#should be a werewolf. with every fiber of my being. and i also think that it's way harder to write a long fic than it should be :(

[potatoesandsunshine]

fic asks!! 2, 3, 9, and 15, along with a free bingo space to share any other things about your current fic that you'd like the opportunity to ramble on <3

2. What fanfic do you wish you got more response on?

i did this one in a different ask but we have established that i Love Attention so i’ll offer another one. delilah pining after/obsessing over ripley during the whitestone years. it was compelling 2 me and it holds up.

3. What’s a fic idea that you have but haven’t written yet?

i’ve got. somany. i saw the charlie’s angels reboot alone in a theater at 11am and came out of it wanting to write about spies in love so i have notes that i no longer remember the context for but i’m still kinda Into. i have a whole zevran thing for my newest dragon age: origins playthrough. Wrex & Shepard quiet moment during the reaper war in me3. there are genuinely Too Many Critrole ideas to get into but just really quick: caleb/artagan jealousy-and-curiosity-motivated hookup during travelercon (i love when characters make the wrong choices). fjord/jester/caleb where fjord dies and caleb can see his ghost for blood pact reasons so he and jester decide to do some necromancy about it (i love when characters do necromancy). different-subclasses chroma conclave timeline au with pike and scanlan (i love making overcomplicated aus). grogleth follow-up to a fic i wrote in 2020 (this one isnt just a vague mention in an author’s note anymore i have a 4k outline for it now). there’s so many of these.

9. What’s your favorite line(s) or scene(s) that you have written?

ooooough i am um. indecisive. here’s four.

the onion spell conversation in soup on the stove:

“An onion spell,” Jester snickers, crunching her spoon through the cheesy toast that tops her bowl. “We can send it back to the rest of them, maybe they’ll leave you alone.” // “Oh, Martinet, I know you wanted me dead,” Essek offers, waving his own spoon in a very convincing surrender, “but have you considered my new spell for chopping onions? Think of what the world would lose if I were gone.”

sylvester cross at the bottom of a well in grow the roses of success:

He has performed this part in palaces and slums, on trains and in factories. Sometimes it leads to adulation. Sometimes it leads to cold stone under his back, lying in absolute darkness. // The oubliette is cold. He shivers with it, and smiles.

the artifice/artificial moment in stale taste for finer things:

She’s seen the woman out of armor before; she’s peeled back the chestpiece herself to get at wounds that defy the usual stimpak to the arm trick. This is different. She tries to put it in some kind of context, Tandi's portrait on NCR bills or some senator's wife or even Alice McLafferty in her pressed fucking suit on a hundred degree day, but she can't think her way around the tableau. The Courier is out of step with the whole damn world.

the two best lines from when you’re in trouble:

He swings like a pendulum over his doom, the grip of his sword growing slick with sweat. // Bertrand Bell is a scale that defies balance.

15: Are there words, phrases, mannerisms or scenes you tend to use a lot? 

i really really try not to repeat metaphors but i’m sure there are some that are in 90% of my fics, i just don’t notice them because i’m the one doing it lol. i definitely have a soft spot for characters overthinking things and i love a moment where you establish that the pov character is also the narrator (if that makes sense?), like with an in-character insult as part of a description. one other thing about me is i hate writing transition segments. you’re gonna get three dashes in a row and the next scene is gonna start, we’re not gonna talk about going to the door and leaving the room unless it’s Important to the Story.

this answer really got away from me but thank u so so much for the ask, as you can see i can talk about my fic. for forever.

[supertransural]

Dean and his “things, people and feelings” he’s already “experienced differently”.

So here’s a random 4am thought I had. You know how while in the confessional in 10x16, Dean talks about “things, people, feelings” he wants to “experience differently/for the first time”? That confession is literally incoherent if you take a perfectly heterosexual-non-castiel-point of view. It just is. Let me explain why I think that is, and prepare yourself, this is going to be long. 

Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that we’re supposed to understand that conversation the way the priest understands it, that we’re supposed to see Dean the way the priest sees him: as someone who likes to have flings, who cheats, doesn’t commit, etc... basically the character that was introduced to us in the first few seasons/episodes (somewhat). I’m going to be calling that stance the “priest POV”. 

The issue here, is that this is not in fact “the first few seasons/episodes”, this is season 10, Things have happened since then. People have happened. Feelings. Have. Happened. Wether it be in the form of flashbacks or present day events, we’ve seen character development. So let’s start with romantic ones.

1: The first one that comes to mind is Lisa (and Ben). He had a committed, long term, family oriented, white picket fence relationship. It wasn’t just a “I had no other place to go” kinda deal, because once he was somewhat back on his feet, he could’ve pulled a Dean WInchester and left. Except he didn’t. He could’ve cheated. Except he didn’t. He could’ve not opened up or not gotten vulnerable. Except he did. That should already debunk the “priest POV” but let me add on. 

2: Cassie. Dean was insanely vulnerable with her, he loved her, opened up to her about the one big thing he never tells his one night stands, and incidentally was the one who was rejected this time around. He still has feelings about her when he meets her again. 

3: Robin. His first, real girlfriend. With whom he was also in a committed relationship with, which probably would’ve kept on growing if John hadn’t been the usual assh*le that he is, and Dean had had a chance to go to that dance with her. I like to think of her as beta-version-Lisa, and also as the girl who set him on his blazing trail of leaving women after 1 day or 1 week. His dad was the one to rip him away from her, and we know he wanted his son to be the perfect masc, emotionless, order-following, womanizer. And that is exactly what Dean attempts to become, even though this obviously goes against every fiber of his being (see #4).

4: Amanda. Now you may be thinking “but hey! Dean does cheat on her! and it is a short relationship!”. Sure he does, and sure it is, as I said, ever since Robin, he’s trying to be the womanizer his dad wants him to be. But he still lets himself get quite attached to Amanda, as shown by his disdain of the school right after she dumps him in front of everyone. The only reason he liked or tolerated this school wasn’t just “the hot cheerleaders” or whatever, it was Amanda. He wants to put on this mask of “I don’t care about her, I’m a bad boy, I’m just in it for the sex”, but he’s genuinely hurt by what she tells him about his life and how she judges it, and saddened by the breakup. He lets himself get hurt by her. Bear with me, this is important, because we see it happen again with Cassie and then he never lets it get to that point again, simply because of fear and trauma (I think), for example he’s the one to start the conversation about breaking up with Lisa.

Now. What about the “he was just talking about platonic things and feelings and people” possibility. Spoiler alert, it still doesn’t work. 

1: Jo. Otherwise known in my head as beta-version-Charlie, it’s true that Jo is part of those “early seasons” characters, but that only adds to the inconsistency of the “priest POV”. Dean cared intensely about her, some people think of their relationship as romantic, but I really like the “big brother/father/protective” figure idea. Whatever you believe their relationship was, it was profound, I mean he was positively shattered when she died. Again, deep feelings, longterm feelings. 

2: Benny. Like seriously. Dean spent a year in Purgatory with him, saw him as a brother despite the fact he was a vampire, helped him as much as he could while he was having troubles adapting to life on Earth again, protected him through thick and thin, went against his brother for him, against other hunters, against his core beliefs as a hunter himself, just. for. him. If that doesn’t tick all the boxes of things, feelings, people he wants to experience differently for you, then I truly don’t know what to tell you. And then there’s the whole thing with the ship between them, which I somewhat agree with but it isn’t cannon enough for this. 

3: Garth. Yeah, sure, Dean is condescending towards him at first, but he does care about him a lot, and probably doesn’t understand why and how Garth cares about him so quickly, or offers support voluntarily. Garth is a bit of a role model to him, that scrawny, somewhat cringy, little man is better at life than Dean is, and Dean sees that. He’s bothered by it at first, but learns to respect Garth later on, and care about him. He relies on him as a hunter, and kind of as a friend too and he lets him be the new Bobby (which proves a lot of trust grew here) (also, much later on, Dean makes sure he stays out of hunting so Garth can have a happy family life, he also accepts the fact that he’s a werewolf and that his whole family is too). That Also counts as people experienced differently and for the first time. 

4: Kevin. Or as I like to call him, sort-of-beta-version-Jack. Dean feels responsible for him, he jumps into the role of a father figure more than Sam ever does, as much as Sam cares about Kevin too. He is also completely shattered when he dies, like with Jo (which is a bit of the reason why I see Jo and Dean’s relationship as a Big brother-Little sister relationship, the vibe is similar (but not identical) to Kevin and Dean’s). 

5: Jody. Jody is like the mother he never really had growing up. He is vulnerable around her, opens up, she’s basically family. I’m not going to write in Bobby, because he doesn’t count as “new things”, he was effectively his father. Here, Dean lets Jody become a sort of mother to him even though his memory of his mom isn’t as tarnished as his dad’s is. He lets her step into his mom’s sacred shoes. He lets her take care of him in a way. He lets her enter his life and be here for him. New people, new feelings.

6: Charlie. Charlie is his little sister, no doubt about it. She’s his role model, he loves her deeply, he lets himself care about her and feel insanely protective of her. He lets her be Sam #2. He lets himself become a big brother to a new Jo. To a new human. He lets his nerdy side out around her, he learns from her openness about being gay. He is comfortable around her. He is constantly worried about her. New feelings, new people, new things, first time blah blah blah you know the drill by now.

7: Ash. Yes, yes, I know, another “early on” character. But as I said, it keeps on just proving my point. First of all, I firmly believe Dean had a massive crush on Ash but that’s just my interpretation. He respects Ash and looks up to him, he wants to be a bit like him, confident, comfortable in his own life and skin, happy, and he lives in a friggin’ bar for godsakes. He is the epitome of what Dean wants to be at that point in time. He wants to be carefree like Ash is. He thinks Ash is highly intelligent, and has it made. He sees what a happy man can be, one without burdens from “the life”. Ash is a bit like the cooler version of Garth (no offense to Garth of course). Does that count as a role model? I don’t know. But it sure as hell shaped Dean’s hope for what his life could one day be. And Dean cares about Ash deeply as well, he was devastated when he died (he was devastated about the whole Roadhouse burning of course, but it’s clear Ash’s death shakes him quite a bit) and is genuinely happy when he gets to see him again in Heaven, when he sees Ash content and at peace, and the fact that Ash tells him he’ll see him again one day makes him smile (btw thats something I would’ve wanted to see in the finale, but nooooo they simply had to give us a train wreck instead). 

So now that we’ve established those relationships he’s already had before (and I use the term relationship broadly here, it also includes all his friends), I’d like to point something out. There are of course other people he met along the way, other people he saved who inspired him, like the gay couple LARPing as him and Sam, Ellen (beta-version-Jody), in a way Tessa, Layla Rourke, Eileen, to name a few. But I feel as though the ones I cited were the main ones that truly show how shallow the “priest POV” interpretation is.

So where exactly does all this leave us? Well, friends, exactly where I intended it to be. That scene can’t be about potential women being longterm or serious romantic partners because that’s already happened. It can’t be about friends or monsters, because that’s already happened. Canonically. Several times, in several different flavors. 

TL;DR: There is no way this confession scene is heterosexual, and it’s probably about Cas, but not just him, it’s also simply about Dean himself and his comfy closet getting not so comfortable anymore. 

[theodora3022]

Since you wrote about Yandere Villians with Y/N having a cute fairy quirk, how about a Yandere Hero having a Y/N with a monstrous quirk? SO...you pick the hero! Pick any male hero who you believe can handle Y/N. You do such amazing writing.

Y/N have to wear a face mask to hide the muzzle she wears going outside. Y/N have a quirk where she goes on a frenzy. Her eyes turn red, her veins pop out of her skin, she starts growling and trying to bite anyone near by. A monster who craves to rip flesh and bones. Y/N can turn on her quirk if she feels so much anger or fear. Y/N doesn't want to hurt anyone. She wants to live a quiet and alone life.

Wolf

Pairing: Best Jeanist x f!reader

Warnings: light yandere content, power abuse, threats

Thank you so much for the compliment, dear anon! I went soft with the monster idea that I just made the reader into a werewolf...hope it is still good! I was torn between Kiri and Best Jeanist! I really like Best Jeanist, I wish he got some more screen time ... Maybe I’ll do another one for the shark boy later.

Some groundwork:

When your quirk manifested at four years old, you were not surprised: you come from a family of Mutant quirks, after all.

Your quirk, wolf, means you can transform into a wolf anytime. The longevity is unknown to you since you barely use it. Even in your normal human form, you still have wolf ears and tail. You also have a sensitive nose, just like canines. You (hair color) fluffy fur is the same color as your hair. In acient times, before quirks become a thing, you would be seen as a werewolf.

While transformed, it is hard to supress the wolf’s wild instincts, the desire to hunt, to kill and consume raw meat (extremely difficult if you are hungry). You hate it, being like a beast instead of human. You had outbursts in the past that nearly killed one of your friends. There fore you stay in human at all times.

So most of the time, you just kept a muzzle near you, just in case you would lose yourself to the beast again.

You always feel this...strange sense of difference between you and normal people, so all of your friends have mutant quirks. You kept your social circle small, only letting those who are deemed trustworthy close to you (you told them to run if they see any signs of you getting wild)

You always had a soft spot for animals, therefore you decided to work in a pet shop. Dogs especially loves you, maybe because your canine quirk. Cats not so much, as they had left quite a few marks on you when you just started.

Now you are the assistant manager, the salary is decent, so you do not look for anything more. You never thought of having a romantic relationship because you do not trust yourself: you do not want to hurt the person you love. So even if you had crushes you just kept those feelings hidden until they went away.

Best Jeanist/Tsunagu Hakamada

Did you know his favorite animal is wolf? Therefore he is a furry

Being the No.4 pro hero means taking on lots of stress, so Tsunagu decides to have an animal friend at home who he can talk to freely, without worrying leaking information (I mean how can animals pass on information).

He went into the nearest pet shop, hoping to find a furry companion, preferably dogs.

What he did not expect is to find you there, with those literal puppy eyes and fluffy ears sticking out of your hair, tending to the puppies.

Tsunagu met people with similar quirks before, and he finds them aesthetically pleasing. But seeing you with a litter of adorable puppies, laughing and petting them? He felt like his heart just melted.

“Hello sir. How may I help you today?” You put on your usual smile. Tsunagu is wearing his civilian clothes, so he is just another customer to you. A fashionable one, though. You took notice at his stylish blonde hair.

Tsunagu would ask you about all the options for adopting a puppy. However he is only half-listening: he is drawn to how your ears twitch towards any abnormal sounds...

“Oh, my ears? Sorry if they are distracting. It’s part of my quirk.”

Would get you to talk to him as much as possible, with lots of polite questions.

When you bid him good day as he walks out the door, holding a poodle puppy with its supplies, Tsunagu is determined to see you more.

You are warm, like a ray of sunlight in this stormy world. Having worked as a pro hero for so long, dealing with many negative things so often, make him attracted to positive people. Those furry wolf ears and tail only added to his admiration.

Whenever Best Jeanist is not needed at his agency, Tsunagu Hakamada would find excuses to drop by your shop. Whether it be buying new accessories for his puppy or simply need some advice on her, he would find a way to talk to you, to hear your voice.

Until he become acquainted with you enough, Tsunagu finally asked for you name.

“I’m (y/n), and you, sir?” “Tsunagu. Tusnagu Hakamada.”

Never have once you associated your friendly customer with the No.4 Pro hero of Japan. Tsunagu is charismatic and talkative (at least to you), never putting on airs like Endeavor. Since he wears a mask, the public does not have a good idea what he looks like.

Then you noticed those small gestures, how Tsunagu’s hands would “unintentionally” brush against yours when you hand over his paid items, how his body would lean in slightly towards you whenever you are talking. Or how his lips would curl upwards whenever your tails wags with excitement. You also seen him way more frequently compare to average customers.

“He got a crush on you.” One of you co workers, teases after Tsunagu left the store.

“No he doesn’t.” You blush, although considering her hypothesis.

You seen some of his clothes in fashion magazines, one of them costs more then your monthly salary. Tsunagu is clearly a rich man, a fashion designer perhaps.

“Ms.(y/n), sorry if this sounds intrusive, but do you have a lover?”

That was...unexpected. “No, I do not. Why did you ask, Mr. Hakamata?”

That saves him trouble. Best Jeanist has got this flawless reputation for years, he prefers not to taint it. But if he must, Tsunagu would not hesitate. You belong with him, and him only. “Well, it’s possible such a beautiful lady like you already has a significant other.”

“Mr. Hakamata...I-” You were not sure to blush or to smile. Now it is clear to you: This blonde is interested in you. However you do not know what to respond.

“Call me Tsunagu, please.”

The next day you would find a lily bouquet wrapped in denim on the store counter?! Who use that as a bouquet wrapper? Flatter as you are, you still find this unsettling. He did not show up for the rest of the day, which gives you time to think.

Tsunagu is handsome and kind. He seems like a perfect choice, but you wonder what he would say if he saw you as a bloodthirsty wolf, feral and hungry for killing.

You decide to turn him down, not wanting to give him false hope.

Some minor villain is causing trouble in the streets when you were walking home. You were just going to sprint away at first, but in the corner of your eye you saw a mother with her toddler daughter being corner by the villain. The way the mother tries to protect her child triggered something in you. You have to do something!

“Grr!!!” Suddenly a piece of flesh is ripped off the villain’s leg. The villain screams in pain, but you dodged every last one of his attacks while leaving deep bite marks on him. Soon the sidewalk is stained crimson with blood. You know the two had already gotten away, you should stop now. But the wolf instincts got the better of you. You crave blood, lots of it. The growing pool under you is not enough.

You heard police sirens, someone yelling for you to stop, but the wolf is not willing to. It seems it would not be satiated unless this villain dies a brutal death.

Streams of fibers wrapped around you, restraining you until you cannot move anymore.

When you regained consciousness, you were in a clean jail cell, still in your wolf form. You assumed that you are being confined in a hero agency since you just lost control.

The door cracked. It is Tsunagu! What is he doing here? And why is he wearing a jean mask?

Then you saw the rest of his outfit. Demin jeans suit from head to toe, the...the No.4?

He is Best Jeanist? What is happening now?

Tsunagu wanted to take things slow, he wanted to date you normally, letting you know everything about him, but this seems like too good of an oppertunity to pass up.

“(y/n), can you understand me?” He crouches down with a concerned look on his face.

You nod. You are not able to speak human languages while in wolf form, another draw back.

“Do your clothes come back when you transform? Or do you need some clothes?”

You left your clothes behind a dumpster before, so you just shook your head. If you were to transform now, it could be quite embarrassing.

Handing you a denim dress, Best Jeanist leaves to give you some privacy to change.

After you are dressed and back in human form, he took you to his office.

“I know you must have lots of question right now, but please allow me to explain somethings first.”

“The villain is in bad shape. You did quite a bit damage on him. His blood loss is immense; he is still in the ICU as we speak.”

Why don’t you just let him die, he’s a threat to society anyway. You ask yourself, silently.

“However, while he is a villain, you still hurt him too much. And it’s not even self-defence. You are not a hero, it’s illegal.”

You tense up. Would you face charges for this? For trying to protect other people.

“Would I go to Tartarus? For how long?”

“Oh, come now. As long as I have any say , I won’t allow that to happen.” Your eyes lit up, wanting to thank him.

“You can be my wife instead. Stay with me, and no charges would be pressed.”

What?

You know he likes you, but just asking to become his wife like that? Without dating first.

“Tsunagu, I... you...this...” He finds your stutters cute, as he traces his fingers along the edge of your wolf ears. Best Jeanist had been wanting to do that for so long, he worked so hard to restrain himself.

“Your choice. Either face court charges, or you can be with me, all is well.”

Tsunagu Hakamada is confident about his chances. An innocent, adorable civilian like you will not last long even in the most outer cells of Tartarus.

Tears slides down your chin as you give a reclutant reply. “I’ll...be with you.”

Who could have thought Tsunagu would do such a thing? He is always so nice and friendly. But now here he is, threatening you with this crime?

“Perfect.” Snapping a denim collar around your neck, he lifts your chin, forcing you to look up to him. “I can’t wait to get you home; you would be such a lovely little wolf. My little wolf.”

“Should you ever try to leave me, I’m sure Tartarus is always avaliable.”

[jksangelic]

defanged (m)

↳ rating: M

↳ genre: smut, fluff, werewolf!au, a/b/o au, pwp

↳ pairing: mates werewolf!reader x werewolf/alpha!hoseok

↳ warnings: explicit sexual content, dom themes, breathplay, knotting, rough play, impregnation kink, overall general ”werewolf” smut themes, personality change, probably an uncomfortable amount of squishy mate talk

↳ summary:  hoseok is an easy mate—as such that there are moments you question if he’s just human. so when his sudden spike of aggression emerges, you do your best to keep this unknown man at bay. or, alternatively: young alpha hoseok has started teething and he’s being a bratty puppy about it.

↳ note: ok so if you were with me a few months ago you would know that this is actually a collab fic with a couple other writers but life happens and here we are now *cowboy emoji*. this is really important to me bc they’re such *clench fist* great people and i’m happy i received such an opportunity to collab with them (’: pls make sure to rb/like/visit our collab masterlist if you want to be in-the-know of when they post their parts!

also i wanted to play around with the humorous sides of what werewolves might go thru (-: so, like, short attention spans and hating loud noises and typical big dog stuff. with the teething, just imagine that their growth stages are prolonged because they’re, idk, maybe immortal or something lol

(i…… i’m not used to writing fantasy can u tell)

((gif isn’t mine + his side profile ;-;))

↳ words: 9k+

You could hear every miniscule thread snap and unwind from themselves, a simple task such as painting your nails becoming less relaxing than it should be.

“Hobi,” you mumble once. You swipe down your thumb again, carmine red smoothing over brightly and with utmost delicacy. He doesn’t listen, another squeaking grind of his teeth against the material of his sweatshirt followed by a snapsnap.

“Hobi,” you say a little louder, flinching from annoyance and staining your cuticle with the polish. You curse your discontents, waiting for him to look at you but only meeting a turned neck and eyes still glued to his phone, an I’m listening portrayed by his demeanor but not really meaning it.

He chews hard on the neckline, a solid rip completely tearing several inches down his chest, eyes widening and attention finally caught when his chest is exposed hilariously.

“Hoseok!” you yell, slamming the closed bottle onto the coffee table and meeting his startled eyes, “I just bought that for you!”

He hopes to play it off and shrugs as you swipe it from his teeth, untwined fibers poking out sadly. You smooth your thumbs over the poor fabric, the third victim of his recent gnashing problem.

“Why do you keep doing this?” you ask sadly, a little more bummed about the beautiful sweatshirt than you should be.

He responds simply, “My gums itch.”

You roll your eyes at his childlike excuse, the full-sized man sitting cross-legged and distractedly in his corner of the couch with his phone paused on some game with horrendously annoying music. Was he really your alpha?

“Why don’t you do us some good and go hunting.” You offer, a lame excuse to get Hoseok out of your hair for a bit. It’s what you deserve. He rolls over with a harrumph, shoulder now bare from the growing tear in his clothing. It made you giggle slightly.

“I’m in pain and you’re laughing at me,” he deadpans, body static-still and stubborn more than ever.

Your breath fans his skin as you slither next to him, “I’m sorry, baby. Are you really hurting? Why don’t you go to the dentist?”

Hoseok pouts, taptaptapping away at his screen instead of looking at you, “I don’t want to go to the dentist. They just itch.” Even now, he licks over the burning sensation of his gums, clenching and grinding his teeth to ease the feeling in any way. You can hear the collisions of his canines, your own tingling uncomfortably from the sound.

You shake your head. “Maybe you’re teething,” you suggest in all seriousness. It wasn’t impossible; your kind’s lifespan certainly placing such life stages at seemingly unusual times. In any case, it would simply mean his canines were most likely growing longer and stronger.

He scoffs as if you’ve insulted him, “I’m well over my teething days, Y/N. They just itc—"

“Say that one more time and I’ll neuter you,” you huff. When he lacks a kinder response, you push yourself off the couch to tidy your bedroom instead. He clearly wasn’t in the mood to have a serious conversation with you at the moment, and despite its rarity, you could use your space.

Your mate was in no way irritable; in fact, Hoseok was one of the sunniest alpha’s you’ve ever encountered. His kindness differentiated him from others, bearing his mark (and one day, hopefully, his pups) certainly deeming you quite lucky. He was a soft lover above all, never making you feel as a subordinate or anything of the like.

Perhaps it’s why you two were clashing heads recently, his personality completely contradictory from his true self. Never does he ignore you, let alone snap at you.

Folding your clothes (and purposefully leaving his items in a pile on his side of the bed in spite), you exhale heavily and leave for the living room once again, disregarding your now smeared manicure.

Hoseok beams at the shoe aisle, producing more light than whatever was already lit in the store. Due to his “issue”, stopping by the mall was a given. Two more of his shirts and even one of your necklaces mangled and chewed up like he was the Tasmanian Devil.

Petting his hair fondly, you give him a nuzzle to his cheek, “I’ll be in the next store over, puppy. Come meet me when you’re done.” He nods happily, wide-frame glasses bobbing atop his pretty nose.

You beeline for the department store in hopes of purchasing a few extra things for yourself before Hoseok sniffs you out. It’s immediate heaven when you sift through the dresses, picking a few out and dangling them happily on your fingers before bouncing from rack to rack. By the time you reach the dressing rooms, your arm aches from the pile you’ve accumulated.

“Hey there, you can go ahead and take that first stall right there,” a man directs, tall and intimidating and rather fucking handsome, you think. “My name’s Jaebum. Let me know if you need anything and I’ll go grab it for you.”

You bat your lashes and mouth a Thanks before waltzing into your room, appreciating his kindness perhaps a little too much. Despite your complex and absolute relationship status, it didn’t hurt to peek at what’s on display. It was only right!

You try on more than what you even remembered picking out, velvets and satins and the softest of cottons all hugging you warmly with every piece, a bittersweet happiness when everything seemed to fit you perfectly. The last dress, though, is your only hiccup. Material skin-tight and ending just a little above your ankles; you harrumph. Almost a perfect streak.

Dress still on (at least it zipped), you peek through the door and spot handsome Bum at the front. “Psst, um, do you mind getting me a couple more sizes in this? I think it was near the wall to the right.”

He grins and nods, almost grateful of the fact that you asked him to do so. Why was he even in this section? Should it concern you?

You watch as he leaves, back muscles showcased quite lavishly in his pristinely pressed suit.

Should it be more concerning that it didn’t?

You take a moment to look at the dress once more, smoothing over the velvet that bunched snugly at your waist and checking out your own ass. The fabric might rip if you sneeze too hard but you look pretty damn splendid.

“Found a few more and got you another color as well,” Jaebum says upon return. You almost snap your neck away from the mirror, hoping he didn’t see you ogling your bum. What a speedy fellow.

You politely open the door wider and reach for the hangers, “Thank you, I appreciate it.”

Jaebum doesn’t fully hand it to you though, briefly but noticeably skimming over your body, “I think that size is cute on you too. You have a really beautiful figure.”

Maybe it should concern you. You chuckle awkwardly and look elsewhere. Please just give me my dresses, you almost say, now self-conscious in your skin.

“It’s even better when she’s naked. I would know,” Hoseok near growls, appearing out of thin air. He swipes the hangers from behind Jaebum, who is surprised beyond all comprehension of the word, and pushes you back into the room. You’ve never seen him look so enraged, face serious and twitching as if he would shift at any given moment.

“Th-There aren’t allowed to be more than one person in a—,” Jaebum nervously starts from the other side before the door is slammed on his nose.

You didn’t even see Jaebum’s reaction, nor do you ponder it when Hoseok drops your beautiful dresses and thrusts your back against the mirror with his hand to your neck, deliberately making you yelp loud enough for others to hear. You recoil as he bares his fangs, sharp and taunting, threatening to devour you whole and you know this isn’t your Hobi.

He doesn’t get the chance for whatever else he had in store when pure vehemence engulfs you, daring to stand your ground with a low guttural snarl and shoving him off. Your strength is nothing to snicker at, his shoulders nearly hitting the other wall despite his stature.

“What’s wrong with you?” you didn’t even care if everyone in the damn store could hear you, “Don’t you dare touch me!”

Regret instantly arises in his eyes, his hands reaching out to comfort you in any way but hesitant in the warning. He would rather die than hurt you, he was sorry, he was so sorry.

Your body can feel his sorrow and want, itching to touch him in any way but you push it down. The little she-wolf in you whimpers as you struggle out of the dress and leave him alone in the stall, begging for you to go back and forgive him.

Jaebum stands, bewildered, outside of the rooms. He sure did rue the moment he ever made advances on you. Not a word is spoken as you pass by and exit the store.

It doesn’t make it any easier when Hoseok follows you closely. “Baby, I’m sorry. Please.”

“You were going to shift because of some stupid sales clerk! You could’ve gotten us in some deep shit with the order,” you scold, “We’re going home. Right now.” This was a double-edged sword, you didn’t even get to purchase anything. Though your mood is far too foul to continue.

“But I didn’t! No one saw anything. I just lost my cool for a second, I promise. I know better.” Even Hoseok strains to keep up your pace, car already in view and goddamn you walk fast.

“Do you? Are you seriously justifying your actions? You need to uphold your responsibilities, Hoseok. You’re not new to this.” He finds that he despises when you lecture him this way, gums and skin and everything prickly and he wish he could gnaw on something right about now.

It was odd to tell him these things, taking into consideration that his role is considerably higher than yours and that he hardly ever faults as an alpha. If there wasn’t something going on biologically, what else could it be?

He’s obviously straining to keep his composure now, jaw slacked and knuckles cracking in his fist, “How am I supposed to do that now? It won’t happen again. It’s over.”

“Then what about your shitty mood swings? We don’t argue, Hoseok. You’re not mean, you’re not easily agitated, and you’re not a fucking paper  shredder. Neither are you aggressive to your own mate,” you throw in his face, unsurprised when he cowers again at the thought. It’s like the man was on his period.

Now that you recall, the last time you’ve ever seen him so angry at you is when you watched Endgame without him, and that should say enough. This was just all so new and unbecoming of someone with his level of reputation.

“You know I didn’t mean to do that. I never want to hurt you…” he leads as you beat him to the driver’s side of the car, watching him over the hood for him to finish his sentence, “I’m just—”

“You what, Hoseok?”

He jostles the door handle a few times, a rep of unsettling clacks making him uneasy.  

“Can you unlock the car?”

“You what?” you say a little louder, entirely avoiding his question.

“Goddammit,” he hisses, “Just let me in and we can talk about it when we get home.” You scan his face in search of anything. For the truth. For him to own up to what it is. What you get is nothing.

So you smile, “No.”

He stands cluelessly as you unlock your door and hop in, starting the car with a satisfying roll and opening his window just enough to see his addled facial expression.

“What are you doing?” he deadpans.

“If you won’t admit it then you obviously don’t take me seriously, and if you won’t take me seriously then I’ll take my car home by myself. So, toodles!”

He smirks nervously, slender fingers sifting through his hair, “Y/N, c’mon. Just let me in.” He’s even more staggered when you start reversing out of your spot. Eyes widening hilariously, he cusses under his breath as he walks cautiously towards the door.

“Have a fun run, baby. Better get home soon,” you feign pity, “looks like it’s going to start raining pretty soon.”

“We live an hour away!”

You drive down the row, turning on your signal just in case someone needed to know. Shucks, you were such a good driver, even in the parking lot.

Hoseok thinks otherwise, anger and panic so vivid that you can feel it from this distance. Walking Time Bomb even begins to jog, not willing to risk your bluff.

“Okay! Okay, I admit it. I may be going through something…” his wavering voice trickles into your head. “You’re right.’

You let him catch up to you, eyes shifty and fingers fiddling. “Hi, darling. Can you say that one more time? In person?” His chest puffs.

“I already said it once,” he begs.

Was his pride this important? Did the strangled mutt deep down change your Hoseok for the worst? An impatient car behind you honks and you shrug.

“You’re making people wait. I’m going to leave.”

“Jesus fucking—okay. I think I’m teething. Or something involving my dental state. It’s making me fucking grumpy and it’s painful and I want to punch a fucking wall because it’s stupid that this phase is so late.” You unlock his door mid-sentence, his body falling into his seat before he continues to blabber on.

“Oh, little puppy,” you slide your sunglasses from atop your head down to the bridge of your nose, “Don’t be so sensitive. ‘S like a human adult getting braces.”

The week passes by agonizingly slow. And that wasn't necessarily because Hoseok bitched and complained, throwing temper tantrums when the remote had fallen between the couch cushions or throwing his pants stormily when they would catch on his ankles and make him hobble about like a disabled chicken.

Or maybe it was because of that.

You dare to creak the door to his den (pun intended), having locked himself in such confinement to work through the paperwork that's been piling on his mahogany desk for days. He looks worn around the eyes, long brown hair pushed back with his fake reading glasses. You knock three times as if he couldn't already sense your presence. When he looks at you through his lashes, he nods for you to proceed.

"Hi, baby. How's the work going?" you ask with a honey-dipped edge.

He shrugs, "A lot of affairs from other packs that I have to go over. I should be done soon."

You slink behind his office chair and wrap your arms around his shoulders, "Mm, why don't you take a break and have a nice little bath with me?" He doesn't budge one inch, straightening out a stack of papers before stapling them neatly and tucking them into one of his drawers.

"I need to finish this. I've been pushing it back until the last minute."

Rolling him out a bit, you slide onto his lap and rest on his chest. Your touch always lulls a serene sensitivity from his skin, a natural effect that only you are capable of. But his muscles remain taut. Bones stiff and budging none whatsoever. Stuttering, you try again, "You've been working for hours. I'm lonely. Just an hour--,"

"Y/N. I'm warning you. Get off."

She-wolf unconsciously warns you to stand down upon this statement. Was he being serious? He's warning you? You search his blank face, waiting for him to crack a smile or lift you up and attack you with kisses. When he doesn't, you test the waters.

Your nails scratch the bare skin under his shirt, "H-Hoseokie, we haven't had sex in so long," you whine. Invading his space, however, only sets him off more.

He growls, deep and meant to be menacing. It takes brutal force to push yourself to move, a weight halting your ministrations. His word, no matter how rare it be, was your law. Do you dare defy that?

You unbutton his pants the same time he threatens, "Continue any further and see what happens." He's breathier than normal and that gives you some satisfaction. He was your mate, after all. Eternal fulfillment was your duty.

The feeling of his heavy and growing bulge, nestling in the crook of his thigh, is a success all in its own. You purr and rub your legs together, licking at Hoseok's neck lovingly and waiting for him to give in. "Hobi, you're already--ah!"

Your view spins as Hoseok scruffs you to his desk, cold wood pressed to your cheek and wrists somehow pinned behind you. Yiping in fear, you struggle in his harsh imprisonment.

"You don't fucking listen," he complains, voice balancing on the line between speaking and yelling.

"Hoseok! L-Let me g-go--," you start before he grinds himself into your ass, boner prominent and angry as it prods. He replaces the hand to your neck with his mouth, laving and suckling all the way down your shoulder.

"Can't do that. I warned you and you disobeyed me. You disobey your alpha, Y/N?"

"No, I'm sorry--," you squeak before your dress is thrown over your back and a sharp slap comes down onto your ass.

You don’t believe the sound that comes out of your throat, pressing your thighs together and wiggling the pain away. “J-Jung Hoseok! What is—” Another slap, harder than the first.

The nerves tingle all the way down to your toes as your eyes roll back. You moan once more, unsolicited and without restraint. Hoseok is content with your reaction, not expecting you to squirm so nicely because of your punishment.

"You like this, don't you? I can smell you leaking like some submissive whore," he snarls with an edge of disappointment. You're beyond mortified of how he speaks to you, although not inclined to deny his words. Not when he spanks you once more, with such force that a scream is rewarded and your back arches in euphoric pain.

"Hoseok, no more, please. I'll--I'll cum if you keep, ugh," you blabber over yourself. He thinks you look prettily pathetic drooling on his desk, so close to spilling over the edge from being physically humiliated.

"Tch, so weak," he comments before releasing your wrist and letting you collapse to the floor. "Are you done?" The question both turns you on and pisses you off, emotions swirling into something self-destructive.

Crawling on the carpet and up his leg, you nuzzle into his bulge, "But I still didn't get what I want." You don’t even ponder where this behavior is coming from; slinking out of you like a dog with its tail between its legs. Perhaps his own change of manner influenced one in you.

He could laugh at how easy you were being, wondering when he ever mated with someone who acts like such a sexually-obsessed brat. "Oh?" he prompts, "So you think you get to make the calls here?"

Licking the hem of his boxers in response, he doesn't feel pleased with your lack of words. You perk up when he shuffles his cock out from the confines of his layers. It’s almost instinctual, not wasting any time to pepper kisses and kitten licks to his tip. God, he even smells amazing. You don't care if you look ridiculous, feverish with your actions like he'd take away your precious treat if you weren't cautious.

He snickers at you, petting your hair with an unexpectedly soft touch. Your heart-shaped irises peer up, knowing he loves your eye contact when you suck him off. Watching the blush spread on his face means that you must be doing your job correctly. Besides, not even the Big Bad Wolf can deny when he feels his pleasure.

He almost can’t stand the self-righteousness that oozes off you. If you thought you were in control, you were dead-wrong. "You want my cock that bad, huh, baby?" your love bunches as much of your hair as he can with his fist, "Then fucking take it."

Then his girthy dick shoves to the back of your throat without warning, hips to your nose and thrustingthrustingthrusting as far as he can.

You'd sputter if your mouth wasn't so full, eyes overflowing with tears and throat constricting in hopes that he'll let you go. When he doesn't and continues to grind himself down your mouth, you dig your nails into his thighs and whine on his persistent cock. It doesn’t matter, the digging crescents in his thighs rousing him even further and even hoping those pretty nails of yours leave marks for him. He’d accept no less.

Hoseok thrusts twice more before pulling you off and watching you cough maniacally. The tears that gathered were now running down your face, accompanied with your saliva that leaks from your chin and onto the floor.

You couldn't breathe, you couldn't ask him to stop, and you loved it.

He cocks a brow as you struggle to catch up, "We'll stop here. You're obviously not made for this."

Pitiful is the only word he can use to describe how quickly you paw and beg for him, desperately wrapping your fingers around the base of his member and pumping him just the way he likes it, "No! I can take it, please use me." Your unstable hand massages the cum-saliva mix as well as it can, a small victory celebrated when he bucks into you.

"Mm," his thumb wipes a stray tear from your lip, "You're so beautiful when you cry. Will you sit on the desk for me?"

You don't hesitate to obey, being careful to hop up when your bum is so sore but otherwise eager for him to touch you again. When he places himself between your legs, your body hums.

"I'm... I'm not well, Y/N. I don't want to hurt you," he says, voicing his first concern after what's already happened. With his brows knit in concern and his slender fingers rubbing calmly at your sides, it's almost as if the Hoseok you know has returned. The Hobi that makes your pancakes just a little overcooked like you prefer. Who makes you a blanket nest when you’re feeling down. And will gladly give up his last bite of anything to watch you munch happily even after you’ve finished your own portion.

In some way, this was your same Hobi. Maybe not so sweet and innocent but more on the receiving end. Spending his days tending to you out of pure love and pleasure to see you bloom; it was just your turn to return the favor.

So you kiss him with fervor and mold your chest to his, feeling the scorching heat that emanates from him. He must seriously be straining himself, you think. His canines graze your lips and you know he's trying his best to hold back; to not completely obliterate you.

