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kayr0ss · 3 years

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Hands that Remember Chapter 2 [AO3]

[Horizon Zero Dawn, Elisabet Sobeck Lives, Found Family, Mother-Daughter Feelings, GAIA is recovering, Ereloy]

Summary: Aloy saw the recordings, felt their grief over the death of their culture - the loss of their identity. Ted Faro had blown away the light meant to guide humanity through darkness - but she was willing to risk it all to take it back. To bring APOLLO back. It wasn't the first time that the world asked her for a miracle, but it bargained with a miracle of its own: This time - she didn't have to do it alone.

[Wherein Elisabet Sobeck returns, GAIA is recovering, Erend is done waiting around, and Aloy discovers a family she's never had before to help lift the weight of the world off her shoulders.]

Chapter 2: Re-Calibration

CHAPTER 2

It was such an odd thing to feel dirt again.

When was the last time she felt sediment and rock between her fingertips? A thousand years ago—quite literally. She’d forgotten the feel of it squeezing underneath the overhang of her nails, the discomfort of a pebble pressing on her heel within her shoe.

Little things. Living things.

GAIA Prime and all the other bunkers she had to oversee were exactly that: bunkers. Giant boxes of metal sealed from the world and its mounds of dust, dirt, and rock. But this disconnection wasn’t new: it’s been around since before she was locked away and working on Zero Dawn. It was there even back in Miriam, in FAS—even as far back as Stanford. So much time spent rushing towards the next breakthrough that she never had the time to stop and smell the flowers before they all burned away.

It was hard to wrap her head around the idea that flowers were back—blooming again somewhere out there. But for now she’d settle for the desert sand, riddled with weeds and other small signs of life.

She wondered what Erend might be thinking, seeing her run her fingers along the ground like a toddler. Eager to feel—to learn, no, relearn about a world she was only getting her bearings on. She caught a small blade of grass between her fingers. It’s alive, it’s all… alive again, she stared in wonder at the small miracle of live in her hand. Her return to consciousness was a violent experience. This was a nice change of pace.

The rest of the vanguard gave her and Erend privacy to talk, running errands in the nearby encampment and leaving them in the shade of an open tent. God knows she needed the space. She had questions—so many questions and while Erend tried his best to get her up to speed it seemed like there was always more. His rushed explanation was a disaster. Machines, cultists—whatever the fuck else was out there—and Aloy.

He said he’d try again and break it down slowly this time, sticking to what he knew and leaving the rest ‘to Aloy.’

‘Aloy’ sounded like a big shot. Someone important. Erend spoke about her with both familiarity and fondness—like how the other Alphas sounded when talking about one another. Whatever tangent he flew into—about what they had to fight off and how he believed it was related to herself and the other ‘Old Ones’—it always came back to Aloy. There was an unwavering faith he had in her that she could recognize: the feeling that they’ve fought together, bled together.

Endured something terrible together.

She remembered how he looked a little hurt earlier. “You’re Aloy’s mother, aren’t you?” He said it almost reverently, but unfortunately the answer was a very strong “no.” It must have been a misunderstanding—why would he think that?

“Got some boar roasting in camp.” Erend’s voice carried above the sound of his heavy footsteps. He walked closer, seating himself on a rock across her. “You feelin’ better?”

“I think so,” she admitted. “Alive. Which is better than the alternative when it comes to emerging from cryosleep if you ask me.”

“Good, good.” He crossed his arms. “Not hungry?”

Elisabet shook her head. “I don’t think I can taste anything yet.” She really hoped this side-effect was temporary.

“Well, let’s get you some soup. That’ll help.”

How she was feeling was a can of worms she didn’t want to open quite yet. Her body was on edge, the hairs along her arms standing in attention while she could feel the pace of her heart jog above average. It almost made her wince, the self-awareness of expecting a panic attack at any moment, but if her system had decided to be useful before shutting off completely later on, she was going to make the goddamn most of it.

Deep breaths.

She needed to take deep, long breaths. This was nothing but a jacked-up sympathetic nervous system stress response—there was no real danger. Just hypothetical fear. She needed to relax. She needed to think.

Orientation would be a good start—what, when, and where. And then she needed a plan. Something. Anything to do other than wander aimlessly like a fucking relic out of time. “You okay?”

It almost made her snap. He was asking if she was okay? She looked up, a smart quip loaded at the tip of her tongue but then—he looked so earnest, so concerned. An expression like that didn’t belong on a soldier.

“Not really, no.” She admitted.

“Huh.” Erend sat hunched over with his chin on one hand, looking comically close to that old statue of a thinking man if not for the wider breadth of his knees. He cleared his throat. “So…”

Despite the situation, she chuckled. “I’m glad to see that the most awkward of conversation starters evolved itself back into common use.”

The reference likely flew over his head, but he smiled while rubbing at the back of his neck almost shyly. He seemed… kinder than a hundred pounds of armor and a warhammer would seem like.

“I mean what am I even supposed to say?” He shrugged. “I uh, hit things with my hammer. You—and this predicament—are not things I’m gonna hit with my hammer.”

“That’s reassuring,” Elisabet deadpanned.

“You sure you aren’t Aloy’s mother?” Erend cracked her a lopsided grin.

Elisabet rubbed at her temple. “I think I’d know if I was. Is it wishful thinking to hope you guys have any ibuprofen?”

She had been pointedly ignoring his assertions that she was anyone’s mother. There were more pressing concerns to address, foremost of which was the distinct lack of technology. She’s only been up and about for a few hours but it was enough to notice the rudimentary tools and structures, along with the fact that Erend seemed to be the only other person with access to technology similar to hers.

“I’d check if we do, if I had any idea of what that is.”

“Where are we?”

“The furthest west I’ve ever been, honestly.” Erend shrugged. “I’m not familiar with these lands. We generally call it The Forbidden West—but there isn’t much else we know. Just more… sand, and dust. I’ve heard stories of trees that grew on sand, at the border of an endless lake. Never been there to see it myself.” He paused thoughtfully. “I uh, made a short trek back east from where I found you. About an hour or a little more.”

Elisabet stayed quiet, willing herself not to ask the question prickling at the tip of her tongue.

“Was that your home?” Erend asked quietly. “Where I found you. With the tall, pointed trees and the old stone structure.”

“Pines,” she supplied. “The trees, I meant. I thought you would know this by now.”

He grunted. “I’m a captain. Pretty good darned captain too, but no tree expert.”

“No, no.” She shook her head. “Sorry, I meant you as in people, in general. The kinds of trees and animals, our history and technology—we tried to pass that on.”

Something wasn’t right—a feeling that’s been weighing on her since her awakening.

Erend and the vanguard were outfitted with plate armor and looked to have no means of transportation other than by foot. They had waterskins instead of thermal containers and their basic camping supplies were made of fibers and tanned leather. Nevermind real-time mapping and wireless communication. ‘Battle-ready’ wasn’t exactly what came to mind, and she’d have paid to hear Herres’ take on 31st century military technology. She might have even chuckled, had the implication not been so dire. Something had definitely gone wrong.

“Is the nearby encampment allied with you?”

“It was established by the Carja military as a way station, under the Sundom’s jurisdiction.” Erend beckoned her nearer, shuffling towards the side to leave space on the large, slated rock he was sitting on. “Ever since the Battle at the Spire, the Sun King’s been allowing expeditions towards the west—Aloy’s got a hunch that something is going on over there and you could guess that most of everyone listens to her these days. Whether she likes it or not.”

Carja. Sundom. Factions and nations, most likely?

“Just a minute.” He fumbled a little with his focus, looking up and awkwardly moving his hands in thin air. His frustration was noticeable in the deep set of his brows. “Aloy’s done this before—a map, on scrolls of light. She could share it with me while it, uh, did its floaty thing.”

“Do you have the map open?” Elisabet tapped her focus, hearing the small digital beam alert her of its activity. Technology was a familiar comfort—something to ground her. She whistled lowly while running a system check on the piece of hardware, trying not to wince at the fact that the date read January 14, 3041. The 31st fucking century. Safe to say it’s still working way past warranty declarations. “I think I got it.”

“How did you—its telling me that an external device accessed my display?”

“Hacking it,” she smiled. “This is more or less my area of expertise.”

“Right,” Erend nodded. “So we’re right over here.” He pointed towards a small glowing indicator.

“Outskirts of Carson City.” She had said it so softly it surprised her. She never pegged herself as particularly sentimental but being so close to home… after everything.

“And this,” he moved to the east. “Is the Sundom, and to its eastern border is the Nora’s Sacred Lands.”

Elisabet let herself have a moment of evaluation, eyes moving around the map to absorb as much information as she could. The satellite image let her know that the area’s topography reverted to pre-Faro Plague days: desert and canyons. Forested mountains covered the range to the east, but the northern range where she recalled Yellowstone was seemed erratically cold and glacial.

Information was a valuable resource she was lacking in.

“I need to get to the most developed settlement,” she muttered to herself. “Acclimate to customs and culture before finding a means to find and access ZD bunkers.”

“Bunkers?” Erend blinked.

“I assume that camps similar to this one are interspersed between the border of the Sundom and our location? At distances accessible by foot?”

“Yes, but—”

“I have to account for hostility along the road.” She crossed her arms. “And resources for supplies. What currency do you trade with?”

“Look,” Erend’s tone was firm. “We are going to take care of hostility and resources, because we’re going with you.”

“I—”

“You need to slow down,” Erend rose to his feet. “We don’t even know for sure if you’re okay after getting thawed out a thousand years later.”

“I need to figure out what happened to Zero Dawn. Find GAIA, and then—”

“Elisabet,” his voice was softer again, big and heavy hands settling on her shoulders. “We have time.”

Time? Of course they didn’t! There were a million things left to do and only two weeks until—

“The world isn’t ending anymore.”

He’d finally convinced her to sit down and get something to eat and it wasn’t damn easy. Elisabet was back to the makeshift planning table even before swallowing down her last bite and by the forge it was driving Erend just a little bit crazy.

“This is where we’re headed.”

Erend marked his own map, one that was tangible and inked on parchment instead of light. More reliable, if you asked him. Didn’t flicker in and out of sight—and didn’t make him look like a total jackass in front of his vanguard, waving his fingers around something they couldn’t see.

It was nearing sundown. The vanguard packed up ahead of time; they were leaving at the break of dawn. Erend split the party in two—one was to continue the expedition towards the Western Threshold, and the other, with Erend, was to hurry back to Meridian discreetly. It was a plan forged into metal: Erend needed to talk to Avad, while Elisabet seemed particularly interested in the Spire once he mentioned it.

“Utah and Colorado,” Elisabet whispered in wonder, tapping her focus on likely projecting a light-based rendering of them map on top of his own. “The staging areas for Zero Dawn.”

Erend looked at her with curiosity. “S’that what they used to be called? Before… before the whole thing—”

“Ended?” She punctuated, sensing his discomfort. But then she gave him a slight smile—it was different from Aloy’s. Wiser and wearier. “Though that’d be wrong. We’re still here, somehow.”

He smirked. “Don’t look so surprised. Didn’t you have somethin’ to do with that?”

“I’m just one of many,” she looked back towards the map. Didn’t look ready to talk about that, it seemed. “So what have we got?”

“We’re not in a hurry. We can take the traders’ path on the way back.” He pointed along a red, snaking line etched on the surface of the parchment. It was well-lit, well-guarded, and easy to traverse with enough camps in-between to restock and rest. He tapped twice on a marker at the end of route: it was a black, soaring tower. The good ‘ol Spire.

“That’d take us too long.” Elisabet shook her head. “We could go through these passes through the ridges. Cut straight through and save both time and resources.”

“It’s dangerous.”

“And time—”

“—is something you have now.” Erend stood his ground, arms crossed. “As I keep reiterating to you.”

“I’ve noticed.” Elisabet set her jaw. Then she sighed, shaking her head. “I’m sorry. I’m still getting used to—” she waved a hand over the map “—this.”

“You mean not being the one in charge?” Erend grinned.

“I didn’t really ask for that,” she smiled back kindly. “But old habits die hard.”

“The long way to Meridian it is, then.”

Sobeck Journal, 1-14-41

We did it.

Even this barren desert looks beautiful. Can’t shake the feeling that I don’t deserve to see it all though.

Not without the rest of ZD. Without the rest of you.

I’m going to forego writing about how I feel because I don’t even know where to begin digging up that can of shit. Exhaustion was always an effective sleeping pill back in the day: now that I’ve got time to think when I lay down everything is so loud. Given the state of things I doubt they’d invented melatonin pills yet either, but who am I to complain? Alive is still better than dead.

Off to sleep now. Something’s wrong with APOLLO. More things to figure out tomorrow.

After all these years, I still don’t get to rest.

[“—someone— … —back to see—“]

“Great timing as usual.” Aloy hissed under her breath. The strider she was on was nearly worn down. She was an hour’s ride away from the forest’s edge—right where the sands of the Barrens began. That’s what she was going to call them anyway: “the Barrens.” Those prissy cartographers up in the mesa have no idea just how large the West was. It wasn’t all sand and tumbleweed: there were forests so different from the Jewel and the Sacred Lands that she didn’t know how to begin describing them! And the lake… the biggest she’s ever seen. A body of water so large it must have cloaked the world’s entirety. She’s seen it on the spherical maps stored in her focus—a depth of blue so imposing she couldn’t even wrap her head around it. The air was different along the lake’s edge—salty and crisp. Both beautiful and foreign and so very unforgiving.

She gently stroked the side of the strider’s neck. She didn’t want to wear him down completely—best to leave enough so that he could carry on and survive another day. Herds of broadheads often wandered around the Barrens anyway, although not found as often as in Meridian and to the East.

She’s been getting scrambled messages from Erend for the better part of a day now. He sounded panicked. He hated using his focus but there was apparently something important enough for him to try. It seemed desperately urgent and the only thing she could make of his messages was that she needed to go back.

Chasing after GAIA and whatever was left of APOLLO was going to have to wait.

Her strider whinnied—Aloy hummed a small apology she hoped it could understand. If she found a charger it’d be better—she could ride through evening on a mount strong enough to discourage smaller machines from engaging them. By next evening she could rest by the ranch.

Aloy bit her lip, a soft feeling of longing at her gut. That’s what Elisabet called it in her journals anyway—Sobeck Ranch. A small speck of life, trees, and flowers on the eastern edge of the Barrens. A small place to rest before another two days’ ride to Meridian.

She remembers how freeing it felt to tell Rost about her misadventures so far. Maybe it wasn’t a bad idea to take a few minutes for Elisabet and do the same.

She urged the strider to run a little faster, wind whipping at her hair and the tassels of her armor. “Just a bit more, big guy. Just a little more.”

A/N: Thank you once again to Tototops for beta-reading this chapter!

It's been a hot minute but here we go with chapter 2!

#Horizon Zero Dawn #HZD #Fanfic #Elisabet Sobeck #Aloy #Erend Vanguardsman #Erend #Ereloy #Found Family #HZD GAIA #Elisabet is Mom #Brb i'll cry #Aloy x Erend

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thewildomega · 4 years

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Doughnut of lies Ch. 5

Feeling blood drip from your mouth and run down your chin to fall into the large puddle on the floor you blinked slowly and listened to the two men talk outside of the room.

"Are you questioning my decisions?" the man that had been beating you for the past... you didn't even know how long it had been... said in an annoyed voice

"No! No boss all I am saying is well the girl isn't talking. She hasn't said one thing about the Big Mom pirates. She's ain't gonna hold up much longer so maybe we should just cut our losses and sell her..."

"Sell her?! Do you know how much treasure Big Mom has on her island?!"

"Yea but that girl's an omega, they go for a high price, I ain't seen no claiming mark on er' either. An unclaimed omega is rare, more rare than even mermaids..."

Hearing the other male hum you closed your eyes, God you'd rather die than be someone's slave. Just kill me. Please just let me die.

"If the bitch doesn't talk by the end of the day we'll sell her."

"Yes boss."

Looking up when the door opened you glared at the male who narrowed his eyes at you.

"I'm guessing you heard all that?" he huffed. When she still didn't answer he shook his head and grabbed her small neck in his hand. "So what's it gonna be girl? You tell me what I want to know and I'll let you go."

Lies. All of it was lies, even if you told him what he wanted to know he would still sell you. You weren't stupid like he thought you were. Besides even if Big Mom wasn't the nicest person she had still taken you in and her children were your friends, you would never betray them. You would never betray the man you loved. Spitting blood on his face you heard the deep growl leave his throat as his hand tightened around your neck.

"You've done it now bitch." he growled. Pulling his knife from his belt he held it up for her to see before he dragged it down her breastbone, leaving a bloody trail and cutting up the front of her shirt.

Gritting your teeth you tried to hold back your cry of pain, your eyes closing tightly. When he stopped the knife at your diaphragm you tried to breath in as much as you could with his hand squeezing your throat.

"If you beg I just might forgive y...AHH!"

Swinging your foot up you kicked him in the groin as hard as you could, taking in a sharp breath when he released his hold on your neck to fall to his knees. Whimpering at the intense agony in your chest from what you assumed was your many broken ribs you looked down at him and grit your teeth. Wrapping your hands around the chains connecting your cuffs to the ceiling you lifted you used all your strength to lift your body up, giving your leg the momentum to land a hard kick to his back. Out of energy you let go and dropped back down to your feet, your toes barely touching the floor as your body swung a little.

Groaning and growling the man pushed himself up from the floor, his balls throbbing along with his middle back. Looking to the omega with fire in his eyes he moved over to grab the wooden cane from the corner.

Seeing him swing the cane through the air you closed your eyes tight and thought of Katakuri.

....................................

Sitting in the office of his mother's old cremate he kept his eyes closed. Marco, Whitebeard's second in command had come into the room a little over an hour ago and showed them that only a small corner of y/n's vivre card was left and still burning away. She was dying and the knowledge made him feel sick to his stomach, like someone was squeezing his heart. Over the past two days both ships had been sailing in the direction her card said she was in and he and her father had spent most of the time talking about her. He had admitted to denying her when she had finally found him, sending her away and threatening to kill her if he ever saw her again. It had taken everything in his power not to attack the man then and there. He knew how much it meant to y/n to find her father, how long she had been looking. There was no doubt she had been crushed by his rejection and he was sure to let the man know as much, not feeling sorry at all for the guilt clouding the huge male's eyes.

"How did you meet her? How did she end up with you Charlottes?" Whitebeard asked the young alpha sitting in the chair with his legs and arms both crossed and his eyes closed.

Sighing slowly he kept his eyes closed as he thought back to that night over twenty years ago. "She found me hiding from slavers in the shed, we got in a fight and she beat me up pretty good. When they came for me she hid me in their house." he wouldn't tell the man that she was the first only person who ever smiled at him, who never belittled him because of his mouth, how she was his only friend. "She somehow convinced her mother to allow us to stay with them until mama came back..."

"You knew Selena?" Whitebeard asked.

"For only a short time. She was already very sick when we came along. She was mostly bedridden and stayed in her room where y/n cared for her." he told the male and saw the man's brow furrow. He had told him how he hadn't known about y/n, how he had thought his mate had been killed.

"How old was she, y/n?"

"Five, almost six."

She was so young, too young to be taking care of her dying mother. It should have been him, he should have been there.

"She passed about a month or so later. When mama came to get us I... we took her with us. We have been together ever since."

Humming he looked down, looking again at the pictures that had been bundled together with the stack of old letters he had written to his dear Selena. Most were aged but he could see his mate in them, along with a little girl, his pup. The first one was of Selena sitting in a bed, she looked tired but a smile was on her face as she held what he assumed was their newborn daughter in her arms. A few others were of Y/n was a baby and small child. His favorite was the picture of his mate and pup sitting in the grass, flowers around them. Selena was sitting back, resting on her hands while what had to be a three or four year old y/n laid in the grass by her legs, a large, carefree smile on her face and her blonde hair, hair she had gotten from him forming a halo around her head. Looking the the last one he saw it was a close up picture of the both of them, only their faces in the picture and y/n's little arms making him think she had taken it. Selena was smiling softly but her eyes looked so tired, so weak. The boy in front of him, Katakuri had said she was sick, she was already dying in this picture. Quickly swallowing the knot in his throat he closed his eyes. The guilt that his omega had been sick and he wasn't there to take care of her weighted heavily on him. Always he felt like a failure for not being there to protect her when he thought she had been killed but to now know she had died slowly while their daughter, a little omega herself was forced to care for her, to take on the responsibility which was his made him feel less than dirt. Opening his mouth to speak he was cut off by a loud knocking on his door.

Snapping his eyes over to the large door he saw Marco throw it open.

"Pops I think we got her. That ship, if I'm not mistaken, I think it's the Reaper Pirates." he told his old man.

Hearing this the massive man quickly stood from the chair and hurried out onto deck, Katakuri right behind him. Looking out in front of them, just on the horizon he saw the black ship with black sails and growled.

"Who are the Reaper Pirates?" Katakuri asked Marco when he heard alpha growl.

"A bunch of horrible people. Slavers, murders, rapist, you name it. They don't care who they hurt so long as they make out in the end. If they've got her then it isn't going to be good." Marco told him honestly. Holding the small bit of paper out for the large male to take.

Taking the paper from Marco he saw it was only as big as his thumb nail now and grit his teeth. Looking back towards the ship that the woman he loves could be on he felt his heart hammer in his chest. Remembering what Nebula had said about an unclaimed omega going for a high price he grit his teeth.

.....................................

You were so cold, your arms were numb from being chained above your head and holding your weight for so long. You wished you could say the rest of your body was numb as well, at least then you wouldn't be in so much pain. Every breath you took felt like your chest was being stabbed with a bunch of needles. Blinking slowly you had to fight to open your eyes, they felt so heavy. How much longer would this last? When would it end? Closing your eyes again you heard what sounded like cannons but you couldn't will your eyes to open anymore. Things were starting to get muffled sounding now, yelling, it sounded like yelling... you were so tired. Sleep. You just wanted to sleep. Sleep and dream. Dream of him.

...................................

He was the first one on the ship, using his devil fruit to fly across to the deck. Using anything he could he started cutting down man after man. Their bullets went through him with no problem, hitting the men behind him. He heard as Whitebeard yelled but he paid him no mind. As soon as he had seen the boxes and crates from Toto land he knew they were the ones that had attacked y/n's ship. Seeing the Captain run out of his cabin he growled at sight of the man adorned with y/n's sword. He gave him no time to attack, throwing his spear through the air and into the man's chest just as he saw his legs change into what looked like those of a frog. Being pinned to the wall he walked over to him and wrapped his hand around the man's throat. "Where is she?" he growled.

"Where's who?" he chuckled, blood staining his lips.

Gritting his teeth he shoved the trident into the man completely and watched him die. Ripping y/n's sword from his side he tossed it to one of his men, "Take it to my cabin." he told him and saw the man nod.

Glancing to the sword Katakuri had handed over he recognized it as Selena's old one and looked to his crew, "Search the ship, find her." he told them. The ship wasn't made for his size, nor that of the Charlotte but the young alpha was quick to duck down and go bellow deck in search of y/n. It angered him to know he couldn't help look for her but the least he could do was make every man on this ship pay.

Hurrying down the stairs he easily killed any person that dared stop him. Looking over every space he saw no sign of her. Squeezing down to the haul of the ship he kicked open doors, looking over storage rooms and such. Getting to the end of the hall he got to a thick wooden door with a bolt lock. Quickly unlocking it he threw open the door and what he saw made him almost fall to his knees and he would have if he hadn't fell tot he door frame instead. Oh God NO! His whole body trembled as he hurried over to her. There was so much blood. She was covered in it, her skin, her clothes, her hair. It was puddled on the floor, staining the wooden boards a dark red. Her clothes were torn, hanging on her small frame only by pieces here and there. Looking down to the sea prism cuffs holding her body up he swallowed hard at the raw, bloody skin under them. Her tiny fingers, the only part of her not smeared in blood were a light blue from holding her weight for so long. Swallowing hard he looked the room over for the keys but didn't see any. Hearing someone behind him he commanded for them to find the keys.

"Y..yes sir..." the person said quickly before scrambling away.

While waiting he gently, his hands shaking reached out to cup her head in his palm, tilting it up so he could look at her. Seeing the deep bruises littering her beautiful face he grit his teeth. Blood ran from her nose and mouth, along with the large cut on her cheek. Her eye was slightly swollen shut as well. At first glance she would almost be unrecognizable. Licking his lips he looked her over, "Y/n? Y/n wake up. Come on sweetheart look at me, open those pretty eyes." he said in a deep low voice.

There was a voice, a soothing deep voice. It was calling to you. Something warm was touching your face and that smell, vanilla and leather. You knew that voice, that smell but it couldn't be him, he couldn't be here. Trying to open your eyes you just couldn't lift your heavy lids, you didn't have the strength, you couldn't even move your lips to say his name.

Her eyes didn't open but he did hear a barely audible whimper leave her busted lips and it sent a aching pain straight to his heart, made something in him come alive. "I got you sweetheart, you are going to be alright." he said, wither it was to her or himself he didn't know. Hearing boots running towards him he looked back to see the man from his crew standing there with the keys in hand. Snatching them from him he quickly started unlocking the chains around her wrists. Trying to hold her to him and unlock the cuffs he saw as Marco hurried towards him, helping to unlock the cuffs while he held Y/n in his arms. Once her arms were free he felt her entire body fall limp but he was there to catch her. Holding her in the crook of his arm he watched as Marco's hand moved towards her and he growled in warning.

