver before the feathers atop his head raised, his tail feathers doing the same to create an almost dazzling display of iridescent colors. He was clearly a peacock bird-man, but what didn't make much sense to you was why he was showing off for you. You didn't think you were really worth showing those feathers to since you weren't a bird like him.

"You are welcome to choose one as fair as me, little Human. I will ensure your safety to the furthest of my capabilities."

It almost seemed like the peacock were trying to make himself seem like the best choice, showing off colors and strength in an effort to have you choose him. If anything, you weren't the only one who was surprised at seeing such a display from the peacock. The others seemed almost shocked by this showing of feathers but someone was clearly far less than pleased upon seeing Vil posturing for you.

"Absolutely not! I refuse to allow anyone who does any kind of display dance for her to be permitted anywhere near her. I would have your head if you weren't my senior, Vil! Such a maiden should not be accosted by eager men who only see her as a breeding toy. Professor, I demand you override this choice and select me to guard this Human. I shall uphold every rule the Queen has set and I will not allow such tomfoolery to burden this Human."

Vil seemed angered by this as his feathers ruffled and stood on end, eyes glaring angrily at the offending Unicorn man. The wickedly sharp tallons on the ends of the bird's fingers seemed to only be sharper when displayed with such clear disdain for the Unicorn. It seemed like a fight was on the verge of erupting before Grim's voice interrupted them.

"I don't like any of them! Maybe the spider-drider-guy, but this is my Hooman which means I should choose who protects us!"

"Are you-? What the hell is a 'Hooman'? She is a Human, not 'Hooman' and I don't appreciate your casual disrespect for her species-!"

It was during the Unicorn's rant that you interrupted, feeling angry that the man would dare talk to Grim like that. Sure, you found it odd that the cat creature called you Hooman, but you certainly didn't mind it either. Even above all of that, Grim was your friend and these men were not.

"And who said it was your place to correct him? I know what I am and I think it's cute he calls me Hooman. What I don't appreciate is how you think you can yell at him! He can call me Hooman if he wants, you are not afforded the same privilege! And I have a name. It's (Y/n) (L/n), so don't you dare ever call me anything else."

Your sudden snapping at the Unicorn clearly surprised and unsettled him as he took several steps back, almost seeming like he was about to rear from your yelling. Even though his blue eyes stared in absolute surprise, you felt no need to back down and if anything you wanted to chase off the delicate Unicorn for daring to raise his voice at Grim. A light chuckle met your ears and drew your ire away from the Unicorn and to another familiar grinning face. It was the pink and black haired Bat.

"Keeheehee, seems she doesn't like you very much Riddle. Or, it could be that Humans are traditionally a pack-bonding species and little Grim is now her pack. Clearly Riddle isn't your choice, so who actually will be?"

You frowned at this question and went back to looking at the group, Grim seemed to be doing the same as he purred and snuggled down into your arms. From those you now knew, you still figured either the Bat or Rook would be best. It was then someone else caught your eye bringing you to a halt as you stared at them.

He had sun kissed skin and dark mahogany hair. Even as he stood in the light of the moon, he almost seemed to have a golden glow that wrapped around his scowling figure. When he noticed you looking at him, his bright green eyes narrowed ever so slightly before looking away from you. His actions were as if he were trying to dissuade you from picking him despite the fact he was among the group. You vaguely recognized him from the many who you first saw when you came tumbling out of the coffin.

"Choose someone else, Mousey. They won't let you pick me, I might gobble you up."

"I'm not a-"

"Yes, you are. You are a little Mousey herbivore of the only sentient species Nemean Lions dared to feast upon."

"Nemean...? You're Leona?"

"I'm surprised you even care enough to know my name. Leona Kingscholar, second prince of Sunset Savana and Housewarden of Savanaclaw. Careful, Mousey, you aren't safe around me. I may not have tasted Human before, but I'm willing to break several laws to give it a try."

He almost seemed like he was trying to actually get you away from him, a look of vague sadness hiding behind his smouldering emerald eyes even as he glared at you. There was more to this tale than he was telling but you knew he wasn't going to give you the information you wanted. With another long look at the golden Lion, you turned you gaze back to the group as a whole.

"I guess... Since the Dragon- Malleus, if I'm remembering properly- isn't here, I'll pick the Bat."

"Aww, I'll be sure to let Malleus know you wanted to pick him. I'm sure he'll be pleased. I can keep an eye on you and make sure those other whippersnappers don't come sniffing around. Keeheehee, cute that you call me Bat, but I also have a name if you feel like using it. Lilia Vanrouge, at your esteemed service, (Y/n). Malleus is my primary ward, but he certainly wouldn't be too displeased if I kept an eye on his hoard as well."

You nodded, wondering just why the Dragon decided you were one of his but not willing to question Lilia as to the true motives just yet. It almost seemed like those present fixed Lilia with a jealous sneer as the Bat happily joined your side. Trein simply nodded, accepting your choice as it was not Leona- whom he planned to berate for threatening you- and was a fairly safe choice. Lilia was of the few who had encountered a Human before in his many centuries, so no doubt he would be safe around you.

"It is decided then. I shall see you in my class tomorrow, (Y/n). Do not hesitate to reach out to me should you need anything. Your other professors and I will be working on getting you a phone to communicate with us faster. For now, sleep well, little cub."

[nthspecialll]

Charles rode home, back to camp, back to the place and the people who had been his support the last half year, the people who had saved him and whom he had saved. He had known there had been troubles, he had seen it first hand, but he had not known that what he would arrive back to would be death.

Charles didn’t know what had gone down at Beaver Hollow, he had expected to come back to arguing, maybe some silence like there had been the last couple of weeks, quiet muttering and side glares. He had just buried Eagle Flies, yet another person who was manipulated by Dutch, one of his people, a young boy who just wanted to keep his people safe, to keep their people safe.

What does he return to? Grimsaw laying on the ground, gunshot to the stomach, eyes emptily staring out at the ransacked camp that had once been home.

I wonder if he thought it was the Pinkertons for a moment or if he knew that the inevitable had finally happened, that they had snapped, that his home was no more, that once again he was on his own, that his family had turned on one another.

I wonder if he feared walking in the area, afraid of whos dead body he would find next. Would it be Arthur with a bullet to the head? Would it be Javier with a new wound running along the scar on his throat? Would it be John with a knife still embedded in his stomach? Who of his brothers would he find next slaughtered by their own family?

He probably knew that the hole he was digging for Susan wouldn’t be the last, he probably knew he would make more, that he would find more bodies if he just walked the area. He was probably already grieving as he followed the hoof prints hammered into the ground, he knew whatever he was going to find would not be pretty.

He hadn't need to be a master tracker to find the next bodies, the distinctive horses he knew that John and Arthur rode, laying dead on the mountian, guns, saddles, personal items still left just like the animals he knew the people had cared deeply for had been left in a hurry.

He knew Arthur was sick, he knew that he was close, he would never have made it far, he had probably known since seeing Susan's body that he would find Arthur's too.

He was used to tracking animals to hunt, to eat, to survive, to find their hoof prints and broken branches showing their direction, now he was following an obvious trail of slips in mud, bullet shells and blood to find his friend's body, to give him the peace he deserved.

And finally, on the edge of a cliff, head tilted towards east where the sun rose, laid the body of his friend, his skin pale and his face beaten.

Charles had to lift his best friend, carry him down the mountian and up another to be able to forfill his wish, to be faced to the evening sun on a ledge, except Arthur had changed since then, he was no longer the same man so Charles faced him towards the sunrise, so he forever could feel the peace he had hopefully felt in his final moments.

I wonder if Charles went back, tracked John, found out he made it out alive, went back, tracked Dutch as far as he could before realizing it was not worth it before finally giving up and accepting that that was it.

Tilly? Abigail? Jack? Sadie? They had stayed but where did they go? He could track John, he could track Arthur, Dutch, Micah, Javier and Bill but what about the others? Did their bodies lay somewhere? Discharged as quickly as Grimsaw had?

Charles had loved being around others, but at what cost? How many bodies had he buried? How many times had his heart been broken because Dutch had made a mistake that had costed a life?

Maybe it was better being alone in the end.

[merakiui]

Mera how have ya been lately? (⁠◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕⁠✿⁠)

I hope you're doing fine!

The ghost bride cards got me feeling some typa way tbh. All of those men fighting to be the groom, imagine if that's how the apocalypse au was like, except darling is the leader/esteemed personnel. Each of them fighting for darling's attention!

Anyways, as always, thank you for feeding us with yummy meals and content.

Xoxo ~ Izuna

Omg maybe darling is the leader of the Ramshackle Compound!!!!! The compound was originally abandoned (of life) until you and Grim discovered it, and with the help of the ghosts inhabiting it you were able to turn it into something livable and secure! Not many know of its existence until, unfortunately, the intelligence branch of Ignihyde catches drone footage of you coming and going. And someone ends up leaking it to the other compounds and now everyone wants to unify Ramshackle with their respective compound. Most of all, they wish to meet the elusive compound leader who seems to be so good at fending for themself. :)

Riddle isn’t opposed to a marriage with you. After all, that’s how many traditional unions happen. Kingdoms of yore have done it, and Riddle is dedicated to following tradition down to every detail, however minuscule. He’s rather impressed you managed to survive on your own. That’s a commendable feat. Once he weds you, you won’t have to worry about struggling to get by. You’ll have access to all of Heartslabyul’s resources. No more hunting for food yourself! You’re under Riddle’s rule now, and that’s arguably worse than living in isolation with Grim and a few ghosts.

Leona’s also impressed, which is something the average person can’t accomplish easily. He’ll want to meet you promptly, if only to see if the rumors surrounding you are true. Are you really a strong, capable fighter? Or is that just some nonsense story made up to make others think you’re some untouchable, fearsome herbivore? Although the more impatient he becomes, the more he takes a liking to keeping you within Savanaclaw’s compound. Your reputation is interesting enough; now hopefully it’s the same for you as a person.

Azul’s frustrated and overwhelmingly envious. Had he known about an empty compound, he could’ve expanded his influence! He’s already built up such an impressive stronghold both on the land and in the sea, but he’s always been so ambitiously avaricious. He wants what you have, but most of all he wants you. You’re a cutthroat thing, always so determined to survive. And you’re taking care of your strange…pet? He’s not sure what Grim is, but he’ll know soon once Jade and Floyd capture the both of you. He’s willing to go about this peacefully; he’ll nudge you into a contractual marriage. It’s the smart thing to do in these trying times. <3

Kalim’s excited to know someone new exists out there. He wants to meet you and become your friend. He doesn’t even consider the fact that you could be dangerous or infected. He’s just curious and wants to welcome a new friend! When he learns it’s only you in the compound, he feels so sad. :( you’re all alone in there. Doesn’t it get lonely? You must come to Scarabia! He’ll make sure you’re never lonely. :D

Vil has always considered the possibility that there are more out there, and to think it was proven correct with your existence is somewhat of a relief. Even if it’s only one person, that’s one more added to a dwindling population count. Somehow it’s more bleak that way, but Vil won’t allow himself to become stressed or saddened. There is no debate to be had; he will meet you, and if he determines you useful and safe enough you shall become his. He has lots of strict criteria for his evaluation of you, but from footage alone he’s seen you’re quite capable on your own. At the very least, you know how to wield a weapon, so Rook won’t have to instruct you in that area. Although your hand-to-hand combat is lacking… You could use a few lessons. Luckily, you’ll get that and much more when he welcomes you into Pomefiore.

Idia hates his life, but most of all he hates the loser who leaked that footage. This was supposed to be his big discovery! He was going to keep it a secret and everything, if only so the other compounds will keep their slimy, greedy paws off of his stuff. >:( Idia only wants your compound so he can use the empty rooms for his hobbies. It would be fun to have another larger space for gaming. He could furnish it to his liking and use it as a second getaway when he wants to escape all of his responsibilities at his compound. It was the perfect plan! So Idia makes it a mission to get to you before anyone else can, and with high-tech on his side it’s entirely plausible. :)

It’s a wonder the footage made it to Diasomnia, but Lilia has his way of keeping himself informed. He advises Malleus of this new development to see where the fae prince stands on the matter. Malleus takes a liking to you right away because he sympathizes with your being alone. If possible (and it is; anything’s possible when you’re one of the most powerful mages in the land), he’d like to meet you and see if an alliance of some sort can be formed. Of course from a logical standpoint, it makes sense. Two compounds are better than one: resources, information, and manpower can double and be shared between the two. But then Malleus isn’t thinking that way. He’s thinking of how nice it would be to give you the gift of companionship when he extends a gracious proposal to you. Hopefully you’ll agree. Secretly, he’d like to be close to you and learn all there is about the mysterious human and their animal companion braving the horrors of a ruined world.

[earthstellar]

had a wild Insecticons AU dream

the Lost Light was a eusocial colony that branched off from the main colony (Cybertron)

Rodimus was the Queen but with the introduction of Megatron as another Queen (and alongside general dissatisfaction with Rodimus' initial leadership approach), instead of being co-captains, Rodimus is nearly killed in order to depose him -- as there can be only one clearly defined Queen in a given hive

Drift and Ratchet take pity on him and let him build a sort of empty nest in a spare room/small comb cluster across from them within the hive-ship

but Rodimus is really fucked up by the whole thing and isn't doing well

in the meantime, since Megatron's spark is too weak to support any expansion of the hive population (can't produce new sparks), Rodimus makes a brief attempt to make a challenge for leadership again but Megatron makes the point that with limited space and supplies in the hive-ship, the priority for the colony is not reproduction but rather sustaining their current crew for the time being

Magnus backs this up as being a logical choice that works in favour of the colony's wellbeing, so Rodimus withdraws and is extremely depressed until they come across a hot spot full of new sparks

Rodimus sneaks one on board to sustain it within his little comb cluster in his quarters, but any sparks that aren't either from the current Queen or supported by the rest of the hive flicker out, so Rodimus is caught when he realises this and tries to sneak the spark off the ship again to leave it with the others in the hot spot to give it a chance at survival

naturally this causes a shit storm because not only was this a bad thing to do in the first place (but understandably desperate because of course as a Queen he wants to build a thriving hive and it's seen as an instinctual thing, doesn't negate his poor judgement but it does explain it), but it's also seen as attempting to undermine the current Queen

so Rodimus ends up being the one who is exiled and it ends up being Drift and Ratchet who eventually go try to find him -- the alternative was just killing Rodimus and Drift is the one who convinced Magnus to opt for banishment instead of outright evisceration

banishment for a eusocial species is basically a death sentence anyway, though, and it's the guilt that pushes Drift to convince Ratchet to come with him to look for Rodimus

when they find him he's in such a poor state, hiding out in a cave filled with misshapen hive combs and structures, not enough to store fuel properly etc.

but he's alive and Ratchet helps get him physically well at least; there's no way they can bring Rodimus back because You Cannot Have Two Queens but they help build decent structures etc. in Rodimus' sad little empty nest to make it less sad

Drift can't bear to leave his friend alone with no colony because Rodimus is sure to die at some point on his own, so TL;DR their either find another hot spot to transplant new sparks into some of the hive combs/structures or Drift/Ratchet do the dew with Rodimus so that he'll hopefully produce a decent number of warrior sparks and support class sparks to start building and sustaining a new colony

I woke up around this point in the dream but Good End is that Drift and Ratchet make it back to the Lost Light and either way Rodimus ends up with a new hive so he survives and establishes his own colony with a bunch of new sparks who rightfully see him as their Queen

it's 7 AM I'm having a tea now lol

[f10werfae]

Holland’s Girl

pairing: Boyfriend!Tom x Cavill!Reader

summary: Hi there! I don't know if you still write for Tom Holland but could you do one with him in a relationship with henry cavill's little sister? With the twitter format? Love all your Henry cavill blurbs! (Requested by Anon)

Requests are open!/Likes, Comments and Re-blogs are appreciated♥️

Full Masterlist, Taglist Form Tom

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

@/dutchnesslove: Tom just confirmed his relationship with Y/n Cavill on instagram!! He uploaded a picture of them cuddling in bed and everything, even Tessa was in between them with her head on Y/n's chest

@/HenryCavill: @TomHolland take care of my sister or else our weekend pints will have to stop mate 👍👍

@/Y/nCavill: Omg fuck off Hen, he loves me more than you do🙄

-

@/britishstarq: Did anyone see the pap video of Tom and Y/n buying groceries?? He pushes her around in the trolley while handing her the stuff from the shelves. Someone save me bc they are just too cute😭

>> @/marveltrick: Ok but did you see the party where Y/n secretly swipes her card to pay for the groceries and Tom literally tackled her into a big hug and tickled her because of it

-

@/Littlebunbun: Why the fuck are people hating on Tom and Y/n? So what if she isn’t some big time actor? She literally has her own career path in (insert job), she doesn’t need Tom’s money bro☠️

>> @/birdiebye: I know, fans ambushed her outside of her workplace and she had to stay inside and wait for Tom to get her. This is ridiculous. She’s just trying to live her life, she doesn’t need whiney teenagers trying to attack her. No wonder Tom doesn’t like doing lots of autographs in public anymore

-

@/retrotro: Henry just posted his annual family bbq picture, and just saw Tom sitting on a chair by the fire with Y/n tucked under his jacket with him😭😭 He was kissing her forehead with his arms locked around her and everything

-

@/beautifillife: In Y/n's first interview she mentioned how she first met Tom at an award show where Henry brought her along as his plus one. She ended up getting lost from Henry during the big rush inside and bumped into Tom, and quotes, “He hasn’t let me go since”

>> @/beautifillife: Don’t even forget when she said that Tom insisted he bring her home because she couldn’t end up finding Henry, AND THEY HAD THEIR FIRST KISS THAT NIGHT. Although feels bad because Y/n said he was so awkward like a little boy with his first crush☠️

-

@/turusbeixh: Since the lockdown I think Y/n has moved in with Tom, just because Henry posted turning her room in the family home, into storage for his war figurines. Also Y/n has been posting reels on instagram on how to choose the correct colour furniture, and she’s just the cutest

-

@/TomHolland: @/Y/nCavill Babe please forgive me, I didn’t mean to walk Tessa without you this morning💔

>> @/Y/nCavill: So first I wake up alone in bed, and then I don’t even get to walk my baby. Unforgivable, unless you’ve somehow got a tub of Ben and Jerries with you. And Kisses

>>> @/TomHolland: Don’t worry got lots of kisses for you, in all places

-

@/pinkputter: In a friend’s youtube video when playing Hide and Seek, Y/n decides to hide on Tom’s lap under a massive blanket, AND THIS MAN DID NOT RAT HER OUT FOR A WHOLE 30 MINUTES. THAT IS LOVE.