"I want to help you," you whisper against his mouth. You implore him and he doesn’t hesitate to take your offer.

You extend your legs as he rushes to pull down your thong, throwing it to the side, and embracing you with another kiss, all tongue and pants. Some of his documents get ruffled under your steadying hands and he shoves them off altogether, a rain of really important paper littering the room. He comes in a little too excitedly, slamming a drawer closed with his thigh and even scooting his desk across the floor.

“God fucking dammit,” he swears, your chuckles covering his wet lips. “I’m… a mess… not thinking straight. Need to cum inside you.”

You purr when his head rubs against your sex, an electric sensation tearing through you. “Want you to knot me,” you whisper. A mistake in its own because he’s practically moaning into your mouth when you say such things.

“Yeah, baby? Want your cunt pumped full? Hm?” he asks into your jaw, all the while spreading your legs as far as they can split with his strong hands. His hips begin to circle like he’s stalling as long as possible and that rouses you up in a way.

You nod with sultry eyes and chant, “Yes. Yes, yes.” By the second yes does he all but slam into you, your final confirmation his endgame.

Hoseok was truly blessed in size, something no mere human could ever match. His length alone would make you double over in ecstasy if he allowed you the space to. Squeezing around him only makes him fuck you deeper, both wanting and needing more of each other than you already have. You were made for him, and him you.

You whimper as he pulls out, his head tantalizing your g-spot before ramming back inside and forcing an angelic cry. “H-Hoseokie… Please, your pups. I want to have your pups”

The sounds of his hips against your skin with your moans and the subtle creak of his desk is almost humorous, you were fucking like dogs. Even more so when he pushes you flat against the wood by the front of your throat, his thumb tucked gently on an airway as your tongue flops out in simple bliss.

“Don’t say that if you don’t mean it,” he snarls with a particularly evil drill to your core that curls your toes. “Nothing to me would be more satisfying than to breed you.”

Your throat constricts and you cough, your tiny hands tugging at his fingers while barely being able to pry his grip. You can’t resist moaning through clenched teeth still, even when the prettiest wine red pours into his irises. Hoseok holds back incredibly well, despite having shifting eyes, his total control never fails to astonish you. It was years worth of training and you thank the stars that it was useful in a time where you were literally stuffed with his cock.

“And you’re so willing; so obedient now. You like when I fuck you like this. Just want that beautiful pussy bred until you’re spilling, right?” he chuckles with means to humiliate when your eyes flutter and drool spills from your swollen lips, “What a mate.”

You tighten, an embarrassing amount of arousal spilling and sticking to your love. He doesn’t mind one bit, rather, losing composure for a brief moment, “Ugh, so good.”

His hand suddenly withdraws from your tender neck and you sputter an attempt to catch your breath, a fleeting moment before he wraps his arms under your knees and prompts you to hang onto him when he stands. How quickly he’s able to switch positions is hot in itself, but the thought is also lost when you sink down even further on his dick.

“Oh, oh my god,” you wail pathetically, wrapping yourself around him and trying to lift your trembling body to ease how full you feel, even for just a moment.

“Hm? I thought you wanted this, baby. Wanted my complete, unforgiving love for you. Isn’t that why you walked into my office?” he smirks similarly to how you imagine the devil would. His hands find leverage against the closest wall, also shoving you against it and resuming his pace into you.

This, to whichever persona was hiding deep down in Hoseok, was divine. Incredible. You would die for this man even without the bond. He was literally screwing you braindead.

He pants, warm and sweaty and shirt somehow unbuttoned halfway down (when did you do that?), “I thought you wanted my knot? Not anymore?”

Your pupils blow out as you shake your head, you were so close.

“Ah, then I’ll knot you. I’ll knot you but you have to beg,” he says with a wink. Bastard.

“Please, please knot me, baby. Breed me and let me have your pups,” you sob, “Fill me up until I can’t take it anymore, Alpha, please—”

He jabs incessantly until you’re entirely maxed out, sloppy smacks echoing out further than the den and his growls emanating when you drag your sharp nails down his back, the fabric tearing under your fingers. Hoseok grinds his full length into you, reaching beyond the end of your walls.

“S-Stay,” he orders. He slows as the base of his cock swells and even though you asked for it, it’s always a little uncomfortable. You can’t even fathom how it feels for your mate, his sudden groans and the absolute necessity to lave at your neck only scraping at the surface of any real indication.

Hoseok told you once that it was similar to both being overstimulated and having a sudden spike of energy, which could explain his touchiness. It was cute though, and kinda hot.

Nestled deep inside, you can subtly feel the ropes of semen beginning to pool. You rest your head over his shoulder, buzzing from the intensity of it all and watching as the walls move and shift into the ones of your bedroom.

Hoseok’s hoarse voice surprises you, “Fuck, I’m so dizzy.”

The bed is a heavenly difference from the den’s desk and wall, your heart pounding a little too hardly when he places one of his pillows lengthwise under your back for extra squish. He was so cute.

But then he collapses on you.

“Oof—I’ve never seen you like that before. My ass hurts,” you state dreamily.

“Oh, love. Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” he asks seriously, lifting his head to study your face in case you lie. The red dissipated long before, his deep brown eyes twinkling down at you like they always do.

“You were a little rough,” you feign, pouting and pushing around his face with paw-folded fists. He thinks you look like an idiot, a cute idiot.

“I’m sorryyyy,” he whines, burying his face into your chest and wiggling around like a fish. His knot moves with him and you wince.

“Hoseok, stay still.”

Being showered in a sudden attack of kisses is what he responds with, not even aware of the task at hand and fake crying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I don’t ever want to hurt you—I—oh no.”

You yipe as semen sloshes down your leg, shoving your palm into Hobi’s (who is undoubtedly back to his usual self) cheek and trying your best to not panic.

“Goddammit, Jung Hoseok! Stay still!”

beep boop hope you liked, leave some feedback if you did!

[falseroar]

Is This Your Card? Part 17: The Groundskeeper

((Abe takes the attorney outside in search of this groundskeeper they claim to have seen, determined to put some distance between his partner and the seer. But the groundskeeper’s warnings come far too late to stop what happens next. (This part includes a few references to Silver and Peppermint and Silent Watch.)

Warning: implied off-screen character deaths and a lot of angst. This post is also on the longer side! I had thought about trying to split it, but there wasn’t a good enough place to split it (plus other reasons).

Link to Part 16: Alone With the Seer))

Abe leaned against the railing in the hallway, eyes locked on the closed door and doing his best to try and ignore the man standing near it. Damien seemed to be doing the same, as the silence stretched on minute after minute with neither one making a move to break it.

Celine. Just what Abe needed, another wildcard to add another unwanted layer to this whole situation. A wildcard who claimed she could figure out what was going on here, after turning the whole house against his partner in the space of seconds.

Abe ran a hand over his face as he recalled that moment at the table when the attorney discovered the second card stuck to the death card. Mark’s card they were forced to claim as their own, if they didn’t want to be outed as a werewolf.

Mirror mirror, on the wall,

Watch as I betray them all.

What the hell was that supposed to mean? Even knowing that it was meant for Mark didn’t help make it any clearer. So far it looked like the only one here who had been betrayed was the actor, who apparently didn’t even get a card to helpfully explain why someone in particular might want him dead.

Still, not hard to see why nearly everyone at the table was so quick to be suspicious of the attorney, to the point he had gone along with the flow and spit out the first thing that came to mind while keeping his own suspicions close to his chest. Now though, Abe winced at the memory of how he had called them gorgeous to their face. What was that supposed to be, an accusation or a confession?

Even with his silent panic over his choice of words, Abe had noticed how both the Colonel and the mayor had failed to speak up in that moment. Why was that?

He glanced at Damien out of the corner of his eye, but the man stood there with his head bowed, cane passing back and forth between his hands in a repetitive, thoughtless motion that suggested his mind was hundreds of miles away at the moment.

Had he been afraid to stand up for the attorney in front of everyone, in front of his sister? Or had he been trying to hide his own doubts and suspicions?

And then there was the Colonel. Abe knew, with every fiber of his being, that the Colonel killed Markiplier. It was the only answer that made any sense, but with Celine’s sudden appearance he felt that certainty surrounded by pits of unknowns.

Celine claimed to know all about the arcane arts, and she certainly seemed familiar enough with those Tarot cards everyone was laying out on the table earlier. Enough to pick and choose the cards that would supposedly fit this little game the sender of those cards had started. And as Mark’s (ex-)wife, she had to have some kind of history with his friends and staff, judging by the way the Colonel and the District Attorney had looked at her when she entered the house.

And if she was half the seer she claimed to be, it would explain how those cards knew things supposedly no one else should know, like the names of all of his partners. She definitely knew about the attorney, Abe hadn’t missed how she hinted as much every other word she said to them, or how his partner kept avoiding her gaze, had flinched away at the first sound of her voice…

Maybe letting them go in there with her alone had been just as bad an idea as Abe suspected. Straining, he could just barely hear their voices, although without the attorney’s hearing he couldn’t make out any individual words.

“But you know what they say: Never trust a seer.”

The memory of those words hit Abe like a delayed ton of bricks, and he must have made some kind of noise judging by the way the mayor suddenly looked up in surprise. But Abe didn’t have time to worry about him, as he remembered the words of the werewolf who had terrorized the city just months ago, lamenting how “her” advice had steered him toward running into Abe instead of the promised DA.

An unknown seer who wanted his partner dead…

Abe was already moving toward the door when the voices on the other side went from a low murmur to shouting, followed by the crash of something falling over, and Damien was right there with him when he wrenched the door open and took in the sight of the District Attorney standing over their fallen chair while Celine slammed her hands down on the table in between them, the sound punctured by the hard thump of something metallic striking into the wood, her next words stopped short by the sound of her brother’s voice.

“Celine? What is all of this?”

“Get out! We are not done here,” Celine said, pointing at the door.

“Celine, I think this is quite enough,” Damien started, but Celine slammed her hands down on the table again, causing one of the lit candles to topple over and promptly go out. And again, Abe heard that metallic sound and followed it to her hands, to the flicker of light reflecting off of the silver medallion hanging around one palm.

“It’s enough when I say it’s enough!”

Damien just stood there, seemingly shocked by his sister’s sudden and unexpected anger, but Abe was already at his partner’s side, quietly urging them to follow with a hand on their elbow as he guided them quickly out of the dark room and into the light of the hallway.

“What did she do to you?” he asked.

They did not resist his pull and let him walk them out despite Celine’s protests, but Abe noticed that their eyes failed to meet his own, their other arm wrapped tight around their middle as though fighting off a chill even though their skin felt warm to the touch even through the fabric of their shirt.

“We need to find the gardener,” they said softly before wincing at the conversation going on in the room behind them, even though Abe could no longer hear what the siblings were saying.

Gardener? That didn’t even start to answer his questions, but right now Abe thought getting his partner as far away from that seer as possible was the priority here, preferably without her realizing he was onto her game.

“Butler! Butler!” he shouted and the man in question appeared at the end of the hall. “What do you know about a gardener?”

“Well, we have a groundskeeper, George,” Benjamin said slowly, baffled by the unexpected question. “But he only works weekdays.”

But his buddy the chef was saying a different story with his not at all casual lean against the wall and blatant attempts to pretend like he wasn’t part of this conversation happening inches away from him.

“Looks like your friend here may disagree with that notion,” Abe said, getting too close to the chef who made the mistake of feigning ignorance.

“Chef!” Benjamin said, “If you know something, for god’s sake spit it out!”

The chef looked between the hunter and the butler before sighing and raising his hands in defeat. “Okay, alright, you’re twisting my arm. George has been living on the grounds for years.”

“What?!” Benjamin exclaimed, apparently just as unaware of this turn of events as Abe.

“And you just now thought to share that information with us?” Abe asked. Another person on the grounds, another member of the staff who could have known about the master keys, yet another wildcard being dropped in Abe’s lap when he already had too much to deal with as it was. “For all we know, he could be the murderer!”

He spoke without thinking, the lash of thunder coming just before Celine caught up with them, Damien uselessly trailing along behind her.

“For the last time, stop saying that word!”

Abe glared at her, noting how the attorney kept their distance and refused to look at either of the twins. Or him, for that matter. What had happened in that room?

Before he could wonder for long, the chef spoke up again. “Look, George…just tends to the grounds, man. He’s a hermit.”

“I don’t care what he is!” Abe snarled, a bit harsher than he meant to at the unintentional reminder of the cards in his pocket.

“Look, all this arguing is getting us nowhere,” Damien interrupted. “Just go outside and talk to this George and be done with it!”

Getting outside of this house sounded like a hell of a good idea right now, but something about Damien’s words made the hunter pause. “Hold on a sec. You’re not coming with us?”

Damien stuttered, looking from him to his sister to the attorney. “I-I need to stay here with Celine.”

“I don’t need help. Especially from you!” Celine shot back, confirming Abe’s suspicion that the twins’ private talk a moment ago hadn’t gone well.

“Our friend is dead!” Damien shouted, and even Celine shrank back at his outburst. “I’m sorry. I just need answers to all of this. I already lost one friend today, I don’t want to lose another.”

Abe watched him closely, but Damien didn’t look at the attorney when he said it, and they didn’t look at him.

“Fine,” Celine said, looking at her brother with something new in her expression. Concern, maybe? “But I need to stay here.”

“Fine with me,” Damien answered.

“Fine, good, yeah, whatever, who cares,” Abe said with a roll of his eyes. Damien wasn’t his concern here, after all. Instead, he turned to the chef and said, “Alright, you’re coming with me. Partner, you too.”

They nodded, even though they watched the twins head back to Celine’s little séance room out of the corner of their eye, which was good because Abe wasn’t in the mood to argue right now. He needed to talk to them, in private if he could swing it, and outside was his best shot at that. After they had questioned this George guy, of course.

“Hold on a sec…” Abe said, slowly realizing his headcount was coming up short. “We’re missing someone. Who had eyes on the Colonel?”

“Well, he appeared tired,” Benjamin explained. “He grabbed a snack and went back to his room.”

“I’m sure he did,” Abe said. Maybe the guilt was finally getting to the man. “And with any luck, he’ll stay there. Come on.”

He started for the stairs and realized that not everyone was following him. He looked back and saw his partner just standing there, one hand still pressed against their side while their eyes were on the closed door between them and Damien and Celine.

“Come on, partner! Come on!”

They lagged behind as the Chef led the way downstairs, his grumbling not pausing for a second as he stopped to pick up a lantern before walking outside.

How was it already dark out? Abe wondered to himself as he stopped at a distance from the door, barely sparing a glimpse at the cloudy and starless night sky overhead as he waited for the attorney to catch up.

“Are you okay?” he asked, and once again their eyes avoided his.

“I’m fine,” they muttered, like he couldn’t see the hand still pressed against their side or hear their labored breath.

“Like hell you are,” Abe said, reaching out to grab their hand only to get a brief, cut off yell of pain from the attorney before he pulled back. “What was that? What did she do to you?”

Reluctantly, perhaps sensing that he wasn’t about to let this go, they reached down and pulled up the side of their shirt, just far enough to reveal an already swelling burn visible even in the darkness outside of the house. A burn roughly the same size as that silver medallion Abe had seen in the seer’s hand.

“I’ll kill her,” Abe growled, and the attorney dropped their shirt in order to grab his arm before he could go back inside.

“Abe. She didn’t—”

“Oh, she knew exactly what she was doing,” Abe snarled, not caring that the chef had stopped up ahead, holding up his lantern and clearly waiting to see what was holding them up. “You can’t tell me she didn’t know!”

“No, there was something going on in that room, like there was something else there.  Something…” they paused, brow knitting as they failed to find the words. Whatever had happened in that room, whether it was ‘something else there’ or the burn of the silver, seemed to have left them confused, disorientated.

Ripe picking for someone who had it out for them.

“As much as she hates me, I’ve never seen Celine lose control like that. It’s like...”

They trail off, the words once again failing them, but Abe finds his eyes drawn toward the bruise on their eye. But that wasn’t the same, he told himself, although the pit in his stomach said otherwise.

“We need to see the groundskeeper,” they said again, gesturing toward the waiting chef. “When I was in that room, I saw—I saw us talking to him, and it felt like he was saying something important.”

“Wait, you saw us?” Abe asked, walking in step with the attorney as they began to move forward. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

They shrugged and then winced, apparently having disturbed their burn with the movement. “Celine asked me to try to see something. This was the only thing that hadn’t happened yet.”

“What else did you see?” Abe asked, but their lips just pressed tight together, their eyes darting away to avoid his stare and instead lingering on the chef, who commented on how slow they were before continuing on, around the outside of the house until they spotted the lone figure standing in the middle of a flowerbed, shovel in hand.

“Hey, buddy! Hands where I can see them!” Abe called ahead as he approached, gun already raised. After how this day had gone so far, he wasn’t about to take any chances.

The groundskeeper paused in his digging and rested his hands on the handle of the shovel, without a trace of concern about the gun pointed his way. He was an older man, the wrinkles and shadows on his face partially hidden by the hat he wore, but his eyes were sharp as they met Abe’s and he said, “Hey, my hands are where they’re supposed to be. Unless, of course, you’d like to dig the hole for yourself.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Abe asked.

“I’m the groundskeeper, I keep the ground alright?” the groundskeeper, George, answered, a trace of annoyance showing up in his voice. “I’d say look around. The ground is pretty well kept, don’t you think?”

The chef spoke up with, “I’m sorry, man, this hunter made me bring him out here.”

“You shut up!” Abe said, earning a slight hiss from the attorney that he ignored. He was tired, he was scared for himself and his already injured partner, and he just wanted some answers for once. Was that too much to ask for? “How do you not know about the murders going on in this house?”

There it was again, the thunder.

“A hunter, eh?” George asked, not even flinching at the sound that left the other three looking up in case some more might follow. “Well I can tell you, there ain’t much out here to hunt.”

Abe wasn’t sure if it was his imagination or if the groundskeeper placed an extra emphasis on the words “out here,” but he was tired of beating around the bush. “Why exactly are you digging a hole out here? And why shouldn’t we suspect you for taking part in the death of your employer?”

He laughed. George actually laughed at his question before answering with a shake of his head, “Employers come and go! Some die, some don’t, some are murdered, some are not. It’s none of my business! I’m digging this hole for a burst water pipe, if that’s alright with your gracelessness!”

“See I told you,” the chef chimed in. “George didn’t do nothin’!”

“See?” George asked, the blade of his shovel striking the stone of the patio. “I just did nothing.”

The attorney, after a long look at the silent sky overhead, asked, “You said some of your employers are—some are killed? Has something like this happened here before?”

At that, George fixed the attorney with a long, steady stare before he said, “Aye, not that it’s any of my business what goes on in that house. I’ve got enough sense to stay away from what’s in there, and if any of you had sense of your own, you’d do the same.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Abe asked, feeling his grip reflexively tighten on his gun.

“You know, don’t you?” George said, directing the question toward the attorney. “You’ve got the look about you of someone who’s run into one of those things from the other side. They’re like…”

“Powerful entities,” the attorney continued, surprising Abe. Even with the light from the chef’s lantern and the exterior lights around the edge of the house, their expression was difficult to make out as they said, “Not quite part of this reality that sometimes…look for a way in.”

George nodded and pointed at the house behind them. “And that house is one big gaping doorway just waiting to happen.”

The chef looked back at the house uneasily, but Abe couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice as he said, “Forgive me for not taking you at face value. But we’re all gonna come inside, we’re gonna sit down, and have a nice lovely chat. And get to the bottom of this before I lose my mind and start dabbling in murder myself!”

He didn’t know what this George was playing at, or what Celine had been pumping into his partner’s mind, but in all of his years hunting Abe had never heard of these “entities” or whatever these things were supposed to be, and by this point he could care less about the crack of thunder overhead.

“Now you listen to me, sonny,” George said, his voice deadly calm. “It’s been fifteen years since I’ve been in that house, and I am not about to break that winning streak now. I don’t care how many murders there’ve been. I ain’t going near that house!”

He fixed his eyes on the attorney as he added, “However, there is one reason. One incident. One manifestation. That will get me into that mad house.”

He paused, and Abe could see in his partner’s eyes that they knew exactly what he was talking about, their unsteady frame growing stiffer at his words as the breath seemed to catch in their chest.

George nodded. “You had better pray to God that reason never comes to pass.”

A clap of thunder, louder than any that had come before it, broke the silence that followed his words. The lightning seemed to carry on until Abe and the others realized that the light was spilling out of the house, out of every door and window until it lit up the night sky like a supernova.

“That there’s the reason!” George bellowed, his shovel clattering to the ground as he tore off toward the house.

Abe took off after him, but to his surprise the attorney sprinted past both of them, the burn on their side apparently forgotten as they ran full tilt into the house. By the time he and the groundskeeper were inside, the chef huffing and puffing somewhere behind them, the attorney was already halfway up the stairs and showing no signs of slowing.

That is, until they discovered the source of the bizarre light and the roaring sound that accompanied it, like the sound of tornado-force winds trying to push their way out of the single open door at the end of the hall, out of which flooded the blinding light that at first obscured the figure silhouetted in the door frame.

“Celine?”

The District Attorney’s voice was faint, nearly drowned out by the wave of noise, but Abe could hear the disbelief and rising panic as they shouted, “Damien!”

But there was no sign of him, and the woman standing in the door did not visibly react to the sound of her own name. Even from this far away, Abe could feel the sheer wrongness of the figure, as if everything from her stance to the slight, terrifying smile tugging at the corner of her lips to the vacant yet menacing eyes all screamed at his soul to get back. He had faced enough monsters, enough terrible things that should have stayed in nightmares to recognize the body’s instinctive desire to get away and stay alive, but the attorney took another step forward.

“Don’t!” George shouted. “It’s already too late!”

Abe wasn’t sure if they couldn’t hear him or if they just didn’t care, but the second he saw them start to move he surged forward and wrapped his arms around them. It took all of his strength to hold the struggling attorney back while George, together with the chef and the butler who had followed the noise and light, ran to the door.

The attorney screamed Damien’s name, swore at Celine to snap out of it, begging every second while they scratched and pushed at Abe, staring helplessly as Celine—or whatever it was looking out of her eyes—disappeared behind the closing door, which apparently required all three men working together to force it shut.

“The key!” George shouted, but before the chef or the butler could move, Abe reached into his pocket and tossed them one of the master keys, which he immediately used to lock the door.

In that moment, the attorney twisted, and for one, terrible second Abe thought they might transform right here in the middle of the hallway in front of everyone, before a blow to the back of his head sent him and in turn the attorney stumbling forward.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” the Colonel asked, his voice low and dangerous. “What was that, what happened to Celine? To Damien?!”

“Your friends are already dead,” George said, not even looking at him as he drew a string out of his pocket and began making elaborate loops and knots around both the handle and the key still in the lock. “The best we can hope for is to get out of here before it takes the rest of us with them.”

And Abe thought he was bad at breaking bad news.

In front of him, all of the wind seemed to escape from the attorney, and whatever force had been holding up until now seemed to give out as they staggered forward before catching their self. “No…we can’t just—No!”

They looked back over their shoulder at Abe, and he could see the desperation in their eyes as they silently begged him to say something or do something, to prove the groundskeeper was wrong.

“This is bullshit!” the Colonel exclaimed instead, stepping forward to fill the space between the attorney and the groundskeeper, who was still absorbed in what Abe recognized as a binding. “They’re in there, we just have to get rid of whatever that…thing was! A—a spell, or an exorcism maybe!”

George laughed, a short, dry, cracked sound. “You think no one’s tried that before? They carried the last guy who tried out of here in a shoe box. No, I’m getting away from here, and if any of had half a brain you’d do the same!”

With that, George turned away from the door and walked past them all, ignoring the Colonel’s angry sputter and shout of “Don’t walk away from me!” as well as Abe’s attempt to stop him, to ask for some kind of explanation.

The chef was right there behind George with a cry of, “I quit!”, not even bothering to try and not bump into the Colonel on his way out.

The Colonel swore at their retreating backs and sprang toward the door, ignoring Abe’s warning only to draw back his hand with a shout the moment his fingers made contact with the door.

“It’s a binding spell, you can’t just open it that easily,” Abe explained while the Colonel hissed and stuck his fingers in his mouth to cool them. “And what exactly were you planning on doing when you opened that door? We have no idea how to handle that thing!”

The butler, who was still standing near the door, placed a hand on the Colonel’s shoulder and added, “I know things seem far beyond your control right now, but it’s the same for all of us here. Whatever is going on here is beyond any of us to deal with, clearly. I shall take my leave, and I implore you to do the same.”

The Colonel slapped away his hand and snarled the words, “I won’t let…my friends…die in this godforsaken house! And if you all are too much of a coward to the same, you had best leave before I kill you myself!”

He directed his words at all three of those who were left, but Abe suspected most of the anger was directed at him in particular, like he thought the hunter was holding back something, like he had any more of an idea of what was going on here than anyone else.

“Now you hold on a second!” Abe shouted, grabbing his shoulder. He couldn’t let the Colonel get away, not now. “I’ve got more questions—”

“Get your hands off me!” The Colonel pushed him away and continued walking, muttering under his breath about finding his own answers.

“What the hell is going on here?” Abe asked, but the butler had no response to offer and the attorney…

They were leaning heavily against the wall now, one hand to their side and their breath coming in sharp gasps that Abe knew couldn’t be blamed entirely on the desperate run up here.

“Partner,” he said, then when he moved to stand in front of them, hands on their shoulders, “Y/N. Look at me.”

They didn’t. Their eyes were down, but he could see them lingering on the door in their peripheral vision just as easily as he could see the tears welling up and threatening to spill over with every pained breath.

Abe hesitated, aware of the butler standing nearby and the sound of the Colonel’s footsteps getting farther away with every passing second. A hundred things he could say or do ran through his head only to leave nothing, no clue where to even start.

“We can—I’ll make this right, somehow. Just…just take care of yourself until I get back, okay?”

He waited, but there was no response, no sign that they had even heard him. Instead, he just squeezed their shoulders before letting go and backing away, waiting until he was out of their line of sight before he silently gestured for the butler to keep an eye on them. At Benjamin’s nod, he turned and took off down the hall in the direction he last saw the Colonel.

Celine, Damien, this “entity,” whoever or whatever was pulling the strings here, none of it made any sense and Abe had no idea where to even begin unraveling all of it except starting with the one fact he knew for sure: Mark was dead, and he knew who pulled the trigger.

He couldn’t let the Colonel get away, not now.

((End of Part 17. Thank you for reading. We’re officially in Chapter 4 of WKM territory now.

Link to Part 18: Voices in the Halls.

Tagging: @silver-owl413 @skyewardlight @withjust-a-bite @blackaquokat @catgirlwarrior @neverisadork @luna1350 @oh-so-creepy @weirdfoxalley @95fangirl @lilalovesinternet-l @thepoolofthedead @a-bit-dapper @randomartdudette @geekymushroom @cactipresident @hotcocoachia @purple-anxiety-blog @shyinspiredartist @avispate @missksketch ))

[theangriestpea]

In the Shadows : Twelve

Summary: Jughead Jones, resident werewolf, just wants to protect his family and his pack from the incoming doom of The Red Circle. Sweet Pea and Lily join him to help keep the Southside safe from human tyranny. Meanwhile a demon princess named Myra and succubus named Lavender had a plan to bring on the apocalypse. <ao3> <masterlist> <playlist>

Rating: Mature // Explicit

Pairings: Jughead Jones x OC, Sweet Pea x OC, Kurtz x OC

Warnings:  Very minor character death, kidnapping??, mentions of forced prostitution/sex slavery

Word Count: 5k+

A/N:  This took SO LONG for me to write. i was just very stuck for the longest time. But now I think I've got some good ideas for the future of this fic! I will likely be updating this series once a month from here on out as I am going back to work and will not have as much time to write. Apologies for that in advance! I wrote so much during the last three months though that the break will be a little nice.

Chapter Twelve : The Descent

“I’m not going to let it happen, Shanna.” Sweet Pea said as him and his soulmate argued for the dozenth time. Lavender was convinced that he’d keep his loyalty with his coven and not with her. That he’d willingly give up their child to honor the deal that Lily had made.

Sweet Pea had no intention of doing anything of the sort. While, yes, he had once aligned himself fiercely with Lily and that witches were more powerful together, she had spurned him too greatly this time. He loved Daisy with every fiber of his being and he fully intended on loving his second daughter with the exact same ferocity. As of now there was no one who he was more devoted to than the hybrid, but he was getting increasingly aggravated by her insinuation that he wasn’t.

Lavender was quiet, hand on her stomach as she continued to fear the worse. She trusted Sweet Pea, of course she did, however there was just this nagging feeling in the back of her mind that he was going to betray her. That she needed to get out while she could. That keeping herself rooted in Riverdale was a grave mistake especially now that The Red Circle had put a target on her back.

Feeding was becoming more and more dangerous. While she could disguise her identity with ease, disposing of bodies without the help of the Jones pack was becoming difficult. Before she never spent enough time in one place to really bother with the cover-up. She hadn’t realized when she decided to stay that life would keep throwing curve-balls. Her only saving grace was that Riverdale was the murder capital of the world. People died all the time under suspicious circumstances. Unfortunately the supernatural were the ones always blamed for the inexplicable deaths.

The more she showed, the more difficult it would be. She could only alter herself, she couldn’t alter the child within her. Whatever form she took would be showing just as much as she was, and while at eight weeks that wasn’t much it wouldn’t stay that way for much longer.

Sweet Pea parted the blinds with his fingers to peer outside. He had been expecting Lily and Jughead to show up all day. That night there would be a full moon. In order to keep the pack safe, they would need both Sweet Pea and Lavender to cast a spell strong enough to cover the entire. Lily was stronger now, sure, but not strong enough yet to do it all on her own.

Lavender was not on the side of helping. She thought the forest should just burn. Along with everyone else inside of it. Sweet Pea, on the other hand, feared for the safety of his first born. While he knew that Lily would protect her with her life, he still didn’t like the idea of her life being in danger in the first place.

And though Lavender adored Daisy and didn’t want any harm to come to her, she was fiercely upset with Lily too much at the moment to even want to see her face. Sweet Pea was missing his daughter more now than ever. He hadn’t seen her since the pact because Lily had taken her and they currently weren’t on speaking terms. He knew he’d have to break down eventually and call her or else risk ruining the relationship he had with Daisy.

“She threw our child away, Pea, why do we need to help her protect the forest?” Lavender asked, becoming increasingly frustrated with him. “I just don’t understand why you still want to cater to someone who was going to just give away your child.”

“It’s deeper than that, and you know it.” Sweet Pea said, his own aggravation starting to show. “They’ll come here too. They may take you next time instead of Lily.”

The demoness frowned. “You know that Myra would not let any harm come with this child. Not when she is so important to her.” Lav responded. “If they did take me, then they wouldn’t kill me. They’d let me live out the rest of my pregnancy at least.”

“And then what?” He snapped back, “They take her and kill you when you’re weak from giving birth? Then I lose both of you.” He wish she could understand how her carelessness was hurting him just as much as Lily’s stupid pact did.

Lav was quiet. She hadn’t quite thought that far ahead. Him being right for once did not make her feel any better about what he was asking of her. “Then we run away. We go somewhere else entirely.”

“And leave Daisy?” Sweet Pea asked, his tone turning harsh. “I’m not going to do that, she’s my daughter.”

She let out a frustrated sigh, clearly nothing she was going to come up with was going to satisfy him. The only path he saw was helping Lily which Lavender absolutely was not going to do. “Then you help her, Sweet Pea. You two can do it by yourselves. I need to go feed anyway.” She got up and went into their bedroom to get ready to go out as the witch fumed with fury in the living room still. He grabbed his keys and went to take his bike to the cottage.

When he arrived at his old home, he noticed the wind seemed to be picking up already. He figured Lily was working on conjuring another storm. Rain allowed for the hardiest of protection spells. It was easier to transmute magic through water rather than through air. The polar properties made it the best particularly for barrier spells. It would rain again tonight, he was sure of it.

He didn’t knock, just entered through the door and slammed it behind him. “Daddy!” He heard his little girl squeal as she ran to greet him, clinging to his leg tightly. He couldn’t help the soft smile that spread across his features as he bent down to pick her up.

Jughead approached him cautiously. “I wasn’t sure if you’d come.” He murmured, not wanting to feel the witch’s wrath. It was harder to contain his own visceral emotions so close to the full moon. “She’s already set up.”

Sweet Pea nodded his head silently as he walked into the living room. He saw there were places set for three. “She’s not coming.” He said as Daisy babbled on in his arms in some unknown language.

A hurt look crossed Lily’s face. She had hoped to try and patch things up with her friend, maybe make some kind of peace offering. However, she should have known better. If someone had bartered with Daisy, then she’d be on a warpath too. What she did was unfair, but she had been backed into a corner. What was she supposed to do? Really?

“I’m sorry,” She said softly, not sure what else to really say. Her best friend wouldn’t even look at her. He simply stared at the middle of the sigil on the floor. Sweet Pea knew he’d have to forgive her eventually, for Daisy’s sake, but right now he just wasn’t ready to take that step.

“I know.” Was all he said back, unable to articulate through his anger towards not only Lily but also towards Lavender. She was acting so selfishly but he could not get through to her no matter what. She was hell bent on doing things her own way, including how she gathered souls. He found spell work he could do to make something close to what Myra had made. It wouldn’t be as powerful and he wouldn’t use innocent souls, but it would be better than her risking her life going out every night.

She couldn’t give up the hunt. Not yet, it seemed. She was determined to do it without help, saying that it would be a waste of his magic. That he needed to reserve it in case of an attack. His reserves were filled to the brim now that they were together, now that their souls were together. He didn’t need to save anything when all he needed to refill them was to fuck her.

But she insisted over and over that Myra wouldn’t let anything happen to her. That Myra would protect her. That she didn’t have to worry. But where the hell was Myra when she was stabbed? When she almost died before Lily could save her? If she was so great, then why did they bother releasing her soul in the first place?!

Sweet Pea set Daisy down as he got into place, taking a seat on a small cushion. It was going to be a long night.

Lavender was on the Northside, looking like a pretty little redhead with nowhere to go. She walked into a bar and ordered a virgin drink, something that looked as though it could pass for alcoholic. The hungrier she was, the less control she had over her influence. The bar seemed to be flooded with men. Men that all seemed to want a piece of her .

They offered to buy her drinks, offered phone numbers and pick-up lines. However, none seemed to quite suit her fancy. At least, no single one. She needed more tonight. One soul just simply wouldn’t do. She was growing a child, after all.

She settled on two men that were somehow linked with The Red Circle. One would only call himself Moose and the other was a rather smooth talking fuck-boy named Chuck. While neither were really her type, jocks, she figured that beggars simply couldn’t be choosers.

They took her to a nearby pay-per-hour motel where Chuck graciously paid for a room. For once in her life, Lavender had no desire to have sex. Whether it was from the sadness of losing her friend or the intense love she felt for Sweet Pea, she wasn’t sure. The only thing that kept pressing her forward was the simple demonic drive to feed. Maybe she should have let Sweet Pea try that spell after all...Maybe she could be at home with a cup of tea in bed instead of in this bug infested room.

But the stars and moon were just right tonight, Lav could feel it perfectly in her soul. She wouldn’t need to bed these two. She could force out their souls through sheer will, and while that wasn’t nearly as fun it was just as effective.

Lavender smiled at the two, grabbing each by the wrist before letting her eyes fade to black. They two instantly attempted to pull from her, but were unable to break free from her grip. Lavender reached out with her energy and forcibly yanked their souls away from their mortal tether, taking them into herself through their skin-to-skin contact.

While the two did not die from the soul removal, they did fall unconscious from the force of it. Lavender pondered whether or not to kill them. True, they were outlying members of The Red Circle, however they were in no positions of power. Though, she figured two less meatheads to carry torches and pitchforks would be better overall.

She slipped a pocket knife out from the inside of her purse and slid it open. In a quick, sweeping motion, she slit the throats of both men before painting a message on the nicotine stained wall. If Archie Andrews wanted a war. Then he’d have a war.

As she left the motel, having carefully cleaned her hands of blood, she noticed that the air seemed...different. There was a kind of static electricity about it that she couldn’t quite pinpoint. True, she knew the witches would conjure a storm to protect the southside with, however she was north of the tracks. It shouldn’t be able to reach this far. There would be no reason for her to sense magical energy on the Northside. Not when magic was strictly prohibited here.

She knew she needed to get home fast. While she had taken a new face, somehow Archie had seen through her last time. If she ran into him then he may be able to do it again. While she was sure Myra would somehow keep the minimum protections around the child, that didn’t stop her from letting the human stab her the other week.

The demon princess needed the apocalypse to happen, and for that she needed Lavender. In theory she could always have another child if she were to lose this one (Satan forbid), she herself could not be replaced. And hybrids weren’t a common occurrence.

Lavender just had the sinking feeling that she wasn’t as safe as she thought she was. It suddenly occurred to her that there was nothing stopping Myra from just taking what she wanted. Whisking her off to hell and forcing her to sit alone in a cell, force fed innocent souls, until she gave birth. It wasn’t as if anyone could rescue her there. Taking a physical being out of the realm that was the underworld was virtually impossible for anyone besides a high ranking demon.

The intensity of the air intensified and Lavender felt her senses go into overdrive. Every small change of environment was making her jump. As she attempted to make her way back to her home, she noticed that the atmosphere seemed to get more and more dense. It was becoming harder to breathe and storm clouds completely blocked out the setting sun.

Crackles of energy were starting to surround her, tiny flecks of light that acted as a window into another dimension. A dimension that only her soul seemed to recognize. She fought to avoid them. No one else around her seemed to even see it. The rifts became more and more prominent until the fabric of reality appeared to tear right before her eyes and static overwhelmed her, shooting through her body while she was plunged into darkness.

Everything went cold and black. She couldn’t even see her breath condense in front of her face as every source of light disappeared until a small blue flame budded and blossomed to her left. Once it was bright enough, her eyes adjusted and Lavender found herself in a freezing jail cell with solid metal walls.

An illusion? Lavender wondered to herself as she dared to touch the seamless wall that the torch appeared to be attached to. It didn’t feel like magic. It felt familiar somehow in some way. Something was chilling about this place. Not just the lower temperature but just the heaviness that seemed around it.

“Welcome home, Shoshanna.”

Miles away, deep within Fox Forrest, Sweet Pea’s concentration suddenly broke as he felt something ethereal being ripped away from him. The air was knocked from his chest as the knowledge of what this feeling meant swept over him.

A cry erupted from him as he stood, unable to stop the tears that flooded his eyes and spilled down his cheeks. She was gone. Completely and totally gone. Their bond was completely broken and he no longer felt any connection to the love of his life.

Lily could feel a fraction of his pain as terror struck her deeply. She gasped for air, wishing that Jughead were here to help them. Sweet Pea’s pain was so incredible that his magical energy totally stunted. The spell was broken and the forest was no longer a safe haven.

“Sweet Pea!” She yelped, attempting to bring him out of whatever personal hell he had been sent into at the sudden loss of his mate. “We have to protect the forest! For Daisy!” She cried, trying to get through to him in some way.

But all Sweet Pea could think about was his unborn daughter. The little girl that never even made it out. She was gone just as Lavender was and his fractioning mind couldn’t think of a way to bring either of them out. The worst came over him, the sheer dread that they were dead. If he could find them, maybe he could resurrect them. Maybe he could give his soul for him. Maybe-

Lily attempted to regain her strength as she invoked the spell one more time. To cover the entire forest, she had to spread herself incredibly thin. It wasn’t nearly as strong as she needed it to be, but it was something. She needed him more than ever but there was a phenomenon that deeply depressed witches lost their connection to their magic. It was possible that he couldn’t help her.

