#ive already had rumors fly about me there. rumors i was with one of my coworkers that i was just friends with

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

My boss: You have a girlfriend? How did I not know?

Me: We've been together for two and a half years, so that's kind of on you

My boss: You could've been married with six kids and I wouldn't know

[staycait]

⊹ 　 ﹒ 　 ❝ 　a losers secret ⠀⊹⠀˚⠀ ౨ৎ

𝜗𝜚 ┈ loser!scara x shy!fem!reader ㅤ ✦

𝐈. ──ㅤ youre the good and shy girl of the school, everyone knows you and everyone likes you, you consider everyone a friend, even the loser that sits in the back of the class. but what happens if you, the most well-liked good girl, gets paired up with the most hated loser in school ?

𝐈𝐈. ──ㅤ mentions of fingering , overstimulation , cream pie , raw sex , mentions of markings , little bits of degradation 'n praise, reader is very shy and gets nervous easily , reader is inexperienced , reader is innocent , breeding kink , && corruption kink .

𝐈𝐈𝐈. ──ㅤ nsfw , smut , english is not my first language, please forgive me , proofread , fluffy yet suggestive ending .

﹒ thoughts ; hope u guys enjoy this ,, its been months since i was active here and im trying to get back here because ive been starving yall </3 . btw , reqs are open ! feel free to req anything . :) what do we think of new theme tho? it keeps changing 😭 .. and ngl this fic kinda sucks. ☹️☹️ but yeah i hope u guys still like this even if it’s horrible!

> story right under the cut <

SCARAMOUCHE is the typical loner you’d see in your class, black jacket with the hoodie over his head, headphones on, is at the back of the class, and much more. there were rumors that he murdered someone, that he does drugs, and the list goes on. no one likes him—in fact, everyone hates him.. almost everyone hates him.

for your english project, you got paired up with scaramouche. after the teacher announced who would be paired with who, everyone in your class came up to you, telling you how much sympathy they have for you, that how sorry they are for you, and telling you ‘good luck with dealing with him’.

you were confused, what was so bad about scaramouche? sure there were rumors, but if they don’t evidence that they did those stuff, you have no reason to believe in the rumors. you felt so bad for him, he already had no one by his side, and the entire school hates him.

you went up to scaramouche, he immediately notices your presence and looks up at you with an indifferent expression on his face, yet he looked awfully tired.. he took off his headphones and he stared to speak,

“what? here to bully me for having no friends?” you hear him scoff, a frown plays on his lips as he brings his gaze to the floor.

hearing his words made you protest, you would never bully anyone, or even hurt a fly !

“n-no! of course not..” you stammered.

you fiddle with your fingers in nervousness. you always get nervous whenever you talk to new people or when people assume things about you, a slight blush creeps up your cheeks as you think about his words.

the indifference immediately leaves scaramouche’s face once he notices your blushing. he stares at you for a moment before a huge smirk appears on his face.

“ah, so you’re not like all the others?” scaramouche tilts his head back and chuckles.

“huh..?”

you take a seat next to scaramouche’s chair and you bring it closer to him.

“what do you mean by that..?”

“everyone else treats me like i’m sort of monster or freak. you, however, seem different from everyone.”scaramouche leans back in his chair.

“well, you don’t seem like a freak or a monster..”

you were growing increasingly nervous, and as an attempt to calm yourself down, you look down to your lap to hide your nervous and red face and grip the hem of your skirt. you never thought someone would assume you’d bully them— let alone think that you think of them as a freak or a monster!

you can’t help but notice that scaramouche’s eyes trail down to your legs. it’s quite unnerving, and your short skirt doesn’t help much with that either.

as a way to snap out of his thoughts, scaramouche shakes his head and sighs.

“are you just saying that to be nice? what about me isn’t freaky?”

“u-uhm… you seem like a normal person. you look.. um.. cool too..?”

scaramouche looks back at you and raises his eyebrows.

“oh yeah? you think I’m cool?”

you notice him shifting slightly, leaning toward you.

“then, you surely don’t mind me getting closer, right?”

your blush gets heavier the moment you feel scaramouche leaning in closer to you.

“no… not at all.”

scaramouche grins at your response and scoots even closer to you.

“then is it okay if…” he trails off, and his voice gets husky as he leans in. you feel something touch your leg, you look over to see his hand resting on your thigh.

“i suppose so..”

scaramouche’s eyes light up after hearing you agree. you could feel him plant his lips on your neck; a few gentle kisses on your skin.

“how about if i…” scaramouche places a finger along the hem of your short skirt.

a small whimper escapes your lips, you don’t know how to feel about being this close this to someone, you had never been this close or intimate with anyone.

“is it alright for me to… lift your skirt up?”

your eyes widened, you weren’t sure how you’d respond to that, but, if you were going to be honest, scaramouche was making you feel hot down there..

his words made you feel tingly and horny, but his gaze was what was making your panties damp and wet.

“can we.. go to a private room first?”

…who knew it was so easy for you to fall right into scaramouche’s trap?

after successfully making the teacher believe that scaramouche he was taking you to the clinic, he brought you to his dorm, and next, to his bedroom.

SCARAMOUCHE had you on a tight mating press, your clothes on the floor with bits of your orgasm stained onto it. (it got to your clothes because scaramouche had fingered you until you squirted all over the place.)

how could scaramouche have resisted himself? you looked so innocent, and so corruptible, he just had to get his hands on you.

scaramouche groans as he feels your walls clamping down on him for the ‘nth time. it was a sign you were about to have another orgasm, another sign was when your moans get higher-pitched.

the feeling of scaramouche’s cock mercilessly ramming into you was agonizingly pleasurable. you couldn’t think of anything else but him and his cock, your body couldn’t help but just have orgasm after orgasm.

you held tightly onto his shoulders, clinging onto him as if your life had depended on it. scaramouche’s dick was bruising your cervix, fucking you into the mattress, and possibly trying to fuck your brains out.

“does it feel nice being reduced to nothing but a whore?”

scaramouche grabs a handful of your hair, staring at your messy and slutty state. the way you looked so disheveled, the way you were gasping for breath, the way you gave up trying to keep up with scaramouche’s quick and brutal pace.

you looked so helpless and vulnerable under him, his cock ramming into you and you have no choice but to take it like the good girl you are.

“answer me, you whore.”

scaramouche speaks to you with a stern voice, in which you immediately nod your head.

he smirks, letting go of your hair. he speeds up his thrusting, bringing one of his hands down from your waist to your clit, rubbing slow circles on it. you felt the knot in your stomach getting tighter and tighter until,

finally, with just one more snap of scaramouche’s hips, you both reach your intense climax and cum together.

scaramouche continues to sloppily thrust into you, however, it’s much much slower, he continues to thrust until he comes into a full stop.

“oh fuck, you felt so good..”

you both lay there panting, with scaramouche still on top of you. he stares at all the hickeys and bite marks he left on your neck (he also left a lot on your thighs.), feeling proud he had his markings left on you.

“scara..?”

scaramouche snaps out of the daze he was in while he was staring at the markings he left on you—he immediately looks up at you and responds back.

“what is it?”

“can we do things like this… more often?..”

scaramouche chuckles, finding your shyness even after all the rough sex you two just had adorable.

“hmm.. sure.”

[basbearship]

Can I ask about your rewrite of FNaF Security Breach? I remember you mentioning Freddy doesn't know Greggory? Does your Self Ship take place in some kind of AU where everything is fine?

Yeah Gregory hasn't shown up in my selfship au, though I haven't written everything to be fine, because I've been to deep in the tisms of the fnaf lore to be able to reasonably say the plex opened without some kind of fuckery afoot.

this is specifically my selfship au, my "i rewrote this because the game sucked but i wanted it to be lore consistent" is very different

Fazbear ent opened the mega pizzaplex on the scale it did, with all the references to the "bad press" it had as a means to 'ooh shiny' away the company's prior reputation, and the idea of making the animatronics preloaded with sentience was to attempt to avoid a 'haunting' rumor, they're already Just Like That.

The fuckery afoot isn't suddenly, Springtrap! because given SW had their game broken in half by their new manager, and that plot point was, as per the dated files, finished two days before release so i hardly acknowledge it as intended.

instead, it's functionally a data collection dump, barely above the law because its collecting customer data on 3 year olds, pretty consistently fighting lawsuits and pushing back against laws that would prevent them from doing it. they sell the data + devices preloaded with the customer's data on for targeted as hell ads, which is pretty insidious as is, but the extra rub here is they're not exactly vetting who buys the data, so kids are getting targeted ads for bs like scam sites, violent games way above their age bracket, etc. fazbear ent makes a mint exploiting the fact kids arent at all tech savvy, the glamor of the plex is to distract the parents.

i honestly thought security breach was going to be a reference to an informational breach that released a list of people that had gone missing in the pizzaplex due to extremely shitty budget cuts the plex had made to keep the place alive on what couldn't possibly be profitable if run safely, and the reveal was going to be glitchtrap was leaking the data specifically to try and infect law enforcement. that would actually have been scary.

my selfship au doesn't include that necessarily, but there's always some kind of run in with law enforcement because of injury occurring on the premises. vanessa in this does exist, but she's basically one of the on-premises human security guards the plex was forced to have so there'd be someone to make decisions where robots couldn't be trusted to.

Freddy only ever got the rights to actually enter a relationship because of the plex constantly fighting lawsuits based upon the morals of exploiting data, they wanted to put off the moral implications of sentient robots not being offered some shreds of personhood if they could.

It's how I ever got the yes-man that just lets (most) things fly on that front. the public wont ever hear about the data lawsuits because they're so contained, but they would start a public discourse about the senitence = rights for the animatronics, because its something everyones decently qualified to have an opinion on.

this au does have a loose plot arc, sort of? its something ive thought about scribble comics for, because it's relatively lowstakes, fluff and guff more than high impact, and tldr's into "two gay furries struggle to let the gay robot furry have rights".

it also incorporates my friend's selfship with Monty depending on the version you're looking at, since our sonas hang out as well its fun worldbuilding a version of this with her.

i didnt want to go into the mega ins and outs, so this is the spark notes differences.

if you wanna know more though by all means drop me a line, i'm always gonna want to talk about it-

[giorno-plays-piano]

Vicious

Part IX

Pairing: Steve x reader, Bucky x reader, Thor x reader, Loki x reader, Peter x reader

Warnings: yandere, obsession, stalking, possessiveness, theft, all characters are adults.

Words: 1574.

Summary: Transferring to Stark Academy that has only allowed to take in female students last semester, you realize you are just one of three young women among hundreds of students. Your things are constantly being stolen, and soon you begin fearing for your safety.

Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V |  Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII

________

You didn't know what else to say, feeling ashamed. Who cared about your family circumstances? Definitely not Steve Rogers, a man you met just a couple of weeks ago and who knew nothing about you. Why did you say something like that in the first place?

You didn't wanna look at his face and see him feeling guilty because he didn't know how to comfort you. You didn't need to be comforted. You didn't need anything at all. It was just a simple cold, right?

Despite that, you suddenly started talking from beneath your blankets, "I have a younger brother. When he was born, we found out he was having severe asthma. His childhood was terrible, he had constantly been sick, I remember him being in and out the hospital all the time. Of course, because of his condition, my parents spent most of the time with him. He was just a little sick kid."

You hated yourself for talking, for showing something to Steve he shouldn't have known because he wasn't your friend, but you couldn't force yourself to stop.

"On the other hand, I am lucky to have good health. I didn't really got very sick, so, well, I didn't need help like my brother. So, I'm used to taking of myself. I'm a big girl, I don't need my mom to dance around me just because I have a cold."

Of course, you didn’t. You were perfectly capable of taking care of yourself, and even of Steve didn't show up, you'd be alright by yourself. You'd just take your acetaminophen, and then everything would be ok.

You kept silent, staring at the inside of the blanket and wishing Steve would just disappear, leaving you to your misery. You didn’t see his face, and you were glad you didn't. What he must think about you? That you were craving for his attention like a spoiled kid? Shit, it was so embarrassing. You were an adult, for goodness sake!

"I don't know about you, but when I had a flu sachet, it would make me fall asleep really quick. And when I was feeling sleepy, I would start thinking about the things I loved most because I hoped I would see them in a dream." Instead of feeling ever more ashamed, you listened to Steve's soft voice and thought you were lucky it was him being here with you now. "It actually worked, and I have been having my best dreams when I was asleep, sick. What are the things you love most?"

Surprised, you looked up at him and saw the most gentle expression on a face of a guy you had ever met. Why did he look at you like that? Why was there no pity on his face? Why was it making you cry like you were a ten year old kid? Before he could see anything, you hid beneath the blanket again and kept silent for a couple of moments to calm down.

"I love lemon pies my grandma used to make me, and her garden. She had tomatoes and cabbage and strawberries that smelled like summer. I loved watering them nearly every day because I thought I was a little forest witch who lived in her pretty cottage in the woods."

You didn't know why you were telling him this, but Steve has a strange effect on you. Or was it cold? You had no idea, but it didn’t really matter. All you were thinking about was the way fresh tomatoes smell when you'd leaned down to water them, and the sound of bees flying above strawberry's flowers. Your grandma was taking care of her cabbage - a very capricious guest in her garden - and you could hear her working, cursing grandpa for making the patches too wide in that funny voice of hers. Then she'd stood up, wiped the sweat with the back of her hand, and called you to come back to the cottage because if was time for dinner. You'd run to wash your hands in a barrel of water near the big apple tree when grandma didn't see, and soon you were sitting with her, eating her famous cabbage soup and then having a piece of a lemon pie because you worked so well today.

You could almost feel the taste on the tip of your tongue.

By the time you woke up, Steve was long gone: it was the middle of the night, and instead of him you saw a thermos with a still warm chicken soup on a chair, waiting for you. He sent you a message that you could call him at any time of the day - or night - and that he wanted you to have a bit more sleep to get better. After you had a few more sips of his soup, you fell asleep again, feeling warm and fuzzy.

_______

The weekend went fast. It was the first time in several years you spent so much time in bed. Steve kept appearing at your door from time to time with a new bags of food despite you telling him you had your own, but he always insisted you should it something fresh and warm. Surprisingly, he wasn't the only one at your door: Thor suddenly showed up with his whole team, bringing you notes for the upcoming exams they collected altogether, apparently. Loki sent you a message if you needed anything, and Peter left contacted you on Instagram, leaving you links to games you could play so you wouldn't feel bored. Even Bucky gave you a call, asking if he could come and give you a few packs of Neo Citran for your cold, but you kindly refused: Steve literally brought you a yearly supply of this.

It was strange. Of course, when you were in high school, your friends grew worried about you when you had been sick, but there was nothing else to it. Wasn't it always like this? Nobody came to see you. Nobody brought you soup or gave you meds or anything. Despite feeling embarrassed, you realized you actually liked it when somebody was close to you like that. It was comforting seeing Steve popping up and not having to worry about how pretty you looked: he laughed when he saw you getting all shy because you were in your pyjamas. He said he definitely didn't expect you laying on your bed in an evening gown.

Before you realized it, you were already getting better. It was just a cold, really. Soon your throat was no longer sore, and while you were still sneezing, your temperature dropped down to normal, so on Monday you were ready to come back to school as planned. Funny enough, you no longer cared if you passed your exams, having 100%. You didn’t talk about it with Steve, but Peter was laughing like crazy about that when you told him.

Funny. They no longer looked so scary to you. They were just a couple of boys, weren't they? Regardless all those scary rumors and stuff, they were just guys. Maybe they were weird and stupid and a little bit scary because you didn't know them, they were still alright. Thor said it to you, didn't he?

Monday was Bucky's day, so, once you were done dressing, he nocked at your door: you were feeling a bit shy, watching him in that leather jacket and torn jeans he kept wearing the whole year around, apparently. Barnes looked like a teenage girl's dream. He smelled like cigarettes - although he said he was trying to quit - and pinewood. Just like Thor, he liked to skip classes he didn't enjoy much, but he was smart enough to pass the exams. Funny enough, he had a motorcycle.

Again, you wondered how come girls weren't coming from a city on a bus just to go see him.

"Are you sure you’re feeling better?" He asked you softly. "You can stay home today."

"No, no, I'm perfectly alright, thank you! How are you?" Smiling, you closed the door and hid the key in your bag.

"I'm good, thank you."

He didn't speak much, but as you walked in silence, you thought it was comforting - not talking at all and feeling good about it. While Bucky looked like a scary biker, in fact, his calm and friendly demeanor only helped you relax around him. Besides, it was funny how students seemed to give him way whenever they saw him, and you thought if Steve was the King, then Bucky was the Knight.

Before you went into the your classroom, he suddenly stopped you, "Listen, I wanted to say I have your stuff."

You blinked, "What stuff?"

You didn't give him any of your stuff. Actually, after Steve gathered you all in the student council room, you only met Bucky this morning for the first time.

"The stuff those freaks took. Your... your clothes, I mean." He muttered under his breath, and you gaped at him.

Your underwear. He found your bra and panties those guys took from your room.

"Wait... how?" Staring at Bucky who, apparently, was feeling a bit embarrassed talking about it, you thought how on Earth he got those things.

There was only one way he could, right?

"Bucky, was it you who beat those guys?"

It took him a couple of seconds to turn his face to you and then sigh, "Yes, it was me."

_________

Tags: @finleyjayne @alexakeyloveloki  @helenaeisenhower @villanellevi @hurricanerin @inlovewiththefictionalcharacters @chris-evans-indian-fanfic @navegandoaciegas @rosalynshields @brattycherub @sllooney @angrythingstarlight @lookiamtrying @buckysbunny @stargazingfangirl18 @dillybuggg @literate-lamb @cosicas-cuquis @sarge-barnes-sir @buckybarnesplumwhore @jaysayey @megzdoodle @gotnofucks @lux-ravenwolf @ximebebx @jeremyrennerfanxxxx123 @sourpatchspinster @biiskuitx @stupendouslovegardener @iheartsebandchris @lovelydarkdaydream @soleil-dor @illyrianprincess @vampirestrawberries @goodgodimaweirdperson @frontmanash @freya-heya @yandematic @mariatietacapitu @d3monslust @maybesandohnos @ibeatuptwinks @mangobangi @nectav @whatever-happened-to-the-ducks @teabutnerdy ​ @srrymydood @crazylittlereader2474

[unalivejournal]

u mentioned only reading kripke era fic do you have a reclist 👀👀👀and if not could you link some of ur faves cuz the stuff that gets circulated the most right now is all like late late seasons fic and kripke era is my favorite too but im having trouble finding that many fics for it or even seasons 6-10 era which im fine with also. its just that like. the last five seasons were so bad that it makes fic generally worse too because people have to jump off of just Thee stupidest plot choices no matter how good their prose skills might be. but anyway yea if u have recs that would be awesome :)

hi anon i was thinking abt making a reclist and u just gave me the perfect excuse thank u

jess adamilligan’s kripke era fic recs

from making this ive learned that i never bookmark ANYTHING. sorry all of these r like….. 10k and under. i DO read longer fic but i don’t have any kripke era longfics bookmarked & tbh i prefer short oneshots

season one gen

disclaimer because it’s unfortunately needed: NONE of these are w*ncest! they’re all completely tagged as gen and i did not read them with the intent of consuming ship content.

Coaster Park by fogsrollingin, 10.4k, G, gen

Coaster Park had been experiencing an unusually high frequency of technical difficulties. Dean wouldn't have pulled a shift treating nauseated, heat-stroked, or dehydrated park-goers for that if he could've helped it, but when 'technical difficulties' were accompanied by rumors of things moving and stopping on their own in front of the operators' eyes, Dean had to throw down.

No historical tragedies or disasters in the area, ectoplasm, or EMF. Dean's only lead was a battered-looking kid that'd been coming to the park every day since it'd all started.

really interesting au fic! slightly ‘it’s a terrible life’. dean winchester is a hunter/EMT and sam wesson is a college kid destined to die on a roller coaster ride.

two basic motivating forces by sahwen, 7.8k, T, gen

He can’t cry, it’s not allowed; even as a child he was hushed into silence, whether his tears were from a long car ride or a late night or a raging fever. It’s never been an option, it’s never been an available outlet, and it’s not about to start being one just because he’s having an emotional breakdown on the bathroom floor.

Sam isn't only afraid of clowns.

BIG emetophobia tw (both for graphic depictions of nausea/vomiting and for the fact that this fic is about sam suffering from emetophobia) for this one but it’s my favorite sickfic. portrays anxiety over getting sick really well and is a fascinating examination of the different ways that sam’s fear of loss of control can manifest itself. also has lovely brothers content <3

Let’s Start at the Very Beginning (Remix of Just as Easy as 123) by nwspaprtaxis, 4k, T, gen

Dean’s functionally illiterate and Sam’s determined to remedy it...

PLEASE READ THIS ONE god it’s so sweet. dean never learned how to read properly due to his nomadic childhood and sam teaches him how.

dean/cas

Broadway Musical by Griftings, 9k, M, m/m

This is the day that marked the Holy and Blessed Union of Dean Winchester and Jo Harvelle.

