#she thinks he’s too soft for a Watcher and it annoys her. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fragileizywriting · 1 year

Note

I'd like uuuh FLP Trixx and DL Ultitled 8 please what funky things can you tell us

on it, boss!

spoilers for future scenes in flp and cw for arachnophobia for DL

FLP trixx:

this was me writing down dialogue that i want to have for this character, as well as her interaction with tikki. trixx is a mess and annoys the shit out of her niece-in-law. it's actually not supposed to be trixx; i'd gotten my bunny and my fox confused because i'm so used to a white bunny being named trixx (the yogurt) but it's actually hopp. i'm gonna have to make hopp's name more.... more in order to fit her in correctly. name her hope, or something. hoppla. something archaic and ancient. here's a snippet of the snippet:

“—Those who do not know me call me Fate.” There’s an air-like quality to the way they move across the starched planes, moving through the stacks with grace. Even while ginormous, bending at what should be the knees to meet Marinette at eye-level, their movements are soft, made of fog, airy and feather-weight. “And those who do know me, do not call me that.” “You’re Fate?” Marinette swallows hard. “You… you’re the god of Fate?” “Unfortunately, it’s a little hard to explain what she is.” “It’s rather simple, actually. I am the god that watches all universes.” “All of it?” “Any of it.” “Of everything?” Marinette tries again. “Of anything,” the form corrects her once more. “I don’t understand…” “I am the watcher of anything.” “Of anything?” “I know anything you want.” “But not… everything?” “Splendid!” the form wrongly known as Fate laughs. “I knew you’d follow along.”

DL untitled 8, lets see:

OH YEAH! this is a throwaway little scene that i'm probably gonna have to combine with another scene bc it's too short on its own but i don't want to let it go. there's a throwaway line both in the rewrite (i made sure to put it in there bc i find it so funny) and in the original that marinette hates spiders

original: She can’t kiss him, even though she wants to. She wants to see if he’ll complain if she chews on his bottom lip, but there’s no time. It has to be fast and unnoticable, and as much as she wants to take her time and go slow and milk him till the point it hurts, she understands the hurry. His excitement is tangible in her mouth as he guides her to the spot he wants her to stay. It’s perfectly sized for her. She crawls easily under the small cabinet space that allows for a chair or two that the bartender doesn’t need. It’s empty, thank god, and she doesn’t look any closer to the area around her than she has to, knowing that if she sees a spider there’s no amount of cum guzzling prospects in the world that will get her to crawl back into the space.

rewrite: It’s the size of a barstool, just tall enough to fit extra chairs that Luka doesn’t need, and it’s right where he stands in front of her on the other side whenever she sits down. It’s empty, quiet, and dark— even when they reenter their bubble and the music warps into a gentle muffled nothing to her sensitive ears, she at least has a single brain cell available that isn’t thinking about feeding and hunger and ambrosia to look for spiders. There is absolutely no amount of come-guzzling prospects in the world that will get her to crawl into a space that has spiders. The one thing she can’t stand is something with eight legs and furry. The idea is already making her dizzy.

anyway, this throwaway snippet i have in this one is just this

“I— oh god— I don’t do so well when they’re hairy—” she blanches, backing up entirely from the counter. “Is that— is it still alive, or?” “It’s just a spider, idiot,” Adrien snorts. “Come on. You’ve never seen a bug before? Someone get me a cup, I’ll get rid of it before Luka gets back from the bathroom. Oh, speaking of!” “That spider is huge. I haven’t seen one this big in—” The spider shifts in Marinette’s direction, moving towards her on the counter. She screams, latching onto the closest thing which happens to be Luka, letting her heels drop to the floor in favor of not puncturing his side. Giant, warm hands wrap around her almost on instinct as he laughs, holding her up as if her grip around his waist with her thighs isn’t iron-locked into place. She curses in all the languages she can think of, adding as many colorful ones as she can remember while in the process of praying for her life, squeezing tighter with her thighs, hiding her face into Luka’s shoulder. “Oh my god, oh my god! Get it away! Out!” “It’s just a spider,” Adrien repeats, but he’s too busy dealing with hiding his laughter in order to actually sound annoyed at her. What a dog. “What are you screaming for? Dear Lord, I’ve never heard you sound so scared before— you’re not going to get bit. You’re far more dangerous than the spider is.” “I think I’m going to faint,” she squeals. “Please, please, please get it out of here. I’m going to start crying, and the one person I don’t want to cry in front of is Luka.” “And why is that, exactly?” Luka laughs. “I care about your opinion of me far too much to let that happen,” she replies without thinking about it too hard. “Who cares about what ‘Mister Rich Boy’ thinks about me.” “Hey,” Adrien sounds off behind her. “Watch it, ‘Princess’, or I’ll put this spider on you.”“Don’t you dare.”

#speakizys #fire lily petals #demon lovin

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silentmeteorite93 · 10 months

Text

The Leaping Gazelles 19/34

Black cloud

The self-proclaimed intellectual sex man has no right to call himself that after several years of running, not only did he take all kinds of homoerotic or saber-rattling moves at face value. Even his own performance is not related to kind and decisive or sensible and intelligent, he was angry and made a good job of minimizing contact with the opposite sex in the rest of his life, completely giving his energy to hobbies in addition to his studies and career. It was thought that this would be of longer-term benefit to him as well as to other women who were poor people watchers.

Now this female doctor who had appeared out of nowhere had ignited his confidence, the nebulous sense of calling and familiarity that made even the most metaphysically hating of men think of lame calls called past lives. The two met each other on the internet, the least favored method in the circle, and there were no more fellow travelers in the two cities separated by a 3 hour train ride, the man decided to set off in search of the woman when he heard she was about to leave the country to attend the Education Forum PhD Summit. Neither of them had ever seen such passionate and courageous behavior, not even the man himself. Of course, the two of them did not regret his impulse, and even regarded that inexplicable impulse as one of the few divine accolades for his great capacity for action.

The two men met in a hotel they would later frequent, and with a textbook start they established what would become a very healthy and unhealthy relationship. The short-haired woman who had just asked for directions in the lobby with her authentic British accent had no idea that the man inside had just walked through the door of the room and was already wailing inwardly . After completing the agreed process as planned, the man sent the woman away. Thinking about the long green dress and smooth grinding just now. He found a pizzeria near the hotel. Gathering enough courage to send out an enquiry, the pizza that had been hanging in the air was stuffed into his mouth until he saw a message on his mobile phone that the woman had agreed.

The woman he met in the most annoying way a man can meet was the sincerest he had ever known, and the man found more matches and surprises when he communicated with her later, and couldn't even think of how to give the right footnote to his impulsiveness at the time, except for luck. Luckily for both of them, the process and the result were perfect, the inevitability and unrepeatability of the ending was the hardest thing to achieve in a work of art, and the man was sure that even the woman agreed with that one hundred per cent.

The glass-fronted hotel that stood at the end of the campus still pops up in man’s imagination today. The sweltering summer heat, the air conditioning in the room, the clothes the two had worn that day were all fresh in his mind. Even their first soft hum and the touch of bare feet on the carpet and the smell of the couch, the sunshine the next day and the pineapple looming on the bedside table.

She'd always been a woman of few words, not that she was clumsy when she became a teacher later in life, but she preferred the ritualistic form of writing a diary for a man to access. Wanting to offer her permanent loyalty she also began by pleading out her weaknesses when she had sworn to be owned and had them all broken by herself personally later in life. The bottom line of repeated pleas to be broken through was once too much for even the man to bear, he could sense the woman's obsession and somewhat extreme faith. Until now the man was secretly grateful for how passive and gentlemanly, he had been at that time, almost all the progress was slowly pushed by the woman's trust and curiosity, which allowed the man to not completely categories himself as a demon deep down.

#poem #writers #books & libraries #writing

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ireniclacuna · 2 years

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hello!! do you think you could write an affogato and caramel arrow x reader headcanons where the two cookies are rivals and they both want the reader for themselves? tysm if you did this request!

affogato/caramel arrow cookie x reader - headcannons

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A/N: anon i went through hell and back for this and i Still could not find the dividers i wanted for this. anyways here's caramel and affogato fucking duking it out, i hope you like this (i had so much fun writing this out the both of them are so Dumb...... mind empty only reader mfs)

tags: fighting, rivalry, insults, competition, affogato and caramel arrow cookie are so Stupid i love them, reader's gender isn't mentioned

i don't think CW'S/TW'S are needed for this, but feel free to tell me if they are!!

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° honestly man ur kinda like supremely unlucky if both of them are in love with u

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° ahem anyways

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° if you had asked caramel arrow cookie, when she was back in her First Watcher days, whom she liked the most, she would have probably responded with you.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° you're just so sweet to her- with all the hype you do for her, the tea parties, the soft smiles and grins- it's absolutely enchanting to someone like her. you're so brave too- you never fault her for anything, you always stand up for others. you're respectable! well-liked! (and perhaps a bit too mesmerizing to even look at, or lest she'll turn away suddenly, coughing into her robe.)

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° you would be even sweeter, she thinks, were it not for a snake constantly being by you.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° affogato cookie, she thinks, shaking half of her horned bow in the sky, eyebrows clenched together in frustration, is absolutely horrible. she can put up with the rat if he isn't there- absolutely fine, she can politely ignore him if she bumps into him. no harm done to her or her mind state. except.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° except, she thinks, she bumps into him almost every time she goes to see you. he's there, hiding behind his hand raised to cover his snide smile, letting out soft huffs of laughter with you. he's there whenever she tries to take you away for your own daily tea parties with her. he's there, almost every time that she's there.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° perhaps this is when the both of them entered some sort of rivalry (if there wasn't one existing before, then by the witches there sure as damn is one now) with caramel constantly dragging you away from the other, when affogato tries to woo you by his own forthcomings.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° for affogato cookie, he's more than... unpleased by the state of affairs- what exactly are you doing, hanging out with such a wild cookie? why not stay with him and drink some tea where it's nice and cozy?

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° it's even more annoying when she contantly drags you off, saying such statements such as: "ah, Y/N! how have you been? come on, we should catch up!" and then she tugs you off from the teaparty that HE arranged, just for the both of you, gives a death glare toward him, and drags you by your wrist. he had even made sure to choose one of his own rooms in the castle for your teaparty, to make sure she wouldn't find the both of you!

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° so he agrees (in his own head) to the rivalry- he knows that girl wouldn't be able to get such lavish gifts, like the one he gifts to you, or shows you such powerful magic like him. if he could, he would have much rather kept you for himself. but no, that wretched cookie just had to have seen you and wanted you for her own wild self. it's a very irritating problem for him.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° the worst part is, he thinks, in his own private study, writing down the daily reports, that he can't even fault her for also getting enamored by you! you're absolutely stunning- with your sweet smiles, your soft hands, the way how you genuinely don't need him for any favors, only for simple little tea parties, and to chat about each of their respective lives. you listen- you laugh akin to a songbird, you shine like the moon and its star, and you're just so... you, he thinks, that he can't fault for her falling in love with you.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° although, he thinks, very bitterly, she somehow manages to make you happy. it's always more of worthless gifts from her- taken from the forest, flower crowns fashioned together by skilled hands, running off in that damned forest together- she truly is part of the wilds, he thinks, gritting his teeth together. and despite that, you're always overjoyed when she does that dirty stuff- he'd much rather prefer for you to stay inside where it's more warmer and filled with food.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° needless to say, they absolutely do take every chance the both of them can to impress you (and take hits on the other.) sure, those look suspiciously like caramel arrow cookie's arrows that affogato is using for his bun, and maybe that's the same purple fog that affogato uses for his magic following after caramel, why do you ask?

---

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° affogato cookie (and by extension caramel arrow cookie) are very good at being annoying. it's more so that they're absolute heaven to be around when they're alone, always either smiling softly or poking fun at you. that's the part with which you're alright with, which you shine at caramel arrow cookie's latest ventures, gossip with affogato over the latest rumors in the castle. you're more than fine with it- it's a good way to spend a day with two people whom you enjoy.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° except, you realize, with a very begrudging sigh, that they absolutely do not go well together. it's like putting two rival cakehounds in the same room as each other and watch them duke it out.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° see, you wouldn't even have that much of an issue with whatever is going on between them if they did it when you weren't around. but no, you think, as you sip your tea angrily, they can't even civil for one single moment. you ignore the thinly veiled insults thrown at caramel, ignore the scathing critiques at affogato, and definitely ignore their werid tendency to try and out do the other.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° you had tried (really, you had!!) to get the both of them to sit still for once and to have a nice tea party together. they're both your friends- they should be able to get along together! except they do not, as you munch on one of the sweets, and simply sigh when caramel arrow cookie repeats her second speech of the day, all centered on how "-Affogato is a snake and does not deserve to be in this great kingdom made by Dark Cacao Cookie or near you-", while affogato snarkily remarks on her various hobbies and ventures. "Are you sure you aren't talking about yourself, you utter-"

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° they both are acutally ignoring you now- far too focused on whatever sort of rivalry they have now to notice you slinking away slowly from the table and running out of the room, leaving the both of them behind with tea that was barely touched.

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° both of them end up getting a very harsh chewing out from you, when they had finally stopped arguing and realized that you had ran out on them. they end up making another silent vow (in their own respective minds, of course, caramel arrow cookie would never want to speak to that man willingly, while affogato mutters under his breath about the far too annoying first watcher.)

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° affogato cookie and caramel arrow cookie are both stupidly determined enough- one day, when the other is finally out of the picture, they'll be able to have you for themselves!

┊ ➶ ｡˚ ° til then (or til you get annoyed to the point to ignore the both of them, whichever of the which) they'll continue out their little competition of trying to win a fair cookie's (such as yourself) heart.

the un-featured part is affogato and caramel fucking having a fist fight with each other. like literally they're tearing out their robes and making SURE to leave black eyes and shit like that. if u ever ask them what happened they'd both just be quiet and ignore it

#cookie run kingdom #cookie run kingdom writing #crk #lacuna✧writes #lacuna✧requests #affogato cookie #caramel arrow cookie #caramel arrow cookie x reader #affogato cookie x reader #they're so DUMB i love them

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sodadrabbles · 3 years

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Hello! Could get get some wholesome shy younger sister reader with anybody? Just some wholesome headcannons or story is fine she/her pronouns please :D

Oh friend you’ve poked right at my soft spot. SisterInnit, anyone?

Pairing: Tommy x sister!Reader

Rating: FLUFF! Tooth-rotting FLUFF!

Summary: What it’s like to be the little sister of popular Minecraft Youtuber TommyInnit!