Rage filled the witch as he punched anything that got into his way, trashing the living room as Lily continued to work. He screamed to his patrons, begging for them to bring her back or to take him instead. Anything to not feel the way he was currently feeling.

Daisy hid under her bed, afraid of the tornado that was currently her father. She whimpered as she curled tightly into a ball, trying her best to make herself invisible so as to not be hurt even by accident.

Lily was pulled between trying to calm the bull and trying to save the forest. Unfortunately her loyalty laid fully with her daughter as she dropped what she was doing. She sprung up from her place on the floor and grabbed Sweet Pea by the arm, forcing her white magic into him in an attempt to calm him.

His incoherent screaming ceased as she brought him back to reality. The reality that was just too painful for him to bear in the moment. “She wouldn’t kill her,” Lily said in an attempt to lessen his pain. “She’s not dead, you know that. She’s just hidden somewhere from us.”

He furiously wiped his tears and snot away, not wanting anyone to see him in such a disastrous state. “I shouldn’t have let her go alone.” He said through heavy puffs of air. “I should have followed after her like I always do. Or make her come here. Oh god, why didn’t I-”

“Pea,” Lily said, forcing more magic into him. “You were trying to protect Daisy and me, it’ll be okay. We’ll get her back as soon as we can locate her, okay? Myra needs that baby more than anything in the entire world and the only one that can bring it to term is Lavender. She would get nothing if she killed her.”

Sweet Pea stared at her, “what if she thinks I chose you over her?” He asked, beginning to feel numb from his loss. “She will hate me.”

“She will not think that.” Lily consoled. “She will know that you needed to protect Daisy. I’m sure she’s more worried about getting out of whatever situation she’s in. If anything this is my fault for offering her up on a silver platter to begin with.”

He was silent, unable to counter that. He did still blame Lily for making the agreement she had made, however none of them could have expected for this to be the outcome. Lily returned to her spot, determined to try and still protect the pack with what energy she had left while Sweet Pea went to fetch Daisy to make sure she knew everything would be alright.

“Lavie?” She whimpered as he pulled her out from under the bed. His heart felt as though it had fallen deep down inside of his chest. All he could do was hold Daisy close as he tried his best not to cry again.

Three days passed on the mortal realm, and with each one Sweet Pea became more and more weary. He didn’t eat, he barely slept, and most of his time was spent hunched over a desk, speed reading through magical manuscripts on how to look through a magical veil. How to locate someone who had been hidden from all normal sights. He was tempted, so tempted to offer his soul back to Asmodeus for the return of his soulmate. The only thing stopping him was Lily’s reminder of how much he had hurt both of them during the time he was soulless. He couldn’t expect her to stay with him if he abused her any more than he already had.

It was late afternoon when Lily called him with somewhat good news. She had managed to locate the hybrid in a deep part of Hell. However, pulling a physical being out of one realm and placing them into another took a lot of magic. A lot of black magic that Sweet Pea just didn’t have.

And that is where Jughead Jones came in. There was a member of the pack that needed to be taken care of. Punishment for something terrible that he had done. While pure souls were more sought after, typically any old one would do in a pinch. If they offered one life for another, then a trade could be made with a demon other than Myra. It would give them enough leverage to get into Hell and get Lavender out.

But who to call upon was the problem. The decision was left to Sweet Pea. While in the past he had obviously catered to Asmodeus, another prince could be called upon to enact a trade. Sweet Pea had chosen Asmodeus as he used sex magic to fulfill his needs. Invoking the demon of lust to give him power through his sexual conquests. It was only fitting for him to have taken Sweet Pea’s soul through the very thing he used to gain power.

But Myra was his daughter. And she was acting on his will. Asmodeus wanted Lavender in his clutches (she was a sex demon after all, the epitome of a lust-filled being) just as much if not more than the blonde princess.

He would need someone of equal power that would take a soul of any condition. As he drove to the cottage, he knew who it had to be. He would offer this rogue wolf to Prince Mammon, the embodiment of greed.

He parked his bike out front before going inside. This was perhaps the most dangerous thing he had ever done in terms of magic. The need to see his lover again somehow overpowered the incredible amount of anxiety he felt. He walked in, seeing a tall and bulky man tied to one of the wooden kitchen chairs. Lily must have cast a silencing spell on him, as his lips were moving furiously but no sound was coming out.

Sweet Pea wore a dark expression on his face as he slipped off his leather jacket before pulling off his flannel shirt and white tank top. Lily picked up a jar of paint that had been colored black with mountain ash. She began to paint different runes across his torso, embedding her protective white magic into the symbols to help keep him safe when he went into hell.

“Who did you decide to call upon?” She asked, her voice a low whisper as if the question itself was forbidden. Sweet Pea had done plenty of idiotic things when it came to magic, but this was an entirely new level. She feared for his safety more than Lavender. Even a half-demon could survive hell. A human, witch or otherwise, could not. He’d need to be swift.

“Mammon.” Sweet Pea replied gruffly, knowing she would not like that answer. Lily stiffened, her touch slackening against his pectoral. Green eyes stared up at him, full of worry and doubt. If he didn’t know any better then he would have thought he saw love in there too. Jughead also seemed to notice and let out a small, feral growl in return.

Lily glanced at her mate before shaking her head. She really didn’t need him being possessive at a time like this. “There, it’s done.” She said, choosing not to comment on what she felt was a bad choice in demons. Not that there were any good ones they could call upon. She placed an old brass compass in his hand. “This will lead you to her. If you lose focus, then so will the needle. Your soul should be able to sense her once you’re there. You won’t have much time so you’ll need to hurry.”

She paused, looking back up at him as her hands trembled. “Pea, he’s going to ask for more. You know that, right? One wolf will not be enough. You do this once, he will want you to do it again and again.”

His expression steeled, “I’ll give him whatever the fuck he wants if it gets me Shanna and our daughter back.”

“And if he wants the apocalypse?” She dared to ask.

“Then the world as we know it will burn.” He replied, completely stoic.  

Lily heaved a heavy sigh. The whole point of this was to stop the world from ending, but she couldn’t deny him this. She couldn’t stand to see him spiral downward anymore. This had to be done regardless of consequences.

They took each other’s hands, closing their eyes as Sweet Pea began to chant. He called for Mammon, told him to take this wolf as sacrifice to do as he pleased, and in return to open a gateway to hell.

The cottage shook as Jughead held Daisy protectively in his arms. His hair stood on end as the air pressure within the room started to increase. There was an infernal pop along with a gusting of air that came with the flapping of wings.

The witches opened their eyes to see a tall man with shaggy beard and hair. His eyes were clouded as if he were blind, however both witches knew fully well that he could see just fine. His black feathered wings pulled in close to his body, partially shielding him as he observed the scene in front of him. The tarnished crown on his head was lopsided as if it had been placed there without care. The only thing glittering on it were the rare gemstones fastened within the blackened metal.

He peered upon them with his glossy eyes. “My, my, if it isn’t Asmodeus’ little headaches.” He said, clearly amused by the two mortals that had been giving his brother such a hard time. “Offering me just one puny soul for the entrance to hell? Do you not know how to temp the god of greed?”

“I will give you whatever you desire, Mammon.” Sweet Pea spoke distinctly. The only defensive power he had over the demon was the knowledge of his name. “I must get her back.”

“The little succubus.” He mused out loud, “pretty little thing. Apparently, my brother plans to pimp her out after she’s brought about the end of times. Something about demons loving a mortal that can take their damned cocks.” He waved his hand around as he spoke, as if he were conjuring his words with the motions. “I have to admit, I am a little jealous. How much more rich he could become using her.”

Sweet Pea sneered. “Well, he can’t have her. I’ll make sure of that.”

Mammon gave him an amused look, sizing him up as if he were nothing but a fragile puppy. “It is always sad when the faithful lose faith, isn’t it?” He probed. “Once so devoted to Asmodeus and now here you are, at my feet, begging for my help to strong arm my brother into giving you back your love. It would be amusing if it weren’t so damn tragic.”

Lily had a sinking feeling in her stomach. Their offering wasn’t nearly enough to appease him. It was all that they could manage. Why in hell’s name did he choose the demon on greed? She wished she could stop this, however she knew that it was too late. Mammon would not leave without taking his fill.

“Are you going to help or not?” Sweet Pea asked, a fire raging in his eyes as his hands clenched tightly over Lily’s making her wince in pain. “Or should I call someone else?”

“Oh no, dark witch. I will help. You see, I want what Asmodeus has. In fact, I want it all . And you can help me, small mortal. I’ll find a use for you, I’m sure. Give me time to think. I will take this soul and body back to hell with me, and when I leave the doorway open you may slip in to get that delicacy of a soulmate of yours. You will have one hour to return. One Earth hour. If you’re not back by then, then the gate will close.”

“Is that all?” Sweet Pea asked, knowing that demons tended to slip in unnecessary bullshit with their contracts. He knew he was being asked for more than what he was already giving. He wasn’t that dense.

“Be ready when I call on you, dark witch.” Mammon said. “I can see a great destiny with you if you were to indeed stop the impending doom of the mortal realm’s destruction. I can teach you so much more than what you’ll find in your little books. Give me time. I’ll ring when I’m ready to take you on.”

Naturally it didn’t sit well with Sweet Pea that he was being asked to give something so vague as his loyalty and devotion. It wasn’t something tangible and that could be tricky. Still, it was better the possible alternative of giving his unborn child to him. This was what he thought to be a best case scenario. Sweet Pea nodded, his mouth suddenly dry as if he had been sucking on a mouthful of cotton.

A pleased and cruel smile twisted upon Mammon’s dark features as he used a blackened claw to tear open the fabric of reality, much as Myra had done on the night of the moon. “One mortal hour.” He reminded, voice echoing with a sinister tone as he stepped into the void, wings flexing behind him to fit through the narrow pathway into hell.

Sweet Pea released Lily’s hands. He grabbed the compass and a pocket watch. He started towards the sparking entryway.

“Pea,” Lily called out to him, her voice wavering. He turned his head to the side to look at her from the corner of his eye. “Be safe.” She murmured, “and hurry .”

Tag List: @the-gargoyle-queen​, @lilhemmo​, @wayward-river​, @southside-vixen, @princesweetpea​, @redhairdontcare732​  (comment/ask/message if you want to be added or subscribe to AO3)

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[cake-in-a-tin]

My thoughts rewatching all the Harry Potter movies back to back

forgive typos, and be warned - there's a lot...

the first two have a smaller amount of thoughts for some reason, idk why

 Philosopher’s Stone

teeny harry haha

that snake is so beautiful

no post on sundays bro

hi hagrid

how did the dursleys get off the island tho

aw harry is so teeny and innocent

ollivander’s entrance is so iconic, like i want to enter every room like that

hermione is so great already

and you are…

‘you’ve got dirt on your nose by the way, did you know?’

haha tiny malfoy

TREVOR! + neville

that death glare mcgonagall omg

oof snape really hates harry

it's leviooosa not leviosaaa

troll in the dungeon!!!

hi fluffy

ew norbert is gross to be completely honest

creepy malfoy staring at the window

malfoy being sassy wow

‘nighty night…’ whyyy filch?

oof ron are u ok

bye hermione

voldemort is kinda cute with his big eyes

harry really just killed quirrell jeez man

alas earwax

Chamber of Secrets

ah go away dobby don't be weird

yes the car with fred and george

oof bye uncle vernon haha

ah awkward let go of harry lockhart we hate u

haha ginny is iconic

rons face when the train comes omg

ron can drive? that's impressive…

ooh a voice scaryyy

hey colinnn

eat slugs - yas

let go of his arm lockhart

uh oh colin is petrified

hahaha snape annihilated lockhart wow

gosh moaning myrtle is annoying

tom riddle is such a weirdo hgh

ew spiders

lockhart is hilarious when he has lost his mind wow

yas fawkes

ew he just stuck the sword right through its head didn't he...

powerful sock…

go away lucius ur annoying

Prisoner of Azkaban

ugh aunt marge blow up already

sassy harry tm

tom is iconic

so is crookshanks tbh

the knight bus kinda sucks in the movie tho

yess lupin hi

ugh shut up trelawney

ah the best scene aka harry and draco being sassy towards each other

‘it’s killed meh!’

the other best scene: lupin, boggarts and the record player

love when they are eating sweets and just being good friends

yay marauders map - iconic fred and george

nice snowman also

my dad didn't strut and neither do i - yeah right...

yes leave hermione

trelawney stop being creepy

take that malfoy

harry third wheeling

yas remus save sirius

"old married couple" haha snape knows what's up

die peter lol

haha yes they will chop your leg off ron definitely

ugh harry stop being noble

haha yes mentioning the marauders

ew stop peter

oh no werewolf

sirius is so dramatic haha he cant stop turning into a werewolf my dude

bad idea yes ron i agree

oof fight him sirius

no sirius!

the dementorssss

no harry that's not a real patronus dude

nom eat the little soul nugget nice

ah no they're gonna kiss sirius nooo

scabbers did it ok... shut up ron

dumbledore just smacking ron's broken leg and being mysterious

and enter many time paradoxes

‘this is not normal’ hahahah wow harry

yess save buckbeak dudes

yas beautiful patronus dude

this music tho wow

au revoir sirius

I wonder how many stairs they ran up...

poor ron so confused

that bird just got squished no

don't leave lupin

please tell harry about the marauderss

i love lupin omg

ooh a firebolt thanks godfather

the ending face wow

Goblet of Fire

ooh nagini hello

yay frank you will die soon so enjoy your tea

dr who!

ah voldemort's creepy little hand tm

yes ron is covering his non existent boobs wow

hermione's so mad 4 some reason

yes cedric diggory in a tree

everyone has long hair why

isn't just any manky old boot mate

cedric amos and arthur are show offs

feet off the table!

i luv magik

wow krum is enjoying himself

Why is draco wearing a suit?

lucius is very ominous

think ur in luvvv ron

is there no winky in this? sad

harry is so awkward omg

bye hedwig find sirius even though the ministry cant

oh bonjour beauxbatons

wow so dramatic here come the durmstrang peoples

wow run filch ao athletic

ew the beauxbatons entrance is so weird and compared to the durmstrang one is kind of sexist

ow poor flitwick a fork to the hand that's gotta hurt

moody is so dramatic

dumbledore already shouting nice

why does he have so many bugssss

ah that is a creepy spider

poor neville he has to have cuppa with moody that sucks

yess fred and george back at it again

hermione ruining the vibe

HARRY POTTER DIDJA PUTCHA NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIYAH dumbledore asked calmly

what would happen if harry was just like "nope"? would he die that would be interesting

igh rita skeeter go away ur creepy my dude

hate it when ur eyes glisten with ghosts of ur past

yas sirius in a fire

"who are u talking to?" "im vlogging ron" (how it should have gone. harry should have a youtube channel just saying)

poor harry a third wheel yet again between madame maxime and hagrid ew

wow draco in a tree, why? so many people in trees this movie

"nyaaah"

malfoy as a ferret is my favorite character

my father will hear about thissss

omg rita get outttt

fight the dragonnnn

feel like someone should have stopped the dragon after it broke free... idk *shrugs*

it would be so boring if u were watching the tournament because you can't see anything that's happening most of the time, only for the 1st task and a bit if the 3rd task.

knew u wouldnt die harry, lose a leg - or an arm -pack it in all together? nevaaaaa

god just open it harry

ron ur so awkward...

harry spitting out his drink will never not be funny to me

oh yes the gorgeous dress robes

poor ron has it tough, having to dance with mcgonagall and having ro wear those robes...

*babbling bumbling band of baboons*

the twins are hilarious in this haha

aw neville!

snape is really violent can't 2 boys discuss their love lives or lack thereof in peace

ron's jealous of viktor krum haha

love harry just being so confused and saying "spectacular" when cedric speaks to him.

given the fact harry literally told him the task cedric didn't do that much to help.

ugh no myrtle stop

harry going "do i" when neville tells him he seems tense is such a mood

harry's hair when he was swimming haha

just leave them harryy omg too noble

harry holds his breath for a long time after his gills go away - longer than i can

fred and george making fun of harry having 'moral fiber' is exactly what i would do in the situation

mr crouch stop being weird

yes finally singing hoggy warty hogwarts

oh hi mr crouch, taking a nap in the forest are u? cool

i would say do not stick your face in the pensieve but that's just me

Dr Who changed a bit since i last saw him, he's a bit mental now...

snape is so iconic wow

"bubble juice sir?" bahaha sassy harry back at it again

this music is so great

i would freak out if i had to go in that maze it's so creepy and feels like it would be so filled with jumpscares just nope

"a cauldron? What are u guys gonna do - eat me? that's gross!" feels like it should be in the movie

aw baby voldemort is so cute

ugh just chop off another finger or something wormtail jeez so much drama

how is voldemort still alive - the cauldron is on fire??

the movie is also really missing voldemort dancing with the death eaters

u dont have hair my dude stop caressing ur bald head

voldemort has lovely long fingernails

lucius' blonde hair poking out from beneath his hood is so funny 4 some reason.

"i can touch u now" is really not a good sentence

bit awkward to return with a dead body...

its alright harry *shakes his head violently*

uh oh that's not professor moody its barty jr

Order of the Phoenix

halfway done woo

the intro music is still a jam the 5th time

that is big whinging not little whinging

hi big D what a great nickname...

uh oh dementorrrrr

yes mrs figg the most iconic character in the movies

harry looks a lot like frodo baggins

yay the order is rescuing him finally

yes remus and sirius and mrs weasley and everyone

ooh kreacher

jeez hermione attack him

crookshanks attacking the extendable ears is just what my cat would do

cute godfather godson moments yeass

arthur weasley trying to function as a muggle is just so wholesome

ugh not umbridge ew

yes clear those charges

aw padfoot yess

wow that's a lovely coat sirius

voldemort looks great in a suit wow

didn't harry see his parents die? why couldn't he see the thestral before?

yes luna!

oh shut up umbridge oh my goddd

yes ron u tell seamus like a good friend

sassy harry reaching full potential

ugh umbridge sucks wow

so evil torturing harry

yes weasleys wizards wheezes

luna is so pure and perfect

the friendship between her and harry is so amazing

yas tell umbridge, mcgonagall

trelawneys bad but she doesn't deserve to be kicked out by umbridge

oof professor dumbledore just straight up ignored harry

yes harry just say you're rubbish that will make people think your sane

yes hermione break the rules!

oof ginny is jealous of cho liking harryyyy

yay the room of requirement!

dumbledores army is so fabuloussss

nigel is amazing and i love him

wow hermione just knocked out ron haha

harry potter the boy who made cheesy inspirational speeches

wow ginny is so powerful

harry and cho are so awkward eeehhhh

just because you’ve got the emotional range of a teaspoon *cringy forced laughter*

occlumency lessonnssss yay what fun

cute christmas scenes wow

ooh the family tree and sirius' backstory yay

harry u aren't becoming like voldemort u are going through pubertyyyy its hormonesssssss

yay hagrid finally

oh no it's bellatrix get ready for crazinesss

poor sirius he keeps getting the blame for everything that's so unfair

is neville tall or is harry short, because there is a huge height difference

aw all the patronuses are so cute

uh oh here comes umbridge...

noo they are captured and dumbledores lying waaa

oof dumbledore is as sassy as harry at some points - "dumbledores got style"

no umbridge is heaf and shes fricking evilllll

grawp yess. hes kind of cutee

ron is jealous of grawp bahaha

sheesh snape chill

yes a bit of maraudrrss aahhhh

thats it? noo

aw fred and george comforting a little boy is too cute!

yes fred and george!!! disrupt those OWLS!!

no harry! he doesn't have sirius nooo

yes hermione fake it till u make it ( or until u get umbridge attacked by grawp )

yay the centaurs are here as well get herrr

'i must not tell lies' the sass omg

jeez how many prophecies are there wow

pranked, harry dude ur kind of rubbish

well done ginny you've made all the prophecies fall

yh id rather watch my friends die than give u the prophecy, don't really like them tbh

yas sirius!

the order yes

you're beautiful sirius

noooooo siriusss 😭😭😭😭

yooo voldemort my dudeee

hope the ministry has a massive roomba

the DA just come in to see harry writhing on the floor and are like 'cool'

nice one fudge finally realised he's back cool, cool

ah yes angsty harry tm

aw poor luna, her shoes are all stolen.

luna is an icon though

we have something voldy doesn't - noses hahahaha

Half Blood Prince

uh oh the dark mark is here

death eaters as well fun

fenrir greyback!!

oh no not this bridge! i went across it and i was scared af

dumbledore appearing out of nowhere is so funny

ew slughorn no

wow i need dumbkwdored tidying spell so badly

slughorn collecting people is kind of creepy tbh

im so glad i dont have as many staircases as the weasleys

oh yes narcissa and bellatrix being shifty

oops snape u probs shouldnt have done that

yess fred and george!!!

weasleys wizard wheezes looks amazinggg

uh not cormac mclaggen

oooh its "draco and mummy"

no fenrir we wanted to look at draco stroking a cabinet

yes arnold!

yes draco malfoy is a "creepy bloke" ronald

why is draco always wearing a suit??

yes draco is going to pigfarts!

ouch why would u stomp on his nose??

yez luna save him

noo dont let snape teach defense against the dark arts!! i miss lupin...

poor harry having to do potions again ugh

dun dun dunnn the half blood prince

poor seamus stuff is still exploding

haha dumbledore ships hermione and harry lol

baby tom riddle is creepyy

tom riddle and slughorn were bffs wow so cute

edgy draco in his loki suit

aw rons the only one listening

ugh cormac mclaggen is so gross nooo

haha ron is so rubbish at quidditch id be just like him

'the binding is fragile' hahaha excuses

harry sleeps with his potions book hheehe wow

wow sneaky draco

rons face when hermione mentions her snogging him haha.

uh oh cursed necklace alert

harry pottrr the boy who just knew

snape is so sarcastic wow icon (not really tho ew)

oh god they're talking about skin aahhh

noo harry stop being awkwarddddd sit downn

ew cormac stop eating profiteroles so suggestively ugh

haa rons outfit

ew lavender stopp

oh yes "felix felicis" makes ron great at quidditch

poor hermione she just loves ron thats all

aw hermione and harrys friendship is so nice

angsty draco standing in a tower

"bUt I aM tHe ChOsEn OnE" god harry so pretentious

luna is the coolest person there is, nice work harry

draco in a suit again looking sad he does that a lot

no draco ur apple!

oh nvm its back dw

ugh cormac sucks.  hermione why??

at least cormac did 1 good thing and vomited on snapes shoes

draco was lurking omgggg thats his vibe now

cant break an unbreakable vow - figured that out for myself thanks (sassy harry)

ew lavender stopppp

ooh noo ginny dont feed him a mince pie awkwarddd

thanks ron

stoppp ginny. harry can tie his own shoelaceee

why do they need to burn the burrow this doesnt happen in the books #not canon

wow everyones sassy including hermione now

also lav is an awful nicknname

aha tom riddle is still creepy

okay thats a lie slughorn u told him about horcruxes

uh oh ron loves romilda vane oop

harry thinks the moon is divine haha

Ron hugging a pillow then falling off the sofa in the background oh my gosh

slughorn is so useless

haha snapes face while rons saying hermiones name

draco being edgy again woowwww

lavender that is a death glare if ever i saw one

oh no draco is crying in a bathroom now like a moody teenager

let him cry in peace harry god man

'nyaaah' is dracos go to dueling sound

oops harry u kinda killed him a little bit.

no this is so awkwarddd ginny dont

just kiss like in the books after the quidditch match thats way better

yes the felix felicis

love harry potter like this its so funny

‘harry!’ ‘sir!’

not to mention the pincers *gestures awkwardly*

nice speech harry, now u have answers on the horcruxes

ooh back to tom riddle being creepy

yas harry and dumbledore field trip quality student teacher time

snape being edgy now wow everyone is in this movie

oops foreshadowing...

harry has precious blood apparently?

yay boat ride and smoothie

harry potter not harry water bro

noo bad just aguamenti right into his mouth Harry

yay new friends!!!

dumbledore ur gonna set harry on  fire careful my dude

ooh death eaterz

did draco change intot hat suit to impress the death eaters?

oop bye dumbledore

harry brooding in dumbledores office

yess RAB get wrecked voldemort

harry ur thick apparently?

aw cute friendship

Deathly Hallows Pt. 1

rusty logo wow

‘ello whoo are u

oh scrimgeour hi i dislike u dude

veey dramatic

aaawww hermione no

yas dudley being nice to harry and vernon listening to him and leaving

ron brooding wow

bye parents sad face

wow vernons old man

ooh its snapeee he looks loke he has a lot of contpur on

yay snape has a savey seat

pius is a great name

uh oh i dont wanna give u my wand voldy

dracos face haha

ugh do they have to watch nagini eat professor burbage gross

the dursleys house looks so empty

yay the cupboard happy memories and his baby toys cuteee

moody thinks that harrys gorgeous.

yay remus and tonksss

shut up mundungus

blimey hermionee

'just trying to diffuse the tension' hahaha lol

wow so many harrys lol

yh  wouldnt want to go in the motorbike tbh

uh oh death eaters

wow parkour harry

nooo hedwig - the saddest bit of this movie

yo voldemort wassup

oops the pylons fell down... just fly away good idea

nooo george's ear

jeez lupin y are u being crazy dude

george is saint like and holy aw so cute brother moments

uh oh bye moody u were a bit creepy tbh

ha lol harry a lot of people are going to die for u

harry stop being moody omg

wow george way to ruin the vibe dude

yo minister leave pls

ron just being ungrateful - u can turn out lights now ron lucky u

yay hermione you get a childrens book thats great

wow a snitch lucky u harry. hes so pleased with that. little does he know.... its a resurrection stone bro

give him the sword man

yay nice wedding

luna interrupting deep thoughts casually

xenophilius is creepy

ron and hermione staring at each other is a mood.

way to crash a wedding dude

hermione is the most competent out of all three it has to be said

i really want that bag of hermiones

shouldnt have said voldemory now the death eaters are here whoops

"hermione" *strokes face awkwardly*

sassy harry yas

oh yes grimmauld place

oof voldys having wand struggles

hi kreacher please leave ur creepy thanks

aw siriuzz room so cute sad hes dead

regulus arcturus black yay

ugh mundungus fletcher u suck dude

aw neville

oh no pie dude is the minister if magic now

uh shut up umbridge

feel like u dont need that many posters

sentimental piano playing wow

yo dobbyyyy

umbridge ruins everything omg

ron - u dont have a wife

haha harry getting out of the lift and walking in such a weird wayyy bahahaha

ew umbridge has moodys eye groosss

yas the ugly plates are still in her office

oops ron u just kissed that random dudez wife

nice suit harry

ouch splinch

lovely tent

kill the locket dude

dean thomas is on the run ooh fancy

yh harry stop letting voldemort in dude

harry stop being so moody bro

ooh watch snape on the map thats not creepy.

oh no snatchers...

ah u almost got caught dudes

ron ur so weak wow cant apparate or anything

lot of missing people...

haha a quarantine haircut

yes hermione ur brilliant

oh god ron stop chill

bye ron i guess lol

poor hermione

yas awkward dancing timee

awkward stares

kissy for the snitch. he must really miss ginny

uh oh its opening at the closee

vfd!!! an eyee!!!

ooh godrics hollowwww

oop its christmas eve whoopssss

oh a deathly Hallows

parents grave yay!

ur bathilda? nope im a snake boiii

bathilda is 1 creepy lady

what are u saying my dude????

ew snake lady

chaira are good defences agaunst snakes definitely

ah she jumped at them

looks like a nice campsite

wow now hermiones being sentimental

oop she sat on harrys wand

wait nvm

oooh a doe a deer a female deer

dont drown harry that would be awkward

omgbharry stop undressing

oof the locket strangling him

yay ron saved him yas dude

ron kill the horcrux

u tell him hermione

nice ron tell them u have been hearing voices

yes go see xenophilius the crazy dudee

aw ron ur so awkwsrd bro

their house is so cute

shut up ron god

yay we know about the deathly hallows now

xenophilius is so suspicious tho

why would you say his nameeee

noo snatchers

ooo ominous malfoy manor

draco dont doo ittt

yay dobby!

ah no hermione

aw draco looks sad in his little loki suit

yay dobby 'maiming and seriously injuring'

nooo dobby! he deserved so much better 😭

"hey guys welcome back to my unboxing video today we are opening dumbledores grave"

yay the elder wand wow

giving away ur position a bit dude by shooting stuff in the air

Deathly Hallows Pt. 2

snape hi ur brooding

lots of dementys

dramatic music

waaa dobby

yay bill and fleur

yo griphook what up

the sword was in a river bro

madam lestrange? no!

oops thats not dracos wand anymore wowww

wands are just like 'ya hiiii we have feelings too'

oop ollivander knows about the elder wand bros

ron looks great with a moustache tho

harry just broke the law jeez...

wow that cart looks fun

wow they fell from the cart nice

oh no ron broke the law too whoops

yay a dragon

lots of gold nice

yay the cup

oops they messed up nkw everything is multiplyinggg

griphook y are u evil my dude

yay ride a dragon

oops they fell no

yas they escaped

uh oh voldemort is onto them

that's a lot of dead people

oh no everyones looking for them

ah aberforth hi!

the other part of harry's mirror!

oop dumbledore was a secretive dude

ariana yas

neville!

i love neville hes so great now

yay all of the DA

luna!

ginny is being awkward

'shut up seamus' hhaha

aaa snape yooo

snape stop being a meanie

stop being angry harry

yas queen! mcgonagall!!!!

yay

uh oh voldemort is whispering to harry again

stop voldemort you need a cough sweet

yes everyone protect him

haha filch is a blithering idiot wow

i love mcgonagall

run harry

boom! seamus blow stuff up!

yay the knight peeps

uh yes theyre protecting harry and everyone

yes luna is so smart and iconic

go talk to a ghost harry

thats a lot of death eaters

go away voldemort no one likes u

yes go stab a crown harry

yay remus

fred and george aw

ron fake parseltonguing lol

nooo quidditch

lol peeps got disintegrated

go hermione stab the cup

yessss kisss!!!!

tonks and remus together wow

wow i hate voldemort's bald head with the weird veins

run neville!

yay ginny and neville

yay a little kiss for harry!

ooh the room of requirement

edgy draco back at it again

ooh the diadem

no dracooo

yh draco y didnt u give harry away?

aw ron loves hermione

uh oh fireee

nice work goyle

bye crabbe lol

yay hes saving draco

nice killed the tiara

oops voldemorts getting angry

snapes gonna dies dudes

runnnnn guys

lavenders being eaten

yay aberforth

yeet snapes dying

gosh naginis violent

“ew snape sorry i dont like u even tho u loved my mum” - what harry should have said

woops bye snape

freds death is too sad

nooo remus and tonks

go watch snapes life my dude

yess the always bit (i dont like snape but its iconic)

poor harry

its so sad that hes just sacrificing himself

his eye contact with ron omg im cryinggg

ooh yay his familyyy

he should have said 'its muffin time’ to the resurrection stone and it would be like 'cool bro here's your dead family'

u got this harry

yay teddy mention

"until the end" yas james

lets do this harry

wow voldemort why are you standing like a weirdo

yes harry be a brave man

byee harryyyy

oooh hes alive still

hi dumbledore

yes harry is a brave brave man

cool explain it to him dumbledore

bye dumbledoreeee

wow voldy u weakk bro

yas dracos alive get off me

aw neville u got this man

voldy yeeted that dead giant wow

ew snakey boi

nooo hes dead waa

poor draco such an awkward hug

oop neville what?

ok ur just making a speech that fine carry on

voldys very polite for a villain

yay harrys alive

haha dieee

run lucius wow

oof destroying the school harry really

naginis coming run hermione

u got dis neville

noo ron

yes molly!!!

y r u hugging dudes u arent friends... did u forget? oops..

ouch

bye snake boiii

neville is so iconic omg

kill him HARRY

noice

haha disintegrate voldemort

byeee

dont breathe in voldemort guys

wow harrys a mess

yay hagrid

hermione and ron are so sweet aw

harry yeet the wand

wow draco owns the wand and now harry has it

YEET

aw the friendship

yess 19 years later

wow that hair harry

all of their haircuts are tragic tbh...

should be albus remus potter... just sayinggg

THE END DUDESSSSS

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Dolores Umbridge

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Sometimes it’s not enough to have a villain. Sometimes, you have to have a character who is thoroughly, unrepentantly awful, someone so despicable the audience will root against them, guaranteed. These are hate sinks, characters that you sink your hate into. When executed well, these characters can be truly great, because they are just so horrendously evil that their ultimate comeuppance is overwhelmingly satisfying. And while she’s certainly no Huey Emmerich, Dolores Umbridge at least gets to take home the silver medal in characters you love to hate. And you will, without a doubt, hate her, for more reasons than you might realize.

Motivation/Goals: Umbridge is seemingly only motivated by her desire to keep whatever power she has. Whoever is in power, she serves unquestioningly, going above and beyond what anyone should. Her tenure as the Ministry-appointed Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was filled with horrific violations of human rights, including her brutally torturing students, and keep in mind this was all done in an attempt to monitor the school because they thought Dumbledore was training an army of child soldiers to stage a coup and overthrow the Ministry by claiming Voldemort was back.

Later, when Death Eaters took over the Ministry, she would put her same cheerful energy into desecrating the dead body of Mad-Eye Moody and sentencing Muggleborns to have their souls sucked out. So, yes, she’s just the pinnacle of the unpleasant government drone who goes on a power trip and abuses those beneath her with impunity

Performance: While she certainly didn’t fit the description of the ugly, toadlike woman from the books,  Imelda Staunton definitely showed that sometimes changes from the book are better than the original. By making Umbridge look like a kind, maternal figure she manages to project an outward air of sweetness and kindness; who exactly could think such a sweet-looking lady would be capable of such malice? It just makes the fact that she invented a blood pen torture device for use on students and that she can wear a piece of the soul of the most evil wizard to ever live around her neck with no ill effects all the more horrifying. Staunton absolutely kills it in the role, and even manages to make Umbridge a bit more cunning and competent than her book version in small ways while still keeping the smug, sickeningly sweet condescension that we all love to hate.

Final Fate: Umbridge, like any good hate sink, gets only the most brutal of comeuppances her way. In Order of the Phoenix, Hermione leads her into the Forbidden Forest; in the books, Harry explicitly mentally notes Hermione is unknowingly bumbling her way into Aragog’s den, but in both versions they are accosted by centaurs, and when Umbridge tries to assert her authority over them, they drag her off kicking and screaming. If you know anything about centaurs in mythology, you can probably imagine what they did to her, but mercifully neither book nor film spells it out. The sad thing is, she not only survives this, but she gets to retain her position in the Ministry, which pisses Harry off to no end when he finds out.

Fortunately, her good luck runs out in the final book and film. While in the book she’s merely knocked out of the story when the gang goes to retrieve Voldemort’s locket, and she would only be revealed after the story concluded to have been sentenced to life in Azkaban for her role in sentencing Muggleborns to death, in the movie it’s heavily implied that the Dementors she had been holding off sucked her soul out when Harry broke her concentration. I hate to imagine how her soul must have tasted, but really, it’s what she deserved.

Best Scene: I don’t think her best scene is even necessarily HER scene, but a scene in which she gets some sweet, sweet karma: Fred and George’s glorious escape from her nightmarish Hogwarts, a moment so awesome even Professor Flitwick pumps his fist from the sheer righteousness of the Weasley twin’s magnificent getaway.  

Best Quote: Looking through her quotes, during one of her exchanges with McGonagall she drops this line: “I am sorry dear, but to question my practices is to question the Ministry and, by extension, the Minister himself. I am a tolerant woman, but the one thing I will not stand for is disloyalty.” Now this line is already chilling on its own, but taking into account some recent developments, in which Umbridge’s creator, a woman who has a skewed idea of ‘tolerance,’ has been quick to label anyone who dare criticize her toxic views as a misogynist… the line has become disturbingly relevant.

Final Thoughts & Score: Dolores Umbridge is such a very real, very chilling kind of evil, and ultimately this is what makes her so effective. I think most of us have been in a position where a seemingly kind person in a position of power abuses their authority with a smile, and most of us have likely had an extremely rotten, unpleasant teacher. There is just something infinitely relatable to the experiences the students go through in the books.

But I think what truly cements Umbridge as one of the most disgusting and evil characters in a franchise which includes Sniveling Backstabbing Rat Man, Literally Insane Fascist Torture Fetishist, Pedophile Cannibal Werewolf, and at least two wizards who are Literally Hitler, and what ultimately helps her stand out is that she projects this air of kindness and sweetness, that she puts on this mask of being kind, agreeable, and friendly… and then she goes and uses her power to sentence innocent people to death. She has the demeanor of an angel with the heart of a devil, and while this alone makes her such an enjoyably detestable character, what helps her stand the test of time is that she really also holds up well as a criticism of J.K. Rowling herself.

Rowling put forth this sweet, motherly identity for years, this kind older woman who cared about the plight of the LGBT+ community, strived for diversity and inclusiveness, and donated so much of her fortune to charity… and then, on Twitter, she began slowly but surely showing cracks in the sweet facade. A tweet here, a comment there… and soon enough, Rowling had outed herself as one of the most disgusting things a person can be: a trans-exclusionary radical feminist. It certainly was not intentional on her part, but there is some sick humor in the fact that the woman who identified so heavily with Hermione, the girl who fought for the freedom of the oppressed with every fiber of her being, ultimately ended up being more like the oppressive, fascist monster with a sweet face.

Umbridge is an easy 10/10. She’s not nearly as fantastical as the other enemies in the series despite being a witch like they are, but her evil is so much more down to earth and relatable… even more so because she disturbingly reflects the attitudes and personality of her creator. Combine that with Imelda Stauntons incredible performance and, well, what other score could I possibly give her? She’s second only to Huey Emmerich in the hate sink department. I think Stepehn King put it best:

“The gently smiling Dolores Umbridge, with her girlish voice, toadlike face, and clutching, stubby fingers, is the greatest make-believe villain to come along since Hannibal Lecter. One needn’t be a child to remember The Really Scary Teacher, the one who terrified us so badly that we dreaded the walk to school in the morning, and we turn the pages partly in fervent hopes that she will get her comeuppance… but also in growing fear of what she will get up to next. For surely a teacher capable of banning Harry Potter from playing Quidditch is capable of anything.”

Oh, and one more thing: fuck Huey.

[thewickling]

winding moonrise - lotus symbol

master post

[continues from part 10. Can you believe there's 11 parts to this story already?]

Amongst the dust, a pebble of white catches Wei Wuxian's eye. He kneels, brushing away the dirt to reveal a pendant. Picking it up by its woven cord, he blows off the remaining red soil.

Exsquitely carved into the jade that's height is around half of his palm is flowing clouds embracing a celestial mountain. The unearthly cast of the will-o-wisps takes nothing away from the careful detailing. Though he can't discern all of the layers, a second look reveals a full moon peeking from between the wisps of cloud.

Is it from a painting? he wonders. Something about the composition nags at him. Scanning it more does not ring any bells.

He exhales. The necklace belongs to a victim but it better than the receipts, scraps of bloodied cloth, and deposits of bodily fluid he shifted through the last ten minutes.

"Lan Zhan."

He hops over to where Lan Wangji surveys the cages further the right. His distate clear in how he holds his body rigid and in the narrowness of his gaze. There is something around about image of Lan Wangji standing behind bars that is wholly wrong while also making Wei Wuxian smile.