-

@/DailyTelegraph: Teary Tom Holland seen sending off his girlfriend Y/n Cavill at the airport. The young businesswoman is off to start a new branch in Japan, hopefully she’ll be back soon! Reports say 2 weeks!

>> @/tomholland101: You’re tellin me that mans cryin over his girl being gone for two weeks😭

-

@/user28373792: Tom holland said that he and Y/n can’t share showers often because she actually makes it boiling warm. But he does it anyway because she wants to 😭♥️

-

@/User29282803: Y/n posted a photo of Tom rubbing her feet, that mans whipped

>> @/twinkletoerz: Remember the picture of

Y/n braiding his hair. Love.

-

@/Y/nCavill: Why is Tom crying at the airport😭 He literally booked a flight to Japan for two days from now, he’s staying with me until I have to fly home

-

@/Northfacepole: When is Tom gonna propose, they’ve been together for AGES (3 years) THAT WOMANS FINGER NEEDS A RING!!

>> @/Y/nCavill: Don’t worry babes i’m on it 💪

-

@/DailyTelegraph: Y/N CAVILL AND TOM HOLLAND ENGAGED! The pair got engaged at the rooftop of a secluded bar in the west of London, Y/n reappeared today adorning a stunning lab created diamond on her ring finger, a smitten blushing Tom by her side. Sources say the superstar got down on one knee after a romantic Italian dinner and asked the question, we can only anticipate the wedding date which is supposedly next Spring!

———

Taglist Tags (Form is up there^^): @vrittivsanghavi @Tinyelfperson @fdl305 @marvelgurl @uwiuwi @stormcloudss @misshale21 @hallecarey1 @nikkitc0703 @mischiefsemimanaged @aerangi @alina02 @bookfrog242 @alexxavicry

[lightning-and-sparks]

Can you share anything about Roland’s wife or anything else you want to share about thorns?

I’m not sure why Roland’s wife is the big talk but fair enough. She’s a Dancinite and they’ve been married 20 years and are still not bored of each other

Anything I’d like to share is a dangerous question 🤭

Some inspiration for Eternyx in thorns was the city from The Crow and I found myself going back to it in my head. Cygnus city is coastal because I live in a coastal city and I’m pretty close to New York and Staten Island vibes are fun.

A lot of the characters made for Thorns are inspired by real people so I hope that makes them feel real and like individuals.

Cygnus was not supposed to come back🧍‍♀️

My favorite part (bc no one asks /j) was the one Wander chapter at the beginning or the London Calling part where it’s like “taking back the Tower.” I did that part during winter break and had a lot of fun freezing my ass off.

Kit Korzo was my favorite character I got to make up and I enjoy every scene he’s in. I’m still working on drawing all of them eventually.

For a rough estimate, I want to say each chapter takes me anywhere from 10-15 hours from the outlining, drafting, rework and edit stages. Scenes are cut and remade to the point I get confused and have to watch what I say.

Thorns has been both my saving grace and torture. Now that I’ve been doing this for a year (unbelievable ugh) I feel like it’s a big part of who I am on here. As much as I love it I really want to branch out and try other things. I’m debating streaming (my friends are being forced to help me) bc idk I’ve always felt like an entertainer and I’d love to get to do that. So hopefully you can get to know me past the fic if you want and see who I really am. Streaming jd may be a challenge but who knows.

As always, asks and DM’s are open and I’ll try my best to get to everything.

[serpentsillusion]

Sebastian, Ominis, and my x MC

🐍✨

What are their zodiac signs and birthdays? *Near the end of 5th year* 🤔💚

Ever wondered what our 2 favorite idiots were, based on the stars? I studied astrology and similar things before it was mainstream. From what I've gathered based on their characteristics and personalities in the game this is the assumptions I've gathered (and some random other observations I've gathered). These are not fact but just my personal ✨Lore✨ plus a little bit about my MC. Welcome to my spicy brain and my spicy imagination. 💚 I hope you guys enjoy the lore! Hopefully it will give you more insight into my next coming shorts. 🐍

Sebastian: born March 28th 1874. He's MOST definitely an Aries. Aries personality traits include confidence, passion, and independence. But this sign can also be impulsive, impatient, and self-centered. They're Competitive. As a fire sign, Aries are fueled by intensity. They love to challenge others to friendly competition. Positive Traits: Energetic, Bold,  possesses Leadership Skills. Negative Traits: Impulsive, Stubborn, Impatient. Aries brings dynamism. His Mother and Father were named Johnathan James Sallow and Mary Anne Sallow. I figure his middle name is probably of his father's also. I kinda dig the thought of Sebastian James Sallow. 🤔🤭

Sebastian 100% smells like Sandalwood. Have you ever smelled that on a man? Holy Merlin TAKE ME AWAY! 😭 Sandalwood screams masculinity to me. But like a mysterious and seductive, curious masculinity way. The first time MC smelled his cologne on him she immediately had to know what it was. He told her, because she asked, very bluntly to be honest.... And now sometimes her girls bed room smells like burning sandalwood when she misses being around him or his dumb ass gets detention and she has to go to classes without him. (my real life partner wears this and it is INTOXICATING) Give it a try. 😏🤭

Nicknames: Seb, Sebby Boi, idiot #1, Sebs, sex panther (MC keeps that one to herself)

Sebastian's talents: he's really good at wood work and tinkering. He likes carving things for his friends out of tree branches. One of the very few things he doesn't use magic for. He once made a tiny carved bear for MC for her 16th birthday, she put it in a trinket box next to her bed and cried about it when she went to bed that night because it was so precious. Ominis got a teeny tiny carved peepee one time as a prank. He was not amused. ALSO Seb's surprisingly good at making food. (had to survive on his own for a little while)

Favorite food: literally anything. Jelly beans, haggis (he's Scottish, and his mom used to make it ALOT) Tablet (look it up) MC's Dad once sent a whole loaf of homemade banana nutbread to the Slytherin common room for her and she only had like maybe a bite. That was a new thing for Seb he had never tried, and unfortunately he ate most of it and was very upset with himself afterwards because it was for her. It was DELICIOUS 😂 MC couldn't help but love that he loved it. He wanted the recipe but she told him no. It was a family recipe, and if he wanted it, he'd have to marry her. That was a challenge accepted in his mind. Ominis doesn't like Bananas but he tried it and was nice about it, after spitting it in the trashcan without MC seeing. (he really hates Bananas...it's a texture thing.)

Seb=Dom. Likes to be in control 24/7. Turns into a complete and utter almost feral animal when confronted with matching Dom energy. Especially with a female.. aka MC

Probably most definitely has sad boi depression and anxiety. Which turns into fear, which turns into anger. Probably has PTSD. MC shares his pain from her upbringing and that's another reason why they have bonded so incredibly fast.

Ominis:  born September 25th 1874. Definitely a Libra. Libra's are extroverted, cosy, and friendly people. Libra's, like the Scales that symbolise the sign, are often concerned with attaining balance, harmony, peace, and justice in the world. With their vast stores of charm, intelligence, frankness, persuasion, and seamless connectivity, they are well-equipped to do so. I'm going to assume his father was British and his mother was Irish according to ✨le internet.✨ His father's name was probably something fancy like Elias and his Mother was probably something super classy like Violet. Idk 😐😂

Ominis probably smells like vetiver, tobacco (for some reason) and leather. Like a high society lounge for men. With ✨class✨ The epitome of sophistication.

Nicknames: idiot #2, omnomnom he hates it when MC calls him that but it's cute, snakey boi.

Ominis=Sub. Too nervous to touch a girl. Doesn't know what to do. Too gentleman like. Wants to wait until marriage. Probably screams and runs if he tries to be kissed by a girl. Like Poppy.

Ominis and Sebastian are already best friends but Ominis feels drawn to MC in a way a brother is drawn to protect his sister. Ominis feels obligated to help protect MC because he views her as a sister, and the fact that his best friend is absolutely smitten with her. Ominis will 100% be the best man at Sebastian's wedding to MC. She just doesn't know she's gonna get married to that idiot yet.

Ominis talents: is surprising very very good at playing the piano. It was something he was made to do as a child for his parents extravagant parties.

Favorite food: Anything, except fucking bananas.

My MC: aka Jessica "Jess" Garyn Burke born October 16th 1874. The youngest of The Silver Trio, and also similarly of Borgin and Burkes owned by Mr Borgin and Mr Burke, who were known to deal with unusual and ancient artifacts.😉 I picked Jessica because it's actually an OLD name meaning "To Behold" and Garyn meaning "warrior" Everything she knows she learned from her Dad, including protecting herself magically and *physically* like when she decked Leander Prewett in the face for calling her a rather "prude" name and teasing her in front of everyone including Sebastian and Ominis. 0/10 does not like being sexualized by other men, finds it incredibly disrespectful. She can handle her own. Obviously. It only cost her 2 weeks of detention. Leander and her are cool now btw. He's fine. His pride is not. Sebastian purposely got 2 weeks detention shortly after that so he could be around her more. 😂🤭😁✨ She is incredibly sassy, blunt, domineering, sharp as a whip, and not traditionally "ladylike". MC is not afraid to dig her nails in the dirt if she has to. And she will 100% knock a man on his ass for grabbing her butt. "Bitches get shit done." Is her Mantra.

MC=Dom a dangerous mix when tangled around Sebastian. They constantly fight for dominance but he usually always wins. Only because he's taller and a lot stronger than she is. Not sexually active because she's afraid of her father finding out and killing the poor guy. But she does know how to tie a cherry stem in her mouth without using her fingers. 10/10 proud of herself for that after almost choking on a few in her time trying. She learned that from one of her friends back in London. Father doesn't approve of said friend. Useful skill for seduction. Will keep in her back pocket for later. Is actually kinky. She's read A LOT of books about it. Can "work her magic" so to say if need be.

MC usually has her butternut ash brown hair up in a beautiful and detailed bun with intricate pieces framing her face. Slightly pale skin with mild freckles and bright blue eyes. She loves fresh flowers but fresh roses are her ABSOLUTE favorite!! Which is her perfume of choice. Just straight up Rose.

-She also cries when she gets yelled at. Because she's sensitive, but also immediately gets immensely pissed off. You would prefer having her as a friend, and not an enemy. That is why Sebastian and her formed an incredibly strong bond shortly after becoming friends. They are actually very similar. Did not speak to Sebastian for a whole month after he got mad and called her ignorant that one time. Made her cry after he left the undercroft. Did not understand why she would walk past him in the halls and ignore his owls until he apologized.

MC talents: loves drawing. She doodles some of her classmates in her spare time outside the grounds of Hogwarts, while on picnics or laying against trees. She's drawn Ominis and Sebastian. Especially Sebastian. Several times. She hides those ones because she doesn't want him to know she gets butterflies in her stomach around him. MC is also really good at singing, she just doesn't do it in front of literally anyone. She plays the lute but doesn't really care for the high pitched twang if it. Sometimes she wants someone to invent something very similar. They both should have 6 strings so it wouldn't be hard to learn a different instrument that's very *similar* to a lute. Does not like playing in front of anyone. Sebastian heard her one time when she was sick and stuck in her room practicing all day because she was bored. Everyone was "supposed" to be in class. He was befuddled and so incredibly impressed he couldn't move. MC is also formally trained in hand to hand wandless combat, trained executively by her father, Incase expelliarmus gets casted on her. Doesn't want anyone to know she can whoop ass. Also MC is like REALLY good at dancing, LOVES music and making people laugh. Will purposely embarrasses herself dancing just to make her friends laugh.

MC parents and Family: David Burke and Ramona Nielson. Wizard and Muggle. Divorced cuz Ramona is not dependable as a mother and is scared if her magic welding children, had to be obliviated regarding that part of her children. Ramona still got custody even though she wasn't really around for her daughter growing up which made MC want to stay longer with her father during summer vacation, away from school and sharing holidays between both homes. MC has to have that little bit of stern staleness from something...🤷🏻‍♀️ MC was "raised" by her loving and supportive father who served in the Royal Wizard Military as an elite and very powerful wizard. After he retired from the RWM her father decided to travel, collecting ancient artifacts which is why MC is so good at tracking them down so fast. Her uncle is Caractacus Burke who is the founder of Borgin and Burkes. MC has 2 other siblings. An older brother Roderick, and an older sister, Seraphina. Both past Slytherin alumni. Seraphina is diplomatic but deceitful. Spending most of her time working for the Ministry of Magic directly under the Minister. while most unfortunately Roderick is estranged from the family due to criminal "acts" on house elves. MC's father was in Gryffindor. He is somewhat a little disappointed that none of his children were accepted into Gryffindor, however he is still grateful they ended up possessing magic. Does not know his youngest child can see ancient magic. Wouldn't be surprised if she did. MC's bff is her father and her cat Oliver. MC constantly stops to pet cats in hogsmeade whenever she can.

ANYWAY! I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED THIS!! It took me literal hours as I'm still trying to figure out how to navigate Tumblr editing 😂 my eyes and hands hurt. Lol

Stay stunned for more ✨lore✨

[ghost-in-the-hall]

Moment of Just Letting Go (Terzo x GN! Reader FLUFF)

(A/N: A lot of people really liked that Primo was a total dad in my last Terzo fic, so we're doing it again! TW: some swearing, mild angst if you squint really hard)

You had to forcibly keep the scowl off your face as you watched Terzo flirt with yet another one of your Siblings. He held their chin delicately in his fingers, that devilish smirk that you had fallen in love with over the years burning into your eyes as he looked at someone who wasn't you. It hurt. You and Terzo had known each other for years, you joining the clergy when he was still completing his studies to take over as Papa. You were friends, you would dare even say you were one of his best friends. But, even being his best friend didn't quiet the burning rage in your heart that came along with you seeing him flirt with someone else. The Sibling that Terzo was currently flirting with ran off with an expression of excited nervousness, just elated about their interaction with him. "Have fun with your new toy?" You say bitterly as he approaches you. He furrows his brow at you.

"You know it's nothing like that, there's nothing wrong with some harmless flirting from time to time." 'Harmless flirting my ass.'

"Right." You agree shortly, not wanting to start an argument. He sighed, not satisfied by your answer and the fact that you still looked furious.

"Do you want to come over tonight? Watch a movie like we used to?" You could tell by his tone that he was attempting to offer you an olive branch. He didn't want to fight with you either, but that still didn't change the fact that it made you physically sick watching him flirt with other people.

"If I'm done helping your brother by then I'll consider it." You closed the book you were reading, tucking it away in your bag so you could head off to help Primo. You stood, adjusting the strap on your shoulder. Terzo made a move to reach out and take a hold of your hand but stopped himself, shoving his hand in his pocket instead.

