#if those things had been further investigated in the story

[kurishiri]

14 . . . alfons main story

꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ @ notice ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱ this translation may not be 100% accurate or contain creative liberties due to characterization or narrative flow purposes. if you enjoy, please consider reblogging, but don’t repost these or claim these as your own!

— cw: depiction of fire.

Kate: It seems like... I have fallen for you.

When I murmured this, though...

Alfons: ...Well that is nothing short of a nuisance.

When I heard an answer that shouldn’t have come, I let out a gasp.

Kate: Alfo... w-wait, you were awake...!?

Just a moment ago, his steady breathing indicated he had been asleep, but now his eyes were open, and in those ashy gray eyes,

a hint of exasperation seeped its way in.

Alfons: So you say you ‘have fallen’ for me... it seems this has taken a rather troublesome turn.

While sitting up in a languid motion, Alfons combed his fingers through his hair.

Alfons: Whatever you’re feeling, it’s nothing but a delusion, I’d say. A hallucination.

A: You simply happened to be saved while you were in a pickle by a man who had given you pleasure, mixing that up for feelings of romance, no?

Kate: Did you just say I was ‘mixing that up’...?

(How dare he say that when he knows nothing about the feelings I’ve been going through before I came to his room...)

I felt blood rise to my head then.

Kate: ...For the record, I don’t really mind if you don’t give me an answer...

K: But I sure would appreciate it if you didn’t act as though you know what I’m feeling...!

Alfons: ...And how would you know if something like feelings, which bear no tangible form, is really there?

His fingers made their way to my chin...

Kate: T-that...

Alfons: ...Yes, go on?

...and when he pulled on it, I felt his breath tickle my lips,

causing my body to throb involuntarily in anticipation.

It seemed like Alfons had expected this reaction, as a smile played on his lips.

Alfons: Until you realize you are mistaken, I’ll be keeping all things pleasure behind closed doors, alright?

A: Were I to touch you in such a way... I’m sure I would only end up feeding into such delusions, anyhow.

Kate: ...gh.

Alfons: Alright, enough of that. Would you care to let an injured person like myself rest some more now?

His hand let go of me just like that, and he distanced himself, no longer bothering to touch me further.

He refused to listen to a word I had to say, even though he was the one who had reached out to me so persistently in the first place.

(I knew it would come to this, and yet...)

The pain in my heart was cruel.

It hurt so much, I could hardly bear it.

Kate: ...I... I understand. Have a good night...

I left the room as if running away, the door closing with a bang that rang loud and clear.

Alfons: ...Hehe.

A: I actually do like you a lot myself as well.

A: But that’s why... it would be best if this all remained a delusion.

——His whispers, having no way of reaching anyone else, simply dissipated in the air.

—— Time skip ——

Based on the information Alfons and I gleaned from having infiltrated the hotel that was exclusively for members of the ‘purification’ club,

the name Lord Goa, a member of the Privy Council, came up as someone heavily involved in the incidents that had occurred in the East End.

With that, William and Victor were able to perform a thorough investigation on him and his faction.

Victor: ——In regards to the ‘confidential’ letter in question, inside was a check to a company with phenomenal business conditions.

Before the members of Crown gathered in the dining room, Victor shared the details surrounding the current circumstances.

Victor: As for the contents of the check itself, there weren’t any problems.

V: That said, though, it’s fully possible this is compensation for those who will carry out their plan to set fire to the Docklands.

William: This company that handles the flow of money has long been marked as a front company, very likely connected to a criminal organization.

Alfons: In other words, it was a blatant distraction, yes?

(But, even if we know that...)

Kate: I take it this check alone wouldn’t be enough evidence to be able to dispatch the police, right...?

Harrison: Yeah, seems right.

H: It isn’t enough to prove the ‘plan to commit arson’ itself is in the works, nor does it prove that Councilman Goa is a part of it.

H: And even if the recipient company of the check were involved in the plane, it seems nigh impossible they’d believe us with just this.

Victor: That is all true. But, you see, Kate, it’s exactly for times like these that we are here.

V: In order to protect the prosperity of England, we ‘use evil to condemn evil’——such is our motto here in Crown.

Hearing Victor’s words, my head shot up.

Victor: I bring you an order from Her Majesty the Queen.

V: ‘Stop the arson incident in the Docklands, and condemn the faction of the ‘purification’ club which Councilman Goa is a part of.’

His jewel-like eyes, filled with a darkness more deep than the dark itself, glimmered with a bewitching light... and it sent shivers up my spine.

Victor: ——By the way, Alfons.

All of a sudden, Victor turned to look at Alfons.

Victor: How is that wound from yesterday’s mission faring?

Alfons: I simply found myself a tad too caught up in a practical prank and made a blunder, if you will.

Kate: Wh—no, that wound is...

[1] I should be the one taking responsibility.

[2] He covered for me. (+4 / +4)

[3] ... (stay silent)

Kate: He ended up covering for me, so...

Alfons: I just so happened to be in a position to block the bullet.

(As if. There’s no way Alfons just ‘happened’ to be there when he was in the inner part of the room right before he was shot.)

(And he is still covering for me, so as to not make my situation worse.)

(And yet, he distances himself like that…)

I wish he wouldn’t be so kind, and yet I couldn’t help but feel happy too.

(…He is a liar, and a cruel person to boot, through and through.)

As ordered by Victor, the ones who were going to carry out this mission were:

Alfons, Lord Elbert, Roger, and for some odd reason, Jude and Ellis.

Victor: When it comes to the Ports of London, Jude is the one who’s most familiar with that area, I take it?

Jude: …Hah, ya can bet yer bottle I’m the most familiar outta this bunch.

Victor: And Kate? Do you think you’ll be able to go with?

V: I imagine going on missions day after day would tire you out, so don’t push yourself.

Kate: …No, it’s fine. This is my responsibility as fairytale keeper, so I’ll go with.

(…I truly am a fool, aren’t I.)

Here I was, going on about how it’s my ‘responsibility’ and whatnot, but my true feelings laid elsewhere.

(Even though Alfons does nothing but push me away… I don’t want to take my eyes off of him.)

After all, I had thought to myself that if I wasn’t looking at him, he would end up just up and disappearing somewhere.

(…And this feeling, just as Alfons said,)

(was a delusion——that’s how it needed to be, and yet…)

——Now that I had realized my feelings for him, I had no way of knowing how to bury this love to the grave.

In the Docklands, illegal immigrants were going to be punished by an ‘eternal fire.’

On the night the plan was going to take place…

Dirtied man: Who’s there!?

The silhouettes who were squirming about in the darkness of the port city made a stir upon the sudden arrival of visitors.

Jude: How goes it, ya lot? We’ll be here a while.

Ellis: I’d say there are around——seven? If I had to guess.

Dirtied man: Tch, they said if there are any witnesses the reward’s as good as gone. Get ‘em!

The men who had seemingly been spreading oil around wielded weapons and ganged up, lunging for the two.

Jude: Hah, swingin’ around those steel pipes… how ya all pulled the short end of the stick, not even gettin’ yer hands a gun.

Dirtied man: Wah!? W-what the—!?

Just when I thought Ellis jumped high enough to be above their heads,

the men’s wrists seemed to become bound by a rope unseen to the naked eye, restraining them.

Dirtied man: W-what the hell did you do!?

Ellis: Shh, quiet down a little… we don’t want to disturb the neighbors.

Jude: If ya lot were gonna be playin’ with fire for some bees and honey, ya may as well have all hit the hay instead, ain’t that right?

With that, Jude poked the restrained men’s foreheads with his index finger.

And the next moment, the men, who had just been shouting, collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Kate: …I take it those were their abilities?

Elbert: That’s right… Ellis has the ability to restrain the movements of those whose head he touches. And Jude can put others to sleep by touching their forehead.

Alfons: What a golden pair for interrogation and assassination, dare I say.

Jude had said, ‘If I wanted to get rid of illegal immigrants, I’d aim here,’ while marking down some places,

namely a corner of a residential area, an alleyway that lined the pubs, and the port city, and so Crown went to detain the to-be arsonists without a hitch.

(And this is the last place Jude had marked.)

(It would be nice if we could stop the incidents altogether though…)

Elbert: How is the perimeter looking, Roger?

Roger: …Two blocks away, there’s one at four o’clock.

Elbert: Their companion, perhaps?

Roger: Nah, I doubt it. It sounds pretty darn suspicious… and it’s heading straight this way.

Alfons: Coming to see what’s going on after hearing something suspicious is very much a fool’s errand, is it not.

A: Do leave this careless, poor witness in my care.

Saying that, Alfons left the storage room.

(——!)

—— Scene change; outside ——

While hiding myself in the shadows, I peeked outside…

Alfons: Good evening to you. What a lovely night it is, no?

…where I found Alfons, who had just discreetly touched the back of what seemed to be the witness’ neck.

Alfons: “You saw nothing that went down here. You are on your way home, dearly needing some sleep.”

I could hear how his whispers resembled that of a lullaby as they rode the zephyr of the night.

(He could have shown them something to scare them, or threaten them away, and yet...)

Whenever he used his ability, he always spoke words that calmed the heart.

(And if I asked him why that is... I’m sure he would say something along the lines of ‘it would be a load of trouble if they made too much noise.’)

—— Scene change; storage room ——

Alfons: Goodness gracious... I would have preferred them to choose a less conspicuous place at the very least.

By the time Alfons returned, Jude and the others had tied the perpetrators up with a rope.

Kate: ...I guess with this, we managed to stop the incident.

Spreading the map with the marks open, I made sure we didn’t miss any spots before letting out a sigh in relief.

Roger: Well, that’s assuming Jude hasn’t missed a place.

Jude: The hell ya gettin’ at?

Roger: And I’m going to make sure the number of people here match up with the heartbeats I’m hearing——

Just when Roger interrupted over Jude...

Kate: !?

Along with an explosion, a flame started from within the storage room.

The fire crawled outward on the floor, the heat burning my skin.

(W-why all of a sudden...!? I thought we had all of the perpetrators——)

Alfons: It would appear the oil scattered all over the ground has vaporized and some sparks have ignited this.

Kate: D-did you just say ‘some sparks’!?

Roger: As curious as that is, first things first, we gotta put out the fire. Elbie, let’s bring over the fire extinguisher from the carriage.

Elbert: On it.

Jude: Tch, there ain’t nothing worth more trouble than these scumbags burnin’ to smithereens before makin’ them spit out information.

Ellis: Jude and I will take the perpetrators out of here.

Making quick judgments about their current situation, the members of Crown started to move.

(I should help where I can as well...)

The next moment, I tried to run as though being struck by something, when...

(——Huh?)

What I saw before my eyes was an unbelievable sight, causing my feet to stay rooted in its spot.

Alfons: Kate, if you inhale any more smoke, you may end up burning your lungs. So if you could move a bit more——

Kate: Wait just a minute! Over there...!

Beyond the burning flames, when I squinted my eyes...

There, I saw a young boy crouched on the floor, his face filled with fear.

Alfons: ...Ahh, so that’s how it is.

A: It would seem while all his friends were captured, he was hiding with a bated breath, I reckon.

Kate: W-when you say ‘friends’...

K: Are you insinuating he was directly involved in executing the arson...!?

Alfons: Have a look at the boy’s feet.

When I did, I saw that scattered about his feet, illuminated by the flames, were what appeared to be matchboxes.

Alfons: That boy is said ‘sparks.’

A: I reckon he was hiding in the shadows, biding the right time.

(But why would such a child... no, I don’t have time to think about such things.)

(Right now, somehow saving him takes priority...!)

Kate: Stay right there! And be sure to stay low and try not to inhale the fumes...!

Alfons: ......... [surprised]

(At this rate the fire will block the way out... but if he jumps in just like that, he’ll suffer from severe burns.)

(I’ll need to somehow open a path for him to escape through...)

When I looked around my surroundings, my eyes stopped on some sandbags that were piled atop one another adjacent to the storage room.

(That will do...!)

Kate: ...gh!

I jumped straight in, somehow managing to hold the heavy sandbags and throwing them amid the flames.

Then I ran back, lifting up another sandbag.

(Urgh, it’s so heavy...)

Alfons: What in the world are you doing?

Alfons crouched down beside me, meeting my eyes.

Kate: That child might not make it by the time we can put out the fire with an extinguisher.

K: So I thought to stack these sandbags to create an escape route...

Alfons: The one who started this fire was none other than that child, you know.

Kate: Yes, but... this and that are two different things!

Alfons: ......... [surprised]

A: ...haa.

A: Just what am I to do with such a straightforward one like yourself?

(Ah...)

He let out an exasperated laugh before he took the sandbag from me before throwing it into the flames.

(Alfons...)

Alfons: Let’s get it together now. The boy won’t be living through this if you stand so idle.

And so, we carried the sandbags, trying our best to go back and forth,

when Roger and Lord Elbert came running while carrying the fire extinguisher from the carriage, starting to spray the vicinity around the sandbags.

——And at last, albeit small, we managed to make a path he could escape through.

Kate: It’s fine now! So come this way!

Young boy: ...

The boy, whose face was filled with fear still, stayed crouching down, trembling.

Alfons: He’s not coming, is he. Perhaps fear has him paralyzed?

Kate: If that’s the case, we have to go and get him...!

But the moment I tried to run in, he grabbed my arms from behind.

Kate: Wh—Alfons...!?

Alfons: Goodness...

Pushing me behind him, Alfons jumped into the fire through the small escape route,

and as though he were taking a stroll, he walked over to the young boy with light steps——and touched the back of his neck.

Alfons: Come now... “you feel neither the fear nor the heat.”

Young boy: ...gh...! ...?

The fear vanished from the boy’s face, replaced by a puzzled expression.

While holding the boy in his arms, Alfons returned with the same light steps he had went in with.

Alfons: Here you are. A delivery for a most good-natured little robin.

Kate: ...Everything’s alright now.

Young boy: huhu... waaah!

Perhaps he had felt so much fear, but it seemed the illusion cast upon his heart that he ‘wasn’t scared’ had quickly worn off,

and the young boy burst into tears in my arms.

—— Scene change; lounge ——

Apparently, that young boy had been living in poverty, and having been deceived by some bad adults, he was made to take part in this evil plot.

According to Roger’s examination, the young boy suffered from minor injuries. It was then decided that he would be transferred to a special ward in the Royal Hospital to recover.

(Thank goodness...)

Fatigue hit me right after relief, and my body, feeling heavy, sunk into the sofa like a boat.

Kate: What a long night it’s been...

Alfons, too, sat down in a place a little ways away from me.

Alfons: Good lord, I don’t even remember the last time I was subjected to such physical labor.

A: And now thanks to that, I’ve been rendered sore left and right.

Kate: Hm...? Is it really alright for you not to go, Alfons?

K: Just now, everyone else said they were going to interrogate the perpetrators...

Alfons: Such things are better left in the hands of those who know how to best — namely Jude and the others.

With a dismissive wave, Alfons laughed.

And all of a sudden, I remembered the way his back was lit up by the flames as he ran for the young boy.

Kate: And thank you... for saving that child.

K: It made me really happy.

K: But... I also had a feeling you would help anyhow as well.

Hearing my words after the ‘but,’ Alfons laughed, as though fed up.

Alfons: In the face of how oppressive your sense of justice was, I ended up doing what I did... but now regret is starting to plague me.

A: How I wish I could catch the look of despair on your face upon the realization the boy couldn’t be saved after all.

(I long knew those were not his true feelings.)

Kate: ...So you say, but then you go and show illusions because you can’t stand seeing such a face.

Alfons: I see nothing can convince you otherwise.

Kate: Yes, because to me, that is the ‘truth.’

I quite enjoyed the exchanges he and I shared that resembled something like banter, or perhaps just messing around in good fun.

——Having only realized this now, I felt a pang in my heart once again.

(I knew it, I really do like Alfons.)

(...There’s no way I can simply play it off as a delusion.)

Alfons: .........

He spared me a glance before he stood from his seat.

(He’s running away again.)

With such a hunch, my body started to move.

Alfons: Now then... I think I’ll go have a drink or two.

Kate: If that’s so, I will too.

I stood up and took a step, closing a bit of the distance between us.

Kate: Please take me with you.

to be continued…

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[jamesunderwater]

I think it’s honestly more realistic for the trio to give up on their revolutionary/anti-authoritarian ideals and work for the government as adults(I think generation wise, while they might technically be gen x they have much more in common with the boomers). The thing is, Harry Potter is a fantasy series. The characters could tear down the system and make a new, less corrupt government so easily, but they don’t because Jkr is a neo-liberal:/

I thought about that as I was writing the tags -- is it actually out of character for the trio to join the Ministry? And I ended up only saying something about Harry because I think it makes total sense that Hermione would be the type to try and "change the system from within" and I think Ron probably retains some faith in the Ministry because of his dad + would see it as a means to have financial stability (plus just the thrill & notoriety of being an Auror).

But Harry, see, this is what depresses me about the fact that you're right. Because I entirely blame JKR for the fact that it does feel realistic for Harry to eventually have decided to be an Auror. It's her lazy writing and lack of focus on the macro levels of the society she's created that leave room for us to believe that, sure, maybe Harry just saw being an Auror as an obvious path to continue helping people in the way he's best at, and sure, maybe Hermione convinces him they really can change things from the inside. Sure.

But in the hands of a better writer and someone with actual revolutionary ideas (not to mention a soul), Harry's character traits of naturally distrusting people in power, being absolutely incapable of going along with the program, and unwilling to let the tiniest injustices go, plus the fact that he's spent the formative years of his life witnessing the heart of the Ministry's corruption firsthand, would make him the PERFECT character to say fuck that, I refuse to accept that this is the the system we all have to live under. Which is why I said in the tags that Harry James Potter wouldn't let a Ministry man tell him what to do -- because my Harry James Potter never would (just like my Sirius Black would never have confused Harry with James, but that's another issue).

Which is all to say, I agree with you -- it's a fantasy novel, for fuck's sake. A more talented writer with an actual moral compass would have done SO MUCH more with this world JKR threw together, as evidenced by the incredible fanfiction so many people write that far surpasses the original media. Comparing HP with other YA and/or fantasy series like The Hunger Games or The Lord of The Rings really puts into perspective the things JKR didn't address in the books, and what that says about her as a person. (Though at this point she has made it clear all on her own.)

[writingsbychlo]

false confessions | azriel

summary; you overhear azriel say something, and try to cooperate. word count; 4595 notes; based on this ask, that I got a little carried away with!

"I love her, I really do." Az sighed, your heart swelling a little as you listened from where you were perched within the library, Nesta at your side. When you'd heard the men come in, you'd been intent on going to see your mate, but they'd been talking, Cassian had been deep into a story about him and Nesta, and your friend had been adamant about hearing it out. So, you'd let her grab your wrist, sneaking the two of you deeper into the library, hiding away between the shelves where even Azriel's shadows had not bothered to slip away and investigate. 

"But?" Rhysand prompted, your heart skipping a beat in your chest at the pause that followed, the silence seeming to drag on. 

"But... she's so clingy sometimes." Azriel exhaled the words on a breath, and Cassian snickered a little in response. "I just- sometimes I want my peace and quiet, and it just feels like whenever we're together, she's right on top of me at home, we never just.. do our own thing."

Your stomach twisted, and Nesta's fingers tightened around your wrist as she was still gripping it. All playfulness was gone, though. She let go a second later, straightening up and brushing down her skirts primly, pausing only when you grasped her in response, shaking your head. You knew that your friend would defend you to the ends of the earth if you asked, but you didn't want her to. This wasn't her problem, or anyone else's, it was yours. 

You were spinning, mind feeling like it was going a million miles an hour, the way it felt to fly home with Azriel when drunk after a night at Rita’s, while your stomach twisted the way it did the morning after said nights out. You weren’t sure where this problem had come from, up until now, you’d always thought Azriel liked the affectionate side of you, the part that just couldn't get enough of him. Clearly, that was not the case.

Your eyes tracked the movements of Azriel's shadows as they slithered out further, lazily, but inching ever closer to you and Nesta's position. Slowly, in an attempt not to get caught at all, you snuck backwards, taking her with you. Manoeuvring through the stacks, you stayed hidden, the two of you slipping out through the back exit and unseen, and in silence. 

Only once their voices had entirely faded and you were slowing your pace between the twists and turns of the corridors did Nesta finally let a loud and obscene curse slip from her lips. "I'm gonna' kick ten tons of shit out of them all."

"No." The word was icy on your tongue, and her head snapped to you, You gave a soft wince in apology. "I'm not mad at him."

"What? Why not?" 

"Because.. he's right. I am clingy, I just thought he liked that. I thought he liked when we were together, I never sensed anything otherwise down the bond, perhaps he's just good at hiding it. But, you heard him, he doesn't like it, so it's down to me to stop." You shrugged, but it didn't stop the stinging in your throat, and you slammed up walls at your end of the bond, hoping the hurt beginning to build hadn't yet leaked across to reach him. 

"What I heard," Nesta muttered, ice on her own voice as her arms crossed angrily over her chest, "was my mate chuckling his smug little ass off at the comment. Jerk. He can sleep in another bed tonight." She was equally as angry, on your behalf, and you grinned a little at the affection she displayed for you. 

"You don't have to do that."

"It's for me. He doesn't get to gossip about things like this behind my back. I wonder how many things I have done that irritate him that he's never told me, simply choosing to whine about it to those other bats." She hissed the word out like an insult, and you couldn't find fault in her logic. "I'd bet Feyre would agree."