"Did you find anything?"

Lan Wangji exhales. The stink of vomit and iron sticks to his sinuses. An undertone of ooze of magic further mucks up any aromatic clues.

His eyes don't have much better luck. The cavern is bare. The only details of note are one of the three cages and the strange marks on the walls and encircling the cages he can't read.

Stepping out, he shakes his head.

"I found this, probably belongs to one of the victims but it's a clue," he says, lifting it.

Fwhip.

Wei Wuxian stares. His jaw drops. His hand lingers in the air. The rope burn has nothing on the strange realization that Lan Wangji did something excessively rude.

"It belongs to Lan Sizhui."

Lan Wangji tucks it away. His expression tightens. The unpleasantness of Wei Wuxian's reaction wars with his duty to protect his son's propriety. The only one who may touch the sacred pendant is one's family or spouse.

"Oh! I thought it looked familar." He points at Lan Wangji's chest. The pendant isn't visible but the thin cord that loops his neck is. "Damn, I missed my chance to study the elusive Lan necklace."

"Wei Ying."

The name comes out a mixture of exsperated and scolding that tickles Wei Wuxian with familiarity. It's an innocent kind of exhalation. On a subconscious level, he must feel 'strange how foreign your own name can become when its only ever spoken as a curse' if he were the sort to take such things to heart.

"Did you discover anything more?" Lan Wangji asks.

"No..." He scraps his thumb along his fingers. The nail scratchs from skin to metal to skin over a ring. He shifts from heel to heel. "That doesn't mean a dead end. I have a technique that might help but I don't know if you'll want to be here for it."

"I will observe," he answers, disliking with every fiber of his being that he is a source of Wei Wuxian's reluctance. That Wei Wuxian would ever consider him a reason to obscure any element that composed such a wonderful existence. Even if Wei Wuxian's ritual is unspeakable, he must bare witness to it.

"Oh good! Word of warning, they won't hurt you. Wen Ning is powerful enough most of them won't try."

As if summoned by his name, Wen Ning floats down from the ceiling. He nods solemnly.

"If they are violent, run outside. And I'll deal with it." Wei Wuxian strokes his ring. The tip lingers on the engraving. The metal heats up. With a flick of his wrist, he spins a black dizi. "Last chance, you can wait outside."

Lan Wangji returns his gaze pointedly.

He inhales. Yin energy pools in his lungs. Focusing, he breath over his dizi.

The notes swing through the air. To a Western ear, the song builds and builds to no resolution taking on an aimless and otherwordly quality. To Lan Wangji's ears, the rhytmns are familar, straight out of a legend. The upbeat chords hover above a river of melancholy and yearning.

The temperature drops.

Lan Wangji's hackles rise. If he were in his wolf-skin, he'd snap at the air. His teeth itch. The concept of an enemy he can't not see works his inner wolf up. He wants to tuck his moon under his arm and guard from the danger.

The air around Wei Wuxian displaces. A subtle ripple in the air or hint of shadow in the corner of Lan Wangji's eyes that brings up a new question. He eyes Wen Ning as Wei Wuxian speaks to the air.From being until now, he calculates at least an hour. The spirits just summoned didn't materialize yet his former classmate remained fully visible without fading out.

He doesn't know the protocol for inquiring about the species, for lack of a better term, of another paranatural being. His pack is isolated but there's enough information but that Wen Ning died recently to have so much power as a wandering ghost. Would it be rude to ask Wei Wuxian later?

"So do you want the good news or the bad news first?" Wei Wuxian claps his hands.

Awoooo.

Wei Wuxian jumps, tightening his grasp on Chenqing.

Lan Wangji darts out. The howling hits his ears as a cry for help. Only the fact that Wei Wuxian would hate his other form keeps from transforming immediately.

Just outside of the cavern 15 meters from the opening, a teen dressed in a leather jacket, jeans, and steel-toed boots points a dagger at a Lan Sizhui riding atop a lanky wolf baring his teeth. There's seven to eight meters between them.

"Ge, put that down. He didn't kidnap me. We're friends," Lan Sizhui coaxes. "You're not helping Jingyi."

He pats Lan Jingyi's shoulder.

Uncooperatively, he growls. His attention narrows on the dagger that smells of danger. He calculates the odds that he can defend Lan Sizhui and fight at the same time.

"Friends?"

The dagger shifts unsteadily, reflecting his confusion. He focuses. Whispering the spell in his mind, he reaches out with his magical sense. He hasn't mastered this skill and people can mask themselves but yes in front of him is one high concentration of magic and another elemental composition that suggests a werewolf. The one riding the werewolf is definitely not a werewolf.

"Hm. He won't hurt you if you put the dagger down. We're looking for my father."

He glances at the cavern. His dagger jumps back up. He interrogates, but it comes out more of a stutter, "Who are you?"

"Father!" Lan Sizhui smiles.

"Father?" He exclaims, "But aren't you a mage?"

"Lan Jingyi, transform back." Lan Wangji stretches his senses but catches no sign of other humans. He's certain he can disarm this one quite readily even in human-form. The light thumps behind him do not contribute to his decision.

Lan Sizhui slides off. He strategically slides closer to Lan Wangji.

A cracking of bones later, Lan Jingyi stands up. He complains, "We didn't break any rules. He came out of nowhere and pointed a knife at me. I had to protect Sizhui."

"You are not in trouble."

Wei Wuxian comes up. His dizi a few milimeters from his mouth, his fingers already in position. He scans the situation.

"Chenqing?! Ghost Emperor!" the teen shouts. He pivots on his heel, shifting from the younger Lans to Wei Wuxian and back like he can't decide what his target should be.

Lan Wangji purses his lip. Rumors of a necromancer who nearly single-handedly eliminated the Wen clan floated around. Once the bespoken hero of the paranatural world, the Ghost Emperor apparently turned his ghouls on the supernatural beings that he once allied with in a fit of madness.

"Hey, Kid Ouyang," Wei Wuxian says, lowering Chenqing, "lower your weapon. It's four aganist one."

Tracing Wei Wuxian's gaze to the clan symbol on his jacket, Ouyang Zizhen bites down his question. Chewing his cheek, he states, "I'm not alone."

Cocking a brow, he says, "Right. Aren't you too young to be investigating alone? What'd you do? Run off because you were tired of being babied?"

"No." He kicks the dirt. "They were busy but I spotted the demon so... I followed it."

"Demon?"

"Hm." He narrows his gaze. "This isn't some evil cabal is it? Like demon, werewolf, nercomancer?"

Wei Wuxian searches his memory for any demon sightings in the area. "Why you'd think Ah-Zhui was kidnapped?"

"You're here for the same reason right?" Ouyang Zizhen blinks. "The kidnappings?"

"You're not talking about vampires taking people are you?"

"Vampires have been taking people?!"

Wei Wuxian surveys the area. "I think we better exchange information. I'll got first. I've been following a bunch of disappearances southwest to here. 10 people. All taken by vampires. Only 1 victim recovered. The one I caught alive died."

"I came from the northeast with my cousins." Ouyang Zizhen rocks on his heels as if he isn't sure if he should be sharing. "Three cities over we found signs of a demon. We don't know how many people it took. But the lair we found have 4 small cages and a dead body."

He eyes Lan Jingyi warily. "We suspect it's a werewolf corpse."

"Why do you suspect that?" Lan Wangji interjects. There is very little physically that distungishes a werewolf from human who can't transform. Death always brings one back to their human self.

"The cage they were in was all clawed up."

"Anything else?" Wei Wuxian asks.

He angles his head. "I'll tell you when you tell me what you're hiding."

"You have balls." Wei Wuxian barks a laugh. He meets Lan Wangji's gaze, offering the stage to him.

"The last victim relates to werewolves."

Ouyang Zizhen concludes, "So, ge was taken? Did you see a demon?"

Lan Sizhui shakes his head.

Ouyang Zizhen digs through his pocket. Holding up a patch of leather, it displays a lotus.

He hissses.

"What does that mean?" Lan Jingyi questions, bouncing on his feet. It's a miracle he's kept quiet so long. He wants to find out why Lan Wangji's friend has a title like the Ghost Emperor. He wants to know why that Ouyang said Lan Sizhui was a freaking wizard. He wants to explore the clandestine world the Lans always hid from.

Rubbing the matching, worn out symbol on his ring, Wei Wuxian says, "It's means it time to go home."

[joaquinwhorres]

Bottle Rockets (Sweet Pea x Reader)

Summary: You don't need feelings. You don't need friends. You need to stop obsessing over the fact that Sweet Pea is spending his summer with Josie instead of lighting bottle rockets with you. 

Based on Request: hello!! could you maybe write something where the reader was a northsider friends with sweet pea and he kind of ignored her while he was with Josie for the summer and now the reader is ignoring him and he's feeling miserable because he misses his friend (and maybe has actual feelings for her)? thank you 💚 

Pairing: Sweet Pea x Fem!Reader 

Word Count: 14,976

Author’s Note: This goes so far beyond the original request, but I started writing it, and the story just took life. I hope you love it as much as I loved writing it. [Insert normal begging/plea for feedback in asks and reblog form]. Also, I tried to capture some of the Sweet Pea we saw flirting with Josie. Hopefully, there was some success. 

Warnings: Language (there's always language). Underage drinking. Minor jokes about killing yourself (because of boredom). References to sex.

When it came down to it, it was all the Black Hood’s fault.

If it weren’t for him, the town wouldn’t have been so on edge and quick to shut down Southside High, ignoring years of hostility and prejudice and throwing over half of the student body into the already crowded halls of Riverdale High.

And while that itself was less than ideal, the situation would have at least been manageable if The Black Hood hadn’t murdered Midge. Because that changed everything.

That led to Fangs Fogarty getting arrested. Which prompted Ms. Klump to shoot Fangs. Which incited the riots and all of that wreckage. Which landed you in the seat next to Sweet Pea for the remainder of Physics.

The first day of the new seating arrangement came with little warning or fanfare—unless of course, you counted the fact that the trophy case was still cordoned off with caution tape and pretty much the entire student body all slipped on Southside Serpent jackets yesterday under threat of death from Veronica Lodge and Cheryl Blossom.

But still.

Walking into physics with your teacher mumbling “Your new seat is on the board—as if he knew he was about to cause the Riots - Part 2–was the first indication that shit was about to go down. Looking at the list of names, with you being placed towards the back right corner and seated next to a kid whose name you did not recognize should have been your second clue. Because you knew everyone who was supposed to be in this class. And maybe if you'd used a little bit of deductive reasoning, you would have known who you were sitting next to before the hulking mountain of flannel and leather dropped into the seat next to you.

"This is bullshit," he grumbled, slamming his books on the table and pushing them up out of his way.

It was Sweet Pea. Of all the people in this class, you were sat next to the angriest one of all. The one who hated Northsiders with every fiber of his being. So much so that he threw a trashcan through the trophy case.

And whose best friend was shot by his classmate's mom, a little voice inside your head reminded you.

You ignored her, as you normally did when she brought up irrelevant or otherwise inconvenient facts.

"What?" he growled turning to meet your gaze.

You blinked twice, unaware that you had been staring at him and shook your head giving what you hoped was a casual shrug. "I just didn't know that your name was--"

"Sweet Pea." His brow furrowed even more than it had a second ago making his face even darker if that was possible. "My name is Sweet Pea."

You rolled your eyes and looked back up to the front, your eyes landing on the projected seating chart once more. 

The rest of physics passed by in silence between the two of you, Sweet Pea keeping his head bent close to his notes and you keeping your eyes trained on Mr. Flutesnoot so you didn't take note of any of the other empty chairs in the classroom.

The rest of the week followed the same pattern as the first day. You arrived first and took your seat. Sweet Pea arrived a little later and dropped angrily into his. The two of you would silently complete your work, pack up as quickly and quietly as possible when the bell rang and then dash off to your last class of the day.

It wasn’t until the second week of the new seating arrangement that things took a turn. When you walked into the class, all eyes were on you. You walked down the center aisle to your seat, still feeling the eyes of your classmates on your back. It wasn't until you took your seat and looked up at the board that you understood why they were staring at you.

On the board, in Mr. Flutesnoot's scrawling handwriting were two words: bottle rockets.

Your stomach clenched as you took hold of your pencil, opening up to a blank piece of notebook paper and staring fixated ahead, your face stony. Because of this, you noticed Sweet Pea enter the classroom and the way that everyone's eyes seemed to flick from you to him. "This is gonna be good," Alex Cabot whispered behind you. Hushed snickers dotted the classroom, and this didn't go unnoticed by Sweet Pea. He scowled at row after row of students as he passed them on his way to you. The look did nothing of course, not even dissuading the oggling as he dropped into the seat next to yours.

You looked over at him and then put your eyes back onto your paper as the bell rang. Mr. Flutesnoot came back into the classroom. "Good morning ladies and gentlemen," he grinned and you rolled your eyes. He always seemed like an announcer whenever he was starting class. "I hope you're ready for our final lab of the year."

"Unit-Bomber is," Cabot snickered. "She's been waiting for this day all year."

"Probably ready to finish off the school," his partner, Fletcher Foley, added and the two boys chuckled.

“And I bet her partner is just dying to help her.”

“They still haven’t repaired the banner he cut.”

You picked up your pen, grinding the tip down into your desk. Keep your mouth shut, you chanted in your head. They're not worth it. Keep your mouth shut. They're not worth it. You continued to chant it throughout Mr. Flutesnoot's instructions and mini-lesson on factors to consider during the design stage.

"Alright, talk to your partners and discuss. What materials are you going to use? Play with the simulators to design the nose cone and wings and any other modifications you may want to make. Yes, Mr. Cabot?"

"We can't make this into an actual rocket right. Like, substitute real gas for water?"

Mr. Flutesnoot narrowed his eyes in confusion as you pressed your pen tip even harder into the desk. "No, you can't use rocket fuel."

"Well there goes the Unit-Bomber's big plans," Cabot snickered. You slammed your pen down and turned to Sweet Pea.

"So, any ideas?" you asked, sort of breathless. He jerked a little in his seat eyeing you, as if suddenly aware that you were about to go off at any second.

He shrugged his shoulders with a small shake of his head, and you gave a tight-lipped smile, pulling a laptop in between the two of you. "Why don't you play with the simulation, and I'll research what materials will work the best?"

"She has to tell him what to do because he's too stupid to actually understand directions," the voice came from behind you.

You watched as Sweet Pea's face went suddenly white and then dark, a snarl growing on his face and his fist clenching. If he had been a bit faster, he might have threatened to rip their throats out if they didn't cut the shit or some other kind of barbaric and totally justifiable punishment.

But he wasn't as fast as you

"Hey, so, if you're going to talk shit about us, can you at least try to keep it down a little?" you asked, your voice a vitriolic sort of cheery. "Or, I don't know, make it vaguer who you're talking about? We just get kind of distracted by how bad you are at it."

The rage was wiped away from Sweet Pea's face, replaced with a suspicious confusion.

The two boys behind you looked at each other as if trying to decide who would respond to your constructive criticism of their assholery.

"Ok, you're confused. Umm, quick tips--" you started, hearing the classroom around you gradually grow quieter. "When you're talking about someone behind their back it usually means that they can't hear you. Not that you're literally behind their back."

Foley's face was now completely blank. Cabot looked kind of annoyed.

"And if you were trying to bully us, you usually don't target a gang member who can beat the shit out of you. So cliff notes version: shut the fuck up."

"Ms. L/N!" your teacher reprimanded.

"Sorry, Mr. Flutesnoot,” you apologized, turning back in your chair to focus on the work.

"Freak," one of the boys muttered.

"Just one more quick thing," you turned back around. "Your material's old. The whole Unit-Bomber thing is last year. This year I'm the weird bitch who does shit like this--sorry, Mr. Flutesnoot--and also, hating the Serpents and Southsiders died with the Black Hood. So if you can stop distracting my lab partner with your mediocre middle school bitching, that would be great."

Silence followed as the class waited to see if and how they would respond.

"Are you finished Ms. L/N?" Mr. Flutesnoot asked, crossing his arms.

"I think so. You got anything?" you asked, turning to Sweet Pea. He shook his head. "You guys?" Cabot flicked a finger. You swiveled back to face your rather put-out looking science teacher. "I'm sorry, I don't think it'll happen again."

Mr. Flutesnoot nodded. "Right, well. The next person who starts it back up is going to find themselves in Mr. Weatherbee's office."

"Ok," you agreed before turning back to Sweet Pea who was looking at you as if you'd suddenly turned into a werewolf or had just started speaking Dothraki or something. "So you're good with the simulator?"

"Yeah," he agreed, and the two of you began work.

To some extent, you expected there to be some kind of blowback from you snapping in class yesterday. Earlier in the year, a freshman had snapped on a group of juniors, and the phone footage had gone viral, spawning the hashtag #thehallsarenotyourplayground (which coincidentally had made quite the resurgence when the Serpents rolled into town). 

So, you were fairly surprised that aside from a few whispers and the casual wide-eyed look from people who were in your science class, no one brought it up. It didn’t become a thing. The was no hashtag.

If you had to guess it was mostly because everyone else was sick of Cabot’s shit too and there were bigger and better things to whisper about.

Betty Cooper’s dad was the fucking Black Hood. 

Veronica’s jailbird father was first gentleman of Riverdale. 

Some weird shit had been going on in Greendale.

And Betty Cooper’s dad was the fucking Black Hood.

So, by the time you walked into science class at the end of the day, it was hardly surprising that Foley and Cabot glared darkly at you and the rest of the class watched vigilantly as you walked down the aisle to take your seat, only to find other things to direct their attention at when no words passed between you and Cabot.

You quietly went about drawing your notebook from your backpack, flipping the pages to find the notes you jotted down yesterday. Both you and Sweet Pea had made good headway on your specific tasks. In fact, so far Sweet Pea hadn't really needed any hints or oversight from you. You had given him control of the simulations primarily because you already knew exactly what shapes are the best, but he had come to similar conclusions on his own. One day and you were beginning to think that this partnership may actually work out; you wouldn't have to take over the project and do it all by yourself as per usual.

A stack of books dropped into the table signaling Sweet Pea's arrival.

"Hey," he greeted and you glanced up at him, your brows furrowed in slight confusion.

"Uh hey," you said still staring at him suspiciously. Greetings were not part of the normal. In all honesty, talking wasn't part of the normal.

He nodded before sitting down, looking as content as if the two of you had carried out a whole conversation as opposed to three words. Oooookay then, you thought to yourself, turning back to your notebook as Mr. Flutesnoot began class with the reminder that today was your last day of building the rocket and on Monday you would do launches. He finished his spiel, walking over to his desk to his usual hiding spot behind his computer.

You slid out of your stool without a word to Sweet Pea and walked to the front table, perusing the different materials and selecting the ones closest to what your research turned up.

"You know students used to set off real model rockets," Cabot said casually, sidling up beside you and grabbing the same material you had just grabbed for your fins. "Now they can't even trust us with matches because of you."

You rolled your eyes, picking up some masking tape. "I didn't use matches," you mumbled.

He snorted, bumping into you as he picked up some masking tape as well. "I'm still surprised they let you back. Then again, it seems like now Riverdale will let anyone walk through its doors. Bombmaker. Drug dealers. Gang members. I bet they'd even let that murderer back if Ms. Klump hadn't shot him."

You dropped the masking tape, picking up some duct tape instead as you glared at him. He smiled smugly. "Just stating facts," he said lightly, exchanging his masking tape for duct tape.

"Someday someone's going to kick your ass, and I can't wait to stand there and watch."

"Is that a threat?" Cabot asked, watching as you turned on your heel and headed back for your chair.

"Just stating facts," you threw over your shoulder. Besides, you thought to yourself. If I was going to threaten you, I would point out just how easy it is to torch someone's car.

You arrived back at your seat, slamming the materials down on the table. Sweet Pea looked up at you from his work with a questioning glance. "You good?" he asked.

"Fine. Ready to work," you answered, shaking off the comment and the strange feeling that came from Sweet Pea actually noticing your frustration this time. He nodded but didn't look entirely convinced until his eyes fell on Cabot making his way back to the table behind you. His face darkened, but you didn't have time for his anger issues. "Can I see what you've got?" you asked, pointing to the notebook. He nodded, pushing it over to you so that you could read it more easily.

As expected, all of his conclusions were accurate. "Good call with the fins," you said, nodding. "Not a lot of people think about making them different sizes in the simulator."

Sweet Pea furrowed his brow at you for a second before you scrawled onto the edge of his paper. Fucking with them. You drew an arrow pointing back at Cabot and Foley who had gone suspiciously quiet behind you, the same way they had all year whenever it came to listening in on your work with whoever your partner was. Sure, it was perfectly fine to treat you like shit, but you always listened to the girl who knew enough to get you a free day in science class. It wasn't incompetence that got you the name Unit-Bomber and everyone knew it.

Sweet Pea nodded, his lips quirking up into a distant relative of a smile. "Thanks."

"So, you cut these two the same size, and I'll cut the other ones into the short and the long one," you grinned back. Sweet Pea took the material from you and began tracing the shape he'd researched as you waited for the scissors and the pieces he was cutting to make them the same size.

You heard the whispers of Cabot and Foley behind you followed by the quick scratching out of something in a notebook.

"Perfect triangles?" Sweet Pea asked, holding up the fins for only you to see.

"Perfect triangles," you smiled. Taking one and using it to trace the pattern of the remaining two fins. There was more whispered argument behind you, and a devilish grin crossed your face. Sweet Pea shared the look.

Physics had just gotten fun again.

It felt like ever since they caught the real Black Hood, the student body of Riverdale High found any reason to party. 

AP testing was over? Party to celebrate your brains no longer being molten lava. 

Dr. Johnson went home sick today? Party to celebrate a sub tomorrow. 

Kelly Gordon got a new haircut? Party to show it off. 

Student Body President elections right around the corner? Party to influence the vote.

That was how you ended up in Cheryl Blossom's house at ten o'clock on a Saturday night with a beer in hand. You’d had a flyer shoved into your hand by Veronica Lodge, and with nothing better to do, you’d decided that after the Black Hood maybe you were someone who went to parties.

But even if you had suddenly become someone who went to parties, you still weren't the girl in the middle of the dance floor laughing and screaming and surrounded by a large group of friends.

You stood off to the edges of the dance floor, close to the speaker, attempting to give yourself permanent hearing loss and maybe destroy your liver while you were at it. It was easy to lose yourself in the base--to let it take control of your heartbeat and run through your blood along with the liquor. It only took half an hour for you to stop thinking about the sound waves and frequencies and to just have fun like a normal teenage girl out at a party.

You let yourself go until you finished your second beer, and you departed from the safety of your spot for a refill.

It would have been nice if you really had blown out your hearing.

Because maybe then, when you made your way out of the living room, you wouldn't have heard Ginger Lopez' not-so-quiet comment.

"She invited the Unit-Bomber?"

You paused, your grip around your beer can tightening.

"You know what they say," Tina Patel smirked, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "Every vote counts."

"I don't know, I think they could do without one," Ginger snickered and Tina laughed.

"Someone should keep an eye on her. The last thing Cheryl needs is having another house burn down."

You took a deep breath and started moving again, making sure to bump shoulders with a laughing Tina as you passed by. Based on the screams that followed in your wake, her drink had sloshed into at least one of them. You grinned, moving deeper into the house where hopefully the proportion of bitches was smaller.

Thankfully, it seemed like it was. While still heavily populated, everyone in the kitchen was for the most part too far gone or pre-occupied to worry about the black sheep in their midst. You headed over to the table where drinks were piled. On your way, Ben Button was pushed sideways, bumping into you so that you stumbled into the tall figure standing next to the drinks table.

"Shit, sorry," you mumbled, looking up at the figure who turned around and peered down at you. Your eyes widened slightly with shock, seeing Sweet Pea frowning at you. Taking in your face, his shoulders relaxed a little and his brow smoothed.

"Could have just said hey." It was hard to tell if he was teasing you or angry based on the look on his face. He wasn't smiling, and his eyebrows were raised.

"Hey," you greeted, tentatively, reaching behind him to grab another beer.

"Hey," he answered, turning to face you fully. The people next to him moved away a little and your gaze fell back on him. He looked down at you expectantly as if you really had run into him on purpose and now had to carry a conversation.

"So you’re supporting Andrews now?" you asked with an eyebrow raised.

Sweet Pea shrugged. "Toni invited me."

"Forced you to come, you mean." You immediately regretted the snarky and weird way the words sounded falling from your lips. He didn't seem phased at all but shook his head slightly with a shrug.

"What about you? Don't strike me as an Andrews fan."

"I came to be swayed. You know, see what my vote was worth," you nodded, taking a swig of your drink.

"And it's worth....this party?"

You shrugged. "Better than a cupcake."

He snorted and shook his head at you. A silence settled between you two, not altogether uncomfortable but not exactly companionable either.

"Well, don't let me keep you from your friends," you said, taking a step backward.

He rolled his eyes. "Topaz left with Blossom a while ago. I think they're upstairs." And Fangs was still in recovery. "But I guess you should get back to your friends."

You shrugged. "I came alone." There was a pause as his brow furrowed lightly and he gave a slight nod in response to the statement. "I don't need moral support to get drunk and dance," you added, punctuating the statement with a sip of your beer.

He snorted again, and you grinned, basking in the warm feeling of triumph. You had made Sweet Pea, The Angry Gangster, laugh. Twice.

This time, he fully nodded, his eyes running over your body. "So, since neither of us has any friends to get back to, maybe we should stick together? It might make this party a little less...shitty."

"This party is far from shitty," you scoffed. "Free booze. Decent music. And just enough jingle jangle to make most of the people here not assholes. This is as good as it gets on the Northside. Besides," you took a few steps away from him, heading back towards the music. "I'm happy being by myself. See you later."

He raised his drink as a goodbye, and you turned around, taking a sip of yours to try to keep the smile from tugging at your lips.

It took about twenty minutes for you to realize that Sweet Pea may have been onto something when he said the party was shitty.

It was a gradual shift. The music got louder, and the bodies got a little bit closer, pushing in at all sides until you couldn't help but brush up against somebody every time you danced. Everyone's eyes were glazed. Girls' voices got higher pitched, and boys spoke less. A bad feeling had settled in the pit of your stomach, but it wasn't until you felt the cool trickle of beer dripping down your arm from where someone had just sloshed their drink on you as they tried to pass that you realized this party was no longer the best the Northside had to offer. You turned your arm in front of you, looking down to assess the damage only to realize you didn't have a napkin. You heaved a suffering sigh, staring up at the sky before bringing your eyes back down to the party and catching Sweet Pea's gaze. You placed two fingers to your head, cocked the makeshift gun and pulled the trigger, your head jerking to the side with the force of the imaginary bullet.

A smile crossed Sweet Pea's lips as he tipped some of his beer onto the ground. You smiled as well before turning and heading closer to the speaker system and proverbial higher ground.

It was only fifteen minutes until the next hint that this party had taken a downward turn. While shattering your eardrums seemed inevitable, the earsplitting music seemed to keep most of the drunks away and provide you with a little room to breathe. You were even managing to enjoy yourself once again. And then your eyes landed on Sweet Pea.

Or rather, your eyes landed on the blonde girl who was writhing all over the front of his body. Every time he backed away she would follow, too far gone to process the rejection, judging by the way she couldn't keep her head up and her hips couldn't quite match the tempo of the music. He looked up with a face of disgust that melted away for the most part when he caught your gaze. Instead, he lifted a fist and pounded it into his chest several times before his head lolled to the side. You laughed at the brutal stabbing scene before dragging your attention away to continue dancing.

You managed to stick it out for almost another full twenty minutes before suddenly the song that was blasting out of the speaker next to you turned to "Shots."

You swore loudly. Not loudly enough to be heard over the dulcet does of LMFAO, but loudly enough for a drunk girl to look at you as if you were crazy. Your eyes quickly scanned the crowd and it seemed like his must have been too because you found Sweet Pea's gaze in record time. You threw back an imaginary shot before clutching your throat and slowly sinking down into the crowd. When you rose back up he was smiling. He jerked his head towards the kitchen, and despite the fact that you were moderately enjoying your time alone, you found your feet leading you off of the dance floor.

By the time you reached the kitchen, he already had two shots in his hand--courtesy of a wasted Reggie Mantle--and passed one to you.

"So maybe you knew what you were talking about when you said this party was going to be shitty if we didn’t stick together," you said, clinking your glass to his and throwing it back. The cheap Vodka burned on the way down, but it numbed you a little to the party.

“Of course I was.” He hadn’t even winced at his shot. He plucked the cup out of your hand, putting it back on the counter and grabbing two beers instead, passing one to you.

You cracked the can open, taking a sip—a watery chaser to the burning liquor. “Well,” you gasped slightly as you finished your drink. “At least you got the true Northside experience before it imploded.”

“Imploding isn’t the Northside experience?” Sweet Pea quirked an eyebrow.

“Aw," you put a hand over your heart. "You get us."

He exhaled a laugh, taking a drink, and a small silence settled between the two of you. “So, you still happy by yourself?" Sweet Pea asked.

You raised your eyebrows. "You know when you say it like that, it almost sounds like an innuendo.”

He didn’t say anything. Instead, he just inclined his head towards you.

You offered half a smile, shaking your head. "I'm always happy on my own. Not sure if you picked up on this in physics, but I’m not exactly a people person.”

“I don’t know, I thought it was generous of you to try to help Cabot and Foley out with their rocket,” he offered straight-faced.

You smirked and gave a casual shrug as you took a sip of what was essentially alcoholic tap water. “Anyway, I think you’re better off without me hanging around. You seem like you’ve been having a pretty good time on your own.”

He stared at you blankly.

“I saw you having a blast with Heather.” His face dropped and you burst into laughter. “Not into Northside girls?”

“Not girls like that,” Sweet Pea answered flatly.

“Shame, she seemed to really like you,” you pushed. “You’ll break her heart.”

“She’s not even going to remember any of it tomorrow.”

“I mean, that is kind of the point of drinking at parties,” you said, toasting him before downing the rest of your beer. His eyes narrowed slightly as he seemed to give you an assessing kind of look. You slammed your can down onto the counter.

“Well, I’m going to take off. Leave before the cops come,” you announced.

"Need a ride?" He asked, and you tipped your head sharply to give him a questioning look. He was staring down at you with an almost challenging look. You squinted your own eyes attempting to size up the offer.

Accept a ride home from a Southside Serpent? Bad idea. 

Accept a ride home from your lab partner? Not as bad. 

Accept a ride home from Sweet Pea?

You shook your head. "I’m sure you can guess what I’m about to say.”

“You’re good on your own?” He guessed disbelieving.

You gave him finger guns and to be honest you weren’t even sure you could blame it on the drinks. “I can walk from here,” you said, straightening back up.

"By yourself at this time at night?"

"Survived the Black Hood, so I’m feeling lucky. Besides if someone kills me it saves me the trouble of the massive hangover I'm destined to have tomorrow."

Sweet Pea shook his head slightly, his lips quirking into his almost smile. "See you on Monday, then."

"Maybe," you threw over your shoulder. This time you didn't even bother to hide the smile.

Your walk home was uneventful. As a result, the weekend was swallowed up by a massive hangover on Saturday and rushing to do all of your homework on Sunday. By the time school came around Monday morning you hardly felt ready or rested and judging by the other zombies roaming the halls of Riverdale High, the rest of the student population was in a similar situation.

The day passed in a slow and dull sort of misery.

Until physics.

“Grab your rocket and then line up by the door, we’re going out to the field.” Mr. Flutesnoot greeted. The majority of your chemistry class was already along the wall, and you headed to the back to grab your rocket and join the rest of the class.

Scanning down the line you looked over the different versions of rockets. Some basic but functional and colorful. Others sleek and potentially good enough to give yours a run for its money. And a few were true disasters.

Among this category was Cabot and Foley’s. Because not only had they listened to every last sabotaged direction that you and Sweet Pea has given them, but they hadn’t even followed them well.

The thing had triangle fins of three different sizes and slightly varying shapes. The weight was focused in the bottom of the rocket and the nose cone was sharply pointed. Sweet Pea had tried to get them to cut holes in the rocket, but realizing that'd be taking it a bit too far and even Cabot and Foley weren't that stupid, you'd corrected him. That said, when he had them tape the whole thing with several layers of duct tape, you'd shrugged and let it go.

“Grab your rocket and then line up by the door, we’re going out to the field.” Mr. Flutesnoot said from the entrance of the classroom. You looked up from the line, your eyes falling on Sweet Pea who was scanning the line for you.

You held up, Ophiocus, and he caught sight of your green bottle, coming down to stand next to you.

“Hey,” he greeted.

“Hey,” you answered. He looked no worse for wear than usual. His hair curled above his eye in the way it usually did, and the dark circles that had been under his eyes ever since the riot seemed fainter if anything.

“How was your weekend?”

“Well, I’m here and breathing so you can guess how Saturday went,” you quipped. “You?”

“‘S fine.”

The bell rang and you waited for the sound to die down before you continued the conversation, but before you could get a word in, Mr. Flutesnoot started. “Alright, out to the field. Remember I expect you to walk through the halls quietly and respectfully.” You rolled your eyes but quietly trudged out behind the rest of your class.

“Did you see their rocket?” you murmured to Sweet Pea. He shook his head, stepping out from the line and craning his neck a little to see it. It wasn’t until the line turned to go out the side door that his eyes lit up and he fell back into step with you.

“You’re vicious.”

“I can’t wait to see it fly.” You flashed a crocodile smile.

Luckily you didn’t have to wait long. Their rocket was selected among the first ones to go, and when they brought it up for launch even Mr. Flutesnoot winced at the sight of it. When he backed up to set off the rocket you reached out and grabbed Sweet Pea’s bicep, squeezing it tightly in excitement. He looked down at you, and if your eyes hadn’t been fixated on the rocket that was about to go up, you might have noticed the warm amusement on his face.

“3-2-1,” you chanted along with the rest of the class.

The rocket made it up just a couple of feet before making a hard tilt and crashing down into the ground.

It was the worst one so far. And while the rest of the class giggled lightly at it, you roared with laughter at the looks of shock and confusion on their face, doubling over and clutching your sides.

“Ms. Y/L/N!” Mr. Flutesnoot admonished.

“I’m sorry,” you straightened, wiping the tears from your eyes and shutting your mouth to keep the next burst of laughter in at the looks of sudden realization and anger that flashed across their faces. “I know they worked hard on it,” you added trying to suppress a smile. Next to you, Sweet Pea snorted.

“Alright, well, let’s see yours then,” Mr. Flutesnoot said, as if your rocket would be a similar failure and teach you how bad it was to make fun of other kids in class.

You strode forward, handing him the bottle to set up before stepping back slightly to watch it. Sweet Pea moved up next to you.

The pair of you counted down along with the rest of the class, watching as the water poured out and your bottle shot up into the sky soaring far out over the field.

When it finally landed, a slightly shocked Mr. Flutesnoot directed Sweet Pea to measure the distance the rocket flew. And as he stood there watching Sweet Pea run out, you took the opportunity to turn to Cabot and Fletcher, both of your arms straight out in front of you, middle fingers high, one for each asshole.

But that moment was nothing to when, after Dilton came back with the distance his rocket flew, it was determined that your rocket was the top performer.

“Yes!” Sweet Pea shouted, punching the sky. The rest of the class offered some halfhearted congratulations, and you beamed at him.

“Congratulations the extra credit is yours,” Mr. Flutesnoot announced. “Everyone let’s head back in.”

“That was incredible. Fangs would’ve loved that shit,” Sweet Pea said. A glimmer of something shone in his eyes before the look passed.

“You know,” you said, casually. “This experiment is entirely reproducible at home.”

“Maybe the rocket, but how’d you launch it?”

“Bike pump,” you answered, simply.

He nodded, the grin reappearing on his face. Which slid off as Cabot pushed past, shouldering you. “Fucking Unit-Bomber.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Sweet Pea barked. Your eyes flicked up to Mr. Flutesnoot who was busy opening the doors to the school ahead.

“Why don’t you make me?” Cabot spun around stepping up into Sweet Pea’s face. Sweet Pea pushed him backwards, and Cabot pushed Sweet Pea. A few of the other Serpents in class noticed the scuffle and ran back to step in and crowd Cabot.

“Alright guys back in the building!” Mr. Flutesnoot called. Your attention snapped to him, seeing him craning his neck to see what was happening and who should be written up. Cabot held up his hands in the face of all the Serpents and under the scrutiny of your physics teacher.

Little bitch.

“Better a Unit-Bomber than a dumbass,” you remarked, walking past Cabot who was still held there by the rest of the Serpents until you and Sweet Pea were back in the building.

“You good?” Sweet Pea asked with a quick glance down at you as you rubbed your shoulder.

“Fine,” you shrugged, letting your hand drop.

His eyes remained on you, and you met his gaze, a strange and completely unwelcome flipping sensation in your stomach. You shook your head, stepping into the classroom, pushing the feeling down. You’d deal with this later.

The bell rang, signaling the end of physics and the fact that only one more class stood between you and the weekend.

“Hey, y/n,” Sweet Pea called out, stopping you on your way out of the classroom. You slowed down, waiting for him to catch up so you could walk out together. “I was thinking, do you come over to the quarry after school?”

You narrowed your eyes, looking at him suspiciously, ignoring the way your heart seemed to speed up a little at the offer. “Why?” You asked, drawing out the word.

“I got stuff to make a bottle rocket with Fangs. Thought we could use your expertise.“

You grew stiff and your face went blank. There it was. There was always something. “My expertise as the Unit-Bomber?”

Sweet Pea’s head snapped to you. “You think I’d say that?”

You gave a jerky shrug, looking straight ahead and continuing to your math class.

“Or do you just not want to be seen on the Southside?”

“Think what you want,” you said quietly, your throat feeling tight with disappointment.

Next to you, Sweet Pea bristled. “I asked because I thought you’d enjoy it but forget it,” he stormed off.

Guilt flooded through you. This always happened. Fuck. Things were easier when you just stayed by yourself. “Wait,” you called out, hurrying after him. “I’m sorry. I’m not... I don’t...” you ran a hand through your hair. “Can you give me a ride?”

Sweet Pea’s face remained stony as he looked back at you. You stood in silence until the warning bell rang. His shoulders didn’t relax. He didn’t ease up. Instead he said, “I’ll meet you out front after school.”

You were surprised when he actually pulled up and parked his bike out front at the end of the day.

You walked up to the bike. “Hey,” you said, softly.

“Hey.” The word came out short, and he didn’t offer anything else except for an intense stare.

Despite the fact that your skin tingled with discomfort, you refused to break his gaze. “Can we forget about how I was a touchy asshole who is apparently new to the concept of friendship?”

Sweet Pea snorted and visibly relaxed, shaking his head. “Get on the bike.”

You hauled yourself onto the back, wrapping your arms around his middle and trying to lose yourself to the feeling of the wind in your hair and sun on your face as he tore out of the parking lot and towards the quarry.

The drive passed mostly in silence. Slightly more comfortable than your other silences if only because you were fairly sure you’d have to lean up and shout in his ear for him to actually hear you. Instead, you occupied yourself by watching the landscape pass and ignoring the way your arms wound their way tighter around him every time he turned. Kind of like how, when you arrived, you fought to keep down the shock and outrage at his living situation.

He lived in a tent.

In fact, it seemed like most of the Southside now lived in tents. And it seemed like complete bullshit that the mayor or someone hadn’t spoken up to address the fact that half the town had lost their housing and were now living with minimal running water and plumbing.