The merging of prominent bloodlines is always a grand occurrence, but breeding pedigree hunter families like Winchester and Harvelle is something to be rejoiced. It is also something to be meticulously planned, which thankfully the Host is very good at.

Or, the romantic comedy where Dean Winchester and Jo Harvelle are destined to get married, Castiel is given the task of playing matchmaker and fails terribly, the entire Heavenly Host becomes a sitcom audience, God warns against male pregnancy, and Jimmy Novak is incredibly unimpressed with angels in general.

somewhat of a fandom classic and the humor holds up wonderfully. a very silly fic completed with commentary from angel radio throughout the entire thing.

Sappiest Season by dollsome, 2.7k, G, m/m

In which Dean and Cas have to stop an evil Christmas tree (like you do), and it requires a little fake couple action.

hilarious little s5ish fic. one of the first i read when getting back into spn. i don’t want to spoil anything but this is my favorite pick me up and i still giggle randomly whenever i think about it

The (Mostly Accidental) Courtship of Dean Winchester by tuesday

Angelic marriage rites were never intended to go quite like this.

another fandom classic. ik this one is recced a lot but how could i NOT include it. dean and cas get married (mostly by accident) and they’re huge cunts about it

the one thing in the galaxy god didn't have his eyes on by prufrock, 2.4k, T, gen + m/m

“Wait,” Dean says. “Let me get this right. You can fly, right—you can teleport—but you can’t drive a car?”

or, after the events of S5E03 "Free to Be You and Me," Dean teaches Cas to drive. Cas finds it stressful

im always a sucker for a good ftbyam fic. also i can’t drive so. resonation

So Says The Sword by komodobits, 85k, E, m/m

The briefing was simple: ‘Stand guard over the Michael Sword until the battle is ready to commence. Await further instructions.’

Castiel doesn’t mind working security duty; he was briefed shortly after the initial salvation of the Sword from the pit, and again before taking up his position. He knows what to do. However, it’s easy to forget that the green room isn’t real. Time moves differently there, the space ever-changing to make a prison of mountains, cathedrals, salt flats, orchards, and whatever Castiel was led to believe about Heaven’s greatest weapon—Dean Winchester is something entirely unexpected.

NO introduction neede. i think everyone on spntumblr has read this already but still. if you haven’t then i am demanding that you read it NOW. tbh i’m just adding this one so that i have at least one long fic here 😭

the weight by @myaimistrue, 3.5k, T, gen + m/m

“Do you…” Bobby sighs. “Listen, Dean, do you have something you wanna tell me?”

It’s the conversational equivalent of being punched in the stomach.

Or, Dean works through some things with Bobby's help.

WHEN I SAW THE USERNAME I GASPED I HAD NO IDEA THIS WAS U. anyway i Love coming out fics idk why i just do. the world is ending and dean comes out to bobby

canticles by 2street2car, 10.3k, T, m/m

“But you know something? If I couldn’t get you laid, at least I gave you a good first date.”

feat: footsies at a Ruby Tuesday, stargazing, the recreation of an iconic "Dirty Dancing" scene (no, not that one—the other one), and practicing for When You're With A Girl.

another ftbyam fic that skepticalfrog (i believe?) recommended a while back. made me feel at least 28 new emotions

Epilogue by JayneL, 28k, E, m/m

Bobby is here, swearing somewhere above and behind him; and Dean is here, talking about 2014 like it's a foreign country; and Sam is here, and is not Lucifer. Which means-- Bobby is here, swearing somewhere above and behind him; and Dean is here, talking about 2014 like it's a foreign country; and Sam is here, and is not Lucifer. Which means--

Cas is no longer when he was. Lucifer sent him back.

Coda to 'The End'.

2014 cas gets sent back to 2009, feelings ensue etc. i don’t remember all the details of this one bc it’s been a while but it’s really good

bonus

currently reading

Fragile As We Lie by perilously, 11k, E, f/f

Dragging Bela Talbot out of perdition isn't so much a decision as it is a frantic choice based on gut instinct. Her soul is bright, if fractured, and Anna yearns to do good again after the perversion of free will that immediately preceded her death.

Bela's no ordinary human, though; she's prickly and damaged and beautiful, and Anna doesn't want to leave her side. So maybe they can figure out how to navigate post-resurrection, post-Apocalypse-that-wasn't Earth together.

[ask-mortarion-the-death-lord]

cause ive always liked fire emblem, and cause the questions rested on my head before, the primarchs in fire emblem classes:

lion = paladin. its the most traditionally knightly class, and well the lions never really been depicted on horses or in relation to fast vehicles all that often, the paladin class is more so marked by balanced stats and a sharp increase to res so i feel confidant in giving him a mounted class like the paladin.

fulgrim = swordmaster. lightly armored very fast class, well its limited to just swords for the most part i feel that also suits fulgrims perfectionist nature since as a class its largely about perfecting that one weapon often getting special perks for doing so. plus in terms of outfits swordmasters are one of the more fashionable or exotic classes which also suits fulgrims tendency to extravagant dress.

perturabo = great knight. at first i thought general since its a very representative defensive class, heavy armour, used by enemy armies alot, best used in defensive roles, all that stuff. but on reflection great knight kinda works a bit better, since the iron warriors also notably use a lot of vehicles. this gives perturabo both high defensive properties but decent mobility like his copious tanks without being as high as say a paladin or bow knights mov to represent perts preference for terminator armour.

jaghatai = nomad trooper/bow knight. i specify nomad trooper because it better gells with the whole Mongol thing the khans got going on, but bow knight is also the more common variation of this class. regardless, its a more speed aligned mounted class capable of using swords and bows, that has the khans name all over it.

lemen = warrior. the russ is typically portrayed with axes, has a viking theme, and well hes 'uga uga barbarian' he also strives to try and be better then that. its another easy fit really, even if bows arent particularly fitting for russ but then that also does help to emphasize the sortta duality of the russ as a savage reveling in it whos also embarrassed by it to some extent.

rogal = hero. its not a defensive class like the general but it is the more defensive counterpart to the swordmaster usually, and rogals usually not shown to be wearing terminator armour. aside from that its something of a flexible class used by shady mercs and noble knights in equal measure, so it can work with both an air of practicality and luxury well.

konrad = trickster. assassin seems like the better choice since it jives more with konrad visually speaking, konrad also has psychic powers that let him see the future. thus trickster works a bit better i feel to represent that, placing him in a thief promotion well also giving him access to magic. i thought of dread fighter as well, but konrads not known for sending out warp bolts so the tricksters support magic works better for konrads future sight.

sanguinius = falcon knight. a female dominated class, ignoring that stipulation fire emblem pegasi have the unicorn thing where their atleast rumored to only accept the pure hearted as riders, and well i wouldn't call any primarch pure hearted neither are many of the pegasus knights in fire emblem so it works thematically without being a hard requirement. also, wings and a flying class thats focused on speed and has also at times had access to support magic. another obvious fit for all intents and purposes.

ferrus = blacksmith. thank god for fates giving me this out, well ferrus does wear terminator armour he also notably relies on his arms metal coating to protect that so i feel more confidant in giving him blacksmith which is a defensive class but not a heavy armour class if that makes sense. also, overlap of professions which putting aside the terminator armour stuff does make this the otherwise obvious choice for ferrus.

angron = berserker. the class is pretty much all attack and speed no defense, relying on high health to tank hits. well its usually locked to axes, angron usually uses axes to thats fine, and well its also a class mostly associated with bandits and barbarian and tribal looks its also a class that gets a lot of association with gladiators and arenas so it works in that sense as well.

roboute = hero, great lord. not totally happy with this one so im giving myself multiple outs on it. hero i feel works in a visual sense but its doubling up on rogals, well great lord works better in terms of who roboute is but its pushing roboute into the definitive protagonist class of fire emblem. settled on great lord eventually both because its the protagonist class, and because well its a class capable of defending itself their both usually not the best fighter and also need to be handled carefully or else cause a game over due to dying,

mortarion = oni savage. a defensive class specialized in using axes but which does have access to magic use. it fits in that mortarion prides himself on endurance and physical strength well shunning magic, despite having had training and education in magic himself and arguably because of who taught him. plus visually the class is designed to look intimidating and wears a mask, both vague enough applications to mortarion.

magnus = sorcerer. also called druid, dark sage, or dark bishop. i thought of maybe basara since its a class with access to physical weapons, but i decided sorcerer for two main reasons. first, magnus relies heavily on his magic over his physical fighting skills by primarch standards. second, darks magic which sorcerers specialize in have the narratively appropriate connotations in fire emblem for magnuses character. as dark magic in fe is both a dangerous dark force used by evil wizards to summon dark gods or cast curses, and a neutral force of nature that can be researched and understood like a science, used like a science to consume enemies in black holes even. it is the perfect magic to give the "its not a phase dad, its a science! -consumed by dark forces-" character in essence.

horus = general. perfect class for horus less because of its defensive properties or role as a defensive class, but more so because of what it arguably symbolizes and how horus is the primarch next to perturabo who wears the most terminator of terminator armour. namely that general is the class most frequently used by enemy bosses and commanders in fire emblem, often by one of the head honchos or a minion of said honcho. in that sense, its the perfect class to have the warmaster and arch traitor of the imperium in.

lorgar = war monk. religiously affiliated class that wields an axe, and already a perfect fit for that alone. the war monk class also has access to support magic with jives with lorgar unlocking psychic power through his studies of daemonology and the chaos gods, and also his own psychic visions. my only concern is that to access war monk regularly you have to be in the priest class beforehand [unless your a prepromote] which jives with lorgars history but is also a class locked to support magic, but for a primarch im willing to let it slide.

vulkan = wyvern lord. vulkans another character in terminator armour, but i feel wyvern lord works better. not because vulkans known for flying mind you, but more so because wyvern lords a defensive flying class, involves a a dragon, and because wyverns in fe are difficult to tame mounts but ones that are fiercely loyal and protective of their riders if said rider treats them well. which fits into vulkans friendly, by primarch standards, attitude.

corvus = assassin. well corvus also uses psychic powers to turn invisible, i felt giving trickster to konrad worked better because konrad was more active and constant in his use of psychic powers well corvus tried to avoid using his power as much as possible from what i remember. as such that left corvus with the more physically aligned thief promotion which i enjoy as a sort of 'delightful irony' since the assassin aesthetic better suits konrad.

alpharius/omegon = halberdier. feeling blessed that alpharius omegon have largely been presented as using lances cause it makes this a lot easier. well the ao twins are masters of a sneaky legion themselves, importantly the alpha legion favours infiltration and disguise over sneaking about. and what better disguise then as the promotion of the most generic of classes the soldier class. its a lance locked class, but i feel thats a good enough trade off for the inconspicuous murder angle. and the soldier class is if nothing inconspicuous/cannon fodder.

and bonus malcador and emperor!

malcador = sage. even putting aside that malcadors claim to fame is being a psyker, sage works in relation to the fire emblem trope of wise and crinkly old sages [the gotoh archtype as its referred to] which malcador fits on like a glove.

emperor = emperor, baron, master knight. the emperor class is indeed a thing, and im specifically thinking of the fe4 emperor class which could utilize every weapon and magic outside of light magic and dark magic. aside from that the emperor class was also a heavy armour class which... i dont remember if the emperors wearing terminator armour but it does gel with the emperor being fukin big. the barons an alternative thats basically the same as the emperor class if a bit weaker, and master knights the mounted variation that has access to light magic.

[rumor-imbris]

Hello, Lady Connor! I want to ask out of unbearable, suffocating curiosity in my heart, even though in the previous post you already said to not mention "that certain comic". Could you please enlighten me about your view on that comic and what you despise about it? I would love to read your detailed thoughts about it even if just once. But if this is too triggering for you, I'm truly sorry for your discomfort and you don't need to answer it.

Hello, dear Anon and welcome ^-^ It's weird you naturally called me Lady Connor, as usually only my little fairy @giuliettaluce does. Well, I guess her magic put a spell on everybody here!!

If you really care to know, I'll answer, but brace yourself, it's going to be very long, almost an essay, because I can be very detailed about that comic being a failure in its every part. There's so much to say. You're right, as I mentioned before, it can trigger me, but I have attentively analized it and I know it makes not a single atom of sense. So nothing can actually bother me that much, don't worry ^_-

First of all, my general consideration of the AC Reflections comic issue #4, (yeah, that thing -.-) is that of a mere attempt to desperately make Bayek's remote vision through Senu's eyes a canon feature. It was created and published in 2017, the same year AC Origins was released and yes, they needed an excuse to make believe Connor's alleged daughter inherited a skill someone (who isn't even their direct ancestor!!) that lived 1700 years ago in ancient Egypt had! OMG, this should be funny enough, but I'll go on. Also, I think it was likely a carelessly arranged way to satisfy those AC3 fans demanding a "happy ending" for unlucky Connor (quite 5 years later, of course).

I'll better go step by step to figure out where to start from, seriously.

1) In the comic, when Otso Berg opens the file related to Connor, the scene is set in "1796: Upstate New York." Now this is chronologically and spacially incoherent and illogical. We see Connor still wears his assassin outfit in it, right? According to AC Initiates (2012) in 1804 Connor invites the Dominican assassin Eseosa at the Davenport homestead to provide him some advices and further training as he's involved in the leading of the Haitian Revolution. That's a really cool character, read about him, if you want!

So, until then Connor is still an assassin, probably the mentor (by now) of the Colonial Brotherhood. He still runs the homestead and he still commands the Aquila, I guess, he's the captain still. I calculated the distance between the homestead and the then upper NY frontier territories is approximately 260 miles (quite far nowadays with cars and planes as well). Then, why the hell should he have a family located in the forest upstate NY? It sounds very unconfortable to run back and forth to reach them and go back to take care of all the Brotherhood matters, doesn't it? Unless he knew about teleportation!!! Also, wow, he lives all alone in a nice massive villa with all the comforts of that time while his children and wife still live in a Native village constantly menaced by settlers wanting to steal their land? Beside the fact that Connor, at least in my point of view, seemed at last very familiar with european way of living by the end of the game, this leads us to the next point.

2) By the time the game and the comic are set (second half of 18th century), most of the East Coast Native tribes were facing the tragic and forced migration to western and northern territories (mostly towards Canada, protected by the British) because of all the consequences of the Revolutionary War (lost territories, failed alliances, settlers advancing and buying their lands and so on). So tells us history, unfortunately. It's a fact. And this is wisely showed to us in the AC3 main game when, after all the Kanien'kehá:ka tribes had left the territory around Connor's village (yes, even those near New York, to be clear) even Connor's own tribe at last migrates west, leaving an empty ghost village. They had remained all along to protect the secret temple, but in the end they as well were forced to leave. So, to me it's highly improbable that in upstate NY, one could still find a tribe and even if so, that Connor would let his family live there and risk their safety everyday.

3) The whole comic plot revolves around the fact that Io:nhiòte has a "special gift"... She inexplicably knows how to read the ground and find animal traces, she also can perform a perfect twisted acrobatic flip in the air and land unharmed to the ground. Do we know why? No, don't ask! xD She simply knows U.U, even if right after the next scene she slips and falls miserably down a cliff xD, but... ok!! Beside that, when Connor is far away to search for some water and is about to be attacked by a wolf hidden in the grass nearby, she sees the whole scene from the eyes of an eagle flying in the sky above her. As I said before, this reminds us of Bayek's (never clearly explained) ability to see through his eagle Senu's eyes and spot dangers and enemies. Now can you tell me why the hell this little girl has super powers and a skill Bayek had? As I said, they are not even directely related, as Bayek is not one of Desmond Miles' ancestor, we know him simply because Layla's new Animus is magical and can inexplicably read fragmented DNA from people who died a thousand years ago (it can also prepair coffee, I think!). So, where did she get that from? Magic? Mysteries of life? Convenient improbable connections for marketing's sake? We'll never know and you should simply accept that and ask no question!

4) From her height, way of speaking/moving/running, I assume Io:nhiòte is at least 8 years old, 8 - 9 minimum. She's the youngest of three siblings, who must be at least two years older than her and than each other (according to a human woman pregnancy timing!). If the comic events are set 12 years after the main game ending (1784, when Connor also starts to train the young ex-slave Patience Gibbs, arriving at the Davenport homestead with Aveline De Grandpré, according to AC IV Black Flag bonus mission with Aveline), so, this means that in that same year Connor must have found hastily the love of his life in a Native village (as if he was easy to open himself with other people after all he's been through), married her, impregnated her and seen her give birth to their first child, all in the same year when (let's not foget! xD) he still is the leader of the Colonial Assassin Brotherhood at the Davenport homestead training novices. Now, this may even be possible humanly speaking, (well, if you force the things a bit and hurry up!) but highly unlikely to happen!! xD

These are the main problems affecting the logic of the comic in my opinion, the points making its foundations crumble apart. Though I'm sure there are many little others to point out, such as Otso Berg "opening" Connor's files... like what? Where did those data come out from? I remember playing AC IV Black Flag and uncovering a file where Abstergo researchers themselves closed access to his memories as there was "nothing appealing to this character anymore"! So, if no more researches were conducted on him since 2013, where did Mr Berg magically or conveniently discovered such data in 2017?

Or... do we want to talk about the cover? It shows Connor in the spirit outfit from the Tyranny of King Washington DLC, which has apparently nothing to do with the comic, since it is set in his present day and he wears his assassin standard robe. Now, I think that can be either a simple marketing choice to make the comic more appealing, as... well, that cover is so cool, let's admit that, or maybe the subtle suggestion that the events told in it are just a parallel Disney-like reality and are not to be considered true at all! xD i don't know, maybe both explanations are right.

I'm sure that the deeper i dig, the more nothing rational I'll find!

If you played the old games, if you know well the franchise and its lore, the true, good, old AC lore, you definitely realize by yourself how that comic is useless and senseless.

This doesn't mean I do not wish an "happy ending" for Connor. But I'd rather accept something coherent with the main game events and AC chronology. Also, it doesn't necessarily needs to be a "happy" ending, as they conveniently created to please complaining fans. I wished for something real... coherent with his personality, acquired life-style and endless sense of duty and values.

Maybe that's what pushed me to write my FanFic novel in the first place, after all... To give him MY OWN cohesive ending, including my love, for love is always needed, I guess.

I'm so sorry if the answer took this long in time and words, but you were warned! ^w^

Though, thank you... Seriously, thank you so much for asking. You made me reflect once more about this matter.

Come visit me again, if you want. Take care

- Rumor Imbris 🦋

P.S. Oh, and if you're interested, this is my "jelousy song", for when things like this trigger my inner witch!! xD

[writing-gifts]

datura (moth!bruno x butterfly!reader)

—–

A/N: this fics 30k+ words now and im happy that ive stayed with it this long, but yea thats it lol

First Chapter || Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Reader is gender neutral!

-----

[Late Fall]

You didn't think you'd be meeting Abbacchio so soon--perhaps sometime after Winter. But one day you're taking shelter from the cold when Bruno comes to visit.

These days you never really know for sure when he'll show but this was definitely earlier than usual. Nevertheless, you're glad to have someone to cure your boredom...until you see there's someone else very familiar with him.

You hide partially behind your door trying to slow your racing heart. Was this excitement or fear? Maybe both?

“Er, you’re Abbacchio right?”

When the wasp nods but doesn’t further speak you look at Bruno, but he simply gives you an encouraging smile. You wanted to scold the moth for the nonexistent forewarning, but at the same time with a surprise visit you didn't have time to fret before the actual meeting.

You’ll have to go along with this either way so you put on a polite smile. “You guys want to come in?”

“No, I'd rather stay out here,” Abbacchio replies.

Your brows furrow and your smile becomes more forced. “Uh…”

But it's cold! What the hell, do you two not get cold or something!?

It takes you a moment but then you realize that the wasp was being sarcastic. Probably. But you’re not sure if it’s because he’s trying to be funny or if he doesn’t like you. Or maybe he was messing with you?

Bruno throws him a bemused look. "It would be more comfortable inside don't you think?”

The wasp stares at you in a way that makes you feel like you're being sized up but eventually relents. “Alright.”

You move so Abbacchio can walk in, but Bruno stops next to you.

"Don't be intimidated. He can be like that toward new people and he’s a little grumpy that he had to walk all the way over here," he whispers.

You look over at the wasp already sitting on the daybed remembering his lack of flight and nod. But you weren’t sure if you wanted to deal with a bitchy bug right now.

Bruno goes to sit, but you scuttle to your room with some quickly mumbled excuse so you can collect your thoughts.

What were you supposed to do? Entertain them both? You were far removed from having to actively entertain Bruno when he came over so you felt out of your element.

This meeting should have happened in Spring instead.

You must have been in your room for too long because Bruno shows up.

When he sees you sitting on your bed he raises a brow. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing really. I’m just unsure what to do so I'm hiding. Are we like hanging out?”

Bruno shakes his head. "I don't understand. You don't need to do anything."

"But I feel like I have to since Abbacchio is here though. And he really doesn't look like he wants to be here."

"Well, we aren't going to stay too long if that makes things better. He just wanted to see you. Of course he's too prideful to admit that though."

"Well…He could just be more polite though," you grumble.

"Then he wouldn't be Abbacchio…" Bruno sighs. "Don't worry I talked to him so it'll all work out."

