#soon enough she's in the middle of her room tearing off her clothing & trying to put her hair up in a bun as a compromise to chopping it

[luckydxy]

Ara is one for skinny dipping & dancing nude around a fire, sure sure, it's all good fun, she enjoys it, but realistically she's occasionally prone to stripping when incredibly overwhelmed ; it's suddenly too hot, she can feel every fiber & crease of the fabric, it's hot it's hot, even velvet or silk are too much, too scratchy, too tight, too much too much, she wishes she could remove her skin, it takes every ounce of willpower to not hack at her hair with a knife, it's too hot, everything feels wrong & overwhelming to the touch, everything is wrong, it's hot, she's suffocating-

[fangswbenefits]

Another Chance

𓂅 𓄹 Summary: You go into labour and all you know is that you need Miguel more than ever.

𓂅 𓄹 Pairing: Miguel O’Hara x spider-woman!reader

Mentions of childbirth. Dad Miguel. Comfort. Fluff. Happy father’s day to the best of the best!

“I'M GONNA KILL MIGUEL O’HARA!”

Usually, that sort of threat would send everyone that was standing around you into an uproar. But given the extremely specific set of circumstances, they merely exchanged understanding glances, returning their attention to the task at hand.

“Jess… I’m going to kill him.”

The pain of the contractions felt too unbearable and gritting out empty threats was the only relief you could find right now.

“You have my blessing,” she nodded, giving your shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "But for now, we need to deliver the baby."

It was too early. This wasn't supposed to happen right now... not like this.

A spider-nurse approached you with a fetal heart monitor to strap around your belly. Your already accelarated heart nearly imploded at the sight, fearing what the machine might reveal.

"Jess... I can't do this..." your voice broke.

Where is he...

Where is Miguel?

Your friend glared at you with kind eyes, swipping a piece of cloth along your sweat-drenched forehead. "You can and you will."

As another contraction tore through your body, you barely managed to grab the railings of your bed with a huff of pain. The spider-nurse was done setting the monitor and was now probing your arm for a vein.

"Where is Miguel?" you managed through laboured pants. "Lyla... where is he?"

The AI's hologram appeared from the watch on your wrist, that Jess promptly removed. You gave her a confused look, but it was probably for the better.

"He should be here soon. The anomaly is—" Lyla was cut off immediately by Jess.

The heart monitor was switched on and the room went suddenly eerily too quiet, save for your gasps.

Tense seconds rolled by that felt like excrutiating hours, until the sound of a thudding heart was heard.

"Slightly accelerated heartrate going at 191 beats per minute," spider-doctor informed. "The baby might be in distress."

Panic took over. "Do something! Miguel!"

The team attending you were working relentlessly, but no consolation came. The pain was borderline unbearable and your fear for your child's life.

... and Miguel was not here.

"You need to push," one spider-nurse said.

"Push," Jess urged. "You're doing great," she added with a warm smile.

She kept trying her best to soothe and guide you through the untimely turmoil, but it wasn't until your eyes caught a flash of two sets of claws tearing through the barrier of time and space in the middle of the room that you allowed yourself to slump back into your bed.

A cry of relief broke from deep within you as a fully suited Miguel O'hara emerged through the portal, sprinting to your side. The mask vanished instantly as he framed your face with both hands.

"I'm here."

You started sobbing uncontrollably when he planted a kiss to your forehead.

"Boss, she's fully dilated," spider-doctor spoke. "We really need her to push now."

"Miguel... this wasn't..." you stammered, gritting your teeth as the crescendo of another contraction began. "Where... I—”

He hushed you and anchored you through the pain. "You have to push, okay?"

Compared to a few minutes ago, Miguel's presence was nothing short of absolute comfort. But it wasn't enough the push away the fear that had overtaken you.

Jess was still by your side, whispering encouraging words as the staff worked in between your spread legs. Your vision blurred momentarily and you felt the sudden and overwhelming urge to push.

"This is all your... fault," you seethed at Miguel.

"On that much we can agree," he said softly, his thumbs brushing away the tears that mixed with sweat down your cheeks. "Push."

Blaming him was just a quick way to ease some of the frustration. He wasn't to blame. You had both wanted this.

"I can see the head!" you heard someone announce.

Miguel offered his hand for you to grip as you pushed. "I'll break it," you warned.

"You won't."

"He deserves it," Jess said teasingly.

But Miguel was right. As strong as you were — and the strength that women in labour were capable of mustering — you wouldn't even cause a dent in him. He was strong enough for the both of you.

"What´s taking so long?" his faint voice filled your ears.

"Almost there."

Suddenly, he had cradled your face in his large hands once more, forcing your eyes to fix on his. "You can do this. I'm so proud of you," he said, pecking the tip of your nose.

The air in your lungs was suddenly forced out with a finally throat-ripping grunt.

"It's here!"

You collapsed, feeling Miguel's arm promptly offering support on your back. A screeching sound of distress reverberated through the walls.

"It's a girl," one spider-nurse informed.

Even through your hazy eyes you were able to see Miguel's face, eyes transfixed on the little squirming baby that was being placed on your chest.

She was crying her heart out as someone who has been ripped from all the comfort and security a place could offer.

But now she had you and Miguel.

"She takes after you," you teased with a faint smile. "Already being so dramatic."

He chuckled, eyes permanently glued to the wailing baby. "I'm not dramatic. Just intense."

"Yes. Intensely dramatic.”

Miguel fell silent as he stroked a finger along the back of one soft tiny hand, miniscule fingers wrapping around it reflexively. The cries stopped abruptly.

His face softened and you wondered if he was about to tear up. He had longed for this for such a long time.

"Miguel?" Jessica said, covering your child with a towel.

He seemed too lost in his own thoughts, glaring at his daughter in a way that overwhelmed you. Like it was meant to be.

"I'll be going now," she said, offering you both a warm smile before leaving.

Suddenly, you realised Miguel was inspecting each limb with utmost attention. "What are you doing?"

He cleared his throat, placing a tiny hand on the palm of his. "Oh... uh... just counting how many fingers and toes she has."

"All five?" you offered with a chuckle.

"All five."

"No talons?"

He glared at you as if taken aback, then smiled. "Maybe one day."

"Do you think she'll have your fangs?"

"Oh, I hope not," he said, slowly checking the baby's bare gums. "That would be painful."

You then allowed yourself to take in the sight of your now relaxed daughter that lay on top of you. The wispy beginnings of hair that covered the top of her head were dark. Babies don't tend to resemble either parent when they're born - or so Miguel had once told you - and you couldn't wait to find out.

"What if... she doesn't like me?" he whispered, caressing a puffy cheek.

You almost chuckled, but he was dead serious. "She'll love you."

He leaned to place a kiss to your temple. "Thank you."

"For what?" you asked, feeling your heart bursting with absolute adoration for him.

"For giving me another chance at being a father."

Masterlist

[callsign-rogueone]

fractured - b.d.

Bodhi Durran x reader You break your arm, but Nolon isn't available to mend it. Bodhi takes care of you in the meantime. [request] words: 1.1k 🏷: no book spoilers. she/her reader in an established relationship with Bodhi. mentions of injury (broken arm) but no blood and no description of how it happened. just some fluff of Bo taking care of you.

Bodhi is out of his seat as soon as he sees you exit the exam room, looking a little worse for wear -- your arm is in a sling, the bridge of your nose split, and you’re walking slowly, like your legs are sore.

“There you are,” he breathes. “Xaden said you were here, but nobody would tell me anything. What happened?”

“I fractured my arm in two places,” you explain, “But Nolon is busy, so until he’s done with whatever else he has going on, I have to heal the old fashioned way.”

You leave out the details of how it happened, and hope that he won’t ask. He doesn’t -- he just takes your bag from your ‘good arm’, slinging it over his shoulder before you can protest and pressing a kiss to your forehead. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

You give him a pained smile, letting him lead you back across the bridge to the rider’s quadrant, where everyone is sat down for dinner, in the middle of a spirited conversation. You slip into your normal seat, thankful that nobody seems to notice your condition or make a scene -- until they do.

“What’s with the sling?” Imogen asks, raising an eyebrow.

Every head at the table turns toward you. Great.

“Nolon was unavailable,” you answer in a tone that does not invite any more questions -- that seems to be good enough for them, but you still get a few worried glances and pitying looks from your friends in response.

You poke at your food, attempting to cut it with the side of your fork and failing -- it isn’t sharp enough. You set the utensil down, giving up; you aren’t that hungry, anyway, not after the painkiller the healers had given you, which isn’t doing anything except make you nauseous. You really hope that Nolon will be back tomorrow, because living like this is going to suck.

Bodhi notices your dilemma and slides your plate toward him, wordlessly taking your knife and fork and cutting everything into bite-sized pieces for you before he gives it back.

You thank him quietly, managing to eat half of it -- better than nothing, you suppose. Maybe you’ll feel better at breakfast.

He’s sitting on your right, your uninjured side, and he keeps you close to him all through dinner, tucked into his side.

When everyone is finished, he picks up your bag again, carrying it upstairs to your room, right across from his, following you inside and setting the bag on your desk chair. “Do you want help changing clothes? I promise I’m not just asking because I want to see you naked.”

You don’t laugh at the joke, kicking your boots off roughly, not caring where they land. 

“I’ll be fine,” you answer, turning your back on him. You’re sick of this, of feeling like a child, of being coddled and given those concerned looks all through dinner, like you can’t handle yourself -- like you haven’t had worse injuries, like you hadn’t run the gauntlet and bonded a dragon and literally everything else this terrible school asks of its students.

You try to tug your shirt off, hissing in pain at the movement of your arm. Hot tears start to flow down your cheeks as you continue to struggle, the fabric getting stuck on the thick wooden splint the healers had put around your forearm as a temporary fix.

“Hey,” Bodhi coaxes, “let me do it.”

You sigh, admitting defeat and taking a few steps toward him, allowing him to help get your good arm out of the other sleeve first, and gently untangle the shirt from the splint, tossing it into your laundry hamper with practiced ease.

He wipes away your tears with a gentle brush of his thumb, cradling your cheek in his hand. The familiar softness of his touch relaxes you near-instantly.

“I know this is frustrating for you, and I know you’re a badass independent woman dragon rider, who can take care of herself, and that’s one of the things I love most about you, but it would be easier -- and it would make me feel better -- if you let me help you. I love you, and I don’t want you to be in pain.”

“Thank you,” you say quietly. “Love you too.”

You stay like that for a moment, leaning into his hand and closing your eyes -- you’re exhausted.

“We’ll go by the healers before breakfast and see if Nolon is back,” he promises, pressing a kiss to your temple. “But until then, I’m gonna be here to help you, okay?”