Tommy absolutely adored you to no end

He likes to joke about how he thinks younger kids are so annoying

But he just loves you

Whenever he isn’t recording, he will have you sit with him in his room while he edits or trolls around on Twitter

Talking to you about the funniest little things!

He once made a video about teaching you how to play Minecraft with Phil

“My little sister makes Minecraft 100% Cuter!” All it consisted of you shyly saying hello to the watchers and chatting with your older brother

“Tommy, what’s this?” gets said a lot.

You talk to Phil quite a bit too. Being a bit younger, you don’t quite get that he’s just a friend of Tommy’s

You’ve heard him call Phil ‘dad’ quite a lot

So you end up calling him Papa Za.

It makes Phil laugh so much

“Child no-”

When you once walked in on Tommy streaming

OH BOY

“No no no, (Y/N), I’m streaming!”

You just stare past your older brother

And you see Minecraft! You wanna play!

Chat is just losing their minds watching this little child take over Tommy’s stream

But once you realize there’s a camera there and hundreds of little names are popping up on the other monitor

You clamber out of sight into Tommy’s arms

“Tommy they’re all talkin’ to me!”

He’s laughing so hard he can’t breathe

But Tommy just couldn’t kick you out he’d feel so mean

So he let’s you sit with him

You stay quiet, messing with your fingers and not looking at the computers

Tommy is so confused- You were just so excited?

It takes Tubbo, from the other end of the Discord call, saying ‘she looks so shy when she does that’ for him to realize

You must be shy because of chat!

Fear not big brother Innit to the rescue!

Closing chat, he begins talking to you about your favorite part of Minecraft

All the flowers

“(Y/N), look, there’s so many here.”

He has you point to all the different kinds and name them

It gets you feeling more energetic by the second, the thought of all those words gone from your mind

#tommyinnit x reader #tommyinnit x y/n #mcyt x reader #dsmp x reader #request #headcanons #xmooshroomx #tommyinnit x you #dream smp x reader

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tirsynni · 2 years

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I know you talked about it like ages ago but I just came across your opinion on Hannigram and Aeon relationships and I must say that what sticks out to me is the balance and imbalance of power and an impact, or lack thereof, they're leaving on each other. The entire Hannibal series is about two equals. Will is trying to suppress his dark side but eventually embraces it and so it begins a really messed up but really fun to watch game between him and Hannibal where they take turns to fuck each other up. With Aeon however... Ada always gets the upper hand and always gets what she wants at the end. Her and Leon's encounters look the same. It's not a bad thing, I'm not being mean here. But you can't really see any noticeable changes in them AFTER their meetings. Their behaviour, way of thinking never changes under each other's influence. They seem affected by each other only during the missions, for a moment. After that everything goes back to what it was, Ada is still morally grey and Leon is still a noble man.

Unfortunately, I couldn't say for sure because Will and Hannibal have several seasons to develop while we only get flashes of Leon and Ada. It doesn't help that I'm still not sure that Capcom actually has a plan for Ada.

Because of the irregular interactions, it's difficult to talk about growth. Capcom failing to recognize that the characters should actually be doing things in between games and interacting doesn't help. I wouldn't say, though, that they and us as the players/watchers don't get anything out of their interactions. Even regarding the power imbalance portion, while Ada usually gets the upper hand, there is no denying that Leon definitely messes with her, even if it is on a more emotional level than a power level. There is an impact and the pair together provides more information on the individuals.

Leon is noble, yes, but he's far more morally flexible than many other heroes in the series. Can you imagine Chris being sorta friends/allies/whatever they are with Ada? Chris is very much right/wrong, black/white, while Ada repeatedly shows us that Leon isn't. Leon tends to be people-focused. He has a strong sense of justice, but his definition is very different from Chris's. I'm not sure if any of the heroes could bend enough to have the tentative relationship that Leon has with Ada.

His relationship with Ada also shows other parts of his character: as much as he likes to give other people the benefit of the doubt, he remains a very clever man. Even in RE2, when he went along with her story of being a FBI agent (I'm not that familiar with the original), he was able to quickly adapt to new information and act on it. Later, when they meet again, Leon is able to talk with her, but he knows to be wary. Multiple conversations occur with the pair pointing weapons at each other.

Also, while Capcom loves painting Ada as the woman of mystery and all that bullshit, we are repeatedly shown Leon's effect on her. At the end of the RE2 remake where you play as Ada, Wesker is annoyed with her because he thought she was focused more on Leon than her job. Only her showing that she had a sample got him to back off. Hell, in RE2, her life would have been simpler if she just shot Leon at the end, but she couldn't do it. In RE4, Wesker orders her to kill Leon before later ordering Krauser to do it after Ada makes absolutely no progress. Wesker probably knew that Ada wasn't going to do it and Krauser was a backup, if not more. There are repeated instances of Ada taking the time to help out Leon even when she has other things going on, stalling off her own plans and delaying her escape/next steps to assist him. Her relationship with Leon is the clearest indication in the series that while she can be a ruthless mercenary, she has some soft spots, too.

But yeah: because of the completely different formats, it's difficult to compare a three-season show like Hannibal to a game series extending over two decades with multiple years occurring between the games and movies. Hell, it's challenging to even comment specifically on Leon's growth when the setup for the games are so radically different: RE2 = rookie, RE4 = government agent, RE6 = government agent who literally starts the game by shooting a friend in the head and then going through a situation straight out of his nightmares. Also the fact that there's six years between 2 and 4 and fifteen years between 2 and 6.

I really, really wish Capcom would give us more, but really... at this point I would just be happy if they brought some of the old characters back in RE9.

#resident evil #meta #anonymous #leon kennedy is a cinnamon roll #i still love ada #and wish capcom would give us more on her #she was fantastic in damnation though

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staysaneathome · 3 years

Text

That Day (Evening)

(The Entity-Swap kid fic WIP that now has a fourth part. Warnings for continued endangerment of children and high levels of pining)

The park is quite a bit further from where they lost the teenager in the hijab than Jon initially thought.

It’s almost funny, how two or three miles doesn’t sound like a very long way to run-walk. Just two or three, the small number making it sound doable, like they should be able to get there in a matter of minutes.

It’s less funny when they’ve been walking for over half an hour and Melanie won’t stop whining about how her legs are tired.

”Carry me.” She demands imperiously.

“No.” Replies Jon, flatly. “Last time I did that, you scratched me really badly. My shoulder and face still hurt.”

”They do not.” Melanie says, as if her denial is enough to undo all the damage. “And I won’t scratch this time. Carry me?”

”No. It’s not even much further to walk.”

”Uuuuugh, you said that last time!” She complains. “It’s been for-eeeee-veeer! Can we at least get some juice or a Freddo Frog or something?”

”With what money?” Jon asks archly. That buys him maybe half a minute of blessed, blessed silence.

“Wait. You don’t have money?” Melanie asks with a frankly insulting level of incredulity. “But aren’t you like, an adult? Adults have money!”

”I’m twelve!” He sputters, gesturing to himself. “Do I look like I have any money?”

There’s a moment of silence as Melanie eyes him up and down. “I thought you were just ugly.” She says dismissively. “Wait. If you aren’t an adult, can I be in charge?”

”No!” He snaps indignantly. “I’m still the oldest.”

”That’s dumb.” Melanie complains. “You’re dumb. And ugly.”

”And older than you.” Jon reminds her smugly. He’s been with her for long enough by now that he knows when to dodge out of the way when she tries to pinch him.

It’s a relief when the park finally comes into view.

It’s an even bigger one when he catches sight of Martin sitting on the balance beam, looking around patiently.

It lifts a weight off Jon’s shoulders that he didn’t even know was there when Martin catches sight of him and his face breaks out in a grin, like the sun rising. Then Martin’s face rapidly falls, and he’s sprinting over to them, looking like he’s seen a ghost.

Jon has a fleeting fear that the teenager in the hijab or the searcher are right behind them, poised and waiting for him to turn around to strike.

Martin slows, huffing and puffing as his hands reach out towards him, shaking slightly. “Jon! Jon, oh my gosh, what—what happened to, to your arm, to your face?!”

Ah, Jon thinks, as Martin cups his less-savaged cheek gently and tilts his head. Was that all he was frightened of?

”It’s nothing.” He says gruffly, trying not to think about how weird-hot-odd it feels to have Martin worry about some little scratches like this, fighting the urge to fidget. “Just doing, um. Doing what I had to.”

Martin’s eyes are big and liquid and sad, and he frowns, opening his mouth—

“Liar. You didn’t say it was ‘nothing’ when you wouldn’t carry me.” A sour voice interrupts.

Jon startles and Martin whips his hand away so fast it feel like a burn, both of them turning to stare down at where the interruption came from. Melanie is starfished on her back on the grass, glaring up at them moodily, one sweaty hand still clutching Jon’s. The Watcher informs Jon that her clothes will have grass stains on them when she gets up. Jon tries to inform the Watcher that he doesn’t care, but is ignored, as usual.

Melanie eyes Martin critically. “Are you his friend then?”

Martin straightens up, his usual smile on his face. “Erm, um—yes! Yes, yes I am Jon’s friend! Mar-Martin Blackwood! Um, hello! And, and you are?”

Melanie pulls her sweaty hand out of Jon’s grip and holds it out to Martin, sitting up. “M Melanie King. Jon kidnapped me and we’re friends now too.”

Martin’s smile freezes as he processes that sentence. His eyes dart between Jon and Melanie. “Ah. Um.”

”I did not.” Jon protests. “You were being kidnapped by a searcher, and I saved you.”

”Didn’t do a very good job of it.” Melanie mutters, pulling up grass by the roots and dropping it on his shoes.

Jon retreats with a disgusted noise, trying to shake it out where it’s fallen through the holes of his too-big trainers. ”Stop that! And-and we’ve just met, we’re not friends!”

There’s a moment of silence.

Melanie’s eyes start to water. She begins making an awful noise that makes some part of Jon’s brain he hadn’t even known existed freeze up and go “Oh no”.

He exchanges a brief terrified glance with Martin, who reaches out. “Oh, no, no, no, oh please—”

Melanie wails, the sheer force of the noise making Jon stumble backwards.

“Melanie, shh!” He hisses, darting glances around at few parkgoers who are stopping to stare, “You’re making people—”

”NO!” She bellows, swiping out at him with a poorly aimed claw, tears and snot running down her face in rivulets. “I HAE-HATE YOU! I HATE THI-I-IS! I HATE THAT EVERYTHIN' SO ANNOYING, ALL, ALL THE TIME, AND IT DOESN'T STO-O-OP!! I HATE MY FRIENDS NOT, NOT LIKING ME ANYMORE! I HATE MY DADDY GETTIN' SAD 'CAUSE OF ME! I JUS' WAN' IT TO STOP! I WAN’ MY FRIENDS BACK!! I WANNA GO HOME!!”

The little girl curls in on herself, the bright green grass stains on the back of her sparkly top shaking with her as she continues to sob like her little heart is breaking.

Jon has no idea what to do to fix this, hands clenching and unclenching uselessly at his sides. He has no idea how she was touched by the Slaughter (though the Watcher croons for him to question her, to learn, to Ask—), and even if he did, it’s not as though he could make it just go away, as if a mark like this could be removed with a bit of scrubbing. This isn��t something that can just be pulled out of her, like a loose tooth. It’s part of her now, wedged deep inside like the Forsaken is in Martin, and the Watcher is in Jon.

He doesn’t know what to do. He doesn’t Know—

“I-I’ll be your friend!” Martin babbles frantically.

Jon stares at him, feeling suddenly, irrationally betrayed.

Melanie gulps and sniffles, peering up at him through red-rimmed eyes. “…you promise?”

”Cross my heart and hope to die.” Martin smiles, holding out a small, ragged tissue. “C’mon now, can you give me a big dragon blow into this?”

She gives him a Look, like she knows he’s trying to make her laugh and is cross with him for it, but does as he says, making a noise that’s a bit like a honk.

“Good job!” Martin praises, while Jon crosses his arms and tries to make his face not frown like he wants to. This is stupid. You can't be friends with somebody you’ve just met, you don’t Know them, it’s silly. Childish. Plus Martin’s his friend. Melanie has no right to come along and-and steal him like this. Martin looks up and catches sight of Jon’s face. His smile dims a bit and his colors go paler, more faded, which makes Jon’s tummy squirm uncomfortably.

Still, he keeps babbling, “I-I’m really happy to be your friend, and Jon’s friend too! I don’t have many friends at home, so this is. This is nice. To be friends with you two. It makes me happy. Do you have superpowers too? Like how I can go invisible, and Jon can make people tell him stuff and Know things?”

Melanie shrugs, tearing up the tissue in her hands. “Dunno. Making people get into fights, or something. Invisibility’s cool, I guess. But getting people to tell you stuff isn’t a superpower. That’s just asking questions. It’s dumb.”

“No it’s not!” Jon bristles indignantly, all his focus on the little friend-thief. “Asking questions can be dangerous. Especially when you can’t stop yourself from answering them. How’d you think the searcher was going to eat up your life?”

“W-well, a brain sucker monster like her wouldn’t need to ask questions, would they? They’d just bite your ugly head off and know everything anyway.” She argues back, little chest puffed out and tears all but forgotten. “If all that creepy lady was going to do is ask questions, I could take her. I just wouldn’t open my mouth. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.”

Jon barely notices Martin going wide-eyed and near translucent out of the corner of his eye as he opens his mouth to prove exactly why Melanie is wrong.

But he freezes up when he hears a soft, deep voice behind him. “Oh, really? Care to put that to the test?”

The searcher smiles down at the three of them.

Her eyes are empty and something hungry looks out from them.

”Come, little ones.” She coos, one hand outstretched. “Come home with me. Come back to the Collection. You’ll want for nothing, never hungry, never cold, never tired, never lonely, never angry. And you’ll hear such interesting stories. We’ve missed you, my prized Recorder. I’ve missed you so much.”

Jon feels frozen, pinned like a bird in the eyes of a snake, a part of him that he never wanted to know existed clamoring at him to take it, take her hand, you need the stories, you need—

A large, warm, soft hand grabs his, and yanks him back into the fog.

Jon yelps, though it feels like his yell is swallowed up in the crushing, inescapable isolation that now surrounds him. He sees Melanie, but it’s like she’s miles away, her shouting and directionless anger losing teeth as it dawns on her how utterly, utterly alone they both are. They aren’t friends. They can’t rely on each other. They’ll lose sight of each other and perish here, unremarkable and unremarked on and alone.

