#rox's follow forever

[ghastlybespoke]

The essential Gaskell storyline episodes list. Episodes you absolutely must watch for the storyline are in bold, episodes that aren't must-watches but have Johnrik scenes are in italics, episodes that don't have John in them but are important for storylines he's involved in are in parentheses. (A lot of this is copied from post/697935241117040640/ on my blog lol.)

(Series 19 episode 58 “It Has To Be Now”) - This one doesn’t actually have Gaskell in it, but it sets up the history between Henrik, Roxanna, David Hopkins, and John. Basically, it's the prologue to the Gaskell storyline.

Series 19 episode 61 “Group Animal - Part One” and episode 62 “Group Animal - Part Two” - This two-parter is where John actually arrives. I’d say it’s THE best two episodes of Holby ever.

Series 19 episode 63 “We Need To Talk About Fredrik” - This one isn’t too important, but I’d recommend it anyway because it does a lot to start showing what sort of character John is.

Series 19 episode 64 “Always Forever” - Again, not too important, but it starts developing his character.

(Series 20 episode 1 "The Prisoner") - John isn't in this, but it's very important for the Oliver storyline, which John is quite heavily involved in.

Series 20 episode 2 “Ready or Not” and series 20 episode 3 “There By The Grace Of…” - This is where John’s medical trials start.

Series 20 episode 4 “Hanssen Is As Hanssen Does” - More important trial stuff.

Series 20 episode 5 “One Day At A Time” - John operates on his first trial patient.

Series 20 episode 6 “Not Your Home Now” - Some generally important plot stuff here, particularly related to Henrik’s storyline which of course ties into John’s. You could skip it if you really wanted though.

Series 20 episode 7 “Precipice” - Important interactions between John and Roxanna.

Series 20 episode 9 “Ache” - Skippable, but there’s some stuff with John and Roxanna that’s worth watching.

Series 20 episode 10 “Square One” - Really important, unskippable stuff about John’s trial.

Series 20 episode 13 “No Matter Where You Go, There You Are - Part Two” - More trial stuff, plus some Johnrik interaction. The two episodes before this aren’t that important to John’s storyline, though they are important to other stories.

Series 20 episode 14 “Tete a Tate”, series 20 episode 15 “Tate Gallery”, and series 20 episode 16 “New Ain’t All It’s Cracked Up To Be” - All important episodes for the trial.

Series 20 episode 19 “Bubble Wrap” - This is a HUGE episode for John’s storyline, especially the trial.

Series 20 episode 20 “Blind Spot” - Some minor stuff wrt John’s trial, and some good Johnrik scenes, but very skippable. It’s more important for Henrik’s storyline than John’s.

Series 20 episode 23 “None But The Brave” - John agrees to do surgery on Jac.

Series 20 episode 24 and 25 “Primum Non Nocere - Part One” and “Primum Non Nocere - Part Two” - Jac has her operation.

Series 20 episode 26 “Fallen Idol” - Roxanna comes to see John in Portugal and finds out about the patient he’s treating there.

Series 20 episode 28 “Into The Light” - More important stuff about John’s trial. There’s also a guest appearance by Ethan from Casualty!

Series 20 episode 30 “Two for Joy” - Important stuff regarding John and Jac.

Series 20 episode 32 “Bygones”, episode 33 “Bargaining”, and episode 34 “All Business” - REALLY important stuff regarding John and Jac.

Series 20 episode 36 “Keep Your Friends Close” - Roxanna travels to Lisbon to investigate John’s work, and asks Henrik to keep an eye on John while she’s away.

Series 20 episode 37 “All Lies Lead To The Truth” - The big confrontation between John and Roxanna. This has the most awful scene where Roxanna claims she never loved her husband David and wanted to be with Henrik instead, but sadly, it's essential to the storyline.

Series 20 episode 38 “One Man And His God” - A flashback to John, Henrik, and Rox’s university days.

Series 20 episode 39 “Undoing” - Follows on from the previous two episodes. This is THE biggest moment in John’s storyline. Prepare yourself - it's very dark and horror-y.

Series 20 episode 40 “Inscrutable” - Follows on from the end of “Undoing”, but John only appears at the very beginning and very end of the episode, so it can be skipped. I'd strongly recommend watching it anyway, but it feels unfair marking an episode where John appears so little as a must-watch, so I won't.

Series 20 episode 41 “The Three Musketeers” and series 20 episode 42 “Stains” - Really important stuff, building up to John’s last episodes…

Series 20 episode 45 “Report To The Mirror - Part One” and series 20 episode 46 “Report To The Mirror - Part Two” - The reveal of John’s backstory. The truth comes out about the trial. And part two is John’s final episode.

Series 20 episode 47 “One Of Us” - An epilogue to the storyline, clearing up the cliffhangers from “Report To The Mirror”.

thank you so much :)! ill try my best to make my way through this, but it might take me a while as life's been pretty busy and it might be for a bit longer, but ill definitely try and get through at least the important ones, thank you again, :)

[thelittlebunsystem]

This user refuses to accept the mimic. Our Glitchtrap and Burntrap are William Afton and have nothing to do with mimic. Also anti mxes.

Simplyplural friend code 0e2d83fb6ba3bc10f317107836b4ae1a392dbb9b81d3e625e2645e66a7b780c7

Fictive list!

Random fandom ones

Fritz Huhnmörder(Robot Chicken)

Tempest Shadow(mlp 2017 movie)

Rodney Copperbottom(Robots 2005 film)

Candy Mare(something sweet to bite)

Yuno Gasai(Miri Nikki)

Strong Bad(home star runner)

Rainbow Factory Rainbow Dash

Cupcakes Pinkie Pie

Dollmaker Twilight

Happy Tree Friends

Cuddles,Flaky, Flippy/Fliqpy, Lifty, Nutty, Russel Shifty, Splendid, Splendont, Toothy, Lammy, Disco Bear, Mime, pop, cub

Fnaf ones

Too many to list just read the tags

Fictive tags

All the better to eat you[big bad foxy]

Real bear[Bear Henry]

Heartbreaker[black heart Bonnie]

Giant purple bunny[Bonnie]

Fire inside[broiler baby]

Ol black magic[bunny Afton]

Crispy peepaw[burn]

Pink menace[candy]

It’s her[cassidy]

left behind[charlie]

let’s eat[Chica]

Scream for ice cream[c baby]

I’ll show you funny[clowntrap]

Littlest baby[cub

Trickster bun[cuddles]

Lifes a party[c pinkie]

It’s the curse[cursetrap]

Rat boy[dave]

Disco Dan[disco bear]

We’ll be friends forever[d twilight]

Hippity hoppity[e bonnie]

Daddy’s little girl[elizabeth]

Spaghetti clown[ennard]

Crybaby sweetie[evan]

In the rainbow factory[f dash]

Gremlin Demon[finley]

Shy sweetie[flaky]

Burned again[flametrap]

Sweet bear[flippy]

Edge Soldier[fliqpy]

Edge bear[flip/fliq]

Yar har[foxy]

Og Bear[Fredbear]

Big bear[freddy]

Corrupted mess[fritzny]

Hook hand[fritz]

Me me me[ft Chica]

Radio star[ft foxy]

The birthday bear[ft freddy]

Almost last[gabriel]

It’s Me[golden]

Let’s rock [g Bonnie]

pizzaaaaa[g Chica]

Fox rox[g foxy]

Superstar[g freddy]

Four armed drummer[g mangle]

Deranged hare[glitch]

It’s me[Golden]

Houdini bear[great escape golden freddy]

Fiery Fox[grim foxy]

Broken heart[heart sick baby]

Crispy man[h burn]

Blonde chomper[h Fredbear]

Pretty boy[h glitch]

Mouth tummy[h n fredbear]

Zombie peanut[h scrap]

Posh bun[h spring]

Hey hey hey[jeremy]

Sweet sheep[lammy]

Shhhhh[lefty]

One half of an idiot[lifty]

Lollololol[lolbit]

Pick a card[magician mangle]

Beautiful fox[mangle]

Spaghetti bear[m freddy]

Silence is golden[mime]

Fear itself[nightmare]

Scary bun[n Bonnie]

Cupcake toss[n Chica]

Monster in your closet[n foxy]

big chomp[n Fredbear]

Papa bear[n Freddy]

Dangling nightmare[n mangle]

Tentacled nightmare[nightmarrione]

Theatric bun[novel spring]

Sugary screwball[nutty]

watermelon nightmare[p Chica]

Illusion nightmare[p foxy]

Ghost walker[p freddy]

still me[p golden]

Illusion auditory nightmare[p mangle]

get out of my face[p puppet]

End communication [pizza sim Henry Emily]

Bear dad[pop]

Dead inside[post scoop Michael]

Big bear[pre game Henry Emily]

Cmon it’ll be fun[pre sl micheal]

Let me out[princess quest glitch]

Don’t wake the baby[puppet]

Grumpy bun[bunny Steve]

Im radioactive[radioactive foxy]

Best in show[ringmaster foxy]

Reach for the stars[r Bonnie]

Wet floor sign[r chica]

Please deposit 5 coins[r Freddy]

Me bird likes you[r foxy]

Follow your dreams [rodney Copperbottom]

The best[roxanne]

Yarrrrrrrrr[russel]

Rollerbladin[s baby]

Peanut boy[scrap]

Gay bun[second chance spring]

Slippery fox[serpent mangle]

Other half of an idiot[shifty]

A complete idiot[lifty/shifty]

Fail hero[splendid]

Mirror[splendont]

The og[s bonnie]

Bastard bun[spring]

Deceptive bun[steve]

Email check[s bad]

The first[susie]

Open up your eyes[tempest shadow]

Man of science [tfc William]

Crybaby beaver[toothy]

With a taste of your lips[toxtrap]

Rockstar bun[t Bonnie]

Party Girl[T Chica]

Dramatic bun[tto spring]

Purple guy???[william]

Face the facts[w Bonnie]

T pose[w chica]

Gamer Bear[T Freddy]

Turn off that light [w foxy]

Old friend[w freddy]

It’s always me[W Golden]

Anything for yuki[yuno]

[waveofstars]

ROXANNE LYNN ROSS: bio + stats.

click here for stats. read below for bio.

traits: perfectly blunt, somehow charming, chaotic energy, adaptive, deadpan, fiercely independent, rigid, unforgiving, overthinker, spontaneous, adventurous, bold, easily agitated, strange, closed off, confident, loyal

aesthetic: disposable cameras, explorer, stuck in the 90’s, nurtured by nature, radiohead vinyls, literally chasing waterfalls, wanderlust, towering trees, old boots, open book but not too open, resting bitch face, mountain call, somehow deadpan and upbeat

BIO (tw: brief mentions of drugs, death, homophobia)

Hazy days, wet earth, and the pitter patter of rain soothed young Roxanne in an otherwise chaotic world. She was born in Washington and took solace in the trees that surrounded her childhood home. The nature around her was often the only peace the young girl had in her life. She’d jump in puddles, named each and every snail she found, and spent her days outdoors in that rainy, sleepy town. It beat the alternative - staying inside a run down home they inherited from her grandpa with a mother who was too preoccupied chasing a high. Her older sister Sam practically raised Rox in the early years. 

The two were inseparable and shared their escapes with one another. Rox went on hikes with her sister, often spitting out random facts about the foliage surrounding them, and Sam would share all of her knowledge of the 90’s rock and grunge music she was so captivated by. Though their bond remained unbreakable, Rox noticed Sam began to change the older she became. It seemed like she became plagued by the same addictions that fueled and deteriorated their mother. Rox slowly watched that light in Sam go out, and eventually, it went out forever. Not even finished with high school, Sam passed away due to an overdose. Rox was only thirteen and so uncertain on how to live without the only person who had ever understood her.

The loss didn’t just destroy Rox’s world - it managed to change their mother’s completely. Their mother swore off the drugs that had controlled so much of all of their lives. It wasn’t that simple in the beginning, but the sobriety eventually came. With this newfound sobriety and grief, Rox’s mother turned to religion as a way to cope. Their Sunday mornings suddenly became dedicated to church, though Rox was often forced to attend. Once she entered high school, her mother became a whole new parent. The woman who was once never home, and likely off on some bender, was now an extremely strict parent that lived in fear that Rox would follow her sister’s footsteps. 

Rox wasn’t allowed to do much, but that didn’t necessarily stop her. Her overbearing mother only fueled her desire to get out and explore more. She often snuck out, bought a disposable camera, and went out with friends to explore Washington and the beautiful nature they grew up in. She never dabbled with drugs and rarely touched a drop of alcohol in her teenage years. Rox spent her time diving into the world of photography and making good memories with her friends. As Rox grew from her grief and began to find herself truly, she also came to terms with her sexuality. She knew ever since she was young that she seemed to like girls, but it wasn’t until she was well in her teenage years that she finally accepted the truth that faced her all this time. 

Whenever high school ended, Rox’s mother wanted her to attend community college so she would stay in town. For a woman so terrified of losing another daughter, her mind was completely changed when Rox came out as a lesbian. That seemed to be the last nail in the coffin of their relationship at the time. Putting herself in debt, Rox decided to move far from home in order to pursue photography at a university in Colorado. Though it was hard saying goodbye to Washington, the mountains in Colorado quickly became her new home. She immediately immersed herself in the hustle of photography and was able to catch gigs here and there that used her nature and wildlife photography. The young woman was building a name for herself, so much so that she inevitably dropped out of college. 

Soon enough, she got picked up by several different travel magazines and now she works as a full time photographer. She is often traveling to different countries or around the beautiful parts of the states. Even though it can be chaotic at times, it’s exactly the life she always wanted. With her deadpan humor and blunt tongue, it was often a mystery to Rox how she managed to keep friends in her life. They always seemed to enjoy her company, and maybe that’s because when she wasn’t taking photos, she was likely cooking and hosting dinner nights with them all. Rox had made a life of her own and she often dedicates all her strength to her late sister. Up until recently, Rox had no communication with her mother. After all these years, the woman was finally coming around to accepting her daughter. Their relationship is still entirely rocky, so it’s no secret that Rox prefers her found family. Even if she didn’t have them, the mountains and trees were all she ever needed.

[lonelier-version-of-you]

Just wondering what season was the gaskell storyline and what are the most important episodes.

It started in series 19, and ran through to series 20.

I'd say the most important episodes are these. I've bolded the "you absolutely must watch this" ones.

Series 19 episode 58 "It Has To Be Now" - This one doesn't actually have Gaskell in it, but it sets up the history between Henrik, Roxanna, David Hopkins, and John.

Series 19 episode 61 "Group Animal - Part One" and episode 62 "Group Animal - Part Two" - This two-parter is where John actually arrives. I'd say it's THE best two episodes of Holby ever.

Series 19 episode 63 "We Need To Talk About Fredrik" - This one isn't too important, but I'd recommend it anyway because it does a lot to start showing what sort of character John is.

Series 19 episode 64 "Always Forever" - Again, not too important, but it starts developing his character.

Series 20 episode 2 "Ready or Not" and series 20 episode 3 "There By The Grace Of..." - This is where John's medical trials start.