If it weren’t for years of practice pushing things down, Sweet Pea might have seen it all on your face. But instead he looked at you and found only a blank sort of contentment. “Fangs!” Sweet Pea called, and out of a nearby tent popped Fangs Fogarty’s head.

He didn’t look like he’d been shot just a couple of weeks ago. His smile was bright and genuine even as he hauled himself up on crutches and hobbled out to greet you.

“Hey, what’s up?” He greeted, coming over to you. You moved a little faster to meet him halfway.

“Fangs, Y/N. Y/N, Fangs,” Sweet Pea introduced before disappearing into a tent. The introduction was hardly necessary. Everyone in Riverdale knew exactly who Fangs Fogarty was.

“Heard a lot about you,” Fangs said, reaching a hand forward and you shook it even as you cast a glance at Sweet Pea’s tent. Fangs chuckled at the look on your face. "You're one of the few Northsiders Sweet Pea thinks 'Isn't that bad.'" You snorted.

“Wow. High praise,” you said flatly, and Fangs full out laughed.

“For him? It’s about the same as declaring—“

“Shut up,” Sweet Pea cut him off, appearing with a couple of grocery store bags. “Or I’ll throw your crutches in the lake.”

“Whatever man I’m about to be off them anyway,” Fangs dismissed goodnaturedly but thankfully didn’t finish his statement.

“Sooo rockets?” you asked, changing the topic just in case Fangs decided he did want to make things more uncomfortable than they already were.

Fangs grinned, his eyes sparkling. “Yes.”

You wished you could have blamed how bad Fangs was at building rockets on the fact that he was injured. But given that most of his tasks were literally groundwork, it really came down to the fact that he was too excited and a shit listener. Without your constant intervention and shouting at him, the rockets would have turned out similarly to the SS Clusterfuck you saw in physics. As a result, it took twice as long to build the damn things than it should have, but eventually you had your rockets, Cobra, Viper, and Galileo ready to go on the launcher you talked Sweet Pea through building.

And while Fangs was a shitty engineer, at least he was funny and a good conversationalist and had just enough of a saving grace personality for you to not want to drown him in the quarry like you would have for anyone else.

“Mine first,” Fangs declared, pushing Cobra into your hands. You rolled your eyes and set it up, looking back at the boys.

“Ready?” You called back, and they flashed a thumbs up.

“Go!” You shouted, moving back towards them as Fangs pushed down on the tire pump, sending the rocket up. It was fairly impressive the thing went up at all.

He let out a whoop as if he had actually been a part of a real-life rocket launch. Behind the three of you there was some clapping. You turned to see Toni Topaz standing with Cheryl Blossom.

“Impressive Fangs,” Toni commented with a smile.

“Wanna set one off, Topaz?” Sweet Pea asked, holding Viper out to her.

“Nah, we’re heading over to Cheryl’s, I just had to grab a few things,” Toni shook her head, disappearing into her tent. It was hard to miss the way Sweet Pea’s face fell.

“Teaching them all your tricks Unit-Bomber?” Cheryl asked, quirking an eyebrow with a smug little smile. You glowered at her.

“Why? Looking for new ways to set your house on fire?” You shot back.

“Shit,” Fangs remarked.

Cheryl stepped forward and opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by Toni who re-emerged from her tent. “Ready to go, babe?” she asked, looking expectantly at Cheryl. The redhead plastered on a smile.

“No need to be here when y/n inevitably blows up half the tents.”

Well, shit. Toni was making her soft.

You watched as they climbed onto their motorcycles and pulled away.

“I’ll say it: that was incredible,” Fangs said, looking over to you. “You out bitched the bitch.”

You shrugged, feeling significantly worse than five minutes ago.

“Why'd she call you the Unit-Bomber?” Fangs asked, genuinely. Sweet Pea reached over and hit him upside the head. “The fuck?”

“It’s what everyone calls me,” you shrugged, sitting down on the ground next to Fangs. “It’s Riverdale. You do one thing and suddenly that’s all you are. You guys know that.”

A shadowlike feeling settled over the group as the three of you looked out over the water.

“What’d you do?” Fangs asked, breaking the silence. Sweet Pea hissed words you didn’t catch. “What? She knows what I did. Half the town knows about your anger issues—“

“I caused an explosion during a unit final last year in chemistry. By accident,” you added.

“You are too good at science for it to have been an accident,” Sweet Pea commented.

You rested your head on your knees. “Well, it was.” You simply hadn’t known that the reaction would go that wrong and be that big. It had nothing to do with the fact that your boyfriend just broke up with you because you refused to tell him you loved him, so you canceled class because you wanted to go home, not sit behind him in chemistry.

The silence once more settled over your group, each of you in your own thoughts and miles away from the quarry.

That was, until Fangs spoke. “Well let’s blow some more shit up. By accident.”

"What are we doing today?" Fangs asked, clapping his hands and rubbing them together in his excitement. You rolled your eyes, continuing to unpack the contents of your grocery store bag onto the bank of the quarry.

After the first bottle rocket experiment, Fangs had insisted you come back to teach other 'actually cool science experiments.' "You can homeschool me until I'm cleared to go back," he'd suggested. And like a sucker you fell for it. Even after Fangs returned to school, you always found yourself climbing onto Sweet Pea's motorcycle and riding down to the quarry with them.

Out of habit. You told yourself. Because that's definitely why you did it. Habit. Nothing else.

As a result, there was a direct relationship between the proximity to summer and the frequency of you exploding shit on the Southside.

"Well if Sweet Pea remembered to get the brake fluid this time, I think we're ready for a real explosion," you answered, your eyes darting up to Fangs just in time to see the look of absolute glee light up his face.

"I have it. Hold on, it's in my tent," Sweet Pea grumbled, disappearing into his tent to grab the supplies. Neither you nor Fangs had let it go for the entire week that last Friday Sweet Pea had forgotten the crucial part of your experiment. As a result, the three of you had resorted to sitting by the quarry’s edge and just talking for five hours. It was boring, uncomfortable, awkward, and the reason you were thoroughly convinced that these boys may just be your best friends.

"Fangs," you directed, holding out the Dr. Bob soda bottle.

"On it," he chirped, ripping the label off of the bottle before unscrewing the cap and beginning to chug down the drink. You watched him, counting in your head as the off-brand soda slowly disappeared, stopping when Fangs finally pulled away. Half of the bottle was empty.

"31," you announced. "Best yet."

"I can do better," Fangs said, punctuating the statement with a burp. He handed the bottle off to Sweet Pea who had reappeared with the brake fluid in hand. He reached down, offering the chemicals to you, and you took it from him, your fingers brushing against his. Your skin tingled at the contact, and as normal, you swallowed hard and ignored it. Sweet Pea did too, instead bringing the Dr. Bob to his lips and gulping down the soda quickly. By the time he was finished, only a little remained in each of the pockets at the bottom. You took it from him, careful to grab it at the top and away from his hand and finished it off.

You also pulled out the notably smaller plastic water bottle and finished that by yourself.

"Alright," you gasped, putting the water bottle down. "I need you to fill the chlorine up until here." You pointed to a groove on the water bottle and let your shoulders drop when Sweet Pea took the bag of chlorine from Fangs. As always he stopped right when he was supposed to, placing the water bottle back on the ground next to you.

You offered the soda bottle up to Fangs, and he took it, swapping Sweet Pea for the chlorine.

"Fangs, I swear you better listen to me," you warned, rising up from where you crouched to point a finger at him threateningly.

"I always listen to you," Fangs scoffed, rolling his eyes and stepping forward towards the bottle.

"I mean it. This is actually dangerous."

"I mean it too," he agreed, but that damn glint was in his eyes, and you knew you were in for it.

"So when I say stop, you're actually going to stop pouring it into the bottle."

"Relax. Trust me," he soothed.

"No." Both you and Sweet Pea spoke the word at the same time, and Fangs face split into a grin.

"Ok, I promise I'll stop after you say stop," he agreed, and you nodded so that Sweet Pea reached out the bottle for Fangs to pour the chlorine in. You kept a careful eye on the mark you set in your head, watching as the chlorine fell to the bottom of the bottle.

"Stop," you instructed a little before the mark. The chlorine continued to pour.

"Just a little more," Fangs stated, his lips twitching into a smile.

"Fangs, stop," you snapped as the chlorine piled up over the mark.

"I am--"

Sweet Pea yanked the bottle away from Fangs and some of the chlorine fell out onto the bank of the quarry. He held the bottle out with one hand and punched Fangs hard in the arm with another. Fangs swore as he laughed.

"Give me that," you said, taking the bottle from Sweet Pea and glaring at Fangs. "You're the worst science student. You know that right?"

"You're saying that because I'm from the Southside," he folded his arms.

You shook your head, turning away to place the bottles even closer to the water. "I'm saying that because you're a moron. Sweet Pea, can I have the brake fluid?"

"Sometimes you're just as mean as Toni," Fangs complained.

"She's meaner. That's what makes her such a good replacement," Sweet Pea corrected.

You looked over your shoulder at Sweet Pea, your eyebrows furrowing. "Stop saying that."

"What that you're mean?" Fangs teased.

You stood up straighter, crossing your arms against your chest. "No, stop calling me a replacement."

"What should we call you then? An upgrade?" Sweet Pea smirked.

You shook your head, maintaining your serious expression and ignoring the way your stomach dropped at his words. While he had been making fewer and fewer comments about Toni (maybe due to the fact that she and Cheryl stopped by less and less), there was always one or two about how they didn't need her now that they had you. And you didn't like them. You weren't sure why. "You can't just replace someone Sweet Pea, that's not how it works. People are different."

The smiles fell from the boys' faces. "We know that," Fangs said, earnestly. "It's just a joke. Right?" He hit Sweet Pea in the shoulder who nodded. His face had a new look on it. Something you hadn't seen before and couldn't quite trace to a specific emotion or thought. You decided you didn't like it though. It made you squirm.

"Ok," you swallowed, tearing your eyes from Sweet Pea and turning around back to the bottles. "Bring me the brake fluid.

You didn't look to see who pushed the container into your hand, focusing instead on pouring a proportionate amount of fluid into each container and swirling it to mix it.

"Alright, step back," you instructed, and the boys followed you back to stand a few feet away, all of your eyes glued to the bottles.

The three of you waited in silence. Fangs leaning on your shoulder and Sweet Pea standing so close that if he were just a centimeter to the left, his arm would be touching yours. You waited as a minute passed.

"Fangs, you fucked it up," Sweet Pea commented.

"No," you turned, tilting your head up to face him. "Chemistry takes time."

He raised his eyebrows and moved a fraction of an inch closer so that his arm bumped against yours. You turned your attention back to the experiment and shifted to your left, leaning more into Fangs.

A new silence enveloped the three of you, this one slightly less comfortable than the last. So much so that twenty seconds later you were stepping forward towards the bottles. "Maybe I should have shaken them more---"

A whoosh of fire shot up from water bottle, flames shooting up to five feet high. You jumped, but before you could step back or react in any other way the soda bottle burst into flame with a roar, pieces of chlorine shooting up out of the bottle and whizzing past you. A hand wrapped around your wrist and yanked you back as the three of you scrambled away to escape the burning bottle.

To your left you could hear Fangs' uncontrollable laughter as you slowed to a stop, colliding with Sweet Pea. His arms wrapped around you to steady you, and you glanced up at him. "You good?" he asked, looking down at you with that face again. Your mouth seemed to go dry and the world seemed to spin, and one word rang through your head: out.

You stepped out of his grip, whirling on Fangs with your chest heaving, ignoring the way Sweet Pea's face fell.

"You almost killed me!" you shouted.

"I didn't tell you to step forward," he protested hands up, his eyes flicking from you to the smoldering remains of plastic. You opened your mouth to argue but instead laughter burst out. And then Fangs was laughing again. And Sweet Pea. And the three of you laughed until you cried and then you scavenged bottles from around the campsite to continue setting off explosions until it got dark.

You had taken to sticking around until it got dark after that. Most of the time the three of you would make dinner and eat together after the experiment, and then you'd talk until one of the boys offered to take you home.

Tonight, Fangs had let you know that he wouldn't be available to chauffeur you. "I have a rendezvous," he announced a little while after dinner, standing up from where the three of you had been stargazing.

"A rendezvous?" you repeated, leaning up on your forearms. "With who?"

"I don't kiss and tell, you should know that," he winked, and you rolled your eyes.

"Just make sure you don't get shot this time," Sweet Pea called out from his position on the ground.

Fangs flipped him off, turning to head over to the motorcycle, and you watched him go, a small spark of anxiety making it's home in your chest. You turned to look at Sweet Pea. "Do you know who?"

"Could be anyone," Sweet Pea shrugged, continuing to look up at the stars. You stared at him for a second longer, trying to figure out if he was deflecting or if he really didn't care before laying back down next to him.

It was tempting to push it. To see what he knew about Fangs’ love life. But something about the thought of continuing this conversation set off warning bells. Change the topic, the little voice told you. 

"You know," you said, tucking your arms under your head. "I used to want to be an astronaut."

"Really?" Sweet Pea asked, turning his head to look at you.

"Mhmm," you hummed, keeping your eyes on the stars. "Back before I realized how much fun it is to blow shit up."

Sweet Pea snorted, returning his gaze back up to the stars. "Why?"

"They're so far away from all the bullshit," you whispered expecting to hear him snort again, but instead he was quiet. "And when I look at them, I don't feel so..." you trailed off, your chest growing tight with discomfort as you treaded close to the intimate. You abandoned the statement, taking a different route. "They just make you realize how small all of us are in the grand scheme of things. I like that." Sweet Pea was still quiet next to you and that tight feeling took hold of you once more. You'd shared too much. Gone too deep. You turned to him, fully intending to make a sarcastic comment--something, anything to alleviate the tension, but when you faced him you found that his eyes were on you once more, and your throat closed up, not letting any of the words that you'd planned get out.

"I like that too," he said. His eyes remained fixed on yours, and even though you desperately wanted to look away and back up at the stars or anywhere else, you stayed focused on him. Because dammit, you were going to keep this friendship. You would not self-eject. You would not break away. You would keep eye contact and continue the heart to heart even if it felt like you were being strangled by every prolonged silence.

"Can I ask you a question and you won't be on my shit for getting too personal?"

"Depends on the question," you offered a wavering smile before breaking your promise to yourself and staring back up at the stars, your eyes searching for familiar constellations, anything to separate you from the thoughts and the uncomfortableness of living in your own body.

"Do you really like being by yourself?"

You were somewhat relieved, and a wistful sort of sigh escaped you. "Mostly."

"Mostly?" Sweet Pea repeated.

"I can't do...I'm not a feelings person. It's easier to be by myself." You let a hand fall to the grass, twisting a couple of blades before tugging them out of the earth. "But it's not always...good."

Beside you, Sweet Pea started to laugh, and you swung out your fist, bringing it down to punch him in the stomach. The air left him in a quick exhale even as he continued to try to laugh. "You really are bad at feelings."

"Shut up," you grumbled, a prickly feeling on your skin. "I was being honest."

Sweet Pea attempted to pull himself together. "I know, just...you couldn't find a better word than 'good'?"

"This is why I don't do this shit," you grumbled pushing yourself up into a sitting position so you could get up.

Sweet Pea's hand darted out and grabbed your forearm. "Hey, I'm sorry, stay."

"Not unless we change the subject," you glowered.

The corner of Sweet Pea's mouth quirked up. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know. Tell me something embarrassing. Or don't. We can talk about motorcycles or movies or Hot Dog or anything else," you suggested, breaking from his grip and wrapping your arms around your knees.

Sweet Pea was quiet again, and you wondered if you could somehow disappear at this moment. You could just get up and walk away. Tell him that it was past midnight and you were tired.

"Can I tell you about this girl I like? Or will that make you uncomfortable?" Your stomach rolled, and you suddenly felt the urge to vomit. Instead you shrugged.

"As long as you don't expect me to tap into my romantic side and give some love advice, it should be fine." Your voice came out thankfully flat and sarcastic. You could practically feel Sweet Pea rolling his eyes.

"Like I need love advice from a robot," he scoffed, and you ignored the twinge of pain in your chest but didn't bother to hide the annoyance from your face.

If he noticed the fact that your spine straightened and you grew still, he didn't say anything. There was definitely no apology. Instead, he heaved a dreamy sort of sigh. A sound that quite frankly you should never have heard come out of Sweet Pea's mouth.

"Alright, Romeo, spill."

"She's just extraordinary," he stated simply. A part of you wished you had laid back down so you could sneak a look at his face, but you couldn't move. Instead, you picked at your nails, letting your science partner turned friend--probably best friend--spill his guts. "I don't know her that well...we just started talking a little in school, but I noticed her the first time I ever walked in Riverdale. She just has that sort of presence you know? When she walks into a room, people notice. And not just because she's beautiful. It's like, you can sense how confident she is. And she should be. She's the best at what she does, and I just know she's going to make it big one day, so I kind of want to take my chance now before I lose it forever..." he trailed off and you chanced a glance at him. He was staring up at the stars wistfully, and you looked back down at the ground, rolling a twig between your fingers. "I don't know. Even though she's a Northsider, she's kind of...intimidating. Hard to make a move on."

You could feel your heart pounding in your chest. "If she's intimidating, she's probably used to guys keeping their distance and never saying anything," you murmured. "Maybe take it slow. Play the long game."

"You know that almost sounds like love advice."

You turned back at him, throwing the stick you were twirling so it bounced off his side and onto the ground. He smiled and looked back up at the stars. “I don’t know. She seems more like a bold move type of girl.”

You shrugged. "I'm just a robot."

He didn't say anything. And despite yourself, you could feel your hopes slightly raise.

"But you think I should take a chance?"

Your heart beat faster. "Yeah," you whispered.

He nodded, thinking it over. “Maybe I’ll ask her in math or something.”

Your stomach dropped. You couldn't tell if it was in relief or something else. Because that would be wrapped up in your knot of feelings. What you could tell--what was factual--was that you and Sweet Pea did not have math class together.

That was the last time you saw Sweet Pea.

At least, it felt that way.

You started riding down to the quarry on the back of Fangs' bike, Sweet Pea meeting up with you later mid-way through the experiments. At first, you had made jokes that you needed him there in order to keep Fangs in line. After all, if he was gone, who was going to actually help you with the experiment?

But then he started coming just to watch the results of the experiments.

And then it started to take him hours to come back to the campsite, and he missed them completely, having to ask questions about just why there was rainbow covered foam everywhere or what had that charred out bottle even been originally.

And then he stopped asking about the experiments. By the last day of school he stopped coming at all.

It was the second week of summer before either you or Fangs talked about it.

The two of you sat by the edge of the quarry, covered in paint and the marks of your explosions littering the trees and the ground around you. It had been your most successful Post-Sweet Pea experiment yet. Presumably because Fangs was allowed to shake up the experiments and hurl ziplock baggies full of paint anywhere he wanted. The experiment was practically tailored to his destructive soul.

It was probably the post-chaos peace, the most disarming kind of quiet and calm there was, that made him ask.

"So," Fangs said slowly, looking over at you out of the corner of his eye. "How are you doing?"

Your brow furrowed in confusion as you turned to face him. "Good?"

He let out an amused exhale, shaking his head. "I mean with the whole Josie thing."

"Oh," you responded, still confused. "Also good?"

"Good," Fangs said, turning his full attention back out to the quarry.

You followed suit, watching as the water gently moved, the sunlight reflecting off the surface so that the water glittered. You tried to keep your mind focused on how beautiful the day was. How nice it felt to feel the sun on your skin. How peaceful the quiet was and how you didn't feel suffocated in silence when you were next to Fangs. Being still next to him was easy in a way it just wasn't with Sweet Pea.

"Why?" The word escaped. Lulled out of you by the calm afternoon and immediately your stomach clenched. You could see Fangs shift to face you slightly, his eyes running over the profile of your face as you purposefully kept your eyes out on the quarry, staying as still as possible.

Fangs shrugged, joining you once more in looking out over the water. "I just thought the two of you would be a thing."

Your heart stopped. Everything stopped. You’d been expecting it to some extent, but still. Carefully, you pushed down all of the feelings and discomfort that rose in your chest, keeping your mind focused on the moment you were in now, not letting it slide back to the night you and Sweet Pea stared at the stars or any of the times you rode on the back of his motorcycle, your arms wrapped around his middle to get to here. You focused instead on the facts. 

Sweet Pea and you had never been anything more than friends. 

You had gone into this wanting to be friends only. 

Friendship was easier. 

Friendship was safer.

"We're just friends," you said picking up a rock and throwing it into the water. "It's cool."

"Cool," Fangs echoed. He didn't say anything else, and after a while you let yourself be wrapped up in the silence too, enjoying just sitting with him.

You meant what you told Fangs.

You and Sweet Pea were only ever friends. Just friends.

You believed it with every fiber of your being.

Until you saw him and Josie at Sweetwater River.

While you spent most of your evenings with Fangs, destroying shit, causing mayhem and laughing until you couldn't breathe, you enjoyed spending the long summer days by yourself. Sometimes it was reading. Other times it was gardening. And on days as hot as today, you would go swimming, regardless of the risks.

You pulled your car in behind a maroon sedan, throwing the keys into your bag with your towel and heading down to the secluded spot on the river you favored. The fact that there was another car parked by the river wasn't too unusual. After all, it was the best parking space, nearest to where the river was widest and most of the high school kids and college kids home from break did their swimming. Your spot was firmly in the other direction, a narrow section of the river where it was a little shallower and therefore not quite as dangerous to swim alone in.

Due to the trees and brush surrounding the path, it wasn't until you were most of the way down to your spot that you saw them.

Laying out on a blanket, Sweet Pea hovered over Josie as she wrapped herself around him. You snapped your eyes shut, turning quickly and trying to block out the breathy sounds that were escaping her as you scrambled back up the path. You felt dizzy and nauseous. Even after you climbed into the front seat of your car and slammed the door shut.

You held on tightly to the steering wheel. So tightly your knuckles were white and your elbows locked into place and your back pushed against the seat of the car. And then you saw it again. Sweet Pea's hands gripping at Josie's chest as he kissed at the underside of her jaw. The look of ecstasy on Josie's face as she gripped tightly onto Sweet Pea's shoulders, his hand moving and cupping the side of her neck as he dipped his head to kiss along her collarbone.

You collapsed suddenly, your forehead banging against the wheel as you choked out a sob. Your body shuddered and shook with the force of your crying as you beat the wheel with the palm of your hand, every now and then missing the edge and startling the animals nearby with a honk.

It took a few minutes before you pulled yourself together enough to sit up, shoot off a text, shift your car into drive, and start back onto the main road.

It was another twenty minutes or so before you parked at the edge of the Sunnyside Trailer Park campsite.

"Hey, Y/N are you ok?" Fangs asked, coming to meet you as you slammed your car door closed, brushing past him as you stormed down to the riverbank, the plastic grocery store bag swishing and bouncing against your leg.

"Let's blow some shit up." Your voice was still gravelly, and you were certain your eyes were still red and wet. You may’ve even had a red mark on your forehead

To his credit, he didn't try to make you talk. He turned on his heel and followed you down to the river bank, following your instructions precisely before standing back and waiting patiently as you poured toilet bowl cleaner into the different plastic bottles. You walked backward slowly, your eyes on the bottles, only stopping when you felt your arm brush against Fangs'.

You watched as the bottles slowly filled with white smoke, the plastic expanding and elongating before finally erupting loudly, one after each other.

Fangs chanced a glance at you, concern and hesitation obvious as he stared at the tear streaks running down your face. You wiped them off with the back of your hand. "It's just the loud noises," you mumbled weakly, and he nodded, throwing an arm around your shoulder as you stared at the smoking remains of your bottle rockets. You stood there completely still for a minute, maybe two before you turned into him, allowing him to wrap his arms around you, holding you close as you sobbed onto his shirt.

Neither of you talked about that day ever again.

You found other conversation topics to fill up your summer. From Archie Andrew's court case, to Fangs string of unnamed conquests, to new methods of creating explosions, and once or twice the proposition that you should join the Southside Serpents.

You didn't go anywhere besides your home and the Quarry, and as it turned out, you liked your summer that way. It was safer. Better. No anxiety that you might run into anyone you didn't want to see. Which was why when Fangs invited you to come to Cheryl's end of summer pool party with him, you declined.

Because everyone would be there.

Fangs didn't try to convince you to change your mind. Because he was the best friend you could ever wish for. He didn't even tell you how in one week you were going to have to face the facts whether you wanted to or not. He nodded and mentioned offhand that Jughead had asked him and Sweet Pea to meet here in fifteen minutes. Which coincidentally reminded you of the chores your mother had asked you to do at home that you needed to get to immediately.

And that was why you were entirely unprepared to find Sweet Pea by your locker at the end of the first day of school.

"Hey," he smiled.

You didn't say anything, focusing on keeping your hands still, keeping your face straight, keeping your shit together. You raised your eyebrows, silently moving to open your locker. Sweet Pea turned, leaning his shoulder on the locker next to you.

"You look familiar. Weren't we lab partners or something last year?"

"Or something," you remarked quietly, putting your books back into your locker.

He snorted and ran a hand through his hair. "How was your summer?"

"Good," you shrugged. You tugged your backpack out, slipping it onto your shoulder.

"Yeah?" he asked. "Fangs told me about some of the shit you did." You hummed, closing your locker door and ignoring the way his eyebrows furrowed. "We should do a repeat tonight."

You paused, keeping your hand on your locker. "I can't."

"Hey," Fangs greeted, coming up to the two of you and hanging an arm over Sweet Pea's shoulder despite the height difference. Both you and Sweet Pea ignored the greeting.

"Why not?" Sweet Pea asked, shrugging Fangs' arm off of his shoulder.

Your eyes found Fangs' and then darted back to your locker. "I have homework for my AP classes already. Sorry," you said firmly and with noticeably absent sympathy. "I'll see you guys later." You gave them a brief tight-lipped smile before turning around speed walking your way to the bus.

You thought that maybe after the first week back your stomach would stop doing that dropping thing every time you saw him.

It didn't.

You also thought that maybe after the first couple of weeks you wouldn't want to throw up every time you saw Josie.

You still did.

Even though you knew she and Sweet Pea weren't together, you could still hear those sounds in your head which almost made it impossible to not puke.

But it did get easier to not think about it over a few weeks. You changed your seat in all of the classes you shared together, sitting in the front of the classroom, closest to the door so it was easy to scoot out. You ate lunch in the band practice rooms, primarily because it was easier to hide there than anywhere else and the band teacher had long since given up on enforcing school rules. You started to remember why you loved being alone so much.

By the time it was almost the end of the third week of school, you had once again perfected the art of being by yourself. Only caving every now and then to respond to Fangs' texts.

Life was better this way.

"Y/L/N!" You had been on your way to English when suddenly someone had grabbed your arm, pulling you to a stop. You jumped a little, turning to see Sweet Pea holding you by your bicep. "What's going on?"

"I'm going to class?" you asked, furrowing your eyebrows at him and attempting to calm your rapidly beating heart.

"No," he pulled you over to the side of the hallway and you stumbled a few steps before ripping your arm out of his grasp.

"Let go, shit," you mumbled, turning your arm to look at it as if expecting to see some kind of damage.

"Why are you avoiding me?" Sweet Pea demanded, folding his arms as he stared down at you.

"I'm not. I'm going to class. Trying to get an education," you rolled your eyes attempting to push past him.

He stopped you, grabbing you by the shoulders and bringing you back to face him. "Cut the bullshit."

"Get your hands off of me," you snapped, your eyes darting around him to see other students slowing down on their way to class to watch the confrontation. As if you were a spectacular car crash for them witness and assess the damage. Sweet Pea let go immediately, but his face grew darker.

"What's your problem?"

"No problem." You shrugged, keeping your face closed off and distant.

"So you're pretending I don't exist for....fun?" Sweet Pea guessed. "That's fucked up, Y/N."

Your eyes followed the students who were now blatantly rubbernecking, looking anywhere other than Sweet Pea. "Like you can talk.” 

"What's that supposed to mean?"

No emotion. No feelings. Nothing. Just facts. you chanted to yourself. Just state the facts.

"Just that it's pretty convenient you want to exist and be a part of my life now, but where were you this summer?"

"I was busy," he said exasperatedly as if you were some toddler who didn't understand why her parents went to work instead of playing with her all day.

"And now I am. Sorry I don’t fit into your schedule," you shrugged, moving past him and out into the hall. The warning bell rang. It was the surprising sound that made your eyes sting.

"I thought we were friends," his voice called at your back. You whirled around, finding him much closer than expected. So close that if you had wanted to, you could have easily stabbed a finger into his chest. But you didn't want to. You didn't want to ever touch him.

"Yeah, so did I. Until I sat by the quarry all summer with Fangs while you were busy fucking Josie all over town." You turned back around to head off to class. "Fuck off," you called over your shoulder.

"Did you have to yell at him?" Fangs asked, leaning against the locker next to yours. You looked up slightly startled from where you had been exchanging your books. "Because he's being a huge pain in the ass now."

"I don't want to talk about it," you answered, shoving harder on your binder to try to get it to fit inside.

"Of course not."

You glared at him but didn't rise to the bait.

"You told him you saw him and Josie?" he raised his eyebrows.

"I told you I don't want to talk about it." You rotated the binder, hoping to fit it in the new way, pushing it until finally it slipped past the edge of the door.

Fangs sighed. "We didn't talk about it all summer. Give me this one conversation now."

"No." You slammed your locker closed, starting to walk away.

"This is why," he stated to your back, and you turned to face him, shocked to hear any sort of annoyance pass Fangs' lips. The words weren't heated, more exasperated. "This is why you two are so fucked."

You crossed your arms and remained silent.

"Neither of you will talk to the other."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Bullshit." Fangs dismissed. "You like him. He likes you. Discuss."

"Sweet Pea didn’t tell you? I’m just a robot. Nothing to discuss" 

"You’re not a robot. You may not like to talk about your feelings, but it doesn't change the fact that you have them."

You felt indignant. At least you tried to hold onto that feeling even as your chin began to quiver. Fangs' shoulders dropped as he stared at you, taking a few steps closer.

“It’s not fair.” Your voice came out petulant and broken. “Why do I have to forgive him and get over it, and he gets to do whatever he wants. He ignored me for months but I can’t do it for like three weeks?”

“Are you really that petty?”

“Yes," you answered. “I don’t know.”

“Talk to him, y/n. Tell him about the day you went to Sweetwater River.”

“No. Never.”

“Then don’t. Just stop making me watch whatever this is,” he said, and with that he turned around and left you standing in the middle of the hallway.

You got fairly good at avoiding both Sweet Pea and Fangs after that. If anything, the confrontation with Fangs was a reminder of why it was always better to be by yourself. Even friends got too annoyingly involved for their own good. Analyzing you. Evaluating your emotions and your actions. Eventually everyone expected too much out of you.

And you didn't need that bullshit.

What you needed was to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and carry on without them. Like always. Show them you didn't need their approval. You didn't need their advice. You didn't need their presence in your life.

You were happy alone.

You were fine alone.

You would be ok alone

As soon as you showed them you didn't need them.

And that was exactly the opportunity presented to you by Veronica Lodge's invitation to attend her new speakeasy's opening night. It was also the reason you got dressed up as requested and put more than a minuscule effort into your appearance for once in your life. Because you wanted them to see that you were thriving own your own. And he could just eat his heart out that he had to live without you from now on. They. You meant they.

You pulled yourself from your thoughts, instead focusing on the details of the room around you. At how absolutely fabulous everything looked. The old-fashioned lighting. The velvet curtained stage. The classmates dressed in dazzling clothes. Everything exuded charm and class, and it was easy to lose yourself in the time capsule.

"Hey."

You turned to face the person who greeted you, ignoring the lurch in your stomach that you wished would vanish.

Sweet Pea stood there, hands in his pockets, staring down at you. He was dressed head to toe in black, his silky button-up shirt rolled up to his elbows and arms decked out with the usual bracelets he never took off. You couldn't help but notice the absence of his dog tags and wondered if he tucked them in for the night or left them at home. You hated yourself for noticing.

"Hey," you greeted softly, and he stepped closer, and now you couldn't help but notice that despite the fact he dressed up his hair was still a tousled mess, falling over his forehead in random curls.

Dammit.

"I didn't think I you'd come to this thing," he said with an exhale, stopping a few feet away.

"Why not? I like mocktails and music," you shrugged, swirling your own mocktail in your hand as if the action gave more authenticity to your words.

"Josie's singing," he answered simply. It took everything in you to keep eye contact.

"So?"

"I didn't think you liked her."

You shrugged, taking a careful sip of your drink. "I don't have any problems with Josie."

"Then why were you on my shit about this summer?" his eyes narrowed.

"Because it wasn't particularly fun being blown off all summer regardless of you were spending time with," you answered, tightly.

Sweet Pea crossed his arms and lifted an eyebrow. "What happened to you like being alone?"

You paused, and his eyes glittered with triumph. Inside your chest, your heart constricted as if it recognized defeat as well, and the only honorable way out was through a sudden heart attack and death.

"Fuck this," you muttered, placing your drink on the bar and brushing past him to dart up the stairs.

He followed, pushing people out of the way in his haste to catch up to you. "Can you stop leaving every conversation I try to have with you?" he called at your back as the two of you rushed through Pop's and out the front doors.

You stopped and spun. "Why? There's nothing to talk about. I thought we'd hang out this summer; we didn't. Obviously we're not as close as I thought. We're on the same page now."

"Why are you so mad about this?" he shouted, stopping a few feet away from you.

"Why are you so mad I'm ignoring you now?" you returned, watching people scramble to get out of their cars and speed walk inside. As if they were running away from a bomb they knew was about to explode. Which might be appropriate.

"Because it doesn't make any fucking sense!" he held out his hands as if he wanted to strangle you but instead curled them into fists and shook a little.

"I missed you, you dumbass!" You blurted out, chest heaving as you stared at him. He took the confession in the same way you imagined he'd take a punch. A look of shock passed over his face as he stepped back towards Pop's and then seemed to regain his balance and took a step forward. Your shoulders dropped as the anger seemed to drain from you, leaving you with all of the feelings you'd been so careful to push down. "All summer. I missed you. And you didn't miss me because you had her," you continued softly.

"What?" He asked trying to follow your words as your face heated up like it was on fire, and you felt like you wanted to cry or throw up or explode into tiny bits. You pressed your lips together, trying to keep it in, keep it down. You offered a jerky shrug. "So what was this all some kind of revenge?"

You shook your head.

"Then why the hell were you ignoring me if you missed me?"

You looked away from him.

"Dammit, Y/N!" he shouted, and you turned back to him.

And in the next second you darted forwards swiftly putting a hand on his shoulder to help launch yourself up, standing on your tiptoes and leaning into him, pressing your lips to his. His hands caught your waist, almost reflexively, supporting you even though his lips didn't move. Didn't press into yours. Didn't open. Didn't do anything.

You pulled back, sinking down onto your heels. Sweet Pea didn't say anything. Or move his hands. Instead he looked down at you with an eyebrow quirked.

You had thought---You swallowed the thought, pushing it down with the other ones, and letting the feeling that you had taken a bad situation and fucked it up even more wash over you. Fucking feelings. Your lips moved, trying to make any sort of words, but every time you attempted to say something your voice caught in your throat. "I can't--" you finally whispered, attempting to take a step back and out of Sweet Pea's grasp, but his hands tightened on your hips.

His face still seemed angry. Maybe even more now than before you had kissed him. "You've been avoiding me because you have feelings for me?"

You looked down at your feet.

"How long?"

You shook your head.

"How long?" His voice was slightly angrier, and he gently shook you by your waist.

"Since we set off the rockets in class," you whispered, still refusing to meet his eye.

He exhaled a disbelieving kind of laugh. "And you let me feel like an ass for liking you? And then again for having a summer fling so I could move on from you since you were clearly not interested?"

It would have been nice if you could tell him that you had no idea he liked you. Tell him that you hadn't purposefully distanced yourself and tried to make it seem like you weren't interested. That you hadn't convinced yourself you weren't interested. Because then you wouldn't have felt like such shit in this moment.

"I'm sorry." Your voice was still quiet. "I wanted to save you from this."

"This?"

"Me. Being a disaster who can't feelings. This always happens. It's why I blew up a lab. It's why I'm alone. I'm broken, ok? Just let me avoid you, and you'll be better off."

"No." Sweet Pea said quietly, pulling you closer to him.

"No?" Your voice came out smaller than you wanted it to.

"Not this time. No," he shook his head.

"It'll just get worse."

"We'll work it out."

You felt the familiar claustrophobic panic rise in your chest. The one from the way he looked at you the first time you set off an explosion by the quarry. The one that had taken hold of you at the lake while you were gazing at stars with him all those months ago. You looked up into his eyes and found them fixated on you, and it all felt like too much. The fact that he knew you liked him. And he liked you. And you guys would be in a relationship. Together. And how could a robot like you ever deserve someone like him or even come close to making him feel as happy as you did when the two of you were running away from a soda bottle that was about to explode.

But the promise of more moments like those and not having to see him with someone else, the knowledge that to some extent he hated not being with you too, the feeling of having him stand close to you with his hands firmly on your body. Those things would be enough to push through this moment and maybe even the next.

"Ok," you whispered, looking up at him.

"Good," he nodded, bending over and capturing your lips into his. And it felt like bottle rockets. Not the thrill of setting one off and waiting too long to run away, but as if you were the water bottle expanding and expanding, full of longing and anxiety and happiness and other emotions you weren't sure the names of, and now, kissing Sweet Pea, you were exploding into a billion pieces, feeling everything all at once and enjoying every second of it.

[laylacooke]

Carry On || Evelyn & Layla

timing: monday night (6/15) after the bar fight with francesaca. parties: @thronesofshadows & @laylacooke summary: evelyn has a heart-to-heart with with a vain werewolf that just came from a bar fight.

The bar fight turned out to be more than she could handle. Layla was proud, but after a few swift punches, she had just gotten angry, and did things she probably shouldn’t have. But as she hobbled the streets of White Crest in the late-night hours, she held her head high in accomplishment. Plus, there’s nothing a little foundation and concealer couldn’t hide, if need be. But even as a wolf, who now fed on a healthy diet of whatever she wanted, she knew all the meat in the world couldn’t fix the fatigue, cuts, and bruised ribs in a jiff. And when a bench came up, she found herself sitting on it, needing to catch her breath.

She was out for a small walk. Evelyn knew that being out late could draw unwanted attention, but that had never been something she minded too much at all. She was not a fan of Soul on the Rocks. In the few times she’d been by, it had resulted in a lot of men looking at her in ways that made her track down where a few of them lived and give them nightmares. She wasn’t planning on going in tonight - just out for a walk when she spotted someone - a redhead who couldn’t have been even of legal age to drink (not that Evelyn was by any means expert in guessing ages, but she had a feeling she was correct in this case), who looked to be in very poor state. She could have just continued on her way, but she’d been spending enough time around people who seemed to genuinely care about others, and it was starting to get to her. She brushed her hands against the skirt of her dress and sat down next to the girl. At least she was wearing her contacts. “Are you quite alright? Do you need me to call a doctor?”

Layla could smell someone coming, and when they sat down next to her, she raised her head to address them, “Just peachy.” A doctor? A doctor was the last thing she needed. Although, the last time she was there, they had given her some pain meds that had made things interesting. But right now, she couldn’t even remember the contact information for the person that had reached out to her, and while every fiber in her being wanted to get up and blow off the kindness the lady was offering, she didn’t have it in her, “And no. No doctors. I’m not exactly in a position to be talking to doctors.” Which was true, considering doctors knew cops and cops could arrest people. And bar fights weren't exactly on the list for law abiding citizens, “Nice accent, by the way. I take it you’re not from around here?” In fact, the woman had looked familiar to Layla, now that she was getting a better look, but she couldn’t quite place her face.

