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writing-the-end · 4 years

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WS Chapter 56- Let’s Get Down to Business

Previous Chapter

Masterpost

Totally inspired by Mulan, both Red and my favorite disney princess! All the minesonas are together, the hermits are here, and the battlefield is ready! Just one last bit of red angst, brought to you by JoeHills

Red belongs to @theguardiansofredland

Ecto belongs to @cooler-cactus-block

Mentioned: Pierre belongs to @cabbagesenpai , Star belongs to @thatonewannabedragon , Bre belongs to @mintyhotchocolate . (If there are any others i missed let me know! Credit where credit’s due!)

Morning sunlight rises over the tents and small cabins within the battlefield. Not much after the sun has fully appeared over the horizon, black wings jet across the camp- followed by a second smaller pair of wings.

Red groans, wishing Avon had never found that damned bell she has. “Wake up everyone! We need to get as much training in, we never know when the hellspawns will arrive!”

“I was the best fighter ever seen in any world, I don’t need training.” Etho groans, face dragging along the ground as Avon pulls him by the feet out of his tent.

“Key word ‘was’. Let’s see if that still stands.” Avon chuckles, tossing his feet to the ground and joining Ecto on the dunes. The two clasp hands, pulling each other into a half hug. The warriors share a moment of silent conversation in their eyes, enemies turned friends. And now friends turned generals of a small army.

“A stick? That’s a pretty dinky weapon, man.” Mumbo looks at the staff Ecto hands him.

“Ugh, again with the weird english words.” Iskall hisses, thwapping his friend in the ankles. Beside the other two architechs, Grian lets out a giggle at Mumbo’s pain.

“I don’t trust giving any of you a weapon in our world.” Ecto mumbles, rolling her eyes and handing off a staff to Ren.

“Just like a lightsaber. Thanks dude!” Ren gives her a wink, spinning his staff and planting it into the sand.

Avon pulls off her cloak, draping it over a cactus and getting a feel for her staff. It’s lighter than her trident, but it reminds her of her earlier days. Jessie flits off the warming desert sand, wrapping around her neck and curling her tail around her bicep. “Avon, I don’t think you made enough sticks for everyone. I don’t have one.”

Ecto glances to the other wanderer, and both bite their lips. Avon avoids Red’s anxious gaze, the way he bounces on his feet to get to training. She looks anywhere else, fearful eyes meeting with Pierre, flitting to Star, before staring down Impulse. “Red… Ecto and I talked it over, and we aren’t sure you’re ready for the rage of war.”

“Wha-what do you mean?” The entire desert gets quiet, everyone staring at the three. Making it even worse. “But I can fight! You saw it in the mansion, in the nether! I want to help you all!”

“Red, we don’t want you to get hurt.” Ecto whispers. “This is more than just a woodland mansion, or even our botched infiltration to the nether. This is war.”

“This is for the best, Red.” Avon pulls Jessie off her shoulder, plopping the dragonet into Red’s open arms. “Just… try to stay out of trouble. Stay safe, okay?”

Avon and Ecto turn away, yelling for the hermits and other fighters to begin sparring. To get back to business. Red backs away, sniffling as she tries to keep her tears from catching the sunlight. Is she really that useless? That her own best friends would rather she stay out of their way? Stay out of trouble? Jessie chirps, purple tongue lapping at Red’s warm tears.

He turns away, feet slipping as he runs across the sand. Away from the army, into the campground, tripping over stakes and vines. He collapses into a pit of water, Jessie floundering to the surface as Red sinks lower. Feeling warm tears sting and mix with the water. Salt against fresh.

Red thought he was a part of the team. A part of this all. That he wasn’t useless to them, to anyone anymore. He could be a friend, a part of this battle. To get justice, make the nether pay for Mama Gummi’s death. But he’s been sidelined. Too weak, too useless. He was an idiot to think that he was anything but that. He should just stay out of trouble. Always out of trouble- that’s all that caused this anyways.

He’s not sure how long he’s underwater, curled in a tiny fish ball. Jessie had crawled out, but he could see her curled up in the sun. Laying in the grass just above him. Even Jessie will eventually be something more. More than just a baby. She’ll grow into a massive dragon, with firebreathing and massive claws and wings. She’ll be useful. Red flinches when a hand taps his shoulder, peeking from over his shoulder.

A hermit has his head shoved underwater, glasses floating away from the bridge of his nose. His hand opens, inviting for Red to take it. And for some reason, Red does. Something about his face, his calm smile and jovial eyes eases Red from his wallowing.

“You’ve got quite the lung capacity to stay under there.” The hermit hauls Red out of the water, plopping her onto the grass beside Jessie.

“I can breathe underwater. It’s not that incredible.” Red mumbles, not willing to meet his eyes.

“I dunno, that’s pretty sweet in my mind. I’m Joe Hills. My friends just call me Joe.” He offers a hand, his other reaching out and petting Jessie. The dragon chirps, pressing into his palm like a kitten.

“Red. Why aren’t you training with the others?” Joe stands up, and Red follows him. He isn’t sure why, but Joe just exudes a feeling of comfort, easy and friendly. Standing near Joe alone makes Red’s spirits rise.

“I’m not really the kind of person to fight with weapons. I’m more of a ‘pen is mightier than the sword’ kind of guy. What better way to beat your enemies into submission than with a damning remark on their ill actions towards the safekeeping and prosperous balance that nature provides us?” Joe summits a rise in the plain, plopping down on the grass. Red sits down beside him.

“I think I understood about half of those words, Joe.” The two look out across the battlefield. The training has split off. Some remain with Avon, working on strategy and further practice with fighting. Others have spread across the field, Ecto traveling between groups as they build up traps. Bre works with Stress, setting up potion dispensers. Pierre and Etho play with fire charges.

“Hey Impulse can you help me test this redstone trap?” Tango waves his friend over to the other side of the forest. Impulse takes off from the campground below where Red and Joe sit, watching the work.

Red isn’t really keen on this whole fighting thing, but she understands that all attempts to talk have faltered. But she asked for the traps to be survivable. Maybe if the hellspawns see that a battle will cause harm, they’ll stop. It’s her hope, at least. But just another thing he can’t do right. He can’t even kill right. She sits, watching Tango explain the setup to Impulse. Tango is covered with redstone, the same color as his red eyes. Impulse was working with water, so he’s a little cleaner. Both laugh, and a glint of something metal appears in Impulse’s hand.

Red squints to see what it is, but Impulse disappears from view. The ground beneath him has dropped away, and black vapors escape the pit. His head only reappears as he jumps around within the trap. “Is that…?”

“Wither roses. Quite a poetic flower, I must say. So beautiful and delicate. Yet so...deadly.” Joe hardly looks up from his notes on the field. Red can’t take his eyes off of Impulse. His veins turn black as the wither roses deliver the sickness, and he grabs onto a ladder that was set above the trap, pale hands shaking as he climbs out. He still clutches whatever’s in his hand.

“He looks like he’s not going to make it!” Red stands, realizing that Impulse is covered in wounds. The wither races across his body, penetrating into his heart and lungs. And the entire time, Tango can hardly breathe. Not from fear. Tango is laughing so loud Red can hear it from the hill he’s atop. Impulse’s writhing stops, but Tango’s cackles don’t. Horror etches across Red’s face as he realizes what’s happened. What kind of sick friend laughs as their friend perishes from wither sickness? Why would Tango not help him?

A loud crack echoes from the forest, forcing Red to cover his ears and cringe. Joe doesn’t even flinch, used to the crackling noise. He glances over his glasses, seeing the horror on Red’s face be replaced by confusion.

Impulse is standing up, brushing wither vapors off his shorts and playfully nudging Tango. Tango’s now on the ground, clutching his stomach from laughing so hard. Red wipes her eyes, blinking away the tears as if that was causing her to see things. “What happened? How is he alive?”

“We’re all carrying totems of Undying. Once Xisuma warned us that there’s no respawn in your world, we all keep them around.” Joe pushes his glasses up his nose. “Do you not know what a totem of undying is?”

Red shakes his head, and looks back at the pair. Impulse and Tango are looking at the trap that just killed the former, smiling quite proudly at the redstone work. He can see a glint of gold, covering Impulse’s cheek where a thorn had scratched him. The trap is deadly, but it’s possible to escape. Impulse closes it up, so no one else falls in for now. “What is a totem of undying?”

“You’ve been carrying one around the whole time.” Joe points the feather end of his quill to Red’s backpack. Pointing at the golden statue, haphazardly tied onto the straps like a knick knack. Red sits down, plucking Fred off his string. Running his fingers across the smooth gold, ringing the emerald eyes. “When the holder’s heart stops beating, their soul perishing, it activates the totem. It breaks apart, and the magic instilled in the metal brings them back from death, gold melting into their wounds and healing them. It’s quite a beautiful sight to see up close.”

Red’s lips form a thin line. Scar gave him this. Why did Scar think he’d need this, or was it a precautionary measure? The idea of having to use such a tool scares Red. But now, he just wants to keep it with him at all times. Red tucks the totem into the pocket of his vest. Just in case. “I’m not going to die. I’m not going to use this. I’m not useless.”

“You should prove that to your friends. Look across this battlefield, little fish. What’s something we’re missing?” Joe lays out his journal, showing the map of the field.

Reds eyes look around, noting the traps and offensive moves. His mind remembers something that Blu said, long ago. When they first met the hellspawn. “I’m the most dangerous. But why?”

He watches a drop of water fall from his hair, quickly drying in the sun. The nether is the realm of fire. The hellspawns are made of fire, of lava and magma. Red remembers the way Blu recoiled from the blast of water that night. The steam and crackling of Endo when he washed over her with a wave. “Water. I can stop them with water! I can defend us all...with water!”

Joe looks up, grinning as he gazes over his glasses. “And you can do it in a less deadly way than any of their blades of blasts can. You aren’t useless, and I don’t think your friends feel that way either. You just haven’t embraced the strongest side of you.” He nods to where Ecto and Avon are training together, using fire charges to simulate hellfire.

“Thank you, Mr. Joe Hills!” Red leaps from the hill, running down and through the campground. “I won’t forget this!”

Red feels the wind brush through his hair, feet pounding across the ground. As joyous and determined as he ever felt. His emotions take over, and soon he’s no longer running. He’s swimming, water pulsing across the grass with him. Easing him over the stakes that would trip him, the pits that would cause him to stumble.

Crossing the battlefield, he raises ice walls, defending the hills and mounds that archers and fighters plan to make their stand upon. Moving water creates a trench, a moat around the campground, protecting them from all sides. Safe from attacks by land from the nether. Red hasn’t felt this much power, this much energy in his whole life.

And he nears Ecto and Avon, struggling to defeat one another and avoid the hellfire surrounding them. Always dueling, equal matches for one another. Ecto shoves Avon backwards, and she narrowly avoids falling into fire by spreading her wings and flying. Avon tosses a fire charge, igniting the grass around Ecto. Trapping her. “You’ve been caught by the nether Ecto! Again!”

Red lets out a holler, the water building up into a wave. The crest of the wave, and Red, comes crashing into the battle. Hellfire extinguishes into sputtering smoke, and both of the wanderers are swept off their feet. Red sees both of them look at her, and she snaps her fingers. “I won’t stay out of trouble. I am the eye of the storm. I am the trouble!”

Dual whips of water lash out. Both Ecto and Avon narrowly avoid the strike, Avon blocking hers and Ecto dodging to the side. Both are shocked, glancing at one another before looking at Red. The three wanderers, the three friends, sharing a silent conversation without a word being spoken. Seeing the strength each has. The strength that makes them a team, that makes them friends.

Red begins to laugh, followed by Ecto. And finally, a giggle bubbles free of Avon. Fire burns bright in all their eyes, and Avon launches her trident at Red. He easily blocks the attack, and deflects it towards Ecto.

The wanderers duel, all three together. Playing like children, laughter ringing across the battlefield. No matter what happens, what the end of this war gives, they’re still together. They’re friends. Allies.

Wanderers.

#wandering stars #ecto #avon #red #hermitcraft #hermitblr #ren #iskall #mumbo jumbo #rendog #joehills #minecraft #mineblr #minesona #mcsona #minecraft persona #writing

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justthehiddleswrites · 4 years

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Bah Hiddleston | Tom Hiddleston x OFC (Tamra Harmon) | Chapter 5 | Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston x OFC (Tamra Harmon)

Summary: Tamra Harmon has no mind to mess with Christmas. All that talk about Christmas magic and the joy of the holidays is just a bunch of mumbo jumbo. But will a chance encounter with perennial Christmas lover Tom Hiddleston change all that?

This chapter: A trip to the Natural History Museum leads to a friendly wager. Tom struggles with an inner turmoil and will the snow ruin all their plans?

Warnings for story: smut, oral sex, implied smut, vaginal sex, light angst

Tom tossed and turned that night, waking the next morning groggy and with a crick in his neck. He skipped his usual morning run to get some extra rest and slept through his alarm. He got ready as fast as possible, giving Bobby a quick pet before heading out the door.

When he arrived at Tamra’s, she is already outside, bundled up in her hat, scarf, and new coat.

“You’re late. Here hold this.” Tamra shoved two coffees and a brown bag as she turned to lock the front door.

“Breakfast?” Tom asked as he opened the bag to spy the contents.

“Pain au chocolat.” Tamra replied, doing a dead on impression of Tom. “I figured I would keep you in supply of chocolate. Did you sleep okay? You don’t look well.”

Tom ran his hands across his beard. He had hoped she wouldn’t notice the dark circles under his eyes. “Bobby kept me up. But nothing a good cup of coffee won’t fix.” Tom gave her a smile, and she returned with one of her own.

“Drink up.” She took the other cup and sipped. “We have a big day!”

“Lead on, museum expert.”

As they headed to the museum, Tom let his thoughts wander as Tamra gripped his hand to lead him through the crowds. He replayed Luke and Ben’s comments from the last night. They are imagining things. He told himself, rationalizing away the lump in his throat and butterflies in his stomach to lack of sleep and coffee.

They moved through the exhibits and Tamra described all the exhibits to Tom, pulling from display to display. Tom nodded and listened to Tamra’s voice. Her passion once again sweeping him up into a cloud of hubris.

“You’re quiet this morning.” She commented as they walked into another room.

“I’m enjoying your company. You explain everything so well.”

Tamra giggled. “I thought I might be boring you.”

“Not even close. Please continue on.” Tom gestured for her to lead the way.

They reached a special exhibit called “Crime Scene Live” and read the information and discovered you get to solve a crime and at the end you get to find out if you guessed the killer. They purchased tickets and headed into the experience.

“Care to make a friendly wager?” Tom commented raising his eyebrows.

“Terms?”

“First person to guess the killer wins. Loser cooks the winner dinner.”

Tamra tilted her head. “Deal.” She took off running. Tom soon followed on her heels.

“No running!” A docent warned as Tom zoomed by. Tamra giggled as Tom apologized before taking off at a fast walk.

Tom arrived at the first station with Tamra halfway through the task. The two of them worked fast and furious through each station. Tamra held a slight lead until they reach the fake blood. She froze as she stood staring at the vials.

“You’re not squeamish about fake blood, are you?” Tom mocked as he pulled on the protective gear before sitting down to begin the station.

“No.” she lied. She shuffled from one foot to another. Tom moved with a doctor’s precision through the station. “Okay maybe a little.”