You make a soft sound of acknowledgement, working up the courage. “Stay the night?” you ask softly. 

“Gladly,” he answers. “I’ll even bring extra pillows.”

There’s a moment of soft, comfortable silence that you want to linger in forever -- you really don’t feel like trying to shower with this thing on, or to lay down in bed; even with Bodhi by your side, it’s going to be uncomfortable, especially with how much you usually toss and turn during the night.

“I never asked you how this happened,” he realizes.

You stiffen, silent.

He looks at you with a seriousness you hardly ever see, deep concern with anger simmering underneath. “I need you to tell me who did this to you.”

You shake your head. “Nobody hurt me.”

He doesn’t look like he believes you -- you could very well be lying, because you don’t want him to go off and beat someone up just because they bested you in a challenge, but there weren’t any challenge fights today; they’re over for the rest of the school year. Had someone gone out of their way to injure you, to make an attempt on your life? 

“My love, I’m serious. If someone tried to-”

“I tripped over my own shoelace and fell down the flight of stairs by Kaori’s classroom,” you interrupt quietly. “Half a dozen first-years saw the whole thing.”

He knows you well enough to know that you’re telling the truth, that what he’s seeing is genuine embarrassment -- the shyness in your voice and the warmth of your cheeks give it away.

He laughs in relief, and at how deeply unserious this whole situation is. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t be laughing.”

“It’s okay,” you say, shaking your head with a slight smile. “It’s pretty funny.”

It’s hilarious. You’d completed your first year largely unscathed, sustaining no major injuries, but an untied shoelace had nearly done you in.

“That’s it,” he declares, “I’m tying your shoes for you every morning from now on.”

You laugh, wincing when the motion jostles your arm and sends a jolt of pain through you.

“Oh, honey,” he soothes. “C’mere.”

You settle into his arms, leaning against him as he embraces you, careful not to touch your splint.

“I love you,” he whispers, nudging his nose against yours.

“I love you too,” you reply. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

“Always, my love. Always.”

[vibratingskull]

Hello hello! I have another request if you don’t mind.

Could you do a single dad Thrawn & female!child!reader? headcannons or a story I don’t mind! If you want to do a story an idea could be that maybe reader had a pet snake and the snake passed away and Thrawn if telling them about the life cycle and helping get over her loss?

Or another good idea is that she hurt herself (idk maybe she fell down or something) and he’s conforming her? I’m in a need for some Thrawn comfort rn 😓

Please have a good day!

Aaaaaaaaaw ❤️ Dad Thrawn is best Thrawn. Here you go, soft dad Thrawn comforting you his daughter

I hope you'll feel better soon ❤️

Thrawn & Daughter!reader

Thrawn opens his eyes immediately hearing your sniffs, well awake in a second, he knows something is wrong.

“Visahot? Is something wrong?” He raises on his elbow, his red eyes shining in the dark of the room.

Your red eyes shine less, a testimony of your headspace right now. You sob and rub your eyes full of tears, gasping to breath.

“Its… It’s… Its Cheple… He doesn't move anymore…” You manage to say between gasp.

“I am coming.” 

Thrawn stands on his feet, taking your little hand and walking to your room on the Chimaera. He never gets mad at you for being awake at night, he works on the assumption that you have a good reason even if you’re just reading past your bedtime. He will chastise you gently and sit on the bed to read you a final story then tuck you to bed.

But tonight you don’t seem to want a fairy tale.

He approaches the nest of plaids and clothes in the middle of your room, where Cheple, your pet serpent likes to curl up and sleep.

“I… Hic… I wanted to hug him but he didn’t move at all…” You explain.

He kneels next to the nest, observing silently the corpse of your snake. He delicately takes the head in his palms but Cheple is soft and dangles without reaction.

Poor little creature.

“What’s wrong with him?” You look at your dad with eyes full of hopes.

Dad knows so much, dad can do so much, surely he can help! But he turns to you and shakes his head, holding your hand.

“Visahot, there is nothing else to do.”

“Why? Why doesn’t he move.”

“He is dead, my darling.”

You look at him shocked and mouth agape.

“He…? No! No, you’re lying!” You burst into tears.

Thrawn pulls you into a hug, holding you tight against his beating heart. You cry like you nver cried. Cheple was your oldest friend with your dad, you know no other kids on this planet but found Cheple as an egg years ago. Your little heart immediately melted for the abandoned egg, all alone in the nest and you took it back to the Chimaera, proudly showing him off to your dad. He helped you built a nest under a heating lamp and one day, the eggshell cracked and you witnessed Cheple first shy steps into the world.

You were inseparable, attached by the hips you run all over the Chimaera with Cheple circling your shoulders.

But tonight…

“I am so sorry, my darling.” Thrawn tries to soothe you, caressing your head and back.

“So that means I will never see him again?!” You cry.

“No my darling, you will not.” He admits gently.

“But I don’t wanna! I want him! Why can’t you do something?!”

“Visahot.” He parts from you, holding your shoulders in his large hands, “There are some things we cannot change, whatever we try or no matter our effort. I would do something if I could ease your pain, but life and death are beyond anyone’s power.”

“But…But…” You sob uncontrollably.

“He left because it was his time. We both knew he was getting old, we saw the signs. What matters is the love you gave him all his life.” He tilts your head delicately. “He is in a better place now.”

“My bedroom wasn’t good enough for him?” You let your tears flow.

“It was more than enough. He always liked to curl up and hide in this room specifically because he felt safe here. You built him a great nest that he appropriated for himself and tonight he chose to die where he felt the safest, in your bedroom, next to you.”

“Why…?”

“Because you signified safety and warmth for him. He was so small he could have been devoured by anything, but you were always here to protect him from anything and he untrusted you for his final moments.”

“But I don’t want him to go away…”

“We cannot control that, my darling. Sometimes death comes at your door to rob you of your loved ones, tonight she came for Cheple while he was peacefully asleep. He left while dreaming, without any pain or worry because he was at ease with you, he felt loved and protected with you.”

You sniff, wiping your tears off your cheek.

“You remember when he felt ill for the first time?” Thrawn  continues, “You dedicated all of your time to take care of him and for the first time he came to sleep with you in your bed. He saw you as his savior and benefactor.” He brushes your cheek with his thumb, “You gave him a life filled with adventure and love, and you can be sure the memories he brought with him are filled with your smiles.”

“But why tonight? Coudldn’t he have waited again a little?”

“No, my darling. He was an old snake you know, and that is the best thing that could have happened to him : getting old at your side.”

“So he didn’t leave because he didn’t love me anymore?”

“No, quite the contrary. He came to the person he was the closest to live his final moment because you comfort him and give him so much love.”

“It hurts, dad…” you lower your head.

“I know, Visahot, I know.” He presses your foreheads together, “But it is part of life, the best we can do is enjoy the ones we love to the fullest while they are here. Do you understand?” He asks softly.

“... Yes.”

“That’s my girl.” He kisses your forehead with so much love, “Are you alright?”

“No, my heart hurt really bad.” You complain.”And my stomach feels empty.”

“It is perfectly normal. It is because you loved him so much, it will hurt for some time but one day you will be able to think back fondly about him and only feel your love for him filling your heart.” 

“For how long?”

“For one month or maybe one year. It depends on the heart.”

“I am sad, dad.”

“Of course you are, my darling. And I am sad for you. Do you want to sleep with me tonight? We will bury him properly tomorrow morning.”

You tiredly nod and snuggle against your dad, burying your head in the crook of his neck, inhaling his comforting scent. He lifts you up and carries you back to his bedroom where he lays you down gently, sliding next to you and holds you close.

You keep crying for a moment until you fall asleep, exhausted. Thrawn didn’t stop cradling you against his heart, holding you as close as possible.

His dear little girl… He will arm you to fight life, to win everytime, but tonight, only time can help such a wound. So he keeps you close, giving you his full support and love, ready to face the harsh reality together tomorrow. But tonight, you’ll sleep soundly in his arms.

In security.

@bluechiss @thrawnalani @justanothersadperson93 @al-astakbar@thrawnspetgoose @readinglistfics @elise2174 @debonaire-princess @twilekchiss @pencil-urchin @ineedazeezee @mssbridgerton @dance-like-russia-isnt-watching @Cortisolcosplay @obbicrystaleo @germie2037

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[elliemarchetti]

Through Whispers and Promises

@jilychallenge | Winter in June | partner: @petals2fish

Prompt: We're wet and however will we warm each other? Oh! By taking off our wet clothes and using body heat, ofc!

Plot: Voldemort rises to power while the Marauders are still at school, inevitably forcing them to flee to survive. After a daring escape through the Forbidden Forest, Lily finally manages to Apparate her and James to a safe place.

Words: 1406

It was a risky move, Lily knew it. They had just started Apparition lessons, and she didn't remember where she wanted to go as clearly as the instructor had said was necessary, but it was a matter of life and death, and she was sure the Ministry had more serious business to worry about. By the time the news had reached the Gryffindor’s Common Room, through whispers of paintings and ghosts, the younger students had already gone to sleep, and only a few of the older ones were spread across the chairs and sofas, trying to finish their homework before sleep took over.

“We have to go,” James declared, interrupting the History of Magic quiz Marlene was giving her.

“They’re inside the castle?” Remus asked, jumping to his feet.

James just nodded, no need to specify who he was referring to. Even if they had tried to ignore it, everyone knew that sooner or later the Death Eaters would get there, they had only hoped to at least manage to finish the sixth year, turn seventeen and have a shot at joining the rebellion. All fantasies and hopes shattered now.

“What do we do? We wake up the others?” inquired Sirius, ready to sprint towards the dormitories, but Lily could tell from the heartbroken expression on Potter’s usually cheerful face that there was no time and they had to exploit the relative quietness of the castle.

“Take this,” he said to his best friend, shoving a yellowed parchment into his hands. “We will use the Cloak.”

“What about Peter?” questioned Marlene, looking around.

“He went to the kitchen to get something to eat,” Remus replied, and a lone tear threatened to make its way down the pretty blonde’s cheek. They had been friends since they were children, long before school started and the Marauders became inseparable, yet she knew she would have to leave him behind if she didn’t intend to be the recipient of a killing curse.

“Between us, he’s the one with the best chance of survival,” Sirius tried to console her, and with that the decision was made. The two small groups split up as soon as they reached the stairs, James and Lily hidden as well as they could under the Invisibility Cloak, the others heading toward a secret passage only a select few knew existed. Once they safely reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest, the most unlikely pair of allies Hogwarts had ever seen started to run, determined to put as much distance as possible between them and the wards preventing Apparition within the grounds.