"Calm down Charlotte, I am a doctor." he told the alpha male and heard his growl stop but his noticed his body still tense. Feeling her pulse he knit his brows. "Her pulse if fading, we need to get her back on the ship quickly." he told him.

Without another word he was rushing out of the haul of the ship with her cradled to his chest. As soon as they reached the deck he saw the emperor's eyes shoot to him and then down to the battered omega in his arms, his face contorting into one of pure fear and anger.

"Come on we have to hurry." Marco called already going up the gangplank.

With a nod from Whitebeard he followed the male to the room that was designated for medic. Laying her small body on the large bed he watched as the other male started moving about, grabbing this and that. Seeing a woman come into the room as well and start helping Marco he guessed she was his assistant or a nurse of some sorts. He could only stand there in a frozen state, staring at her near lifeless body. With the lights in the room he could now see more of the damage that littered her body. Her shirt was cut open, almost revealing her breasts. If it would have been under any other circumstance he would be a blushing mess right now but seeing her skin stained red and black he felt nothing but worry.

"She has lost too much blood, she will need a transfusion. Do you know what blood type she is?" Marco asked the male who seemed to be in a state of shock. "Charlotte."

Snapping his eyes to the male he blinked to focus. "Ah yes she... she is XF." With a nod he saw them set up the IV, watching as they cleaned away a part of her arm.

"She's too dehydrated...I can't find a vein."

"I'll have to do a central line." Marco said, moving to grab the things he needed. "I need you to go outside."

Looking to the male he knit his brows, "I am not going an..."

"I can't risk her getting an infection, it will kill her. You are also in the way. You can wait outside and when I know something I will send Nina out to get you."

Looking from the male back to the omega and he took a deep breath. Nodding he took one last look at her before he left the room. Getting outside he saw a few chairs in the small room and took a seat in them. Looking down he saw blood on his hands, arms and chest. Her blood. Closing his eyes he tried to steady his heart. He had swore the day Brulee had gotten hurt that he would get stronger, that he would always be there to protect the people he loved. He hadn't kept true to his word though because the woman he loved deeply was in the other room, on the brink of death and he hadn't been there to help her. Even now he was unable to help her. Clenching his fists he made a promise to never let her get hurt again. Hearing a door open he looked first to the one she was behind and saw it still closed. Glancing left he saw Whitebeard coming through entrance. The large male closed the door behind him before moving to sit in one of the other chairs. Not a word was said, there was nothing to say. All they could do was wait.

........................................

Hours later, long into the night the door to the medical room opened and he snapped his eyes open to see a tired looking Marco walk out, wiping his hands on a towel.

Looking to both men he took a deep breath before starting. "She is stable. I'm not going to sugar coat it, she's in rough shape. She was beat, I'm guessing by that cane that was in the room with her. Her body is littered with cuts and bruises as well as some nasty welts. She has many broken or cracked ribs, as well as her cheekbone. I pulled a bullet out of her shoulder and a few large splinters out of her thigh and hip. I am guessing it has been at least a good week possibly more since she has eaten anything and considering how dehydrated she was I'd probably say they didn't give her any water either. Lastly she has a mild concussion and the ligaments in her shoulders and wrists have been torn from holding her weight for so long. I've healed her the best I can for today, she's too weak for me to do anymore and I don't want to push her but I will do more tomorrow. It will take time but she should make a full recovery."

Letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding he closed his eyes. "Thank you." he said and saw the male give him a small smile and nod. "Can I see her?"

"Sure, just give Nina a moment, she is getting her cleaned up a bit."

Nodding he saw the male go to stand by his captain, the two of them speaking softly. It didn't talk long until the woman came out and he was allowed inside. Walking over to her bedside he looked down at her and closed his eyes, she was covered in bandages. But, she was alive and that was all that mattered. Lifting his hand he brushed her hair back some.

Watching the young alpha with his daughter he took a deep breath. "My daughter, what is she to you?"

"Everything."

#charlotte katakuri #one piece katakuri #Katakuri x reader #Katakuir fanfiction #Alpha Katakuri x omega reader #one piece #One Piece Fanfiction

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louisapennyfeather2021 · 4 years

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Newsies/Teen Wolf AU

Title: Riddled

Summary: Race convinces Blink to take him to the hospital to figure out why he's sleep walking to the middle of nowhere and why he isn't in his own mind anymore. Everyone can tell something's wrong, but they can't figure out if it's supernatural or not. Or if they even have a chance at saving Race.

A/N: Hello again! So this scene is from Season 3b, technically episode 18 of Season 3 of the MTV show Teen Wolf. If you can't tell, I'm skipping around a lot and leaving plot holes since this is just random fics and not a series. In this scene, Race is representing one of the main protagonists/ the main antagonist of 3b. What's happening is he's slowly going insane and succumbing to an ancient spirit who thrives on chaos. No one knows this yet, so they think Race is suffering from the same illness that killed his biological mother. I strongly recommend watching the show on Amazon if you get the chance, it's definitely worth a watch!

Warnings: Sad, mentions of death, mentions of mental illness, fear.

***

"They're doing tests on Race all afternoon." Jack has to all but force the words as he walks with Albert through the school towards their last period. Although he knows after Race's disappearance and borderline breakdowns last night renders this necessary, he's still not happy about it. "I was going to go over at around 6:00 to visit. You want to come with me?"

"I should probably just go home." Albert takes a sharp breath, pursuing his lips and gripping the straps of his backpack tighter.

Alright, so maybe the chaotic spaz had grown on Albert. Race was one of the first people in the entire school to actually treat Albert like a human being and not an emotionless brat or a freak. He'd make an imprint on Albert, to say the least.

Albert's brought out of his daze by a locker being harshly, slammed shut. He flinches and sighs heavily once he realizes that he jumped, knowing Jack noticed.

"You sure you're alright?" Jack asks, raising a concerned eyebrow.

Lately, it's like Albert is just a ball of anxiety, including but not limited to being extremely jumpy. Whether it be from the latest death threats surrounding their friends or just the whole concept of being a supernatural creature capable of sensing death, he still hasn't figured it out.

"Yeah, I'll see you later." And with a forced smile, Albert hurries away from Jack and towards his last period. Jack watches his friend hurry off, another weight settling over his shoulders. Albert is good at a lot of things, lying included, but Jack can tell now that Albert is faking being alright. Nothing's alright, it hasn't been since Jack became an alpha.

With Race going completely off the rails and now Albert obviously having something wrong with him, Jack knows whatever "break" from the insanity of the supernatural world he had been given was over.

***

"I'm not sure if I actually know how to pronounce this. Or if it's a misspelling."

"Just call him Race." Blink's stoney expression makes the nurse nod. He hardly flinches when Ms. Medda sighs, shaking her head just a bit.

"Louis, I know you're worried, but don't take it out on the nurse. She's just doing her job." Medda tries to keep her own anxiety over the current matter in check. She's lucky enough to have gotten a break to be with Race during his tests, although she knows it's because she works at the hospital and she's right there if anyone needs her.

"Hey!" Medda and Blink both turn to see Jack in the doorway. "Have they started yet?"

"No, they're still getting ready." Medda offers Jack a warm smile, trying and hoping he'll at least stay calm. "You can go see him real quick, though."

Jack silently nods and slips past Blink and Ms. Medda, the two having already been in to comfort Race.

Jack doesn't say anything as he walks through an open door to a white room with a large machine in the center. Race sits on the machine, his shoulders slouched and his head hanging as he grips the hospital gown in one hand.

"Hey." Jack manages to withhold a gasp when he sees Race's face for the first time since finding him in the woods last night. There are large, purple circles under his eyes that resemble bruises and his eyes are very near to bloodshot. It's obvious he's tired, but there's something else in his expression that sets Jack off. He ignores it though and walks to stand in front of Race. "You okay?"

"You know what they're looking for, right?" Race shakes his head a bit and bites his lower lip before letting out a deep breath. "It's called frontotemporal dementia. Areas of your brain start to shrink. It's what my mother had. It's the only form of dementia that can hit teenagers. And there's no cure."

"Race, listen to me. If you have it, we'll do something. I'll do something." Jack's voice doesn't waiver and he clenches his jaw. He's an alpha now, meaning he can change someone. He could give Race the Bite and he'd be healed. He'd never wish this curse on anyone, but if it saved his best friend's- no, his brother's, life, it was worth it.

Jack nearly breaks as tears well up in Race's eyes and he dies hesitate to step closer and wrap his arms around Race, both of them squeezing each other tight as if they'll disappear if they let go. Jack holds Race for as long as he can, rubbing his upper back and occasionally running a hand through Race's hair to help calm him down. Jack knows how finicky Race can be and it'll only get worse with the noise of the MRI machine.

Jack holds and comforts Race until a doctor comes in to bring him back to the other side of the wall separating him and Race. Jack stands anxiously next to Medda, subconsciously chewing on his thumb nail and bouncing on his toes. Medda keeps calm, years of being a nurse having trained her to do so. Blink paces back and forth along the back wall, a million thoughts running through his head.

Although Jack and Medda heard everything about Race and Blink's parents and had an idea of what happened, Blink still remembers it all vividly. He was a young teenager at the time, so he experienced everything. His mother's breakdowns, her panic attacks because she didn't remember anything, her fear when she'd see Blink and Race and not know why two random children were in her house. Their father would try as hard as possible to help her, but in the end the dementia won. When it took their mother, their father went down with her.

Blink knows they were lucky to have found Medda, but he'd give anything to have his mother back. The woman who knew who he was and who loved him. If he could forget all of the horrible things she said when she didn't recognize him or Race, he would. If he could forget the pain he felt watching her slowly whither away, he would. If he could forget the fear he felt not knowing what would happen to her, he would.

Now that same fear haunts him. He knows it's genetic, he knows very well that him or Race or both of them could develop the same illness that nearly tore the family apart worse than it already was. Now that he has to consider that Race will go through exactly what their mother did? Fear isn't a strong enough word to describe how scared, worried, and utterly helpless Blink feels.

"Alright, Race, this will take about 45 minutes to an hour. Now remember, try not to move. Even just a little bit." The head doctor speaks through a microphone as Race lays down on the bed of the MRI. "You're going to hear that noise now. It's going to be a loud clanging. Kind of like a hammer hitting an anvil."

Race seems to robotically nod and the doctor starts the machine.

As he does, Jack frowns at the ground.

Last night, Spot helped Jack find Race by tracking his chemo-signals. They basically follows the smell of whatever Race was feeling. Spot described the scent as fear and struggle, but said Race had been struggling with himself.

Now, as Jack watches his best friend lay still in the machine, a new thought comes to mind.

"I need to find Spot, I'll be back before his test is done." Jack whispers to Medda. She squeezes his shoulder and nods for him to leave, knowing Blink is too preoccupied with his pacing to notice.

***

"Jack, what are we looking for? Just because I share some family secrets with you, doesn't mean you can drag me out in the middle of nowhere." Spot hesitantly follows Jack through the local preserve, stepping over fallen trees and trying to get an answer out of Jack.

"I think he was trying to protect us." Jack suddenly stops near the place they found Race. Spot raises a confused eyebrow, waiting for an explanation. "I remember when he called me, he was completely freaked. He kept saying someone else was with him, but he wouldn't tell me where. It's like he wanted to, but he couldn't."

"So he was held hostage?" Spot looks around, as if looking for any signs of kidnapping.

"No, I he couldn't because he didn't want us to get involved. I think he was protecting us from himself." Jack sighs, one of the many weights lifting off his shoulders like he just solved the crime. "I don't think he was struggling with himself like you said he was. I think he was struggling not to do something."

"What, do you think Race would really do something violent towards-" Spot stops as Jack's phone starts ringing. Jack frowns in confusion and reaches to answer. He briefly checks the time before seeing it's Medda.

"Shit, Race's tests must be done." Jack quickly answers, guilt settling in his stomach. "Medda, hi, I'm sorry I'm not back yet. I promise-"

"Jack, something's happened." Jack stops talking and meets Spot's gaze, knowing he can hear Medda too.

"What do you mean?" Jack can hear the slight tremor in Medda's voice, but he can also hear Blink yelling and arguing with someone in the background. Jack's heart drops as he registers what Medda says next.

"Race is missing."

***

Hello everyone! This is another drabble of sorts and I know it's confusing if you haven't seen the show because 1) I'm not providing much foundation and 2) There's a lot of plot to each season. To sum it up, basically Race has been possessed by a mischievous, vengeful spirit from Japanese folklore known as the Nogitsune. It's disguising itself as the frontotemporal dementia that was mentioned and it playing games with Race to try and make him go insane. No one knows of any of this yet, but that's the basic plot line of season 3b.

I hope you liked this, if you want to see more please feel free to send me a message or an ask! If you have any scenes you'd like to see, just ask and I'll try my best to make them good!

#newsies memes #newsies imagines #newsies broadway #newsies imagine #newsies #newsies au #teen wolf au

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achrisstevenson · 5 years

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The Illustrious Wendy Van Camp Interview!

Author Interview: Chris J. Breedlove

October 23, 2019

Wendy Van Camp

2 Comments

I asked Author Chris Breedlove what his motto for being a writer was. He answered:

A Writer is… A humble, receptive student and negotiator But the heart that beats within his/her breast Is a determined savage Unfamiliar with surrender

Please welcome this savvy science fiction author to No Wasted Ink.

My name is Chris Harold Stevenson and I’m 67 years young. I go by the pen name Christy J. Breedlove for my YA books and stories. Yes, I changed gender entirely. That’s another story.

My early writing accomplishment were multiple hits within a few years: In my first year of writing back in 1987, I wrote three SF short stories that were accepted by major slick magazines which qualified me for the Science Fiction Writers of America, and at the same time achieved a Finalist award in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest. This recognition garnered me a top gun SF agent at the time, Richard Curtis Associates. My first novel went to John Badham (Director) and the producers, the Cohen Brothers. Only an option, but an extreme honor. The writer who beat me out of contention for a feature movie was Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park. My book was called Dinothon.

A year after that I published two best-selling non-fiction books and landed on radio, TV, in every library in the U.S. and in hundreds of newspapers.

I have been trying to catch that lightning in a bottle ever since. My YA dystopian novel, The Girl They Sold to the Moon won the grand prize in a publisher’s YA novel writing contest, went to a small auction and got tagged for a film option. So, My latest release is Sceamcatcher: Web World, and it’s showing some promise. I’m getting there, I hope!

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I considered myself a writer when I published the two shorts in Amazing Stories magazine. I actually considered myself an author after my first non-fiction book was published and hit the media. It seems I had to have legitimate credits in order to claim such status.

Can you share a little about your current book with us?

I can give you the basic summary, or the extended blurb:

When seventeen-year-old Jory Pike cannot shake the hellish nightmares of her parent’s deaths, she turns to an old family heirloom, a dream catcher. Even though she’s half-blood Chippewa, Jory thinks old Native American lore is so yesterday, but she’s willing to give it a try. However, the dream catcher has had its fill of nightmares from an ancient and violent past. After a sleepover party, and during one of Jory’s most horrific dream episodes, the dream catcher implodes, sucking Jory and her three friends into its own world of trapped nightmares. They’re in an alternate universe—locked inside of an insane web world filled with murders, beasts, and thieves. How can they find the center of the web where all good things are allowed to pass? Where is the light of salvation? Are they in hell?

What inspired you to write this book?

It all started with a dream catcher. This iconic item, which is rightfully ingrained in Indian lore, is a dream symbol respected by the culture that created it. It is mystifying, an enigma that that prods the imagination. Legends about the dream catcher are passed down from multiple tribes. There are variations, but the one fact that can be agreed upon is that it is a nightmare entrapment device, designed to sift through evil thoughts and images and only allow pleasant and peaceful dreams to enter into the consciousness of the sleeper.

I wondered what would happen to a very ancient dream catcher that was topped off with dreams and nightmares. What if the nightmares became too sick or deathly? What if the web strings could not hold any more visions? Would the dream catcher melt, burst, vanish, implode? I reasoned that something would have to give if too much evil was allowed to congregate inside of its structure. I found nothing on the Internet that offered a solution to this problem—I might have missed a relevant story, but nothing stood out to me. Stephen King had a story called Dream Catcher, but I found nothing in it that was similar to what I had in mind. So I took it upon myself to answer such a burning question. Like too much death on a battlefield could inundate the immediate location with lost and angry spirits, so could a dream catcher hold no more of its fill of sheer terror without morphing into something else, or opening up a lost and forbidden existence. What would it be like to be caught up in another world inside the webs of a dream catcher, and how would you get out? What would this world look like? How could it be navigated? What was the source of the exit, and what was inside of it that threatened your existence? Screamcatcher: Web World, the first in the series, was my answer. I can only hope that I have done it justice.

Do you have a specific writing style?

I’m a fruit salad of other known writer’s influences. Oh, like what I consider stylists: Poul Anderson, Virgin Planet, Peter Benchley, The Island and Jaws, Joseph Wambaugh, The Onion Field and Black Marble, Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park, Alan Dean Foster, Icerigger trilogy, and some Stephen King. Anne Rice impresses with just about anything she has written. I think it’s the humor and irony that attracts me the most–and it’s all character-related

How did you come up with the title of this book?

After I had the idea/premise for the book, having researched similar works, if any, I found that I had something very unique. It dawned on me to name the book Screamcatcher since it was a play on words and it sounded impactful. Again, I researched that word and only found that it was used in a short story about a kid having a tooth extraction. I knew then that I was home free. I was continuously complimented by all of the publishers and editors who saw the title. It’s the first book in the series, and I have sub-titles for the other two as well, which are sold and just about ready for editing.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

I’m not very heavy-handed when it comes to delivering messages in my books. I want to avoid any preaching at all costs. I do include the basic/standard survival, loyalty, courage and persistence themes in my young characters, as well as emotional growth and cooperation. I did hide, or rather include, a very deep and subtle message in the story that I think most will gloss over or not recognize altogether. And that is my belief that sometimes the nice guy finishes first and gets the gal. I wanted something that swerved away from the controlling, domineering alpha male that is so often seen in other works of YA and romance. I wanted a slow burn sweet romance that was touching. Quite a few reviewers recognized this message and I got kudos for it. That was a RELIEF.

Are experiences in this book based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

The main character Jorlene (Jory) is named after my sister. Although she does not resemble the FMC physically, she does so in an emotional sense. Her boyfriend, Choice Daniels, is named after my great-nephew. All of my books contain the names of my extended family members. And there are parts of them that show through in the personalities of the fictional characters.

What authors have most influenced your life? What about them do you find inspiring?

Other than those stylists mentioned above, I had direct contact with members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Alan Dean Foster, Richard Curtis, Robert Bloch, Bob Heinlein, Clive Barker, and others. From their Youtube instruction videos and articles, JK Rowling, Anne Rice, and Stephen King have inspired me tremendously with their no-nonsense attitude about hammering those keys in spite of depression, lack of motivation or pure laziness.

If you had to choose, is there a writer would you consider a mentor? Why?

That honor would go to Poul Anderson who wrote back to me habitually and gave me guidance in the industry when I needed it the most. He took out his valuable time to befriend me and answer so many questions. Can you tell I’m a dinosaur yet?

Who designed the cover of your book? Why did you select this illustrator?

Carlone Andrus of Melange Books, Fire & Ice YA division rendered the cover after reading the book. I had a different idea in mind, but she absolutely nailed it. The compliments have never stopped coming. Most of the plot is revealed on the cover but you would have to search very hard to put it all together.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Watch your spending on ads–they can be grossly ineffective. Use social media and generously interact with fellow writers and readers. Don’t abuse FB and Twitter solely for the purpose of “Buy My Book.” Join writing groups and learn from the pros. Ask politely for reviews–don’t pressure, harass or intimidate. Be creative. Target your genre readers. Offer incentives and freebies. Craft a newsletter and send it out bi-monthly. Don’t take critiques as personal attacks–learn from honest opinions. Don’t despair. Never give up. Revenge query. I run a writer’s advocate blog and I pull no punches.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

If you think that you’ve had it tough, I recommend you watch Magic Beyond Words, the life story of Joanne Kathleen Rowling. Books just don’t happen. They are nurtured and raised from infancy, just like a budding writer is. This business might quit you, but you cannot quit the business. Stay active and attentively writing.

Chris J. Breedlove Sylvania, Alabama

FACEBOOK TWITTER AMAZON PAGE BLOG

Screamcatcher: Web World

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asktheskinner · 5 years

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Ambush of the Dead

Showcasing of Melchiah and Melchahim Post-Nosgothic Civil War. Horror and Violence warning.

The newest caravan strode along the Razielim Road, Dumahim jealously guarding the wagons of ‘liberated’ slaves and bountiful vassals of blood. The pact snarled with cautious eyes and bristling arousal to the ever-clinging sting of earthy rot in the air. Ever since the First Clan’s humbling and even now, a century into the war against the rebellious humans that waned and waxed like a defiant tide against a fortress’ foundation, the Melchahim claimed the Razielim Stronghold for the time being.

The creak of wheels rolling on the paved road before a groan of wood and suddenly the weight of bodies finally collapsed one side of a wagon into a spill of screaming men and women. Immediately one of the overseers were on the mortals with violent rebuke as if their already starving bodies were purposeful to the new difficulty of this most inconvenient time.

At the front, the Alpha of this raiding pack glared as one of his lieutenants came with bowed head of submission. Goliath, one of Dumah’s personally-risen warriors. Unlike the other clans, the Thirdborn was more liberal of his risen creche. From the Grand Magi Vornah to the insufferable Fredrick de Rose...those were nothing to a proud general of the Dark Titan himself. Now, without that braggart to stand in his way, he will collect the septs one by one until the clan was under his rule.

Like all of his direct inheritance, Goliath was massive. Even for a Dumahim, clad in the baroque armour of wraith-crafted steel and dark motif to the warrior caste that they are born for. A tusked sneer crossed his tattooed face before snatching his lieutenant by his throat and dragged him up from his boots. The hot stink of recent feast huffed in the choking vampire’s face as he commanded,

“I want my meat back on progress. I want it all at the camp before dawn or I will personally feed your guts to the wargs!”

In that demand, Goliath flung his subordinate back and pointed a talon at the others, “Move now!” The lesser vampires bowed in the midst of their skittering movements for assistance. The fear of another vampire was delicious. Humans, certainly but there was a distinctive pleasure out of beating the fear from a fellow god and it brought an arrogant smile onto his face.

In the reveries, the pockets of upturned earth shifted. The whispers of the long-dead catching ears and suspenseful eyes until a woman screamed as she is roughly plucked by her handlers. “No! No! They’re coming, they come in hungry hate!” “Quiet, you insufferable wench.” The Dumahim hissed, snatching her by the throat. His claws biting into her flesh, already tempted to tear her screaming throat out and feed. It was Goliath’s commandment to keep every last of these blood-bags alive and something grabbed at his ankle. Through the creep of mist that appeared in the middle of their idle without immediate notice. “Wha-!?” Another hand - taloned and iron-grasped - took him into the softened earth. Nearly taking the woman with him, the vampire hissed and roared out. Convulsing and trying to drag himself to no result. “Help me fools!” He gurgled out as his torso yanked this way and that. Two of his brothers hurried off, grabbing his arms and helped. There was a sickly sound and the Dumahim was free!

Without his lower half.

The hateful scream of pain and attempt to remain conscious in the void-wrapped agony as he twisted and tried to reclaim his pulled innards. Skeletal hands erupted from the ground around them, clawing his hollering mouth, arms and organs. Tearing and dragging him back into the earth whence his corpse came.

More erupted. The dead rose, the firefoxes of glowing sockets from the long-dead soldiers and slaves from past wars as their slowly reconstructed bodies shambled and groaned as puppets. Some holding rusty weapons of soldiery and instruments of farming, others used their gnawed nails and taloned finger-bones for the closest living and nonliving thing they sought. The Dumahim guards hissed, handling their own weapons and taloned fists, charged with savage rebuke. “Back to the grave with you!” One cried out, smashing a risen dead with a backhand that destroyed its upper half into a burst of bonedust and rot. The dust fell a moment, whirled and pulled itself into nostrils and mouth. The sudden wickedness caught the vampire by surprise enough to inhale sharply in shock.

Cough and spitting out globes of polluted saliva, the Dumahim sharply gagged to a sensation in his chest. A crawling spread that pierced into his veins, blackening as it went. “Gah!” The gurgling of pain rousing to eyes watching as his body jerked and spasming, fighting itself from strings unseen. Bones starting to snap in stubborn refusal, changing shape and when the screams became their highest with onlookers frozen in terror that a proud son of Dumah’s clan was nothing but a toy to this eldritch force. This reaver was torn into the material of a creature not of this realm. His soul howling in its cadaver, fuel to the convulsing abomination of hardened flesh and shivering bones as it lunged in ghastly flight against former kin.

This army of the dead and converted fought at the protectors while their prize stared on, huddling tightly to one another in hopes that they will be safe from this.