”C’mon!” A familiar, kind voice comes through the fog, shocking Jon back to his senses. “We’ve got to go! This way!”

His hand is being held. Of course it is. How could he forget? He and Melanie are holding Martin’s hands, as the barely visible boy tugs them through the eddies of fog, away from the searcher.

They run through the dreamlike realm of the Forsaken in a weird, birdlike configuration.

Martin had grabbed the hand which was closest to him on Jon, while Jon was still facing the searcher, locked into her gaze. The result is that his arm is drawn almost painfully across his body as they run, his sweaty palm clutching Martin’s tight, sure that if he even loosens his grip enough to change to a more comfortable position, he’ll be lost forever in the fog.

Melanie is stumbling along on Martin’s other side, her legs weak and shaky, almost skipping at some points to try and keep up with the pace Martin is setting, glancing back every so often. Tears are running down her face almost absentmindedly.

For a moment, as they pass through the darkening trees and get further and further away from the playground, Jon thinks they might actually make it. They might actually escape the searcher and live to fight another day.

”Stop.”

Jon feels his legs lock up, all his muscles seizing together as though cramped. The burning sensation of being Watched sears itself into the back of his neck, the entirety of him Known and Seen and Exposed.

He faintly hears Martin and Melanie scream as though they’re being peeled open and pinned down for study as he crashes face first into the mossy earth beneath them.

The searcher takes her time strolling up to them, forcing Jon to listen to his friends’ pained whimpers where they’ve fallen. Martin’s face scraped viciously from the bark of the tree in from of them, and Melanie unable to even inch off of where a root is digging into her stomach.

That’s how he knows it’s the man looking through her eyes, delighting in their distress.

”No,” He can hear Martin choke out, “No, st-stop it, st-stay away fr—!”

”Look at you.” The searcher coos in a tone that has never been her own. “All banged up and bruised. Do you enjoy this, Jon? Do you enjoy hurting your friends?”

Jon wants to scream, to cry, to yell that of course not, of course he doesn’t, he’d never want to, but it feels like his throat is closed up. It’s all he can do to suck in shaky breaths through his nose as the searcher gets closer and closer.

“Kill you,” He can faintly hear Melanie wheeze. Jon’s honestly at a loss for whether she’s speaking to the searcher or to him. “Swear, I-I swear, kill you, I’ll—”

“Come now.” The searcher says pleasantly. “That’s enough games. Time to come back now, children, Recorder. Time to come back to the Collection.”

He can see her hand reaching down for him.

A dark blur slams into the searcher.

Jon hears several short screams, what sounds incongruously like a growl and then a loud, wet, puncturing noise.

His limbs release from the rictus they’ve been forced into.

The burning sensation of being Watched fades to the ever-present prickle on the back of his neck.

Jon jerks his head up with a punched out gasp, reaching for the others, pulling them behind him even as he turns to See what is happening, what’s going on.

There’s a lady kneeling over the searcher’s limp, lifeless body.

She’s got combat boots and a hoodie that’s slipped down from her shoulders to bunch around her elbows. A small burst of scar tissue, almost like a flower, is visible and hidden again as she shifts, more animal than human in her movements. It reminds Jon of a nature documentary he watched with his grandmother once, a mountain lion stalking forward lithely to devour its prey. There’s the same intent, hungry stare in her eyes that Jon vaguely recalls the mountain lion having as she draws up to her full height and pins the three children huddled at the base of the tree under her gaze. There’s a penknife in her hand that’s dripping with the searcher’s blood.

He hears Martin suck in a frightened whine behind him, fog spilling out to pool around Jon’s ankles. Melanie’s breathing so fast she sounds like she’s a mere moment away from hyperventilation.

They can’t escape like this. Not from a killer touched by the Hunt. Not without a distraction of some kind.

Jon’s mouth is opening before his brain can process what an awful idea this is. “How did you get that—”

He doesn’t even see her move.

All he knows is the breath is punched out of his lungs and his feet are dangling uselessly as the Hunter slams him into another tree, a snarl on her lips. The bloody penknife is pressed hard into the thin skin of his throat.

”So you’re one of them, hm?” The Hunter snarls, the burr of her Welsh accent mixing with a growl that almost drowns out Martin’s frantic cries of “JON!” A tiny part of his brain that isn’t frantically trying to stay as still as possible notes that she’s got Melanie’s sparkly hair bobble stretched around one wrist.

“I wonder.” The Hunter says, with fake casualness. “What’d be the best way to make sure you can’t ask any more of them pesky questions that hurt people, hm? The tongue? Or the voicebox?”

”DAISY, STOP!”

It’s like magic.

The Hunt slides away under the young woman’s skin like someone’s pulled a blanket over it. Not gone, the shape of it still plainly visible, but softened, gentled by the cover’s drapes and folds. The arm that’s holding Jon up trembles, ever so slightly, and the penknife is finally, finally pulled away, even if only by a few centimeters. Jon’s breath hitches in his chest and he has to blink away tears.

As she twists around to face the teenager in the hijab, Jon’s given a clear view of one of her ears, which has begun to flush pink, for some reason.

”Basira.” There’s barely concealed excitement in her voice that is very confusing right now. “Hi. I, uh. I was in the area, and I, uh. Noticed you were having some trouble. So I found those kids that, that you were looking for.”

”That’s. Nice? But, Daisy, I need you to put him down now.” The teenager in the hijab is holding her hands out placatingly. “That boy’s not dangerous, not like Rayner. I wanted to ask him some questions.”

The teenager in the hoodie scoffs, but does as she asks, tucking the penknife away and lowering Jon to the ground. “If you say so. Just don’t let him ask you any—they’re tricky, Eye types like this.”

Jon feels his legs go wobbly the moment his feet touch earth. He slumps, breath wheezing out of him, heart racing like he’s running from the searcher all over again.

”JON!” Martin’s arms curve under his, pulling him forward into a tight, warm, soft hug. “Oh, oh god, I-I’m so sorry, ah-are you okay?! Did she hurt you?”

Jon can only grip feebly back, burying his head into Martin’s increasingly saturated shoulder as it feels like he shakes apart.

Part of his brain that isn’t focused on clutching onto Martin like he’s a lifejacket and swallowing compulsively to remind himself that he’s alright, he’s whole, faintly registers the sound of something smacking flesh, and the Hunter going “Ow!” “That’s what you get!” Comes Melanie’s shrill reply. “Don’t you ever touch him again, okay, you big, big, stupid, bullying, ugly—!”

”Okay, that’s enough of that.” The teenager in the hijab—Basira? says. “Break it up, you two.”

There’s the distant sound of dried leaves and tree detritus crunching underfoot, and then Martin’s breath hitches. Jon tightens his grip, preparing to twist him away from whatever’s threatening them now.

”Hey, easy, easy.” Basira’s voice comes from a lot closer. “I’m sorry about Daisy, but she’s very…passionate about stopping monsters. Like the one chasing you three. That was a monster, wasn’t it?”

“Y-yeah.” Martin stutters. “She was going to hurt Jon. Just like she did.”

Jon stiffens at the sound of the warning growl, but Martin doesn’t let go of him, even though Jon can feel his heart racing in his chest. A peek shows that Martin’s staring down the teenager in the hijab with a wobbly lower lip, but eyes set hard.

”And she’s very sorry about that.” Basira demurs. “It was all a big misunderstanding, wasn’t it Daisy?”

There’s a moment, and a decidedly grumpy, “Yes.”

“There we go.” There’s a rustle, and Jon withdraws his head from the safety of Martin to see that she’s pulled out a small leather-bound notebook and a pencil. “Now, could I ask you both some questions? About the whole,”

She makes an all-encompassing gesture to them and the cold fog of the Forsaken coiling around them.

”Our superpowers?” Martin blinks. “Why? Do you have them too?”

The teenager shakes her head. “No. I’m ah, uninvolved in a lot of this. But then a boy I was babysitting got kidnapped by shadow monsters, and I met Daisy while trying to rescue him, so ‘forewarned is forearmed’ and all that. And since I’m under strict orders not to go to the Orsinov Institute—”

”I told you,” The hunter—Daisy—interrupts. “That place is dangerous. They say they research stuff, but something ain’t right there. You’d walk in, and something else would waltz out in your place.”

Jon can’t help his curiosity. “H-how—?” It feels like his vocal cords dry up under the glare the Hunter pins him with. Thin ice, she mouths at him.

”Yes, thank you, Daisy.” Basira cuts in, shifting so she breaks the line of sight between the Hunter and Jon. “So, as I am banned from ever setting foot in the one reputable center for the study of the supernatural in this country, I have to do my own research piecemeal from subjects in the field.”

Martin and Melanie are giving her blank looks. “She wants to ask us about the Watcher, the Forsaken and the Slaughter and what we can do.” Jon translates.

Martin nods with a little ‘oh’. Melanie just looks even more confused.

”I just want my Daddy. I wanna go home.” Her voice breaks on the last word.

Basira’s face softens at that.

”Y-yeah.” Martin says, shifting from one foot to the other. “A-and I need to get my train back. My, my mum’s probably worried about me…”

Jon can’t quite help the way his arms tighten at that, though he loosens them quickly. It’s only natural. The sun’s practically gone down, after all. Whether Jon desperately wants him to stay has no import on the matter at hand.

“Right.” Basira scribbles down something in her notebook, then tears the paper out and then tears that into three strips. “This is my mobile number, and email address. You can contact me using either of these to talk about…superpower things.”

”And I’ll find you if you try to vanish, easy as anything.” Daisy adds with a toothy grin. “So don’t.”

”Daisy.” The hunter holds up her hands. There’s dark red blood on the one that held the knife. “I’m joking, Basira, joking.”

Jon, despite how much he doesn’t want to, detaches from Martin. “I, I don’t have a phone. Or a computer.”

Basira hums, her head tilted to the side. “You know Angel of Islington? Near where you two got on the bus earlier?”

Jon nods as she goes on. “I can be found around there most days. Just drop by if you feel like sharing any of the things you’ve seen so far. And who knows? Maybe I’ll have some stories for you too.”

Something leaps in Jon’s stomach.

Still, the way the Hunter’s gone tense puts him on edge, so he makes himself say, “Only-only little ones. Not, not big stories.”

The teenager in the hijab nods impassively. She claps her hands together. “Well, that’s enough excitement for one day, I think. Let’s see about finding your parents and getting you all home, shall we?”

Daisy nods, stepping close. Her ears are still red in the fading evening light. “I’ll come with you.”

Basira gives her an unimpressed look and a snort. “And then who’ll deal with that?”

They all turn to stare at the searcher’s body. Martin shivers and grabs his hand, squeezing gently. Jon almost jumps when he feels something small and warm press close to his other side, before he looks down and sees Melanie’s leaf-and-twig-filled hair. The other sparkly bobble is almost falling out too.

Daisy’s eyebrows draw together and she lets out a small growl. “Ugh, fine. But just, um. Call me, maybe, next time? If you’re gonna go chasing after weird things.”

Basira smiles, playing with the edge of her hijab for some reason. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Jon glances back as she ushers the three of them out of the park, shoulder and throat and everything else aching and feeling like he imagines an orange must do after the juice is squeezed out of it. The hunter’s eyes shine in the looming dark as they go, shifting from something that Jon wants to call friendliness to a more animalistic bent as she crouches over the body of the searcher, and the two of them disappear into the trees and the twilight.

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lazarettta · 3 years

Text

Misthios IV

Characters (Spartan!Reader x Mother Miranda)

Rating (T)

Word Count (3.4k)

Warnings (none I don't think)

You're up roaming around the castle and run into Miranda and Alcina.

It's been an exhausting but thrilling six months since you've gained the eye of this region's reigning ruler. Their Queen was ruthless as she was beautiful and you were quickly learning that she had a particular taste for blood that you haven't seen since your days in Sparta. Creative and cunning as she was, especially when it came to acts of revenge, but she took care of her kingdom and her people so long as they were loyal to her and her alone.

It was that last rule that forced you to discover just how cruel and destructive the mountains of Norway could be because you were tasked with chasing down a group of runaway slaves—as a punishment. This was different from your 'normal' punishments.

There was nothing special about these fucking slaves, they were just stupid enough to think it wise to steal from their Queen and then dare escape. It angered you so much that she'd send you on this quest when a small squadron of low ranked knights would've done fine.

It had taken you a week and two villages to finally catch up with them into the mountains. The conditions were harsher than what you were prepared for and you had to abandon half your gear and continue on foot. The cold was too much for your horse to handle, but he was old and you were sure to put him out of his misery before continuing on your hunt.

You'd caught them asleep in a cave a few miles away from a village that was tucked away into the mountain side. You purchased food and another horse, costing you all the silver you carried but it made your hunt easier and quicker. You hadn't been looking for the cave but a small fire through the thick of the trees caught your attention. Tying your new mare a distance away, you crept towards them, sticking to the tall grass and the shadows.

They'd all been sleeping so peacefully, even their so-called 'watcher'. It was almost too easy to just go and kill them quietly one by one...but Miranda had specific instructions for you to follow if you wanted her forgiveness. She wanted to hear them scream while she slept and that was exactly what you intended to deliver. You unsheathed one of your twin blades and with practiced ease, you swung right as the watcher’s eyes snapped open.

You were startled awake by a scream that you weren't sure if it was from your dream or if it was a real one. You sat up half way in the bed of the guest room you were put up in, leaning on your elbow ready to spring from beneath the sheets but nothing ever came. After another full five minutes of sitting and waiting with no result, you let yourself fall back onto the soft pillows and threw an arm over your eyes as they began to leak tears.

Nothing of sadness or the sort, you were simply exhausted—you were still in your clothing with your parka not too far away just in case you had to use the window for a quick escape. You even kept your boots on, even though it was too warm for you but you'd deal with it as you've been through more uncomfortable situations that couldn't even compare to simply being hot. Of course if you take off a few layers you'd be fine, but paranoia hasn't exactly been very kind to you in the past years...with good reason too. You hadn't died in over ten years and you planned to keep that streak going.

But even as those thoughts comforted you a bit, sleep evaded you—no longer finding you worthy of its pleasures and you just laid there sprawled out and tangled within the soft white linen sheets that were probably now dirty thanks to you. You didn't care. They probably had more somewhere.

Resigned to the fact that you'd probably never be able to go back to sleep, at least not any time soon, so pushed aside the heavy duvet and slipped out of the bed quietly. You moved towards the window but the only thing you could see was the few trees below and a land covered in blankets of undisturbed snow. A little further beyond the tree line, you saw smoke coming from the chimneys of the factory before you turned away from the view and left your room. You looked left and right of the hallway but there wasn't a sign of life to be found, not even that little maiden Alcina practically made your shadow. It was probably later than it actually felt and she was probably asleep...everyone probably was.