"Would agree with what?" You both jumped, rather violently, approaching the dinner hall where said sister was sitting comfortably, a sketchbook and some charcoals out in front of herself, brows raised. Nesta didn't hesitate, stalking across the room and offering her daemati sister her hand. Brushing off charcoal on her skirt, she took it gently, gasping a second later after replaying the memory. "Those... those jerks!”

“That’s what I said!” Nesta burst, hands on her hips, and only the soft cooing of her nephew was enough to replace the scowl she wore with a slight smile. Your attention remained fixed on Feyre as she processed the covert conversation you’d secretly witnessed.

“No wonder Rhys locked me out, I didn't think much of it, boy talk, but this kind of boy talk?" She frowned, offering a sympathetic look your way, and the solidarity of your friends made you feel that much better. You rubbed your temples, swallowing again thickly, the weight of it all beginning to bring you down a little. "Fey, can you just take me home?"

"Of course, Nesta will watch Nyx for a moment, right?" His auntie was already leaning over his bassinet, tapping the tip of his nose teasingly as the baby babbled happily in return. With a hand in hers, Feyre took you home, a warm hug and a chastising word about their behaviour, her parting gift, before leaving you alone in the house belonging to you and your mate. 

The house was quiet when you were alone, the middle of the day meaning you would be alone for quite a while yet, leaving you plenty of time to decide on your course of action. You glanced around, somehow feeling out of place within your own home. It all felt.. different, somehow.

Were you mad? No, only sad, and so retaliation didn't seem fair. 

Sure, you were upset he'd talk to his friends about it rather than simply tell you, but Azriel had always struggled with 'talking about it', and had never wanted to hurt you. Emotionally inept at times, perhaps this was simply his way of trying to protect your feelings. A conversation you were never supposed to hear, a hurt you were never supposed to feel, because your mate was simply putting up with it to let you feel better. 

You couldn’t have that. This relationship wasn’t supposed to be about secret sacrifices, it was supposed to be about trust and love and mutual respect. You’d sworn it when finding out you were mates, and sworn it again at the ceremony, and you tried to hold it up every day. Azriel wanted to spare your feelings, and now, you’d spare his, too.

It was hours before he returned, and you’d found yourself slipping back into your regular routine, making everything feel normal again by sticking to what you knew. You were unloading ingredients, cooking a comfort meal for yourself, when your mate returned home.

You first caught the tell-tale sign of feet hitting the ground outside from the sky, then steps got closer and closer up the pathway, before finally, the door opening and closing.

By the time you heard him taking off his boots and hanging up his coat, you'd found it within yourself to muster a reasonably convincing smile, and shake away any lingering thoughts about it. You are doing this for Azriel, to make him happy, to love him the way he’d loved you for years, without ever telling you. Your body twitched, aching to move to him like you always did, to greet him at the door with a kiss, with a hug, with something, and you firmly rooted your feet to the ground. After a pause, clearly anticipating what you now realised was an unwanted overload of affection, Azriel left the entry, stepping through the large open-arc into the kitchen. 

"Hello, my love.." You only smiled, ignoring the curious tone in his voice, brushing your hands down the front of your apron. "What have you been up to today?"

"I saw Nesta." 

"Oh?" He paused by your side, leaning down to press a kiss to your cheek, and you tipped your face to the side receiving it, but made no move for more the way you usually would. 

"She gave me a couple of new books, and said she’d return the other ones." You only hoped he simply hadn't noticed that the book pile on the coffee table had not, in fact, changed at all. He didn't glance over, and you moved away, to the food laid out ready to be prepared for dinner. 

"Are you alright, my love? You don't seem quite like yourself, tonight.”

You redirected your glance to the vegetables, only nodding in response, and taking a deep breath to force another smile. "I'm just fine, don't worry, just a little tired today."

He lingered for a second, before nodding himself, offering a smile in return, and a flush of reassuring love down the bond. You let it in, letting it warm you from the inside out. So, this is what he wanted, he had noticed and was already responding better. It was both relieving and painful. He rolled up his sleeves, taking another step closer to you. "What are we making? What can I do to help?"

"Not a thing, I've got it here, don't worry." His head shot up, brows furrowing once again, and your hand almost reached out, wishing to smooth that spot between on his face that had wrinkled with the frown. He noticed this time, the slight raise of your hand before you lowered it. 

"But, I thought you liked it when we cooked together? You said you like how I can tell you about my day, while we make dinner." It's true, you had said that, but that was just another one of the events you'd forced upon him, wasn't it? Another act where he wanted to do his own thing, but was instead beholden to your wishes.

"I do, but we don't have to cook together every night. I'm fine here, I was just in my thoughts, is all. You could tell me about your day while we eat?” A flash of hurt travelled across his face, as though you were rejecting him, and so it was your turn to send a pulse of love down the bond to him. He tugged in response, pulling a smile from you, a real one, the way it always did when he did that. 

With a kiss placed on your forehead, he left in silence a moment later. Not long after, his footsteps were on the stairs, bath filling in the bathroom, and you let out a sigh at his absence. 

He returned in time for dinner, one of his shadows had been left behind, not-so-subtly lingering near the chopping boards to monitor you, and so you'd been careful about making sure to seem positively chipper until he returned. He helped carry everything through to the table, commenting gently under his breath about how good it all looked, and you thanked him as you poured wine, letting him serve food for you both onto your respective plates. 

Taking opposite seats, the lull lasted not a full second, before Azriel was diving right into a spirited recap of his day:

"Rhysand and Cassian are in the doghouse." You almost slipped with your wine glass as you took a nerve-soothing sip, and Azriel was smirking as he chopped his chicken up, lifting a piece on his fork to his lips, awaiting your response. 

"Oh? And why is that?" You followed suit, hoping your tone didn't give it away, already knowing exactly why they were upset. All three of you had felt a little betrayed by their conversation behind your backs. 

"Not a clue. All I know is that after we finished our discussion, Nesta and Feyre wanted nothing to do with either. Rhys was all 'Feyre, darling, I was thinking we could catch dinner on the Sidra tonight, I made a reservation'," Azriel mocked his best friend's voice, and genuine laughter spilt from you, his eyes glittering a little and the bond between you humming once again. "And then Feyre said 'I was thinking I'd rather spend the evening with anyone else, right now, actually'. He was speechless. As were Cass and I." 

He was so excited to share the gossip, like it was the most exciting thing that had ever happened, and the thought that perhaps this wouldn't be so hard crossed your mind. The same Azriel, the same you, just with less.. togetherness. Less touching. Perhaps, it would even make the times together and the touches even more special than you'd always thought they were. "And Cassian?"

"Even worse. He was in the midst of laughing at Rhys' shocked face when Nesta all but removed his balls in front of us." He took a swig of his wine, and you placed a piece of chicken into your mouth, excited to hear just how she'd unleashed that anger she'd been holding when you'd last seen her. "She said, 'oh, laugh it up, bat boy. See how much you're laughing when you're laying in bed alone tonight, nothing but your right hand to keep you company'."

That made your jaw drop, Azriel's deep laughter permeating the air at your reaction, and you felt proud of your friend, even if you did feel a little bad for Cassian. That's what they get for complaining behind their mates' backs instead of being honest. 

"So, Feyre then proceeded to thank Rhysand for the reservation, take both Nyx and Nesta and winnow away without another word. Presumably to said reservation for a lovely sisterly dinner." Az shrugged, turning back to his food, and you sipped at your wine. Good for them. "When I left, Rhys and Cass were grumbling at the dinner table, trying to work out what they'd done wrong."

That sent a pang of pain shooting back through your chest, but you quickly suppressed it, beginning to tell him all about your own day, and your suddenly-made plans to go shopping instead of sitting at home with him all day tomorrow. He didn't object, only encouraged you. 

After dinner, with plates cleared away and wine glasses refilled, you'd both moved to the living room, a quiet night planned as he settled onto the couch, book in hand, opening his action-packed thriller to the page he'd left off at as you stoked the fire idly, stocking a few more logs on. 

When there was nothing more you could do to it, you stood, brushing down your skirts and leaving the room, not missing the trail of his eyes after you, or the sweep of one of his shadows, trying to curl around your ankle as you hurried through the house and up the stairs. You had planned to simply settle into bed, let your mind spin and wander, but with his watchful little trick giving you it's full-attention, you were forced to move through your preparations for bed, and follow its lead when it wrapped itself around your wrist, tugging you back downstairs. 

When you returned, Azriel's glass was empty, book still open, but his gaze was on the doorway as you walked through it. "Where'd you go?"

"I thought I'd prepare for bed before reading tonight, seeing as I'm so tired, that way I can get in bed as soon as the need arises." Your hands locked in front of yourself, and dipped his head in a gesture toward your book pile. 

"Will you sit with me and read for a while, then?"

"Of course." What were you supposed to do, say no? You were giving him space, but when he asked you to stay, who were you to deny it? Picking up the book from the top of the pile, you settled down into the large armchair on one side of the table, perpendicular to the couch Azriel sat on. As you opened your book, his snapped shut, and he let out a rough sigh. 

"What are you doing?"

"I'm reading." You teased, waving your book at him, but he was not in such a playful mood, it seemed. 

"I see that. Why are you doing it over there?"

You faltered. What now? Confess to hearing him, or continue to spare his feelings the way he had been sparing yours for years. The choice seemed clear. "Sitting closer to the fire, so I don't get cold."

"You never get cold, because you sit with me. You sit here, and if you get cold, I wrap a wing around you, and you get that cute little blush on your face and make one of those jokes about Illyrians being built warmer for those 'damn cold mountains'. So, why are you sitting over there?"

Busted. You worried your lower lip, trying to decide exactly what to say, but he beat you to it, his face crumpling a little as realisation washed over him. 

"You heard us in the library." It wasn't a question, no, it was a statement. A fact, he knew it. Your mate was far too intelligent and deductive for his own good, sometimes. He put down his book, crossing the room in a flash, and removing yours from your hold too. He slipped down to one knee before you, grasping your hands in his, and he gaped for a few moments, no words coming. "I didn't mean it," was what he settled on. 

"'Course you did, Az. It's okay." You squeezed his hands lightly, and he gripped back firmer, like you might pull away from him if he didn't hold on. "I was a little upset to know you'd rather tell your friends than simply tell me if something I was doing was bothering you, but you're allowed to be bothered by things."

"No, I didn't mean it, my love. Please, don't take it to heart." There was a pleading under his voice, like he thought this might drive a wedge between you both, and you pried one hand free to sit comfortingly over his cheek. His head tipped into the touch. 

"Az, it's okay, really. Not everything is always going to be perfect between us, but in future, if I do something you don't like, just tell me, okay?"

"No, no, no.." He was panicking now, so much so that the fear was beginning to ripple down the bond, you couldn't just hear it in his voice but feel it ricocheting through your own chest. Cold, like shards of ice. "Everything is perfect, and that is the problem. Rhys was complaining about all the changes with Nyx. About how he loves his son so much, but lately, Feyre hasn't even wanted to touch him, and she's had such mood swings because of the sleepless nights, he's frazzled. One minute she's coming onto him, the next she's snapping at him because he didn't kiss her just right. Cassian was complaining because Nesta is so fiercely independent and he loves it, but when all that overprotective side of him kicks in and she snaps at him for going full-Cass-mode on her, he hates it. He wishes sometimes she'd just let him clean her wounds and treat her gently."

You didn't know quite what to say, confusion filling you, and he pressed on, pushed a little closer, never letting your gaze slip from his, holding you captive with it.

"Then they were looking at me, like I was supposed to say something, anything. Like, they'd been vulnerable about things they couldn't tell their mates without feeling embarrassed, as though it was my turn. I couldn't think of anything, because, baby, everything is perfect. All I wanted to say was, 'can't relate, Rhysand; maybe one day but not today. Can't relate Cassian; my girl protects me as much as I protect her, we fuss over each other'. I didn't want to upset them, and I realised what they wanted was clingy, the kind of clingy we have, the kind of clingy I love. So, I tried to tell them it wasn't all it seemed, so they'd feel better."

His thumbs soothed over your knuckles, the only sounds between you being the popping of the fire and the ticking of the large clock, until you sighed. He leaned down, kissing the hand still clutched in his own, before twisting to press a kiss to the palm on his cheek before you could retract it. 

"It damn near broke my heart when you didn't greet me at the door tonight. It's my favourite part of getting up in the morning, knowing that when I come home, you'll come flying into my arms, and show me so much love, a kind of love I never thought I'd have. But you didn't, you said you were fine, though. I worried you were mad at me, too. You didn't want to cook together, I hated that, because I like being part of the things you like. You didn't kiss me, you haven't kissed me all night, I miss it. I miss it so much. You didn't hold my hand at dinner, and now you won't sit with me. I'm worried, my love. I'm scared, you have to believe me."

He raised his free hand, sitting it tenderly over your jaw, just like you did for him, swiping his thumb delicately back and forth across your cheekbone. It was an act you adored so much, something he knew brought you peace and comfort, and at this moment, it was doing just that. You could feel the fear in his words as it echoed in your chest, the desperation as he waited for your response. Lifting the hand from his cheek, his gaze tracked the movement, watching your hand hover for a split second over his head. He didn't let the half-second become a full one. He took your hand, lacing it into his hair where it had been headed, your fingernails scratching over his scalp in the soothing way he loved so much. 

"Always touch me. Never hesitate. I don't care if we're at dinner or on a battlefield, but your touch, your attention, your love is everything. Never stop." His eyes fluttered closed in bliss, but he was still tense. "Just say you forgive me."

"I do not, because there's nothing to forgive." His breath hitched at the beginning of your sentence, eyes snapping open wide, and you leaned forward to rest your forehead on his. "Next time, come up with something that's not going to hurt my feelings, even if I shouldn't be eavesdropping."

He smirked at that, nose brushing yours and he laughed breathily. "Next time, I'm just going to take the teasing and let them know how utterly fucking hard in love I am."

"Well, that works too." You smiled, before he was sitting up more, raising from his one knee and pressing his hands underneath your body. "What are you doing?"

"Moving you so we can sit together."

"I'll just come to the couch-"

"Won't be close enough, now." He muttered, scooping you up enough to settle into the wing-designed chair, and situating you sideways across his lap as your eyes rolled. He left a soft bite to your covered shoulder in response. "Don't roll your eyes at me, you had me freaking out. I thought you weren't going to forgive me. I thought you weren't going to.. to be the you that I love, anymore.."

"Yes, well, that's over now." You leaned in, kissing the tip of his nose for emphasis, but uncertain eyes found yours again.

"You mean it?"

"I do." You pressed another kiss to his jaw, fingernails moving back to rake through the thick black hair on the top of his head.

"You'll greet me at the door tomorrow with a kiss?" Mm-hm. "You'll let me cook with you?" Your lips moved up to his cheek, nuzzling there sweetly as you left little pecks across his skin, mm-hm. "You'll hold my hand at the table, and play footsie, and you'll curl up on the couch with me after?" Mm-hm, your kisses reached the corner of his mouth, and you felt it twitch into a smile underneath your lips. "You'll cuddle with me in bed tonight?"

"And every other night, for the rest of our lives." 

Something akin to adoration raced through your chest, filling every part of you. Despite his pink-tinged cheeks, Azriel was confident in his requests, hazel eyes shining as he looked at you. "And you'll kiss me, you'll hold me, every time you want to. Promise me, you'll never hide your affection from me, promise me you'll show me your love for as long as you feel it for me?"

"As long as you promise the same to me." He nodded, vehemently, sealing the deal with an urgent kiss, and you felt a tingling mark forming on the back of your neck, alongside the mating bond you'd made together so many years ago. Another promise formed, to be held forever. 

His lips worked against your own, fingers slipping from where they sat on your cheek to smooth up, no longer running his fingers gently along your jaw but tracing soft tips over the patch on your neck. His lips became a smile in the kiss, teasing and sweet, a breathy sound slipping from you as he nipped at your lower. 

“We should go upstairs.” He whispered, and your arms looped around his neck, prepared for the movement that was so come as he began to shuffle toward the edge of the seat. Raising with you in his arms, he walked a path he was familiar with, your lips beginning to trace his cheekbone the way his thumb had yours moments prior, when a sudden thought crossed your mind. You gasped, sitting up stock straight and Azriel paused at the base of the stairs, brows raising, half-lidded eyes attempting to focus at your reaction. “What is it, my love?”

“We.. we have to go and tell Nesta and Feyre we worked things out.” Azriel stared for a moment, before a blinding grin was splitting across his face. It was more than a smile, it was amused and cheeky and youthful in a way he rarely showed, only in moments like this where the two of you were truly alone, when he let himself be vulnerable. A deep chuckle followed, before he was moving again, climbing the stairs with you in his arms, smile becoming a smirk. 

“So you’re the reason my brothers are in such trouble, huh?” He leaned down, nipping at the shell of your ear as he backed his way into your bedroom, kicking the door shut behind himself. Dropping you down onto the bed, enough to be able to crawl toward you as you backed up into the pillows, he didn’t let up with the wicked stare. “Let it be, we can tell them tomorrow. Consider tonight a punishment for complaining.”

“Were you not technically part of that conversation, Az? Should you not also be punished?” Your words held no threat, and he knew it too, because he only dipped his head down once he was supporting himself above you. His lips dragged over your skin, up from your chin to the shell of your ear, only to whisper;

“Oh, I think I've been punished enough for tonight. I can come up with some much more fun things for us to do..”

[icyg4l]

PAC: How Does Your Higher Self Define Womanhood?

Hello, beautiful people. Today marks the last post of the Women’s History Month series & one of two posts made today! I am excited to continue to create content for you guys. And I am even more grateful for the support I have received as of lately. Because of this, I will continue to post creative tarot readings. So, without further ado, please pick your pile.

Left-to-Right: (1-4)

Pile 1: Pile One, your story reminds me of the Miss Congeniality plot. Basically, Sandra Bullock plays a detective that goes undercover as a beauty pageant contestant. At first, she rejects the ideas of what it means to be a “girly girl” but eventually conforms to the standards. She viewed femininity as a sign of weakness and did not like being around other women because she felt that she had to prove herself to be tough. But she gained respect for the girls who worked in these pageants as she worked undercover because she began to acknowledge the hard work it takes to be in the pageants. By the end, she is closer to her womanhood. You have a similar story. I doubt that you’re a detective reading this but I feel as though you may have the tendency to thoroughly investigate any piece of information. To your higher self, womanhood means constantly being on the search for answers to placate the inner child wounds that lie within you. I feel like when you were younger, you may have been an outcast or a tomboy, maybe both. Because of this, you have set a lifelong quest to figure out what being a woman means to you whether it is intentional or not. Your higher self wants you to know that being a woman comes with all types of trauma, but remembering that you do not have to face it alone. You do not have to carry the burdens alone. You see, women are conditioned to be demure for the sake of keeping the peace but that’s not what works for you. Embrace the messy parts of yourself because if you don’t, life will get boring. Part of your mission is being aware of your multifaceted nature; reject conformity, embrace the abnormal, babe.

Cards Used: The Sun, 4 of Cups, 4 of Swords, 5 of Wands, Ace of Cups, The Magician, 5 of Cups, 3 of Cups, 3 of Swords.

Signs: Aquarius, Libra, Leo, Sagittarius.

extras: money getter. cash grabs. “low hanging fruit.” airhead. wallpaper. phineas and ferb. “sharon.” beetles. s.o.s. by rihanna. “tinge of an accent.” sweet. mirrors. coconut trees. hawaii. stubborn. radioactive.

Pile 2: Pile Two, there is a similar vibe that you have to Pile One, except I don’t think that you have problems with accepting your femininity. I think that you have problems with how masculines function in society. I am sensing a Lori Harvey type of energy here. This is likely related to the way that you operate when it comes to love. People tend to want to possess you so that they can show you off like a trophy. But your higher self wants you to know the difference between users and the genuine thing. I feel like you’ve developed this flighty persona to protect yourself from harm. While experiencing the many tribulations of womanhood, you have adopted the “flights over feelings” type of mindset. How has that been working out for you? No, really. Is it actually working or have you convinced yourself that it has. As a woman, your higher self thinks that womanhood is finding love in a loveless world. This isn’t necessarily about romance, but it’s just a mindset that you should adopt. It will save you from falling victim to the cycles of toxicity that plague society. It’s a cold world out here, babe but it doesn’t mean that you have to be as cold as the world. Part of your mission is forgiving yourself and those who hurt you so that you can see the beauty in the world. With this newfound sight of beauty, there comes true inner power.

Cards Used: The Devil, 7 of Discs (RX), 8 of Wands, The Hierophant, 3 of Swords, 3 of Cups, 10 of Discs, The Star, 10 of Cups (RX).

Signs: Capricorn, Cancer, Scorpio, Virgo.

extras: two can play that game. all about love by bell hooks. renegade. open arms. country music lover. tony montana. archer (2009). “logan.” phoenix rising. “marcus.” ashy. corny. cerebellum. stupendous.

Pile 3: Pile Three, your higher self defines womanhood as something that is both sweet and sour. It is something that she takes for granted but it is also something that she takes pride in. It’s a strength but also a weakness. I feel like I am talking to someone who has an ingenue/youthful spirit. I channeled the character Darla from The Little Rascals but I also channeled Charlotte from Princess and the Frog. You seem to be very in tune with your inner child and there is nothing wrong with that. Your inner child is heavily protected by the teenaged version of yourself, which seems very angry. These different versions of yourself often clash with one another, which can lead to bouts of depression and confusion. Your higher self is a woman who pours into herself through movement and self-expression. You need to channel these negative energies into creativity or else you will be stifled by your own thoughts. You honestly need to get out of your head. Your higher self feels as though there is a flip side to every coin that you get. For example, if you are having period pains, it may hurt but at least you’re not pregnant! Looking on the brighter side of life is how you can be closer to your higher self.