In the chaos, seemingly more draugr rose. Their flesh, rotting and bloated under layers of stitches and fused evolution. Powerful and unnatural in their own way. A couple with many arms. Others with armour between layers and masks of blighted gold. Weapons in taloned hands. The rotten yellow of their truth hanging from waists and grim decor. The Children of the Sixth Clan emerge in the most opportunistic time, cleaving the weak and tearing with putrid hatred and spiteful energy.

Among them, more powerful beings walked. Their clan’s curse staled by powers beyond their lesser attribute, gifted by the Lands Beyond. Robes of grim regality and crested armour wrapping their shuddering frames, talons burning of abyssal power hurling violent bolts and screaming magicks at their enemy in their scrambling reformations.

There were too many. The fell power of Melchiah’s magi were honed and cunningly used in the right ways, even as the few lieutenants under Goliath’s routine claimed unlives with centuries’ honed powers and skills. Their maces and hammers crushing bones and bodies with air-ploughing force and their armoured form throwing by inhuman strength. Wargs barking, charging for vampires and closing their powerful salivating jaws for bloody kills but even bodies were weapons to the Sixth Clan.

Their ichor poisoning their killers with organ-melting potency and those not killed outright tore into bellies with bones pulled for weapons and fetishes. Warm blood steaming in the air and fed upon to heal.

All of this chaos. This inpudence. Utter craven disrespect of their betters!

Goliath sneered in nothing but distaste as he swatted four draugr in one decisive swing of his mace-wrapped fist and smashed one of these necromancer-called ghouls under his cloven boot. The pulverization of bones and warped meat crunching under heel before he lumbered for the closest summoner.

The woman, or this vague spectre of one, looked at her behind the porcelain mask under gilded armour and dark robes. He recognized her, even after all these centuries - he recognized Lady Samona. The High Witch of Melchiah’s dregs. Unnaturally tall for the lesser clan with limbs stretched and similar neck, she had a head-sized orb in the fold of one arm and armoured bird-like talons swaying with the calling of black magic. “Goliath, it has been too long.” Her crowing voice purrs behind her mask’s perked red lips. “Old Samona, I am surprised you are not a pile of rot-slog by now. You are already a hag by the time your Master found you.” He taunted, his stride unstopping in full intent to crush her once and for all.

“And miss this?” She asks and in a sudden incantation that still sounds like mere gibberish to the Dumahim, her bolt flew straight for him. Moving with a crater-depression behind him, Goliath whirled in mid-air and came crashing for his enemy with a roar that shook the night. Samona did not move. She showed no fear of this brute and gave her reason why -

With a flick of her free hand, the bolt came right back with a wily intelligence and struck Goliath off course. The mist was twisting and collecting itself slowly at first before stretching into a great hand, solidifying into an abhorrent horror of groaning bodies consisting at this meaty palm’s fingers to swat him straight out of the air like a toy.

Limbs grabbing muscle and plating with strength beguiling the rotten beings’ appearance as the solidifying arm was becoming more and more present. The mass of muscle and groaning faces to a crested shoulder of wailing bodies, clawing at the air and their own blood-weeping eyes. It moved, slamming Goliath again and again into the ground before throwing him into a great Termogent tree with a thunderous crash.

The dead around them pulled by the ghastly visage, breaking apart to meld and form the Mists’ true appearance. Another arm of similar horrors dragging and armoured legs curling on their digitigrade feet with wicked talons curling into the dirt. The horn-spined body leading to one ugly ‘head’ crested by bony ridges and barely a skull jutting from its fleshy prison. Black eyes glaring their glowing irises of murderous red and something of a smile on its slugging maw of teeth on its skeletal jaws. Meat hanging off its lips like a toad’s bloated thyroid.

Melchiah. Centuries since the loss of his precious stolen retreat, he had resurfaced.

And his gurgling laugh rolled in the air as his grotesque body heaved itself on legs that will not last for long. “Goliath, I have come for you…”

#v: damned #melchiah #melchahim #dumahim

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formerprincess · 6 years

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A tale written with fangs and claws || Chapter 46

Chapters: 46/? Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken, Corey Bryant/Mason Hewitt Characters: Liam Dunbar, Theo Raeken, Mason Hewitt, Corey Bryant, Nolan (Teen Wolf) Additional Tags: Alpha Liam Dunbar, Slow Build, Friends to Lovers, Dunbar Pack, Bisexual Liam Dunbar, Werewolf Theo Raeken, Alpha Theo Raeken, Canon-Typical Violence, Smut, Mates, Liam and Theo are mates, Top Theo Raeken, Bottom Theo Raeken, Top Liam, Bottom Liam Dunbar Series: Part 1 of Morning Dew Pack

Liam's birthday is celebrated. Theo and Liam learn new things about each other. New connections are made.

Liam’s hand stroked over Theo’s naked back and his blunt nails scratched over the skin while he moaned loudly. Theo replied with a low moan himself right into Liam’s ear. His mate snapped his hips again and his cock pulsed from where it was buried deep inside Liam.

“Oh, fuck, Theo...” Liam groaned and his fingers trailed over Theo’s spine. Just like Liam’s skin, Theo’s was sweat-slicked and having a decent hold on him was difficult but Liam still needed some kind of grasp while he was fucked so amazingly. Especially now, when his body shook and got pushed closer and closer to his orgasm.

Theo growled again and then turned his head and kissed Liam’s neck, right over his pulse point. Liam’s heart hammered inside his chest, even more so after this affectionate move, and his nails turned into claws. He lost control in the best ways possible and yet Theo grounded him, reigned him in enough it was pleasurable for both of them. His body above Liam’s, one hand on his hips in a bruising grip, the other closed around Liam’s cock and jerking him off in sync with his own thrusts; all that helped to ground Liam while he lost himself in the amazing universe that was his mate.

It took another sharp thrust from Theo and a certain flick of his wrist and Liam screamed out the Beta’s name while he orgasmed and came all over Theo’s hand and his own stomach. Theo’s body shuddered and he managed two more thrusts while Liam spasmed around him and then he roared and came inside Liam. Their bodies shook with the force of their orgasms and they both moaned and gasped while they came down from their highs.

Neither Liam nor Theo cared how sticky they were, too fucked out to care, when Theo collapsed on top of Liam. It had been a great way to start the day for sure. Liam felt Theo’s heartbeat from where their bodies were plastered together and a lazy smile appeared on his face. Even when he felt boneless, he still enjoyed having Theo so close and his wolf preened at the close contact to his mate. That’s why nobody could blame Liam for the disappointed sigh when Theo pulled out of him and rolled next to Liam to mimic his position and also lay on his back to look at the ceiling after a while. Their shoulders brushed and Liam guessed that was fine as well. Theo was still close to him. “Birthday sex is great,” Liam said breathlessly and laughed softly. Theo chuckled. “All the sex we have is great,” he countered. Yeah, that was nothing Liam could argue with. Not that he wanted to. “Yep but you know what I meant.”

He leaned against the headboard and turned his head to look at Theo. After the Betas had surprised him shortly after midnight and he unwrapped the gifts, they had eaten cake and then went to bed. When Liam and Theo woke up hours later, it had not taken long for them to heavily make out and roll around in the sheets. That meant Liam had his birthday still in front of him and he was in a great mood. And seeing his boyfriend looking happy and satisfied only increased his good mood. “I love you.” Theo leaned against the headboard as well, looked at Liam and smiled. “I love you too.” To prove it further, he reached over, cupped the side of Liam’s face, and kissed him softly. “Now, why don’t you stay in bed a little bit longer while I take a quick shower and then you take a long hot shower and I prepare your breakfast. Or you stay in bed and I’ll make you breakfast in bed.” “Hm, sounds like you’re planning on spoiling me today,” Liam whispered and pulled Theo into another kiss. Theo returned the kiss but then pulled back to answer him. “It’s your special day today, you can bet I’m planning on spoiling you. Everything you want to do today, I’m on board.” He leaned over Liam, the young Alpha caged between his arms, and curiously looked at him. “So, what are we doing today?” “Uhm, I don’t have that many plans aside from having drinks with the rest of the core pack tonight. Having a nice breakfast, going for a long run, probably with the dogs, and maybe play some video games, that’s all I can think of at the moment.” Liam shrugged and already when he said those words, he could see Theo didn’t like them. “What now? What did I say?” “Those aren’t special plans.” Theo sounded almost accusingly.

Liam frowned and sat up fully, forcing Theo to sip up fully as well if he didn’t want them to literally butt heads. “What’s the matter? We didn’t do those many special activities on your birthday as well.” “You surprised me with this little birthday party and we mated. Also, it was Thanksgiving and we were at the lake. That was special itself,” Theo stubbornly replied. “I want you to have a special birthday as well. I owe you that!” “Okay, we need to talk about this.” Liam shook his head. “Theo, we don’t add these things up. We don’t have a I-gave-you-this-present-so-you-need-to-get-me-an-even-bigger-one relationship. It’s not like we reckon up what one gave the other or which things we did on birthdays, anniversaries, or on Christmas, it doesn’t have to be better and more special every year. I don’t care if your presents are self-made or store-bought, it only matters that you care. You guys surprised me with cake and a birthday song and I felt special because of that. This is the most important thing. Gifts are nice, sure, but what matters the most is that the person knows people care about them. No matter what gifts I get or what we do. Okay?”

Theo chewed on his lower lip and stubbornly refused to look at Liam until the younger took his face and turned his head so Theo had to look at him. The raw feelings displayed in the green eyes of his lover made Liam’s stomach flip. “I just want to make sure you have the best birthday. It’s your first birthday as my boyfriend, I wanted this to be extra special.” “It is special. Because I have you with me. And all the others. You don’t have to put so much pressure on yourself, baby. It will be a great day, even if we just stay home and eat pizza.” Liam pressed his lips to Theo’s in a loving kiss. “Okay?”, he asked afterward and Theo hesitated at first but then nodded. “Okay.” He kissed Liam again. "Good.” Liam smiled when they parted again. An idea hit him. “But you know what? Maybe I do want to do something else today. I think I want to go to the zoo.” “The zoo?” Theo looked surprised. “Yeah. We’ve been living in Seattle for a while but we never visited the zoo. I can’t remember when I last visited a zoo. A normal zoo, where living animals are. Will you go with me? Have a little zoo date? I’m sure this will be fun.” “Hm.” Theo scratched his chin. “It’s not like I could really say no to the Birthday Boy, right?” Liam shook his head. “Nope, you can’t.” He laughed and then got out of bed, extended his hand for Theo to take. “Now, I remember you saying something about showers. I think we should save water and have one together.” He wriggled his fingers and Theo smirked and grabbed the hand.

****** When they finally made their way downstairs into the kitchen after they showered and got dressed, the Betas were already gathered there and ate their breakfast. They happily greeted Liam and wished him Happy Birthday again and Lori fixed them two plates of eggs and bacon as well.

“So, Lee, plans for today?” Mason asked curiously and looked over the top of his coffee mug. “Theo and I just talked about it. I may be twenty now but there is something I haven’t done in a long time. I’d like to visit the zoo today. So, we’re going to the zoo.” “The zoo?” Brett sounded incredulous. “Really?” “Yeah, why not?” Liam saw no problem with that and sipped his orange juice. “The last time I visited a real zoo, with animals and such, was years ago. I think it will be a cool way to spend the day until we go for drinks tonight.” “I’m not the biggest fan of zoos but I know the zoo here in Seattle does a lot of things to help endangered species, that is good.” Maya chimed in and nodded in approval. “I think a day at the zoo will be just awesome.” Lori smiled warmly at Liam and Theo and Liam smiled back. Lori had this effect on people, she was honest and kind, you had to like her and smile in her general vicinity. “I think so too, Lori,” he agreed and then Liam dug into his breakfast, just like Theo did next to him.

After breakfast, the couple only returned to their room to grab their wallets and phones and then Liam slid down the handrail, just because he could. Being twenty didn’t mean he had to act mature all the time. Theo saw it and shook his head with a fond smile on his face. “Don’t act like you don’t like my childlike side,” Liam called out and grinned. Theo just snorted but the loving look in his eyes gave away how he really felt. He couldn’t fool Liam anymore. They walked into the garage where Lori, Brett, Tim, and Nolan were waiting for whatever reason. Liam frowned. “Where is my car?” He questioned since only Theo’s car was parked in the garage. The garage door was open so Liam could see his car wasn’t in the driveway either. “Oh, the others took it since they had to refuel the tank. They’ll meet us there,” Nolan explained and Liam stared at him. “Meet you where?” “At the zoo, silly.” Lori giggled and then climbed into the truck, just like the others. Liam gripped Theo’s arm when the realization hit him. “Tell me this is not happening,” he ordered his boyfriend and blinked at Theo. “Tell me, please!” Theo just made an apologetic face and raised a shoulder. Of course, he wouldn’t tell Liam this was not happening. He would not lie to Liam. “You have to say something, I’m afraid. It’s your birthday and you’re the Alpha.” He made a hand motion towards the truck but looked as unsure as Liam felt. Tim poked his head out of the window. “Come on, what are you waiting for?” He retreated back into the car and Liam frowned. “I can’t tell them! Look how excited they are!” He hissed and stared wide-eyed at Theo. “And the others are already on their way to the zoo!” “I know,” Theo said and frowned as well. “Maybe we catch them before we enter the zoo?” “Guys, Mason sent me a text. Traffic was not as bad expected so they are already there. He got tickets for all of us,” Nolan yelled and Liam sighed heavily. Great. “Okay, let’s go,” he muttered defeated and walked to the passenger seat of the truck.

****** Mason had been right, traffic wasn’t that bad and they arrived relatively fast at the zoo. The parking lot wasn’t crowded as well, Liam guessed this was a good sign there wouldn’t be too many people in the zoo. That was something, right? “There are the others.” Brett pointed at the small group next to the pay booth. When Mason spotted them, he waved the tickets in the air.

“You finally made it!” “Yeah, we made it.” Liam was still not sure what to make out of the current situation. It seemingly showed on his face because Mason nudged him. “What happened to your enthusiasm from before? Be happy, we’re at the zoo.” “Oh, I am happy to be at the zoo.” Liam made a face and Mason scoffed. “Could have fooled me. You look like you’re in pain. It was your idea we go to the zoo.” “Really? Was it?” Liam snapped back. “Did I ever utter the words we all go?” Stunned silence. It was Lori who caught up first. “Oh my god. Guys, I think Liam’s we didn’t include the whole pack, more only Theo and him. Oh, I’m so sorry.” She pressed both hands against her mouth in shock. Finally, it clicked for everyone else. “We are really crashing your date right now?” “Yeah, well…” Theo didn’t finish his sentence and just let the end hanging in the air. It was clear what he meant anyway. “Why didn’t you say something? I don’t understand.” Mason shook his head. “When should I have said something? It didn’t occur to me you all were tagging along until we got into the garage. At that point, you had already taken off,” Liam stated matter-of-factly and Mason made a rueful face. “I’m sorry, Lee. Look, we’re leaving you two alone and meet you back at the house later. Have fun at the zoo.” But Liam shook his head. “That’s bullshit, you already bought the tickets. It is what it is now. Let’s all have a fun day at the zoo.” “Okay, we all go but we get out of your hair and let you have some time alone,” Sadie said and prompted her fellow pack mates to nod. Liam sighed. As chaotic as his Betas were, he loved them and could not really be mad at them.

Theo smiled at him and took his hand when they passed the entrance and stepped into the zoo. Right next to the entrance was a big map of the zoo and Liam pulled Theo over to search for the best route to see all animals. “We should go right and then walk this round, so we can circle the whole area.” He pointed at different points on the map while he talked and Theo hummed in confirmation. “If you go right, we go left. Enjoy your date!” Sadie decided for the group and then proceeded to herd the other Betas away from the Alpha couple. Liam watched them leave and sighed. “I’m getting a headache.” “No, puppy, it’s your birthday. You should enjoy it. Come on, there are some monkeys waiting for us.”

Theo simply dragged him into the direction Liam chose for them and Liam let himself be dragged until he finally walked next to Theo and looked around. “But seriously, this pack.” “With how chaotic we all are, it was bound to happen.” “Seriously?” Liam didn’t really share this mindset but Theo nodded. “Yeah. Think about it. The Betas crashing one of our dates, this is typical for this pack.” The longer Liam thought about it, the more he found he shared Theo’s opinion. The couple looked at each other and then both started laughing. Some people gave them funny looks but Liam and Theo paid them no mind. When they finally calmed down, Liam tugged at Theo’s hand in a way better mood than before. “Come on, time to pay the animals a visit.”

The first animals they came across were monkeys and Liam and Theo stopped for a while to watch them play, climb the trees, eat, and tease each other. “Brett’s favorite animals are monkeys if I remember correctly.” Liam leaned on the banister and watched a mother monkey tending to her young. “You know Brett’s favorite animals?” Theo asked, clearly amused by this. “I had a crush on him once. You remember things about your crush because you pay close attention. I learned many things about you as well that way.” “Oh? Like what?” “How much you love blueberry pancakes and muffins. I noticed how you always munched them when mom made them for breakfast. Or that your favorite shoes are your white Converse, which – to be real – is not that hard to notice.” He glanced at Theo’s feet. Like expected, his boyfriend wore the white shoes right now. “They’re comfortable.” Theo shrugged. “I always wondered how you managed to keep them that white with everything we do and fight. Blood, dirt, it’s a miracle.” “I clean them religiously,” Theo answered dryly. “Idiot,” Liam said fondly and the couple walked to the next compound.

****** They wandered from compound to compound and watched the various animals while they talked about various topics. The sun was shining in the blue sky and Liam relaxed and soaked up the warmth. He was glad he had decided against wearing a jacket and just kept it to a simple t-shirt. Theo also had left his jacket in the car and thus displayed how well he filled out his olive green tee.

After passing several compounds, the couple sat on a bench and just enjoyed the sun. Liam had his head tilted back and watched the clouds. “I never got the fascination with cloud-gazing,” Theo muttered next to him and tilted his own head back to watch the puffy clouds. “I never did this as a kid.” “You never…Seriously?” Liam could not believe this and turned his head to look at Theo rather than the sky. Theo shrugged and looked at Liam as well before he shrugged again. “Yeah. What’s the use, especially if you don’t have anyone to exchange with what you see?” “You were a strange boy, Theo Raeken.” He shook his head. “I had other interests. Stars, I liked. The cosmos. So stargazing was a thing for me but not clouds.” Liam chuckled. “I bet you hid under the blankets late at night, when you were supposed to sleep, had your little flashlight and read all those books about the cosmos and the Milky Way…No, that was me with history books. But I bet you had one of those lamps casting stars and planets in different colors on the wall and when you laid in bed during the night, you loved to watch the lights change colors and marveled at the various planets, imagined you would travel there one day.” Theo shook his head in wonder. “That’s exactly what happened. How did you know that?” He looked absolutely stunned. “I was right? Oh my god, that is amazing! Let me try another one!” Liam squinted his eyes while he assessed Theo and tried to come up with something. “You played Little League. Your jersey number was…7.” Theo smiled and shook his head. “22.” “Dammit! Okay, give me another try!” “Nope, it’s my turn now,” Theo demanded. He scratched his chin and pondered on what he could say. “You had a stuffed animal and it was a penguin.” “No.” Liam laughed. “It was a giraffe and his name was Dots. Mom still has him around somewhere.” “Aw, that’s precious, Lee.” “Shut up. Bet you had a stuffed animal as well. Maybe a lion?” Theo shook his head again. “I had a plush fish from a trip to the aquarium. Looked like that Dori fish from Nemo and his name was Nighty.” “Oh my god, and you’re calling me precious, Theo?”

Liam looked around. “Don’t they have an aquarium around here? Let’s visit this next.” “We don’t have to, really. Can stay here a little longer, Liam.” “I want to see fishes now. And maybe buy you a little plush fish from the zoo store later on.” He got up from the bench and wandered over to another map to see where to go from here. “You’re not buying me a stuffed animal!” Theo called after him but Liam ignored him. “I do as I please. That way!” He pointed left. Theo acted like this was a chore and groaned when he got to his feet. “Why do I bother with you?” “Because I have you wrapped around my little finger.” Liam saw no problem with that and grinned proudly. Theo said nothing but when he finally reached Liam, he simply pulled him in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. A simple act of affection and yet it held so much for Liam. Theo was just as in love with him as Liam was with Theo and though they teased each other, being around each other wasn’t a burden.

“Hey, look, there are the others.” Theo had spotted their group and pointed at them sitting on benches in front of the aquarium. “Hey guys,” Liam greeted when the couple stepped up to them. “Oh, hi, do you guys want to visit the aquarium? We wanted to but we can do something else, so we don’t disturb you,” Nolan said hastily, already about to jump to his feet again. Liam chortled. His Betas obviously were serious about not disturbing his and Theo’s date. “Guys, relax. This is silly. Yes, it was supposed to be a date but we came here all together so we can walk together now. Right, Theo?” Theo nodded. “We had some alone time and I learned some things about Liam. I would love to meet Dots one day, by the way.” “If you let me buy you a replacement for Nighty,” Liam replied without missing a beat and Theo smirked. “Deal.”

“Whoever Dots and Nighty are, I’d love to walk inside the aquarium and out of the sun for a while. I love getting tan but this gets too hot right now.” Brett took off his sunglasses and hang them at the front of his tank top. He had sat in front of the benches, leaned back on his palms, and Liam extended his hand to help him to his feet. It gave the signal for everyone else to get up and together they made their way into the building.

Just like Brett had said, the building was cooler than outside, a welcomed change to the burning sun. Liam loved the warmth but even he had to admit, running around all day when the sun was beating down – especially as a werewolf – made you run hot. He sighed when he entered the dimly lit place. “Nice, hm?” Brett appeared to Liam’s right and looked around. “I always liked to visit an aquarium. There is something mysterious about the sea and it also has something peaceful to watch the water and the fishes.” “Peaceful it is,” Liam agreed. “Feels like a different part of the world.” “But not in a bad way. It’s a like a little break. Gives me time to think.”

The two of them wandered down the halls, looked through various windows and watched the animals in the tanks while they talked. “Are you still feeling lost?” It was important for Liam to know so he could help Brett. “I’m still figuring out what I want my place in life to be. Coming back from the dead made me realize I never really had a goal after high school. I was just hanging by for graduation and then maybe college. I now got the chance of a new start and so I can find other ways to live a fulfilling life. I just have to figure out what I want.” “Any vague idea of what you want already? I get what you’re saying. I thought getting my major in history is exactly what I wanted to do but now I realized I want to do something different with my life. Theo and I will open our own bakery and coffee shop after graduation, so I’m still finishing my history degree but also taking some business classes. I’m excited about what this future will hold but it took me a long time to get there.” Brett looked at a swarm of colorful fishes and hummed. “That’s something I want. Not the bakery, the relationship. You two seem so happy with each other and I wish that for me as well.” He sighed. “But the thought of me being in a relationship right now seems absurd. I have so much on my plate, I don’t need to drag another person into this mess.” “Let me tell you one thing about love: It comes when you least expect it. When I realized my feelings for Theo as what they were, I was stunned. I had a lot on my mind, high school graduation, college applications, the supernatural things, the last thing I needed were feelings for someone I could never have. But that didn’t stop me from falling deeper and deeper. Love is not rational, so it surely won’t cooperate with your current situation. Maybe it can help you with your current state, you know? Having a partner anchors you, not only us weres. Corey anchors Mason, I know that.” Liam smiled at Brett and squeezed his shoulder. Having someone by your side gave you immense strength, Liam himself experienced this over and over again with Theo and he thanked the heavens for it. Not only was Theo his anchor but also his rock. Together, Liam felt like they could take on whatever the world had in store for them.

He was so lost in thoughts, he had not registered Brett talking to him until the other nudged his shoulder. “Earth to Liam, are you with me?” “Huh? Sorry, Brett, I was….” “Dreaming about your mate?” Liam blushed. “Kinda.” Brett scoffed playfully and shook his head. “I should be mad about getting ignored but I will be damned if happiness is not a good look on you. You’re so sickly in love, it’s almost unreal. Everyone else ceases to exist for you when you’re in love. Theo’s a really lucky guy to have you.” Liam looked over to the other side of the room where Theo inspected the same species of fishes Nighty had been. “I’m also incredibly lucky to have him.” He focused on Brett again. “And I’m sure you will find somebody as amazing for you. You’re a great guy, Brett, don’t forget that.” Lori appeared next to Brett. “Stop telling my brother he’s great, will make his head even bigger than it already is.” “Hey, that man is just stating facts, sis. Let him speak the truth.” Brett pulled his sister in a loose headlock and she squeaked and tried to weasel her way out. Liam laughed. It was good to see Brett slowly coming back to his old ways. He had cursed Brett out quite often since meeting him for the first time but he also wanted his friend to get his carefree attitude back. They all left something of their soul in the supernatural fight, Liam had realized that years ago, but they still could overcome most of the trauma. Brett surely deserved it.

****** Spending a day at the zoo - only interrupted by calls from Liam’s parents and the council singing Happy Birthday for Liam and wishing him the best- had put everyone in a good mood and when they had come home, showered, and changed clothes to go for the promised drinks that night, they were joking around and laughing on their way to the bar. While Liam wanted to celebrate his birthday, he was not in the mood to go clubbing and so had decided on a cozy pub near the city center. Drinks were good and had fair prices for college students and there were pool and darts.