Checking your watch— ah, right. Miranda even took that. She took everything you could use as a weapon and it tickled you more than it annoyed you. Unsupervised, you can now take your time to feel your way around. You didn't get a chance to get a good look at everything before but now you did, and it was an opportunity to get to know the Lady of the castle. You'd long dismissed the thought that anything in this village was normal, it had more secrets and shadows than a horror book you guessed.

Walking through the halls of the second floor felt like a trip down memory lane—no particular region as most all castles were the same. Large and filled with fancy portraits and trinkets that could house and feed five families at a time. Carpet so plush and soft that you could feel it through your boots with each step. It absorbed your weight like a welcome home hug. Clearly Lady Alcina was a woman of finer things in life and that extended far outside of her wardrobe and preferred wines.

It just unnerved you how quiet everything was, a castle thing large and prosperous had to have staff minding it twenty four seven. Nonetheless, you finally came to the door that you recognized during your brief tour as the 'wine room'. Like everything else you'd come across, the door was finely made from dark red oak with gold trimmings—just like Alcina's stagecoach.

Without a second thought about it, you opened the door—simply with the intent of getting a better look at the wine collection the maiden mentioned during your tour. But that thought was cut short because the room wasn't as empty as the silence in the hallway led you to believe as you'd walked into a full conversation by two people; one you were hoping to avoid for a few days and the other you thought was asleep...or well away from your location. You were wrong on both accounts.

“Heisenberg is a blundering fool leading a pack of fleabags, Miranda. He is going to fail again!”

“And we don't have time to stress other options, especially that one! We're out of time already and—”

“Exactly we're out of time so just ask her—” you pushed the door open a little more and it creaked quietly.

They both turned to you and you stood frozen in the doorway, unsure of what to make of the scene in front of you or what you just overheard. Miranda and Alcina were sitting at the small table, well Miranda was, Alcina was sitting in one of her custom chairs a little further away and both women had two glasses filled with dark red wine. Alcina wasn't in her white dress anymore, instead she'd changed into a pair of dark slacks and deep red turtle neck and she was barefoot. A far cry from the regal dress she wore earlier but she still carried herself in the same manner.

You did your best not to think about how good Miranda looked without that damn mask on her face...even in those robes she still wore, Miranda was beautiful. Beautiful as the day you first met. You forced yourself to keep your attention on Alcina and not Miranda, who was now staring a hole into the side of your face like she was trying to will you into looking at her.

“Oh. Shit, I didn't know this room was occupied.”

Alcina glanced at Miranda briefly from behind her wine glass, her expression unreadable when she settled her eyes on you again, “Of course not, dear. Is everything alright?”

You cleared your throat, fighting the urge to look at Miranda because you could feel her trying to will your eyes in her direction, “No, actually I—”

You were interrupted by an ear piercing scream and high pitched laughter right behind her, on the verge of being hysterical. Lady Dimitrescu sighed heavily behind you and finished her wine before setting her glass down and rising to her full height.

“Please excuse me, it seems that my daughters are teasing the poor maids again.”

You started to comment that it didn't sound like it was teasing but you kept your mouth shut, knowing better than to stick your nose in the wrong place too soon—it never really turned out very well for you the first time. It would never cease to amaze you how fast and quiet Alcina moved despite her size, but it still baffled you that she hasn't ever gotten the doors to her own castle fixed to fit for her . But those thoughts were pushed to the far corners of your mind when the door clicked shut—leaving you alone in the room with Miranda, forcing you to acknowledge her now. You shoved your hands in your pockets and sighed, you weren't expecting to see her again so soon.

You still hadn't had time to get your shit together after the last time you two spoke, or more like argued back and forth. Easily falling into a pattern as if you hadn't been centuries apart. You still weren't sure how you were supposed to feel about that.

“Take a seat, (Y/n). Would you like a glass of wine?” Miranda broke the silence but she didn't break eye contact with you once she caught you eye, holding you as if she physically had her hands on your face. “We don't have to talk if you don't want to, (Y/n).”

“Oh, so now we're suddenly interested in what I want to do?”

“Yes, of course. Wine?”

You scoffed, rolling her eyes at her typical answer and you wanted to say no, you opened your mouth to do so but instead you were getting closer to the table she was sitting at. She poured you a glass of wine, and handed it to you. You raised an eyebrow, she couldn't have set it down for you? She insisted on handing it to you and the way Miranda was holding the glass left you no choice to place your hands over hers to take it from her. Those gold claw rings were ice cold against your skin and the edge of one nicked your skin but not deep enough to draw blood.

You had no idea what you wanted to say to Miranda, you weren't ready to talk about what you two needed to talk about but you weren't sure if you could sit here and do small talk with her over wine. It was so easy for you to get up and leave, maybe go back to your guest room and lock the door. So what was stopping you? Why was it difficult?

Miranda, who had been watching you intently, interrupted your rapid thoughts, “You always were a loud thinker, (Y/n).”

“Nothing interesting, trust me.”

“Oh I beg to differ,” Miranda chuckled, shifting in her chair slightly to angle herself towards you a little more. You sort of hated yourself for thinking how well she was pulling off the priestess look, “I could always tell what you were thinking even from a mile away. You were always quite the unique distraction.”

“You never complained before.”

“No,” she agreed, her voice dropping an octave or two lower, “though I doubt I ever will.”

You looked up, she didn't look away and you didn't know what to think. And for once, even if it was just for a moment, you saw a hint of uncertainty in her eyes.

“Miranda, what do you want? Why are you keeping me here?”

“Because we need to talk, (Y/n), to...clear the air as they say, I guess.”

“Yeah, okay, I got that part earlier,” you licked your suddenly dry lips, your nerves starting to buzz a little, “But that's not a good enough reason anymore.”

Miranda scoffed, actually rolling her eyes at you, “Why not? Closure heals the past. Doesn't it?”

“But what do you expect after that?”

“What do you?” she threw the ball back in your court as she refilled her own wine glass from a different bottle than what she used for your own, the wine she was using was a little darker and thicker. It didn't surprise you that the question was thrown back at you, she always did that when she was trying to keep the upper hand or get it.

But it didn't mean that the question wasn't a good one because what did you want after this? Would it even matter after all of this time? Have you ever forgiven her, really and truly moved on? Did she even care back then, did she care for you...or what you could do for her?

Miranda was watching you the entire time become lost in your thoughts, a trait you still carried with you. She picked up her wine glass and took a sip, her clear eyes taking you in while you were distracted enough to not notice her doing it so blatantly. You still looked the same as the last time she saw you, minus the murderous rage that had twisted your beautiful features that evening.

The modern world has touched many parts of you but your eyes still hold so much more than they did centuries ago. Being a warrior was now outdated and something of an historical myth but you still carried yourself as one, and Miranda could see new scars on your brown skin on the exposed skin she saw earlier on your neck and arms.

She'd been watching you for days before finally making herself known to you after going back and forth with herself during those agonizing days. Being far more irritable than she normally was and Miranda was positive that Lords Heisenberg and Moreau were quite sore with her at the moment. Well, Karl certainly would be. Seeing you made her angry...at first. Angry for the grief you left her with, the shatters you left her to pick up on her own.

Years of pent up thoughts and plans of revenge she'd enact when she got her hands on you came down to a single moment when she finally did get her hands on you and she couldn't do it. Miranda eyed your neck, where you should've still been bruised. She had you right where she needed you with one hand wrapped around your neck because you were so unsuspecting. It would've been so easy but she couldn't...so she knocked you out and threw you in a cell where she could keep a better eye on you. And perhaps no longer be so distracted from her work.

“Look who's thinking loud now.” you mumbled around the edge of your wine glass, finally taking a sip of the damn thing. Miranda wouldn't hesitate to bet that you assumed it was somehow poisoned even though you watched her open the bottle. “Good thoughts, I hope.”

Miranda hummed softly, “Do you really wish to know?”

You chuckled, and Miranda's eyes were drawn to the way your jaw clenched and unclenched when the wine hit your taste buds again, “With the way you were staring at my neck...it's not that hard to guess, Miranda.”

“You're only half right, my dear.” At your raised eyebrows, Miranda's smirk only widened, “My hands were wrapped around that strong neck again, but breaking it is far from my mind now .”

Your snort turned into a chuckle that was clearly infectious as Miranda joined you. Nothing was remotely that funny, if it was funny at all, but you were tired and the situation brought forth too many emotions for you, either of you to really process, and all you could was just...laugh.

Miranda was the first to sober up a bit though the smile never completely left her features. “Ah, and well... you know, it wouldn't do to try and kill the only other person on this wretched rock who knows me. Will it?”

You're very well the only person in this wretched world that will ever know the real me and still love me for it. Quite a miserable thought, isn't it?

You jumped when the door opened behind you and Alcina stepped into the room—you'd almost forgot where you were for a moment. Almost. Alcina took one look at the two of you, curious to find you actually still in the room much less sitting at the table sharing a glass of wine with Miranda. Especially with what she overheard earlier and how much tension you two create together.

Alcina knew that she interrupted something, probably something she had no business to but that did not stop her from sitting back down in her chair in her goddamn castle. And whatever drama that was happening within her territory was now her drama and she was going to get a front row seat. Alcina lit up another one of her cigarillos and pulled heavy before she released it in your direction.

“Running a business is quite the headache when no one else understands your vision, I swear. Don't have kids, (Y/n). They're messy and nothing but trouble.”

“Noted.” you forced a chuckle, not taking her bait but now you were trying to finish your wine as quickly as possible without seeming like you were trying to run.

“Well, how about it then, (Y/n)? Tell us a story, you couldn't have been a mercenary your entire life. Or have you?” You glanced at Miranda and saw that she was glaring at Alcina but the taller woman wasn't paying her any mind. And really, the only reason Miranda hasn't verbally intervened is because she was interested in your answer as well. Even if Alcina was asking just to poke at the situation for her own amusement.

“I've put away my shield and sword a long time ago,” you didn't bother to mention that you did keep them both in pristine condition just in case, “I've been enjoying the little things life has to offer.” lame. And a lie.

“Oh come now,” Alcina scoffed, not accepting your answer—it wasn't a very good one anyway, “That's—”

“Actually,” When it was clear that Miranda wasn't going to save you from this woman's nosiness (why would she?) You quickly drank the rest of the wine, it was really too sour for you, and rose from the chair. “I think I'll try to get some more sleep. Thanks for the wine and...yeah.” Could you be any more awkward?

Alcina was howling by the time the door slammed shut behind you and she took another pull from her cigarette stick, still paying no heed to Miranda's heated glare. “Oh, you're going to have to tie that one down if you want her to talk to you.”

“I will have your head if you stick your nose in my business again, Dimitrescu.”

“Then don't store your business in my castle.” Alcina shot back, meeting Miranda's glare head on but immediately conceded when she felt Miranda's growling through the vibrations of her glass in her hand that was still resting on the table. “Alright, alright...but you're always welcome to use my dungeons. Use chains though those biceps of hers could probably break through the ropes.”

“Alcina, that is enough!”

The Lady of the castle just laughed lightly until it tapered off into a pleasant hum around her famous Sanguis Virginis wine while watching Miranda readjust her face mask. Her eyes brighter than they have been the last few hours., Alcina pushed for one more question—deciding to risk Miranda's wrath, “How'd you ever let such a handsome creature slip between your fingers?”

Miranda sighed heavily, no pause in her strut to the door, “Egos and misunderstandings.” she was gone before the lock clicked into place.

I'm so sorry for being hella lazy, lol, I'll add the other chapters of this story today 😭😭😭😭

#resident evil 8 #mother miranda x reader #mother miranda #resident evil #resident evil village #lady alcina x reader #lady alcina #alcina dimitrescu #dis tew much #assassin's creed odyssey #simpin for these bishes

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running-with-kn1ves · 2 years

Note

I’m so glad that you liked this dynamic 😊. Sometimes I’ll just be daydreaming about this kind of stuff. Then think to myself “this would be good for a story 🤔 “. So half the time I’m thinking about these ocs I’m creating, but don’t share them because I don’t think they’re good enough. So thanks for the compliment ❤️. Yeah I love where there’s two characters who can be prefect for each and they both want to be with each, buttttttt they just end up making decisions that do the COMPLETE opposite. It makes you want to scream at the screen, but in the good way. Like I feel like if you keep teasing and edging the character’s relationship too much for too long without any added softness or have the characters achieve some kind of goal to make the readers/watchers feel satisfied at least of that sort, it would start to get repetitive and annoying. A perfect example of this is the relationship between Marinette and Adrien from the French children’s animated show called Miraculous Ladybug. The love square is so fascinating, but the creator has prolonged their relationship for FOUR seasons and decided to make another two more seasons. I love the show for the first and then the second season but everything went downhill when season 3 started. They kept dragging it for too long and that’s what annoyed me. so I’m trying not to recreate any feelings like that for anyone when they come across reader and Connor. Watching two characters being toxic to each other is interesting but without the soft moments added it can just being overwhelming. But that’s just my opinion. What do you think? I like to think both characters acknowledge their relationship isn’t healthy (not out loud). But they don’t activating do something to make it healthy, they actually do the opposite lol. A starting milestone is Connor getting into therapy. Maybe he heard one of reader’s friends who are a couple do couple therapy. And they are at most the healthiest couple in the story 😂. And they are what Connor wants for him and y/n. And I can see him bringing it up to y/n. But PSA y/n is incredibly sensitive and takes any criticism as a personal attack. So they get into a fight (argument). One of the few times Connor “stands up” to reader, because he has wholeheartedly made himself believe this would help their relationship. Maybe before this, there was a huge bump in their relationship and afterwards Connor was like “okay I had enough”. But in the sense like “something needs to change” rather “im giving up on this girl and our relationship”. They make up (cuddling and sex). But really Connor just decides to drop the couple therapy and go to therapy by himself, and does it secretly. So this is where I believe the start of “development” begins. In this relationship there isn’t really communication in the sense that tell each other their insecurity and their fuck up secrets. In my opinion in this relationship really needs one person to take action and say “okay something needs to change”. Where they do it together or one starts and the other follows. Of course reader wants to work things out but it scares her so she does the one thing she know how to when she feels trapped. Run away. Not once has she ran away in their relationship so It never occurred to Connor this would her reaction be to his confrontation. He’s usually not so dominating and straight forward. His back to earth, affectionate and sometimes submissive attitude is what really set the deal for her. Her last bfs were too controlling for her comfort or didn’t deal with any of her bs. That’s why they never lasted long. But Connor is clingy and submissive and she just loves it. She adored the attention her gives her. Especially if he’s on his knees begging for her, with tears on the rims of his eyes ready to fall. That’s why they always do the deed right after they fight. Because she gets turned on his pathetic display to win her over or for her to forgive him. And he most of the time he cries, and that just does it for her.