“Sit down.” Tom insisted as he patted the seat next to him. “I’ll help you.”

Tamra gave him an uneasy smile but sat down next to him. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.” Tom finished up his portion first and then did the same for Tamra. He rose.

“You’re leaving?!”

“I intend to win.” Tom’s lips pulled into a large toothy grin. “You can move on once your results come back.” Tom took off and Tamra lost sight of him.

Her results came back a few moments later, and she took off. Tamra moved the stations as fast as she could and by the time came to enter results, Tom got there only a half a second before her.

“Damn!” she cursed as Tom reached the final station.

“And to the victor goes the…” Tom quoted as he input his answer. A big red X appeared on the screen. His face fell. “… spoils.”

Tamra pushed him out of the way. “What were you saying?” A green check mark popped up after she put her anser in. She raised her arms in celebration. She danced a circle around a dejected Tom. “You owe me dinner.”

“Well played.” Tom extended his hand. Tamra grabbed him into a quick hug. “Now let’s check out the rest of the museum.” She nodded and bounded off towards the exit. Tom discarded his paper in the nearest trash bin so Tamra didn’t spy his answers.

If Tamra’s energy level only skyrocketed after her victory. She bounced through the rest of the exhibits. She even smacked someone in the back of the head when she gestured with a bit too much gusto.

“So sorry!” she screamed as the gentleman threw a dirty stare their direction.

Tom pulled her close to him. “Perhaps we should leave the premises before they charge you with assault and I am named an accomplice.”

“Good idea. Lunch?”

“A woman after my own heart.” He commented.

They found somewhere nearby to grab some food. Tamra talked a mile a minute the entire time while Tom sat silent. He knew if interrupted she would stop talking, but he liked be on the listening end of the conversation. They spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the city. Tom pointed out all the festive decorations and every time, Tamra turned her nose up every time.

“Stop trying to make Christmas happen.”

“Stop fighting it.” Tom quipped back. “Christmas is not the enemy.”

“Maybe for you. But the only thing I associate with Christmas is heartbreak and my family falling apart.” Her voice cracked a touch on the word “family.”

Tom’s heart hurt at the anguish on Tamra’s face. “There must be a happy Christmas memory you have.” Tom’s hand moved in a circle as he grasped for the words. He snapped his fingers. “Your favorite Christmas present as a child?”

Tamra stopped in her tracks. “I don’t know. No one has asked anything about Christmas in a long time.”

“I can’t imagine why.”

Tamra shot him daggers. “Give me a second to reflect. What’s yours?”

Tom ran his fingers across his chin, bristling his beard. “For me, it would be this little cassette recorder. I would use to put on these little shows. Early seeds of my future career I guess.”

“Aww.” Tamra cooed. “Mine would be a Cabbage Patch doll.” Tom raised his eyebrows as if to spur the memory on. “My grandmother gave it to me. She staked it out at the store just for me. It was one of the last presents she got me before she passed away. I still have that doll up in my attic.”

“You never struck me as the sentimental type.”

“I may hate Christmas but I am not a monster, Tom! You never asked.” Her nostrils flared in anger.

Tom held his arms up in defeat. “I yield! You are right. I apologize.”

The conversation continued like this, with the two of them trading memories and snippets of childhood and young adulthood. Tamra burst into laughter when Tom showed her a picture of him with blonde curls.

“Like Little Orphan Annie!”

“Okay, let’s never say that to my face ever again.”

Daylight waned, and the time came to head to Tom’s for dinner. Tom’s mind raced as he drove the route home. He went through a mental checklist on the state of his home. Was the dirty laundry picked up? Dishes out of the sink? Bobby’s toys put away? Oh God, Bobby! What if he doesn’t like Tamra? What if she is allergic? He gripped the steering wheel with a white knuckle grip. Tamra gazed out the window at the passing houses. He spotted something out of the corner of his eye and made a sharp turn.

“What the hell!” Tamra remarked as the car came to an abrupt stop. Tom jumped out of the car and jogged to her side of the car.

“Are you going to get out and help me pick out a tree or not?” Tom opened the door for her.

“Do I have a choice?” she got out of the car, grumbling.

“Not really. Come.” Tom gave a hand to help pull her to her feet.

Tom took off amongst the trees on the side of the road. Tamra rolled her eyes and followed him into the makeshift forest. As Tom ran his hands over the trees, a light snow began to fall.

“Pick a tree so we can go.” Tamra whined as snow dusted her shoulders.

“Are you bothered by a bit of snow?” Tom teased as he grabbed a nearby tree by its trunk and gave it a firm shake.

“I don’t like the cold.”

“Then help. What about this one?” Tom held one out.

Tamra turned her head to the side. “The trunk is crooked.”

He put that tree down and grabbed another one. “The top is too sparse.”

Tom peeked around the tree. “For someone who hates Christmas you are awfully critical about Christmas trees.”

“Do you want my help or not?”

“At this point, I am leaning towards not.” Tom commented as he tossed the tree to the side. Tamra walked to the back of the lot. She disappeared behind a stack of trees only to emerge moments later, a tree in hand.

“This one.” She blew an errant lock of hair out of her face.

Tom moved next to Tamra, brushing pine needles off her shoulders before placing his arm there. “You’re right. It’s perfect.” Tom squeezed her into his side by the shoulder. “Now let’s go.”

Tom paid for the tree and Tamra helped him hoist the whole thing on top of the car. As they continued on their way. Tamra held her hands in front of the air vent.

“Here.” Tom grabbed her hand and wrapped his fingers around hers. “You are ice cold. Nothing a nice cup of tea can’t help.”

“Sounds nice.” She placed her other hand on top of Tom’s.

They stayed like that the rest of the drive, long after the heat kicked in. The car pulled into the drive as a heavier snow began to fall. As they hustled up the stairs, Tom stopped Tamra.

“You’re not allergic to dogs are you?”

“No. You have a dog?”

“A spaniel named Bobby. I also can not speak as to the condition of the home. I did not expect company.”

Tamra smiled. “You’ve seen me in my bathrobe. I can see past a few dirty dishes and stray clothes.”

Tom smirked as he turned the key in the lock and opened the door. Tamra heard the clicking of nails on the floors. Before she realized, a small ball of brown fur ran right into her legs.

“Bobby! Behave.” Tom scolded.

“It’s fine. No bruises, Bobby.” Tamra knelt down to scratch behind the dog’s ears. “Which I am afraid I can’t say the same for your owner.”

Tom blushed and flicked on the hallway light. He hung the coats and pushed up his sleeves before heading to the kitchen. Tamra followed and Tom gestured to the living room. “Make yourself at home. I’ll make you that cup of tea and then start on dinner.”

Tamra stood in the middle of the living area. Bookshelves covered every available wall space. Every shelf stuffed to the gills with books of all shapes and sizes. Tamra perused the shelves, running her fingers along the spines as she looked. Her hand lighted on a particular volume and she pulled the book out to read the back cover.

“See anything you like?” Tom asked as he entered with the tea. Tamra startled, throwing the book in the air before catching it inches from the floor.

“I didn’t mean to startle you. Tea’s ready. I fixed it the same way as at the National Gallery.”

“You remembered?” she took a tentative sip to check, the tea tasted spot on. “Thank you.”

Tom grinned. “Now that I impressed with tea, the pressure is on for dinner.”

Tamra took another sip. “What are you making?”

“My specialty, Spaghetti Bolognese. Now if you will excuse me, I have a debt to settle.” He tied an apron on to protect his clothes. The whole scene was positively domestic to Tamra.

She settled into a nearby armchair with the book in hand. She read the cover first before cracking it open and began to read. Tom walked by a few times to check on her and smiled at the scene of Tamra curled in the chair with Bobby at her feet, as though this was her place and not Tom’s. He ignored the buzzing in his stomach to return to cooking.

“Dinner’s ready!” Tom announced when he placed the plates onto the table. Tamra looked up from the book. She stretched before standing.

“Already?” She stood to meet him at the table.

“It’s been over an hour.” Tom gestured for her to sit next to him.

“An hour?!”

“One has the tendency to lose oneself when lost in a good book.”

“Who said that? Shakespeare?”

“That’s an original Hiddleston.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Tamra took a large sip on wine to keep herself from inserting her foot even further into her mouth.

“ No apologies necessary. I appreciate the compliment.”

“I wouldn’t want you to get a swell head so I will keep the compliments to a minimum.”

Tom laughed. “I am sure my friends and family would encourage your efforts.”

“Tell me more about your family.”

Tom’s eyes lit up as he talked about his parents and his sisters. She couldn’t imagine what life was like in the Hiddleston family if they all had even half the energy Tom did.

“My…” Tom commented as he looked at his watch while clearing the plates. “look at the time, I need to get you home.”

“Before I turn into a pumpkin?” Tamra giggled, giddy on wine and pasta.

“Something like that.” Tom’s expression went from boisterous to somber as he glanced out the window. “Oh no.”

“What?” Tamra pushed behind him, her chin digging into his shoulder. She saw the roads covered with snow, far more than a dusting. And the snow continued to fall in heavy sheets.

“I’m afraid we’re snowed in. There is no way I can navigate those streets with all the snow.”

“What about public transportation?” Tamra asked, her brows furrowed

“Doubtful. You’re going to have to stay here the night.” Tom noticed Tamra’s face paled, so he placed his hand on top of hers. “In the guest room.” Tamra let out a breath.

Tamra stepped away to finish clearing the dishes. She yawned a few times during the process. “Why don’t I show you to the room?” Tamra nodded and followed Tom down the hallway.

The room contained a bed, dresser, nightstand, and lamp. The bed made with white sheets. Tom opened one of the dresser drawers. “Here are some clothes to sleep in.” He handed her a shirt and pants.

“Why do you have women’s clothes?”

“My sister left them here the last time she stayed over.” Tom explained. “What did you think? I have some sort of secret girlfriend.”

“Something like that. You are a famous actor.”

“Who happens to be as single as they come. Much to the chagrin of my mother.” Blood rushed to Tom’s ears. He shook his head to clear the buzzing. “The bathroom’s down the hall, Bobby usually sleeps in my room, and I am the door at the end if you need anything.”

Tamra nodded. “Thanks Tom. For everything.” They walked to the door together.

“My pleasure. See you in the morning. Hopefully, the roads are clear by then.”

Tamra rose on her toes, kissing Tom’s cheek. “Goodnight Tom.”

He shut the door with a smile and walked down the hall to his room, shutting the door behind once Bobby sauntered in. His fingers traced the place where her lips touched moments before. Once again blood rushed to his head and Tom stumbled to the bed lightheaded.

“Fuck!” he muttered as he stared at the closed door. He cursed Benedict and Luke but mostly himself as he tossed and turned that night.

#tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston fanfiction #tom hiddleston fanfic #tom hiddleston x ofc #tom hiddleston fluff #tom hiddleston imagine #tom hiddleston angst #tom hiddleston smut #bah hiddleston

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thehavenwake · 1 year

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thiswasinevitableid · 4 years

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Could you do #28 indruck? Or maybe OT4?

#28 was: Mermified. I went with Indruck. Hope you like it!

The rocks on the window start the night he moves in.

He writes it off as an anomaly, or perhaps kids from the town deciding to toy with the new resident.

After three nights in a row, he’s beginning to understand why this house was such a bargain. Yes, it’s a lovely houseboat for one on the Pacific coast, offset from much of the neighborhood for privacy. But every night, small rocks and shells will hit your window, disrupting your already tenuous sleep schedule.

It can’t be a human, because his bedroom faces the ocean, and he’d hear or see a boat or paddleboard or whatever else they used to get there. For awhile he assumes it might be a ghost; his last apartment was actually haunted by a miner who died from the Spanish Flu. They got along rather well, as he didn’t manifest often and Indrid was always careful to leave him offerings or tokens of respect on days like his deathaversary.

But after scoping the house top to bottom, using a Oujia Board, and just politely asking if there was anyone there who needed to talk to him, he’s disregarded that possibility.

And tonight, he’s made the mistake of sleeping with the window open, meaning the chunk of bull kelp hit’s him square in the face.

“Oh for goodness sake.” He sits up, sticking his head out the window to glare at the waves.

The waves glare back. Or, more accurately, a face sticking out of the waves does.

“Do you mind?”

“Yeah, I mind a whole fuckin’ lot.” The man swims right to the side of the house, locomotion too smooth for there to be legs beneath the water, “I mind because this whole area is under my protection, and this big fuckin house is gonna fuck up this cove.”

He knew there were merpeople along this coast, he just wasn’t expecting to see one up close. Or for it to be so grumpy.

“I’ll have you know I asked for multiple modifications to this house before I moved in. It is designed to have almost zero impact on the marine environment.”

“Uh huh, sure.” The merman crosses his arms, “you ain’t just sayin’ that to get rid of me.” A flash of yellow light under the water.

“Well, technically, I am. I would prefer to not have you hurling things at my window every night because you think my leaving is the only way for your patch of ocean to be safe. A strategy, I take it, that worked on my predecessors.”

“Yep. Most left after a couple of days.”

“Most probably had more places they could go. I do not.”

“Ain’t my problem. Never shoulda let them start buildin’ here in the first place; wrecks havoc on the forest.” He glances towards open water, tips of giant kelp just visible in the moonlight. He sounds tired.

“How about this: you keep an eye on this cove, and if you notice any issues directly caused by my home, I will leave. But if not, you stop throwing things at my window.”

“Fine.” The merman turns, makes to dive under the water, then spins around, “but if I catch you tryin’ anythin’ funny, next time I’m throwin’ a shark through the window.”

The next night brings welcome silence at his window. The day after, however….

“What are you doin’ here, anyway?”

“Good afternoon to you as well.” Indrid doesn’t look up from his drawing; a benefit of being born with odd, future seeing abilities is that he isn’t startled by the merman’s appearance (said abilities don’t function well when he’s sleep deprived, which is why he didn’t see the merman’s initial appearance coming).

“I mean, y’all can build houses wherever you want up on land. Why live on the water?”

“Because I find it peaceful. I have limited luck living in cities, and have grown used to isolation.”

“Don’t humans have to have jobs? You ain’t left here except once to get food.”

“Spying is impolite.”

“So is livin’ on someone else's turf without askin!” The merman raises out of the water, and Indrid finally gets a good look at him. He has dark hair, mismatched eyes and, just visible, a row of fins like those of a leafy sea dragon dotting his lower back. Ironically, his build is one Indrid finds attractive, a mix of muscle and fat that undoubtedly would feel nice to hold. Were it not for the complication of the tail.

“I am an artist. I draw for a living, hence my ability to live out here. And nobody told me there was a merman living around here, so I did not have the option of speaking to you ahead of time.”

There’s a huff of annoyance, and he barely moves his drawing out of the way of the splash as the merman disappears.

Three days later, he’s once again sitting on the back deck when he hears, “You ain’t seen an injured seal around, have you?”

“No.” He looks up, finds the merman looking thoughtful as he scans the waves and shoreline, “ah, what does it look like? What color is it?”

“Smallish, speckled grey. Got caught in a net and all torn up gettin loose, but I can’t find it.”

“I will keep an eye out. Should I signal you if I see it?”

“Hmmm….yeah, that should work. Maybe hang somethin’ bright' on that line?” He points to the clothes line.

Indrid closes his eyes, focuses on the futures.

The merman sniffs, intrigued, “somethin smells good.”

“It’s my lunch. It ended up not quite being what I wanted, you are welcome to try some.”