“I know a place!” Lily exclaimed once they were far enough, and without further explanation took Potter’s hand and dragged him along to a location she barely remembered from her childhood. She had been there with her family, and her father had called it a hidden Scottish gem, an unspoiled corner of nature with a lake surrounded by woods and pine forests. Petunia hadn’t liked it very much, but if Lily had to choose a place to die prematurely, she was sure she would’ve named that one, even if it had no proper name and no one would ever find her body, except perhaps an unlucky hiker looking for a picnic spot before resuming their walk. One thing she hadn’t considered, though, was how high the odds of Apparating in the middle of a frozen lake, with the solid layer too thin to support their weight, were. Probably thanks to a miracle, or maybe driven by the desire to see their friends once again, both of them managed to return to the surface and crawl to shore, where they promptly started to look for a shelter that would allow them not to die of hibernation. The cottage, if it could be called that, since it was nothing more than a room with a roof, had seemed like a mirage, as well as the little firewood half devoured by woodworms they found inside. She had no idea of who owned the place, but judging by the furnishing and the abundance of fishing rods, it must’ve been a Muggle who hadn’t been around for a long, long time.

“What are you doing?” she squealed as she noticed James not only took off his shoes and socks, but was also working on removing his jacket and tie.

“The real question is what are you waiting for,” he replied, ridding himself of the now almost transparent fabric of his shirt, exposing a slim waist and sculpted abs. Embarrassed, Lily looked away, determined to focus on anything but the Seeker’s athletic body and the cold she felt was penetrating to her bones.

“Take everything off and look for a blanket,” he instructed when she was shaken by yet another unstoppable fit of shivers. “I’ll turn the other way, and check the bed for bugs.”

The cot she felt they would sleep on regardless of its condition appeared unfit to accommodate two people, but the pillow was thick, seemingly soft, and the quilt neatly folded on a nearby chair all too inviting to stay unused, but first they had other priorities, and they carried them out in silence, without ever meeting each other’s gazes, too focused on their respective pieces of underwear laying crumpled in the centre of the room to speak.

“We should hang the clothes,” Lily finally suggested once she sat down in front of the fireplace, as close as possible to the flames to dry the hair she had hastily braided. “We have nothing else to wear but those.”

“Be my guest if you please, but I don't intend to get up from this mattress,” he muttered, too focused on looking into an old mirror to be observing his reflection. “I casted some protection spells on the door and the window, so don’t try to open them.”

Lily nodded, and rather than face he most inevitable discussion, got to work, stubbornly ignoring the pair of hazel eyes following her every moment. It was a strange feeling, in such an absurd situation, to worry about what they would wear the next day and make sure that the hem of James’s trousers or the collar of her shirt didn’t get strange creases, but at the same time it was a cling to normality, to routine, although before she would’ve never imagined herself taking care of Potter’s clothes while only an ancient blanket that made her itch all over covered her nakedness.

“Now that you’ve proven what a good wife you would be, why don’t you lie down and try to sleep?” James asked when she had nothing left to tidy up and finally, after almost and hour, Lily gained the courage to meet his gaze. She couldn’t understand why he went with her, why he hadn’t pushed her toward Remus and Marlene, picking his best friend as his partner for this misfortune.

“I have no interest in lying naked with you,” she hissed, still she moved closer, tiredness and the prospect of warming her feet taking the decision for her. They found a comfortable position, with her back pressed firmly against his chest, suspiciously fast and although she couldn’t see his face, she was sure he hadn’t fallen asleep, the silence just full of questions they had no answer to.

“How distant are we from society?” he asked after a while, ever the pragmatist.

“Wizarding? Enough to be safe, if they haven’t tracked us. Muggle? A couple hours by foot,” she answered, snuggling even closer to enjoy more of his body heat.

“Excellent. Tomorrow at dawn we should set out, buy some basic necessities, and look for another quiet place where no one can find us,” he suggested, as if he was accustomed to running away from armed people trying to kill him.

“And with what money?” she inquired, perplexed. In their haste they had been unable to bring anything with them except what they already had on hand, and there was no reason to keep change in their pockets at Hogwarts, everything they might need provided free of charge by the staff.

“You don’t have to worry about that. Until we reach the others and things settle down, I’ll take care of you,” he declared, and Lily felt a faint buzzing in her ears, as if a wire had been disconnected in her brain and she suddenly found herself blushing at the idea of Potter being protective of her.

[random-writing-panda]

||•~Always saving me~•||

Tim Drake (Red Robin) x reader

*My GIF

Warnings: Mature Language, violence, abuse

Word count: 2k

====================================

Life is hard to balance when you live in Gotham. As you deal with your home life your grades begin to drop jeopardising your scholarship and your future until a hero comes to your rescue.

Italics: Internal thought

====================================

“You sstupid whore. Whys can’t you just be fucking useful.” the words were slurred Slap.

You flinch away from the scene as you hold your head down and pray for this to be over soon.

“Why the fuck is you sstill here?! Why you not at school!”  He whips around to face you while he yells.

With a bottle in hand he looked like a mess, his hair and clothes dishevelled, and he looked like he was about to pass out, your mother was grasping the side of her face curled up on the floor. He takes a step towards you and in response you step back. He stops.

“You fucking running bitch?” He throws the bottle towards you, you try to doge, but you are too slow, it hits you on the side of your face just below your eye.

“Please don’t hurt her, she needs to get to school please she doesn’t have anything to do with this.” Your mother quietly says as she stands.

She nods her head towards the door and as he turns to sit on the couch you walk out of the door calmly.

Once you reach the door and close it gently behind you, you hear more yelling and a tear rolls down your cheek where you can feel swelling. Glancing down at your watch you realize how late you are and start sprinting.

This was it. This was your entire future, Gotham Academy, you were granted a scholarship last year when you had come up top of your year level, graduating from this school would guarantee you a future but what the school board hadn’t counted on was how your grades would slip from straight A+’s all the way down to barely scraping by with C’s, they hadn’t counted on you being late almost every second day, they hadn’t counted on you not even showing up some days. They hadn’t counted on you falling so far behind you could barely sit through a class.

And you hadn’t counted on your mother losing her job. You hadn’t counted on her needing to have three new ones. You hadn’t counted on needing to get multiple jobs for yourself. You hadn’t counted on her getting a new boyfriend who could definitely win partner of the year award. You hadn’t counted on your life falling apart just as it was coming together.

And that was your last thought and you burst through the classroom doors and it was 38 pairs of eyes on you and one very pissed off teacher.

“I’m so s-“

“That will be quite enough Miss L/n please report to the office.” Your teacher looked frustrated and almost disappointed, the entire class was snickering at you except for one Mr Tim Drake who simply looked at you. Dropping your head, you pull your bag up onto your shoulder and walk out of the classroom.

Walking down the halls you know this is it, you turn a corner, this is going to be the last time you walk down this hall and there you are, the office, literally, your end.

∞∞

“Miss L/n your behaviour this year has been utterly appalling. You have been granted a scholarship on the grounds of your outstanding behaviour and grades in past years.”

The office is filled with floor to ceiling bookshelves on the left and right side of the room, they were mostly full of folders in unorganised colours and small trinkets and loose paper. A small desk sat in the middle of the room with the same amount of clutter and even less organisation.  With two seats on one side and a larger one on the opposite side of the table.

The principle sat in this chair, a thin older man, with brown hair, turning grey at the roots wearing a grey suit and red tie.

Standing to his side was the vice principle, a larger woman with blonde hair tied into a tight bun at the base of her neck, her skin was visibly sagging under her layers of make-up. A burgundy blazer was fitted over a white blouse. She nodded at the principle.

“Yes that’s very correct it is a disgrace to our reputation and yours. You should have some self-respect.” She almost gasped in a very judgmental high-pitched voice.

“That’s correct.-“

“Please, I need this scholarship, please I can improve my behaviour please Sir-“ you beg tring your hardest not to tear up.

“Miss L/n I assume you understand where this is going? We have had multiple meetings with you and your mother, and you have promised you would improve but if anything you have gotten worse!” the principle shakes his head.

“We are revoking your scholarship and you shall no longer be permitted to attend Gotham Ac-“the vice principle is interrupted by a knock on the door before there is a click and it is pushed open to reveal Tim Drake.

Everyone stilled as he stood there in his uniform with his hands clasped in front of him.

“Hello Sir, Ma'am.” He nods to everyone and steps forward, pulling out the chair next to you.

You were in shock. Tim Drake, THE Tim Drake, in line to be CEO of Wayne enterprise, top of his class, magnet for gold digging bitches, Tim Drake. Just walked into your meeting. While you were getting expelled. You had never been this embarrassed…

“Mr Drake what are you doing in this meeting? This is awfully rude.” The principle questioned

“I’m well aware and I’m so sorry Sir but I feel I can help this situation.” Tim continued and shoot you a smile before turning back to the principles.

“I understand the situation and feel I am able to be of assistance to Miss Y/n. I propose that Miss Y/n and I are given one study lesson each day and I can tutor her, help her catch up on her classes until she is back up to speed.” His face is steady and cool.

“I don’t think I can give you off an entire lesson each day Mr Drake! How about after school tutoring.” You panic knowing you won’t be able to make it… Tim glances over to you and sees the look of dread wash over you.

“I uh can’t do after school, I have some extracurricular activities that I already have commitments to.” Tim tries to convince the principle.

“I don’t think so Mr Drake. It’s a very kind offer but-“you interrupt him.

“I um- excuse me if it would be alright with you and Tim uh Mr Drake, we could use home room?” You finally find your voice,

“I think that’s a fantastic idea what do you think Sir?” Tim smiles and looks from you to the principle. The vice principle looks like she is about to explode with frustration, you can feel the hatred radiate from her.

“I agree I think that is a great idea Miss Y/n.” The principle gives a gentle smile “But Y/n this is the last time. The very last time.” You feel like you can breathe for the first time in years.

“Thank you so much Sir I won’t let you down!” you are beaming.

∞∞

“Hey, Y/n…” you put down your book and look over to him. He lifts his head and looks to you.

“why are we here?”

“What do you mean? I suck at school and you saved my ass remember??” you laugh.

“Not what I mean. I saw how amazing you used to be, what happened?”

Your smile drops for a second, a barely noticeable second, before you smirked and looked over to him. You were going to do something terrible… and he was going to hate you… he had been so kind and sweet and literally saved your ass…please don’t hate me Tim…

“Eh I just don’t care. Its school, who cares? I mean Gotham sucks half of us are going to end up on the streets eventually so why not speed up the process? You kinda stuck your neck out for nothing. But thanks anyway.” You shrug look at him and start to walk away.