“Round one’s on me,” Theo announced while they stepped into the pub. Liam glanced at him. “You really don’t have to. What you make at the coffee shop is not that much, to begin with, save your money.” Theo took his face in both hands. “Puppy, stop worrying. I want to buy the first round. It’s okay, I won’t be living in the streets afterward.” He kissed Liam to stop any further argument. It was an unfair tactic but Liam had to admit, it worked. He therefore just grumbled but then let Theo be generous. The rest of the core pack had watched their little exchange with amusement and now told Theo what they wanted to drink. For the first round, they all mostly stuck to beer. The twenty-two-year-old looked at Liam. “A beer for you as well?” His glance turned calculating. “Or still feel like something will happen and you need a clear mind to protect us?” Liam had not really paid attention to this feeling for a while now and when Theo mentioned it, he had to search within his mind for a while but came up with nothing. “I actually don’t. It stopped when we found Brett and Lori,” he realized. “That could be another point for the theory about your Alpha spark pulling them back into this world.” Ever had overheard their conversation and now chimed in. Liam nodded slowly. “Hm, yeah. But we don’t think about this tonight, okay? Tonight we just enjoy being all together and having fun.” He took the beer bottle Theo held out for him and raised it to toast. “To a fun night full of fun for the pack.” “No,” Corey held up his own bottle. “To Liam, the best Alpha we could ask for and one of the best friends all of us will ever have. Happy Birthday, big brother.” “Cheers!” The pack wholeheartedly agreed with Corey’s words and they all clinked their bottles or glasses together before they wandered over to a few bar tables located near the dartboard and the pool tables.

It didn’t take long for the group to split into several fractions; one playing darts, the other playing pool, and the third sitting at the bar stools at the tables, eating the onion rings and pretzels Mason treated them to while watching the others or occasionally taking part in the games. Liam had decided to play some darts. He had no idea if he was good at it but he played it in the past and found it quite enjoyable, so he went for this. Theo and Brett had immediately taken to the pool table and it looked like they developed a new level of friendship over them both liking the game so much. Since Theo had called Brett out, the two talked often, about various things but also about hell and coming back, and their personalities mixed very well together. Tim had found a very fitting term when he titled them “The ridiculously hot - and well aware of their own hotness- bros”. And then Mike had sat with the two of them and joined the conversation and Tim had left the room muttering something about “That being way too much to handle”. Liam still grinned when he thought how the scene had played out. Tim now tried to build a little house with the pretzels and Ever giving him advice where to put the next piece. Nolan and Lori also approached the pool table and tried their luck but it was crystal clear they were not nearly as skilled as Brett and Theo.

Holy balls, those two were fantastic. Theo had let it slip once he learned how to play pool to scam people at bars and get some money on the side when he lived with the Dread Doctors and later when he lived in his truck and Brett seemed naturally good at any game or sports he played. Both challenged each other to trick shots but even Brett had to agree at one point Theo was better at tricks than he was. Now they worked together to teach Noland and Lori.

“Damn, you really suck at pool,” Theo leaned on the billiard queue and took in the scattered billiard balls Nolan had managed to get all over the table. “I’m afraid, pool really is not your forte, little hunter,” Brett agreed and Nolan blushed so brightly, even the dim light in the pub could not hide it. Liam snickered into his beer and almost choked on the sip he had taken. “Nols, you can play with us. Your accurate aim surely will help my team to win,” Sadie waved a dart in Nolan’s direction and he gladly fled the table and joined her. Lori had skipped off after she found a pinball machine in the corner and now squealed happily at the little blue ball moving up and down.

“Why do you get to have Nolan in your team?” Mike asked Sadie and he just flashed him a wolfish grin. “Because I’m his best friend and I say he plays with the girls,” Ever called out from heat seat. “Liam! An alpha decision, please!” Mike and Corey glanced at Liam who shrugged. “Sorry, the Alpha is on a break for tonight. I’m sure you will sort this out on your own. Ask Mason to join your team.” “Mason? The one who once shot the tire of Derek’s car when he got hold of Nolan’s crossbow?” Corey frowned and threw a napkin at his husband when Mason squawked indignantly. “You know I’m right, baby. You and arrows are not really a good mix.” “It was one time and I paid for that tire! Accidents happen!” Liam snickered again and looked over at the pool table again while his friend bickered in the background.

Theo and Brett had moved to play against each other. Currently, Theo was leaning forward to take a shot and from Liam’s place, he had the best view of how the muscles in Theo’s back moved under Theo’s t-shirt, how the shirt slid up to reveal a sliver of skin. The Alpha’s eyed dropped lower, to the jeans fitting his boyfriend perfectly. Theo surely knew how to dress and Liam was here for it. “Liam? It’s your turn,” Sadie waved the darts in front of his face and Liam jumped in his seat. “What? Ah, sorry, I was busy ogling that fine ass playing pool.” He slipped from his stool and grabbed the darts from her hands. When he walked over to the board, he noticed Theo looked over his shoulder and smirked at Liam, clearly had heard the comment. But while he enjoyed undressing his mate with his eyes, he wanted to win this darts match and so Liam huffed out a breath and concentrated. All his darts hit the mark not as good as he wanted but they didn’t entirely miss either. When he plucked them from the board and turned around, he realized Theo leaned against the billiard table, drank his beer, and watched Liam without ever averting his eyes. Liam made a silly face and curtsied. Theo’s snort, even somehow covered by the drink, made it over to Liam and he chuckled.

“Where the fuck did you learn that?” Tim stared at Liam like he turned violet with yellow dots all over his skin. “In the Mr. Barrington’s Class for Young Gentlemen at Devenford Prep,” Liam and Brett answered at the same time. They laughed at the shared memory of their former teacher and high-fived. “Is he still teaching this class?” Liam asked and Brett nodded. “As far as I know. I mean, he did until I...you know.” The tall werewolf grinned.

“Whoa, whoa, give me a moment. I know Bacon Hills was crazy but please don’t tell me your local high school really offered a class for young gentlemen. When did you do that? After or before you fought werejaguars and the Anuk-ite? Or somewhere between?” Maya asked with a deep frown. “No, Maya, that supernatural shit went down after that. Not Beacon Hills High offered the class but Devenford Prep, the school I went to before I transferred. The same school I met Brett,” Liam tried to solve her confusion. “Devenford Prep sounds like a private school,” Sadie said casually and stirred her drink. “It was,” Brett confirmed and drank from his beer. “And we had this teacher, Mr. Barrington, who was as American as you can imagine but he considered himself a British earl and held this class as some sort of club after classes. Taught the boys to eat with all the right cutlery, how to behave, what to say. Most boys went there and right after they exited the classroom forgot everything he taught them.” “I still know some things but I’d rather not use them. I’m sure Theo would stab me with a fork if I treat him like a gentleman should treat a lady and unfortunately we never learned etiquette for same-sex relationships. Also, he would die laughing if I ever seriously bowed down to him.” “Yep.” Theo reached for an onion ring when he confirmed Liam’s theory. “Oh my god, I’m imagining you two in an etiquette class. How adorable.” Ever giggled. Sadie pawed at her arm. “You’re missing the most important thing: Private school probably meant school uniforms, right?” At Brett’s and Liam’s nods, she squealed. “Please, tell me there are pictures! I need to see pictures!” “There are tons of pictures. Mom was so proud and the school held so many events. Enough time to take many pictures.” Liam shuddered. He had never really liked the uniform, hence those pictures not being his favorites but for the sake of it, he would even show her and the others the pictures.

“I don’t get the big deal, I wore a school uniform during my school days as well,” Mike announced while he munched onion rings. Suddenly the pack’s sole attention was on him. “You? Wearing a school uniform?” Nolan could not believe that. “Yup. Grey slacks, white dress shirts, dark blue ties, and dark green blazers. I still have that thing.” “You still have it? Why? It doesn’t sound like you liked the uniform.” Tim knew his best friend. “We had to buy our own uniforms or rather our parents had to buy them. The school didn’t pay for them. If you were too poor to afford the uniform...Just kidding, if you were too poor to afford the uniform, you didn’t attend this school.” “That’s arrogant,” Corey chimed in. Mike scoffed. “Yeah, that’s a good word to describe this school and most of the students and staff. You know those rich kids of Snapchat? I went to school with these people and the school only supported this way of thinking. Needless to say, I didn’t really enjoy my time there.” “Mike,” Sadie said seriously, “if you think you get away without me seeing you wearing a school uniform, may it be in pictures or live, you’re mistaken. Same goes for the two of you.” She pointed at Brett and Liam. “Should I be scared?” Brett inquired and Maya nodded. “Yep. She’s on a mission now.” “Oh boy,” Brett muttered and put a hand full of pretzels in his mouth, maybe not as fazed by this as he probably should be.

****** “What do you think?”

Rod asked Liam. They both stood on the lacrosse field and watched the open training. Against Liam’s fear of nobody coming, quite some people had taken interest and attended the training. Now it was coming to end and coach and captain exchanged their opinions. “There are some promising people, men and women. With them on the team, we might have a chance of doing better than before. They need training, of course, but that was expected. I think we can work with what we have,” Liam shared his insight. Rod nodded. “Think so too. Some of them never played lacrosse in a competitive team before, the training will be new to them but that’s what I’m here for.” He grabbed his bag. “Thank you for your help, Liam.” “Hey, it’s my team too.” Liam patted the coach’s back and took his own bag.

They turned around to leave the field when a dark-haired guy sprinted towards them. “Is the open training over already? I wanted to attend it but I just recently transferred and had to check with the administration office. They took awfully long, that’s why I’m only arriving here now.” He cast a look at the now empty field and groaned. “Guess I have to participate in the next open training.” Liam and Rod shared a look. “I know you have an appointment at your son’s school. Go. I take care of this and tell you how it went,” Liam offered and Rod gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you, Liam.” He clapped him on the back and then shook hands with the new guy. “Good Luck...What’s your name?” “Caden Thermopolis, you can call me Cade. Or Alec.” “Alec?” Liam wondered what gave him that nickname. “I got told I look like the Alec guy from the Shadowhunters series. I don’t really see it but oh well. Archery being one of my hobbies don’t help much in that case. The nickname stuck...” Cade shrugged and simpered. “Okay, Caden, I leave you in the care of our team captain Liam. Show him what you can do.” Roderick waved and then walked to the locker room.

Liam dropped his bag back on the bench again. “Ever played before?” “My dad and some of his friends had their own little neighborhood lacrosse league and I played there. Also, my old college had a team but somehow we only played for fun. I know what I have to do if that’s what your question aimed at.” Liam fiddled with his phone and typed. “Just letting my boyfriend know I will come home later, then we can start. I’d suggest, we start with warm up, want to see your stamina. Come on, we run around the field.” Liam threw his phone on top of his bag after he finished texting and started to jog. Caden dropped his things and soon jogged next to him. “Where do you come from?” “My last college was in Illinois but my family lives in Chicago.” “Never been there but heard it’s a beautiful city.” “Oh, it truly is. Though I felt the need to venture out after high school, explore more cities and my parents absolutely encouraged me.” “My parents did the same thing to me. I come from a small town in California and they were sad I was leaving but they never tried to stop me.” “It’s good to hear that. Our family has very close bonds and it’s always nice to hear other families seem to have them as well.” “Hm, agreed.” Liam picked up his pace a little bit. His goal was to challenge the guy but to his wonder, Caden stayed hot on his tails. Being an Alpha, Liam knew he was fast. What surprised him that while he was faster than Caden, the man could still keep up without falling too much behind. It reminded him of Theo, Maya, and Sadie, the fastest of his Betas.

They stopped jogging after a while and Liam threw Caden one of the lacrosse sticks they used for the open training. “I will fire some shots at you, let me see how good you are at catching.” “Okay.” Caden nodded and then moved to the spot Liam assigned him too. Liam grabbed his own stick and the ball and wiggled it in the net. “Keep it easy on me, captain,” Caden joked. “Easy never won any titles but I promise not to be too hard on you,” Liam replied and flung the first ball at Cade. He caught it without much of a problem. Liam really liked that. Fast reflexes, almost reminded him of Kira.

The next shorts were harmless as well and Caden caught them without breaking so much of a sweat. Even when Liam targeted the corners to see him move, he managed to catch the ball, albeit in the last seconds. Liam raised an eyebrow. Those reflexes were faster than those of a human and his wolf woke up and assessed the other man. They were the same age and while Cade was taller than Liam, he was the Alpha and surely could take him. To test his theory, Liam’s shots became faster and harder, fueled by the wolf inside him. Caden looked taken aback but then did his best to catch the balls, even when Liam fired more and faster shots at him. He didn’t succeed at 100% but the shots he caught were enough to confirm Liam’s suspicion.

It was then he snapped and shot forward to shoulder tackle the other to the ground and press his lacrosse stick against Caden’s chest. “What are you? Your reflexes are supernatural, don’t even try to deny it!” Liam flashed his eyes Alpha red. Caden had sputtered when he found himself on the ground and then dusted his hands off. “Dude, what the hell?” He looked up and his hazel eyes widened when he saw the Alpha staring him down. “Oh fuck, you’re an Alpha!” He scattered away from Liam, created some separation but still remained on the ground. Slowly he went to a crouching stance yet kept his head down. “I had no idea you were an Alpha. Look, I didn’t mean any harm, I just wanted to apply for the team.” His eyes flashed gold. Liam lowered his stick. “You’re also a werewolf.” He sniffed. “But you don’t smell like a wolf, you smell human.” “I don’t have a pack, maybe that’s why? Look, Alpha, can I please get back up? I promise I’m not a trouble maker and won’t attack you. I am a good werewolf.”

Maybe his reaction had been too harsh, Liam had to admit that. It was one of those moments where he acted first and thought second. The moment that usually got him in trouble. He sighed and extended his hand to help Caden to his feet. “So am I but years of fighting all sorts of supernaturals made me suspicious. Sorry about that. And call me Liam.” “No hard feelings, really.” Caden waved it off. “I mean, the Alpha protects. You’re that sort of Alpha, right? The Protector. You’re not the kind of Alpha to go on a killing spree just because he can, right?” “No, I protect. My pack and the people I care about.” “Good, good.” Caden nodded. Liam nodded over to the bench. “Tell me about yourself. You said you don’t have a pack, that means you’re an Omega.”

They walked over and sat down. Caden grabbed his water bottle and took a sip. “Figure I should start at the beginning. I don’t have a wolf pack but consider my family my pack. They helped me with all this werewolf stuff. You must know, my parents are not my biological ones. None of their five kids is biological, we are all adopted and from different cultures. My parents loved to travel and always wanted a large family. That way they could also help. I have a sister from Japan, a brother from Peru, you get the memo. Our family is open-minded, my oldest sister is gay and my parents have done nothing but support her and her girlfriend. They raised us that way and also never kept us being adopted a secret. They also always did their best us kids stayed in touch with our culture and we traveled a lot. When I was fifteen, we traveled to Greece and one night I went for a walk, that’s when an Alpha attacked and bit me. He ran away and left me there and I was so scared, injured and bloodied, I ran home to my parents. I had no idea where else to go.”

“That’s why they knew about you being a werewolf,” Liam realized. “My siblings know as well and they all helped me figure this out. We searched for the Alpha and found out he had lost his wife and daughter which turned him feral. After he attacked me, the guilt was too much. We found the guy’s corpse, later on, had killed himself. But yeah, with all their support, my family became my pack even though they’re all humans. I researched most things I know about werewolves through the internet; the things is you can never be sure with this information.” “Research is fine and dandy but being around real werewolves is something entirely different. And some information on the web is just plain wrong.” Liam and Mason had made the same experience. “I didn’t even know how to find other wolves. It’s not like you can make a Craiglist ad. Heck, I didn’t even know there was a wolf pack at SU.” “We are here. Though admittedly, we are not a common pack.” Liam chuckled and it caught Cade’s attention. “What’s that suppose to mean?” “We have wolves but also a witch, a werechameleon, our Emissary is human, we have another human who is our hunter, my boyfriend was half wolf and half coyote but now is a full werewolf since I bit him. We are quite unusual,” Liam summed up his pack. Caden smiled softly. “Sounds nice.” “You surely know a wolf is not as strong as Omega as he is as Beta? You came across this information on the internet.” “I did but like I said, finding wolves is hard.” “Tell me about it. Most of my pack mates found me rather than I found them. But that’s not important, important is we found each other in the end.”

They silently sipped their water for a while. “Did you...kill someone to become Alpha? That’s how you get Alpha powers mostly, am I right?” Caden suddenly asked. “There are several ways to become an Alpha. By conquest, by inheritance, or being a True Alpha. My old Alpha, the one responsible for biting me, is a True Alpha. Scott McCall, ever heard of him before?” The other shook his head. It was rare people had not heard of Scott before and a part of Liam was pleasantly surprised. “But to answer your question, I didn’t kill and I’m not a True Alpha myself. I became an Alpha by ritual which is rare but almost as great as a True Alpha if I’m allowed to be frank.” “Wow, that’s a lot. I heard about killing the Alpha and think I came across the conquest one but I never heard about the others before. This world is so different than what you read in the books or online.” “Oh, I know that. Me getting the bite was not voluntarily but Scott saved my life with it. Took me a while to accept that. Got turned when I was fourteen, I had other things on my plate when it happened.” Liam had decided he could trust Caden. The other didn’t seem hostile and he always, maybe without really noticing, paid respect to the Alpha with keeping his voice down and never acted like he wanted to challenge Liam. It calmed his inner wolf. “You can’t really get to know the werewolf culture just by reading things. Trust me, my best friend Mason, our Emissary, tried that. You will miss big parts of the experience. Some things are hard to write down because they are hard to explain or everybody experiences them differently. You need the contact with other wolves. Especially, since your Alpha is dead.”

“Why is that so important? I mean, yep, I’d have loved to talk to him and get answers to my questions but he’s dead so that’s it. Or is it true what I read about the telepathic connection between Alpha and Beta? I honestly can’t imagine that.” “The bond between Alpha and Beta is special. If you kill a Beta, the Alpha will feel it. It feels like losing a limb. That’s why most Alphas are so protective of their Betas. Scott would have been destroyed if I got killed and I would be more than just destroyed if something would happen to Theo. We share so many connections but I also always feel him in the pack bond. He’s my only bitten one, it’s different than for the other Betas. I don’t know if it’s really telepathic but I do know The Alpha can control their Beta in some way. You have to ask Mason about this, I didn’t really understand the whole concept. But your Alpha is dead. Nobody can control you.” “That is good, I suppose” “Having an own free will is always good.” Liam grinned. Caden looked at him and chuckled.

“You’re a cool guy, Liam.” “You’re not so bad yourself, Cade. Tell you what, we’re having a BBQ at the pack house Friday evening. Why don’t you drop by and I introduce you to the pack? You can meet other supernaturals that way and also have a nice time. You transferred recently so I’m not sure you know anybody around here?” “I know nobody. But do you think it will be okay if I join you? I don’t want to interrupt pack time.” “Ey, the Alpha invites you, you can’t say No. Wolf Law.” “Really? There is a Wolf Law where these things are sorted out?” Now Liam laughed loudly. “No, I’m just messing with you. There are some rules you should follow if you want to be considered good. Or some rules you should break if you want to be considered evil. You know about the blue eyes?” Caden shook his head. “If a were takes an innocent life, their eyes turn from gold to blue. If an Alpha takes an innocent life, their eyes stay red but when they lose their Alpha status they will be blue.” “Oh boy, that’s a lot.” Caden rubbed his neck. Liam patted his shoulder. “Don’t exhaust yourself, no need to learn all this right now. Take your time and uncover one thing after another. We all are still learning, I’m not sure we ever stop. But that’s life, I guess.” He shrugged. “I will take my time. I’m a fast learner, however. Oh, and since you invited me so nicely I will stop by your BBQ. Can’t wait to meet the others.” Caden smiled lightly.

_____________________________________

Author's Note:

In case you were wondering, this is Caden:

The Shadowhunters joke was lame but I couldn’t help myself. Hope you forgive me 😅 It reminded me of that one scene in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody where Maddie auditioned for the role of Sharpay and said she looked like Ashley Tisdale but nobody believed her.

Fun Fact about Caden: I had everything about him, his faceclaim, how he would appear in the story, his backstory, for months. What I didn't have was his name. He was literally named a few days ago 😉😊

I had fun writing this chapter and I could not wait to post it because I planned Caden's appearance for quite a while and now he's here and I'm excited. I reached a point in this story where I still get many new ideas the more I think about but I’m also at the point where what I have already planned is slowly coming together. This is amazing to see and if I could I would just spend day and night writing the next chapters. Just thinking about it excites me and I can't wait to see what you guys think of it.

Let me also take this opportunity to thank you all again. Without you, I probably would have lost motivation long ago. Without you, this story would not be what it is today. Thank you for all your comments and your support ♥ I love you all!

As always, tell me your comments/wishes/dreams! Let me know what you think in the comments below.

#thiam #A tale written with fangs and claws #Morning Dew Pack series #alpha!liam #My writing #I can't wait to hear what you have to say

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 6 years

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DOTW 52 - Update. I completely forgot the movie up existed until I was writing the scene and remembered after