The merman grabs the take-out bowl of soup, sipping from it gingerly. His face lights up, and then he gulps the remainder down.

“Damn, that was good.”

“It’s french onion soup. I can bring you more in the future if you’d like. Also, odds are good you’ll find the seal you seek on the beach about a mile that way.”

The merman blinks, “Shit, really? Thanks man.”

“You are welcome.”

The merman hesitates, a flash of white, barely visible in the daylight, zips under water, “Uh, name’s Duck by the way.”

Indrid smiles, “Indrid. Good luck with your search, Duck.”

Duck smiles, bright and friendly as the beach on a hot day, “Thanks.”

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

Indrid awakens with a cry of alarm. It’s only a nightmare, not even a bad vision, and yet he’s so rattled sleep becomes an unreachable goal. Hoping the night air and lapping waves might help, he drags a blanket onto the back deck, laying down with his back to the water. The nightmare pursues him still, setting off a dozen related memories and fears in his mind until he’s shuddering, trying not to cry.

A cool hand touches his hair and he freezes for a moment before another gasp pushes from his chest, the images flooding his system too much to ignore. The hand continues down his back a ways, then starts at his head once again.

“Why?” He says, not even sure who he’s asking it of.

“Helps the seal and otter pups when they get upset. Thought it might help you too.” Duck replies, “I was doin’ a night round and heard you yell. Came to make sure you were okay.”

He wants to say thank you, but the words are weighed down by the realization of how long it’s been since anyone did such a thing.

“You...pet the pups? Doesn’t, doesn’t that make it difficult if they are eaten by something?”

“A little. Sharks got as much right to live as they do, but still, sometimes they need comfortin if their parents are out huntin. Not my job to protect ‘em from predators. I’m just the keeper of the forest. Means I look out for the animals, the plants. Nature does most of the work for me; lot of my job boils down to makin sure humans don’t fuck everything up.”

“It is a habit we seem to have.”

A pause, Duck’s fingers playing gently with his hair, “Not all of you.”

Indrid rolls over and Duck rests his arms on the deck, soft blue flashes coming off his tail.

“Will you tell me more about what you do?”

“Sure.”

Duck talks and Indrid listens until finally his eyes droop closed. He wakes up hours later, a bit chilly but with the blanket drawn around him. He wonders how he avoided falling into the water in his sleep. Until there’s a soft splash as his nighttime gaurdian slips back into the waves.

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

“Ta dah! No, wait, stay over here. That’s a good boy.” Duck proudly circles the large ray he’s herded near Indrid’s boat as Indrid sits down to draw. Over the last few weeks, he’s brought the human more and more items to include in his illustrations, after Indrid mentioned he was working on a pictures for a book about marine life.

It started with brightly colored shells or seaglass left on his deck, then Duck would ask for mason jars or bowls to help place a fish safely where Indrid could sketch it. Lately, he’s taken to shepherding larger sea life where Indrid can see it; seals, otters, rays, even a shark. It’s almost as if he’s showing off, and Indrid notices that his tail flickers bright green whenever Indrid flaps his hands with excitement or thanks him for his help.

Duck visits him every day, even on days when there is no drawing to be done. They talk, or eat together, and Indrid has even hung a hammock out so they can talk well into the night without him accidentally rolling off the deck or Duck having to watch over him until he wakes. Duck can only be out of the water a short time, but he’ll join Indrid on the deck to sun himself, tail bright green and leafy at the “V” that marks the tip of it. When Indrid asks about the lights, Duck explains that they’re tied to his emotions, something to help merpeople signal to each other even in the darkness or murkiness of the ocean.

Indrid buys a kayak, paddles out into open ocean with Duck as his guide, the merman eagerly showing him his favorite places, introducing him to wildlife, and generally mooning over him whenever he thinks Indrid isn’t looking.

The mooning is mutual, of course. Duck is funny and kind, easy going now that he knows Indrid is not a threat to his beloved kelp forest. He’s also painfully handsome in Indrid’s eyes, but the futures show scant chances for Indrid to admit this fact without torpedoing the relationship.

Their laying side by side on the deck tonight, dusk creeping across the sky. In the fading light, he notices Duck’s fins flashing between white and green.

“Are you alright, Duck? You’ve been rather quiet tonight.”

“Uh, um, yeah? Fuck. Uh, you remember me tellin’ you about my friend Aubrey?”

“The one dating the human surfer girl?”

“Yep. They, uh, Aubrey said they finally worked up to kissin. I never heard of mer kissin’ a human and likin’ it before, usually we do it on dares when we’re young and foolish.”

“You seem to be going somewhere with this.” Indrid rolls over, smirking at the future he sees.

“No, uh, fuch, uh, I mean, would, would you ever wanna try it?”

“With any merperson, or just you?”

“Me.” Duck says softly.

Indrid leans in, cups the back of his head to draw him into a kiss, salt and sun mingling on his lips as Duck moans. Sun-warmed skin caresses his back as Duck pulls him closer, and a cool, smooth tail hooks over his ankles.

“Indrid, I, I really, really like you.” Duck whispers, kissing a line along his cheek.

“I really, really like you as well, Duck.” Indrid runs a hand along his side, watches his tail light up bright blue at the touch.

“Can, can we try bein’ together? Like Dani and Aubrey are?”

“Of course.” Indrid grins, then gives a muffled laugh as Duck kisses him once more, rolling atop him, wiggling happily as the kiss deepens, Indrid teasing his fingers along his fins to make him whine.

Then the mer gasps, dropping into the water and coming back up panting.

“Shit, that was close.”

“You were out too long?” Indrid shifts to his stomach

“Yep. Can’t blame me for gettin’ distracted, and honestly I’d fuckin pass out if that’s what it took to kiss you again.”

Indrid bends down, kissing him softly, “no need for such drastic measures yet. But I agree it would be nice to have, ah, dalliances that can last a bit longer. I’m sure we can think of something.”

They try filling the bathtub with seawater, but can’t get Duck to it. Indrid opts to swim, but he’s not a strong swimmer, and any beaches where they could be half in and half out of the water are either too well-traveled or made out of sharp rocks that hurt them both.

They have some success when Indrid lays on his side, facing the water, to touch himself, moaning Ducks name and telling him just what he’ll do to him once he’s able as Duck frantically kisses him, tail flashing blue and purple.

But after night after night of longing looks, too-short embraces, and kisses at odd angles, he decides enough is enough.

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

“Why have you come, young man?”

“I wish to make a deal. There’s something I need you to enchant.”

The man grins, cat-like and hungry, “Very well. But it is going to cost you.”

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

Duck circles the patch of kelp he’s checking for the tenth time. He can’t focus, should just go home and rest, but he needs to keep occupied so he stops worrying about the note he found on the deck two days ago.

Duck,

Have a problem that needs solving. May be gone several days. Don’t worry, it will be alright.

Love, Indrid.

In spite of the reassurance in the letter, he’s terrified that Indrid might be hurt. Might have left him entirely.

An unfamiliar shape flits in the corner of his vision, and he turns.

“Holy fuck.”

“Good afternoon to you too.” Indrid grins, swimming to him a bit gracelessly with mottled black and red tail. The red and black fan of fin on his lower back flashes bright green for a moment.

“Indrid.” Duck says with awe, not quite believing his eyes even as his tail curls around Indrid’s own.

“Indeed. I, ah, found someone who would help me. Help us.”

“Are you, uh, stuck like this?”

He shakes his head, “No, I have a charm” he holds up his wrist to reveal a small cord, “I can go back to being human as needed. But I, ah, I can no longer see the future. I...that was the trade for this.”

“You gave that up just for me?” Duck cups his cheeks, brushes their noses together.

Indrid grins, “Yes. After all, whatever the futures may hold, whatever I can no longer see coming, does not matter half as much as the future I’m holding right now.”

#indruck #mermay fills #mermaid au #indrid cold/duck newton #duck x indrid

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ginnyzero · 4 years

Text

Wolves aren’t Dogs

Wolves aren’t dogs. There’s no other way to put it. And let’s face it, in most books that have anything to do with werewolves, they aren’t wolves either. In fact, fictional werewolves have as much to do with real wolves and wolves have to do with dogs. Fictional werewolves are mostly based on legends such as the loup-garou or are seemingly more out of control men that happen to go big and furry and form into strict hierarchical groups that for some reason hate women and homosexuals.

I wrote my book, the Lone Prospect, and formed my werewolves because I was tired of seeing these same tired, angsty, cursed werewolves that had nothing to do with actual wolves. After researching the different and very diverse origins of werewolves and their types, I started digging into wolves themselves and based my werewolves on actual anecdotal and scientific wolf behavior.

Wolves DO NOT like humans.

Of all the apex predators in the animal kingdom, wolves are the ones that have adapted to our presence the least. Coyotes accept us happily. Bears tolerate us and root in our garbage. Wolves hide out in their forest and are okay with our roads and that’s about it. (In fact, some wolves in Russia like to run up and down the highways for fun scaring all rational human beings as they howl.) As much as humans are afraid of wolves, wolves are equally afraid of humans. Wolves are shy. Like humans, they have a fight or flight instinct and unlike ours, theirs is geared to flight first, fight second. Unless a wolf is sick, they are highly unlikely to attack a human. A sick wolf is like any animal, out of control and looking to defend itself.

Because of this, wolves don’t domesticate. They aren’t pets. And they would prefer to stay as far away from us strange smelling two legged animals as possible. (There are a few exceptions.) If a human wants to interact with a wolf, they have to learn the wolf’s language and be accepted by the wolf. Because the wolf isn’t going to do it the other way around. Even if bred with a domesticated dog, a wolfdog prefers the companionship of their human and their human only and needs several square miles of land to roam about in as their instincts to hunt kick in.

About that.

Wolves are HUNTERS. PERIOD.

In domesticated dogs, we have all types, guard dogs, bird dogs, scent hounds, dogs who like running, deer hounds and big fluffy things that make big pillows. These dogs love us and we love them. Not so with wolves. Wolves do one thing very well. That’s hunt. Wolves are designed to track down and hunt prey in groups. In fact, the prey that they prefer, animals like deer, elk and moose, are much larger than they are and it is very difficult for a singular wolf to take them down alone.

Hunting for wolves is mostly an act of opportunity. They know how the animals in their territory move. They can find where their prey was and track it from there through scent. Then they work together using group tactics to kill the animal. Wolves don’t go and rip out the jugular of their prey. That’s the purview of action and horror movies. Real wolves bleed their prey out by attacking the front and hind end and scratching it until the animal tires and then they go for the belly, not the throat because the belly is where the good meat is. Contrary to popular belief, the largest animal doesn’t eat first either, the hungriest animal does.

Because they are wearing the prey animal down and trying to dodge horns and hooves, the wolves “tag team” their prey. Two or three will attack the animal while the others rest and watch. When one group of wolves is tired and the others are rested they’ll switch out. In fact, it is believed wolves are smart enough to form group attack tactics and remember them. Wolves know that it’s easier to see things from high up than lower down for instance and if there are ridges in their territory will look for their prey from there instead of in the gullies.

Like I said, wolves are smart. They are smart enough to know that once they get old and blind and maybe disabled that the humans also keep the easy meat penned up. Sheep and cattle are easy meat. And owners can ride horses, have fences and keep big dogs that are mean to scare the wolves away and the wolves will still be able to kill the sheep or cattle. Then the humans get angry and take to helicopters and kill the wolves. (Grimace.)

They also tend not to kill unnecessarily. Sure, you hear hunters complain about coming across a mostly uneaten wolf kill in the woods and how horrible it was that the wolf didn’t finish their food. This isn’t true! (In my opinion, the human hunter is jealous!) Wolves, like humans, are a species that actually save their food for later. Except, unlike humans, they don’t have big metal cold boxes to put it in. If the wolves kill something that’s too big to eat and it’s cold out, they’ll let the meat freeze and come back to it later. This is called cold caching.

Cold caching also helps other animals in the food chain from crows, to vultures, to the wandering coyote or even the bear that wakes up in the middle of winter and may need to eat to go back to sleep. This isn’t waste, but nature’s way of taking care of the entire ecosystem.

If I was going to put another shapeshifting species into the Heathens series, it’d be crows. In the wild, crows help wolves find prey and in return, wolves tear apart the bigger animal so that the crows can get smaller bits of meat. Animals can help each other, especially smart ones (like wolves and crows.)

Because their prey animals tend to be much bigger than they are, wolves live in groups that we call packs.

But the funny thing about packs is that wolf packs are actually FAMILIES.

Wolf packs are not in the wild groups of stranger wolves banding together to take down prey. No. Wolf packs are family units, a mother, a father and a bunch of siblings. Unlike dogs, wolves in the wild do not pack up with complete strangers. Dogs will group and form pack bonds with just about everybody, humans, different breeds, dogs they meet in the street. Not wolves. The only places that stranger wolves that aren’t related to each other live together is captivity. And as with most captivity situations, this changes things and is not good for the wolves. Only in captivity do wolves form groups with a strict hierarchy. Only in captivity will wolves kill their own pups. And only in captivity do males enter the den. None of this happens in the wild.

In the wild, wolf packs are wolf families that are all taking care of and learning from each other. There is no alpha, beta or omega. Mom makes the den for the puppies (and once she has them only she’s allowed inside.) Mom and dad teach the youngsters to hunt. And like all good parents, they allow their older children to lead the hunt in order for the older children to learn how. Then, when the older children leave they become “lone wolves” and may travel up to 800 miles in order to find a mate and create a new family group of their own. (And they may have to lure their mate away from their mate's family pack and just like in humans, mom and dad don't like this! They need the youngster to hunt, not leave! They'll make the lone wolf work to get their mate.)

Mom and dad and all the siblings do an equal part of emotional labor in taking care of the family group. Everybody hunts. Everybody takes care of the puppies and everybody plays together. Mom is just as likely to be in charge as dad. In fact, if mom is mean then one of her daughters might kill her and take care of her youngest siblings herself.

While neighboring wolf packs may be in competition with each other, they are also like your friendly neighbors. Mom and dad wolves mark the territory by peeing on it together. The nearer packs do the same, and if food is scarce they may fight each other over it. If food is plentiful, they are friendly neighbors who like to shout at each other long distance by howling or may get together and exchange greetings, shout and have a big old party. “Hey, hey, haven’t seen you in a while, how are you doing? Any interesting smells?” But they don’t ‘hang’ out on a regular basis and they wouldn’t get along in a dog park!

Wolves and dogs may look similar and seemingly act similar. They are two different species that are wired to do extremely different things. By understanding the differences and knowing about them, humans can set aside their fear and figure out how to coexist peacefully. And you know, maybe hide the easy meat or not encroach on their territory by putting their cattle in national parks and keeping a few rams in the sheep flock.

#wolf #wolves #wolf behavior #wolf science

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jemej3m · 5 years

Text

incarnate (p3)

Hheeere uuu goooooooo (OooOoooooOOooOOoOooO) - p2

Andrew rocked up to the weekly gathering, basically in his pyjamas. Neither him nor Kevin were early risers, but Kevin had the gall to actually come to these things appropriately dressed.

Andrew had just chucked a sweater over his t-shirt, tucked his pyjama pants into boots, yanked a beanie over his head and shuffled into his overcoat. Erik and Nicky - who lived in the second bedroom of their apartment - didn’t look much more presentable than he did, slomping around like zombies until they’d knocked back some coffee.