Series 20 episode 4 "Hanssen Is As Hanssen Does" - More important trial stuff.

Series 20 episode 5 "One Day At A Time" - John operates on his first trial patient.

Series 20 episode 6 "Not Your Home Now" - Some generally important plot stuff here, particularly related to Henrik's storyline which of course ties into John's. You could skip it if you really wanted though.

Series 20 episode 7 "Precipice" - Important interactions between John and Roxanna.

Series 20 episode 9 "Ache" - Skippable, but there's some stuff with John and Roxanna that's worth watching.

Series 20 episode 10 "Square One" - Really important, unskippable stuff about John's trial.

Series 20 episode 13 "No Matter Where You Go, There You Are - Part Two" - More trial stuff, plus some Johnrik interaction. The two episodes before this aren't that important to John's storyline, though they are important to other stories.

Series 20 episode 14 "Tete a Tate", series 20 episode 15 "Tate Gallery", and series 20 episode 16 "New Ain't All It's Cracked Up To Be" - All important episodes for the trial.

Series 20 episode 19 "Bubble Wrap" - This is a HUGE episode for John's storyline, especially the trial.

Series 20 episode 20 "Blind Spot" - Some minor stuff wrt John's trial, and some good Johnrik scenes, but very skippable. It's more important for Henrik's storyline than John's.

Series 20 episode 23 "None But The Brave" - John agrees to do surgery on Jac.

Series 20 episode 24 and 25 "Primum Non Nocere - Part One" and "Primum Non Nocere - Part Two" - Jac has her operation.

Series 20 episode 26 "Fallen Idol" - Roxanna comes to see John in Portugal and finds out about the patient he's treating there.

Series 20 episode 28 "Into The Light" - More important stuff about John's trial. There's also a guest appearance by Ethan from Casualty!

Series 20 episode 30 "Two for Joy" - Important stuff regarding John and Jac.

Series 20 episode 32 "Bygones", episode 33 "Bargaining", and episode 34 "All Business" - REALLY important stuff regarding John and Jac.

Series 20 episode 36 "Keep Your Friends Close" - Roxanna travels to Lisbon to investigate John's work, and asks Henrik to keep an eye on John while she's away.

Series 20 episode 37 "All Lies Lead To The Truth" - The big confrontation between John and Roxanna.

Series 20 episode 38 "One Man And His God" - A flashback to John, Henrik, and Rox's university days.

Series 20 episode 39 "Undoing" - Follows on from the previous two episodes. This is THE biggest moment in John's storyline.

Series 20 episode 40 "Inscrutable" - Follows on from the end of "Undoing", but John only appears at the very beginning and very end of the episode, so it can be skipped.

Series 20 episode 41 "The Three Musketeers" and series 20 episode 42 "Stains" - Really important stuff, building up to John's last episodes...

Series 20 episode 45 "Report To The Mirror - Part One" and series 20 episode 46 "Report To The Mirror - Part Two" - The reveal of John's backstory. The truth comes out about the trial. And part two is John's final episode.

Series 20 episode 47 "One Of Us" - An epilogue to the storyline, clearing up the cliffhangers from "Report To The Mirror".

Hope that helps. :) Sorry it took so long to answer, it takes a while to list off all the episodes.

[yakumocchi]

Bonjour les gens *✧･ﾟ:* \(◕‿◕✿)/ *:･ﾟ✧*, It's been a very long time that i haven't done a follow forever, and i thought that my birthday coming soon was a a good opportunity to make one. So it's a big thanks to my followers and everyone i follow for sending nice messages, posting creative edits and just being lovely people.

Have a great day and thank you very much for the support!

A-I:

aizawashoutta | akatsukii | angeljas | anime-is-reality | aoimine | ayumiko | benobleforyouaremadeofstars | bluexdestiny | chizusu | confusinglycarnivorous | craigtxt | dirkgentlyx | dragons-eat-anime | elucifexeia | emii-suterii | envy-and-pride | fckyeahegoist | fyeahsportsanime | fyhxh | gantaiz | gareeki | genosus | gimmemoreyaoi | gintamajustaway | give-me-more-yaoi-onegai | gyrojo | haiyse | harutenshi | ichimatsus | ikemenki | irrationalcontractor

J-O:

jiggypepper | justlikemymetal | jyro | kadrena | kaizoku-niiichan | kanhekiz | katsuraz | kishou | kyoncchi | lama-mihashi801 | larimii | littletinydots | lordzuuko | lu-loo | maneaoana | manuelaggm | matoba-sama | mirayama | mokacheer | mukoros | n5fw | nakamaa | nami-chuu | naotarou | nikiphorov | notthepajamas | nozumu | ohfuckyaoi | ondinefay | onenakamapiece | orangelightnings

R-Z:

r0llcake | raindigo | rinneii | rinnekko | s-indria | sakamotos | satsu-tan | seihanndas | sennenkoi | serragakis | setantas | sh0unen | shigino | shironeki | shotous | shreya-chan | slutty-ukes | sodapopsmiles | starsean | submachineguns | sugaw4ra | tareui | theholyexcalibur | todorokii | toshihiji | toshinorie | toukyoghoul | tsukis | utsushiame | venturius | vyctornikiforov | y-uriy | yaoi-kudasai | yousei-kun | yushiyuki | yuukigami | zarenna | zetsuubo | zorosmile

[buckmecaptain]

With Two Os

So, I did a thing for @just-one-ordinary-fangirl​ ‘s #JOOF500Challenge , and I miiiiight have gone a little overboard with the prompts.  Maybe.  Kinda.  Sorta...uhh... I did them all.  (I tried to make sure I bolded them all in this post)

This is silly fluff -falls just short of a crack fic- Steve X (barely described) OC (she has a name and nickname, but that’s about it), with a hint of her having a bit of a thing for Bucky, and even Thor (mentioned).  Semi-oblivious Steve, Natasha as the voice of reason, overdramatic OC who might just be kind of a dumbass.  Pining, mentions of the rest of the team.  Obviously, this story ignores canon and everyone is happily living in the tower. :) Warnings:  A few naughty words, suggestive situations, so much dumbassery

Image is from knowyourmeme.com

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

 She pushed her long messy braid over her shoulder, then looked down at the table and sniffled, slowly stroking her fingertips over the glossy surface.  “So it's over, then.  We're finished.”

“Roxy,” Steve began, reaching for her, “I'm sorry, I-”

She flinched away from his touch.  “No. You're gonna have to give me some time.  This relationship... it isn't what I thought it was going to be.”  She wiped her hand over her face and sighed heavily.

“I said I was- wait, what?  It isn't?”  His eyebrows were knit tightly together, raised comically high,  shoulders hunched like he was trying to make himself smaller.

Turning to face the Captain, her lower lip trembled and eyes were wide.  “It was meant to be us.  Me and you, Roxanne and Steve, until death do us part.  And now you've destroyed that.”

“Seriously?”

She gasped and flung herself backwards onto the overstuffed sofa, one arm thrown across her eyes.  “Yes, seriously.  You left an undefended gap and the Empire blew up our base!” she whined, gesturing toward the tabletop game with her free hand.

Across the way, Wanda turned to Sam and asked, “If she's this dramatic when she loses a game, what happens when she wins?”

The Falcon chuckled.  “Well, let's just say she puts on a show.  Dancing tends to happen.”

Steve shook his head at Roxanne's antics.  “Well, that's enough Star Wars: Rebellion for tonight. What's next?”  He clapped his hands together and they began placing the game pieces back into the box.

“Are Thor and Bucky here?  If so, I volunteer for naked Twister,” Roxanne offered.

The Captain whipped his head around and gave her the Eyebrows of Disappointment.

She peeked at him from under her arm. “Hey, a girl can dream, right?”

“Let me guess.  It's game night and Roxanne's team lost, right?”

“ 'Tashaaaaa!”  Roxanne made grabby hands at the redhead.  “So glad you're home!  It's been forever and I miss waking up next to you every morning.”

Sam, Wanda, and Steve all did sitcom-worthy double-takes as Natasha snorted.

“Well, if you would set your damn alarm at night, I wouldn't have to come drag your ass out of bed in the mornings for training.”  She looked around at the other three people in the room.  “What?  She's like a sloth.  Or maybe a koala. Whatever, she sleeps incredibly soundly and clings, even when dragged out of bed by the ankles.”

Roxanne sat up and crossed her arms, pouting.  “So?  I need my rest.  It takes a minimum of eight hours of sleep for me to look this good.”

Natasha turned to Steve and smirked. “You guys lost pretty badly, huh?  Little Miss Queen-of-the-sore-losers is in a snit.”

Roxanne grumbled and dug out her phone from the couch cushions.  “Fine.  I'mma text Bucky.  He'll sympathize.  Or, wait... Nat, do you have Thor's number?”

Steve's hands clenched into fists at his side and he grit his teeth.  Natasha noticed, of course, but didn't react.  “He doesn't have a phone, Rox.”

“Really?” she sat up, wide-eyed, “Who doesn't have a phone these days?” she glanced back down at her screen.  “Aw, man.  They're canceling my favorite zombie drama. That's stupid with two Os,” she muttered as she ambled out of the room.

Natasha watched her leave, then whirled to face the fuming Captain.  “Really?  You're still pining over her?  When are you going to nut up and say something?” she prodded, glancing at his white-knuckled fists.

A muscle in his jaw twitched.  “It's pretty obvious she prefers Buck.  Or Thor.  Or both, you heard her,” he shrugged and looked toward the doorway, then sighed.  “I'm not going to chase after a rejection.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “Methinks you might be stupid with two Os.  That woman has had the hots for you since she joined the team, and she's pretty much made a fool of herself for you for the last year.”

He groaned and dragged a hand over his face.   “Why is dealing with women so difficult?  It's just-just impossible,” he complained.

“Steve, you deal with aliens, terrorists, and murderous lunatics on a near-daily basis.  After all that, you still think women are difficult?”

He sighed and placed his hands on his hips.  “Bad guys can be dispatched, arrested, or otherwise stopped. Dealing with women takes finesse, and I don't have any of that. Or experience.  Give me a murderous lunatic any day of the week. I'd much prefer that.  The serum doesn't help with this one,” he grimaced.

Natasha's eyebrows raised.  “Okay, Captain Wuss,” she teased.

“That's the first time I've been called that,” he mumbled, “at least, to my face.”  The only reply was the Black Widow's signature smirk, so he hung his head and huffed.  “Sure feels like I'm being ganged up on around here.” He went in search of the rest of the team in an effort to continue game night, following the sound of cheering and whooping to the media room.

Apparently a high-stakes game of Mario Kart was the cause of the cacaphony.  The team was gathered on the plush seating, with Wanda, Sam, Clint, and Bucky playing while Vision and Roxanne watched and cheered them on.  

Steve squinted when he saw Roxanne was seated on the back of the couch behind Bucky.  He was wedged between her legs and she was running her fingers through his hair, detangling it as she encouraged him to “Kick their asses, Buckaroo!”

Disappointed, Steve frowned and turned to leave, almost crashing into Natasha in the process.

She glared up at him, silently stamped her foot, and pointed forcefully at Roxanne.

Steve shook his head and gestured with his thumb over his shoulder, then crossed his arms over his chest.

Natasha squinted.

He shook his head again.

She raised a finger and circled it in the air, then pointed again at Roxanne.

Steve shook his head again.

Natasha placed both hands on his chest and shoved, making him stagger back a step, then jutted her chin toward Roxanne.

He rolled his eyes, but the redhead poked his chest so hard, he coughed.   While he was distracted she took him by the shoulders and spun him around, then shoved.  He stumbled forward a couple of steps, then glared at her over his shoulder.

Natasha placed her hands on her hips and tapped her foot.

“Oh what the hell?” he thought, and marched over to Roxanne, standing directly behind her.  She didn't notice because of the game noise, so he leaned down to her ear and loudly asked, “How's it going?”

In the blink of an eye, Steve found himself flat on his back with Roxanne on top of him holding a wickedly-sharp blade to his throat, wide-eyed and panting.

“Sorry!  I didn't mean to scare- Put the knife down.  Please,” he pleaded.  “Roxy?”

Roxanne tossed the knife aside and scrambled off of him, then ran out the door.

Steve lay there splayed out like a starfish, staring at the ceiling and wondering why fuckery kept finding its way to him, as his team mates gathered around.  They peered down at him curiously, barely-concealed amusement on each face.

“Hey Steve, you dead?”  Bucky asked, his lips twitching in an effort to keep laughter at bay.

Clint snickered.  “Dead from embarrassment, maybe.  Rox is crazy fast!”

Groaning, Steve pressed his palms into his eyes.  “You should go talk to her, Buck.”

“Huh?  Why me?”

Sitting up, the Captain eyeballed his best friend and snorted.  “Obvious reasons.”

Bucky blinked, then looked from Steve to Natasha.  “The fuck is he talkin' about?”

She shrugged.  “He thinks Rox has a thing for you.”

“Oh.  Oh!  Really?” Bucky hummed. “I should go talk to her.”  

Steve made a strangled moan as Bucky headed out the door, then stood and straightened his clothing.  “See you guys later,” he grunted and left the room as his team mates watched, helpless and confused.

*  *  *  *

Roxanne was seated at a window and brooding when she heard the tentative knocks at her door.  Ignoring the first few was easy, but it became more difficult when the knocks turned to loud booms. Grumbling, she made her way across the floor. “Okay, gimme a second.”  She yanked open the door to find Bucky on the other side.  “Oh, hey.  Come in.”   She went back to her window seat while he stood there shifting from one foot to the other. “Close the door, and sit down.”

He complied and took a seat on the overstuffed armchair.  “Everything okay, doll?  You kinda took off in a hurry earlier.”

She didn't bother to look at him, her gaze still fixed outside and fingertips trailing over the weave of the curtains.  “I pulled a knife on Steve, Buck.  Steve!”

“Yeah.  It's not the first time that's happened to him.  Won't be the last.”

“First for me.  He's my Captain.  My friend.  My very dear friend!” she insisted, “You don't hold a knife to your friend's throat!”

Bucky smirked and scoffed.  “I've done that.  And shot him.  Stabbed him, beat the hell out of him... and he's been my closest friend for eighty years.”

Roxanne pinched the bridge of her nose and grimaced.  “That is an entirely different situation...uh, entirely, and you know it.  He's never gonna forgive me for this, and even if he does, I won't forgive me.”  She slammed her fists down on the wooden window sill with bruising force, a resounding crack echoing through the room.

 Bucky was across the floor in an instant, taking her trembling wrists in his hands. “Doll, you're scaring me.  Please, just, calm down.”  They stayed like that until Roxanne's breathing slowed and the shaking stopped.    Finally he released her wrists and wrapped his arms around her as she leaned against his chest, swaying them back and forth.

“Ohh, I feel better already.  You're really warm.” She snuffled at his shirt.  “And you smell good,” she complimented, resting her hands on his sides.

He flinched.  “Thanks.”

Roxanne curled her fingers and he flinched again.  “Oh, Bucky... you're so...” she curled her fingers again, “Ticklish!”  She attacked his sides in earnest as he tried to fend her off carefully.