You purse your lips. "...Hey next time just give me a heads up if you're bringing someone over, okay?"

If your unexpected guest was just a little amiable then you wouldn't have cared but that wasn't the case.

Bruno looks a bit surprised that you seem genuinely annoyed, but he gives you the affirmation you want. So even though you're still reluctant, you move off the bed.

“Okay we can go back.”

You walk ahead of Bruno and when you get to the main room you try to talk to the wasp again.

“Uh...Do you want anything to drink?”

"No thanks."

"...Okay."

Instead of sitting down you stand there. Bruno wouldn't lie to you but the wasp's behavior said otherwise. Your friend gently grabs your arm and leads you to the daybed to sit.

"Do you want me to get you something to drink ____?"

"...Sure? It can be whatever."

You realize too late that if he's getting drinks, he’s going to leave you alone with Abbacchio. You squint at Bruno as he exits the room. It shouldn't take long but you're sure Bruno's going to take as long as he sees fit.

So while he’s gone, you sit there quietly sneaking peeks at the wasp trying to figure out how to move things along. He sits, leg spread, looking at nothing in particular.

You had seen the occasional albino insect but this was the first wasp. Which isn’t surprising since you kept clear of any. Until now.

“What?”

You flinch from the sudden break in silence. “W-What?”

“You keep looking at me.”

You try to smile but it definitely comes off more as a grimace from the weird look you get in return.

Sighing, you frown. “I’m sorry. I’m going to be straight forward and say that I feel super awkward right now, and I don’t know what to say or do.”

The wasp crosses his arms. “...You don’t need to say anything. I actually prefer the silence.”

"Oh."

You continue to sit in silence that's slightly less awkward, but again the wasp breaks it.

“How’s your leg?”

Your eyes widen a bit from him trying to start a conversation. “Oh, it’s okay.”

You stretch out your leg, bending it a few times. There was no more pain but a bunch of scars were left behind around your thigh and calf.

“That's good.”

Since he was here you could show your gratitude in person. You hesitate for a moment but remember what Bruno had told you at the forest clearing. And you didn't want to let this possible conversation die.

“Hey, thank you for helping me that day. You really saved my life. And the fact you managed to open that lizard's mouth was pretty amazing!"

You see the stern expression on the wasps face slightly fall, and he gives you a nod. “It wasn't anything--I mean….You're welcome.”

You give your first genuine smile today and Abbacchio looks away looking a bit flushed.

A moment later and the moth finally returns.

"I’m back with your drink ____."

You turn towards Bruno as he walks towards the daybed.

“What the hell were exactly doing in there Bucciarati?” Abbacchio looks over, sounding unimpressed with Bruno's little plan.

"You're not slick Bruno," you add.

He raises a hand in surrender. “Okay you got me. But it worked didn't it?”

You look at Abbacchio.

“...I guess it’s a start,” Abbacchio says.

"I saw you blushing from the kitchen," Bruno says.

“I--Leave me alone.”

You hold back your laugh lest you want to be scowled at by the wasp next.

Bruno hands over your drink and you thank him and relax back into the daybed. Maybe it's okay if they decide to stay longer.

----

For the first time this season, you can't fly. Even after trying to warm yourself up with all your blankets, you'd only be able to stay off the ground for a short time before your wings would give up. And unless you were planning on climbing up the stems of the flowers near your home there was no way you were getting any nectar.

So over the next couple days, whenever you couldn’t fly, you were content with spending most of your time sewing, knitting or sleeping. Even the days where you could fly you'd find yourself spending most of the day inside anyways.

But after a while you start to feel confined in your home, and you suppose you need to do something different. So you finally gather the courage to venture a good distance from your home by yourself.

You decide to use this opportunity to visit a neighbor--a self-proclaimed “vegetarian” spider--so you can get started on Bruno's 2nd gift.

Before you were hesitant to go, even with the gift on the line, but after everything that's happened with Abbacchio you were more at ease with the idea.

Once you actually see the spider's small home, you notice there's no webs for you to get stuck in.

With the spider's help, you hope to learn how to create sheer cloth or lace as he called it. In return, you're willing to part with the rest of the honey you had sitting around.

There was the option to trade for already made lace but you were hellbent on making this gift all on your own. When you tell the spider, Ilyas, this he seems even more excited to share his passion.

“Rarely anyone likes to visit me!”

You smile feeling a bit sad for him. Now that you actually had met him properly you can tell the "rumors" about him being completely harmless were true. He only seemed to use his webs to make lace. How it wasn't sticky was a mystery to you though.

After trying for the first time, Ilyas tells you that you're a natural but that feels like an over-exaggeration. You decide to visit more often though because of his enthusiasm.

He encourages you to practice with small squares first before doing any complicated shapes, and to also experiment with different lace patterns.

When you try to practice on your own, you struggle with making the lace without the spider's help, and the strange tool they had to speed up the process. All you had was your needles, threads, and your inexperienced hands.

There were many times where you would miss a stitch and not notice until you had finished the square. It was frustrating but you would keep at it, trying to finish at least one square a day.

You stare at your most recent square. You didn’t miss a stitch this time so that was good, but you didn't really like the pattern the threads were forming.

You rest your head in your hand, absentmindedly tracing your scars as you study the intricate web-like lace.

The sleep schedule you had somewhat managed to fix at Abilene’s house had slowly drifted back to the way it was before. Along with the days becoming shorter, you felt like you spent a good chunk of the night wide awake. So even though it was pretty late, you weren’t tired at all.

You guess you could start another square with a new pattern but even with your lantern, making lace in the night was a strain on your eyes.

You pull the covers sitting around you on the ground over your shoulders and rest your head on the table.

I wonder if Bruno will show….

While you stare at the lace, you somehow manage to fall asleep. You're not sure how long, but you're woken up by a knock at the door.

Knowing it's Bruno, you quickly get up to answer.

He greets you with a smile. “Did you just wake up?”

“Yea, I didn’t even feel like going to bed at all so I don’t know how that happened."

“Too bad I woke you up then.” He pulls out 3 canisters. “I brought you nectar though.”

“I don't have any to trade though? I stayed in today."

"Don't you think we are past that point in our relationship? I’m just giving it to you as a friend."

"I guess you're right. I’m so used to trading...” you trail off and take the canisters.

"Are you okay?"

"Huh?"

"You just seem down."

You open one of the canisters to see what's inside and avoid Bruno's analyzing gaze.

"Honestly, I guess I do feel strange? I want to go back to sleep but I don’t really want to at the same time. Maybe I slept weird…"

"I know you probably don't want to hear this right now but maybe you should go out. It might make you feel better."

You shrug. Other than walking to Ilyas's and sometimes getting nectar close by, you spend most of your day inside. Maybe your body wasn’t used to being inside this much. Even during Winter you'd try to go out when you really shouldn't.

“Maybe you're right.”

"Do you want to go to the lake, obviously not near it of course."

Bruno seemed to be trying to tread carefully with you. It was appreciated but at the same time you want him to treat you like usual.

You huff out a laugh. “I know that, but sure let's go.”

You were already dressed in a sweater but invite Bruno in so you can go find a scarf.

While wrapping one around your neck you remember the moth's sweater and see no better time to give it to him.

You grab it off the chair you left it on and walk into the main room.

"Bruno, I finished your sweater!"

You hold the off white sweater out to the moth and he gently takes it from you.

"You finished it that fast?"

You nod.

The moth unfolds it and holds it out. You made it so it would be on the baggier side so he wouldn't feel constricted.

You watch as he turns it around and pulls it over his head. Once he puts his arms through the sleeves he pats down his hair.

You watch as he fiddles with the buttons on one of his sleeves until it comes off allowing his forearm to be free.

"Feels comfortable?"

He nods as he rebuttons the sleeve. "Yes, thank you! I don't even want to take off the sleeves either."

You grin, pleased that he likes it that much. "That's great! Honestly this looks quite good on you..."

"You think so?" The moth strikes a subtle pose.

"O-Obviously! Honestly I think you'd be able to pull anything off."

This gives you even more motivation to make that lacy top for him.

"Okay, let's go before I say anything else embarrassing," you say.

You both head outside, but you find yourself struggling to get off the ground. Apparently the temperature had dropped slightly too low.

"Do you need help?"

"No, no I got it."

You flap your wings a couple times hoping for the blood to finish circulating and with a little more struggling you're off the ground.

“Oh this sucks!”

You couldn’t help being jealous that Bruno could still fly so easily.

"You really don't need to push yourself."

“It's fine. I just needed to stretch out my wings. You do the vibrating thing to warm up and fly right?"

"Yeah."

"So lucky,” you say with a sigh.

"Have you ever tried doing it yourself? It'll get you in the air quicker."

"Hmmm…"

You momentarily stop flying. Clenching your fists, you tense your whole body and try to vibrate, but it’s literally impossible for you to reach the speed Bruno is capable of.

You notice Bruno is covering his mouth as he watches your sorry attempt.

"Are you laughing at me?"

"I’m sorry, the look on your face was cute."

You open your mouth but actual words struggle to come out.

"You--! Don't….Let’s just go already."

While the two of you make the flight to the lake, the moth insists on holding your hand 'just in case your wings give out'. Even though flying so close to someone can be a pain, his hand kept yours quite warm so you don't complain.

The lake feels so much different when you arrive. Without all the insects around, singing, dancing and playing, it felt somewhat lifeless. Even the lilies from before were shut.

“It’s so quiet…”

“Yea but it can be nice like this too. Sometimes I prefer it.

You both sit at the same place you did last time. Even though the rock's surface is cold, you already feel better. You had been nervous stepping out to places that weren’t busy, but with Bruno that nervousness was almost nonexistent.

You wish you had taken the time to come out more often like this with the moth, because once Winter came you wouldn’t be able to see him. You look over at Bruno. He seems lost in his own thoughts.

“Are you ready for Winter?”

He glances at you. “I suppose so…I won’t be able to visit you anymore though. It’s going to feel quieter.”

You hum in agreement. "Why does Winter have to exist? It's like Fall's terrible older sibling."

That gets a chuckle out of the moth. "That's the first time I've heard some describe the season like that."

"Well it is…"

"I guess you could say that."

Silence settles between the both of you but you move slightly in your spot from the restlessness you were beginning to feel. An idea had come into your mind and you were nervous to try it.

Holding your breath, you lean against the moth, but keep your eyes focused on the lake too afraid to make eye contact. If your time with him was going to be limited then maybe you should send even more hints.

A tense moment passes before you feel him shift against you. Your heart jumps when you feel a hand brush against your hip.

"Is this okay?" Bruno’s voice is low and it makes the action feel more intimate.

Don’t panic. This is a good thing!

“Y-Yes.”

You take a moment to calm down and continue speaking. “Is the sweater still comfortable?”

"Definitely. I think you’ll be happy to hear that I don't want to take it off.”

There was a weird sense of pride within you from getting the moth to willingly wear clothes.

"Then my work here is done. Well I'm going to make you more stuff though.”

You cross your arms and snuggle more into Bruno’s side when a particularly cool wind blows through. The moth's hold on you becomes more secure as he brings another arm to your side.

“Too cold?”

“Definitely underestimated it.”

As much as you wanted to stay in this position, you didn't want to stay out here any longer.

“Let’s go back,” you say.

Bruno gives your side a gentle squeeze before removing his arms. He helps you to your feet, but he doesn’t let go of your hand.

With that you're ready to go. But when you try to take flight, you can’t, no matter how hard you try.

You look at Bruno unsure what to do.

"I can carry you, if that’s okay with you?”

You didn't exactly have another choice so you agree.

He places his arms on your back before he bends down to lift you behind your legs.

You immediately wrap your arms loosely around his neck as soon as he’s off the ground. This was the first time you had been in a situation like this before so you're kind of nervous.

The air passing by as he flys gives you chills. When you shove your face into the fur on his neck to protect your face, you feel him pull you just a little closer.

"You okay?"

"Cold!" The word comes out muffled. Your tolerance to the cold was almost nonexistent.

"Don't worry, it shouldn't be much longer."

You pull your face away just an inch to peak up at the moth “I'm not making you uncomfortable am I?”

"Of course not. We should actually do this more often."

“Flying together?” you ask confused.

"No. Me holding you."

That has you sputtering and you shove your face back in his fur.

Was that...flirting?

It couldn't be anything else but you still try to convince yourself otherwise.

You try to think of other things but just end up thinking about Winter again. Soon you wouldn't be able to spend time with him like this so casually. You wouldn't get to see him for a whole season!

You frown and your arms tighten around his neck.

When you reach back home you feel reluctant to let go of Bruno. Partially because he's so warm.

"____? We’re back.”

The moth lowers your feet to the ground so you can stand but you still hold on.

"____?"

You finally pull away and look at him.

"It’s--Don't you think It’s gonna suck not being able to see each other everyday?” Your voice wobbles. “I don’t want to wait that long...”

Your only option during Winter was to walk but you’d be dead before you even reached Bruno’s home.

It wasn't forever but if you ever messed Abilene she was a short walk away. Maybe you just weren't used to this.

“What if you forget about me?”

“You’re exaggerating. I wouldn't forget you that easily and Winter will pass before you know it.”

"You say that but you’re frowning! What...What if I stayed with you?"

Any shame you had in your body was dwindling away the longer you stayed up apparently.

"I mean...Isn't it weird that you’ve visited me so many times and I’ve never been over to your home once?"

Bruno seems surprised by your sudden suggestion but not displeased.

"I'm not against this but are you sure you’ll be comfortable staying there all Winter? You won’t be able to come back for some time."

You haven't been away from your home for that long ever, but you can’t think of any heavy cons to being away other than not getting to see Abilene.

You sigh, Winter really was cruel.

“...I’m actually already looking forward to it. The next time the temperature increases I'd better fly over there! Or you could just carry me if that doesn't happen soon enough.”

Bruno is unconvinced though. "You don't look completely sure."

"Because I don't want to be seperated from Abby for that long either..."

You look at the moth hoping for him to solve your predicament for you. "What should I do?"

"I have no problem taking you with me, even if it might upset Abilene, so I don't feel right making this decision for you."

You groan. It was definitely a commendable answer but it still left you with a tough decision. But after some pacing you come to a conclusion.

If you're struggling this hard to just stay at home then it would be best to go….Right? And Bruno wants you there too...

You nod to yourself. "I'm going. I don't want to regret staying here. Even if I have to say goodbye to Abby for some time."

"Okay. I know it's selfish of me but I was actually hoping you would still want to come."

At least someone here wasn't conflicted.

You immediately start mentally making a list of the stuff you need to take over. The biggest hill would be your necta.

“Um Bruno…”

After you explain the situation and show him how many jars you have stored up Bruno looks a bit perplexed, but you both accept that you'll have to just start moving things now. So that night Bruno takes bags of your jars home with him.

The next time you’re able to fly, you make sure to head over to Abilene's to tell them where you plan to spend the Winter.

You expect them to be disappointed, and they are, but they mostly end up teasing you.

"What if you guys are dating by the end of Winter?" they ask with a smirk.

You shake your head at the ridiculous statement, but was it really that improbable? A hopeful part of you said no. Bruno obviously didn’t mind being close to you so maybe...

Abilene touches your arm taking you out of your thoughts. “But seriously, I’m happy for you.”

“But will you be okay by yourself?"

They put their hands on their hips. "It will definitely be more quiet but I'll be okay."

You purse your lips but nod. You wish that the distance between here and Bruno’s home wasn’t so far.

"Do you have your stuff already packed?"

"Actually I kind of need your help, if that’s okay. I need to move a good chunk of my nectar over to his home and it’s a lot."

Abilene shrugs. “Yea, sure.”

"I’ll definitely make it up to you!"

"You don't need to make it up, I want you to get to spend time with your little boyfriend."

You almost deny it but know that you’d be reacting just how they want. “Whatever, let’s just go and start moving everything!"

You, Abilene, and Bruno spend the next several days making multiple trips between you and the moth’s homes. With the help of Abilene, the work doesn’t take as long and helps make up for the days you can't fly.

However with Winter getting closer and closer you decide to leave some of your stash behind. You would just have to be extra careful with how much you drink. Bruno reassures you that he has extra nectar just in case though.

You also make sure to bring all your sewing, knitting and lace equipment, AND all your blankets and pillows!

By the time you finish your last day of moving, it's already night and you and Abilene had said goodbye way before the sun set. You were already planning on making them an extra sweater for all their help. Or maybe a hat?

When you finally get to properly take in Brunos home you already feel at home. It was embedded in a tree stump. And the surrounding area had way more trees than your own home. You could tell sunlight struggled to get through even on the hottest of days.

The thing that amazes you the most is that the inside of his home is lit with multiple lanterns.

Bruno drops the last of your blankets on his bed. "Since you’re diurnal we can just switch out sleeping here--well until it gets too cold."

“Where are you going to stay then?” You had already been reluctant to take up his bedroom but he insisted. Not sleeping in a proper place would start to affect you negatively so it was probably for the best.

"There’s space in Narancia’s room."

You nod before yawning, today was a long day and you wanted to put everything away quickly so you could get into bed.

“You're still up?”

At first you think that Bruno’s talking to you but then you see he’s looking behind you. You turn and see a very young insect walk into the room from behind the wall at the entrance.

Your eyes widen slightly. You had expected to see a squishy baby caterpillar when you first met Narancia but what you see instead is a bumblebee already growing out of grub stage. He was a long way from growing out his wings though.

He wasn’t the same as Bruno?

Still you see the messy, random tufts of yellow and black fur on his small body and can't deny how adorable he is.

“I was but ____,” he says.

The youngling then runs towards you and stops in front of you shifting from foot to foot. You smile down at the energetic little bee.

“Hello, Narancia!” His energy was almost infectious.

“Hi! Papa talks 'bout you. A lot!” His small hands raise out and above him.

You grin at the slightly embarrassed look on the moth's face. He was doing his best to hide it though.

So this whole time I wasn’t the only one.

"Narancia--"

“What type of stuff does he say?”

Bruno deadpans at your interruption.

The bee tries to explain but part of it comes off unintelligible. You nod along though to the stuff you can understand like 'nice' and 'flowers'. You think you catch something about your wings too.

“Narancia, it’s bedtime,” Bruno says after his son seems to run out of words.

“Why? I’m not sleepy."

“I know, but we need to fix your sleep schedule.”

Looks like you weren’t the only one struggling to sleep at the “proper” times either.

The bee huffs. "I wanna stay here..."

Bruno holds out a hand to him, which Narancia pouts at but grabs.

“I’m going to go put Narancia back to bed and I’ll come back to help.”

“Goodnigh’,” Narancia says to you.

“Night. We can play later, okay?”

The bee nods obviously still not wanting to leave.

Once he and Narancia leave you use this chance to properly look around his room. Other than the bed and the small table next to it, there's a small dresser (where he probably kept some of the clothes he never wore) a floor length mirror, and a shelf.

This room was also lacking in lanterns compared to the others. You take notice of one of the lanterns sitting on the shelf in between some books and get the feeling the moth put them in here for you.

Other than that, the room was quite neat and the furniture looked elegant and costly. It was definitely a bedroom that said ‘Bruno Bucciarati’.

You decide that's enough investigating and go back to organizing, and soon after Bruno returns to help.

The both of you work, talking about small unimportant things but you finally ask what has been at the back of your mind since you saw Narancia.

“Um...why is Narancia living with you?”

A bee usually lives within a community of other bees of their type their whole lives--kind of like ants or wasps--so you were curious, but almost not surprised since Bruno seemed to have a penchant for gathering deviant insects.

“...I found him alone in a dead hive and I took him in.”

Bruno seemed reluctant to go into it and honestly you didn’t think it was your place to intrude, so you accept that answer with an “Oh”.

Bruno stops stacking jars in his closet to look at you. "I should have told you he was a bee sooner, yea?"

"Hmm, not really. Does it really matter?"

"...I guess you're right,” Bruno says but he doesn’t sound too sure.

Maybe some insects told him it was weird.

“Well it’s great that you found and took in Narancia. Nature isn’t exactly patient with larvae.”

The moth nods. “That’s true. The only problem is our different sleep schedules and the feeding. Well it was until you told me about how honey can be watered down."

“So you gave the honey I gave you to Narancia?”

“Well I might have eaten some too.” He smiles a bit. “But I got more ‘straight from the source’ so it’s fine. And Narancia doesn't go through the supply as quickly anymore now that it's better quality.”

You feel pleased that you had managed to help the moth, even if it was unintentional.

By the time you, Bruno, and Narancia--who wouldn’t stay in bed--finish finding spots to put all your jars, it’s well into the night.

You lay in Bruno’s bed under numerous covers and among all your pillows. It smelt faintly of flowers, ones you would usually smell on the moth. It’s almost like you're shoving your face into his fluffy fur.

For once you’re ready to go to sleep the moment you’re in bed. You shut all the other lanterns in the room but kept yours open. At this point, sleeping with it was necessary for you.

As you feel yourself drifting off, a knock on the door pulls you back.

“Come in…” you say through a yawn.

Bruno slowly opens the door and walks in.

“Did I wake you up?”

“Not this time but you tend to show up when I am.”