Why Wymack and Dan held these gatherings at sunrise was beyond Andrew. He hated every single fucking time the little fox dropped off the acorn message at their door. How the fox even managed to get inside the building without triggering security was a wonder in itself. Andrew couldn’t wait to move out into a house.

They’d all crammed into the car, revved up the engine way too loud for almost five in the morning, and cruised till they arrived to the edge of town.

They all trudged through the forest till they’d arrived at the clearing where Palmetto held all their most powerful rituals and flamboyant gatherings. It also happened to be where Andrew had summoned the demon - Neil - maybe two weeks ago.

He still had no idea what he wanted from the thing. He didn’t want anything, really. He’d never wanted anything.

Andrew lit a cigarette when they arrived to the clearing, waiting for the others to show up. Renee, Dan and Allison were already there: Renee, smiling like an angel, Allison, looking like a god-send and Dan acting like she owned the place, formally greeting the others upon their arrival.

Renee sidled up to Andrew, nudging their shoulders. “Something’s changed about your aura. Something lighter.”

Odd. He would have thought a demon summoning would’ve put a blemish on his soul, or whatever bullshit Renee actually bought into. He just shrugged.

“The whole place seems a little different, really.” Renee said. “Like its recovering from something big. You wouldn’t have been here recently, would you?”

“Everyone hangs around here.” He said flatly. “We’re a bunch of witches and this is the coven’s gathering circle.”

“Of course.” Renee said easily. “It could have been any one of us. It’s definitely not Kevin, though. He looks far too guilty.”

Andrew’s gaze travelled across to where Kevin was mulling about the exact spot Neil had appeared the first time. Andrew muttered angrily under his breath and stalked over, dragging Kevin by the arm.

“Hey!” Kevin complained. “I was just checking -”

“Shut it.” Andrew hissed. “Fuck this up and I’ll tell everyone exactly who hexed the coven in an attempt to get rid of his tattoo and ended up giving everyone shitty tramp stamps. We clear?”

Kevin gulped. “Crystal.”

The recognisable footsteps of Wymack were heard by everyone: They all stood to the clearing’s edge as he arrived, flanked by Abby and Bee. Bee smiled at Andrew warmly and tapped her wrist ( “Talk later?” ). Andrew rolled his eyes and nodded.

“Boyd and the neophyte will get here soon.” Wymack said gruffly, brushing himself off. A twig was still stuck out of his hair and Abby plucked it out fondly. “Yes, that’s why I’ve called you all here. We’re initiating a witch into the Palmetto coven this morning.”

Two sets of footsteps neared the clearing. One set familiar - heavy and rhythmic, like Boyd’s heart rate - and the other flighty and nervous. As they appeared, Andrew’s heart bottomed out into his stomach.

“Neil Josten.” Wymack gestured for him to step forward. “Welcome to the Palmetto coven.”

Neil nodded gently, eyes scouring the circle that greeted him. He looked human - the scars on his face and arms were gone, and his eyes were a normal (still devilishly gorgeous) shape and shade of blue. When his eyes flit to Andrew and Kevin, he had to stifle the hints of a grin.

“Step into the centre: everyone else, join hands.” Wymack instructed. Andrew hated this part of the initiation, twisting his fingers with Renee’s and Kevin’s. Everyone’s energy flowed freely between them. He could feel the valliant leadership from Dan, Allison’s lures and illusions, Bee’s soothing calm, Abby’s healing tisanes, clarity and forgiveness from Renee, strength and loyalty from Matt, Kevin’s logic and perfection, Nicky’s boisterousness and sunshine and Erik’s curiosity and perseverance.

When Neil bowed his head, they all took a startled step back. Of course it’d be something unlike any of them had ever witnessed: Neil was a creature of pure magic. Not like humans, who were poor conductors at best. His power glossed over Andrew’s skin like gold dust and he opened his eyes.

Neil’s glamours had held up, but they wouldn’t be good enough for Renee and Bee. Regardless, they both smiled and went to Neil to welcome him alongside the rest of the coven. He looked lost and somewhat uncomfortable with all their friendly introductions, looking frantically from witch to witch.

Andrew kept back: Kevin did too. Wymack glanced to them only once, shaking his head.

“He’s so strong.” Kevin murmured. “He could - Andrew, he could teach us stuff! Will you ask him to?”

“Like I’m going to waste my one wish on your needless pursuits for knowledge.” Andrew muttered, letting his head fall to one side. Even Kevin’s rattling couldn’t distract him from the way Neil’s eyelashes fanned out across his cheeks, the way the tip of his nose curved perfectly to his lips.

Andrew would never ask for that. There was no consent in magically inclined bindings. But so long as he could appreciate from afar, it wouldn’t be a problem.

Oh, how Andrew hadn’t had a clue.

three moon cycles later

“It’s the fall equinox, it’s the fall equinox!” Neil crowed, sitting on Andrew’s dresser with his ankles crossed and rapping against the wooden surface with his knuckles. “Wake up, morons. Is that an appropriate insult? I’m still not very good with insults. Although I have decided that you humans are rather feeble: Almost pathetic. So maybe dweebs is a better term?”

Andrew blinked awake blearily, not realising he’d set a hyper-active demon to go off at six o’clock in the morning rather than his usual Kevin-Day-Getting-Bored-And-Wanting-To-Research-Or-Practise alarm.

“How’d you get in here?” Kevin said, waving his hands around in a futile effort to block the rays of sun that peered through the window: Neil, the little bastard, had opened the curtains. “Andrew, didn’t we set up protective wards?”

“Neil’s a part of the coven.” Andrew muttered. “He can bypass them. He’s been bypassing them for two and a half months now.”

“Who decided it’d be a good idea to bring a demon into the coven?”

“Matt’s.”

“To be fair, he still doesn’t know.” Neil chirped. “And I’m right here: I can hear everything you two are say. And some things you aren’t saying.”

Kevin sat up, shirtless and still half asleep. “What, you can read minds now?”

“I’ve always been able to read everyone’s intentions and emotions.” Neil corrected him. “It’s rather necessary for one’s survival. I’d teach you how to block it, but that wouldn’t be any fun.”

“You’re the worst.” Kevin groused, stumbling to his feet and disappearing into the bathroom.

Andrew finally sat up and checked his arm-bands were there, pulling a hoodie that’d been stuffed between his bed and the wall over his head. Neil watched him with his head cocked to the side. Andrew didn’t care. It’d been three months of having a pet demon and Andrew really couldn’t care less about the five-foot-three nuisance.

“I lied before.” Neil said, softly. He was still sitting atop of Andrew’s dresser, effectively blocking Andrew from grabbing a clean pair of boxers. “I can read everyone’s intentions and emotions - except yours.”

“Now that’s some Twilight bullshit.” Andrew grunted, checking over his plants with careful fingertips. “Do you glitter in the sun, too?”

“I hate it when you make pop-culture references.” He complained. “I never understand them.”

“Forget it. Why can’t you read me?”

He shrugged. “Most demons back home are very good at concealing themselves, but humans have never been. Renee is also practised, as is Bee, but your soul is far more intricately protected.”

Andrew closed his eyes momentarily. “It needs to be.”

“Right.” Neil said, unconvinced. “I just hope you’re not constricting yourself in the process.”

Andrew flipped him off.

“What? I’m just making observations.”

“Well, make your observations elsewhere. I need to get to my drawers.”

Neil, in a rare moment of complacency, did as he was told. He sat on the edge of Andrew’s bed instead and leaned forward. “Have you thought about what you want from me?”

Andrew ignored him.

“Because it’s the fall equinox, and I can draw a lot of power tonight. I should use it to escape.” Neil admitted.

Andrew slowly turned. “What?”

Neil looked up at him from under his curly fringe. He’d let loose his glamour again - fuck, those eyes got Andrew every damned time - and he hadn’t really cut his hair for however long he’d been here. It was getting ridiculously long. Andrew wanted to run his fingers through it.

“I can’t stay.” He said. “My father will find me. He’ll break into this realm somehow and ruin everything. I have to leave before he does.”

“Fuck that. You’re not going anywhere.”

Neil looked back down at his hands. They shook slightly: He balled them in his trousers, a pair ratty pair of jeans. Andrew crouched in front of him.

“Neil,” He said. “I have the journal. I have you. If he wants to cause trouble, I’ll send him to Hell’s ninth fucking circle, got it? You’re staying.”

“But -” He tried.

“No.” Andrew reached out to pinch his lips shut. “Quiet, before you say something ludicrous. Stay out of trouble and I’ll watch your back. Clear?”

Neil’s lips fought free of Andrew’s fingertips to smile, a small thing that was so reserved but unrepentant all the same. Andrew hated it. “Crystal.”

#andreil #witch!andrew #demon!neil #someone kick me its going to get angsty #i promised myself it wouldnt and i failed #all for the game #fantasy au #magic au #neil josten #andrew minyard #spooktober au #jem writes

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lauraperfectinsanity · 5 years

Text

My Shika / Fem!Naru and Fem!Naru Prompts

If you’re interested in using one of this prompts (with the collaboration of the lovely ThatDamnKennedyKid!), please just tag me (lauravenclaw) when you post your fic (:

Shikamaru is nervous about bringing his girlfriend Naruto to meet his parents for the first time.

During the Fourth Shinobi War, a reanimated Minato (through Edo Tensei) finally meets his daughter (outside of a chakra imprint) and, unexpectedly, his daughter’s boyfriend.

For a festival, Yoshino helps her son’s girlfriend dressing up for the evening in a really nice yukata, while sneaking the Nara clan symbol on the obi. Shikamaru, their friends and their entire village won’t know what’ll hit them, seeing her all dolled up for the first time.

Naruto, the Hokage, and her husband and advisor Shikamaru end up time travelling to the past to their genin days (the shock about the two dead lasts as the shinobi power couple is assured).

Naruto and Shikamaru’s kids end up time travelling to the past to their parents’ genin days. Their oldest kids are around the age of their parents’ past selves. Naruto and Shikamaru to the rescue.

During her childhood, Naruto was always a tomboy: she kept her hair short, she wore baggy and practical clothes, she liked to train, hung out and skipping school with Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba, she liked watching Shino’s kikaichus and she didn’t care about crushes and romances. She was pretty disliked by her female classmates cause she was actually the only girl Sasuke talked to, even if to be teased and insulted. When Naruto returns from her three-year training trip with Jiraiya, everyone is shocked to see her grown up, incredibly beautiful, with more fitting clothes, long hair, more powerful and more confident in herself. Shikamaru always had a crush on her and when she comes back, he finally decides to tell her about his feelings.

Despite not being able to actually adopt her or publicly take care of her, little Naruto is not alone as she thinks. Kakashi and Minato’s guard platoon, Genma, Raido and Iwashi, always tried to guard her from the shadows, stocking her fridge and doing grocery shopping, cleaning her apartment and throwing out the food gone bacd, giving her gifts for her birthdays and stopping villagersfrom hurting her, and sending Kakashi’s ninken to play with her when alone at the playground.

Naruto and Shikamaru are dating but it’s not common knowledge (only the Nara clan knows cause they spend most of their time together at the Nara compound). One day, the village observes Yoshino, the Nara matriarch, taking Naruto with her to run some errands and doing some shopping, like a mother with her daughter.

When Naruto comes back from her training trip, she and Shikamaru get closer and closer together. When Asuma dies, Shikamaru is devastated and there’s only one person he goes to to find some comfort. Naruto helps Shikamaru take down Kakuzu, while he takes down Hidan.

Little Naruto is lonely because the other kids don’t want to play with her at the playground. Even when she finds playmates, their parents always arrive and take their kids away hurling obscenities and insults at her. Meanwhile, Shikamaru, a very observant and smart boy, notices this pattern and decides it’s not too troublesome to befriend the lonely girl.

Naruto and Shikamaru are dating for a while and talk about having kids and Naruto wanting a big family. Shikamaru thinks it’s troublesome, but he’s actually a real softie who would do anything for the woman he loves.

After returning from her training trip, Naruto and Shikamaru start to spend more and more time together, training, doing missions and in their free time too and they’re slowly falling for each other. They’re also the ones helping the other through the grief after Asuma’s and Jiraiya’s deaths. During Pain’s invasion, SHikamaru dies trying to help her fighting. Like in canon, Naruto goes on a rampage, her dad stops her full transformation, she defeats the paths of Pain and convinces Nagato of her wat and he brings all the people killed back. While dead, Shikamaru is allowed to see a glimpse of a possible future where he’s married to Naruto and having a family with her. When Shikamaru wakes up, he joins the crowd waiting for her return and decides, for the first time in his life, not to think too much and go for it: he passionately kisses her in front of the whole village.

Shikaku starts to notice something unusual in his son: even when he doesn't have a mission, Shikamaru wakes up pretty early and goes out of the house saying he's going training, only to return at sundown and even later looking like he actually trained all day, and despite that, looking happy. He decides to solve the mystery (maybe enlisting his friends help, Inoichi and Choza, or maybe even Shibi's and his kikaichus) and he finds out Shikamaru doesn't train with his team or with his sensei. He follows Shikamaru deep in the Nara forest only to find out that he's actually training hard all day, but, surprisingly with Naruto (recently returned from her trip). And them training together isn't the only thing he witnesses, cause his son is apparently hiding that he also has a girlfriend.

Naruto and Shikamaru are both promoted to chunin after the chunin exams and the Suna-Oto invasion. Since are both chunin, they start doing more missions together, training together and spending more time together in general.

Naruto starts to spend more time at the Nara compound because of her growing bond with Shikamaru. At the same time, the deer start behaving weirdly, coming and staying very close to the houses. The Nara clan members notice the deer behavior and they try to think of explanations for it: they think that they're sensing some natural phenomena like a earthquake or a storm, or maybe they're sensing danger and enemies approaching; but when nothing happens they still can't understand why the animals come so close to the houses. After a while, they finally notice that the deer come so close when Naruto's there. The deer wouldn't attack a stranger if authorized to be in the Nara forest, but they're still wary and cautious around strangers, while with her they behave as if she's a member of the clan, and even more friendly, getting closer to be petted, following her and bringing her their fawns.

Naruto is pregnant with Shikamaru’s twins. And her husband and her father-in-law go in overprotective mode and become their hawks. Shikamaru is with her everywhere, and when he's away, Shikaku is. Luckily, Yoshino is there to save her and give her some room to breath.

Tsunade assigns Naruto and Shikamaru to a mission where they have to do some recon and spying while pretending to be a couple. The pretending leads to something more real.

Naras, despite their laziness and their seemingly aloof personalities, are perfectionists. They obsessively do things until they reach perfection and this apply to sex as well. Shikamaru is determined to be perfect at it and after some practice, he gets to run his girlfriend ragged. No one suspects that under good old lazy and quiet Shikamaru hides a sex god.

After the Fourth Shinobi War, Naruto and Shikamaru have been together for a while and they're hanging out and watching clouds on a field on Nara grounds. Suddenly, a big group of deer come close to them and gather around them, with the young fawns cuddling up to her to be petted and one of them falling asleep with its head on her belly. Naruto and Shikamaru are surprised by their behavior and they don't understand why they're acting like that. Kurama answers them telling her it's because they're sensing she's pregnant.

Returning to Konoha from a mission together, Naruto and Shikamaru stop to rest at a hotel with a mixed gender onsen.