Yess I do the same I love to just go off in my own little world and daydream abt random ideas. The inspiration hits at odd times but its great. and I agree; if there isn't some goodness to the relationship, then there's nothing to root for. I love miraculous ladybug as well! I know its got quite the complaints and flaws, but honestly half the time its just fun white noise to me. It definitely needs to step SOMEWHERE though; I think the creators maybe arent sure whether to take it into a young adult direction or not as well considering the fanbase is composed of a lot of teens and above, though it was made to appeal to a younger audience. I think with these kind of relationships with characters like connor and y/n, there's almost a grief cycle to their relationship. And the denial stage is what its mostly comprised of in the beginning lol. Neither will admit out loud that the relationship isnt stable, and it spirals from there.

I agree; if one character begins to verbally point out the problems and makes an effort to change, its going to force something out of the other which may lead to them following in suit. Theres only really two options when that happens: the reader will either fall in line with connor and try to improve the relationship, or will leave all together. Which, we know cant happen lol. I love that connor decides to go to therapy himself! It sounds like that is a great opening for the change in their relationship. It's unlikely and out of character for the reader to try and make a healthy effort out of nowhere, so it really shows how serious he is in his feelings and how much he cares. I think that could definitely play a role in how y/n reacts, too. She sees that he's actively trying to change things for the better, and I wonder if that'll make her afraid to where he has to chase after her or if she'll come back out of her own free will due to a realization. I love the balance of Connor's submissiveness as well. his growth shows that he can stand up for himself when it really counts, but is submissive when it comes to anything else lol. I really adore that y/n finds it endearing, it puts their "opposites attract" type of trope into a cute setting, for both sexy times and the holy moments.

#kn1ves rants #knives rants #reader insert

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ssson-of-sparda · 3 years

Text

Two Dresses (Dante x Fem!Reader)

Summary: Patty desperately wants to know what happened between Dante and Y/N. Hopefully, Morrison is here to help. (Part 3 of A Tab To Erase) (Part 1) (Part 2)

Tags: Pre DMC3 Dante / Dante is Tony Redgrave / Love / Fluff / Slight ANgst / Implied Sexual Content / Explicit Language

Author’s note: Part 3 is out. Sorry for keeping you waiting. The story is coming to its end. Only one or two chapters left.

MISSION 3

Indifference is the worst form of contempt. But how can you be indifferent when a squeaking tiny voice as unbearable as fingernails on a chalkboard constantly splits your ears with endless whining? Dante wished to know. “Pleeeeaase Dante. You promised.” Patty begged again as she almost sprawled on the man’s desk, strangely not caring about the grease or the tomato sauce that were disgustingly splattered on the wooden surface. “I didn’t do such thing.” Dante nonchalantly took a bite of his pizza, trying to ignore Patty’s pleading blue eyes and her feeble attempt at convincing him to tell her the rest of his ‘love story’ (she had decreed it was one) with Y/N. “Come on, Dante! You have to tell me!” The frustration in every single word coming out of her mouth was growing stronger. You could hear it in the way her voice was becoming more and more piercing by the minute. And in spite of all the time spent with Patty, Dante had never succeeded in really ignoring her childish whims. “Don’t you watch TV shows?” She added. “You know full well I don’t.” And it was the truth. Except for adults programs once in a while, Dante cared less about television, contrary to Patty who was a professional binge-watcher capable of watching a dozen of episodes a day and still yearning for more. “Well, even if you don’t, haven’t you ever experienced the frustration of a cliffhanger? Like, in Bolero in Spring, when Jenna has a car accident right after she decides to run after Josh to finally tell him he is the love of her life and that she loves him too and you know you’ll have to wait a whole week to know what happens next?” Dante’s brain shut down after the first question, or maybe even before that, finding a not-so-surprising fascination for the slices of salami on his pizza and their perfectly round shapes. “Like I told you, I don’t watch TV.” “Haven’t you ever longed for anything?” “Yes actually. Right now, I long for peace … and quiet … and for you to finally shut up.” The girl glared at him, shooting daggers at him as sharp as a thousand Rebellions.

“What’s going on here?” Relief immediately shone in both Patty’s and Dante’s eyes when Morrison pushed the door of Devil May Cry, replacing the tension in the room with paternal warmth that was so like him. “Morrison! You got to help me. Dante doesn’t want to tell me what happened between him and Y/N” She complained with her small fists clenched tightly, a childish attitude that would have made Morrison smile if it hadn’t been for his surprise.“ You told Patty about Y/N? How weird of you.” “Not for free.” “You know her, Morrison?” There was a gleam in Patty’s eyes, one only curiosity and excitement could create. “By reputation. Everybody in the mercenary business knew who she was and was aware not to touch a hair on her head. I bet even demons knew. Y/N. Tony Redgrave’s beautiful girlfriend. And probably the only girl that could make Dante act somewhat … mature.” He said as he chose his words wisely, though he wasn’t sure they were fit for the memories of Dante he had in mind. “ What are you talking about? I’ve always been mature.” “ Yeah. Because eating strawberry sundaes and pizza everyday is very adult.” Dante frowned, pretty sure he had once heard a similar reprimand coming from someone else’s mean mouth. His mother? No … but close. “Have you been spending time with Trish lately?” “ Stop changing the subject and tell me the story!” Dante eyed at Morrison with an insisting look that meant ‘Get me the hell out of here.’ but today, he would not receive any help from his friend. “You know she won’t let go, Dante. So, should I tell her or should you?” Dante sighed. “Two dresses off my tab and it’s yours.”

TWO DRESSES

Two star-crossed lovers in fair Redgrave City, where we lay our scene …

Are you kidding me?! What? I thought you loved that kind of lovey-dovey crap. Dante! Fine …

The rest of the story was no Shakespearian play. There was no betrayal, no sword fighting, no friend or parent tragically murdered, no forbidden love, no unfair ending, no … Who was Dante kidding? There was all that and worse. Another reason why he hated Shakespeare so much. But when love started to bloom and with it the chances at a normal peaceful life, Dante never considered those dramatic events. Not even a slight second. After all, he was an overly enthusiastic nineteen year-old with the girl of his dreams on his arm and a long-awaited roof above his head. What could go wrong? Especially when all he thought about, all he imagined were simple mornings waking up with the one he loved so dearly and nights with his silver head in between…

“In between what?” “ Y/N’s fingers... Y/N’s fingers of course.” “ You’re not so good at making this story family-friendly you know that, Dante?” “I’m doing my best here, Morrison.”

And his epicurean – though quite lewd - plans were all shared to the utter despair of Y/N’s parents who constantly reminded Y/N of the big mistake she was making in getting involved with a boy like ‘that vermin Tony’. “What about college? What about that confortable life we wanted for you? How can you throw all this away for that boy?” Dante remembered the time Y/N’s mother had said that with a menacing finger and a poisonous tongue. That and the infamous “Is breeding with that trash and raising his filthy bastards truly what you want Y/N?” So long the time that family had generously taken him under their roof for a few days. Guess money does make you stuck-up assholes after all. That’s what he had wanted to reply. But instead, he had just stood still, arms crossed over his chest and had remained silent, out of respect for Y/N and also because, deep down, he was sometimes thinking the same.

He wanted the best for Y/N. He wanted to give her the best life had to offer, all the things she wanted, all the things she needed but he only had a few dollars in his pocket and a list of debts he didn’t really know how the erase. And even though she seemed like she didn’t mind now, what would happen in a few years, or even just a few months. What would happen when the little he had to offer would not be enough anymore?

“Will you love me all the same in a few years?” She asked him, soft hands placed over his strong naked chest and (colour) eyes staring deep in his looking for the truth. “I’m sure I will love you even more if that’s anything possible.” “Then stop worrying and stop with the silly questions already.” And she kissed him with all the comfort and the love she could gather. She kissed him like there was no tomorrow, like there was just them, only them, together, on that mattress on the floor in this furniture-less and decaying shop he had just been allowed to rent for an astronomical amount of money. “A neon sign.” “ What?” Dante asked a bit confused. “You should get a neon sign, like the one my parents had at the restaurant.” She added with a soft smile. “You want me to get a pink neon sign?” He joked and took delight when she laughed. She was so insanely beautiful when she was laughing. “It wasn’t pink. It was red.” “ My coat is red. That sign was definitely pink. And pink doesn’t scream ‘menacing devil-hunter in the house’?” “Menacing devil-hunter?” She repeated, arching an eyebrow suspiciously. “Where?” Dante looked at her smirking mockingly at him. “Watch it you!” He pushed her on the mattress and went to lie his burning yet still sweaty body over hers to place a multitude of hungry lovely kisses on her neck, wishing this moment would never end.

But it ended, as all good things end eventually. Thanks to Enzo Ferino, once again. That piece of shit had the knack to ruin things after all. “Tony! Per l’amore di Dio! Tony!” He shouted from downstairs, visibly alarmed if not terrified. “Speaking of the Italian midget.” Dante sighed, his lips still on Y/N’s skin, thinking that maybe ignoring Enzo would make him leave. “Tony!!!” “Damn it.” “Pretty sure the menacing devil-hunter hiding in this shop will scare him away?” Y/N taunted again and Dante grinned before pressing his lips on Y/N’s one last time. “Oh, he sure will. Wait here. I’ll be right back.” Dante said as he reluctantly left his girl’s loving embrace to put on a pair of pants and go welcome his unwanted guest fidgeting in the hall. “ You’d better.”

“It better be important, Enzo.” Dante demanded as he lazily walked down the creaking stairs to show him how annoyed he was to see him here. “You’ve just ruined a perfect moment with my girl.” “Y/N? Y/N is with you?” The man’s eyes were widened with fear and distress and even though Dante knew how much of a coward Enzo was, he had never seen him that way. “How many girls do you think I have?” The short man leant against the wall and took a deep sigh. “Well, that’s relief I guess.” Dante frowned, unsure if he should remain annoyed or start asking questions. Hell, why not both. “Will you tell me what’s going on?” “A man came to Bobby’s Cellar. Looking for you.” “Not a first.” Dante walked pass Enzo to grab a bottle of whisky he had left early on on one of the many boxes he had not yet unpacked. “One of Denvers’ goons presumably.” He leant against the wall and took a mouthful of amber alcohol, thinking about the girl waiting for him upstairs and how he should have never left her. “No. Not Denvers. That man was working alone and he asked about a certain Dante.” The half-demon froze for a second and his blue eyes darted a brief astonished glance at his partner. A man looking for Dante - Dante, not Tony - was no good news. “I said I didn’t know any Dante but then he described you and I thought che cacchio è. Then he threatened me and … He was scary, Tony” “What did you tell him?” Dante frowned. He had the feeling Enzo had fucked up. He could feel it in his guts. Otherwise he would have never rushed to his new place in the middle of the night to warn him. “That you weren’t here. That you certainly were with Y/N. And then he had me, Tony. I …” “ You mentioned Y/N?” Enzo took an immediate step back when he heard the anger in Dante’s voice. “ I … I’m sorry. He … He tricked me.” Then he took another step and another one, trying to stay as far away as possible from Dante, until his back bumped against the door and he was able to spot a terrifying red flame burning with rage in the mercenary’s eyes who was towering him menacingly. “What did you say about Y/N?” If the weird man in Bobby’s Cellar had scared the shit out Enzo early on, what he had felt back then was nothing in comparison to he was feeling right now. Paralysed with fear, he couldn’t move anymore, couldn’t speak. He could only stare at the raging fire in Dante’s eyes and feel a burning warmth emanating from the young man’s body against him. Were those the flames of Hell? Was he about to be punished for his sin? For betraying his partner? “What did you say?” He shouted and Enzo trembled and squealed like a pig, arms covering his face to protect himself. Yes, his man Tony was about to flay him alive. He was sure of it. “What are you?” He mumbled.

“Tony.” Enzo thanked all the gods for that divine intervention. Though whom he should have truly thanked was Y/N and her soft reassuring voice that had miraculously pulled Dante from his dark rage.

I like her. Dante smiled.

“Stop please.” Enzo felt Dante calm down and when he finally walked away from him, the small man took a deep breath. “If something happens …” Dante didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to and Enzo was already nodding furiously. “I know.” He blindly grabbed the handle behind his back and quickly opened the door to run away as fast as he could.

Dante watched him running in the cold night with a frown until he couldn’t see him anymore. Then he swiftly strode back to Y/N waiting for him on top of the stairs to pull her in a strong protective embrace. And when his lips pressed in her silky hair and she realized he couldn’t let go, she started worrying. “What is it?” She had never felt him like that. “It’s nothing.” He replied softly even though the voice in his head was screaming things like Don’t you get out of my sight, even for a second. I can’t lose you. Not like my mother. I love you so freaking much. “Stay with me tonight.”

But deep down, Dante wasn’t sure this was the smartest decision.

***

“And so was it?” Patty curiously asked as she stared at Dante with her big blue eyes. “ Was it what?” He replied, pretending not to understand. He loved teasing her. “ The smartest decision?” She clarified with an enthusiasm that clearly showed her interest and her will to know more. “ I thought you loved cliffhangers.”

#DEVIL MAY CRY #DMC #DMC FANFICTION #DEVIL MAY CRY FANFICTION #DANTE #DMC DANTE #DANTE X READER #A DOZEN ICE CREAM CONES #A TAB TO ERASE

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idjitlili · 4 years

Text

You're dead lachance.

Spike btvs x reader

Summary: Being Giles niece, going to America with him, only to meet Spike. There is anonymous request in here, 'getting locked in a room with Spike.'

A/n: slightly in Sundale , but mostly based in Los Angeles, the reader is British, due to being related to Giles. Hey, that's good for me , I'm British too. There's a request from anon but I'm not going to say to keep it a surprise. Malteser is a chocolate ball. How come I can write this much now? But I've got assignment s at are only 2000k words.

Word count:5019 Longest imagine yet.

Warnings: Language, Twilight hate references,period, questioning if vampires eat that answer is no or unconfirmed.