“Sorry, I’m not doing it on purpose I swear.” Bruno comes over to sit on the edge of the bed.

You smile at him feeling even more relaxed under your covers.

“It’s okay, seeing you is better than sleeping, “ you say through a yawn. “Thanks again for letting me say. I’m really happy I'll get to see you everyday.”

"Me too. I know I tried to act like the Winter would go by quickly but...I was actually dreading it.”

You feel relief and almost happy that Bruno felt the same way.

"Why'd you come?" you ask.

"I...I just wanted to see you."

The both of you stare at each other in the dim light for a moment, you mostly confused. Then for some reason Bruno leans over closer to you, but you don’t move away.

"Can I kiss you?"

Maybe you're too tired to overthink but you feel surprisingly calm. You don't trust your voice though so you nod instead.

When he closes the space and his lips press against yours you’re unsure if you’re dreaming or not.

You feel his tongue brush against your bottom lip and you think he'll deepen it, but his hand caresses your cheek and he pulls back.

You stare into his faintly glowing eyes as you struggle to speak. "Was...was that a goodnight kiss?"

Bruno’s finger traces your bottom lip. “Do you want it to be?”

"I um--Maybe it can be more?"

His stare feels so intense and you struggle to keep eye contact but you don't want to look away either.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), the moth presses a soft kiss to your cheek before standing up.

“Goodnight ____."

“N-Night Bruno.”

Even though your body feels warmer, you pull the covers close. The fatigue you had was practically whooshed away. So you stare wide-eyed at the lantern--the only thing keeping you company.

-----

A/N: I made art for narancia! anyways im gonna make the next 3 chapters as fluffy/domestic as i possibly can (the next updates might be a little slow tho, kind of stressed with real life stuff so please bear with me)

[neokids]

Fortune's Fool: Act IV

Introduction

Cast

Act I

Act II

Act III

Act V

Act IV

Tw: Lots of blood, character death, violence, murder, guns, knives, weapons, foul language, self-inflicted wounds, suicide, overall graphic content

“I don’t see anything.”

Jeno decided to further poke at whatever he was looking at. They were currently on the boardwalk near Han river, where the very first gruesome incident had occurred.

“Shut up and keep looking.”

They had yet to find anything suspicious, or anything “monster” related, the dock just seemed normal to them. No signs of tragedy even. They had been wandering around the docks for hours now, and the two were getting bored. Jeno, however, persisted.

“Ya Jeno. Jeno-ya. Jeno Lee–”

“For fuck’s sake what?! What is it Jaemin? If you don’t stop, I will not hesitate to throw you in this river right now.”

Jeno turned around to see a crouching Jaemin, obviously wanting to go home. If they weren’t at the docks right now going on a search, Jaemin would sure be enjoying painting whatever it was on his mind. Jeno couldn’t go home without anything to present his father, he could already imagine the look on his face, disappointed yet again. Earlier this morning, Lord Lee had met Jeno just before he left. He gripped Jeno’s shoulder while muttering the words: “Don’t let me down, son.”

To a passerby, the scene was normal, just a father and son having a conversation, but Lord Lee had actually gripped Jeno’s shoulder a little bit too hard, causing a red and almost bruised grip mark to form. Thinking about it made him touch his shoulder again. The word son actually felt more like a threat to him, rather than a word of affection.

He was too lost in thought only to be brought back by the sound of Jaemin groaning,

“You know you volunteered to go with us, right? You were even so excited to go on what you call a ‘mystery hunt’” Jeno said, causing Jaemin to look up at him.

“That was because I thought this case would be interesting, we’ve been here for hours looking for nothing! This is starting to feel like a game of hide-and-seek where everyone was already inside while the person was still counting to a 100,” Jaemin huffed as he stood up, now maintaining eye contact with Jeno.

“All too familiar with that situation, are we?” Haechan decided to butt in their conversation after hearing what Jaemin had said causing Jeno to barely hold back his laughter.

Back when they were kids, all the Lee children decided to play hide and seek, with Jaemin being the person to find them. They agreed upon this since he wasn’t a Lee, so he should be it. Jaemin started to count to ten, only to hear Haechan scream that he should repeat it and count to 100, and so he did. What Jaemin didn’t know was that Haechan had silently told everyone to go back inside to their respective rooms, and only show up until it was time for dinner. Let’s just say that Jaemin spent the whole night crying because he was so stupid, he even refused to eat dinner, he was so sure that he would be met with Haechan’s teasing nonstop. That is until a very thoughtful Jeno had brought food up to his room, and apologized on Haechan’s behalf.

“Shut up before I throw you into this river.” Jaemin said, challenging Haechan only for the latter to just shrug and continue his search.

“Christ it reeks in here.” Jaemin further complained, “At least it smells like rotten fish, not like rotten bodies.” Jeno countered. Jaemin stopped in his tracks to look at his best friend, “Is there a difference?”

“Jeno,” Haechan called and waved for him to come closer,

“What? Did you find something?” Jeno immediately went to his cousin’s direction.

“Of course not.” With that, Jeno smacked his cousin right on the head.

“Look, I don’t think there are any more places we could search. I mean we searched this place top to bottom already, I don’t think we missed anything.” Haechan said, looking up at his cousin.

Well technically, even if they did manage to find something, what would they do with it? There was no one to question, no one to blame, no suspects to interrogate, this was a tragedy caused by the victims themselves. The people who had died were the only suspects.

“People say that there was another attack here last night.” Haechan added as he stood up, Jeno tearing his gaze away from the waters of Han river and back to his cousin.

“Well then that’s great!” Jaemin exclaimed quite too enthusiastically. This only caused the Lee cousins to look at him as if he was the craziest man alive. Jaemin on the other hand, had just realized what he had said, he didn’t mean it that way.

“I mean– the new location, not the attack… Sorry ‘bout that. Let’s move along to the new crime scene shall we?” Jaemin finally exclaimed, fully ready to get going. He was already making his way towards the alleged crime scene when he was pulled back by Jeno.

“We can’t, it happened in Viper territory.” This only caused Jaemin and Haechan to look at each other then back at Jeno.

“And how did you know exactly where it had happened?” Jaemin asked, crossing his arms, Haechan just eyed him suspiciously, “My father had sent me to obtain any information they had regarding the very first attack. The second attack happened in the Poculum, a man suddenly collapsed and… well you know what happens next.”

“Well? Was any information obtained?” Haechan asked, his turn to cross his arms. Jeno only shook his head no. “She said they knew nothing.” A moment had passed in confused silence,

“She? She knew nothing?” Haechan echoed, Jaemin tilting his head rather very confused. “Who’s this ‘she’ we’re talking about?” Jaemin decided to also question Jeno. Jeno looked at the two of them, only to turn his gaze towards the murky waters of Han river. “Yeji Hwang,” He answered rather quietly. The two could only blink at Jeno, then suddenly a loud bang could be heard all throughout the dock, Haechan had accidentally knocked over the crates he was leaning on.

“Yeji?!” Haechan exclaimed,

“Yeji is back?!” Jaemin decided to add as well.

Jeno could only keep his gaze on the water. A sudden sharpness towards his chest, made its way to his head. The feeling did not go away no matter how hard he tried, hearing her name out loud definitely did not help. It hurt to even say her name.

Actually, not too far from here is where he had first met her. They were both still just kids, hoping to get away from their respective households. Jeno had decided to take a break from riding his bike to stop and sit by the Han river. Back then, it was much more clean and much more fresh. A very shocking contrast to the polluted and dirty water now. It was funny how the water, just like them, turned darker and darker over time. It was a symbol of how unclean and impure the water was, just like them. As time went on, the more bad things they had done. Causing their souls to get tainted. If people were all born with pure white souls, theirs would have been pitch black by now. Dark as the water in Han river.

Yeji just so happened to lose her balance right in front of him, cliche they know. Thankfully, a very sweet Jeno had helped her get back up. Ever since that day, they would meet everyday to just play and bike around. They were not Lees nor Hwangs, but simply just kids who played.

“Yeah, she is.” Jeno confirmed as his fists were balled against his sides. He let out a shaky breath as he stood up.

He had heard rumors of what Yeji had done, all the lives she took, crimes committed causing the people of Seoul to become terrified of the heiress. He had hoped that maybe those were just rumors, nothing but lies to scare enemies away, but when they confronted each other last night and had looked each other in the eyes, he knew that they were all true.

She was a killer, a criminal, violent, callous, and ruthless– that is what she was now.

He felt sorry for her, he didn’t want to, but he did. He couldn’t help the fact that the Yeji he knew way back was slowly disappearing now. If not, had completely disappeared. It didn’t settle nicely to him knowing that he was the cause of the sudden change of heart in her. In those 4 years she was gone, Jeno had still dreamed about her. In those 4 years, who couldn’t help but miss her. Her laugh, her smile, her eyes, her everything.

But he does not regret what he has done.

“What in the animal planet is this?” Haechan said as he crouched down to pick up the crates he had previously knocked over, only to find mysterious looking objects scattered on the floor.

At first glance, the mysterious objects looked like scattered peppercorns on the ground, maybe a merchant had unfortunately dropped their spices and refused to clean the mess up. But at further inspection, the so-called “peppercorns” had tiny legs and with dysmorphic bodies the size of an infant’s fingernail. It was pitch black and shiny as well. Haechan, realizing what he was holding were in fact, dead insects, had instantly dropped the insects on the floor with a loud yelp. The insects fell on the floor similar to how grains of rice were if they had been dropped.

Hearing Haechan suddenly yelp in disgust immediately alerted Jeno and Jaemin to head toward his way. When they reached the sight, all three were silent. The mysterious insects scattered on the ground were nothing like what they had seen before.

“Are those… dead flies?” Jaemin asked, unsure of himself.

“How are those dead flies when they can’t even fly? They don’t have wings,” Jeno said while he pointed to the closest insect near him. “Jaem check the other crates and Haechan give me your bag.”

“You have got to be fucking kidding me.” Jeno only glared at him as he extended his arm out in order for Haechan to give him his bag. “But I just got this and it’s limited edition and I had to search–”

“Haechan,” Jeno warned, “Give me your bag.”

With a disgusted look on Haechan’s face, he gave Jeno his bag. He watched as his cousin scooped a handful of the insects and put them all in his bag. “Why couldn’t you just put them in your pockets for Christ’s sake.” Haechan complained as he was given his bag full of unidentified insects, “They would get squished obviously. Plus my pants are new.” Jeno said, giving Haechan a playful wink,this only caused Haechan’s eye to twitch.

“There’s nothing here,” Jaemin said as he was carefully putting the crates back in place, the two Lees were already making their way towards Jaemin when they heard voices of merchants coming their way. There was no sight of any Neo-owned fishing boat, that only meant they were in the vicinity of the Vipers.

“Perfect timing, might I add.” Haechan said as he looked at a panicking Jeno and Jaemin, and before the two could react, Haechan already gave them both a rough push. Soon enough, all three of them were quickly submerged in the polluted water of the Han river. They swam underneath the boardwalk in hopes of not getting seen by the incoming merchants. They heard distant voices quickly fading out in the background. As soon as the coast was clear, Jaemin grabbed a fistful of Haechan’s hair and submerged his head in the water.

“Ya! You didn’t have to push me! We could have just opted to hide behind the boats stupid-ass.” Jaemin said, as he released Haechan. “They were walking towards the boats smart-ass.” Haechan retorted as he splashed water towards Jaemin’s direction. While the two were arguing back and forth on what they should and should not have done, Jeno was busy scanning the whole area. Suddenly, a floating shoe had caught his attention. Leaving the two behind, Jeno swiftly swam to the said object. Upon further inspection, the shoe was what he thought it was.

“Oy!” He quickly called out, causing the two to stop and turn their attention to him. “Do you know who this belonged to?” The other two tilted their heads. “A stingy man who decided to take a swim here in Han river who managed to forget his shoe?” Jaemin asked sarcastically.

Haechan could no longer stand any more of their current situation so he started to swim towards the land while the two were quick to follow suit. As soon as they were back on their feet, Jeno called for the attention of the two.

“This belonged to the man who clawed himself to death last night, the man who died in the Poculum.” He grabbed Haechan’s bag as he started to walk away fast. “This means that the man was here too. Let’s go, we need to take this to Doyoung and Kun.”

“Can’t we at least change into some dry clothes?” Haechan said as he squeezed his polo shirt. Jeno only turned back and rolled his eyes, “You’ll be dry by the time you get–”

“Oy,” Jaemin suddenly interrupted, he suddenly narrowed his eyes at the water they were previously submerged in. “Did.. did you see that?”

When the two looked at the water, all they saw were their silly reflections staring back at them. They looked at Jaemin as if he was a mad man, but when they saw the look of confusion and disbelief on his face, something told them that Jaemin wasn’t trying to be funny.

“Are you trying to be funny right now, Jaem?” Haechan asked, quite annoyed causing Jaemin to look back at them. There was something on his dead-serious face that caused an uneasy feeling to settle in their guts. “Never..never mind. I thought I saw eyes in the water, holy shit I need to lay off drinking too much espressos.” He said, scrubbing his eyes.

“Where?” Jeno asked as he scooted towards Jaemin. “In the water, but it could have been just my imagination,” Jaemin said as he looked at Jeno.

“But why would you imagine eyes in the water?” Jeno asked as he grabbed Jaemin, a sign to get going.

“You’ve heard the whispers right?” Haechan asked, only causing the three of them to halt, yet again.

“A monster.”

Only then, when said out loud, did Jeno realize how unbelievable it was. A monster? Running loose in the city? Only for it to jump in the river? In broad daylight? Jasmine was right, it did remind him of all the scary stories he would tell her when they were younger. Jeno then beckoned his friends to start moving.

“You can’t seriously believe that, can you?” Jeno asked Haechan, picking up his pace.

“Hey you never know, you know? For all I care this madness could have been from the river or something like that.” Haechan said as he tried to match Jeno’s awfully fast pace. “Whatever, let’s just keep moving.”

By the time they arrived back near the Neo mansion, they had already been completely dried. Jeno had stopped abruptly in front of their lab, panting trying to catch his breath. This caused Haechan to accidentally topple and collide with Jeno. Jaemin in the meanwhile, lost his balance and was now holding on to Jeno’s arm like a lost child.

“Sorry, tripped on this.” Jaemin said as he regained his balance. It was a flyer from the rovers, aka the people who didn’t side with neither the Vipers nor the Neos. It had this written in big bold red letters: SAVE YOURSELVES FROM THE MADNESS, GET VACCINATED!

“Give me that,” Jeno demanded as he snatched the flyer from Jaemin, he quickly folded the paper and stuck it in his pocket. “Come on, they should be closing up by now.”

As they entered the building, no Neo employee bothered to tell them off. No one should be entering the lab at this hour, especially now since they were all excited to head home. But of course, Jeno Lee was above all laws, he was the Neo heir after all. The only reason these employees were even getting some sort of pay was because of him.

“Doyoung? Kun? Are you still here?” Jeno asked as they reached the second floor of the lab. The second floor was for the more trusted scientists such as Doyoung and Kun. They were the ones responsible for making powerful weapons that could bomb a whole house down.

“Up here!” A voice had exclaimed, Jeno immediately following the said voice in a quick motion. Jaemin and Haechan were already on the verge of collapsing, but they still followed him.

Upon their arrival, Kun could only furrow his brows. It was usually only just Jasmine or Jeno, he didn’t expect for other people to arrive. Nonetheless, guessing they were with Jeno, they were of high ranks as well.

“What brings you here today hmm?” Kun asked as he set down the tablecloth he had just used to wipe his counter. His part of the lab was much more organized and clean than what was presented downstairs. He and Doyoung would always fight on who had a cleaner workspace, only for Jasmine to mess both up. “If you’re here for the cartel, we’re not yet quite finished with that.”

Jeno could only wince. Of course Kun had assumed that Jeno was there to follow up on the drugs, what else could he be there for? Just before Kun could answer, his attention was already on Haechan and Jaemin, but more of the latter.

“Ah, Jaemin Na, at your service.” Jaemin said as he extended a hand, Kun had paused since he wasn’t used to none-Lees visiting, but he still accepted. He then turned his attention to Haechan.

“What?” Haechan asked, did he expect him to introduce himself? But he was a Lee, was he not? Surely he knew me, Haechan thought. Jaemin nudged Haechan by the rib causing him to extend his hand as well. “Lee. Haechan Lee.” Kun only stared at him for a second before bursting into a fit of laughter. The three boys looked at each other, then looked at Kun. “I know.”

Haechan’s brow never twitched higher, causing Jaemin to laugh as well.

“We’re not here to nag you about the cartel, we need your opinion.” Jeno said as he set down his cousin’s bag, causing Haechan to grimace since he remembered what Jeno had placed inside. Jaemin also had a look of disgust on his face since they could hear the dead insects rattle inside.

“My opinion? Opinion on what?” Kun asked, a tad bit perplexed. “On this.”

Jeno dumped out all the contents inside the bag causing the insects to scatter all over Kun’s table. With no hesitation, Kun started poking and touching the insects, no sanitary measures whatsoever. This caused Jaemin to silently gag, and for Haechan to step back. “What is this exactly?” He asked, picking an insect up causing Haechan to further step back.

“We found them at the crime scene, where the first attack had happened.” Kun only looked at the insect closer. “So is this what you think may have caused the madness?”

Jeno, Jaemin, and Haechan could only look at each other.

You never know, you know? The words from his cousin suddenly echoed in Jeno’s head.

“I don’t know, I was hoping you could tell us.” Jeno admitted, “It was the only evidence present anyways,”

“Or maybe a monster from the Han river had resurrected and decided to start this contagion.” Kun looked at Jaemin in a very, very, bored way. “Stop talking.” Haechan whispered to Jaemin, making him immediately shut up.

“That’s...interesting.” Kun suddenly said. The three thought that he was referring to Jaemin’s suggestion, turns out, he was referring to the insects.

“What’s interesting?” Jeno asked coming closer, beckoning Jaemin and Haechan to do so as well. Haechan had to shove Jaemin since he did not want anything to do with those mysterious looking peppercorns.

“I’ll show you.” Kun grabbed a lighter and lit one on fire. When the insect he had lit on fire started moving, so did the others left on the table. For a mere moment there, they thought that the insects were still alive. But when Kun put out the fire, the insect had stopped, and so did the ones on the table. “Whatever this thing is, it’s definitely not acting alone.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jeno had asked, hoping that he had not.

“It follows something. Whatever that something commands.”

Oh this was definitely not a work of nature.

[cottage-babe]

Burning Scars part IV

Previous | Chapter 4 | Next

Masterlist

I’ve been watching haikyuu and Nishinoya is so cute :(((

This chapter is going to fill in pretty much EVERYTHING related to Y/n’s past. also i feel like this shorter than my other chapters idk

Summary: Y/n, a werewolf from a hidden village, comes across Zuko and Iroh after being exiled. How has fate intertwined the wolf into the avatar's destiny?

*****This chapter takes place on Season 2 Episode 11*****

___

“Thank you,” Y/n said as she accepted the cup of tea from Mushi. 

The boys were surprisingly welcoming to her. Lee had begun to ask questions as soon as she came up to them, but his uncle had told him to stop and let her speak. He set up a pot of tea and had now given some to the young teens. 

All throughout the wait for the drink, Y/n’s mind was racing. Where does she start? How much does she tell them? The girl desperately wanted to come clean, but her loyalty to her pack deterred her. However, she knew that she had no obligations anymore, so why was she still so stuck on them?

Mushi took the spot next to Lee and quietly sipped his drink. His eyes weren’t on her, but she could feel that his desire for answers was just as strong as Lee’s. 

She took a deep breath and started her story.

“So I’m a- uh- werewolf.”

Silence. 

The girl knew that she probably should’ve continued from there, but she couldn’t help but wait for their reactions. Or rather, lack thereof. 

Y/n didn’t want to look up at their faces. If she did, she knew that their facial expressions would cause her to assume things and she didn’t want to guess their emotions; if they felt something, then they would need to say it. 

“Oh, well, we know that much!” The uncle laughed lightly, breaking the obvious tension. 

“But Uncle, I thought you said they were only myths; fiction.” Lee questioned.

“What more proof do you need? She’s a living, breathing piece of evidence!”

The teen nodded his head as he thought about that logic. Y/n assumed that it would be hard for him to process; just yesterday he had heard the story and now there she was, telling him that it wasn’t a myth, it was completely real and in front of him. 

“So, are you the only one? Or are there more?” Lee thought for a moment. “Wait, no, you mentioned a town before; there’s a whole village of werewolves?!”

I have no obligations toward my pack. I have no obligations toward my pack. I have no obligations toward my pack. 

“Yes,” she said confidently. It was about time that she went past her fear of her pack. They could no longer control her, she was her own person who could make her own decisions. 

But they’re your family.

Y/n shook the thought out of her head. Family doesn’t treat family that way. 

“Don’t ask me where they live or anything, because I won’t speak it.” Y/n succumbed to her guilty side slightly, hoping it would soothe her small feelings of regret. 

“We won’t, we promise,” Mushi said while sending a stern stare toward Lee. The boy nodded his head once again. 