Cards Used: 5 of Swords, 6 of Swords, Page of Swords, Justice, 4 of Cups, Ace of Cups, Ace of Discs, 5 of Wands, The Hanged Man.

Signs: Leo, Pisces, Aries, Gemini.

extras: janet jackson. “i’m da man.” we will rock you. parties. diva. elle magazine. shapely. “how’d you figure?” honest answers only. maya angelou. glorilla. lola bunny. fatigue. body aches. deodorant. small bowls. annual. prayers. mark on the cheek. boot camp. “your highness.” shredded cheese. livelihood.

Pile 4: And last but not least, Pile Four. I feel like you are well sought after in the most lusty way possible. This has its perks, but lately, you feel like it has more cons than anything. I feel like you’re someone who always seems to feel isolated because of this. As a result, your higher self views womanhood as foreign. The amount of power that you hold as a woman is beyond explanation. There are so many ways that you can present yourself, Pile Four. I don’t think you have realized your true potential. Yes, you have gone through trauma because people assumed that you could handle the weight of the world but this means nothing to your spirit. Wake up! Don’t you realize how unique you are? Pile Four, womanhood can really only be defined by you, not by anyone else. The prioritization of yourself will help you make a name for yourself. You could be in your 20s, tired and just wanting a change. Well, your higher self wants you to know that change will come once you begin to change the narrative yourself. If you believe something about yourself that was told to you by someone else, then it means that you’re easily moldable. Being a woman means rising to the top even through the facings of opposition. You are a fighter. So the question is: when are you going to jump in the ring and fight for your sense of self, Pile Four.

Cards Used: Ace of Cups, Queen of Wands, 3 of Discs, Knight of Discs, Ten of Swords, 4 of Discs, The Hermit, Queen of Swords, 9 of Discs.

Signs: Gemini, Pisces, Cancer, Virgo.

extras: “tart.” “fresh out the shower.” burgundy. melons. net worth. SWer. dollar bills. illegal documents. molly. friendless. stoned. be your own boss. cake baker. sister, sister. wiseman. silly goose. fall. saturn.

[thetriumphantpanda]

i think he did it | javier peña

Take The Weight Off His Shoulders - Chapter Ten

Chapter Summary | you and Javi face the fallout of your investigation together.

Chapter Warnings | mentions of head injuries and injuries caused by others (not Javi), mentions of the drug trade, drugs and drug related violence and death, Javi being soft, allusions to smut but nothing explicit, more of a filler chapter but I hope you still love it.

Pairing | dbf!Javier Peña x F!Reader

Word Count | 2.2K

Authors Note | I am so very sad that we're nearing the end of the story with these two - we only have two chapters left to go! They have been a joy to me and I have loved sharing their story with you. Thank you as always for being so patient in waiting for updates. If you are enjoying this then reblogs and comments really do help and if you’d like to support me further, please consider a donation to my Ko-Fi. 

I no longer use taglists. Please follow @thetriumphantpandanotifs to be notified of new updates.

Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist | Ko-Fi | Series Playlist

There’s a dull ache settled behind your eyes when you wake up the next morning. A throb that pulses perfectly in time with the heartbeat settled beneath your ribs. When your eyes flutter open, there’s streaking sunlight throughout the room that’s still too bright for you to be able to manage, so you clamp your eyelids shut once more, groaning as you roll over onto your back, right into the solid weight of someone sitting in bed.

It’s the only thing that could get you to open your eyes, turning over and looking up at Javier, with his neck craned down, looking at an open file in his lap. He flicks his eyes towards you, and you’re expecting the lecture, the tone of I-told-you-so, but instead, his attention just turns back to the file he’s reading.

“What’s that?” You croak out, finding your mouth dry.

“A file,” He answers plainly, as if he thinks you must be blind, “Thought if you’re going to ride off into the sun on your own to do the heroics, you should probably have some backup.”

He shifts his knees down and twists the file so you can see it. You scoot up, trying to make sense of the words in front of you, when you feel his hand, warm and supportive on the back of your head, his lips pressed to the top as you read.

The file looks to pretty light, there’s only a few sheets of paper inside it, but from what you can get a sense of, it must be all the police have on the drugs raid.

“I’m sorry,” You mumble, moving your face into the warmth of his arm, “I didn’t think he would hurt me.”

There’s a pause and you can feel his body stiffen next to you, but then there’s movement and the arm you’ve currently got your face pressed into moves and envelops your shoulders, pressing you into his side.

“It’s okay,” He says softly, “I’m sorry too.”

You wrap your arm across his middle, he’s not bothered to put a shirt on and you finally realise how much you’ve missed the feeling of his skin on your own.

“Did I do something wrong?” You ask timidly, looking out into the expanse of his room as opposed to looking up at him.

You feel him suck in some air and let it out in a sigh, “No, hermosa, you didn’t, I-” He pauses for a moment, “I shouldn’t have looked through your things firstly, that was wrong of me, and I’m sorry,” You grip him a little tighter then, “Ever since I came back, everyone treats me like I did some big, heroic thing, when the truth is I think I probably made everything worse, sure there are some bad men in jail, but those bad man have other bad men to do their bidding, and I see it, every single fucking day, when those boats go up and down the river, all of the fucked up shit I did hasn’t made one bit of difference.”

You open your mouth to speak, but he’s quicker at continuing, and there’s something that tells you to keep quiet.

“All those newspaper clippings you had? None of them tell the truth, it’s all just American propaganda to make us think we’re on the right side of history, I’m not the man they make me out to be, I’m not the all-American hero from the stories, I did bad things down there, I killed people, I got people killed by making shitty choices, and I couldn’t bare the thought that you believed them, that you thought I was some saint.”

“Javi,” You murmur softly, finally looking up at him despite the dull ache behind your eyes, “I know you’re not a saint, you’re fucking your friend’s daughter.”

There’s a shift in his chest and a sound that you think is a chuckle.

“Is that all we’re doing here?” He asks softly, “Are we just fucking?”

It’s a question you hadn’t really thought about before, because it had been, right? The two of you enjoying yourselves, meeting the other’s needs. But he came when you called, despite everything, and that’s got to mean something right?

You shift a little, draping yourself across his chest so you can really look at him now.

“Are we?”

He offers you a small smile and you realise now how much you’ve missed being on the receiving end of it, how it makes your heart clench.

“I don’t know baby,” He sighs, reaching out to cup your cheek in his palm, stroking the skin with his thumb, “All I know is that when I found you last night, and you were bleeding and hurt, I wanted to hurt someone right back, and that I want to keep you safe, and that you are the one thing that makes me truly happy right now,” He shrugs a little, “So I don’t know, are we just fucking?”

You offer him your own smile now, leaning up to press a soft kiss against his mouth, finally feeling at home and at peace, safe and warm with the one person you never thought would feel the same.

“I guess not,” You mumble against his mouth, “All I know is I want you to be mine, and I know it’s complicated and messy, but I don’t care, you’re all I want.”

“I’m not going anywhere baby, I promise,” and moves to kiss you again, “Now lie back down before you make your headache worse.”

You relent, knowing that the pinching behind your eyes is only going to get worse if you don’t do as you’re told.

“So, agente,” He teases, hearing him open the file on his lap again, “Tell me what we need to know.”

It’s almost noon by the time he arrives at the station. He spent the morning listening to you take him through what you know and what your hunches are, and he has to admit, you’d give a fair amount of people at the DEA a run for their money.

He’s left you sleeping in his bed, a fact he thinks he might just be able to get used to, and has taken the police file your dad had given him, full of his own notes and yours, to the station to try and finish this. He knows you want to do it, you’ve worked hard enough to deserve the glory, but he’ll be damned if he’s going to let you take this on yourself when there’s a bunch of people who get paid far more then you do to do it properly.

“Hey buddy,” Your dad greets him, still riding high off his relaxing vacation, “What can I do for you?”

Javi wastes no time in putting the file down on his desk, sliding it across for him. He opens it, picks up the loose papers and the photocopies of deeds and old articles. He slips his glasses on and reads as Javi sits in one of the chairs across from him and lights a cigarette, waiting for it to all click into place.

“Jesus,” He mutters, “You didn’t waste much time, did you?”

Javi shakes his head, takes the cigarette from his mouth between two fingers and points to some notes you’d given him from your bag.

“Wasn’t me.”

It takes your dad a minute to register your handwriting, “You mean this was her?”

“Yeah, I mean it was her,” Javi’s tone is stern, “Followed up on that drugs bust story and has managed to uncover the fact that the mayor’s prodigy is helping scum drug dealers pump god knows what onto the streets here.”

Your dad let’s out a low whistle, “I knew she was good, but this is something else.” Then Javi watches as he closes the file.

“I’m gonna have to corroborate all this before we can move forward.”

It the first time that Javi see’s red since he came back from Colombia. Red fucking tape. He’s lost count of the times he’s been so fucking close and foiled at the last minute by bureaucracy and here is no different.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not denying she’s done good work, but before we can walk in and arrest the prodigal son, I need to make sure this,” He taps his finger to the file, “Is rock fucking solid.”

“You remember asking me to come back?” Javi asks, “All those weeks back, practically begging me to help solve the drug problem in town?” He sucks in a breath and tries to keep his cool, “Your daughter hands you everything you need and you want to waste time corroborating?”

Javi listens as the man in front of him sighs, pinches the bridge of his nose and looks genuinely tired. He imagines this is what he must have looked like to others back in Colombia.

“My hands are tied, Jav,” He speaks, “Just like they always have been, just like yours were, and will be if you come back,” Javi can feel himself rolling his eyes, “If we do this, we do it by the book because any whiff of something off and that boy is off the hook, and you know I’m right.”

He can’t listen to this anymore, so he stands, chair legs scraping across the floor. He stubs his cigarette out in the ashtray on the desk, and then turns, taking two strides to the door before his name is being called.

“She give you this last night?”

He could lie, he knows he could, but he’s tired. Tired of being wrong, and on the wrong side of things all the time. He’s a detective, and a damn good one at that, he’ll work it out sooner or later, and knowing you spent all night in his bed, that you didn’t go home and both he and your mom know that, he realises he’s done lying.

“Yes, sir.”

The office door is opened and closed before he can wait for the fallout.

You’re still trying to get rid of the dull ache behind your eyes when he comes home, door slammed rather than shut, which does nothing to help the pain despite you being in a completely different room of the house.

You can hear him talking to Chucho, who you think has missed his calling in life as a nurse with the care you’ve been given today. Painkillers and fresh water every few hours, a sandwich for lunch made just how you like them and a hot compress across your forehead.

Thankfully, Javi is more gentle with the door to his room, closing it with a soft click, when he enters. You keep your eyes closed, feeling the bed dip next to you and his hand on your waist.

“Feeling okay?” He murmurs, placing his hand over the flannel on your forehead.

“Fine,” You grumble, cracking one eye open, “How’d it go?”

He shakes his head and scoffs, “Gave him the file and got a bunch of bullshit about needing to corroborate it all,” He’s dragging the compress off your skin now, walking to his bathroom as he talks, “As if it’s not all there in front of him, as if you didn’t get hurt trying to prove it all,” His voice gets louder as he walks back, flannel back on your forehead now warm again, “Practically begging me to come back and putting up all the red tape, I-”

“Javi,” You interrupt, “Stop.”

“What?” He asks, but not unkindly, “It’s true.”

“And he’s right, you know he is,” You counter, “This needs to be by the book because otherwise that asshole walks.”

Javi takes a deep breath and then chuckles, “You are your father’s daughter, cariño,” Shaking his head, “That’s exactly what he said.”

You pull at his arm to get him to lie down with you, lying side-by-side with his hand in yours, silence blanketing you both for a moment, apart from the cicadas outside the open window.

“You wanted to leave all that behind,” You say softly, curling into his side, “The heroics, everything in the newspapers, everything in Colombia,” You feel him squeeze your hand, “So leave it there, Javi, let someone else do it.”

He turns to face you now, peeling the flannel from your forehead before one of his hands is cupping your cheek, kiss pressed to the tip of your nose.

“Sometimes I wonder where all your sense comes from,” He muses, “But you’re right, I’m sorry, I know he’s only doing the right thing.”

You can feel your eyes getting heavy as you wrap your arms around his middle, face pressed to the crook of his neck.

“Sleepy?” He asks, tracing patterns up your spine.

“Mmhmm.” Is all you can manage.

“Then sleep baby,” His lips pressed to the top of your head, “I’ll be here in the morning.”

[bigassmoonchild]

The Hearing

Pairing: Simon 'Ghost' Riley x Reader

Word Count: 2.3k

The first four parts give context, but may not be required for this read.

Summary: Being stuck in hearing sucked. Especially when Price revealed things about yourself you hadn't even known, and now Ghost was unsure of the choices he'd been making.

Content Tags: Separation, Mentions of Violence, Mild Storybuilding, Scenting, Mentions of Possible Pregnancy, Ghost Walking Out, Ghost being Unsure, No Use of Y/N, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha! Ghost

A/N: This took me half of The Wolverine, 16 minutes of Hamilton and 12 episodes of Bluey to get through. No sex yet, but if y'all don't want the pregnancy ark do let me know. This series may be coming to an end soon, but that doesn't mean Doc is going away forever. As always, content under the cut and requests are open <3

P.S: I was going to adjust part of this, but I've figured out a way to extend this story a little further, so I'm removing it from being privately posted. My apologies!

Part 1 | Previous, Next | Headcannons, Masterlist

This keeps fucking happening. It took four months before you and Ghost got in trouble again. Instead of having each other, now you were stuck without the other. The rest of the 141 was busy smuggling items between yourself and Ghost, it finally having gotten out that the two of you were mated.

That you were an Omega.

You were removed from training your squad for the time being, currently being investigating for the incident that had happened. Too many times you had seen the same people for hearings. Too many times you were stuck sitting in the same room and looking among the same people.

"Can you explain to us how no one knew that Michael wasn't taking his suppressants?" Was the question posed to you.

You adjusted in your seat, smoothing down the pair of nice pants you'd thrown on and smelling the thick perfume you'd put on to block the distressed scent you'd been throwing off. "No one in the compound is capable of scenting other people, those abilities are blocked with the military grade suppressants we are given. Scents are also dulled with the suppressants, so no one would've been able to tell," you explained. Short and simple, not nearly as scientific as it should've been.

"And you couldn't tell? Being mated means off of suppressants, which means you should've been able to scent him."

"It takes a minimum of two days off suppressants for a scent to begin coming back and another week before the androstenone in an Alphas body to increase dangerously high. I was on leave for three weeks prior to the incident, so I had to have returned back to base at nearly the two week mark," you wanted to see Simon.

You each had a babysitter, swapping out in shifts so neither of you were unattended for more than five minutes. You'd began self-soothing, rubbing the gland on your wrist aggressively against your neck gland, the clothes you were receiving weekly from Price wasn't doing enough.

No matter what, you were still stuck in this god damn hearing. Until you could smell Simon. You spun in your seat, searching the general room for him, watching as he was led forward, taking a seat across the aisle from you.

"Now, Mr. Riley, what caused you to attack Michael?" You were still watching him, only his balaclava to protect his face from those around you. You could just barely see his side-profile, his hardly blinking eyes as he stared down the person questioning him.

He glanced briefly at you. "My Omega was being attacked, I could smell her distress from a few halls down so I was going to find out what was happening. I heard him screaming at her and threatening her life, so I did what I had to to protect her," he answered, no hesitation. They hummed and nodded, glancing at you before looking back to Simon.

God, he smelled so much better than his clothes.

"Doctor, please try and pay attention," you looked down into your lap, giving a small sorry before the hearing proceeded. "What caused Michael to attack you?" At this you had to pause. It all happened so fast and you'd shoved the memory to the back of your head.

"He wanted to get out of the squad, he didn't want a Doctor ordering him around. I assume Mr. Riley said something to him, as he was causing problems with the soldiers covering my squad while I was on leave. He tried to press for information regarding my relationship with the Lieutenant, but I wasn't going to allow him insight he didn't need to know," they were writing everything down, clacking of keyboards and scraping of pens and pencils against paper.

"Do tell us what happened next,"

Looking away, you had to take a deep breath. You could feel the panic setting back in. "I told him that he wouldn't be able to remain in the military or find a new branch if he left. He had too many infractions and I pulled his file to show him, and he lunged for it. Michael was trying to take his file from me, and he could smell I was an Omega. That's when I realized he was going feral," you picked at your fingers, not looking at the group of people as you tried to remember what happened.

They glanced back at their notes, speaking with each other for a moment. "How would you know he was going feral?"

"I have medical documents of my squad. I know when their last heat or rut was, and I decide when they go on leave to ensure they aren't on suppressants for too long that it becomes dangerous, such as what occurred between myself and my Alpha. The androstenone inside an Alpha increases, albeit being dormant, the longer suppressants are taken without a natural rut occurring," you explained. This was the easy part, the things you knew exactly the ins and outs of.

They nodded along with you, fingers still clacking on keyboards as you explained.

"Once someone stops taking suppressants, the androstenone becomes active again. The longer they go without the rut, the more that become active. If they don't rid themselves of the androstenone, it'll force them into ferality to keep the increasing hormones from severely hurting them," they interrupted you for a moment.

"What does ferality do for the Alpha?"

"It ensures that they mate with the nearest Omega in or out of heat to naturally expel the androstenone. If they don't, their rut gets worse and they begin to have different areas of the brain shut down until they are no more than an animal, looking for the next thing to breed," you explained. "Most cases are euthanized, to ensure they don't suffer for long," you added, ensuring they would understand why it was so dangerous.

You had zoned out once they began talking with Simon again. His scent was washing over you every now and again as the AC unit blew cooler air into the room. This room had no windows and was in the middle of the building so they installed AC's for the stifling summer, which meant scents were wafting around with each other and mixing.

But Simons? It was amazing, being able to get it damn near straight from the source. You were waiting for all of this to be over so you could crawl into your nest with Simon. Your heat had been due a week ago, but with the proceedings dragging on you had been far to stressed for your body to allow it to happen.

And you could feel it building within you. You were exhausted all the time, eating more and building a larger nest, moving things in your room around. Now that you had your Alpha near you, you could feel your mind slowly slipping away from you.

You had to think harder, trying to remember how long ago your heat was and when you had to expect it. To be honest, you didn't really want to think that hard right now. You were still exhausted, you didn't get much sleep, considering you'd been without your Alpha for weeks now.

"That should wrap today up, we'll reconvene tomorrow. Same time and location, we'll review what we have learned from you two and Michael and give you our final decision in one week. For now, you two will stay separated and we'll have people watching to ensure you don't meet up," you wanted to argue. So badly, you wanted to tell them that he was your Alpha and he was supposed to be with you.

Even then, you knew that they wouldn't rescind their decision. You watched as Simon was led out, giving you one more look before leaving.

"Listen, kid, I'm really sorry," Price leaned in next to you, whispering as you waited for Simon to get far enough away that you could leave as well without possibly getting in trouble. "I know another week is going to be hard on you," he looked away.

You sighed, leaning back. "It's no harder than the first few weeks mated to him. The only problem is my heat isn't coming and I'm past due," he gave you a weird look before nodding with you.

Standing up, he gestured for you to follow him. You stood and followed him out, allowing him to lead you back to your room. It stayed quiet between the two of you, you figured he was deep in thought and you were just thinking about the nap you were gonna take in your nest.

Quite the exciting life you held now, being stuck back in hearings. You could only do paperwork and most of the work for the week you'd finish right away. It was so boring, the task force only being able to come by every now and again.

When you walked in, he handed you a bag. You looked down and back up at him, brows furrowed. Price gave you a smile and walked back out, the door shutting behind him. You sat on your bed, running your hands down your face and sighing deeply.

You reached into the bag, pulling out another of Simons hoodies. The amount you had at this point made you wonder if he had any left, just about the entirety of your nest was made out of his shirts and hoodies. The scents on some of them were fading, but you didn't remove them just yet.

Without him to be in the nest with you, the scents were fading quicker and quicker. You hated it. You had grown accustomed to having him scenting you at night and before he had to leave in the morning, him remarking your gland every now and again when you were able to.

Moving to throw the bag in the bag of bags, you felt something move inside it with your movements. Setting it back down, you opened it to look inside.

A pregnancy test.

"Price!" You shouted, his office door slamming open. You were heaving, having run straight to his office after finding his last little gift. "What the hell?"

He looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was talking to my own Omega and they mentioned giving you one. A lot of the symptoms you'd been mentioning had lined up with their own pregnancy. You don't have to use it, obviously, I just figured you'd want it," you stopped to think.

How had you been exhibiting all the signs of a pregnant Omega and yet you'd been unable to recognize it? You were a bloody biologist, so you'd already known exactly what the signs were. Intense nesting urges, increased eating, increased amounts of sleep.

Jesus, were you pregnant? Maybe you should take the test, just to be sure. Price opened his mouth to say something before shaking his head and going back to his paperwork. You were going to pester him about what he was going to say, but you didn't.

"You could get this hearing pushed off if you're pregnant. They'll consider it an Alpha protecting his pup. You didn't hear this from me,"

The next day Simon was back where he'd been sitting, in the back of the hearing room waiting for them to call him forward. He could see you, some rows ahead of him. Your scent had become more delectable to him over the last few weeks, even if he hadn't been able to smell you directly.

The rest of the task force was playing a dangerous game, smuggling items between the two of you. He knew that, if caught, they could be put on a probationary leave and investigated to figure out if it was more than just items.

Simon watched as you stood from your seat, hands folded in front of you. He could smell you better than when you'd been sitting, the scent sweetening to something he couldn't explain.

