#night of the bloody apes | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

the-monkeies-girl · 3 months

Text

Future. ( Noa x Human!Reader ) Part 8.

I keep waiting for it to get better GUYS

Title: Future. Fandom: ( Kingdom of the ) Planet of the Apes. Rating: T. ( Violence, injury, blood, eyyyyy. ) Pairing: Implied! Noa x Human! Reader. Words: 6.4K+ Summary: Demise comes in a lot of forms. Read the Series Here.

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・●・○・

Noa must have sent Eagle Sun in his place, choosing to not even bother saying goodbye as you stared at the bird sitting on the back of the horse you were gearing up to depart on. He surely seemed intent on watching as you placed your satchel and freshly filled water gorge onto one of the twining hooks in the back for safe keeping during your travels, going as far as to peck at the item as if to say ‘you’re not leaving, you can’t leave’.

He had been here, you deduced by the fact that there was a freshly rolled blanket mounted on the back carrier of the horse, along with enough provisions to last you at least a week, if not more if you rationed, a few spearheads and a few water gorges, all full. It was clear that Noa hadn’t slept the night before, opting to do something to keep himself busy before you chose to leave. He had no idea when, but he must have figured you’d leave before first light so as to not make a spectacle out of it anymore.

Like it was one to even begin with, rolling your eyes, you tightened the blanket hap-hazardly, subconsciously dallying enough to give you a bit more time to think about what was waiting for you beyond the bushes and safety net that Noa had casted over you for so long.

You adjusted the bag that Noa had given you. Not even bothering a kind thought towards it, there were no good intentions put behind the items in your eyes anymore, it felt hollow and shallow like you were stepping into a lake that appeared deep on the surface but was nothing more than a mere puddle. Noa most likely gave you these things out of ridding himself of guilt if you ended up dead, your face contorted uncomfortably at the idea but it felt right. Let Echo leave with food, some small weapons and small items to help out and if they die on their own, then oh well, at least Noa did what he needed to do so as to not cause your death directly.

Contemplating for a moment as you were in a staredown with the Eagle, you chose to not pet his head goodbye as a means to burning the bridges, as uncomfortable it was to think about and as sad it was for Eagle Sun who had no real position in all of this, Noa’s decision was always Eagle Sun’s and the Ape had to know this choice… Not even a choice. This demand that you leave was going to affect more than just Noa and yourself. This place… Your home for nearly a year, your belongings all fitting into one small bag…

The juxtaposition was clear, the more you thought about it, the more you thought about your Human aspects against their Ape adjacent aspects. You never should have stayed here, you should have never taken the sweetness of the offer that Noa gave. Temptation was a fault of Humans, more than evident now as you felt your heart skip a beat. You turned your back to the horse to get one more good look at what you were abandoning.

The sweeping towers of the clan, eclipsed with running vines up the sides and posts that elevated it high into the air, the lush green landscape peppered deliciously with wildflowers that grew to your mid-calf that surrounded the clan itself and gave it blissed paradise away from the rest of the valley, the rush of the river only a few meters away from the horse paddock, roaring back at you the intricate conversations that you and Noa shared, all shattered into small shards that you wanted to pick up, but with every attempt, it left your hands a bloody mess, and the more you tried to hold, the worse it got.

An hourglass where there was no sand anymore, having been heated by anger and aggression to the point where it was now an hourglass that was responsible for small slivers of glass encased memories. You wanted to look at them through rose-colored eyes, but it was impossible now with the remembrance of your words in conflict with Noa’s, to the point where words themselves no longer made sense as you had re-played them over and over again.

Your eyes lingered on the horizon for a few moments, the sun barely making its presence known along the twinkling dip of the Earth. It was on the cusp of dawn, the sky above you shifting to a mild pink with a richly deep undertone of midnight blue. You hadn’t slept at all the night before, but you let your fire die out on its own out of neglect. It felt good to do, to know that it was dying because you were choosing to not stroke it back to life, with every ember that flittered from orange to ashen, you felt a grotesque satisfaction wave over you. Death brought new beginnings, you whispered to yourself and squeezed your eyes shut but Death also meant the end to something. There was no point for slumber once Noa tore away from you, refusing to even look back as he took his leave from your hut.

You tried to keep your eyes focused and alert as you got the horse ready, as you went to the river to dip a cloth in it for your wrist, to reflect in solitude for only a moment as if the hours of your self-deprecation after Noa left wasn’t enough, as if the minutes it took you to shove things into your bag meant nothing anymore. Your feet felt heavy when making it to the embankment of the river itself, your shoulders torn inwards with equivocation.

The water bounced around your fingers as you dipped it into the shoreline, crisping against a smoothed pebble. Just one, small enough for you to tuck into the wrapped nature of your wrist bandage for safe keeping. You had no idea what to do with it, but you wanted something to remind you of the bitterness that began springing in you at the realization that nothing was sentimental to these Apes, nothing meant anything. Clenching your jaw at that, you steered your train of thought but found it still obsessing over Noa.

Not a goodbye, not a yearning action towards you anymore as if you were expecting a whole departure party. You were selfish, you tore into your own self as a means to dull the vague pained prospect that you were leaving everything you had wanted, and then more. Selfish to think that this could have worked, that months ago, you were willing to give it a chance once actual emotions began seeping into conversations with Noa. He never cared - you yelled inside, he never cared, and he was more selfish than you were trying to hold on even tighter. You figured it would be him who came out on top - he was built to hang, built to hold on. With one glance that meant more than any other, you began sweating, your hands slipping and you were no longer to hang or hold on anymore. Noa won.

Turning back around as you tried with meager desperations to remember the moments, the good and the bad, remember the kindness that you had received while here, along with the toppled glares of the Elders who were not happy at your presence at all, going as far as to convince Noa time and time ago to just let you loose… Bitterly, you smiled at that and brought your hand up to lightly brush the side of the horse. They were going to be so happy once the sun rose and you were no longer there, no longer a ticking-time threat.

You would miss the entire village, but this… Tightening your grip onto the saddle, you rose your body with a grunt and a small cry at the nature of your wrist bending in any position other than stagnantly flat, your knuckles flashed white at what happened the night before as you grabbed the reins and steadied your balance. Anger bubbled to the surface as you dropped your eyelids down to encase your vision with your wounded wrist, now tightly tied into a cloth that had been dipped in fresh and crisp river as a means to help the swelling go down.

As if you were any better, any less selfish, you thought to yourself and let your hands glide along the side of Noa’s horse to calm them down in your presence as you adjusted yourself on top of the saddle. You weren’t their owner, they were begging you to jump off and to just stay, and that’s all you wanted. To fall, even onto your knees and beg to stay. Fluttering your good wrist against the reins, you began trotting to the east, down the dirt pathway used by many Apes over the generations of Noa’s clan, now kissing you a farewell as Noa himself refused to even see you off.

Noa would tell Anaya and Soona what happened, you imagined and drew a deep breath in, holding it painfully long to the point where it felt like your lungs were going to explode. At least, he would tell them what they wanted to hear, you wondered for a split second just how much of a villain in all of this you were about to come but tried to shake that vicious thought out of your mind. There was no sense in thinking about that, you were never going to see them again.

You urged the horse forward and with a wild but tamed neigh, they began trotting away.

You turned your head, tears stinging at the back of your eyelids.

You could still see the clan in all its glory, tightening your hands onto the reins you contemplated going back a few times. Going back and apologizing and asking for forgiveness in hopes that you would be allowed to stay.

Not because you were selfish.

But because you couldn’t imagine yourself anywhere else, being anyone else.

It was home.

A few minutes later, you turned your head once you were in the embellishment of the woods, tears now encasing your entire cheeks, down the slope of your face and off your chin to drip onto your hands.

Just the tops of the tree-bungalows.

A few minutes later, you turned your head, reminding yourself that it wasn’t worth crying over. He didn't want you there anymore than you wanted to be there when you were first picked up by Noa, Anaya and Soona.

Nothing, just forested trees sweeping your vision from all sides, darkened and musky as the sun began rising in the direction you were headed. ●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・●・○・

Noa racked himself through the coals, holding onto his heart in the only way he knew how as he had watched you prepare to leave. Always, even after what happened, what you said to him and what he had done to you, he watched, waited, perhaps even hoped that you’d come to your senses first, as you always did, and come back to him. That you’d be able to rationalize it all and tell him why your departure was not a good idea, something outside of the self-absorbed realm of not wanting to die if you were out on your own.

It was surely one of those Echo things - Noa never understood it, the sudden surge of codependency you had towards each other, having only shifted a few months ago in the peak of the Summer months. You were the rational one, you kept yourself grounded and by proxy, you kept Noa there too. But now, there was nothing holding him down, nothing to grab onto as if your hand was still reaching for him in dead space.

The tree he chose to watch you from was far enough away that the darkened fur of his body was able to camouflage him, but it was close enough that he was able to see the scape of your face, the timid rise and fall of your shoulders, your scanning glance that was seeped around the edges with darkened circles and redness lingering around the creases of your eyelids. Noa felt bile hit the back of his throat, heaving his chest a bit more adamantly as to remind himself that your words had to be right. You hadn’t slept, by the looks of it and the appearance of your stance behind incredibly slumped in like you didn't have the energy to stand up straight.

He knew that you were aware of the bag of picked provisions he left for you, having gone there an hour prior to prepare the items and set the horse saddle on, something he knew you were incapable of doing with your Echo strength. How he wanted to chuckle at that, but he felt desolate inside when you simply looked into the bag, no evident reaction on your face other than your brows pulling in on themselves, before you continued on your way.

You spared it no more attention and mounted the horse with delicate ease. His green gaze stared at your wrist, embarked with white fabric that you had to tear one of your old shirts apart for. It tied neatly around your thumb, giving you the dexterity needed to grasp things but it was obvious how pained it was. He had done that, and all the times he had thought of hurting you in the graces of pleasure seemed to fade into oblivion in his open mind.

He would bite your neck and make you bleed, tearing at the tender spots until you were lifeless under him.

He would hold your body close to him and feel the shattering of every single one of your ribs before you slumped against his own self.

He would place his forehead against your own in a bid of apology and forgiveness and in the process, you would turn away, afraid to be touched, afraid to be near him.

Baited in self-deprecation once more, he watched you wordlessly set off into the woods, Eagle Sun soaring above your head in a bid to follow you until you were out of Eagle Clan territory. It would take you to the end of the day, Noa figured, factoring in small breaks he knew you were going to need on the back of the horse, and then… Eagle Sun would return to bid Noa news on your venture before he encased himself in loneliness and an astringent prospect that it would take no time at all to forget this. To forget Echo. To forget you.

“You’re just an animal.”

Maybe he was.

Noa felt himself flurring, in and out of a conscious state and without intending anymore damage as he had felt the delectation of your bones crunching under his strength, you had been dropped to the floor, on your side and made quite an impact to the point where Noa could sense the bruising already taking form on your hips and side, eradicating heat running through your ribs as you tried to breath, tried to hold yourself up and had a hard time relinquishing to the adrenaline that was coursing through you, a reaction to his subvertant aggression. It was going to dim, Noa knew that, and your wrist was going to become more distressed and dressed elegantly with sharpened purples, reds and blacks in an attempt to heal the unhealable.

Through pupil-blow eyes, he just looked at you and panted, the bristling of fur on his shoulders rolling through his entire being with a shuffle of electricity through his spine, his shackled feet stagnant but spaced in irritation, his shoulders broadened and intimidating. He liked it; the view of your tears. The struggle you went through as you tried to process what happened, holding onto the pressure point he so willingly took into his grasp, intentionally too tight, intentionally holding you up like a fish caught on a hook so he could look at the prize he once thought he had.

Noa could feel the scratch-marks you left on the side of his hand from where you had tried to get him to let you go, not deeply ingrained to bleed but shallow enough that it was a discomfort to the Ape. You were selfish, Noa thought to himself and narrowed his eyes. Selfish just like he was and you deserved what he did, just like he deserved your harsh words.

Noa expected more. Expected you to snap back at him, and realistically, he wanted you to. Tear him down just to piece him back together out of desperation once you realize what you were losing. Grab onto his shoulders, Noa begged, dig your fingernails into me, make me bleed, make me submit. You hurt me, I hurt you, so you should hurt me back! If I’m nothing more than an animal to you, then I’ll act like it. I hurt you, you hurt me, back and forth until one of us submits to the other. Irrationality never rested well with the Eagle Clan leader.

“I need to think of my Clan’s Future,” His words were torn, a fork in the road. Pragmatism wrestled with primal intent touched with optimism. “Was not when I asked… You to say…” His next set of words came out more biting than before, the pure flinch you radiated at the infliction was something Noa felt was going to be remembered for years to come, “When I w… wanted you to stay.”

Noa savored every bitter drop of it to the very end, at least until he left and was shattered and torn to the reality of what had just happened as you left his view, tangling yourself into the woods on his horse. He counted every trot of the horse. One foot, two, three, four until he was unable to see you anymore and he focused on hearing them instead. One, two, three… There was nothing more for him, nothing lingering in the air.

Your laugh. Noa drew a small breath in to torture himself with dissatisfaction of not entirely inflating his lungs, your smile… He’d forget them with time, but he didn't want to. Just like he had already forgotten his Father’s embrace, his voice on the very cusp of being lost to time, all of you… Will become distant, one year from now, two into three… He wondered then, what he would remember. Your scent would become one with the trees as a breeze rolled through the land, sweet and inviting him to sit blissed in reminiscent melancholy of what could have been. He wanted that.

Actually, if Noa were honest he wanted to chase after you. Mount Anaya’s horse, telling the Ape he’d be back shortly and run away in hopes that he’s able to track you, one of the many skills that Noa possessed to near perfection. There was no point - You’d never come back to him as if you were ever his to begin with, the Chimp scoffed at that. He was not inherently selfish but oh, how he wanted to be… Just for a few minutes to convince himself to get you to selfishly stay with him. He knew the idea was outlandish.