“Doll,” he squirmed, trying to back away from her, “Woman!  You'd better stop,” he warned.

She narrowed her eyes and smirked.  “Or what, Buckaroo?”  Snaking a hand into each of his armpits, she unleashed tickle hell.  “No mercy!”

Bucky bit his lower lip, trying to stifle his laughter.  “Okay, girly,” he snorted, “You've messed with the wrong person.”  He twisted away from her and crouched.

Roxanne backed up and her eyes went wide.  “Oh shit.  I've triggered the Big Bad Wolf!”  She giggled crazily and sprinted across the room, vaulting over the couch.

The chase was on.  Roxanne had the advantage of knowing the living space like the back of her hand, but Bucky was the superior tactician, so she she managed to keep out of his reach by the skin of her teeth.  He finally cornered her in the bedroom, where she'd ended up standing on the far side of her bed, plastered against the wall.

“I've got you!” he laughed, and leaped onto the bed with a victory shout, planting both feet in front of her.

Roxanne squealed and Bucky's fingers contacted her ribs, then they heard a small cracking sound.  “Uh oh,” she whispered as the bed tilted precariously and slammed to the floor.  They both lie there in a heap for a moment before disentangling from one another and jumping apart, Roxanne at the foot of the bed, Bucky at the up-tilted side.  They looked from the crazily leaning mattress to each other and back again, then burst into laughter.

“Not exactly the way I pictured us breaking my bed,” Roxanne quipped, waggling her eyebrows as she pulled the bed away from the wall and surveyed the damage.

Bucky's face flushed deep red and dared to glance at her.  “So, uh...” he trailed off.

“Hm?  I think I have something I can use to prop this up until tomorrow,” she murmured distractedly from the low side of the mattress.  “No big deal.  I was ready for something new anyway.”  The mattress shifted hard and she looked up to see Bucky was perched on the high side.  She held up a hand, forbidding him to continue.  “Sir, that slide is for children only.”

Bucky snorted and slid across the surface anyway, landing neatly beside her.  “Lemme see.”  He raised the mattress and box spring with one hand and peered at the broken side rail, then grimaced.  “Yep, snapped right in half. I'll hold this up while you get the blocks or whatever,” he offered.

When it was all put right, Roxanne hugged Bucky, thanking him for helping.  If they held on a little longer than friends do, neither mentioned it.  “Wanna watch a movie?” she offered, breaking the sudden tension, “You can choose.”

He agreed and she hustled off to take a quick shower while he searched through the titles for the new horror flick she'd been excited to see for a while.

When she returned she shimmied under the covers next to him and sighed happily.  “You found it!  Been waiting for this one.”

“Uh huh.  You're gonna fall asleep, you know.”

“No way.  I've been looking forward to this movie for months!”

“Right, sure.  Wanna bet on that?”

She growled playfully at him.  “All I want to do right now is cuddle with you in bed... is that too much to ask?”

Bucky waggled his eyebrows at her. “That's all?  You sure, doll?”

“Well,” she turned to him and trailed her fingers over his chest. “I also want you to take off your pants.”

He blinked.

“You gonna?”

He blinked again.

“Earth to Bucky.”

“Uh, sure, okay.”  He pulled off his sweatpants and tossed them carelessly to the floor.

“See?  Isn't that more comfortable? Oh,” she squinted at him, “You are wearing underpants, right?”

He blushed furiously.  “Roxy!  Of course I am!”

“Okay, geez.  Those sweats are pilly and scratchy.  Ugh, how can you wear those?  Get comfy and let's watch this flick.”I've been looking forward to this movie for months!”

They joked and snarked at the movie as it played – it really was written poorly – and generally laughed so much, they missed half of the dialogue.

“Are you kidding me?” Bucky snorted as the main characters made yet another idiotic mistake in the haunted estate.  “This would never happen if it was you and me in their place, doll.”

Roxanne nodded.  “Right? I'd freakin' lose it, I'd be all up in your face like, 'How could you lose our children in our own house?'  Bah!”

They made it through to the end and put on a dumb comedy afterward, but they were both fading fast.  Yawning widely, Roxanne squeezed the arm Bucky had wrapped around her waist.  “Thanks for helping me feel better, Buckaroo.  You're awesome.”

“I sure am,” he chuckled. “Anytime, Roxy-girl.”

They nodded off halfway or so through the movie, warm and comfortable in the temporarily-repaired bed. Bucky awoke somewhere around two o'clock and eased his way out of her quarters, still in his t-shirt and boxers, sweatpants in his hand.  As he quietly closed the door and made his way to his room, he failed to notice he was being observed by his best friend.

Steve stood at the corner, watching Bucky leave his girl's room, sadness and jealousy bubbling in his gut.  He scoffed at himself for calling Roxanne “his” in his own head and spun around to hit the gym again... only to come face-to-face with Natasha.

“Seems like I'm always catching you running away from Rox,” she quipped, and folded her arms across her chest.

He sighed.  “Not running away. Leaving.  She's already had, uh, company.”

“Who, Barnes?” she snorted, “I have it on good authority that she didn't bang him.”

The Captain raised a brow.  “Oh yeah? How's that, spycams in her bedroom?”

“Careful, Rogers,” she warned. “Because you're hurting, I'll let that one slide.  Here.”  She tapped at her phone a few times and handed it over, open to a messaging app.

Rox:  Natty!  I need HELLLLLLLP! Please!!!

-What's the matter?  Who do I have to murder?

Rox:  NAT

-No, really.  I will.

Rox:  Nothing like that.  I freaked out after almost stabbing Steve and Bucky came to check on me and long story short I asked him to snuggle in bed with me.   Did I fuck up????????

-…

Rox:  Hurry Natty!  Need answers I'm in the bathroom and need to leave!

-There's nothing wrong with you SNUGGLING with Bucky.  

Rox:  that's all we're gonna do I swear.  He's super hot but we're not there yet ya know???

Rox: gotta go thnx I love you!!!!

Steve read and re-read the manic message exchange a few times, letting it sink in.  He gave Natasha her phone back and dragged a hand over his face.  “Dammit.”

“Uh huh.”

He stood straighter, hands on hips, and cocked his head at her.  “That still doesn't mean they didn't... fondue.   Going by the timestamp on the messages, they had plenty of time for that.”

Natasha huffed and slapped him hard on the arm.  “If Rox had been planning on doing Barnes, she would have asked for wildly different advice.”

With a look, he urged her to continue.

“Oh dear God, you just might be stupid with two Os.  She's asked me for sex advice before, obviously.”

Steve frowned.  “I don't need to hear this.”

“Actually, I think you do.  Remember when you watched 'The Wizard of Oz' with her in your room and she took an oddly long time to bring the popcorn?”

His jaw dropped.

“She asked me how it was possible for you to be such an adorable puppy and so smokin' hot at the same time.”

His face went scarlet.  “She asked you that?”

“Yep,” she nodded.  “Compared you to a giant yellow labrador retriever puppy.  She was hopeful, but it didn't happen.  I mean, obviously.”

“I have-  I need to-  I've gotta go. Thanks, Natasha.” He stepped around her and jogged toward the elevator.

She watched him go, shaking her head and muttering, “All the men in this tower share the same brain cell, I swear.”

Roxanne was dreaming peacefully, quietly snoring into her pillow and curled up burrito-style in her blankets, when she was rudely jolted awake by a loud thumping. Snorting in a completely unladylike manner, she forced herself out of bed and across the floor.  

She slumped against the wall and snarled, “It's four in the morning, what do you want?”

Shuffling sounds came from the other side of the door.  “It's, uh, it's me.  Steve.  May I come in?”

“Oh.  Yeah- yes, please.”   She swung the door open wide to allow him inside.

“Are you okay?  You were so upset when you left, and I- I thought you might still be... sad?”

“Really?”

He nodded quickly.  “Yeah, so I thought I'd bring something to cheer you up.”  He produced a plush yellow Labrador puppy from behind his back and thrust it toward her.

Blinking, she gently took the stuffed toy.  “So you thought I was sad, because of...earlier.”

“Yes.”

“And you really thought buying me a puppy was going to cure my sadness?”

His expression mirrored the stuffed pup's exactly and she smiled fondly at him.

“Well... you were right.   Thank you!”  She tucked the gift under one arm and hugged Steve with the other before gasping and jumping away from him.  “I'm sorry!”

“Wait, what?  Why are you apologizing?”

Eyes glassy with tears that were about to spill over, she blurted, “You must hate me!  I put a knife to your throat, Steve.  That's not something you just brush off.  We're- we're f-friends.  Close.  You're my Captain!”  there was no stopping the word vomit now, as mortified as she was.  Might as well rip off the Band-aid.  “And you're amazing and smokin' hot and I've had the biggest damn crush on you for so long and all I want to do is kiss your stupidly handsome face, and...  Oh no,” she whined and covered her face with both hands.  “On a scale from one to ten how much do you want to punch me right now?”  She asked quietly, peeking at him between her fingers.

Concerned, Steve placed his hands on her shoulders and gently squeezed.  “Sweetheart, slow down.  Just breathe for me, okay?” he soothed.  “First of all... No, I don't hate you.  We're not there just yet.  You'd have to do a hell of a lot worse than pouncing on me with a knife to make me hate you,” he grinned at her.

Roxanne winced.  “I- I don't-”

“Are you saying you're plotting my demise as we speak, doll?”

“Steve!  I would never, and you know it,” she denied.

He laughed heartily at her distress. “Okay, okay, sorry.  Just giving you a little grief.  I'll let you get back to sleep.”  He turned to the door.

“Yeah, like I'm gonna be able to knock out again after all of this.”

Steve sighed.  “Want me to go get Buck for you?  Maybe he can help.”

Roxanne rolled her eyes and tossed the stuffed dog onto the sofa.  “Steve Rogers, you big, gorgeous idiot!”

He blinked.  “Um.  I'll take that as a compliment...I guess.”

She flung herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck.  “I've been mooning over you for a year now and- and I didn't know how to- didn't think I should say anything.  It's not my place and...”

He held her close and smiled.  “I've done my share of pining, too, sweetheart.”

“I have an idea,” she said, then leaned forward and pressed her lips to his for a short and sweet kiss.  “Wanna go stargazing and cuddle under the moonlight?  What's left of it, that is,” she suggested.

“On one condition.  Call me your ‘Captain’ again.”

Trailing her fingertips over his chest, she fluttered her eyelashes and in a breathy voice, asked, “Would my Captain like to go up on the rooftop with me?”

Steve’s chest rumbled and his eyes darkened.  “Yes ma’am, I’d like that very much.”

Later, bundled up together on one of the rooftop chaise lounges, Steve and Roxanne weren't doing much stargazing.  Caught up in the closeness, the newness, instead they spent the pre-dawn time making out and murmuring sweet nothings, as lovers do, until Steve's phone alarm sounding at half-past six pulled them from their serotonin haze, and they both groaned in irritation.

“We probably should have gotten some sleep, sweetheart.”

“I was sleeping soundly until somebody pounded on my door,” she teased, and poked his chin.

“Uh huh.  Was it worth it?”

“I dunno... I was really comfortable, and I need my beauty sleep or I wake up looking like sea hag.”

He tutted and kissed her forehead. “Aw, I'm sorry, doll.  How can I make it up to you?”

Tapping her lips with her fingers, she pretended to consider his words.  “How about... another cuddle session?  Longer this time and with more kissing.”

“I think I can manage that,” he grinned.

“Oh, and bring Bucky.”

He gasped and tickled her mercilessly.

“Okay, okay!  Enough!”  She kissed him soundly, then they untangled from the blankets and headed for the door, hand in hand.

Steve sighed wistfully.  “We wasted so much time, you know.”

“Yeah,  maybe we really are stupid with two Os,” she teased, nudging him with an elbow.

He chuckled and opened the door for her.  “Maybe so, darlin'.  Maybe so.”

She passed him and sauntered toward the residential area, calling back over her shoulder, “About bringing Bucky along, though-”

Thundering footfalls sounded behind her as she squealed and ran for her life, giggling madly all the way.

[we-are-dreamers42]

Nightingale: Too Broken Too Fix Part I

Bucky Barnes x OGcharacter

photo by me.

This is the backstory or prequel of Alexandra Thomas before entering the official world of the Marvel Universe.

Word Count: 1,102

Series List

Now that the missions over Alexandra’s want to know her past grows. Just knowing is better then staying in the dark.

WARNINGS: Little swearing

Chapter 6

Being in prison was actually nicer than I was expecting. The food was shit, and the bed was lumpy. Other than that I’m okay. I had so much time to do nothing. I’m not allowed to leave my cell or really communicate with anyone, but they do let me read. I sorta befriended my guard that keeps an eye on me. She agreed with what I did so she kept me busy with books her daughter read. I was never much of a reader, but it passed the time. 

It took two months in solitary confinement before I was allowed a phone call. Of course I just needed to know that Rox was alright.

It rang once before she answered screaming. “Oh my god! Are you okay?”

“I’m okay. Just locked up.”

“Do you need out? I think Timmy can figure something out.”

“No this is okay. We both knew that it was going to end like this. Strangely it feels right. Can you do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“The duffel. Can you find everyone, and send them their money?”

“Already did it.”

“You are too good to me.”

“I miss you.”

“I miss you too.”

“Do you think we’ll ever see each other again?” We both knew this could happen, but I never thought what it would be like apart. If it wasn’t for Roxy being the support I needed. I don’t know if I would’ve gotten as far as I did. 

“It wouldn’t be much of a forever and always if we didn’t.” My five minutes were up, and I was escorted by gun point back to my cell.

I was sitting in my cell reading like always when my guard started opening up my cell. “What’s happening?” I asked.

“You have someone who needs to see you.” I followed her to an interrogation room where Steve Rogers sat. He was wearing normal clothing. Without his stripes it was weird to call him Captain America.

I sat across from him a little excited to hear what he had to say. I’ve not heard anything about the task he told me he’d do.

“Everyone on your list has been arrested, and trialed.”

“And?” That was fast. Guess having support from the government makes things go faster.

“It’s tricky-”

“They got away with it.” I knew that they would. No one can rely on the disaster called the Court System.

“They are being punished for their crimes.”

“Just not in the way they deserve.”

“What way do you suggest, besides killing them?”

“I’m not evil.” I stated.

“Just misguided. That’s why I’m here.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Who are you really? Because you’re different. How did you get the Super Soldier Serum?”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“It’s what I took that made me like this. You’d have to take it somehow to be able to do the things we do.”

“Well as far as I know I haven’t taken secret government serum.”

He sat there staring at me. “If you were free what would you do?”

“I don’t know.” He smiled slightly, and got up, opening the door letting in an older lady with a briefcase. What the hell was going on? “Who are you?”

“I’m a lawyer representing the state. I’ve come to make you an offer.”

“What kind of offer?”

“The state of California has come to the decision that you will be put under house arrest. You will be under the supervision of SHIELD, and undergoing physiological evaluations regularly.”

“What’s the catch?”