Naruto and Shikamaru's kids end up time travelling to the past, when their grandparents are in their early 20s. They meet young Shikaku and Yoshino and finally get to meet the grandparents they never met, Minato and Kushina.

The Fourth Shinobi War goes differently than canon, it's longer, bloodier and ends in thousands and thousands of deaths. Naruto and Shikamaru (secretly married before the start of the war) are between the few still standing shinobis. Kurama tells them there is a way to erase all the tragedy: go back in time. They decide to go back to their genin days to prevent the start of the war and all the meaningless deaths.

After her training trip with Jiraiya, Naruto comes back to Konoha and resumes living in her old apartment. Her apartment, though, since no one lived there for three years, is more run-down than ever. One night, the apartment's pipes burst and flood the whole place. The now homeless Naruto meets Shikamaru, who has pity on her and invite her to temporarily stay at the Nara household (temporarily, sure).

When she comes back from her training trip, the Konoha 11 girls drag Naruto to have a sleepover with them. The girls talk about boys and crushes, even if they never actually had a real relationship or had their first kiss. They think that Naruto, having had her romantic awakening later than the other girls (Sakura and Ino and most of the other girls already thought about boys and had a crush on Sasuke since the academy), never had her first kiss either (the accidental with Sasuke doesn't count). What they don't know is that, while she was away, she sent letters back and forth with Shikamaru, and they kissed and got together when she came back.

Returning from a mission together, Naruto and Shikamaru are attacked by enemy ninjas. They defeat them, but they're tired, slightly hurt and stranded in the middle of a forest, soaked to the bone, under a rainstorm. They find shelter in a cave where they have to spend the night, while sharing a sleeping bag and trying not to freeze.

Naruto notices that everytime she wakes up in the hospital, Shikamaru is there with her.

While Naruto is away, her and Shikamaru keep sending each other letters back and forth and end up falling in love. Nobody knows about their mail exchanging or their feelings, until, thanks to a summoned toad, Shikamaru receives a letter from Naruto in front of his whole team, Asuma, Ino and Choji.

Shikamaru is a very observant guy, even as a kid. Since the academy, he always noticed that Naruto is treated differently from everyone else and there's obviously a mystery to solve. Shikamaru digs and investigates until he discovers that Naruto is the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki.

Sasuke always had a crush on Naruto and he thinks her never giving up on him is because of his feelings being mutual. After the Fourth Shinobi War, the two reconcile and he decides to come back to Konoha and reveal his feelings to her. But, after undoing the Infinite Tsukuyomi and waking up everybody, he gets a nasty surprise cause the first thing Naruto does is running in the arms of another man, Shikamaru.

Minato is messing with seals to find a way to strengthen his Hiraishin and ends up accidentally time travelling to the far future. Minato ends up in the Hokage's office where a blonde woman, really similar to him, is sitting at the Hokage's desk (maybe there are also her kids and her husband).

After the Kyuubi incident and the sealing into Naruto, the Sandaime knew that the village wouldn't treat her fairly. To protect her, he sends the newborn with someone he trusts to live in Uzushiogakure (the village wasn't completely wiped out during the war; it's not at its best, but there are still the remaining of the Uzumaki clan living there). Naruto comes back to Konoha for the chunin exams and later to become a Konoha shinobi. Tsunade assigns Shikamaru to be her guide and nobody expects the two to get along so well.

Naruto sees for the first time Shikamaru with his hair down (something not many people have seen before).

Naruto and Shikamaru are academy kids, when one day, Shikamaru witnesses how Naruto is treated by the villagers. He decides to accompany her to her apartment, but when they get there, the apartment is completely trashed and almost everything she owns is destroyed. Shikamaru decides that Naruto is not safe there anymore and he decides to bring her home with him.

Naruto meets Jiraiya when training for the chunin exams finals. While training her, he gets to observe her relationship with the other genins and former classmates, and mostly her relationship with the Nara kid. Jiraiya notices something deeper than friendship between the two, something they probably didn't even notice themselves. He gets the inspiration to write the new Icha Icha book with the main characters based on Naruto and Shikamaru.

It's been a couple of years since Naruto started to live with the Naras. In the meantime, Naruto and Shikamaru got closer, living and training together, learning/teaching shogi, pranking and cloud watching. At the academy, the other kids don't know about their bond. During the chunin exams, in the face of danger, they get to see how close their two classmates really are.

Asuma is team 10 sensei for only a few months, and despite being obvious Shikamaru has the intelligence to become a formidable shinobi, he severely lacks motivation. He tries to find ways to motivate him to physically train more. During the chunin exams, he's surprised to notice that there seems to be someone who can motivate the lazy Nara, the loud blonde girl who encourages him from the stands and then pushes him in the stadium.

Naruto and Shikamaru get their friends together to announce they're expecting, and they're expecting twins.

Before the start of the Fourth Shinobi War, Naruto and Shikamaru know that the war is near and they decide to get spontaneously married before Naruto has to sail off towards Kumo.

Iruka is a mother hen and he's extremely protective of his sort-of-little sister Naruto. While she was growing up, he already knew it would come the day when he would have to chase away all the boys looking at her. When Naruto fails to show up at their lunch appointment at Ichiraku's, he gets worried and goes searching for her at her apartment. The last thing he expects to find is his little sister lying naked in the same bed with another former student of his, Shikamaru.

Naruto finally enters the Fourth Shinobi War. When she arrives where the First and Fourth Divisions are, all the ninjas who don't know them are surprised of how the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki jumps on the Fourth Division Proxy Commander.

Naruto and Shikamaru have always been close. They were friends in the academy, they were getting closer as genins, they exchanged letters while she was away with Jiraiya and falling for each other, and they started dating when she came back. Nobody knows they're dating, at least until, at the end of the Fourth Shinobi War, when the Infinite Tsukuyomi is undone, the first thing Naruto does is kiss Shikamaru in front of the whole shinobi nations.

Naruto and Shikamaru are closer than people think. They spend most of their free time together since the academy and they still do it when genins. During the Suna-Oto invasion, Naruto, Shikamaru, Sakura and Pakkun are tracking Sasuke who went chasing after Gaara. When they realize they are being followed by Oto ninjas, Shikamaru makes the decision to stay behind to ambush the enemies, and, thus, sacrificing his own life. Naruto knows the possibilities of making it alive aren't much and doesn't want to leave him behind, so she kisses him and tells him he better makes it out alive.

Little Naruto doesn't understand why all her female classmates in the academy (and also most of the girls around their age in the village, save for Hinata) have a thing for Sasuke and think he's the cutest. One day, while having enough of the girls fighting over him, she explodes saying that she doesn't understand them and that other guys are better, for example, "Shikamaru is way cuter". Shikamaru sure isn't napping anymore after that.

Shikaku observes his kid and how he interacts with the other children, while at the playground. Particularly, he observes how Shikamaru's relationship with the little blonde Jinchuuriki is so very similar to his own with his wife when they were Shikamaru's age.

Yoshino is meeting her girlfriends, the other InoShikaCho's wives and Tsume Inuzuka, for their usual afternoon tea with gossip, and tells them how her son has surprisingly brought home Naruto, saying she's his girlfriend; how adorable they are together and how she can't wait to have her dark-haired, blue-eyed grandchildren.

During her battle with Pain, Naruto discovers her father is the Yondaime Hokage. After the battle, the first person she tells the secret to is Shikamaru.

One night, Naruto is forced out of her apartment cause the heater broke down. She ends up outside Shikamaru's window. He lets her in and she immediately curls up with him on his bed to fight the cold. The next morning, Shikaku goes to wake his son and the very last thing he expects is to find a girl in his son's bed.

Shikamaru is tense about the upcoming war and his role of leading people under his responsability. Shikaku, seeing his son's predicament, suggests him to go visit his sort-of-girlfriend (she's not my girlfriend, dad!) Naruto, who's sailing towards Kumo. His sort-of-girlfriend (whom he's in love with) always has a way of making him feel better.

After the Fourth Shinobi War, Naruto is a hero, respected and admired in all elemental nations. With all this though, it also comes the downside: dozens and dozens of marriage proposals from damyios' sons, high rank ninjas and kage's relatives from all over the world. The majority of the Council wants to marry her off to the highest bidder. She has to find a solution. Luckily, she still has people on her side; her friend (and secret crush) Shikamaru has an idea on how to keep her in Konoha and keep her from marry strangers who only want her power: marry him instead.

Little Shikamaru doesn't understand why everybody avoids Naruto like the plague and treats her like dirt. He decides to ask his parents. When his father asks him if he thinks she should be hated, Shikamaru, with a blush on his face, simply tells them that, sure, she's troublesome and loud, but she's also cute and funny.

The Konoha 11 start to notice that the newly returned Naruto and Shikamaru spend lots of time together. They don't know why, sure they're friends, but they never were that close. They make a bet saying all possible (and also improbable) reasons why they're hanging out so much. They investigate and find out that, despite all their crazy ideas, the two are simply dating and in love with each other.

While training, Ino can't stop ranting about how Naruto secretly wants to take Sasuke for herself, about how she can try but she's too much of a tomboy while Sasuke likes girly girls, and about how much Naruto is just ugly and "who would ever want her?" Having reached the peak of his patience, Shikamaru can't stop from blowing up at her and blurting out how he would want her and that he thinks she's beautiful, shocking all team 10.

During a guys night out (with their dads and senseis too), feeling the effects of sake, Shikamaru blurts out he has a thing for blondes. Since it's more than rare to hear Shikamaru talks about girls or about being attracted to someone, the other guys think he's talking about Ino or Temari. To most people's surprise (but not Shikaku's), Shikamaru is talking about Naruto.

While she's away on her training trip with Jiraiya, Naruto exchanges a lot of letters with Shikamaru and falls for him. When she comes back to Konoha, she finally reunites with him and the two end up making love for the first time.

Before going on the Sasuke retrieval mission together, Tsunade orders an angry and anxious Naruto to reveal the Kyuubi secret to Shikamaru and the others going with them. Naruto ends up telling them while on the move.

After coming back to Konoha, Naruto and Shikamaru are on a mission together and camping out for the night. While falling asleep, Shikamaru heard Naruto moaning his name while dreaming.

While at the academy, Naruto's class go visit the Hokage at the Hokage tower. While in the room with the Hokages' pictures on the wall, Shikamaru notices all the similarities between his classmate Naruto and the Yondaime Hokage. Shikamaru starts to investigate and where to start, if not from Naruto herself?

Naruto watches how good is Shikamaru at playing and doting on Mirai Sarutobi and she decides it's time to start a family.

Naruto is pregnant with twins. Shikaku and Yoshino are overly excited by the news and they rock/paper/scissors over which one of the babies gets the "Shika" name and heir title.

After the chunin exams and the Suna/Oto invasion, Naruto realizes that no matter what she does, the Council doesn't want to promote her, stating that she's too impulsive and not mature enough. She decides to ask Shikamaru to teach her shogi and strategy (Shikamaru is surprised she wasn't promoted as well).

When Konohamaru meets Naruto, she's the only person who sees him as himself and not only the Sandaime's grandson. He gets a kid crush for her and declares she's his boss and his future wife. When he often sees her around the village always with the same guy (Shikamaru), he gets jealous and declares him his rival for the heart of Naruto.

Little Naruto is lonely. Around the village and at the playground the other kids don't want to play with her and those who want to, are quickly forbidden by their parents. One day, while wandering the woods on the outskirt of Konoha, she stumbles upon a little fawn. The little animal plays with her and keeps following her everywhere, until it leads her on the other side of the forest to a compound. The fawn keeps leading her towards a young boy her age and his parents. Maybe Naruto can find a friend after all, and maybe even a family.

It's Naruto's and Shikamaru's wedding anniversary and they go out to dinner. They decide to leave their troublesome children (four? five?) with uncle Kakashi and his ninken.

A heavily pregnant Hokage Naruto, her advisor husband Shikamaru and their children accidentally time travel and find themselves in the past, in front of a heavily pregnant Kushina and her Hokage husband Minato.

After the win against Tayuya (assisted by Temari), Shikamaru doesn't return back to Konoha, instead, he goes ahead towards the Valley of the End. There, he's the one who finds Naruto unconscious and with a hole in her chest, just moments before Kakashi arrives too.

Before leaving with Jiraiya, Naruto and Shikamaru exchange a goodbye kiss; and during the three years, they send letters back and forth. Meanwhile in Konoha, Shikamaru is often working with Temari in organizing and proctoring the chunin exams and everybody in the village thinks the two are dating. When Naruto comes back, everybody keeps hinting at Shikamaru and Temari's relationship and Naruto is hurt. It's up to Shikamaru to solve the misunderstanding.

While in the academy, the Sandaime realizes that Naruto never had any traditional etiquette training in how to become a polite young woman (how to wear kimonos and yukatas, how to serve tea, formal greetings, the table etiquette...). He asks some older kunoichis if they want to give her lessons and Yoshino agrees. Naruto has to go to the Nara compound to take her lessons and becomes very close with her teacher and her family, her son Shikamaru included.

After returning to Konoha, Naruto and Shikamaru make a deal: Shikamaru helps her mental training by teaching her shogi, while Naruto helps his physical training by sparring together. One day, while sparring, their sexual tension reaches its peak and the two end up passionately kissing and making out.

When Naruto and Shikamaru get together, nobody, and even less their friends, expects the usually aloof Shikamaru being so affectionate with his girlfriend, even in public. Shikamaru literally can't keep his hands off of Naruto.

Shikaku and Yoshino find out that their son is dating, and he's dating Naruto. Yoshino forces her husband to go talk to Shikamaru about the relationship and to refresh the Talk. Neither Shikaku nor Shikamaru want to be there for that.

Naruto and Shikamaru start having sex. Naras are extreme perfectionists and Shikamaru can't stop thinking he can be better and better at sex too. Shikamaru himself doesn't understand why he thinks and behaves like that, and the only solution is to, unwillingly, ask his father (embarrassing talk assured). Meanwhile, after being ran ragged a few times, Naruto decides to, unwillingly, ask explanations of Shikamaru's behavior to Yoshino (another embarrassing talk assured).

Naruto wakes up after the failure of the Sasuke retrieval mission, finding Shikamaru at her bedside.She's distraught about nearly dying, about Sasuke's betrayal, about the failed promise to Sakura and the conditions of the other mission's comrades and friends. She asks Shikamaru to stay with her, so he climbs on the bed next to her and she finally lets herself cry in his arms. When Shikaku comes back with Yoshino, the two look around the hospital to find their son, only to find him sound asleep hugging a sleeping girl on her hospital bed.

Naruto and Shikamaru are the only ones in their age group with children. During a parents' dinner (Shikaku and Yoshino, Inoichi and Choza with their wives, Tsume, Hiashi, Shibi and his wife?, Mebuki and Kizashi), Shikaku and Yoshino talk about their grandchildren, making everybody jealous.

Shikaku is closely observing his son while they're waiting for news about his Sasuke retrieval mission's ninjas. Despite the seriousness, the other guys are going to be fine but there still aren't news on Naruto. With no news, Shikamaru gets more and more anxious. Shikaku senses his son's feelings for the girl are deeper than probably even his kid knows.

After returning to Konoha and during a mission together, Naruto gets a slash on her chest and Shikamaru has to help her bandage it. Naruto doesn't have any problems in stripping her shirts and bra off, but Shikamaru didn't expect her actions and he has to help her, blushing like crazy.