You couldn’t bear him an heir for the Eagle Clan’s longevity and he knew that but still, he’d be willing to risk it just to have you, just for the chance to know what it felt like, to know how it felt like to have your affection tossed towards him. Selfish. You were right. He was selfish. You were just an Echo to everyone else, they never saw, heard or felt you like he had… Every place you had touched him burned, soldering into his skin unbearable to the position that Noa wanted to scream. He was never going to experience that again.

Just like Noa himself, you were incredibly boar-headed in your decisions especially if they were made for you. You’d rather sit back and take it than try to come up with an argument against it because it was hard to do that when you didn't know all the details, all the feelings that were going into it. Noa made this. Noa demanded this decision be reality. Noa needed to think of Anaya… Soona… Dar… The entire Eagle Clan rested on his shoulders, he knew but there was nothing counting towards the agony that drenched over him when he thought about what was said the night before and what he had done to you. Looking down pensively at his hand, he collapsed his fingers into a fist and brought it harshly down onto the tree-branch he was sitting on.

He was sure he was going to forget as time was a funny thing.

But that was the thing… Noa… didn't want to.

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・●・○・

Three Months Later.

Grunting, you felt your back slam against the hard bark of a tree trunk that had to have been at least three feet behind you, your head whiplashing forward and then backwards once again, tweaking the tender muscles of your neck along with blunting the back of your head with the momentum. You weren’t bleeding, at least you were unable to feel any trinkles against the back of your head, but it hurt enough for your eyes to squeeze shut.

Gasping, nothing came to fruition from the pure force you had been pushed back with. Waves of stinging hit your senses and your ears felt like they were whistling at the highest pitch possible. Your horse sputtered to your left, tied to a low sitting tree-trunk for the night as you so often did to keep her from roaming too far during the nights. She stayed close, but with lacking skills at tracking, finding her in the mornings was a proven difficulty for you so you began tying her up a month or so ago.

Frantically in the heat of a hunt, you looked for something to protect yourself with. Something sharp? They were all in your satchel, the few spear heads that a certain Ape had provided for you. Something used more for fishing, but you wished you had one you knew as you could swipe at the figure that was talking to another, taking in stride their plans as you were left rather inebriated from being galvanized against a tree.

You tried again, to more success. You were able to breathe, the air seeping into your lungs feeling more heated as you staggered on your feet, trying to keep yourself balanced enough to address the situation, address whomever had chosen to attack in the middle of the night, your fire barely a crest of orange. From the bits and pieces you were able to recall, feeling a tinge of wetness coming from your ear with a mild curse as you had begun bleeding, confirming that you had hit your head that hard, you were attacked mid-sleep. Whoever this was, sitting in the darkness far enough away that you weren’t able to make out any details, waited until you were at your most vulnerable and then made their move.

Shakily, your hand connected with the side of your face and you wiped some of the blood away from trailing down the trace of your jawline. Unable to move, you focused your eyes on the figures. Three, maybe a fourth. Heart sinking into your chest, your eyes widened with realization. They had to be Apes, there was no other reason to attack you unless they had been stalking you the entire day and chose to attack you when it was going to be the easiest to kill you.

These ones had to be sadistic, pushing you against a tree and watching as you cowered, eyes falling between your satchel on the horse's back, their blackened figures and the dim nature of your fire. They hadn’t allowed themselves the pure satisfaction of gutting you alive and then tying you to the backs of their stallions to display that they were able to successfully hunt a Human. Maybe they were waiting until---

A wall of blood hit your tongue. You must have bitten down on it when you were tossed like a rag doll. Spitting out a bit onto the ground, the figures all looked at you before resuming their mild conversation. Whatever they were saying, you were unable to detect as you dropped onto your knees. Slowly at first, and then faster as you quite literally hurled yourself up, hoping that you were able to get a bit more momentum from a crouched position, start and darted aimlessly towards your horse. You just needed a weapon, something, something.

Your ribs were encased by an arm, but before you got a clearer view at it, you were parallel to the ground and swiped down aggressively, back colliding into the mud with a crunched sound of your body and the mud splattering. Once again, not hard enough to break anything, but it left you breathless as you grimaced, your ribs encapsulating in agony as you drew to breath in again. A gurgle hit the back of your throat, a mixture of your saliva and blood, eyes going in and and out of focus no matter how hard you tried to entrance yourself to stay altered on one fixated item.

“Are you sure this is the one?”

Squinting your eyes at the sky, you forced yourself to take note of the voice. Was it… Scratchy? Chopped around the words as if they were unsure of the pronunciation. Tilting your head to the side, you found yourself with a mouth full of mud as you looked over at the figure who had slowed and stopped your attempt at defending yourself.

“Where else did they get a horse like this? It’s obviously been trained!”

Another voice. Softer, but still hardened around the edges with ferality.

Definitely Ape, you decided and shut your eyes for a split second as you willed your body not to fail you as you turned to rest onto your stomach, picking yourself up onto your hands and knees, the saliva and blood mixture leaking onto the ground from your open mouth now unable to close properly from mild swelling.

Your… Your satchel! One of them was holding it against their chest and in their arms, your mind flashing back to the moment that Noa had given it to you. The brushing of your fingertips against his own as he handed it over, the reserve he held as you analyzed it and thanked him… Well, if you were going to get killed by a few blood-thirsty Apes, at least you had the satisfaction of that being your last good thought, you muttered sarcastically to yourself. It was torn apart, the curdled nature of your cry mixing into the tearing captivating their attention back to you rather than drawing on about the spearheads and the small pieces of dried fish you had managed to ration over the last three months.

Being picked up by a handful of your hair, your eyes braced shut in preparation of coming face to face with the Apes sent to kill you. Wanting to bitterly thank them for taking you out of your misery, you refrained from making a snappy comment and felt your scalp begin to burn as you were lifted enough to be face to face with whomever was grasping at you. Your mouth parted, lips conforming into a low setting frown as you cried out again, reaching your hand up in some desperate attempt to get them to stop holding you by your hair, to get them to drop you. You were pleading to be dropped back onto the ground as your eyes frantically opened so you could meet your demise.

Human. The eyes were human, even for an Ape. If you had the time to think about it, that was true for all Apes. Their most Human aspect was always the eyes, the gateway to the soul, the shattering of gazes against your face. They had to be green, they were always green, you bargained with yourself. The blurred edges of your vision and periphery were not helping your cause as your eyes shut again, sweeping away the notion of tears as sweat now dropped into your retinas causing you to see red and engage in a fiery sensation against your pupils.

This was it, you thought to yourself. You were… You were going to join your friends who had died a year prior, you were going to have to beg their forgiveness for not being able to save them, you were going to have to come to terms with everything that had happened, all the selfishness you had taken for yourself. Gasping again, you couldn’t bring yourself to open your eyes, suddenly flushed with the known. They were going to kill you and you didn't want to see their face, you didn't want to give them the pure undiluted satisfaction of seeing your eyes, the reflection of their actions in them as they cut your throat open. Noa!

Noa… You straggled your feet below your body once you were lifted completely off the ground by your hair, aiding in the hurt by holding onto their wrists so all the pressures of your body weren’t just hanging on by the grasp they had on your scalp. Noa wasn’t going to know what happened to you. Not that it mattered anymore, not that he cared as he was the one who let you leave, he was the one to do this to you!!

Your mind was going a thousand miles an hour, you weren’t able to focus on one simple thing anymore. Noa did this to you, he… He wanted you to die, just an Echo, afraid, alone… Tears fell from under your eyelids, draping your face into a muddy piece of art as the streaks of salty water scarred down your cheeks. But you couldn’t stop yourself. The idea still remained. You… You wanted him to be happy. You wanted him to… be… happy….You wished… that he would find someone, someone better than you, someone selfless and not self-absorbed.

“You need to tell us where your little Ape town is,” Your breath caught in your throat and you were suddenly placed back on the ground, this time on your knees. The release of your hair didn't come, but the sweet relief of pitch-black death also didn't take over. “And we might just spare your life.”

Human.

“We’ve been watching you,” There was suddenly a sharpness against your jugular. Knife. Human. “We know you came from that direction. Sorta… Hoped you’d turn back and go home, but you never did. Did the Apes not like their pet?”

‘I’m surprised they didn't just kill it.’ That was accompanied by a few cackles, your lips furling into a snarl at the implications.

Swallowing hard against the blade, you felt it scapple in just enough to cause a bit of prickled blood to surface under the touch. “Let me go.” Straining that out, you found your voice unrecognizable. It was gruff, you couldn’t really remember the last time you had said something other than a passing phrase to your only companion, your horse. Finally, you let your eyes open and you could see who had their hands on you.

“We really didn't want to hurt you.” It was a male. Dominating and strong in stature, his voice dripping with malice and draped deliciously with unbridled possessiveness. He was dark haired and they were set into dreads and tied up loosely with twine - the easiest way to deal with hair now-a-days when washing was so far and in-between.

His eyes… It had to have been your imagination seeing them green because now, even in the dim lighting coming from your dying fire and the scape of stars and crested moon, they were nothing but black. Drawn around the edges to the point of blown out dilation and they scavenged your face, preening at the cuts along your cheekbones, the blistering welt on your lips and the shell of your ear, painted red. “You know, humans are too rare now-a-days, it’d be a shame to kill such a pretty one.”

Yapping once your hair was released, you crumpled onto the ground, back onto all fours as you began taking in deep and shallow breaths. You couldn’t breathe. You couldn’t think, process, REMEMBER the last time you had actually seen a Human, let alone four. Groups were common, you knew that, you had been a part of one and they tended to stick to larger quantities.

There was safety in numbers, you were told time and time again. Your friends--- your… Your friends had been the last ones, their voices so torn and in the distance of your mind that you found it difficult to recall at all how they must have sounded, but you missed their voices regardless. Grasping the ground below with dirty fingers, your eyes widened with realization as his words finally resonated in his mind.

They were… after the Clan. They wanted to know where the Clan was, most likely to destroy. You scrambled on all fours, trying to tear yourself away from the man in front of you, but before you were able to get very far, your calf, the one that had been tenderly cared for by Noa himself, was dug into, your flesh screaming at you as the knife came into contact with the scar that was already there from your Ape attack.

Right through the fabric of your pants, you looked down shudderingly at the jilted weapon embedded in your body. Crying out as the man grasped right below the knife entry point, he tugged you back towards him and ardently flipped you into your back so he could crouch right next to it, staring down at you without remorse or even recourse to any of his actions against the same species. There were stories of Human groups like this - the most radical minds seeking power over the Apes by forms of aggression. You grew up hearing about them, hearing about the Ape Villages and Colonies being torn to shreds with fire and pillage.

You had just assumed it was a way to scare you as a child, to never fall into that mindset. Apes were to be feared, and they would kill you if you killed one of them. There was no way that Humanity would fall that far… That they were willing to take the Earth back by matters of War. Three-hundred years had done nothing, you yearned your hands out in a bid to grab something to stop yourself from fluttering in and out of lucidity. Without words, the knife in your calf twisted to the right, seeping a bit deeper towards the hilt and then to the left, back upwards. Terror ripped through you at the penetration, your shouts being heard and absorbed happily. “Just tell us where it is and we’ll leave you alone.”

A repeated phrase you imagined he said often. You rested your head back, gritting your teeth, “I-I… Do-Don’t know what the hell you’re---”

In one foul swoop, the knife left your body before entering again, this time on the adjacent calf. As your scar had been slightly numb to feeling and felt incredibly pressurized at being cut open again and you were able to bear the brute force of it, this one left your entire body to convulse against the muddy ground, your hands flying upwards to grab the man’s hand to stop the injury, your eyes pressing into each other as your teeth bared themselves and you let out a drilling and agonistic howl.

Your body lifted itself up in a crunch before you splayed back onto the ground and tired to tear away, even going as far as thinking that if you were fast enough to move your leg, you could shatter your entire calf open to get relief from the torture of being stabbed.

“Be better if you just showed us.” He ampled his touch against the knife. “Or, I guess we could just spank your horse and they’ll take us right where we need to go.” His words were confirmation for you. This… Thing in front of you enjoyed the chase, enjoyed the torture. He was so easily able to just get the horse to take him where he wanted to go but you were being beaten instead, unable to relinquish any information and that just made the thrill all the more high for him.

“No!” You whimpered, lifting your body up but the man pressed onto your shoulders with hardness and you were unable to actually sit. “I-I don’t know wha-what you’re talking about, I’m just tra-traveling on my own!”

There was no point in lying but it felt good to say as if you were protecting the Clan itself. Demise was coming, for you, for them… Tears flushed into your eyes at that. The Clan, so beautiful and encased in your memory… In flames, your hands grasping at the ashes and tearing them against your face in a desperate bid to save them. Noa… Noa… He'd hate you, even more than he already did. All his suspicions about you would become valid in his eyes. The fear he had to trust you justified as Humans remarked into his village and destroyed everything he had sorely fought for after his Father passed.

He'd hate you.

Noa would hate you, probably for the rest of his life.

Lips parting as you tried to gasp for some air, you thought... How much you hated yourself.

“Y-you may as well just kill me.” You grunted finally, ashamed of the indication that your words gave. You knew the way back to the Clan, you hadn’t left the area, unable to grasp a concept at leaving what you had known for so long, even before you were offered refuge. Realizing now, you had made a mistake. You should have mounted the horse and trailed off into the unknown. You shouldn’t have been scared, you shouldn’t have been afraid but a smaller part of you stayed in hopes that he’d… He’d…

A coughed cry left your lips as you felt like you were drowning on your own spit. You stayed nearby because you wanted Noa to come for you. In your delusions, he always came for you. Even the first time, even when you didn't know each other and you were so convinced that he was going to kill you. Even now.

Your eyes looked at the man in front of you once more and out of the corner of your eye you swore you saw the fluttering nature of an Eagle perched in the trees of darkness. That close to death, you thought morbidly, that you were seeing things.