“No catch. Even though your methods were unorthodox you saved thirty six children who can now go home to their families, and with your cooperation with a list of names were able to find, and save ninety six more. Totalling to one hundred and thirty two children saved. You will be under the authority of Nicholas J. Fury, and must partake in their labors”

I look over at Rogers that’s standing there listening. “Did you have something to do with this?” I asked him.

“Do you accept?” The lady asked, annoyed.

“Yes. I do.”

She handed me papers to sign. The lady leaves me, and Rogers again.

“Did you do this?” I asked him again.

“I had a hand in it.”

“Thank you.” Even if he didn’t do it for me. I was grateful. 

“Don’t thank me yet. There is still something we have to do before you’re officially free.”

I’m escorted to what I’m told was a SHIELD base. Outside we meet with a man who introduced himself as Dr. Bruce Banner. 

“How far back do you remember?” He asked as he led me down a hallway.

“Maybe eighteen years ago.” He opened a door entering into a large room. A chair that's hooked up to computers.

“You don’t by chance know how old you were?”

“Not exactly. I was about eight years old, possibly. What’s this?” I pointed at the chair.

“This is an invention I created.” Tony Stark came from behind me. “It’s to help with your memories.” It was just a moment of being star struck, but it passed when he said: “You don’t look like a mass murderer.”

“Don’t encourage him.” Rogers said before I could say anything back. Which was a good thing, because I couldn’t think of a retort. I’m too distracted by the possibility of finding out who I was. 

“Will it work?” I asked.

“You do know who I am? Where did you find this girl?” He walked up to the chair, and pats it. “Hop up so we can unveil this mystery.”

I do as he said. Laying back, and trying to get comfortable. I was nervous. My questions will finally be answered. Who am I, why am I like this. Even if it’s something I won’t like. At least I’ll know. I tried to hide my excitement. Didn’t want to seem too eager.

Dr. Banner stuck pads on my temples, and a wrapped one on my arm. “What’s going to happen is these pads are going to jump start your brain. Thus recreating your memories up to the point you remember.”

“Will it hurt?”

“We’ll be sending two thousand watts of electricity straight into your brain. It will hurt, but only for a moment.”

“How long will it take?” Rogers asked.

“A few moments, for her longer.” Stark answered.

Confused, I asked. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Depends on what you remember. You could feel like a few minutes or a few days. Ready?”

I took a moment to breathe then nodded. “Do it.” There was a loud beep then the pain started. I screamed.

Chapter 7

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

500 FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY ✤ @aliverse

Roxie Flores x Audrey Allegro

Drabble below the cut

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Roxie stood in front of the choir room, taking a seat behind the piano.  With graduation only a week away, Mr. Schue had them singing their goodbyes, and Roxie had volunteered to kick things off.

There's glitter on the floor after the party  Girls carrying their shoes down in the lobby  Candle wax and Polaroids on the hardwood floor  You and me from the night before

She looked out towards the rest of the club, catching Audrey’s eye.  She knew that her girlfriend was going to be the hardest goodbye.  They would be on opposite sides of the country next year, with Audrey going to school in New York and Roxie following her career to LA, and Roxie just wasn’t ready to let go.

Don't read the last page But I stay when you're lost and I'm scared And you're turning away I want your midnights But I'll be cleaning up bottles with you On New Year's Day

She couldn't stop her mind from racing as she continued to sing, remembering her past relationships.  The epic highs and devastating heartbreak that was Puck, the dazzling summer love that she had shared with Sam; the dizzying electricity of Sebastian.  

They were all all-encompassing, they were all intense flames, destined to burn out.  Audrey wasn't like that; she wasn't intense the way that they had been, she wasn't a burning fire.  

No, Audrey was better, Audrey was consistent.  She wasn't a raging fire that would eventually destroy everything or end, she was something different.  She was embers; much less intense but warm, consistent.  She was something that Roxie could rely on, something that she knew would last.

Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you And I will hold on to you

She looked back to her girlfriend, seeing the tears that had gathered in her eyes.  She didn’t know how they would make the long distance work, but they would.  They had to.  Because Roxie wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

Please don't ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere Please don't ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere

She stood up from the piano as she sang the last lines, walking slowly to where Audrey was sitting.  She took the taller girl’s hands in hers and pulled her up, leading her to the middle of the room.  She had to stand on her tip toes to pull the other girl into a hug, though Audrey took pity on her and bent over to meet her halfway.

“I love you, Audrey,” she said, “and I’m not saying goodbye to you today.”

“I love you too, Rox,” Audrey said, pressing a soft kiss to her girlfriend’s lips.

[miss-tc-nova]

Unwarranted or Not - Roxas x Fem!Reader x Ventus Pt 1

I’m stuck in that stage again where Jesse McCartney songs just scream Roxas or Ven for me. So I’ve been listening to his music again. I honestly don’t know where this series is going but here we go. 

This part was written while listening to the Turtle’s song “Jealous” from season 3 of The Masked Singer. 

Part 1: Jealous

                Giggling, I push the hair from my face. “Geeze, you’re a dork.”

                The blonde frowns. “Come on! How was I supposed to know that Terra was about to run around the corner?!”

                “I bet you he was thrilled to be covered in strawberry filling.”

                He sighs, letting his face fall into his palms. “No, not really. But I was way more scared of Aqua when she found out I stole and then ruined her dessert.”

                “Oh ho, I bet she was furious.”

                His hands drag down his face. “Her glare is far worse than any spell she could’ve used on me.”

                Today is Kairi’s birthday so everyone has gathered to celebrate. I’m only the newest addition to the party, having been introduced through my boyfriend. Apparently, everyone here is connected through some big event that I haven’t learned about yet, but that’s not important. I did learn about other worlds though and, boy, did I have a heart attack the first time I left my home world; he still complains that I almost crushed his ribs. Regardless, I’m part of the friend group now and they’re all great. I was accepted like I’d been friends with them forever.

                For a while, the boy, Ventus, threw me off. He looks so much like my boyfriend that I could only stare for a moment. Once I got over the initial shock, the differences between them rang out clear as day. Down to their very presence, I could find all the differences in the world. I’m also very acutely aware that there’s a mild bitterness towards this blonde. However, while Ven isn’t exactly my type, that doesn’t mean he’s not a good friend.

                I set my water bottle in the sand. “I’m impressed she had the self-control not to beat you.”

                “That could partially be because Terra chased me all the way across the castle grounds by the time she found out.” I cackle at his torture. “So hey, I never got to ask, how did you and Roxas meet?”

                The grin already on my lips widens. “It’s actually kinda funny. I was-”

                “Hey, ______.” I look towards the group of others where Roxas is waving me closer.

                “Just a minute,” I call back, before returning my attention to Ven. “Sorry. Anyway, I needed to-”

                “______!” I look again. He’s wearing a frown as he waves me on again.

                Miffed, I shout back, “Hold on! I’m telling a story!”

                Ven laughs. “Maybe you should go see what he wants. You can tell me later.”

                I sigh. “Sorry. I’ll be back.” I dust the sand from my shorts and wander over. I’m a bit perturbed when the rest of them start heading down the beach. “What’s up?”

                “We’re gonna start some games. Come on.”

                I don’t follow and he stops to look back. “I don’t feel like playing games right now. I’m just gonna talk to Ven and maybe bother Namine and Aqua.” I lean in to kiss his cheek. “But you have fun, ‘kay.”

                His frown doesn’t go unnoticed but I am my own person; I can choose not to do something. When I settle back onto my towel, I see him still watching me, so I give a smile and wave. His glower doesn’t change but he does join the others in their games.

                I chat with the friends that come to join me at various times, but Ven stays nearly the whole time so he’s my main conversation partner and a goofball at that. It’s still worth noting that Roxas frequently glances towards me with a glare that I’m sure I’ll have to answer to later.

                “No way! Then what?” Ven chuckles.

                I wipe a tear from my eye, hardly able to keep from giggling. “Well, Hayner’s freaking out trying to figure out where the voice is coming from and I’m on the floor, laughing so hard I’m crying ‘cause I can’t keep a straight face to save my life. And then Pence-”

                Without warning, a hand wraps around my arm and pulls me to my feet. Roxas looks thoroughly annoyed.

                “Ah! Hey!”

                “I need you to come with me,” he says firmly.

                “Uh, can it wait two seconds?” I manage to get out.

                “Nope” and he pulls me away towards the shack leading up to the bridge. I look back at my friend who shares my shock but does nothing.

                “Rox? Roxas, where are we going?” He doesn’t answer, just drags me along. “Hey, what’s going on? Roxas!” In the dimly lit wooden structure, he forcefully closes the door and we stand in silence. “Babe, what’s wrong?”

                “Nothing’s wrong,” he retorts. I raise a brow at him. “What?!”

                “We’re standing in a dark, little shack when we’re supposed to be celebrating a friend’s birthday with our other friends.” The blue eyes avoid me, turning a glare on the darkness. I chuckle a little and rest a hand against his chest. “Come on. Tell me what’s bothering you.” When his eyes instead move to the ceiling, I slip my arms around his neck. My mischievous side leaks through as I lean closer to lowly threaten, “Don’t make me force an answer out of you.” I ever-so-lightly brush my nose along his jaw. “Though I wouldn’t mind another chance at marking that pretty skin of yours.” I know it’s working when goose bumps bloom across his skin and his inhale comes with a shudder. “That sounds like a yes to me.”

                “It’s Ven,” he quickly utters.

                I reign in my antics. “Ven? What about him?” His annoyance is replaced with the look a child would wear having been caught in the cookie jar. “Come on. Keep talking.”

                “I don’t like that you’re hanging out with him so much,” he mumbles.

                Ah. Jealousy. “Oh babe,” I soothe. “You don’t have to worry about him.” I walk my fingers along his shirt. “You know I’m crazy about you. I didn’t even push you off the clock tower when I thought you were nuts, spouting off about other worlds.”

                “You were gonna push me off the clock tower?!”

                “No. I did consider a couple psychiatrists though.” I pinch his cheek. “I’m so smitten I was willing to help you through whatever psychosis you had.”

                Roxas shakes me off. “Bet you feel like a fool now.”

                I shrug. “Point is, I love you, Roxas. And no one’s going to get in the way of that, especially Ven.”

                A glint of something dark sparks in his eyes. “You know we’re practically the same person, right?”

                “Pfft!” It takes a huge amount of effort to not break down laughing.

                Roxas looks as if I’ve just insulted him; granted maybe I have. “What?!” he demands indignantly.

                “I’m sorry, but you and Ven are nothing alike,” I reply, straightening up.“

                “That doesn’t sound very comforting.”

                “And why not?” He hesitates. “Sure, he warms up to people easily and he’s a bit more outgoing and social than you, but the fact that you’re more choose-y with your friends makes them all the more important. Besides, you know you’re smarter than he is, right?” A brow rises at me. “Look, he’s a great friend and all, but when you spend five minutes pulling on a door that says push, you’re not the brightest cookie.” Finally, Roxas breaks and smiles at my joke. “And honestly, you are way hotter than he is.”

                “How-”

                I tap a finger against his nose. “I just can. It’s really not that hard. You are two completely different people and you’re the one I love. So stop being jealous.”

                He heaves a sigh, but his arms finally slip around my waist. “I don’t know about that.” The butterflies flutter when he leans in. “I’m not exactly worried about you being attracted to Ven.”

                I can’t help the grin. “You think Ven’s attracted to me?” I laugh.

                He’s turned my earlier mischief on me, lips grazing my ear. “I’d be surprised if he wasn’t. You’re too beautiful for your own good.” The heat races along my spine when his teeth tug at the skin. A squeak escapes me. “Mmm, but maybe I’ll just take your idea and let everyone know you’re taken.”

                “Rox-” I can’t finish his name before his mouth is at my neck, pulling a soft moan from me. In response, the boy forcefully puts my back to the wall, successfully putting me under his spell.

                Roxas, while less outgoing than Ventus, has a sort of hidden side. He’s more reserved and can sometimes come off as cold, but the moment you become a friend, it’s as if a switch has been flipped. He can be quick to anger or blissfully happy and is rather outspoken. So it goes without saying that dating him means seeing even more of that; seeing the desperation and desire—the things he displays only in these private moments.

                “Ow!” I hiss.

                He finally breaks his hold, but lingers a moment to soothe the sting with his tongue. A shudder ripples through me when he trails up my neck. The fingers at my hips tighten their grip, signaling that he’s not done. The next thing I know, his mouth is at mine, demanding everything: my attention, my consent, my love. Of course, he has it all; not that the flustered mess he’s turned me into could really argue with him. His kisses have always been messy and greedy; like he’s a dying man and this is his cure. It always makes me weak knowing that his feelings are true, that this is how he really feels. That and the show of dominance is kind of hot.

                When he retreats, his eyes look me over. I’m flushed and gasping and quite frankly I’m prepared to die of suffocation as long as I can keep kissing him. A smirk appears on his lips.

                “You really are beautiful, you know that?”

                “I think you’re a little biased,” I breathe.

                “So?” he hums, forehead resting against mine. “You’re mine. Does it matter what anyone else thinks?”

                “I suppose not,” I laugh. “Are you gonna stop being jealous now?”

                “Not even a little.”

[birthdaylobotomy]

I have another story idea. So.

15 year old boy has developed a crush on the lady who takes care of the garden who lives down the street. She is a pretty girl, probably in her 20s. And she’s a terrible Gardner- all her flowers die no matter what. This boy tries to help her with gardening and has the biggest crush ever on her- she’s sweet, funny, awkward and kinda dumb. However, this girl has a ghost.

Sometimes, when the boy hangs around her, he sees a ghost. A girl with the same deep red colored hair as her, with long hair and a white dress and sad, blank eyes.

The boy (who I’m gonna call Jay for now) has a couple a friends, one of which is the smartest in the school and a bit of a prick, and the other who is the most handsome at school- Ellis and Matt. Matt and Jay have been friends since forever, and Matt has always been better- taller, more athletic, better looking. Every other day some girl is confessing her feelings to him, but he always turns her down. This has caused a lot of jealousy in Jay, who had confessed the year prior to the cool and aloof Mira- but she has flatly rejected him. How can someone be so mean like that? Why does Matt get to be so much cooler? It’s just not fair.

As Jay distances himself from school friends, he becomes closer to the gardener lady- her name is Sara. He learns a lot about her and only becomes more entangled in her life. She has two younger siblings. Twins Vicky and Mickey, both if which are eccentric and homeschooled by Sara. Vicky is obsessed with bugs and is part of the reason all of Sara’s plants die, and a Mickey has decided he does not want to see the world, and has since blinded himself with chemicals, using Vickey as his guide. They are both 13 years old.

Jay soon also learns about Sara’s older sister as well. An intimidating woman who is usually conducting shady “business” in the inner city, when she is around she is stylish mean and cool. Through this older sister, named Roxanne, or just Rox, he learns that three tears ago their younger sister went missing, and hasn’t been seen since. Not only that, but Sara was extremely close to her and was the most effected.

Jay becomes more confused as he realized the family home has not a single picture of Sara anywhere, but instead a slightly younger girl with longer hair in place in family portraits- identical to the ghost he had seen.