Lee continued with his questions, though. “Why aren’t you with them then? You came to us two days ago, alone. Did something happen?”

Why does he ask so many questions?

She supposed that if she wanted to maintain their trust, she would have to wipe the slate clean; no more lies and no more hiding. They already knew that her kind existed, so there was no way that she would let them leave her behind. 

“In my pack, there’s a rite of passage that we must do when we turn 16...”

___

This was it. The day that everyone in the pack was waiting for. 

The L/n children’s Days of Trials. 

The morning had started wildly; their mom had helped clean the fur of all five of her “pups” while they watched decorations and food being prepared from afar. The village was quite small and had wooden huts for each family. Each one had a large leaf door that slid close for privacy; they had evolved a lot since their original days. Almost everyone in the pack was helping set up, except for the male Alpha.

That man just so happened to be their father; the exact reason why everyone was making such a big fuss over today. The Alpha’s children were going to be doing their trials to prove their worth to the pack. Some of the other wolves were excited and curious to see how the days would pan out; recently, there had been a spike of children who couldn’t complete the tasks assigned. 

However, there were many members who didn’t quite care for the right of passages. Every time the children of their leaders undergo the trials, they pass with flying colors. Never has there been a “royal” family child that didn’t meet the standards that were put up. 

Half of the workers around were in their human bodies to put up the decor while the other half were using their wolf’s to carry heavy things. It was a beautiful harmony that Y/n enjoyed on the Days of Trials; no one in the pack was looked down on for using their human skins. People would only use what was convenient. 

The five teen’s mother changed down to her human form. Her children copied her actions.

Their mother had long, overgrown hair and lively eyes. She was the kindest mother that the kids could ever dream of having. The wrinkles that surrounded her eyes not only showed age, but her strong, wise experience. She was absolutely perfect. 

Mother sighed as she looked at each one of her kids in the eyes.

“I want all of you to know that no matter what happens, I am proud of you,” she smiled so sweetly. “You worked so hard to be here and no amount of trials can take that away.”

Just as she said that, someone called for her aid and she had to leave, but not before leaving a kiss on all five of her kid’s foreheads. 

Soon, the siblings were left alone. 

“I-I don’t know if I can do this,” Fen spoke while trying to even out his erratic breaths. “It just feels so wrong to lie like this.”

Ayano rubbed Fen’s back to try and calm him. Then, Binu spoke up.

“I hate to agree with him, but he’s kinda right. Mom’s worried about our safety while we’re here with a secure plan? It feels sick to let her be so scared.”

Shong crossed his arms with a glare. “Don’t be dumb, guys. Our plan makes it so we all come out alive. If anything, we’re doing her a favor.”

They’re tall brother spoke some truths. The siblings had devised a scheme a long time ago to ensure that each member completed their tasks efficiently and met the bare minimums. 

They’re first task would be to go out and hunt a total of three animals before the sun rose to the center of the sky, signaling noon. Y/n and Binu were the best hunter’s of the family; while Y/n took hiding in the shadows easy, Binu was fast enough to outrun any animal. The two would use their skills to help the other’s catch their prey and make it back before their time ended.

Then, their next task would be working as a group to capture something that belonged to an opposite group (sort of like capture the flag). It was meant to see if the group could work together nicely and form a strategy. Luckily for them, Shong was very smart and him with the combination of Ayano would be able to easily make up a plan for any situation. 

Lastly, the five siblings would have to fight head on with each other and gain a total of two wins. They weren’t aware of the line up, but the siblings knew that no matter who went up against who, they would stick to the plan.

If they didn’t, then members of their family could be gone forever. 

___

“Ahh, I see,” Mushi said once the girl took a pause in her story to drink her tea, “Your plan didn’t work, then?”

Y/n shook her head softly and spoke quietly. “No, no. It did work. We made it past the first two trials so quickly, we almost broke a record.” A frown slowly set upon her face. “It was just at the third trial that things didn’t go as smoothly...”

___

“I think a congratulations is in order!” Ayano yelled as she held her wooden cup up into the air. 

Y/n let out a laugh and grabbed her sister’s arm. “We haven’t even finished everything yet. The last Test is tomorrow, so maybe you should get some sleep.”

Her siblings were, to say the least, drunk. 

One of them (at this point, Y/n couldn’t remember who) had stolen some liquor and brought it to the brothers and sisters. They all had a couple drinks, but Y/n and Fen seemed to be the only ones smart enough to remember what tomorrow was. 

They had finished the first day of the Trials; they had assumed that it would be the hardest due to the randomness of it, but it had seemed fairly easy. 

Many say that the Days of Trials were never meant to be hard, they just weeded out the absolute weakest of a bunch. Y/n wasn’t entirely sure how other’s had failed the tasks, but she didn’t like to think much of it. 

There were rumors of what had happened to the werewolves that didn’t pass. Some say that they were forced to live in solitude for the rest of their lives... others say that the pack’s fighters chase them down for fun. 

It was a little alarming that not even she, daughter of a family who is ranked so high, knew what happened to those poor wolves. 

Ayano clumsily transformed into her wolf skin and whined softly. Y/n sighed before looking at Fen. 

“You can take care of the other boys, right?”

He gave her a small salute. “Yup, I got it.”

She was about to help her sister out before Fen began to talk again. Y/n turned around to see Binu on the floor, but Shong was no where to be seen. 

“Uhh... you wouldn’t happen to know where Shong is, Y/n?”

The girl groaned in exasperation and dropped her sister onto the floor. 

Just as the brother and sister were about to leave their hut to search for him, the man in question pushed his way passed the hanging door and paused when he met their stare. 

“Dude, we were about to go look for you.” Fen groaned out, then went to the passed out Binu on the floor. “Help me bring him to our room.”

And with that, the two semi-sober siblings completely ignored Shong’s time of leave, despite knowing that no one else in their pack was awake that late into the night. 

The next afternoon, the five of them rushed to a big, open center where the rest of the pack was surrounding. Almost everyone was in their wolf skins, so they copied the actions of their fellow members. It was there that the children learned of the order that they were fighting in. 

There would be ten matches: each teen going against each of their siblings. A battle would be won once the victor gets their opponent outside of the circle. This trial was supposed to be the easiest for the five brothers and sisters. Emphasis on supposed.

Their fights went semi-smoothly.

At first, it was hard for the wolves to pretend to fight. They attacked each other like it was their dying wish, but in reality it was all a part of their plan. 

Just two wins each, that’s all they needed. 

By the time seven matches finished, Binu had already received his two wins; the rest of his fights ended with him losing dramatically as if he were in a play. Shong also had his two wins, but he still had to fight two more rounds and give his opponents the victory. 

The eighth battle was between Shong and Fen.

Fen only had one win under his belt, which meant that Shong would need to lose. Y/n knew what her tall brother’s tactic was when he need to lose the fight; he would put on a huge show to demonstrate his strength, then would pretend to make a misstep that costs him the win. It was extremely entertaining for the crowd. 

The siblings waited on the outskirts of the circle with the rest of the pack. The wolves around them were howling and barking in excitement. It was going to be such an amazing fight; Fen was seen as a weak asset and it seemed like Shong was going to completely destroy him.

The two sisters shared a look that said exactly what they were both thinking: if only the pack knew what was really going to happen. 

And with that, the teen’s father let out a bellowing howl; the signal for the battle to begin. 

Shong began his usual wolf dance. He skirted around each of Fen’s attacks and landed soft, teasing blows to his brother’s hide. He would only let Fen hit or bite him every once in a while, his only goal being to feed the crowd’s desire for a difficult fight. 

‘Okay, this is it.’ Y/n thought to herself, ‘Right about now, Shong should let Fen win.’

Just as the thought crossed her mind, her tall brother stopped his antics. It was a bit too sudden and the crowed around them let out a confused noise. It seemed as though Shong was... looking at someone. 

The girl followed his gaze all the way until it landed on their father. From her position, she couldn’t quite see the silent conversation they were having, but it seemed important. 

It was then that Fen struck. 

He pounced on his brother and shoved him straight out of the circle. 

It was silent for a moment, but eventually the noise flew up and cheered for the weaker sibling. It was a true display of power, even of the two hadn’t planned it. 

The look on Shong’s face was indescribable. It was a mixture between sad, angry, happy, and... something else. It was like every contradicting emotion was running through the wolf’s system. 

‘Why is he acting like that? This loss isn’t any different from the other ones.’

___

“I should’ve seen what was coming next,” Y/n spoke. “With the way he was acting... I just never expected him to be the one that broke all of us apart.”

___

It was the middle of the ninth match. 

Shong was up again, for the final time, but was against Ayano. 

Now, their sister wasn’t a force to be reckoned with. There were multiple times that she had fought one of the pack members for bullying a sibling (mainly Fen or Y/n). She wasn’t the strongest or the smartest or the fastest, but she made up for her weaknesses with her quick thinking. Her mind connected dots faster than all of her siblings combined and it’s what made her standout. Ayano’s passion and fast brain made her a threat to some of the strategists that lead beside their father. 

The duo’s red eyes glared at each other, circling the edges of the ring while they waited for the other to pounce. In this round, Ayano would receive her final win from her brother and complete her trial. 

But why was that look still molded into Shong’s face? He had death in his eyes instead of the playfulness that should’ve existed there. Something’s not right. 

Y/n desperately wanted to warn her sister, but if she mentioned anything about their plan, then they would all be banished for treason. It was best to just let it all play out. 

Maybe their brother just got really good at acting. 

Shong then jumped at Ayano, but the girl dodged it with milliseconds to spare. The brother almost slid out of the circle with the velocity of his jump, but slowed down in time. They both growled at each other.

The same actions repeated itself for the next couple of minutes; one would jump and the other would dodge. It really seemed like they were trying to kill the other, even with Y/n knowing who was supposed to win. It was terrifying. 

The brother and sister looked as though they were evenly matched. They predicted the other’s movements like it was their own; they danced as if they had practiced this for hours. 

However, the two weren’t the same. Shong was strong and had a everlasting stamina. Ayano didn’t.

The entire crowd could see that Ayano was growing tired. Her movements were turning sluggish and it was taking her longer and longer to dodge any attacks. 

Why isn’t Shong letting her win yet?

By now, Shong should’ve done his “misstep” and lost, but he seemed so persistent on his jumps.

Then, as some twisted, sick peice of fate, their brother pounced and Ayano was too exhausted to move out of the way. She let him drag her out of the ring, her body falling limp. 

Shong had one, which meant he got three wins; effectively stealing it from Ayano. 

That meant that in the last round of Y/n vs Ayano, one sister would be met with the doom of banishment for the rest of their lives.

___

“And so we fought. I let her win. End of story.”

Y/n set down her empty tea cup and looked at the two men in front of her. They were so invested in her story that they had forgotten about their own drinks. Steam and heat no longer rose from the small cups, it instead being a cold, lifeless collection of flavored water. 

“Is that- Is she the reason you got hurt?” Lee asked, his voice hoarse from not speaking for a while.

“Uhh, yeah.” She wrung her hands. “Its a rule in my pack: when someone’s banished, they have to have something like that visible on them, so they can never come back. It was only a coincidence that my sister was the one that gave it to me.”

“I am so sorry you had to go through that, Y/n,” Mushi whispered with a frown set on his face. The girl shrugged her shoulders in response.

“I mean, it’s better that it was me and not her. Her navigation skills are subpar, so she would’ve been so lost out here,” she forced a laugh. 

Mushi just his head in disbelief while Lee stared at the ground, lost in thought. It made her wonder what was going on in that head of his. 

Y/n really hoped that she had made the right decision by telling them the truth. It’s not like anyone would believe these two random travelers if they ever mentioned it. But still, the thought of them telling a town and having her pack torn apart made her shudder. 

Lee stood up suddenly. 

It surprised the two other people, but they quickly regained their focus as the teen began to speak. 

“I think you should stay with us, like for the long run,” he said confidently. “You could help us out a lot, and I think that we could help you.”

“Okay!” She stood up excitedly as well. This was the exact thing that she had been hoping for.

“And, of course, Lee,” Mushi interrupted, “shouldn’t that mean that we tell her the truth about us as well?”

Y/n was almost certain that whatever secret they had couldn’t be as bad as hiding being a werewolf. 

The boy puffed out his chest and nodded his head. 

“My real name is Prince Zuko and this is my Uncle, General Iroh. We are both from the fire nation.”

Silence.

There were many things running through the girl’s head, but the main one being Oh, so that’s why Mushi yelled out Zuko yesterday!

It took her a moment, but eventually she found something to say.

“You’re a prince? Should I bow or something?”

Le- or- Zuko deflated slightly at her words.

“Is that really all that you have to say?”

Iroh let out a hearty laugh at his nephew’s reaction. He quickly picked up their tea pot and cups while the two teens talked. 

“And that ‘fire nation’ stuff, does that have to do with that magic thing you did yesterday?” The girl asked with a tilt of her head. This cause him to shrink even more.

“Y-you mean my bending?”

“Bending? What is tha-”

The girl paused as her ears caught a soft thumping sound; almost identical to the one that awoke her that morning. 

Those people must be coming back.

She quickly warned the duo and helped them pack up their things. Just as the noise grew closer and closer, the three of them jumped on their ostrich-horses (in the same positions as they had the day before) and rode out before the group of men could find them again. 

Iroh laughed from his horse beside them. “Maybe I should’ve stayed, it was nice to see old friends.”

“Too bad you don’t have any old friends that don’t want to attack you.” Zuko groaned front his seat in front of Y/n. 

The three of them were riding pretty fast, so Y/n had her arms gripped around the boy’s torso. He had stiffened at first, but slowly relaxed at her touch. 

“Hmm... Old friends that don’t want to attack me...” 

___

thanks for sticking w me guys <3

even if you skipped past the memories like i know some do, i appreciate you reading this :)

anyways might actually have some cutesy stuff next chapter so wait till next week to read it <33

Previous | Chapter 4 | Next

Masterlist

Taglist: @bucky-blogs @hopefuloperaangelnerd @simplyfandomish @oddlypointlessescapes @lozzybowe ((bolded couldn’t be tagged))

[jupiter235]

WIP....wait, it’s actually Wednesday??

Tagged by the forever awesome @jeannedarcprice. Have another excerpt from the Days Gone AU I’m working on. This is a part of one of Gil’s memories that’s going to appear at some point in the fic (I don’t yet know where, though.) 

~Start of the “freaker virus” outbreak, Boston, Massachusetts:

It was meant to be a two-week visit to America. Two weeks to visit my friends and more importantly, to spend time with Meri. Then Vetra and Suvi’s wedding was meant to be near the end of it, then they’d get on a plane to their honeymoon while I caught my flight back to London.

But to Hell with all that, of course.

All flights were grounded mere hours after my arrival. That was when Jill really began to worry. Meri picked up on it, I know she did—kids aren’t stupid, after all. I did what I could to try and soothe them both—probably used some sappy drivel or something about how this all couldn’t last. Doesn’t matter, because it didn’t really work, anyway.

The next day, Vetra calls. She and Suvi were moving their wedding up to that afternoon.

“She’s terrified,” Vetra had told us on the phone. “She’s convinced that if we don’t do it as soon as possible, then we may never get to. And I think she’s right.”

Suvi knew a preacher that was willing to perform the ceremony at the last minute. So it was just the preacher, his wife, me, Jill, Meri, and Sidera at the preacher’s house. We’d all tried to get in touch with everyone else who was supposed to be there—some weren’t answering their phones, and some were just too far away to make it in time. We all tried not to think about it, honestly.

Then the news just started getting oh-so-much-more cheery. That the hospitals were already beyond capacity wasn’t new. That the dead were starting to number in the millions wasn’t new either. That those who hadn’t died were turning into cannibalistic monsters also wasn’t.

What was new was that the ones who were turning were gathering together into what they were calling “hordes,” and no one seemed to know how to contain them. So they were running rampant everywhere, invading entire towns and killing whoever couldn’t run away from them fast enough. They’d stopped keeping track of the number of infected people, so many were getting sick.

Then the hordes started overrunning the large cities. Evacuation orders started going out. I think it took about two days before the news channels all stopped broadcasting. Then phone calls stopped going through.

I think that was the point where I knew that shit was seriously fucked now.

Meri had started staying closer and closer to me, her hand sliding into one of mine at random times. I could tell she was trying to not be scared. I wanted to tell her it didn’t matter, because we were all scared.

I had always thought she’d been so small for an eleven-year-old. When I would look at her, meaning to reassure her with some ridiculous and pointless platitude, it would die in my mouth.

My daughter was afraid, and I had to help her to not be.

So all I could do was hug her and hope it was enough.

I think it was about the time that the cellular towers stopped working that Vetra, Suvi, and Sid came over. They were leaving Boston, and they wanted us to come with them. Jill and I only glanced at one another. Decisions like this never really called for a debate between the two of us—we both always knew when we were in agreement with one another. Meri, smart girl that she was, seemed to know what the decision was before either of us had said anything and ran straight to her room to begin packing.

We followed their example; one backpack each containing a change of clothes and the barest essentials, with the hope that we could get more wherever we were going. Jill didn’t even bother locking the door when we left. She never said anything, and no one else bothered mentioning it, but that was when we all knew that we weren’t coming back. And several of her neighbors had had the same idea about leaving—several of them were packing their vehicles, others were walking like we were.

We wound up at the NERO refugee camp just outside of Boston. And it turned out we’d left just in time; word had begun circulating around the camp that they’d given the order to evacuate the city. People would be flooding the place within hours.

And they did just that. It didn’t even take a day before they had to start turning people away. The rumor was that they were being diverted to other refugee camps (were there any others to go to? Assuming they could even make it…) but some people had their doubts.

There was another rumor going around that NERO had executed a bunch of incoming people in their cars.

Vetra, Suvi, Sid, and I would find out later that that one was not a rumor, but a fact.

We’d all been at the refugee camp for a rather uneventful couple of days when shit went from bad to worse. Vetra was off somewhere trying to negotiate information out of anyone that would talk to her, and Jill had started working with the NERO scientists at the camp who were trying to come up with anything to try to help treat the people that were still getting sick. Suvi and I were trying to keep Sid and Meri entertained with a game of cards when we’d started to notice Meri was looking more and more pale and listless.

“I’m fine,” she said when I asked.

It was Sid who’d reached over and felt her forehead. “No you’re not, you’re burning up,” she pointed out.

I’d never truly felt that feeling of pure dread creeping down my spine before. First time for everything, I suppose.

The cards were forgotten as I picked Meri up and the four of us went to the medical tents. She was immediately put in a bed and hooked up to an IV. And Jill and Vetra had appeared from wherever they’d been.

The doctor diagnosing Meri with the virus was pretty much a formality. A cruel one, at that.

I wanted to punch him.

It wouldn’t have helped anything.

I held Meri’s hand instead. Jill held her other hand.

I don’t know how much time passed before the two NERO soldiers suddenly appeared, but I think it had only been a few hours. Meri had passed out not long after her diagnosis, and slept fitfully the entire time. But next thing I knew, there they were, armed and everything.

Then they told Jill that they were flying all of the scientists to another location, and demanded she come with them immediately.

“Hell no!” she’d protested.

“We don’t have time to argue,” one of them said. “Besides, your kid’s either gonna turn or die soon, anyway.”

“She said no, you prick!” I said. I could feel Suvi’s hand on my shoulder.

“She doesn’t have a choice,” the asshole argued. I hadn’t seen his partner move, but suddenly they had Jill by one arm and were tugging her away from Meri’s bedside.

“You fucking son of a—“ I started forward when they’d grabbed her, but was immediately cut off by the two rifle barrels suddenly pointing at me. I could feel Suvi clutching at my arm now.

“Turn loose of the girl and come with us,” the other asshole ordered, “Or I shoot your friends.”

“Gil, Suvi, it’s okay,” Jill said, pressing a kiss to the back of Meri’s hand and putting it down, and I could feel a surge of rage welling up at my helplessness to stop any of this.

“We’ll stay with her, we promise,” Suvi said, and before we could do anything else, Jill was ushered out of the medical tent.

I hadn’t realized that complete silence had fallen over the medical tent until I heard Vetra snarl “Motherfuckers” after the NERO guys left with Jill.

“Where are they taking mom?” Meri suddenly asked, and that was also when I realized she’d been awake for most, or all, of that confrontation.

“I don’t know, sweetheart,” I answered, taking her hand again. That was when I realized a third, then a fourth, thing.

“Where are all the doctors?” someone at another bedside said.

“They’re all leaving,” Sid answered the tent at large. There were gasps and denials, and several people ran outside to confirm what she’d said. I glanced up at her and Vetra as they arrived at Meri’s bed, and that was when I noticed they had all of our backpacks.

“It’s true,” Vetra said. “I heard one of them mention that there was a massive horde headed this way. We have less than ten minutes to get the hell out of here.” More gasps and denials went around. Then someone came back.

“She’s right,” the woman said. “All the NERO people are gone and I just saw the last helicopter take off.”

“What the fuck??” someone else shouted.

“Where are we supposed to go?” a third person demanded.

Not that anyone had an answer, of course. Suvi reached down and started unhooking Meri’s IV, and several other people started moving around.