Not even a week ago, you had came home , only for your parental figure to rush to the door to greet you. Not long after that you were packing your suitcase for America , apparently your uncle Rupert had invited you out there. It had quite literally been years seen you had seen him, but not long until you would again.

In fact , it hadn't been even twenty four hours , before you were stood in his magic store. You weren't even sure why Rupert had brought you here. The suitcase that held your belongings , stood at your feet as Rupert had welcomed you in, unlike your uncle had expected , the shop was completely empty, people wise.

Forced to sit down, while Rupert made you a tea,informing you that he would get you settled at his home once he finished closing up his shop. What it felt like hours to you ,waiting, deciding it was best to read the book you had brought with you, not that you could really concentrate you just wanted to get cleaned up , in honesty.

Fingers tapping against the pine table , trying to read Boromir's last moments in Lord of the rings, re reading the same paragraph over , and over. "I tried to take the Ring from Frodo ' , he glance strayed to his fallen enemies,20." Re reading those words same words, unable to comprehend them, like your brain was blocked by a tinfoil hat, that's bullshit. Three arrows he had been struck with, yet he was still able to kill twenty highly trained orcs , more than an average vampire could do.

You were no stranger to vampires , you hadn't encountered one to say, but you knew of Rupert job as a watcher. Though you had watched Lord of the rings many times (or not it's just replace it) and yet you still couldn't pass it , didn't Rupert have workers to clean his shop? Repeating those words , still. "Hello ,love." You almost peed yourself , standing up abruptly launching your book at the thing that had pulled you out of your distracted book reading.

Bragging your lighter from your pocket, self defence lighter, holding in front of you. As the flame lit,lifting your head up at your 'attacker' , only to be met with a smirk and platinum leather wearing man, who had caught your book with ease. "Really a lighter?" British, you had not spoken to one American , since landing.

You had just continued to stare at him not quite certain what to say, until he did again. "So , Boromir ,hm?" You hadn't notice him step forward , holding your book for you to take back, hesitating you took it from him slowly. "Uh, yes. Thank you,but ,um, who are you?"

"Spike, and you are?"Who names there son after a sharp object? Spike had smugly smiled , placing his in his trouser pockets, it was if he was proud. You didn't get a chance to respond to Spike, before Rupert had reappeared , standing between you and Spike.

"Spike , get away from my niece, I will not allow you to corrupt her." Spike had gasped dramatically, putting his had over his mouth ,"You're related to him? But Blimey he's all ARGH and you're not." Spikes face of disgust when he looked at your uncle, Rupert had removed his glasses and began cleaning his glasses.

"Was that supposed to be a compliment?" Picking up your bags , as Rupert ushered Spike out of the shop, with you behind to lock up, it now being dark. "It was lovely to meet you , Giles attractive niece.." "Y/n." "Y/n.." Repeating your name back slowly smiling , only if you knew he was an evil defective vampire.

"Quit the flirting Spike, she's not going to be here long." That was the last you saw of Spike , for now anyways. It wasn't even another 24 hours later , your uncle had sent you off to Los Angeles , to Wesley at Wolfram & Hart.

Wesley...you had seen him in years , since he left England. You being younger than him by some years , but you had been friends with him , being connected to Giles and all. You were brought to America to work for an evil law firm not your ideal future.

That was a year ago , not as bad as you had originally thought, Angel the CEO was indeed broody but he was trying to make a difference. In fact , the job paid very well, and all you did really read up on demons and sometimes view bodies for symbols and such.

Perhaps,yes, it did get quite lonely, it wasn't like you had you mum to make you meals or anything. All you could have was calls from her now and then. Wesley was your friend; but he was too busy flirting with Fred. The others well, you weren't close friends, just friends.

Today was not a great day for you, first you had gotten to work without lunch, forgotten a jacket, and Angel scheduled a meeting but you had fallen down the stairs three times. Ten minutes late, a huge bruise on your head , ruffled hair and clothing not looking very bodacious.

Knocking on the door to Angel's office three times gently , before waiting for his response to allow you in. Everyone staring at you , your face flushed with embarrassment. "I-I'm so sorry, you won't believe today has been horrible, I wouldn't have been late if I hadn't of fallen down the same stairs three times."

Heavily breathing from all the rushing, head aching like you had just hit your head falling down the stairs, Angel and the others looking at you with slight sympathy. "I've got to get a look at this muppet." That voice, you knew that that voice, until Spike had appeared from the corner of the meeting room , as you and Angel were about to walk into the room.

Almost bumping into Spike as you and him both met the door at the same time. You two would've bumped right into each other, but he passed right though you. Turning back around to see if you imagined that or not, turns out you didn't Spike was stood in front you , looking at you , with gaped mouth which didn't last long until he was smiling.

"W-what?H-how did y-" "Nice to see you again , love. Well, not long after you left I saved the world, and died. No need to thank me , love," Angel had coughed , pulling your attention from Spike charming smile he was sending your way, to him gesturing you to sit.

Spike had not decided to sit down , but to stand behind Angel at an Angel, one to annoy Angel which you could already see in his face , two to be in eye range of you. Not that he liked you , he full loved Buffy, for now anyways.

Angel had officially began the meeting , head-aching still, probably why you couldn't concentrate, concussion. All you could think was , wow Casper the friendly ghost, well you didn't know he wasn't , and that he was a vampire.

So lost in thought ,well no just pain , you didn't hear the calling of your name or snapping of fingers in front of your open eyes.

"Y/n? Y/n?" Only when there is a touch of a small hand on your shoulder , you realise , looking up to see Fred. "Yes, sorry. Um , I hit my head a bit too hard."

"Angel , she needs to go to a doctor. Her head is literally bleeding out , ""Yeah you should've sent her straight away, she fell down the fucking stairs, for a vampire with a soul , you have no compassion." Spike had interrupted Wesley, to criticise Angel.

You had a couple of days off last week , to visit your family, hence you hadn't seen Spike there before that. You had fallen off your chair when you had felt a hand on your shoulder, moving to see if that was Angel or Lorne, but it wasn't.

"Already on your knees for me?" Spike, staring down at you , smirking what a shock. "I'm not even on my knees, I'm on my butt. Plus what you want me to do mime."

"Okay, okay, Hon, let's go take to a doctor." Lorne had helped you up, as Spike had smiled Wider, as you both left, with some calls of sympathy's.

You only had to have you bloody head , in your hairline glued back together. Not surprising when there was blood dripping down your face like a waterfall. Other than that you were back the next day, carrying on your week like you would normally would.

Each week that went by Spike would come visit your office, mostly at lunch, knowing you didn't leave your office to socialise, only to use the bathroom. It had started with him using the excuse that he wanted to see how you were doing , after falling down the stairs, which was quite hard to believe,as he didn't seem like the caring type.

Then it he came to your office to tell you stories about him saving the world and just recently , almost being killed by another ghost.

You hadn't even seen that when he entered your office he used the door by turning the handle, instead of going through it. Not at least until he had spooked you again ,placing his hand your shoulder squeezing it slightly. Falling again out of you chair, probably would've smacked the back of your head on your desk.

If you weren't grabbed by your forearms, and were lifted back onto your feet, by rough hands... Spike had scared you to death again, yet this time he had saved your fall. Pulling a arm from his, looking into his eyes, as you brought your hand to his cheek, your finger tips against his cheek bone. His skin soft, not how you would've imagined.

Cold.

His skin, cold , but now he isn't a ghost? So why does he feel like the other side of the pillow on a summer night. Moments go by ,not many , before you pulled away again. "Fred , s-she figured out how to bring y-you back?" Still wondering why he felt like ice, also to hide the embarrassment that you had touched his face without asking.

"No, someone sent me some post," The distance between you two was more than close, your legs pressed against your desk, Spike's face barely inches away, he must've closed in on you. "Oh lovely,um have you had anything to eat yet?" He had smiled at you , with lust in glittering in his eyes , but not for what you might think, but hunger.

"I have not." Don't turn Edward ,please, no one wants that ,'Oh I'm sorry Bella but you might die if we fuck, because of my huge Thanos sized dick.' "Oh , well I've got , um, some sandwiches, that's if you want to share." You had gently made your way passed Spike as he nodded slightly suggesting we would share, to get into your bag, reaching for your lunch bag.

Both sitting at the sofa in your handing Spike a sandwich, as you held yours, facing each other, sitting on your calves, well Spike couldn't do that , if you know what you mean. Not long after you had reached for your flask , pouring it into your cup. "Tea?" Spike had grabbed the cup from your hand, drinking a fair lot down, before handing it back to you, mixture of crumbs and tea around his mouth. "You know how to make good tea, not those bloody Americans , milk first , bloody bullshit."

Before anything was said, Lorne had burst into the room , panic washed over his face. "Angel needs you both , quick honeys! We don't have time to spare." To say the least you were confused , never less you all headed to Angel's office and soon enough you were all, Angel, Spike, Fred, Gunn, Wesley, and Lorne were driving to a safe house. 'A rescue mission.' Apparently, you didn't even know who you were supposed to rescue, all you knew was you was all supposed to stay here until they arrived.

Sounded fishy , and you were right to think so, not long after you all discovered it was a trap. Probably just about a hundred vampires, were lurking around the property, waiting...

The floors creaking as you all walked across the the pine wood hallway, not to mention you had barely any fighting stills, all you held was a stake. The others well that ways a mixture of axes , and stakes. Sorry not only vampires in this house, spirits too. Spike had paired off with you , whilst the others did the same , you both walked into a bedroom, which was thick with mould and dust.

Not even one step in the door had slammed shut, Spike had immediately tried the door body slamming against , but it was no use. As you made your way to the window, "Spike.." BANG still going at the door , "SPIKE." Whisper shouting to him, gesturing for him to come over , once he had heard you.

"Vampires..." pulling you away from the window, out of sight." We need to get out of here, now."

"Where? we can't get out of here." Looking around the room there was no options. You don't even get to take a breath ; before the window is smashed in as well of the door, you are both completely circled , 7 vampires. Before you know it they are lunged for you , gripping your stake tightly , as you fight a vampire off , with struggle , god damnit. Where's David from lost boys, instead you are stuck with one that's never brushed it's teeth.

Finally stabbing it in the heart. Proof another one bites the dust. Now there was even more dust in this house. The rest of the vampires were dead, you didn't realise that Spike had taken on the rest with no struggle, turning to face you after dusting the last one, his face,his face. He was one of them, he had been dead this whole time , even when he was brought back.

"Y-you're a vampire?" Shocked was to say the least what you were feeling , he had turned back laughing lightly.

"What were you expecting? The Easter bunny?Did you think I was human? This whole time, oh love." It wasn't that you felt like you trusted him less after finding out but still, you're an idiot, no you are not. "I thought you were because you are my food; Plus I thought vampires were evil?"

"I wasn't going to refuse a sandwich. I have Soul, love. For your information, I got it the hard way, not like that brooding bugger."

"Sorry, Can we go now?" Thus Spike tried the door again, it had opened, both of you rushed out and down the stars , out the doors to find the others in the car waiting , like it was a robbery.

Your lunches with Spike continued even months after finding out he was a vampire; yet now you packed enough lunch for the two of you. Though he could just have his blood, but no he wanted your food. In honesty he was lucky that you actually shared your food with him.

You were sure that Spike must've preferred the company of Fred over you, and there was a day that he didn't have lunch with you. Apparently he had went to see Buffy , yet he was back the next day, why he hadn't stayed with the woman he loved , that was unknown to you. Thus there he was having lunch with you everyday you were at work.

You had even watched Lost boys with him one lunch. "You think I'm like that ponce?" Why the offices had TVs you had no idea. You had told Spike that he had reminded you of David. "W-what, It's not that hard to believe , first both of you have cool hair , two he is evil but the evil that you're like wow he's not that bad , he's cute and maybe he not what he seems. Like Loki, God of mischief." Spike had scoffed, laughing slightly.

"Did you just call me cute? I'm bad , I'm evil, mortals quiver under my wrath." He had made a toothy scrunched face , whilst bringing his hands up like he was a bear attacking, only to make you grin harder. "Okay, now you are a kinky Loki 'quiver under my wrath' seriously?"

"And how would you know what's kinky, love?" His words delivered with a smirk , that made your cheeks redden just by his gaze. "Uh,um, well I read a lot- I MEAN I do stuff all the time like last night.. he had a cane."

"Oh really, he had a cane?"

"Yep thats correct."

"Well that's a shame, love , because I've seen you face stuck in your books , blushing... and I can smell the innocence radiating off of you."

"Hey! Don't go smelling that, so you're telling me that when I have my period you can smell that too? You know what don't answer that, nor do I want to know if you've ever eaten that. Nor do I want to know why I thought of that.." Throwing a Malteser at him, would've hit him if he hadn't caught it in his mouth.

"I cannot believe you just said that. Love, you have too much time over thinking."

"No doubt , that's why I was never popular , let's pretend I never said that thing and only that compared you to David and Loki, hm?"

"Of course, I wish you hadn't given me the idea,joking I swear."

"Uh, I don't know if you like men or not but when the male part is erected it's one of the most blood filled appendages plus I looked you up, William the bloody, maybe that's how you got your name.." Yes maybe you spent more than your lunch hour not doing work, sitting cross legged now facing Spike completely , who just had turned his upper body from the tv.

Angel though, you'd think he was just happy , happy that Spike wasn't in his office constantly annoying him. It wasn't easy for anyone to keep Spike entertained. "I do not suck cocks nor have I ever , love, I have nothing against those that do,but I assure you that my terrible poetry is the only reason for the name, "

"Nothing to do with you killing hundreds of people?"

"Oh yeah, that too." Nothing more was spoken, you both had went back watching until lunch was over, then you were back to work. By five you had left to go home , not even two hours later you had realised you had left your house keys in your office. You had went to the shops, for some general stuff , hence why you hadn't realised you had left your keys.

Making it back to Wolfram & Hart , around nine o'clock, deciding to get some food , for after you got your keys and got home finally. The security man, Dean, had let you , well no he had was turned doing something and you slipped in, the rest of the firm was dark , everyone had left, or that's what you had thought.

Opening your office door, with your key, why you had it separated from your house key , you don't know , but it was lucky you had one set otherwise someone could've went through your stuff. Well there wasn't much really interesting, ancient books and such. Rushing to your desk in the dark searching everywhere , under your desk, in the draws, the floor.

Finally finding them down the side of the sofa , which you were sat at with Spike, watching Lost boys. When the door swings open , you are quickly grabbed by the foreman's and are shoved against the wall."what are doing here?" The mans voice, aggressive, yet you know who it belonged to, Spike. No very difficult to figure out as you spent at least an hour with him , five times a week, for months.