Tears well up and threatened to fall as soon as you were out of sight you lent up against a wall and cried. He couldn’t be involved with your life, involved with you, you couldn’t let him get hurt.

I’m so sorry Tim… I’m sorry…

 ∞∞

 “You dumbass! You can’t even stay in a damn school why are you so useless!” he is screaming and throwing glass and plates against the walls and you finally snap. He is there screaming and throwing everything and drunker than most people could handle and that was the moment you snapped. Your mother wasn’t there to get hurt and you couldn’t hold it back.

 “WHY DON’T YOU JUST SHUT UP?! HMM? HOW ABOUT THAT?”

 “YOU SELFISH BIT-“

“NO. OH NO YOU DON’T GET TO SAY ANYTHING ABOUT ME YOU ASSHOLE. YOU ARENT MY DAD AND YOU ARE A BARELY FUNCTIONIING HUMAN AND YOU THINK YOU GET TO JUDGE ME? TELL ME HOW TO LIVE THE LIFE YOU ARE DESTROYING?” Your heart drops when you process what you just said and you feel your breath stops in your lungs and you started shaking.

“I’m going to fucking kill you.”

Run.

You don’t even think you throw yourself at the door and started fiddling with the lock trying to open it after you finally got the door open you slammed it shut behind you, it doesn’t buy you much more time you can hear his footsteps racing behind you, down the stairs and out of the building. No one even batted an eye. It’s the narrows, people die, children die. People don’t care. You were about to be one of those people. As you bust out of the door you slam right into someone and fall to the ground.

“Watch where you are going kid!” the yell as they continue to walk away.

You scramble to your feet but its too late, he is there, as you find your feet, he grips the back of your shirt and yanks it back so hard your head is whipped back into his chest.

“I told you I’m going to kill you bitch.” He whispers into your ear.

“Sorry but I really can’t let you do that.” A thump is heard from behind you and suddenly you are back on the floor surrounded by the sound of fighting, punching and groans. You sit there frozen, watching the fight in front of you.

After three minutes that feel like they stretched over days the fight ended with your hero standing over your stepdad. Red Robin. As you try to stand you lose your vision looking at the knife your stepfather grips in his fist and as you hit the ground Red Robin is next to you holding you up.

“Hey, hey its okay your safe now okay?” for some reason he looked worried beneath his mask.

“Yeah…I I’m okay… thank yo- wait, wait your bleeding!” you push yourself up onto your knees and press your hand to his arm, where a cut is torn through his uniform and blood running down soaking into his clothes, you look up into his eyes and start mumbling apologies.

“I’m so sorry oh please let me clean this up okay?”

“Oh no its okay I’ve gotten much worse.”

“No, no, no please this is my fault please just let me clean it.” You stand and grasp his elbow and tug his arm towards the door just as police sires sound down the street.

“…okay, fine.”

∞∞

“Well I should get going.” He looks up from where he is sitting while you finish wrapping up his arm.

“Yeah…” you step back as he stands up and walks toward the window.

“Always have to be dramatic don’t you Mr Drake…” you smirk and look down at the floor.

“What? I’m not sure what you are talking about.” He lets out a chuckle and steps onto the window ledge.

“Going to need a better mask Tim.” You walk up to him and kiss his cheek.

“No clue who you are talking about Miss but thanks for the kiss.” He smiles.

“Hm thank you… for always saving me…” and as quick as he showed up, he jumped onto the fire escape and was gone.

======================

Tag list:

[helyiios]

Imagine Benji hiding a serious injury from Ethan, because they are in a rush in the middle of a mission, and maybe Ethan is hurt, too, and Benji wants to focus on that... until it gets too bad and he can't possibly hide it anymore

He hadn't gotten shot in a long time. In almost two months, actually, which was kind of a personal record. As far as healthy and normal that was.

He'd been a little out of it, during the mission. That was his fault, that was his fault entirely, and he knows that. Thankfully his overcoat was black and long enough to cover the blood gushing out of his rib, and he'd currently had kept it closed, trying to avoid getting attention as much as possible.

It was fine. It was going to be okay. The bullet might still be lodged inside—although he seriously doubted it, because he could feel his clothes getting more and more soaked.

"Luther, we're arriving at the extraction point," Ethan was saying into his earpiece, "you guys here ?"

[We're ready for you and Benji. Need patching up ?]

"I got a knife wound on my chest, bleeding profusely," the other replies, then turns to Benji, who was surprisingly valiantly running behind him, "Benji ?"

"I'm fine," his friend gently says, "all good. Let's get your wound covered."

"Roger that."

They make it to the safehouse in time, both stumbling inside completely out of breath. Luther's standing in the living room alongside Ilsa as meters of gauze, a few bottles of antiseptics and more medical tools are spread on the table.

"That was close," the technician breathes out as Ethan collapses unto the first chair he can find, "got all you needed ?"

"All the data we could cover," Benji replies difficultly, trying to sit as normally as he could manage. "The—the USB is in my inside pocket, I'll...I'll take it out soon."

I can't move my body anymore, least of all my arms. It hurts. It hurts so bad.

"Sure," Ilsa nods, "you should probably take off your coat."

"Yeah, yeah, in a min. How're you holding up, E ?"

"I'll be fine," Ethan breathes out, trying to keep himself from wincing, "it got a little too close from the lung, I think."

"You scared me to death," the other agent grumbles, "thought I'd lost you."

"I'm managing," his friends grins, holding out his hand to gently pet his shoulder. There's a gasp. "I—“

A frown.

"Are you okay ?"

"What do you mean ?" Benji nervously asks, sitting perfectly straight. "Yes, of course, I—"

"Is that—“ Ilsa squints her eyes, staring holes near the man's chest, "is that blood ?"

"What ? No, no, haha, it's not."

"Benji, take your coat off," Luther tells him, slightly panicked, "now."

"Guys, Ethan's wound is still open, can we—"

"Did you get hurt ?" Ethan cuts him off as he gets up again, eyes wide in horror, "why didn't you tell me ?!"

"Because it's fine—"

"It looks like it's in the ribs."

"It's just a gunshot wound—"

"YOU GOT SHOT IN THE RIBS ?!" the other three people scream out to him, and Ethan looks more and more desperate, "BENJI !"

"I'm okay," Benji pants, but the vein popping out on his forehead and the whitening of his skin tells otherwise, and he seems to have a harder time trying to keep his eyes open, "I'm fine."

"No, God fucking—Luther, we need to get him to a h—"

His words are interrupted by a sudden coughing fit from his friend, and suddenly there's blood splattered on the floor and Benji's vomiting blood and bile and screaming in pain as his stomach clenches. He's collapsed on to the floor and clutching his chest, forehead stuck to the tiles and blood covers his face.

It hurts,

It hurts,

It HURTS !

"Get the car," Ethan orders Ilsa as she almost runs out the house, "Benji, we're taking you to the hospital."

His friend doesn't reply, his hands now coated in dark red and heavy tears cleaning the dirtiness from his cheeks, he's having a hard time breathing and everything hurts.

"The bullet isn't inside," Luther notes, growing more and more worried, "he's losing too much blood, Benji, how long—“

"It's okay," Benji cries out, puking one more time as he spits out a clot from his mouth, "I—I just—"

"Shh, use your energy to stay awake," Ethan gently replies, and suddenly he's carrying him and bringing him outside, "let's get you stitched up."

Benji can only nod.

[longislandcharm]

TIMING: Mid March LOCATION: Thea's house/Worm Row, directly after this thread. PARTIES:@longislandcharm and @notstinky and @the-lil-exorcist SUMMARY: A poltergeist is discovered in Thea's house. Winter calls Lil for help. CONTENT WARNINGS: None!

Lil had gotten the call and almost immediately took off to where Winter was, slightly annoyed and more so worried for the other. Mediums were often the targets of poltergeists and it sounded bad. Scary bad, and something that Lil needed to deal with now, before the other got hurt. So, with her socks half on and her shoes heelie-less, Lil had rushed out of the house to go get Winter and whatever was happening. 

Arriving where the other had said, Lil couldn’t quite make sense of what was happening. Figuring that this was not the time to look around and not thinking that the owners of the place were going to fight her specifically, Lil kicked down the door, rushing in worried. 

“What the fuck is going on?” Lil asked her eyes trying to take in the scene and find the other. Fuck maybe she shouldn't be a teacher, if this was the result. Still, she was probably the closest person that could do something. “Winter, where are you?” 

It was utter chaos at Thea's house. Winter had tried to do something good for once in her life and look where it had gotten her: in the middle of a poltergeist tantrum that she knew wouldn't end anytime soon. The medium was huddled with the owner of the house inside of a closet in Thea's room after calling Lil to come meet them, Henry crouched down next to them if only to be a source of comfort while the ghost outside continued to throw things around. Loud thumps sounded against the door, the wood cracking under the weight of whatever objects were being thrown their way, when she heard another thud join in followed by the sound of her mentor's voice calling out for her.

“Oh, thank god.” Or...thank Lil, anyway. “Do you think we can slip out while it's on a rampage?” She wasn't sure who her question was directed towards, Thea or Henry, but she knew that there was only one answer for it. Either Winter had to yell loud enough for Lil to hear her above the racket the ghost was making or she had to face the thing that was outside trying desperately to get its claws into her...or whatever it was that ghosts did to harm others. 

“I don't think there's any way to distract it?” Henry finally said it out loud and Winter let out a guttural sound, knowing this wasn't going to go her way no matter what she did. “Hopefully Lil will hear us if we both yell.” Her gaze turned to Thea, Winter not wanting to risk letting her go out there as much as she didn't want to risk herself. Thea couldn't even see it, she would be at a complete disadvantage. “On three we both yell for her. Maybe this thing will be concentrating on trying to get to us hard enough to allow her to stop it?” 

She didn't know if that would work but they had to try. If they didn't do something soon the damage to Thea's house would be too much to repair. She'd already seen a huge chunk missing from the girl's bedroom wall before they locked themselves in with her clothes. “Alright...1,2, 3.” She took in a deep breath before screaming the other medium's name at the top of her lungs, making the poltergeist even angrier. The door started to rattle even harder, Winter knowing it didn't have long before the wood splintered completely and exposed them both.