It wasn’t the Apes, you realized with momentous waves of sickness flooding all your senses. From the way that your eyes blurred, the way that your fingers and toes felt numb like they weren’t getting enough blood flow, your hearing was shot from the impact your head took against the tree…

It wasn’t the Apes you needed to be afraid of. It was Man.

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●・●・○・ TAGLIST:

@ohwaitimthewriter @hera-annwn @saturnnie-03 @filliandkili

@hadesbabygurl @supergoat12 @moonchild1433

@kaenalsha @unsteady-bitch @whamsworld

@yummyfanta @nuhteyam @babylockley @edynmeyer1 @callsignwidow

@moonlightnyx

#noa #noa x human reader #noa x reader #planet of the apes #owen teague #planet of the apes x reader #pota #noa pota #kotpota #kingdom of the planet of the apes #mae #proximus caesar #emmy writes

221 notes · View notes

dilutedconfusion · 2 months

Note

I love the way you write! I love Kid! I need Kid!! 😩

Anyway, happy to rewad whatever you write, but if this request inspires you, by all means, I would LOVE to read it.

I'm thinking about some protective, possessive stuff! Reader gets kidnapped and subdued. Or gets beaten, life hanging by a thread.

And Kid just goes ape shit. NSFW obviously because Kid is going to rip some troaths and all that protectiveness makes reader a little crazy.

Does this tickle your fancy? Writer's choice on everything, really. I would just love a crazy protective Kid.

Kudos for all your work and thank you for sharing your talent! 👏🏻❤️

I’M SO DEEPLY SORRY FOR HOW LONG THIS TOOK ME. I don’t know how long this request was sitting in my inbox but I APOLOGIZE and I hope this fic makes up for it 🧎‍♀️

OKAY besides that you didn’t have to be that nice 🫵 Like seriously making me blush and stuff you’re so sweet ilysm🤭 And since I literally cannot control myself I went a little overboard. I wasn’t planning on writing so much and I wasn’t planning on making it so intense I suppose. But you asked for possessive, life hanging by a thread, kidnapped scenario so here you go! I should’ve made it more NSFW in the more sexual way less gore way. But alas this request is more horror and fluff than anything. Oh and I also made the pronouns gender neutral because you didn’t specify so I hope that’s okay with you! I need to write more gender neutral readers anyways so it was a good excuse. I hope you enjoy it!

Shades of Red

Eustass Kid x GenderNeutral!Reader

Summary: You got kidnapped by bounty hunters. Suffice to say you and Kid aren’t taking it very well. Kid goes a little crazy and does some particular bloody things. It has a good ending though so no worries👍

Horror?? And Fluff I suppose.

Warnings: LOTS of explicit gore and blood.

Word Count: 8.1k

Water was thicker than blood.

Well, you had always known that. From your first cut as a child that was an otherworldly sting. It had felt so foreign from your previous non-existence. Pain was juvenile to you. Something to be feared in its unknowing nature. Something that would stain clothes. Stain water.

There was specific soft vignette of red reminded you of the way light looked behind your eyelids. Warm with light yellow tones around the edges. The tingle of your smooth skin left you to almost sparkle. A man adorned in all shades of red as if it was the only color that fit him.

As if it was the only color you ever wanted to look at. A color you desperately tried to view positively despite what was happening. Despite the splatters around you.

You hadn’t felt the sun in a while. Skin growing paler and colder with each passing night. The sun was a mere sixty feet above you since the earth swallowed you whole. An insistent dripping against your scalp made you want to snap your jaw in half. Digging into your skull to rip out the part of you that could still feel.

A puddle of water lay at your feet. The water from the unstable ceiling would constantly drip downwards. Drifting onto the chains that held up your arms to keep you on your knees. Swirling down your bruised wrists and dripping from your elbows. Going down your spine with a consistent cold shiver running through you. Your eyelashes dripped like crystals as your head hung low. Watching the water drip off your chin or the tip of your nose.

The puddle of water beneath you was stained red. Letting you watch as your blood swirled in its mirror-like gaze. Face to face with yourself until another drop landed and ripples formed.

The same sight over and over again. The same pain over and over again for what felt like weeks.

But you knew it hadn’t been that long despite how the hours crawled forwards. It took a lot of work being captured but at least the water kept you clean.

Your kidnappers wouldn’t want their little plaything any other way.

There was no enjoyment in watching you bleed if you were already bloody. They liked to start a fresh slate to give the blood some contrast.

Nothing has been explained to you. Not a single peep of why you were here, what they were trying to achieve, and why they decided to keep you alive. Any person who walked through the iron door in front of you stayed close to silent. Only opening their mouths to give orders or berate you. Those orders were always just to eat your food under the watchful eye of a guard. To get up and follow them to the bathroom during scheduled times. Not another beaten to near-death person in sight. It seemed like it was just you and them down here surprisingly. Either that or they wanted to make it seem that way. There wasn’t even a request made or some form of labor being put onto you.

You always listened because frankly, you had no other choice. These chains were tight and you were always guarded. As strong as you were, you were still weak. And as smart as you were, you had made the horrible decision to venture off on your own.

Some stupid fucking idea Kid would’ve called it. You could hear his yelling and screaming over you now. Pacing the tiny cell and telling you how much of an idiot you had been. How he had ordered you to stay with your assigned group on this last mission. That he expected more from you and he’d never seen you act this stupid. How he would leave you behind next time because he didn’t want to deal with your shit anymore.

Yet he cried the first time you got badly injured. Held you like a baby and took you to the infirmary just to scream and break an innocent chair. You never took his fits seriously because underneath it all you could feel guilt coming off him in waves. You could see the fear fermenting in a supposedly fearless man's eyes.

You supposed that keeping you captive, keeping you docile enough to not try anything, was a way to lure Kid into some kind of trap. He was a man with a high bounty and a lot to lose. And they must’ve guessed his lover was something worth fighting for.

But it had been too long and your throat grew tired of screaming and cussing out the world. They had you locked up tight, underground, on an island you traveled to by boat with your head stuck in a sack the whole ride there. Every box was checked off when it came to the perfect kidnapping. Nobody had even seen it happen so they had to have left some sort of cryptic note for the crew to find.

Or at least you hoped so.

There was a slim chance that they had no idea what happened to you. That this place was just a pit stop until you got sold to the Celestial Dragons. Or maybe until they worked out a deal with the navy for your head.

You desperately pleaded and hoped that these people were greedy. That whatever amount of money the dragons would pay or the small sum of your bounty wasn’t enough for them. They wanted Kid and all his other higher-ranking members so at least they would know where you are. They would be coming after you.

Yet thinking like that kept you in a whirlwind of guilt.

I fucked up. I deserve to die here. They shouldn’t…no…they can’t get involved in this. Their dreams are too important to get caught right now. Right when we were so close.

At some point your pain, your suffering, and self-loathing almost became…comical.

The mirth of it came out in crazed laughter. Looking down at yourself in the puddle's reflection as your laughing permanently bounced around the stone walls. A big smile on your face yet your eyes were screaming. Leaving an ominous, nearly insane echo to be heard throughout the facility.

The room was small and enclosed around you. Your eyes were dizzy as the world spun. Before the weight of reality struck you again, bringing you down from your manic high. Heart beating in your ears as you gasped for air, tears streaming into the bloody puddle once again.

Pain wasn’t juvenile to you anymore. But the more you lost yourself, the more you started to wish it were.

—————

This pain was juvenile. New and fresh despite being torn from an old wound. As if someone had dug into Kid's brain just to remind him of exactly how it felt to lose. Exactly how it felt to be hopeless once again.

He thought he would’ve known what to do, how to handle this. And for the most part, he did.

But in the empty cold spaces when no one was around. Whether that was the bathroom, his room, or the silent deck in the night, he broke.

There was no more sucking it up, no more biting his lips, no more anxious scratching of his skin or grinding of his teeth that could save him from the way he felt.

It should’ve been me.

Oh, how he wished he was angry and dare say he was. When Dive had informed him that you weren’t with her. That during a raid in your small group off in the safer corner of the fight, away from him you, had disappeared.

Just poof into thin air without informing anyone of where you went.

He had lost it.

That village burned that night. Warm fires in every inch, every crevice, and every person mauled. Each one of them did not know what happened. Not a boat spotted leaving the island. Not a single trace of where you had gone.

That anger hasn’t stopped. It’s still just as potent, just as ferocious and terrifying. More blood-curdling and scream-inducing than hell itself. Kid had felt more people's bodies go cold in his grip in the last few days than he had most of his life.

He wanted to feel it. He wasn’t killing for convenience so an annoying crowd surrounding him would break. He wanted to hurt people, to kill the right person as brutally as he could in case they had any chance of being involved with your disappearance. He took down that village of thugs, burned and quartered every man on a passing ship, and started bouncing to all the nearby islands looking to do just the same.

But so far he’d come up empty. Not a sign, not a note, not a welcomed reunion between the two of you. He’d walk into a building or down into the deeper levels of a ship screaming your name. Eyes blurring to find no one but the dead. All that hope in him snuffed out to embers. His crew watching little parts of him die.

So amid silence, when the pain that he should’ve been handling, that he should be familiar with resurfaced, he cried. He’d kneel over on the floor or press himself against a banister to weep. That low rugged voice gasping for air as he struggled not to choke. Wiping his eyes, his hands reaching out and grasping at the air for childlike comforts. The remembrance of your soft skin dancing along his fingers. Your soothing voice told him that it was going to be okay. He could nearly see you in front of him. Those eyes of yours filled with so much love for a fool like him. His chest hurt so bad he could feel bile building up in his throat. Swallowing it down through wet sniffles and snot-covered lips.

He was a mess. If he didn’t find you soon…he didn’t know what he would do. He wondered if you left on purpose. That you didn’t love him anymore and left without saying anything. Without taking any of your belongings because you were so utterly desperate to get away.

Finding his touch disgusting, his love suffocating, and his personality exhausting.

He wouldn’t have blamed you if that was the truth. It took a lot to love someone like him which is why it's never happened before. At least not in a romantic way.

He never told anyone that he thought this. Because he knew that they would all brush it aside. Saying that you would never leave him and you were far too in love with him to do something like that. But the idea dug in like a lobotomy through his eye. It was piercing him until he tore apart into someone he wasn’t. His face just shards in a broken mirror.

He needed to know what had happened even if you did leave on purpose. Because on the chance that you didn’t, that someone had hurt you, then there was a price to pay in blood.

And Kid intended to squeeze out every last drop of it.

—————

It had been a normal day underground.

The newspaper was in his hand as he slumped slightly in his chair. The hallway is just as cold as ever. The watch on his wrist ticked and the camera's persistent red light monitored the area.

He knew he couldn’t doze off. After the captives' recent round of hysterical laughter, he knew they were on edge. Of course, he had solved the problem as was ordered. Bringing earplugs just in case the laughing kept going on but the brass knuckles seemed to do the trick. But of course, he and the other men had made a bit of a mess. The whole room smelled of copper from the blood and could nearly smell it oozing out of the cracks of the door.

It was as if it was still painting his skin with that lovely shade of red. Darkened and dried into the cracks of his hands as he washed it off. Now leaving him without a trace, hoping to chase that high again despite this person being ‘precious cargo’.

Though you couldn’t have been that precious considering they were pawning you off to the navy. They usually wanted all bounties dead or alive. But this was a special case where the navy wanted you alive for questioning. And that no matter how much his boss wanted to, they couldn’t question the captive under certain terms. They were bounty hunters, not pirates, so any shred of information about this big-shot Eustass Kid was like gold to them.

I don’t know why we’re not interrogating them anyway. They already look like they're losing a couple of screws, might as well dig deeper and see what pops up. It's not like the navy will figure it out.

He let out a little grunt of anger, flipping to the next page with a grimace. His boss was a careful man with very specific plans. Finding this little victim perfectly alone and ripe for the taking was a strike of luck. But because his boss was always prepared for an opportunity, they snatched you up while on the run off an island. Taking to sea as a raid ensued and followed suit to their hideout so hidden not even the town uptop knew about it.

They had done this before and they would do it again. There were even a few other inmates locked up in different sectors. They were never allowed to see each other just in case they tried some kind of revolution. So they all roamed the halls and went to the bathrooms at different times. It was the perfect kidnapping scheme. Letting them slowly rake in the big money without putting themselves in danger.

He heard a rattling of chains from inside the room. Starting slow but slowly getting a bit louder. A light rumbling came from it as the unstable ceiling pinned with metal to hold up the chains groaned.

He slapped down his newspaper in his lap, turning his head towards the door with a yell. “Shut the fuck up in there! You need something, you're going to have to wait for it!”

He turned back to his newspaper letting out a little groan as the rattling stopped. Not a single word came through the door so clearly it was for nothing.

Goddamn, I swear they just do this shit to mess with me.

He shifted a bit in his seat to get more comfortable. Smacking his lips as he eased down. Taking a quick look at his watch to check how long it was until they were given another scheduled bathroom break.

An hour? I swear if this motherfucker pisses themselves again I’m going to hose them down till they bleed.

Another grumble of annoyance rose in his throat. Rolling his eyes a bit as he scratched at the back of his head. Suddenly he heard the same stupid chain rattling. This time much louder and quicker as it scraped and groaned at the ceiling. Cracking his jaw before slamming down his newspaper on the floor and getting up. Opening the small slot just at eye level to look inside.

“I swear to fucking god if you don’t quit that shit right now say goodbye to food for a while you piece of shit!” He watched you with a burning in his eyes. Your face tilted downwards towards the floor like always. Unresponsive and half-dead looking from all the wetness crawling over you. Like some sort of bog demon rattling at the chains and tugging on them incessantly.

He slammed on the door trying to gain your attention. The loud metal banging didn’t make you flinch in the slightest. “Hey! Do you hear me right now you crazy bitch? If you don’t stop I’m coming in there and you know what that means.” He nearly growled, his voice presently hungry for another beating session.