"Don't let him keep you all night, the old man will work non-stop if you let him." You can't help but let out a small laugh. "Hopefully I'll see you tonight." You nod at him before heading towards the library. You didn't have to be there to help Primo for another half hour but you could feel the emotions you were trying so hard to keep hidden from Terzo bubbling up in your throat. You wanted to scream at him, get an answer from him as to why it was never you, why he would blatantly flirt with everyone else right where you could see it. But you couldn't. You wandered into the library, saying hi to the librarian before making your way all the way to the furthest back corner. You pulled the pillow off of the nearest chair, burying your face in it, and screaming your heart out. You collapsed back into the chair, tossing the pillow down at your feet before raking your sleeve across your now damp face.

"Il mio bambino-" You jump, eyes flying over to Primo who was leaning up against one of the shelves.

"Satan below, you scared the hell out of me." You clutch your chest, Primo chuckles at your actions.

"I'm sorry my dear, I didn't mean to scare you." He walks over to you calmly, kneeling down to come face to face with you. "You're looking awfully upset. Did something happen?" You attempt to wipe the tears from your eyes again.

"It's nothing Papa, it's silly." He smiles calmly at you.

"Whatever it is, it's making you upset, yes?" You nod slowly. "That means it's not silly." He helps you stand, offering you his arm to walk with him. "Only you can decide how big or small your feelings are my dear. Just because something that troubles you doesn't have much weight in someone else's life doesn't mean it holds the same weight in yours. Now, if you would like to talk about it, you know your Papa is always here for you." He gives you a gentle pat on the head. "But, we can also get some work done in quiet so you can relax a little bit." He pauses, waiting for you to give him an answer.

"Can we start our work? I don't think I'm ready to talk about this yet." Primo smiles patiently at you, giving you a small nod of approval.

"If that's what you would like my dear, absolutely." Primo sent you off to go find a list of books he was going to need for a bunch of lessons and sermons he had coming up. You happily obliged, used to working side by side in silence with him. You had noticed that it was starting to get dark outside, checking your watch you saw that it was around 6:30. You found yourself checking the time every five to ten minutes afterwards, battling in your head whether you should attempt to excuse yourself to go see Terzo or not.

"(Y/N), is everything alright?" You took a deep breath.

"Papa, I'm sorry but there's somewhere I need to be." Your whole body was tense, you didn't have any idea in the slightest whether or not this was the right decision. Primo folds his hands in front of him, studying you for a brief moment.

"Does this have to do with why you were so distraught earlier?" You nod apprehensively. He waves you away, "you can go my dear." You collect your belongings, trying your best not to think too hard about your decision. You were just about to leave when Primo suddenly speaks up again. "Let him know... That if he makes you cry again, he's going to have to deal with me personally."

"Yes Papa." You walk to where he was seated, giving him a tight hug from behind. He pats your arm, neither of you having to say a single word. Primo knew how thankful you are for him and you knew how much he cared for you. Without another word you left, stopping by your dorm for a brief moment to change into something more casual and to drop off your bag before heading over to Terzo's quarters. You stood outside his door, a thick slab of mahogany that, at the moment, was the only thing separating you from the man you wanted more than anything else in the world. "You can do this, it's just another movie night with one of your best friends." You were just about to knock on his door, then you froze. What if he was in there with someone else? You withdrew your hand, your fist now limply hanging at your side. How were you supposed to react if you were interrupting something? You started to feel awkward, like your body just wanted to collapse in on itself. What if he had forgotten that he had asked you to come over? For all you knew he wasn't even here. Your expression resembled a deer in headlights when the door unexpectedly opened in front of you. Out stepped Terzo in a casual pair of jeans and a black long sleeve shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His hair was messy, it looked like he had been constantly raking his hand through it for hours. You couldn't stop yourself from glancing past him into his room, expecting to see a naked Sibling asleep in his bed. His eyes eventually trailed your gaze, he let out a short chuckle.

"There's not a ghost in there, right?" You two stood in an awkward silence for a moment.

"You're... Alone?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" He seemed genuinely perplexed by your question. He clears his throat, adjusting the rolls on his sleeves to keep him focused on something other than your eyes burning holes into him. "Would you like to come in?" You cross your arms over your chest, walking into his quarters. He had a few bowls of different snacks waiting on the table, the blanket you always stole from him draped across the back of the couch, and three of your favorite movies stacked on the coffee table for you to chose from.

"Terzo... Were you waiting for me?" He nods bashfully at your question, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sì, when I opened the door I was actually leaving to hunt down you and Primo. I-uh, I was really hoping you would agree to come. I feel like I never see you anymore." There it was, that stinging in your throat as you tried to keep your emotions in check.

"It's probably because you seem rather preoccupied with everyone besides me... I don't want to get in your way." You try your best to smile through the tightness in your chest, you could tell by the look on his face that Terzo could see the hurt in your eyes.

"This is about me flirting with other siblings isn't it?" He sighs, raking his hand through his hair. "(Y/N), I keep telling you that doesn't mean anything-"

"I find that pretty hard to believe Terzo, every Sibling I see you with gets your undivided attention." You start to mock him out of anger. "Cara mia, your eyes are like diamonds they shine so bright. Mi dolcezza, you look absolutely radiant every day."

"I don't understand why you're so upset by tha-"

"Because it's never me Terzo!" You took a small step back as the realization of what you just said sets in. "I..." You stutter, at an utter loss for words after that outburst. You felt tears welling up in your eyes, you tried your hardest to fight them back but it was no use. You collapse onto Terzo's couch, your face instantly dropping into your hands as you tried to stop yourself from crying.

"(Y/N), I'm so sorry, I had no idea all of this was getting you so upset." He was instantly by your side, enveloping you in a hug as he pulled you to him. He gently hushes your crying, trying his best to soothe you. He gently takes your face in his hands, wiping the tears away with his thumbs. "Even when you're crying you're still so beautiful." He lets out a small breath of a laugh. You wanted to slap his hands away, instantly figuring that the only reason he was saying that was because he knew that you were upset he wasn't flirting with you specifically. But he had such a deep burning sincerity in his eyes, you couldn't possibly turn away. "I don't like seeing you upset bella, how do I fix this?" He pulled you to his chest, after a while you let your arms slide around his waist.

"I'm sorry I ruined your plans." You bury your face deeper against him.

"You didn't ruin anything cara mia." He gently runs his hand up and down your back. "Why don't we get on with our night, you and I can talk more after the movie, sì?" You nod, Terzo picks a movie off the table, something scary you were sure. He returned to your side moments later, a bowl of snacks now in hand. You smile at him, studying his face for a moment while he was focused on the TV.  "You're not paying attention to the movie." He says with a small smirk.

Both of you chuckle slightly, "Right, right, sorry." Terzo feigns a yawn, arm now comfortable resting on the back of your shoulders. "What, did you pick the scary movie so you can be the big, strong man?"  You tease. You nearly jumped backwards at Terzo's sudden closeness. If you turned your head you were positive your nose would touch his.

"You've made the unfortunate mistake of letting me know that you don't feel special to me." His breath was hot against your ear. "You're my sole focus after that." You couldn't stop a shiver from running down your spine. You caught Terzo smiling out of the corner of your eye, a small breath of a laugh leaving him. His attention turned back to the movie, you took the opportunity to cuddle into his side. It was nice being alone with him like this.

"Are you attracted to any of them... the other siblings, I mean." You mindlessly fiddled with your fingers in your lap.

"No." His answer was blunt and immediate. "I know you don't believe me, but flirting with all of them genuinely does mean nothing. It comes with the job." He pauses the movie, propping one leg up on his other knee as his full attention drifts to you. "The other siblings don't get to spend personal time with me, they only know me as Papa Emeritus the Third not Terzo... Not like you do." His voice drops to barely above a whisper before he continues. "(Y/N), there is not a single person in this Abbey, not a single person in the entire world is more special to me than you."

"Why have you never said anything?" You were hanging on every word that left his mouth. He shrugs slightly.

"I... I was scared, what if you didn't feel the same? What if being Papa's significant other was too much pressure? I want to give you the world cara mia, but I didn't know if I could." He shifts again, his body facing yours, hands held firmly in his. "But, after all this time worrying about what could happen, I've reached a moment of just letting go." Before you had a chance to react to what was happening Terzo's lips were on yours, a startled squeak leaving your person. You were frozen for a moment, your body reluctant about accepting that this was actually happening. But, the smell coming off of him was intoxicating, his skin warm underneath your fingers as they slowly began to make contact with his face, his lips delightfully sweet. Your hands slid down to his chest, pushing him back slightly. The kiss broke, both of your breathing heavy as you searched each others eyes.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Cara mia, I will marry you tomorrow if you'll have me." He smiles. "From now on you're all mine and I, yours."

"I love you Terzo." He slowly starts to lean into your again.

"I love you too my dear."

(A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please feel free to reach out for any requests or ideas, I love making friends! Hope you like it!)

[beomgyuslilracha]

the ceo's son ✧.* [ pt. 2 ]

⊹ pairing: choi soobin x f! reader

⊹ genre: strangers to friends to ... potential lovers (?)

⊹ warnings: none ?

⊹ wc: 3.9k

summary: you've been an intern at c company for roughly over four months now - directly under the ceo as his assistant. everything was going perfectly: you were saving up money to attend uni next year, and you knew that you were under the ceo's good graces to receive a great recommendation when the time came! in fact, he took a liking to you so much that he'd often joke that he wanted to set you up with his son.

at least ... you thought it was a joke.

it had been about a month since your arranged "lunch date" with soobin — thanks to your boss, of course ... aka his father.

since then, much to your embarrassment, mr. choi consistently invited you out to lunch every. single. day.

the offer would have been much nicer had it not been for the fact that you knew it was all a ploy to get you and his son together again. you couldn't help but to regret ever telling the man that you had enjoyed lunch back then, since now he was even more determined to set you guys up than he had ever been.

"i'm sorry, sir, but i already have plans again today," you'd tell him.

every once in a while, these words were true - seeing as you'd strategically make plans with your mother, siblings, or friends just to avoid your boss the next day.

after a certain point, they merely just became a routine lie.

mr. choi would stare at you through squinted eyes, questioning you for further details in order to hopefully catch you in at least one of your lies. luckily for you, though, you had about 50 fake reservations planned for such occasion.

the grown man would huff in defeat, waving his hand to dismiss you.

at first you were afraid that constantly rejecting his invitations would end up affecting how he treated you at work, but, luckily, the man was mature enough to know when to divide his work life from his apparent new side job as a "love doctor".

upon your dismissal, you'd bow respectively before making your way out and down the elevator to the company's lobby. making sure to look all around you before walking out, to ensure no one happened to be keeping an eye on you, you made your way out of the building.

your goal was to walk about two streets down, to a certain designated meeting spot coffee shop - the same one that you could always be found in every morning picking up the usual three coffees.

taking one last look behind you for any familiar faces, you'd enter the shop and head to your now usual table in the back — the one with the already smiling boy and your favorite drink waiting for you.

"hey, you," you greeted, blushing in excitement as you sat in front of him.

"hey to you, too," soobin laughed, breaking into a full grin. "how did escaping go today?"

unbeknownst to your boss/his father, you and soobin had actually been meeting up with each other much more often than you let on.

in fact ... just about every day.

"i think it's getting easier, actually. he might slowly be starting to give up on us," you said, taking a sip from the drink that soobin had so kindly ordered while he waited for you to arrive.

you noticed soobin slowly nodding his head, his eyes focused on the table for some reason. was he deep in thought about something?

"anyway! you ready to go?" you asked him, hoping to remind him of the reason why you were meeting today.

after having mentioned in passing that you had never been, soobin insisted that he take you to seoul's botanic park during one of your lunch outings together.

"right, of course! let's go," soobin finally smiled, standing up and escorting you out of the shop before calling the two of you a cab.

normally, you would just find any local restaurant in between your company and his university to eat at, but, lately, the two of you have been branching out to do more things together.

once, you pondered over the idea of whether or not these outings of yours would be considered dates at all ... but the two of you never went further than goodbye hugs at the very end, so you merely pushed the thought aside.

maybe the two of you had just reached a place of being good friends with each other and nothing more.

it didn't bother you, of course; you were completely content with the idea!

is what you would convince yourself.

then, during times like these, when your hands would accidentally brush against each other while walking up to the aforementioned building, your heart would flutter and make you think otherwise.

"after you," soobin's voice finally broke you out of your thoughts, allowing you to see that he was very sweetly holding the door open for you.

it was little actions like these that would have you blushing constantly. whether it was holding doors open, asking you if you made it to places safely, or just any sweet gesture, you found your heart racing and cheeks heating up ten degrees.

you never had anyone care enough to do these things for you before, so with soobin ...

"oh wow," you suddenly gasped out loud, all inner thoughts pushed aside once you got a look of the grand interior that was seoul's botanic park. the place was just mesmerizing!

as you were too busy focused on capturing the view from the entrance, you completely missed the way soobin's eyes were only trained on you - admiring just how pretty you looked with your eyes shining in fascination.

"come on, i want to be able to show you all my favorites," soobin told you, after having paid the entrance fee for you both.

for a second, it almost looked like he wanted to reach for your hand, but then he suddenly changed course and started scratching the back of his head.

you giggled, following directly behind the boy as he lead you further in.

having only ever been in the city - traveling merely from home to work and back again - you were speechless from the beautiful change of scenery. besides the typical potted plants, you never saw anything that came close to the garden before your very eyes.

the second you spotted it, your hands instinctively reached out to grab ahold of soobin's arm in order to stop him from walking any further.

"oh wow, look how pretty!" you exclaimed, using one hand of yours to point at the flourishing victoria lilies in the water.

had you not been so engrossed in the beauty of the lilies, you would have been able to see soobin's face turn an extremely bright red as he silently acknowledged your light grasp around his arm. he almost forgot where he was for a second. in fact, it took an extra second for him to even realize you were trying to point something out to him.

"y-yeah, they're .. they're very pretty," soobin finally spoke.

just as you were prepared to keep moving, your heart flipped at a sudden idea. slyly tightening your grasp on soobin's arm, you softly tugged at him for his attention. "come on, let's keep going!"

for a few minutes, your heart was pounding with anxiety, waiting for any sign of objection from soobin to pull his arm out of your grasp. what if this contact made him uncomfortable?

of course, you would have known that he was most definitely not uncomfortable, if you had just looked up to see the way his ears had turned a distractingly bright red.

once you realized for yourself that the two of you had been walking for a while in that same position, you were then trying your absolute hardest to suppress the stupid grin that wanted to plant itself on your face.

why was something this little making your heart race so much??

"so how are classes going?" you decided to question, your eyes glancing up to meet the pretty boy you were holding onto.

"ah, they're going well. i told you, i wasn't going to fail from missing one class," soobin chuckled, your favorite dimples of his popping out.

"two classes! don't forget you missed another one last week because someone thought we'd make it out of the movie in time."

"which we would have if someone didn't want to stay for the credits," soobin shot back, playfully scowling down at you.

you scoffed, rolling your eyes and avoiding looking at him directly. "well, excuse me for wanting to stay and acknowledge all the hard work people put into the film."

this was an outright lie.

sure, you did appreciate all the people who worked on the film, but they weren't the reason why you stayed behind. the boy beside you now, who was casually pointing out more flowers for you, was the actual reason why you stayed for the entire credits.

it wasn't that you expected something to happen that day, but you did think for a split second that ... maybe ... something could have.

it was a dark theater, you two were in such close proximity, your arms would graze against the other - though never dare move any closer or further - and you could have sworn that there was a tension in the air between you both ...

once he had stood up and asked if you were ready to leave, you then realized it was all in your head.

it was crazy, especially since it had only been a little over a month since the two of you even met. there was just something about soobin that made you want to be close to him. even more than just the way you were holding onto him now.

"oh, look, a cactus!" you pointed out excitedly, breaking yourself free from falling too deep into an overthinking pit again. "i have never seen one in real life before."

which was surprisingly true, seeing as they weren't exactly native in the streets of seoul.

"you really haven't seen one in real life?" soobin echoed, genuinely taken aback by your comment.

"they're not exactly growing on the sides of the street," you told him, tearing your eyes from the cactus and fighting the urge to touch one of the pricks.

soobin laughed, figuring you did make a valid point.

as the two of you continued to walk through the various gardens that the botanic park had to offer, you both ended up sparking a cute game of 20 questions.

in that way, you got to find out his favorite color (sky blue), his favorite animal (raccoon), his favorite movie (currently jujutsu kaisen 0), and even his favorite snack (literally anything bread). and of course, he got to find out all of yours as well.

"no way, you have a pet hedgehog?!"

you literally had to stop in your tracks the second it came up, looking up at him with wide eyes.

you've heard of dogs and cats for pets, but a hedgehog??

"yeah, his name's odi! he's kind of mean, though, he doesn't really like anyone other than me," soobin tells you, smiling as he thought back to his adorable, secretly evil, animal. "sometimes not even then."

"aww, i bet he's so cute anyway," you pouted, picturing the tiny, grumpy thing.