And then

“HORDE INCOMING!!!! HORDE INCOMING!!!!!” a man ran by the tent shouting.

[thearcana-junkie]

@syrisart Ask me to do a Lucio X Pregant! MC a while back in my personal messaging. To be honest i;m really honored they like my writing enough to request more (I love their art so much!!!!!!) Plus this also gives me en excuse to write more oneshots so I’m not all HC’s. Anyway without further a do!! I tried to be as gender nutural as I could. Thank you so much for waiting all this time!!!

“Sharing Is Caring”

Summary;; You feel off. Lucio thinks your just sick so he calls his best doctor (Julian of course), Your hunches have been correct the whole time. When you announce to everyone your pregnant, everyone is so happy for you. Except for Lucio of course...

Warnings// Pregnancy. Angst To fluff. Gendernutruel. Morning Sickness. Sharing issues.

Pairings: Lucio X Pregnant MC.

Long Fic under The cut

——————————————————————————————————————————————

The moment you lifted your head off the pillow you felt sick, so sick, so much so you had to run to the bathroom to keep from up-chucking all over your boyfriend who lay sleeping beside you. Oh boy, what a way to wake the Count on a weekend. He did though, he awoke to you loudly voiding your stomach of its contents in the bathroom. Lucio’s stomach started to turn from the sound, to the point he had to cover his ears with his pillow to keep from hearing you or else he’d be in there beside you vomiting. It wasn’t that he didn’t love you enough to go check on you, he just had a very sensitive stomach.

Once you came out of the bathroom he sat up with concern. “Are you okay?” He asked tiredly as the pillow fell behind him, he leaned back and outstretched his bare arms, one golden, one flesh. You crawled into the bed and curled up to his side laying your cheek on his naked chest. “I don’t feel to hot this morning Honey...I think I’m sick...” You mumbled weakly causing Lucio to frown. “No you cant be sick, we had so much fun stuff to do this weekend.” Lucio whined sadly, you whined right back at him. “Okay... Okay, take the day to rest okay? The faster you rest the faster you recover.” He hummed as he gently kissed your head.

You didn’t know you had drifted off to sleep until you woke up in the bed alone, Well not alone-alone, Mercedes and Melchior were laying on the bed with you. On you was more like it. When you sat up you realized you didn’t feel sick anymore, not dizzy or nauseous at all. So you got up, got dressed, and went down to the dining room. In the room sat Nadia, Asra, and (To your surprise) Muriel. “Hey there’s the sleeping beauty!” Asra exclaimed cheerfully. “How are you feeling my dear?” Nadia asked with worry woeful look as you sat down. “feeling?” You questioned, “Lucio said you were sick so we let you stay in bed...” Muriel said softly, despite his stone look his eyes said that he was worried.

“Sick Smick, I told them you were fine and you were just tired. You look fine!” Asra stated proudly, “that’s cause I feel fine. Actually I’m starving, what’s for breakfast-lunch?” You asked as you rubbed your hands together excitedly. “Well we have Salmon, and eggs, and lobster, and—“ while Nadia listed off all the food in front of you, you slumped a little.

Nothing looked appiticing what so ever...

“What’s wrong?” Muriel whispered to you from across the table, he was so quiet Nadia hadn’t even noticed so she was still listing off the food. “Nothing looks good...” You frowned and whispered back to him. Asra, being nosy of his two friends talking without him, leaned into Muriel. “what’s up?” Asra whispered, Nadia continued talking oblivious to her friends conversation, probably because Asra would comment on what she was saying. “She doesn’t see anything good here.” Muriel whispered to Asra. “Ah well no wonder, there’s no Pumpkin Bread, it always soothes upset stomachs.” Asra said. Suddenly pumpkin bread sounded very good. “Are you three planning something I should know about?” Nadia asked her friends. “Oh! No! Nadia, Mc’s stomach is upset and she doesn’t find anything here to sate her needs.” Asra explained rather brashly. “N-not that I don’t like your food, I do!” You squeaked out, you couldn’t bare hurting one of your friends feelings. “don’t worry so much my dear, What is it that you want to eat? Perhaps such elegant food is to harsh on the stomach of someone not used to it.” Nadia said with a calm smile.

“Pumpkin bread.” You and Asra said at the same time.

———————————————————————————-

Two days have passed, you’ve woken up the same way. Each morning you’d wake up, run to the bathroom to vomit, go back to bed and sleep for another few hours then get up and have Lunch-Breakfest with Muriel, Asra, and Nadia. To which you’d find nothing at the table good and Nadia would send the servants to get you and Asra an unhealthy amount of pumpkin bread.After that normally you were too fatigued to do much other then hang out with the three friends.

You started to suspect the obvious, you were pregnant.

“MC!” Asra shouted making you jump out of the skin,”what!?” You snapped a little more aggressively then intended. “No need to be hostile, we wanted to know if you were listening.” Nadia sighed, you felt your cheeks heat up from embarrassment. “Sorry Asra...” You mumbled softly, Asra brushed it off like nothing happened and continued talking. “We asked Julian to come by and scedual a visit with you to make sure your not coming down with something.” Asra explained. “It’s not healthy what you’ve been doing for the last three days.” Nadia frowned at you in a concerned friendly way. “Of course it was all Lucio’s idea. He asked us earlier before he set out on a hunt with his mongrals.” Asra stated while making a claw motion with his hands. You huffed, “I happen to love those dogs thank you very much, their very well trained” You glared softly, Today you weren’t in a good mood as evident by your snapping and glares. “I don’t need a doctor I’m perfectly fine.” You crossed your arms in a stubborn manner. “Well you’ve been getting sick in the early hours.” Nadia noted. “And you only crave pumpkin bread.” Asra added. “And your moods change... a lot.” Muriel added quietly. “My moods do not change!!” You yelled, Muriel flinching way made you move back from him.

Oh gods, You just yelled at your friend. Not just your friend, the quiet friend who wouldn’t harm a fly. Oh you felt horrible now, horriable to the point you started to tear up. “Oh my gods I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you I’m truly sorry Muriel. Your right i am being a bitch.”

Muriel was unnerved, one minute you were yelling at him now you were crying. “It’s fine, Please don’t cry!” Muriel tried to be as comforting as he could without touching you, he’d never really been in this situation with you so he didn’t know if it was okay for him to hug you so he settled on a hand placed very gently on your shoulder. Julian opened the doors in a flourish motion, “The doctors innn— Oh gosh what happened why are they crying??” Julian turned very concerned when he saw your tears eyes and wet cheeks. “They heard you were coming by and bursted into tears.” Asra smirked, he wasn’t lying but he was leaving out some very important details. “Asra! Stop being mean!!” You yelled at him, Muriel quickly removed his hand from your shoulder seeing your mood had changed. “Julian if you don’t mind giving them their check up as soon as possible, the last thing I’d like is for hem and Asra to start arguing or for dear Muriel to endorse anymore emotional whiplash.” Nadia frowned. YOu nodded and glared at Asra who stiffened on the spot like a startled dear.

“ah, okay Darling if you’ll come with me I’ll take you to a private room.” Julian smiled softly, but for some reason his smile just rubbed you the wrong way and pushed your buttons. You stood and walked through the door flinching off his hand when he placed it on your shoulder. He raised an eyebrow and looked back out on the balcony to siliently ask the group what he did wrong. Muriel just shrugged at him while Nadia sighed. “They’ve been like that for the whole day.” Asra put simply, Julian nodded in acknowledgement before closing the door to follow you. You sat on the dinning table, “Alright, your room?” Julian suggested, “Here’s fine.” You grumbled with your arms crossed, Julian opened his mouth but closed it without saying a word. “So what’s been going on?”Julian asked he most basic doctor question, “Oh don’t act like you don’t already know what everyone’s said.” You hissed at him. “Actually—“ Julian sat down beside you the table. “No one’s told me anything, I was told to come here because everyone’s was worried about you.” Julian said simply as he leaned forward his his arms resting on his knees.

You looked down and pouted, “Sorry... Ive been getting sick, having weird cravings— can we just cut to the chase? I’m already certain I know what it is.” You explained exasperatedly, “And what’s that?” Julian questioned with amusement. “I’m pregnant.” You mumbled tensing up softly. Your muscles that were already tense reacted so fast that you jumped when the door to the balcony flew open with three vary familiar people following it.

“Muriel! I told you not to lean to far or the door would open.” Asra whined at his dark haired friend, “You stepped on my hand...” Muriel blushed in embarrassment. “I can’t believe you two let the countess be caught spying. Remind me to not hire you if i ever need someone to go undercover.” Nadia sighed as she walked over to the table where a very irritated and upset you sat with a Julian who could barely contain his laugh. “I can’t believe the countess of Vesuvia SPIES!” He gasped dramatically with a hand softly on his chest, “You saw nothing, Devorak. I don’t want any rumors starting.” Nadia raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t dream of it m’lady.” Julian smiled roguishly.

You cleared your throat to gain their attention, in an instant Asra was at your side smiling ear to ear. “Are you really pregnant!? Who’s the baby daddy!?” Asra asked with excitement, “Uhh... Lucio?” You said with an eyebrow raised, as if it wasn’t obvious. “Asra who else would it be? It’s kind of obviously Lucio.” Julian said with his arms crossed Asra laughed nervously at his stupid question while he rubbed the back of his neck. “what’s obviously me?” Lucio asked from the doorway, all heads turned to see him as he walked in with a bag dripping blood (No doubt with his small kills inside) and two very muddy borzois beside him. He handed the bag to a servant who quickly took the bag to the kitchen while the count walked over to you and your friends. “I...” You started but stopped and looked at your friends for assistance.

Julian smiled, he was no stranger to bringing news like this to people, he was a doctor after all. “Our dear MC here is expecting.” Julian said with a smug smile. Lucio raised an eyebrow, “Expecting what?” He asked, Julian’s smile dropped as he looked back at the group and shrugged.

Nadia sighed, “Let me try. Lucio.” Nadia started, Lucio’s attention shifted to her at the mention of his name. “We’re going to have a new face around the palace.” She said slowly, Lucio sighed in annoyance and looked up. “Oh gods, are we getting new servants? What’d they do now? Whatever they did they probably didn’t mean it, i really don’t want to get new ones. These know the system of things and getting new ones means we’ll have a lot of errors to fix and mistakes made.” Lucio went on explaining why the servants they had now are better then new ones, while it was sweet he was defending them he was really missing the point. Nadia put a hand to her head in annoyance, “I think I’m getting a headache.” She sighed hopelessly. “Guess I’m not the dumbest person in the room anymore.” Asra chuckled, “You try to tell him Muriel.”

Muriel thought for a moment as if he was putting it as simply as he could in his mind before speaking. “There’s going to be a small child running around.” Muriel said slower then Nadia and softer. Lucio stare at him a moment before cracking a very proud smile. “Scourge! You sly dog! When are we gonna meet the little guy!??” Lucio asked as he slung an arm over Muriels shoulder. “What!? No! Not me!!” Muriel steadily got redder in the face as he pushed Lucio off and away. “OH MY G O D S!!! Lucio I’m pregnant!!” You screamed so loudly the devil could have filed a noise complaint. Lucio sputtered for a moment, “What? How? Since when?!” Lucio’s words ran together at he looked at you “Aw, Lucio did your mom never tell you how babies were made? That’s fine, I can tell you and Asra both.” Julian smirked, Asra stood for a minute before looking up at Julian, “Hey!” Asra whined making Julian chuckle.

“I know HOW their made! I just don’t know WHY their made!” Lucio corrected Julian before he gained a pout. “Their messy, and loud, and annoying.” He added. “Lucio, you didn’t think this would happen at some point? Don’t you need a heir to your monarchy?” Asra questioned the older man, “I dunno! I kind just figured I’d always be around, I mean when i was married to Noddy this wasn’t an issue!” Lucio opened his arms in a dramatic wave. “Simply put; I refused to help with the continuation of your hare-brained bloodline.” Nadia said rather bluntly. “Lucio, Your like what— in your forties? What’s going to happen when you eventually kick the bucket again?” Julian asked with an eyebrow raised, “He’s ri~ight, You could keel over any day old man.” Asra sang cheekily, “Hey! Watch it you little urchin! Your aging too!” Lucio snapped at the white haired man, “Yeah but I have magic on my side.” Asra smirked up at him.

Muriel cleared his throat to gain all their attention, when granted he started blushing from said attention and glanced away. “Uh... MC left right after Lucio started talking again...” He pointed out while pointing to the space you had currently been. “They seemed pretty upset.” He added quietly. “Oh dear... How did we fail to notice them leave?” Nadia asked the group with slight surprise and bewilderment. “This is all Lucio’s fault.” Asra huffed with his arms crossed. “I’m sorry, excuse me!? My fault!? What’d I do!?!” Lucio yelled at Asra with one hand outstretched and one on his chest for punctuation. “Well for starters, your initial reaction could have been better... LIke seriously, ‘I don’t know why their made!’ ?” Asra scoffed at him. “I...”Lucio got tongue tied for a moment while he thought of what to say, he eventually sighed an ran a hand through his hair. “It’s to early for this, i thought we’d get married first and i didn’t plan on that for another few years!...I also thought that at that point I could talk them out of it with an exspensive pet...” Lucio’s sentence turned into a mumble at the end while he looked away.

“Look, unplanned things happen, Plus for the first few months to a year you wont even have to do anything that’ll hurt your old bones. They pretty much just sleep, eat, and do their bissinuess in a diaper.” Julian exsplained while taking at jab at Lucio’s age which didn’t amuse the count. “Isn’t there a way to... Undo this?” Lucio asked hesitantly, Nadia gasped in shock at the idea. “Lucio! I’m appalled you’d even think of such an idea!” She scolded, “Yeah, no, i didn’t think so...” Lucio sighed in annoyance, “You really have no idea how these things work.... Do you?” Asra purred.

“Well no, not really. Mother wasn’t the best... Mother. I mean I’ve had a few scares with the maids before i was resurrected—“

“Pardon?” Nadia raised an eyebrow.

“Not important! The point is, I’m not ready to be a dad! I don’t have a parental role model here!” Lucio huffed out. “Join the club.” Asra sighed longingly earning a nod in agreement from the rest. “I get the feeling this isn’t about it being ‘too early’. What’s the real reason?” Julian asked as he waved off what Lucio had said eariler. Lucio bit his tongue for a moment. “I... Well, babies take up a lot of time and attention... What if MC doesn’t have time for me anymore...” Lucio looked down ashamed, “That’s the most childish thing— OW!” Asra yelped when Lucio stomped on his foot, the white haired young man grabbed his foot while hopping on the other one until the sting went away. “What is it with you and those damn heels!?” Asra hissed in pain while hopping before he put his foot back down. “So I can stomp my enemies and look good doing it.” Lucio smirked at the younger.

“Back to the conversation— I don’t think that’s it, so spit it out.” Julian called him out with his arms crossed. Lucio looked even more ashamed, “i-I’m afraid I’ll turn out like my mother...” Lucio mumbled as he plopped down into a chair.

“Bingo!” Julian smiled victoriously as the others mumbled their agreements.

“I can see why’d you fear that.” Nadia added

“Yeah. Your mom’s like actually terrifying.” Asra shivered.

“Don’t get me wrong. She cares about me, in her own fucked up sort of way, but why else do you think i turned out the way i did.” Lucio looked up at the other four. “Well don’t worry about it, it wont happen.” Asra said with a wave of his hand. Lucio, being a little more then pissed Asra could just wave off his concerns like that, stood up. “Could you be a little more empathetic!? I get that you don’t like me but seriously! You’d think you’d do if for Mc’s sake.” Lucio snapped at Asra who only sighed. “I believe what Asra is trying to say is; You’ll be a better parent then your mother because you fear becoming her.” Julian clairified with a hand on Lucio shoulder, Lucio who made a soft ‘oh’ sound at Julians exsplaination.

Lucio smiled softly, “So you guys think I’ll be a good dad?” He asked, the small group erupted in words of agreement to the point it was all jumbled. “Maybe this whole parent thing will be fun.” Lucio smiled with his newfound confidence.

“Ha! No, It’s going to suck! All the crying and poopy diapers. You said it, their very loud and messy and annoying.” Julian laughed wholeheartedly.

“Be prepared to get more crows feet’s, old man, cause with the sleepless nights to come your gonna wish you had been smart enough to wear protection.” Asra added with a smirk.

And just like that, Lucio’s new confidence went right out the window. He slumped and whined softly as he watched Nadia grab the two men by the ears and give a harsh tug to make them wince. “Hush you two!” Nadia almost growled at them before letting them go to place at hand on Lucio’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, you’ll do great.” She smiled softly at him, Lucio’s confidence returning ten-fold. “at least MC will, Their the one who beat the devil and changed you so they can pretty much do anything.” Nadia added last minute clearly getting some enjoyment out of her ex-husbands suffering.

There went Lucio’s confidence yet again out the nearest window. “WILL YOU GUYS STOP DOING THAT!?” He yelled.

————————————————————————

There was a knock on the bedroom door where you stayed, Your’s and Lucio’s room to be exsact. You laid on your stomach on the giant bed, your face in the pillow. Mercedes and Melchior laid on the floor with soft whimpers, they were to afraid to lay on the bed after sensing how angry you were. You didn’t bother addressing the person at the door much like how they didn’t bother to wait for a reply before they walked in and sat down at the edge of the bed beside you. You knew very well who it was. “MC?” Lucio’s asked softly, “What?” You groaned from the pillow. “I wanted to apologize.” He stated, “Oh really? What for?” You asked sarcastically from the pillow. “For my reaction when you told me...” Lucio stated, these one sentence conversations were already starting to become the death of him. You said something but it was unintelligible from the muffle of the pillow, after a moment of Lucio’s silence you sat up. “I said! Are you going to leave me “ You repeated loudly, “No! Of course not. What gave you that ridicules idea?!” Lucio asked equally as loud.

You just stared at him for a moment so the pieces would click together. “Oh... Right. MC, I’m not leaving you! I intent to do this with you, I’m confident that we can do this. How hard could it be?” Lucio tried to smile confidently but it came out kind of wary. “Asra and them did that thing where they play tug of war with your confidence... Didn’t they?” You asked with an eyebrow raised, Lucio let out the breath he was holding. “Yessss.” He whined.

You rolled over onto your back and sighed, you looked over at him expectantly. “Truth is, I’m terrified... But i know that as long as your by my side we can do this. I trust you.” Lucio confessed as he laid down beside you, You curled up to his side and hummed. “I’m terrified too so don’t leave me if this gets to hard for you.” You said as you looked up at him. He smiled roguishly, “Wouldn’t dream of it my dove. Speaking on which i have a very big surprise for you.” Lucio smirked.

You bolted upright. “Your not proposing to me, are you!?” You asked curiously as you looked down at Lucio who’s smile was gone now. He stared at you like a deer in headlight for a moment before laying his head back and groaning. “No, Darling, I love you but please— One life changing event at a time!” He whined, you laughed softly at him and yourself. “So what was the surprise then?” You asked as you slowly laid back down.

“I was going to say that I’m having Nadia arrange a giant baby shower for you.” He smiled.

“Oh. Yeah, that’s a good surprise.” You laughed at yourself for being so off in your guess.

————————————————————————————————————————————

As the months went by everything started changing, slowly but still changing.

It started out pretty simple, just what had been happening the days prior to your ‘check up’. But soon Lucio started noticing little changes.

Mercedes and Melchior would follow you around everywhere, nipping at anyone who dared get to close. This included Lucio on a number of times. Often times when you slept Mercedes would sleep beside you for warmth and comfort while Malchior would stand or sleep by the door or outside the door, barking and growling at anyone who dare walk by or into the bedroom. The dogs weren’t the only acting odd though, Camio also started following you around and going after Lucio to request something for you so you didn’t have to get up. Lucio started questioning if they did the things they did because they could tell you were pregnant or because you had trained them to do so.

Then Lucio started noticing the bigger changes;

You started to get more off-the-wall cravings at the most random times. The moments when your emotions would be off the wall started to get closer and closer to each other. When you started to gain wheight the moments when you were ‘fine’ seemed nonexistent, you were either crying over being fat or yelling at Lucio for doing this to you. The Count tried his hardest not to get mad but his paients can only be worn so thin before he’s yelling back at you.

The last few weeks were non-stop screaming matches where you guys would end up sleeping in separate rooms before Lucio would finally cool down and go lay down with you— He wouldn’t apologize and you never asked him too because after all you had been pushing all his buttons. Taping them down was more like it, but he still loved you. The night before you had went into labor was one of the worst fights you guys had since the whole mess started.

You hadn’t seen Lucio since after you had the baby and everyone had filed out of the room to let you and the baby rest. That was when you heard a very fimillar knock at the door, Lucio stood in the door way like a kicked puppy. “I’m sorry I wasn’t in the delivery room... I figured you didn’t want to see me.” Lucio said quietly as he eyes wondered the room for the obvious, his eyes landed on the bundle of blankets in your arms, he wanted so badly to run over and take a peek like a little kid getting a new sibling— however he wasn’t about to enter the room without you asking him to, he’d learned once or twice before when you were still mad at him when he came to bed. “You can come see her.” You hummed in a soft motherly way, Lucio perked up and walked over quickly so you didn’t change your mind before he got to the bedside.