Thea held her hands over her ears, rocking back and forth. She’d tried Wizard of Oz—knocking her feet together, mumbling that there’s no place like home—but that hadn’t worked. And why would it have? This was her home. Well, if the sorry state of her bedroom was any indication, it wouldn’t be her home for long. Tears streamed down her blotchy red cheeks. What was the name of the person Winter had called? It was something like Lola? Fuck. “Uh, okay. Fuck. Okay. On three? Okay…” Thea counted along with winter and bellowed in tandem, “Lauren!” Thea winced at the shrillness of their voices. Outside the closet they were huddled in, which was thankfully quite spacious, the thing—ghost, poltergeist, extremely elaborate and kinda mean prank—raged, throwing her furniture around like a tornado, taking chunks of her house with every loud clang and shuddering crack. “Lettuce! Little! I don’t know, whoever the fuck…” A crack splintered through the wood of the closet and Thea shrekied, flattening herself against her sweaters. “Help me Obi Lil Kenobi, you’re my only ho!” Humor was great for mitigating the horror that quivered through her. 

“Winter…” Thea turned to her companion. “I-If we die I just want to say that I’m really sorry. For inviting you here…and, uh, also that your parents named you after a season. At least you’re not ‘Summer’, right?” She offered a thin smile, eyes watery. She really hoped Luna would be coming soon. 

Lil, ironically, couldn't hear the ghost much. Sure the whooshing sounds were loud as it shook the door her eyes focused on hearing two people screaming - well one was Winter saying her name at least. If she hadn’t been so focused she would have laughed as the other seemed to not know who she was. It was easy to locate them and she moved through the house to where the screaming was happening.  It wasn’t hard, the ghost throwing everything that the owner had around the room. It was pissed - and she wondered what the fuck Winter had done. 

That was for later Lil to figure out. Now she had to make sure that the two screaming for her were okay. When it was between a teachable moment and safety, she was always going to choose the safe one. 

Turning the corner and hearing a crash she realized what was going on. Cursing under her breath for a moment she turned back ground the corner dropping her back and pulling the chalk and salt she had she sighed knowing that this was going to suck and she was about to get thrown by a ghost again before she leaned over to draw a circle on the ground hoping whoever owned the house wouldn’t mind. If she annoyed it right she could get it to push her back to the circle and trap it. 

Hearing the crash and knowing that she had to move quick Lil moved quickly calling out, “ I’m here. Sit tight guys. I’m going to get it.  Ghost in there with Winter - get away from the door I don’t want you caught in what I’m about to do. Winter this fucker’s going to try to body hop ask your  ghost friend in there to stop it from trying please!” She knew it was dumb but her handful of salt was going to at least stop the poltergeist from getting through that door. Still, if she asked the ghost who was attached to her to help, she might also be able to protect the not medium friend from getting jumped. 

“Hey asshole! Get away from the fucking door idiot I’m the exorcist. You'd better pay attention to me. Cause I’m the one that’s going to hurt you,” Lil bellowed, moving towards the door, moving to spread the salt in a line before facing a very pissed off poltergeist. Good. She was better at handling an annoyed ghost than anything else and she wasn’t in the mood.  

“Thea, we’re not going to die, get that out of your head right now.” Winter decided to ignore the comments about her name, now was not the time to go into her regular spiel about it. She knew she had pissed off this poltergeist but with Lil’s warning she now realized it was trying to get to the other girl for more nefarious purposes. Her eyes cut to Henry who shrugged, obviously not sure how to go about keeping the poltergeist at bay. “I don’t know! Just get in front of her and try not to let it through you!” Poor Henry looked exasperated but did as he was told, standing in front of the cowering girls and directly behind the door that was now opening wider from the split with each blow from the other ghost. It was ignoring Lil altogether, not surprising considering the goal. 

She started to scan the contents of the closet, trying to find anything she could use to deter the ghost but it was highly unlikely she would be able to put the contents of the small space to use. Why hadn’t she bought her iron bracelet yet? She’d only wanted it to keep Henry away but she should have known coming into something like this she might need something other than the salt. “Thea, you don’t have anything that’s made of iron in here, do you?” It was a long shot but Winter was desperate. After seeing the state of the other’s room before shutting themselves in here she knew this was no ghost to tussle with and who knew how long it could take Lil to get inside. 

“We’re gonna die, we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die…” Thea repeated as she rocked back and forth; the thought was not getting out of her head. Was the afterlife nice? Would she still be lactose intolerant in the afterlife? She hoped not; she’d really love heaven mac and cheese. Oh, who was she kidding? She was not going to heaven. She didn’t know the girl on the outside; Loba, Lora, Lasagna, whoever she was. She didn’t know if she could trust her or what she looked like or she was the one that facilitated the strange prank, but Thea realized quickly that she didn’t have a choice. She had to trust Laryngitis. “Body hop?” Thea turned to Winter. “Is that--that doesn’t sound fun.” 

Her ears burned at the suggestion of iron. Quickly, she reached up into her small assortment of coats. “Yes, actually, I went to this vintage shop and…” She trailed off, deciding that Winter didn’t need the history. She’d found something with the cutest little buttons: iron, as she’d later found out. She ripped them all off, thrusting two towards Winter as she shoved the rest under the closet doors. “Those are iron buttons, Lactose!” she called out. 

She didn’t know what they would be good for, but now wasn’t the time to question anything. 

Lil realized after a moment it still wasn’t really noticing her the anger still not directed at her. Fuck. She’d have to do a backup plan - and she’d have to ask Winter what the hell they’d done to make it so angry that Lil couldn’t automatically pose a threat. Still, she moved into the swirling hurricane of a spirit. Figuring it might just be easier to get it trapped when she wasn’t the main object. It was harder to make a circle, the spirit’s motion closer to a hurricane then something Lil should reasonably get closer too. 

Still, she gritted her teeth and pushed on dropping to the floor to do so and trying to not pay attention to the screams of the other two. Sighing and knowing that there was a chance she was about to get thrown she moved in front of the ghost completing the circle as it suddenly realized Lil was there. 

“Oh fuck you man I gave you a warning -” Lil said suddenly being pushed away as it realized the circle was there, an object hitting her as she yelped ducking again before putting her hand on her necklace, starting to chant as the ghost now realized what Lil was. She was just glad she couldn’t hear what the hell the spirit was saying, curling into a ball and speaking as clearly as she could. 

The question of body hopping momentarily had Winter stumped, not really sure what to say to the already terrified girl next to her. She could make it worse if she tried to explain so she just shook her head as the ghost kept crashing into the door. “I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s nothing really, just keep coming up with weird names for Lil. Lettuce…was pretty?” How the hell did someone comfort another during this situation? Or at all? Henry looked back at her, clearly wondering what the hell Winter was on about, but turned his attention to the door as it finally cracked completely open. 

His hands were up in an instant, doing his best to hold back the furious poltergeist as it fought to get to Thea, but he wasn’t as strong as the other ghost. Shockingly, the other girl came through with the iron, Winter grateful as the cold hit her hands. She scooted so that she was in front of Thea and held out the buttons towards the two ghosts knowing that Henry was seconds from losing his grip on the other. 

But Lil, sweet beautiful Lil, finished the circle around the ghost just before Henry got thrown to the other side of it slamming against the wall that was containing both of the girls. She watched through the cracks as the medium got thrown, Winter yelping the girl’s name in hopes of getting an answer. Luckily, her answer came in the form of chanting that the other medium didn’t understand but knew had to be some sort of saving grace for them all. 

That was when the room started to shake. Her eyes widened as the poltergeist’s anger really started to manifest around them, clearly not enjoying the fact that it was trapped and close to being taken out. Lamps exploding, furniture being thrown through the plaster of the walls, a curtain now on fire from the sparks of electricity, it was turning into hell in that bedroom and if they didn’t get out soon it would end in tragedy. “Lil, please hurry!” 

“I’m kinda out of words that start with L!” Thea admitted with a slight embarrassment. “What did you say? Lil? Is it because she’s little? That’s kinda mean, Winter.” It was worse than Lettuce, in her opinion. But Thea shut her eyes, recognizing that she had nothing to really offer her but her company—which wasn’t much. Winter moved closer to her, holding up the buttons, and Thea tried not to think (which was something she’d never been very good at). 

If she died here, would she have lived a good life? Probably not. If the roof fell in on her, could she say she was happy? No, absolutely not. In her youth, Thea penned a list of her aspirations: go to university, get a degree, have a wife, be an astronaut. How could she quantify her life? She hadn’t done anything; she hadn’t become anyone. She was just Thea, in a closet, trying not to cry and having already failed at that. “Lady! Location! Loaf! Lion! Lamp!” She screeched the words, summoning them from the depths; that part of her that had really loved Scrabble. “I want to live,” Thea yelled, “I want to get out of here! End it! Finish it! Save us!” Hot tears streamed down her cheeks. 

Lil concentrated on the words, keeping the chant up as the house shook ignoring the other’s who were asking her to finish it. It wasn’t out of malice or that she didn’t care - Lil cared a lot but at the moment the chant was more important. A sudden glow happened as she pulled herself back up looking at the poltergeist a focus that in day-to-day life Lil never had. 

In the middle of chaos Lil often found some sort of peace, something she wasn’t particularly found in exploring as she watched from the ground her hand gripping her necklace she looked absolutely calm in the moment as she reached the end of the chant seeing the poltergeist looking screaming mad. 

The floor shook the weird tornado of things swirling around trying to hit Lil and then suddenly there was a light - and like everything else in her life things crashed down. 

Then suddenly it was quiet - at least for Lil, she didn’t know what the poltergeist said looking at her and disappearing. For a moment she said nothing until she called out “You two okay - You can come out now.” 

Lil’s voice was a little weaker than she liked it to be and there was a bruise forming where a lamp hit her, but other than that she was pretty sure the living room took most of the beating. “And my name Is Lil - Winter what the hell happened here?” 

“It’s because that’s her name!” Why was this girl so insistent on yelling out everything that started with an L? They were kind of busy trying not to die! But it didn’t help that she was starting to lose it too so Winter took a breath to try and calm her nerves. Thea had no idea what was going on here, she couldn’t blame her for trying to concentrate on something else entirely. 

She could hear commotion outside the door and she peaked through the crack again to see what was going on. The poltergeist was angry as Lil continued to chant but then there was a light and the crash of all of the belongings floating through the air. The ghost was gone with a simple “But it’s my house…” Everything was calm with the exception of the fire that had started the flicker of the flames glowing through the crack in the door, which prompted Winter to crawl out of the enclosed space as quickly as she could.

Standing, the girl tried her best to look composed as she smoothed over her shirt but she wouldn’t meet Lil’s eyes. “I thought I could handle it. I didn’t know it was a poltergeist.” There was no shame lacing her words, more like defiance, but she sure as hell felt it along with the relief that had taken over her panic. A headache was forming as her adrenaline started to rush out of her body but there was something else to worry about here. “I think we’re okay though…Thea, are you okay?” 