"do you want to meet him?"

your heart jumped. was he ... was he inviting you to his dorm?

just to meet his pet, of course, but still at his dorm nonetheless.

"i'd love to meet him," you quickly jumped in excitement, eyes shining at the thought. "maybe we can go tomorrow?"

soobin's smile dropped a little, his head tilting slightly. "oh, i thought- i thought maybe you could meet him today."

now you blinked in surprise, pausing to look at the time on your phone. certainly there was no time to make it to campus and back before your lunch break was over? hell, if you didn't leave within the next ten minutes, you were surely about to be late to work again just from here.

"i don't think we have time," you started, now looking back up to meet his eyes.

soobin was squeezing his lips together nervously, his dimples shining back at you so cutely that you almost missed what he was about to say. "i thought, you know ... maybe i can pick you up after work? and- and we could ... go then?"

your mouth dropped, but your heart rate certainly picked up. goodness, even your cheeks were starting to heat up again.

"okay," you finally answered, mentally yelling at yourself when you heard the squeak in your voice from how nervous you suddenly got.

you were quick to forget about it, though, along with your own name, once you caught sight of that adorable smile growing on his face.

suddenly you wished you could say yes a million times over, just so you can have an excuse to watch him smile at you like that one more time.

afterwards, when you both remembered the time, soobin still made sure to guide you over to the first floor gift shop on your way out.

you had insisted over and over again that he did not have to get you anything - that you were fine - but he blatantly ignored your words and proceeded to buy you the most adorable, tiny, succulent plant.

you had to force yourself to not overthink the ceramic heart on the pot. it totally, most definitely, had to mean nothing at all.

once you left and made it back to the coffee shop, soobin insisted that you let him walk you all the way back to work, but you had to remind him that 1. you didn't want his dad butting in again and 2. he still had classes to attend soon.

"i'll just be a little late," soobin rolled his eyes playfully.

"binniiee, you have to go to class!"

your eyes widened. did you just give him a nickname? unprovoked??? suddenly you needed to be anywhere else but here.

"anyway, i should go," you quickly blurted. "i'll see you tonight!" and with that, without even bothering to look him in the eyes, you had never ran faster to work.

soobin didn't even fully register you leaving for a minute. he was too busy standing there, on a busy sidewalk, frozen in place with a pounding heart. it was like all the air left his body.

was it too late to call you back and make you say it again?

and again ... and again.

・❥・

mr. choi's office could not have been more spotless than it did that evening. you had practically wiped down every surface, item, and window five times over - desperately trying to busy your mind and hands from thinking about a certain man's son.

"miss y/n, please, you've done a terrific job already," mr. choi finally gained your attention, pulling the cleaning supplies out of your hands himself to get you to stop. "you're free to go home for the night."

you gulped. did you have to?

that's not to say that you didn't want to see soobin again or visit his dorm to meet the infamous odi, but how could you face him after your stupidly embarrassing slip of the tongue?

"thank you, sir," you eventually spoke ... reluctantly.

you bowed to both him and mr. jeong, who was watching you humorously, and slowly began making your way out.

you were a little scared to check your phone, seeing as you had silenced it when you arrived back to work. you knew there had to be a message from soobin on there, but a small part of you was afraid that he was going to be weirded out and cancel plans.

did your friendship call for nicknames? was it too weird?

why do you keep thinking about it?? you never felt like this ever in your life before, at least not since you were partnered with an old crush back in high school.

wait ... no ... ?

you froze in your tracks in front of the elevator, too deep in thought to press the button.

did you ... have a crush on soobin?

you laughed out loud, probably looking absolutely crazy to whoever was watching you on the security cameras.

you didn't have a crush! that was so silly! this was soobin. the ceo's son. who you just met. this is not a crush. this can't be a crush. you just liked your good friend soobin in a purely platonic way.

"are you heading down?"

you came out of your thoughts and met eyes with the person who spoke, standing in the elevator you were just waiting in front of.

"soobin?!" you exclaimed in a loud whisper, whipping your head around maniacally to make sure no one was around before pushing him back into the elevator and rapidly smashing the lobby button. "what the hell are you doing here?!"

soobin was too busy laughing at your panic to answer right away, his hand now on top of yours that was still resting on his chest from where you had pushed him.

you wanted to pull your hand away, but you were too busy melting at the contact and how adorable he looked to convince yourself to actually do it.

"did you not read my messages?" soobin finally asked, just barely able to breathe after having laughed at you for so long.

you didn't respond, not wanting to accidentally admit that you were avoiding looking at your phone because of his messages. you took this moment to pull your hand away, reaching in your pocket to finally pull out your phone and read whatever he was talking about.

soobin: i'm at our table! lmk when you're free :)

soobin: y/nnnnnnn

soobin: it's been 45 minutes :(

soobin: is my dad still making you work? :(

soobin: my dad just called me in to pick something up from him, so don't be surprised when you see me!

soobin: we can head out together after :)

your lips formed into a small pout, feeling horrible from having avoided your phone the entire time. why did you make such a big deal out of nothing? here he was, being his sweet self, and there you were, making the cute boy wait almost an hour for you to get off work.

"i'm sorry, i completely missed these," you sighed, looking up at him sadly.

"it's fine, i'm sure you were busy," soobin reassured you, bringing a hand up to rub your arm reassuringly - unknowingly leaving goosebumps along your skin.

you opened your mouth to apologize once more before it dawned on you why he was here again. "oh! oh my God, i'm sorry, i didn't even let you see your dad," you apologized, turning around to click the button for the top floor.

"you're so cute"

"what?" you turned around quickly, having missed whatever he had just mumbled to you. you thought you might have heard something, but you were more than confident that you simply just heard him wrong.

although, seeing how deeply red his face had turned and the way he was looking at you with wide eyes, you couldn't help but wonder ... did you hear wrong?

"i- i- i said it's okay," he began to stutter, aggressively beginning to scratch at the back of his head while finding sudden interest in the elevator walls.

the two of you stood in silence while you waited for the next two floors to pass before you reached the top again, the heaviest tension settling inside the elevator.

when the doors opened up again, you wanted to just about disappear into nothing at the sight of mr. choi standing directly in front of the doors.

"ah, my son! i see you've already met her yourself," he chuckled, mischievously looking between the both of you.

"uh-" you and soobin started simultaneously, now exchanging confused looks.

"you said you wanted me to pick up something?" soobin questioned, thoroughly caught off guard by the situation just as much as you were.

"yes, i wanted you to escort miss y/n home!" he smiled, feigning innocence. "it's not right for a young lady to head home by herself at this hour."

if he wasn't the ceo of the very company you stood in, you'd swear that he was truly some conniving villain.

whose evil mission, apparently, was to set his youngest son and intern up for marriage.

"dad, you can't just offer that without asking her first," soobin scolded the man, sounding so cute with the way he whined as he spoke. you had to bite the inside of your cheek to keep from outright giggling and giving yourself away.

mr. choi opened his mouth to counter soobin's words, but he quickly closed it - probably once he realized his son was actually right and there was no arguing against that. he cleared his throat and began to adjust his suit awkwardly.

"i do apologize, miss y/n," he apologized in a low voice, surprising you entirely to see him bowing respectfully at you.

"oh- no, sir, it's completely alright!" you reassured him, glancing at soobin for a moment before speaking again. "i truly do appreciate this offer, and i would love to accept his company back home."

"you would?" both soobin and his father questioned in surprise. it was practically a copy and paste of the same wide-eyed expression.

it was so hard not to laugh.

"yes, actually. sometimes i don't feel safe on the train back home, so i would be grateful for the escort," you lied.

first of all, you (thankfully) never once felt unsafe on your way home. second of all, you didn't even take the train.

mr. choi now beamed excitedly, practically smacking soobin so hard on the back that he almost fell over. "my son would be honored to take you home!"

had he been just a few years younger, you were positive that the man would be jumping for joy right about now. it was as if all the stars were aligning for him at this moment.

soobin was blushing profusely, his adorable dimples showing once again as he looked over at you.

unfortunately, mr. choi joined the two of you on the elevator ride back down, and left you having to endure an even more awkward ride, where his father decided to ramble on and on about how great and respectful his son was to you.

no matter how many times soobin had insisted for him to stop, yelling "YA!" every time, mr. choi continued anyway. if you didn't know any better, you would have believed that the man wasn't even aware that soobin was there.

after about a century long elevator ride and a year long walk through the company lobby, the three of you were then standing outside on the sidewalk. it took about five minutes for soobin to convince his father that you did not need his limousine escort, and perhaps another five minutes to get him to leave first once mr. jeong had arrived with his car.

"please tell me you still want to come over and that my father didn't scare you away," soobin groaned, looking at you with the cutest pout after his father was finally driven away.

you giggled, pushing him playfully. "of course i still want to come over, you dork."

catching your hand as you pushed him, your breath hitched as you watched soobin intertwine your fingers together. chuckling at you like he did not just make your soul ascend from your body, he started guiding you to the nearest bus station to head back to his campus.

your head was spinning and you prayed that he wasn't trying to make conversation with you - because the only thing you could focus on was your hands together.

damn it.

your eyes trailed upwards to stare at the back of soobin's head, and you let out a small, defeated sigh.

... you definitely had a crush on him.

previous | masterlist | next

a/n:

FIRST OF ALL, thank you thank you thank you so soso so ssoo so sososo SO much to everyone who liked and commented on pt. 1 🥹🥹 seeing all the positive feedback + asking for pt. 2, i immediately dropped everything to work on this. AND I'M GLAD I DID, BECAUSE ??? I ACTUALLY REALLY LIKE IT ???? also you didn't hear this from me, but i may or may not having been kicking my feet and giggling writing some of this 🥸

ANYWAY, i hope you guys enjoy part 2 and give it as much attention as part 1 (please please please, i have never been happier reading how much you enjoyed it and receiving all the likes)!! aaaaaaand if you would want a part 3 at the dorm , just let me knooooooowww <3

[longbobmckenzie]

THTH2 Episodes 1-3 Thoughts!

Eeeek it's THTH2 (Too Hot to Handle the game) time!! Last season fizzled out halfway through but based on the first few episodes of season 2, I've got hopes that this one will be better!

First of all, it's 15 episodes as opposed to 10 - there's room for development (and more bombshells/dumpings!)

There's more customization! I feel like it's improved, although others have said they had a harder time with it. I'm not a huge fan of the hairstyles and outfits we've been given so far, but we'll get more

In the initial episodes, there are 5 friends and only 4 LIs - that might be a little disappointing at first (especially since the friends are all hot - URGH I want Santiago!!), but this actually fixes some of the problems with the first season

More non-romanceable characters is a good thing because it means there will be more storylines besides MC/LI and Jada/Justin/Carter

A lot of us started to hate Jada after a while because she kept popping up and we were forced to be friends with her. Having more friends is a good thing because we'll be able to talk to more people instead of just one person. I'm hoping there will be some branching involved where some scenes are dependent on who your highest relationship is with, but we'll see!

Less LIs is fine for the reasons above - sure there's less choice up front, but with next to no branching in S1, every route was the same, and there were only 3 couples at the end. It didn't make sense. Plus...

We're already getting at least one bombshell next week! It's highly likely they'll be LI(s), and no doubt there will be more people incoming

In Season 1, all the LIs had hard-ons for MC even when MC didn't show them any interest - so far that doesn't seem to be the case, and I love that. It was weird that 9 people were obsessed with us, honestly. This time, our choices matter more

They're already setting up a love triangle! It makes so much more sense to have a LT early on when everyone's new rather than force it with a bombshell we don't even like midway through the season

The characters so far seem to have more personality traits than just whatever their jobs/interests are. Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon, and there is definitely still some of that, but I feel like I've already had deeper chats with them. And they ask about us too, and we can define a bit more of a personality for ourselves

More under the cut...

I picked Antoine so far (love a Canadian hockey player!!). He's basically an upgraded (yes, I said it) version of Theo (the art style is slightly improved - the smiles aren't as creepy this time!). I wasn't a Theo girlie but so far I'm vibing with Antoine

I was a Liam girlie, but Liam 2.0 (Wesley) doesn't have quite the same appeal. He's still hot, but Idk, he's not my Liam

There's a fun Antoine glitch (not sure if any of the other characters have it) where he's fully naked. It's pretty funny

I've already broken a bunch of rules, mwahaha!

The list of achievements this season is interesting 👀 There's an achievement for getting eliminated, which I will definitely be trying to do. And stuff about the others trusting us (probably a way to earn back money)

They still have the "beach hut" confessionals, but I feel like those episodes are shorter, which is great because they could be a drag on replays before, or when you just want to get to the next episode

Santiago is my boy, I'm loving the representation with him. I'm curious if we'll ever get a chance to get our hands on him even without romance, because we do have a flirty vibe and I would absolutely jump at that chance!

Overall, I'm excited to see how this goes! It does seem like they've taken our feedback so far, the initial episodes felt a lot like last season but that's not at all a bad thing - last season started off great, and this one has too. I do think this season has better potential overall and my fingers are crossed that it delivers

[vilevenom]

Part five of the ficlet collection for "Hello My Old Heart"!~

Wedding vows are hard to write. I'm just gonna say that much. I also won't lie - I struggled a bit with this one, for some reason. Hope y'all enjoy it, anyway! Previous parts: Let's Be Us Again | Suddenly, Everything Has Changed | Sleeping In | Early Birdie | Smother Me | Marry You

((Hopefully the links work. I will be forever sad if they don't))

Wedding planning should not be difficult. Mind, wedding planning was not John Dory's forte. He and Hickory had discussed a couple of ideas; primarily wanting a smaller guest list and how they would write their own vows, but that was about it. He truly had no idea how to go about inviting the guests, book a venue, arrange food…none of it. But then Poppy had caught wind of how abysmally his planning had been going, and it had been taken right out of his hands completely. He was infinitely grateful to her, really. However, Poppy's idea of what his wedding should be like and his own were quite different.

"Honestly, Popstar, it's fine. Hickory and I are good even just standing in the middle of a field and saying our vows, if it comes down to it. We don't need all this fan fare," John said quickly, watching as Poppy flipped through several wedding scrapbooks, going back and forth between them all while making notes. She looked up at him with a little frown.

"No way. You're Branch's oldest brother, and you were a member of BroZone! This is going to be big, and amazing! Trust me," Poppy said, waving a dismissive hand through the air.

John frowned and glanced at Branch, who was busy fiddling with some new invention of his off to the side. "Branch! Tell her to stop."

Branch spared John a short glance, only to roll his eyes and go back to his tools. "You're a big troll now, John Dory. Use your words."

John huffed out a breath, turning back to Poppy. She had color swatches out now and was holding them up near John's face to compare to his fur color. He grimaced, gently pushing her hands away. "Look, Poppy," he sighed, trying to put as much sincerity into his tone as he could muster, "I appreciate what you want to do. Really, I do. But Hickory and I just don't want a huge event made of this. Neither of us really like a big crowd, and we don't want some massive ragger of a party. And, before you say it, I know how that sounds coming from me. Please. If you want to plan our wedding, I won't stop you, because I really appreciate you taking all of this over for me. But can we keep it small?"

Poppy made a couple of abortive motions with the swatches in her hands, before finally deflating and nodding slightly. "Okay, fine. Family and close friends, only. But I will be making the flower arrangements as big as I want!"

"Deal," John snorted, holding out his hand, Poppy grinning widely as she shook it.

~

John had been ready to say his vows to Hickory withing a week of Hickory's awkward half-proposal. However, Poppy apparently needed at least three months to make the arrangements for everything she had planned. She told him, at one point, that what she had originally wanted to do would've taken six months, but after John's haggling she knocked her plans down to something she could put together in three. Plus, she had pointed out, John and Hickory's guests would need time to make appropriate travel plans and arrangements.

Needless to say, John was getting restless waiting. Two months into it, and even Sky was getting agitated.

"Why can't you do it now?" the trolling whined, flopping himself dramatically onto the ground. He kicked his little feet into the floor, his face smushed into the carpet, "Waiting feels like forever."

John snorted, elbow deep in the sink as he washed dishes, glancing over his shoulder to watch Sky briefly. "Because your aunt Poppy wants everything to be special. Plus, it hasn't been that long since your uncle Bruce visited. He's gotta make sure the restaurant is gonna be okay if he leaves again."

"UGH," Sky whined, rolling over to stare up at the ceiling. "Fine, I guess."

"Such a generous boy," Hickory laughed, taking a dish from John to dry and put away.

"Mmm. What's got your hair in a twist, anyway? It's not like anything will change around here after the wedding," John hummed, pulling the plug in the sink as he finished the last dish.

"No, I know," Sky sighed, tilting his head so he could watch his parents in the kitchen, "But, some of the kids at school were talking about aunt Poppy and uncle Branch's wedding, and some of them said only trolls in true love get married. And I know you and Papa are in true love, but a girl at school told me you couldn't be, 'cause you weren't married."