All he wanted to do was scent mark you and hold you in your nest, maybe find you some food and feed you. What the hell was up with him? He'd been stalking as close to your room as he could get, snarling at every Alpha who walked near.

"I haven't made you aware yet, but I have been in for a pregnancy test," everyone went silent and Simons eyes widened. "The results should be coming in another day or two, depending on who will be finalizing them. I'd like to request that the current predicament be pushed back so my mate and I can speak about possibilities," he watched as the group leading the hearing leaned together to speak and his eyes never left you.

He could smell your distress from where he was, and he could feel his heart hammering in his chest. Pregnant? He thought you'd been on birth control, even if it you'd still gone through your heats.

To be honest, Simon was terrified. A father? Him? All he could do was walk out, even if he heard his name come from you and your scent changing sharply. Winding through the halls, he found himself walking outside with a cigarette lit, the slight burn as he inhaled the smoke.

Neither of you had talked about this. You'd been mated for a few months, not even hitting a year yet and prior to that you'd only spoken professionally. He knew you, but you hadn't even shared a room yet.

Was he wrong? For biting you, when neither of you had agreed upon being mated. For getting the two of you in that situation in the first place, he should've been the one who had gone and swept the building to make sure everyone was safe.

Simon knew exactly where his life would be had the two of you not been stuck in that situation. He'd never imagined his life moving this way and it terrified him. He was almost... regretting the choices he'd made.

Regretting mating with you.

Next

[sneakyparsnipslicer]

The Cult Of Knives

[Sorry it's been a while folks, hoping you've all been OK. This came to me in a lucid dream. I've captioned all the photos so you can imagine what each character looks like, enjoy!]

It's an age old mistake, you've seen it in movies no doubt. One thing you never, ever find yourself doing is going within five metres of an abandoned cabin in the woods.

It all began late one afternoon, I'd left my apartment to go for my daily jog. It was a standard part of my daily routine by now; finish work, jog around town, go home. Plain and simple. Work kept me on a little longer that day so it pushed my jog a little further ahead. It wasn't so bad when I started, but soon enough the sky began to darken. On the outskirts of town is a field that leads to a bridge, and near the other side of the bridge is a forest. I used to go camping with my friends back in my school years, but now at 27 I don't really hear from them anymore. They all went off to do their own thing.

Anyway, as I got to the forest, I was relieved. I'd forgotten to go for a piss whilst at home and at least in the forest I could piss in a secluded area. I jogged a little way in, found a bush and did my business. When I'd finished I looked around, remembering those good times with my friends. I decided to have a look around for old time's sake. It's funny how places like these can hold so many memories for certain people. Right there by the river, that's where we all sat blaring Panic! At The Disco in the dead of night, that's where Charlie and Jeanette had sneaked off to have a little… fun. We were barely of the legal age back then, so funny looking back at it now, thinking we were giving the middle finger to society. And of course there it stands, The Old Murder Cabin.

The guys used to tell stories about this cabin, full of bullshit of course, used to scare the girls. Stories of there being an axe murderer living there who cut people up to sell as meat on the market. I remember once me and Paul had dared to break in there one night. It was empty, so it's safe to say the stories fell a bit flat after that. Shane never did forgive us for ruining that for us all. Still, it was like time had stood still here, like I was 18 again.

It was beginning to get darker now and I was thinking about heading back home when I stopped in my tracks. For a moment I could've sworn I heard voices. As soon as I started to pay attention they stopped. Had I imagined it? I cautiously crept along the wall towards a window, holding my breath I peeked in. Inside was the long abandoned kitchen, nothing seemed to be inside. I heaved a sigh of relief and chuckled, just my imagination. Though looking back in again I did notice that the table and chairs had been organised. When Paul and I had gone in years ago it was all slumped against walls and the chairs were upturned. Maybe someone had been living in there at some point. I felt like I shouldn't investigate and decided it would be wise to head home, that's when a huge hand with a cloth swooped out of nowhere, covering my mouth and nose. An arm tightened around my chest and though I tried to break free, the chloroform made short work of me.

'Knew I could see someone down by the river, like a moth to the flame!' someone laughed.

'You reckon he'll do?' asked another. I felt a foot sharply kick me in the side of my stomach and that's where I woke up coughing and spluttering, gasping for air.

'Transpierce, Sabre, restrain him' ordered another voice. Next thing I knew two blurry figures were hoisting me onto a hard surface and were busy on either side of me, fastening belts around my wrists. As my vision began to return to me, I could see that I was tied to the kitchen table inside the cabin. On either side of me stood two burly, hairy and muscular men. The room was lit by candles so this whole premise felt very unsettling and dreary.

'What's going on?' I asked, looking around for answers.

'Looks like you picked a bad night to stumble into the woods kiddo!' said a voice ahead of me. There stood another man built quite similarly to the two either side of me. I couldn't help noticing they were all shirtless, showing off their pecs and abs.

'Sorry, I thought this place was abandoned, I didn't mean to interrupt you all' I said, looking between them. The one ahead of me shook his head and folded his arms.

'Well to be fair it was until about a month ago, that's where I stumbled upon this place' he explained.

'Ah, love what you've done with the place!' I said, laughing nervously. At which they all chuckled in unison.

'He seems rather sweet doesn't he lads?' he asked the other two, to which they both nodded.

'Oh definitely!' said the man on my right.

'A perfect match!' said the man on my left.

'Good, I think so too. Transpierce, go and get Mateusz would you?' the man at the front asked as he moved over to take over his post. The man to my left, Transpierce nodded and walked off to the other room.

'Transpierce, that's an unusual name' I said, looking nervously into the man's eyes, I could only assume he was their leader.

'He chose it himself, we all do. I'm Bayonet, and our friend over there is Sabre' said Bayonet, moving his hands to examine my shoulders.

'Bayonet, that's a kind of knife, right?' I asked him. Bayonet smiled and nodded.

'Intelligent too! I appreciate a man that knows his knives!' he grinned, looking deeply into my eyes. I was feeling really uncomfortable by this point. We seemed to be getting along, but why was I still restrained? He looked up and down my body and sighed.

'It's a pity, you'd have been welcome to join my little Cult as you are, but there are certain… requirements I must enforce' Bayonet said. He left my side and walked over to the doorway that Transpierce had left through.

'Transpierce? Mateuz? What's taking you two so long?' Bayonet demanded.

'Just a moment Boss, he's almost ready!' called Transpierce from the other room.

'Good!' announced Bayonet, satisfied. He turned back to look at me.

'It's always a special occasion when we acquire a new Suit'.

What did he mean, suit? I was in my t-shirt and shorts, and they sure weren't wearing any suits. Bayonet turned his attention to a wooden chest in the corner of the room and pulled out a satchel containing various tools. As he searched the satchel, Transpierce returned to the room accompanied by a skinny-looking guy, either he was drenched in water or covered in some sort of gel that glistened in the candle light. I had to assume this was Mateusz.

'Alright then Matty, this is your moment. Your induction. In your own time' said Bayonet, turning around, holding a syringe and a bottle of glowing green liquid. Mateusz nodded hesitantly and made his way over to me. Our eyes locked and we regarded eachother for a moment. Not gonna lie, he was pretty cute, though he wasn't built and muscular like the other guys. He placed a greasy palm on my left leg and I shuddered. It was cold and strangely felt like a cut to the skin. He moved his hand slowly up my leg to my groin and the others stood back and watched.

Mateusz licked his lips and placed one hand on the table, hoisting himself on top of it, standing above me looking down, he gently lowered himself to sit on my crotch. I'm not usually into twinks but this guy was doing it for me somehow. He moved both of his hands along my arms to my restrained hands and filled them with his own, locking fingers with me. He moved to lay down on top of me and began to kiss me. This guy was good, tonguing my mouth and exploring, I could feel his hardening shaft grinding into me. He pulled away and I moaned. Whatever this guy wanted to do to me, I was his. He sat back up and began to pull his boxers off, letting his erect dick spring free. It had to be 7 inches long. I licked my lips, was I about to get to taste it? He moved to sit on my chest and he cupped my jaw in his hands, staring silently again. Then he moved to position his dick into my mouth and began to face fuck me. I so wished I could hold his body but my hands were restrained. As if they could read my mind, Sabre and Transpierce approached and undid the belt buckles, allowing me to put my hands on his bubble butt. I wanted all of that inside me. Mateusz continued to fuck, panting and groaning, eventually he came in my mouth and I swallowed his thick, creamy load. He pulled himself off me. I gasped for air as I laid down on the table, unable to take my eyes off Mateusz. Him unable to take his eyes off me, he caught his breath and began to smile, chuckling.

Assuming it was my turn to repay him the favour, I moved to pull my t-shirt off, but he stopped me, shaking his head.

'I'm not done yet, that was foreplay!' he said winking. I looked at him bewildered, face fucking was foreplay to him?!

It was at this point Bayonet approached with his syringe and injected the green, glowing substance into Mateusz's arm. It took a moment, but his skin began to glow green and the gel he seemed to have been coated in made him appear to turn rubbery. It was like he was now a hot, humanoid version of Flubber.

'Oh we're going to enjoy this!' Mateusz said, glowing before me. He squeaked and squelched as he moved and returned to sit atop me. He kissed me again, but this time his lips got sucked in, then his head began to get sucked into my mouth, squeaking as it went. I placed my hands on his shoulders and they ran down his slick body as it gradually began to suction into my own. As his torso, ass, dick, arms, legs and feet began to slide into me, my stomach began to balloon out and glow green under my clothes. The other men whooped and cheered. Underneath my skin, I could feel Mateusz repositioning himself, arms into the correct places, legs where they should be. My own skin was beginning to balloon out too, as muscle began to build, my clothes began to rip to shreds. I began to grow pecs and abs just like the other guys, my hands belonged to Mateusz now and he moved them below what remained of my boxers and began to pump our expanded dick. Both of us moaning in unison. I could feel my load getting ready to shoot and that's the last thing I can remember.

Mateusz groaned in pleasure as cum shot out from his new dick, two thick strings and then excess green liquid spewed out. He looked to the ceiling, sweat glistening on his new chiseled body. His friends surrounded him and smiled proudly at him, they'd been masturbating as they watched his merging with the captive jogger and moaned as they emptied their loads over him, christening him a new man, rubbing it all into his skin. Panting, Bayonet helped him to his feet and kissed him.

'Speak your new name, Brother!' he cried. Mateusz thought for a moment.

'Call me Machete!' he decided. Transpierce, Sabre and Bayonet looked between eachother and nodded approvingly.

'Very well! From this night forth you are complete, you are our beautiful Brother Machete!' said Bayonet proudly, hugging him tightly. Now they had four complete members to their ranks, in time their ranks would grow and the Cult of Knives would amass many more followers, but for now it was time they all got some action from Machete!

[steviewashere]

Devotion in the Way We Sway

Rating: General CW: Brief reference to sex, but nothing is shown and it's very vague Tags: Established Relationship, Jazz Music as a Plot Device, Slow Dancing, Love Confessions, Eddie Munson is a Sweetheart, Steve Harrington is a Sweetheart, Eddie Munson Loves Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Loves Eddie Munson, Fluff, Tooth Rotting Fluff

For the @steddielovemonth prompt: "Love is the perfect mixtape."

💕—————💕

He found it while cleaning up the coffee table one evening.

The night had been long and lively. Their friends sharing the space, passing around boxes of pizza, huddled in close, watching a movie and cuddling. There were card games and charades. Raucous laughter. God, there was so much laughter, Steve hadn’t heard anything more delightful. It was chilly beyond the front door, but in the couple hours they were together, everybody’s chests were warm.

And yet, it had to end. Steve gave everybody extensive goodbyes. A warm hand on a shoulder or a tight embrace. Little teasing remark there, something sentimental and on the verge of tears here. Then, he retired back to the living room, garbage bag in hand, tossing what he thought needed to be thrown out.

Beer cans. Soda, half drank. Couple loose Redvine straws. Some sticky globs of slightly melted Junior Mints. The pizza boxes, of course. Bags from breadsticks. Red Solo cups.

But as he passed by the coffee table, bag still in hand, aiming for the front door and down his porch steps and over to the garbage bin at the end of the driveway—there was a little shiny, plastic thing sitting on the surface. He picked it up, recognizing it straight away as a cassette case. And pocketed it. He’ll take a look back upstairs.

And he nearly forgot about it until it clattered to his bedroom carpet, a soft thud. He picked it up once more, twirling it between his fingers. There wasn’t an album card. It was one of those covers for a homemade mixtape, Steve’s known plenty of those placards. Usually, they’d have some sort of name written in sloppy Sharpie. Something like: To My Love, or, For My Sweetheart.

This one didn’t. Which he thought was odd. But further investigation revealed a little scratchy line of text: S Jazz Comp (1).

He recognized it as Eddie’s handwriting. Though, it was still a rather unusual thing. It’s jazz, first of all. And, sure, Eddie’s a music guy, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s also into jazz or contemporary or funk or whatever. He’s typically rock or nothing kinda guy.

So, of course Steve is curious beyond comprehension. He drifts back down the stairs, pajamas on, freshly showered. And stands in front of his parents’ sound system. He pops the tape in, gently spins the volume dial. Stands back from the speakers, plops down onto the carpet, and waits for the sound to hit his ears.

The first voices, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, flit to his ears. It’s their rendition of “Cheek to Cheek”. He knows this, he’s heard it before. In fact, he’d told Eddie about it. About the first school dance he’d gone to, barely twelve years old, dressed up in a little suit and tie, but no date. He’d been a wallflower. A sorry cup of sticky, all too sweet punch in his grip. Scuffing his shoes against the waxed gymnasium floor, eyes wandering the crowds of other school kids, all of them smiling softly, twirling in each other’s arms, them laughing. He didn’t like being alone. But the music was enough to satisfy him. He swayed where he stood, eyes pierced to the swirl of his juice. It danced with him. It was romantic, nearly. He was satisfied, he still went home happier than when he arrived.

Eddie promised after the story was told, “We’ll dance to it. I’ll find a way to get that song, and we’ll dance to it.” He brushed his palm over the side of Steve’s head, humming something familiar in his chest, and had easily lulled Steve to sleep. All their promises seem to be made in the dark of each other’s bedrooms, right before they drift away, right when they’re the most vulnerable they can possibly be outside of having sex. He preens at the thought that Eddie remembered. They’ve only been together for a handful of months, and he remembered.

The next song starts. Etta James’, “A Sunday Kind of Love”.

Now, this one was just in passing. They walked past a record store on a day trip in Indianapolis. Seems like their day trips always land there. Steve heard the song playing from the entrance of the store. Maybe it’s the hopeless romantic in him, but he was immediately drawn to it. To the soft instrumental. Etta’s crooning, beautiful as a lake voice. He prevented himself from going in, from buying the song for himself. Prevented his innate urge to sway on the spots. Just patted Eddie on the shoulder, as much contact that wouldn’t be considered suspicious, and told, “I wish we could dance right now.” And kept on walking, leaving Eddie rooted to the spot outside the record shop.

Okay, so the ’S’ on the title of this tape is beginning to make sense. They’re songs that Eddie’s gathered because of Steve. They’re Steve songs. They’re jazz Steve songs.

He wants to cry. Wants to roll around on the floor. Kinda wants to do a few laps around his house. 

Just as he gets up to do so, to expel some of the manic energy that’s overcome him, a knock sounds on the door. He doesn’t bother turning the tape off. There’s an easy excuse: “Oh, just going through my mom’s record collection.” But finds that he doesn’t need to explain himself, at least not completely, it’s Eddie on his porch stoop.

The door opens wider, letting Eddie slip through without words. Yet, when it clicks softly back into place and Steve turns around, Eddie is just standing in the foyer. Standing, hands fluttering at his sides, eyes soft and wide, mouth slightly agape. He stutters, “You—You, uh, you found the tape?”

Steve nods. “Yeah, I was cleaning up. It was on the coffee table. Got curious.” He steps into Eddie’s space. Leaving barely a few inches between them. “I didn’t think you remembered,” he whispers.

Eddie guffaws. “You think I wouldn’t?” He asks, wounded. “Think I wouldn’t remember all the times you told me you just wanted to dance? Baby, that hurts,” he states. It’s not genuine hurt, Steve knows this, but it stings a little all the same.

Song switching again—“P.S. I Love You” by Billie Holiday—Steve sways a little closer. “Maybe instead of remembering, we could…actually do some dancing?” He offers, hand already inching to Eddie’s right shoulder blade. He’s not the best at asking people to dance with him, he gets a little awkward, a little clammy. But his sentiments are the same. 

His face must be doing something funny, something wonderful. Eddie looks at him in gentle adoration, eyes glistening, relaxed smile. A hand lands on his right side. Fingers rubbing slightly over Steve’s t-shirt. And, for a moment, Steve realizes he must be especially goofy. In his baby blue plaid pajama pants, barefoot against the carpet, a ratty Hawkins High P.E. t-shirt. Hair soft and free of product. In comparison to Eddie’s frizzy hair and his dark blue jeans, a flannel thrown over a black undershirt, his scuffed Reeboks.

The contrast shouldn’t make Steve weak in the knees, but he finds himself collapsing into Eddie’s careful embrace easy enough. They step in tandem. Knees nearly knocking each other. Their free hands grasping to one another, Steve’s arm wrapped under Eddie’s armpit, Eddie’s hand still soft on his waist.

Eddie positively glows in the pale amber light of the foyer. Smile soft, still. He’s all soft. He’s gentle and quiet and wonderful. He’s leaning a little bit closer, whispering against the shell of Steve’s ear, “You’re cute when you get flustered.”

Steve lolls his head into Eddie’s left shoulder. He chuckles. “Never danced before,” he admits shyly. “I skipped prom, y’know?”

“Really? Figured you’d do it at least once,” Eddie breathes. He sets his own head against Steve’s. Leaning into one another.

Shaking his head, Steve states, “I’m a bad dancer. It’s my least charming attribute.”

“Could’a fooled me,” Eddie chuckles. “You’re a natural, sweetheart.” He goes quiet for a little bit. Melting into the dance, relaxing against Steve just as Steve relaxes against Eddie. They’re boneless to one another. “What d’ya think of the tape?” He hesitantly asks.

“I like it so far,” Steve answers.

And then they go quiet again. Really letting the music drench their skin. He’s content in the moment. Drawn into Eddie’s embrace. If you had asked Steve of several years ago about his future, he’d probably say something stupid like working for his dad. Maybe getting married to a girl, settling down. As if he isn’t freshly twenty. But, he likes the—favors the—detour his path took. Eddie Munson is a hopeless romantic, much to his surprise. He’s warm and gentle when he wants to be. His fingers know how to soothe the aches in Steve’s coiled tight soul. Brushing his skin with his fingertips, squeezing his waist. Humming in Steve’s close ear.

The song shifts. This time, it’s “I Love My Baby” by Nina Simone. Yet, instead of her voice through the speakers, it’s Eddie’s slightly rough, deep voice. His low timber, as if he recorded this laying in bed, middle of the night. As if he sang into his tape recorder between nightmares, trying to find the come down. As if he sang because all he could think about, as Steve likes to think about, the warm embrace they share.

Eddie tenses slightly in Steve’s hold. But Steve only squeezes in tighter. Shifting his head against Eddie’s shoulder, kissing the joint through the flannel. He sighs, “You must really like me.”

“Hm?” Eddie squeak-hums.

“You must really like me,” Steve reiterates. “Y’know, to sing for me?” He sighs again. “Must love me.” There’s only an ounce of insecurity to his voice.

But Eddie susses it out. Because of course he does. Because some days, when Steve gets too deep in his own conscious, Eddie knows him better. “Yeah, baby, I really do. Love you, I mean,” he whispers. They sway for a few beats more. Before, abruptly, Eddie states, “I used to hate the idea of marriage.”

“What?” Steve finds himself laughing out. Out of nerves, mostly. Out of humor from the extreme change in subject. “What are you—“

“My parents, their marriage sucked,” Eddie speeds through. His voice only a hushed thing. Almost tiptoeing, pulling apart Steve’s brain to see if what he’s saying is okay. It is, of course it is, but Steve fills with sadness still. “It sucked. They were awful together. But I—Despite that, some days I think marriage is nice.”

Steve presses his cheek against Eddie’s. His rough stubble scratching Steve’s freshly shaven jawline. “Why’s that?” He finds himself breathing. “Feel like that would be your nightmare,” he explains a little, “the conformity of it, or whatever.”

Eddie chuckles lightly. “You’re right a little bit. Maybe I don’t like the idea of spending too much money on basically just the paper to admit my love. But…With the right person, I could be convinced.” He turns his head, pecking Steve’s cheek. Resting back into their swaying hold, he whispers, “With you, I’m convinced.”

He can’t help it, the tears that sting the corners of his eyes. The lump that he has to swallow past in his throat. He clears around it, croaking, “Really?”

Eddie nods. “Yeah,” he easily whispers. “If we could, right now, I’d marry you in a fucking heartbeat, Stevie. It’s—“ He laughs at himself. His little condescending, self-deprecating one. One that crumbles Steve a little every time he does it. “It’s stupid early for that kinda thing, I know that,” he breathes. “I know that, but I—God, Steve. With you, something’s different. You feel like…You’re love personified, I don’t know.

“Am I fucking everything up? Please—Actually, don’t tell me. Just dance.”

With every fiber in Steve’s body, he wishes they could meld souls or something. He can’t get any closer in this hold, there’s no more places to be pressed, but if he could reach out and massage Eddie’s soul, he would. By God, he would.

He sniffles something wet and that’s when Eddie pulls away. But before he can ask anything, Steve is setting both of his hands on Eddie’s cheeks, pulling him in. Pulling him in close, enough that when their lips meet, his nose plunges into Eddie’s skin, popping it, smashing it into oblivion. He kisses with fervor, yet holding him gently. He may break with the sentiment.