“You do not,” seem peachy, Evelyn wanted to say, but it was not her place. “I only mean, you do not look especially ready for going for a late-night walk.” She raised an eyebrow. “No doctors then. That is fine.” For a moment she found herself wondering if the girl was supernatural, if she had physiology that, like Evelyn’s, made it difficult for her to see a doctor. “Not originally, not.” She let a soft smile cross her face. “I am from England. London, to be precise. I have been here for just over four years, but the accent is not something I believe I will ever be properly rid of. Not that I would wish to be.” Evelyn pulled out a small handkerchief from her bag and handed it to the girl. “This is not much, but perhaps it will help work on those cuts. Wait,” she paused, pulling out a small set of band aids from her bag (a habit she’d made herself have since she was little. Quick and easy repairs in case she got a cut, because explaining why there was blue when there should have been red was too much to worry about) and held one out to the girl. “Better than a doctor, hm?” 

She listened, through the pain, as the woman explained her background. And then it hit Layla. She had seen this woman before. In magazines. Her hometown confirmed and connected random circuits in her mind, “The accent’s pretty amazing. I wouldn’t want to lose it either.” She noticed the handkerchief and took it. Evelyn’s command had stopped her, and when she saw the band aids, a smile slipped over her lips, “So much better.” Taking those in her hand, she slowly shifted her weight and began wiping the blood from the various wounds, “By the time I get done with all these band aids, people won’t recognize me.” She laid the handkerchief on her lap and took one of the small band aids to stick on her arm, “By the way, loved that spread in Vogue you did.” She took a slow breath as she continued to try and doctor herself up.

“Thank you.” Evelyn offered the girl another smile. “I will admit, I think it assists in getting what I want. Well, that and flashing a pretty smile.” The other girl accepted the band aids and Evelyn filed that bit of information away for later use. She knew the other girl wasn’t mara - her injuries gave a clear sign of that - but maybe there was something else. Or perhaps she just didn’t want to go to the doctor, which was valid enough in its own right. “Well, you have a lovely face, I should hope people will still recognize you.” She startled for a moment at the comment about Vogue. “That was ages ago. Also, small, nothing totally cover worthy.” It had been a nice story though - one of her birthdays, something her father had pulled. Multiple pages. Something he’d done that showed that he did care about her. “So, you have an interest in fashion?” Evelyn grabbed one of the band aids and made quick work of it, placing it on the girl’s arm. “Well, then I figure you know who I am. Evelyn Hoffman, pleasure to meet you. Would you mind telling me your name?”

“Yeah, no problem. I mean, let’s face it, you are hot.” She could say that. Layla may have had a slight crush on her growing up, but she had long since grown out of it. Frankie was her one and only, aside from an intoxicated kiss with Ariana. But even as dark as Layla’s heart was right now, it still only beat for one other person. “Thanks. Sometimes it gets me in trouble. Hence the bar fight.” She shifted, her ribs bothering her with each breath she took, “I liked it. And as embarrassing as this is going to sound, I had that photoshoot hanging on my wall at home. But yeah, I like fashion, when I can afford fashion.” She wasn’t exactly dressed to the nines. Honestly, she had stolen her current outfit from a nearby store earlier in the day knowing she wanted to go out on the town. Showing no emotion, as the band aid was placed on her arm, she continued to listen to Evelyn, “It’s nice to meet you, and you already know my name actually...It’s Layla. We’ve talked before, online.”

“I suppose looks do get you places,” Evelyn raised an eyebrow. “Thank you, your endorsement is appreciated, and I have learned that more Americans than I would have believed recognize me.” She nodded along briefly, a small giggle escaping her lips at the girl’s next comment. “Nothing to be embarrassed about. Consider it a plus in my book.” She winked at the other girl. “I appreciate anyone who appreciates fashion, and it is sorely lacking in appreciation in this town. LL Bean makes good quality products but that is not exactly life changing, though they have a slightly nicer line, now.” She’d looked into it when she’d ordered clothing for Alain in the week that he was at her home. “Oh, Layla! My apologies, I do remember you. Also, though this is not an ideal way to meet, this town seems in favor of me meeting people in bizarre ways, so you are right in line with that.” Evelyn glanced around them - the sidewalk was relatively clear, all things considered. “Can I get you something? Something to eat, or anything? If nothing else, this area of town at night is less than ideal.” I can handle myself, but I am also not keen to out myself to you, no matter how nice you may seem. 

“Uh yeah. Do you think they would have let me into a bar, underage, if I looked anything other than what I do?” Her vanity coming through, she straightened up her posture slightly, proud of herself, “Not to brag, but I’d say I’m pretty hot. At least my girlfriend thinks so.” This was far from who Layla was. Yes, she used to take pride in herself and how she looked, but it wasn’t a big deal. Evil!Layla, on the other hand, loved the way she looked and used it to her advantage. “You know, I think those pictures are still hanging up in my room, back in Tennessee. And LL Bean. Is that even still a thing?” A disgusted look came over her face, “Give me a nice pair of Louboutin’s or Red Bottoms any day.” She continued to doctor herself up while the conversation carried on, “Don’t apologize, and no, it’s really not, but I’m still glad to finally meet you in person.” She opened another band aid and stuck it on herself, “At least someone else thinks this town is totes messed up.” Looking herself over, she noticed one other cut she had missed, “But I think I’ve had enough drinking for one night. Call me crazy, but whatever it was I had tasted like gasoline. I went more for the chaos anyways.” 

So, she’d been correct about the girl being young. Evelyn gave herself a small bit of internal congratulations. “You do have beautiful features. I am glad you have a girlfriend who appreciates it.” She offered the girl a small shake of her head. “Well then consider me doubly honored.” Evelyn gave a small shrug. “Yes. Practical clothing. I too prefer Chanel or Valentino, but we are in Maine and many like practicality, so I suppose they must find some way to stay in business.” She clicked her tongue against her teeth. Marley probably would have told her to feed on the girl - but, despite all her injuries, she hardly seemed scared, and Evelyn shrugged it off. This girl was barely over the age of eighteen if she was over that at all, and that was a no in Evelyn’s book. “I am pleased to meet you as well, Layla.” She knit her eyebrows together at the girl’s comment. “Oh, I was not offering to buy you alcohol. I meant more like a sandwich or something. I might be able to bribe the owner of a couple restaurants around here to open. However, it is not necessary. I would not recommend drinking something that tastes like gasoline - or petrol, if you would like me to highlight how English I am.” She winked at the other girl. “Regardless, I think we should avoid chaos for the evening and perhaps go for a walk. Have you seen the Common at night? It is beautiful.”

Evelyn was fluffing Layla’s feathers and it made her feel good about herself. She liked this woman. “I know.” Her smugness remained as they continued to discuss clothing, “Ugh, what I wouldn’t do for Chanel or Valentino. But you’re right. I mean even the name of the state sounds boring...Maine.” She finished doctoring herself up and passed the remainder of the band aids back to the woman next to her, “You’re a peach.” Standing up, Layla stretched and slowly popped her back and neck, “And thanks, but no thanks. Not really that hungry, but a walk would be nice, I suppose. Can’t commit robbery every second of every day, now can I?” She winked at Evelyn as she moved away from the bench. “

“I suppose it is a bit ordinary, but for all that it is small, I do find this town quite lovely.” It was true; it was not something that she would have ever believed possible, and even though this town had many more humans than Evelyn would have hoped for, she did find a certain comfort in it all. “Thank you…” her voice trailed off, eyes tracking the girl as she got up. Making jokes about robbery. Evelyn let a light giggle escape her lips. “Good one. Well, we can go for a walk, if you wish - particularly if it keeps you out of trouble.” She stood up and talked to where the girl was standing, holding out her arm. “Shall we?”

[stereksecretsanta]

Merry Christmas, @hazelestelle!

Read on AO3

*****

yes

Derek wakes with a start as the loft door slides open so forcefully the walls shake. Although, now that he’s looking at the would-be intruder, he thinks they’re shaking because of another reason.

“Stiles!” he yells, causing Stiles to jump. At least the walls stop quivering. “What’s going on?” he asks, eyebrows scrunched. Anything that makes Stiles lose control of his powers is bound to be no good.

“Derek!” Stiles frantically scans the room. There are red lines on Stiles’s neck where he’s been scratching, a nervous tic he’s never broken, and he’s sporting a severe case of bedhead. Stiles has a bad habit of running his hands through his hair while he’s thinking. Derek sees the line of tension in his shoulders melt away when he finally spots Derek sitting up on the couch. “I need you to date me.”

“Date you?” Derek echoes.

Clearly, Derek’s brain hasn’t woken yet because there’s no way he heard correctly. Though dating Stiles isn’t exactly a new thought, so it could just be wishful thinking.

From the minute Derek met Stiles, he had been fascinated by the way Stiles’s long fingers rubbed along his buzzcut.

He’s got a thing for hands. Sue him.

But Stiles had been young, too young. The parallels between them were too similar to himself and Kate, and he wouldn’t allow himself to go there.

The years passed, and Stiles only grew more attractive and not just physically. Derek also admired his fierce loyalty to the pack, the way he took to his spark, the way he dug under Derek’s skin and carved out a place in the very fiber of Derek’s being.

Needless to say, dating Stiles isn’t exactly a new thought. He just didn’t expect Stiles to ask him, and especially not like this.

Stiles blows out a heavy breath, and the couch dips where he flops down. “Yes. I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend.”

Oh . Not real dating, fake dating. Lucky for Derek, he seems to have mastered the art of resting bitch face, so he won’t give away his disappointment.

Instead, Derek turns, listening raptly as Stiles talks about a pack approaching him. They’d heard of Stiles, of the boy who runs with wolves. The one who helped stop a kanima and a darach, who overcame a nogitsune, and escaped the wild hunt. They heard of his spark and wanted him.

So, of course, Derek says yes.

Stiles hadn’t expected Derek to say yes so easily. He figured there’d be whining. Okay, maybe not whining because Derek’s not a whiner. No, Derek glares with that steely gaze and those caterpillar eyebrows that threaten certain death. Admittedly, asking Derek to host a dinner for the pack that wants to take Stiles is probably not a smart idea; however, they need to see that not only is Stiles a packmate, but he’s involved with a werewolf. No one would try to separate a werewolf from their mate, or fake mate in his case.

All day Derek’s been grouchy, even more growly than usual. “They’re not gonna believe we’re together if you look like you wanna kill me, Derek.”

“Maybe it’s foreplay for us.” And Stiles double-takes because did he just—

“Oh! Wolf’s got jokes. That’s nice. Asshole .”

That earns him a feral smile, which really shouldn’t turn him on as much as it does. But then again, Stiles is pretty sure that everything about Derek turns him on. He once watched the way Derek’s muscles rippled as he folded a shirt and had to excuse himself because of an awkward boner. That was also a couple of years ago and he’s since gotten better at controlling himself. He quickly distracts himself by tossing more of his things around the loft.

“Okay. I think that’s it,” Stiles tells Derek, falling back on Derek’s bed, curling around the pillow he brought from home. “Pull out the super sniffer. Does it smell enough like me in here to believe we live together?”

It’s only been a few days since Derek agreed to fake dating, and Stiles insisted on staying over every night. “ My scent, Derek. They’re gonna be able to tell if my scent isn’t strong enough! ” was the argument he’d used. Somehow that led to his laptop taking up residence on Derek’s coffee table, his jacket slung on the back of his favorite chair at the dining table (yes, he has a favorite!), and a well-worn spot on the couch that he’s declared his own.

Derek’s face is pulled tight, almost like it hurts, and Stiles feels guilty because this is Derek’s home that he’s forcing his way into. Sure, Derek agreed, but still…

“What’s wrong?” Derek asks him, voice laced with concern.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t really think about— This is your safe space, and I’m over here tossing my shit everywhere.”

“It’s fine, Stiles. Really. If it bothered me, I wouldn’t have agreed.”

Stiles opens his mouth to point out that Derek’s face says otherwise, but he’s interrupted by a knocking at the loft door. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

Derek wasn’t ready.

Not for how well Stiles fit against him as they stood together to welcome the alpha, or how intuitive it was to place a hand on the small of Stiles’s back or on his knee when it bounced with nerves.

Still, the dinner went exceptionally well. Not once did the alpha ask about Stiles joining his pack. It didn’t even appear that he was scrutinizing their relationship. Derek wasn’t ready for how easily the alpha believed them, remarking on how in love and in tune with each other they were.

“You’re lucky to have found each other,” the alpha said as they walked him out of the loft. “It’s one thing to find a compatible mate, but another to find your other half. I wish you both a long and happy life together.”

Yeah , Derek thinks. I wish that, too .

It’s a knife to the gut because as soon as the pack leaves, there’s a distinct lack of warmth where Stiles’s body is no longer pressed against his own. He follows Stiles to the kitchen and leans against the sink.

“Whew!” Stiles pulls himself up on the counter and tears off a piece of garlic bread, popping it in his mouth like Derek’s entire world hasn’t changed.

The past few days have been entirely too domestic for Derek. Waking up next to Stiles and watching his face light up at the first sip of coffee, having his scent everywhere , even yelling at him for leaving his towel in the middle of the bathroom. How’s he supposed to live without Stiles singing off-key in the shower or the sound of his socked feet as they pad across the loft?

“Yeah,” he says, voice thick with emotion because now that it’s over, Stiles will leave. Derek will go back to making breakfast for one. He won’t have that moment in the morning where Stiles has one leg and arm thrown over him like Derek is his own personal pillow.

“You alright, big guy?” Derek’s caught off guard by the worry emanating from Stiles.

“I’m good,” he says, needing to play it off. No, he’s not emotionally constipated, like some people think. Stiles’s friendship is too important to him, and he’d hate for things to change because he has feelings . He’s survived this long. “Just wondering how long it’s gonna take to get your stench outta here.”

That earns him a piece of bread to the face, which he should have been able to catch. He suspects Stiles used his magic.

“Seriously. You’re making a face now and you made one earlier. It wasn’t your regular disgruntled face either. What’s going on, Derek? We’re friends. You can talk to me.”

Stiles jumps off the counter, and Derek feels the warmth of his body as Stiles presses against his back, Stiles’s hands are an anchor on his waist. Sighing, he closes his eyes and leans into the embrace.

“Talk to me, Derek. These past few days might not have been real but—“

“What if—“ He swallows the lump in his throat, working up the courage to continue.

There’s a puff of air on the back of his neck as Stiles says, “What if, what?” He’s scared of how hopeful Stiles sounds, scared he’s transferring his own feelings onto Stiles.

Opening his eyes, Derek looks around the loft. There’s a Mets cap sitting on the counter, along with keys to Roscoe. Stiles hung a Star Wars poster on the wall above a bookshelf that now houses a small army of funko pops that don’t look out of place with his books.

Turning in Stiles’s arms, he looks into those wide amber eyes and sees that it’s not transference, Stiles actually looks hopeful. “What if I want it to be real? This? Us?”

“You laughed at my Batman toothbrush.”

“You’re 20, Stiles. Pretty sure the packaging for that said 5 to 7 years old. I didn’t say anything about the Superman boxers, did I?”

“Touché.” Stiles’s tongue darts out from between his full pink lips, and Derek can’t help but be mesmerized.

The air is heavy as they stare at each other. And Derek thinks, just maybe, Stiles’s world has changed too.

Epilogue - One Week Later

Standing in the middle of the loft, Stiles cocks his head to the side as he glares at all the unopened boxes filling every open space.

“They’re not gonna unpack themselves, Stiles.”

He startles at the close proximity of Derek’s voice. Last he saw, Derek was in the bathroom, organizing the medicine cabinet to fit in all of Stiles’s bathroom essentials.

“I swear to God ! I am getting you a bell!” He clutches his chest in over-exaggeration.

“Stop being so dramatic.”

A shudder runs through him at the feel of Derek’s lips on the back of his neck, giving him goosebumps across his skin.

He gets to have this now. Tender touches and gentle kisses.

“You should date me,” he says, looking over his shoulder into the brilliant hazel of Derek’s eyes.

Derek raises a brow, and it’s a small puff of breath on his hairline when Derek chuckles. “I thought I was already?” Stiles follows as Derek surveys the piles of boxes littered throughout the room.  

“I never actually asked though.”

Derek’s arms circle his waist, holding him tightly from behind. Like déjà vu, Derek gives a serious and solemn vow of, “Yes.”

[louisapennyfeather2021]

Newsies Teen Wolf AU, but as scenes from different seasons that I find slightly hilarious even though they have zero context.

1) Anchors, season 3 episode 13. This is the first episode of 3b, or the second half of the season.

Brief: Basically Jack, Sarah, and Race are seeing things now and are being haunted by nightmares because of a ritual they did to save their family. Race has night terrors, Jack's werewolf abilities are acting up, and Sarah sees her dead older brother.

Warnings: Mentions of death, PTSD, panic

___

"Okay, so what happens to a person who has a near-death experience and comes out of it seeing things?" Jack sighs as he sits across from Albert and next to Race, Sarah and Katherine filling in seats to the bench they sit at during lunch.

"And is unable to tell what's real or not." Race mutters, shoving a pretzel in his mouth and tapping his foot anxiously.

"And sees dead relatives." Sarah stares at the table of the bench, a far off look on her face.

"They're all locked up because they're insane." Katherine doesn't flinch at the unappreciative looks she gets.

"Can you at least try to be helpful, please?" Race doesn't withhold any of the sarcasm he's known for. He stares Katherine in the eye, neither backing down.

"For half my childhood, I was locked in a freezer, so, being helpful is kind of a new thing for me." Katherine offers Race am equally sarcastic smile, her arms crossed on the table.

"Alright, come on, are we seriously still milking that?" Race huffs. Katherine stares at him like he's grown a second head, the other three teenagers at the table trying not to laugh or scold Race.

"Yes, we're still milking that." Katherine deadpans. Everyone is so invested in the pending argument between Race and Katherine, they don't notice that they've been joined until the newcomer sits down next to Jack.

"It's Bardo." Everyone jumps as Davey sits next to Jack and across from Sarah, receiving a panicked look from his twin. Jack tenses, knowing Davey is only just now accepting Jack as an acquaintance. "It means In Between, quite literally between life and death."

"David, I'm sorry-"

"Save it, nothing surprises me anymore." Davey offers Sarah an understanding expression, making the girl immediately relax. "But if you ever hide something like this from me again, I'm taking back my copy of the Avatar movie."

"Hey, wait a second-"

"So do you mean Bardo in Tibetan Buddhism or Indian?" Albert interrupts Sarah before she can start an argument with her brother.

"Either, but everything you guys were talking about happens in Bardo. There are different progressive states that range from seeing things, hearing things, and even being visited by peaceful and wrathful deities." Davey shrugs like it's the most commonly known thing. Jack stares wide eyed, knowing the only other person at the table who might know about this is Albert. Is this what Davey learned while he was homeschooled last year? No wonder Sarah wanted to go to public school.

"Wrathful deities?" Katherine inquires, glancing to Sarah in concern.

"Demons, essentially." Davey matches Katherine's expression, although his moves around the table to Race and Jack. Jack's neck heats up as Davey looks at him, although he quickly frowns when he doesn't understand why.

"Demons. Why not?" Race runs a hand down his face.

Just when they thought they could catch a break from all the excessively crazy supernatural stuff.

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2) More Bad Than Good, season 3 episode 14. This is the second episode of 3b.

Brief: Spot and Oscar have been kidnapped by hunters while in Mexico. That's about it.

Warnings: Torture and maybe a bad word. Mentions of death

Notes: Oscar is Spot's older cousin who he has a strong hate/tolerate relationship with. Spot is two years older than Jack and Race, making him nineteen. Also note, I'm interpreting the spanish used from my years taking Spanish and from how the show translated it, please correct me if I'm wrong so I can fix it!!!

____

"Why are you looking at me like this is my fault?" Oscar borderline whines as Spot glares at him.

"Because it is your fault." Spot pants, his body hanging almost limply as his wrists stay tied above him to the chain link fence. A switch flips and Spot's entire body seizes, pained grunts passing his lips as electricity travels through his body. Oscar is not different, both boys arching their bodies away from the fence that the electricity courses through. After what feels like an eternity, but was only five seconds, they both slump against the fence, catching their breath as their bodies twitch uncontrollably.

"Yeah. You're probably right." Oscar breathes heavily, his muscles spasming. Suddenly there's another switch and Spot can't hold back a scream from the pain that courses through his body, his wrists straining against the cuffs holding him to the fence. It's gone as soon as it comes, but the pain seems to only increase once Spot can feel his body again as it heals itself. Oscar is all but hanging from his wrists now, hardly supporting himself.

"I've seen some crack their teeth. Others, they just shake and shake even after their heart stops. Sometimes we don't even know they're dead." Spot and Oscar both groan, recognize the voice as the man who had been torturing them for the last two days. And all over some dumb myth. "But nobody wants to play a guessing game. So, why don't you just tell us? Where is El Lobo?"

"We don't know where El Lobo is." Spot strains to look the man in the eyes, his body heavy like lead.

"Maybe you need a different method of persuasion? Maybe we cut one of you in half, the other talks?" The man smirks. Spot clenches his jaw, thinking of any way possible to get out of his current situation. Of course, his smart mouth of a cousin has to start talking.

"I would love to volunteer, but we really don't know what you're talking about. And honestly, isn't bisecting people with a broad sword a little medieval?" Oscar squints at the man. Spot knows Oscar's only going to get them killed if he doesn't shut up, although he also knows his cousin's ability to mouth off while simultaneously not dying is almost a superpower.

"A broad sword? We're not savages." Spot glances nervously over to Oscar as the man winks at them, although Oscar seems pretty happy with himself.

Until a chainsaw whirls.

It takes every fiber in Spot not to use all his power to break his restraints and strangle Oscar. Even if he could escape, there are far better things he could do than waste his time on his sorry excuse of a relative.

"Boys." A new voice makes both boys chained to the fence drop their shoulders and the man with the chainsaw to turn it off and step back. An older woman walks closer and starts saying something in Spanish.

"No hablo español." Spot pants, he body still recovering from the electric shocks.

"Tu hablas muchos idiomas, Sean Conlon. You know exactly what I'm saying. And you know who we want. Where is The Wolf?" The woman glares at Spot. Spot shakes his head in defeat, having had this conversation countless times in the past two days.

"We don't know any Wolf." Spot looks the woman in the eyes, hoping in vain that this time she'll actually believe him.

"I know you won't talk, lobito. But this one? This one loves the sound of his own voice." The woman steps in front of Oscar, a calculating look on her face.

"You should hear me sing." Oscar grins. Spot clenches his jaw, knowing Oscar could very well have just signed their death certificate.

"We want to hear you scream." The woman's grin is wide.

"No one ever wants to hear me sing." Oscar mock pouts, receiving a wide eyed glare from Spot.

"What could we do to persuade you? Where is The Wolf?" The woman seems to ponder the thought and Spot notices her hands moving behind her back. Suddenly she moves and not even two seconds later, Oscar is screaming. Spot wants to gag when he sees what appears to be a finger on the ground.

"Think about it. I'll only ask nine more times." Spot watches her leave, eyes still wide and brows furrowed. He watches the woman exchange a look with the man and the man smirks at him whole Oscar pants heavily next to him, occasionally whimpering.

The man reaches for the dial.

And everything flashes white.

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Hey all! So these are just some of my favorite scenes from Season 3b of Teen Wolf. They aren't necessarily funny by any means and they probably don't make sense if you haven't seen the show, but I hope these were enjoyable to read.

Please send me any scenes you want to see or any recommendations you have! I'm open to anything!

[fracturedmotivationwriting]

Dexter was developing a routine since joining this new pack. She woke up extra early (before anyone else in the 'barracks'), went for a run, grabbed a coffee on her way back, showered, and waited for a job assignment for the day. When there were no jobs, Dexter spent her free time searching for her own apartment and a side job to help pay the bills. She hadn't exactly been swimming in cash when she joined the pack. A year on the run will do that to a girl.

Because of her routine, it was no surprise to find Dexter running through the city streets as the sun was barely inching over the horizon. She had her headphones in, her pump-up playlist blaring a bit too loud to be respectable. With her strengthened sense of smell, eyesight, and balance, she figured she could spare her hearing while she ran.

She was passing a coffee shop, heading towards the park to run through the wooded trails, when the smell hit her.

Dexter nearly fell right then and there.

The same smell from the party bombarded her senses. New but familiar. Comforting but exciting. It made her heart start beating even faster (which was probably unhealthy since it was already pretty fast).

As Dexter realized that she had run past her mate, her panic response kicked in. Fight or flight. Dexter chose flight. She pumped her arms a little harder, pushed her legs a little faster. By the time she reached the park, she was full-on sprinting.

And the scent was following her.

Dexter refused to look behind her. She took a sharp turn onto a different trail, this one with a little rougher terrain than the one she usually took. The path weaved and curved before her, rocks and tree roots twisting and turning under her feet. But Dexter couldn't stop. She wouldn't stop.

She faintly heard someone calling after her over the sound of her music, but she did her best to ignore it. She focused her attention on the smell, trying desperately to outrun it. She was so consumed by it, however, that in her haze she didn't notice the ground beneath her growing more uneven. The tree roots were becoming thicker, the soil looser, and lifting and dipping unevenly -- this trail was not as well-traveled, not as well maintained.

Dexter didn't see the giant root. But she sure did feel it when her foot slipped just under it, her leg lurching as her momentum carried her forward but her captured foot pulled her back. Dex's instincts kicked in as she ducked her head in, pushed her hands before her, and attempted to use her momentum to roll her forward.

She hadn't seen that she was heading straight towards a drop in the terrain. She gracelessly rolled down the hill, instinctively reaching out to grab onto anything to stop her momentum. She felt her head hit something sharp on her descent. Her arm brushed the broken side of a fallen branch. Her hand finally connected with something steady, and she latched on. She felt her body jerk as she pulled herself to a stop. Her shoulder burned from the pain. Dexter closed her eyes, letting her body fall limp against the earth as she held onto the root her hand found.

Her headphones had fallen out during her fall, and Dexter could hear someone scrambling down the hill above her. She heard muttered curses as the man skidded to a stop above her head.

The scent was almost unbearable.

Every fiber of her being was screaming at her to open her eyes, to take a look at the mate that Fate had picked out for her. To meet her future.

Dexter stayed still.

"Oh no. No, no, no. Don't be dead. Please don't be dead," the voice continued to mutter, a hand reaching out to her neck. She felt him searching for a pulse. Dexter almost laughed.

"I'm not dead," she groaned, her eyes still firmly shut. "Bruised and battered, definitely embarrassed, but not dead."

"Oh thank God," she heard him chuckle. She still couldn't see him, but she could feel him lean back a little, giving her space. It felt easier to breathe now that he wasn't touching her.

"Are you going to open your eyes, or continue to play dead?"

Dex couldn't help the half-smile on her face. She waited a moment, gathering her courage, before slowly blinking open her eyes.

At first, she was blinded by the sunlight poking through the trees, but then he came into view. His hair was a mess, probably from chasing her almost two miles away from that coffee shop, through the park, and down the hill. There was a tear in the knee of his pants, and Dexter could see the dirt and blood on his skin. He must've tripped coming down the hill, scraping it on the ground. His button-up shirt would probably need to be dry cleaned if it was salvageable at all. Yeah, after chasing after Dexter through the woods and stumbling down the hill after her, he was definitely a little worse for wear.

But that wasn't what stopped the brain circuits in Dexter's head. That wasn't what stopped her breath short. That wasn't what made the butterflies in her stomach turn into birds.

His eyes were the most beautiful shade of blue-grey she had ever seen. It may have been cliche to think, but Dexter had never seen eyes quite like his. And while her mate apparently had eyes that made her heart skip a beat, Dexter still wasn't ready to be staring into them.

But she was.

"So," he spoke up, a small chuckle in his voice. "You must be Dexter."

Dex nodded, unable to form words as she examined the face of the man hovering over her. She was still getting distracted by his eyes.

"Do you think you can sit up?" He asked gently, offering her a hand for support. "You fell for me pretty hard. I think your forehead might need stitches."

Dexter slowly sat up, wincing as she gently touched her forehead. Judging by the blood on her fingertips and the pounding in her head, he was probably right. Her ankle was also throbbing and burning all at once, from getting her foot caught underneath that root that caused her descent down the hill in the first place. Not to mention every other muscle and joint in her body was aching from the run and the tumble. She was sure there were more minor injuries her adrenaline was just ignoring.

Then his words hit her.

She glared up at him, slapping his hand away as she tried to rise to her feet.

"I did not fall for you," she (harmlessly) snarled. "If you hadn't been chasing after me like some serial killer, I wouldn't have tripped in the first place."

Dexter didn't miss the cheeky grin that the man was trying (and failing) to hide. He took a step back, hands raised in surrender as he chuckled softly.

"Maybe if my mate didn't go running every time I was nearby, I wouldn't have had to chase you."

Dexter rolled her eyes. She didn't need to explain herself to him. He may have been her mate, but she wasn't ready to meet him yet. And she didn't owe him an explanation as to why.

She started to walk forward, trying to get back up the hill and away from him, but as she shifted her weight to her right foot she realized just how big of a mistake that was. She practically howled as a sharp, burning pain raced up her leg. She felt her knees give out. But before she could fall to the ground a second time today, a pair of rather strong arms caught her. In one swift movement, her mate had caught her and lifted her body into his arms bridal style. He started marching up the hill, a furrow in his eyebrows and worry in his eyes.

"We should get you to a hospital. Your ankle may be broken. And you should get checked for a concussion while you get your stitches."

"I'm not going to a hospital," Dexter shook her head, panic filling her veins once again. It wasn't like she was scared to be found out as a werewolf (she knew the pack had connections that would overlook that sort of thing). She just couldn't risk her name being filed into any systems. She couldn't be on any official records. Not while Devin was still hunting her down. But that wasn't a conversation she wanted to have with her mate within the first hour of meeting him. She didn't even know his name yet!

"Please, no hospitals. You have to trust me, but I cannot go to the hospital. Please."

The desperation and urgency in her voice must have done the trick. Her mate looked down even more worriedly at her but nodded.

"Fine," he conceded. "I can get a doctor to do an unofficial house visit. We'll go back to the Pack House. It's the closest."

"Thank you," Dexter mumbled softly, tightening her grip around his neck. She felt her cheeks heat up with embarrassment. Her mate probably thought she was bat-shit crazy. And she was just now realizing the humiliation of the entire situation: she had sprinted away, gotten so distracted that she'd tripped, and now he was carrying her to safety because she had hurt herself trying to get away from him.

And she still hadn't learned his name.

"This is going to sound kinda stupid," she mumbled, earning a raised eyebrow from her mate. His grip on her tightened a little as they made there way out of the trail and into the main area of the park.

"But what's your name?"

Her mate let out a small laugh, glancing back down at her.

"Frankie," he introduced himself. "Well, Francesco Bellandi. But my friends call me Frankie."

Dexter felt her heart sink. She really had the most rotten luck.

"Bellandi? Like the Alpha's son, Bellandi?"

"Yes," Frankie answered slowly, that furrow in his brow returning.

Dexter felt like she was going to vomit. Only she would have the bad luck of being mated to the Alpha's son. The Alpha who she still had to prove her worth to. She had spent the last year of her life on the run, searching for a new pack to accept her, to protect her, and now she was mated to the son of the Alpha. Cause proving her worth hadn't been hard enough.

Then another realization came to her. It was harder to hide when you were mates with the Alpha. And one day, Frankie would be Alpha. Her scent would be out there, easily detected by other packs as a sort of warning alongside Frankie's. Devin would be able to find her.

Dexter really felt like she was going to puke.

"Put me down."

The sudden command almost made Frankie stop. And the seriousness in her voice almost made him drop her.

"What? You can barely walk, Dexter."

"Put me down. Now!" Her words came out harsher than she had intended. A passerby spared them a curious glance, but continued on, minding their business. Frankie gently set her down.

"Dexter, what's wrong? Are you feeling dizzy or something?"

Dexter shook her head, taking a gentle step away from him. She winced as the pain rushed up her leg, but managed not to fall again.

"I- I just need some time. I need some space. I can't- I can't do this. I can't do this,," she mumbled, refusing to meet his worried gaze. "I'm sorry. I"m so sorry. Just- just please let me go. I gotta go."

She continued mumbled as tears filled her eyes. She turned away from him, hobbling down the street and trying desperately to ignore the pain. Thankfully, Frankie stayed put, confusion and shock in his eyes as he watched his mate stagger away.

[eldonash]

Beast Inside | Orobas/Simon

Summary: Simon wakes in a fog from the last full moon, and is met with destruction around him. Surprisingly, Orobas is there, having caught the beast at his most dangerous time, and reassures this blood bath isn’t something to worry about. Simon isn’t sure what to think or believe. 

Orobas was on his back looking up at the dark room of a small business in town. Under him was a congealed dampness of blood, pools of it clinging to his back, legs, and head and soaking into his clothes like he was floating on a lake. His shirt was ripped open revealing peaks of heavily scarred skin, filled with tiny lines, and large grotesque ones from ancient battles. Blood stained his lips, and down his chin in a messy splash, all over his body were slowly healing carved lines from claws, and a decent bite along his forearm, and neck. His chest still, eyes upward, he just existed in the smell of death, in the scent of blood, and the snoring rumble of a wolf that he protected for Ulfric. 

The thing Simon felt first and foremost was pain. Everywhere, in every fiber of his being, ripping through him like lightning to a tree. Before that, nothing. Absolutely nothing, a vast, empty desert of white sand. There was nothing he had experienced during his time on Earth that he could’ve equated to the fear of not remembering anything. His breathing quickened, not unlike he was experiencing a nightmare and each breath felt like someone was taking a knife to his diaphragm, stirring him to a soupy consciousness where he was greeted with the harsh smell of blood. He whined softly from the altogether suffocating combination and curled into himself, tucking his arms into his exposed abdomen and he forced himself to crane his head upward where his bleary vision fell upon a man and in that moment, his pain was replaced with a paralysed fear. He didn’t dare say anything, almost as if he were afraid of entertaining a delusion but he couldn’t take his eyes off the man, the gashes, the blood… What happened?

Orobas could hear when the other roused, the pain evident alone from the quickened sounds of his inhales, and the frantic rumble of his heartbeat. The vampire was exhausted, but he also knew he probably looked quite dead lying here, well-- he was deceased, but that was beside the point. He didn't need the other to run away before he could speak to them and offer something to explain, right? Was this how Ulfric wanted it to go? He sat right up like a spring-loaded mattress and groaned as the gashes spilled open a little along his stomach. Orobas wiped his chin when blood seeped from the corners, having maybe over-indulged in the humans the other had gone after and killed them before they could. He stared at his fingers for a second before red eyes skimmed over at the other with a lazy delivery. On the other side of the room were three bodies; it was fine. Look this way. "Oh, that's what you look like," he mused, but the words were monotonous. "You are quite mean in wolf form." As soon as the bloodied apparition moved and spoke, Simon’s mind was flooded with more questions, questions he didn’t want to ask and had trouble thinking about in his muddled head but he couldn’t help it. So the man wasn’t a corpse nor was he made up… at least, most likely? His breath escaped from him in unsteady exhales - he was panicking. He had to not. Uhhh how could he do that. Deep breath. Innn. Out. With barely-concealed grunts of pain, he managed to roll onto his stomach where his bare skin met the cold floor, which he did his best to ignore and he made to crawl towards the figure. “What happened?” He asked, having heard what the stranger said but forcing them down his chain of priorities. “Are you okay?” He realised what a stupid question that was - no, the guy obviously wasn’t okay but the question tumbled out of his mouth either way.

The energy between them filled with panic and fear, and Orobas wearily wondered if his compulsion could work on the werewolf in full capacity and tell him to forget everything. The deep breaths moved the air around the space, quickly filling Orobas' still chest when he went to respond and teased the scent of blood under his nose. He groaned as his body felt sluggish from overeating, and decided to sit in this puddle of blood like a duckling. "Mmm? You don't remember?" Orobas questioned, tired yet found that detail very interesting. "So, I could tell you anything, my dear, and you might believe it?" It was a poor tease, but Orobas couldn't help himself in relishing the painful glint in the other's eyes and how that did things to him. He didn't move his gaze away from the other—an eerie intensity in observation in his red eyes. "I am okay. Do I look bad? That is because you pounced on me and took me through a window. Like I said, you were very mean to me. But, listen. I forgive you. I took care of it. You--" the words felt foreign for a brief moment. "You will be okay." The stranger’s voice, tone, even the words he chose were becoming more ethereal in Simon’s mind, creating a strange dissonance between that and the visuals and stench of blood and… death everywhere else. He forced himself to pull himself up using his sinewy arms, only then realizing as he lowered his heavy, pulsing head for a moment that he was completely naked so he added ‘embarrassment’ to his list of problems he seemed to have been having. “I…” He managed to scoff. “I think you have the wrong guy,” He said, the wires in his mind crossing inappropriately and, finally feeling overwhelmed and exhausted himself underneath the strain of his body cracking and snapping, he let out a noise between a laugh and a sob. He moved to a sitting position, too sore and lacking enough of the aforementioned embarrassment to try to conceal himself. He lifted shaking hands, seeing sticky streaks of crimson shining on them. You will be okay. “Or… maybe you do.” He admitted. “You look like… someone ran you through a meat grinder,” He replied after a delay.

Orobas reached out and gripped the others face, a little forceful, though not on purpose, the vampire just had to touch him. The grip dented the skin lightly before it turned soft, and he seemed to stare at him very hard like he was looking for something confusing. His gaze framed with smooth wrinkles not often depicted on the dead creature who didn't have to express. The torment was genuine, and the broken laugh and sob lulled him into his pain, finding it so utterly beautiful, with blood smudges and frustrated emotions. Wolves were so passionate about their feelings. So far from vampires in that spectrum. "I will heal," he said calmly and turned away, pulling his hand back and rose. With little difficulty, he peeled the damp torn up shirt off, letting it hit the stained floor with a plop. "Do you not believe any of it? What an interesting way to deal with grief, forget it-- I have never once felt grief. Tell me, what does it feel like?" He said to distract the other as he moved to the opposite side of the room and looked down at the bodies. A short, involuntary gasp escaped Simon as the stranger touched him. Cold, he was cold. And the man who possessed the cold grip couldn’t have been human. His thought process was simultaneously breakneck and sluggish, processing information erratically, trying to decide what to keep and what to forget since it had the option this time. The stranger’s eyes glimmered like sparkling red gems and even though his skin was painted with blood and what appeared to be grievous injuries, it was still alluring, almost entrancing in its unique purity. Eye contact gave him a different pain, attributing to his unadmitted shyness but he didn’t look away until the other man did and his head dropped again, no longer being held up by the other's strength. He glanced back down at his hands, which he had since rested against his thighs, subconsciously crossed over his exposed figure as best they could. His gaze didn’t follow the stranger though they did catch how easily the latter removed his shirt. He would heal, he never felt grief-- how was that possible? How would he describe it to someone who had never felt it? Maybe this WAS just some elaborate nightmare. “I suppose… it feels like a worm in your heart,” He started, deciding to entertain the stranger as he moved about. “It burrows through, tearing you up inside and leaving holes.” He explained, not quite thinking about what he was saying when he should’ve been asking pragmatic questions such as ‘where am I’, ‘who are you’ and ‘what makes you think I could’ve thrown you out a window’. He reached up to wipe a tear from his eye with the heel of a bloodied hand. “I’m… sorry I threw you out a window.” He apologised quietly.