You didn’t stop, if anything you made it worse. Flinging your weak body a bit as you gripped onto the chains. Putting your weight into it so the metal slammed against itself. The stone ceiling crumbling a bit as a rumbling ensued.

“God fucking damn it!” He screamed, his slightly sweaty hands gripping the key on his belt. Ripping it off him, he undid the latch and pushed the door open. His feet walked over blood stains and wet puddles as he latched the keys back on. Cracking his knuckles as he hovered over you. “Is this what you want?! Wanna feel my fucking hands beat into you?!” He quickly grabbed you by the hair tugging your face up to look at him. Your face vacant and almost lifeless.

You finally stopped rattling the chains and pulling at them. Hands falling limping and racking against the cuffs. He held his fist in the air ready to punch you. Looking forward to that sweet silence he oh so craved. But for some reason, the rumbling didn’t stop.

Your chains had already stilled. The ceiling still shaking slightly and sprinkling dust. A crescendo of rumbling shooting across the floor and up into his bones.

He looked up and around the room. Still holding onto your hair tightly as he tried to figure out what was going on.

Is that an earthquake?

But the rumbling got louder. Nearly chattering in his skull. His grip loosed slowly, letting you set your head down but you didn’t. You stayed looking up at him. Sweat was building in his palms when suddenly the lights went out all at once. Sharp static flickers and fuses snapping in time.

But then rumbling stopped. Filling the room with a dark silence so thick he felt like he couldn’t breathe. Grabbing onto his flashlight at his side he felt this horrible feeling of anxiety growing in his gut.

I’m fine. Everything’s fine. We’re prepared for an earthquake and this power outage is probably just part of it.

His thumb traced over the button to turn on his flashlight. But through the open door, he heard it. His body freezing in place as if he was frozen in ice.

It was screaming. Not just a light yell of panic or someone barking orders. It was true blood gurgling screaming coming from somewhere in the facility. Echoing off the stone walls as he slowly turned his head around. Pointing his flashlight at the cell entrance before flicking on the light.

It quickly filled up the space with a warm circle of light. But instead of the light shining onto stones in the hallway, it hit something else.

A wall of blood in the shape of a man.

Bright and rich in color it reflected into the guard's eyes. It was visibly dripping and he could nearly feel the heat coming off of it. Not a spec of skin or clothing was visible from how thickly it managed to glob onto his wide demeaning chest.

The guard blinked as if caught in a dream. His mouth moved to say something but it was far too dry. As if all the life had been sucked out of him at that very moment.

He saw some sort of metal arm on the monsters left-hand side. His eyes carefully tracing down it in the dark to spot the shiny glimmers of blood of what looked like a human spine in its grasp, half of it trailing off onto the floor. The bones cracked loudly under his grasp, making the guard flinch backward, almost stumbling into you behind him.

The man sucked in a gasp of air. Tears filled his eyes at the horrid monster in front of him. Tilting the flashlight upwards until it reached the monsters face.

If he knew any better, he would’ve never done that.

His face was equally covered in blood. Slightly smeared around so bits of his pale skin shot through. His shiny scars and pinned-up goggles on his head gleamed light back at him. Damp hair from all the blood lying down onto his skin.

But the worst part was his eyes.

That burned into the guard's mind. So horrid. So piercing he felt his breathing stall. Almost choking on nothing as he felt himself passing out. The darkness around him turned darker but the monster wouldn’t allow that.

The monsters body bounded forward. His metal hand letting go of the spine as he dropped it with a wet thud on the floor. The wall of blood came closer with each loud thundering footstep. He grabbed the guard by the head, fitting his entire skull into his metal fist. Picking him up off the floor easily and clamping down around his skull. Feeling it splinter and almost cave under the pressure. The guards screams were muffled as he clawed at the metal arm. Kicking his feet in the air and almost hitting you in the process.

The monster turned towards the door once again, away from you before the final snap ensued. A loud deafening crack and then nothing but the sounds of warm blood sputtering on the floor. The man's flashlight fell to the ground. Rolling across the stone to cast an eerie light across you.

The room stayed silent for a while before he dropped the man's body to the floor carelessly. Blinking tirelessly to spot the monsters shadow in the dark with tear filled eyes.

“K-Kid?” you murmured. Your voice was so rasp and weak he could barely hear it. Turning around to face something he could hardly stomach to see.

His eyes traced over you like he almost didn’t think you were real. Soaked from head to toe in water, you kneeled in front of him in a pool of blood. Dark deep bruises on every visible limb. You’re lip cut and swollen as it wobbled from the tears. Tears coming out of a very prominent black eye with red lacerations all around your face. Your clothing torn and in shambles, as they stuck uncomfortably tight to your wet skin.

Kid had seen the inside of many men but the sight of you nearly broke him apart.

Your disheveled features and colorless lifeless skin made his breathing hitch. Tears instantly flooded his eyes just to drip down his face. Mixing in with the blood now drying on his skin. His heart tore in two as he nearly fell into you. His large knees hit the hard ground and splashed up the puddle of blood. Wrapping you in a warm gooey hug he gripped his hand into your hair, shoving his head into the crook of your neck.

“I’m s-sorry…I’m so sorry…I’ll never let this happen again.” He croaked out into your ear between sniffles. Your hands were still bound so you couldn’t grip him. Just tugging at the chains helplessly as you let out a wry whimper of pain.

“K-Kid…” you mumbled, the crying getting even worse, “I thought I was dead…I-I missed you so fucking much. I’m so sorry I fucked up…I..” You trailed off into a whimper. Words escaping you as reality became as sharp as a knife, yet comforting as his touch.

Hearing your voice caused him to let out a weak gasp of pain. Trying to be gentle as he gripped his flesh arm around you a bit tighter. His metal one at your side, both arms desperately trying to not put pressure on your wounds. With a little flash of purple lightning escaping his hand and tingling the back of your head, your chains came off. Bruised weak wrists getting an instant relief as your arms swung down to land weakly onto his shoulders. The blood rushed back into them as you gripped him tightly, pressing your chest flush against his despite all the blood.

Without a word, he tucked his metal arm under your legs. Scooping you up easily, he kept your face pressed against his chest. Walking out into the hallway as his feet dodged the guard's body and left over spine.

“I want you to keep your eyes closed okay baby? Just stay up against my chest until we get out of here.” He mumbled to you softly. Listening to your staggered breathing as you cried on him.

You barely even heard him. Just shoving your face further upwards until you reached the crook of his neck. Closing your eyes as you tried to take deep breaths. Fingers nearly clawing into his sticky blood-stained back as if he was going to disappear.

Kid traced his bloodied footsteps back from where he came from. Finding a few splattered bodies along the way. The worst of it was at the entrance. Clasping onto the back of your head a bit tighter he dug his hand into your hair. Glancing weakly over at the piles of dead bodies still warm and oozing onto the floor.

Every single person in this underground facility was completely slaughtered and he made sure of it. The rest of the inmates the crew found in separate cells set free. Running out into the night with a smile and urgency like never before.

Honestly, he didn’t even realize he had gone so far until it was over. Having slashed every single person that came his way into loose mangles. Usually, he’d move on to the next person when a deathly slash was inflicted on them. But he couldn’t stop, rumbling the whole underground facility as he tore into stone and bone. Effectively splattering his entire body with a thick layer of blood.

A part of him still hadn’t calmed down since then. His eyes were still jumpy as he used his haki to check his surroundings. There was no relief for him until you were home, safe, and healing. No amount of blood could quell how his heart clenched for you.

His crew, who was guarding the entrance for any extra visitors, saw you curled in his arms. Some opened their mouths to say something but Kids eyes stopped them. Your sniffles turned to silence as you stilled against his chest. There would be no grand reunion until you were home. Exhaustion covered you like a blanket as he walked you out into the warm air of freedom.

—————

It was an aching feeling. First at the crux of your back on something far too stiff then into a plush embrace. Your head lulls backward into something to catch you. Tight itchy fabric fumbling you awake. Peeling your slightly crusted-over eyes open and expecting to see that same blinding light from before. To hear only the muffled voices of those around you as you barely stayed lucid. But the world had cleared and surprisingly you weren’t somewhere sterile, you were somewhere warm.

The rafters of the wood above you creaked as the boat shifted on the sea. The room was dark and drafty as a window nearby blew in sweet cold air. That familiar scent of the briny seaweed lapping at your nose. You tried to sit up and immediately were met with a warm hand across your chest, pushing you back down.

“Quit moving.” With a turn of your head against the pillow you saw Kid lying mostly naked on his stomach beside you. His hair was loose and hung a bit over his eyes and the back of his neck. Soft and relaxed and not spiked like most people saw it. One side of his pale face squished against the maroon pillow. Blinking at you tiredly in the low light of the dark.

“Shouldn’t I be…in the infirmary?” You mumbled, softly touching his hand now laying on your chest. Feeling along his fingertips and the deep scars on his skin.

He immediately grimaced at that, letting out a gruff groan as he sat up slightly to roll onto his side. Now facing you more directly but keeping his hand softly over your chest as if to feel your heartbeat. “I’m the Captain and I’ll put you where I want you. You didn’t need to stay there anyway. The worst is over and I’m watching over you. Like that doctor could ever take care of you like I can…”

He rolled his eyes, knowing damn well no one knew you like he did. He may not have the medical experience but he was going to take care of you, it's the least he could do. You watched him silently for a moment, chewing your otherwise slightly split lip tenderly. Your other free hand feeling at the bandages around your hips. The doctor seemingly left you only a roll or two away from being a mummy.

“I don’t…I don’t remember what happened.” You said a bit hesitantly. Everything after him saving you felt like a fever dream. It was hard to tell what was real and what wasn’t. Kid could see the uncertainty written deep into your brow. Taking his hand and running it up to swipe his thumb over your cheek.

“I brought you home and patched you up. You mumbled and cried the whole time in the infirmary. Clinging onto me and whimpering like a dog through all the stitches,” he said with a slight huff of a laugh before mellowing back down into something solemn, “but you’re okay. Nothing severe.”

A little part of you eased into that knowledge. His hand against your cheek feeling like perfection.

I’m okay. You repeated in your head. Your eyes fluttering slightly as they became more foggy with tears. Wet crystal like droplets in the corners of your eyes.

Kid saw this and slightly panicked. Not wanting you to cry anymore, your eyes still puffy from all the tears you had already shed. He slipped his hand off your face and started to sit up. His big body making the bed shake a little as he started to stand up.

“I can go grab you some food. They put you on a IV from all the blood loss so you must be feeling shitty.” He mumbled, the cadence of his words a bit hitched and frantic. You quickly reached out and grabbed his arm, tugging on it slightly to bring him back down.

“No…no it's okay. Maybe in a bit but…” you paused, his head turned back towards you as he watched the tears well up even more, “Kid I-”

“You don’t have to say anything.”

He had cut you off. Leaving you to nearly let out a whimper of pain. You’re chest swimming with guilt as he lets you ease him back into bed. Sitting up and looking down at you with his legs crossed.

His face was starkly stiff as he watched you. Those golden globes of his muddy with feelings yet you barely even noticed. Having trouble looking right at him as you stared down at the bed. “But I fucked up. I mean I badly fucked up. I put all of you at risk and I acted so selfishly thinking I could go out on my own-”

“Baby it's fine.” You let out a shaky huff of air when he cut you off again. Not feeling at all comforted despite his version of ‘fine’. With your face becoming a mess of lines and reddened cheeks he could see you were hanging off the edge. And no matter how much he wanted to drag you off of it, no matter how much he didn’t want to see you cry, he let you talk. Your voice coming out in barely composed gasps.

“But it's not though. I just…I want you to know I’ll never do that again. I won’t go against your plans. I won’t be overly confident in the face of battle. I got myself in that mess and I can’t imagine how hard it was to try and pry me out. All that time wasted…” At this point, a tear had already slipped down your cheek. The side of your face pressed deeply into the pillow as if you were trying to burrow your way out of this. Not looking at him once. Just curling yourself up into a ball of shame in front of him.

He hated every second of it.

“Wasted? It wasn’t a waste because I wanted to do it. I needed to do it. Every person I killed and every single moment spent towards finding you instead of going after my goals was worth it. I’ll set aside days, months, years-shit my whole fucking life to find you. So stop that.” He paused, looking around the room for a moment to gather his thoughts. Your whimpers had gone a bit quiet. Looking up at him almost a bit anxiously from his annoyed tone. Not feeling any better despite how passionate he was about saving you.

You still were curled in a ball with tears in your eyes and he wanted anything but that. So taking another deep shaky breath he continued in a softer tone. “You can do whatever you want during a battle and we all know my plans aren’t foolproof. If I didn’t listen to you, if this whole crew didn’t listen to you on occasion, this boat would be 100 feet under. You didn’t put us at risk, we’re always at risk.” His voice was stern but sincere. Looking down at your gorgeous face despite the tears just hoping and wishing you understood how he felt.

“Quit making it sound like you did something wrong…” He grumbled, scratching the back of his head lightly.

You didn’t say anything right away. Letting his words stew and ferment in your mind. They eased down into something more manageable. The silence between you is a bit uncomfortable but necessary. Kid eyeing you with a worried expression as you slowly composed yourself. Using the back of your hand to wipe your tears as you sniffled lightly. Unfurling yourself a bit and un-shoving half your face out of the pillow.

“Did they leave a note or did you just find me?” You murmured out, voice weak but more steady. Kid didn’t expect that to be your first question, he wanted to hear you forgive yourself but he supposed seeing you calmer was enough. His fingers fiddlingwith the legs of his boxers a bit to distract himself from how nervous he felt.

“There was nothing. I went to all the surrounding islands before I landed on the one you were at. The ‘boss’ of that so-called operation was planning to give your head to the navy. Spineless slimy fucking bastard should’ve never touched you. Shoulda never left you out there.” He didn’t look at you much as he spoke. Chewing on his words a bit and thinking it over. He could still see that boss in front of him. Spine ripped out clean as he lay there on the floor. His little spineless joke had made a few crew members laugh, but he held himself back from trying it on you. It wasn’t the time.