“Her...?” He asked wonderiously, “Yeah, Lucio say hello to your daughter. Lillian.” You hummed as you gently pulled back the blanket she was swaddled in. The moment Lucio saw her he fell in love, She had his hair and your eyes. She stared up at Lucio like he was some giant wonderful creature an adventurer had found. Lucio entry moved her platinum bland hair from her face, she however took the chance to wrap her hand around his finger. “She’s so tiny...” He barely whispered.

You had expected him to cry until his mascara ran clear, but no, he just stood there staring at Lillian like she was the most beautiful-rarest-most exspenive thing he’d ever seen. Lillian stared back at him at him for a moment before breaking into a giggling fit.

“Do you want to hold her?” You asked him, “Can I? You wont try to kill me like a momma bear...?” He asked, you laughed before handing Lillian to him. He stood stiff and held her tightly, he’d never held something so fragile before— he’d held one of a kind glass objects before but nothing was more fragile then his little girl in this moment. “Hi...” Lucio said awkwardly, Lillian squealed at him— at which point he did finally break down and start crying. “Monty! What happened?!” You asked worriedly, “She thinks I’m funny!” He sobbed loudly, You laughed louder then his sobbing.

Lillian reached up and put her hand on his cheek to touch his running mascara. Lucio sniffed and smiled with such fondness.

Mercedes and Melchior came bounding into the room together as if they had been waiting for their turn to see the baby. Lucio sat down in the floor for them to come over and see her. Melchior thought she looked rather funny so he stood back, Mercedes on the other hand couldn’t get enough of Lillian. She licked and stuck her nose in Lillians face. “Okay okay, calm down. This is Lillian— Your job is to protect her.” Lucio explained to the two white dogs that wagged their tailes excitedly.

This had been the happiest day of Lucio’s life.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

In the coming months Lucio took on everything with a happy-go-lucky aditude.

Lillian crying at night?

“Ill get her, You sleep.”

Dirty diapers?

“I got this one! You get the next.”

Teething?

“Oh pumpkin, please don’t chew on daddy’s arm it’s sharp. Here, here’s a toy you can chew on.”

He always gave you your alone time.

He doted and spoiled Lillian rotten. He took her everywhere with him, including meetings— He did use her as a way out of meetings every once in a while but he always told you it was because; “Too much real life exposure will crush her imagination!” It was like she knew exactly when to start fussing so he could leave.

When Lillian started learning to walk is when she really gave Lucio a run for his money. Between trying to catch her running naked down the halls so he could give her a bath to having to put her in timeout because her and the dogs got in trouble together. She didn’t like Camino very much because he was Lucio’s little spy that told on her. He would never spank her though. This didn’t mean her and Lucio didn’t do everything together still, including things he didn’t exactly want to do (I.e; Teaparties.)

When she got into her kid years, she often hung out with Asra, Nadia, Portia, and Muriel. Lucio would of course be the one to drop her off with them on Yours and his date nights.

Lillians teen years made him a nervous wreck, Always sneaking out and getting into trouble. She was never hurt since she played the royalty card and her favorite dogs were always by her side. Still though, that hadn’t stopped her from being brought home in the middle of the night by Julian who found her at the Rowdy Raven starting fights— Not after topping off her glass before he brought her home of course. Her hanging out with Julian did make Lucio feel better since he knew Julian would never let anyone touch her.

Even today, Lillian as an adult scares him to no end. Lucio and Her were back to being as close as they were when she was a baby, but he insisted on her having a cottage in the palace gardens, you and her both tried to remind him that he cant always protect her. It wasn’t until he was too old to continue that he realized; Lillian will be fine, she’s smart and cunning and can definitely beat ass, but what really put him at peace was the man she married, he knew she was in good hands then even if he didn’t think the guy was good enough for his little girl.

[nanasarea]

Love, Lux, and Tulips II

Prompt: Your mom and Jeno’s mom were best friends, so you grew up together as one big family and became best friends, but once you started Lux academy, you met your new crush Renjun, who became a tad jealous, to say the least.

Genre: fluff, angst, rich!au, magic!au

Pairing: childhood best friend!jeno x reader x classmate!renjun

Word count: 1.1k

a/n: we going renjun hours  + title credit to @neocitybynight​ 

remember you can still vote for endgame here

Tag list: @legendnct @mjlkau @neocrush​

series m.list / main m.list / ltt m.list / I  II  III IV V

“Don’t forget your bags!” Irene reminded as she handed you your bag. “Irene, I’m not 11 anymore, I think both Jeno and I can remember our bags.” You laughed, placing the napkin on your thighs onto the table and just as you did, Jeno almost sprinted past both of you. “Jeno!” You yelled ��Yes?” he asked, holding the door handle “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Irene asked “Oh, right.” Jeno smiled nervously and walked back to you.

“Still not use to this whole bringing your own things to school thing.” He admitted “You’re adorable.” You ruffled his hair before you said your goodbyes to Irene and walked outside. “I heard you made a new friend.” Jeno said as you made your way towards the school. “You mean Renjun?” You asked, to which he nodded. “That would be the one. What’s he like?” He asked “He’s...sweet.” You said. 

Last week, you met Renjun for the first time when you were having a hard time choosing which fruit cup to get during lunch. “If I were you, I’d stay away from the pineapple fruit cups, they have a weird after taste.” You heard a voice behind you say. “Oh, thanks.” You said, turning your head towards and smiling. “No problem. You’re the new kid, right?” He asked “That would be me.” You laughed. 

“Hey, would you mind if I sat with you today? I only really know two people here and both of them have class right now.” You nervously asked “So I’m a last resort?” He asked, chuckling “No, no, of course not!” you panicked “I’m joking, of course you can sit with me.” He said, smiling “I’m Renjun, by the way.” He introduced himself. “Y/N.” You smiled. 

You spent half of lunch period eating and the other laughing at Renjun and his jokes. He told you about the school, it’s professors, classes, students and he casually slipped in some of his personal life. “So I told Hender, I’m only 5cm shorter than you, this does not mean you can call me little Huang.” He said “But aren’t you the youngest?” You asked “Therefor the little Huang could possibly be true?” You added, taking a bite of the mango slice “That means nothing.” He said before smiling fondly at you.

After class, he asked if you had time, because he wanted to show you something. “I don’t have time today, but I’m free tomorrow.” You smiled “Can you show me then?” You asked “Of course.” He smiled. So the next day, you met him outside the school near the bushes, where he asked you to meet him. 

“Hey.” He greeted “Hi.” You smiled “What did you wanna show me?” You asked, to which he extended his hand towards you. You hesitantly put your hand on top of his before he quickly pulled you after him into a nearby bush. “Wh-” “Please don’t tell anyone about this.” He cut you off smiling “Dissendium.” He whispered as the bush opened a small passageway, leaving you speechless.

“Cool, right?” he asked “V-very.” You agreed, not having a chance to take it all in, as he pulled you into the hidden garden. “What is this place?” You asked “It’s my secret little garden. I made it when I was like 13 and wanted to be alone after school for a bit.” He explained “Oh. It’s really pretty.” You admired the various flowers ranging from rose, crocus, violet, iris, lily to larkspur. 

There was also a small pond, with all sorts of koi fish swimming around. The small table and chairs had self-pouring tea and a tray of baked goods, the whole table was surrounded by a bunch of trees, mainly cherry blossoms, which caused the grass to be coated with pink petals. It looked like heaven on earth, especially with the birds light chirping and the scenery of all kinds of butterflies flying around.

 “You made all of this?” You asked “Not really, I just created the atmosphere, the animals just kinda got attracted to the place.” he answered, walking towards the table. “Want some tea?” He asked “Love to.” You answered “What kind you got?” You asked “This is a magical secret garden created by me, someone who has magical powers. I have every flavor.” He smiled.

With that, you ended up joining him for some after school tea almost every other day. You would talk and eat together. Sometimes he would even bring a picnic basket, so you would lay on the picnic blanket, enjoyed the food while talking about your days. You had to admit, Renjun turned out to be one of the most interesting people you had met. He was really fun and easy to talk to. He was the first real friend you made, all on your own, that is.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Renjun asked “You just did, but when did me saying no ever stop you.” You laughed, causing the boy to roll his eyes while chuckling himself. “There’s this movie night that Lux is planning, it’s like a drive in.” Renjun explained “I was wondering and kinda hoping that you would like to go with me, maybe?” Renjun asked “Only if you want to, of course.” Renjun added, playing with the grapes on his plate.

“I’m, um, actually going with Jeno already-” You said, quietly. “But we can all go together if you’d like...” You insisted “Oh, no need. You two go.” Renjun refused, which is when he realized how close you and Jeno really were. He had heard that you were a 2 in 1 package deal, attached to the hip, inseparable, but he didn’t really believe it.

Sure, he had seen you two around. Walking together in the halls, basically hand in hand while joking around. You were almost always seen together, the only times he didn’t see you two together is when you and Renjun had lunch together or in the garden after school. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how many stories you talked about where Jeno made an appearance. There were many stories that you told where Jeno was the main character even. He was such a big part of your life.

He had heard that everyone expects you two to end up together, as you were the heirs of your wealthy families. It was expected of you two to be together or end up together at least, some even thought that your two families were planning on an arranged marriage, which was denied so many times, but that didn’t stop people from thinking that you and Jeno were practically married. Renjun knew that and he realized that his crush on you wasn’t one that he should have developed, if all the rumors were true.

How could they not be? You’ve known each other for so long, there are so many emotions involved, you were bound to catch feelings, unless.....

[artificialqueens]

Let the Love be Your Life (Branjie) - Athena2

Summary: After their kid doesn’t know one of their favorite movies, Brooke and Vanessa have a little movie marathon introducing favorite movies to them.

A/N: This is a Christmas gift for Writ because they’re the absolute best. It also fulfills the prompt ‘List’ for Ficmas over @writethehousedown, so you can find it there as well! It’s pretty much pure fluff and I hope you enjoy! I’d appreciate any feedback you have!

Also, thank you to everyone who’s read and commented on my fics this past year. It’s been a really hard year for most of us, and sharing my stories with you made it a little brighter for me, and I hope for you as well.

Title from Mother from Carole and Tuesday.

—

“Brooke, can you get me a bowl?” Vanessa calls over from the stove, where she’s stirring a pot of rice.

“As you wish.” Brooke snorts after she says it, trading smiles with Vanessa. One of their favorite movies, and the first couples costume they did all those years ago for Nina’s world-famous–or at least city-famous–Halloween party, where there was always full catering, a DJ, and at least one rumored celebrity hidden behind a mask. One person isn’t smiling though, and it’s their kid, pausing table-setting to stare at them.

“‘As you wish?’” Sam repeats in confusion. “What is this, the Middle Ages?”

Brooke’s mouth falls open. “What? No, it’s from a movie.”

“Oh.” Sam shrugs and goes back to setting the table, clearly unimpressed.

Vanessa is nowhere near as calm, her wooden spoon clattering on the counter. “Brooke, our child doesn’t know The Princess Bride!” She leaves the stove to stand by Brooke, shaking her head in outrage.

“We’ve officially failed as parents,” Brooke agrees.

Sam rolls their eyes. “It’s just some old movie, right?”

“‘Some old movie,’” Vanessa mutters under her breath. “‘Some old movie.’ Brooke, we gotta fix this.”

Brooke nods. She and Vanessa have always let Sam be themself, reading and watching stuff freely, as long as it wasn’t too dark or upsetting. But in all that, they must have forgotten to show Sam all the movies they had wanted to, the movies that Brooke and Vanessa love.

When Vanessa got stuck on bed rest towards the end of her pregnancy, she watched movies to pass the time, and Brooke joined her when she could, rubbing Vanessa’s aching back and massaging her shoulders, doing anything she could to make her more comfortable. They talked about all the movies they wanted to watch after their baby was born, the things they wanted to do and memories they wanted to make as a family. They had even made a list of movies, but it got lost somewhere in the chaos of having a new baby. Sam might be nine now, but they can still make those memories, and Brooke claps her hands. “We need a movie marathon!”

Vanessa jumps up and down. “Yeah! This week, we’re gonna watch a bunch of movies! Sammy’s on winter break, it’s perfect! We can do one every night! Peter Pan, and the Peanuts, and Muppets Christmas Carol–”

“Jurassic Park,” Brooke adds, grabbing a notebook and pen. “And Star Wars, and Matilda … my movies are way better than yours, babe.”

“Nuh-uh!” Vanessa yells. “Mine are classics!”

“I guess Sam will be the judge of that, then.” Brooke grins.

“They will be, and you can do dishes for a week when they like mine better,” Vanessa says, raising her eyebrow mischievously.

“What do I get if I win?” Brooke asks. It better be something good, something Vanessa hates as much as Brooke hates doing dishes.

Vanessa thinks. “I’ll do the laundry for a week.”

Vanessa hates folding clothes since she does it all day in her boutique. Brooke doesn’t mind laundry, exactly, but she’ll happily let Vanessa take over and fold the endless amounts of clothes for a week.

“Deal.” Brooke smiles, all thoughts of rivalry gone and replaced with excitement of the memories they’ll make.

—

i. The Princess Bride

“Okay, is everyone ready?” Brooke stands in front of the TV, making sure Vanessa and Sam are settled on the couch with pillows and blankets and the cats, canyon-sized bowl of popcorn and cupcakes from Brooke’s sister Kameron’s bakery all ready for the night.

“Ready!” Vanessa yells. Brooke presses play, and Vanessa opens her arms for Brooke to snuggle into as the movie starts.

“At least you two aren’t wearing your costumes,” Sam teases. Vanessa and Brooke have probably been a little too eager in showing Sam that picture over the years, but Vanessa looked like a literal princess in her red Princess Buttercup dress, Brooke was the perfect Westley, and they got compliments through the entire party, so sue them for showing off. Vanessa still remembers the cool silk flowing around her and warming her hand on the soft bit of skin revealed by Brooke’s shirt.

“Don’t think we weren’t tempted,” Vanessa says. “They’re in the attic somewhere, I bet I could still fit in that dress–”

“Do we need to pause it already?” Brooke asks, and Vanessa swats at her before snuggling back down and watching the movie.

Vanessa finds herself watching her family more than the movie, watching Brooke’s eyes widen and her lips stretch into a grin like she’s never seen it before. Then she turns to Sam, who really has never seen it before. They’re skeptical at first, face blank, but then their brown eyes–so warm and expressive, like Vanessa’s–light up when the Dread Pirate Roberts reveals himself to be Westley. By the end, their smile is huge.

“You liked it, huh?” Vanessa asks.

Sam looks down. “I guess,” they say, and Vanessa knows their nine-year-old heart can’t quite admit something their parents like is cool, but it’s a start, and she’s counting this as a win in both her and Brooke’s column.

“Well, I’m ready for tomorrow!” Vanessa yells, pulling Brooke in for a kiss.

—

ii. Star Wars

Brooke knows the baby Yoda ugly sweater and Star Wars pajama pants are overkill, but she can’t help it. From the moment she first saw the movie as a seven-year-old, all she wanted was to be a Jedi like Luke and save the galaxy. She and Kameron made lightsabers out of foam swords and spray paint, and they ran around their background slicing through enemies and saving the day. Kameron had even made truffles decorated like the Death Star when Brooke told her what they were watching, her brown eyes warm with memories of their Jedi days.

Brooke doesn’t know whether this movie thing between her and Vanessa is a contest, but if it is, she doesn’t really care about it for this movie. She just wants to watch it with her kid, hope they find the same joy in it that she did.

Sam seems to be enjoying the truffles at least, and they shove another one in their mouth. “Aunt Kam’s stuff is so good,” they say with their mouth full, and Brooke agrees.

The music blasts and opening crawl creeps onto the screen, and Brooke grins, even when Vanessa rolls her eyes fondly and asks her continual question of why everyone else has such ‘weird-ass names’ and Luke’s is normal.

Brooke didn’t think anything would be better than the first time she saw it, in their living room with salty popcorn burning her lips and Kameron next to her, but watching it now, with her wife at her side and their kid on the other couch watching with wide eyes, just might be even better. She never thought she would have this life, a family around her like this, and she pulls Vanessa little closer, breathing in the familiar scent of her coconut shampoo.

Sam is grinning when the movie ends, and warmth rushes through Brooke’s chest, that her kid enjoyed something that means a lot to Brooke.

“That’s my favorite one so far,” they say sheepishly, and Brooke lets out a whoop.

“All right, all right, it’s only been two movies so far,” Vanessa says. “We’re goin’ to Neverland tomorrow, and then we’ll see what’s better.”

—-

iii. Peter Pan

Vanessa feels like a professor as she stands in front of the TV, Sam and Brooke staring at her expectantly.

“Is this a presentation?” Brooke teases. “Should I take notes?”

“Oh please, you’re the one who loves presentations,” Vanessa says fondly. “No presentation–this movie did make me want to go into design, though. Oh! And it was the first sign that I was bi. Little kid me didn’t know if she wanted a flying boyfriend or a fairy girlfriend more.” Vanessa grins dreamily. She can still remember her heart fluttering the same way when she looked at Peter and his coppery hair as it did when she watched Tinkerbell pout, how it all made sense when she was seventeen and fully realized that she was bi for the first time.

“Start the movie, Ma!” Sam yells.

Vanessa does, then instantly pauses it, turning to Sam with worries in her mind. “Don’t get any stupid ideas from this movie, now!” she warns. “Don’t go flying around with people who show up in your window, no matter how cute they are! And Wendy was a child, acting all grown, Lord help us when you become a teenager–”

“Okay, Ness,” Brooke soothes, motioning for Vanessa to sit with her and pulling her into a hug when she does.

“I promise I won’t fly around with people in my window,” Sam says, and Vanessa smiles, reaching over and ruffling their brown waves.

“You better not,” Vanessa says, leaning back into Brooke, her wife still as cozy to cuddle with as she’s always been.

Vanessa’s dancing in place and belting out all the songs in no time. She’s known all the words since she was six, when she would perform the whole movie in her living room or sing them to herself as she drew fierce pirate coats and sparkly fairies with striped wings, and they’ve refused to leave her brain, even if she wishes she could have that space for something useful like where she put her phone.

Brooke’s not much of a singer, but she hums along, and when Sam’s soft voice hesitantly joins Vanessa’s, she knows the night is a success.

—

iv. Matilda

It’s not as action-packed as her other favorite movies on the list, but as a shy kid who always had her nose in a book, Brooke’s always had a soft spot for Matilda. After she had to accept that becoming a Jedi wasn’t a viable career path, it had been Matilda that gave her the idea to become a librarian. She could surround herself with books all day, and help people find the book they were looking for, introducing them to whole new worlds through the pages, just like she does with each bedtime story for Sam every night.

“This is a movie about a kid with magic powers, right?” Sam asks.

“Right,” Vanessa says, “and Mommy loves it because she’s a big nerd.”

“Hey!” Brooke protests, but Vanessa is laughing and giving her a warm hug.

“You know I love you for it,” Vanessa says simply, and Brooke hugs her back and knows it’s true.

It’s nice to watch a movie she hasn’t seen since she was a kid and find it still makes her smile the same way, still gives her the same hope at seeing a shy girl who loved books the way she did—and still does. Brooke has never been the confident, outgoing kid in so many movies. She was quiet and kept to herself, and Matilda gave her a world where she could be the hero. She hopes Sam always feels that way too, always knows that they can be the hero.

When the credits roll, Sam declares that it’s not their favorite off the list, but Brooke doesn’t mind.

—-

v. Peanuts

“Why are these even on the list?” Sam asks as Vanessa fiddles with the TV. “I’ve seen all the Peanuts movies.”

“And you’ll see them again!” Vanessa yells. “This is different. They’re official now, on the list and everything.” She starts the Easter special and shuts down all the arguments, biting into a peanut butter cookie.

“All right, all right.” Sam gives in, but they’re not complaining. Sam once tried to make Riley dance like Snoopy, and Vanessa knows they love these movies just as much as she does.

“This is another thing that got me into fashion,” Vanessa says. “Because I didn’t know why they always wore the same boring old clothes in all the movies, so I drew them wearing some new ones.”

“Of course you did.” Brooke grins.

“Well, I had to jazz those outfits up! They’ve been wearing the same clothes forever!” Vanessa laughs. She’s always wanted people to wear clothes they feel like themselves in, and somewhere in between drawing new outfits for cartoon characters, she decided that was what she wanted to do, and it’s what she still does with her own little boutique, just up the street from the library where Brooke works. She loves getting to help people pick out the perfect outfit, watching them smile as they come out feeling as good as they had hoped.

She leans back as Charlie Brown and the others take them through all the seasons, from Easter to Halloween to Thanksgiving and finally Christmas, where Vanessa reaches for tissues and even Sam pretends they have dust in their eye. Vanessa always wanted to fight the other kids for being so mean to Charlie, and even as an adult, the urge is still there.

When the movie’s done, an idea pops into Vanessa’s hand. She whips out her phone and brings up the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack, yanking Brooke into the middle of the room and pulling her into a dance while Sam twirls around with Riley, cats watching from the couch, unimpressed.