Standing in the room that was to be the nursery, Eren had his hands on his hips and a frown on his face. Levi had thought Eren would be happy that the nursery furniture had been delivered. They'd chosen solid wood items that would last, and that could be properly mounted to the nursery walls to prevent the furniture from tipping over. Owning his apartment, they could pretty much do anything they wanted to the space, so he didn't understand why Eren was hesitating in spitting out what he wanted to do. Having spent the last 10 minutes leaning against the doorframe, Levi's patience was wearing thin. If something was wrong, why couldn't Eren say so? Clearing his throat, Levi straightened himself up "What's wrong?" "Huh?" Turning to face him, Eren rubbed his stomach "You don't look happy" "Oh... no. It's not that. It's fine" "Eren, whatever it is, it's not fine. Tell me what's wrong" "It's stupid" "Stop making me repeat myself. What's wrong?" Eren flinched, the look passing over his face in one moment, and gone the next. Apparently he'd been a bit of an arsehole to Eren. He'd sent him to be when their bed wasn't even made. The lingering smell of distress hadn't done his aching head any favours "I. Uh... I was thinking we should have got a rug for the floor" "A rug?" "Yeah... it's stupid, but I was thinking how cold the apartment gets... and it'd be easier to out to put it down before setting up the furniture" "It's not stupid. Do you have anything in mind?" "Something bright?... and maybe some art for the walls? This room doesn't have a window... and I don't know" The lack of a window was another reason the room was perfect for the nursery. They didn't need to worry about the pup opening it once they got older. It was already on his list to install another bolt on the balcony door, as well as the windows in his and Eren's rooms "Look. We need to go to the hardware store anyway, why don't we just go now?" "It's already 5pm. Is anything going to be open?" "They're open until 7. Or at least the one Erwin and I usually go to. I'll grab your shoes and a jacket. It's still raining outside" Winter hadn't started, yet the weather hadn't got the memo. After sleeping most of the day away, he'd woken to sound of rain against the window, and the bed devoid of Eren's warmth. His omega in the bathroom vomiting. Rubbing his stomach, Eren nodded slowly "Alright. I don't know if I'll be able to stay on my feet long. My back's sore from kneeling on the bathroom floor" "We could look online?" "No... I want to see what they have in store first. I've got an idea of what I want, but... I'd rather just get it now" "Let me know if the pain gets worse or spreads" "Levi, I'm pregnant. Something always hurts. It'll be ok" "I don't want you forcing yourself" "I'm not forcing myself. You're the one who... No. Never mind. Let's just go" He was what? Had he done something else? Had he hurt Eren? Grumbling to himself, Eren walked over to him, pushing him lightly "Go grab my shoes, already" Arriving at the hardware store, the rain was still pouring down. He didn't envy whoever was on shift at the moment. People always seemed to think that they were invincible. That speeding in the rain wouldn't result in a crash. Shitty idiots. Working in the rain fucking sucked. Keeping an arm around Eren, Levi found himself holding his breath until they made it inside the store. The concrete entrance had been slippery as fuck, Levi barely able to keep his balance, and Eren up. Walking in, his boots squeaked annoyingly. Looking to Eren, he found his mate's attention was on the wall of paint samples right in front of them. Leading him over, Eren didn't even seem to remember Levi was by his side "Do you want to paint the nursery?" Jumping, Eren stuttered "N-no. I mean... n-not unless you want to, too?" "Maybe not the whole thing, but sure. Do you have any ideas?" Eren shook his head "I'm still in shock. There's so many colours" Levi smiled, kissing Eren on the cheek "Do you want to stay here while I go grab the bolts? I know you said you didn't really want to walk around" "You said we'd look at rugs" "I didn't mean it like that. I thought I'd just go grab the bolts and come back, so you'd have time to pick a few colours out, then we can make the decision together" "I'm messing with you. You can go find the bolts and that. We both know I have no idea about those things. I want to look at colours... and maybe see if they've got stencils or something like that" "I won't be too long. I've got my phone" "Levi. I am literally just standing here. I'm fat, and cranky. I don't think I'm going to get into any trouble" "No. You're pregnant and beautiful" "See if you can find a brain back there, because you're deluding yourself" Even if it was mid-September, with Eren was due in January. His mate was glowing with his swollen stomach and curvy figure. Eren was oblivious to the lascivious stares cast his way, and would probably laugh if Levi was to point them out... but Levi saw each and every single one. Nuzzling into Eren's shoulder, he let his scent flow, warning every single fucker that Eren was his... even if his was muted, he hoped enough was rub off on his mate "Really? You worry too much. I'm just looking at paint samples" "I know, but you're mine and I'm not sharing you" Eren pushed him playfully "Go. Go be all alpha male. Embrace your need for power tools" Bumping him back with his hip, Levi snorted "I'll power your tool" "Shut up. You're already getting nailed. Spare a thought for me, I can't even get hammered" "No. But like that rug we're getting, you're getting laid tonight" "Ugh. Really?" "You're a shit. I'll be right back" "Then go already" Finding the right sets for securing furniture took longer than he'd thought it would. Eren hadn't messaged, so he figured that he was just imagining the time passing much faster than it had. Returning to the paint section, the alpha let out a snarl. Standing there, Eren had half a dozen samples in his hand, while two tall alphas stood there, clearly trying to intimidate him. Striding towards them, one of the alphas reached out, daring to touch Eren's stomach. Levi saw red, but that was nothing compared to Eren. Letting out a snarl of his own, Eren first stomped down on the alpha's foot, then followed through with an elbow to the nose. Roaring in pain, the alpha jerked back, his friend lunging for Eren. Levi was on him before he could lay a finger on his mate. Pulling Eren up to him, he grabbed the wrist of the alpha, twisting the man's arm until he yelped with pain "Eren, are you ok?" "Mmm... these two pieces of shit thought it was ok to get up in my face and tell me how horny and desperate I must be, to be shopping alone in my condition" "Shut the fuck you, bitch up! Bitches should be kept on a fucking lead! And this ones a fucking muzzle" Levi and Eren both snarled, Eren taking it further. While Levi was trying not to explode and bash the ever living fuck out of them. No one. No one talked his mate like this... "This bitch, broke your fucking nose and I will be more than happy to break your balls, if you don't back the fuck off" The commotion they'd made, had finally attracted one of the stores employees. Pushing through the small crowd of onlookers, the alpha puffed his chest out. But with a name like "Chad" it was impossible to take him seriously "What seems to be the problem here?" Eren tried to push past him, Levi now having to protect the two alphas from his angered mate... It'd been a long time since Eren had lost his shit like this. Not including his temper tantrums as his omega came back "These shit stains seemed to think that it's ok to assault a pregnant omega!" "Us! You're the one..." "I'm the one who what? I was standing here, picking fucking paint samples!" Eren's hand went to his stomach, rubbing at it with a groan "Eren?!" "I'm ok. I'm just fucking pissed!" "Sir, if you'd like to calm down" "Me! You're telling me to calm down?!" Chad took half a step back, Levi didn't blame him. Eren was radiating raw anger. Without suppressants in his system, his scent was flooding the area. A distress, and pissed, omega. His instincts were on edge, as were probably ever other alpha in the area "Keep your fucking mutt on a chain. You should lock him the fuck up. Fucking freak" Levi reacted before he even realised it, throwing a blow at the bleeding alpha who insisted on running his fucking mouth. Hitting him squarely in the jaw and dropping him like the sack of shit he was. Beside him, Eren was starting to shake. He wasn't sure if it was the comments on being chained up, or the violence and blood. Wrapping his arms around him, he crooned softly "Are you ok?" "I think I just fell for you a little harder" Seriously?! He was fucking panicking internally "Fuck, brat. I was fucking worried. Especially when I saw them harassing you, but you breaking his nose, was hot as hell. Are you sure you ok?" "The pups not happy, and I'm not fucking happy" "I know. Let's get you home" "I am not going until I get the paint I wanted and a rug for the nursery" Levi winced. Eren was still pissed, and hell have no fury like a pissed pregnant omega. But fuck. It was sexy as hell. He loved Eren's fire, and wanted nothing to more than to drag him home and show him much his temper turned him on. "Excuse me, sirs. I'm going to have to ask you to stay put as the police have been called" Fucking Chad. Ruining his fucking moment with Eren. Whining softly, Eren continued to rub at his stomach "Are you sure you're ok? He didn't hurt you, did he?" "I'm fine. Stop asking or I'm going to punch you" "Ok. But..." Eren raised his hand, curling it into a fist "Alright. But tell me if..." Punching Levi lightly, Levi shook his head "Message received. Do you want to sit?" "No. I want to finish shopping" "I don't think that's going to happen right now" "How the fuck is that fair? They started it..." Both alphas were sitting on the floor. Someone had brought some kind of cloth for the bleeding alpha to hold against his nose, while his chicken shit mate eyed then in anger "I know..." "This is bullshit..." "I know" Eren's anger slowly turned to anxiety as they were forced to wait for the police. One of the other staff had brought over a chair, which the bleeding alpha seemed to think was for him. Retrieving it before the man could sit, Levi sat and pulled Eren down into his lap. His hand moving to Eren's up shirt to rest on his mate's belly. Splaying his fingers, his eyes widened as the small feeling beneath his hand. Despite Eren constantly "complaining" about how active their pup was, this was his first time actually feeling it. He couldn't describe the elation the small movement brought "Do you feel it?" "Y-yeah..." There was another small kick, then nothing. He was disappointed not to feel anything else as the moments passed "I think he's turning flips again... How much longer do we have to wait?" "I don't know... they probably called for an ambulance too" "Do you know who's on shift?" "No idea. Are you alright like this?" "My back hurts like a bitch. But I don't want to move. Everyone's still staring" Resting his head on his shoulder, Eren hid his face "They're staring at those two pieces of shit" "They're probably staring at the psychotic omega" "You're not psychotic" "I just broke a guy's nose" "He had it coming" "You're not supposed to encourage me" "I'm proud of you for standing up for yourself" "I attacked a total stranger" "Who touched you. Only a fucking moron would risk picking a fight with a pregnant omega" "I feel... I just... Why? Why the fuck did he have to do that? I wasn't even doing anything wrong" "I know. I'm sorry I left you" "You shouldn't have to be sorry. I should be allowed to walk alone and shop alone if I want to..." "Yeah... but I'm still proud of you" "I was stupid. The pup could have been hurt" "They didn't look like they were going to leave you alone. You didn't do anything wrong" "Why do alphas have to be like this? Why can't they be more like you?" "I don't think anyone in the world would like to be more like me" "I would. You're so strong and smart. Sometimes it's hard to believe you could love me" "You make that easy... Hey, we're in luck" Walking into the hardware store, Eld and Gunther both caught sight of them "Everything ok, Levi?" "Yeah. These two tried scare Eren and learned the hard way that he wasn't having it" Gunther went to work on the bleeding alpha, the man's friend cursing the fuck out of Eren, not knowing he was only making things worse for himself. Continuing over to them, Eld squatted down "Everything alright, Eren?" "Yeah. I think I broke his nose" "I mean with you. Any pain?" "He's been rubbing his stomach..." "It's fine, Levi" Levi glared at Eld, Eld laughing "Sorry, Eren. I value my life and Levi would kill me if I didn't give you a quick check over" "Levi worries too much" "I haven't had the chance to congratulate you in person. How far along are you?" "23 weeks... I'm fine" "I'm just going to check your blood pressure... So, what brings you guys here?" Eld succeeded in distracting Eren "We were getting stuff for the nursery. Screws to mount the furniture and I wanted to look at paint" Levi tugged Eren's jacket down enough to expose his arm. The thick fabric too bulky for a reading from the blood pressure cuff. Eld smoothly slipping it around Eren's arm "Really? Find any nice colours?" "I found this nice orange and this bluey green that reminds me of Paradis Beach and don't think I don't know you're distracting me" Eld laughed "Oops. You've caught onto my plan already. Any pain in your lower abdomen?" "The pups pretty active. I don't think they're happy that I was so angry" Tilting the screen so Levi could see, Levi wasn't happy with how high Eren's blood pressure was. Even with his anger and anxiety, it wasn't great "Your blood pressure is a little high. Any dizziness?" "No" Eren's answer was too quick "Eren" "Fine. But I was angry and sore from standing. You try carrying a human around. Things hurt" "Eld, I'm ready to move this guy. How's Eren?" "Just about to test his blood sugar levels. Go ahead and take him out" "Will do. Hey Eren, congratulations. And congratulations on bonding with Levi. I never thought I'd see the day someone tamed him" "I wouldn't say he's tamed. Some days he's not even house trained" Gunther froze for a moment, before laughing way too hard "He's perfect for you. Make sure he treats you good" "I treat him just fine. Right, brat?" "Yeah. I suppose so" Walking the two alphas out, there sirens beyond the glass doors. Hopefully that meant the police had already shown up. No one would fault an alpha for protecting their mate, but they might not be so lenient towards an omega protecting his pup. Jumping slightly, Eren whined as Eld pricked his finger "Little sting" "Aren't you supposed to say that first?" "Probably. Look at that. Your blood sugar levels are perfect. If there's nothing else, I'd say take him home and make sure he rests" "That's what intend to do. Thanks, Eld" "You're welcome. Next time we meet, hopefully it'll be at one of Hanji's barbecues" Eren mumbled his thanks, while Eld packed his kit up. His boyfriend was resting the moment they got home. Eren really didn't need any more stress in his life. Waving them goodbye, Eld headed off to find Gunther. Kept waiting, the crowd finally dissipated. Probably because the action was all over. Chad was off somewhere, while Levi was keeping Eren away from the shitty pigs of alphas. It was another good 5 minutes before the two officers finally sought them out for questioning. He'd seen them around, but didn't know them by name. Forced to hold his tongue as Eren explained everything, they noted it down... then made Eren repeat himself. He knew it was their job, but fuck... couldn't they have gone easier on him? Eren was fucking pregnant, and they were looking at him like he really had asked to be harassed. The only comfort from the situation was the knowledge that Eld and Gunther, while remaining professional, would be less than gentle with their treatment of the two men now in their care. Taking his statement. They were finally allowed to leave. The store now in the process of closing. Pissed by the treatment of him and his omega, Levi retrieved the things he'd grabbed and dropped before, forcing the cashier at the one open checkout to serve them. The poor kid looked ready to piss himself. Leaning Eren back out through the rain, he managed to get his mate inside the SUV, with no dramas. By the time he rounded the car and climbed in on the other side, Eren had freed himself of both his jacket and shoes, while his shirt had been hiked up and his pants pulled down to expose his swell. Gently running his fingers across his stretched flesh, Eren was oblivious to what his actions were doing to him. He couldn't help but be turned on by the sight "You're staring" "I can't help it. You're the one with your stomach exposed" "It... I was thinking about you. I slicked so fucking hard when you saved me" A growl bubbled up. The little shit knew exactly what he was doing to him "Is that so?" "Mhmm... it was so fucking hot. It would have been hotter if I wasn't so angry" Forcing himself to keep it together, Levi dumped the bag of bolts and fastenings into the back, before pulling his seatbelt on and starting the car. Letting out a huff, Eren pulled his own belt on "I can't believe he touched my stomach" "Unless you want me jumping you, you should probably calm down" "I can't help it. You going alpha male on my behalf... it makes me fucking horny" "Everything makes you horny" "You're not wrong there. I had to hide my erection with your jacket" They definitely weren't going to make it home like this. Eren's pheromones were filling the car, his own responding as his jeans grew too tight. Sliding his hands across his stomach, Eren mewed as his left hand slid up to his right breast. Licking his lips, Levi tried to reason with his omega, but barely choked Eren's name out "Eren..." "I can't help it... I can't get you out of my head. I was so fucking scared, then you appeared... I kept telling them no. I can still smell them..." Right. He needed to find somewhere to park. He couldn't drive like this. Not when he was painfully aroused and angry as fuck. The only scent that should be on Eren, was his. Levi wasn't even sure where he ended up parking. Outside the car, the rain was coming down in a torrential downpour. Continuing to drive home would have dangerous anyway. Turning the car off, he'd barely undone his bent when Eren climbed into his lap, Levi forced to drop the seat so his pregnant mate could fit. Capturing his lips in a hungry kiss, there wasn't time for gentle and careful. It was like Eren's 20th all over again, except this time, Eren knew exactly what he wanted and he was bonded to the love of his life. Fumbling each other's pants undone and down, Eren mounted him without prep, the omega half moaning and half whimpering as he pushed himself down "Shit, brat... slow down" "Don't want to slow down. You feel so good" "You're going to hurt yourself" "I don't care. I want you. My alpha" Placing his hands on Levi's chest, Eren rolled his hips. His mew sharpening at end in what Levi took to mean pain. Taking Eren's by the hips, he held him high enough that he space to thrust "Let me" "I want you... no other alpha" "No other alpha is ever going to touch you. Not like this. This is mine, alone. You're mine" "All yours alpha. My big... brave alpha" "You're the brave one. Watching you stand up for yourself was sexy as hell" Placing both hands on his stomach, Eren let him support him completely as Levi fucked him, determined to engrain his scent into Eren's very being. Already aroused, his boyfriend's dick oozed precum. For an omega, Eren was well hung. He only about an inch or so shorter, and slimmer, but definitely big for an omega. Levi knew he was on the large size, and as his knot formed and his length thickened, he also knew he swelled up to a full 11 inches. The fact Eren took him completely was hot as hell, even when in rut and he was likely to nearly split his lover's arse. He didn't care that they'd only spent a very limited time together during Eren's heat, Eren had screamed for more, despite being fucked to point his arse was full and he was unable to walk "Levi... Levi..." Sliding his hands up to his breasts, Eren's head lolled back as he worked his nipples "It's ok... let it go" Coming with strangled cry, Eren clenched hard around him, Levi barely able to bury his knot completely before coming himself. Riding out the wave of pleasure, he was barely able to pulled Eren down for a kiss, thanks to his mate's stomach. The position too awkward for Eren to hold, and causing Levi's knot to catch and tug, earning him a whimper. Moving hands to Eren's stomach. They both stayed like that until their breathing returned to normal "Eren, you ok?" "Yeah... fuck... I want to kiss you" "Me too... give me your hands" Taking his hands, Eren interlaced their fingers. Letting out a sigh as he did "Brat?" "I have to pee" "When my knot goes down, I'll drive us home" "You have to stop coming first" "Yeah. There's that too... Fuck..." "My hormones are out of control" "No. No. You're fine" "I got horny over you saving me" "It's a compliment. It's nice to know you find me so attractive" "I find you attractive all of time. I honestly had no idea what to do, but then they touched my stomach. The moment he touched me, I felt violated. I wanted to kill him. Then... his friend..." Eren trailed off and shook his head "I'm sorry I wasn't there" "It's ok. You're here now and I can't smell anything but you" "Good. How's the pup?" "Moving. He's ok. I should have known better than to get so angry" "You know, I love your fire. The look you get when you stand up for yourself and others. I'm so fucking proud of you" "Can you be proud and stop moving?" "I need to clean you up... hold on" Eren gasped as he moved "Levi! Stop" "What? Are you ok?" "Just don't move" "You're covered in cum" They both were. The cum trapped between their stomachs was starting to cool and growing dry. Growling at him, Levi frowned in response. His sated alpha angered at the sound "Levi. I fucking refuse to wet myself. So stop moving" Oooooh... "I could..." "This is embarrassing enough, ok" "I've seen you wet yourself before" Eren looked mortified. Tears welling in his eyes. Smooth. He wanted to hit himself for his own idiocy "What I mean is..." "Just shut up" "I'm saying..." "The wrong things right now. You made me go all weak at the knees and now you're making fun of me" "I'm not making fun of you. I'm saying that I understand" "I don't want you to understand" Eren started to cry. Levi felt like a dick for mentioning anything. What he meant was while he'd prefer Eren didn't wet himself, he wasn't going to love him any less if his knotting him resulted in an accident. He was so fucking in love with Eren, he could never be mad for a small accident "I'm sorry. I'm trying to say I love you" "I love you, too. But can we not talk about it" "I didn't mean to push you. I know it's awkward, but can you turn at all?" "What? Why?" "I was thinking that if I could open the door..." "Shut up!" Yelling at him, Eren ended in a whine. Levi started praying his knot went down sooner rather than later. The moment his knot deflated ever so slightly, Eren bolted out the car with amazing agility. Flooded by cold wind, Levi scrambled for the wiped in glove box, rushing to clean himself down in order to cover himself back up. A few moments later, a very wet Eren climbed in on the passenger side. Handing him a couple of wet wipes, his boyfriend went about cleaning himself up "Are you ok?" "We don't talk about this ever again" "Eren, it's not that bad" "I don't want to talk about it" "You didn't..." "Please, Levi. It's too fucking much right now. I know you're trying to tell me it's ok and you love me, but it's too much. It was embarrassing enough being angry, then stared at, then horny over you beating up the fucktard of an alpha. It's just. Too much. I don't want to talk about it" "Ok... I love you" "I love you, too. Can we please go home?" Eren perked back up as they arrived home. The omega sighing and shaking his head as he climbed out the car "What is this shit? I have to fucking pee again" "That's what happens when you're pregnant" "How do I unsubscribe? And how do I get your son to stop bashing my bladder?" He had the feeling that the near accident episode wasn't about to become a fun anecdote for the future, but at least Eren could kind of laugh about it now "I don't think it works that way" Retrieving the shopping off the back seat, Levi moved to join Eren. His boyfriend reduced to shuffling towards the elevator. Eren had a tender back before they'd fucked, he couldn't imagine his omega was too happy. Fuck. Fuck. He'd forgotten about Eren's sky high blood pressure... fuck "Do you want me to carry you?" "Yes. But I think it's going to make it worse. Can I have hot bath when we get back upstairs?" "Sure. I'll get those salts you like for too" Eren leaned over to kiss him on the cheek "I'm sorry I lost my temper before. And I'm sorry I lost in it the store" "You don't need to apologise" "I do. I hate being mad or yelling at you. You're my mate, and you're so good to me. I feel like a douche every time I do" "All couples fight" "I don't want to fight. I don't want to be mad. I'm so over being mad. Mad at dad. Mad at Zeke. Mad at Reiner and Bertholdt. I'm tired of it. I feel like I've spent more of my life being mad, than living it" This time Levi kept his mouth shut about Eren's justified anger. The reason Eren had spent so much of his life being mad was because people had treated him like shit "Let's get you into the bath. Then snuggles" "God. That sounds good. I'm guessing we need to find a new hardware store" "It's fine. I think I scared that kid though?" "The one serving? Yeah. But that's only because he knew he'd never be as much of a bad arse as you are" "You think I'm bad arse?" "Yep. Now take me to the bath!?" * Levi had been forced to pick up paint up for him on the way home from work, Eren having told him if he didn't he wouldn't be letting him inside their apartment. After a hot bath, and a massage that had him purring his head off, his alpha had settled then down on the sofa. Levi ordered dinner so he didn't have to cook, and Eren suspected it was so he wouldn't be in the kitchen with anything sharp. It wasn't his fault alphas were arseholes. He hoped the one kicked in the balls wounded up needing surgery or something. He was just as much as a dick as his friend. With Levi's laptop on his lap, he and his mate had shopped Amazon for rugs. He would have preferred to see them in person, but everything started looking the same, until he found a beautiful shimmering blue rug that looked comfortable. Levi purchasing the largest option without even consulting him, his alpha knowing him far too well and knowing he'd fallen in love with it the moment the page had loaded. Next they started picking out small things for their pup, Eren more than happy to let Levi choose things to share with him. He loved that Levi was into all of this. That such a strong alpha could have such a soft and caring side. Picking up some art pieces for the pup's room finished their shopping. Eren thrilled that they'd made so much progress without having to leave the sofa. His stomach was still slightly sore from his angry outburst. The pup hadn't been impressed at all with him, making his annoyance known with the seemingly never ending tumbling inside of him. A week and a half had passed since then, their orders had been delivered and Eren couldn't wait for Levi to come home. His alpha hadn't wanted him painting on his own, but daytime TV was soooo very boring, and the lure of bright colours was too much. He'd planned everything super carefully in his head. Along the top of the nursery walls he was doing a pattern of two small birds, alternating between pumpkin orange and maya blue, or at least that was what the paint pots said. He'd texted all the details to Levi, and his alpha had gotten exactly what he'd wanted. Even if he wasn't sure about the colour scheme Eren had in mind. The stencil was simple enough for the pattern to work without looking tacky, and in a small way, he kind of felt like he was paying some kind of tribute to Isabel. He would have looked for some way to include Farlan, but Levi still hadn't told him much about him. Carefully taping the stencils in place, he was happy they'd ordered a couple of sets and as they were sticky squares, he "tiled" alone the top of the room, using the cornice for the lines. Getting up and down on the chair was slightly terrifying, but his excitement won out. He wanted to do everything absolutely perfectly. Even if it meant it took days do to so. After the first four birds were painted, he'd decided the room needed more colour. He wanted his child to live a bright and happy life. He wanted them to have everything they could ever want or need, and every opportunity whether they be omega or alpha. Deciding he wanted to paint stripes around the room, he was quietly happy with his choice. It wasn't like he intended on painting striped all over the room, just an orange L striped on two walls, then a blue L stripe on the two opposite walls, an inch or so below the line of the first. They'd be mostly hidden anyway. The furniture boxes were still everywhere, with the overflow stacked neatly behind the sofa. Levi was going to help with the furniture, he'd even said he'd help with painting, but Eren had his heart on doing it himself and Levi seemed to understand that. His alpha didn't know he was still struggling with accepting his pup and pregnancy, and the altercation with the alphas at the hardware store had messed up him up more than the wanted to admit. Each time his thoughts wandered back, he was filled with anger and hurt. Being told that he should be chained had been like a knife to the heart. It'd felt like the alpha had taken one look at him and known he'd been kept in captivity. Even in the apartment, he found himself on edge. If he accidentally slammed a door too hard, or noticed a spot he'd missed while cleaning, he couldn't help but flinch as fear filled his body. Levi wouldn't hurt him. Levi wouldn't put him in chains or "muzzle" him... he knew that, but that didn't mean he could control his emotions or fears. 12 hours was a long time to be alone. 13 hours if you included travel time and even 14 hours if the day was particularly busy. He loved his alpha, and loved having Levi working again, but he couldn't deny he wasn't lonely without him. Sometimes when he was watching TV, he'd go to ask Levi a question, only to find Levi's spot on the sofa empty. Or he'd go to make lunch, only to remember after he'd gone to all the work of prepping it, that he was all alone. He didn't tell Levi any of this. His alpha had enough to deal with as it was. That's why the nursery had become a lifeline. It got him out of his head, and helped to soothe the guilt he felt for rejecting his own pup. Painting over the orange stripe on the far wall, Eren was careful to stick between the masking tap lines. He'd learned his lesson on how hard it was to get paint off the wood floors, and how hard it was to get the sink clean again once the brushes had been washed. There was now a stubborn stain on the bottom of the white bathtub that refused to lift thanks to him. He hated it. He hated feeling like he'd ruined Levi's bathtub. Especially with how hard Levi had worked to get to where he was "Eren?! I'm home!" "Nursery!" Levi knew he wasn't allowed to ask questions about what was going on in the nursery. He hadn't even heard his mate arriving home, so caught up in painting "I'm going to take a shower!" "Ok!" He needed to finish up... but his pride in the work he was doing wouldn't let him half-arse it. Still painting the orange stripe, Levi scared the shit out of him "Wow. It looks great" Jumping, Eren's bare feet slipped on the newspaper as he span to face Levi. Feeling himself falling, his hand flew out and right into the wet paint "Eren!" The omega's heart was racing, and he was sure he'd just wet himself in fear. Rushing to his side, Levi took his arm "Fuck, brat. I didn't mean to scare you" "It's alright... I just didn't expect you to come in..." Stepping off the paper, Eren looked to the wall. A bright orange hand print now marring his perfect paint job "Fuck!" Trying to escape Levi, Levi didn't get it "It's alright" "It's not alright. Shit. I don't have any white paint" "It's fine" "It's not fine!" The spot where his hand had been was all messed up. His perfect stripe ruined. Letting his hand drop to his side, tears welled in his sad green eyes. He hadn't wanted Levi to see the nursery until it was perfect, and now it was ruined "It's just a little paint" "It's not just a little paint! It was supposed to be perfect and now I've ruined it!" "Nothing's ruined" Shoving the paint brush at Levi's chest, he shook his head "How can I be a mum if I can't do this right?!" "Eren..." "It was supposed to be perfect! For our pup! And I ruined it" "Eren, you need to calm down. Nothing's ruined" "It is. It's all ruined!" Whining miserably, his stomach cramped. Every time he got angry or sad, his body start to betray him. Cramping and acting like it wanted to go into heat... while Thomas's words had never left his head. He went into heat to be more loveable. If that was the case, he was the least loved omega in the world "It's not ruined" "You weren't supposed to see! You... said you understood" "I know, but I got curious. The stripes look good. So do the birds" "They look stupid! I'm stupid for thinking I could do this" "You're not stupid. Here, why don't you take a break?" "How can I?! The paint's fucking ruined" "Then I'll fix it up" Painting his hand, Levi pressed his hand beside Eren's. The mark left fainter than his own "Why the fuck would you do that?!" "So you wouldn't feel so bad?" "You... ugh... why?" "It's our child. Yours and mine. Why shouldn't we paint things like this, to remind them how much we love them" "Because that's not what I had planned!" "Sometimes a change in plans is for the best" "S-so you don't like the nursery?" Had he really fucked up that badly? Levi had liked the two colours he'd chosen, even suggesting a brighter orange... Whining again, another cramp passed through his stomach. His chest growing wet as his tears dropped down freely "Eren, the nursery looks amazing. If you really want, I am happy to pick some white paint up after work tomorrow... but for now, I really think you need to take a break. I'll tidy this up" Wasn't that the same as taking over? His stupid emotions were out of control, but as he softly padded from the nursery, that's all he could think. That he'd fucked up and now Levi didn't want him in there. He'd just wanted to make something special for their child and he couldn't even do that right. Showering, he was uncomfortable. He preferred baths as his skin itches like crazy, especially along the bottom of his swell and bathing seemed to ease that. Showering also meant standing, and he couldn't help the fact that hot water made him sleepy. Basically, he felt it was kind of dangerous to shower alone, so showered with Levi instead. In his current mood, he felt like a burden to his boyfriend. Hiding his feelings and panic attacks from Levi took so much work. He wanted to believe he was getting better, but he just didn't know anymore. Closing his eyes, Eren tilted his head forward, trying to focus on the feel of the hot water raining down against his scalp. He was ok. He was ok. He just had to make it through the next few days, then he could ask Krista for her advice. It didn't seem right or fair to ask any of his friends. He didn't want to burden them with his insecurities, especially when he knew everything stemmed from his own poor mental health. Maybe the alpha had been right to call him "psychotic". He'd felt crazy at the time. He'd fucking snapped and some guy's nose... it was his fault. If he hadn't been so lazy, he could have gone with Levi. Yeah. If he hadn't been there, no one would have been hurt. The squeezing in his chest grew tighter by the second, until he was sliding down the shower wall. He needed to open his eyes, but now he was too fucking scared to. Scared Levi would hurt him if he did. Scared he was trapped on the shower floor. Scared about the fact he was too pregnant to run. Scared about what the future held for his pup. Levi promised to love the pup, no matter it's dynamic, but what if he didn't? What if in 5 years from now, he regretted everything? And what if when the pup didn't present as an alpha, he left? What was he supposed to do? How was even supposed to be a mum? He didn't know how to be a mother. He could barely remember his own mother! Other than her dying. What if he died? What happened to his pup then? Would Hanji take it in? Would Levi still love it? The constant reminder of him? Everything felt too fucking real, too fucking fast. He was only 21. How the fuck was he supposed to be a good mum? All of Levi's wants for him suddenly made sense. He had fuck all life experience. He'd only ever worked as a stripper. Oh god. What was he supposed to tell his pup if they ever asked how he met Levi? I was wearing angel wings and booty-shorts? Shaking my arse for random alphas while living with Zeke? He couldn't tell them that! Shit! Shit! Shit! Curled around his stomach, once again, Eren didn't hear Levi. Above him the shower was turned off with a loud "Fuck", but it barely registered "Eren? Hey. Hey, you're ok" He wasn't ok. He was going to be a mother! There was like three months left! Then. Then their pup would be here and he had no idea what to do! "Eren, I'm going to move you from the shower now. I've got you" Eren shook his head, he didn't want to move. He just... he needed... to fucking breathe "It's alright. I've got you" Wrapping him in a thick towel, Levi lifted him off the bathroom floor. Carried out and into their bedroom, his mate sat him down on their bed "Eren, you need to calm your breathing for me" A jolt ran through him. His head snapping up to stare down at Levi. It was like he had to do what he was being told, and didn't understand why "Breathe with me. In through your nose and out through your mouth" How was Levi just sitting there? How come he wasn't freaking out over this? They'd made a whole tiny person who'd rely on them to survive. A his stomach cramped again, his hand flew up to grip his swell as he whimpered. He couldn't have his fucking heat! Why didn't his body get the fucking message?! He already too much fluid and a fucking cyst. He'd already messed the whole pregnancy up! "Eren?" "I can't! I can't do this!" Wailing at Levi, his alpha blinked at him "Do what?" "Have a fucking kid! I can't do this!" Taking his hands in his, Levi held them while rubbing his thumb over Eren's fingers "Yes, you can" "No, I can't! I don't even know how to take care of myself! I don't know how to take care of a pup! I couldn't even do the the nursery right! What if you die? What if you regret this pup? What if you regret me? What if I'm a bad mum? I can't do this, Levi! I can't do any of this" "Eren, you can. I know you can. You're braver and smarter than anyone I know" "I didn't even go to school!" "No, but you worked your arse off to learn everything you could. Life has been completely crap for you, and you know all the things not to do. I know you're scared, but you're going to be an amazing mum" "I'm not... I'm not. I'm messed up in the head! I helped my dad, birthing pups and they were killed! Killed... they hadn't even had a chance to live. I don't deserve this pup! I don't deserve anything. All I do is bring death" "No. You don't" "I do. I do... I can't be a good mum... I just want to be a good mum" "You're going to be the best mum. I know you are. It's normal to be scared and to feel this way. I wonder if I'm going to be any good as a father. I don't know what a warm and loving home is even supposed to mean. All I know is that being with you, it makes me the happiest and luckiest alpha" "What if you don't want me anymore? What if you don't want the pup? Stress caused developmental issues. I read it. So does PTSD and anxiety. What if there's something wrong with him? It's all my fault... I can't even be pregnant properly" "Yes, stress can cause issues, but Eren, I don't care. Whatever happens, we can deal with it as a family" "What if he suffers because of it? What if he's an omega and something wrong? What if we can't help him?" "I think that's enough "what ifs". We can talk about them, but we don't have any idea and won't until he's born" Eren was still crying. Snot running over his lips as he gasped for breath while mumbling out his words. Levi didn't get it. He wasn't an omega... "I couldn't even do the nursery right. You had to fix it" "It was only a little bit of paint" "I wanted it to be perfect when I showed you. Now you're going to remember it not being perfect" "There's nothing wrong with it. The birds and the stripes both look good" "Not good enough. I wanted... I wanted to make it good for you and the pup. I wanted you to be proud, but I failed" "I am proud" "I'm so stupid" "You're not stupid" "I am... it was never going to be perfect" "Eren. I love the nursery. I love everything you've chosen for it. I love the bird and the stripes and the paint barely needed touching up. You've done a really good job. I'm so proud of you. You did so much work on your own and I can tell how much you loved doing it" "You weren't supposed to look. Now it's all ruined" "It's not ruined. Nothing is ruined" Eren shook his head. They weren't getting anywhere. Releasing his left hand, Levi cupped his left cheek "I don't know how to make this better, but there's nothing wrong with that room at all. Even the hand prints look good there. You're being too hard on yourself. Would you be this mad at me if I'd messed up?" "N-no" "Why not? If I accidentally tripped and got my hand in the paint, would you yell at me and call me stupid?" "No" "Then stop belittling yourself. You're not to blame, and it's already taken care of. I love the nursery. I can't wait to set up all the furniture and put everything away. This pup, this is our baby. Yours and mine. If you haven't noticed already, I'm in love with you. And I'm in love with this pup of ours. You don't need to feel so much pressure to get things right. No one is perfect. If we were, no one would be happy. I love you. How about we get you dried down and something to eat?" "I want to sleep" "Alright. I'll grab you a shirt and some underwear" *