John snorted in mild offense, while Hickory simply frowned as he put the last of the dishes away.

"You tell that girl at school that anyone can be in true love, marriage or not," Hickory said as he turned to his son, hands on his hips, earning a surprised look from John, who'd had a snarky remark at the tip of his tongue. "As a matter of fact, sometimes true love just smacks ya right in the face, an' ya don't even realize it. Other times, it's real slow and creeps up on ya while yer not lookin'. True love can happen anytime, an' anywhere. You don't need no fancy ceremony an' a ring to show you've got true love."

Sky had sat up on the floor to pay better attention to his father while he spoke, little sparkles in his eyes at the impassioned speech. "Which one happened with you and Dad?"

"Well," Hickory chuckled, "The smack in the face sure happened to me." He glanced at John with a fond look on his face, "An' I'm pretty sure the slow creep happened to yer Dad."

"You big sap," John snorted, though he had to hide his face behind a hand to try and block the view of the dark flush that had spread across his cheeks.

~

"John?"

"Muh?!" John jerked awake, blinking muzzily into the darkness as he sat up, looking around in a daze.

"Sorry, schatz," Hickory murmured, rubbing at John's shoulder to calm him down. John let out a little sigh, settling back down into the pillows.

"What's up?" John murmured, squinting through the dark at Hickory.

"I wanted to talk to you about something."

"…And it couldn't wait until morning?"

Hickory let out a breathy little laugh, petting at John's jaw gently. "I don't think so."

John waited for Hickory to speak, his brain slowly trying to pull him back down into sleep, before he forced himself into wakefulness again. "Well?" he grunted, rubbing at his face.

"Sorry. It's just…hard. It's hard to say," Hickory muttered. Another moment passed before Hickory sighed, shifting against the bed to lay flat on his back, his gaze focused on the ceiling. "I would like to extend an invitation to the wedding to Dickory."

John immediately sat up again, his mind now wide awake. "You what?"

Hickory sat up as well, holding his hands up in a placating gesture, although John could barely tell he was doing so. "I know! I know how that sounds, but…He's my brother."

"Yeah! Your brother who tried to-what was it he said? Oh, right. MAIM me? Because apparently, he wasn't actively trying to kill me. Just came real close," John seethed, trying to keep his voice quiet. "He called me a whore on multiple occasions!"

Hickory seemingly floundered for words for a few minutes as they sat in the dark in silence, while Hickory audibly fiddled with the blankets in his lap. "I'm sorry. I know he was terrible. To both of us, but especially you. But…he is the only family I have left, liebling. I want him to at least know that I'm happy. That we're happy, despite everything…This is why I wanted to talk to you now. I didn't want to argue in front of Sky."

"Oh, yes. Because waking me up in the middle of the night is going to lead to a really productive conversation," John groused, flopping back down into the pillows. He could hear Hickory continue to fiddle with the blankets for a long moment, before laying down next to him again. He groaned while throwing an arm over his eyes, already feeling the guilt welling up in his chest at Hickory's silence. "Okay, fine! You can send him an invitation. But you're going to need to talk to Poppy, since y'know…he got banished and all that."

John grunted as Hickory practically rolled on top of him and pulled his arm away from his face. "Thank you, schatz! If Poppy agrees, and he shows up, I will make sure to keep him on tight reins," Hickory hummed, pressing a smile into John's cheek.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm pretty great," John grumbled, wrapping his arms around Hickory. "Now, let me go back to sleep before our kid comes banging at our door to get up."

~

Finally, after months of waiting, the day of the wedding arrived.

John was nervous, to say the least. He and Hickory had agreed to Poppy's weird rule that the couple needed to spend the night before the wedding apart. It had been the first night in four years that John hadn't slept next to Hickory, and that alone had been enough to set him on edge for the day. And now, only a few scant hours before the wedding, he was stood in the little tent Poppy had had set up as a makeshift dressing room, in front of a mirror, staring at himself forlornly. His outfit was impeccable; a dark purple suit that Branch had, surprisingly, picked out with black and gold accents, and a black headband to replace his goggles. Certainly not his usual color scheme or style, but definitely complimentary to his natural colors. He knew he looked good (Poppy wouldn't let him walk out in something tacky. He hoped, anyway), but that didn't stop the thrill of nerves making him sweat.

"You look like you swallowed a lemon."

Bruce's voice startled John out of his silent revere, causing the teal troll to finally turn away from the mirror.

"And what if I did?" John tried to joke, but it fell flat as Bruce walked into the tent proper, a concerned little frown on his face. He shifted under his younger brothers scrutiny, before finally letting out a puff of air, while wiping his palms on the bottom of his suit jacket. "I'm just nervous."

"Whatever for?" Bruce chuckled, moving forward to fix the lapels of John's suit jacket.

"I genuinely have no idea," John laughed, already beginning to feel ridiculous as he thought about the conversation he'd had with Bruce previously, back when Sky's egg had first appeared in his hair. "I know he loves me, no matter what."

"And he's definitely in it for the long haul," Bruce agreed, stepping back from John with an easy smile. "You've got nothing to worry about. Today is really more of a formality, then anything else."

"I bet you were still nervous when you and Brandy got married, even if you knew she was in it for the long haul," John pointed out with a cheeky grin, laughing as Bruce flushed.

"Oh, I was a wreck," Bruce admitted with a little shrug and a nod, "I'm surprised I didn't trip over my own feet while walking up the aisle." He paused for a moment, fiddling with the bright orange rose bud on his lapel. "This probably isn't the best time to say this, but I wish you'd been there."

John chewed on the inside of his cheek to stop himself from starting to cry already, and gave a little nod. "I do, too."

Bruce nodded, clearing his throat as he not so subtly wiped at his eyes. "Right, well! Break a leg out there, Johnny," the purple troll declared, spinning on his heel to walk out of the tent.

"Bruce, wait!"

Bruce paused, turning to offer his brother a questioning glance.

"I know this is probably gonna sound weird, and Poppy might lose her marbles, because we didn't rehearse it, but, uhm," John cleared his throat, tugging at the hem of his jacket to straighten it, "Will you…walk me down the aisle?"

That was enough to get Bruce to burst into tears, his hands quickly shooting up to cover his face. "Oh my god, John!" he sniffed, shaking his head, "Right before the wedding?! I'm gonna be all blotchy."

"Oh, uh, sorry!" John scooped a tissue box up from his little vanity, offering it to Bruce, "Is that a 'no', then?"

"Is that a 'no'," Bruce mocked, snatching up tissues, "Of course it's a YES, you idiot. Glitter and cupcakes, you have the worst timing known to troll kind,"

"Ha, yeah…"

~

"You ready?"

"As I'll ever be, I guess."

The music queue began to play, notifying John that he should be walking down the aisle now. The teal troll turned to his brother, his smile crooked as they linked arms.

"It'll be great."

"I know."

~

"As I've been informed, the couple has written vows for each other. You may now recite them. Hickory, you may go first."

Hickory grinned brightly at John as the two stood at the alter, barely a foot apart but both feeling like they were still an ocean away, unable to reach out and touch. Sky was stood between them, just in front of the officiator, a little pillow that had previously held the rings they'd exchanged clutched in his hands as he watched his parents with stars in his eyes.

The country troll dug into the pocket of the black and gold floral pattern suit he wore, pulling a well worn, dog eared piece of paper out. He cleared his throat as he unfolded it carefully, glancing up at John with a smitten little smile, before he began to read.

"John Dory…I will never forget the day I first laid eyes on ya. Time felt like it stopped, an' my world suddenly felt like it could be so much bigger. Ya made me realize that I could be more than what other folks told me I should be, or what I should want. You gave me hope, an' I thought that was the most precious gift any troll had ever given me. But then ya gave me yer love, an' I realized that nothin' in this world or the next would ever compare. An' then you gave me a child…an' I don't think anythin' I can say or do will ever truly express just how grateful I am to receive all of the gifts you have given me, an' to have you in my life. I love you, with all a' my heart. An' I promise to keep tryin', every day of my life, to show ya just how much ya truly mean to me."

Hickory lifted his gaze from his speech, tears in his eyes, only to let out a wet laugh at the tears already streaking down John's cheeks.

"Oh, you're good," John whispered, sniffing loudly and wiping quickly at his eyes as Hickory chuckled. "I don't have proper vows written," he admitted, reaching out to take one of Hickory's hands, once the country troll had tucked his little piece of paper back into his pocket, "But, I thought I'd do something a little unconventional. Since we've always been a bit unconventional." He turned his head to nod at Branch, who quickly pulled a microphone out of his hair to hand over to John. "Hopefully my voice isn't too mucked up from crying," he added with a chuckle into the microphone, earning a smattering of laughter from the guests.

"There goes my heat beatin', cause you are the reason…" ((click here to listen to John's song))

Cheers broke out from the guests as John finished his song, a little grin on his face as Hickory openly wept in front of him. "Haha, I win," he said quickly into the microphone, before handing it back to Branch, earning a light punch in the arm from his youngest brother.

"And with that, I now pronounce you husband and husband," the officiator announced, with another round of cheering from the crowd as Hickory yanked John into a kiss.

[dani-says-stuff]

Dracula's Castle

❥ Back to the Control Center

❥ Nate Hardy Masterlist

I'm sorry it took so long to everyone who's been asking for another Nate fic… I got about halfway through and completely lost steam and then forgot about it for like a week. my b.

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Nate Hardy x fem!medium(?)reader

Summary: Rather than exploring, you find yourself wrangling the idiots you call your best friends.

Word Count: 3.4k

Warnings: creepy stuff, hauntings, language, Colby and Nate being dumb, inconsistent capitalization, my disregard for grammar and run on sentences

Dialogue Key:

Y/N

Nate

Sam

Colby

Alex

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What. The. Fuck. That was your only thought as you watched the scene playing out before you.

The four of you were supposed to record the intro to the video by the gravesite, but the boys quickly got sidetracked. You were about to pick up Sam's camera and just film it yourself, when you realized it wasn't there.

Your boyfriend was holding the device as they all recorded each other with the small horse in the field. 

Every doubt you ever had about having guy friends throughout middle and high school came rushing back as you watched the 20 year olds act like toddlers. 

'Dude, this is like so Romania!' 

Yeah, you had no clue what that was supposed to mean- but that's what they said over and over as they chased the animal around. 

You pinched the bridge of your nose, quickly glancing at your phone for the time. Hopefully they'd stop soon... otherwise you were going to miss the car meant to take you to the next stop. 

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Eventually, you were able to get the intro filmed and good news... you didn't miss the car! Now the four of you were in the woods walking to the pond. 

Colby was in the back, filming Sam as he explained where you all were going, leaving you and Nate to lead. His arm was wrapped around your shoulder as the both of you walked, tucking you into his side. 

Usually, you didn't mind walks or hiking but this place was freaking you out. You couldn't quite place what was so different from the trails you enjoyed, but you definitely weren't a fan. Maybe it was the fact that there were over grown branches that would graze your arms as you walked past. Maybe it was the way the trail was worn and barely separated from the nature on the sides.

Strangely, you knew it wasn't the destination that freaked you out. By now, you've had more than your fair share of ghostly encounters and knew how to take care of that... you weren't as confident in your ability to dispel wild animals and insects.

A low bush brushed against your ankle, making you jump at the unwelcome feeling. You looked behind you, trying to find what touched you, just to be hit in the head by a tree branch when turning back around.

Nate was having a very hard time keeping his laughter to himself, but he could tell you were on edge and didn't want to make you anymore upset. However, you could feel the suppressed laughter shaking his ribs since you were pressed so close to his side. 

"It's not funny." you pouted, looking up to see the less-than-subtle-smirk gracing his lips. "I hate bugs. You know that." 

He coughed- well, he laughed, he was just trying to pass it off as a cough. "Yeah, I know babe, it's just the irony of it, thats all." He looked down, seeing your confused expression, and decided to continue, "Well... we're on our way to what is basically count Dracula's execution sight-" he laughed softly, "and you're freaked about a fern."

You reached up, covering your face with your hands, "It's not the fern I'm freaked about, it's the stuff that lives in it." you shuddered, peaking your eyes over your fingers to look up at him, "Like what if there are ticks in there! What if I get bitten by a tick and get some obscure strain of Lyme disease or something!"

"Well" Nate smirked looking down at you, "If it's ticks you're worried about... I'll happily check you over later." he spoke, wiggling his eyebrows. 

You shoved him slightly, keeping your gaze glued to your feet as you walked forward. 

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"You two are so fucking strange." Sam called out, pointing the camera at you and Nate as you walked down the street. "You'd think they were on a family vacation in Disney-"

"But nope" Colby took over when the blonde began to laugh hysterically, "We're on the way to Dracula's Castle, and that" he zoomed in on the jar, "is Vlad's execution water." 

Nate glanced down at you as you glanced up, the two of you shrugging in sync before continuing to walk forward, "It's comforting."

You hummed in agreement, "yeah, if we're nice to 'em, he won't want to mess with us that bad right?" 

You spoke nonshalently to the camera and for the most part it was true that you didnt care, but there was a small part of you that realized how stupid you probably looked. The locals walked the street, getting ready for the festival and they were met with a group of four loud, obnoxious kids. Then within the group, was you and your boyfriend. Nate strutting down the road, you under one arm and the grosses mason jar of water you've ever seen in the other. 

Yep. Totally normal.

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When you finally approached the castle, you met your guide. You, thought he was adorable, Colby... not so much. 

"do you think Alex is a vampire?" he whispered, eyes wide. 

You squinted at him, blinking rapidly, "I- You're joking... right?" 

He waved his hands at you're volume, "shh! Shh! not so loud, I'm serious." 

You looked at him for a moment, eyebrow arching in annoyance. Looking past Colby's shoulder, you could see Nate and Sam already inside talking with your guide. 

"Y/N, I'm being serious here!" he rushed after hearing your mild exhausted sigh, "Y/N please, like think about it for a second" he raised a hand, counting off the strange occurances, "Ok, so he asked for our blood types-"

"Because Nate brought it up."

"-he sounds like Dracula-"

"Cole. It's just an accent." 

"AND-" he spoke dramatically, whatever he was going to say, was the hard hitter, "Y/N he legit has fangs" 

Your jaw dropped at his words, causing the boys eyes to light up as he pointed at you, "See! see, I told you!"

You blinked. Once, twice, three times. "Colby" you spoke, reaching out, putting your hands on his shoulders, "No. He is not a vampire."

"But-"

"Colby. He doesn't have fangs. they're canine teeth. you have canine teeth, I have canine teeth-"

"But this is different!" 

"No it's not."

"Yes it is-"

"Oh my god" you were trying to be stern, while also obliging to his insistence of a hushed tone so 'count Alex the vampire' didn't overhear.

He was really beginning to test your patients.

Thankfully, Nate cut off your crazy best friend's rambling after realizing the two of you hadn't followed. "Yo Colby!" he called, faux annoyance in his voice as he walked over, "You tryin' to steal my girlfriend?"

"oooooh- he's gonna get it now!" Sam laughed, moving the camera to show the obviously fake fight between the boys as you laughed on the sidelines.

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You found yourself moving to the back of the group as the tour continued, trying to fade in the background. Not because what Colby said got to you, there was no way you were choosing to believe any of that, but because you didn't want to seem rude. 

Alex was obviously very into the subject and history of the castle, you were too, but the feeling there was just... strange. You had been on many investigations with the boys before, from the weird places you'd find in Kansas to the more famous sights. Most of the time, Sam and Colby would bring you along because you tended to feel things a little deeper than the boys could. 

You weren't a medium- or at least not like the ones that were usually associated with the word. You couldn't speak to them, you couldn't see them, and you definitely couldn't communicate far beyond what the boys already did. But, you did pick up on things a little quicker. You could feel the energies that a location was giving off, sense the emotion and feeling within the area. 

It was always a bit weird when it happened. All of a sudden you would feel an intense burst of emotion completely unwarranted and unrelated to anything you were doing, but that strangely seemed to correlate with the history of the place. You could feel it as if it was your own but in a small tucked away corner of your mind, it felt alien.

And right now as you tried to listen to the guide, all you could concentrate on was how sick you felt. Your stomach was flipping and your head was pounding, you felt incredibly nauseous but you weren't actually going to be sick... hopefully. You felt paranoid and antsy, as if you had just had to get out of this place. But you didn't. You stayed put because you knew that what you were feeling wasn't really you who felt it. 

You jumped when a hand fell upon your shoulder, "Woah, woah, hey" Nate spoke softly, "Are you ok? You seem off."

You nodded at his question, heart melting a little at the concern swimming in his eyes, "Yeah, yeah I'm fine." despite the words, it was easy to pick up on the unease lacing your tone, "I just- it just feels weird in here, thats all."