One day at school on a rainy late spring day, Matt starts to complain about a girl who had been bothering him. It was annoying, she would follow him around- and not only that, but she was in middle school! Of course he wouldn’t ever wanna date someone so young-

Jay snaps, standing up, and demands Matt to apologize. Just becuase someone is younger dosent mean he shouldn’t give some kind of answer, even if it was no. Matt, confuses, days it would break her heart. Jay, as everyone in the lunch room watches, yells at Matt, calling him a dick. As a teacher slowly approaches, Matt snaps back, telling him he wouldn’t know since his parents were the way they were.

(Side note- Jays father is a drag queen, and although his parents aren’t together anymore due to financial struggles they still live together.)

With this, Jay slaps Matt across the face, and runs away from school. He dosent go home- in top of everything else, he and his mom had gotten in a terrible, bitter argument that morning- he runs right to Sara’s house.

When he gets there it’s dark and he’s soaking wet from the rain. No lights are on, and he walks to the bathroom, knowing Sara wouldn’t care if he got a quick shower. But when he opens the door he sees a naked Sara with a huge scar across her body-

And the ground is covered in thousands of dead flowers, bursting from the tiles.

(If anyone is interested in this I’ll answer some asks. Idk if I’ll make this an actual story but who knows)

[mystery-salad]

Reposting this since legit somehow Zero of the tags or bolding carried through holy shit

30 questions: GW2 edition I was tagged by @where-is-caithe and @just-eyris-things

This can be done in many different ways: get asks by your followers, pick some questions for yourself, answer the whole damn thing at once, etc! You can draw, write (to explain in details or not) or just post screenshots! If you miss one it’s totally okay, whether it’s by lack of answer or time. Have fun!

1. Favorite living world season?

As much as some of the fights feel really badly balanced, I enjoy LS2 for the close knit new family feel. The whole little group is still figuring their dynamics out and finding their independence, and it’s a real good found family sorta feel as you Go Through A Lot.

2. Favorite expansion?

Heart of Thorns holds a special place in my heart (lol) just for being the first new story since I’d started playing. It’s got many flaws looking back, but nothing has actually hit me harder since. Maybe because anet overuses the punch of tragedy and death an I’m numb to their attempt to low blow us after several years *shrugs*

3. Favorite soundtrack?

The music in Caledon forest was my first step into gw2, and it will forever hold the top spot for me, alongside the original character select screen music.

4. First profession you played?

Ranger! Still one of my absolute favorites.

5. First race you played?

Sylvari, go figure

6. Favorite Destiny’s Edge character?

It’s a tough choice for me! Eir and Caithe rank highest though due to their unconventional character arcs for women. They’ve both got a lot of nuance and challenges and I respect that.

7. Favorite Dragon’s Watch character?

Again gotta pick two, Braham and Rox have a unique feel too and are amazing foils to each other’s characters. I’d like to see more of them together again.

8. Favorite Elder Dragon?

I love the potential held in Bubbles. Deep sea dragon, whose awakening scared even the krait off? Give me those deep sea horrors.

9. Best boss fight (story)?

I honestly really love the final fight against Zhaitan. It really managed to encapsulate the feeling of fighting a larger than life powerful enemy with an army at your back. No big fight since for me has had the same grandeur to it. We did a lot of fighting dragons in “smaller” ways or with “smaller” teams that just feel more...compact, ya know? I want that grandeur back.

10. Best boss fight (fractal)?

Jade maw is fucking wild! And it’s not the boss of its fractal but the giant living statue.

11. Best boss fight (raid)?

Never been in one, would love to one day when I’m in a guild who does them when I’m awake...

12. PvE or PvP or RP?

PvE by far, and RP is fun when you can find the right people.

13. Favorite canon couple?

In one map, there’s a seraph soldier and a bandit having a secret date. They’re so fucking extra and sappy and unnecessary and I love fining them and reading their cheesy star-crossed dialogue.

14. Favorite fanon/self made couple?

With another player, my favorite currently is Matthias with @ascalonianpicnic‘s Aildyn. The two have a very good dynamic.

Solo, I really love my new commander, Kai, with Caithe. I’ve built up a back-an forth for the two that I’m a lot more compelled by than I thought I’d be! I’m excited to share more on these two.

15. Favorite quote?

“sneaky mode engaged”

16. Most emotional cinematic?

The end of Heart of Thorns. A victory, a tragedy, and a clear sign that it’s set off another disaster just by you winning. There’s so many layers to that *boom*

17. Favorite VA?

I’m so bad at naming VAs but whoever voiced the asura female MC knows what she’s about

18. Post a fun screenshot!

Still love this one~

19. Post a landscape screenshot!

20. Most used mount(s)?

I spend most time on raptor still, followed by griffon!

21. Favorite mount skin (for every mount you have)?

Raptor: crested plainsrunner

Springer: kourna jackrabbit

Skimmer: river mothwing

Jackal: lucent sands

Griffon: clouded corvus

Roller Beetle: deep desert scarab

Warclaw: vigilant saberclaw

Skyscale: axejaw skyscale

22. Favorite weapon?

Longbow is my favorite kind of weapon, I like it on every single class that uses it. Favorite overall weapon? Idk man too many to pick from at this point.

23. Favorite gear set?

I’m always a sucker for the sunspear armors

24. Favorite title?

Killer Queen

25. Something you worked really hard to get?

Astralarias is my only legendary so far and it’s pretty rad. Really like Mawdrey too.

26. Favorite GW2 Youtuber / GW2 related video?

Daelin Dwin

27. Most used miniature?

Mini Quail!!! The feather bouncing on the head is an adorable little feature.

28. Most used novelty?

Embiggening tonic!

29. Number of achievments points?

Little over 18,000 now

30. Something you’d love to see in GW2?

Norns getting the same revamp humans got on african american faces and hairs since they’re also based on humans :) Where is it anet? Where’s the fairness? And asura and charr both have some afro-inspired hairs that need better textures now. When anet.

I tag anyone who hasn’t done this yet! Idk who has or hasn’t been tagged in these couple of weeks, but if you haven’t done this yet I’d love to see it via tag 💕

[intern-seraph]

i fell asleep afraid i would never wake again

in which they finally fucking kiss

has spoilers for literally everything bon ape tit

CW: death, murder, attempted murder, idiots kissing each other, fighting

Alfswen’s still not entirely sure when or how it turned into a co-sleeping arrangement. A few nights where she or Braham snuck into the other’s tent and crawled under the blanket turned into waking up every morning with her flopped over on his chest or his arm draped over her like a weighted blanket. It’s… nice. Though she’s loath to admit it, there’s something comforting about having someone there in the morning. It’s at his side that she finds herself now. He’s sound asleep, mouth half-open as he snores and his cheek smooshed flat against her bedroll.

Cute.

Today, though, there’s no time to sleep in. She sits up and gently jostles his shoulder. “Rise and shine.”

He grunts and shifts away from her. “Don’ wanna.”

“We have work to do today. Things to kill, people to see…”

“Can wait. ‘M tired. Lessgo back t’sleep?”

“I’ll drag you out if I have to.”

“You can’t.”

“Oh, I certainly can. Don’t forget, I have the power of the Mists on my side.”

“I’m up, I’m up!” Braham pushes himself up on his elbows and rubs his eyes with the heel of his palm. “Gimme the rundown on the plan again?”

“Find Drakkar, corner it, beat the shit out of it.”

“Sweet.”

Alfswen rolls out from under the blanket and stretches her arms up to the roof of their tent. Their weapons lie in a pile in the corner, stacked on top of her armor and crowned with her discarded blindfold. “We should hurry and get dressed. Rytlock and Crecia won’t wait forever.”

“Bet I can get ready faster than you.”

“In your dreams.”

—

The Tribunes are gathered around the campfire when Braham and Alfswen emerge from the tent. Alfswen sits beside Rytlock with a wordless little nod. He cocks his head to the side, then hands her a skewered piece of meat.

“Morning, sleeping beauties. Was starting to wonder what was going on in there,” he comments.

“Braham was trying to sleep in. Don’t imply things like that, old man.” She jabs her elbow into his side.

“Eh? All I’m saying is that you two have been really cuddly lately.”

“Nothing like that is happening.” Her cheeks burn a bright gold. She chances a glance at Braham. His own face is pink and his eyes are wide. “Perhaps we’re just being friendly, Brimstone.”

Braham starts coughing. Someone nearby snickers and thumps him on the back. “Give them a break, Tribune. It’s cold out here. Canoodling isn’t the only explanation,” Arbreura drawls as she steps out of the shadows. She cocks her head at Alfswen.  “Good morning, sister dear.”

“You’re not coming.”

“I didn’t even ask!”

“You’re not coming.” Alfswen doesn’t even look up from her food. “You’re not suited for helping kill Drakkar.”

“Wh-hey!”

“The Commander is right,” Crecia interjects. She prods at the coals. “We won’t need a sniper for this mission.”

“Thank you, Crecia.” Alfswen sinks her teeth into her breakfast and tears a hunk away. Arbreura makes a quiet, horrified noise. Speaking through a mouthful of food, Alfswen continues, “You can stand watch at the door if y’really wanna be there.”

“I… will pass.” Arbreura turns on her heel. She pauses, then looks back over her shoulder. Her smile sobers. “Stay safe, dearie.”

“No promises.”

—

“You’re out of your mind. This stops now!” she shouts. She curls her hands into tight fists. Braham sets a hand on her shoulder and gives a squeeze. Her hackles raise and she snarls at Bangar. He doesn’t seem to notice or care to notice.

Instead, he smiles. It’s a prideful, terrifying grin that sends a chill down her spine. He raises Eir’s bow and nocks an arrow. “I couldn’t agree more.”

She doesn’t realize what’s happening until it hits her. The impact sends her stumbling back, her eyes wide with surprise. At first it’s a dull burn in her gut, but it builds into a searing pain that spreads out from her belly until it encompasses her whole body. She screams, hands scrabbling at where the arrow lodged itself in a blind attempt to wrench it out of her body. Rytlock and Crecia grapple her, wrestling her to the ground.

“Don’t let her take it out!”

“Dammit!”

It hurts to breathe. She gasps for air, but it feels like she’s drowning. “No. No, not… not…”

“Commander, stay with us! Focus!”

“R-Rytlock… what…”

“Focus on my voice!”

He rips off her blindfold, discarding it somewhere in the cave. Rytlock and Crecia are blurry figures, her vision shifting as she tries to stay awake. “I don’t… don’t wanna die… not…” Her mouth fills with hot sap. The world goes out of focus for a moment, then comes back. Balthazar grins down at her, face twisted with sick glee. Aurene roars behind him as she struggles against her chains. Alfswen reaches out one trembling hand as the pain in her chest turns her world black.

“Aurene.”

She kneels in front of the dias. The hatchling chirrups happily and taps her front feet on the floor.

“Aurene?” Caithe kneels beside Alfswen with a small, quizzical smile.

“Yes. That’s her name.”

“How did you come up with it?”

She cups Aurene’s head in both hands. There’s so much love in the little dragon’s eyes. She smiles and kisses the crown of her head. “I’m not sure. It just… felt right.”

Aurene coos and butts her forehead against Alfswen’s. She can’t help but laugh.

“You’ll do great things.”

Forgal smiles down at her, grim and determined. She shakes her head.

“No. No, Forgal you can’t do this. There has to be another way.”

“Kid, you need to protect these people. Get them out of here safely, okay?” He ruffles her leaves. “The dragons already took my family from me… I won’t let Zhaitan have you. I’ll give you a head start, but you need to run. Make sure to give Jormag a bloody nose for me someday, alright?”

“No, no, no!” She wants to lunge after him and hold him back, but she can feel the spirits in her body rooting her to the ground. Her breath chokes in her chest and she reaches out to stop him just as the gates shut. She screams and screams and screams and tries to force herself to follow but her legs don’t obey, they aren’t hers now and they carry her away away away to the ship and into the darkness below deck.

He’s gone. He sacrificed himself to protect others.

She tries to explain this to Ceera, tries to be gentle and understanding, but Alfswen can tell that she’s failed as soon as the grief in Ceera’s eyes turns to boiling rage and hatred. “You… you killed him!”

“I never wanted this to happen, Ceera. Tonn made his choice, though. He saved countless lives, even i—”

“Murderer!” The anger in her voice startles Alfswen enough to drive her back a step. “You killed him. You… you and your Pact.”

“That’s not… do you really think I wanted this to happen?” Her eyes well up beneath her blindfold and she grits her teeth to hold back a sob. “Do you really think I wanted Eir to die?!”

Braham stares at her, eyes wide with shock at her outburst. His mouth twists into a furious snarl. “Well maybe she would still be here if we’d moved faster, Commander.”

Alfswen freezes up. It feels like she’s choking. It takes all the strength in her to say, “You’re not the only one who lost family, Braham.”

“Hey, maybe we should all calm down for a sec here?” Rox suggests. She glances between them, raising her paws in an attempt to calm them. At this point, Alfswen can’t stop herself from crying. Hurts. It just hurts.

He’d been there when she had to kill Trahearne. He knew what she was forced to do. So then why, why..?

Braham grunts, turning his back on both women. “I’m leaving. Rox?”

Rox glances at Alfswen, wringing her paws nervously. Alfswen nods numbly at her friend. “... See ya, Boss.” Rox takes a deep breath and scampers after Braham as he stomps out of the cave.

Alone, she falls to her knees and pulls them up to her chest. The ship’s hull groans and creaks around her, amplified to a near-deafening volume. It’s loud enough that she doesn’t hear Trahearne approach her.

“Warmaster?” he whispers.

She tilts her head up. “A-am I… needed?”

“Oh.” He sits beside her and daintily removes her blindfold. Her eyes are wide and puffy and red from crying. “Oh…” He pulls her into his arms and rocks her as she sobs into his chest. “Breathe. It’ll be alright…”

“He’s gone. He’s… I can’t believe…”

“He wanted you to live, Alfswen.”

“It should have—hic!—should have been me. Why did… he do it…”

“Breathe in, breathe out…”

“I… why did he have to die?”

“You’re young. He likely believed that you have a better chance at a future.”

“I’m not… a good person. I don’t… why would he sacrifice himself for someone like me?”

Trahearne frowns, hidden by the darkness around them, and pulls her closer. “You’ll do great things. We can honor him together.”

It’s cold, and the salty sea air stings her nose when she breathes in. Her hands ball into fists, power coursing through her body. Captain Ellen Kiel motions to the mouth of the cave. Like a dog let off the leash, Alfswen rushes in. She narrowly avoids Canach’s first few traps, her spirits and the detector alerting her to each bomb. But her bloodlust overwhelms her better judgement, fuels her actions with a kind of blind fury that she sorely missed. The first bomb she sets off is poison. Her lungs scream and her stomach turns and she starts to feel a heady haze settle in.

“Is this what they sent after me?” Canach sneers. “A sapling?”

Alfswen laughs and laughs and laughs, her teeth bared in a feral grin. She slams her fist into one of the rock formations, channeling all her power both physical and magical through her arm. The stone crumbles beneath her gauntlet. “You think too highly of yourself, brother. I’m the hound that’s here to flush you out. Dead or alive, I don’t care. I’ll bring you back in pieces if I have to. I’m no sapling.”