She looked back at the open closet door, watching Henry as he got to his feet and moved out. Then her eyes went to the person who actually lived in this house. “We might want to get out of here and call the fire department…”

Smoke was all Thea could smell. It was almost comforting, like autumn nights by a crackling fire, almost. She burst out of the closet, crawling around the floor. After going around another torn floorboard, Thea pushed herself up. Her room was a mess; as if a localized tornado had run through, splintering and pulling everything in its path. “I’m sorry I called you ‘lettuce’,” Thea said to the woman who’d saved them—Lil. She wiped the tears off her cheeks and hoped neither woman noticed, but knew that they had. Winter and Lil couldn’t have been that much older than her and still, somehow, she felt like a kid. Still, somehow, she felt like this was her fault. “Winter was trying to help me,” Thea said; she wasn’t going to dissect the ‘poltergeist’ part of Winter’s sentence. “And she did! I probably would’ve been crushed, since she’s the one who insisted it might be ghosts. And I guess it was ghosts. So, yeah, Winter helped me.” Thea felt the need to defend Winter to Lil, it didn’t sound like Lil was scolding Winter, but there was some sort of dynamic between them that pushed up her need to soothe turbulence. 

“Am I okay?” Thea pointed to herself, incredulous. “Is she okay?” She pointed at Lil, and the bruise forming. “Are you okay?” she asked Winter, expecting that the answer for all of them was a ‘no’ that they’d lie about and call a ‘yes, I am okay’. “Do you think I’ll get my deposit back?” As Thea asked, the ceiling cracked and a small section of drywall and insulation fell into the flames. “Okay, maybe not.” She turned her attention back to them. It was a small miracle that her important documents were with Van—now who was being financially irresponsible by renting out a room she didn’t need? It was less of a miracle that some things she loved were still here: the coat she’d come into Maine with, bits of jewelry, shoes and memories. Despite all its faults, she’d loved this house. It was the place that had made her feel normal. Now, it was anything but. She was cursed; this was all her fault. 

“Yeah,” she mumbled, pushing out of the room. The door had been ripped from the wall, thrown into one of her roommate’s rooms—who wasn’t here, because they were never here. “Let’s get out of here.”

[adrift-in-thyme]

Congrats on the follower milestone!!! How about some fluffy oot? Perhaps a post Majora reunion 👀

THANK YOU ❤️

Hopefully this is fluffy enough. Angst always seems to creep in with these two 😅

(Fic beneath the cut)

——————-

The day he returns is just like any other.

There are no signs heralding the very thing Zelda has been waiting for an entire year now, no strange occurrences. The weather isn’t even unusually pleasant for this time of year (or unpleasant for that matter). It’s just dreary and gray and horribly dull like every day of her life has been since he left.

But then somewhere around midmorning, a little, red foal shows up at the castle gate. A fairy boy dressed in the green of the forest is upon her back, and one glimpse of him sends hope and joy, and overwhelming relief coursing through Zelda in waves.

She doesn’t bother smoothing her skirts or fixing her hat or even drawing her hair back from where it has fallen in loose curls down her shoulders. She sees him and runs, boots squishing in the mud, rain streaming down her face. There’s no room for the rules of royalty now, no room for prancing and tiptoeing, for holding up skirts and avoiding puddles.

Because her friend has returned. At long last, he has returned.

She’s halfway to him when the gate raises, and he looks up. There are bags beneath his eyes, so dark and deep she can see them from here, and his shoulders are slouched, his posture screaming defeat and exhaustion. He’s sopping wet too, and depressingly devoid of the little fairy he set out to seek. But when he sees her, his face lights up like the sun itself.

He practically tumbles off Epona, hitting the ground with a soggy splash. And then he’s running to meet her, a grin stretching across his face.

“Link!” She cries, over the rain and wind, voice shrill with excitement. “Oh Link, you’ve come back!”

They meet in the middle, and he skids to a halt, smile falling just slightly.

“Princess—” he begins, voice small and reserved and terribly formal.

Zelda shakes her head and with a half-sob, half-chuckle, tackles him in a massive hug. He lets out an adorable, little squeak of surprise, going stiff as a board. But Zelda doesn’t let that deter her. He can try to hold onto pretenses and manners, he can try to erect an awkward divide between them, but she’s finished with all of that. It was never truly there in the first place, after all. How could it be when they spent every moment between his first adventure and his parting together, exploring, playing, talking about anything and everything? Before he left, they were friends, good friends. She refuses to let him forget that.

So, she squeezes him hard, pouring every bit of her heart into the embrace.

“I missed you,” she murmurs as tears stream down her face and mingle with the rain. “I missed you so much.”

He shudders, something like a sob coming from him. Only a moment more and he’s clutching her like his life depends upon it, body trembling, hands fisted in her dress.

“I missed you too,” he chokes.

Hearing him say it makes something warm and wonderful swell within Zelda. She closes her eyes and holds him close, savoring this moment.

It’s broken much too soon, however. Epona, deciding she isn’t getting quite enough attention (she was gone for a year too, you know), trots up and promptly headbutts Link in the side. Hard.

With an exclamation of surprise Link stumbles, trips, and goes down, taking Zelda with him. They land with a large splash in the mud, instantly soaked with the disgusting brown stuff.

“Epona!” Link cries, though there is no heat in his tone. In fact, it sounds like he’s trying not to laugh.

Zelda looks down at her dress, now soiled beyond repair, then back at Link. He’s just as dirty as she is, golden hair turned dirty brown, emerald clothes now dulled. But when he meets her gaze, there’s mirth shining past the remnants of tears in his red-rimmed eyes. A grin tugs at the corners of his mouth, begging to be set free.

“Are—are you okay?”

With an explosion of giggles, Zelda lurches forward and tackles him into the ground. More mud goes flying, splattering onto their clothing and hair.

For a moment he stares up at her, eyes wide, with surprise and something else, something…strange. It’s an emotion Zelda feels she should know, and yet can’t make sense of. But then the moment shatters and the curious tension with it. He erupts into laughter.

It sounds just like she remembers it, small and bright and cheery, bringing with it images of a forest full of life, of fairies twinkling and children playing. It carries memories of a life that wasn’t even hers and yet somehow becomes hers when he is near. It’s contagious too and Zelda finds her giggles transforming into full-on laughter that shakes her body and brings tears to her eyes.

Everything seems funnier now that he’s back. Everything seems lighter. Oh, how she’s missed him.

When at last the giggles subside, she flops down beside him, heedless of anything but his presence. His hand slips into hers, tentative, almost shy, and she squeezes it without hesitation. They lay like that, side by side, staring up into the sheets of rain until Impa finds them.

“You’ll both catch colds,” she scolds, after greeting Link. “If you wish to continue this touching reunion, you will do so while clean and dry. Come.”

She takes them by the hand and ushers them inside.

After enduring baths (and finding Link a change of clothes) they end up in the study, snuggled together under a mass of blankets. Link looks even more tired now, eyelids drooping despite his best efforts. He leans against Zelda, his cheek pressed into her shoulder, staring into the flames. Beneath the blankets, their fingers are tentwined again. Every once in a while, he tightens his hold and runs a thumb over her knuckles, as though reassuring himself that she’s real.

They talk a bit about little things—sights Link saw on his adventure, happenings around the castle, the new foal at Lon Lon Ranch. He doesn’t tell her the intricate details of his journey, though. And while she can’t deny the disappointment of missing out on the exciting tale of his exploits, she can be patient. She’ll wait for him.

She will always wait for him.

He sighs, contentedly, scooting a bit closer. Zelda lays her head on his.

“All through this long year I held onto the belief that we would meet again,” she murmurs into the silence that has grown between them. “I’m so very glad that we did.”

“Me too.” His voice is so soft she can hardly hear it, slurred with sleep. But his heart is in his words, she can tell.

“I’m really glad to be home.”

[acidoncrack]

hope ur ok // elmax ficlet

El woke up to the ear-splitting sound of the phone ringing. She glanced at the clock next to her bed and threw her pillow over her head. 2:37 A.M. Please, she thought, someone else can get that. This was the first night she had slept since the incident in Hawkins. She let out a sigh as the ringing stopped. Either Joyce had picked it up, or the person on the other end had given up. She enjoyed the silence and felt like she might be able to drift off – until it started again. They weren’t letting this go. She groaned as she got out of bed – might as well spare Will and Joyce. She lugged over to the phone and picked it up off of the wall. Everything she might’ve been about to say evaporated when she heard sobbing from the other end.

She recognized those sobs immediately. She had heard them all too many times over the past couple years.

“Max?”

“El, I- I can’t do this anymore!” she managed to say in gasps.

El panicked. She was so used to saving people physically, through her powers. She didn’t know what to say. What to do. But she had to do something.

“Max. It’s okay. Try to breathe,” was all she could think of.

She heard her friend trying to draw in shaky breaths. She was still crying, but she was gradually breathing better. Suddenly, El had a thought, and it was out of her mouth before she could think better of it. “I could come to your house.”

Max momentarily went silent. “El, what?” she said, her tone changing quickly from despair to confusion. “I-it’s the middle of the night!”

“And you need it in the middle of the night,” El said firmly. “I am coming. Or you could come here if you want.”

“My mom’s asleep…yeah. I guess I could come over.” El could tell Max was tearing up again. “But…are you sure it would be okay? I mean…what about your mom and Will?”

“It’s okay. They won’t mind. Are you sure you’re okay with walking?”

“Yeah, I think so. I mean, it’s not that far.”

“Okay. I’ll see you soon then.” El hated how much she sounded like Joyce, but she ignored it.

Max drew in one more huge breath before saying “Yeah.” and hanging up.

El was almost surprised to feel tears stinging at her own eyes. She couldn't stand to even hear Max in this state.

She sat at the door for what felt like years, rocking on her seat and tapping her foot. Soon enough, she heard a soft knock. She practically flung herself to the door, although still trying to open it as quietly as possible.

Max was a wreck. She was in the same clothes El saw her in yesterday, and her usually pretty eyes were red and slightly puffy, as if she had been wiping them all night. Her cheeks were stained with tears. She waved kind of awkwardly. “Hi.”

El grabbed her hand and pulled her inside. She closed the door and guided the red-headed girl to her room. They sat on her bed shoulder to shoulder, hands still interlocked.

“Are you okay?” Clearly not. “What happened?” Jesus, El, at least give her a chance to answer the first question!

“All I wanted was to have a better life,” she whispered. “But moving to Hawkins just made everything worse! I-I thought I hated Billy. I hated him so much. But I didn’t want him to die! No one deserved to die! But-but then after what happened to him…I thought I deserved to die. And…I guess I got what I wanted.” She wiped her face again. El felt tears of her own racing down her face, but she didn’t bother to wipe them. Max looked up at El again and couldn’t help smiling. “Well, I guess you were one good thing to come out of Hawkins.”