"What? Like what? Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, i don't know, it's just weird." you didn't quite know how to explain it. In your head you knew how, but the words felt wrong when you tried to say them. "I dont know, it's weird, I feel jumpy and sick to my stomach." your statement lifted towards the ending, making it sound more like a question than fact. 

Maybe you should've worded that better. You didn't think he could look any more concerned, but he somehow managed at the word 'sick'. Eyebrows furrowing together and a tense look crossing his face, "Do you need to go outside? Get some air?" 

You shook your head, dismissing the offer.

He nodded, the worry didn't completely clear from his eyes, but he tried to appear neutral when the two of you headed back to the group. 

The two of you didn't receive all the background and lead up, but you did hear Alex mention the floors.

The wood flooring was original, even in the tourture chambers. You tugged on Nate's hand making him glance down at you. "Yup." you nodded, "that explains it."

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"Jesus Colby, not again." you groaned rolling your eyes. He had pulled all four of you aside at this point, trying to make his case again about the guide. 

"He's a vampire!" 

You could tell Sam thought it was bullshit, but he indulged wanting to see where his friend would take this. It was hard for the blonde to say anything without laughing, but he tried his best, "How do you know he's a vampire?" 

Your eyes widened, shaking your head wildly, "Oh my god, no. Please don't-"

"Did you not see his fangs?" Colby rushed, cutting you off as he spoke wildly with his hands.

"I did not see his fangs-"

You glared at the blue eyed boy, "thats because he doesn't have-"

"dude! look closely! just watch his teeth"

"and there's absolutely no part of you that thinks that statement was weird? like at all?" you sassed, crossing your arms.

"not when he's a motherfucking vampire Y/N" Colby turned to Nate, "Did you see them? Did you see the fangs?"

Nate looked between the two of you; Colby was eager, eyes blown wide begging him to agree, meanwhile you sat there, eyebrow arched and challenging him to side with Colby. He loved you, but he had to be honest, right. 

He nodded, looking straight at Colby with no hesitation as he nodded, "yeah, I saw 'em" 

Your jaw dropped, "No the fuck you did not."

"See!" Colby cheered, blue eyes staring back at you and Sam, "Told you!"

You groaned, rubbing your eyes in frustration, "You've got to be kidding me. He's not-"

"He's a vampire." Nate nodded, "Plus that blood type thing earlier was weird-" He struggled not to laugh through his sentence when you looked up at him. 

Your head lifted, turning to him comically slow and your eyes were cartoonishly large in astonishment. You blinked rapidly at him, "Nate."

"Yes?"

You made sure to speak slowly, enunciating each word, "You. Were. The. One. To. Bring. It. Up." 

"No I wasn't."

"Yes you were."

"Wait, wait, wait" Sam broke back into the conversation, taking a minute to think over everyones words, "So you're serious?" he smiled, "You think he's a vampire?" 

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

"NO!" 

"wait- so this is actually a thing?" 

"Holy- ok." you spoke, raising your arms and letting them slap against your sides, "Well, while you three sit here are talk nonsense, Imma go live my teenage-Twilight-dreams with the vampire." You mocked, Turning to follow through the door Alex disappeared through. 

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You squealed, jumping slightly as you entered the next room. "Nate!" you whisper shouted, he looked up humming in affirmation. You waved him over, a large smile on your face, "Come here!"

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion but he approached nonetheless, "Whats up?" 

You pointed across the room, "Look!" He chuckled softly, dropping his head onto your shoulder as the guide continued the tour once again. 

Sam seemed to be on a similar train of thought as you were, cheeky smiles meeting once before he spoke up, "Can we play it?"

Alex shrugged, "I mean, yeah, sure. Would you like to?" 

You quickly began hitting Nate's arm in excitement and Sam turned, pointing straight at him, "He's really good at piano."

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Several incredibly out of tune piano melodies later, you all were on the fourth floor in an unfinished exhibit. 

"This, is a vampire hunting kit." Alex spoke, gesturing to the box set up on a table, "Silver bullets, cross, bible, wooden stick."

"Sweet, so silver repels vampires?" Nate questioned.

"Uh, in these stories, yes."

"Hey babe," Nate spoke jutting his chin, "You wearing the neckless I got you for your birthday?" you reached to your neck, pulling the chain from where it got tucked under your hoodie. "Nice, see? Now you're protected from the vampires, God I'm a great boyfriend."

Colby sniffled fake crying while he flipped the camera around to face himself, "Yeah ok guys we get it. you're in a relationship. Be nice to the poor lonely people out there."

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It was finally time to begin the investigation, you all had filmed the information segments and finished the tour, now it was time for the ghost hunting. The boys decided to start in the torture room. 

"do we have to?" you whined, "It's gross in there."

Sam laughed at your words, "well... it is a torture room Y/N"

"No, thats not what I meant" Your eyes roamed the walls from your position by the door. Even earlier you never stepped too far from the door way, the energy in the room was too heavy. "It just feels bad. Like I feel like my skin is crawling in here." 

"We'll make it quick" Colby reassured, "I just want to see if we can get anything."

What. A. Shocker. 

The room of atrocities, horror, and pain didn't have much action.

Crazy.

The four of you decided to move locations for better luck. One by one, you tried the Estes method. Sam first, then Colby, Nate, and finally yourself.

Originally you weren't planning on going under, but after the lack of or incredibly cryptic answers you'd all gotten, you decided to give it a shot. 

You also gave the boys a few callback questions to ask for clarity. They were going to sprinkle them in with their own questions so you wouldn't know the order. 

You sat in the chair, blindfold on and headphones turned up. 

"Jesus fuck thats loud." you spoke causing the boys to laugh, "I wasn't expecting that."

Colby waved his hand infant of your face and called your name a few times to make sure you couldn't hear or see them. 

"Ok, so we're going to continue asking some questions is that-"

"Yes."

Colby's eyes widened, "damn, she was right. that was fast."

"Who are we talking to?"

"Me" 

"We got that, but who are you?" Nate spoke, "What is your name, we get you're talking, but who are you?"

"Nobody"

The boys looked at each other confused, "Nobody?" Sam repeated, "Whats that supposed to mean?"

Colby shrugged, "I dont know man, maybe its messing with us?"

"ooh, like being cheeky about it?" Nate jumped in, "like 'who are you?' 'oh, nobody hahaha' like that?"

You shuddered, "I didn't hear anything but I just felt really cold. Like it's very solemn."

"Shit, so maybe it's not like that." the brunette amended, "they actually think they're nobody?"

"Yes."

"Yes."

Sam nodded at the conformation, "so, maybe they're not Vlad after all?"

"No."

"What do you mean no? No were wrong, or no you're not Vlad?"

There was a brief pause after Sam's question before you responded once more.

"No, not him."

"Someone else."

"Elsewhere."

"What do you mean elsewhere?"

"Not it."

"Elsewhere."

"Scared."

"You're scared? Is there anything we can do to-"

"Blood."

The boys eyes all widened at the word. Colby spoke up first, voice shaky, "Blood? you want blood?"

"No."

"There is."

"Scared."

"There is?" Nate questioned, "What is there?"

"Blood" you repeated the word three times before you stopped, reaching up to feel your rib, "Once again, not something I heard, but I just got a sharp pain through my chest."

Nate looked up worriedly, glancing between the others at the grimace on your face, "Ok, a few more questions and were done? Ok?" The other two quickly nodded in agreance, getting ready to say questions they'd never get to ask. 

"leave."

The sudden and sterness of your voice started the boys, "D-Do you want us to leave?"

"No."

"Yes."

"Not you, you."

"Leave."

"Out."

"Scared."

Your face crunched as you spoke the words, they were rapidly spat out into your ears and you struggled to focus and say them all. 

"Out."

"Please."

"Stay."

"Blood."

"Go."

"Its like a conversation." Colby whispered, "Its like a conversation!"

The blonde looked at him, forehead creased in utter confusion, "What the hell are you talking about?"

The blue eyed man was smiling wide, the situation was far from the time for smiling but he was thrilled he cracked it. "Its a conversation between two different people. Thats why our answers have been so weird." 

Sam shook his head looking over at you who was still spouting absolute nonsense, "yeah, I don't follow."

"Ok-" Colby stretched out his arms to make a physical picture of what was going on, "So we have person A and person B. Person A, is trapped here. Thats nobody, they're not well known and were trapped her in life? so maybe thats why?" he questioned, halting for a moment before shaking his head out, "I dont know, haven't thought about that yet. but person A, is the one who is saying 'stay' and 'scared' because-"

"they're scared of person B" Sam finished, "Ok, so were having a dispute between a prisoner and a capturer?" he asked for confirmation, "The prisoner is scared and asking the capture to leave, but were overhearing the conversation?" 

Your ramble stopped, making way for one single word. 

"Yes." 

Nate, who had been frozen during this entire ordeal watching you struggle to say the consistent two-way-battle in your ears, had finally had enough. "Ok. Yep, were done now right?" he looked up from the floor, wide eyes glancing between his friends barely waiting for an answer. "Yes? We're done? Awesome."

He crawled over, tapping your leg to signal it was over, "Babe?" 

You pulled down the blindfold and took off the headphones, moving to stretch out your neck. A small shudder racked your body due to the sudden quiet of the room compared to the loud audio from seconds before. 

"Are you alright?" he asked still perched in his place on the floor, eyes wide with concern. You nodded, but he still stood and gave you a tight hug anyway. Even if you were completely fine, watching whatever the hell that was, was scary to him. 

When the two of you separated, you looked over to Sam and Colby who still seemed to be talking about something. "Ok, so what's the plan?"

Sam looked between you both and Colby, "I think we should go."

"Yeah, I agree. Like, even if we weren't talking to a strigoi or Vlad, it still confirmed that something bad was here." he took out his phone, checking the time, "Plus, we're almost out of time and I dont really want to accidently piss something off." 

You shrugged, nodding along, "Yeah... that's fair." 

"Welp" Nate spoke cheerfully, "I'm down with leaving! Next time we do creepy shit, lets not make it as..." he trailed off, failing to find the words. He eventually just gestured over the room, "as this. Yeah, let's not make it as this next time."

[conkers-thecosy]

Hullo!

So, this might be long, but I wanted to write a proper wee writing update. I have my fingers in a few pies and as October is coming to an end, and thus "Bagginshield-tober" with it, I thought it might be nice to let folks know what my plans are as far as projects go!

I've got three chapters left to write for "Stealing Moments, Moments Away" - I've decided not to do the prompt for Sunday, so this weekend I'm going to park my butt in my desk chair and write those last few chapters. I'm out on Tuesday (my friend is doing a drag show, so I'll be at work all day, then going out for dinner and drinks right after) so I won't have time to update the final chapter on Tuesday. I'm thinking of updating Monday's chapter on Sunday, and Tuesday's on Monday, but we'll see!

Once that's done, I'm going to take a few days off! I wouldn't usually, but I've had such a busy month and I got a bit burned out there for a bit, so I think I need to start scheduling breaks for myself. Next weekend I'll get cracking on "Backs to the Wall" and hopefully get back to weekly chapter updates with that once again!

Now, I know folks were waiting for me to start "King" in November (because that was the original plan!) but if October has taught me anything, it's that I can't work on multiple projects, haha 😅 I had meant to do NaNoWriMo and work on it for that, but honestly? I got so stressed when I was writing "Poet" for Camp NaNo and it's actually the fic I'm least proud of in my whole collection. I've worked so hard on the series, I really want to do the finale justice!

I do feel bad because I know folks are waiting for this one, but I'm going to focus on "Backs to the Wall" first, then write the smutty one-shot set directly after "Poet" and then work on "King". I really hope no one is too disappointed, as it's likely that I won't make a start on it until the new year now - please forgive me! 🙏 

After that I have another canon-verse one-shot that I've been toying with since day dot, and then I might branch out into some AU ideas. But that's a ways off yet!

I know this is a bit of a long post, and honestly I don't know how much anyone will be interested in any of this, but I just wanted to document it somewhere for anyone who might be wondering what I'm up to! I wouldn't want to leave anyone hanging, especially after changing plans with regards to what I'm working on in November.

Thank you to everyone who has been reading and supporting and showing any kind of interest in my little fics! I mean to keep scribbling out my silly bagginshield nonsense for a good while yet, so your enthusiasm keeps me going!

Ily guys! 💛

[percyaugod]

I absolutely love turtle in the belfry, Bat librarian has a lot of wasted potential

By any chance do you have more information about the au?

Thank you! ^ ^ Agree completely. At least give her a name. Put a nice little nameplate on the desk.

I definitely have more. ^ ^ Even more besides this.

Also, @malwine4 since you showed interest.

Based on an idea @the-lavender-clown gave when first talked about the AU concept months ago. So credit where credit is due. ^ ^

Splinter had dropped Donnie while running through the hidden city. Which he didn't realize until he was nearly collapsing from exhaustion in a New York alley.

Donnie, tired, scared, and confused, tried to find a place to hide and rest. He hid himself among some plants outside the library where his green would help him blend in. It was cold, but it was safe.

When the librarian arrived to open up the next morning, it was only his warning hiss that revealed his location. Scooping up the little creature he weakly bites at her finger, it barely feels more than a pinch, before curling into her warm hands.

Up close it almost looks like some type of young turtle yokai, except it's far too small. Putting them with other Yokai children when so fragile could have disastrous results. The things they've done to her poor kiddie room. Maybe when he gets older, and hopefully bigger, that will be an option. Just not now.

So Agatha does what she does best. Research. Books on child care, raising turtles, and anything that might help in this endeavor.

Luckily, Donnie is the perfect child for her. Quiet and constantly curious, always wanting to read and learn. These things she can definitely do. When he starts branching off into science and building things there's less she can help with besides pointing him to some reference books, but she'll support his interests as long as they don't damage him, the books, or the library.

Though when he first started speaking, she'll admit, it was a bit of a challenge. From being basically silent to no volume control was quite the shift. On multiple occasions daily he was dragged to the kiddie room by hush bats. How did he even keep sneaking out of there?

He never did learn to control that.

Then there's the sleeping in odd places problem. On top of bookcases, on the shelves, in cabinets, under tables. If he could fit he would sleep there. She was so glad he outgrew that one at least.

By the time Donnie was big enough she could put him in the system, she had grown rather attached. She instead formally adopted him so she could put him in school to learn and grow in a proper environment and make friends with kids his own age.

She couldn't stop a quirk in her mouth as Donnie excitedly pointed out a bookbag with bat wings while they were shopping for school supplies.

[villainessprefect]

Anonymous asked: hello!! may i request a fic with malleus x gn!reader pls? this is too specific since im having a bad day sooo my request is where reader is having a bad day since they found out their 'friends' talking sh*t behind their back and they didnt attend the whole class for the whole day and ignoring everyone esp malleus (bc reader want some alone time) so at night time, malleus found reader and just comfort them? thank you, have a good day! :)

hello! I hope this fic brings you some comfort!! don't let those types of friends get you down!

title: turn to me

summary: Your latest ‘friends’ turn out to be trash. Their words lead you down a terrible descent. At least someone is willing to reach out to you.

ship: Malleus x gn!reader

word count: 2,167

note: does this need a trigger warning for like. self-loathing?? idk

Read on AO3

You should have known from the start that it would end this way. In this hellish world, you would always be an outcast, the odd one out, the magicless one. No matter how hard you tried to fit in, no matter what you did, you were not part of this world.

But is it so wrong to hope? To think that maybe, just maybe, you could be a part of this world if only for a moment.

Perhaps you were just foolish. Naive. All you wanted was to belong somewhere. Taking a chance to break from your usual friend group had been your own undoing. You should have listened to their warnings and stayed with them. They know these people better than you do. After all, they're just like them, aren't they?

You didn't listen. You let that glimmer of hope lead you down the wrong path. All you wanted was a normal school life. With that, you could believe that you were normal.

"Aren't you tired of hanging around with that magicless Prefect yet? It's so damn boring. We can't do anything with them around!" One complained.

"Just a little longer, we can't lose our gopher just yet." Another says.

"Hey! Maybe we should start calling them our best friend. You think they'll like that?" He laughs. Loud. "I bet they'd think they're part of the group!"

"Man, not even they could be dumb enough to believe that. Although, you know what they say. No magic, no brains."

Vile gossip runs around your latest group of 'friends'. They continue to throw insults your way while unaware of your presence. At some point, you begin to tune out what they're saying. Their voices grow smaller and smaller as you make a run for it, but you can still hear their voices echoing loud and clear in your mind.

You run home, or at least to the place you're forced to call home. The door to Ramshackle is forcibly pushed open, left ajar as you head straight to your room. Your bag and books drop to the ground, supplies scattering on the floor. A part of you thinks to pick them up, another disagrees- what did it matter anyway? It's not like your friends would come over.