The hunched form he stole a glance at seemed to take the bait to sink in thought and answer his random question. Orobas opened a few things in the room, finding a crate filled with Styrofoam and random shipped items. He pulled them out, tossing them on the floor before he reached out and hulled the first body up with ease and disposed of her into the crate with a squished sound of meat. He could hear him crying, and it once more drew his gaze to the other. Ulfric won't like this pitiful wolf who cries so quickly, will he? Still, he gave his word, he's keeping it up for the sake of friendship and Orobas' need to maintain loyalty. He grabbed the other body, the older woman heavier, but not a strain on him either. He forced her over the edge of the crate and pushed her in without much care. Leaving the other body, he walked back over to the other and knelt into a deep squat, his body chiseled, strong, and beyond scarred in so many places, it would take years to remember what they were all from. "You tackled me through a window," he corrected with a sharp grin. "Grief sounds like it's not fun. Normally, I'd take advantage of someone naked, covered in blood, and crying-- just saying. You are a sight to be seen right now, but you should stop the crying." He said low in volume, with the barest hint of threat. "All of this isn't that big of a deal anyway. What is your name?" Oh, right, according to the stranger, Simon went through with him. That explained SOME of the hurt. He did avoid eye contact this time, keeping his head bowed rather submissively though the very subtle threat didn’t slip past him unnoticed and even in his state, he felt the faintest pull of some residual aggression - he didn’t know where it came from and it was gone as soon as it had appeared, similarly to the crying but he had indeed stopped though he had to draw the line on none of this being a very big deal. His blue eyes glanced over to the crate the other had been busying himself with, feeling like he knew what was over there but taking the stranger’s distractions as readily as he was trying to distract himself. “Simon,” He replied plaintively. “Who are you?” He asked slowly, resisting the urge to ask ‘WHAT are you’.

"Eldon," he smiled a sharp, fang-filled smirk when Simon seemed to pull his emotions in a little bit. Shock and panic could always be distracted with a bit of anger, and the fact the subtle rise to the bait was met made Orobas feel victorious. "You are adorable." The wolf looked older than him, but he couldn't help using the word. He was used to werewolves that were scruffy and naturally meant with rough edges and quick anger. Not worried about his exposed manhood, feeling shy, and tearing up. He really must not remember what he did, how dangerous he actually was last night. Orobas stayed in front of him, showing boyish in charm, and not acting like the four-hundred-year-old he was. "Don't look over there-- I'll worry about it. Tell me, Simon, what do you believe in? Are you aware of anything or blissfully new to this town and well, everything." An innocent. The words teased under Orobas' skin. How delightful. Well, at least Simon was seemingly correct about this Eldon not being human, catching his smile. Then again, he didn’t know. He continued to sit there, feeling his hands clenching and for a fleeting moment, he wondered if this was what captives to serial torturers and killers felt: helpless, exposed, like a plaything. Contrary to how much everything hurt, however, death wasn’t on his list of fears. In fact, he almost wished Eldon would just kill him and get it over with. Despite this train of thought crossing his mind, he obediently turned his gaze back to the… individual in front of him. What DID he believe in? “I believe… in the pursuit of knowledge,” He started, feeling a shred of confidence in what he was saying - he KNEW this. “I believe that I don’t know much about anything, especially the things having to do with this town.” He noted the night that was prevalent ever since he stepped foot across the city line. “I believe in being kind to others above all else,” He added, turning his head up this time. He realised as he said this that he wasn’t crying because of himself, the agony his body was screaming in or how he couldn’t remember what happened, he had shed tears because of the harm that had fallen on Eldon, a stranger he woke up to covered in blood and gashes. “And I believe you might think that makes me sound foolish.”

Knowledge. Kindness. He knew a few people like that, though it was always unusual for him to experience it in words and so close. Simon seemed to find his center the more he spoke, which was good. Orobas didn’t need him to get all mean again, he was too tired. "Far from it. You are only speaking about who you are. On the most honest level. It's not foolish. It's simply you," he said, calmly, and with a weird reassurance as he rose back up and walked over to the crate. Orobas reached down for the ankle of the last person and hulled them out from behind a large table. He pulled their shirt and shorts off, though disgusting, at least clothes for the other. Orobas tossed them to Simon. "Here--" he said, and then put the body onto his shoulder to throw them into the crate as well. "All done--" he said quietly, glancing around for his lost phone. Simon wasn’t sure if Eldon was being condescending or not and he chose to interpret it as sincerity. The temptation of curiosity tugged at Simon to look back over at whatever Eldon was doing but he kept his gaze forward. He was told not to worry about it, which was impossible for him but he could not look. Naturally, he flinched when the articles of clothing made contact with him, pulling the material off his shoulder. He shakily got to his feet, keeping any grunts of pain internal as to not appear even more weak or pathetic than Eldon probably thought he was and slipped into the shorts first before pulling the shirt over his wiry frame. “So…” He paused. “What else happened last night? We went through a window, apparently I attacked you, you said something about a wolf.” He started to massage his left shoulder, which turned into a heavy scratching. The burning itch from the bite scars always seemed to come through.

"Hmm, lots of fighting. Then, you fell asleep," Orobas omitted the three deaths from the people in the store, and the fact that he had to kill them to stop them from running out the door and causing a scene. They still were pretty mangled by the other though. Did Simon eat any? Orobas couldn’t remember. "You were very strong. Rammed me with your shoulder and sent me flying into those tables." Which were all entirely broken up, he noticed the scars and the scratching curious about that detail for Ulfric. "Oh! my phone." He grabbed it and called Haxian, who picked up immediately. "Hmm, yes, three! It was fun. I'm fine, sore, tired, the usual. Met someone naked in a puddle of blood-- haha no, no, no-- he's not entirely my type, but he's fascinating." His eyes were glistening with mirth when he said that and looked at the other. "Come help me clean it up, mmhm see you soon." He hung up. To further explain felt like it would ruin the other, and he was all for that, but there wasn't much to lie about, it wasn't all his blood. He put bodies in a crate. Simon could put it together. "I told you, I'll take care of it-- I always keep my word. Don’t get hung up on the details. You should get out of here soon. You don't want to meet the person coming to clean up with me." Simon was still trying to process the thought of him fighting anyone, much less managing to bang them up and sending the two of them through a window. And break a bunch of tables. He took the time while Eldon was on the phone to look around the room more intimately taking small steps in different direction, his nose still full of the reek of blood everywhere and though he’d gotten used to it, it still alarmed him almost as much as the excitement he could hear in the latter’s voice as he talked to whoever it was on the other end of the line. He didn’t regard his temporary companion until he got off the phone, to which Simon gave a look of resignation. “Okay,” was all he managed to say first. Then it hit him; he didn’t have his phone, any clue about how to get home from wherever they were and he was caked in blood. “...Know any places nearby where a guy can get cleaned up?” He asked, eyebrows knitting.

Orobas playfully poked his cheek in thought. “I could hose you down?” He joked, only partially, as the idea of taking a hose to anyone was a joyous thought. “There is probably a sink somewhere.” He walked around, peeking out to be sure the sun was still blessedly gone. Orobas also looked like he took a swim in blood, his back, arms, face, and dress pants were quite stained. It didn’t seem to bother him that much. “You know, I’m not entirely sure how we will clean this up. Hmm-- oh! A sink--” He called through a doorway he wandered into, the mirror not reflecting the vampire. He turned on the water and rinsed the blood on his hands. “Are you always in so much pain, mm? Come, come-- let me move out of the way. I’ll get messier anyway.” 

Not that he was about to say anything aloud but Eldon’s jovial attitude about this entire ordeal was starting to put more strain on Simon’s mind - he wasn’t sure what type of person could be surrounded by this much gore and still be as… playful as this man was being. His hands took to subconsciously trying to rub the blood off his scratched, irritated skin as he followed Eldon into a different room, definitely catching HIS reflection in the mirror - even more ragged than he usually looked, bloodied, bruised, tired. He always looked tired nowadays. The look was brief and he must’ve missed that the other guy, by all accounts, should’ve had a reflection of his own. He waited rather patiently while Eldon washed his hands, holding his abdomen as he just gave the other a look. No. He wasn’t usually in so much pain. Was Eldon even talking to him at this point? He hesitated near the sink but quickly decided that he wasn’t in much of a position not to get wet and he soon had his arms under the running water, immediately feeling relief from not being covered in grunge and blood. “And, uh… where are we?” He asked, intending for it to be his final question. All he wanted to do once he looked less like a murderer and more like a homeless person was go home and crawl into bed.

“I don’t entirely know-- somewhere downtown I think, a store?” Orobas didn’t pay attention that well, but the place seemed like it was more a small warehouse space than retail. Maybe they made things here? “The window is broken upstairs though, it will attract people when they start moving around in the morning and then someone will call the police and it will get messy…” He trailed his words off when a quiet, hmm sounded in the room. Orobas saw his maker standing near the crate, looking down at the mess inside, dressed impeccably as usual. Coming in like a breeze and it made Orobas smile. Probably shouldn’t let Simon see him, new elder vampires in partial transformation weren’t easy to explain to people. Though, Orobas still thought of Haxian as beautiful. “Simon-- I know you are probably still in shock, but you do need to get out of here. It’s dark out, blessedly still, even in the morning. Be sure to run quick and no one will notice the blood. Who has such good eyesight anyway as a human.” He chuckled. “Lucky you. I’ll see you again.” Once his arms were sufficiently clean, Simon looked sideways at Eldon, processing the rough location. Downtown… he thought he could get home from there. Now, RUNNING would be a difficult task but he was sure when it came down to it, his body would force him to run. “Okay.” He sighed and limped towards the doorway he presumed would let him leave. “Sorry again for taking you through the window. And throwing you into tables.” He apologized again. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up when Eldon mentioned seeing him again but he supposed there were worse people to see again considering the elusive nature of his temporary companion. He didn’t say another word to the stranger, feeling his mind shutting down slowly but more resolutely and instead popped his neck, which crackled like a stone rolling on a surface, and he departed from the building.

Orobas watched the other limp away, curious at the amount of pain he was in, and the downtrodden energy of not wanting to process. Orobas didn’t really understand it, guilt, grieving, and other heavy emotions were not often felt by him, and if they were, it was usually confusing enough to make him disappear for long, long stretches of time. “Did you get attacked by that werewolf?” Haxian asked, with a hint of danger, and a glare at the back of Simon. “I did, it was intense-- he’s quite a lot to handle. Seems sweet for being a little murder machine tonight don’t you think? If he learned--” Orobas would shiver, but he sighed like the visual was enough to sedate him. “Ulfric will like him. I like giving gifts to friends.” Haxian rolled his eyes. “Come on, let’s clean up the best we can. If there are issues, we’ll deal with it later.” Orobas nodded, “sure, sure. Don’t rush me-- let’s cut up the bodies.” He pulled out his long silver blade, peering down into the crate like it was a little treat. “I’m sure someone in town needs some spare parts.” 

[sissytobitch10seconds]

hello I saw your ao3 story and was wondering if you were taking requests. If so can we please have an angsty abo one where remus dates severus but is only using him to make sirius jealous, sirius finds out and sends him to wolf remus. Severus is rescued, but is upset with boyfriend and hurt. Sirius and Remus get together and Severus is upset because Remus and him haven't broken up yet and also Severus is pregnant.

Sorry, it took me so long to get this out! I had a little bit of writer’s block and then it turned out to be way longer than I originally thought it would be. Hope you like it! Also, this is up on Archive!

Anger rolled in my gut as he tried to focus down on the book in my hands. I had been on the same page for more than five minutes, which was longer than it would take me to read and process at least a chapter of this particular novel. It didn’t bother me too much since I knew that the book was just there so that I could try and block out the obnoxious giggling coming from the other side of the common room. The Gryffindor common room was normally filled with people talking and laughing, but this particular giggle was driving me up the wall.

Sirius had some omega perched on his lap. Her skirt was pulled up high around her waist and folded over enough times that it barely covered her thighs, nothing even remotely in the dress-code of the school. She had her arm around his shoulders and was leaning back against the window while putting her legs out as she pretended to fall back. He had his nose in her scent gland, which wasn’t covered by the required scent blocker so that things like this wouldn’t happen.

Just the thought of it in more depth than before made me grit my teeth while trying not to shout at them. This wasn’t the first omega or beta that Sirius had brought back to the dormitory this week, and she wouldn’t be the last no matter what she thought. I hated seeing the man that I desired moving from bitch to bitch just to get some quick fix.

If I didn’t have the self-control I would give in to every stereotype that was branded onto werewolves and make sure that they weren’t able to put their arms around anyone like that ever again.

Finally, I decided that I had had enough of watching Sirius flirt with some bimbo. I slammed my book shut and stood up. I made sure that he saw the sharp glare that I shot his way before I stalked out of the dormitory altogether

The hallways were relatively empty since it was a fair way into the afternoon already. A lot of the students that would normally be crowding around as they drifted from place to place had settled down before dinner time came around.

I turned down endless halls and walked quickly past dozens and dozens of rooms before I finally got to my desired location. I pressed my hand against the door and opened it so that I could escape out of the castle and more importantly, get further away from Sirius and his most recent affair.

The frigid air made the red hot anger inside of me subside just a bit, though it still boiled in the pit of my stomach. I walked through the courtyard and then under one of the arches so that I could get to the wider grounds. I headed toward my favorite tree to sit and read under, thinking that I may be able to get some alone time to mull over my emotions.

When I arrived, I found that I would not be alone underneath the willow tree on this current evening. Two students sat underneath the swaying branches of the old growth tree, chattering to each other in light voices that implied that the conversation wasn’t too serious. I walked closer to them and was able to spot Lily’s bright red hair among the startling white of the hoar frost clinging to the trees and mountains of snow piled on the ground. The other omega was a mystery to me until I drew a bit closer and was able to hear his voice.

“Remus!” Lily beamed, bright, and beautiful as always. Despite not being drawn to omegas like alphas were, I was able to appreciate how stunning she was.

“I was hoping that I would get a quieter place to read, but it appears that I’m out of luck,” he chuckled as my eyes strayed over to Severus.

The dark-haired omega was staring down at his hands, which were picking at the loose strands of string that had come up from the blanket they were seated on. For as much as the other three members of my group teased him for his appearance, he wasn’t actually too bad looking. His hair hid his alabaster face, hanging in sheets over his high cheekbones and gaunt eyes. The dark orbs seemed to hide a knowledge that none of them could even dream of beholding.

“We can-” Severus began but his friend quickly cut him off.

“Why don’t you join us? James is always telling me about how you don’t have many friends outside of the Marauders, perhaps you can start with us,” she chirped brightly.

“I do have friends outside of the Marauders, James just doesn’t consider people from other houses to be ‘proper friends,’ whatever that means,” I snorted. I took her offer and sat down closer to the Gryffindor omega than the Slytherin. I folded my legs underneath me and fiddled with the edges of the book in my hands. The anger that had been whirling through me earlier had turned to a dangerous resentment.

“He’s not the brightest,” Severus quipped before he realized what he had said and in the presence of whom and turned a bright shade of red. Luckily for him, I had had a run-in with James the other day and wasn’t too pleased with that alpha either. I let out a small chuckle, a smile crossing my features for a moment.

“Come on, Sev,” Lily whined, pouting at her friend. “You’re so mean to him. At least we’ve been dating longer than you and that weirdo did,” she snorted.

“You’ve dated someone?” I asked, trying as hard as possible to make sure that my voice is level so it doesn’t sound too surprised.

“Don’t act like I’m so repulsive no one would ever look at me,” he grumbled. He wrapped a string around his fingers and pulled it from the rest of the fibers with nimble and graceful fingers

“I didn’t mean to. You just don’t seem to be the type of person who would… date,” I said slowly.

“Well, I am. Not that it lasted long,”  his dark eyes darted away from his two companions, staring out at the rolling hills that led down to the tossing grey water of the lake.

“He was an ass, Sev,” Lily said softly as she reached one of her hands out to the omega.

I took in the situation with an uncharacteristically cold calculation. Of course, I had been known to be the smarter one in my direct friend group, but I still had more compassion than the common werewolf. Now, however, wheels whirled in my head and cogs turned quickly as I devised a truly wicked and cruel plan. The normal compassion that I held for all people and animals fled out of my mind as thoughts of revenge and jealousy took their place.

“Who was it that you were dating?” I asked the omega, hoping to get the answer that I wanted so that my plan would advance further.

“Oh, just some Slytherin upperclassman. You wouldn’t know who it is if I said a name,” he said quickly. His pale cheeks flushed once more and he avoided looking up at me or Lily.

“I know more people than James does, I think I would know who it was,” I laughed. To my delight, the heavy amounts of charm that I was laying on seemed to be working and he smiled and laughed.

The three of us sat and chatted for a bit longer, moving from dating when Lily got a little too excited and flustered about James. We discussed what the teachers had been assigning and the best way to go about finishing the assignments. When the conversation petered out for a moment, Lily decided that she had to go see her boyfriend and left me alone with Severus.

“I guess I should be going as well,” the omega mumbled as he wrapped his robes a bit closer around him and began to get up.

“Why?” I asked.

“Well, you don’t want to talk to me, you wanted to talk to Lily,” he said simply.

“I never said that,” I replied quickly. Annoyance sparked in the back of my mind and solidified my ideas that I had to get back at Sirius.

“I-I guess I just assumed…” he trailed off as he sunk down into himself like expecting to get hurt in some way.

“I would like to get to know you, Severus,” I said as I offered him a small smile. “If Lily and James are really going to do whatever they’re doing, then I think that you and I will be seeing a lot more of each other.”

“I suppose so,” he replied with a shrug.

“Plus, when you and I were talking with Lily here you seemed like a good conversationalist,” I smiled a little wider. I continued to talk with him like I had when Lily was there, and after a bit of time he finally relaxed and opened back up to me. We spent the rest of the afternoon together, just chatting about school and how things differed in our lives.

When we reached the end of the time we could spend outside, I finally decided that it was time to enact the next part of my plan. It could have been too soon and it was possible that he would turn me down, but from what I could pick up from the short conversation about his ex, he was desperate for love and still vulnerable from the breakup. Everyone had a rebound, so he wouldn’t expect the relationship I would start up with him to go anywhere, would he? I turned to him and asked, “Severus, would you like to go out with me the next Hogsmead weekend we get?”

“I-what?” he stuttered as he picked up the blanket and shook the snow off of it.

“As a date. I realized that I liked you more than I originally thought, so I would like to spend some more time with you. Romantically,” I said, giving him a polite smile.

“I, yeah, okay,” he replied, his cheeks a near-violent shade of red as he nodded. The black sheets of his hair hung down against his face once more before he darted away and back toward the castle.

I smirked to myself as I followed slowly after him. My plan was already underway and soon would be enough into action that I could move it to phase two.

---

“You’re a dog,” James snorted as we walked through the halls to get back to the dormitory. Classes had just ended, which separated us from the other two members of our immediate friend group since they had been assigned a different teacher during the last period of the day.

“I mean, yeah,” I snorted slightly and knocked my shoulder against his.

“Not like that, you git,” he snorted, batting a hand at my shoulder. I laughed back. “I meant that you’ve probably banged every age-acceptable omega and beta in this place other than Lily and Remus.”

“Ah yes,” I sighed. I had been joyous and laughing moments before but the comment made my heart sink down into my stomach.

“What? Did you want to bang Lily?” James asked, his voice had a bit of a feral bite to it.

“No, I didn’t want your courting partner,” I sighed with a slight roll of my eyes. James was just the kind of protective alpha that I seemed to be the opposite of. He defended Lily at all costs and would growl at anyone that made any kind of glancing look or snide remark about her. I tended to go the other way when it came to my partners. While Lily was the first omega or beta that James had ever courted, I had slept with more than I could count. I also didn’t really care what my past partners did once our time together was over. They were just a way to get rid of the thundering instincts pounding in the back of my mind.

“Then what do you want?” he asked curiously.

“Something that I can never have,” I frowned heavily.

“Why are you being so vague? We’ve been friends for as long as we’ve been going to Hogwarts. Just tell me what’s on your mind,” James replied simply as if anything could ever be that easy.

“I can’t tell you because I know you would try and intervene,” I replied. “And I know that the person that I really want would never love me back.”

“That can’t be true. Everyone in this school loves you and lots of people from elsewhere do too,” he grinned wickedly.

“Everyone except my parents,” I snorted, trying to make light of the situation with a joke that we had made a multitude of times beforehand. It worked and the other alpha laughed, snickering when he got a couple glares for the loud chuckles he had let out in the beginning.

He rounded the corner to get closer to the dorms, an area that had basically no one since most of the other Gryffindors had planned a meet up in the library to study things. The entire house had done so or decided that they would use the time to sneak away with their partners and do things that would make the teachers faint.

I stopped dead in my tracks, as did James as we looked down the hall. Remus had someone else pinned up against the wall, his hands roaming up and down omegan thighs and groping an ass. Their hands were threaded into his brown locks and holding his shoulders as small moans were released from the partner that my best mate was snogging.

“Is that Snivilus?” James finally blurted after we had been standing there for at least a couple of minutes.

“Fuck,” Remus swore from down the hall. He dropped the omega that he had been kissing and whirled around to see both of his alpha friends. “I thought you two would be… out.”

“Well, we’re not,” I replied through clenched teeth. Anger, jealousy, and concoction of other emotions I couldn’t place stirred together inside of me. I had the urge to go up and tear the omega’s throat out for daring to touch someone that was so clearly mine. I walked past them quickly, growling the password at the Fat Lady before I slammed the painting behind me in my hurry to get into the common room.

I threw my book bag down onto the table like it had been the one to offend me instead of the greasy Slytherin that my beta was apparently dating. I growled, running a hand through my wild brown locks before I began to pace around the red-colored room.

“I think that that was a bit of an overreaction,” James said as he walked into the common room and stood back to watch me.

“An overreaction?” I snapped as I turned to him. “He had his tongue down that whore’s throat and he didn’t even tell us that he was courting anyone.”

“Would you just shut up and listen for a minute?” James asked as he rolled his eyes in annoyance at me.

“Fine,” he growled darkly. I crossed my arms over my chest as stalked over to a seat, sitting down so that I could look at the alpha as he explained himself and the situation.

“If you hadn’t stormed in here in a fit of alpha rage that would rival my own, then you would have been around for Remus to explain what’s going on,” the other alpha said as he sat down in another chair so that they were at equal levels. “He and Sni-Severus have been dating for a while. Apparently, they got together some time in November. Remus didn’t want to tell us that he was courting or dating anyone because he thought that we would react badly when we found that it was Severus.”

“He’s been dating him for three months? If he had told us I would have been able to explain how stupid it is to be dating that Slytherin grease ball when there are perfectly good alphas that have been waiting for him for years,” I rambled.

“Wait…” James said, narrowing his dark eyes at me behind his thick spectacles. I could almost hear the turning on the cogs in his head as he riddled out my situation. “Are you jealous that Remus started dating before you grew the balls to ask him out?”

“No,” I replied stubbornly. The other alpha tilted his head so that he was looking at me over the top of the round rims. “Fine, I am.”

“Then you should wait until you’ve calmed down, and go talk to him,” he replied with a shrug.

“Lily is a bad influence on you. I miss the days when you would suggest pranking him instead,” I grumbled, though at this point I was just trying to prove a point.

“We can always prank him later. And there is the shovel talk,” James replied with a bright grin.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I replied with a definitive nod.

“Woah,” Peter groaned as he walked into the common room. He placed a hand over his nose to try and drown out the angry alpha scent that had leaked through my scent blocker when I had been pacing around. “What happened here? I thought that sex was banned in the common room.”

“Is this what you think sex smells like?” James asked as he turned to face the other member of our friend group.

“Yes?” he replied, though there was more question than statement to his tone.

“Wouldn’t there also have to be an omega or beta involved?” I snorted as I rubbed a hand over my face.

“I-I guess,” the dirty-blond beta sighed as he walked over to them and placed his bag on the floor. He tucked his feet underneath him as he sat down and pulled a bag of sweets from his pocket.

“Anyways,” I sighed, turning back to the other alpha. “We need to go give him the shovel talk right now. Especially if he and Remus have been dating for longer than we thought.”

“Remus is dating someone?” Peter asked, flabbergasted at the new revelation.

“This is a new thing. Apparently, he didn’t want us to know so that we wouldn’t bully his boyfriend,” James laughed.

“Oops. Now we all know,” I replied, though there was more snark and bite to my voice than there really should have been for the situation.

“Whatever. We should talk to Remus and get more of the story at dinner and then we can discuss the shovel talk,” James said. He reached down for his bag and pulled out a couple rolls of parchment and his textbook. He began to work on the homework that we had been assigned that day. Lily really had been rubbing off on him too much.

Dinner came quickly and the three of us hurriedly finished up the work that we had either been doing or were pretending to do. I hurried down to the dining hall, but because I was hungry and because I was eager to interrogate Remus and move along so that I could threaten Snivellus as well.

“Dude,” James complained as he finally caught up with me and sat down across the table. Peter sat next to me and moments later Remus walked over after saying goodbye to the Slytherin omega he had been sucking faces with earlier.

“You’re all here early,” he commented as he began to serve himself some of the food that was closest to our group.

“Well, we have something important to talk to you about,” I replied, trying to keep my voice light and non-accusatory. I didn’t do a very good job of it judging by the expression on his face.

He looked up from the basket of bread in his hands and narrowed his dark eyes at me dangerously. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Oh boy,” James sighed, picking at some of the vegetables on his plate. He leaned on his hand where it was perched with his elbow planted next to his plate on the table.

“You were dating someone for three months without telling us? We’re supposed to be friends, Remus,” I bit out, leaving out the possessive jealousy I was feeling.

“I don’t think that it’s that big of a deal,” Peter mumbled.

“Peter’s right. It’s not that big of a deal. I technically don’t have to tell you who I’m spending my time with or what kind of relationship we have friends or not. I don’t comment on all the time you spend with those omegas and betas you bring to the common room,” he replied as he stabbed his fork viciously into some of the food on his plate.

I swallowed a bit too quickly in my hurry to snap back at him and hurt my throat. This just turned to make my voice all the lower and gravely. “It’s not like I’m hiding them. Everyone knows that we’re together for however long we’re together for. I’m pretty sure no one knew about you and that grease ball of an omega.”

“Don’t start calling my boyfriend names just because you don’t like the fact that I’m dating him. If you spent more than five minutes using the stupid brain of your you might realize that bigger things are happening in the world than me finally dating someone,” Remus growled back.

“Do not start with that, Lupin,” I shot back quickly. “I know that we have the war to worry about and all of the people here that are already Death Eaters, but that should be all the more reason for us to tell each other the truth!”

“I didn’t want to tell you because you would act like this,” he gestured at me with both of his hands.

“Then how do you want me to act?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he rolled his amber eyes. “Maybe ‘Good jobs Remus. Despite being an undesirable beta you managed to get someone to date you.’ Would that be too hard?”

“Fine, good job. You started dating our enemy,” I snarked back. I knew that the words hurt him and I immediately regretted saying them as they fell from my lips.

“He hasn’t been the enemy since James and Lily started dating six months ago,” Remus sighed.

I didn’t say anything I knew that the moment I opened my mouth again I would just be spitting more fire at him. I rose from the table and stalked out of the great hall, leaving the other three members of the Marauders alone. I quickly made my way out of the castle and had gone all the way down to the lake before I finally let myself breathe.

I raised my arms over my head, threading my fingers together as I pressed my palms to the back of my skull. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, just letting the crisp March air into my lungs in a desperate attempt to try and calm down. I growled low as I saw the image of Remus with Sni-Severus in his arms like the omega belonged there. Remus belonged in my arms like that.

“Excuse me?” asked a voice from behind me.

I whirled around, already reaching for my wand as I thought that it was someone that meant harm to me.

“Woah,” Severus said, placing his arms in front of him with his palms towards me. “I just came out here to try and make the situation a little bit better.”

“How?” I asked, dropping my hand back down to my side and leaving my wand in the pocket of my robes.

“I don’t know,” he nervously shrugged. “Maybe apologize for all of the things that I’ve said about you?”

“Well, that would be a start. You did steal my best friend from me and convince him to hide a relationship from our entire friend group,” I sassed back. The omega flinched heavily and rubbed his arm nervously. I felt a bit bad for making him self-conscious, but I was boiling mad and there was no controlling my mouth now.

“I know…” Severus whispered. “He was the one that asked me out. And if it makes you feel any better he talks about you all the time,” he offered.”

“I guess so,” I grumbled. We both stood there in awkward silence for a few more moments before I felt the beginnings of a plan click their way into my mind. “So, how much do you think you know about Remus?”

“I- a lot, I guess,” he replied, brows furrowed together in confusion. “He’s told me about his mom and that his dad treats him pretty badly.”

“I see,” he nodded. “Well, he told me that he’s going to be at the Shrieking Shack tomorrow night around midnight and I think that if you really want to get to know him you should go there and meet him,” he smirked.

“That’s a really weird way of putting it,” Severus mumbled. “But thank you for accepting his and my relationship.”

I made an affirmative noise and pushed past him to go back to the dormitory in the Gryffindor tower. I gave him and Remus the same treatment for the next day, barely acknowledging them in the slightest and being hostile when I had to. I smiled as I leaned out of the tower window and watched the small figure of a student wrapped in a cloak quickly fleeing across the field and toward the Shrieking Shack.

“I still hate the days where Remus has to leave,” Peter pouted. We had taken to leaving after everyone had gone to bed, and if the full moon happened on a weekend it tended to take forever.

“Who’s that heading out already? We’re all here,” James said as he peaked over my shoulder.

“Oh, that’s Snivilus,” I replied with a wicked grin.

“What the Hell did you do?” he asked, growling darkly as the smell of angry alpha leaked out from the scent blocker on his neck.

“I just thought that if he was going to be dating one of our friends then he needed to know who he really was,” I replied with a shrug.

“He’s going to get himself killed you fucking idiot!” James swore as he rushed away from me and up the stairs to our dorm room. Peter was staring at me in horror and slowly the realization of what I had done began to sink in. Guilt ate at my stomach, making me regret how much I’d inhaled at dinner. Soon my best friend returned back with the invisibility cloak. He ushered both out of the common room and then flung it over us. Peter quickly focused and turned into a rat so that the cloak would cover us all fully.

“You’re so stupid,” James hissed. “I liked it better when you just had sex with some random omega or beta and didn’t care what they did in their spare time. This is so dangerous,” he lectured as he made our way through the halls until we had gotten outside. Peter pulled on my curly locks with his tiny claws, just adding to the pain that was already flowing through my body due to that part of me.

When we reached the Shrieking Shack, we used the invisibility cloak right up until the door. James then threw it off and shifted into his stag form, prompting me to turn into the giant black dog. We rushed through the house to find where Severus had gone. Peter was still clinging to my fur tightly as we rushed to Remus’s favorite room.

Severus was on the ground, scrambling to get back to a corner as Remus, in his wolf form, slowly stalked closer and closer. “Please, I don’t-” the omega panicked, holding his arm close to himself as his wrist was bent at an odd angle.

I barked and made sure that the noise was loud enough that I could draw the attention of my out-of-control friend. It worked, quickly bringing the wolf to look at me. James rushed into the room and bowed his head at Severus before ushering him toward the door with his horns. I growled at Remus, barking once more as I walked closer and closer to him to get him to back up into the corner and away from the door.

When I was sure that James had gotten Severus out of the house I let Remus out of his confinement and laid down next to the wall with my head on my paws. I closed my eyes and ignored everything for the rest of the night.

I only got up from my spot when I felt the sunlight drop down onto my snout, awakening me from the fitful slumber that I had fallen into. I shifted back into my human form as Remus would no longer be in his wolf form if the sun was out. I glanced around and saw the other teen huddled in the corner with a pair of damaged pants on with nothing else. I stood up and removed my cloak, placing it on the beta before I touched his shoulder.

“Go away,” he growled darkly.

“What?” I asked, momentarily forgetting that he could see flashes of what happened in his wolf form.

“You made him come here, I know you did,” he hissed as he jutted a finger at my chest. “He was terrified!”

“He needed to see all of you if he was going to date you,” I replied, catching the finger and holding it in my clenched fist.

“I was going to tell him in my own time!” Remus shouted.

“You’ve never told anyone about it before. We had to find out the same way,” I retorted quickly.

“Why do you even care what he thinks of me?” he snarled.

“Because I’m in love with you!” I roared, anger and frustration soaring through me in a quick flash.

Remus shut down and removed his finger from my hands. He turned the full way and stared at me with confusion written all over his features. He blinked twice at me. “What?”

“I love you. The only reason that I slept with so many of the people around the school was so that I could fill the hole that you were leaving. You never showed any desire to date anyone so I assumed that you’d be one of the people to go work with dragons…” I rambled.

“I-I loved you too,” he stuttered, looking up at me with those caramel eyes. “I mean, I still do.”

“Then why go and date someone else when I’m right here?” I asked quietly.

“Because you were never right here. You were always with someone else and I knew that I wanted something from you that you hadn’t given anyone else. If something is going to happen between us then I need all of you to be here for me. I don’t want some fuck and abandon. I want you,” he rambled nervously.

“Then have me. I’m willing to dedicate that much of myself to you,” I promised as I reached out for his hand. He complied and placed his hand into mine. I gripped it tightly and brought him close to me, pressing our lips together in a wonderful kiss.

---

I peaked my eyes open as the nightmare stuck heavily to my eyelids. The sunlight was pouring through the uncovered glass in the windows, casting sunbeams down to the floor in a magnificent spectacle. I sat up on the bed and turned over so that I was leaning against the pillows behind me. I wasn’t used to waking up to the sun since the Slytherin common room and dorms didn’t get light and my room at home had windowless, drab walls. The hospital wing was covered in them however, most likely for the commonly held belief that sunlight could be beneficial for those suffering from illness and injury.

My wrist throbbed as a reminder of my own wounds. I had spent the night regrowing the bone chips that had shattered and been removed when I landed on it wrong. I winced and let out a truly omegan whine, something that I hated that I had no control over.

“You’re awake, well done,” Madame Pomfrey said in her normal sarcastic-saturated voice as she walked over to my bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” I replied, blinking slowly at the beta as she placed her hand on my cheek and my forehead. “And nauseous.”

“You shouldn’t be feeling nauseous from the Skelligrow, the tiredness is normal,” she tutted.

“I’ve been feeling nauseous for a week,” I mumbled.

“Suspicious. Have you had any other symptoms? Or vomiting?” she asked as she sat on the edge of the bed.

“I puked once a couple days ago but I figured that I had just gotten some potion in my system from my homework,” I said simply. The fixating stare she locked onto me made my skin crawl like a million spiders had taken up residence on my muscles.

“Anything else?”

“I suppose that I’ve been clingier to my partner?” I offered. The thought of Remus sent a shudder through my body as I remembered the terrifying creature that I had watched him turn into and then the way he had attacked me as if he didn’t know who I was.

“Now these questions may feel a little intrusive, but I do need to ask them,” she sighed. She got up from the bed and drew the curtains around the bed before casting a couple charms to make sure that no one would be able to hear the conversation.

I was suddenly more awake than I had been moments before as panic rushed from my stomach all throughout my body. I could feel the blood drain from my face and into my rapidly beating heart.

The healer took her place on the side of my bed and placed her cold hand on my leg through the thin hospital blanket that I had been given. “Are there any other peculiarities that you’ve noticed since the nausea began?” she asked.

“I guess so,” I replied with a shrug.

“I need you to tell me what they are,” she pried.

“I’ve been eating more than normal even though I’ve felt sick,” I shrugged. I wrapped my arms self-consciously around my middle as something deep inside of me told me to.

“Have you and this partner been sexually active?”

“I-uh, what?” I asked blood flooding to my face as quickly as it could to give me a dark blush.

“I assume that your partner is an alpha or a beta, and I need to know if you’ve been sexually active,” she continued.

“We’ve only slept together once. I know that it’s against the rules but we just got so caught up with each other that we didn’t really know what was happening and then we had already done it. Please don’t get him and me in trouble,” I pleaded desperately.

“Did you do it with protection?” she asked instead.

“I-no. We forgot to do any of the spells before or after because we nearly got caught,” I replied, letting shame replace the embarrassment from earlier as I bowed my head at her.

“You’re aware that you could be pregnant, correct?” she asked as she stood up and tugged the curtains closer together.

“I never thought about that. My mother and father had a hard time conceiving so I assumed that I wouldn’t be able to,” I replied. My heart began to hammer even harder in my chest, banging against my ribcage like it was trying to burst forth.

“I legally have to perform a test on you,” Madame Pomfrey winced as she grabbed her wand out of the overly full pockets on her apron.

“O-okay,” I replied shakily with a small nod.

She pressed me back against the pillows with one of her calloused hands. “Pull up your shirt for me, please,” she requested as she adjusted the hold of her wand in her hand. I did as I was told and pulled the fabric of my shirt over my stomach, revealing the pale skin there. She placed her wand over my stomach, holding it so that it was about an inch over the skin and the tip reached my hip while the hilt rested over the other. She murmured a couple of words under her breath, still speaking clearly while moving the wand down and then back up.

Slowly, a yellow glow emanated from my abdomen and up to the wand like a reverse spotlight.

“What does that mean?” I asked, my hands going down next to my sides to grasp at the sheets underneath me. Fear ebbed its way through my veins, filling up my entire person and consuming me.

“This means that you’re pregnant, Snape,” she whispered.

“I-I,” I stuttered out as tears welled up in my eyes. They sat on my lashes for a mere moment before they tipped over and rushed down my pale cheeks and then onto my neck. I quickly pushed my shirt down and sat up, ignoring the pain in my only slightly-healed wrist as I brought my hands up to my eyes to try and wipe away the tears. I felt a hand on my back, rubbing soothing circles as I sobbed while thoughts rushed through my head.

The last time that I had seen my boyfriend, and apparently the father of my unborn baby, he had tried to kill me. The cool determination in the wolf’s eyes made ice crawl through my veins. How could I tell Remus that I was carrying his pup when he had tried to kill me just the night before? I was aware that he had been hiding something from me but I had never expected it to be something like that or for me to find out through someone other than him. This was far too overwhelming for me to deal with at once.

“When was the time that you and this partner slept together?” the nurse asked as she raised an eyebrow.

“Uh, sometime around December or January,” I replied, rubbing my arm nervously.

“Then you should be around two or three months pregnant. You won’t start showing beyond the ability to hide it until your sixth month. Seeing as school ends in May, you should be able to hide the bump for the duration of the pregnancy until you graduate,” she rambled. I nodded as my way of conveying that I was listening to her.

“You will have the option to tell your parents until I inform the headmaster,” Madame Pomfrey said in her soothing tone as I finally stopped crying and calmed down. “I have to tell him in a week, so I suggest that you tell your parents and the father of the pup before then. Come and speak to me when you’ve decided what you want to do with him,” she gestured to my stomach before she got up and left.

I sat there in silence, trying to process everything that had happened that morning and the night before. I didn’t know how long I had been still when I finally came out of my stupor long enough to know that I should get going. I stood up from the bed and grabbed my robe from the chair next to the bed I had been set up in. I quickly covered myself and wrapped my arms around my stomach for a moment before I dropped my hands and then hurried out of the hospital wing and down to the Slytherin common room.