El pulled her best friend into the tightest hug she had ever given. Max immediately hugged back and sobbed into El’s shoulder. El remembered the other time they had hugged like this – the day that Billy had died. Finally, El remembered how to talk again. “You didn’t deserve anything,” she said softly, voice shaking.

She felt like she could sit like that, with Max in her arms, for the rest of her life. Max shifted a bit, and soon enough, the sobs had stopped, only leaving behind the slow breathing of Max’s sleep.

El let out a deep sigh. Here, with Max asleep in her arms, she felt like everything might finally be okay.

[ragingclaw]

The Door to Harmony (Harvey x OC)

Summary: How a single sound can annoy Harvey. | Based on Harvey's dialogue: "As summer draws to a close, and the colder season begins, my workload tends to increase. Sorry in advance if I'm a little moody..."

Word Count: 1506

AN: I tried to write angst but I just can't so I'll just call this a fic with a little bit of ✨ sazon ✨

Four times.

Four times the door had swung open. Four times the door had creaked amidst the silence of their farmhouse. It was only 5 PM after all, and Harvey knew that Hiraya was very busy considering they were in the middle of Fall; he had seen earlier the state of their farm and knew that all of the crops were ready to be harvested. Yet the sound of the door creaking repeatedly drove Harvey insane.

Harvey tried not to bring the stress of his work to their home, considering it was the only place where he ever felt safe and at ease. And with them being a family of three, Harvey knew that it would be a bad idea as babies can easily pick up on their parent’s emotions.

Still, all of those things weren’t enough to stop him from getting annoyed at a sound that he was used to hearing. He didn’t know why it irritated him so much. He’d opened a new model plane to distract his mind from the door and it still wasn’t enough. Taking a deep breath, he rubbed the bridge of his nose to try and calm himself when suddenly…

Creak

In a matter of seconds, Harvey had found himself walking as fast as he could towards Hiraya, who he found rummaging through one of the kitchen cabinets. “Honey. Aya. How many times are you going to open that door?”

A confused expression was written on her face as she turned to look at him. “What?”

“The door! You’ve been coming in and out of the house five times now! The door is so damn loud!” Harvey exclaimed, unable to stop himself from raising his voice.

Hiraya scratched her head, smiling as she stood up to face him. “I’m sorry. I, uh- I keep forgetting stuff-”

“Well do something about it then! Write it on a paper or something!” he yelled, instantly regretting it when he saw Hiraya jump from the sudden change in his tone. His hand reached out to her, pulling away seconds when he saw her shoulders slump subtly. “Aya,” he started but was soon interrupted when they both heard their son cry in the kid’s room.

“I’m sorry.” Hiraya forced a smile, “I’ll go and tend to Danny.” Left alone standing in the kitchen, Harvey’s mind began to doubt his ability to become a husband and a father. Fear immediately consumed his thoughts; the fear of losing his family, the fear of failing to keep the promise that he made on their wedding day, and the fear of losing Hiraya. Those things had plagued his mind to the point that he did not notice Hiraya walking towards him.

“Harvey?”

Turning in her direction, Harvey opened his mouth to say something but he was cut off by her. “We’ll be spending the night in Ridgeside. We fixed up an old farm in the northern part and the two gumballs decided to let me have it. I won’t be back until tomorrow afternoon.”

“Aya, please. Let me-”

“Harvey,” he sensed a sadness in her voice, “you have work tomorrow. You should go and catch up on some sleep. I’ll stop by and pick up Danny before you leave, he likes to watch me run around the farm anyway and it’d be good to get him out once in a while.”

Hiraya placed a peck on his cheek, “I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night, Harvey.”

As soon as the door shut behind Hiraya, Harvey felt his chest tighten as he made his way to their bedroom, changing his clothes lazily before dragging himself to bed. Not a second had passed and the tears that he had been holding back now fell freely on his temples, grabbing the pillow his wife used and hugged it tightly to his chest.

-

A bright light shining on his eyes caused Harvey to stir awake, rubbing his face only to realize he had fallen asleep the night before wearing his glasses and watch. While he recalled yesterday’s event, he caught a glimpse of the time. 10:49 AM

The fact that he had woken up late sent him running around the house, changing his clothes as quickly as he could. His usual 10-minute walk from the farmhouse to town was cut down to a 3-minute sprint.

He thought he had broken the door to his clinic when he slammed it open, while a confused but frowning Maru and a startled Marnie and Jas welcomed him. “I’m sorry I’m super late! Give me a few minutes to prepare.”

Maru’s frown turned into concern when she realized that her boss’ eyes were puffy. Raising her eyebrow, Maru waited for Harvey to notice, only for him to shake his head and head straight into his office. Marnie seemed to notice it as well as she shifted her eyes to Maru, who shrugged in response.

A couple of checkups and a pile of paperwork later, Harvey decided that he would close the clinic early. He had sent Maru home early, making up an excuse that they both know would not even fool a child. He was thankful that Maru did not probe after asking why was he late, though she gave him a sharp look before leaving the clinic.

With his mind now clear from work, Harvey took his time walking back to their home, dreading what Hiraya would say to him the moment she sees his face. The thoughts that he had from the night before invaded his mind once again, though this time a lone thought was louder than the others. What if she realizes she doesn’t love me?

Stopping in his tracks, he felt sick to his stomach at the thought that the love of his life leaving him. The person who brought hope and joy to his life, walking away from the life that they built after finally realizing that she deserves better. 

“You okay there?” a voice asked. Looking at where the voice came from, he saw Gregory holding a basket full of vegetables.

“Y-yeah.”

“Nice! We just got back from Ridgeside, there are still things left to do but we’ll save it for next week. Here, have a bok choy for good luck. I also found this perfect rock, you can have it as well.” the younger Fitzgerald took his arm and placed a bok choy in his hand, and then shoved the rock inside his bag.

“Uh, thanks. Did Aya come home with you?”

Gregory nodded. Both of them stood in silence, unsure whether to continue their conversation. For Harvey, the bok choy suddenly looked interesting when Gregory stared at him with amusement. The latter then decided to break the silence. “Fights happen, you know that don’t you? Marriage isn’t rainbows and sunshine.”

“I know.”

“Believe me when I say that the only thing that can push her to the edge is when you dull the blade of one of her knives,” Gregory laughed, “Seriously. Go home and be with your family, they’re waiting for you.”

Gregory placed his hands on his shoulders and pushed him lightly. Upon opening the door, he noticed that the creaking sound was gone, though his attention turned to Hiraya descending the stairs carrying a laundry basket.

“Honey. You’re home early,” Hiraya greeted, “Let me load these clothes in the washer and then I’ll set the table.”

Hiraya hadn’t even made it halfway through the kitchen when she felt Harvey grab her arm. “Listen, I’m sorry about yesterday. I didn’t mean to yell at you, I really didn’t. I know I should’ve told you that it bothered me, but instead, I opened my mouth like a fool and took my irritation out on you. I hope you can forgive me.”

Harvey hadn’t realized he was crying until he felt Hiraya pull him into a hug, prompting him to wrap his arms around her tightly in return. Her hand gently caressed his hair, reassuring him repeatedly as he sobbed in her arms. They stayed in each other’s embrace for a while, Hiraya planting kisses all over his face as she continued to console him.

“Harvey, you apologized. That’s enough for me.” Hiraya murmured, wiping the tears away from his face, “I should’ve been more considerate of you, not everyone handles stress the way I do. I promise to do better next time honey, okay?”

He shook his head. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong. You couldn’t have known I was having a bad day, I should’ve communicated-”

“Honey, stop. We both did something, and we’re going to talk through it after you’ve had dinner. Alright?” Harvey nodded, “I’ll just finish this and reheat the food, you don’t need to do anything other than freshen up and relax.”

Pulling away after a kiss, Harvey watched Hiraya make her way down the basement, only for her to stop and turn to him, her expression that of someone trying to hold in their laughter.

“Honey, why were you holding that bok choy the entire time?”

For Yoba’s sake, Gregory.

[lycanfuck]

heavy rain (and unsaid words) cw implied parental and sibling abuse, physical injury

tink. tink. tink.

…tink.

anne barely hears the dull tapping of tiny stones on her window, layered under the heavy night rain. she had just started to doze off, and with a groan, wrenched herself out of the comfort of her bed and fumbled with the lock on the window before pushing it open.

she glares out of it, eyes still adjusting to the dark street and she's confused for a moment when she can't find anyone. even so, she had her suspicions.

"luke?" she called out.

"hey, annie."

the tone of luka's voice alone caused anne to press herself further against the glass. there was a combination of exhaustion and distress in the boy's timbre that anne seldom heard, and his voice cracked with unshed tears. the causal tone luka was trying to use was a defense that anne had grown to know, however. he was trying to act like nothing was wrong, but the fact that he was here in the middle of the night was worrying enough.

"you okay?" she asks, despite already feeling the answer in her gut. luka is silent, the pattering of rain being all she can hear for a moment. a single rumble of thunder lazily carried through the street.

"not really," he finally says. "sorry."

"luka?"

"i didn't mean to wake you up."

"you didn't!" anne lied as she stood up straight after hopping around her room like an idiot to get her shoes on. "come to the door."

anne exits her room with ghost, the small white dog looking up at her with worried eyes as her expression grew more concerned with each step she descended. no sooner does anne swing the front door open does she spot him standing a few feet away, soaked to the bone, staring blankly at the ground. his bright ginger hair and clothes clung to his form from the heavy downpour of rain and every few seconds, he shudders from the late november cold. she can hear his teeth chatter even from here.

"yo, lighthouse!"

he jumps at anne's exclamation, folding his arms as he rushed over to her door.

"hey," he sniffled.

"come inside before you freeze," she insists, stepping aside as he obeyed, ghost bouncing around him and wagging his tail at the familiar face. he circles his ankles twice before sitting next to him with his head tilted. luka offers him one of his wet hands to lap at.

"thanks."

"don't thank me yet, we still have to get you warmed up," anne touched his arm, met by the cold fabric of his shirt and leading him up the stairs before he can protest the offer. ghost follows faithfully, tongue sticking out of his mouth. as she leaves him to the bathroom, she retreats to her own room to find something for him to change into. it occurred to her luka preferred to sleep in short, loose, airy things - he had a tendencies to overheat at night. seriously, that kid was like a walking heat source, and yet he always complained about being cold - so she ends up grabbing an assortment of shorts and a few tees.

she takes the bundle of clothes to the bathroom, pausing a second when she hears the water still running. "luke? i brought the clothes, i'm gonna leave them on the counter."