A large celebration is organized for Tsunade's Hokage settlement. Even if troublesome, Shikamaru decides to ask Naruto to go with him.

While under the Infinite Tsukuyomi, Shikamaru dreams of a perfect world where he's married to Naruto (and they're also the Hokage and her advisor) and they have a happy family together, with also Shikaku, Yoshino, Minato and Kushina and where Asuma is alive. The first thing Shikamaru does, after waking up, is to ask Naruto to marry him.

After the academy graduation, Shikamaru starts to feel things he doesn't understand for one of his former classmates, Naruto. He's a smart guy but he doesn't understand these troublesome feelings. He doesn't want to ask his parents, so the only person he could think of asking is his sensei, Asuma.

Yoshino is helping Naruto putting on the kimono, doing her hair and putting on make-up for her wedding with Shikamaru.

For once Kakashi isn't hours late to a team meeting, but, since Naruto thought she could sleep in a little longer, she fails to show up on the established time. Team 7 then goes looking for her at her apartment. The last thing Team 7 expects to find is Shikamaru, still half asleep and shirtless, opening the door.

Shikaku is back from a mission and Yoshino tells him their son isn't back home yet, even if he was due back in Konoha hours before. Shikaku goes to Tsunade to ask for informations and she tells him Shikamaru was indeed back hours ago and he was in there in her office when he met the newly returned Naruto. Shikaku then goes looking for his son only to find him at Naruto's apartment after an afternoon of sex. He doesn't know that the two fell in love while sending each other letters while she was away and they jumped each others as soon as possible.

Everybody always underestimated Choji. He may not be the smartest guy, but he has always been a good observer, and he always knew his best friend, Shikamaru, pretty well. He knows him since they were toddlers and he always knew there was something different in the way he acted with Naruto, than with anybody else. When he was little, he could see it but he didn't understand it; when they grew up, he could see it more clearly and he began to understand that his best friend has always been in love with the girl.

Naruto has always been a tomboy, with her baggy and oversized jumpsuits (contrary to popular belief, though, her hair isn't short, is actually pretty long and pull together in a messy bun). Naruto never liked festivals and ceremonies, or actually, she always wanted to go at one, but people have never been nice to her. Tsunade has to compel her to go to her Hokage settlement ceremony and she asks Yoshino Nara to help Naruto with the preparations (shopping for a yukata, dressing, make-up and hair). No one knew that under the tomboy, hides such a cute girl.

It's the middle of the night and Naruto and Shikamaru are peacefully sleeping, when in her mindscape Kurama tells her their babies are about to be born.

Naruto and Shikamaru found out she's pregnant with twins only a few days ago. And since then, Shikamaru is even more affectionate and touchy-feely with her than before, and often has his hands on her belly. Everybody notices the change even if they don't know why.

Kurama tells Naruto and Shikamaru that she's pregnant with twins. Overjoyed, the two go to Tsunade for a check-up and a confirmation. They decide to organize a family dinner with Shikaku and Yoshino and her big brothers Kakashi and Iruka, to announce the news.

While away on her training trip, Naruto keeps receiving letters from someone in Konoha. Jiraiya assumes the letters are from her girlfriends (not knowing Naruto isn't really the type of girl with lots of girlfriends), or from Tsunade, until one day, he accidentally reads the name "Shikamaru" on one of them.

Shikamaru comes home from a mission, to his wife lulling to sleep their kids singing the tailed beasts counting song.

While Naruto is away, she and Shikamaru keep sending each other letters back and forth and end up falling in love. Meanwhile, Shikamaru starts leaving in a little apartment on his own and when Naruto gets back, they spend their free time and their nights there. Nobody knows about their relationship, until, after a week of not seeing Shikamaru, Team 10 shows up on his doorstep, only to find Naruto wearing only a shirt of Shikamaru's (with the Nara clan symbol).

Since she was a little kid, Naruto dreamed of having a big family one day. Despite her dream, she has a few insecurities about becoming a mother, since she never had one or even a mother figure while growing up herself; and she doesn't even know if her boyfriend Shikamaru wants kids. She's hesitant to bring out the topic with him; but Shikamaru is a very preceptive person and he knows what's going on in his girlfriend's mind; he can clearly see it everytime she looks at and speaks to kids. So he reassures her and ask her "what do you think if we make a kid?".

Since meeting Shikamaru, Temari always had a thing for him, thing that working often together never went away. However, Shikamaru has never answer to her flirtation and openly rejected the idea of a date and Temari doesn't understand why (she's pretty, she's independent, she's a great kunoichi and she's the Kazekage's daughter, what's not to like?). She finally understands his rejections when she happens to witness Naruto's homecoming and her reunion with Shikamaru.

While Naruto's away on her training trip, she keeps exchanging letters with Shikamaru and they fell in love. Meanwhile, Ino started dating someone and she tries to find someone to date also for her teammates, not knowing that one of them is in love with someone already. She tries everything to convince him of dating one of her girl friends, until he simply blows up and tell her he's in love with Naruto, something he never even admit to himself until then, even less out loud and to someone.

Since she was very little, Naruto always dreamed of being Hokage. One day, while visiting the Sandaime, she discovers that every Hokage has advisors, so if she wants to be Hokage in the future she must find someone to trust to be hers. There's only one person she can see be her advisor, her classmate Shikamaru.

Shikamaru loves to be lazy, and his girlfriend Naruto knows how much he loves to be lazy. He loves even more when she surprises him waking him up while riding him and doing all the work herself.

Temari is thinking about asking Shikamaru out, when he receives a letter from Naruto. The, never seen before, soft smile on his face tells her about the situation and decides not to act on her attraction and decides to be an annoying best friend to Shikamaru, teasing him about his relationship with Naruto.

After having had several kids, most dark-haired but some also blonde, Naruto and Shikamaru are expecting again and when the new baby is born, they sure aren't expecting the baby's red hair.

Shikamaru doesn't know what exactly possessed him to write the newly left Naruto a letter. He surely doesn't expect an answer but he receives one. They keep writing each other and the letters become less and less friendly, and more romantic. They start to write cute things and admitting their mutual crushes, and, with the time passing and them growing up, some of the letters are less and less PG-13.

While travelling with Jiraiya, Naruto often exchanged letters with Shikamaru and the two fell in love. Since coming back to Konoha, the two started to spend more time together. One night, while Yoshino is out with her girlfriends and Shikaku is on a mission, the two teenagers take advantage of the Nara household to explore their newfound bond, at least until the clan head comes back home. Who's more surprised? The two caught in the act teens or the father who didn't even know his kid had any interest in romance and physical contacts?

Even when all the boys his age started noticing girls, Shikamaru never really thought about it. Sure, his friend and classmate Naruto was maybe a little cute but that was it. While reaching adolescence, and the other boys' hormones were getting the better of them, Shikamaru still didn't really feel real attraction. Until one day, when, while wandering the Nara forest, he stumbled upon a naked Naruto bathing in a secluded natural onsen.

Naruto can summon Kurama out of her body (depending on the level of chakra used for the summon, Kurama can change his own size). The beast will never admit out loud to have become quite fond, not only of his own jinchuuriki, but also of her mate and especially of her kits; kits who like to play and cuddle with him and be babysat by him.

During the Pain invasion, Naruto discovers her father was the Fourth Hokage. When she returns victorious to Konoha, she shares a kiss with Shikamaru in front of everybody and after that she asks Kakashi about her father and he asks her about her surprising relationship with Shikamaru.

When she comes back to Konoha, Sakura convinces Naruto to go on a date with a guy she met while training as a medic nin (mostly to find her a boyfriend so that she's not a rival for Sasuke). The guy, after seeing she's the jinchuuriki, run out and leave her at the restaurant alone. At the same time, Shikamaru is passing by and he notices an all-dolled up but sad and alone Naruto. He decides it's too troublesome to leave her there, so he takes the guy's place and the two end up sharing a very pleasant evening neither expected.

On October 10th, the whole village of Konoha mourns its greatest hero and celebrates the defeat of the beast with a big and colorful festival, food, drinks, games and stands of every kind. In the midst of all this celebration, there are very few people who remember that October 10th is also Uzumaki Naruto's birthday. Naruto usually spends the nights of the festival alone sitting on the stone head of the Yondaime Hokage. She sure doesn't expect to be found by her friend Shikamaru, who remembered her birthday and brought her a gift.

105) After returning from her training trip, Naruto and Shikamaru start to spend more and more time together, training, doing missions and in their free time too and they're slowly falling for each other. They're also the ones helping the other through the grief after Asuma's and Jiraiya's deaths. During Pain's invasion, Shikamaru dies trying to help her fighting. Like in canon, Naruto goes on a rampage, her dad stops her full transformation, she defeats the paths of Pain and convinces Nagato of her way and he brings all the people killed back. While dead, Shikamaru temporarily ends up in the afterlife, where he gets to meet Asuma, the Yondaime Hokage and his wife Kushina, Jiraiya the Sannin and the Sandaime Hokage.

Minato and Kushina were always good friends with Shikaku and Yoshino. When Yoshino gave birth to Shikamaru, her very pregnant best friend Kushina goes visiting her and they joke and daydream about their kids falling in love with each other one day. When Shikamaru brings home Naruto saying she's his girlfriend, Yoshino remembers that day and that talk with her late best friend.

Kakashi is a young jonin, desperate because in a short amount of time he lost the members of his team and his sensei and his wife. Kakashi is granted to take a glimpse of the far future. He sure isn't expecting what he's seeing: himself in his forties, babysitting a whole bunch of kids who love him and call him "uncle Kakashi", having a blonde little sister and a whole acquired family with whom he has dinner every week.

It's the last night in Konoha before Naruto's trip to Kumo to learn how to control the Kyuubi's power, and the war is looming. Naruto spends the last night with her boyfriend, Shikamaru.

Before training, Asuma is going towards the Ino-Shika-Cho compounds to go fetch his three students. After fetching Ino and Choji, it's Shikamaru's turn. They surely don't expect to see Naruto leave the Nara compound (Naruto and Shikamaru got together after spending the three years of her training trip writing each other and falling in love).

Tsunade forces the Konoha 11 to attend a celebration because most of them don't want to go. She also forces them to go coupled up. Naruto and Shikamaru are coupled up. They didn't want to go, but they, unexpectedly, spend a nice evening together, dancing, talking and laughing.

When thinking about Naruto, Shikamaru never saw her as someone he could watch clouds with; she's just too hyperactive and energetic for that. After the war, Shikamaru finds out that Naruto's training in Senjutsu taught her the patience to stay still. Now he finally gets to watch the clouds with her.

Naruto and Shikamaru spent the three years apart writing to each other and falling in love. When Naruto comes back, the two spend the first night on the Hokage mountain, talking, kissing and just enjoying their time together. That night though, Shikamaru had a guys night out with the other boys of the Konoha 11 and doesn't show up. The boys, worried, go looking for their missing friend.

After Asuma's death, Shikamaru refused to see anyone who went to see him. Shikaku had to send away even his son's own teammates and, when he finds Naruto at their door, he thinks he'll have to send her away too. He surely doesn't expect his son letting her in and letting himself be comforted by her.

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shcbear · 4 years

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&& TASK 001

STATISTICS.

full name: Dacey Jeora Mormont

moniker / nickname: Dace, Corporal, She Bear

gender && pronouns: cis female, she/her

dob && age: april 23rd, 1990 && 30 years old

zodiac sign: taurus

ethnicity: Red River Métis-Cree, Chinese, White

sexual orientation: pansexual

romantic orientation: panromantic

mafia affiliation: The Wolf Kings && Stark

occupation owner and teacher at Bear & Claw Martial Arts Gym

financial status: while the mormont family doesn’t come from wealth per say, they do come from status, having been respected members of their community for centuries, giving them a certain amount of privilege in their area. their old connections to the starks, earning them the title of ‘old friends’ did as well.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE.

face claim: Jessica Matten

height: 5′9

physical build: tall and slender, almost willowy

eye colour and shape: brown and almond

hair colour and style: black and generally straight, parted slightly to the left side and usually tucked behind ears (naturally somewhat wavy)

usual expression: massive case of RBF

accent and speech style: sharp and sarcastic toned, barely noticeably accented

clothing style: almost uniform like, always wearing some form of jeans, boots, t-shirt and if the weather necessitates, a leather jacket. there are some variations, but not many.

jewelry and accessories: some jewelry that pays homage to her routes, but nothing that could get in the way (such as earrings, which is a big no-no in any form of hand-to-hand combat), Smith & Wesson 6 inch blade tucked in her boot

FAMILY:

father: UNKNOWN

mother: Maege Mormont (alive)

siblings, if any: Alysane, Lyra, Jorelle, Lyanna (all alive)

extended relations: Jorah Mormont (uncle, status unknown)

significant other(s): N/A

children: N/A

household pet(s): a cane corso/pitbull rescue mix named Bear, that accompanies Dacey almost everywhere she goes, and is absolutely the gym’s mascot. but don’t let it’s friendly nature fool you, it’s a fiercely loyal guard dog at heart, and you’ll get no warning barks or growls, only teeth if you step into Dacey’s space uninvited.

FAVOURITES.

colour: forest green and earthy brown

weather: rainy (especially in the fall)

food item: she is a human garbage disposal and will literally eat anything you put in front of her (other than shellfish), but always prefer fresh foods over anything else

beverage: dr pepper

time of day: twilight

television genre: anything vaguely cheesy/small town/without high stakes. she has enough of those in her daily life and wants to wind down with something the opposite of her life.

PERSONALITY.

hobbies: martial arts, boxing, hiking, camping, fishing

pet peeves: phone ringers (honestly, who still has their phone volume on?), unnecessary waste (of any kind really; life, food, water, energy, etc)

phobias: thalassophobia (which was...unfortunate considering she grew up surrounded by water)

allergies: cats and shellfish

mbti type: ISTP-A

enneagram type: 98% the skeptic, 87% the challenger, 62% the investigator

positive traits: loyal, versatile, determined

negative traits: brash, blunt, head strong

morning routine: fairly regimented; wakes up at five, goes for a 5 mile run with Bear, feeds Bear, takes a shower, eats something fresh, goes and opens the gym at 8.

beauty routine: tends to stick to more holistic products, and is more likely to use ‘raw materials’ than she is to buy something off the counter, but overall keeps it fairly simple, she’s a simple girl.

sleeping habits: Dacey used to sleep like a rock, always spent from an active day that she would fall into bed and remain unmoving until the morning, but with her new position as corporal, there are a lot of long nights, or nights interrupted by important calls of important (and violent) tasks needing to be dealt with. so she tries to hit the hay as earlier as she can, knowing it could be interrupted at any moment.

living space && home: neither clean nor messy, but obviously lived in. she always prefers to buy second hand or hand made, always hating the look of brand new furniture and couldn’t stand to have an ikea retrofitted apartment. lots of earthy tones, objects from back home.