“Ness, you’re making me dizzy,” Brooke giggles as Vanessa spins her faster and faster, until they almost crash into the Christmas tree.

Sam is cackling next to them, and Vanessa slows up, pressing her chest close to Brooke’s and melting as Brooke places a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

It’s her favorite movie night by far.

—

vi. Jurassic Park

All her movies on the list are special, but this one just might be the most special for Brooke. Because this is what she and Vanessa watched on their first date.

Brooke had started her first job at the library the same summer Vanessa started doing formal design sketches for a portfolio. She came to the library to get fashion books for ideas, and Brooke secretly hoped she would come back in every day, so they could make small talk and maybe she could say something funny to see Vanessa smile again. And almost every day, Vanessa came back.

Summer was half over and Brooke thought they would do nothing but talk with a library desk between them when Vanessa finally asked her to a movie in the park, both of them giggling as they set the date because they were finally going out after weeks of flirting and smiling and wondering if feelings were reciprocated. A dinosaur movie might not have been the most romantic choice for a first date, but they curled up together on a plaid blanket and let their fingers meet in the bag of buttery popcorn, and when Vanessa gave her a soft kiss as the end theme song played, Brooke knew she was the one.

She looks at her wife now, humming along to the opening theme and eating the dinosaur sugar cookie Kameron made, and knows that she’s still the one.

They snuggle up together and make dinosaur noises that cause Sam to look at them in annoyance, but it only makes them laugh harder.

They watch on the edge of their seats even though they know the ending, and Sam does the same, jumping every time a dinosaur pops out. When the end theme plays softly as the characters escape in the helicopter, Vanessa has tears in her eyes. Brooke’s not a big cryer–the last time she cried was probably when Sam was still a baby–but her eyes pool with dampness too, until she and Vanessa are holding each other and half-laughing, half-crying, because this movie is what brought them together.

“What are you doing?” Sam asks in alarm. “Why are you crying over a dinosaur movie?”

Brooke and Vanessa just laugh and exchange a soft kiss.

—

vii. The Muppet Christmas Carol

Christmas has always been Vanessa’s favorite holiday. As a kid, she fought her brothers every day to move the little Christmas tree counter on their Advent calendar, her excitement only growing as the day grew nearer. She’d just make it through the extra-long church service, and then she was free to play with her cousins and stuff herself with cookie after cookie and wake with the sunrise Christmas morning to jump in her parents’ bed.

Only now that she has her own child jumping in her and Brooke’s bed at an ungodly hour each Christmas does she realize why her parents would groan so loudly and what a little demon she must have been.

But her and Brooke don’t mind–they both love it, really, love all their traditions. There are the cookies they bake all month, the toy drive they help with at Sam’s school, and then Vanessa’s turn bringing Sam shopping to buy Brooke’s present and Brooke’s turn taking Sam to buy Vanessa’s present. The weekend after Thanksgiving, when they’re still stuffed with leftovers, the tree goes up, the three of them passing ornaments around while Vanessa narrates the history of how they got each one and almost falls on the tree trying to prove to Brooke that she can reach the tall branches. The tree is her favorite part, with the rainbow lights twinkling and the shining star looking over them. The tree is extra bright tonight, Christmas just days away, as Vanessa starts one of her favorite Christmas movies.

“This was my favorite to watch when I was pregnant with you,” Vanessa says to Sam. “The doctor said I had to go on bed rest, and I was so mad because it was almost Christmas and I wanted to do stuff. This was the next best thing.” She still remembers those long days, the pain in her back and hips and shoulders combined with the sadness of not being able to hang up lights or bake cookies or do much of anything. The Muppets at least made her smile, gave her a piece of Christmas she could have while stuck in bed. And when Sam was born perfectly healthy in January, she knew it had all been worth it.

“I swear, I heard Kermit in my sleep for weeks,” Brooke says, rolling her eyes but smiling anyway.

“You love Kermit and you know it,” Vanessa says.

Brooke just snorts, but Vanessa knows she’s right.

Vanessa knows most of the words—she really did watch this movie a ridiculous amount of times when she was pregnant—and finds her mouth moving along with the characters. The movie still makes her just as happy as it did when she was stuck in bed, makes her love Christmas and her family that much more. It doesn’t mean she’s forgotten the bet though, and the credits have just started to roll when Vanessa leaps from the couch and turns to Sam. “So?” she asks expectantly.

“So what?” Sam asks casually.

Vanessa huffs. “So, whose movies did you like better? Mine, right? Say mine.”

“No way.” Brooke pops up behind her. “Mine were way better.”

Sam just rolls their eyes. “Come on, you know I can’t pick between you two. You’re both my favorite.”

Vanessa melts then, pulling Sam into a bone-crushing hug, Brooke wrapping her arms around both of them.

“I guess we’ll just split the house stuff next week,” Vanessa says.

“You mean like we already do anyway?” Brooke snorts, holding them tighter.

Vanessa just smiles. She has her family, and tomorrow is their holiday party with all their friends, and then Christmas with her family and Brooke’s family, and her smile deepens. She watches the snow fall softly outside and knows this will be the best Christmas ever.

[aj521z]

EVERY SINGLE QUESTION! ANSWER THEM NOW K PLZ TKS

(I HATE YOU MA’AM)

1. What is you middle name? - Crackhead

2. How old are you? - apprx 8

3. When is your birthday? - April 7 

4. What is your zodiac sign? - Dumb bitchasaurus 

5. What is your favorite color? - Blue. Like turquoise/aqua 

6. What’s your lucky number? - I have no luck Im gay

7. Do you have any pets? - 2 beautiful fucking dogs that the loml and I die for them immediately and kill everyone to defend them. Also a cat who is a wack boy 

8. Where are you from? - SoCal 

9. How tall are you? - 5′7 

10. What shoe size are you? - 10-11 (lol big feets)

11. How many pairs of shoes do you own? - probably like 10 and they’re all converse 

12. What was your last dream about? - sleep paralysis shadow demon(:

13. What talents do you have? - falling for girls who leave me 

14. Are you psychic in any way? - No im an oblivious fucking fool

15. Favorite song? - I have 69420 (two that have a VERY special place in my heart though in memory of my little brother are “Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd (his fave song) and “Since I’ve Been Loving You” Led Zeppelin <3 

16. Favorite movie? - oooooofff The Lion King is fave disney. Star wars and LOTR are some of my faves

17. Who would be your ideal partner? - Christen Press (only requirement must love dogs)

18. Do you want children? - Pending, but yes dog children

19. Do you want a church wedding? - LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

20. Are you religious? - yes @tobinheats-me-up​ and I have our own religion, bless JVN

21. Have you ever been to the hospital? - YES YIKE im an injury mess

22. Have you ever got in trouble with the law? - I got chased by the popo but escaped HAHAHAHHA

23. Have you ever met any celebrities? - Lindsey Horan and CP hello ma’ams

24. Baths or showers? - Showers I dont have time move im gay

25. What color socks are you wearing? - none hahaha

26. Have you ever been famous? - Im famous for being a stupid ass clown

27. Would you like to be a big celebrity? - fuck no ( @frankarnstein said “no not even a smol” and im dead)

28. What type of music do you like? - mmmm mostly everything but especially rock (indie, classic, industrial, punk, grunge, folk, all of it)

29. Have you ever been skinny dipping? - yes 💀

30. How many pillows do you sleep with? - one to two

31. What position do you usually sleep in? - back or side I toss and turn bc I have anxiety lol

32. How big is your house? - I live here so infinite abyss

33. What do you typically have for breakfast? - usually fruit and eggs

34. Have you ever fired a gun? - yes once at a shooting range

35. Have you ever tried archery? - yes! my aunt actually competes and she taught me hahahha 

36. Favorite clean word? - gay and yikes

37. Favorite swear word? - fuck

38. What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without sleep? - 78 hours i hallucinated 

39. Do you have any scars? - too many hahaha physically and emotionally 

40. Have you ever had a secret admirer? - soranon (only OGs will remember hahahaha)

41. Are you a good liar? - Depends, but usually no hahahah

42. Are you a good judge of character? - I thought I was but I dont know anymore tbh. Ppl are unpredictable

43. Can you do any other accents other than your own? - Yes ask @hvafaenerdette​ I love accents ahahahah

44. Do you have a strong accent? - I’ve been told by internationals that i have a strong american accent but idk ahahaha

45. What is your favorite accent? - Tobin Heath skater girl

46. What is your personality type? - Dumb bitch 

47. What is your most expensive piece of clothing? - idk like shoes?

48. Can you curl your tongue? - 😏 please

49. Are you an innie or an outie? - why is this a question wtf ahahhaha  

50. Left or right handed? - Right hand, Left foot

51. Are you scared of spiders? - No. Unless they fly down from my fan while I’m trying to play guitar and I’m very drunk and feel attacked

52. Favorite food? - All of it

53. Favorite foreign food? - Everything 

54. Are you a clean or messy person? - depends on my mental state((((((((:

55. Most used phrased? - for fucks sake and dumb bitch probably 

56. Most used word? - clown

57. How long does it take for you to get ready? - 5-10 minutes 

58. Do you have much of an ego? - No, I’m a clown I know my place 

59. Do you suck or bite lollipops? - suck I aint tryin to break my teeth lol

60. Do you talk to yourself? - bitch pls ahahahah ofc 

61. Do you sing to yourself? - Yes hahahha

62. Are you a good singer? - Maybe? hahaha

63. Biggest Fear? - Jill Ellis 

64. Are you a gossip? - Nope. I am bearer of all secrets hahahah

65. Best dramatic movie you’ve seen? - Tournament of Nations 2017 USA vs. Brazil

66. Do you like long or short hair? - long on me but I dont care on other people

67. Can you name all 50 states of America? - I cant geography, but think I could get most ahahaha

68. Favorite school subject? - bio

69. Extrovert or Introvert? - Depends who I’m with, but usually introvert unless I fuck w you ahhahaha

70. Have you ever been scuba diving? - Snorkling yes, but not scuba diving

71. What makes you nervous? - WHAT DOESNT LOL

72. Are you scared of the dark? - No 

73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes? - only if it’s serious 

74. Are you ticklish? - Not really hahaha

75. Have you ever started a rumor? - No 

76. Have you ever been in a position of authority? - Yesssss

77. Have you ever drank underage? - Lol do you know me

78. Have you ever done drugs? - 🥦 💨 @tobinheats-me-up

79. Who was your first real crush? - Gwen Stefani I think? ahhahah I love No Doubt

80. How many piercings do you have? - 0

81. Can you roll your Rs? - yes ma’am

82. How fast can you type? - very fast 

83. How fast can you run? - I cant, but I can walk very fast, move bitch im gay

84. What color is your hair? - light brown

85. What color is your eyes? - depends on lighting either blue or green

86. What are you allergic to? - homophobia 

87. Do you keep a journal? - I write songs instead hahaha

88. What do your parents do? - judge my “lifestyle” 

89. Do you like your age? - yes hahahah

90. What makes you angry? - men

91. Do you like your own name? - yes it’s v gay

92. Have you already thought of baby names, and if so what are they? - Christen and Tobin 

93. Do you want a boy a girl for a child? - ive been laughing at this for a minute a “a boy a girl” 

94. What are you strengths? - being gay

95. What are your weaknesses? - girls

96. How did you get your name? - my parents gave it to me? hahahaha

97. Were your ancestors royalty? - cereally 

98. Do you have any scars? - This hasnt changed but again yes both physically and emotionally (:

99. Color of your bedspread? - blue with anchors bc it’s 

100. Color of your room? - tan and one dark blue wall

[color-me-malfoy]

TEN DUEL COMMANDMENTS: CHAPTER IV

SUMMARY:

After the rumor spreads that The Dark Lord has returned, a tyrant woman called Dolores Umbridge takes over Headmaster Dumbledore’s position to run the school in a way where no one can speak against the Ministry. In the middle of all the chaos, Harry Potter approaches you saying that he wants you to help him in a secret mission to teach the students how to defend themselves in case The Dark Lord infiltrates the school. However, a certain platinum-haired boy from the Inquisitorial Squad is seeking every way to win you over to his side. So you’re stranded between what you believe in and what you think is right. And right now, you aren’t willing to wait for it.

CHAPTER IV: GOD HELP AND FORGIVE ME, I WANNA BUILD SOMETHING THAT’S GONNA OUTLIVE ME

“Can… Can we stop? I’ve been- I’ve been running up… up and down the stairs all day,” you wheezed as Harry, Ron, Lester, and Ruth raced ahead of you. Harry held his hand out.

“You can have a seat when we get there, just one more floor to go,” he said as he turned back and continued up the stairs.

“Where...” you gasped as you finally reached the seventh floor, bracing the banister. “Where are you even taking us?”

He didn’t respond as he and Ron checked the hallway for anybody, then signaled to the rest of you to follow along. When you, Ruth, and Lester made your way towards them, Harry smiled with pride as the wall behind him seemed to open up. 

“I present to you… The Room Where It Happens.”

He stepped aside, revealing a beautiful expanse, where there were students duelling, students practicing spells, and students conjuring their own Patronuses, gazing in awe as the blue glowing creatures pranced around their creators.

Now this is what Hogwarts is supposed to be. Not examinations, not protocols, not strict totalitarianism under the Ministry.

“Harry,” Ruth breathed out, absolutely speechless. You could see her eyes glistening over.

Lester looked around. “What is this place?”

“The legendary Room of Requirement,” Ron beamed.

You turned to Harry. “How did you find it? Hundreds of wizards before you have tried.”

Harry gestured to the room, allowing you to enter. “Of course we did a little research before we actually created Dumbledore’s Army,” he said. “We made sure no one else knew how to open it.”

You stepped further into the room, and everyone turned to look at the five of you.

“Alright, mates,” Ron waved his hands. “I hope you know Ruth, Lester, and Y/N. They’re going to join us.”

“Wait a minute,” you turned to Ron and Harry as Ruth and Lester walked to join the other students. “I didn’t say anything about joining you yet.”

“But clearly you’re not on Malfoy’s side!” Ron wailed.

“The enemy of my enemy is not my friend, Ron, I’m more of a neutral party.”

Harry grabbed your shoulders. “Y/N, you could be the one to help change the system. Do you support this movement?”

“Of course!”

His eyes narrowed. “Then defend it.”

“And what if you’re backing the wrong horse?”

“Y/N, things like this are what Dumbledore wanted us to be prepared for. Magic isn’t all potions and wand-waving. I’ve seen more than I can bear to retell in that damned graveyard, and I don’t want any more people learning to live with the unimaginable.”

“The unimaginable? What do you mean-”

An Asian Ravenclaw girl tapped Harry on the shoulder. “Harry, Hermione has something she needs to tell you.” She turned to you. “You must be Y/N L/N. I’m Cho Chang.”

You smiled at her. “Hi, Cho.”

She held your arm gently. “Could I have a word with you?”

The two of you moved to the side.

“So,” she glanced at Harry before looking back at you. “What made you want to join?”

“Well, it’s kind of a long story, but I’m still deciding. But don’t worry, I’m willing to keep this a secret no matter what.”

“Harry told me how you have some questions about what we do, well, we fight for Hogwarts and-”

“Yes, I know, it’s just,” you ran a hand through your hair, “is the trouble worth it?”

Cho sighed. “Actually, I was hesitant at first to join this because of how much trouble I could possibly get into. But then,” she took out her wand, closing her eyes. “I thought of Cedric.”

“Cedric Diggory?” You gasped. The boy had been murdered by The Dark Lord, but the Ministry had only called it a “tragic accident”.

“Yes,” she smiled sadly, her eyes still shut. “I thought of what he would want me to do, what he’d want all the students to do if he were still alive.”

Her wand glowed blue at the tip, and a tear slid down her cheek.

“I thought that maybe he’d want me to tell his story by fighting for what I know is right.”

The blue glowed brighter, and she held on tighter to her wand, her eyes still shut.

“I just think that if there’s a reason I’m alive in a world where Cedric doesn’t exist anymore,” she whispered wistfully, “I’m willing to wait for it.”

As she said those words, the image of a swan emerged, and danced around her, leaving a stream of misty blue gleaming in its trail.

She turned to you, tears running down her cheeks, and a determined look in her eyes as she smiled.

If she hadn’t put down her wand, you wouldn’t have realized you were crying too.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m such a bloody softie,” you giggled as you wiped away the tears on your sleeve. “I’m so sorry you had to endure that.”

She shook her head. “It’s made me stronger, no matter how much it hurts.”

You sniffed and looked up at her, feeling the tears coming back. “Ca-can I hug you?” You squeaked.

She nodded, then held her arms open for you to embrace her. You sobbed into her shoulder as she rubbed your back.

You let her go and laughed. “I’m sorry, I should be comforting you.”

“No, it’s alright. Harry cried more,” she giggled.

“What about me crying?” Harry walked over to the two of you. “Alright, Cho, what bollocks are you telling Y/N about me?”

The three of you laughed. Cho shook her head. “No, Harry, we were just talking about-”

“I’m joining,” you cut her off.

Harry turned to you, his eyes wide. “Wha-what?”

“I said,” you smiled at Cho, “I’m joining Dumbledore’s Army.”

Ron hollered a cheer. “Congratulations, Y/N! Hey, I’m sorry about how I reacted to Malfoy this afternoon. I just hate him so much,” he clenched his fists and pretended to throw a punch.

“Now, Ron,” a curly-haired girl warned him, “You know what happened the last time you tried hexing him.”

You turned to her, “You must be Hermione Granger,” you smiled.

“I heard about how Malfoy copied off your potion and took credit for it,” she whispered. “How could he possibly be a role model student?”

“Well, he didn’t exactly copy off me, he was probably just looking at how to crack the shells,” you shrugged.

“He asked you to the library tomorrow, right?” Hermione recalled.

“Well, yes, but I don’t think Harry and Ron want me to go-”

“Go.”

“Wh-what?”

“This is our chance to get information on how much the Inquisitorial Squad really knows about You-Know-Who’s return. Maybe you can slip in a question or two about it.”

“I- well, okay.”

After Harry introduced you to the other D.A. members, you walked down the stairs with Hermione, because Lester and Ruth stayed behind to talk about something with Harry.

“So you drank it,” Hermione gasped.

“I didn’t! Livina came in talking about a commotion by the stairs that never happened.”

Hermione turned to you. “Oh, yeah, about that, why the blazes did she do that?”

“I don’t know,” you replied. “She said she did it for a friend. Who on Earth could that friend possibly be?”

The two of you stopped. 

Hermione looked at you. 

You looked at Hermione.

“Livina’s a Slytherin,” Hermione thought out loud.

“And Malfoy’s a Slytherin...” you trailed off.

“Could it...be?”

You stared at each other until…

“Ha! No way!” Hermione laughed.

The two of you burst out into laughter, and talked for the rest of the night, unaware of the Slytherin girl grimly eavesdropping in on the two of you.

=

Livina scrunched her nose in disgust at your conversation with Ruth. 

Her, doing something for that obnoxious Malfoy twat?

Draco was a Slytherin, yes, and so was she, but that didn’t mean they agreed on all terms. They were forced to work together because she was part of the Inquisitorial Squad, but all things considered, even her dog spoke more eloquently than him.

That was the problem of being a Slytherin, she always had a reputation to maintain.

But in reality, she loved Ravenclaws. 

She wished she had been sorted in Ravenclaw, but here pureblood mother wouldn’t settle for anything less than perfect- or rather- her idea of perfect. She knew she loved the thrill of books, and she liked a person of intelligent substance.

She liked a mind at work.

Which is why she fell in love with Lester.

Yes, dear reader, Lester Lawrence, the boy everyone knew as the biggest bookworm of his age. The boy everyone knew she teased. 

But, again, in reality, she really, really wished she could be kinder, to tell him how much he had bedazzled her with his bubbly and bright personality, but she didn’t know where to start. 

So she had settled for staring, “lightly” teasing him, and even subtly helping his friends with whatever they needed.

Earlier, she thought she had already done enough by only telling you not to drink the tea. But after she saw Lester panicking about you, and running around with a Hufflepuff girl holding onto his hand, even if it broke her heart to see someone else holding him, she decided she valued her heart over her head and took the risk of being scolded by Umbridge and her parents, and ran to Umbridge’s office to make a diversion.

Even if Umbridge was as smart as a pebble and never really knew a thing, she knew her parents would find out one way or another about her actions. She already knew the owl would come flying to her the next morning, clawing her worst nightmare as it settled down on the desk. She already knew her parents would be furious for helping a Muggle-born, and yell at her to remember her place as a pureblood. She knew they would take their quills and write out their disappointment in her for the parchment to yell in her face when she opened it.

And she already knew she would have to choose.

But she also knew she’d see Lester, happy even though she wasn’t the reason, but happy with his friends... and of course, the Hufflepuff girl.

A tear rolled down her cheek, then another, then another. Soon Livina had to brace herself against the pillars to calm her breathing, though she was already racked with sobs as she curled into a ball against the floor.

She had never wanted the world; she only wanted to give the world to the one she loved.

She would never be satisfied.

=========

Taglist: @moonliightbabes​ @slytherin-chaser​ @holybatflapexpert​