“Kid, you were busy fighting the big shots. That’s how it always works. I’m the idiot who got swept up when no one was watching.” Your voice came out more pleading. Not expecting Kid to be talking bad about himself for what happened. To you, it seemed like it was completely your fault, but clearly, Kid thought differently.

“First off, you're not an idiot. Smartest damn person I know.” He exclaimed, pointing his finger at you. His eyes meeting yours in a much more serious tone. “Secondly, I’m keeping you closer from now on and we're making you a vivire card. I don’t know why I haven’t until now. What a fucking idiot move that was.”

You watched as he swept back his hair again. The very soft-looking curls of his hair becoming more fluffy as they sat in a cute-looking wave on his head. You eyed him a bit, eyes narrowing as you regarded yet another way he was putting himself down. “Well if I can’t call myself an idiot then you can’t either. So stop that. You…thought you were enough to protect me. To keep me by your side at all times. That’s not an idiot move because you do protect me. You always have.” You tried to say that with so much certainty that Kid could feel it. But of course, he still seemed a bit pissed. Looking away from you again and back down at his lap.

“Well, aren’t you being too kind to a guy who let you down…” You frowned at that. Knowing for a fact Kid wasn’t the kind of guy who liked talking about his feelings you didn’t decide to dig deeper. But you still wanted to know what happened. Why Kid seems so bummed despite you being safe.

“You…you were covered in blood when I saw you down there. What…happened?” You asked quietly, picking together parts of your memory to try to make sense of it.

He hesitated. Swallowing thickly before giving you the only answer that wouldn’t make him out to be so…horrible. “I did my job.” It was a good enough answer. He could see by the way your eyes squinted it wasn’t quite what you wanted but you didn’t say anything more. “And don’t worry. The crew hosed me down before I got on the ship. Didn’t want to stain the tub. I knew you woulda clawed my eyes out if I did. But I washed us nice and clean. Under your nails and behind your ears and everything. You just conked out on my chest…which was rather cute by the way.”

The idea of you asleep against his chest as he washed you made your heart skip. Feeling a small smile quirk at your lips imagining him taking care of you so well. “I…I missed bath time? Dang it. I can never convince you to take a bath with me usually.”

“Well, you can put me in another one of those death traps soon if you want to.” Kid let out a sigh, feigning annoyance but smiling down at you regardless.

“Good because I was going to guilt you into it again anyway.” You quipped, your smile becoming more mischievous as you gripped onto the blanket near you and hid part of your blushing face.

Kid couldn’t help but laugh at that a little. Eyes narrowing as he watched you, his voice coming far out more smooth and sweeter. “Of course you were.”

“Oh and umm…thank you for cleaning me up. I wasn’t going to claw your eyes out necessarily. Getting covered in blood wasn’t your fault or anything.” You mumbled, fingers now tracing the texture of the blanket as you spoke.

Kid watched you for a second before responding. Chewing the truth and deciding to ask just in case you did remember too much. “It sorta was…I mean I overdid it. You don’t…remember too much of it right?” His voice hitched a bit at the end there. Eyes more wide and expectant as if he knew you were going to nag at him for how…extra he had been.

“Too much of what? I mean…I remember the guard getting…crushed. I don’t think I could ever forget that. And seeing you all covered in blood is still pretty vivid in my mind.” You said innocently as if even that didn’t bother you. You knew Kid could be a cruel man in battle and had gotten used to it. So you didn’t get what he seemed so worked up about.

“Well…that’s not exactly ideal but better than nothing.” Kid stroked his hair again, a nervous habit that always gave him away. The corners of his eyes tightened and his gaze went anywhere but you.

“What? Did something bad happen after you saved me?”

“More like…before I saved you. And it was all over the ground. Lots of guts and gross shit I don’t need you seeing.” Kid's answer rolled off his tongue awkwardly and slowly as if he was cringing the whole way through it.

“You saying I can’t handle gore and stuff? You know I can.”

You piping up defensively instead of in utter disgust for him was a bit of a shock. Kids lack an eyebrow raised in confusion. Looking over you and seeing that in fact you weren’t barfing in your mouth a little.

Well then clearly they didn’t see it. They weren’t lying.

“Well it was especially…gross this time. Even Killer complained that I accidentally splattered him.”

Your eyes widened at that. Finally putting it together just how far Kid must’ve gone when battling that crew. You looked him up and down a bit more carefully and still didn’t see a single wound. Which meant it wasn’t for fighting reasons, it was for you.

“Really? Well…shit. Killer is like…the king of being chill with a bunch of blood on him. Must’ve been bad.”

Killer really was the king of being okay with blood and gore. It's one of the reasons Kid had become so proficient in handling it himself. So for Killer to complain despite being the very man that taught Kid how to rip spines out cleanly was unexpected. Dare say concerning.

“It…was.” Kid swallowed a bit thickly, still almost ashamed of how he acted despite how good it felt. He was mainly just worried about your opinion of him. He didn’t want you knowing how brutal he could really be but from the light smile on your face, he realized you took it more as a compliment than anything.

“Then um…thank you for protecting me and my soft little mind.” You reached out timidly and touched his knee in front of you. Patting his thigh softly before mindlessly tracing little patterns on his skin. It made sparks fly up his spine feeling the soft pads of your fingers on him. His cheeks turning red as he watched your hand. Not at all interfering with the little ways you showed him you cared.

“You don’t need to thank me.” He said quietly, pausing for a moment before chewing on another thought. It made him nervous to say this. Hell, he would rather talk about anything else. But with a feigned layback attitude, he let it go. His heart far too heavy to keep it inside anymore. “Ya know…for a second there I thought you mighta left me. Got tired of the whole pirate life. Found some other man…to wash behind your ears.”

You listened to his soft mumbling, eyes hazy with tiredness now turning sharp from the shock. “Wah-Why would you ever think that Kid? I’d never leave you. Even thinking about it is making me uncomfortable.” You stopped tracing his thigh. Instead, planting your hand firmly onto it. Your head perking up out of the pillow to look at him more.

Kid half expected you to say something like that. You were always the more vocal one about your feelings compared to him. Whilst you were screaming at the tops of your lungs how much you loved him, Kid would only croak it out in private. Pale skin always cast in an embarrassed flush despite how long you two have been together. “I know I know. I bet the crew woulda said the same thing if I had told them. That you’re too smitten and in love with me to just…leave.”

“Well of course I am! I’m pathetically in love with you and if I ever did leave, which is never happening in a million years, I would have told you beforehand. I’m not some sort of…cruel person to just slink away like that.” That last part made you both frown immediately. Your face strewn with pain and Kids full of guilt.

“I know you’re not, I know. I just got…scared that maybe…I was the one who made you go away.” He could feel his stomach drop saying that. Immediately regretting that he even brought it up. You were back and safe and telling him you loved him yet he still felt like he was the problem.

You could see that look of unsureness written all over his face. It made your voice go firmer, hand gripping his thigh a bit tighter as you leaned your body upwards. “Kid I got captured and nearly beaten to death. Why would I ever choose that over you?”

“I know that now but when I was looking for you…god, I don’t know. This conversation is stupid.” Kid flopped over onto his back. Bouncing the bed slightly as he pressed his head into the pillow. His eyes closed yet his lips tilted into a twitching frown. As if he was trying to tackle something going on in his head.

You’re brow furrowed and your heart ached. Bridging the gap between the two of you as your chest softly pressed against his arm. He popped his eyes open, feeling you move around and press up against him. His mouth immediately opened in complaint. “Stop moving already you need to-”

His words were cut off as you tucked his lips into a deep and needy kiss. Propping your elbow up and laying your chest against his wide one. One of your hands tracing up his pec, the other going up to softly play with his hair. Usually, he always took the led but you beat him to it. Lapping your tongue against his unpainted lips before slipping inside. Drinking him in with slow languid movements that were slightly rough from passion. His rigid body relaxed beneath you as his hand made its way to the arch of your back.

Biting softly on his lip as you pulled away, a surprisingly soft loving smile adorned your rosy cheeks as he stared up at you, nearly bewildered. His sharp honey eyes were wide and glassy. His sweet-smelling skin a beautiful shade of pink.

“I love you, okay? I won’t ever stop loving you. No amount of pain or mistakes or anything you think is wrong with yourself would ever deter me. You bleed for me, you bleed others for me, and you are the reason my heart's still beating. And even if you didn’t do any of that, if you were the most unsuccessful and incapable person on this planet, I would still love you. So please stop making up reasons why I wouldn’t love you because it's an insult to how much I do. Which is a fuck-ton if I needed to say it clearer.”

You simply smiled at him as he took all of that in. Blinking in surprise as a little gasp of air came out of him. The kind of breath that he was probably holding in. But as soon as he did he softened even more, a light smirk on his lips as his hand ran up your back to touch your hair. “Did you have that speech prepared or does being perfect just come naturally to you?”

You let out a little giggle at that. Kid always had a way of turning even the most intimate moments into something sweeter. “Well it was originally supposed to be a part of my wedding vows to you but I tweaked it a bit to fit the moment. Did I do a good job?”

“An amazing job. Though you thinking about marriage already is going to give me heartburn. But if I had any feedback to give, I would say keep the fuck-ton part in. Lays it on thick ya know?”

“Will do handsome.” You mumbled through a smile. Easing yourself into a more comfortable position and laying your head on his soft chest. His hand immediately pressed against your lower back. Rubbing his rough yet warm calloused hands across you. Staring up at the ceiling as he let out another deep sigh.

“I love you.” He whispered. Voice a bit more rasp and his face full of bliss.

“I know ya do dummy.”

#one piece x reader #x reader #eustass kid x reader #eustass kid #one piece #eustasscaptainkid #kid pirates #one piece eustass #massacre soldier killer #killer one piece #tw; blood #tw; gore #request

123 notes · View notes

strong-with-the-sarcasm · 2 months

Text

Part 18: i'm anything but tame

"Don't tell me it's not fair. Believe me, I've been there. Bittersweet my renegade and I'm anything but tame. Oh, I hate to tell you this way. VIllians aren't born, darlin' we're made." -Villians Aren't Born (They're Made) by PEGGY

Regent masterlist Mundane Macabre Part 17 AO3

Council of Uncaged Birds group chat [User Pharaoh has changed group name to Summon the Fraid Council] Summon the Fraid Council group chat Pharaoh-Tech: Phantom giw left AP InfiniteStarPrince: but thats good??? Queen_Regent: Where did they go?

Dame_Asphodel: Phar tracked them far as NJ but the green says they are close to you. Pharaoh-Tech: did some digging the bomb = not giw InfiniteStarPrince: yeah no gross ecto Queen_Regent: too subtle, not the usual guns blazing style. InfiniteStarPrince: Oh. Dame_Asphodel: Why Regent then? Queen_Regent: Who knows Phantom and I outside our night lives? Pharaoh-Tech: will dig more oracle tried 2 hack me Queen_Regent: Did you make contact? Dame_Asphodel: isnt Oracle a bat ally? Pharaoh-Tech: probably back hacked some files theres a file on Regent InfiniteStarPrince: why would BBB not have 1 on her??? Dame_Asphodel: BBB? Queen_Regent: Big Bad Bat. Batman. InfiniteStarPrince: yeah why wouldnt he have 1 on a meta Queen_Regent: he thinks is one Pharaoh-Tech: it has UR REAL NAMEE Queen_Regent: I told him. InfiniteStarPrince: yeah, R let me know Dame_Asphodel: why? Pharaoh-Tech: u kidding i worried for nothing?!?! Queen_Regent: I’m dating Red Hood Dame_Asphodel: What happened to Jason? InfiniteStarPrince: him too Pharaoh-Tech: wat???? InfiniteStarPrince: R met his family 2 Pharaoh-Tech: hol up !?!?!?! u tellin me RH = JT?? Queen_Regent: Can’t confirm or deny Pharaoh-Tech: imma lay down head hurts Dame_Asphodel: That does make me think R Queen_Regent: that one of RH’s enemies tried to kill two birds with one bomb InfiniteStarPrince: oh snap plot twist Dame_Asphodel: who though? Queen_Regent: RH is a crime lord Dame_Asphodel: who took on black mask Queen_Regent: I don’t want to do anything without proof

InfiniteStarPrince: black mask? Dame_Asphodel: crime lord got ass kicked by RH literally has a black mask as a face InfiniteStarPrince: so looking for one (1) ugly bastard Queen_Regent: evidence first. can’t execute mortal with zero InfiniteStarPrince: realm laws suck Dame_Asphodel: yet you’re still gonna be king sucks to suck Queen_Regent: For now i’ll ask RH for info he’s mad about the bomb worried I couldve been hurt InfiniteStarPrince: gross Dame_Asphodel: and after? Queen_Regent: well we’ll cross that bridge when we get there Dame_Asphodel: I think you mean burn it Queen_Regent: whatever comes first

GothicDame and JazzHands chat

GothicDame: does he treat you well? JazzHands: very

GothicDame: good always need more fertilizer JazzHands: Never change

If she was anyone else, Ellie walking through Jason’s apartment door with a dirty shovel over her shoulder while whistling a jaunty tune would have raised some concerns for the older Nightingale. Jazz decided to settle for fond exasperation over annoyance at her little sister’s literal (albeit forewarned) shovel talk, even though the aforementioned shovel was suspiciously covered in bloody dirt.

However, any annoyance died and went to the realms when Ellie stood face to chest with Jason, one hand on her hip, shovel still over her shoulder and gave him a once-over. A four-foot-six teen standing off against her six-foot even boyfriend should not be allowed to be so comedic.

“So, you’re the-“

“Red Hood.”

“I was gonna say undead weenie, but that works too I guess.”

It was just so ridiculous that Jazz couldn’t help but laugh at the two. Jason and Ellie spared her confused looks at her laughter, but didn’t comment as Danny entered the apartment as well, only he had an ecto smoothie in one hand and a bucket of popcorn in the other. The future Ghost King didn’t seem all that concerned about the scene he walked into, only pausing long enough to ask-

“Did I miss anything?”