Eddie’s own hands come up, one over Steve’s right, the other caressing the back of his head. He responds, he always responds. But when he pulls away, “You’re crying,” he utters, “Baby, why—You’re crying.”

“Happy tears,” Steve chokes, “Eddie, god, they’re so fucking happy.”

In return, Eddie can only smile. He pecks the tip of Steve’s nose. His thumb sweeps over Steve’s skin. His right hand tangles into his hair. “I want everything with you,” he whispers, “I want it all, sweetheart. You make me so fucking happy.”

Later, when they’re tangled in bed—sweat drenched, cooling on the sheet, passionate with hickeys to show for it—Eddie holds Steve to his torso. Laying him over the length of it. Their hearts rabbit against each other. A hand runs soothingly over Steve’s back. Another scratches at his scalp. “The mixtape,” he starts. “What’d you really think of it?” The insecurity is gone from his voice. Lost somewhere between the last dance and clothes being peeled.

Steve’s fingers sketch the outline of Eddie’s scars. He sighs in contentment. “It’s perfect,” he whispers. “You’re perfect.” And he kisses Eddie’s chest, his pulse hot and fast over Steve’s lips. “At Last”, Etta once more, flitters from downstairs.

💕—————💕

[octopiys]

I've been listening to Lord Huron recently

human!John MacTavish, who grew up in the Scottish Highlands, raised by his grandma who was highly superstitious.

human!Simon Riley, who, as a young teen, moved to the highlands with his mother, and younger brother, after his father was arrested.

Neighbor!John who meets his quiet neighbor down the street, and talks his ear off on the way to schools every single day, and doesn't question the fading bruises on his new friend's skin.

Neighbor!Simon, who doesn't find John annoying in the slightest, and enjoys listening to John's stories of his grandma's wild tales of how her younger brother was apparently "snatched by the fae", or the stories of the horses that live deep beneath the waters, and seeing the little cottage down the road and feeling comfort and safety reverberate through the trees that separated the two of them.

Friend!Johnny who goes home "sick" one day after a rather nasty.... altercation between two larger students and himself, but comes back the next day, and none of those students were messing with him anymore.

Friend!Simon who, after Johnny went home, found those two kids after school and beat them senseless, the only time he's ever felt that violence was a good solution to something.

Young Simon, who goes to check up on Johnny, and sees the boy smiling through a black eye, behind a large woman who appeared as if she was going to salt him, then beat him with a wooden ladle. Luckily, Johnny boy stopped her from doing that, and introduces him and he sees the woman's eyes soften the slightest bit.

Johnny, who's house is full of wards, and hanging herbs, and salt, and cinnamon, who's known nothing else, who's friends with bugs because they're easier to talk to, befriends Simon, who comes from the suburban cities, who prefers to listen rather than speak, in a neat home, and a dreadful silence that is anything but warm.

After school, they explore the woods, and Johnny tells him more tales, of how not to step in certain areas, or follow shaking leaves, and to leave mushrooms alone. Simon believes he's never felt more at ease in these woods.

They happen across a fallen deer, who was long gone for the world, it's antlers and pale skull glinting through the muck it was covered in.

It whispers wordless sounds through lipless mouths.

Johnny calls for him to keep on the trail, and Simon gets up to follow him off.

Give me late teens Johnny, who's yelling at Simon for not telling him sooner. Give me Simon who feels guilt in the pits of his stomach for not telling his best friend sooner. But enlisting was the only thing he could see him doing with his life. He could be used for good, he could do something good with himself.

Johnny tells him he was good enough for him.

Simon leaves the next morning.

Nature conservationist!Johnny, two years later, finds Simon's mom at his doorstep. By the look on her face, she had bad news.

Simon went missing in Mexico.

Nature conservationist!John, who, for another six months, has dinner at least once a week with Simon's mum. She was from a further part of Scotland, but they understood each other well enough, and bonded over different memories of her son. It seemed to keep them both afloat.

Simon who returns after seven months.

Nature conservation officer!Johnny, who is busy trying to figure out why the red deer population is dwindling in his area. Not to mention the fact that the investigations office is on his back about missing people, and Simon comes back.

Something is wrong.

John knows what shell shock looks like. He knows what the horrors of war do to people.

This is not shell shock. This is not that.

Simon came back, but he came back wrong.

His honey eyes were muddy, and he blinked too hard. His head turned too smoothly when he responded to his name too late, like he was getting used to being called something new. The curve of his lips was off, his jaw too sharp. His kind eyes are.... the favorite part of Johnny's Simon is different.

It was unsettling. His skin prickled when he watched, the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck rising when Simon entered the room too silently.

Changeling!Ghost, who does not enter Johnny's house. Johnny doesn't know why he refuses the offer. He feels like he's being watched. He misses his friend. Obviously, his friend lives down the street, rationally, he knows that person is Simon Riley, the kid who beat up bullies, who fell fifteen feet out of a tree and got up unscathed. Simon Riley, who was afraid of scorpions and worms, who went to war and survived, and came home.

His instincts told him the opposite.

Johnny feels like he's being watched at night. He thinks he can catch whatever it is, lurking at the treeline of the woods. He sets harmless traps to catch and release, believing the creature is small.

When he finds the cage completely trampled, crumbled until it was no longer recognizable, he no longer believed this thing was small.

Nature Conservationist Officer!Johnny MacTavish who sees the creature looming from the trees, it's tall antlers tangled in muck and weeds, body slightly warped in the darkness, claws and all. It was tall, much taller than him, with scarred skin stained with the dyes of berries and dirt and clay. Moss grew off of the massive deer antlers, and the greenish eyeshine of a deer blinking from almost human eyes.

Honey colored and kind, and completely unrecognizing.

Johnny drops his flashlight in shock, the lens shattering, scaring the creature off.

Turned fae!Simon, who had no memories other than blood and war and pain, only wanted to figure out where the feeling of familiarity came from, in a world so unknown, and loud, cruel.

(this is inspired by Meet Me In The Woods by Lord Huron)

Ask box is open!

Find part 2 here

[chimkin-samich]

Hello it’s me again asking about the merman au!

1- how where they found? (Did they come out on their own or were they captured?)

2- what research were made on them? Why are sun and moon being kept around?

3- when did eclipse came in the picture ?

4- how (and who) did the researcher discovered that sun and moon needed heat suppressants??? (I’m the most curious about this one lol)

Aand i think that’s it for now. Sorry if i asked things that are already known, i pretty new to your blog and art

Oooo many questions time for a long post, gonna put under a read more to not take up the whole feed lol

I think weve answered some of these before but we’ve changed some plot here and there so will answer em again

1) All 3 of the boys are wild mers each from their own individual pods, Eclipse raised the 2 ,Sun from age 10 and Moon from age 13. Sun and Moon were caught when they were young adults at age 18(sun) 19(moon) and were taken to the aquarium were they first did shows until Moon became hostile and after a bloody incident they were just shoved into the tank they are in when they first meet Tari

2) Fish mers are extremely elusive compared to their mammal mer counterparts so not a lot was really known on any of the fish mers, so the research was a mix of both biology and behaviors, unfortunately because of this the general public and ethical marine biologist are unaware of the level of intelligence they have and once that comes out with ppl who keep fish mers they keep that secret to keep their “precious specimens”,

this becomes prominent during the part of the story after Tari frees them and has to have a whole legal battle where she’s accused of being an “animal lover” let’s call it and freeing company property , luckily she kept files and recordings as evidence that helped her win the case and leads to a whole bunch of investigation on other aquariums and ppl who own fish mers that includes them into the law that protects cryptids and other sentient mythical creatures

3)Eclipse was in the picture at least with Sun and Moon from their preteens to their early adult years when they were captured, He comes into the picture with Tari about a year after the boys are freed, Tari was left alone for a year after their escape because the two got caught in a current that pulled them further away so they basically had to find her after getting lost

Eclipse shows up a few months after they show up cuz he had been tracking their scent when he caught it on a current but took a while to catch up since they were on a constant frenzied search looking for her, he did try to kill her since he believed that she was their captor but her experience with Moon gave her a hand with escaping him by temporarily blinding him lol

4)Heat suppressants are a thing since like mentioned before, cryptid’s and other mythical creatures/furries are a thing separated in categories, either Beasts(those who look like creatures so mers, minotaurs etc.) and Shifters(anything that can fall in the were (werewolf for example) category or can change parts of their appearance in someway)

A lot of Beasts and Shifters have heats so it was more a matter of seeing what type and dosage they needed to keep theirs suppressed

[uollop]

Pearlescent (Mer!Vash x Reader pt. 1)

Content: Mermaid Vash, GN! Reader, oceans (ofc), deep water, lifeguard reader, reader is ticklish

Word count: 2.3k

Notes: Happy MerMay! Mermaid AU won the poll pretty easily, so here it is! I hope you all enjoy it :))

Next Part

Vash had always been curious about humans, but his brother has always attempted to dissuade him from investigating them "for his own safety".

Knives would tell him stories about humans and the cruel things that they would do, but the tales didn't do much to satiate Vash's curiosity.

He would people-watch often, lurking in water that was likely too close to the shore for Knives' liking, simply watching the humans swim and talk and play. Watching them walk around on the beach had him wondering what it would feel like to walk with them. What the sand would feel like as he moved across the warm dunes.

He knew it was impossible, though. His tail prevented him from being able to enjoy nearly all of the activities that he was desiring to join in on.

It was getting late today, most of the humans had already left the water because of the chill in the air settling into the sea. Only a few remained on the sand, packing up their belongings to leave. He continued to watch, wondering where they went when they weren't at the beach. He was watching so intently that he didn't realize someone paddling over to him on a surfboard.

"Do you need help getting to the shore? It's getting cold, if you stay in the water any longer you'll get sick." When you spoke, you nearly scared the poor fish right out of his scales. Most humans ignored him during the day, but it seems he outstayed his welcome.

He recognized you. You were always sitting up high above the others, watching them during the day and occasionally blowing some kind of mechanism at them if they misbehaved. You were obviously some kind of an important person, seeing as they listened to you and that you were seated higher than the rest of them. Were you one of those royals that he had heard about in Nai's stories? He had been told about how cruel the Kings and Queens of the humans could be, but you seemed to hold a kindness behind your eyes that calmed his worries a bit.

"You've been in the water nearly all day," you laugh nervously at the lack of a response as you hold your hand out for him, "aren't you tired?"

He slowly blinked at you, a bit confused, before shaking his head, lowering himself deeper into the water so that it was only his blue eyes poking out. You watched him with curiosity before he suddenly dove under the water, splashing you a bit with the cold water as he swam away. Your eyes widened as he disappeared, cursing to yourself as you stared into the dark water. You waited a bit for him to come back up before you started to grow worried.

You slowly climbed off your board, allowing yourself to sink into the freezing water, goosebumps popping up across your skin as you tried to look into the water without fully submerging yourself. You couldn't even make out his shape anymore. You started to worry more, dipping your head under the water and opening your eyes, looking around. The salt of the water burned your eyes as you swam deeper, looking around for the blond.

It was so dark in the water that you could barely see anything that wasn't directly in front of you, but you managed to make out a silhouette deeper in the water. You swam towards it, reaching a hand towards the shadow before it swam further away. You narrowed your eyes and continued to swim after it, sure that it was the strange man that had been sitting in the ocean all day, watching people on the beach.

You had noticed him a few weeks ago. He came nearly every day, but you never saw him get into the water. He would always mysteriously appear in the part of the water that was too deep for most humans to swim comfortably, but he never seemed to mind. You were curious about him and, when you noticed he was the only one still in the water despite the bite in the air, you decided to go check on him.

His silence at your offer to help him towards the beach had concerned you a bit and, now, your concern got worse. You were starting to run out of air, but the shadow kept going deeper. As much as you wanted to keep following him, the stinging feeling in your lungs was enough to convince you to swim back towards the surface.

When you broke, you gasped, allowing air to fill your aching lungs as you coughed and rubbed your sore eyes. You were a trained lifeguard and he had been able to stay under much longer than you. You looked around the surface of the water, trying to see if he had surfaced while you were swimming back up, but you couldn't see him anywhere.

Panic continued to settle on your skin at the eerily quiet scene. The only movement in the water appeared to be your own as you frantically scanned the sea. You took a deep breath before dunking your head back under the water, almost screaming when you opened your eyes and you're met with bright blue eyes inches away from your face. You narrow your eyes at him and reach out to grab his arm before you realize something was off.

The first thing you see are the scars littered across his body. It was difficult to find a patch of skin that wasn't darkened by a slash or a stitch. There was also a concerning absence of a left arm, a short nub replacing where it should be.

You continue to glance down and notice something slightly more worrying. Instead of legs, he had a long... fish tail? You couldn't make it out well due to the pitch darkness that surrounded you both, but you were certain that you knew what legs looked like, and that thing definitely was not a pair of legs.

You reached out and grabbed his arm gently before allowing yourself to pop above the surface again, gasping for air and pulling him towards your surfboard. You released his arm once he surfaced, his scarred hand placing itself onto your surfboard. You reached towards the board and pulled yourself onto it, shuddering at the feeling of the cold air before looking back at him.

"You..." you trailed off as you stared at him, unsure if what you saw was real, "you aren't human, are you?"

He continues to stare at you, unspeaking before making a quiet chirping noise. You continue to stare at him in awe before shaking your head.

"Ok, um. I guess you're okay to stay in the water then... My shift is almost over, so I, uh..." You looked at him again before moving into a position that would allow you to paddle away easily. "I hope you have a good night. I assume you'll be here again tomorrow?" You ask cautiously before he nods and gives you a wide smile, showing off rows and rows of pointy teeth. It was almost cute. Mostly scary, but almost cute.

You slowly started to make your way back to the shore, occasionally glancing back at him. Every time you checked, it seemed like he wasn't getting any further away. Maybe he was even getting closer. Was he following you? You kept paddling, unsure if you were imagining things until you eventually made it to the shore and pulled your board out of the water. You turned towards him and see that he had pulled himself onto a nearby rock, his eyes still watching you.

Your eyes flicker down towards where his legs should be, your breath hitching as you get a better view of his tail. A long fish tail, covered in red and turquoise scales shimmered in the moonlight. You definitely hadn't seen it wrong; he was a merman.

You silently stare at his tail for a few more moments before you hear another chirping noise. You look up and see him patting the spot next to him on the flat rock. It takes you a moment to realize he wants you to sit with him, a patient look on his face as he taps his hand against the rock again.

You walk up to him and sit on the rock with him, a happy sounding noise coming from him as he immediately grabs your leg, causing you to yelp in surprise as your back hits the cold surface of the rock.

He examines your leg, a curious and excited look on his face as he squeezes your skin, stretching your leg out for a moment and then bending it at your knee, an amused chirp coming from him as he continues to move your leg back and forth.

You're confused at first before you realize that he doesn't have legs and that he probably isn't used to seeing them this close. You let him continue, until his hand brushes the underside of your foot, causing you to jolt and let out a stifled laugh.

He notices your reaction and repeats his movement, a large smile on his face. You laugh again, attempting to pull your leg away from him, but his grip is strong. He continues to touch along different parts of your leg and foot, smiling to himself.

Eventually he releases your leg and, for a moment, you thought it was over, until he suddenly grabbed your other leg, lifting it was well and playing with it as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. It was as if he hadn't just played with a nearly identical one, but you allowed him to examine your leg for as long as he would like. He doesn't mess with this one for as long, his curiosity satisfied as he places his hand on his lap, looking at you for another moment before giving you a gentle wave.

You wave back at him, unsure of what to say or do at this point. He seemed friendly, despite his sharp teeth. You stared at him for another moment before he made another high-pitched noise, sliding himself off the rock and smiling at you before diving under the water.

You waited a moment or two, unsure if he was coming back or not, until his head popped back up from the water. He swam towards the rock and held out his fist towards you. You looked at his hand for a moment before slowly placing your own hand underneath it, allowing him to empty the contents of his hand into your palm.

You looked into your hand curiously, the moonlight reflecting against a bunch of colorful pieces of sea glass. You slowly reached for a blue one, holding it towards the sky and allowing the light to shine onto it. You lowered your hand and smiled at him, "this is very nice. Thank you."

He lets out a satisfied noise before diving back under the water. You watch him disappear and, this time, he is gone for a longer period of time. When he does return, though, he is holding a soaking cloth bag in his hand.

He places the bag in your lap, looking at you expectantly. You set down the handful of sea glass that you had been holding next to you on the rock before pulling open the cloth bag, your eyes widening.

The bag was full of many things. More sea glass, sand dollars, shells, and a few pearls. You stare in awe for a moment before you give him a happy smile.

"This is beautiful, you seem to have been collecting for a long time," you say as you hand the bag back to him. His grin turns into a frown when you hold the bag out to him. He reaches up and pushes the bag back into your lap, chirping again. You stare at him in confusion for a moment before shaking your head with a laugh.

"I can't possibly keep all of this," You lift the bag up again, ready to hand it back to him before he lets out a low growl. Your face turns from a happy one to one of shock. He places his hand on the bag again and pushes it into your lap one more time. You blink a few times as you look from the bag to him, unsure of what to do before you shrug, "Ok, ok... I'll keep it."

He lets out a noise of pride and reaches into the bag, pulling out one of the pearls and holding it up to the moonlight. The small pearl shimmered gently against the light, its blue color was similar to the color of the merman's eyes. He looks up at you as if waiting for your reaction, so you give him a nod.

"That's very cool." You say as you admire the pearl. His smile grows as he moves closer to you, placing the pearl in your palm. He makes another chirping noise before closing your hand around the small treasure. You watch him carefully before giving him another smile. He looks up at you, his cheeks dusting a pink color. He stares at you for a moment before you hear a distant chirping sound. The merman in front of you blinks in surprise, looking at you for one more beat before waving and diving into the depths of the sea.

You waited for a while, unsure if he would be coming back. After ten or so minutes of waiting, you determined that he likely wasn't going to be returning. You stand up, gathering the items he had given you and walking towards your lifeguard tower. You glance down at your hand, admiring the pearl he had given you. You placed in it your pocket before taking the rest of your stuff and heading towards the path away from the beach, looking back at the sea one more time before smiling to yourself.

You hoped to see him again tomorrow.

Masterlist | Ao3

[thefirst3chapters]

Unpopular opinion (maybe): Luke's ultimatum at the end of Season 3 inadvertently reinforced Jess's choices that stopped him from finishing high school in the first place.

Disclaimer: The intent here isn't to attack Luke for how he handled things. The overall effect of Luke's presence in Jess's life is undoubtedly positive and instrumental to where Jess ended up. Luke was put in an unfair position that he wasn't prepared for, he genuinely cared and tried his best with the knowledge he had, and it would have been well within his rights to say no to Liz to begin with or to Jess when he came back after the car accident.

From what Jess tells Rory in "Teach Me Tonight," it sounds like he never had much academic support from adults, which is of course why Rory's belief in him will end up meaning so much. Details about Jess's childhood that are revealed once Liz is around suggest that Jess didn't have trustworthy adults in his life and had to learn how to be self-sufficient early. Even though we as the audience can see that Luke is responsible and trustworthy through his own actions and his relationships with people who have known him for many years, Jess doesn't have the same history with him, and it can take a long, long time to unlearn those survival instincts. Additionally, Jess's Walmart manager, as gregarious and pro-corporate as he seems to be, doesn't appear to engage in the practice of pressuring introverts to socialize (which happened to Rory at Chilton) and allows Jess to do something constructive and work toward a tangible reward. Some people get these benefits from going to school, but Jess didn't. Then there's a layer of youthful hubris here because Jess really did seem to think that he could manage all of this and go to school just enough to graduate based on what he tells Rory in S3 E17, Luke in S3 E18, and the principal in S3 E19. With of all this information in mind, it's really not surprising that Jess would prioritize work above school. His logic is self-destructive but understandable, and his fatal flaw ends up being that he committed to more responsibilities than a person could reasonably handle. This isn't the standard media portrayal of ditching school.

Luke's approach to being Jess's guardian is fairly hands-off. After Luke's "laying down the law" talk in the first episode Jess is in, the only requirement we see enforced is that Jess has to work at the diner, which Jess complies with. Luke didn't know Jess was working at Walmart at all until Jess bought his car, he didn't know Jess was eventually working more than full-time hours, and he didn't know Jess was missing as much school as he was. (This last one suggests a significant oversight at the school, which is another story.) When the extent of Jess's work hours is brought to his attention and Lorelai speculates about what is going on, he tells Lorelai that there is no way Jess would skip school and doesn't investigate further. When he realizes Jess is working some days instead of going to school, he offers to pay Jess more at the diner (and later steals his car) to prevent him from working at Walmart (the place he worked before he had a car to earn the money to buy it???) but doesn't press him about what is really going on.

So after all of that, it turns out Jess didn't go to school enough to graduate. Luke does give Jess the option to stay in Stars Hollow and keep going to school, but I could never blame someone for not being able to have a rational conversation immediately after a stranger randomly shows up, claims paternity, and runs out. The emotional damage of that incident really can't be divorced from what happens here. Luke is of course also in crisis mode. Jess didn't graduate because he worked too much, so now he's in a position where his consequence is to keep doing what got him into trouble, only this time he doesn't have anyone looking after him. This isn't what Luke is intending, but his ultimatum basically reinforces Jess's mindset of prioritizing work (i.e. short-term financial security) above school and his reluctance to trust other people, and it reinforces Jess's family history (ironically not including Luke) of abandoning difficult situations (in this case, the aftermath of the fight with Dean) and relationships (in this case, Rory) instead of facing them. Jess ends up on his own with the money he had from work that he was saving for a different car, so he probably thinks it's a good thing he worked as much as he did, and he ends up without adult guidance or restrictions to help him sort all this out and repair the harm he caused. This could have turned out much more darkly than it did, and it's really a miracle that Jess got to where he was by the time he was 21.