She was a sapling once. Back in a time before Caithe, before Trahearne, before Forgal and Almorra and Canach and Marjory and Kasmeer and Braham and Taimi and the whole lot of them. A time when she was alone with herself and the voices in her head. Filled with anger and power that she couldn’t quite comprehend, she unleashed it on things that deserved her violence. She was meant to do great things, Mother said. She was built to be strong. A soldier. A dragonslayer. A godkiller.

“Why?” she whispers to the Pale Tree. “Why did I never get to be a child?”

The Avatar of the Tree cups her cheeks, wiping her tears away. “I’m sorry, my dear. I am so, so sorry.” She kisses her on the forehead, rubbing between her shoulders as she weeps. “I wish that we could change the past.”

—

Dull pain rouses her from her sleep. One of her hands immediately darts to her belly, groping for the shaft of an arrow that’s no longer there. She groans, attempts to sit up, fails. Warm fingers curl around her hand, tugging it away from her body. She startles for a moment, then shifts to her side with some struggle. Braham is still half-asleep when she sees him lying beside her. His eyes open slowly. They’re bleary with sleep and old tears. Without a word, he reaches over and pulls her into his side. His whole body trembles. Silence settles between them for a long, anxious moment.

“How’re you feeling?” he whispers into her hair.

“Like I just got shot with a magic arrow.” “Don’t joke about that! I was… I thought that…” His breath shudders. “We really thought you were gonna die there.”

She brings up a hand to grip at his arm. “Was it that bad..?”

“There was so much blood, Alf.”

Silence again. She shuffles closer to him. The idea of coming that close to death again…

“I was scared,” he admits. “I don’t want to lose you again.”

“You…” Her breath catches in her chest.

“I really… care about you.” He clears his throat and curls his fingers around the curve of her shoulder. She pulls away a little and looks him in the eye. He meets her gaze for a moment. Then, his face reddening, he glances down at her mouth. Back up again. “I…”

She processes his meaning after a second. Her eyes go wide, then she nods. His fingers slip between her leaves, stroking the fronds as he dips in to kiss her. She breathes out a trembling sigh through her nose and presses closer to him. The kiss is restrained, barely held back by propriety and concern for her injury. He screws his eyes shut, brow furrowing. The hand on the back of her head presses her ever closer, and his other arm wraps gently around her waist.

“Commander? Braham? Aurene said th—”

Immediately, they freeze. Alfswen is the first to move, rolling over onto her back. Braham slips a hand between her shoulders to help her sit up. Still, she leans heavily on him, the effort it took just to sit having sapped what’s left of her energy.

“Y-yes, Jhavi?” she stammers.

“I came to check in on you. Your dragon told us that you finally woke up. She was… definitely right about that. Was I interrupting?”

“No! Never! Definitely not!” Alfswen squeezes her eyes shut as if that will make herself invisible.

“Right. Well, it’s good to see you’re awake and well.” Jhavi half-grins, shaking her head. She crosses her arms. “You’ve been out for a while. We’ve set up a temporary camp here until you’re fully recovered.”

“Ah… where exactly is ‘here?’” For the first time since she came to, Alfswen takes in her surroundings. The entire… room? cavern? is made of translucent crystals that catch the light and bathe the whole area in scattered rainbows. It’s ethereal, unreal, yet familiar.

“Your dragon’s sanctum. She wants to talk to you, so we should get moving.”

“She’s not—alright, nevermind.” Alfswen moves to stand, but realizes right before careening forwards that no, she’s not ready to walk on her own by any means. Braham catches her before she hits the ground, wrapping his arm around her and holding her to his side. She groans. Being this weak… it’s unnerving. Still, she leans against him and lets him half-carry her.

—

She takes short naps throughout the rest of the day. Braham sits watch beside her. His warm hand never leaves hers. It’s only late in the evening that she wakes up lucid enough to hold a conversation.

“Hey, Braham… what exactly happened there? When I… yeah.”

He remains silent for a minute too long and squeezes her hand a little tighter. His face turns a deep, dusky rose. “I, uh, might’ve become the wolf.”

“You—what?!” She stares up at him wide-eyed and beaming. “You became the wolf? That’s amazing!”

“It was only for a little bit! I was just so freakin’ angry and-and then I just sorta… pop! I was the wolf!”

“I should get fatal injuries more often.” She laughs when he startles. As an apology, she places a kiss on the back of his hand. His blush worsens. “I’m proud of you. Just wish I could have seen it.”

“You’ll get a chance eventually. But no more getting shot! You literally scared the Wolf outta me!”

“I’ll try my best.” Alfswen tugs his hand, coaxing him to lie down beside her. “But no promises. You said it best way back when: I do cause chaos.”

“Way to use that against me,” he mutters. Still, he pulls her flush against him and taps the tip of his nose to hers. “No chaos for us right now. You need lots of sleep.”

“I also seem to remember a certain norn insisting that his broken leg was totally healed and he could do all the combat he wanted…”

“Shut up or I’m leaving.”

She makes a soft clicking noise in the back of her throat and nestles into his chest. “You wouldn’t.”

“... Yeah, I wouldn’t.”

—

“Braham?” she mumbles sleepily. The cavern is dark. Somewhere else in the Eye of the North, Aurene’s snoring. Or perhaps it’s Rytlock. It’s hard to tell the difference. Alfswen pokes him in the side. “Braham?”

Braham’s chest rumbles with a groan. He mutters something incoherent. Then, he says, “G’back t’sleep.”

“What are we now?”

His breath stills. The arm draped over her body shifts, and his hand caresses the back of her head. “Whatever you wanna be.”

“I’d like… to try out this lovey stuff.”

“Hah… so do I.” He snuffles, wiggling under their shared blanket. She can feel his lips moving against her scalp as he speaks again. “Now lessgo back t’sleep. Tired.”

[waitineedaname]

For the request thing Dirk and Roxy in some supernatural AU if you feeling it! Congrats on the follower count, too, dude!

this took FOREVER to finish simply bc I had Too Many ideas, but I’m super happy with how this turned out

—-

“You know, there’s no evidence that ghosts are real.”

“Mhm.”

“Sure, there’s- fuck,” Dirk paused to avoid tripping over a root cutting across his path before continuing, “There’s plenty of folklore. Anecdotal accounts. But there’s nothing scientific to back it up. If ghosts were real, wouldn’t scientists have caught one to test on yet?”

“That doesn’t sound very humane, though.” Roxy countered, shining their flashlight on another root so Dirk wouldn’t trip. “Testin’ on them, I mean! They’re still people. Shouldn’t they have the same rights and stuff?”

“They’re ghosts. It’s not like they’re going to die again.”

“How do you know? Maybe that’s what we’re testing them for!” Roxy flashed the beam of light onto Dirk’s face briefly, laughing a little when he made a face at them. “Look, would you want a bunch of scientists pokin’ around at your ghost when you die?”

“First of all, when I die, I’m going to be cold, unconscious, and rotting. Or hot, unconscious, and dusty if I get cremated. Either way, I’m not going to be a ghost. But-” He added when he saw Roxy’s silhouette gear up to speak, “If I was a ghost, I would be happy to let scientists do whatever the fuck they want. Test the hell out of my incorporeal form. Go hogwild in the name of science. I don’t give a shit.”

Roxy hummed and shrugged. “I mean, yeah, mood. There’s still gotta be consent forms and shit, though. I’m the one that works in a lab that involves people here. I know my shit.”

“That still doesn’t change my point though.”

“Which was…?”

“That ghosts aren’t real.”

“Ah. Yeah.” Roxy glanced down at the map on their phone, making sure the two of them were still headed in the right direction. “Yeah, they probably aren’t.”

“Then why the fuck are we exploring a haunted house?”

“Because it’s fun, dummy. Get in the spirit of the season! Eat some pumpkins! Wear a sweater! Fuck a ghost!”

“The spirit of the season.” Dirk’s voice was flat as he tried to think of a joke to make off of the obvious pun there before the rest of what Roxy said caught up to him. “Please tell me there won’t be any ghost fucking involved here. I mean, had I known that, I would’ve at least brought a condom. Worn something nice. Put on some cologne.”

“As if.” Roxy laughed. “Do you own any cologne? Axe does not count.”

“No comment.”

“You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were nervous, Di Stri.” Roxy teased, giving him a side eye. Dirk’s expression was carefully neutral.

“Good thing you know better. Do I look nervous to you? The answer is hell no. I’m cool as a cucumber riding a private jet ski into the sunset. I don’t get nervous.” His mouth twitched at Roxy’s failure to contain a snort. “No, I’m just not looking forward to freezing my ass off a mile away from where we parked the car in a shitty abandoned building that’s going to give me mesothelioma. Do you want to be the one asking for financial compensation when I get mesothelioma? I don’t think so.”

“You’re such a big baby.” Roxy muttered, laughing softly. “I think we’re here.”

They stepped out into a clearing and shined their flashlights on the decaying building in front of him. It looked so cartoonishly like a haunted house that Dirk almost wanted to laugh. He shivered instead, hugging his jacket tighter around himself. Roxy bounced on their heels beside him and all but bounded up to the crumbling porch. It took some maneuvering to get up the stairs without falling through wood that had seen better days, but it seemed that all of a sudden that they were both staring down the door handle. 

“Do you want to do the honors?” Roxy asked. Dirk almost protested that this wasn’t his idea, why should he do the honors, but there was a telltale waver of anxiety finally catching up to them in Roxy’s voice, so he bit it back. The metal of the handle was cold to the touch, and hinges creaked dramatically when he pulled it open. Dirk did a little flourish with his flashlight and pretending to bow, hoping the humor would sooth Roxy’s nerves. 

“After you.” He said. Roxy giggled a little.

“Oh, wow, such a gentleman. My prince.” They cooed, walking through the doorway. Dirk followed close behind. Yeah, he wasn’t looking forward to anything this haunted house had to offer, but like hell was he going to let Roxy out of his sight.

As soon as they were both inside, the door slammed shut behind them and their flashlights flickered out. Roxy let out a tiny “eep!” and Dirk tensed.

“Dirk?” Roxy called out into the pitch black.

“I’m right here.” They sounded close, and in a moment, he felt Roxy’s hand slip into his. He squeezed it gently. 

“The flashlight batteries are brand new, they shouldn’t be going out like this…” Roxy mumbled, and Dirk heard a noise that sounded a lot like they were thwacking their flashlight on their thigh. “Aha!” The flashlight flickered back to life. After a few seconds of fumbling, Dirk managed to turn his back on too.

The room they illuminated was… surprisingly mundane, all things considered. A moth-eaten couch, a layer of dust thicker than the rug laying in the middle of the floor, peeling wallpaper that had seen better days. It kind of just looked like an abandoned house, nothing particularly out of the ordinary. The only thing that really set it apart was that-

“Jesus, it’s colder than Satan’s left nut in here.” Roxy said, shivering.

“You can say that again.”

“Jesus, it’s colder th-”

“Rox.” Dirk gave them a look, and Roxy giggled nervously again.

“Come on, let’s explore.” They said, tugging him in the direction of one of the doorways. It led them into a modest kitchen, similarly covered in a thick layer of dust. The cabinets were all empty except for one - also empty - box of Bisquick and a startled rat. Dirk most definitely did not shout in surprise when it squeaked at him, and Roxy didn’t laugh so hard they nearly cried, thank you very much.

The laundry room was also empty, and so was the office they poked their heads into, except for a piano that sat against the wall in surprisingly good condition. First floor exhausted, Roxy put a hand on their hip and grinned at Dirk, their confidence bolstered by the lack of spooky happenings beyond the door.

“Ready to go upstairs?”

“There’s no possible way saying ‘no’ will work, will it?”

“Dirk,” Roxy’s expression softened gently, “If you wanna leave, we can.”

“…Nah, I’m good.” Dirk bonked his shoulder against Roxy’s. “If we end up breaking our legs on an unstable set of stairs, though, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Roxy laughed. “You warned me about the stairs, bro.”

“I told you dog.” Dirk added emphatically. Roxy took the lead up the stairs, which creaked uncomfortably underneath them, but otherwise held steady. Atop the landing, only one door was open, albeit only slightly. They pushed it open and found themselves in a tidy bedroom. The bed was neatly made and covered with cobwebs, and the posters on the wall were too dusty and bleached with age to reveal what they originally were. Moonlight trickled in through the open window, painting the room an eerie blue. 

The pair poked around curiously, though Dirk expected it to be just as barren as the rooms downstairs. He stepped closer to the wall to investigate the posters, and his blood ran cold.

“Uh, Roxy?” He called them over, taking a step back from the wall. There was something dripping from it.

“The fuck?” Roxy said at Dirk’s side. “Wait… is that slime?”

“If we get slimered, I’m going to be so fucking mad.” Of all the ways to die, that would definitely be pretty high on Dirk’s list of ‘dumbest ways to beef it.’ The goopy green slime started forming shapes on the wall. 

6 6 6

“Oh, great.” Dirk said, trying to hold back the urge to bolt. “It’s a satanic Slimer.” Roxy frowned next to him, then looked around. They bounced over to the desk and Dirk gave them a bewildered look. “The fuck are you-”

“Aha!” Roxy withdrew a lonesome sharpie from one of the desk drawers and bounded back over to the dripping wall. Before Dirk could stop them, they drew their own dark shapes beside the numbers.

6 9 6 9 6 9

“You have got to be kidding me.” Dirk stared the wall, Roxy grinning at their handiwork. Another set of letters started appearing.

h a h a  n i c e .

Roxy brightened even further and wheeled around to face Dirk. “What do you say? Ready to be paranormal investigators?”

Dirk glanced at where the slime was spelling out w h o  y o u  g o n n a  c a and sighed. “I guess we’re the ghostbusters now. They are us.”

“Fuck yeah!” Roxy cheered.

f u c k  y e a h !

[st-just]

rox-and-prose replied to your post “Also - any media recs? PGTE is an all-time favorite, I'm currently...”

Sorry to sound clueless but what is PGTE?

What, you can’t sight-read a four letter acronym? Shameful. 

But no, it’s A Practical Guide to Evil, the non-Wildbow web serial I’m currently reading, updates Tuesday and Friday around midnight EST. It’s....significantly lighter reading than Ward, kind of like a moderately more self-serious Discworld? Intentionally generic high fantasy setting where the cliche stories have real metaphysical force pushing to make the world follow them. And-well, let me just copy-paste the synopsis at the top of the site. 

The Empire stands triumphant.

For twenty years the Dread Empress has ruled over the lands that were once the Kingdom of Callow, but behind the scenes of this dawning golden age threats to the crown are rising. The nobles of the Wasteland, denied the power they crave, weave their plots behind pleasant smiles. In the north the Forever King eyes the ever-expanding borders of the Empire and ponders war. The greatest danger lies to the west, where the First Prince of Procer has finally claimed her throne: her people sundered, she wonders if a crusade might not be the way to secure her reign. Yet none of this matters, for in the heart of the conquered lands the most dangerous man alive sat across an orphan girl and offered her a knife.