Finding comfort in your bed is hard. It's not the best, not the softest, it barely does its job, but its all you have. At least this old thing wouldn't betray you. Hopefully. You don't want to jinx it and have your bed turn into a futon.

You take in a shaky breath and struggle to let the darkness consume you. You're not even tired, but your body aches, your chest stinging with every heartbeat. The longer you stay awake, the more your thoughts haunt you. And the last thing you want to do is let those bastards win.

Your phone catches you off guard. In your haste to hide away from the world, you forgot to toss that aside along with your bag. All you do is dig the buzzing phone out of your pocket and turn it off, not even bothering to see who is blowing it up. Friends, new or old, you didn't want to speak to anyone. You couldn't.

With no more distractions, you lie in bed and succumb to your fate. Nasty thoughts poke at you, prodding at you and telling you how stupid you are. You wish you hadn't been so optimistic about branching out. You couldn't always rely on your usual group of friends, but at this point...it seemed like you had to.

It's impossible to reassure yourself that things are okay. They're not. You think how useless and stupid you are. And that...this is how things should have been from the start. People don't need you, you need them. You're unwanted and alone, and always will be for as long as you're in this world. And when you leave? It'll be like you were never here in the first place.

As the day draws on, you fall in and out of consciousness. You don't recall crying, but your pillow says otherwise. Your stomach craved food while feeling as if it couldn't hold down a single scrap. The only movement you willingly made was tossing back and forth for a more comfortable position.

Ramshackle is eerily quiet. The ghosts aren't hovering over you nor is Grim. The latter is probably with the others. It's fine. He's part of this world, you are not.

Something forces your body out of bed. You don't know what it is. Perhaps its an old habit that takes control of you. One that lets you meet with a dragon fae during the darker hours of the world. He doesn't always show up, and for once you pray he won't.

The cold air hits your body and you shiver. The night air that usually comforts you freezes you instead as you take a seat upon the steps of Ramshackle. The light of the moon reveals all to you. It's truly a beautiful night. One you wish you could enjoy.

A dark shadow looms over you. You don't bother lifting your gaze, merely staring down the legs that have blocked your view.

"Child of man," he starts. You don't move. "You were not at school today."

"Mhm."

"Are you feeling alright?" Malleus asks you. You can't bring yourself to speak. You don't want to have a conversation with him right now. Not with a tainted heart that's laced with the fear of betrayal. Surely he wouldn't be the same as that lot, would he?

No. Deep in your heart you know Malleus would never reach that low. He may be cheeky, but he's always been honest with you. If he wanted to end things with you, he would with the snap of his fingers. But you've always been special in his eyes. You're just...not in the mood to find that spark of hope again.

Your silence causes him to worry. The lack of acknowledgement does as well. Malleus looks forward to being beside you. Your conversations were always odd yet interesting. You never feared getting close to him, physically or otherwise. And your smile was worth waiting a whole century for. Having none of that tonight is a little upsetting. Not at you, but...for you? It's strange, difficult to put into words for him.

"Lilia once told me that silence can be hurtful and comforting, you just need to know when it's the right kind. You do not need to speak and if you wish for me to leave, simply...tell me." The last of his words comes out strained, forced. If his voice could break, you think it would have been heard then.

You take in a breath and decide his fate.

"You can stay."

You don't catch the way he lights up. How his eyes widen in surprise at your answer. His brief moment of joy doesn't last, but he finds it a blessing that you allow him to stay by your side.

Malleus takes a seat beside you. He sits closer to you compared to normal, but you don't mind. You didn't exactly pick the most spacious place to brood.

Having company after being alone all day is a little nice. His warmth helps keep some of those nasty thoughts away. Although you don't think that you really deserve this touch of kindness.

You still refuse to look at him and instead lift your gaze to the stars. You once heard that each star is a different world. With countless stars that fill the sky, that meant there were numerous worlds out there. And if a star went out, that meant the world was gone. It must have been a whimsical tale, yet now you wonder if it's true. Was your world a lost star? Is that why you're here now? Did the heavens think putting you here was better than meeting that fate?

You squeeze your body tightly.

"Malleus..." You breathe out his name, which catches him by surprise. It's unusual for you to not use the nickname you gave him. He makes no comment on it. Only watching and waiting for you to continue.

And when you face him, it hurts to see you.

Tears pricking at the corner of your eyes that are filled with nothing but pain. The sadness you bear is so heavy that he can see it. You look so lost and desperate. The friend he once knew is now broken.

"Do you ever think that...I'm worthless for not having magic?" You ask, pleading for an answer.

"No," he responds, quickly. There's a hint of anger in his eyes. He may not know who hurt you, but the question you posed gives him an idea as to how. "You are an extraordinary human in this world. If you wish to base worth off of magic, then one must do so knowing how to wield it. Even the strongest of mages can prove to be inferior to an amateur who only knows a single spell."

"But I don't know any," you respond. You hadn't meant to cut him off, but it was too late to stop now. "I'm not an amateur and I never will be. In this world, I'm not anything. Just a dumb human who thinks that there might be good in all the wrong places."

"You are not dumb." He responds and reaches out to take your hand in his. You're immediately met with his warmth. He doesn't use magic, but it feels like he cast a spell to soothe your body. "And anyone who says otherwise are the fools here. You have done plenty that others have not, without the use of magic. A hardworking and kind soul such as yourself is admirable. Your valor and resolve are truly commendable." He can't help but smirk. "Who else would dare to allow such weakness in front of me?"

You can't tell if his attempt at cheering you up is supposed to be good or not. It's fitting to come from him though. And it's just enough to make you crack a small smile.

"Only a fool would," you say with no pain in your voice. You can see the little annoyance in his eyes though, disliking at your self-loathing words. But, he allows a pass for the moment.

"Will you show your bravery by telling me what happened to you?"

You take in a breath and grip his hand. The pain from earlier is coming back, almost tenfold. It hurts the same as when you first heard those words spoken literally behind your back.

"Friends. Or I guess they're not friends anymore," you scoff. "I thought I could, you know, be a normal student with a group of friends and..." You shake your head, biting down on your lip.

"Spade and Trappola harmed you?"

"No! No! Not them!" You respond quickly. "Other, no-name, unimportant assholes," you huff out. At least that felt a little good to say, even if the insults were rather weak. "I thought I could befriend a few more people, so just in case...I won't have to be alone. But...that didn't work out."

A loud clap of thunder causes you to jump. Your hold on Malleus tightens as you instinctively huddle closer to him. You hadn't noticed the clear skies being overtaken by dark clouds, causing the night to grow darker. And after catching a flash of lightning, you feared that a storm might be coming.

"Those...not friends of yours," he spits out, as politely as he can. You can feel the anger seeping from his voice as he does his best to remain pleasant before you. "They are unwise for taking your company for granted. Your presence itself is a treasure they do not know the true value of. They are blinded by their own ignorance. If there is no one else that you can turn to, then you can always turn to me. I would never take your company for granted."

You feel a pang of guilt for your earlier thoughts. To even question that Malleus would do you harm- you'd really been a fool.

"Thanks," you whisper and let your head bump onto his shoulder. "I'm sorry for...not being in the best mood tonight. At least I know I can always count on you, Hornton," you chuckle.

Hearing that nickname brings a smile to his face. While the clouds still hover overhead, the sound of thunder and visions of lightning are no more. You release a breath that you'd been holding in and finally begin to relax.

While you know you've been keeping Malleus this whole time, you can't bear to let him go. Not yet. He shined a light upon you that you needed. And maybe, it wouldn't hurt to be a little self-indulgent.

"Can you stay a little bit longer?"

"Of course."

And just like that, the night sky is clear once more.

[hail-brod]

A Chance and Beyond (3)

Previous chapter: (Chapter 2)

Next chapter: (Chapter 4)

Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Loki x FReader

A/N: Note that I'm not really versed on the concept of time flow in the MCU so things that I will be explaining in this chapter may not be accurate but hej, this is fanfiction. Did try my best to understand Ancient One's explanation with the stones affecting the proper flow of time to integrate here so go easy on me &lt;(＿　＿)>

Might just be making up some things along the way for things to fit!

This is a long one. Hopefully this would make up for the amount of time that took me this long to update.

Warning/s: Tony Stark, cursing, bit of angst.

WC: 5.7k

Doctor Strange confronts you about TVA and you get a nickname from Tony Stark himself. Really, you've had a long day. What else can you possibly expect?

"Time Variance Authority."

"Yes."

"Which is entirely non-existent nowhere within....?"

"The Sacred Timeline." you say. "It is outside the Sacred Timeline."

"Yeah, that." your new found sorcerer friend confirms as Strange's brows crease in thought. "And somehow it's somewhere? A secret organization filled with people who they took from the... Sacred Timeline and then do the dirty work of... pruning other branches of realities. Is that it?"

"Yes." you reply, steady in your seat. Taking in the way he tries to process this new knowledge.

"Now, what exactly is pruning?" he asks, every question he wants to ask mirrored in that look of him. Though, even if uncertainty was still present on his expression, you didn't miss the tinge of fascination dancing around his eyes.

You've been going on with this interrogation for almost twenty minutes now and it's quite straightforward—save for the little questions he add that he strikes as interesting to satisfy his curiosity. Nonetheless, it's nothing but... pleasant.

At most.

Not as stingy as before he is, and you'd wager because of this session giving him the massive information about what's out there, beyond the timeline, beyond the vast universes and you can't help but pride yourself in seeing him so eager yet so stoic in hearing what you have been saying. It's amazing that he manages to look so focused and intent on prying more and yet bits of astonishment seeps through his authoritative nature. That at least confirms that he seems to be believing your words.

But when he starts to explain to you about what he generally knows about timelines and it's flow, you realized that's why.

"The branches that you've mentioned," he inquires. "...you're saying that currently it's overloading because the Sacred Timeline is unkept and unmonitored?"

"Yes..." you confirm. "Yes. It's complicated and.... its hard to manage with so much branches. So everything... everywhere... there are a lot of possibilities growing outside of the proper flow of time."

You hope you understood Ouroboros well. Everything he had explained about the loom and the collapse of all as a result because of the murder of a certain time lord or whatever it is they call him and the possibility of a Multiversal war—as they would call it—was very much ingrained in your mind.

Which is rather a big matter than the world ending.

Because this is about everything ending.

"I'd ask what made that happen," he says. "but one branch of reality splitting outside of the proper flow of time means being overrun. A lot of suffering if I may add." his frown deepens.

You look at him, quite confused. "Well, you mean..."

Wait.

You've realized recently that concepts about time when it comes to sorcery can be quite different compared to the TVA but there's similarities. With what you know, there are the Fates—the Norns consisting of past, present, and future—the ones who weave the people's destiny. But with Strange's field of sorcery, it circles around the Infinity stones; as you've learned from him in your timeline. Plucking one stone out of the flow could result in millions to suffer which then creates the branch.

But in your case, the TVA, it's about the newborn realities that were... apparently unwanted. The dictation of how things should flow is always followed.

Although now, that's the system you and you're friends are trying to break. To renew. Just because of the absurdity of it all. One stray step from the paved path and it's all erased, letting everyone disappear from existence. And you have to thank your TVA friends for stopping that rule.

"Not necessarily..." you trail, downcasted.

"What do you mean not necessarily?" Strange looks at you pointedly, arms crossed. A disapproving sentience directed at you. "You say that's it's overloaded of branches. How is that not aligned to it being terribly diabolical?"

"TVA is different." you answer, holding his stare with certainty. "It's not a causality tied to just the stones, Doctor Strange. It's the causality of every living being."

"Just the stones?" he retorts. "This is about the Infinity stones. Capable of wiping a whole universe."

"I know. Hear me out, will you?" you stop yourself from letting out a frustrated sigh. Though, you almost miss the way he tensed up at how you addressed the most powerful might in the whole universe. You notice there's dread welling in him but he keeps it to himself with a determined look. "TVA wasn't exactly the best when it comes to 'protecting' the timelines. A fuse within the place caused some things to be questioned. The way of things were questioned. Then chaos ensued and the people that I know... who are there—right in this moment—are trying to save the timelines.

You glued your eyes unto him. "The branches aren't suffering, Doctor. They're new realities with living people, writing their own stories." you trail off the last lines.

Your words hung in the air. Silence has never been this loud before but you let him take the time to decide his next words. If you didn't pay much close attention, you could've missed the shift of his stern demeanor to a faint gentleness.

"Are you a variant?" he asks. "Before all of... the messed up timelines?"

For a moment, you froze. You could distinctively feel your chest tighten but you soon shrugged it off in a blink of an eye. "I am. Everyone in TVA is."

"But did you work for the TVA?"

"No." you plainly answered. "It's a very long story."

Something in his stare felt comforting yet enigmatic. At one glance, you'd see someone who's merely doing the job for their own benefit but you've long since started this conversation far enough to grasp what's likely and unlikely. You feel like there's no use hiding your troubles when he seems like he had already seen through you.

"It always is." he says.

You almost sink down on your sit, arms crossed as you avoided his calculating eyes.

"And it must be hard." he continued.

As much as it kept pinching your heart hearing it, you ignore his comments. Whatever it takes.

You sat there, withdrawn compared to before. The refusal that you were showing using silence made you look like a child, having a conversation with their parent for being caught in an unacceptable act. And nor should you want to reveal anything beyond what's he's headed unto. That is your lone past, your burden to carry, to remember. Now, what you aim is to create a new future entangled with the people you've met. That's all that matters.

You keep telling yourself that. Like you're trying to forget every bit that came before you knew about TVA.

The less you remember, the less it can hurt you.

Strange waits in silence but you see him turn away, inhaling. Oddly, he bats an eye on a specific corner in the room but before you could imitate his actions, he continues once again. "If you say that the branches aren't suffering, what exactly is the problem?"

Quite thankful for the shift of questions, you answer. "The proper flow of time." you start. "The massive amount of timelines branching out of the Sacred Timeline leads to chaos. I could say there's a war coming but crucially? There won't even be a war when all of existence is currently set to fade away."

You feel his pointed glance on you and as you look up to him, you see the frown etching up his face. Maybe, you've also spotted a hint of horridness in his eyes.

You know you said it was not a good idea raining these information down to them but this is only Strange. One out of too many. And you trust him to be able to handle such truth.

But you also know he's still a person.

"It's..." you try to say. "I... but I still believe there's a way to save both ways. I just need to get back to the TVA."

His frown did not dissipate, but you see his shoulders slightly drop. "And by trying to use the Time stone, you hope that you might be able to work it out. Correct?"

"Yeah..." you trailed off. "I hope."

I'll take any chances. You think. Even if it's unlikely possible.

"If this doesn't succeed," you continue. "we might have to turn our plans towards technology. I believe Stark and Banner would be very helpful on that, don't you think?"

"You put too much faith on them when you're just a stranger in their eyes." he says, eyes drifting away before back at you. He still wants answers. "I believe you mentioned you fought with heroes. Can I assume the Avengers has something to do with that?"

"You can." you reply, lifting a briefly tight smile. "Your alternate selves aren't that different from the ones that I know of."

He cocks his head up at the information with a plain expression but you see a slight wonder eliciting in his eyes. You sense that he wanted to ask something more as he opened his mouth but he soon diverged on a different one. "How can our technology even reach the heights of what you require to achieve?"

You hesitatingly shrug. "I don't know much but I do know TVA is also managed through... some kind of technology. Maybe it's impossible and unheard of.... but it wouldn't hurt to try."

"A tech outside of time?" he raised a brow quizzically. You only shrugged again which only made him look quite confused. "That's going to be really complex."

"What can a sorcerer say?" you say as you earned a pointed look from him. Oh, he did not like that.

"I was once a man of science and I still am." he sternly says as he tries to hide his irritation. "You have no right to question my profession."

You were quite take aback as you blinked at the small outburst. You contained a laugh. "I meant myself, Doctor."

"Oh."

You gave him a faint lopsided grin but made no further step in rousing his mistake. He eyed you down as his irritation slowly dissipates into a softer glare. As if saying that you should shut your mouth.

No matter what universe he is in, he's still devilishly good at intimidation....not that he has intimidated me before tremendously...

You tell yourself.

You almost feel like somewhere out there, someone is laughing at your interrogation session.

"Right..." he slowly says then breathes. "I'm going to take your word for everything that you've told me. But if you want to use the sto-"

You we're already most intent on listening to what he has to say but oh, it seems like you've almost forgotten about one of your bodily and existentially issues once you felt the odd feeling of tight gripping within your guts. The nerves you felt while hearing his response catches up to you but in this manner, it twists your whole form.

You warped and deformed. Maybe some part of rousing your nervousness can be the trigger to time-slipping.

Though, you can certainly say you didn't miss this.

Once your body steadied, you opened your eyes.

And you met the luminescent light of green, blinding you for a few seconds before you registered the culprit of it all.