When Jess is with Jimmy in California, he acknowledges that he's failed and doesn't know where to go from there. It probably isn't outlandish to think that Jess was earning more as a full-time forklift driver than what he is earning during Season 4. Factoring in the lower cost of living in Stars Hollow or somewhere nearby compared to New York, he probably could have been able earn a decent living if he stayed at Walmart (even if he wouldn't have been better off in the long run). That's probably why Luke's "I'm sorry I didn't think driving a forklift for the rest of your life was good enough for you" stung. It was likely a much better situation than whatever Jess is in mid-Season 4.

In late Season 4, Jess seems resigned to where he is. He doesn't complain or blame anyone else for his circumstances, even when Luke repeatedly mocks him in New York. (Even mid-Season 4, Jess doesn't express anger toward Luke about anything other than Luke stealing his car until Luke provokes him multiple times.) Maybe Jess was already thinking about writing a book or studying for a GED during Season 4, but his posture and mannerisms seem to suggest defeat more than anything else. At this point, Jess might not be envisioning anything other than what he has. It is only after Luke accepts Jess for who he is, and stops seeing him as a failed project, ("You are who you are. I cannot change that, and I'm going to stop trying.") that Jess really starts to move forward. Although Luke isn't even very positive in how he says this, it's still the sort of affirmation Jess always needed and maybe never received from a family member before. Then, he's honest with Luke about his emotions, he's receptive to Luke's advice, he expresses appreciation for what Luke did for him, he offers Luke a way to stay in contact, and he makes a commitment to pay him back even though Luke says he doesn't have to do so. He tries (and fails, for the time being) to make amends with Rory, and after all of these things happen, he progresses into the version of himself that returns in Season 6. Jess pursues a path that Luke doesn't quite understand but has accepted and is proud of (it's also a path that Rory does understand and is proud of, and both forms of support are so important).

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Realm of the One Eyed King

( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps)

Philthrax grimaced as the carriage hit yet another hole in the road and he lost his place in the novel he was reading. He knocked on the carriage wall behind him that separated him from the driver.

“For every bump you make me endure from now on I shall have a guard beat you.” He spoke loud enough for the driver to hear. He didn’t hear the driver’s response and in truth did not care what they would have said anyway. He had spoken and that was the law.

Frankly even the notion of the beating would give him little joy as this entire trip had been pointless to Philthrax. Yet the king had asked him to investigate why the outlying villages had ceased paying their taxes. He’d have sent one of his underlings to handle such a mundane task had it not been a direct request so here he was riding out to the middle of nowhere.

An hour passed with no further bumps when the driver knocked on the roof of the carriage.

“We’ve reach Wixten, my lord.”

Philthrax said nothing in reply and closed his book. He took a look at himself and straightened his clothes before reaching for the tax collection records for Wixten. Flipping through the pages rapidly he was able to memorize all of the information regarding the small hamlet and returned the documents to their storage just as the carriage came to a stop.

The door slowly opened and Philthrax saw the guards lining up to either side of the door.

Unfurling himself from the ornate seating Philthrax stepped out of the carriage and deployed his umbrella. At this time of day the two suns would be at their peak and the light would be overwhelming to his eyes. A point of pride amongst the nobility ironically as it showed that he could remain indoors longer and still maintain his wealth without needing to work outside like a peasant.

As he looked around he saw that he and his retinue were on the main street of the town. To either side were the kneeling residents of the town as knelt in front of shops, gathering places, and a few homes; but Philthrax noticed something odd at the opposite end of the street. In place of what should have been the statue of the king stood a tall metallic structure the tax collector was not familiar with. It towered over the other buildings of the town and at the top stood a metal bowl with rod pointing outwards.

“You there,” Philthrax pointed to a random town folk, “what is that?”

The peasant looked up from the ground at the tower, then back the tax collector. “That is the transmitter my lord.”

“Transmitter?” Philthrax repeated. The word was unknown to him and sounded somehow wrong against his tongues; and he was well versed on every language this side of the continent.

“Yes,” the peasant continued, “our king gave it to us and told us to activate it should we ever need his aide.”

The mention of the king gave Philthrax pause. He had not been informed of any new construction projects, nor would one of such scale be placed in an isolated backwater like this. He pondered this until something odd about the peasant drew his attention.

“What are those things upon your eyes?”

Standing up the peasant put his hand on the blocky object covering his eyes.

“The king provided these for us town people so we can work in the sun without its harmful light. He called them “Goggles”.”

“The king was here?”

When the peasant nodded Philthrax motioned to the guards who went over and grabbed them by the arms. The rest of the town’s people gasped at this, looking to each other, but did nothing else as Philthrax approached the peasant.

“What is your name?”

“Temerania, my lord.”

“Well Temerania,” Philthrax spoke calmly as he stepped to just in front of them, “is there a reason you would lie to me?”

Before Temerania could respond Philthrax swung his umbrella across their face with a heavy blow. A deep gash opened on their cheek and purple blood began leaking from it as they cried from the pain.

“The king was setting off for the Dem region when I left the capital,” Philthrax began, “which to your idle little mind is in the opposite direction by thirty leagues; so there is no way he could have arrived before me.”

He leaned down closer and grabbed Temerania’s face. “Now tell me, who gave your these objects and who built that tower?”

Normally he could see the fear in the eyes of those he questioned by the blocky “goggles” hid them from Philthrax behind a blank visor that reflected his own image.

“I swear to you,” Temerania pleaded, “it was a gift from the king. The one eyed king gave them to us all!”

“The one eyed king?”

The title made Philthrax and his guards laugh at the stupidity of it. “Your king does not have one eye,” Philthrax countered, “and he is very much displeased with your lack of taxes.”

“Wait.”

Philthrax turned to see another peasant who had been kneeling raise their head. “So you are not from the metal mountain?”

“Metal mountain?” Philthrax repeated snidely. “Has everyone in this shithole lost their mind?”

Several of the towns folk looked amongst themselves before one of them nodded and began running for the metal tower.

“Seize them!” Philthrax shouted and a pair of his guard ran after them while the rest of the town’s people scattered indoors.

The guards had nearly grabbed them when they reached the base of the tower and flicked a large red flap of metal. In a flash strange lights along the tower appeared and a booming wail emitted from it like the song of banshees. Philthrax dropped his umbrella to cover his ears as the wailing grew in volume.

One of the guards grabbed the town’s folk who had activated the wailing tower while the other flipped the metal flap back and the wailing ceased. Yet when the wailing stopped Philthrax heard a new sound. Like the roar of a great wave as it approached the shore it grew in volume as the guards and Philthrax looked around in preparation.

Philthrax squinted his eyes as he looked to the sky and saw several dark trails of smoke rapidly approaching the town. No sooner had he blinked his eyes did the trails of smoke hit the town street by the metal tower and knock the tax collector and his guards from their feet.

When he opened his eyes the town was draped in a thick dust cloud. He coughed and swept his hands in front of him to clear away the dust when a booming voice drew his attention.

“UNDER ARTICLE 17 OF THE STARWAY PACT, THIS LOCATION AND ALL WHO RESIDE HERE ARE UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE TERRAN COALITION. ALL ACTS OF HOSTIILITY WILL CEASE IMMEDIATELY, OR LETHAL FORCE WILL BE AUTHORIZED.”

Never before had Philthrax heard such a powerful voice and he turned his head to follow it, only for tilt it upwards at the large figure now emerging from the dust cloud.

Towering over the surroundings stood a giant clad in metal. Strange markings and symbols dotted the surface of the giant. Gauntlets capable of swallowing Philthrax’s head held a strange metal staff,while a single red glared at him.

Hearing further marching feet, the tax collector saw smaller versions of the metal giant emerge from the smoke alongside their giant and stand at attention. They held metal staffs just as their giant companion but had no eyes or faces that the collector could see.

His guards were transfixed with fear from the metal beings but Philthrax would not be kowtowed. Rising to his feet he swept the dust from his clothes and fixed the giant with his most authoritative stare.

“I am Philthrax, chancellor of finances for the kingdom of Hei, and this town and its people belong to us!”

“NEGATIVE.” The giant replied coldly. “UNDER ARTICLE 39 OF THE STARWAY PACT, HAVING PROVIDED TERRAN COALITION FORCES SUPPORT THEY HAVE BEEN GRANTED PRELIMINARY CITIZENSHIP. AS SUCH THEIR HOMES, BUSINESSES, AND ALL OTHER FACILITIES AND LANDS UNDER THEIR OWNERSHIP NOW ARE PART OF THE TERRAN COALITION.”

“Support? What support!?”

Philthrax rounded on the towns folk but saw that they all had hid within their homes leaving only his guards in the street with the metal men.

“How dare you turn traitor to your king!” he yelled into the buildings. “You shall all hang for this treachery!”

“NEGATIVE.” The giant spoke again. This time it and its smaller kin raised their staffs and pointed them at Philthrax and his guards. “REPEAT. UNDER ARTICLE 17 OF THE STARWAY PACT, THIS LOCATION AND ALL WHO RESIDE HERE ARE UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE TERRAN COALITION. ALL ACTS OF HOSTIILITY WILL CEASE IMMEDIATELY, OR LETHAL FORCE WILL BE AUTHORIZED.”

“I do not know of this pact of which you speak, nor does the Kingdom of Hei recognize such treaties!” Philthrax countered. He motioned to his guards. “Draw your weapons and drive these creatures back-“

“HOSTILITY DETECTED; NEUTRALIZING.”

The last sound Philthrax heard was the roar of twenty assault guns and one hammer cannon firing at the same time before his world went black. -------------------------------------

Report 3-71-8395 Automatous Commander 3X-Z Acting Commander of Heaven’s Bounty until rescue.

- Hostile forces encountered at the settlement of Wixten. - Citizens activated distress transmitter requesting aide. - 3X-Z and twenty CG9 assault forms deployed to town and neutralized threat. - Hostiles identified by locals as associates of neighboring hostile power. - Calculation of further hostile actions set at 87% following termination of hostiles. - Deployment of CG9 assault forms to surrounding settlements deemed necessary for continued security. - Organic compounds obtained by grateful citizens of Wixten. This unit recommends upgrading citizens from preliminary status to full citizens if support continues. - Repairs to Heaven’s Bounty progressing. Organic compounds allow reactors to maintain power supply for vessel.

- Long range communications are still offline. Damage from fleet engagement and crash landing sits at 63% of vessel. - Industrial printers still online, though usable materials are limited. - Mining machines have been fabricated and have begun harvesting of metal ores for forging. - Recent hostile actions will halt further mining machine fabrication as additional CG9 units are needed for security. - Once situation has been stabilized reconstruction of the long range transmitter will continue.   - End Report

[phantom-dc]

Dad Hood - part 14

Bruce was getting a weird feeling. He thought that with Jason coming clean about having a kid and with he misunderstanding about Jason being cloned cleared up that things would go back to normal. But the way his sons were acting told him that there was still something he didn’t know. It likely had something to do with Danny, but he wasn’t sure what. Danny was a sweet kid, always eager to help others and make new friends. Bruce had still no clue what Dick, Tim and Jason were hiding from him and it nagged at him. He was suspicious that it was something big, otherwise one of them would’ve ratted the others out by now. If not to him then to Duke, Steph or Cass. Even Alfred didn’t know what was going on, and there were times Bruce suspected him of being an all-knowing being only pretending to be human. Bruce decided to keep an close eye. It’s not like he could investigate the Joker case any further before J’ohn came back from Mars anyway.

‘Grandpa Bruce, is daddy’s doll dry yet?’

Bruce looked down. Danny was looking at him with big eyes, waiting for the paint on their self-made Red Hood action figure to dry. Checking it with his finger, Bruce found it had dried and was ready.

‘It seems he is, champ. Here you go, you can play all you want with him. Be careful not to break him, ok?’

After Bruce handed Danny the action figure, Danny got really excited. He immediately ran back to his other toys so he could play out the stories his uncle’s told him about. Though they were made child-friendly, of course. Danny immediately gathered the Batman, Nightwing and Red Robin toys. He even had a Mr. Freeze and Riddler toy. Mr. Freeze had no problem with his visage being used as long as a portion of the money went to his wife’s cure. Riddler had seen it as a contest with Batman, so his toy even came with pre-recorded riddles! Seeing Danny play with them, Bruce turned to the other people in the room.

‘Dang, Bruce. You’re really playing into the grandpa role, aren’t you?’

Jason smirked at Bruce. It was a good thing that there wasn’t much happening in Gotham. With things calm in the city, he could stay a bit longer and the family could bond. Jason couldn’t remember the last time things were like this. He started to wonder if he should tell everyone how Danny took care of his Lazarus problem… Nah, they would just ask more questions and he really didn’t want to put his Soul on display again. Never again.

‘You’re not going anywhere, Red Hood! We’ll skin you alive and turn you into a coffee table!’ Danny said, holding the Mr. Freeze toy.

Dick, Jason, Tim and Bruce looked at Danny. Where had he picked up that language? Sure, Jason wasn’t always able to watch what he said around Danny, but he never threatened to turn someone into furniture? Maybe he should try it though. He bet he could make it work, with his reputation and all.

‘You are going down! The Red Hood never loses! Pew pew!’ Danny was pretending the Red Hood toy could shoot lasers from his hands.

Dick thought it was adorable. Did Danny think Jason had laser guns? Did he see those in cartoons? Maybe Danny liked those sci fi cartoons that were popular nowadays. With all the glow-in-the-dark stars Danny put up in his room it was obvious that Danny loved space. He wonders if Danny had those stars in his old house.

‘I am the Question Mark, and you will question why you ever thought you could win!’ Danny was holding the Riddler toy, and for some reason putting up a mad-scientist voice.

Bruce was worried. What had Danny been through that he knew about stuff like this? The threats and the obvious mad-scientist. Did the person Danny was copying the voice off the same one as the person that tried to clone him? It made him think. After Jason had told him that Danny had adoptive parents out there, he had avoided the issue. He’d been too happy to have a new family member. But now? Would it be safe for Danny? He should investigate these ‘parents’, so he could decide if it would be safer for Danny to stay here. If he was going to stay, Bruce knew that he would be fine. Everyone loved Danny, and Jason was being a very good father-figure to him. Bruce could tell that Jason loved his son very much, and would do anything for him. Somewhere, deep down, Bruce wished he could say the same thing.

‘You’re defeated, Question-Mark-man! No evil people will harm the innocents while the Red Hood is here!’ Danny put the Red Hood toy’s foot on the Riddler toy, in a triumphant pose.

Jason smiled. It was nice to be his kids hero. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Bruce looked at him with a very proud look in his eyes.

‘Jason, I must say, I’m proud of you. You’re a good father.’

And then Danny phased the Riddler toy into the floor.

Bruce, Jason and Dick were looking at Danny. Danny, who had just phased a toy into the floor. Seeing the gears turning in Bruce’s head, Tim quickly scooped up the kid and left the room. As Bruce slowly turned to look at Jason and Dick, Jason decided to make the first move:

‘IT WAS DICK’S FAULT!’

Dick was shocked by that. They immediately started arguing. Dick accused Jason of throwing him under the bus. Jason accused Dick of leaving Danny alone in public. Dick threw back that Jason didn’t warn him about Danny being so much to handle. Jason asked why on Earth he told his 5-year old child that he puts people in the ground, this never would’ve-

‘ENOUGH!’

Bruce’s voice boomed through the room, silencing the 2 brothers. He was furious. His grandson was the reason the Joker was dead, and his own children tried to hide it from him! Bruce took a deep breath. Dick and Jason were looking guilty. Bruce was reminder of how they looked when they got into trouble as kids, but this was serious. The fight the two had did reveal a few things to Bruce.

‘So, Danny is a meta? And you, Dick, told him that bad people are to be buried alive?’

Dick didn’t look him in the eyes:

‘He wanted to know what Jason did for work, and I was overwhelmed and it just came out? I knew I messed up as soon as I said it, but Dany didn’t seem to care. I never thought he would-’

Bruce cut him off. He needed more information, not excuses.

‘Does Danny realize he killed someone?’

Jason said Danny didn’t, at least Jason thinks he didn’t. Danny never showed signs of that, but with all the things that Danny does do it might have slipped through. Jason still isn’t sure what things Danny tells him are real and what is a child’s interpretations. Bruce sighed. That was good, at least they didn’t have another trauma to deal with.

‘Ok, we can deal with this. But I do need to know what Danny can do before we can make plans for him. Is phase-shifting his only power?’

Jason looked at Dick with a strange look, that promised nothing good. He pulled out a tiny black notebook, scribbled something in it, claiming to be updating the list and handed it to Bruce.

Invisibility

Cryokinesis

Flight

Soul-pulling-out-powers???

Destructive scream

Super strength

(Flying) Superspeed

Photokineses

Shields

Doesn't need to breath (as often)?

Color changing (Camouflage? Different form?)

Phase-shifting

Bruce read it over. He looked at Jason.

‘Jason. This is like half the Justice League’s powers.’

Jason just nods. Dick tells him this is only what they’ve seen Danny do. They have no clue what else he can do. Danny’s memory is iffy, and couldn’t give them a list himself.

‘We need to figure out where Danny came from. We put this off long enough, but this amount of powers is concerning. I’m guessing you were hiding more form me, so the both of you need to come clean about everything.’

Jason sighed. He knew this was coming. He told Bruce everything. How Danny just showed up, to the Lazarus blood, to being cloned, to being younger than he should be and everything. By the end, Bruce had turned slightly pale. The three decided to use the Bat-computer to find out more.

When they got there, Tim was already working on Danny’s case. He managed to track Danny from the orphanage in Europe that Talia had left him at. There Danny had been adopted by a family called ‘the Fenton’s’, but he had lost sight of them after they moved to the US. No matter how hard Tim tried, he couldn’t find anything. It was almost like there was some sort off wall blocking all information. As much as he hated to admit it, Tim didn’t think that technology would help them much further. Bruce thought for a bit. If technology couldn’t help…

‘Good thing Constantine still owes me a favor, then.’

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[luchicm04]

Sinking in the Metkayina - chapter 1

Masterlist

Summary: That night, (Y/n) couldn’t sleep, so she tossed and turned in bed and finally came out onto the deck. The night sea of Pandora seen from the ship was as beautiful as always. It was a world worth protecting. The woman leaned against the railing, recalling that terrible and scary battlefield... and just then, a wave rocked and swayed the boat all of a sudden and she... fell into the sea.

Pairing: Tonowari/Omatikaya!Fem Reader

Tag: #sinking in the metkayina fic

posted on ao3

Word count: +8k

All characters belong to Avatar, and all rights are reserved to the original work whose author allowed me to translate it. I took some (a lot) of creative liberties while writing, adding a few things and changing some. This is the first time I translate a Korean fic, so I hope I did it properly😅

The premise of this story is that humans have a respiratory system adapted to Pandora’s air. It’d be so annoying and interfering otherwise, and it wouldn’t allow for deep kissing and the endless things you can do with your mouth.

Overall warnings: hurt/comfort, fluff, edging, eventual smut⚠️

(Y/n) was a marine biology researcher. She used to do various studies on Na’vis and periodically go out to the ocean with her colleagues to collect samples. However, when many scientists who sided with the RDA were kicked out and sent back to Earth... she was left alone as an oceanographer, with no one to accompany her to the open seas anymore. 

It would have been nice if Jake had more allies who sympathized with him, but (Y/n) swallowed her tears. Fortunately, there were still a few people who knew how to sail a ship, so she left Hell’s Gate and headed out to sea for her investigation after a lot of deliberation. 

She was just staring at the water in the vastness of the ocean... and suddenly, she was struck with dizziness, wondering ‘What am I doing here?’ 

That night, (Y/n) couldn’t sleep, so she tossed and turned in bed and finally came out onto the deck. The night sea of Pandora seen from the ship was as beautiful as always. It was a world worth protecting. The woman leaned against the railing, recalling that terrible and scary battlefield... and just then, a wave rocked and swayed the boat all of a sudden and she... fell into the sea. 

(Y/n), who had fallen into the water without any equipment, screamed while struggling. “Is there anyone here? Hello?!! Please, I need help!!”  

She tried to swim closer to the boat but was pushed further away by the waves. 

Even after the ship had completely disappeared from sight, (Y/n) continued to swim, but her hope was fading away. Time continued to pass, and she had no energy left because she had struggled so hard. Her lips were trembling from hypothermia, and only despair rose up in her. 

‘Am I going to die here? Not on Earth, but on a distant star a few light years away?’  

The strength slowly drained from her limbs and (Y/n) lost consciousness after hearing something that sounded like a whale’s cry. 

──

When she opened her eyes... she screamed at the sight of Na’vis looking down at her with faces full of curiosity and wariness. The Na’vi, who were startled by (Y/n)’s yell, shouted along with her, making her scratch the back of her head in embarrassment after calming down. The surroundings had started to get noisy after she had woken up. 

‘Vrrtep? ...They must be talking about me, right? This sucks... Well, at least I’m alive, which is a good thing... but it feels that I’m going to die anytime soon...’  

Na’vis began to gather, and (Y/n) flinched in fear at their piercing gazes. They looked different from those of the Omatikaya; their skin color was lighter, their arms were thicker... oh, look those muscles... wait, what was she thinking? Did she want to die by a harpoon? She was silently praying, if it came to be, for them to kill her painlessly with one blow when two Na’vis appeared through the crowd. 