"Uh, I just left my keys." Spikes grip had loosened on your arms slightly. " Y/n?" Pushing him off of you,"yes, yes it's me , thanks for attacking me, " It was pitch black in your office , only the light from the moon , now on your face , part of it anyways.

"Well, Bloody hell, love you shouldn't be in an evil law firm by your lonesome , especially at night."

"What you are going to eat me now?" Spike wasn't even a foot away; if he was a live you'd feel his breath on your face. Instead the cold air surrounded you, Spikes arm above your head closing you in, only being able to look at his face , an outline of it. "Oh, you'd just love that, wouldn't you,pet?" You had scoffed lightly at him.

"Shut up, my foods getting cold , and I don't like it in here." Ducking under Spikes arm, grabbing your food and key, before making your way out your office and the building. Spike following you ,but the security guard was gone and the door was locked , no way out.

"Well isn't that bloody brilliant."

"There's no way we are getting out of here , till morning ,"

"Can't we call someone?"

"I don't know , do you have anyone's number?" That was it , you both had headed back to your office , found some candle, since the electricity had been turned off, at on the floor with your food. You weren't sure why he decided to stay with you , maybe it was just that you had food.

Your back against the sofa , as you both ate , you were in no doubt that you were talking tomorrow off. You knew you or Spike was going to have to sleep on the sofa, ah yes perfect, back pains. "Why were you here so late anyways?" After finishing your mouthful of food, why Spike would want to lurk here at night , that was unknown.

"Just snooping through Angels stuff, then I heard you, so."

"Ah, of course." Smirking at you , leaning back his palms behind him, sideways on from you, uh , you're not Ryan Reynolds? Actual um, sorry but you're hotter. Your food all gone , except the small amount of drink left.

"Honestly this couldn't be a better day, my keys fell down the side of the sofa , and I didn't realise until I went home. Then this happened , and now we are stuck here, when I could be at home, sleeping."

"It's not so bad, you could've been stuck here with Angel, love."

" You really don't like Angel, I'm not surprised he makes small problems seem unsolvable. Yet within a couple of hours , all is fine. Actually that sounds a lot like me, over thinking everything. But yeah Angels is a bit of an arse."

Spike only smirking at you, in return.

Glancing at your watch , 12:03 , you were only lucky that Spike was able to pick the lock on the toilets. Otherwise you don't know what you would've done, ah yes, peeing yourself in front a rather good looking , dead man. Leaving your office to go pee again , before returning rubbing your eyes as you walked through the door.

"Are you going to get some sleep, love?" Spike had cleaned up all the rubbish, throwing it all away, you wouldn't expect that from dead guy, former mummy's boy. "Uh, if the sofa wasn't built like a rock, yes , but since that's the case no." Settling back onto the floor, careful not to catch on fire, as you crossed passed some of candles.

Instead of Spike replying yet , he had stood up and made his way to the sofa , plopping himself onto it, with poof. "You got to be joking love , you clearly never have lived in a crypt." W h at was it wish vampires living in crypts , or complaining that their huge cold dick will spilt a human in half. Turning to face the sofa, not being able to see Spike, letting out a dry laugh.

"Yeah that doesn't convince me, are you just so old that you don't remember that every day at lunch that I sit on that sofa with you?" Spike had sat up to look at you with a glare ,yet again scoffing. "Well then , Pet, how about you come lay on me, I'm very comfortable."

Without thought you had gotten up , and thrown yourself onto Spike, both groaning as your back slammed into Spikes chest. He was lucky really that your butt bone , not tail bone, the top of your leg one, didn't smash into his parts. Instead he had wrapped around you so you were stuck in place. "I see what you are doing."

"And what is that?"

"I body slammed you, now you're cuddling with me? Mental , you're an ice cube, yeahh sureeee so comfortable, I love being engulfed by Vanilla ice." Not that he looked much like Vanilla ice but it's a little funny, not really but.

"Hey, I won't stand to be your cushion , with your bullying."

"Didn't you kill hundreds of people? And you get defensive when I call you Robert van Wrinkle?" Turning your head to look up to Spike who was looking down on you, shuffling so that you were laying next to the sofa back and on Spike with your hand on his chest.

"Love,I'll eat you, try sleep." This isn't a Loki imagine when he kidnaps you and it turns out he's a vampire , and he gets busy and drinks your blood for a fetish. Spikes arms around your shoulder , eventually falling asleep with your head on his chest.

Everything was fine, until Wesley and the rest of them had came looking for you. As you was supposed to be in a meeting with them in the morning , so was Spike but they were worried for you.

"Couldn't they do that at home?"

"Can I poke them with a stick?"

"Ah yes, poke the mass murdering vampire , very smart ,Gunn. "

No consideration of being quiet, you both had been woken, it wouldn't be that surprising if Spike was pretending to be asleep , to avoid talking to people he didn't like very much except Fred.

Waking up to see a bunch of people just smiling at you at , wasn't the best. "So, Spike what about Buffy?" Sitting up ,before standing up from Spike, must've hurt having a whole body on you all night , maybe it didn't effect him because he has super strength? Spike just turned to sit on the sofa , unimpressed facial expression, hunched.

"Buffy has her own life, I'm not apart of it."

"I-is this all you came her for? To wake us? And taunt? I'm taking the day off ," No uncertainty that you wanted to get home, and shower and eat. You had looked back at Spike who had looked back , standing up. "I'll drive you." Grabbing your bag, before bow in front of Angel for whatever reason. "Thank you so much for locking us in an evil law firm all night. Bye Fred, Wesley, Gunn , Lorne."

"Bye hon." Lorne was always a sweetheart , wishing that every guy was like him, kindest soul and very much cute. Spike and you had left after you had sent Lorne a smile. Walking out with bed hair and day old clothes , not that Spike had offered his arm but you were still holding onto to walk.

Walking past Harmony, she had sent daggers your way, why doesn't she just kidnap Orlando Bloom or something. Gripping onto Spikes arm tighter , walking down the stairs, not falling this time, thankfully. Before you made it to Angels' car park, and got into one of this favourite cars. "Uh, are we supposed to be taking Angels car?"

"What? It's mine, love, what are you going on about?" Opening the the car door at the same time , settling in the seats before slamming the door shut. The windows of the car , made from the same glass that wolfram & Hart was supplied with, since the cars were supplied by wolfram & Hart for Angel, a vampire. That also meant that Spike could drive in the sunlight protected.

"Okay, okay." Once you had made it into your building car park, Spike had walked with you up to your door. Being finally able to unlock your door, with your shopping ,lucky there wasn't any fridge nor freezer items. Turning back to Spike who just stood at your door, grinning slightly.

"T-thank you for staying with me yesterday, and for driving me home." A small blush upon your face, it wasn't unknown to you that you had developed a crush on Spike , how couldn't you? "That's alright ,love." Still stood in front of you, looking into your e/c eyes , you staring into his brightly lit blue ones. He was waiting for you to say or to do something.

Leaning to the side of his face, to press a peck onto his pale toned cheek. Instead of course , he had turned and you ended up pressing your lips , onto his briefly. Pulling away red cheeked , Spike now smirking at you again. "H-hey um, do you want to come and watch Lord of the rings with me?" You weren't sure what you was supposed to say after kissing someone accidentally.

"I would," thus that you held your door open wide, "I invite you into my home."

Therefore, you watched Lord of the rings with a dead man.

#spike x y/n #spike btvs x reader #spike btvs imagine #spike x you #spike imagine #spikebtvs #spike btvs #spike #spike x reader #buffy the vampire slayer #Angel 1999 imagine #btvs imagine #btvs imagines #y/n #x reader #imagine

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lovingmyselfcore · 4 years

Text

Protect You

Chapter One: I Have To Guard Dain; God Save Me

The Greenbriar's have their own reality TV show. Madoc is the head security guard. A mix up requires Madoc to ask his daughters to step in and help out. Taryn refuses (the beech) but Jude and Vivi accept. Jude gets assigned to Dain Greenbriar. Working for Dain, Jude uncovers some dirty secrets involving the family and friends. She strives to uncover these secrets and above all, keep her charge safe. But threats to the Greenbriar's lead to Jude guarding the youngest. Who also happens to be the biggest pain-in-the-ass. When working for his brother, avoiding Cardan was easier (she couldn't always) but now it's impossible. Deaths of people in the Greenbriar family, infidelity, love, and above all; pain. Why couldn't Vivi's father have been a carpenter?

“Can someone help me? I can’t get these damn heels Dad wants us to wear on.” Rhyia yelled, followed by some crashing noises. My older half-sister, Vivi, and I looked at each other then at where the commotion came from.

"You're closer to her," I said, stepping back with my hands raised.

Vivi sighed and steeled her shoulders back marching down to the door marked Rhyia Greenbriar.

Vivi and I were only here at all because Vivi’s father (my adopted father) had called and asked us to look after the female Greenbriar's for a short time. Vivi and I had grudgingly marched down here from our penthouse (A gift from Eldred Greenbriar to my father, for what I’m not certain) in hoodies sweatpants, and sneakers at four am.

The Greenbriar's were the family Madoc was ‘in charge of’. They had their own reality show, and my father was the head security guard. Madoc had trained Vivi, Taryn - my twin sister - and me to defend ourselves and others from a young age. Since he got the job with the Greenbriar's we had been asked to come down at all odd hours if Madoc couldn’t get any of his employees down fast enough. Taryn always refused, besides, she lived with her fiancé anyway, but Vivi and I came down until we were relieved when the actual guards showed up.

I watched as Rhyia’s door cracked open just enough for Vivi to slip in and walked across the trailer and peeked out the window, a hand resting on the pocket I had thrown my gun - well Madoc’s gun - into.

It was a grey rainy morning, the rain drizzled down, obscuring my view of the trailer only a few hundred feet away. That was where the male Greenbriar’s were at the moment, and where I was glad I wasn’t.

At another crash, I turned away from the window and half-jogged across the trailer to Rhyia’s room. I knocked with my knuckle “Rh-Miss. Greenbriar, is everything alright? Vivi?” When I didn’t hear anything my hand tightened over the handgun. Nothing ever really happened while Vivi and I were here, so I was unsure what exactly to do. Madoc had only drilled the basics in our heads.

1) Their lives mean more than ours do, protect them

2) Shoot first, ask questions later

I knocked again, more insistent.

“Jude?” I head Vivi call.

I relaxed a little, “Vi, what’s happening is everything alright?”

“Oh- yeah. Rhyia keeps knocking shit over.” I heard an embarrassed laugh.

Vivi slipped out the door and I could see Rhyia making a vulgar gesture before Vi closed the door behind her.

“Can you check on Elowyn?” Vivi asked. “I’m gonna run outside real quick and call Heather.”

“Oh?”

“Shut up. You know she’s in a different timezone.” Vivi pouted. “She’s up now so I’m going to call!”

I threw up my hands. “Go for it. Just don’t blame me when Dad yells at you.”

She rolled her eyes, “My central purpose on this earth is to annoy and piss off that man as much as possible,” She shrugged, her phone already in her hand, as she walked backward towards the door. “Just doing my job.”

I turned to knock on Elowyn’s door just as Vivi poked her head back in the trailer. “Don’t think of romancing any female Greenbriar while I leave you unsupervised.” She wagged her finger.

I snorted, “I don’t want to get involved with the Greenbriar’s any more than just being Dad’s clients. So don’t worry.”

I didn’t want to spend time dissecting the look she was giving me so I looked away.

I knocked on Elowyn’s door. “Miss Greenbriar? Just checking everything’s alright?”

“Yes,” Her soft voice carried through the room. “But can you zip up my dress?”

“Of course.” I let myself into her room.

I was immediately bombarded with the over-floral scent. Elowyn’s walls were covered with paintings, local artists, famous artists, and dedicated fans who sent their own work to her. There was always classical music playing from somewhere in her room, and I wasn’t sure anybody knew where it came from. Elowyn was probably one of the nicest Greenbriar’s out there, if not the nicest. But that didn’t mean I could stand being in her room for more than ten minutes and any given time.

I went over to where she was standing and zipped her dress. She saw me in the mirror and looked at me with quickly veiled disgust. I only rolled my shoulders back, I’d stopped allowing things like that to get to me a long time ago.

She vaguely shooed me out, her acrylic nails typing vigorously on her phone.