#vixere:task #vixere:task01 #( me? finishing the task before her intro? it’s more likely than you think )#( * headcannons | with lips made from glass and a voice cut from steel. )

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becauseitsgreen · 5 years

Text

Cradlesona: Jonquil

Well... Here goes nothing... ヘ(´－｀;)ヘ

Jonquil Robert Lockwood

@scruffyturtlesreformed for art

Basic Info: Nicknames: N/A Birthday: March 1st Age: 23 Height: 185 cm Blood Type: O

Physical: Eyes: Blue Hair: Pale, rose gold? Hell, I don’t know how to describe that color, but it looks good lol. Accessories: Two black hair clips worn like roman numeral for two. Two black studs on earlobes, he would have gotten more, but it hurt too much. Features: Freckles across his cheeks and nose. Slightly pointed ears. Big burn scar all over right shoulder and shoulder blade. Illnesses: N/A

Social: Affiliation: Red Army Occupations: Two of Hearts Relationships: Luka & Edgar. He would consider them his dearest friends. He met them on the school roof. He had planned to take his life that day but ended up chatting and feeding pigeons with them. He began to hang out with them more often and almost burst into tears when they considered him a friend.

Jonquil tends to respond sarcastically to Edgar’s teasing, and he often refers to the other as a gremlin that belongs in the trash, in a loving manner of course. Edgar has learned that Jonquil can’t stand puns and whenever he makes one, Jonquil will immediately try to put him in the nearest trash receptacle. Jonquil does participate in Edgar’s antics from time to time. For example, they once convinced the Red Army to serve a “four cheese artisan crostini, topped with thinly sliced and smoked pork belly and served with tomato bisque with fresh basil” as an appetizer for a fancy dinner party. Jonah then proceeded to lose his shit once he found out they essentially served bacon grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup to a bunch of high born nobles.

With Luka, he’s calmer. They both share an interest in cooking and will often trade recipes, though Jonquil’s are more on the unhealthy side. Every so often they’ll go off to the Forbidden Forest and have picnics. He talks the most around Luka, and they end up sharing every little detail of their time apart for hours. However, they’re perfectly capable of enjoying each other’s company in silence as well.

Zero. Jonquil is willing to lend an ear whenever Zero needs to vent whenever Edgar’s is being particularly insufferable. Though, he does remind him that the Jack means well and that it’s all in good fun. They both share a goal of one day defeating Edgar in a spar, and they are often found sparring each other to improve their skills and techniques.

Kyle. One of Jonquil’s go to taste testers, the other being Edgar. Whenever Kyle catches Jonquil cooking late at night it turns into a drunken cooking spree and they end up just eating greasy food and drinking all night long.

Jonah. Jonah is aware that he and Luka were friends in school, but not the fact that he still hangs out with Luka on a regular basis, and he’d rather keep it that way for both his and Luka’s sake. He knows Jonah means well, in fact, he finds his adoration for his younger brother rather endearing, but he understands it can be a bit overwhelming to some. He and Edgar mess with the Queen every chance they get, and Jonquil will not hesitate to call him “mom.”

Lancelot. While Edgar supplies the King with strange sweets, Jonquil does the same with greasy food. He’s just happy to be able to share his cooking with Lancelot and relieved when he doesn’t skip meals.

Personality: He’s a goofy and optimistic guy who can brighten up the room whether you like it or not. Some may think he’s oblivious and can’t read the room, but really, he just wants to deescalate the situation, raise morale, or get your mind off something. His friendly and charming nature garners quite a bit of attention and he is eager to please. Jonquil is very indulgent both for himself and others, he does what he likes, and won’t judge when others do the same, in fact, he encourages it. He’s a big proponent of “treat yourself.”

However, deep down, he’s insecure of himself and hides his problems from even his closest friends to avoid becoming a burden. He desperately wants to be useful and tends to work himself to the bone in order to prove his worth, both as a soldier and as a person.

Family and History: Jonquil is the only son, and youngest out of four children in the Lockwood family. His family has trained and bred horses for the Red Army for generations. He has three older sisters, Lily, Primrose, and Violet, who’s his older twin sister. His father constantly pushed him to “man up,” as he was a gentle and reserved child when he was growing up. He didn’t want anything to do with the Red Army and was content on raising horses for the rest of his life. It didn’t help when his mother passed away from illness and his father became even more strict in his grief and he began to resent and father.

His family was not from the bloodline of the original Two of Hearts, in fact, they were promoted after his sister, Violet, revealed that the current Two at the time was not suited for the position (Long story short, she was betrothed to the Two of Hearts and he turned out to be abusive, this was revealed when she made a big spectacle on their wedding day and ran off to Black Territory. More on her in another post).

So when he was of age, he became the new Two of Hearts. While he wanted nothing to do with the position, he felt like he had no choice. He did, however, decide to do things his own way and went through a rebellious phase, piercing his ears, giving himself an undercut, dressing casually, and going against tradition in the Red Army.

Skills and Special Abilities: Magic. He’s an innate magic user, though he mostly uses his ability for simple things like cooking, or playing pranks. Magic is a last resort in battle, and more often then not, he’ll use it as a means to escape in order to protect his friends.

Cooking. He knows his way around a kitchen, though he’ll throw good nutrition out the window. He favors big, greasy or hearty meals.

Paired with: Luka Clemence

Life in Cradle: He wakes up at the crack of dawn to go tend to the horses in the Red Army stables, afterward he’ll train with Zero before breakfast. He’ll then eat a full English breakfast, to the disgust of Jonah, and go about his day training soldiers how to properly treat and ride their horses and incorporating combat techniques. When he has patrols he’ll look forward to running into his sister, Violet, or Luka. If he has time, he’ll sneak in a quick nap to recharge. In the evenings, after returning all horses to their stables, he’ll cook dinner for himself and Lancelot if he noticed the King skipping meals again. Sometimes Kyle and Edgar join him in the kitchen and they end of chatting into the night before he has to carry a drunk doctor back to his room before turning in for the night.

On his days off he’ll try to find time to spend it with Luka or Violet if their schedules align.

Fun Fact: He has a pet rooster named Henry.

#cradlesona #ikerev #luka clemence #edgar bright #lancelot kingsley #kyle ash #Jonah Clemence #ikemen revolution

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avanalae · 5 years

Text

Skyfire

Title: Skyfire Fandoms: Batman (Preboot) & Katekyo Hitman Reborn Characters: Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne, mentioned Alfred Pennyworth Rating: Gen Pairings: None but you can see whatever you want in this ;) Warnings: mentioned but pretty blatant child abuse, angst and self-doubt, happy ending~ Wordcount: 5,383

_____

Tim has always been cold. Perhaps not outwardly, but inside. His heart feels frozen, like he is shattered, feels as if he's empty and the cold has crept into the crevasses left behind.

He's missing something but he doesn't know what.

It tears him apart as a child. He struggles to make connections with other children. He fumbles and struggles, only getting such excellent grades through sacrifices and because he knows the consequences of not doing so.

He doesn't remember the last time his parents hugged him and he's actually fine with that. His father's arms were always weak and uncertain, giving him a feeling of passivity and discomfort. He doesn't like his hugs. Now, his mother…?

Janet Drake doesn't hug. She consumes, encapsulates. Her hugs are warm, a strange warmth that makes something in his soul cry out. But that warmth has a piercing edge to it, an edge that cuts at him at every touch. It burns and freezes and something in him hates it and that only makes it more aggressive.

So as he grows he becomes more distant. It's not hard, what with all the trips they go on. But he becomes lonelier than ever.

He remembers one year. It was fall, the start of a new school year. He'd made a friend and there was something building in him, lightening his heart when they were around. He was so happy.

They came home from their latest trip and he knew he'd done something wrong when he looked into his mother's eyes. He just didn't know what.

They talked and caught each other up, Jack doing most of the talking. He couldn't help but brighten a bit when he started talking about his new friend. But a few sentences in he knew he'd made a mistake.

Mother never showed her anger. That's what made it so terrifying. But Tim could see it - could see it in her eyes.

A few days later his friend and their family had disappeared. Gone, left to chase a new job and move states. The school was sad about it for a while but Tim felt broken.

Something in him shattered and he couldn't find the pieces to put himself back together.

So he didn't.

And life went on.

Bruce is… hard to describe. He covers the city of Gotham under his proverbial wing and is fiercely protective of it. Of all the residents within, no matter their moral status. He drifts from day to day, finding better ways to strengthen himself and to improve the lives of his people. He's like a cloud covering the city, everywhere at once in some ways and always watching.

Dick is refreshing. His sunny and friendly personality draws people in and his kind and enjoyable words and mannerisms keep them there. He's like a soothing wind on a hot day calming and fortifying all at once.

Jason. Jason is a storm - a forest fire, a flash flood, a hurricane. He burns, he smokes, he flares, he's there and he won't let anyone ignore him or forget him. He is kind but rough around the edges, a scruffy street boy hiding a heart of gold. When he goes out in a blaze of fire Tim despairs but finds it oddly appropriate.

Stephanie is attractive. She pulls attention to herself, all eyes upon her, and that makes Tim nervous. It's how she gets into such terrible situations with far too much frequency for Tim's comfort. She pulls him in, too, and his cold heart burns but it breaks once again when she's gone.

Cassandra is quiet. So quiet and calm. She's vicious, though. She was raised by Cain, after all, so it's to be expected. She hides in the shadows, dances through them. She avoids enemies with the finesse of a cat stalking its prey. When he's with her he feels like he sees more around them than he's seen before, his running mind is pulled in by hers and he calms. It’s easy with her because others see what she wants them to see.

Damian is a demon. No, he tries to put that aside. He is young and Talia was not good to him. How is he supposed to know better when that's all he's known? Because he can see it, he can see the gentle star hiding behind his loud, cruel words. He watches as his small hands treat animals with the greatest kindness. He sees his hands create and bring mere paper to life. He hides behind that terrible mask that is expected of him - except that it isn't and he desperately wants to free him from it.

Tim has always been unusually perceptive. If there's one thing his teachers notice aside from his intelligence, it's that. He knows many things. He sees and extrapolates and just knows instinctively what to do in certain situations

It’s what kept him safe on the streets when he was following Batman and Robin. It has helped him more times in his career as a vigilante than he can count. This is one of those times.

Batman and Robin ran into Red Hood on a case, interrupting each other in handling the situation. The situation escalated when a certain villain arrived on the scene. When he heard from Oracle what happened, he knew. His mind screamed and he bolted towards their location.

It was the Joker. Because of course it was. Things are going terribly and Tim starts to panic. Then his body goes cold as the Joker points something at Jason and he leaps -

"No!"

They collide and Tim gasps in agony as the bullet tears through his armor into his side. He screams as something starts to burn inside him. There's something in the bullet - something terrible and it hurts it hurts it hurts but his very soul accepts it gleefully even if his body doesn't.

He doesn't register anything except the burning, soul-wrenching pain. Not Joker's laughter. Not Bruce and Jason slamming their fists into the villain at the same time. Not Damian grabbing him by his suit and yelling.

He's writhing, something's building in the air. It builds and builds until something gives and he screams, hands tearing at his chest uselessly before he's restrained by someone or something, not that he can register it.

His very soul feels like it's ripping the ever-present coldness away and he burns. He feels like he's on fire, burning away into nothing. It's terrible and all-consuming until-

There's a flash of red behind his eyes and there it is, a strand of red fire streaking through him to his heart and latching on. He's burning but there - oh, there - he's not alone. Warm, he's so warm and the red has tied itself to him and he whole-heartedly accepts. Drags it in, curling up in its familiarity and its fire.

He thinks he's stopped screaming, but he still can't move. Everything is dark except the orange-gold of his heart and the blazing red now connected to it. He is probably being taken somewhere. He thinks he's being carried. He wraps himself in red when he spies hostile, uncertain yellow and fearful, wrathful violet. He reaches out to sooth and feels their shock and surprise. But that's the last thing he remembers as everything fades away.

"-bound. We don't know how long, possibly his whole life."

"Oh god, really?"

"More than likely. The outburst nearly leveled the-"

He fades back out.

There's someone holding his hand and it feels so right he wonders where it's been all his life. He struggles to open his eyes but it's a losing battle.

"Hey, it's okay Tim. You're safe."

I know, he wants to say. I know because you are here.

A thumb runs across his knuckles and he fades out again.

"Do you think he would… That he'd…" The voice groans in frustration, "Why is he so eager to accept me?"

"It's Timmy, Dami. I'm not that surprised though now I know more about the reason behind it." A huff, "though I guess the question still has some merit."

Blue and yellow. He wonders where red is before he sleeps.

He feels consciousness returning but it's a slow process. He's only aware that he's warm, at first, which in itself is unusual. Then he's comfortable. Then he feels a hand on his. It's much larger than his own, he notices.

"Come back to us, Tim." A voice murmurs so desperately that he tries. It's a struggle but at some point he opens his eyes just a crack. Its dim in the room but still bright enough to be uncomfortable.

He feels movement and there's a noise at his side. He shifts, and the hand on his tightens. "It's time to wake up, Tim."

"Br'c?" he manages a rasp.

"Yes Tim, it's me. You're at the manor in your room." Bruce's other hand comes up to rest on his forehead. He runs his thumb across skin, "Let's wake up now, if you can."

“I…” he sighs, half inquiry and half resignation.

Bruce runs his hand through his hair and he relaxes. “You’ve been out for about a week. You’re in your room in the manor.”

He stares at Bruce for a moment when he can open his eyes a bit more. “Y’r p’rpl.”

“What?” Bruce blinks, “Purple…? Oh.” He sighs and returns to petting Tim’s hair. “All in time, Tim. We will fill you in when you’re more awake.”

Speaking of being awake, Tim feels like he’s fading again. He tries to stay awake, tries to blink but his eyes don’t open back up. He wants to know, though.

“Hush, Tim. Rest. We’ll be here.”

As he falls asleep, he breathes out, “Jay…” The grip on his hand tightens.

Finally, after a few more close encounters with consciousness, he finds himself to really be awake.

And no one is near.

He can’t bring himself to sit up but he can at least survey his surroundings. It is his room though there are a few additions. There are remotes by his bed and he presumes at least one of them is some sort of call button but he doesn’t know. And IV drip is set up, connecting the saline bag to his left hand, the side away from the door. There are two comfy chairs set up on the other side. There’s even a table between them and on it is a steaming mug.

So someone has left just a bit ago and plans on returning. He wonders who it is.

His hand comes up to rest on his chest, as if to feel the warmth that burns inside him. He can feel it anyway, from the tips of his toes to his scalp. He feels warmer than he ever has before.

He sighs, reveling in it. Then startles when the door opens.

It’s-

Jason.

Something in him aches and he finds himself reaching out before he can think about it. Jason notices and instead of mocking him or jeering as expected he nearly vaults over the chairs to his bedside and grabs his hands.

“Jay- Jay- Jason- Jason-”

“Shh, shh. Hey babybird,” Jason mutters soothingly, “Hey, I’m right here. You’re fine. I’m here.”

“Jay…” Tim sighs, something in him calming, “What… What happened?”

Jason pets his right hand, thumb running across the inside of his wrist as he gently maneuvers the other to rest at his side.

“Well, first of all Bruce fucked up. But that’s not unusual.” Tim rasps out a chuckle and Jason grins. “There’s not just regular ol’ humans and metas in this world, Tim. Even regular ol’ humans have access to a certain power. A power based in our souls.”

Tim gives a slow blink, trying to show his incredulousness and Jason laughs, “Yeah, I know. It is unusual, though, because it takes a near death experience and a strong will to live to draw it out usually.”

“Ah,” Tim concedes. “That… expl’ns things.”

Jason hums and makes circles in Tim’s wrist. “So, everybody has access to this power, but it comes in… let’s say different varieties. They are called flames and there are seven different shades. Sky, storm, cloud, rain, lightning, sun, and mist. Some are more rare than others but the rarest of all are skies.”