Judging by the fancy and colorful ornaments, the girl was 100% sure they must be the Olo’eyktan and Tsahìk. She had to show them she had nothing but good intentions! 

(Y/n) immediately jumped up and cast the ‘I see you’ while speaking in the native language, in which she was haltingly fluent. “I have no intention of causing harm. I am a tìftiatu.” 

The Tsahìk looked up at the Olo’eyktan and they stayed silent. 

‘Good thing I learnt that word from a baby forest Na’vi... Why aren’t they saying anything? Please, let me live to see another day.’  

“Do you know why you are here?” the chief asked. 

“When I opened my eyes, I was already here.” 

“A tulkun saved you and brought you the shore.” 

“Tool... kun? Wait, a tulkun?” 

“Yes.” 

“Oh my god!!”  

‘I had the chance to see a tulkun with my own two eyes?! I didn’t even get to see a single tail fin!! I should’ve woken up, and instead I missed it! Aaaah!!!’  

(Y/n), who was mentally punishing herself while outwardly doing a one-woman show, barely came to her senses under the strange look of the Olo’eyktan, and desperately tried to appeal to herself that she was harmless by raising her frail arms and clearing her throat to speak. 

“I am not a warrior; I mean no harm. I just want to know about life in this place and the meaning of Eywa.” 

“...Why? You are one of the demons.” 

“Because not all demons want destruction.” 

“Is that so?” 

“Yes, it is.” 

‘Thanks for the lessons, forest kid.’  

The male leader spoke to the woman with a softened expression. 

“She doesn’t look dangerous.” 

“What if it is only a mere appearance?” 

“She does not possess any of the Sky People tools. Without those ‘machines’, they are no different from newborn babies.” 

Was she being compared to a baby right now? ...Well, they weren’t wrong. (Y/n) listened to their conversation feeling nervous. 

“...You are allowed to stay here.” 

‘Yes!! However, asking for them to take me all the way back to the Omatikaya... I guess that’s too much, right? I don’t think they’ll listen... I’ll just have to survive in a place with no machines or anything technological. Luckily, I know about some creatures that humans can consume.’  

“Then... where should I stay?” 

The man replied calmly. “I’ll take care of that.” 

“Tonowari!” the Tsahìk exclaimed. 

‘So, his name is Tonowari? Huh, weird...’  

“No matter how weak she is, we will have to wait and see if she is completely harmless. As Olo’eyktan, it is my responsibility to care and watch over her.” 

“...Even though you might regret it?” 

“That too is my lot to bear.” 

Ah, great... is the leader of the tribe fighting with his wife already because of her mere existence on that island? She hopes she’s not ruining their relationship. 

“O-oh, it’s okay... you don’t have to help me, I can manage by myself. Plus, couples shouldn’t fight... Ahaha...” (Y/n) said nervously. 

Both Na’vi looked at her strangely. “We are not a couple.” 

“R-really?” 

“I suppose you didn’t know that Tsahìks and Olo’eyktans are not always paired up,” the woman stated drily. 

The human was sweating profusely. “...I didn’t know...” 

‘Oh, no... Did I just insult both them and their culture at the same time?’  

“Anyway, you are my responsibility from now on. Follow me, I will show where you can stay.” 

“Y-yes, yes... thank you...” 

Leaving behind the Tsahìk, who was still looking at her as if she were an unworthy insect, (Y/n) bowed and followed after Tonowari. 

After a short walk, they arrived at the area where the maruis rested above the water. Not long after that, the man stopped in front of the one she supposed would be assigned to her. She obviously expected it to be empty, but it was spacious and had traces of daily use. What? 

No matter how you look at it, someone was already living there. When (Y/n) looked at him with a question mark on her face, Tonowari spoke as if nothing had happened. “I said you were under my responsibility. You shall be living with me for a while.” 

“...I’m a girl, though?” 

“You are a woman of the Sky People. Don’t worry, nothing unpleasant will happen to you.” 

‘Well... of course, we are from different species... but something inside me... something similar to dignity is dying!! I want to tell him that, but I can't say anything because just receiving this invitation is a huge exception and privilege...’  

(Y/n) walked to a corner and crouched down. 

“Don’t be so nervous; you can relax, I won’t do anything to you.” 

“Y-yeah, uh-huh...” 

“Please, use the space a little more widely. There is no reason for you to feel uncomfortable.” 

“T-thank you...” 

Tonowari sighed as he looked down at (Y/n), who was sitting awkwardly and not knowing what to do. 

It seemed like there was quite a long way to go. 

──

The next day  

“Is there anything you can do?” 

“Uh... fish. I know them well. Sea... algae? Seaweed? I know seaweed well too.” 

Tonowari looked down at her, curious that a Sky Person would be so interested in the sea life-forms. 

(Y/n) shrugged. “It was my job to study them. I have lots of knowledge about them.” 

“Hmm... I guess that is not necessary right now. What about hunting?” 

“Nope, nothing.” 

“I will show you how to weave a net. Follow my lead,” he said as he grabbed a few materials so he could show her the basics. “Even if it’s temporary, as long as you stay here, you have to do your share.” 

“Yes, I know.” 

“This way, the basic knot is complete. Now, you try.” 

After a few attempts and feeling she was just making a fool of herself, (Y/n) questioned the process she was taking. “...Am I doing it right?” 

“Put your right hand under the knot and pull it out to the left.” 

“Like this?” she asked after somehow managing to tangle the material even more, but not in the specified form. 

“...” 

“...Like this?” 

“...Let’s just try something else.” 

“Hey! Don’t give up on me so easily!” 

After wrestling with the cord for about two hours, (Y/n) unilaterally admitted defeat... 

“Well then, tell me how to make fabrics at least.” 

“If you can’t even weave a net, how will you be able to weave cloths?” he said pointedly. “I believe it’s best for you to follow me around for a while; look around and find something you can learn to do.” 

“...You don’t have to be so straightforward about it.” She saw how he was carefully gazing at her. “Why are you looking at me like that?” 

‘If we were friends, I would have thrown some joke like: “What’s the matter, hon? Am I that cute?” However, being in front of a 292cm (9’7”) giant Na’vi, I get so scared that I can only... squeak... Even though I’m tall for a human, I’d be like a little kid compared to Tonowari.’  

Still, seeing this, (Y/n) sighed and wondered if Tonowari would be able to teach the customs of the Na’vi... to a human. 

──

From that day on, (Y/n) followed Tonowari around and was shown all sorts of skills: how to cast and pull nets, how to manage a clam farm, how to sharpen and make spears, how to create accessories that are strong and durable even in seawater, etc. Surprisingly (or not), not a single one of them suited her. 

(Y/n)’s self-esteem, once a highly educated person, began to plummet. 

‘But I... I was a scholar capable enough to be dispatched to Pandora, so how can I be so useless? My knowledge has already been passed down through generations of Na’vis, and I have no talent for working with my hands... If I keep up like this, what are they going to do with me? What if I’m kicked out?’  

The night was getting deeper; the sound of the ocean could be heard, and (Y/n) was anxious... She crouched down and tried to come up with something. Nevertheless, no matter how much she thought about it, there was no answer. She had to prove her worth, but she couldn’t do anything... (Y/n), who had always been ahead of the curve, felt like she was nosediving with no way up. The only thing she felt she was good at the moment was sniffling. Which she started to do, little by little. 

And those sounds... Tonowari, who slept in the same room could, of course, hear them. Looking at (Y/n), who was lying down with her back turned and trying to quiet down her sniffs, he let out a small sigh and got up. 

“You can’t sleep?” 

“Y-yes... ugh... sniff...” 

“It’s been an hour.” 

“...Lie back down, I’m fine...” 

As the remains of his sleep disappeared, the Olo’eyktan awoke completely from his drowsy state. Tonowari spoke with a soothing tone as he looked at the state (Y/n) was in. 

“Every life has its own use and purpose in Eywa’s path. You, too, have your own purpose. Do not worry too much.” 

“...Do you really think so?” 

“Yes, I do.” 

Only then did (Y/n) loosen her distraught expression and turn around. Her eyes were wet from sobbing, but now she was smiling slightly. 

“You are very kind, sir.” 

“Ahem... I am responsible for you. It is only natural.” 

“But I’m a foreigner, so it must be burdensome for you, sir. Still, thank you.” 

“...Tonowari is also fine.” 

“Huh?” 

“What I mean is, you don’t have to call me sir every time. Many people call me by my name.” 

(Y/n) blinked briefly and burst into a small laugh. “You’re very kind, Tonowari.” 

“...It is late; go to bed and rest. You have many places to go to tomorrow.” 

Tonowari’s ears perked up a little as he spoke, so she found herself in a happy mood for the first time in a while. He looked very strict and serious, but he secretly had a kind side to him. He might even seem a little... cute? 

As she laid facing the ceiling, the sound of the waves, which was unusually loud, acted as a lullaby... (Y/n) fell asleep after a few minutes. 

──

(Y/n) and Tonowari searched the entire village for something to do... Clamming (too hard for a human), picking seaweed (can’t hold her breath for long, so ruled out), standing guard at the village border (barely getting by)... and finally! Finally, they found something she could do. 

Teaching children. 

(Y/n) was definitely into Pandora’s oceans, and her vocabulary was similar to the kids’ (lol) so it would be easy to teach them. 

‘I was hoping I would end up doing something with my dexterity... haha... I was a bit disappointed, but still! I was happy to be useful, and I felt flattered in front of Tonowari. He also congratulated me with a smile.’  

Of course, there was some opposition to the idea of the demon teaching their children, but after proving her knowledge was clearly useful, they decided to test it and see how it goes before making a formal decision. In order to do that, a Na’vi would be needed to watch and help out. 

And on the first day of teaching the younglings... (Y/n) was wondering who would come while Tonowari walked from afar. 

She stared confused as he approached her but was quick to greet him with the respect he deserved. “I see you, Tonowari. What brings you here...?” 

“I heard you need someone to help you.” 

“That’s true, but...” 

“You are under my responsibility, so it is right for me to take charge of that task as well.” 

“...Oh, aren’t you busy...?” 

“I have some free time to spare at the moment. Don’t worry.” 

‘Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhh- I thought we were going to do something like the neighborhood alphabet classroom, but now I have to do an observation class in front of the Olo’eyktan. Damn it!! And I’m just a researcher, not someone trained as an educator.’  

While sweating profusely, (Y/n) kept repeating to herself like a parrot that the chieftain must be busy, so... why was he here? 

The man was stubborn, so she gave up on that. The girl entered the space set up for what they would need and... there were more kids than she thought? (Y/n) raised a question mark. Could you blame her? Who could have thought so many would come knowing that they would be taught by a demon? 

The kids confidently said they had come without their parents’ knowing. The curiosity of pre-teens in their prime couldn’t be defeated, funnily enough. 

So, that was how (Y/n) started the first lesson. First, she listed the easy-to-find clams. 

“Okay, guys! Do you know what this is?” 

“Who doesn’t know that? It’s just a common clam.” 

“Right, but did you know that this clam has 300 eyes?” 

“Really????????” 

“Curious, isn’t it? Should I crack open it and check?” 

(Y/n) was trying her best to win them over... 

No matter what she did, it wouldn’t work. Pandora’s creatures were so huge... It wasn’t easy, and a female human’s energy couldn’t even come close to that of a Na’vi. 

Ah, she’d finally gotten their interest; she couldn’t just leave it like that. The woman trembled and used all her strength, but the clam was tightly shut. (Y/n)’s face was gradually turning sad until a large hand appeared from the side. 

It was Tonowari. He took the clam from her hands, which hadn’t even moved regardless of how hard she tried, and easily opened it... In 0.5 seconds... 

“Here you go.” 

“O-oh, uh... thanks.” 

“Wow~ Olo’eyktan is so cool!” 

“Thank you everyone. Now, keep focused on what (Y/n) will teach you.” 

“Okay~” 

After that thankful action, Tonowari nodded to her with a smile as if telling her to go ahead with the lesson. 

“Alright... Now that the Olo’eyktan has opened it, why don’t we take a look? Here, did you know everything in this side consists of the organs?” 

“Eww~ it’s so gross!” 

“It is, but thanks to that they know when predators ... no, tarioa- tairo-... I mean, when bad animals are coming, and they close their shells to protect themselves." 

“But why stay there instead of running away?” 

“...Well...” 

(Y/n) got caught in the moment, but Tonowari intervened from the side. 

“That is because the strong warriors of the Metkayina catch them. Nothing can escape our hands.” 

“Uh... That’s right! Warriors of the Metkayina! You too will achieve that position when you grow up. By the way, aren’t you curious about how clams eat?” 

‘Phew! Almost blew it back there.’  

A few hours later, (Y/n)’s first class ended with unexpected success. And... it seems she got herself an assistant? 

Tonowari woke her from her daydream, which was causing her soul to leak from her mouth, by tapping her. “That was impressive. There were some things I didn’t know. Did you discover them?” 

“Well... not necessarily me... but my colleagues and I made a collaboration ... how do you say this in Na’vi?” 

“Does this mean that this is the fruit of your efforts combined?” 

“Fruit? Fruition... Yes, that’s right!” 

“It seems like you’re doing well on your own. You are intelligent and talented.” 

'...The first compliment I heard since I got here!’  

(Y/n) was a little embarrassed, but she didn’t show it and replied “That’s just how I am” and shamefully left. Tonowari laughed a little at her cockiness. 

On the way to the marui, the sky and sea were covered in the sunset. The two walked slowly along the sandy beach and looked at the landscape. 

“It’s beautiful...” 

“The bottom of the sea is even more beautiful. Have you ever seen it?” 

“I’ve been there a few times. It was an unforgettable experience... Now that I think about it, I have never seen it here.” 

“The coral reefs of the Metkayina are especially famous for their beauty. Someday, I will show you how to ride an Ilu and show them to you.” 

“Really?!” 

“It would be absurd to be staying with the reef people and not seeing the reefs.” 

“Thank you, thank you! I will never forget this for as long as I live!” 

“...Because you seem to love the ocean too.” 

There was a moment of silence between them. 

“How could you not fall in love with this place?” 

“Didn’t you say that there is an ocean where you came from?” 

“Coral reefs are losing their color, animals are disappearing, and the water is tainted with dangerous substances. It can no longer be called an ocean.” 

“...That is regretful.” 

“That’s probably why I fell in love with this place so much. Living in this lively place feels like a dream.” 

He didn’t speak any more. They kept walking Tonowari, who didn’t say anything until they reached their destination, spoke quietly. 

“If there’s anything you would like to see, just tell me. I’ll help you as much as I can.” 

The image of Tonowari speaking like that remained in her mind for no reason and continued to linger in her mind until she closed her eyes and went to sleep. (Y/n) must have fallen asleep because when she woke up the soft sound of the waves, like white noise, and the voice of Tonowari in her head were mixed together and she couldn’t tell which was which. 

──

(Y/n)’s class was surprisingly booming as time went by. 

The kids who came after taking a class said it was so much fun, so those who called her ‘demon’ at first started coming one by one out of curiosity, and her crowd eventually grew... The youngsters did many things there besides learning like playing with friends and, honestly, parents were happy they didn’t have to watch over them all day (her school had become in some sort of childcare). 

It was also quite amusing to see the Olo’eyktan sitting solemnly on the sidelines and listening, then chiming in a word or two. And when (Y/n) muttered to herself something like “Oh, I don’t have this... I wish I did...”, Tonowari would quickly get up and disappear somewhere, then come back with it. 

“Where did you find this?! Tonowari, you’re the best!” 

“...You’re welcome.” 

She would spend all day teaching the kids (actually playing with them) and then in the evening, when they dispersed, she would walk along the sandy beach with Tonowari and chat. 

'At first, it was hard to talk to him because he scared me, but know that I know how considerate he is, haha, I feel I can speak with him more comfortably.’  

“The conch shell that I showed you earlier, isn’t it pretty? Should I make some jewelry with it?” 

“...Are you serious?” 

“No, even if my dexterity was ruined, it wouldn’t be to that extent...” 

“Well, I’ll make one for you instead.” 

“Wow, really? Yay !!” 

“ Yay ... Can I ask what that means?” 

“Well, it’s a great word to use when something is really good and exciting.” 

“...The Sky People’s language is really diverse.” 

“Anyway, you promised to make me one of those ornaments. I like necklaces!” 

“I see. I shall keep that in mind,” he said smiling down at her. 

And... time passed, and the day finally came when Tonowari decided to give (Y/n) a ride on an Ilu. 

Before, there had been a backlash that was summarized with: “We can’t trust the demon.” Now, through teaching, she had become close with the kids and established her own position, so things were better. 

“(Y/n)! I heard you were going to ride an Ilu today!” 

“Awesome! I’m so jealous!” 

“I’m learning to ride one too.” 

“I heard Tonowari himself would teach her.” 

“Lucky... Come back without any injuries!” 

“Do you think I will learn to ride soon too?” 

‘I always do this kind of back and forth with my students. I can’t do Tsaheylu, but the mere idea of being the first human to ever ride an Ilu makes me feel like I’m floating! I don’t think any human on Earth has ever ridden one. Especially with an Olo’eyktan teaching me directly!’  

Tonowari was barely able to calm (Y/n) down, who was almost jumping up and down with excitement, went out to the sea and called for an ilu. 

“Everybody makes that sound, but how do you do it?” 

“Like this.” He made some sounds from the back of his throat using his tongue. 

She tried to copy him to the best of her ability. “Am I doing it?” 

“...” 

That was all for the lesson on calling the Ilu. Tonowari lifted (Y/n) and placed her on one who had come near. 

“Whoa!!!!” 

“Um, let go of my hair...” 

“Sorry, sorry, you just surprised me all of a sudden...” 

(Y/n)... was quite tall for a human, and no one had ever lifted her like that since childhood. So, out of fright, she had ended up grabbing onto the hair of the Olo’eyktan for support. She let go, feeling embarrassed, and Tonowari grabbed her hand and told her how to hold it on the saddle. His larger hand, that covered (Y/n)’s whole and still had a lot of space left, folded each finger accordingly. 

She suddenly felt strange at the feeling of his hand... She thought it was because she was excited and let it go. 

“How long can you last underwater?” 

“I’ve had some training before, but... like 3 minutes?” 

“That is ridiculously weak...” 

“That... that is long?!” she affirmed offended. 

“I guess we’ll have to do a lot of practice. Anyway, hold your breath, we are going into the water now.” 

“Really? Now? Wait a minute, whoa-” 

As soon as the Ilu dived, Tonowari grabbed its queue and dived with it. 

(Y/n) barely managed to catch her breath at the timing, and as she closed her eyes tightly in a state of exclamation, she was dragged by the Ilu as it swam aimlessly. After a few seconds, she felt someone tapping her from the side, so she cautiously opened her eyes and almost opened her mouth as well to say: “Wow”. 

The scenery before her eyes was truly fantastic. Colorful aquatic creatures swimming in the clear waters and colorful coral reefs... Shoals of small fish passed by (Y/n) and Tonowari, and the Ilu played in circles among the giant seaweed. 

‘This sight will forever live in my memory,’ she thought to herself. 

Tonowari, who was caressing the Ilu, smiled slightly as he looked at her as she was absentmindedly watching everything. Seeing that she liked it so much, he thought that he should have brought her out there earlier... (Y/n), who seemed to sense his gaze, looked back and waved her hand with a bright smile. 

At that moment, Tonowari felt his heartbeat suddenly stop for a second. 

Why? Had he stayed in the water for too long? No, it wasn’t that... The man put his hand on his chest and questioned this strange throbbing sensation. 

Right then, he saw (Y/n) gesturing upwards as if she were out of breath and apologetically sent the Ilu up to the surface. 

“Phew! That was really, really fantastic! Thank you, Tonowari!” 

“...It was nothing.” 

“It was not nothing. If it weren’t for you, I would still be feared as a demon and wouldn’t have had even come close to touching one of his fins.” 

(Y/n) had been able to establish herself in the village thanks to Tonowari, so she smiled happily as she expressed her gratitude for that again. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her... 

“Today I just looked around, but next time I’ll be looking for samples for research. Will you be coming with me?” 

To this bold and valiant woman who fearlessly asked the Olo’eyktan to accompany, Tonowari could only nod... without even knowing why. 

“I don’t know what samples are, but... if you want to.” 

“Oh my? What if something weird happens?” 

“I know you wouldn’t do anything to purposely harm us.” 

“Wow... that’s touching. Why are you so kind to me?” 

“...It’s no big deal.” 

Tonowari always said that when he was embarrassed. But never the actual thing. 

──

From that day onwards, (Y/n) went out to collect samples carrying the small bag that Tonowari had made for her. The man was always by her side and would even hold things for her if they were too heavy. 

What’s more, he taught her breathing techniques so she could hold longer underwater... and the two naturally became closer. 

“I’d like to go out for a bit. Is that okay?” 

“It’s dangerous. I wouldn’t recomment it.” 

“Um... Just for a bit? There’s something at the bottom I really want to look into...” 

“I said it was dangerous.” 

“Why can’t I? I’ll just dig that up and come right back!” 

“...” 

Strangely, it became difficult for Tonowari to say no to (Y/n)’s words. 

She had become quite capable at holding her breath through continuous training (nothing compared to a Na’vi, of course) and was confident that she would be fine in deeper waters. 

The day they decided to go far away, Tonowari came with a fierce-looking spear; (Y/n) wondered if it was necessary, but she thought that he would know better. The two of them went beyond the coral reef on Ilu... but the chief was so big that it was more like holding onto its queue with her on board rather than riding it. 