I did not understand that woman in the slightest.

~~~~~~

My phone buzzed from my hoodie pocket and I pulled it out, seeing a text from Madoc. Vivi and I were leaning against the wall again. When I’d come out Vivi was already back inside, explaining to me, with such extreme sadness I almost laughed, ‘She couldn’t talk, she had to get to an appointment.’

“He’s almost here,” I told Vivi, typing a response and sticking my phone back in my pocket.

She moaned, closing her eyes, “That means I can go back to sleep.”

“Yeah,” I agreed.

She opened an eye and looked at me, “What’s the matter, Jude?”

“What? Oh - nothing, just tired and distracted.” I lied.

She hums in acknowledgment.

“Girls!” Madoc’s booming voice echoed through my skull and we pushed off the wall to go greet him.

He kissed us both on the cheek and when Vivi went to leave he held out his hand.

“I’m so sorry, girls.”

Vivi and I exchanged looks, that couldn’t be good.

“I know you don’t have college degrees in this field. You,” He looked at me, “Are under the age of 22.” I’d turned 21 last month, but Eldred had a weird rule about his official appointments being under the age of 22. “However, we’re running low and I’m going to need to assign you a Greenbriar to look after.”

Vivi actually whimpered and I just ran a hand down my face.

“Which ones? And for how long?” Vivi asked, already resigned.

“Vivi, I want you to look after Elowyn.”

Vivi smiled. Elowyn didn’t cause trouble and was her father’s favorite. In real life, she was most everybody’s favorite too but in the show, the watchers favored the more dramatic of the bunch.

“And Jude,” I held my breath, “I would like you to look after Dain for me.”

I released a breath and nodded. Dain. I could look after Dain. He wasn’t the worst. I’m not saying he was great either. But he was okay.

“It’ll only be for a couple of months. Again, I’m sorry.”

“When?” Vivi asked.

“Now,” Madoc winced at Vivi’s shriek.

“Dad,” I said, “We aren’t even dressed ‘cause we were planning on going back to bed after you got back. At least let us shower, change, and eat, and then we’ll be down here. Right,” I cut a look at Vivi who met my eyes then nodded vehemently.

Madoc considered this. “I suppose that makes sense,” He ceded.

Vivi took the win and ran with it. Literally. As soon as he said that she bolted, sprinting full force out the door, letting it slam shut behind her. I didn’t waste time either, and as I ran out of the trailer I heard Madoc’s deep chuckle behind me.

Once I was far enough away from Madoc I slowed to a walk. I heard the roar of her motorcycle, and I wondered how she’d even gotten so far away so quickly. I had a sneaking suspicion she broke time and space just so she could be home and have the hot water first. She was my ride, and she just took off. Hot water superiority, I suppose.

I breathed out a chuckle (It was still too early. I wasn’t putting that much energy into laughing) and pulled my phone out of my pocket. I stuck my earbuds in my ears and pressed play on my playlist.

I hummed along to the song as I walked home. The streets were almost completely vacant, save for a few stray cars. The early morning commute hadn’t happened yet, further proof that waking us up at this hour against our will was nothing but ungodly.

I’d reached our penthouse apartment. I sighed through my nose, ‘Penthouse apartment’ it sounded ridiculous. Why did we need a penthouse apartment? Oh right, we didn’t, but I guess it was nice.

When I got up to our apartment I was proven right. Vivi was already in the shower. I went over and banged on the bathroom door, “Don’t use all the hot water!”

I tossed my gun and phone on the kitchen island, next to Vivi’s, shucking off my hoodie and tossing it somewhere.

I slipped off my tennis shoes as I walked to my bedroom. I threw myself on my bed, taking a deep breath. I hadn’t asked Madoc how long we’d be watching the Greenbriar’s, but I knew that as long as I had to accompany Dain, I’d see my least favorite Greenbriar somewhere.

Cardan Greenbriar was the bane of my entire existence. We’d never gotten along. No. Scratch that. We detested each other. When we were in high school, we were academic enemies. Cardan always made it his job to make me feel like I, a daughter born from infidelity didn’t belong in that school. With the elite. In a way, he was right. I never felt like I fit in there. No matter how hard I fought. Things got extremely messy between me, Taryn, and Cardan and his nightmare posse. By graduation, I thought I had finished with him, despite knowing Madoc worked for Eldred. Then Madoc got promoted and started asking Vivi and I to help with whatever he needed involving the Greenbriars. And now, boom. I can’t get rid of him, but I do my best to avoid him.

I distantly heard the shower turn off and I pushed myself off the bed. Vivi emerged from the bathroom in her towel, flashing me a quick smirk before she hurried to her bedroom, “I didn’t use all the hot water!”

“Sure you didn’t!”

“Trust me more, Jude!”

“Only when you become trustworthy!”

“Bitch!”

“Love you too, sis!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

That was how most of our conversations went, though the ‘bitch’ varied depending on the argument.

~~~~~

Once I was in the shower, water streaking down my body I really thought about what watching Dain would entail, and I started to question why I was needed at all. He had his own team, who all went by codenames, and seemed to know everything about everyone, everywhere. They already were with him everywhere, behind the cameras during every shoot. The Bomb, The Roach, and The Ghost. Nobody really knew who they were, besides Madoc. But, despite my pressing, he never revealed where he or Dain or even Eldred found them. They suddenly just appeared one day, surrounded by rumors.

I do think that I’m a pretty incredible fighter. I’m good with a gun, I box almost daily. Madoc taught me how to fence and use knives as a kid. but Dain already had the three of them. What did he need me for? Maybe he personally requested me? But that would make even less sense? I suppose I would find out soon enough.

I turned off the shower after washing my hair and stepped out.

When I exited the bathroom I had to cross through the living room back to my bedroom.

I let out a noise somewhere between a scoff and a snort, “Really, Vivi?”

“What?” She exclaimed, her mouth full of sugary cereal.

“We watch that show happen in real-time,” I gestured to the TV where Vivi was watching reruns of Wicked Royals. “I still can’t get over that name. It’s ridiculous.” Vivi nodded absently, her eyes now refocused on the screen, where it was one of those one-person interviews. Elowyn was talking about some fight that Balekin and Dain had just gotten into.

“Anything good happening?” I joked.

She snorted, “Depends on your definition of good.”

I laughed (She knew my definition of good was definitely not that) and went into my room, leaving Vivi to her mindless watching.

I got dressed in a simple black outfit and pulled my hair up into a simple ponytail. It was boring, but it wasn’t like there was anybody I wanted to impress.

“Jude!”

“What?” I asked, exiting my room.

She waved her phone in my face, “We gotta go.”

~~~~~~~~

When we arrived, Madoc was waiting for us. He ushered us along with quick words, “They’re filming already, so Vivi you go hang out behind the crew. Watch Elowyn, make sure nothing happens. Jude, I want you to meet Dain’s other bodyguards. Not all of them are in there because the others are with Dain, but meet them.”

He practically shoved me into Dain’s trailer and I only heard Vivi yell, “Good luck!” Before the door slammed closed.

I immediately took note of my surroundings and made a point of knowing obvious weapons and places to escape. (Comes with the territory if you live my life)

I turned to see them sitting in a makeshift circle on the floor, playing cards. Well, two of them. A woman and a man.

“I’m Jude,” I said, fighting the urge to shift uncomfortably.

They stared at me for a long time, unblinking and revealing no emotions.

Finally, the woman stood up and held her hand out, “Someday I might tell you my name,” She winked, “Call me Bomb.”

I flashed an uneasy smile at her but my eyes flicked back to the man, who also stood up and in an eerily similar fashion, offered his hand. “Roach,” His voice was gruff and it seemed like it rumbled through the trailer.

He tilted his head towards their discarded cards, “You play?”

“Depends on what it is we’re playing,” I said carefully. It seemed like the right answer if his slight nod meant anything.

“Anything,” Bomb said, “We’re just bored.”

“Why aren’t you out with Dain?” I cursed mentally. It was too bold. Too probing.

However, they didn’t seem offended by the question. “He usually only takes one of us with him and gives the others a job to do, but we don’t have anything.”

“Job?” I asked, but she didn’t respond, didn’t even acknowledge that I’d asked anything.

I was immediately on edge. I even felt my shoulders tense. Something wasn’t right here.

“Let’s sit,” Roach said. So we sat, we formed some kind of triangular circle. I could physically feel how tightly-drawn my body was. I was like a gazelle, I had no idea whether or not a predator was about to lunge. I detested that feeling.

As Bomb collected their previous cards and shuffled Roach turned towards me, “Tell us about yourself, Jude.”

“Your Madoc’s daughter, right?” Bomb asked.

I nodded, “He took us in when we were young.”

“When did you first meet the Greenbriar's?”

I hummed, “I met them all on separate occasions. Vivi knew Rhyia since grade school, so I knew her a little less than that. I met Elowyn and Caeila next, I had tried to run away from home, but I was seven so I didn’t make it quite as long as I’d hoped. It was winter and little me was lost and freezing when they stumbled across me in an alley. I’m still not sure what they were doing there but they recognized me and handed me over to my step-mother Oriana.”

“They didn’t ask any questions?” Bomb questioned.

“Nope, nothing. Just handed me over like I was some misplaced article of clothing.”

Roach whistled under his breath and I opened my mouth to tell them about my first time meeting Balekin when somebody banged on the trailer door. Bomb and Roach spared a quick glance at each other before standing up.

Roach peeked through the peephole and let out a noise between a groan, a laugh, and a curse.

Bomb looked at him questioningly and he just responded with, “It’s the crew.”

She sighed, then gestured for me to stand up, “Dain’s going somewhere, and it’s being filmed for the show. So it’s time to see what you got, newbie.”

I followed Bomb and Roach out the door. The Ghost joined our ranks as we moved through the yard. The trailers were all in the backyard of the huge Greenbriar palace-mansion, they didn’t want the cameras capturing them before they were ready. And in their bedrooms too?? Never.

It would have made sense to hang behind them, observe the way they moved, and the way they schooled their faces to reveal nothing. (It wasn’t hard to see how they’d warranted all the rumors) I, however, am an idiot. So I shoved my way until I was directly next to them, so when Dain’s eyes landed on me, I knew the predator had found me.

His eyes were cold but unnerving. He seemed to take in every detail about me, physically, mentally, and emotionally. It sent shivers up my spine. He was waiting for this gazelle to jump.

We held eye contact for only a breath before he turned around.

I didn’t jump.

“Newbie,” Dain said, not even looking at me. “Get your,” He paused as if searching for the right word, “Compatriots, some food from craft services or something. Be useful before we leave.”

When I hesitated he snarled. “Do I have to tell you twice? I’m giving a shot at being valuable. Use it.”

The three of them looked at me, Roach’s face was the only one I could read and it seems he was saying with his eyes, “We’ve all been where you are.” Though I doubted they had, not with him.

I balled my fists, digging my nails into my palms and pursing my lips in hopes of holding back the biting retort on the tip of my tongue. Oh, how I wanted to put this over-grown rich kid in his place. I knew I’d win in any sort of physical fight. But legally? He could destroy me.

So, I spun on my heel and stalked off towards where I knew there would be food.

~~~~~~~

I stomped in, letting the door slam closed behind me, and banged my fist on the wall. I didn’t like him already. I hated anybody that talked to me as if they were miles above me. I hated the Greenbriar’s for their elitist attitude. I hated feeling so powerless. I hated my parents for dying. I hated Madoc for making-

“Jude Duarte, long time no see,” That voice. Despite the haze of anger in my mind, I knew that voice anywhere, that melodic lilt and seductive purr that seemed ingrained in him.

I turned around, slapping a scowl on my face, despite my urge to spill every feeling I had. Somehow, I knew there were some parts he would understand. “Carden Greenbriar, wish I could say it was a pleasure.”

He was sitting on the counter, his legs crossed in front of him. Although he was on a counter, he managed to look regal. His clothes, as always, were fashionable and worth more than my life.

He reached out with long, delicate fingers and plucked an apple out of a bowl. “Well, you could say it.” He smirked, “You’ve always been a pretty liar, Jude.” His rings and the golden highlights in his hair gleamed in the harsh, fluorescent light.

I rolled my eyes. “Thanks,” I strode forward and plucked the apple out of his hand. “And thanks for this.” I mock-saluted him with it and turned to leave, despite not completing my task, when he grabbed my shoulder and spun me around to face him.

“Haven’t you missed me, Jude?” I shrugged his hand off and shook my head in response. I wasn’t sure how he’d leaped off the counter so fast, but with him so close to me, I was reminded of how much taller he was.

“Come on,” He said, with an indecipherable look in his eyes. “Banter with me, my monster girl. Or have you changed that much?”

“I’m not your anything,” I spit.

“There she is.” And there was that damned smirk again.

“Do everyone a favor and rot in hell, Cardan.”

“Only if you come with me.” He bowed with a flourish and kissed my hand.

I shivered despite myself. “I’m going to heaven.”

He actually let out a laugh, “Really?”

“Probably not.” I shrugged.

“Like I said,” He grinned, “Pretty liar,” He purred again, making my toes curl in my boots.

I hated the way he made me feel. I hated the way I would think of the sharp lines of his face, and the sound of his actual laugh whenever I couldn’t fall asleep. God, I hated him.

I resisted the urge to spit in his face.

I maneuvered around him towards the rest of the snacks. “Your brother’s an ass.”

“I had no idea,” He drawled, voice dripping sarcasm.

“You’re not going to ask which one?” I slammed the fridge door closed and dumped my haul into a backpack that was sitting on the table.

“Nope. Greenbriar’s are good at being asses.”

I smiled at the definite tone in his voice. “Of course.”

I tossed the bag over my shoulder and made to leave when Cardan’s hand shot out. “Just a second, and I’ll let you get back to whatever servant’s task you were doing.”

I looked at him with such hatred I could feel it in my veins. He seemed to realize he struck a nerve and his grin could put the Cheshire cat out of business.

He held out his hand as if he wanted me to shake it. When he didn’t he let out a dramatic sigh and grabbed one of the bottles of wine that rested on a shelf near his head.

He saluted me with it, in a similar fashion to when I’d done the same with the apple.

“Until our next tête-à-tête, darling.” And, with a wink, he was out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“The Greenbriar's suck,” Was all I said as I threw myself face-down on our couch.

Vivi threw herself on top of me with a groan of assent.

I smiled despite being smushed in the cushions, “I feel validated.”

“What was that?” Taryn asked.

I yelped and Vivi jumped up from off of me.

Taryn was standing, leaning slightly against the kitchen island. She had a small smile on her face.

“Taryn!” Vivi threw herself at my twin.

When they separated Taryn looked at me, “Jude?” She asked softly.

I shook my head, hanging back. “Not yet,”

Taryn’s smile vanished and it looked like she was going to roll her eyes.

Vivi could sense the tension and took it upon herself to distract us, “Dad gave us jobs guarding individual Greenbriars.”

“Oh. How is that going?”

“About as well as you’d expect,” I said tightly.

“Okay,” Vivi said, exasperated. “Sit down, both of you. Let’s catch up and act like sisters.”

I opened my mouth to argue but Vivi cut me a scathing glance and I knew I couldn’t get out of this one.

The three of us sat on the couch. Vivi, relaxed, in-between Taryn and I. Taryn and I both sat board-straight, glaring at each other.

“So,” Vivi said, moving so Taryn couldn’t stare at me anymore, “What’s been happening with you since we last talked?”

“Well, Locke-” Oh god. I tuned her out but tuned back in when they looked at me like I should have an answer to a question.

I somehow managed to talk my way out of what was happening and escaped to my room.

I was ready for bed, laying and staring at my ceiling when my brain started spiraling.

There were so many things that would be expected of me. What if I messed up and somebody got hurt? What if I couldn’t succeed and get stuck working a boring 9 to 5 office job. I loved the rush I got working where I do. I, for some godforsaken reason, excelled in dirty politics. That’s how I felt fulfilled. I got used to fighting to survive as a child and now I can’t live any other way. Is that too deep? I’m thinking too much about this.

*buzz*

Cardan: I’ll see you tomorrow bright and early my monster girl ;)

Jude: I hate you

Cardan: I hate you too darling

Jude: You’re drunk aren’t you?

Cardan: How’d you know?

Jude: You’re always drunk

Cardan: Hurtful

I rolled my eyes and turned my phone off, my eyes heavy with exhaustion.

Tag List:

@ladyofbloodandroses @foreverscreaming This is already going so far off the ‘reality show’ aspect. I’m so sorry :)

#the folk of the air #tfota fanfic #tfota #jurdan #jude x cardan #jude duarte #tcp #twk #tqon #hthkoelths #prince cardan #cardan greenbriar #vivi duarte #taryn duarte #locke #nicasia

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