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sparklyjojos · 6 years

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---[Disco 17/?] Disco, in which Everything Has Meaning, and we start the final explanation of the case with a lot of confusion---

Runbaba 12 asks Disco if he’s a great detective too (to which Disco answers “I guess?” -- oh, hey, some progress!) and chastises him for not doing anything. Runbaba then tells the Angel Bunnies to construct the Stairway to Heaven from the transparent boards, but not as a spiral. It’s supposed to be built in a straight line, directed in the same way the word “onsdag” on the roof points to. The metal ‘footholds’ on the cedar tree outside serve as a bridge girder of sorts. The rest of the Stairway (or rather, the Bridge?) rests upon the forest trees, the growth of which seem to have been carefully regulated to allow this.

[I’m reminded of how in Tsukumojuku there was the imagery of the Cross House sliding on top of the cedar trees. Considering Mitamura wrote it... was that in a very meta way a hint for how the Stairway works?]

Disco and Runbaba 12 walk on the bridge through the night, stopping at the distant edge.

“This chaos is occuring because you are who you are,” Runbaba 12 says. “What is fate? What is inevitability? If events are born from will and fate, then accidents shouldn't exist. (...) If we are the products of our will, where does fate come into play? (...) Do you think it was my will to come here to make my reasoning as the 12th one? (...) And yet I arrived to be the 12th one. Just like ‘Tsukumo Juku’ was the 9th and 10th one. (...) Everything is based on this order. If there's 1 and 2, there's 9 and 10 and 12...” [He says a lot more of way more complicated philosophical stuff that I got a little lost in, tbh.]

Runbaba states that the only thing he’s here for is to show Disco this Bridge; more precisely, to show him that something circular can be made into a straight line, and vice-versa. Other than that, Runbaba already knows his reasoning would be wrong.

“But I made a mistake to make a mistake. Intentionally. (...) It wasn’t completely wrong, and it wasn’t useless. (...) If you’re able to find the meaning between the lines, you’d know the beauty of events where ‘uselessness’, or something being ‘in vain’, is not possible. That’s fate, that’s inevitability.”

“...are you going to stab yourself too?”

“If my fate says so. (...) It was the fate of all these poor young people who died until now. Because of you. It’s your fault I feel this pain in my guts now, too.”

Disco suddenly realizes something (that he’s not sharing with the reader yet), and says, “I see... Hey, how old are you?”

“? Seventeen. But that’s not what we’re talking about. Mr. Wednesdayyy, you’re the only one here able to properly see everything.”

Only you can properly save the world! the Nail Peeler said. Even that was important.

“Everything has meaning,” Disco says.

“That’s right. You’re Disco Wednesdayyy. Make people dance, and dance yourself.”

Everything has meaning, and nothing is in vain.

[This is pretty much the same phrase that in Jorge Joestar was translated as ‘everything has meaning and nothing is out of place’. In Disco context, I’d rather translate the second part as ‘nothing is useless’ or ‘nothing is in vain’.]

All the reasonings have been creating a staircase for him to climb. ‘The beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega’. The circular Ouroboros and the straight Yggdrasil. The earth that would be flat if nobody doubted it was. The will that may pull fate towards you and change the world itself, provided it doesn’t clash with the will of others... maybe if there was only one person in the world, they could really do anything -- they would be God.

If we assumed that what the God of Detectives said about the Heavenly Throne was true, then Mitamura, the only person living in the Natsukawa Cottage many years ago, would be ‘God’, capable of changing the world around him freely...

---

Disco goes back to the Pine House and announces that he will be the one to explain his reasoning next. Don’t worry about Runbaba; he may have been wrong, but he’s not going to die. There’s no reason for anyone to stab themselves anymore.

Disco starts his explanations, figuring out everything as he goes in a true great detective manner. He examines the small hole Nils pointed out earlier, and discovers it’s a part of a vertical crack running from the floor to the ceiling, but most of it has been painted over. In a bout of inspiration Disco tells the Angel Bunnies to measure the size of the big rectangular holes in the walls between rooms 8 and 9 on both floors. He himself borrows a hammer and runs around the Pine House chipping away at the walls, unveiling even more long cracks: a vertical one in the wall outside (between rooms 8 and 9), a horizontal one hidden under isolation tape on the roof... Disco is now pretty sure it’s actually one long crack running around the entire Pine House.

[This is hard to describe and there’s no picture provided, so once again, marvel at my paint skills. Here’s a (very not-to-scale) cross-section of half of the Pine House, going through the wall between rooms 8 and 9. The black line is the position of the cracks:]

What’s next... the hallway floor? Maybe the actions of the God of Detectives revealing the Staiway, and Runbaba then putting it elsewhere, were necessary so Disco could access the floor underneath the boards...?

He asks everyone to go outside the Pine House just in case, except for Dezuumi and a few Angel Bunnies, who will stay as witnesses. (I like that Dezuumi is still overplaying despair because of being wrong. Dramatic as always.) Disco then scrapes away a layer of concrete from the hallway floor, revealing another floor underneath it. And something dark red.

Suddenly, Disco understands. He can finally see the correct world. The entire reality seems to shift around him with this understanding, making him stumble and hit his head on the nearest doorframe, but he doesn’t care too much for that.

“What... is that?” Dezuumi asks, pointing at the dark red something.

“Daibakusho’s blood.”

While Dezuumi is confused, Disco thinks further. Kiyuu hid a fake ‘murder weapon’ in the wall between rooms 8 and 9, so if Kiyuu’s reasoning had meaning, would the real weapon be hidden there as well? With his newfound understanding Disco looks into the space between 8 and 9, where he finds a ladder and a crossbow. It turns out Mercury C is also capable of seeing this ‘correctness’, and he and Disco go together into the space between rooms 8 and 9...

(”Where did they go?!” The Angel Bunnies yell through each other. “Did-- did they just go inside the crack in the wall?!” “They got flat like paper!”)

...and then Mercury C and Disco walk through that space to the first floor, and outside. When everyone demands explanation as to what the hell just happened, Disco starts by saying that it’s complicated, but first, they should realize just where they are. They’re in the Pine House, and they’re in Natsukawa Cottage. Well, obviously, one of these got rebuilt into the other, so you could say that... but that’s not what Disco means.

What he means is that they’re standing in the round Pine House and in the straight Natsukawa Cottage.

At the same time.

#sparkly reads disco #maijo and jdc stuff #long post #oh boy I'll have to think on how I want to explain stuff in the next one #things are going to get a little nuts from now on

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loneamarok · 6 years

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‘The Beginning’

-I had the door to the truck open with my booted foot propped on it and I watched the guys working the concrete slab. It was going to be a late night and the weather was to blame for that. Here soon I would let most of the guys go home and I would stay here along with one other. Most of the men shrunk away from the nighttime hours, they had their reasons. For me, it was like being at home and I decided I’d keep the new hire with me. It seemed fitting, first off he had just started so that alone had him drawing the short end of the stick and second…there didn’t need to be a first or second, I chose it, therefore it was. That went along with being site supervisor and truth be told, it just was a part of who I was, making decisions, dolling out the jobs and making sure it gets done. I was just more used to being the main man, middle man and end game man. I preferred it that way. And as much as I wanted to stick to my recluse life, money was a vital component in this world. At first my goal was to find a job that I could get lost amongst the masses and what better field of employment to do that than construction? Every small or big city had building companies that ran from your every day handy man to commercial builds. Education was not something that I could physically show that I had. I mean yes I had traveled the world, been to places that most didn’t know existed. But I had no diplomas or degrees in hand and I never would. Although with this field it was fairly easy to get a job, know how to swing a hammer and take some orders and you were hired. It was the latter part that I battled with. I always had. I mean I was part of the Amarok breed. We traveled, hunted and lived solitary lives. We were not part of your normal wolf packs, you had an Alpha and his followers. Not so with us, we didn’t even want anything to do with our own kind, let alone anyone else. When I started with this small concrete company, it was as a laborer. I was at the bottom of the ladder but that only lasted at best a month. It was clear I knew more than just how to drill a nail in. Little did they know or would ever know, but in my past I had been part of building villages that spanned against hillsides and included roadways. And we didn’t have power tools and bobcats to assist in the process. Of course that was before electricity existed but my current or anybody for that matter, would never know my true age or origins. Even still, the point was I climbed that so called ladder and swiftly went from finisher to lead man to now being the foreman. At first I balked at the idea of it. In my head that meant I had to deal with people more, I had to be front and center more…There were just too many ‘mores’ for my liking that had to do with dealing with others. So I turned the position down and was good with sticking to being a laborer. That lasted about as long as my next piss break. The owner was a no nonsense male with a blunt mouth and a fuck you attitude. I liked the man. His name was Clint and he was one of the rare humans that I found respect for. When Clint came to me about passing up on being his supervisor, I simply told him I wasn’t the man for the job. After an hour of debating back and forth, I obviously ended up taking the position. But only under specific guidelines of mine, I ran the jobs no questions asked, no meetings and I would be doing the hiring for any guys that would be working on my job sites. Clint readily agreed and since then between him and I, it all worked like a well oiled machine. He left me alone and I got the jobs done. Enough said. Now here I was a few years later, chilling in the night air and looking forward to some quiet time. And for that to happen I needed to let the crew go. I even decided to be generous and let the new guy bail on having to stay until the pad was done. I really needed some down time so I gave a nod at Jeff who was conveniently looking at me from across the way. And on cue he called out to the rest of them to clean up and lets go. Which I knew was the reason he kept casting glances my way for the past thirty minutes. I got out of the truck, shut the door and walked to the slab while the others started walking the opposite direction. Little did they know but I craved quitting time just as much as they did, it was another one of those things that was for very different reasons.-

#RP #Jayden

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noahfence1d · 7 years

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James Corden is known for two things: making shit jokes about sexual predators and kissing straight men. Recently, he set his sights on everyone’s favorite heartthrob Harry Styles (again), locking lips with the former One Direction star on a special Christmas episode of Carpool Karaoke, the world’s longest-running talk show segment. Twitter was obviously flooded with legions of fans and publications praising them for their apparent cutenessand joking they were both kinda into it, but why is a kiss between two straight dudes still treated as headline news?

Contextually, we live in an age that is queerer than ever. More and more of us are starting to think differently about sex and sexuality, including Styles, who earlier this year responded to questions about his own love life by saying he had “never felt the need to label himself.” This kind of forward-thinking statement is exactly what fans have come to expect of Styles, a notable queer ally whose LGBTQ fanbase is well-documented. He’s got the look to match, too; his post-One Direction wardrobe is filled with pastel florals lifted from Alessandro Michele’s bohemian vision for Gucci, as well as color-blocked power suits by queer trailblazer Charles Jeffrey. Styles has nailed an elusive formula: he’s queer enough to be progressive, but not queer enough to be pigeonholed.

James Corden, on the other hand, has experienced a meteoric rise to global fame which is, well, perplexing. Noisey wrote about this success in a piece entitled “That’s Quite Enough, James Corden,” which summed things up nicely; his career has literally been built on getting naked, kissing guys and singing over talented musicians, yet he’s generally adored by the public and even lands coveted gigs like the Grammy Awards. Why? Because he’s lovable, cheeky and “comfortable with his sexuality.”

The fact remains that straight men get praised for being open to kissing other dudes, whereas gay men just open themselves up to homophobia. When someone like Corden locks lips with another guy, it’s deemed acceptable because he isn’t a “threat,” whereas gay men are still treated as sexual predators. There’s an obvious double standard at play. It’s easy to write this off as just another shit joke, or as another example of James Corden being praised for doing the absolute bare minimum, but there’s a wider context which needs to be examined. The last few years have been stellar for queer cinema; Moonlight took awards season by storm in 2016, whereas recent releases like Beach Rats and God’s Own Country have been met with critical acclaim.

Arguably the year’s most celebrated movie is Call Me By Your Name, a same-sex love story built around sun-drenched landscapes, forbidden desire and, of course, the famous “wanking into a peach” scene. The movie has been breathlessly praised by critics describing it as a “masterpiece” but, as usual, it’s a cinematic depiction of queer intimacy played out by straight actors. Buzzfeed ran a lengthy, in-depthessay on the career trajectory of breakout star Armie Hammer, raising the extremely valid point that he was in desperate need of critical acclaim after a series of mainstream flops. Predictably, Call Me By Your Name was his meal ticket. Why? Because straight men are still deemed “brave” for undertaking roles that are, well, pretty ordinary to LGBTQ people.

It’s not just depictions of gay men, either. Trans protagonists are still overwhelmingly played by cisgender actors, whereas the year’s most popular lesbian love story was acted out by two straight women. Our stories are generating profit, but little of it is actually coming back into our hands. We seem to have reached a tipping point – when the stories of marginalized people are humanized, imbued with emotion and sold to a mainstream audience, the results are overwhelmingly positive. When it comes to actually supporting queer talent, directors seem to draw the line.

It’s also impossible to divorce the concept of “modern masculinity” from the recent influx of revelations sparked by #MeToo. It was always assumed that Hollywood relied on a “casting couch” mentality, but it wasn’t until news of Harvey Weinstein’s sickening actions broke that women—and men—felt able to share their stories. In horrific detail, we saw that powerful men abuse their positions to take advantage of vulnerable women. We began to understand the toxic connotations linked to “masculinity.”

A man like James Corden exists in stark opposition to the stereotypical, aggressive alpha male. He’s cuddly, lovable but cheeky. Above all, he is non-threatening. In many ways, he’s exactly the kind of man society needs to latch on to now more than ever – a straight man unashamed to act effeminate and toy with notions of his sexuality.

Still, it’s hard to be impressed or charmed by this when he only does so for laughs; and, for some bizarre reason, the praise keeps coming. It’s not that queer people can’t take a joke, it’s just that he’s really, really not funny. Styles, on the other hand, offers a genuine blueprint of what a queer ally should be. Sure, the reluctance to clarify details of his love life fuel his already-rabid fanbase and allow them all to project their desires onto him, but his willingness to show solidarity is impressive and much-needed.

Still, in times of political difficulty, it’s easy to award stars maximum credit for doing, well, not very much whatsoever. The fact that two straight dudes are still praised excessively for being “brave,” or “cute,” or “comfortable with their sexuality” is pretty patronizing, as it implies homosexuality is still something to shy away from. Meanwhile, straight actors are being cast in award-winning gay roles while actual LGBTQ actors are often left struggling to find work or being placed in clunky, stereotypical characters only found in the “Gay & Lesbian” division of Netflix — which, to be honest, even most queer people don’t bother with. This paradox is emblematic of a new age; one willing to praise straight men for venturing into same-sex desire but still likely to wrinkle its brow in disgust at intimacy between an actual queer couple.

#james corden #harry styles #highsnobriety

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ilvermourn · 8 years

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Season 6 Rewrite. Pt 3 Memory; Lydia Remembers.

Malia looked at Lydia with concern, as if the girl has finally lost her mind as she handed the werecoyote the notepad. “Me? You want me to put you under hypnosis?” Malia frowned.

Stiles, who has already tried the same method but with sleep and bright lights was cradling himself in the seat in the corner of the table, feeling sorry for himself. Malia suspects the memories must’ve taken a tow on him. It didn’t with her, she remembered her alpha and friend, she was happy.

“Well, who else is going to do it? Stiles is completely out of it. You have to try. This is Scott remember? Our best friend, our as you put it, Alpha.” Lydia gave the girl an encouraging nod before turning to the lit candle. “Remember, soft and clear, quiet but audible. Soothing but not monotone. Give it a try.”

Malia looked down at the paper and slowly traced the words in her head. Taking a deep breath she relaxed herself and rolled her shoulders before starting. “Take a – wait what if I put you in permanent hypnosis? What if I can’t bring you back?”

Lydia softly pressed her hand on her arm in comfort. “Relax Malia, you can bring me back. I trust you.”

A humming warmth spread through Malia and she smiled then turned back to the paper. “Take a deep breath,… and look at the candle. As you close you eyes you will begin to feel your muscles relax. You will begin to drift off.” Malia glanced at Lydia and saw that she was swaying slightly in a hypnotic manner. It was working. “picture yourself, you are sitting in front of a television . In your hand is a remote that you control your memories with. You go through them… you remember Scott.”

Lydia was indeed sitting in front of a television, in the middle of her living room. Voices, or more specifically a chain of the same voice, dimly echoed around her. She twitched at every different tones but she didn’t move. “ — turn on the TV Lydia – Lydia – Lydia …”

Instinctively Lydia listened to her friend and grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. A bright radiant face appeared on the screen; the boy was young, around 8 or nine, a tanned coloured skin, crooked jaw and big brown eyes. He was sitting on a curb of a familiar Street, playing with his shoelaces. “Hi – Hi – Hi –“ a voice echoed but it wasn’t the boys, it was hers, - small round faced bright haired Lydia stood next to him. “I’m Lydia – Lydia – Lydia, what’s your name? Name – name..”

The boy sheepishly smiled when she sat down next to him. “I’m Scott- Scott – Scott.”

The ground grumbled and Lydia looked away from the screen. “Lyds, stay focused. It’s okay. Just focus on Scott.” Malia’s voice sounded from outside. Lydia nodded and changed the channel into another memory .

“Him? I don’t think know…” Lydia almost felt herself freeze at the face of the brunette, her best friend sitting on the stands at the school with her. She watched herself watch the same Latino boy but all grown, walk on to the field. He turned slightly but didn’t looked straight at her. Of course she knew him, she met him before didn’t she? Lydia shook her head to stop from getting off the track and turned the channel.

“WOO!” sophomore Lydia jumped from her feet and cheered for the boy who caught Jackson’s ball. He looked excitedly over at the benches, his eyes caught hers. His grin widened as she smiled at him.

Lydia changed the channel, “If we’re going to Scott’s house where is Scott?”

“Scott!” she was frantically running around the neon loft searching for him. “You give me the time and I’ll do something about it, I swear to god I will.” As his voice echoed a loud scream overlapped it. Lydia clapped her hands over her hands as the long scream got louder and louder. Her train of memories went on an over drive, the memories, the face and voice overwhelming her. Then suddenly… nothing.