Her name is Catherine Foundling, and she has a plan.

(There are significantly more jokes than this implies, and also a boarding school arc.)

[axe-trio-commanders]

Saving Face

Secretly, Taimi was the true cool kid all along. The coolest of kids. Spoilers for lws2, lws1, and a violent, if non-permanent, death. Because this is how we do introductions.

      Wow, that was... anticlimactic. Zori looked down at the sylvari, dead at the bottom of the canyon- having slumped off of his little pillar when she’d shot the last arrow. She was sure he’d thought he was clever, jumping around like that, but... had Aerin... really not expected a ranger to use a ranged weapon? Though, granted, she’d... never seen a sylvari... act like that. Yes, some of them were a little off-putting, and there was the nightmare court, but he didn’t seem entirely...

“Commander? Wanna come down here and take a look?”

Zori stiffened, giving the group a nod, her voice... artificially gruff as she responded. “Right. Yes, of course.”

      ...She’d look at the body, see if it was hiding anything- llama hair, straw, that... incredibly, incredibly ominous note that she had to try very hard to fake confidence despite, her thoughts rather immediately going towards concern for Trahearne... She’d hurry back towards Prosperity before the rest, anxious to get to the bottom of this- that, and... maybe get a little alone time by herself. If she was entirely honest... joining up with the group that had killed Scarlet, by themselves- as far as she’d been told- while she was gone...? She knew they called her ‘boss’ because she was the commander, was supposed to know what she was doing, but... she saw the looks Ev was giving her. A human she’d met... relatively recently- Gixx had assigned her as Zori’s exploration partner after the defeat of Zhaitan, despite her initial protests- and... despite being a) human, b) a revenant from the mists, and c) from both several decades ago and Cantha... they’d gotten along pretty well so far. Unfortunately, this meant that Ev was very distinctly aware, unlike the rest of the group, that Zori... really didn’t live up to the reputation she’d been given- and, currently, was trying to portray to them. Confident, ready to fight entire dragons, having... any idea how to militarily strategize... a rather long shot from the ash-legion cub who happened to get involved in a revolutionary military campaign with a brilliant scholar and strategist. Neither of which were herself. She was, currently, thankful for the Ash Legion training that made her just good enough at faking confidence for the rest of the group to... seem to buy it, but... honestly, she was just grateful to Ev for going along with it for now. Maybe she’d have to attempt to make some time alone to talk to her about it. But- more importantly, Prosperity!

      The town was... small. It would probably be more homely without the vines everywhere- and, admittedly, Zori still wasn’t used to fighting the plants... but, soon enough, she’d find. Well, nothing about Aerin, but... something about Scarlet, instead. Scarlet Briar... Zori’d heard plenty about her- how she’d wreaked havoc upon the entirety of Tyria in the span of months, all while the commander was mysteriously missing. She knew Trahearne and Albas weren’t angry, at least- and Gixx knew why she’d been gone, though she suspected Ev was his response to her taking so long to get back. The rest of them, though- the rest of them knew Scarlet, connected her to Aerin before Zori’d even begun to think about it- and, with Aerin as a point of reference... she only respected them more, now. She... owed them the Commander-

“You, uh... on the trail of that other one?”

Zori blinked, turning back to the innkeeper charr. “...You’re gonna have to be more specific.”

“The other sylvari. Figured you’d be together, since she was askin’ about the same thing.” Martinus raised a paw to mark a... rather short height. “Small little thing, sorta...weirdly peppy, given the destruction. Helped clear a few of the new... ‘wildlife’, though, so I figured I may as well give her the info. Not like she could make it worse.”

Zori... paused, for a long while. So not Aerin, but... no, it wouldn’t be Scarlet, either. Scarlet was dead. Unless it was a-? No, the innkeeper wouldn’t have distinguished them otherwise... She nodded. “Right. And- where did you say the first sylvari bought property...?”

------

      “...That can’t be it.”

They stood in front of the door to Scarlet’s former room, everyone but Zori seeming to be on edge after she’d simply... opened the door. It’d been unlocked, nothing had exploded... almost like it was any other, no longer occupied room. Zori stepped aside to let Taimi into the room, protected by Scruffy, sure that she’d know better than anyone how dangerous this could be- she’d studied Scarlet, after all, right? Right- though she wouldn’t stop the rest of them from chasing her in, only following after everyone had rushed inside. Opportune time for a trap, but... still, nothing sprung.

“I... don’t understand. This stuff should’ve been stolen ages ago without a defense system, this is a goldmine,” Came Taimi’s voice- now uncorrupted by Scruffy as she sat atop the golem, looking around the room for clues.

“...I... think it’s been tampered with,” Zori began, slowly, straightening herself a bit more, abruptly, as everyone’s gazes turned to her. “According to the innkeeper, someone got here before any of us.”

“Another sylvari,” Marjory added- and Zori saw nearly everyone else in the room stiffen, knowing the inevitable connection- like Scarlet, and now...

“Like Aerin?” Rox finished the unspoken question, Zori forcing her fur to lie flat. As tempting as it was... she refused to believe this was relegated solely to sylvari. Not yet. She... couldn’t believe every one of them was capable of this.

“We can’t assume that. I saw Aerin too, but that’s still only two cases- it could still easily be coincidence. And, besides that, I doubt Taimi is the only one interested in Scarlet,” she argued, not quite managing to ease out the defensiveness in her tone, avoiding that... look Ev was giving her again. She... knew she couldn’t keep this up forever, but- not now. She turned to the door, raising a paw, noting the runes scrawled around it- eyes narrowing at a small little deformity. “And, clearly, whoever this was, they were... far more coherent than Aerin. These are explosive runes.” She’d triggered them often enough to recognize them by now- not... not that anyone but Ev had to know that. “And, without opening the door, they managed to disarm them with just a tiny scratch. Meanwhile, Aerin apparently forgot how longbows work.”

“Being smarter than Aerin doesn’t absolve them,” Marjory countered.

“Yeah, just makes ‘em more like Scarlet. Actually smart,” Taimi added, indignantly.

They... weren’t wrong, but... “Well, these runes can’t be the only thing they tampered with. We figure out what’s different, we might find out what they were looking for,” Zori concluded, the tip of her tail twitching as she watched the others discuss among themselves- Taimi quickly offering to stay behind and do the research, the rest of them discussing how safe it would be... as much as Zori admired them for taking down Scarlet, how quick they were to distrust sylvari was... worrying, as understandable as it was by now. Though... granted, whoever this was, they were acting... incredibly suspicious.

---

“Taimi! Taimi, are you alright?”

Zori followed in after Braham, noting his immediate concern for the young asura with a keen admiration- before abruptly noting the... pile of dead mordrem in the doorway that the young norn had just barreled over.

“Y- yeah! Yeah, I got into Scruffy just in time, I’m fine,” came the reply- Zori noticed a small falter in her voice, but... otherwise, she seemed to be doing... fantastic, for having, apparently, barely survived a recent mordrem attack.

“...Did you... give Scruffy some weapons while I wasn’t looking?” Came a question from Rox, having apparently just taken in the mordrem-pile.

“Well, ahah- funny story, that! Not only have I discovered far more things about Scarlet, buuuuut, I’ve also found our mystery burglar!”

“Well, I wouldn’t call it that- just visiting... ‘family’,” Chirped a voice from behind the golem, a small, perfectly pleasant sylvari face peeking out as she introduced herself.

Zori stiffened, guard down for just a moment, eyes wide in honest surprise. “Seremnis?”

------

      The ground had started trembling. Rude, quite honestly, to interrupt her in the middle of her study, but Taimi knew better than to see the tremors as anything but an imminent threat, having immediately taken the initiative to climb into Scruffy- she’s be safe there, she was sure. But... still, she watched the door to the small room in anticipation. She could hear the telltale sounds of vines bursting from outside, the... more telltale signs of various people screaming... huh. That was a new voice, wasn’t it? Er... was it? She had to strain to pick it out among everything else, but- she stiffened as something heavy hit the door, the wood already cracking in the single hit. Whatever it was must be...

      A little nose poked out of the bookshelf. A... sort of rat-like thing, but clearly not something meant to still be alive- a necromancer’s minion? Taimi watched as it made it’s way to the door, apparently ignoring the sounds on the other side entirely, climbing up the walls, right next to that little scratch before suddenly hacking up a piece of chalk- rubbing it’s little hands over it, then, in a single motion, swiping a chalky, bloody paw across the scratch, completing the rune- just in time, too, as a big, planty form bigger than any Mordrem Taimi had yet seen burst it’s way through the door- only for the entire wooden structure to, rather immediately, explode in its- and, from the looks of what remained- several other mordrem’s faces, sap splattered across the room. Well, that was... dramatic. Seemed the mouse thing exploded with them. But then who-?

      She watched as, then, from... apparently nowhere, small slashed cuts made themselves apparent on the fallen mordrem- those that were still moving slightly falling limp, small, green orbs of light rising from their fallen forms, towards another figure that soon made itself apparent as it approached the doorway. Too small to be human, certainly- and, once she was close enough and the dust settled enough, decidedly too planty, too, small spots on the mess of leaves on her head and small lines on her face glowing violet in the sandstorm-dimmed light as she put away... an axe and dagger, it looked like. And, rather abruptly, the sylvari seemed to notice Taimi, too, stiffening where she stood- on top of mordrem corpses- in the doorway, seeming to be in shock for only a moment before an apologetic smile came to her face. “...Ah. Hello, there- and sorry about the doo-hn!”

      Taimi huddled further back in Scruffy as she saw another vine burst from the ground, quickly wrapping itself around the small sylvari and constricting. No, no no! That had to be the right sylvari, she couldn’t die now! But- she couldn’t reach her weapons with the vines wrapped around her limbs, quickly reaching for the throat, as Taimi had... soon learned the vines were want to do- and though there evidently weren’t more than... maybe three mordrem left, they seemed to see the signs of a struggle, and leapt for the kill themselves, and- oh, alchemy, the sylvari almost seemed to accept it- not like there was much of a choice, with... that much sap spilling from puncture wounds, tearing wounds from the mordrem hounds... 

      And, then, there wasn’t quite a sylvari there anymore- the vine twisting up on itself, passing through the dark, smoky form that only faintly resembled something bipedal- that green light rising in streams from the mordrem around it, towards the... thing, an unearthly growl issuing from it as the green light was concentrated and shot towards the now-unsteady mordrem hounds, the vine falling to the ground, limp, in the onslaught- and when the orb hit the hounds, they found themselves rather quickly on fire, turning tail and running- only for the smoky form to send and even smokier, clawed hand after them- disappearing from the growing pile of downed mordrem to appear in front of the fleeing hounds, unleashing a final volley to finish them off- and then, slowly, deliberately, the... thing made it’s way back to the doorway, stopping there, and... then, the smoke... solidated- and, once more, before Taimi stood a sylvari- placing a hand on the doorway to steady herself, breathing hard, using her free hand to rub at her neck. “That is... never going to be pleasant...”

“What. Was. That?!” Taimi’s voice squeaked as she leaned closer to the console, studying the sylvari in front of her. So many secrets, so many questions to ask!

The sylvari looked back- relief holding her expression for a moment as she looked at the golem, then around at the... mostly unharmed room- then, a simple content, if... tired smile regained control as she straightened herself. “I believe it’s termed a ‘shade’, in most circles,” she chirped, watching the asura within the golem- a keen interest of her own hidden carefully behind friendly eyes. “But I really do think a more accurate description would be... carefully controlled, pure, life force. Necromancers tend to have a little extra, after all.”

“Alright! One question only incredibly vaguely answered. Question two- why are you here?”

The sylvari’s smile widened. “Just looking around.” She let a pause hang in the air before continuing. “I know, just as vague- but questions like these are an exchange, aren’t they? You clearly know plenty yourself, smart as you are. Does that sound fair?”

------

“You know her, commander?”

Zori looked to Taimi, immediately stiffening. This was going to be... hard to explain- just. Take a moment to calm down, compose yourself... she could do this, it’d be fine... she glanced back towards Seremnis, catching, just for a moment, a... very knowing look. She was doing this on purpose, wasn’t she. “...Sort of. She’s part of the pact, and I saw her... pretty often around Orr...? But we don’t... talk. Much.”

“I don’t think that means we can trust this,” muttered Braham.

“...But Trahearne does know her, and he trusts her,” Zori continued- catching the momentary look of surprise on Seremnis’ face. Did she... not know that...? “...And I’d trust his judgement more than anyone’s,” she concluded firmly. The rest still looked... worried, but... she hoped that if she made her decision sound final enough, it’d mean something. As off-putting as Seremnis was, Zori didn’t doubt that she’d done her best to support the pact- and, from what she’d heard from Trahearne about her wyld hunt... joining the team doing research into the new dragon made sense. She just... wasn’t sure how to tell that to the rest of them...

“Plus, she showed me the super-secret cave behind the bookshelf, with the condition that we shared info- and I convinced her to wait until the rest of you showed up to do anything.”

      Sounded more like the conditions of joining the team than anything to Zori. Terming it as an exchange... she recognized negotiation tactics when she heard them. Why couldn’t she just... ask, normally? Did she think this was some sort of exclusive... Zori remembered that knowing glance, and swallowed. She was... doing the same thing Zori was, wasn’t she? Putting on a face for the rest of the team. It... really was that simple, wasn’t it. Zori took a breath, moving forwards. “Well- I’ll... we should probably sweep through the cave first, make sure it isn’t trapped, since she’s a apparently good at disarming these things,” She decided, moving through the room towards the bookshelf- already moved aside to reveal a small, steep staircase.

“I certainly wouldn’t mind,” Seremnis chirped in agreement, stepping back to allow Zori through- the both of them heading through to the cave without much further argument, beyond an impatient Taimi telling them to hurry up and vague murmurs of further discussion quickly disappearing behind them.

      Zori let her posture relax a little as they entered the cave, letting out a breath. Flames, that was... tense.

“Sorry for the abrupt introduction, but I... figured you’d all be better off without having to worry about another Scarlet,” Seremnis apologized quietly. “You seemed like you already had a lot on your mind.”

Zori winced. “Yeah... I- I really, really should have been there to help with Scarlet, but-”

“That wasn’t something you could help.”

“Maybe, but... I need to make it up to them somehow. It was a mess. A... traumatizing mess, probably.” Zori let out a long breath. “...The sort of thing I hoped would die with Zhaitan.”

“...And if this all is any indication, Mordremoth will only be worse.”

Zori let out a snort. “No pressure, right?”

Seremnis stopped, giving the commander a small smile. “...If it makes you feel any better, I did bring snacks.”

Zori blinked, then gave her a smile back, relaxing with another long breath. “Oh, thank flames, some good news.”

[blasphemings]

parallels

//post-kh3 hayrox commission for @femgayriku

“Others too loud for you?”

Hayner glanced back at Roxas and smiled slightly. “Sometimes, yeah. Maybe I just wanted to stretch out without worrying I’m gonna knock one of them off and kill them if I move my arms too much.”