[I'm so glad to post a new part to the Regent! If you weren't aware, this also now lives on AO3.]

#dp x dc #dpxdc #dp x dc au #dc x dp crossover #jazz fenton #regent!jazz #hardcover ship #jason todd #anger management ship #jazz x jason #ellie nightingale #danny is a little shit #ellie is a little shit #danny nightingale

69 notes · View notes

wallflowerwritesstuff · 2 months

Text

Decisions, Decisions

...but you can choose them all if you really want~

Just a little cute thing I wanted to do similar to a choose-your-own adventure game :) Choose who you want to care for you after a particularly harsh mission!

The beginning is the same for all routes, but you can pick which LI you want at the end of it.

Enjoy :)

-🌻

Can be read at ao3 here if preferred!

Borders by strangergraphics here on tumblr :)

Your body was killing you.

You could already see the looks of disapproval for just thinking the statement, the images at least cracking your frown and allowing for the corners of your lips to curl upward. Ignoring the fact that your entire body felt like one big bruise, you continued to type up the remainder of information from the mission, only having gone due to the original hunter being put on medical leave a week in.

You now understood exactly why they had been placed on said leave.

Rather than your usual clumsy antics resulting in some minor injuries, it was the job that had left you beaten, bruised, and momentarily bloody. You didn’t even want to know how bad it must look to others, grateful you couldn’t see your back but wincing whenever you imagined the sight of your collarbone down to your toes. The wanderers lately have grown more…intense. Rather than managing to get through a job in an hour or so, it had begun to take several.

You were a great hunter—you reminded yourself of that a lot more, lately—but even with your seemingly above average skills when fighting, you were still human.

You could still die.

Shutting the laptop with a tired exhale, you turn your head toward the windows to see the familiar sunset beginning to fade on the horizon. You were sure you would have appreciated it more if your vision weren’t so blurry from staring at a screen for so long. Still, you allow yourself to watch it until it disappears entirely, the emptiness of night more prominent when you still had to commute home.

You don’t regret not going with Tara, though her words ring in your ears as you steel your nerves to force yourself up into a standing position.

Get some rest, alright?

The concern that had laced into her words was touching, especially considering you hadn’t expected how easily it would be to become fast friends. Caleb had been the only one you’d ever clicked with so seamlessly, though the memory had become more bittersweet than nostalgic ever since his passing.

You miss him and Grandma, your eyes watering as you wipe the stray tears that made their way down your cheeks. Grounding yourself was a lot harder when you already were in such a vulnerable state, but you managed to do it before exiting the office and making sure to shut the lights on your way out.

You pull out your phone, finding some messages unread but once again unable to fully concentrate, a frustrated huff escaping you as you shove the device back into your pocket. The harsh movement sends shockwaves through you as you await the building’s elevator, your eyes closing as you focus on each breath.

It was easier to brush off the pain earlier—adrenaline and the eyes of many causing you to suck it up to avoid damaging morale.

Right now, however?

You were sure you would have rather been knocked out cold and taken into medical.

At least there they’d have given you something to take the edge off.

The elevator dings, the doors parting as you open your eyes and realize you have to decide whether you’re taking your bike or public transportation to get home.

Crap.

“Well, better now than later,” you muse to yourself blithely, stepping inside the elevator and pressing the ‘ground floor’ button with much more force than necessary.

A part of you wonders if you should get something prescribed rather than attempting to cruise the next few days, but the idea of traveling to the hospital and the risk of being placed under overnight observation was enough to have you pushing the idea away entirely.

Tomorrow, you assure, knowing very well that apart from sleep, you wouldn’t be seeking much of anything else.

When you get down the the ground floor, you begin your walk to the bus stop, hoping there aren’t any delays but not holding your breath.

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

Time to Choose~

Xavier

Zayne

Rafayel

Sylus

#love and deep space #xavier love and deepspace #zayne love and deepspace #rafayel love and deepspace #sylus love and deepspace #lnds sylus #lnds zayne #lnds xavier #lnds rafayel #lnds #wow this fandom has a lot of tags omg

43 notes · View notes

snapghoul · 8 days

Text

I know there’s better brothers, but you’re the only one that’s mine.

Ethan crashes at Mav’s place.

⤷ continuation/prelude of this mini fic

Note: now I’m obsessed with Ethan & Mav twins, I’m having so much fun.

Warnings: mention of blood and minor injury

Song: Brother - Murder By Death

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

Ethan was far from enjoying himself; the IMF's relentless barrage of operations was wearing him thin. To him, a vacation meant vanishing for a mere three days before they inevitably tracked him down.

His back ached and a fresh gash throbbed on his forehead from yet another pistol whipping. Perhaps it was time to reconsider his career; his old bones were growing too weary for this.

The light flicked on, and Ethan squinted against the blinding brightness. It was probably around seven in the morning, and he was nestled uncomfortably on the carpet. Soft footsteps approached, and a shadow fell over him.

"Pete, the light," he mumbled, his eyes still squeezed shut, sensing Pete's familiar presence.

"Well, hello to you too, little brother," Pete chuckled, dimming the lights to a gentler glow.

"Four minutes, by four minutes," Ethan sighed, slowly pushing himself up from the floor.

"Four minutes is a long time," Pete said with a grin as he headed to the kitchen, where the coffee pot was already brewed from the night before. "You know, a heads-up would be nice. One day I’m going to step on you and break my leg or something."

“I heard you coming.” Ethan grumbled and shuffled to the counter. Normally, he was always alert, but he let his guard down when invading his twin’s home.

“Sure.” Pete had already set out a mug for him, and Ethan appreciated his brother’s thoughtfulness. Pete never asked questions or gave lectures. Neither of them had room to judge; they both had their fair share of reckless moments—must be in their blood.

"You and your fancy suits," Pete said after a sip of coffee, his eyes gleaming with mischief as he surveyed Ethan. "I can’t believe you find those comfortable.”

"At least I have style," Ethan shot back with a grin. "I bet if I looked in your closet, I'd find eight of the same shirt."

"Nothing wrong with having multiples of a favorite," Pete defended, nodding to his wardrobe of four shirts and jeans. "Also, I think Bradley is planning to stop by. It might be best to fix your face before he gets here."

Ethan shook his head with a tired chuckle as Pete gestured to his dirt-smeared, bloodied face. Pete moved away from the counter to find the first aid kit, which irked him slightly since he had just restocked it after pinching his hand in an engine.

“How’s the kid?” Ethan asked, nursing his coffee. He didn’t question Pete and their pseudo-nephew’s renewed bond; he knew it was a positive development.

“Taller,” Pete called back.

Ethan chuckled and started pacing the room to entertain his mind, his gaze drifting over the pictures and awards on the walls. He smiled softly at a black-and-white photo of him and Pete sitting on the wing of an old P-51 Mustang, their grins wide. Next to it was a more recent picture of Pete surrounded by twelve pilots in front of an F-18. The group wore a vibrant mix of colorful helmets and were clearly enjoying the moment.

“That’s the Daggers—or, as some of them say, my children,” Pete said, returning with the first aid kit and a wide grin. Ethan laughed, recognizing the respect and affection the Daggers had for Pete.

“At least one of us has kids,” Ethan said with a smirk, earning a playful smack on the arm from Pete with the first aid kit.

Bonus:

Jake was accustomed to making himself at home in Mav’s house. After spending so much time here with Bradley, he walked in and immediately started fixing a cup of coffee. He had been pulled out of the house before he could have his usual morning drink, so he was eager to make up for it.

Just as he was lost in his coffee-making routine, Mav’s voice cut through his focus. “Oh, Hangman, when did you get here?” Mav’s sudden appearance startled Jake, causing him to jerk and drop the mug he was holding. It shattered on the counter with a loud crash, and Jake let out an exclamation of surprise.

Mav, equally surprised by Jake’s reaction, looked at the broken mug. Fortunately, it was a plain white one and not one of his treasured collectibles. Jake, still puzzled, turned to Mav.

“How did you get in here? You were just—” He pointed behind him toward the screen door. “There’s no way you could’ve sneaked in. Did you come through the front?”

“No, I’ve been here the whole time,” Mav said, trying to stifle a laugh as his green eyes twinkled with amusement. Jake’s brows furrowed in confusion, and he quickly leaped over the shards of the mug and dashed outside.

“Wait— Lieutenant, clean this up first!” Mav called after him. Jake didn’t respond and continued stumbling out through the screen door.

#top gun maverick #mission impossible #ethan hunt #maverick mitchell #pete maverick mitchell #top gun #tom cruise

29 notes · View notes

chronolojay · 3 months

Text

gwen stacy, arachnophobia. a web weave based on the incredible fic by @rappaccini

this fic changed the way I think about gwen as a character and got lodged in my brain since I first read it. its a fic that makes you want to make art about it and it is absolutely worth your time.

Sources under the cut

PART 1: The Fall

IMAGES:

The Amazing Spider Man 2. Directed by Marc Webb, performance by Emma Stone, 2014. Gerry Conway, writer. The Night that Gwen Stacy Died. Pencils by Gil Kane. Inks by John Romita. Colors by Dave Hunt. Letters by Artie Simek. The Amazing Spider-Man #121, 1973. @gui_la_ume, TikTok, 2023, LEGO Spiderman Animation, https://www.tiktok.com/@gui_la_ume/video/7245780799251860763. Lavergne, Max. "Coming Up With a Complete List of Ways to Die", Infinite Gossip, Sep 28, 2023, https://infinitegossip.substack.com/p/coming-up-with-a-complete-list-of. Pal, Marijan. "Ajshil, Oresteja, SNG Drama in Ljubljana", Wikimedia Commons,1968, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ajshil,_Oresteia,_Drama_SNG_v_Ljubljani_(4).jpg. Spider-Man 3. Directed by Sam Raimi, 2007.

TEXT:

the garages. "solar eclipse". https://open.spotify.com/track/23y7JvIq11f1NHnwxWC27P?si=7b4482b1601e40de Madison, Piper. "Phonograph" . https://open.spotify.com/track/13ypXt9ag0Rq8uLBe2tZqn?si=d0aab028801e419d “Memento mori.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/memento%20mori. Accessed 1 May. 2024. Oates, Joyce Carol. Blonde: A Novel. 2000, ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA68593021. The Oresteia, Aeschylus rappaccini. arachnophobia. https://archiveofourown.org/works/48363238/chapters/121980043 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, 2023.

PART 2: Rage, OR: Tear It All Down

IMAGES:

Area 51 circuit board, "I'M NOT DEAD YET" via https://arcadeheroes.com/2014/04/20/arcade-games-easter-eggs/ are you in hell via https://www.tumblr.com/screenshotsofdespair/705113397985968128 A Softer World. www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=891. bloody knuckles. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/68/68/62/686862f692cfb5e02b76013701ff3347.jpg burn it all lighter via https://png-heaven.tumblr.com/post/675085348575084544/love-still, https://www.etsy.com/listing/717241294/personalized-lighter-zippo-engraved caitlynsarah95, "Hands". Deviantart, May 3, 2019, https://www.deviantart.com/caitlynsarah95/art/Hands-796203302. Daley-Ward, Yrsa, "all the wrong colours" "DIY Three Ingredient Venom Slime", elledoingstuff, https://web.archive.org/web/20201126155036/https://shedoesstuff.com/2018/10/22/diy-three-ingredient-venom-slime/ Gerhard Richter Untitled (5 Jan 1990), 1990 Marchese, David. “Kathleen Turner, in Conversation.” Vulture, 7 Aug. 2018, www.vulture.com/2018/08/kathleen-turner-in-conversation.html. MarianneCreates, "live with this", via https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/98874045 McGuire, Seanan, and Rosi Kampe. Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider Vol. 1. Marvel, 2019. Melissa P. Directed by Luca Guadagnino, 2005. Paskow, Linnea "Splitter", 2020. https://linneapaskow.com/paintings-/18 Roland Arhelger, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Verrazzano-Narrows_Bridge_(New_York).jpg Sin, Nata. "Menotaxis", November 8, 2022. https://instagram.com/nata__sin__?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== "Spider PNG image image with transparent background", via https://pngimg.com/image/4537. "Spider Transparent #1558430", via http://clipart-library.com/clip-art/spider-transparent-2.htm. "Spider PNG Image" via https://www.pngall.com/spider-png/download/1726 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, 2023. "Transparent Spider Gif #1587577", via http://clipart-library.com/clip-art/transparent-spider-gif-23.htm. "Transitions Purple T-Shirt + Download", august, via https://store.augustalsina.com/products/transitions-purple-t-shirt-pre-order-download

TEXT:

Boyer, Anne. "WHAT RESEMBLES THE GRAVE BUT ISN’T". 2017. Moyers, 17 April 2017, https://billmoyers.com/story/poetry-month-what-resembles-the-grave-but-isnt/ Carson, Anne. H Of H Playbook. New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2021. Euripides. Grief Lessons: Four Plays by Euripides. New York Review of Books, 2008. Lord Huron. "Not Dead Yet", https://open.spotify.com/track/5NRbNXwXHM9mYgxMhzVWTP?si=d55caaf2461a4675 rappaccini. arachnophobia. https://archiveofourown.org/works/48363238/chapters/121980043

PART 3: Live

IMAGES:

277: Venetian Memento Mori Earrings, Ragoarts.com. www.ragoarts.com/auctions/2021/07/summer-jewels/277 beigeandrose. “The 1990s Goth Faux Leather Lace up Chunky Heels Platform Boots Size US 8.” Etsy, www.etsy.com/listing/117460104/the-1990s-goth-faux-leather-lace-up. “Clasped Hands of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/11156. Coello, Iban. Carnage-ized Variant Cover, Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider Vol. 2 - Impossible Year. Marvel Entertainment, 2019. Forcibly Feminized at the Pharm, The High Femmes, 2022 Hodan, George. "Spider Web." PublicDomainPictures.net, https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=21073&picture=spider-web Home, pinkshift, 2023 "Nice While It Lasted." Bojack Horseman, created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg, season 6 episode 16, Netflix, 2020. Rainbow, Kesha, 2017 Shinkai, Makoto, and Midori Motohashi. The Garden of Words. Kodansha Comics, 2016. Skin-N-Bones. “An top down image of red soup, on a blue background, with noodles spelling out ‘Everybody Dies.’” Tumblr, 12 June 2013, skin-n-bones.tumblr.com/post/52800040011. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, 2023. "Spiderman Graffiti, Pittsburgh", by chronolojay “THAT’S BELIEVABLE!” Tumblr, 3 Mar. 2024, www.tumblr.com/thatsbelievable/743968419651665920?source=share.