“are you grateful?” the voice was low and soft. It was comforting.

“You don’t know how grateful if can be…” Lydia watched with a homely sensation as their hands gripped on each other, their bodies colliding in harmony.

“are you okay? Lyds…?” Her head turned to the direction of the door. The wild make out session still playing on screen. Lydia got up and tried to follow the sound of her friend and alpha.

Her feet took her upsets where she heard footsteps. She spotted a dim light coming from her room, the door ajar. Lydia reached out and opened it wider and looked in.

Her bedroom was the same as it was now in real life so she suspected it was recent, or at least not in sophomore year.

Scott stood near the make up table, his hands roaming on the perfumes set there. He watched Lydia who sat curled up in her bed, she impaled her now lengthy finger nails into her skin, it pained a little but not enough. Not like the times Scott did it to gain control of his beast, those times involved blood. Hers just left mark that would fade in ten minutes. She hated it.

Scott wished he could do something, he wished he could just hold her hands and stop her from hurting herself. “Lyds, you have to stop this. We didn’t see you in school this whole week. We’re getting worried. I’m worried for you.” He stepped closer. “it’s not your fault you know? It’s no-“

“it’s is.”

“it’s not. She did it for you. We saved you.”

Lydia scoffed coolly. It reminded Scott of freshmen and sophomore years. The years she acted too cool to be his friend even though they’ve spoken too many times as children to be strangers to each other. “Bet if we could change time you’d save her. I would. Even if it means I wouldn’t be here to see her.”

Scott shook his head vigorously. “I’d save both of you. But we can’t do that. What’s done is done. Please you need to stop blaming yourself.”

Lydia sniffed not letting herself cry in front of him. “I can’t okay? It’s my fault and I can’t program my mind into thinking other wise. I can’t sleep because all I have are nightmares, Derek’s missing and you need my help but I’m useless-“

“I don’t need your help. I need you to be okay – I need you to recover,” Scott closed the gap between him and the bed, he stood next to her. “Lydia, I need you. Not your banshee screams, your predictions, you.”

Her breath wavered a little as she sighed, her heart warming as he rested his hand on her shoulder. “Can you stay with me just this night? Please? I miss sleep, my mum doesn’t under—“

“Yeah of course.” He shrugged of his jacket and turned off the lamp before getting in bed next to her, her head instantly pressing against his chest. He tucked her head under his chin and listened to her heart beat relax.

“I miss her, so much.” She whispered in a watery voice as her eyes stung hot.

“Me too. But Lyds, I’m here for you. You know that right? No matter what I’ll be here.” He said, his tone relaxing and assuring. She let his big hands warm her as she sighed. “I promise.”

A beat. “I – I appreciate it Scott, I appreciate you… I – I love you…” Her voice weakened and she buried her face in his chest.

Scott didn’t want to give it another thought because it was a normal thing a friend to say but it was hard not to, with his heart hammering against his chest. He knew how hard it is for her to say something like that knowing her history of giving those precious words to people who don’t deserve it.

“And I love you…”

The ground began to shake again and Lydia standing at the door gasped and lost her footing then fell back.

“Lydia,” Malia’s voice broke out bringing her back. The earthquake stopped and Lydia looked at Malia who was watching her in worry. “Are you okay? Did you remember?”

Lydia lowered her head and nodded though she couldn’t get out words to make a whole sentence. Hot tears welled up in her eyes and she sniffed. “I lost my best friend and he was there for me – he became my best friend and now I’ve lost him too, and there’s probably no way of getting him back.”

Malia grabbed her hand. “Don’t say that, please don’t say that. We’ll get him back. I know we will.”

“you’re surprisingly optimistic…” Lydia mumbled.

“that’s because I know you’ll be the one to bring him back.” Malia shrugged. “And someone has to act as if this place hasn’t gone to the dogs without Scott.”

“But it really has.” Stiles mumbled. He got up from his seat and looked at the girls. “we need him, everybody does. And this – this whole hypnotic spiritual thing is complete BS because nothing happened. The rift didn’t open and we’re here with memories of our best friend who we can’t get back.”

Malia pursed her lips and looked at Lydia who looked offended that he thought the hypnosis was stupid.

Suddenly the whole bunker began to quake, things began to move and even stiles almost fell. Something in Lydia’s chest pulled her up and towards the large door, the other two in tow.

With a grunt Lydia pulled open the stiff heavy door, sudden light shone in her eyes causing her to squint. The tunnels were alight and the trio walked towards the bright light in cautiousness, Malia had her claws out just in case – ready to protect them.

A tall buff figure suddenly formed as if coming through the light itself. “Scott?”

•••

#scott mccall #season 6 rewrite #true alpha #lydia martin #malia tate #scydia #malydia #stiles stilinski #sciles #beacon hills needs scott mccall #tyler posey #shelley hennig #holland roden #isaac lahey #kira yukimura #arden cho #daniel shaman

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u-n-conditionally-blog1 · 7 years

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Unturned Generator

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 6 years

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WAD LIAO 66full

Alone in Red, Lance watched the bright blue light show in front of him. They were deeper now. Deeper and deeper and further away from their boys. It felt like he couldn't breathe and like someone was holding his heart, tightening their grip harder and harder the more the moved away from the pups. Keith loved them, of course, he did, but he didn't understand. Lance had believed they were dead. He'd truly believed it with every molecule of his existence. The happiness he felt from holding them still seemed like a dream, even on the worst days. Keith didn't understand that he was still waiting to wake up. That he didn't feel like he deserved to be so happy. For all he really knew, he'd never been saved from Shiro and in reality, he was just broken and laying on the floor somewhere. Kicked aside and disregarded like trash. Since entering the rift, these thoughts wouldn't leave his mind. He couldn't stop them and hearing his friends had only served to hammer more nails of self-doubt into his already overactive imagination. Why was he even there?

Climbing from his chair, Lance headed into the cargo bay. It still smelt like his family. They'd spent the night here in their own private little world. Walking over to the nest still semi-assembled, be laid down and pulled a small discarded blanket to his face. They hadn't needed it, so it had placed to the side, it was the blanket he'd carried Laneith down in. Nuzzling the soft white fabric, he started to sob. He wanted Laneith. He wanted Kelance. He wanted his pups back. No. He wanted to go back to before they were born so Keith could be there. So they could be a family for just a little bit longer. Their boys... he was such a terrible mum. He'd left them behind with no guarantee of ever coming back.

* Keith continued to try calling through to Lance, but his mate wasn't answering, and he couldn't even see Lance in Red. Maybe coming straight down had been too much for him? Rejoining the others conversation, he let out a long breath, carding a hand through his hair as he did "Lance will be alright. He just needs some space right now" "We've got plenty of that. How far in do you think we are?" "It's hard to tell because of the quintessence. We could still be in the yellow bit of the rift, but I think it's more likely we're in the blue bit where we hit trouble last time" "It's taking forever" "I'm hungry" "You're always hungry" "I'm not always hungry. I'm just hungry right now because I'm worried" "If you were in Black or Red, we could probably help you out. Lance has secret stashes of food all over the place" "I don't know if I want to think about that" "Pidge, food is food. I wouldn't say no to cookies and marshmallows right about now" "We should make s'mores again... that was a nice night" "It was. I couldn't believe how much work Lance went to so we'd have dinner waiting when we got back" "And all we did was get mad at him..." "You got mad at him for not wearing a shirt" "I was worried about him..." "Or you were jealous" "I wish Voltron had some way that allowed us to move between lions" "Hunk, do you really want to think about what Keith and Lance would be up to if it did?" "Leave us out of this. You make it sound like all we do is have sex" "Because you weren't leaking arousal pheromones during his pregnancy?" "We are not having that conversation. Given Lance isn't behind Red's controls, he's probably in the cargo hold area" "We can do that?" "It's smaller when we're all together, but yeah. I suppose if you've never had a reason to leave your seat, you wouldn't really think about it" "So why is Lance in the cargo hold?" "Because we slept there last night" "Maybe I should stash food in there..." "We have to make it through this first. Why do you think Haggar was down here?" "Because she's obsessed with power and knowledge..." "Under her guidance, Altean technology was advanced by eons. She was truly a remarkable scientist" "But what good was all that knowledge? She ended up working for Zarkon, and more as a slave than as his wife" "I don't think I would like to live that long. I mean. Once you've done everything, what comes next?" "Yeah. I think I'll stick to my normal life span" "Your normal lifespan? Whatever do you mean?" Poor Allura sounded so confused and worried "Allura, human beings don't live as long as Altean's or the Galra. Our average lifespan is only around 80 years, some make it to 100, but that's not that common" "Yep. Keith will probably live longer than the rest of us though, because he's half Galra" "Only 100 years..." "It's alright. We've got plenty of life left in us. Pidge isn't even technically an adult back on Earth" "Just because I'm two years younger than the rest of you doesn't mean I'm not more mature" "I think we should change topic" "What do you want to do? We can't exactly play eye-spy" "What's eye-spy" "It's an Earth game. You pick something and you go "Eye spy with my little eye, something beginning with..." whatever the thing starts with and everyone takes turns guessing. We can't exactly play it because we're all staring at this blue quintessence, which would be "B" "Q" by the way" "Oh. That sounds fun. I wonder if I could teach the mice" "Allura, no offence, but I still have no idea how you can understand them" "It's her gift. But your right, staring at all this quintessence is boring" "I want chicken soup. With homemade sourdough bread, and thick butter" Keith's stomach growled at the thought. Their breakfast had kind of been ruined, and when everything Hunk cooked was amazing, he couldn't help himself. If Lance was there, his mate would have laughed at him, or poked him in the stomach while making some bad joke... or at least he would have if he wasn't so sad. Sighing deeply, he drew his knees to his chest. He wanted Lance "Hunk. No more talking about food..."

Letting the conversation carry on without him, Keith stared out Black's windows over his knees. The quintessence around them seemed to be losing its electric blue colour, and instead becoming a dark murky blue. Hopefully, this meant they were finally reaching the end of it. Not fighting in Voltron felt so unnatural... though not being electrocuted was a plus side. The whole team had placed their trust in him, so why was it he was completely sure that if the moment came, he'd abandon them all to save Lance. This wasn't how a leader was supposed to be. He was an alpha. He was supposed to be strong and powerful. He was supposed to separate his work from private life... but they were so interwoven that they were pretty much one and the same. Losing any one of them would hurt, and Lance would hate him for it, but he'd do anything for his mate... except finding a way to keep their pups from having to be frozen in pods. He'd told himself he was going to do all these different things as Voltron's leader and how many times had he failed to follow through because he was chasing after Lance and trying to comfort his mate? He was a joke of a leader. He was no Shiro.

* Waking as the room around him shuddered and Voltron's internal alarm blaring, Lance forced himself from his nest, taking the baby blanket with him without even realising. What the quiznak was that? Were they finally out the rift? Or had something else happened? He probably shouldn't haven't fallen asleep. He certainly didn't feel refreshed because of it, and his breast had leaked as he slept, his tight uniform seemed to be all but squashing them and rubbing against his tender nipples. It wasn't the nicest feeling. Sinking into his seat, he grabbed Red's controls "What's going on girl? What happened?" When the group call popped up on communicator, Lance connected "Lance! What took you so long?!" "I fell asleep. What happened?" "We don't know. There was some kind of explosion when we passed into the blackness under the quintessence" "Is it the goop?" "It doesn't seem to be. It's thrown us off the descent course we were on" "Can you get us back? We can't get back through the rift if we can't find where we came through" "I'm working on it!" "Is everyone alright?" "The explosion wasn't enough to do real damage, but I'm worried about its affect on the rift" "What caused it?" "We don't know. We're working on it. Just sit still and be quiet" What was the point of him being awake then? Looking down to his lap, he finally realised he'd pulled the blanket with him. Being useless, he raised the blanket back to his face "I've isolated the radiation signature left by the blast. It's the same as the Galra's tainted quintessence, though in minute traces. It looks like Haggar was busy while she was down here" "So this whole place could be a minefield?" "It's far enough away from the pure quintessence that the blast hasn't affected it, but the rift still may become unstable. We should abort the mission" "We've come too far to abort it" "If we lose where we came in, we won't be able to go back" "Keith, we could be in a mine field!" As if proving her point, a brilliantly orange explosion erupted behind them, throwing them further off course. Listening to the others cry out in pain, Lance wondered why he didn't feel the jolt like the others. Maybe because Red was so far away? And because the blast seemed to have hit the top of Yellow? "Hunk! Are you ok?" "We need to stop moving. I don't think Yellow took much damage. She doesn't feel like she did, it was more of a shock" "Pidge, is there any way you can sweep for mines?" "I'm already on it. Why would Haggar go to all this trouble?" "She had to know we'd come back down here. It was down here that I met Shiro again" "But Shiro's with her" "For now. Perhaps she wasn't expecting to get stuck down here?" "Allura, she's the one who first brought the black goop through. She had to know there was a chance" "Yes, but she also received new power with the destruction of Oriande and there was whatever she took from the castle. I feel like we're missing the bigger picture" "What do you mean Allura?" "I don't know. It's a feeling more then anything, and I'm thinking about what Lance and I discussed. We don't know why Haggar arranged for Lotor to succeed Zarkon. Honerva loved Zarkon, yet her actions lead directly to Zarkon's death. We don't know what she did to Shiro, only that she let him escape. We don't know why Lotor implanted a control device in Lance. And we don't know why Lotor attacked Krolia and Keith. There's so many questions" "Lotor put that thing in Lance's head because he knew Lance wasn't like the rest of us, no offence baby. He knew Lance would do absolutely anything for anyone on the team, and he knew he'd risk self implosion to save one of us. He needed Lance to not interfere if something went wrong down here. We all heard it. When Lance went to help get everyone out, Lotor ordered him to stop interfering" "Any one of us would do anything we could to save the others" "But we're alpha's. It's in our nature to dominate and lead. Lance is softer and gentler than that. He's also capable of giving birth, something the Galra hadn't seen before" "Lotor had any number of chances to get his hands on Lance. Why not just take him?" "Because he needed Voltron and I'm Red's pilot. Everyone knows Alfor was Zarkon's right hand man. When I met Alfor at Atlantis, and even before then, I swore to do everything I could to back Keith up. Keith's also my mate, so there's no way he wouldn't be swayed by what I said or did. Allura I know you have feelings for him, and I know this probably hurts to hear. But right now, what should we do?" "You're asking me?" "You received the knowledge of the Altean Alchemists. You know that everything is connected. Voltron. Quintessence. Even us. Right now we're in a mine field between realities. Do we go back empty handed or do we carry on?" Lance's words left them all silent. One long moment turned into a small eternity "We've come this far. I think we should go a little further..." "Pidge, do you have the rift coordinates?" "Yes. I've also got the map of the mine locations, it should be coming up on your display screens soon. Are we really going deeper?" "Yeah. Let's see where this comes out" "I feel like we've already been in here for movements. It's so dark and cold" "I know what you mean. It's lonely down here. I wouldn't like to be here alone" "It's not great. But it did allow me to see Shiro..." Shiro... Why hadn't he seen him when he was asleep? Keith had... Did Shiro not want to see him? Or had Haggar already found a way to rejoin Shiro with the Shiro trapped in the Voltron mind space? Maybe it was his own fear of Shiro preventing him from seeing him, or the fact his dreams had been of the pups. They'd been toddlers, so full of life and so very curious... maybe it was a sign that he'd never see them again?

* Despite how quiet he'd used to be, Keith now found it hard to be patient on long flights or missions these days. He knew it was mostly because of Lance, and the anxiousness of always being forced to be calm and patient with his mate's mental health. He was impatient because nothing was happening. Lance wasn't hurt. No one in the team was hurt. They were just still sinking down... though under Pidge's guidance they were back under the rift. Rolling his neck, he then stretched up with a long sigh "I know what you mean" Snorting at Hunk's words, he took it to mean he was just as bored "If it counts, I think I see something" "Lance, there's nothing out there" "Yes, there is. Look straight down" "I'm not reading anything on Green's sensors" "That doesn't mean there isn't anything. Keith, can you like tilt Voltron forward" "Nooo, I'm nearly asleep" That was more than enough incentive to lean forward. Pidge letting out an annoyed growl "I still don't see anything" "Then you're blind" "Lance, buddy. I don't see anything either" "Seriously? You don't see that green light?" "Are you sure you didn't rub your eyes too hard?" "Keith?" Keith squinted at the blackness, not seeing anything "I'm sorry baby, I don't see it" "Then you're all blind" Keith could picture the pout on Lance's perfect lips "I know baby. I'm sorry" "I always knew you were blind" "Not blind, but maybe a little slow. I mean, I didn't even know you were an omega at first" "And then it took forever for you two to get your act together and to start courting" "And now you're bonded, married and have pups" "You make it sound so simple..." Like they hadn't had to go through at least a hundred different obstacles to get to where they were. They'd both been changed so much, it was hard to remember what they'd been like before they found Blue.

At the speed Voltron moved, they were all forced to swallow their words. Secretly, he was proud that Lance had noticed the light long before any of them had "See! I told you! And you all laughed at me" "We didn't laugh at you" "Sorry, you said I was seeing things, I was just seeing something you all couldn't" "That's because you're the best sharpshooter, baby. Those eyes of yours are pretty amazing" "Keith, you're being embarrassing" "I just want you to know I'm proud of you" "We get it. Lance did a good job. Now get us there in one piece" "Yes, Lance. It's amazing you could see that light from so far away" "It's... it's not that big of a deal" Lance was blushing. He could hear it in his mate's voice "It is baby. You did well. Let's see what's down here"

* Lance's eyes widened in amazement at the sight before them. With flowing teal green water and hovering pieces of purple and yellow land, it was like some kind of amazing puzzle had been brought to life. Reaching out towards the sight, he'd never seen something so incredible... other than his sons. Something deep down inside him felt right. Like they were supposed to be there... "This is amazing... where do we land?" "This is just like Oriande! Do you think there were Altean's here?" "No. But it feels familiar. Doesn't it? I feel like we're supposed to be here" "Lance, that's silly" "No. I feel the same way, Lance" "I think we should land..." Surveying the scene before him, Lance's eyes landed on a floating island to the right of Voltron "Keith, do you see that island? The one that looks an upside volcano?" "They all look like upside down volcanos" "To the right. Next to the one that's got that crazy waterfall" "Got it" "We should go there" Something was there. If he could bet money on it, he would. The feeling in his gut was that strong "Don't we get any say in this?" "No. Lance found this place, so he gets to choose where we land" "We would have found it eventually" "Baby, do you feel anything else?" "Only that we should land there. I can't explain it, Keith. I just know. I'm as sure of it as I'm sure you were destined to be my mate" "I love you" Lance ducked his head, despite no one being there to see him blush, or the bright smile on his face. Being reassured by both Allura and Keith, only made the warm sensation growing in his mind. Even Red seemed happy to be here if she were a real cat, he was sure she'd be purring and nuzzling against his face for pats "I love you too. Thank you for trusting me" "Always baby. I'll always be there"

Landing on the piece of floating planet, it didn't dip or sway like Lance had expected. Instead, it just sat there, completely solid "Lance?" "This is it. I'm sure of it. There's something down there" "I don't see anything" Climbing out his chair, Lance made sure his helmet was firmly in place "Red, open up for me" "Lance?" "It's ok. Just wait a few doboshes" "You are not going out there alone" "Then I'll go with him. That should be alright, shouldn't it?" "Yes. Thanks, Allura. Let's go" "Baby..." "Keith, just wait here. It'll be fine" Exiting through Red's mouth, Lance used short bursts from his jet pack to lower himself down to the ground, though gravity seemed to be working just fine... maybe a little too fine as he stumbled his landing. Way to prove himself. Bouncing over to him in long strides Allura beamed at him "Lance! This place! It's simply amazing!" "I know. It's like a dream. Do you feel it? Like we're supposed to see this? Red was so happy" "So was Blue. Do you know what's here?" "No. Just a feeling..." "Let's go. The whole ride down here I was feeling so depressed, but now I feel like this is what everything's been for" "I think this is the first time in a while that I've seen you smile" "There hasn't been much to smile about" Reaching for his hand, Allura grasped it firmly "Lead the way" There was only one place they could go. Walking towards the flowing river that ran feely over both edges, Lance found it wasn't just water. Small water lily-like plants floated and rocked as if propelled by the currents of the water, but still they stayed in the same place, instead of pouring off the edge of the island. Placing his hands down in the water, a gentle feeling filled his mind "This feels like when Red touches my mind" "Should I...?" "No. Just wait" Closing his eyes, Lance let the feeling spread through him "Your face is glowing" "Jealous of my good looks?" "No. It just reminds me that you all have Altean blood in your veins" "Not that much though..." "Enough for both pups to have the marks" The thought of the pups threatened to chase away the sensation he was trying to catch "I didn't mean to upset you" "Sorry. I just need to concentrate. There's something here" "Then pull on it?" Lance couldn't help but laugh at Allura's words "I don't mean something physical" "Oh... but your hands are in the water" "I could probably pick you some water lilies, but there aren't any flowers" "We should let them grow. It feels like it would be wrong to disturb them" "It does. This place is so peaceful" Taking a deep breath, Lance forced his omega to settle, reaching for that warm feeling. Without his omega in the way, he finally grasped what he was feeling. It was telling him to go deeper into the floating islands. To the very heart of the place. Pulling back, his hands weren't even wet as he shook them. Why wasn't he surprised? He should be surprised... "We need to go deeper" "All of us?" "I don't know. It's just telling me we need to head to the centre" "We'll have to take Voltron then. The distance is too far for the jet packs on their own" Tapping on her communicator, Allura let Keith know, his alpha then piloting Voltron over to them "Blue will be easier to get back into" "Yeah... do you mind?" "Why should I mind? If you'd never piloted Blue that first time, I never would have met all of you" "I'm glad we met Allura. I know I've pulled away from everyone, but you'll always be special to me" "You too Lance. You're really one of a kind" "I'll take that as a compliment" "You should. Now let's see where this leads us"

Being in Blue was strange after his extended absence. The Lion gently pried into his mind like an old friend saying hello "It's been a while girl. I hope Allura had been looking after you" "Of course I've been looking after her" "I'm just saying, I love Red, but Blue will always be special to me too" "Are you two ready?" "Yep. Take us to the centre island" "How am I supposed to know which one's in the middle?" "It's the biggest island here. You'll know it when you see it"

Unlike the previous island, the middle island had the only man-made structure of the whole place. A circular podium, almost like a bird bath, made from what seemed to be a meteorite. Exiting Voltron, they were joined by the others "What is this?" "I don't know. But this is where we're supposed to be" "You keep saying that, but it doesn't sound very convincing" "Then why do I want to touch it?" Taking his hand, Keith pulled him close "Baby, you can't just go around touching things" After vargas without Keith's touch, Lance practically melted into his mate. Feeling so isolated in Red had left him open to his demons and to the little voices that never really left him alone. Despite how much he wished he could deal with them on his own, he... he couldn't. Keith had no idea just how important he was to him, and if they didn't have their stupid helmets on, he wouldn't have been able to hold himself back from seeking the comfort and reassurance that his alpha's kisses brought "Baby?" "I'm ok. I just missed you" Turning his hold, Lance sighed happily, squeezing Keith's hand firmly. He wasn't alone. He wasn't useless... "What was that for?" "Didn't I just tell you I missed you. Now, can I touch it?" "Let me go first. It's my job as leader after all" "I'm not letting you risk yourself over my hunch" "I thought it was a gut feeling?" "It is" "Then let me check it's safe first" "I'm not going to win, am I?" "No" "Guys, enough. Can we at least pretend to be professional?" "We are. That's why I'm going first"

Walking over to the podium, Keith walked around it. Examining every single minute detail on it "Nothing seems out the ordinary" Placing his hand on it, nothing happened "Lance?" "Don't look at me. I just want know I want to touch it" "How about you Allura?" "I can try" Allura moved to stand behind Keith, placing her hand in the centre of the podium like his mate had "Lance, I'm not feeling anything" "Then let me touch it" "Let Hunk and I try too" "I don't think it's going to work for you. I don't know why, but I feel like I'm the one who has to do it" Hunk and Pidge both tried, though as Lance had thought, it hadn't worked. Finally making his way to stand by the others, he found the top wasn't flat like he thought, instead there was the same teal water inside. Placing his hand on it, the ground beneath them rumbled as the sound of groaning and straining stone filled their ears. For a moment, images of ancient ruins carved from mammoth blocks of stone filled his mind, like some great civilisation had been here in the past, but before he could really comprehend it was gone. Fading from his mind like it had never been there in the first place. Jumping back from the podium, Lance watched as it turned and disappeared into the earth around it "What the quiznak is that?" "I don't know... something's coming up" Training places with the one podium, two rose side by side. Both black, and both easily 6 foot tall. Eyeing them, Lance frowned at how out of place they seemed to be. Everything here was so bright, almost gaudy, but the two podiums were jet black, and just looking at them made him shiver "Now what?" "As Lance. He seems to suddenly know what's going on" "Hey, don't blame me if I'm getting all these weird feelings. Blame Alfor for sharing his blessings with me. That has to be why my marks are showing" "There's no need to rub it in. What do we about these?" "Touch them?" Hunk's suggestion was as good as any, and Lance had no clue. They weren't exactly giving him the "touch me" vibe. Moving back to the podiums, Lance placed both palms flat against the ice cold blocks. Closing his eyes, he felt the marks on his face warm as the sensation of power filled him. Why had they even come down here again? Oh... Shiro and Lotor... and Haggar. But they were mostly here to find a way to reunite Shiro with his body. Finding ur funny that this was the time his thoughts finally decided to shift to back to the pair of men that scared him so much, there was a soft hiss before the side of the podiums slid down. Opening his eyes again, he blinked in disbelief. Shiro was on his left, while Lotor was on his right... was their presence why his thoughts had shifted so? Or was his thoughts of them what materialised them? Backing away from the pair he grabbed Keith's arm "Lance?" "Shiro and Lotor... they're in there" "What?" "How?!" Knocking into him as she rushed forward, Pidge soon stumbled to a stop "He's right..." "Are they ok? How did they even get here?" "I have no idea..." Keith looked at him as if completely amazed and slightly scared, which summed up Lance's feelings on the situation completely "Baby..." "I have no idea..." "But something led you here..." Keith's change in tone had Lance releasing his hold on his mate's arm "What?" "What?" "You're mad about something..." "I was just wondering why they appeared here and why you were guided to them" "I don't know. I didn't even know it was them" "But why you? Why not one of us?" "Do you think I understand? Because I honestly don't" "Lance..." "Don't Lance me. I don't know. Look. We wanted to know what this place was, and I have no idea. I have no idea why it called to me or why I have to be the one with all these strange feelings, so don't go making this into something it's not" "I'm not making it into anything" "Yes, you are. You're acting like I wanted to find them. News flash, I'm still scared of both of them" "Baby..." "No. I don't get why you would even think I... never mind. Let's just get Shiro and Lotor and leave" "We're taking them with us?" "Whatever this place is, this is what we were meant to find. I don't feel anything now that the podiums are open, and I don't think anything else is left down here. We can do a flyover, but I just don't have the same feeling I had before" "Alright. Let's get them back on Voltron. Hunk, you take Shiro. Between Shiro and Lotor, you have a better chance of overpowering Shiro. Allura, you take Lotor because we all know he has a crush on you" "He... no... he do-..." Allura's blush spread right to the roots of her hair. Leaving his side, Keith turned to his right, reaching into the black block and pulling Lotor free. They all waited a dobosh, or maybe it was just a few extremely long ticks, but the half-Galra showed no sign of waking "We'll restrain him once he's on board. Hunk, you grab Shiro"

Shiro was the way Lance remembered him the last time he'd seen him... except for his now slightly stubbly face. Looping his arm around the alpha, Lance felt a prang of guilt at the fact that Shiro was still missing the lower part of his arm... that he'd cut off. Would he be forced to carry this guilt for the rest of his life? He'd only been trying to save his family, and stop Shiro before he did something that could never be forgiven... again. Falling in behind everyone else, Keith didn't even look back at him. It hurt worse than words could say. His mate truly seemed to think he'd just somehow found the two men because he wanted them. Like was an omega who sort their "company" out instead of his mate's. He knew the moment he saw both of them, not just Shiro, that they'd both done things to his body. Shiro out of madness and Lotor out of curiosity, so why would Keith think he wanted them? The uncomfortable heavy weight remained all the way with him, only seeming to grow worse as he sank down into his pilot's chair. He hadn't even done anything wrong. He'd only followed the feelings that the place had given him, so why did it all have to go to quiznak so fast?