Anyway, the two went down to the deep water and luckily, they quickly found what (Y/n) was looking for. The girl was carefully putting it in her bag with an excited face, when a huge shadow fell over her. 

It was a Pxazang. 

Before she could scream, Tonowari pierced his spear straight into the beast’s stomach and it shook violently, bleeding in pain. Right after, he narrowly escaped from having his arm bit off while holding onto the Ilu and (Y/n). Both continued to head down and down among the tall seaweed and coral. The predator chased after them, chewing and breaking through stone pillars like a madman despite having been stabbed. 

Tonowari gritted his teeth and held (Y/n)’s arms tightly so as not to lose her and continued to descend... And the two, barely able to hide in a place where its teeth could not reach, held their breaths and tried to calm their pounding hearts. 

Nevertheless, there was a problem... Not matter how much (Y/n) trained, she wasn’t a Na’vi and soon started to suffocate. She tried her best to hold it in, but when a gulping sound was heard, the man looked down at her... and realized the situation. Without even thinking, Tonowari lowered his head and kissed her. 

The moment (Y/n)’s eyes opened wide, he breathed life into her... while she was hardly hanging on and clinging to his body. 

How many times did she inhale and exhale like that? Finally, the human’s stomach settled down; Tonowari made a gesture, grabbed the handles of the Ilu and headed towards the surface. 

“Gasp...! Cough, cough... Ugh...”  

(Y/n), who had been holding to Tonowari’s arms, gasped and finally filled her lungs. Even though he had trouble breathing after sharing air with her, the Na’vi held her cheeks to check if she was hurt anywhere. The two looked at each other for a long time, catching their breath. 

Tonowari’s heartbeat was so loud that it could be felt in his arms... The face that habitually looked down was full of relief at barely surviving, and subsided fear at knowing she had made it... The man met (Y/n)’s eyes, which were filled with a mixture of emotions, and impulsively kissed her.  

Their pulse was thumping on their touching chests, the body head felt faint on their wet and cold skin... and yet, the tongue that was parting her lips and entering her mouth was so hot that she thought it would burn her... The chief pulled (Y/n) into his embrace and turned his head to kiss her more deeply, and this continued until the girl was out of breath and rubbing his shoulder. 

──

Four days since the incident  

Tonowari didn’t say a word about it and just treated (Y/n) as usual. Instead, they stopped going to the beach where they used to go for walks, and at night, he left the marui and went to sleep somewhere else. 

In other words, he didn’t sleep in the same place as her. 

Likewise, (Y/n) didn’t say anything about the matter, but she would sometimes look at his face as if asking for an explanation. When that happened, he would first look away and then leave the place. 

The strange atmosphere was evident even to the Na’vis in the village, and the number of children asking what had happened to the Olo’eyktan increased. 

Since they both declared it was nothing, though... what could a third party say? They just worried a little among themselves and let it go. Regardless of whatever happened between their leader and the demon, time passed, and it was time for the Tulkun to return. The Tsuraks, Ilus, Na’vis and Tulkuns all gathered together was truly a spectacular sight. 

It was so frustrating and regrettable that she didn’t have a camera on her... (Y/n) went into the water to capture it all with both her eyes. And she also witnessed Tonowari going over to his spirit brother. The man kept moving his hands in front of the Tulkun, as if he had much to say. Meanwhile, (Y/n) stood alone observing everything. 

That night, the village held a small festival. 

It was a celebration due to the return of their spirit brothers and sisters and, naturally, a table of alcohol was prepared. She was sitting there, asking about the ingredients and thinking, “I can take this.” The Olo’eyktan and Tsahìk were at the top, and after a few words from Tonowari, everyone joined in and drank. 

(Y/n), who had completely melted into the village teacher, had a few drinks and her face turned gradually red and started hiccuping while the other Na’vi teased her. As Tonowari saw her living effortlessly in the village without him, his feelings became complicated. It wasn’t something that should have become complicated; it was a good thing, but he couldn’t understand why his heart was like that. 

Because of his compromised mind, the man kept drinking and got so drunk that anyone would worry of they saw him. Eventually, Tonowari nodded at the advice that it would be better to stop drinking and go inside to rest, and staggered slightly as he headed towards his marui. He would have normally gone somewhere else, but he was too drunk to consider that. 

Leaving behind all that noise, he entered and laid down in his usual space... He closed his eyes dizzily, but then he heard footsteps, so he looked up and when he blinked... he saw (Y/n)’s face, red from drunkenness. 

“Tonowari! I f- hic! finally see your face...” 

“...If it makes you uncomfortable, I’ll leave.” 

“Who says I’m uncomfortable?” 

And then, she sat down in front of him! 

Actually, he realized, she had even brought a bottle of alcohol with her; she finally started gulping it down. He thought he should stop her, so he tried to get up. 

“Why did you kiss me back then?” 

He stayed silent for a moment. “...I don’t know what you’re talking about. You seem very drunk, so I think it’s best if you go lie down now...” 

“Why did you kiss me?” 

“It’s late. You should-” 

“What, do you think I’m stupid? I laugh all the time, so it’s easy, right?” 

“...You have never been easy.” 

“I’m not easy, so you’ll just pretend like nothing happened? Is that what you do?” 

“...I’m sorry. I apologize. Because of my lack of virtue, I forced myself to do something that you didn’t want...” 

“When did I ever say I didn’t want it?” 

“...?” 

“Why do you think and decide on your own without even listening to me?” 

Tonowari felt as if his lips were drying up... He moistened them and bit them carefully. 

“...Then, what decision would you like to make?” 

(Y/n) stared at him for a moment, then walked closer and wrapped her arms around his neck as she dat on the floor. 

“Kiss me. Give it a try first and then decide.” 

[[[The following content will be updated separately as an explicit post]]]  

The next day, she woke to the sound of the morning waves as usual, suffering from a horrendous hangover. The girl tried getting up, but she felt like she had been hit to a breaking point and something was holding her tightly, so she couldn’t move. What was that? She opened her eyes and there were a pair of arms in front of her. 

Tonowari was hugging (Y/n) in her torn clothes. 

‘You’re crazy, (Y/n)! Crazy!! Because you had no one to sleep with, you laid with the Olo’eyktan...?!!! He’s not even a person. What should I do? Ah, I feel like I’m gonna die...'  

Memories of last night flashed before her eyes like a panorama... She barely managed to swallow her screams. 

‘But... strangely, I don’t regret it... It was a really odd sensation. It felt like the knot that needed to be tied was finally put together.’  

On the other hand... there was no door there, which meant the place gave up any kind of privacy; anyone could have seen them, so she groaned and tried to get out, but... her arms were too heavy, and she couldn’t move. (Y/n) struggled for a while but gave up after exhausting all her strength. Moreover, her whole body hurt like she’d been beaten, especially her lower half. If it had been that bad in one night... She would’ve died if they had been at it for longer. 

“...Excuse me? Tonowari? Hey...” The girl timidly patted Tonowari’s broad chest. A couple of times. Then several. She wondered how many times she ended up doing that. Her arms were starting to hurt, and at that moment, the man stirred. 

And his open eyes were met with (Y/n)’s on his arms. 

1... 2... 3... 

“...!!! I’m so sorry!!! I will be punished for my sins...!!!” 

“Shh! Shush...! The other Na’vis will hear us...!” 

“Uh, I apologize...” 

“Well... First if all, do you have anything to cover my body with? My clothes are all torn...” 

“...I apologize for that as well...” 

The woman placed the fabric that Tonowari gave her around her body like a wrap dress. And then the two were forced to face reality. 

The bite marks and handprints left all over her body... he wanted to die. 

Tonowari had never felt so small in his entire life. He had spent the night with a drunk and it didn’t even seem like he had been gentle. He managed to open his mouth with the determination he had left, unsure on what to say next. 

“No, I mean... I did it because I like you... but...” 

He raised his head. “Did you say, you did it because you like me?” 

“If I didn’t like you, I would have said no, wouldn’t I?” 

The Na’vi was just staring blankly at (Y/n), opening and closing his mouth several times. 

“Um... I guess... that makes us... lovers? Something like that?” 

As soon as she said those words, she felt Tonowari hugging her right away. 

“...Are you sure you want me?” 

“I don’t think that’s something you say when we’re hugging each other practically naked and have already had intercourse... I meant it.” 

“I shall be a good mate for you. Definitely...” 

“Okay, wait a minute, I can’t breathe...! I need air...!” 

After holding her tightly for a long time, (Y/n) was finally released. She was still held in his arms, although lighter this time. It seems the one who self-appointed as her new mate had no intention of letting go anytime soon. 

That was how Tonowari and her started dating... Of course, it was a secret relationship; (Y/n) had preferred it like that, because she didn’t know how the Na’vis of the village would react. 

“Hmm, hey... Tonowari?” 

“Yes, I’m listening.” 

“Other than my face... could you please look at this fish?” 

“If you want me to.” 

The children gasped and looked back and forth between the two. Was he planning on hiding this from the people or not? He was driving her crazy... One could imagine the answer knowing that instead of that fish’s gills, he was gazing at her honey-dripping eyes. 

“(Y/n)... with the Olo’eyktan... by any chance...” 

“Huh?! No, I’m not!” 

“I think you’re right...” 

“They’re so affectionate with each other, aren’t they? Hahaha...” 

“It’s not like that...” 

“Right, right...” 

Well, she let it slide for now. The kids left with such faces... She rubbed her throbbing forehead, but Tonowari came up to her and grabbed her hand, saying there were no children around anymore. 

‘Now he wants to hold hands?! I actually want to, but whenever I see him smiling and saying that it’s okay, I feel weak again... Then again, what do the kids know? Ha... it’s alright I guess.’  

──

The next day  

A certain Na’vi called out to (Y/n), saying she had something to tell her, so she followed after the sea woman. Did they know each other? No matter how much she looked into it, she was a villager that had never spoken to her before... and right now, she just stared at (Y/n) without saying anything, with red eyes. 

“What did you want to say to me?” 

“...The Olo’eyktan! What’s so good about a demon like you?!” 

Huh...? She looked up and tears were falling like raindrops from the woman’s eyes. The human girl felt flustered and tried to calm her down. “Oh, no, don’t cry...” 

“Just like you! You can’t hunt! You can’t even weave a net! What’s the point of being twice as tall as you are?” 

“No... please, stop crying.” 

While rummaging through her inventory, (Y/n) held out a piece of cloth she had knitted for practice and told her to wipe her tears. The nameless Na’vi that was crying continuously stared at her and then caught her hand with her own. 

“Make Tonowari happy! Otherwise, I won’t forgive you!” 

“That’s not... I...” 

“I will remember that!” 

“No...” 

And she disappeared, shedding tears... Leaving her behind with her mind echoing ‘When did it start to be rumored that we were dating?!’ 

But (Y/n)... She wouldn’t give up on their love affair. 

When there were just the two of them, Tonowari immediately picked her up, pressed their foreheads together, kissed her and whispered words of affection. However, he tried hard to remain cold from the outside, no matter how in love his eyes looked. 

As time progressed, he continued to stand close to her with his huge size, like a bear that got wet under the rain, unintentionally making it hard for them to pretend nothing was going on. 

“(Y/n)...” 

“Eh?” 

“Olo’eyktan, you should at least try to pretend...” 

“I’m sorry, I can’t assist you. I’m in a very important duty.” 

“You’re just standing there...” 

“It is called surveillance.” 

Tonowari looked at the children who were doing their best in their lessons while keeping blank faces. 

“(Y/n), I...” 

“I’m in class.” 

“Just a little bit...” 

“I told you, I’m in class.” 

Now, (Y/n) seemed to have forgotten that the other person was the Olo’eyktan. Tonowari raised his figurative eyebrow amusedly, but he stood there until the end of class. As soon as the kids started to leave, he quietly came and grabbed her hand. 

“No, they’re still outside.” 

“...Can’t I kiss you just once?” 

“I’ll kiss you when we get to the marui.” 

“Is it not possible right now?” 

She glared at him, feeling like she’d lost again, and stood on her tiptoes. “...Just one.” 

Tonowari bowed his head as if he’d been waiting for that moment and kissed her deeply. It was supposed to be a small one, but he intertwined their tongues, and before she knew it, she was receiving a sticky and lewd kiss from the hungry man. 

After it ended and they broke apart, (Y/n) wiped her mouth and said, “Don’t do this when we’re outside...”, but found a Na’vi with their mouth open behind Tonowari. 'Uh-oh.'

“...!!!! Oh no, it’s not what you think...!” 

“Mom! Moooom!!!” 

“No!!!!!!!” 

In the end, they abandoned their secret relationship that day. 

──

She was forced to give up on Tonowari by issuing a ‘restraining order’ against him. 

Even if it had to be revealed, she wanted to do it properly and by herself, but they had been caught kissing in an open space, so she was left in shame. (Y/n) felt like a dog, being told to stay at least ten steps away... Instead, it was Tonowari who chased after her like a fanboy. 

He followed her around so pitifully... No wonder the Na’vis of the village had found out about it. (They all knew from before; they just chose to ignore it.) 

“No! It’s different when you get caught at a crucial moment and get exposed!” 

“Well... we already knew...” 

“You could have at least pretended!” 

“It was too obvious...” 

Even after finishing her work for the day and going into the marui, (Y/n) sat away since the order had not been lifted. Tonowari’s ears drooped and he watched her closely... He couldn’t bring himself to get close, so he looked at her with a pouty expression, but she tried to ignore him. 

“(Y/n)...” 

“Are you going to ask me to hug you again? You know we can’t.” She tried to avoid his prying eyes. 

“It has already been three days...” 

“Can’t you even hold back for three days?” 

“Can you?” 

“...” 

“If I cannot control myself... can you?” 

“Not being able to control ourselves is the reason we ended up like this!” 

He did not give up. “Do you not... hate that it has come to this?” 

“...No, that’s not it...” 

“We confirmed out feelings for each other, so I can’t understand why we must stay apart...” 

The girl bit her lip, willing her spirit not to yield. 

“(Y/n), I...” 

“ Okay, to hell with it. Get over here.” 

“...!!!!” 

And Tonowari ran towards her like a puppy with its tail on fire and sat down right next to her. 

After leaning slightly on her small body and smiling happily, (Y/n) couldn’t help but smile as well. And fit into those big arms and be hugged. The man enjoyed her body temperature and smell for a long time, rubbing his face against it. They kept whispering to each other until the sunset spread into the night. 

From then on, Tonowari, who had been gifted with a big body, would not think twice before carrying the girl in his arms and walk around all day. He would take strolls around the village like that and would hide his face in embarrassment, thinking that other Na’vis might see them, but if there was no one around, he would sneak a kiss on (Y/n)’s temple. 

At such happy times, a happy smile could be seen on the man’s face. 

Even the shy (Y/n) would have no choice but to wrap her arms around his neck and lean on him with a tingling in her heart. If she did it correctly, she’d feel the strong arms and familiar shoulders, and the heartbeat on his chest. Even though they had been together for quite some time, she found it cute that his heart would still beat fast and loud. 

Every day, the couple walked along the beach holding hands or spent time with the young Na’vis, who were just starting to learn how to weave nets. When dusk approached, the girl ran to Tonowari, who would come to pick her up and hug her. She also ended up meeting his spirit brother. 

“The day the Tulkuns came back... what did you talk about?” 

“Perhaps I have found someone who I can love.” 

──

One day, as the two of them grew more in love day by day, Tonowari went out hunting with the village warriors, and (Y/n) was walking alone through the marui bridges. 

However, something wasn’t right... it wasn’t usually that noisy, so she looked around and went to the shore, where something familiar caught her eye. 

It was an Ikran. 

Normal – Na'vi Italics – English

Vocabulary list: vrrtep (demon), olo’eyktan (clan leader), tsahìk (head shaman, high priest, interpreter), tìftiatu (researcher), marui (pods built in the giant mangrove-like trees alongside the shores and are protected from crashing waves by giant reef barriers), tarnioang (predator), tsaheylu (bond, neural connection), pxazang (akula), tsurak (skimwing), ikran (mountain banshee)

[anglingforlevels]

Through the Mountains (Paranormal Investigator Reader x Yan!Creatures)

A small concept blurb about a paranormal investigator that attracts the supernatural. Reader is honestly having such a good time doing it that they’ve thrown the horror genre out of the story.

CW: Death, Light Body Horror, Not Proof-Read, Not really a story just a concept, Yandere (more suggested than shown in this), monsterfuckery, Reader's morality is dubious at best.

Minors DNI

Humans have always been both fearful and drawn by the unknown, looking to the vastness of space or the depths of the oceans. But we know very little about the earth we stand on – hidden in creaks and shadows, or sometimes even plainly in sight, lies the unknown, beckoning us forth.

And you have never been one to ignore a call.

Already from an early age, you had noticed things, oddities that set themselves apart from what others believed to be possible or real. You didn’t particularly believe in magic, anything could be magic as long as it was unknown, but you didn’t care much to unveil the science of these oddities either, you were simply enthralled by what you didn’t know.

And the unknown seemed enthralled by you as well.

From the curious pebble-figures there’d wander through the gardens to move rocks – and who had left many small presents for you to slithering and clicking creatures there’d cling to your shadow, melting it to the ground so that you were forced to stay.

All manners of creatures, from harmless to terrifying to downright confusing, flocked to you, which was perfect for someone with your enthusiasm. It was obvious you’d make use of this to study them in full, traveling around with your notebooks and gear, hoping to study a new oddity every day.

Some days were more difficult than others, some creatures more persistent than others. You were much flimsier than they were, happy to fly from one thing to the other, it was the way you preferred. One oddity was far from enough, you needed to see everything the world had to offer. They were much more content with just you, and rarely willing to let you go on your merry way.

Alas, as someone setting out to be an expert in this field, you welcomed the challenge. It only meant that you had to be thorough in learning about the creatures, as to foil their attempts at keeping you, so it wasn’t much more than further encouragement to you.

Besides, it was a fair trade-off for getting the chance to meet them to begin with.

You were tracking through the mountain forests presently, returning from the peak of the mountain, which you had visited to get some good readings and pictures of the place to better understand the habitat of the oddities who made this place their home. Though the equipment was heavier than you cared for, thus you had hired a helping hand from the local town at the foot of the mountain.

Tally, a fit twenty-something that had wanted the extra cash and had the needed youthful hubris to disregard the warnings of their elders, who had grown up with the tales of dangerous monsters and disappearing trekkers in the mountains. They had shrugged it off as old wives tales, and you were grateful for that, because every other young adult you had asked, had assumed it was wild animals.

They wouldn’t go far in life with that attitude, but you appreciated it greatly.

“How are you so familiar with the mountains?” Tally asked, as you decisively led the two of you through the terrain. It was a fair question, there was no man-made paths here, after all, people did tend to go missing in the mountains.

“Oh, I’ve been here before, but I usually never bothered with the village beyond restocking. But I needed extra muscle this time around.” You explained while fiddling with some of the pictures from the instant camera you also had brought along.

“See,” Tally said with a satisfied smile, “I knew all those stories were bu-“

You shushed them. “No swearing, remember?”

“Oh, right. Sorry. Force of habit.” Tally apologized. When you had hired them, one of your set rules was no swearing in the mountains. “So, what exactly have you been studying since you visited here? Is there some kind of animal native to this mountain or something?”

“I don’t know about native, but most of them have probably been here longer than your village at least. At least, that’s what suggested by the stories your town tell.” You weren’t really paying much attention till you realized Tally had stopped up.

They groaned. “Stories? Don’t tell me you’re here to look for monsters.”

“Of course not.” You waved your hand dismissively, earning a sigh of relief from Tally. “I’ve already found them, well, most of them I’m guessing. I just wanted to know a bit more about their living habitat, I may not look it, but I’m a professional.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“I’ve been told that jokes aren’t my strong suit, so no.” You simply said, growing a little impatient at the fact Tally still wasn’t walking.

“Right… If these things were real, don’t you think you’d be dead by now.” It was a fair point, albeit Tally’s dry delivery hurt a little.

“Most of the things in this mountain only act if provoked, besides, they like me. Death is usually the only thing I don’t have to worry about, they usually try to take me rather than my life. But I’m very good at what I do, I don’t mess up, so I always manage.” At this, Tally lifted an eyebrow, looking perplexed and completely unconvinced.

” So, if you slip up, even once, you might be taken by any given one of these so-called "monsters"?"

“The quotation marks hurt a bit but yes. But what other choice do I have but to continue? Either risk being whisked away eternally to the obsessive whims of creatures who work on moral and biological systems beyond humanity’s ken or not go looking for weird creatures?”

“…See, that sounds like a very easy dilemma.”

“Exactly, I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

“This is so fucking dumb.” They sighed.

“Ah,” you sighed with a troubled smile, “Swearing is off limit in this forest, remember?”

“Huh? Uh, sorry it was a- grh!” They let out a pained grunt, their eyes traveling down to their legs, where something beneath their skins were rapidly crawling up their legs. They fell to the ground, howling in pain.

“Yeah, the thing in this forest really took that youth pamphlet about not doing drugs or swearing to heart, it considers swearing a sign of hostility.” You explained though they did not seem very interested in what you had to say.

“Do something!”

You scratched your neck awkwardly. You did feel bad, it looked very painful to watch small bulges and bony finger push against their skin, traveling upward their bodies. But… “It’s contagious at this point, I don’t want that thing in my body. Trust me, even when it’s not trying to kill, it’s a hassle.”

If they had a response to that, they never got a chance to say it, as their eyeballs were pushed out of their head and bony, tree-like fingers poked through their cheeks and mouth. They collapsed on the ground, the gear they had been carrying clattering to the ground.

“Guess this means I’m carrying all of this back myself.”