I darted into my dorm, which was thankfully empty, and changed out of my day-old clothes and into a pair of pajamas before ducking into the spare shower attached to the dorm room. When I was clean and dressed I picked up my school bag and left to go to my next class. I knew that the teachers probably wouldn’t be expecting me to come to any of my classes today since they were notified of my injury last night, but I was hoping that getting back on my routine would help me temporarily forget about the problem growing in my stomach.

The day flew by, with almost no one talking to me. Lily and James normally at least said hello but apparently, I seemed to be putting off some sort of scent that repelled everyone from me. I skipped lunch as it would be too much to go into the Great Hall and see Remus with his friends when I knew that I was pregnant with his child.

Someone finally talked to me for the first time since Madame Pomfrey that morning when I was outside, trying to complete the homework that had been assigned that day. I broke the wrist on the arm that I normally write with so the entire process was taking an annoyingly long time.

“Hey, Sev,” Lily’s calm voice cooed as she walked over to our normal hangout spot. “How are you doing?”

“My wrist hurts,” I replied with a small shrug. I wanted more than anything to tell her since I knew that she would make the situation either a thousand times better or worse.

“James told me what happened,” she said as she gracefully sat down next to me and rubbed my shoulder.

“Everything? Even the part about Remus?” I asked, glancing over at her with one eye as I let my hair fall down in front of my face.

“Yeah,” she nodded. She wrapped an arm around my shoulder and brought me into a half hug as she placed her head against mine softly. “I’m so sorry that that had to happen to you. That wasn’t something that Sirius should have done, jealousy or not.”

“He was jealous of me?” I asked, my heart sinking. I knew that Remus had feelings for Sirius, but I figured that they would fade the longer that we were together.

“Full-on alpha rage,” Lily nodded sadly.

I stayed silent for a moment before I took a deep breath and got ready to admit the truth. “When I was in the hospital wing for my wrist Madame Pomfrey got suspicious and had to do another test on me. It turns out…” I trailed off as my courage faltered.

“Please tell me that you’re not dying,” she pleaded as she took my hand and grasped it in hers.

“No, not dying. At least not yet,” I muttered sarcastically.

“Sev, please don’t joke about things like that right now,” she whined as she brushed a couple strands of hair out of my face.

“Madame Pomfrey performed a pregnancy test on me and it came back positive,” I rushed the words out as quickly as I could. A frigid feeling of dread settled over me as I waited to lose my best friend and be truly alone in the world once more. My parents wouldn’t care much about the pregnancy and would just use it as the perfect excuse to disown me.

“That’s…” Lily trailed off, her eyes wide with an emotion I didn’t know how to read. She just pulled me into a hug, wrapping her arms around me as she released her lovely apple scent that wasn’t contained by the scent blocker. I buried my face in her neck and took the scent in as it was the only thing that could stabilize my chaotic life. Slowly, I let myself cry for the second time that day.

When I finished I pulled my head back and wiped my face off on the sleeves of my robe.

“What are you going to do?” she asked, placing her hand once again on my shoulder.

“What do you mean?”

“Are you going to keep the baby? Are you going to give him up for adoption? Are you going to go through with the pregnancy at all?” she prompted.

I opened my mouth to answer her but found that I didn’t know what I was going to do. “I don’t know,” I finally breathed. Admitting it seemed to help, but the unsettled feeling still rested in every crevice of my mind.

“I think you should start by telling the father. Please tell me that it’s Remus and not him,” Lily murmured as she reached out and grabbed both of my hands in hers.

“It is Remus. I wasn’t together with him for long enough to sleep with him,” I shook my head.

“Then you should go tell Remus about the baby,” Lily said. She dropped my hands and stood up, gathering up my things before she offered one of her delicate hands to me. I took it and stood up, swaying for a minute like I had for the past two weeks. Together, we walked back to the school and up through the winding corridors to get to the Gryffindor common room.

“Wait, I’m scared,” I whispered, stopping just short of the door where she would say the password and let us inside. She hadn’t yet let go of my hand, so when I stopped she was tugged back with me.

“Remus won’t just up and abandon you,” she promised with a reassuring smile. “And if he does James and I will be here to help take care of you whatever you choose to do.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” she grinned, her eyes sparkling adoringly at me before she turned back to the painting. Everything had been going too fast up to this point, but now the world seemed to slow to a crawl as we walked through the small hallway leading to the common room and then entered in the rest of the way. It was a lovely day outside so most people were lounging around in one of the areas outdoors which left only two people in the common room.

“Remus?” I asked, my eyes nearly bulging out of my skull. Seconds ticked one by one as I processed what I was seeing. My boyfriend was perfectly placed on top of his best friend’s lap as their lips stuck together. Sirius had his hand-woven into the dusty brown locks just like I had two weeks ago and again just the day before. Tears blurred my vision as their kiss slowed and they looked up to me.

“What the fuck?” I cussed, my hands balling into fists beside my as rage seethed through my pores and infiltrated my very being.

“Severus?” Remus asked as he sprang out of Sirius’ lap as quickly as humanly possible. “It’s not what it looks like!”

“It’s not? Then what is it?” I snapped bitterly.

“We were just... I mean, I-” he stuttered as he hurried around the edge of the couch and tried to grab my hands.

“Don’t touch me,” I growled, backing away from him slightly. Lily placed a hand on my back and was letting a cool, yet angry scent out.

“What? Are you afraid of him now that you know?” Sirius asked as he walked behind the beta, my supposed boyfriend.

“No! And I wouldn’t have been scared of him in the first place if you hadn’t sent me into the middle of a dangerous situation where neither of us had any idea what was going on,” I sassed back.

The alpha growled darkly at me and wrapped his arm around Remus’ waist as if just to show how much closer they were. “That doesn’t change the fact that you were still scared of him. I was never scared of him.”

“I’m not some piece of meat that you two get to fight over like animals!” Remus scolded as he stepped away from the alpha.

“This shouldn’t have to be a fight. You’re my boyfriend! You and I have been dating for months and-and,” I faltered, unable to get the words past my life.

“And what?” Sirius snapped viciously.

“And I’m pregnant you fucking asshole!” I cussed as I stormed out of the room. I had made my way down a couple of hallways before Lily was able to catch up with me.

“Sev, please wait up,” she pleaded as she jogged after me. The skirt that some people could opt to wear was a bit constricting when it came to running. I did as she asked and stopped, letting her catch up to my side. She instantly flung her arms around me and rubbed our necks together to scent me. “I’m so sorry that that had to happen to you.”

“I hate him so much,” I whispered into her shoulder as my arms came up to hold her as close to me as I could.

“I know. You have the right to hate him that much,” she replied with a small shake of her head. “It makes sense why they would. That was a horrid thing that they did.”

“I just want someone to love me,” I murmured as tears slipped down my face and onto my neck.

“I know. I know,” she whispered as she rubbed the back of my head and rocked us back and forth. “You deserve someone that is going to love you after all you’ve been through.”

“Do I? The forces above don’t seem to think that I do,” I seethed as I wiped the tears from my face and sniffled a small bit.

“You do. You’ve just been looking in the wrong places,” she smiled cryptically. “Now do you want to go down to the Great Hall for dinner with me? James and I were planning on sitting away from Remus and Sirius today anyway. Maybe Peter will join us too.”

“Okay,” I replied, giving her a small smile. She beamed back at me, which caused my heart to flutter eagerly in my chest. She slipped her hand into mine as we walked down to the Great Hall below us. James and Peter were already sitting further down the table than they normally did. Peter’s plate was already full of food, and just the sight of dinner made my stomach growl loudly as if reminding me that I hadn’t yet eaten anything.

“Hey,” James smiled as he motioned for me to sit at one of the empty spots while making grabby hands at his girlfriend. Lily let my hand go only to circle around the end of the table and sit next to her courting partner. I sat down and began to load up my plate with food.

“How is your wrist feeling?” Peter asked as he nibbled on a piece of bread.

“Better than it was this morning,” I replied with a small shrug before my eyes darted back up to James. “I should thank you since you were the one that came to help me. If you didn’t I would have been a lot more injured,” one of my hands drifted down to my stomach.

“It was the right thing to do. I know that we’ve had our differences, but I’ve grown up a little bit since I started dating Lils,” James smiled back at me.

“More than a little bit. You’re making great progress,” the redhead praised as she kissed her cheek before resuming her meal.

“I’m really sorry that Sirius did that to you. Normally when he pulls pranks it’s just to make somebody laugh or be really confused. He’s never tried to hurt someone like that before,” Peter said. I could tell that he was earnest in his apology to me, which certainly helped with the messy turmoil of emotions that were whirling in my heart.

“Seeing as I’ve been at the backend of most of your pranks up until this year, they were never very funny,” I replied.

I was still a little bitter, but as time passed it slowly faded from me. I held resentment for Remus as he had taken advantage of me in more ways than one. I spent more time with my best friend and her boyfriend, slowly getting used to spending my time around the obnoxiously charismatic Gryffindors and less time around the back-stabbing slyness of my Slytherin housemates. I had never had many friends in the first place, and even less when my omegan secret finally came to light so I didn’t miss them much. My parents disowned me just as I had expected them to, but there was no howler to announce my secret to the entire school.

The next time that I spoke to Remus was when he cornered me outside of the library with Lily when I was getting closer to my third month. “Sev,” he pleaded as he reached out and caught my arm.

“You don’t get to call me that anymore,” I replied as I wrenched my arm out of his hold and narrowed my eyes at the beta. “You can call me Snape.”

“Fine, but we really do need to talk,” he said, shoulders sagging as he stared down at the ground.

“We can talk in the library, my ankles hurt,” I grumbled as I glanced at Lily.

“Are you sure? You don’t have to even give him the time of day after what he did to you,” she murmured as we continued on our way with the dejected beta following slowly behind us.

“I need to talk to him anyway. There’s the whole matter of… you know what,” I mumbled as my hand pressed to my still flat stomach for a moment. I would be five or six months along when we graduated and I wasn’t planning on coming back for the eighth year since I would have a baby to take care of. I was already good in potions so I figured I’d be able to find a job somewhere in desperate need of someone like me.

We walked back to one of the more secluded parts of the library and sat down at the table. “What do you want to talk about?” I asked. Something inside of me wanted to forgive him immediately and have everything go back to the way that it had been before, but I knew that it was my pregnancy hormones.

“The baby,” he replied, his eyes glued to my expertly hidden stomach.

“What about him?” I growled back defensively. Lily reached out and rubbed my shoulder as her way of showing what little support she could.

“Are you going to keep it?” he asked.

“Of course I am. I know I act like some pre-feral omega but I actually care about the pup I’m carrying,” I hissed quietly. I wanted to correct the objectifying of our-my child, but I had bigger battles to fight at the moment.

“You know that there’s a possibility that it could be a werewolf, right?” he asked, narrowing caramel eyes at me.

“That doesn’t bother me. I’m better at potions than you are so I’d be able to make a draft to help with the uncontrollable rage and painful transformations,” I replied quickly.

“So you’re just going to let yourself give birth to another monster that will be tortured and unloved?” Remus growled.

“My child will not be a monster. I have been one of the people that this world has shown no love to and I will make sure that I love my pup more than anything else,” I narrowed my eyes and released my scent for the first time since he had swept me into the conception of my baby.

“Fine,” he spat back in reply. “If you’re going to keep it then I should get custody too.”

“No,” Lily and I both said at the same time.

I glanced over at her and felt another surge of confidence as she gave me a determined look. “You just called the pup a monster and said that he would be discriminated against. There’s no way in Hell I would let you have any rights to my baby or let you see him if you’re going to act like that when you’re around him.”

“I wish I had never had sex with a whore like you,” Remus muttered darkly as he stood up and stalked quickly away from our little corner of the library.

I sat in my seat numbly, both of my hands laid limply in my lap while I processed what my ex-boyfriend had said to me. I had been so in love with him just weeks beforehand, it was insane how quickly he had changed from the adoring beta I’d fallen for into the abusive, rude man that had been before me seconds ago.

“You did the right thing, Sev,” Lily said softly as she placed her hand on my shoulder and then wrapped me in an adoring hug. I placed my hands over her arms as a way of hugging her back and leaned into the embrace. “You don’t even have to give him the time of day now.”

“He called me a whore… where did the beta I fell in love with go?” I asked.

“I don’t know. He’s not acting much like the Remus I knew either,” she sighed as she placed her chin on my shoulder. We fell silent for a bit, both of us stewing in our emotions.

“I thought I’d find you two in here,” James grinned at us as he rounded the corner and entered into our little alcove. “Why are you so glum?”

“Remus followed us in here because he wanted to talk,” Lily began.

“So? Sirius was the one that basically jumped you when this went down,” James said as he pulled over a chair and sat down next to us.

“Remus called me a whore and called the baby a monster,” I replied bitterly.

“Oh.”

“It took almost all of my willpower to not knock his teeth out,” Lily grumbled with a scowl.

“I think I might have to have words with him,” James nodded as he rubbed his face. “I was coming to talk about something a little more chipper but it feels like the wrong time now.”

“No, I need something happy. My life has sucked for the past couple of months,” I replied with a small shake of my head.

“Well, Lily and I did some talking last night and I finally made up my mind. When we all graduate, I want us to move in together. I have a trust fund from my parents and if I pass all of my exams I can become an Auror and start getting my own funding as well. We can buy a house in a nice little muggle village and live out our lives until we’re old and grey.”

“Is this your way of asking us to be a pack?” I asked with a small smile. The idea made my heart flutter happily in my chest in a way that being with Remus hadn’t. Lily had been the object of my affections for so long, and James didn’t look bad nor was he as much of a prick as I originally thought that he was. I enjoyed being around them both and even if I didn’t become mates with them, being in their pack would be lovely.

“Cute,” Lily cooed as she left her place around my shoulders and attacked her boyfriend with happy little kisses all over his face.

“What about the baby?” I asked after a moment as I placed my arms protectively around my unnoticeable bump.

“We’ll get a house with two extra bedrooms. One for you, one for the pup!” James grinned with a shrug. “It’ll work.”

“That would be… amazing,” he murmured as he grinned.

“Great!” he announced before a ghost poked his head through a bookcase just to shush us.

I avoided Sirius and Remus like they had the plague for the next month of school. We were placed away from each other during the exams however, which was the best part of them. I got morning sickness and scent replacer drafts from Madame Pomfrey after I explained my situation to her. I began to keep the heavy drapes around my bed drawn and locked with spells as I had created a nest out of blankets from wherever I could find. Lily and James became fiercely protective over me, but we all decided that we shouldn’t actually form a pack until we were living with each other and had a firm grasp on what our lives would be.

Lily and I kept getting closer now that James had realized that I wasn’t as awful as he initially thought. She began to get clingier, giving me more hugs and kisses on the cheek. It wasn’t unwelcome, in fact, I adored it more than anything else. James also began to show physical affection towards me as well as spend more time around me without Lily. I cursed myself when my heart began to flutter eagerly at just the thought of being around them and spending time with them. I had fallen for them and I had no way of getting out of it.

I had expected them to withdraw their offer to have me in their pack when we had actually graduated. However, they found me on the day that we were all packing up to leave the school for good and sat with me the entire train ride back.

“Here,” James said, grabbing my bag before I had the chance to. He placed it on the trolley and then did the same to Lily’s. Her cat made an unappreciative yowl as she was jostled around in her carrier.

“James left last week for a night and settled on a house in a place where his parents approve. Isn’t this exciting?” Lily giggled as she grabbed my hand and wove her fingers together.

“I can’t believe that you two are actually letting me be a part of your pack, especially with the baby on the way,” I mumbled, placing a hand under my rounded stomach.

“Speaking of which, I told my mom about your situation and she said that there would be a surprise for you when we got to the house,” James grinned as he turned back to look at me. We exited through the entrance to Platform 9 ¾ and out in the wider muggle train station. Lily opens the trunk to the car that her parents had bought her after her sixteenth birthday and loads our trunks into it. She then got into the driver seat and James got into the front passenger seat. I got into the middle of the backseat and let out a small chuckle as her cat lets out a yowl of protest once more. We would have apparated if not for the risks that came with apparating when pregnant.

When we arrived at the house, I had to be shaken awake since the long drive through the countryside had put my right to sleep. I yawned and rubbed away the blurriness that my eyes always collected when I napped.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” James teased with one of his winning smiles.

“You try to stay awake when you’re growing a human inside of you,” I bit back playfully in reply. He chuckled and offered me a hand to help me up, something that was getting slightly more difficult the larger that the pup got.

“You really picked a good one, James,” a beta woman told my friend as she walked over to where we were now talking by the car. She had shaggy brown hair and the same lovely blue eyes that James had but her face looked nothing like his. “And you must be Severus!” she beamed as she turned to me.

“Ah, yes I am,” I nodded as I placed a hand on the bottom of my stomach protectively.

“James and Lily have both told me so much about you. I’m glad that they took you in and decided to start a pack with you. Trust me, it will be good for the pup,” the woman, who must have been Mrs. Potter promised with a pretty smile.

“I hope so. Things have been pretty bad so far,” I winced in remembrance of how badly my hips had been hurting just yesterday.

“I’m so sorry that you had to go through this so young and that the father bailed on you,” Mrs. Potter tutted. The sun disappeared behind a cloud and she began to usher us into our new home, where Lily and James had already brought our bags in and released Crookshanks from his carrier.

“Now, I don’t know if James told you this or not, but I have been preparing the house since we bought it for him. And as soon as he told me that you were expecting I knew that I had to do something for you,” she grinned wickedly.

“He did tell me about that,” I nodded as I glanced over at the aforementioned alpha. He grinned back to me and gave me a thumbs-up before he was dragged into the kitchen by Lily.

Mrs. Potter began to walk through the house, leading me through the living room and into a hallway. From what I had seen, it was a lovely home that would be amazing to live in and even better to raise a child in. The front door opened into a small mudroom with tastefully tiled floors. It had a closet to the side for coats and a storage container for shoes as well as a key hanger. There was another door with lots of ornate glass in the upper half. When opened, it revealed the living room and had a hallway down the right and a kitchen to the left. The entire house was done in the most gorgeous hardwood that I had ever seen. The living room had a fireplace with a large mantle and several built-in bookshelves to either side. The bookcases were already half-way filled with Lily’s collection and a couple that I’m sure Mrs. Potter had left in her hopes that her son would one day read them.

As I walked down the hall, I looked at some of the photos already hanging on the walls. There were a couple of Lily and me in our beginning years of friendship, taken with Muggle cameras. The one near the first room was James and the rest of his friends, which had been taken before Sirius and Remus had turned to dreadfully tainted. I peeked into the first room and found that it was a bathroom.

The tile was the same as it had been in the mudroom and the countertops matched with it tastefully. It was decently sized with a tub and shower tucked into a divet in the wall. Behind the door, I assumed that there would be some type of linen or storage closet.

I turned back and followed after Mrs. Potter as we kept walking down the hallway. We went up a staircase that I was dreading descending when my belly got so big that I couldn’t see my toes. There was another hallway up the stairs, though this one went the other way. It had four rooms, two on each side. The one closest to the stairs was another bathroom and then on the other side, Mrs. Potter stopped and opened the door to reveal a bedroom.

“This is your room,” she said. “I know it’s bare, but you’ll have plenty of time to change it to your liking,” the beta chuckled.

I smiled back at her and took a step in to look at what they had placed in it so far. My trunk was placed against the wall, leaning against a gorgeous oak desk. It had a comfortable chair tucked between the drawers on one side and the legs on the other. It had a lamp on one corner, the corner closest to the wall. There was a bookshelf on the northernmost wall, containing a couple books that I assumed they had somehow obtained from my mother and father’s house. The bed was underneath the window and decorated with warm and heavy quilts. I was going to have to change those out before I went to sleep tonight since the pregnancy had made it unbearable to sleep under anything less than a top sheet. There was a closet on the last and final wall, just large enough to fit the limited clothing items that I owned. The room was much larger than my one with my parents had been and much brighter than that one had been as well.

“It’s lovely,” I smiled happily as I turned and walked back to the last room on the right side of the wall. I walked in after Mrs. Potter and gasped.

The room had been decorated as a nursery. The walls were a delicate baby blue with animal trim at the top and bottom. The window was large and framed with lilac curtains that were blowing in the breeze. Underneath the window was a little bookshelf with more children’s stories that I could hope to read to the pup in a year. The crib was white with a pastel yellow mattress lining the bottom. A matching rocking chair was in the corner right next to it, covered with a blanket that had the same color scheme as the rest of the room. The crib had a mobile with little broomsticks hung from the circlet. There was a changing table stocked with wipes, nappies, and a couple other miscellaneous baby things that would undoubtedly come in handy later. The closet was shut and had a rug spread out on the ground in front of it. It had several toys and more than enough stuffed animals piled on top of each other.

“This is wonderful,” I breathed, pressing a hand to my stomach as I thought about the tiny baby growing inside of me. In just four or five short months he would be here, growing up in this very nursery. The thought brought tears to my eyes and soon had me crying. Mrs. Potter wrapped her arms around me and rubbed my back as I sobbed into her shoulder.

“Shh, it’s alright love,” she cooed as she brought me over to the rocking chair and had me sit down.

“Sev? Is everything okay?” Lily asked as she rushed into the room from where she had been exploring the house herself. She grabbed my hand and kissed my knuckles.

James followed after her, worrying his lip in between his teeth. “Is the nursery okay? I know the broomstick mobile is a little cheesy but I thought it was cute. We can change it if you don’t like it,” he mumbled.

“No, this is wonderful,” he whispered as he wiped at his face. “I love it so much.”

“Why are you crying, then?” James asked as he placed a hand on my shoulder and rubbed gently.

“It’s just something that happens during pregnancy, love,” Mrs. Potter replied.

“I can’t wait to raise my pup here,” I grinned widely as I looked over to the two people I loved most in the world.

“We can’t wait to raise him here either,” Lily giggled as she kissed my cheek. “Love you.”

Mrs. Potter slipped quickly out of the room, leaving us to spend some time together.

“Wh-what?” I asked, eyes wide as excitement and apprehension filled me.

“Sorry,” she mumbled as she looked down at her knees and the floor underneath her. “I wasn’t going to say anything since I know that you haven’t had any luck with relationships in the past. I didn’t want to coerce you into anything or pressure you in any way.”

“Lily, I’ve been in love with you since our fourth year,” I laughed bitterly.

“I told you, Lils,” James snickered.

“You’re okay with her loving someone other than you?” I asked him.

“I mean, yeah. If I’m being honest my ideal situation would be the three of us together but I understand that that can’t happen…” James mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Says who?” I asked as I stood up from the rocking chair and turned around. I stood up on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his, finally giving in to the desires that I had been having for a good month now. He wrapped his arms around my hips and tipped my backward slightly as he returned the kiss.

When we pulled back Lily began to pepper my face with kisses just like I had seen her do with James so many times before. I giggled and nuzzled against her scent gland once I had the opportunity to. She purred eagerly and scented me with her decidedly mate scent, claiming me in the only way that she could. I released a scent like that as well and claimed her before rubbing against James as well. We would have to wait until my next heat after the baby was born or else there was a chance I could feral and reject the pup. James scented me back, making us all effectively mates until the pup was born.

---

The hot July air seeped through the cracks in the windows and hung heavy in our rooms. The breeze helped a small bit, blowing the curtains that hung around the windows up before they drifted back down to their proper locations.

James was away at work again and had to stay late tonight. I don’t know why he insisted on becoming an Auror when we were already part of the Order of the Phoenix and we were in the midst of the most dangerous time of our lives.

Crookshanks was lounging in the shade underneath one of the footstools littered around the living area to try and cool himself off.

“It’s so hot,” I complained, throwing my head back against the throw blanket on the back of our couch.

“If you think you’re hot imagine what it’s like being pregnant in this heat,” Severus complained from where he was sitting on the kitchen tile. In the mornings and evenings, he spent a lot of his time reading in his nest on the master bed, but during the day, especially in the overwhelming heat of the afternoon he would sit on the tile floor of the mudroom or the kitchen and read there. He hadn’t been able to find work yet due to the quickly advancing arrival of our pup.

“I know you’re uncomfortable Sev,” I sighed. I got up and walked around the couch to come and join him in the kitchen. My legs stuck to the chilled tile floor as I made sure not to touch him in fear of adding to his uncomfortableness.

“Being pregnant sucks,” he whispered as he placed his hands underneath his huge rounded bump.

“So you wouldn’t be willing to do this again? Even if James or I were the one to father the pup?” I asked.

“Maybe then. Just because of how much I love you,” he replied with a small smile. I leaned over and pressed a kiss to his lips. We had been scent-mated for about three months now and James and I couldn’t be happier.

“Ow,” Severus whispered, tensing up all of his muscles.

“Is this a false contraction?” I asked as I reached over and grabbed his hand.

“I’ve been having them all morning,” he mumbled in reply. “I was so uncomfortable last night that I just assumed I was more uncomfortable right now.”

“Sev, this isn’t good. You’re only seven months along,” I whimpered as I pressed a hand to the side of his face and then to his forehead. I didn’t know what I was looking for but it seemed like the right thing to do at the moment.

“I didn’t think that I could go into labor this early,” he whispered timidly. “I hope that this is just false contractions and not actual labor.

“Me too. I guess all we can do now is wait,” I mumbled with a small shrug. We sat on the kitchen floor together all afternoon. I got up and made us lunch and then a snack when the time for them came. I read to him at one point and got him pillows when he became uncomfortable.

“Severus? Lily?” James called as he walked into the house.

“In here, love!” I called back in reply as I ran my nimble fingers through Severus’s long locks. The pain hadn’t gone away as the day ebbed on and it was beginning to get worse. There was also a new smell flowing off of him that I couldn’t quite place.

“What’s going on?” James asked as he sat down next to me and reached out to place a hand on the baby bump.

“Sev has been in pain since last night and it’s just not going away,” I replied with a sigh.

“Do you think that we need to take him to the muggle hospital down the way?” James asked as he reached up and pet our omega’s face.

“I think that if it doesn’t go away by tonight then we need to,” I nodded.

“Ow,” he whispered again, tensing and griping at anything that he could. This pain had happened only two minutes after the last one did. “Can one of you help me up? I really want to go to my nest.”

“I can,” James replied, helping our omega stand up and slowly waddle his way through our home to get to the nest. He stopped just as he got to the stairs and whimpered as water-soaked his legs.

“Please tell me that’s not what I think it is,” I panicked.

“Did you just wet yourself?” James asked.

“No, you git!” he swore. “My fucking water just broke,” he whispered.

“We need to get him to the hospital. James, get him out to the car and I’ll grab some of the things that we need,” I said as I rushed past them and up the stairs. I could hear Severus swearing and growling in pain as James tried desperately to calm him down. I grabbed a change of clothes for me, Severus, and James. I then darted into the baby’s room and grabbed diapers, bottles, pacifiers, and a baby blanket that we were planning on bringing the pup home in. I stopped just before leaving the room and grabbed two onesies before I went down to the car. I stuck the bag in the trunk and then got into the front seat and started driving.

“I feel pressure,” Severus whispered as he clung tightly to James’s hand and his maternity dress over his belly. “I need to push.”

“Please try to hold on for just ten minutes,” I pleaded desperately as we sped down the road as fast as the speed limit and my rickety old car would allow.

“I don’t know if I can,” the omega replied, his voice strained as he forced himself to go against the instincts that his body was telling him to follow. “I can’t! Pull over, now!” he shouted.

We had just reached the outskirts of the town and we lived in a small enough village that there wouldn’t be anyone along this road for some time to help us. “James, apparate to get your mum,” I commanded as I unbuckled myself and rushed to the backseat of the car.

“Okay,” the alpha said. His eyes were wide and uncertain with fear as he focused for a moment and apparated away to get help. I opened the back door of the car and got in next to my omega mate. I grabbed his pants and underwear and pulled with one fluid motion like I had seen some people do on TV shows when I was younger. Severus whimpered and pressed his chin to his chest as he began to push.

There was a popping sound just outside of the car, alerting me to the presence of my alpha and his mother.

“Isn’t it a little early for labor to be starting?” Mrs. Potter asked as she walked behind me and peeked over my shoulder. She grimaced and then said, “Well, baby’s come when they choose, I suppose.”

“We can’t get him to the muggle hospital or Saint Mungos in the state that he’s in. What do we do?” I asked as I continued to hold Severus’s hand tightly in mine. He had relaxed against the back of the seat as red liquids dribbled down his leg and onto the fabric of the seat.

“We deliver the baby here and then transport them to Mungos,” she replied with a shrug. “Go around to the other side and I can get a blanket to catch the pup when he comes.”

I did as I was told and left my best friend for just a moment to go around to the other side of the car and grab that hand. James put the front passenger seat down and allowed his mother some more room to get in between Severus’s legs. He handed her the emergency wool blanket that we always kept in the back of the car and then held our omega’s other hand

“Good, I can see the head crowning,” Mrs. Potter praised after about ten minutes of Severus pushing his hardest.

“You’ve said that about five times now and the progress has just gone back,” he snapped moodily as he kept pushing. This time, the head didn’t duck back inside of his entrance like it had the past couple times and emerged further. He let out a stream of curses as he pushed once more and managed to get the head out.

“You’re doing so well, we’re so proud of you,” I praised, kissing his hand as I made sure that my worried scent didn’t leak out of my gland.

“You can do this, Sev. You’ve wanted to meet him so long and now you finally can,” James rambled almost incoherently as his way of working through the stress and anxiety coursing through us both. Severus pushed for another five minutes to get both of the shoulders out until the baby slipped out of him and into the blanket that Mrs. Potter was holding.

She caught the pup and wrapped him weakly in the wool cloth before placing him on Severus’s chest and then apparating to Mungos like had been discussed during the process of Severus birthing our pup.

“Wow, hi there,” the omega whispered as he stared down at his son with wide eyes. “You’re so small,” he whispered reverently. The pup coughed and began to scream and cry, much to the relief of my entire pack. I let out a wet laugh and wiped the tears off of my face as I looked down at the tiny pup.

I had heard stories of new parents praising their children for being the most beautiful beings in the world. I didn’t think that the newborn was particularly pretty, in fact, he looked a bit like a squashed meatloaf, but he was gorgeous in another way. I was a mother, even if I hadn’t been the one to carry or father the pup, and there was nothing better than that feeling.

“This is…” James couldn’t finish his sentence as he kissed Severus once more. The omega pulled back and let out a tense breath as his body forced him to deliver the afterbirth. Just then, Mrs. Potter returned with a couple of medics from Saint Mungos. James and I had to move away from Severus so that they could get him and the pup loaded up on the stretcher. One of them magicked away the afterbirth and cleaned up the pup. They began to cast more spells over our lover and the baby as the other two opened a portal and pushed the omega and pup through it and into the hospital.

I collapsed down to the ground when I saw my mate disappear through it fully, tears rushing down my face at a rapid rate. Mrs. Potter apparated away before I did so, leaving just James and me on the empty road.

“Woah, hey, Lils,” James whispered as he sat down next to me and rubbed my shoulder.

“I was so worried that we were going to lose one of them, James,” I whispered as I flung my arms around his neck and buried my face into his scent gland.

“I know, I was too,” he replied as he rubbed my back soothingly. “But we didn’t and now we can pack a proper bag and go to the hospital to see them.”

“I guess so,” I nodded as I wiped my eyes on my sleeve after pulling away from him. I pulled out my wand as I stood up and cast a couple spells over the backseat to get rid of the stains and wetness that had come during the birthing process. I put the passenger seat back up into its proper position and then got into the driver’s seat. We drove back home as quickly as we could, my hands shaking on the steering wheel the entire time. I parked in the driveway and then took out the bags, removing some of the things that I had grabbed in my panic and replacing them. I packed it better so that we only had to bring one instead of one for each of us. It would also be easier for us now that we could apparate home for new clothes.

“Are you ready?” James asked me from where he was standing against the doorframe to our bedroom.

“Yeah. I want to go see Sev and properly meet our baby,” I grinned wickedly. I shouldered the bag and then held his hand as we both apparated to the waiting room and then rushed up to the receptionist.

“Our mate just had a baby, we need to go see him,” James blurted out as he was just barely able to contain his excitement and anticipation.

“Longbottom?” the receptionist asked.

“No, he should be here under Snape,” I shook my head. She flipped through her little book aimlessly for a moment before she told us where he had been set up. We rushed through the halls as quickly as we could while still being respectful to the patients and staff.

“Sev?” I asked as I knocked on the door to the room we had been told our mate was in.

“Lily?” he echoed back with hopeful anticipation that made my heart sing. I walked into the room with James following close behind me. He shut the door behind us and then put a chair next to Severus so that he could sit close to the omega.

“For a little bit I didn’t think that you would come,” he laughed dryly.

“We were coming, we just wanted to repack the bag so that we would have all the things we needed,” I explained quickly as I sat down on another chair near the bed. I sat up on one leg to try and make myself taller so that I could get a better view of the baby.

“Do either of you want to hold him?” Severus asked as he moved the pup around a small bit.

“I’d love to,” I piped up before James even got the chance to open his mouth. Our omega smiled and giggled a small bit as he passed the pup over to my waiting arms. Pride and adoration filled my chest as I looked down at the tiny, red, and very squished face that the pup held.

“Have you decided on a name?” James asked as he looked over my shoulder at the tiny infant in my arms.

“Harry,” Severus nodded. “Harry Potter.”

“You want him to have my last name?” James asked with wide eyes. “Not Harry Snape?”

“I was planning on becoming your mate as soon as I could, and often omegas take their alphas last names without being married,” he nodded. “If that’s okay with both of you.”

“That’s a wonderful and very fitting name,” I grinned widely.

“They had to cast a bunch of spells on him since he was born so early. Apparently, the biological father not being around me made my body go into labor as soon as possible despite all of the potions I was taking,” Severus mumbled as he tried his hardest to stay awake.

“Well, he’s happy and healthy now. Go ahead and go to sleep, love,” James reasoned as he rubbed our omega’s leg with one hand. Severus rested back against the pillows and slowly drifted to sleep with his eyes glued on our newborn pup.

Harry looked up at me with big green eyes and blinked twice before he yawned widely and fell asleep. “I can’t believe that we’re parents,” I whispered as I leaned into James.

“Me too,” he whispered against the skin of my shoulder and neck.

We were able to bring both the baby and our scent mate home after only two days. Mr. and Mrs. Potter were already at the house when we arrived back, eager to meet their eldest grandbaby. Severus was still protective over the infant but allowed them to hold and dote over the newborn for a reasonable amount of time. We settled into a good rhythm with each other once more. We would take shifts getting up with Harry when he cried during the night, most of which was just fussing since he wanted attention.

Our little one was about six months old, Severus was home alone with him a lot. I had gotten a job and had to start doing more work for the Order. We kept Harry a secret from everyone else, only speaking about him in vague terms so that no one knew about our pup nor did they know about our scent-mate.

“Sev! Harry! I’m home,” I called as I placed my keys on their hook and then walked further into the house. Severus was seated on the couch facing the fireplace with our little one napping in his legs.

“Welcome home, love,” he smiled as he turned to look back at me. “I do have something to tell you and James when he gets home as well.”

“Something good or bad?” I asked as I leaned over the back of the couch and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“That depends,” he replied as he shifted around anxiously. Harry woke up on his lap and blinked his bright green orbs at me twice before giggling and reaching up with his chubby hands.

“Hi there sweet love,” I cooed as I reached over and tickled his tummy. “Have you been good for Mommy today?”

“He was, actually. He went down for his nap really well,” Severus smiled proudly down at his pup.

“I wonder if Remus regrets what he did to you,” I blurted before I thought better of it.

“I hope not. If he regrets it then he could try and take Harry away from us,” my omega scent-mate frowned deeply.

“Home!” James shouted as the tell-tale pop of apparition echoed through the house from the mudroom. He walked over to us and kissed Severus before wrapping his arms around my hips and kissing me passionately.

“Now that you’re both here I can tell you,” Severus said as he picked Harry up and cradled him expertly while walking around the couch to talk to us more formally.

“Is something wrong, Sev?” James asked worriedly as he grabbed Harry’s little hand as the beta reached out for him.

“You know that I’ve been wanting work for some time, right?” I asked.

“Yes,” I nodded as I glanced over to James and then turned my attention back to the omega.

“Professor Dumbledore came by today and offered me a job that I couldn’t refuse,” he replied, looking away from us.

“What was the job?” James asked, worry leaking out of his dark licorice scent.

“It was something that will really help with the war effort. It could mean that the Order and the Ministry would be able to take down he-who-must-not-be-named,” he rambled, avoiding actually answering.

“Sev, we love you and we will support you. We supported James when he chose to become an Auror. So whatever this job is we’re here to support you,” I said as I reached out and touched his shoulder lightly.

“He asked me to go undercover as a Death Eater. I would be posing as a double agent for them while I’m actually a triple agent for the Order,” he quickly rushed out.

“And you’ve already accepted?” James asked. He looked worried and concerned, but there was no flare of anger or resentment for our mate.

“I have. It does mean that I’ll have to get the Dark Mark. I think it’d be better if I moved out as well. Just so that I had a permanent residence where people could think that I lived even if I spent some time with you two and the baby,” he said.

“Speaking of which,” James sighed, rubbing the stubble on his chin. “Apparently Trawlany got a prophecy and You Know Who got wind of it. He’s looking for babies born in July from Wizards.”

“And Harry was born early in July,” I finished as my heart sunk down into my stomach. “I was thinking that we should go into hiding. No one really knows about Harry, or that he came from Severus and not from you, Lils.”

“Maybe this will work out. We can keep Harry here with us and go into hiding and then Sev can come and visit us whenever he can,” I replied as I looked over to Severus.

“It doesn’t make me happy but I think it will work,” he nodded firmly. “I talked to Peter earlier and he said that he already had an apartment that I could start renting since Dumbledore wants me to start working as quickly as possible,” the omega said. He paused and sniffled heavily, trying to resist crying.

“Oh Severus,” James whispered, wrapping the omega into a hug as he broke into tears. I wiggled Harry around so that he wouldn’t be uncomfortable before I hugged the other side of him.

“I don’t want to have to leave any of you. I love you all so much,” he whispered when he had finally stopped crying.

“We don’t want you to leave either, but if it means that we can raise our son in a better world that much quicker than I’m willing to do anything,” James replied with a shaky smile.

“You’re such a Gryffindor,” Severus laughed as he kissed the alpha’s lips. We spent the rest of the time that we could together until Severus had to pack and move away from us. The Order came and cloaked our house so that no one would be able to find us.

The days and nights blurred together as time continued to pass. Harry grew up faster than I thought was possible, and soon we were celebrating his first birthday with our omega mate. Severus had to leave in the middle of our little party and then came back injured the next night. I spent most of my time reading to our pup and worrying about both of my mates.

The night was getting nippier as October settled over us. I had Harry on my hip as he babbled almost-words into my ear. James was down in the living room, checking on a disturbance in the wards around the house. I heard running and darted into the nursery as quickly as I could. I set Harry down on the changing table and winced as I heard steps coming up the stairs that certainly didn’t sound like my mates’.

“Mummy loves you, sweetheart,” I cooed at the pup to try and keep his quiet despite my frightful scent. “You’re so loved,” I whispered as I kissed the top of his head. I felt something inside of me, my magic perhaps, reaching out and enveloping the pup as I whirled around to see who was opening the door.

I wasn’t able to get a good look at the stranger before I saw a flash of green cross my vision before I fell down to the floor. My will to live fought against the spell for a moment before the spell took over and everything went black.