"Let's go home"

* As Voltron began to rise towards the rift, Lance climbed from his chair. The others were all discussing how Shiro and Lotor could have possibly ended up there, but Lance had problems of his own. Mainly the pain in his breasts. Having not fed the twins in what must have been a quintant by now, they were both so full and heavy with milk, that he needed some relief. Grabbing a couple of blankets out the cargo hold, Lance set himself up with his back to his pilot's chair, before stripping down so he just had his pants on. It wasn't like anyone could see what he was doing anyway. Combined with his sweat, and the hours the milk had been trapped in his clothes, the smell filling the confined space smelt so bad he nearly gagged. Why did his body have to be so different from everyone else's? Why couldn't he have just been normal? Maybe now Shiro was back, Keith would see how worthless he was... Maybe his mate would see he deserved to be punished and that Shiro had been right all along? Sure he'd lead them all the way down to whatever that place was, but he had no idea how. He was already weird enough, but now they would probably think he was some kind of freak... no, he was already a freak. Sour strawberries rushed to add a new hue to scent spectrum, combining in a way that left his eyes watering, because he definitely wasn't crying over how wrong he felt... Sniffling, he pulled the first blanket up, tucking it beneath his small breasts. He knew how to express, but Keith had always helped him... because he feared he wasn't doing it right. Closing his eyes, he hissed as his fingers went to nipples. Quiznak. He felt so stupid. He's had a few good vargas and it'd gone straight to his head. If the others could see him doing this, they'd probably laugh.

Draining his breasts left him panting and shaking. Keith had loved to suck and bite his nipples, bringing them to overly sensitive painful peaks as he slicked like crazy, and once that thought had taken root in the base of his brain, each time he moved his fingers, waves of pleasures shot down to his groin... it felt dirty and wrong. His breasts had developed to feed his sons, not for him to sit in Red and get off... but his dick wasn't getting the message, nor was his arse as slick dribbled freely from his opening. Groaning as his erection rubbed the stitching of his boxers, he felt more tears spilling from his eyes. This was wrong, he couldn't do that kind of thing with the team's voices in the background, but the aching wouldn't stop. Confused and conflicted, and already emotionally exhausted, he broke down into sobs.

* Keith was silently fuming as he tried to guide Voltron upwards and away from strange place Lance had led them to. Lance said he had no idea what had guided him there, so why was it when they finally arrived, his mate was able to lead them straight to Lotor and Shiro? He knew he should be more worried about what would happen when the pair woke, but instead all he was, was jealous. When he'd been sinking down into the dark blackness of the space between, Lance hadn't been able to do anything. He hadn't been able to come back for him... but he'd found Shiro and Lotor like it was nothing. His mate had found the two other people who'd touched his body in ways that make Keith want to tear their throats out. He knew. He knew Lance loved him. He knew it, even when his mate was struggling with his own self-worth, because all it took was just looking into Lance's eyes. Maybe that had been why he couldn't bring himself to look back at his mate as they'd left? Because he was scared of not seeing that love. Without Lance, nothing in this world made sense... not that it truly did to begin with. Growling in annoyance, the voices of his teammates immediately stopped, and all he was left with was soft and distant sobs through the transmission line. Hunk was the first to speak, his voice shaking slightly as he did "Keith? Are you ok?" "I'm fine" "You don't sound fine buddy. Is something wrong?" "I'm not the one crying if that's what you mean?" "Then... that must be Lance..." Closing his eyes, Keith cursed under his breath. Without being able to see his omega, he had no idea what was going on with him, or why he suddenly crying "Lance" His mate's name came out more like a gravelly growl than the soft tone he'd wanted. Clearing his throat, he tried again "Lance, can you hear us?" All he got was sobs in response "Keith, what do we do? We can't get to him to ask what's wrong" "Leaving him. He's probably emotional over seeing Shiro again" "How can we leave him?" "Well, what are we supposed to do? You said it yourself, we can't get to him and we aren't breaking back into individual lions" Angrily lashing out, he jolted Voltron's control, smacking straight into one of Haggar's lower mines. Catching the majority of the blast, Lance's scream came through all too loud and clear, before total silence "Lance!" "Lance, are you ok?" "Lance, can you hear us?" "Baby? Baby, are you ok?" Nothing. No sobs. No crying. No screams. No panting or gasping for breath. Just silence "Keith! What do we do?" His alpha roared at him, demanding he find a way to get to his mate. But in the situation they were in, there wasn't anything they could do "He's safe. He's safe in Red. I... I need to get us out of here" "Then how about not crashing us into mines!" "I know that! I can't see any major damage to Red" "I don't care about Red. I care about Lance" Hunk's words had him growling. How dare another alpha want to care for his omega. It was a totally jealous and pathetic thought. His eyes narrowed as he fought to bring himself back under control. Hunk was Lance's bed friend. Hunk wasn't interested in Lance like that. Lance wasn't interested in Hunk like that. For all his flirting wherever they went, Lance wouldn't cheat on him willingly. Taking several deep breaths, he reined himself in "Keith" "I need to concentrate. We can't help Lance unless we get out of here and dodging mines in this blackness is hard enough" "Just don't go hitting another mine"

#voltron #vld #klance #omega lance #alpha keith #altean markings lance #daddy keith #mummy lance

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 6 years

Text

Draftity draft WAD LIAO

Alone in Red, Lance watched the bright blue light show in front of him. They were deeper now. Deeper and deeper and further away from their boys. It felt like he couldn't breathe and like someone was holding his heart, tightening their grip harder and harder the more the moved away from the pups. Keith loved them, of course he did, but he didn't understand. Lance had believed they were dead. He'd truly believed it with every molecule of his existence. The happiness he felt from holding them still seemed like a dream, even on the worst days. Keith didn't understand that he was still waiting to wake up. That he didn't feel like he deserved to be so happy. For all he really knew, he'd never been saved from Shiro and in reality, he was just broken and laying on the floor somewhere. Kicked aside and disregarded like trash. Since entering the rift, these thoughts wouldn't leave his mind. He couldn't stop them, and hearing his friends had only served to hammer more nails of self doubt into his already over active imagination. Why was he even there?

Climbing from his chair, Lance headed into the cargo bay. It still smelt like his family. They'd spent the night here in their own private little world. Walking over to the nest still semi assembled, be laid down and pulled a small discarded blanket to his face. They hadn't needed it, so it had placed to the side, it was the blanket he'd carried Laneith down in. Nuzzling the soft white fabric, he started to sob. He wanted Laneith. He wanted Kelance. He wanted his pups back. No. He wanted to go back to before they were born so Keith could be there. So they could be a family for just a little bit longer. Their boys... he was such a terrible mum. He'd left them behind with no guarantee of ever coming back.

Keith continued to try calling through to Lance, but his mate wasn't answering, and he couldn't even see Lance in Red. Maybe coming straight down had been too much for him?

Rejoining the others conversation, he let out a long breath, carding a hand through his hair as he did

"Lance will be alright. He just needs some space right now"

"We've got plenty of that. How far in do you think we are?"

"It's hard to tell because of the quintessence. We could still be in the yellow bit of the rift, but I think it's more likely we're in the blue bit where we hit trouble last time"

"It's taking forever"

"I'm hungry"

"You're always hungry"

"I'm not always hungry. I'm just hungry right now because I'm worried"

"If you were in Black or Red, we could probably help you out. Lance has secret stashes of food all over the place"

"I don't know if I want to think about that"

"Pidge, food is food. I wouldn't say no to cookies and marshmallows right about now"

"We should make s'mores again... that was a nice night"

"It was. I couldn't believe how much work Lance went to so we'd have dinner waiting when we got back"

"And all we did was get mad at him..."

"You got mad at him for not wearing a shirt"

"I was worried about him..."

"Or you were jealous"

"I wish Voltron had some way that allowed us to move between lions"

"Hunk, do you really want to think about what Keith and Lance would be up to if it did?"

"Leave us out of this. You make it sound like all we do is have sex"

"Because you weren't leaking arousal pheromones during his pregnancy?"

"We are not having that conversation. Given Lance isn't behind Red's controls, he's probably in the cargo hold area"

"We can do that?"

"It's smaller when we're all together, but yeah. I suppose if you've never had a reason to leave your seat, you wouldn't really think about it"

"So why is Lance in the cargo hold?"

"Because we slept there last night"

"Maybe I should stash food in there..."

"We have to make it through this first. Why do you think Haggar was down here?"

"Because she's obsessed with power and knowledge..."

"Under her guidance, Altean technology was advanced by eons. She was truly a remarkable scientist"

"But what good was all that knowledge? She ended up working for Zarkon, and more as a slave than as his wife"

"I don't think I would like to live that long. I mean. Once you've done everything, what comes next?"

"Yeah. I think I'll stick to my normal life span"

"Your normal lifespan? Whatever do you mean?"

Poor Allura sounded so confused and worried

"Allura, human beings don't live as long as Altean's or the Galra. Our average life span is only around 80 years, some make it to 100, but that's not that common"

"Yep. Keith will probably live longer than the rest of us though, because he's half Galra"

"Only 100 years..."

"It's alright. We've got plenty of life left in us. Pidge isn't even technically an adult back on Earth"

"Just because I'm two years younger than the rest of you doesn't mean I'm not more mature"

"I think we should change topic"

"What do you want to do? We can't exactly play eye-spy"

"What's eye-spy"

"It's an Earth game. You pick something and you go "Eye spy with my little eye, something beginning with..." whatever the thing starts with and everyone takes turns guessing. We can't exactly play it because we're all staring at this blue quintessence, which would be "B" "Q" by the way"

"Oh. That sounds fun. I wonder if I could teach the mice"

"Allura, no offence, but I still have no idea how you can understand them"

"It's her gift. But your right, staring at all this quintessence is boring"

"I want chicken soup. With home made sour dough bread, and thick butter"

Keith's stomach growled at the thought. Their breakfast had kind of been ruined, and when everything Hunk cooked was amazing, he couldn't help himself. If Lance was there, his mate would have laughed at him, or poked him in the stomach while making some bad joke... or at least he would have if he wasn't so sad. Sighing deeply, he drew his knees to his chest. He wanted Lance

"Hunk. No more talking about food..."

Letting the conversation carry on without him, Keith stared out Black's windows over his knees. The quintessence around them seemed to be losing its electric blue colour, and instead becoming a dark murky blue. Hopefully this meant they were finally reaching the end of it. Not fighting in Voltron felt so unnatural... though not being electrocuted was a plus side. The whole team had placed their trust in him, so why was it he was completely sure that if the moment came, he'd abandon them all to save Lance. This wasn't how a leader was supposed to be. He was an alpha. He was supposed to be strong and powerful. He was supposed to seperate his work from private life... but they were so interwoven that they were pretty much one and the same. Losing any one of them would hurt, and Lance would hate him for it, but he'd do anything for his mate... except find a way to keep their pups from having to be frozen in pods. He'd told himself he was going to do all these different things as Voltron's leader and how many times had he failed to follow through because he was chasing after Lance and trying to comfort his mate? He was a joke of a leader. He was no Shiro.

Waking as the room around him shuddered and Voltron's internal alarm blaring, Lance forced himself from his nest, taking the baby blanket with him without even realising. What the quiznak was that? Were they finally out the rift? Or had something else happened? He probably shouldn't haven't fallen asleep. He certainly didn't feel refreshed because of it, and his breast had leaked as he slept, his tight uniform seemed to be all but squashing them and rubbing against his tender nipples. It wasn't the nicest feeling. Sinking into his seat, he grabbed Red's controls

"What's going on girl? What happened?"

When the group call popped up on communicator, Lance connected

"Lance! What took you so long?!"

"I fell asleep. What happened?"

"We don't know. There was some kind of explosion when we passed into the blackness under the quintessence"

"Is it the goop?"

"It doesn't seem to be. It's thrown us off the descent course we were on"

"Can you get us back? We can't get back through the rift if we can't find where we came through"

"I'm working on it!"

"Is everyone alright?"

"The explosion wasn't enough to do real damage, but I'm worried about its affect on the rift"

"What caused it?"

"We don't know. We're working on it. Just sit still and be quiet"

What was the point of him being awake then? Looking down to his lap, he finally realised he'd pulled the blanket with him. Being useless, he raised the blanket back to his face

"I've isolated the radiation signature left by the blast. It's the same as the Galra's tainted quintessence, though in minute traces. It looks like Haggar was busy while she was down here"

"So this whole place could be a mine field?"

"It's far enough away from the pure quintessence that the blast hasn't affected it, but the rift still may become unstable. We should abort the mission"

"We've come too far to abort it"

"If we lose where we came in, we won't be able to go back"

"Keith, we could be in a mine field!"

As if proving her point, a brilliantly orange explosion erupted behind them, throwing them further off course. Listening to the others cry out in pain, Lance wondered why he didn't feel the jolt like the others. Maybe because Red was so far away? And because the blast seemed to have hit the top of Yellow?

"Hunk! Are you ok?"

"We need to stop moving. I don't think Yellow took much damage. She doesn't feel like she did, it was more of a shock"

"Pidge, is there any way you can sweep for mines?"

"I'm already on it. Why would Haggar go to all this trouble?"

"She had to know we'd come back down here. It was down here that I met Shiro again"

"But Shiro's with her"

"For now. Perhaps she wasn't expecting to get stuck down here?"

"Allura, she's the one who first brought the black goop through. She had to know there was a chance"

"Yes, but she also received new power with the destruction of Oriande and there was whatever she took from the castle. I feel like we're missing the bigger picture"

"What do you mean Allura?"

"I don't know. It's a feeling more then anything, and I'm thinking about what Lance and I discussed. We don't know why Haggar arranged for Lotor to succeed Zarkon. Honerva loved Zarkon, yet her actions lead directly to Zarkon's death. We don't know what she did to Shiro, only that she let him escape. We don't know why Lotor implanted a control device in Lance. And we don't know why Lotor attacked Krolia and Keith. There's so many questions"

"Lotor put that thing in Lance's head because he knew Lance wasn't like the rest of us, no offence baby. He knew Lance would do absolutely anything for any one on the team, and he knew he'd risk self implosion to save one of us. He needed Lance to not interfere if something went wrong down here. We all heard it. When Lance went to help get everyone out, Lotor ordered him to stop interfering"

"Any one of us would do anything we could to save the others"

"But we're alpha's. It's in our nature to dominate and lead. Lance is softer and gentler than that. He's also capable of giving birth, something the Galra hadn't seen before"

"Lotor had any number of chances to get his hands on Lance. Why not just take him?"

"Because he needed Voltron and I'm Red's pilot. Everyone knows Alfor was Zarkon's right hand man. When I met Alfor at Atlantis, and even before then, I swore to do everything I could to back Keith up. Keith's also my mate, so there's no way he wouldn't be swayed by what I said or did. Allura I know you have feelings for him, and I know this probably hurts to hear. But right now, what should we do?"

"You're asking me?"

"You received the knowledge of the Altean Alchemists. You know that everything is connected. Voltron. Quintessence. Even us. Right now we're in a mine field between realities. Do we go back empty handed or do we carry on?"

Lance's words left them all silent. One long moment turned into a small eternity

"We've come this far. I think we should go a little further..."

"Pidge, do you have the rift coordinates?"

"Yes. I've also got the map of the mine locations, it should be coming up on your display screens soon. Are we really going deeper?"

"Yeah. Let's see where this comes out"

"I feel like we've already been in here for movements. It's so dark and cold"

"I know what you mean. It's lonely down here. I wouldn't like to be here alone"

"It's not great. But it did allow me to see Shiro..."

Shiro... Why hadn't he seen him when he was asleep? Keith had... Did Shiro not want to see him? Or had Haggar already found a way to rejoin Shiro with the Shiro trapped in the Voltron mind space? Maybe it was his own fear of Shiro preventing him from seeing him, or the fact his dreams had been of the pups. They'd been toddlers, so full of life and so very curious... maybe it was a sign that he'd never see them again?

Despite how quiet he'd used to be, Keith now found it hard to be patient on long flights or missions these days. He knew it was mostly because of Lance, and the anxiousness of always being forced to be calm and patient for his mate's mental health. He was impatient because nothing was happening. Lance wasn't hurt. No one in the team was hurt. They were just still sinking down... though under Pidge's guidance they were back under the rift. Rolling his neck, he then stretched up with a long sigh

"I know what you mean"

Snorting at Hunk's words, he took it to mean he was just as bored

"If it counts, I think I see something"

"Lance, there's nothing out there"

"Yes there is. Look straight down"

"I'm not reading anything on Green's sensors"

"That doesn't mean there isn't anything. Keith, can you like tilt Voltron forward"

"Nooo, I'm nearly asleep"

That was more than enough incentive to lean forward. Pidge letting out an annoyed growl

"I still don't see anything"

"Then you're blind"

"Lance, buddy. I don't see anything either"

"Seriously? You don't see that green light?"

"Are you sure you didn't rub your eyes too hard?"

"Keith?"

Keith squinted at the blackness, not seeing anything

"I'm sorry baby, I don't see it"

"Then you're all blind"

Keith could picture the pout on Lance's perfect lips

"I know baby. I'm sorry"

"I always knew you were blind"

"Not blind, but maybe a little slow. I mean, I didn't even know you were an omega at first"

"And then it took forever for you two to get your act together and to start courting"

"And now you're bonded, married and have pups"

"You make it sound so simple..."

Like they hadn't had to go through at least a hundred different obstacles to get to where they were. They'd both been changed so much, it was hard to remember what they'd been like before they found Blue.

At the speed Voltron moved, they were all forced to swallow their words. Secretly, he was proud that Lance had noticed the light long before any of them had

"See! I told you! And you all laughed at me"

"We didn't laugh at you"

"Sorry, you said I was seeing things, I was just seeing something you all couldn't"

"That's because you're the best sharpshooter, baby. Those eyes of yours are pretty amazing"

"Keith, you're being embarrassing"

"I just want you to know I'm proud of you"

"We get it. Lance did a good job. Now get us there in one piece"

"Yes Lance. It's amazing you could see that light from so far away"

"It's... it's not that big of a deal"

Lance was blushing. He could hear it in his mate's voice

"It is baby. You did well. Let's see what's down here"

Lance's eyes widened in amazement at the sight before them. With flowing teal green water and hovering pieces of purple and yellow land, it was like some kind of amazing puzzle had been brought to life. Reaching out towards the sight, he'd never seen something so incredible... other than his sons. Something deep down inside him felt right. Like they were supposed to be there...

"This is amazing... where do we land?"

"This is just like Oriande! Do you think there were Altean's here?"

"No. But it feels familiar. Doesn't it? I feel like we're supposed to be here"

"Lance, that's silly"

"No. I feel the same way, Lance"

"I think we should land..."

Surveying the scene before him, Lance's eyes landed on a floating island to the right of Voltron

"Keith, do you see that island? The one that looks an upside volcano?"

"They all look like upside down volcanos"

"To the right. Next to the one that's got that crazy waterfall"

"Got it"

"We should go there"

Something was there. If he could bet money on it, he would. The feeling in his gut was that strong

"Don't we get any say in this?"

"No. Lance found this place, so he gets to choose where we land"

"We would have found it eventually"

"Baby, do you feel anything else?"

"Only that we should land there. I can't explain it, Keith. I just know. I'm as sure of it as I'm sure you were destined to be my mate"

"I love you"

Lance ducked his head, despite no one being there to see him blush, or the bright smile on his face. Being reassured by both Allura and Keith, only made the warm sensation growing in his mind. Even Red seemed happy to be here, if she were a real cat, he was sure she'd be purring and nuzzling against his face for pats

"I love you too. Thank you for trusting me"

"Always baby. I'll always be there"

Landing on the piece of floating planet, it didn't dip or sway like Lance had expected. Instead it just sat there, completely solid

"Lance?"

"This is it. I'm sure of it. There's something down there"

"I don't see anything"

Climbing out his chair, Lance made sure his helmet was firmly in place

"Red, open up for me"

"Lance?"

"It's ok. Just wait a few doboshes"

"You are not going out there alone"

"Then I'll go with him. That should be alright, shouldn't it?"

"Yes. Thanks Allura. Let's go"

"Baby..."

"Keith, just wait here. It'll be fine"

Exiting through Red's mouth, Lance used short bursts from his jet pack to lower himself down to the ground, though gravity seemed to be working just fine... maybe a little too fine as he stumbled his landing. Way to prove himself. Bouncing over to him in long strides Allura beamed at him

"Lance! This place! It's simply amazing!"

"I know. It's like a dream. Do you feel it? Like we're supposed to see this? Red was so happy"

"So was Blue. Do you know what's here?"

"No. Just a feeling..."

"Let's go. The whole ride down here I was feeling so depressed, but now I feel like this is what everything's been for"

"I think this is the first time in a while that I've seen you smile"

"There hasn't been much to smile about"

Reaching for his hand, Allura grasped it firmly

"Lead the way"

There was only one place they could go. Walking towards the flowing river that ran feely over both edges, Lance found it wasn't just water. Small water lily like plants floated and rocked as if propelled by the currents of the water, but still they stayed in the same place, instead of pouring off the edge of the island. Placing his hands down in the water, a gentle feeling filled his mind

"This feels like when Red touches my mind"

"Should I...?"

"No. Just wait"

Closing his eyes, Lance let the feeling spread through him

"Your face is glowing"

"Jealous of my good looks?"

"No. It just reminds me that you all have Altean blood in your veins"

"Not that much though..."

"Enough for both pups to have the marks"

The thought of the pups threatened to chase away the sensation he was trying to catch

"I didn't mean to upset you"

"Sorry. I just need to concentrate. There's something here"

"Then pull on it?"

Lance couldn't help but laugh at Allura's words

"I don't mean something physical"

"Oh... but your hands are in the water"

"I could probably pick you some water lilies, but there aren't any flowers"

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