Roxas snorted. “That’s not—you actually worry about that?”

“I don’t know.” Hayner shrugged. “Don’t you?”

“Well, now I’m gonna be thinking about it next time, thanks to you.”

“Just here to, you know, keep you sharp.”

“Kinda have a hard time believing that’s the only reason you’re here.”

Hayner looked up in surprise to see Roxas smirking down at him as he leaned back against the clock face. The dying afternoon washed his face with warm light, and he found himself at a complete loss.

“Hayner. You good?”

“Huh? No, I—I mean, yeah, I’m fine, just, uh. You know.”

Roxas chuckled. “Not really, honestly.”

“Don’t be dumb.” Hayner rolled his eyes. “Anyway, you’re right.”

“Usually am, but what about this time?”

“Had another reason.”

“For—oh, yeah.” Roxas sat down gingerly beside him with a suspiciously neutral expression. “Did you?”

“Here.”

Roxas stared down at the ice cream; Hayner stared at Roxas until finally the latter laughed.

“Man, how’d you even get this up here without me noticing?” He shook his head as he took the ice cream from Hayner, doing his best not to flinch when their fingers brushed against one another's. “I was right behind you!”

“You kept stopping to catch your breath, dude.”

“I did not!”

“You—like, you—come on, you’re still out of breath now!”

“Maybe a little,” Roxas conceded. “But you have to admit it’s a lot of stairs.”

“Doesn’t—didn’t I see Isa carrying Xion up those? Last time, I mean?”

“Sure, because she jumped on his back and he didn’t have the heart to shake her off.” Roxas shook his head. “I’m not exactly there with the guy yet.”

Hayner glanced sideways at him. “I mean, it seems like he cares about her.”

“Things change in weird ways,” Roxas said.

They were silent a moment as they watched the sun sink closer to the horizon, staining the clock face red and purple. Hayner tried to hide the nervous twisting of his hands.

“Thought you had to be all in shape or whatever, though,” he managed at last. “You know, for all that keyblade. Stuff.”

“Training, you mean?” Roxas laughed. “Yeah, eventually. But we’re, uh.”

Hayner followed his line of sight down to the courtyard at the foot of the tower, where Riku sat alone on the stone lip of a fountain, his face buried in his hands. Clearly he had come here because he expected that no one would be able to see him. Roxas quickly looked away guiltily, but Hayner watched him with an odd expression.

“Anyway, we’re on hiatus for right now. Or, you know, not really hiatus, but nothing formal. Not until Riku—”

“…Right.”

Roxas looked up at the sky. “Poor Kairi.”

“Kairi?”

“Yeah. Feel bad for her. I mean, not like it was her fault, but. You know.”

“Mmm.” Hayner leaned back beside Roxas, acutely aware of how close their shoulders were. “I kinda feel for Riku.”

“Yeah?”

“I mean, it’s not like it was the same, but. You know.”

Roxas watched him expectantly as a breeze lifted the smell of cherry blossoms towards them. He could never tell if flowers felt more like a threat or a promise; he, at least, knew all too well what often had to be sacrificed in the name of new life.

“I just kinda know how he feels,” Hayner mumbled after a pause.

“You—wait.” Roxas leaned forward and looked up at Hayner, who was stubbornly refusing to meet his eyes. “Dude, are you blushing?”

“No!”

Roxas laughed in delight. “You are!”

“Rox—shut up—”

“Oh, don’t—come on, man, it’s not like I’m gonna tell anyone.”

Hayner glared down at him. “Gonna push you off this tower,” he grumbled.

“No, you won’t.”

He sighed. “No, I won’t.”

“You know…” Roxas considered his half-eaten ice cream thoughtfully, grateful for the cool evening air that prevented it from melting as quickly as it usually did during their trips to the tower with the others. “I fell off here once.”

“You—sorry, you what?”

“Well, not like—not physically.”

Hayner stared at him. “Roxas?”

“No! Okay, I know it sounds—in the data. The data town.”

“Hmm.”

“So, I mean, I guess it didn’t really happen.” He sighed, looking towards the ground below and feeling his stomach turn at the memory of it. “Felt like it did, though.”

“Is that how you usually think about it?”

“About what?”

“The data town. The stuff that happened there, I mean.”

“Well…” Roxas shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe?”

Hayner snorted. “You ever give a straight answer?”

“Got nothing to be ‘straight’ about.”

“You—” He blinked and looked away, hiding a smile. “Very funny.”

Roxas smirked.

“I don’t know, dude. I feel like it happened, but it didn’t happen to me. It happened to someone who acted like me and felt like me and reacted the way I would, I mean, to pretty much everything, and I remember all of that, but I still feel…it’s weird, you know?”

“I don’t, but I can sort of imagine.” Hayner leaned back on his elbows and glanced up at the clock face. Their shadows stretched out across the stone. Getting late.

“And it’s even more—like, for you, you don’t even remember it. So it really didn’t happen to you.”

“Well, I don’t know.” He paused. “When they showed us that photo, I mean. I felt like I knew you.”

Roxas chuckled. “I guess since data me and data you liked each other we didn’t have to worry too much about anything going wrong in person, right?”

Hayner bumped Roxas’s shoulder with his own. “Liked me, huh?”

He rolled his eyes. “I’ll push you off.”

“Nah.”

He looked down at his hands and took a deep breath. He’d lost track of how many times he had said the words to himself, in the mirror, thought them, dreamed them, mumbled them to Olette who, by that point, had reached the end of her considerable well of patience and was seconds away from shaking him by the shoulders by way of saying Just tell him already.

“Listen, Roxas, I don’t—”

“You said you know how Riku feels.”

When Hayner looked up, half relieved and half dismayed at having been cut off, Roxas was staring at him intently.

“Well, I mean, yeah.”

Roxas raised his eyebrows.

“What?”

“I mean…really?”

Hayner blinked. “Is that, like…weird to you?”

“No, I—weird isn’t—it’s not weird, exactly,” he said. “It’s just kinda. I mean, Riku and Sora are.”

“I know what they’re like.”

“And?”

Hayner screwed his eyes shut. “I said what I said.”

Roxas was silent for so long that he started to wonder if he had misread the timing, or misread Roxas, or just plain said the wrong thing.

“I guess I just have a hard time seeing how it’s the same,” Roxas said cautiously. “I mean, I don’t, it’s not that I think you’re lying or anything, it’s just. Riku and Sora have known each other pretty much forever. Sora can’t even—the possibility of living without Riku isn’t even there with him. I’m not just guessing at that, like, I know that. For a fact.”

Hayner watched the last of the sunset caught in Roxas’s hair. He had seen the black coats before; he knew what they looked like, and Roxas had explained to him that he used to wear that too, back when he was one of them, although Hayner always had difficulty imagining Roxas ever really being one of them. Xion either, for that matter, although with her it was different. She had maintained a fondness for wearing black despite everything, but Roxas refused, saying he would never wear all black again as long as he lived if he had anything to say about it.

“I don’t know what to tell you, man,” he said. “It was just like as soon as I knew you existed I knew you were missing.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Actually, I kind of always meant to ask you something.”

He was getting distracted now, just like he always did, making another excuse to skirt the subject that Roxas for his part had no idea he was even avoiding in the first place. It had been like this ever since Roxas returned, like he had a million questions to which he somehow already knew the answers, but he still needed to be sure. The same way he had seen that photograph months ago and he had known the face instantly. And it made no sense, of course, because he hadn’t ever met Roxas in person. For all he had known the photo was a trick; at least, it could have been, were it anyone but Sora who had brought it to his attention.

There had always been something familiar about Sora that he couldn’t place and had never been particularly compelled to try to understand. Until he found out about Roxas, at least.

“You keep spacing out like that and you won’t even need me to push you off, dude.”

Hayner blinked and shook his head to clear it. “Oh—yeah. Sorry.”

“So…” Roxas balanced his ice cream stick between two fingers, spinning it like a tiny baton. “You had a question?”

“I guess I just—I sort of wondered what it was like.”

“What what was like?”

“I mean…data me? Data us?” He shrugged. “You remember all that stuff and I don’t. It’s not really fair.”

Roxas smirked. “Unfair, huh?”

“Kind of.”

“I don’t remember becoming friends with you.” He shrugged. “You know when you have a dream, and you can’t really remember anything from before the dream, but it doesn’t seem that weird at the time?”

Hayner nodded.

“Yeah, so it was like that. I don’t know if there’s a ton else to say, really.”

He looked so crestfallen that Roxas sighed and added, “We did fight once though.”

“Fight?” Hayner narrowed his eyes. “Like, physically?”

“Both, sort of. It wasn’t, I mean, it wasn’t a real fight. Was a Struggle round.”

“No way!”

“Yeah, man! I would’ve told you before if I knew you’d get so excited.”

Hayner grinned. “Did I kick your ass?”

“Uh, obviously I won.”

“Hey!”

He rolled his eyes. “Hey, it’s not your fault. I’m the one who had experience.”

“Well, when we rematch in the real world—”

“When?”

“Yeah, we gotta. Come on.”

Roxas laughed. “What, you think you’re gonna do better than your—your data? I doubt it, man.”

“That’s such a weird way to put it.”

“What is?”

“I don’t know.” Hayner shook his head and looked away. “Feels like you’re saying it wasn’t really me.”

“I mean…” He blinked. “It was and it wasn’t, right?”

As far as Roxas was concerned, it had been; at least, that was how he had wanted to feel at first. Over time he had convinced himself it was better not to assume that the relationships formed within the datascape would mean anything at all out in the real world, figuring it would be better not to get his hopes up in the first place. Safer that way. The more he wanted them to be real, the less he would allow himself to believe it.

And then he had come home to find that, while he was not remembered exactly in the way he would have preferred to be, he was still expected, somehow, as a part of their lives that they knew was missing even before he had properly entered them in the first place. It was strange how it all interlocked despite never having really touched at all.

Hayner, for his part, considered himself to be at a disadvantage, given that Roxas remembered and he didn’t, and that Roxas wasn’t particularly given to recalling things in detail unless pushed to do so, and Hayner wasn’t particularly given to pushing. The question that he wanted to ask was an easy one in theory, and it was less that he was afraid of asking, more so that he was afraid of the answer. Afraid of getting the answer he wanted almost more than of getting the one he didn’t, because at least then it would be over. He could feel sorry for himself in peace and whine at Olette a little for pushing him so hard to bring it up and get over the whole thing in a few weeks. Months. Years. By the end of his life, maybe. Definitely.

But if he was right, and if there had been something between them in the datascape…what would he be expected to do about it? What could he do about it?

And yet every time he looked at Roxas, every time Roxas looked at him, he could only feel that the last thing in the world that he wanted was to get over it. Every day he watched Roxas reclaim the life that should have been his in the first place; plucking Xion off the sidewalk when she fell off the skateboard he was teaching her to use, laughing at the stupid things Lea said until he nearly cried, even helping Isa carry the growing number of ice creams up to the clock tower three times a week. Hayner felt that it was a privilege to be able to watch all of this, and even more so to be an ingrained part of it. Roxas had expected him to be there. He had expressed as much upon his return.

“Look, there is actually something I wanted to ask you about.”

Roxas suppressed his smile, not wanting to offend him and subsequently have to wait who knew how long until he got brave enough to try it again. “Yeah, I can tell.”

“You—” Hayner squinted at him.

“Go on. No, seriously.”

“Roxas…”

“Hayner!” Roxas groaned. “I really am going to push you off!”

“Dude, no, I just—” He shook his head. “I was kind of wondering if we were. You know.”

Roxas raised his eyebrows. Hayner was blushing again, but somehow this time it felt like the wrong moment to comment.

“If we were together?” he said carefully when it became apparent Hayner had lost the ability to continue.

“No���I mean, yes, but—”

Hayner buried his face in his hands. “This was hard enough when I practiced on Olette,” he said, voice muffled.

Roxas stared at him, unable to hide his delight. “You—practiced?”

“I mean, as long as I’m embarrassing myself, you might as well know about that too, right?”

“I don’t know,” he said thoughtfully. “I think it’s cute.”

“You—” Hayner paused, eyes huge. “What?”

“It’s cute that you cared enough to get nervous about it.” Roxas shrugged. “And we were, by the way.”

“I’m not nerv—” He blinked. “Wait.”

“What?”

“Just…just like that?”

Roxas shrugged. “Is there another way you want me to tell you about it?”

“Can you explain?”

“Not really sure what there is to explain.” He looked down at his nails, expression so calm it could only be forced. “We liked each other. Or, well, I liked you. You said you liked me. I guess I can’t really know what you were really thinking. If data even—I mean, you know, if it even really thinks at all.”

Opacity was a gift, one that he had developed over the course of his time with the Organization. It was his tendency to be enigmatic that had prevented Hayner from recognizing just how on edge Roxas had been for the past few weeks, every time they were alone together, because he knew how Hayner worked, could read him more thoroughly than he wanted to at times, and he had sensed how close he was to asking the question that would be half a confession when it came. Hayner didn’t remember Roxas’s habits, but Roxas remembered Hayner’s; it would have been something he could use to his advantage if he had been able to force himself to do anything about it.

Hayner found himself at exactly the same sort of loss for words he had feared when he had imagined this particular outcome. It wasn’t that he didn’t know what he wanted to say; it was more so that he had no idea how to say it, not helped by the fact that Roxas seemed to be completely unwilling or unable to look at him.

“All that heart stuff,” he said slowly. “That crap they’re always talking about up at the, you know, at Radiant Garden. I don’t really know how all that works.”

Roxas shook his head. “It’s okay—”

“No, but, listen.” He stood and leaned back against the stone. On the street below, lamps flickered on as dusk at last ceded its territory to evening.

“I don’t know why…I don’t really understand what happened to you. Or how it happened. But, I mean, they’re always saying that your heart can exist outside of you, right? It’s just what you think and how you feel about, about things, about people.”

“Yeah,” Roxas said, afraid of saying more in case the shake in his voice grew more difficult to hide.

“I mean—shit, I sound so—it’s not like I get the data stuff all that much better. But when they started talking about you I just kind of felt it, you know? I saw that picture and I felt like someone punched me.”

He smiled. “Was just you remembering me beating the crap out of you in the struggle tournament, probably.”

Hayner laughed. “No, that’s what I mean! How could I remember something that never happened to me?”

“I…”

Roxas remembered, momentarily, an earlier conversation, with the boy who was Hayner and wasn’t, in the place that was and wasn’t Twilight Town. He had sounded the same.

“I guess I’m asking if you—I mean, you get this stuff better than I do—do you think it could have been my heart even if it wasn’t me? Does that make sense? I feel like you happened to my heart back then even if you didn’t happen to me.” Hayner paused and groaned. “I knew this was gonna feel—stupid.”

Sometimes I don’t feel like you’re my friend.

Oh, thanks.

No, I—I feel like you’re something that’s happening to me, not just my friend. Do you ever get that? I feel like we’re happening to each other.

Is that…is that a good thing?

I think it is. I kind of hope it is.

“I think so,” Roxas said quietly, looking up at him at last.

“I think it could have been you.”