Tim feels Jason’s other hand start to play with his, but he’s too focused on the man and his words.

“Skies are… everything. They have a special ability called harmonization and it can bring elements together with the sky as the center. They are strong and capable and many other things and that makes them dangerous. So many times a sky will be…” Jason clears his throat, “They’ll be in bad situations due to circumstances out of their control. People will try to control them, take advantage of them, blackmail them… It’s a terrible thing. But having a sky is most any flame user’s dream.” Jason looks almost wistful and he finally makes eye contact with Tim, who is starting to get the picture. “You… You’re a sky, Tim. A sky who… who was bound and hidden away.”

“Oh,” Tim sighs out, not sure how to react. It’ll likely take time to come to terms with it. He looks at Jason, who seems to have a hard time looking away from their hands. “You’re red. Do you have flames?”

Jason looks up and blinks in surprise at that. “Red? You can see them?”

“Mm.”

“I… hm. Have you always seen these colors?” Tim hums out a negative. “Okay, so a recent development. I’m, uh, I’m a storm. Storms have the, uh, the power of… Disintegration. That’s the name of it but it’s more complicated. Same with the other elements, they all have different abilities.”

Tim closes his eyes and just enjoys the attention and Jason’s voice. He’s uncertain, obviously, but Tim doesn’t really know why. He’s probably missing something. Hopefully Jason will mention it.

“Like I said earlier, skies have the power of harmonization and can draw in other elements, usually just six others, one of each type. Once they are bonded, nothing short of disaster or complete rejection can break it.” Jason is nervous, so obviously nervous so Tim turns his hand until their palms touch. He stutters out a breath. “I… when Joker shot you, the compound in it activated your flames and sent them into turmoil. I… I reached out to you as an anchor and you accepted me... “ Jason’s voice fades at that.

Tim opens his eyes again and watches as Jason finds his words.

“You just, you grabbed me and pulled me in with no hesitation and I…” He clears his throat, “We… We bonded. So I’m your storm. If you want me. If… I know we’ve had a rocky relationship. I understand if you want to- to-” Jason looks close to tears at this and it’s distressing so Tim twines his fingers through Jason’s and holds his hand. Jason swallows and stops talking.

“Thank you, Jay.”

Jason lets out a shuddering sigh and he brings their entwined hands up to rest his cheek against the back of Tim’s hand.

“Thank you.”

The next one to visit is Cass. She doesn’t move to wake Jason, who is sleeping with his head on his crossed arms, leaning onto the bed. It can’t be comfortable but Tim hadn’t wanted to wake him.

She smiles at him, coming to stand at his side. “Good?”

He smiles back a slightly more tired smile, “Jason explained a lot. I think I get most of it.”

Cass nods, then holds out her hand, “Can I be next?”

Tim blinks and looks to her hand, not demanding or hesitant, just there for Tim to accept or reject. He looks at her. “You’re indigo. Mist, right?” She nods, not moving her hand. He smiles more widely at that and reaches for her. “You’re the only one for the job, Cass.”

Their hands connect and they reach out, meeting in the middle as their flames curl together. He tugs and pulls a bit of her into his heart, holding her there. Adding a strand of indigo to his orange-gold inferno in his chest. He tugs her forward a bit so he can reach her from where he’s sitting propped up against the headboard.

He kisses her cheek and she kisses his, their hands clasped. They seperate enough to look at each other once again and they smile.

“Welcome home, Cass.”

“I am yours.”

Indigo burns in his soul of orange fire.

He finds out that his flames have already claimed his family in a sense. While bound, they still fought and managed to “mark” them in a way. So with his flames free and if the other person is willing, the connection between them is instantaneous. Tim doesn’t push, would never push, but oh he wishes they would come to him.

He wants them all so badly.

Stephanie had been the next one to bond. They talked about it first, Tim making sure she knew he wouldn’t force it, resulting in several eye-rolls.

“I know, Tim.”

“I just…”

Stephanie sighs loudly to stop him before looking down at her lap and twiddling her thumbs. She’s seated on the side of Tim’s bed, with Tim leaning against the headboard. He’s off bedrest officially but he still gets tired too easily. Tim Drake-Wayne is making careful appearances but Red Robin hasn’t been back on the streets yet.

“I never thought I’d have a sky, you know. I never thought that… That the option would be there. Staring me in the face, even.” She huffs out a bitter laugh. “I’m just the daughter of some criminal, worthless and with nothing to offer.” Tim tries to sit up to protest but stops on a choke when she raises her hand to stop him.

“I know, Boy Wonder. But you can’t fix that way of thinking very quick.” With a quieter sigh she brings her hand back down to her lap. “I just… me? I’m not the best lightning out there, you know. There are plenty stronger out there that you could have. Stronger and better and just… more compatible. I just don’t want you to make a mistake.”

Tim stares at her for a while before leaning forward and reaching out to take one of her hands in his. She still doesn’t look up.

“Steph, we didn’t work out as girl and boyfriend. True. That may be because my flames were bound or just that we work better as friends. But we’ll never find out if we don’t try.” Tim rubs the inside of her wrist with his thumb like Jason did to him. “I don’t want another lightning. I want Stephanie. I want you.”

His other hand comes up to wipe away the quiet tears that fall fast from scrunched eyes. Her nose is running and her lip is trembling and there’s a softness in his heart when he sees it. It’s uncomfortable in this position but he leans forward to press a short kiss to her forehead.

“Will you be my lightning? Be a part of my family? Be mine?”

She nods and sobs and her green fire joins the others, burning bright.

Things are going well, for sure. Jason and Stephanie spend a lot of time in educating him about flames and going over its relationship to the criminal and the civilian worlds, how flames affect superheroes and so on. Cass helps him learn how to access his flames, not how to manipulate - not yet, just to access.

His ability to see flames is very unusual but not unheard of, and Tim wonders if it’s one of the reasons his mother sealed his flames. He knows it was his mother and he can accept it to an extent now.

It will be a long while before he’s over it, however.

He hadn’t expected Dick to come around very easily. He hadn’t, to an extent, but after a few weeks he came back to the manor after some time away.

It’s like he came in, dropped his things, and came straight to Tim from the looks of it. It surprises him. He sets his book down next to him on the table next to the comfortable sofa in the library. It’s a good thing he does because Dick strides over, falls onto the couch, and drags Tim onto his lap. He laughs at Tim’s helpless yelp and wraps him up in a tight hug.

Tim melts.

Now with his flames unbound he can feel the tranquility and happiness that Dick practically projects more clearly. He’d felt it before but never understood it and now… Oh how Tim yearns. He sighs and relaxes impossibly more into Dick’s hold as the older man rubs his cheek against the top of his head.

They spend perhaps a half hour there, content and comfortable. Finally Tim can wait no more.

“Why did you leave?”

Dick twitches and his tranquility seems to stutter. Tim doesn’t move and gives Dick time. He relaxes eventually and sighs into Tim’s hair.

“I was scared. I…” Dick lifts a hand and runs it through Tim’s hair. “I’ve never considered having a sky before. I didn’t like the idea of being tied down in any way.”

Tim waits, trying to be patient when all he wants to do is protest. It’s like the situation with Stephanie and he hates that they feel this way. Wants them to know he’d do anything for them, even let them go.

Though he’s sure he’d break again, he’d let them go if they asked.

Dick must read something in his silence. “But you’re not like that, are you, Timmy? I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. You’re my baby brother and I shouldn’t have run off like that. It’s something we should talk about and I was just putting it off.”

Tim looks up as Dick shifts them until Tim’s sitting on his lap and they’re facing each other. “So Tim, What are you thinking?”

Tim takes Dick’s hands into his - it’s becoming a thing, he thinks, holding their hands - and holds them gently. He interlocks their fingers, “I want this. I want you as my family, as my rain. But I will not force you. If you come, I’ll be here ready and waiting.”

Dick smiles so softly at him that Tim can’t help but feel shy. They both tighten their grips and they chuckle together at that.

“You’ll wait?” Tim hums and nods. Dick takes a deep breath and it comes back out in a whoosh. “Well you don’t have to.” Tim blinks and Dick raises their locked hands to his lips and smiles against them.

With a sudden move Dick frees his hands and locks his arms around Tim once again, pulling him tight. “If you will have me, I will come.”

And blue ties into his soul with the others, fitting in just right.

Damian is a little ball of conflicted rage. Tim does his best to not treat him much differently, though he is more patient. Damian doesn't know what to do with this.

It's the process of months of time and acknowledgement and patience before Tim can approach Damian without risking his neck. It helps in some ways when Damian walks in on him with one of his bonded. It makes him upset often in the beginning but patience wins out.

More often than not Tim invited Damian to spend time with him and whoever is with him at the moment. With Cass it's either spent sparring or doing each other's hair (it took a long while for Damian to be comfortable with that). Stephanie chats to fill the silence, not expecting answers but acknowledging them when they come. Jason teases and talks sometimes, but mostly drags them off to watch movies or read. Dick, of course, is all for cuddle time. Things mix up when Tim is with more than one of them, too, so there's always something happening.

So slowly they get Damian to open up and Tim is so happy with that. He loves the moments that Damian initiates interaction. His favorite things to do involve being creative or logical. Puzzles, drawing, things like that. Tim can't draw for the life of him but he tries for Damian.

One day he comes to Tim when he's alone. Tim smiles from where he's reading a case file on his tablet at the kitchen counter, mug of coffee at his elbow. "Hey, Damian."

"Good afternoon." Damian settles next to him on another barstool. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing well." And he is. He's fully recovered and is adjusting very well to his flames. Time Drake is out along with Red Robin. Things are wonderful now that he's warm and busy. He's not over certain things yet but he is hesitant to get counseling. "Things have been rather quiet lately, haven't they?"

Damian nods firmly, "Indeed. It has, perhaps, been too quiet."

Tim hums, mostly in agreement. It's hard after all these years to not expect the other shoe to drop at some point. "Here's hoping things don't escalate." Tim raises his coffee mug and takes a sip of lukewarm coffee.

They sit in silence for a bit, Tim on his tablet and Damian seemingly staring into space. Then Damian speaks up and hope starts to bloom in Tim's heart.

"Why do you reach out to me?"

Tim plays down the tablet and slides it forward enough to be out of the way. He doesnt turn fully to Damian but he makes sure his attention is fully on the young boy. "In what sense are you speaking of?"

Damian huffs and mutters, "All of them. Why spend time befriending me at all?"

Tim taps a finger on his arm. "Why shouldn't I?"

The boy practically emits waves of frustration. "Timothy, I tried to kill you! Multiple times!"

"Ah, yes." Tim props up his arms and rests his head in his hands."I don't blame you, is all."

"What?" Damian exclaims.

"I don't. Not really. You were thrust into an unfamiliar environment that you didn't know how to react to with a whole bunch of people taking up your father's attention." Tim's arms fall down to rest crossed on the counter again as he turns his head to look at Damian. You were well trained and you could wield a sword better than emotions and it was obvious."

"I-" Damian starts but it fades on his tongue. Damian has mellowed. He's still rather vicious but it's much more restrained.

Tim looks away again, admiring the backsplash of the kitchen counter. "So no. I don't blame you and if I don't blame you, why shouldn't I give you a chance?"

There's another bit of silence but Tim merely sips at his coffee instead of going back to the tablet. This is a pivotal moment.

"That… that explains some things but you've been ready to accept me for years. Why?" Damian sounds so insecure and Tim's having flashbacks and is trying to keep his hands from grabbing Damian's.

"Believe it or not, I thought this way even before the… incident. So I've always been ready." Tim smiles, "There's not anyone else I'd want."

He tightens the cross of his arms to extend his left hand far enough to be an invitation. "I'm not gonna push, Dami. But I'll be here if you want me."

Damian looks up, a determined look on his face. "I swear to be the sun to your sky for as long as you'll have me."

Tim smiles softly, "Always, Dami."

Damian takes his hand and yellow streaks in to take its place among his family.

Tim had known the moment he learned of his bond to his family that Bruce was never going to approach him about it, if he approached Tim at all.

He's always been a stubborn ass even in the best of times.

Apparently it's a bit of a cloud trait.

But Tim has Alfred on his side.

"So, Bruce," Tim taps the pointer against his palm. "You're probably not wondering why I have you here."

Bruce is tied to a chair, drugged just enough to remain conscious but unable to move. Alfred had drugged his coffee and Jason and Dick helped move and secure him. They are standing to the side behind the chair, hiding smiles.

He whips the pointer to the side, the tip smacking against the projector screen to point at the title of his presentation.

The title is "Get Your Head Out of Your Ass."

It was Jason's idea.

He picks up the clicker and changes the slide. It's an outline. "First off I'm going to talk about how I'm not going to force you into bonding, which is different than drugging you to get you to listen to me." Bruce manages a scowl. Tim merely taps the points on the screen as he mentions them. "Then we'll talk about compatibility, then how just because you hate yourself doesn't mean your be bad for me. Then we'll go on to the benefits and downsides of a bond in the field and out of costume and the options we would have in public if we bonded."

Tim smiles at Bruce, "There are a few other little things I'll mention but I'll try not to be too long. We only have so much time, after all.

He makes it through the presentation before Bruce can escape so he counts that as a win. Now all Tim has to do is wait for it to digest while making subtle references and motions that will remind Bruce of their conversation.

He thinks it's going pretty well. Sometimes Tim will tap something against his palm and Bruce will flinch minutely. It's rather amusing.

What's not amusing is that it still takes Bruce three weeks to get the hint and approach him.

He looks grumpy when he walks up to Tim in the garden but he's not scowling so Tim is pleased. He just hopes Bruce didn't prepare some speech about how it wouldn't work.

He did. Of course. Tim glares his most frightful and unimpressed glare and Bruce shuts up. He nods in approval and gestures for Bruce to sit down on the grass with him.

Once they're comfortable, Tim speaks up. "Stop fighting it Bruce. I understand your hesitancy but I can't condone it. If you really don't want the bond I won't force you, but…" Tim looks straight at Bruce, "You've never once said you don't want to bond."

Bruce's eyes widen just a bit as he realizes it. He hasn't.

Tim smiles morosely, "I've had enough time to gain some confidence in myself, Bruce, and I know what I want. I want my cloud to come home."

Bruce fights for words and Tim can see the denial on his face. So he scoots a bit until they're sitting face-to-face, cross-legged. He grabs Bruce's hands in his significantly smaller ones.

"Don't turn away from me, B. Please. I need you just as you need me. I just want to make it official." He tightens his grip on his hands. "But this is it, Bruce. It's either yes or no right now because I can't allow this anymore. You're only driving yourself down and I don't want to be a burden to you. So say no and that will be the end of it. I'll leave you alone."

Bruce is staring at him, his hands trembling so lightly that Tim can barely feel it.

"Yes or no?"

"Yes. Please." Bruce closes his eyes and bows his head over their hands, bringing them up to press the back of Tim's against his forehead. "I- Yes."

Tim feels a wave of relief so great that he almost burst into tears. He tilts his head forward to rest his forehead against the top of Bruce's head. "Bruce, thank you."

He pulls back again, nudging Bruce until he's looking up again, watery eyes meeting.

"Be mine?"

"Forever."

Tim gently pulls violet into his heart.

There's a rainbow in his soul and he's never been better.

#fanfiction #Batman #KHR #katekyo hitman reborn #crossover #Tim Drake #batfamily #Ava fics

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