Strange stands back a few inches away from you compared to the last time he stood moments ago and what's also entirely new is the opened eye dangling upfront his chest.

The Eye of Agamotto.

Soon, you did notice the green rays of light was extending to your own form, hugging you with it's cool yet warm sensation. You think at first that the magic engulfing you felt so foreign because this is the first time you've interacted with a Time stone—but at the same time... it's not.

It wasn't foreign. No. It's just somehow.... bigger and... overpowering than how it usually feels.

How it usually feels...That can't be right.

But your eyes catch sight of Strange's face as your view gradually cleared. His hands stuck out with the same circular engravings you've always associated him with, but instead of a fiery orange hue, it was now gleaming in green.

"You okay?" he tries to assure, brows creasing.

You let the feeling sink in, exhaling. "I... I think so. What did you do?"

"I used the Time stone. As what you have wanted and what I was about to say." he answers, slowly lowering his hands. You see remnants of franticness on him. "But I actually have no idea what I did. Just casted it's powers on you."

You frown at him. "That's not very reassuring."

"Well, you asked for it." he jested, but his expression lightly softens. "You don't feel any different, do you?"

"I believe not..." you say, stretching your fingers, cranking your neck and checking for any anomalies that may have occurred to your physique. "I am... fine."

"Let's hope that does the magic. I don't particularly know how the TVA works or anything out there when confronted with magic but..." he explains, giving you a knowing look. "..it wouldn't hurt to try. At least it didn't hurt, did it?"

You eye him gently as you shake your head and you catch the distinct break of his gaze to a calmer one.

You feel anew.

You don't look different but you certainly feel lighter as the magic of the stone courses through you. It doesn't affect you in a way how the Time stone manipulates time, but in a way that just...holds you together. But for how long? This could only be temporary and you have no qualms with that, but the fact that this very stone can be effective and useful for the TVA, brings a sense of hope to you. Magic may be nullified in that place but exterior to that, the Time stone could be boundless when used to get there.

You really hate magic nullification.

But that's just speculation. Only actions can prove it.

"What we're you going to say again?" you asked him, quite disoriented.

Strange blinks. He then recalls to his previous sentence, shaking his mind off to focus back on his point. "As I was saying, I will be the only one using the Time stone. And well, that's been done. But the next attempt at using it, you tell me and I'll help." he was back yet again at his stern mannerisms but this time, he seems more...friendly? "Understood?"

You almost mindlessly nod but you tethered yourself up to a clear nod. Before you could say something else, he speaks up, slowly looming before you.

"And I haven't fully given my trust to you. I don't wanna keep threatening you for that but....betray us and you have the whole Avengers' team for an enemy." he stands back with a content expression, almost giddy-like. "Hope that's about clear."

Believe me, you say to yourself. I wouldn't dare.

One thing for sure, you're just glad that he agreed to help you.

After you gave Strange your thanks, a genuine one at that, he replies it with an equally genuine nod...

Then sends you back in your blinding cell.

Thankfully, this time he didn't opened a portal below you to fall in but heeded your previous word of preference. Though, you admit that it's still uncomfortable on your part to experience the shifting of environment once again.

At this point, you'd think that you may have earned the right to be free, out and about from your irritatingly bright cell, but it seems like the Avengers are tough to convince when they suspect you as some kind of an enemy. To give it thought, that is understandable. Yet, it cannot be help to feel some sort of annoyance towards it.

The vast space of the cell seems to mock you of out of the comfort that you once knew. You honestly preferred the brightly lit orange office that the TVA emanates. Even the bustling time analysts rushing in different directions across the place breathes you a little bit of life.

There's the kindness and assurances of Mobius.

O.B.'s chirpy smile after saying something absurd.

B-15's gentle heart whenever she explains the worth of those branches.

Some sort of joke Casey doesn't seem to be able to comprehend.

The look Sylvie gave you when you told your tale of escape from the past TVA. And as your disbelief hindered you speechless after knowing who she really is.

And Loki.

How one look of him for the first time after you we're captured, broke your heart into a bittersweet mourning.

Not that he died in your timeline. Well, at least you almost thought he did.

But to be ripped out of that reality and then wipe it off of existence is like losing everything you have ever loved. As if a world just died with no remnants nor echo to prove the wonders of that life. Which is, unfortunately, the case.

Except, only for you alone to witness it.

It's no different when compared to death. B-15 knew that.

The Loki that you met in the TVA may not be the one that you knew, but it was still quite hopeful for you to see that maybe not everything was lost. Maybe you can still belong somewhere. Or see your old friends and family again. Even if at some point, it's bound to hurt you, to know that you're an anomaly, a displacement in every single universe that you'll end up in.

To feel like an imposter.

But the cast of friends you made with Mobius and the others gratified you somehow. And you're not ready to let that go. You want to help fix the TVA then after that....perhaps you can decide your next steps.

Breathing in, your thoughts speak. Look ahead, fool. You'll fare well without those memories. Starting all over again can't be that awful...

You berate yourself albeit hesitantly.

Though, is it really worth forgetting everything you've come to cherish? There's a feeling that tells you, yes, your inner turmoil would not exist no more if you'll just forget those moments in your timeline. But you know that's not what you want. And you also know the aching pain of loss is truly unwanted for anyone, yet you feel inhumane to choose not to feel that.

What does it matter?

You can't help but drift your eyes in a moment of daze as you unconsciously fly your fingers to your other hand, caressing the ring that sits there. You then bring your eyes down to it.

It looked simple yet...enriched. Just like how Asgardians do very much love their golden treasures and land, your ring was no different. Though what makes it special is it's carved runes rounding the accessory to which it bestows it's means of definition to bind.

They call it the Asgardian Betrothal ring.

The name says it all. But besides that, another memory catches up to you when you're brought to look upon your halved severed finger to where your ring lays. Unusual it is, but you've grown used to it's sight and the remembrance it leaves on your heart is clear as the day. You thought at first you could not bear the bizarre feeling of a missing finger, but time proves you lesser so.

Because it does look quite cool, as what Midgardians would say.

Nonetheless, the might to have experience the cause of it stems deeply in your mind.

The Dark Elves did truly ensure that.

As you trace your fingers against the ring, you can't help but think how good of a combination a severed finger and a ring could be together. It sounds absurd, you admit. Especially when it kind of metaphorically shows how your supposed marriage have been cut short—like your finger.

An omen you don't want to think too much even as though your situation have gotten worse, more or so than it predicted.

My Norns, you think. do you even exist? Or is this just punishment?

Your face fell into a deep pained frown.

Loki was your fiancé.

Your Loki that withered away because of the TVA.

Your marriage with him had pended for a long while for various reasons. You can't say royal courts have no squabbles at all because that would be unreal. And as a daughter in court, you've learned your fair share of duty that comes with it. But when you say royal court, that mainly involves the royal family.

And Loki's folks doesn't have the simplest of all families, but contrary to that.

It didn't bother you both much for your betrothal was never stemmed from your hearts. It was only a matter of arrangement on the All-father's part. He only asked of you to perform a duty for the realm and for Loki to be the second prince that he is.

Or so you thought.

Though, people know it themselves of each and everyone's reputation in the royal palace, they see Loki as an outcast among them but that didn't deter you to form a some sort of....acquaintanceship with him.

And there's no possible in Hel you would admit to yourself that he didn't became dear to you.

It has come far more than that.

Which then spelt your doom.

Luckily, no more time-slipping for you.

At least in the last few hour or so. It seems like the Time stone proved you well of it's abilities—for the most part.

You just don't want to assume.

As you busied yourself conjuring a dozen projection of tiny floating petals by your palm, dancing along the illusion of a wind, a few heavy steps interrupt you. You crane your neck to see the three men that entered the area, standing just right behind your cell barrier. You see Doctor Strange, Bruce and Tony.

You lightly frown.

They look like they have so much to say. Am I in trouble?

Bruce opens his mouth to speak but Tony butts in. "Hey, congrats, you're free." he then smiles at you and slides it down quickly to an unamused look. "Mister wizard here says you're worth the shot to help, though I disagree since, well- everything you we're saying sounded like a lot of bullshit-"

"Tony, hey." Bruce cuts in, giving him a disappointed sigh. "We talked about this."

You raised a brow. 'you we're saying'?

"I know, I know." he surprisingly says as he waved his hand off to Bruce to let him talk. "Let me finish this. Like I said—bullshit. But," he paused for awhile, eyeing you in seriousness. You don't miss the hesitation lingering in his expression. "the dangers you claim sounds a lot of a big deal than whatever we've known so far and I don't take lightly in trusting some....Time Pasta from out of nowhere. But it seems like you've got admirers in the team and they outnumber me. Which is dumb by the way."

You see Strange roll his eyes beside him. Though, you somewhat feel relieved to hear that the majority of the Avengers favor you well enough to help. You don't really mind the small distrust for now but at least—like Strange apparently said—you're worth the shot to help.

"So you're..." Tony continues as he taps a few times on his...bracelet? And then looks up to you with a swipe of his finger towards your barrier. In less than a second, it completely dissipates in little pixels, the whole wall gone right before you. "a free woman. And yes, don't try anything fishy or....'you have the whole Avengers' team for an enemy.'"

"Okay, that's it." Strange gives Tony a stern look.

But Tony stays his eyes on you. "You're lucky Bleecker Street Magician vouched for you."

"Hold on." you halt them, frown deepening. "You we're watching our interrogation?"

Strange turns to you. "Trust me, they insisted."

"You could've at least told me." you retorted. You we're quite upset but you guess it's better they see the whole clear picture of your story rather than just planting suspicions on your motives and existence.

The sorcerer gives you an apologetic look.

"Oh, how can we not pry? You we're the suspicious one who came out of literal nowhere." Tony gives you a satire grin.

Fair point. At this point, would it be bad if they knew? Probably. You don't learn these things in your daily life even if you're a superhuman who can do magic or a genius in an iron clad suit. But then, they seem to be taking it quite well.

You think.

You exasperatedly sigh "Fine. I get it."

"Good." he replies then eyes you intently while he pulls something out of his blazer. You wait to see what it is and you see a tiny speck of something red between his fingers as he stretches it out to you. "Gummy bear?" you stilled and only eyed it suspiciously but you quirk up an amused brow. "No? Yeah, well, have it your way." and he eats it himself.

Of course he offers snacks whenever you least expect it. your mind speaks. A feature of every Tony Stark, I suppose.

Maybe it's also a good sign he's offering you so.

You glance amongst them for a few seconds before you can step out and down from your acquainted cell that you will never miss. Any left cautiousness you saw from them when you first appeared have leveled down just a bit. That heightens you down to an ease. You want them to know that you can be truly trusted so you walk patiently as you observed them.

Now that you've crossed out, Strange speaks up. "How's your time-slipping? I doubt people wouldn't get scared of you if every passing second your body's ripping apart."

"Yeah that," Bruce joins in with a concerning glance. "it really- it looks horrible. You're like...a walking horror movie."

You don't know if you should be offended or be guilty to have made people feel that way but you blink away. Whatever a 'horror movie' is. You just let out an 'Oh' as you turn to answer Strange's question. "But yes, I think it's working."

The said man sags his shoulders down in relief. "That settles that for now then. In the meantime, I need to go back." Strange turns around and opens a portal to somewhere you can't quite recognize.

"Where are you going?" you crease your brows at his leaving figure. "What about our deal and plan?"

He stops and looks back to you, exhaling. "We can start tomorrow. Surely, you've had a very long day."

You softened your gaze. He's right. Was it even day or night? You've been everywhere and moving from place to place before you came. Then, questions thrown for you to answer. Maybe a rest should do you good.

Strange sees your ease and receives the message, giving you a single comforting nod. He then finally enters the portal as it closes to a speck of dot.

You're glad that he's warming up to you even if just a bit.

You're now left with the two genius scientists with Tony picking up the lead to say something. "And that's also my queue to leave." he looks at you. "Also, Bruce is right. You're not just a walking 'horror movie'—you're a walking 'Horror Time Pasta Movie' so you won't be going anywhere without supervision. Who knows what else is happening to you."

You have no idea what you're hearing. But you make it a point to tell him that you have a name.

"Yeah, you-who-whatsoever. You're still Time Pasta for me." he says with a fake smile then turns around to head for the door. "Remember, you're being watched around here!"

You don't doubt you are. A 'free woman' he says. Now my whole prison is just the entirety of this building.

You could always magic your way out but where would you go? And it isn't worth the risk when their trust relies on that terrible decision. You just need to find a way back to the time organization that you realize you've been quite obsessing over now.

You shrug it off. You need to lay down and rest.

That's also when Bruce speaks up. "Don't mind Tony. He's always like that and he still has a good heart." your eyes snap to him as he walks towards the door. He gestures for you to follow as you complied. There's a hesitation in his tone as he continued. "I did hear that you we're allies with us in your timeline, so you probably know how he is. Unless, maybe, he's more of a jerk there..." he turns to you with an apologetic look.

You chuckled. "Well, nothing's particularly changed I supposed. We're usually more on good terms." you eyed him kindly.

He huffed. "Wait, really?" you nodded.

He started to ask questions about multiverses. He gets so expressive with his reactions when he hears something so different and unexpected. But he also mentions a bit about Thor and Loki.

"Thor warmed up to you so easily." he says. "I mean, he could be biased because you're one of his people but I guess that works well for you. He really tried talking it out to them on your behalf."

Your heart softens at that. And you don't know what to think. There's that lightheartedness washing through you and you miss the feeling.

He then continues. "Even Loki acted different."

You dart up to him. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, like," he starts. "he's actually willing to side with you—which he doesn't usually does with anyone. Especially when you just came here this morning."

Oh, you echo in your head. it's only been that long?

But you go back to his words. "Loki is?"

"Yeah," he looks to you. "you're close with him? With his- what do you call it again? Va- Variant?"

You inhale. "Variant, yes. But no, you call them Variants if-" you pause, not wanting to ramble more about the TVA and anything about it. You've said enough relating to that topic and you don't think you can handle more mentions of its complexity.

Seriously, it's tiring.

"Nevermind." you defeatedly sigh as you gave him an apologetic look. "Yes, I know...Loki."

He seems to notice your tiredness and hesitation. You try your best to bring up a smile but it just became strained.

If Bruce ever saw your sadness, he didn't mention it.

You skim back to what he said about Loki. You can't deny that it's odd that he would side with you in this circumstances considering that your interactions so far where not quite good. But at the same time, it gives you a sense of warmth to know that he would.

Though, you don't want to delude yourself further if this escalates differently.

As you tagged behind him, which soon changed with you walking side by side, you take a moment to survey the halls you we're passing by. It was increasingly different than you expected. But as you walked further, the scene shifts to a few turns, then stairs as you go up and finally catch sight of the glass paned walls that lets you see the vast fields outside of the compound. Though, only a few specks of lights we're radiating the field so you don't see much because it is night time.

You hear the faint voices and steps of Tony right ahead but you don't see him. It gets closer and closer as the echo surrounds the place as you lastly hear cusses like 'shit' or 'dammit' that slowly fades away into silence.

It seems like he already left.

You realized you actually don't know where Bruce is leading you, so you ask. "Where are we going exactly?"

"Oh yeah, my bad." he replies apologetically. "Tony wanted me to show you to your room. And don't worry, this time it isn't a prison."

You somewhat light up at that.

You then stare at Bruce whose slightly ahead of you now. You think that maybe you should thank him for...well, almost and kind of, for siding with you during the previous arguments. He's always been such a kindhearted soul to everyone including you, and you guess he always will be.

"Thank you," you suddenly say. He shifts his attention to you in wonder. "for putting up with me."

His brows lift up and he softly smiles. "Don't mention it."

After you had bid your farewells with Bruce and with you being able to settle in your new room, you take everything in.

He was right. Not a prison.

Everything looks normal and comfortable but also too sophisticated than you preferred. But nonetheless, you'll do away with it because you can't afford to be fussy over little things.

The bed was made up with white blankets and pillows. A few Midgardian necessities on a vanity just across the bed. Then a door that probably leads to the bathing quarters along with a massive wardrobe that you will unlikely need and a seating area just right where you entered. It's fairly big but it honestly cannot contend compared to Asgard's chambers.

"Then again," you mutter to yourself. "this isn't a royal palace."

As you surveyed more for awhile, your sight catches the wide windows that behold the scene outside. This time, you see everything clearly as the moon rays illuminates the night and you stand there for a moment basking in the serene view.

It's calm, you thought. yet there's a storm coming.

You just revel for awhile in the moment as your previous tiredness sinks in. You've ran enough. It's time for you to settle, even just this once.

But before you could turn around to head in bed, you hear someone mutter your name with frantic breaths just a few feet from behind. And as you panicked to hear someone else in your room, you look back to see...nothing.

No one.

Have I gone mad? you frantically think.

But you heard it clear as day.

You heard Loki call for you.

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