TEXT:

Latour, Jason. SPIDER-GWEN VOL. 6: THE LIFE OF GWEN STACY. Illustrated by Mike Ploog, Cover Art by Robbi Rodriguez, vol. 6, ‎ Marvel Universe, 2018. Limón, Ada. “Dead Stars.” Poets.org, 1976, poets.org/poem/dead-stars. rappaccini. arachnophobia. https://archiveofourown.org/works/48363238/chapters/121980043 Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2007.

#web weave #web weaving #across the spiderverse #gwen stacy #spider gwen #ghost spider #arachnophobia fic #spiderverse #atsv #atsv gwen #(kinda) but it does fit - i think enough to justify the tag #this is my fic rec and also my rec of the garages who i don't think i can make a weave without including their songs.#ive been working on this for so long it is a bit terrifying to post now. do it scared and all that!#and then i can figure out links to post the separate parts #webweaving

46 notes · View notes

weirdlookindog · 1 year

Text

La horripilante bestia humana (1969) - Italian poster

AKA Night of the Bloody Apes: Horror and Sex; Gomar: The Human Gorilla

#la horripilante bestia humana #night of the bloody apes #josé elías moreno #carlos lópez moctezuma #armando silvestre #norma lazareno #1960s movies #rené cardona #horror movie poster

30 notes · View notes

ryanhamiltonwalsh · 2 months

Text

A Rick Rolls a Nation — a timeline of the JD Vance couch joke

July 15th, 2024: "can't say for sure but he might be the first vp pick to have admitted in a ny times bestseller to fucking an Inside-out latex glove shoved between two couch cushions (vance, hillbilly elegy, pp. 179-181)." — @ rickrudescalves (the now deleted tweet)

Arguably, this ground zero tweet overly complicates things. Soon, the "latex glove" element will be completely forgotten and JD will *only* be fucking couches "raw dog style" in almost all subsequent variations on the joke.

July 15th, 2024 - Present: The joke goes absolutely bonkers viral. Comedian Kathy Griffin, who famously overstepped in 2017 by posing for a photo with a model of Trump's bloodied, disembodied head, believes the joke to be true, boosts it as if it is.

July 24th, 2024: The Associated Press publishes a fact check of the "claim," which is inherently hilarious.

July 25th, 2024: The Associated Press retracts the piece, causing fans of the Vance/couch meme to go wild with delight, the joke being that they retracted it because there's actually something to it. “The story, which did not go out on the wire to our customers, didn’t go through our standard editing process. We are looking into how that happened" — AP spokesperson Nicole Meir

July 30th, 2024: Business Insider tracks down the originator of the joke and interviews him --->

"@ rickrudescalves hid the post within a week of publishing it, but the couch joke had already left an impression."

He says he was uncomfortable with the attention the joke received, and is mildly worried about being accused of election interference, but has no regrets.

Rick cites Werner Herzog, Jorge Luis Borges, John Fowles, and Hunter S. Thompson in explaining precedents for the form and details of the joke.

July 31st, 2024: JD Vance either intentionally makes a lame joke embracing (or trying to claim ownership of) the couch meme, or does so accidentally via free association. Either way, it falls totally flat and the man continues to dazzle America with his complete lack of charisma and his disgusting views on women's rights.

August 6th, 2024: Tim Walz is selected as Kamala Harris's Vice Presidential running mate. That night, in Philadelphia, Walz kills with a Vance/Couch joke.

August 7-8th-ish, 2024: The far right, led by Laura Loomer and Don Jr, makes an unfunny, clumsy, intentional attempt to do the same kind of joke with Walz by claiming...he...drinks horse cum? Because this is so...just gross—a classic over-escalation, you might say—and completely manufactured, this attempt seems to be dead on arrival.

August 9th, 2024: The non-GOP backlash officially begins. New York Magazine pubishes:

"Besides the tiresome-but-correct moral case, leaning on fake memes also just isn’t necessary, much as it may delight Democrats’ online base. Good political candidates have always known how to get vicious while staying within the lines of accuracy. This means homing in on opponents’ real weaknesses, a task the Harris campaign has thus far excelled at."

To which there was an excellent Twitter response:

Right. Who owns the joke? Is it democrats? Is it officials or citizens? The answer is no one, and therefore the idea it can be policed is itself a kind of joke, I think.

Where will it go from here? We shall see.

I wonder if we'll ever learn the identity of Rick, because, I agree, I think a joke made in mid-July may have altered history.

#JD Vance #couch fucker #Rick #Tim Walz

45 notes · View notes

ronmerchant · 2 months

Text

NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES (1968)

27 notes · View notes

historicalvandal · 4 months

Note

I'm so glad I found your blog! Can I please get some drabble? Proximus,Ceaser, the sunset trio (noa,soona, and anaya) and anyone else you want to add with a human reader that started following them one day. The human is very hard to catch if she doesn't want to be caught, talk, or be seen and will defend herself if cornered. Brings "gifts," bones, shiny rocks, or food if in a good mood. Hope you feel better! Saw your last post. Ignore if you need to, sending hugs 🤗

I'm glad you found me too! I'm excited to write for people! As you can possibly tell from all of my postings about PoTA rn haha- Ofc you can have some drabbles! I'll write a few drabbles for Koba, Caesar, Proximus and the sunset trio for ya!

Proximus Caesar ; The first time he met you was when he took a small trip with his guards, taking it upon himself to do more kingly activities, that being hunting, he'd have been possibly hunting for a new pet when he heard about a certain human causing some mayhem who just couldn't be captured at all and who was supposedly very aggressive once backed up into a corner, even Sylva had gotten hurt by such a tiny human, this of course piqued Proximus' interest, so when he enters the forest in which you usually roamed and came face to face with you, you displayed...curiosity, perhaps this wasn't the human he was told about? But he was wrong, because as soon as he had asked Sylva to capture you, you bit Sylva's hand causing the gorilla to lose a nice chunk of flesh from his hand, his blood covering your mouth, as you spit out the flesh you'd ripped out onto the muddy ground, eyes on Proximus as his gaze lingered on your face. You ended up following him out of curiosity, as he went through the forest, sticking to the shadows, but he could smell your scent in the air, and he more or less ordered Sylva and Lightning to leave him be for some time, once the two had left Proximus alone, he set up waiting patiently for you to come out of the brush and shrubbery of the forest, not expecting you to drop down from the high branches above him, nearly landing on the back of his horse behind him, stalking around him slowly, before holding out your closed hand, Proximus glanced at the hand offered to him and he held his hand out, palm open, you reached forward and dropped a bird skull into his hand followed by a shiny pebble, a small river stone, you looked up at Proximus and opened your mouth to speak, just one word, but it had him hooked, "King." To be fair with you, it wasn't necessarily the best idea to be hanging around Proximus, but you couldn't help yourself, following after him, his shadow, thought of as a pet, but you never seemed to mind, you'd bring him the shiny stones you'd find and of course small animal bones, but feathers were a favourite of yours to give him, he never seemed to mind having these small trinkets, he actually incorporated some of the shiny stones into his outfit, a few feathers weaved into an arm band, all in all he has a new pet and they're very much his favourite for all the small things they do, but mostly how they'll always bring something back when they go out at night.

Koba ; With Koba he'd hate that you follow him around, leave gifts in his nest, even bring him food, but he somewhat understands why you are combative, hate being cornered and refuse to talk when you feel overwhelmed, he'd have first met you in the red woods, on a hunting trip alone, hearing yelping and aggressive hooting, he'd be under the impression an ape had gotten themselves lost and in danger, possibly going to help and finding you facing off against a predator bigger then you, then he wouldn't want to help, but as soon as you notice him you had already used your teeth and bare hands to beat the predator bloody, vanishing up into a tree quickly and out of sight after a staring match between you two. However Koba runs into you more and more, and slowly gets used to seeing you, what he doesn't get used to is you following him back to the colony, he hadn't wanted you to follow or even be accepted into the colony, but Caesar had welcomed you upon the insistence of some apes who had seen you driving predators away from the colony, once accepted you choose to follow Koba, he'd been more or less aggressive and mean to you, but you still followed and soon he got used to calling you shadow other then human, you start leaving river stones in his nest, birds you'd practically mauled to death as a food type gift and you even left ripped up cloth to make his nest more comfortable, he'd catch you one night nudging a necklace you'd made with two other female apes into his nest, nearest to some pelts you had acquired, then he didn't have the heart nor anger to drive you off, and you ended up sleeping beside his nest that night, now he wears the necklace.

Caesar ; He first came into contact with you when you wandered unknowingly into ape territory, you had ran right into the middle of Malcolm and his team first being there in the red woods, and had even bitten Carver in attempts of stopping him from killing Ash and Blue eyes, causing the colony to be alerted to the sounds of shouting and when Ash had been shot, Caesar had heard of a human living nearby, had heard of how aggressive they had been to many others, mainly to humans, but hadn't moved to do anything against the feral human in the forest, since they usually kept predators and other humans at bay, so in thanks for you driving off Malcolm's group, and saving Ash and Blue eyes from being hurt further, also upon the good word both young teens had put in for you and from Rocket himself, he accepted you into the colony, you integrated well at first but never spoke much, always sticking to Caesar's side whenever permitted to do so. Like Koba he'd notice that things were being left at his nest, at some point even a dead buck had ended up near his nest, you take to leaving things you make so he can wear them, he notices your craftsmanship and wears the band you had made that would hook around his arm, the necklace you had made proudly displayed, set with beads and small river stones and a lot of feathers, you even taking to wearing a band around your own bicep and a simpler version of the necklace.

The sunset trio ; The three had accidentally run into you on their first meeting, noticing you as the echo who had been sneaking around the clan and stealing food, Noa had been the one to notice you'd been doing it because you were injured at the time, still it somewhat frustrated the three, they ran into you out in the forest when they were berry picking, you peeked out of the bushes, the thorns from the blackberry bush ripping into your skin and tangled in your hair, Soona had been the first to reach out, and you seemingly were fine with it despite them all hearing stories of your penchant to bite, the three managed to get you untangled, not even saying thank you, you rushed off into the shrubbery, swinging up into the trees with practised perfection, vanishing from view, or so they thought, you followed them above, staying a few paces behind, they caught sight of you again once you had gotten to the natural edge of the forest, hopping from the trees to stand and watch them, this time Anaya was the one to reach out to you, joined by Soona and slowly joined by Noa, they held out their hands with the want to at least bring you to a healer to get your wounds seen too, and you reached out too, speaking to them, voice ragged from going without use for some time, "Hurt..Help- please" Once integrated into the clan you opened up slowly, spending more and more time with the trio, taking to making necklaces, bracelets, arm bands, satchels too, all things learned from Noa's mother, you'd nonchalantly leave gifts in their nests, only growing closer as they started to make gifts in return for you. Okayyy! I have finished these drabbles- I hope these are okay! and hope they bring a smile to your face, sorry for taking a hot second to write this all out! Thanks for the request! <33

#planet of the apes #pota #drabbles #pota koba #pota caesar #noa kotpota #anaya kotpota #soona kotpota #proximus caesar #val writes <3

42 notes · View notes

violentvaleska · 8 months

Text

𝑨𝒃𝒚𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔

ɴɪɴᴇ ʰⁱˢᵗᵒʳⁱᵃ ʳᵉⁱˢˢ

ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: ʟᴇᴠɪ ᴀᴄᴋᴇʀᴍᴀɴ x ғᴇᴍᴀʟᴇ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

sᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ: ᴀs ʟᴇᴠɪ's ᴀssɪsᴛᴀɴᴛ ɪᴛ ɪs ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴊᴏʙ ᴛᴏ ᴛᴀᴋᴇ ᴄᴀʀᴇ ᴏғ ʜɪs ᴇᴠᴇʀʏ ᴡɪsʜ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀs ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴄᴀᴘᴛᴀɪɴ ɪᴛ ɪs ʜɪs ᴅᴜᴛʏ ᴛᴏ ᴄᴏᴍғᴏʀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀғᴛᴇʀ ᴀ ᴘᴀʀᴛɪᴄᴜʟᴀʀʟʏ sᴄᴀʀʏ ɴɪɢʜᴛᴍᴀʀᴇ.

ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢ: ɢᴏʀᴇ, ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ, ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏғ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs: ↫ ᴘʀᴇᴠɪᴏᴜs ɴᴇxᴛ ↬

ғᴀɴғɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ᴍᴀsᴛᴇʀʟɪs

ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴏɴ ᴀᴏ3

ᴛᴀɢɢɪɴɢ: @ajmiila02 @xiernia @sunniisyde

The last ten days have been so full of death, failure and betrayal that you almost forgot there was once peace, life and loyalty. Mike's death and the appearance of the beast titan set off a chain of events that even you couldn't have foreseen. Your entire squad was whipped out while you were in the safety of Erwin's office, mourning Mike's death with him. You were assigned as Levi's personal assistant shortly after the Commander declared you unfit to fight due to trauma. That's why you haven't been actively fighting for the last few days, instead learning how to serve Levi's tea properly. A few days later, you had a vision of Reiner transforming into the armored titan. A background check revealed that there was literally no information about his upcoming, and after Armin began to suspect your comrade and friend as well, things went downhill quickly.

Bertolt and Reiner revealed themselves as titans a few days later and kidnapped both Eren and Ymir, who appears to be a Titan as well. In total, there were five intelligent titans within the walls, and yet none of you knew how they appeared, where they came from, or why Eren had one. Surely the secret lies in the cellar of his father's house in Shiganshina. When you rescued him from the colossal giants Reiner and Bertolt, it was revealed that sweet little Krista Lenz was also hiding a terrible secret from you.

Historia Reiss, that's her real name. She hasn't given much away yet, but Commander Erwin has made sure she's in Levi's new squad. If anyone was able to get information out of her, it was him. After you and Historia were chosen, your friends quickly followed. Eren, the only remaining member of the Captain's late squad, obviously stayed under his supervision, and after a few discussions Mikasa and Jean also proved to be natural choices for him. Armin was the next obvious choice, and a good one at that. He may be weak, but he has strategic potential. You are not sure why Connie and Sasha were chosen. It's not that you hate them, on the contrary, you're glad to have their cheerful personalities around again, but are they really good enough to protect Eren and Historia from danger?

Tomorrow will be the day when the new Levi Squad will leave with the Hange Squad for the Titan-based experiments outside in Rose. The supposed breach turned out to be nothing but a false assumption, the truth is much darker. The titans that attacked you that day and killed your squad appeared right inside the walls, and to make matters worse, they were once human. How? You don't know yet, but you're confident you'll soon find out. You have been over-analysing your journals and notebooks every night, trying to read between the lines and remember your visions. All triggered by the words of that ape titan. He knows you; he made that clear, which is why you now suspect that you are from outside the walls. That's why you're standing outside Erwin's bedroom, anxiously knocking on the door, hoping not to disturb him.

Commander Erwin Smith has been in a coma for days, having lost his arm in battle. It was bloody and messy, and when he came back bleeding and on the brink of death, you wondered if your visions had deceived you. You saw his death and it was different.

"Name and business." A calm yet harsh voice demands, letting you know he's still awake.

"Cadet Faye Engel, sir. I have news." You reply, loud enough for him to hear. After a moment of silence, the Commander allows you to enter, and you nervously open the wooden door. As you enter, you find yourself facing the Commander, bedridden, unshaven and deeply affected by recent events.

"What is it, Faye?" He asks, wetting his lips with his tongue as he lets your name roll over his cracked lips.

"Captain Levi wants to inform you of the further plans for tomorrow, he has written everything down here." You show him the envelope, written in your superior's perfectly written calligraphy. He declines the offer, insisting on reading it himself, and asks you to give him the reports, which you do, your cool hands touching his, making you shiver. It's not that you're attracted to him, no, it's more the uncomfortable feeling you get when he looks at you, almost as if he knows something you don't.

"Anything else, dear?" Slightly nervous, you brush a strand of your hair behind your ear that has fallen into your face as you shift from one leg to the other.

"Yes - um." As you search for the right way to explain your theory, a nervous feeling, almost like fear, settles in your gut.

"I don't think I'm from inside the walls." You admit and take a deep breath.

"But I'm not your enemy!" You add quickly with a nervous laugh, scratching the back of your head uncomfortably.

"What makes you think that?" Erwin asks, genuinely intrigued by your confession.

"The Beast Titan. It was able to talk to me and it seemed to know me." The Commander looks at you and allows you to continue.

"It called me by a name that sounded strangely familiar. This beast said he thought I wouldn't remember it. He said I had done it to myself." You are telling the truth; Erwin can see it in your frightened eyes. He wishes you'd told him that, but for now he can see past it. The loss of his friend has taken a deeper toll on you than he expected at first.

"I figured you weren't from here." Erwin confesses after a minute of silence, his deep blue eyes boring into your soul with interest.

"But why?" You ask, deeply confused. Have you been behaving differently? Or strange?

"To be honest, I was never really sure that you were from Shiganshina. I think you lost your memories, that the head injuries were serious after all. It's impossible that you forgot the whole concept of the walls, but that's highly unlikely". He explains calmly, playing with the envelope you gave him.

"But you said something to Mike that was even more unusual." You raise an eyebrow at his statement, wondering what you might have said.

"Apparently you said that you were at school until you were fourteen. No one within the walls can stay in school that long, except for the rich heirs of nobles in the inner districts. If you were from Sina, someone would have looked for you. He says, and you think his thoughts are reasonable. There is a comfortable silence between the two of you until Commander Smith decides to lead the conversation again.

"The name he called you by." He begins, sitting up slightly, serious in tone but with a hint of gentleness in it.

"Is that how you want to be called from now on?" Seemingly taken by surprise, your frown deepens as you immediately answer with a short "No", causing the Commander to raise a bushy eyebrow.

"No?" He repeats your words, confused, as if he hadn't expected you to say that.

"I don't want to be called anything that has to do with that beast." You explain sternly and firmly, clearly rejecting the idea. The blonde just nods his head, different thoughts dancing in his head, all circling around you.

"If he knows you, do you think the other titans do too?" He wonders, asking you something you haven't had time to think about yet.

"If they know me, they certainly haven't shown up." You answer honestly, unable to think of a time when they would hint.

"I hope you realize that no one can know about this conversation." Erwin says and opens the envelope from Levi, his attention now elsewhere.

"I do." You promise with a brief nod of the head and salute him to get permission to leave. "Have a good night, Faye."

Your night had been nothing but horrible. Sharing a room with your good friends from the trainee corps had never been a problem until tonight. Historia was the first to fall asleep, followed by Mikasa, who had been injured by a titan a few days ago. Sasha and you stayed up the longest, chatting about the past few days and answering her questions about being the Captain's personal assistant. Although you had only been in this position for a few days, the man had managed to drain you of all your patience. You had to make him tea several times in a row until his words weren't "drinkable" anymore but "good", and it took you ages to proofread his files and papers, only to find that they were already perfect. Sasha would giggle at your miserable week and ask you for some advice on what it meant to be his subordinate. Soon after, you both fell asleep, leaving only the light of the moon in the darkness of your barracks.

The dreams that haunted you that night began strangely. You don't know how or when it began, but first there was Historia, standing in a white dress with a red velvet rope covering her shoulders and back, her hair pulled back in a beautiful bun, her expression deadly serious. Someone placed a golden crown on her head, and the shouts of joy from the citizens filled your ears. But the dream did not end there. Now you're going through a torturous ordeal, watching soldier after soldier fall to their deaths. You see Shiganshina, covered in moss and ivy, as if no one had cared for it for years. You walk through its streets, dried and fresh blood covering the stony streets. You see Erwin, his body motionless and lifeless, you see him on a mountain of corpses, all of them dead scouts. Erwin was once praised for his success in bringing back hundreds of soldiers alive, but now he's the cause of hundreds, if not thousands, of deaths.

You don't realize it's a nightmare, no, you think it's another nightmare you can't wake up from. You don't notice your body tensing and shaking, you don't hear your own cries and pleas. But your friends do, rushing to your side as you scream in agony. Unable to wake you and seeing blood running from your nostrils all over your face, Historia quickly runs out of the room to find help. Other scouts have woken up by now, so they open the door to see what's going on. On her way to get a nurse, Historia accidentally runs into Captain Levi, who seems to be wide awake. She tries to explain the situation to him, not knowing that he has already dealt with you like that before.

Levi is quick on his feet, rushing down the corridor to the barracks.

"Oi. Get back to bed." He spits at the inquisitive scouts, urging them back to their rooms with an angry expression on his face. Historia follows him, concern written all over her sleepy features. Entering the barracks, he pulls the panicked Blouse girl away from your form and demands to know from Mikasa how long you've been having the seizures. The gloomy brat is the only reliable one in this situation, she answers him sharply as she holds your hand and tries to comfort you. Ever since you came to defend Eren at the trial and looked after him when she couldn't, Mikasa has been nothing but loyal to you, trusting you in every way. She used to be cold and distant, much like Levi, but knowing the truth about you has helped her to understand.

"I'll take her to the nurses. Go back to bed." The Captain carefully lifts you into his arms and holds you close to his chest, trying not to get blood all over himself. Your screams stop instantly as your tearful eyes close, and you slowly begin to calm down. Almost as if he has brought you back to reality.

He carries you through the corridors, cursing the soldiers who didn't listen to him the first time and lecturing them about respect. He can't take you to the nurses though, he doesn't trust them. They're employed by the military police, and he certainly doesn't want to give them any reason to find out about your nightly seizures. Levi only told the girls this because he knew it would ease their worries a little. After all, he needs them awake for an hour-long journey tomorrow. He listens to your soft whimpering as you come to, your frightened eyes opening to meet his as he carries you up the stairs to his office.

"They're all going to die." You whisper under your breath, your body weak from the terrifying attack you have just endured.

"Don't think about that, brat." Levi tries, he really does, but comforting others has never been his forte.

"Where are you taking me?" Your confused and tired voice makes him pity you a little as he looks straight ahead, not daring to meet your eyes.

"My office." He says as he struggles to open the door without accidentally dropping you.

"Am I in trouble Captain?" Your raspy voice and troubled words make him swallow without answering. The last few days have been terrible for him, not that you've been a terrible assistant, far from it. You were perfect in every way, caring deeply about details and his opinion. Almost as if you were using your work as a way of coping with your loss. He felt more and more happy to have you around every day, and it made him feel terribly disgusted with himself. "Remember who she is." He tried to tell himself. "She could be my death one day, we know nothing about her, not even her real name." But Levi can't help himself, there is something about you that seems to draw him in, something that warms his belly with a desire he thought he had buried long ago.

From his office, he goes to his bedroom, only to put you on his bed, which he rarely uses. He tells you to stay there when he goes to the bathroom to get a wet carpet. Ever since he saved you from certain death on the last expedition, he has felt responsible for you. Levi knows that you are a grown woman, a soldier, capable of looking after yourself, but who will look after you when you can't? When you are unconscious, unable to control your own body? Looking at you in the mirror over his sink, Levi can't help but admire how stunning you look; covered in tears, with a thin line of blood that makes your pale skin stand out even more. He swallows, reminding himself that he is sick in the head for thinking that your current state is attractive. "That's why you don't have sex anymore, idiot." He tells himself, clutching the wet cloth tighter in his fist. "You only hurt your companions."

He leaves the bathroom shortly afterwards and comes to your side.

"Can you tell me what you were dreaming about?" The Captain asks as he begins to clean the blood from your face with the clothes, not as gently as you might have liked, but you don't complain.

"I saw Historia in a crown." You start to shiver at the coolness on your heated face. "But I also saw Shiganshina." He stops meeting your eyes, waiting patiently for you to continue. "The whole regiment of scouts was there, most of them riding to their deaths." You gulp at the image that has taken over your mind. "So much blood, the beast titan..." Levi silences you, placing his finger over your lip to stop you from speaking.

"We'll talk to Erwin about it in the morning." He promises and continues to clean your face so that he doesn't get any dirt on the fresh sheets. At least that's what he tells himself.

"Captain?" You speak up, tired eyes following the movement of his hand. He looks up, the darkness making you breathless.

"Why are you so kind?" The question seems to take him by surprise, as he stops his movements, his eyes widening for a second until they form into slits. It's almost as if he's realized that this behavior is unlikely for him. At least with you.

"Tch, don't be stupid. I'm not doing this to be nice."

He explains, getting up to take the flirty cloth to his bathroom. "Then why..." But Captain Levi doesn't give you room to ask another question as he tucks you into the blanket.

"You need sleep, Cadet. Tomorrow's going to be exhausting, I can't have you tossing and turning." His voice is gruff as he closes the shades and the bathroom door roughly, leaving you alone in his bedroom. His room, his bed. You only seem to notice it now, now that you are fully awake and frightened by what you have seen. It makes you blush a deep red at the realization.

"Wait Captain..." He stops at your small voice, your eyes meeting in a haze.

"Please don't leave me alone. I can't be right now." It's the truth, you'd probably just get caught up in your darkness.

"And here I thought you were 15. Apparently, you are five." Angered by his harsh and mean words, you frown and pull the blanket a little higher. Noticing that it barely smells of him, you wonder if he cleans the sheets daily or hardly uses them at all.

"I'm 23." You remind him, or at least you think you are. You notice the side of his lips move up a little, but as quickly as it appeared it's gone.

"Do you know what you are asking of me, Cadet?" He asks as he steps closer to your surprised form, his arms crossed. You notice that his shirt is partially unbuttoned, revealing his collar. His sleeves are rolled up and you think you have never seen him so comfortable.

"You ask your Captain to stay with you so you can have a better night's rest." He concludes, scowling at the assumption he's just made, daring you to walk into his trap, but you don't give him the sick satisfaction.

"This is so unbecoming of you, Captain. Bringing a barely conscious girl into your personal barracks." You sneer, your eyes twinkling as you look up at him with a daring stare that seems to take his breath away for a moment.

"Unbecoming? Hm. Why do you think I brought you here, little Cadet?" You weren't expecting him to jump at your challenge, but rather to scold you for it. Biting your lips, you fidget under the white sheets that covered your nightgown from his endearing eyes. Your fingers play with the hem as you reply in a hushed tone.

"I believe there is some sort of rule against having your subordinate in your quarters, Captain." You tease softly, a smirk on your lips as you watch him narrow his eyes at you, his body tensing. His hands clench into fists. You wait for him to say something else, but instead he looks away. You sigh in relief and pull your legs closer to your chest, curling up into a ball and closing your eyes.

"Get some sleep, Cadet." He finally says, leaving your bed and soon the bedroom, closing the door behind him. Certainly not able to sleep, you try to distract yourself, debating with yourself why the Captain took such good care of you that night.

#fanfiction #attack on titan #levi ackerman #aot #shingeki no kyojin #levi ackerman x reader #levi x reader #levi #oneshot #captain levi #erwin smith #historia reiss #eren yeager #mikasa ackerman

49 notes · View notes