"sure," she hears him call back before she cracks open the door just enough to force the large pile of clothes through and onto the makeup counter before slipping back behind the door. "a spare toothbrush is in the medicine cabinet, don't be shy!"

a muffled 'okay' is the response and she returns to her room, ghost already making himself comfortable right in the awkward center of it. anne casts a passing glance to her alarm - it was almost 1a.m., and her grandma would be home from her late shift at the diner soon. ***

"bit overkill, annie," she looks up to see luka enter the room, damp hair combed out of his face as he stares down at the clothes in his arms. he decided on a light gray tee and black shorts and he carried the pile to the top of her dresser, soon flopping beside her on the bed, led down. ghost sniffs at his face.

"sorry, i'll let you sleep in your wet clothes next time," she smiled. "you wanna talk about it?"

it was almost tradition, whenever something happened at school with luka's brother or stepdad, he'd come over and spend the night. his gaze shifts at the ceiling as if searching for words.

"i can't take it anymore," he finally says, so quietly that anne almost misses it. her expression softens as she watches him wrap his arms around himself, curling into himself a little. "it was so stupid. i was trying to practice and i had my headphones plugged into my thing so i know zach couldn't hear me but he kept insisting he could and i- i know he couldn't but he got all pissed off," he exhaled slowly. "but he plays his music all the time out loud."

"that's stupid," anne offered. "how is it fair that he doesn't have to wear headphones and you do?"

"that's what i said," he frowned, toying with the whisps of ghost's fur with his calloused fingertips. anne caught a glimpse of a dark bruise forming on the side of his wrist. "but it doesn't matter. zach wanted it done so i should've done it even if it was impossible. he just hates seeing me have fun. he wants me to die old and boring like his dad."

anne didn't know what to say about the injury, so she didn't. it's not like luka would say it was from anything other than sports or skating and eating dirt, anyway. her desensitization to the patchwork of bruises and marks and scars on him made her stomach churn with guilt, really. she hadn't noticed until now; faint, older bruises in shades of yellow and green mixed with fresher ones in deep purples and blues, across his arms, thighs, knees... anne couldn't look at an area of his body without seeing some injury. his arms were fucked, too. talk of the town, really. anne often heard conversations of other kids at school on the topic of his arms - his scars overlap and intersect, some faded to a pale white, others still an angry red, or purple depending on the temperature. the sheer amount of them has left his arms disfigured and uneven, with ridges and indentations where the skin has healed unevenly. anne's heart was warm with pride, though, that luka didn't really seem to care what they thought. he had always carried himself with a quiet confidence. "your stepdad didn't side with you at all?"

luka snorted like it was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.

"no. my music is loud and obnoxious and just noise. zach's vinyls are classical. teo likes 'em."

anne tried to listen, she really did, but her eyes were locked on the blackened injury on his wrist. "do you want ice, or-?"

"i'm tired, can i sleep over?" luka asks as she shuffles around the curled-up dog, who gives the boy leeway to lay with relative comfort.

"duh," she says after a moment. ghost huffs theatrically as anne makes herself comfortable beside luka, circling himself in between the pair's legs after anne had pulled one of her grandma's knit blankets over them. their mutual friends find it awkward that luka and anne are so comfortable sharing a bed, but everything with him just felt so normal. she hears luka shift beside him and turns on her side to see that he had turned to face her, although it looked like he was thinking about something.

"hey," she moves to look up at him. "stay the weekend? i got my allowance- we can buy snacks, kick it, i'll beat your ass at foosball again if you wanna hit up happyscore."

anne sees tears start to form in luka's eyes a second before he shifts forward, wrapping an arm around her in a tight hug.

"i'm gonna destroy you," his voice cracks a little and anne wraps her arms around him, fingers lingering on the ribs she can feel through the shirt before rubbing tiny circles into his side soothingly. she listens to his breathing until it settles and becomes even as he falls asleep. anne smiles before falling asleep herself, the events of the evening catching up to her.

[iunctura-arch]

"Do you like them?"

Tatsuki stares at the vase of flowers on her desk, which had been arranged in a way that would be beautifully presented.

"We saw you weren't doing so well, so we figured you might be cheered up with flowers! None of us really knew what you liked, so we just got one of each flower!"

Words marred her desk for a moment. A flash of the words Thief, Murderer and Die! were there before she blinked and they were gone. The vase had, momentarily, become one with a chrysanthemum flower instead of the beautiful flower arrangement it had been before returning to the present.

"What's wrong? You're pale. Are you sick?" The girl to her left reached out to put her hand on Tatsuki's forehead.

A flash. The uniform of Azumano Middle School, in a different colour. The girl replaced by one of her tormenters, reaching out to grab her hair. Tatsuki backed off almost instantly, eyes wide with fear.

"Are you okay, Hinata-chan?"

"She's... No, she isn't. Look at her. She's... Hinata-chan, what's wrong? Is something bothering you?"

Tatsuki's hands come to her face, tears falling without end. With a loud scream, she grabs her bag and runs out of the classroom. The girls chase after, but can't catch up.

"Hinata-chan!" They shout, trying to catch her attention. But she's already so far gone. The three girls look at each other.

"...When did Hinata-chan learn to run so fast?" One of them asked.

"She can barely keep up most of the time... Maybe she just doesn't want to be noticed?" Another thought, tapping her chin.

"That could be it. Maybe we should visit her after school- Oh! Isn't she living with Niwa-san? We could ask him if we can visit. I saw them walking to school together once." The third said.

"She could be. Let's ask Niwa-san after school."

The moment she was far enough away, she'd manifested Dark's wings forcibly to fly herself home. No one had seen, thankfully, so she'd been able to get home without causing a spectacle.

Though it had hurt like hell, but she knew what the cost was when she'd first taken flight. She never really used any other door but the front one, but she'd decided not to take the main entrance this time.

(Emiko would probably not like having to reset all the traps for when Daisuke got home...)

Taking off her shoes after entering the mansion, Tatsuki set them with the others and walked over to the sofa before basically collapsing on it and starting to sob.

"Tatsuki, they were just trying to cheer you up..." Dark's voice was gentle, but still firm. She knew that, she knew... but still...

"....I couldn't help but think back to everything." She said between sobs. "To all the hell I was going through before I ended up sent back in time..."

"You've grown so much stronger since the first day we arrived. You took a chance with Daisuke, took a chance with the other me, and you've gained what you haven't had for years."

"....A family." She whispered, in Dark's voice. "We have a family."

"You'll be okay." Tatsuki honestly wishes she could hug him and just rest against him until she fell asleep. And with Daisuke still at school for an undetermined amount of time (as she didn't know what time it was right now), she couldn't bother him.

"We'll be okay." She finally sits up, staring at the wall for a moment before going to go upstairs to her room and change. It takes her barely any time to do so, and she lets herself transform once she's done changing her clothes.

"I'm... going to try and get some more sleep." The bed was safe, warm and she could sleep until Daisuke got home. As her head hit the pillow, she closed her eyes.

"I won't stop you this time." Dark sighed, but she knew he was smiling. "I'll be around when you wake up, so if you need me, I'll be there."

"...Thanks."

It was slow, but she soon drifted off to sleep, comforted by the thought of not being alone when she woke up.

[vinivre]

It was almost as if that one comment brought back the girl he knew. Her eyes seemed to change colour and become lighter. He looked upon her with hopeful eyes, wishing that this had made a huge dent into the torture she endured by the Capitol. He could save her, he always could. That was his job no matter what. Once again it was proving itself right. Peeta dared not get closer to where she was; however, still afraid that the hijacked Katniss could take over once again. Fight it Katniss. Remember green, that was your life, everything green. Those were the new thoughts he repeated in his head as he waited for Katniss to say something, anything.Then she did and it brought a warm feeling to course through him.

“Yes, the nice, pale orange the sky goes, not Effie’s atrocious orange she tried to pull off.”

Peeta let out a laugh, thinking back to the day they confided into each other the secret of their favoured colour. His hope for the mind of the Girl on Fire to return to the stable way it was suppose to be grew lost when he saw her eyes grow dark again. The change of her facial expression as well had his lingering smile falter. Keep trying she’ll come around soon. Her next question did not catch him off guard but it took him a moment to think of something the Capitol would have not known at all or if so, very little about. His feet slid on the smooth floor, slowly moving his body to sit against the cold wall. His head leaned against it, the coolness seeping into his scalp.

“Y-your voice. When you sing, all the birds go quiet to listen just like they did when your father sang. Your voice is llike you own unique bird song.”

He did his best to ignore the way she venomously asked the question his eyes cast down after he replied. Peeta’s fingers ran over the smooth tiles, drawing circles and other shapes on it. This was more difficult than observing her from outside the room, watching her scream. For now they were talking and it would seem like everything was fine until she made one face or comment and all Peeta wished to do was grab a hold of her and plead the real Katniss to come back.

Some of the people with white gear on, doctor’s most likely walked into the room and grabbed him by the arm, forcing him to stand. He did not wish to leave yet but they were forcing him. His time was up. Katniss had seen enough of the bread boy who she pleaded for but then cursed when received.

He was able to stand his ground for a moment longer. His hand grasped the side of the door as he looked at Katniss, desperation in his face, and tears in his eyes. To kill her was never his duty, never what he seeked to complete.

“Not real. All I did in the games was do my best to protect you.”

And with that said, he felt maybe it would give her something. She would recall something that would make it easier for her to trust him. The doctor’s ushered him out before he was able to give her one last look, see if her eyes had been given a spark. Th door closed before him and now he was out with a crowd that had been observing their interaction or waiting to see what he was going to do next. His decision, to go back to his room. He needed to paint again, paint the spark in her eyes when Peeta mentioned the colour green.

It seemed so sudden. Finnick and Annie having a wedding. Especially since it was still in the middle of a serious event, the rebellion. However, Peeta suspected that they were doing so to say they were married before anything drastic happened. It was such a low thought but it was the only one that actually made sense. Peeta wanted to help out in any way he could, yes but he did not know what to do until Portia came to him excited and told of how they hatched the idea to go back to District Twelve and retreive some of Katniss and his nicer clothing for them to wear at the wedding. It was a nice idea, but something that required him to leave the safety of his room and back to the terrors of what was left of his district. A place he did not wish to go back to, did not wish to see the rotting, charred bodies of people he may have known lying across the ground. He had to stop thinking about it, his eyes were beginning to grow filled with tears just thinking about it.

It was the next day they left somewhat early to find the perfect dress and suit for Finnick and Annie. Peeta silently walked through his Victor House running his dry fingers over smooth walls and tables. He never really liked being alone in the house, his family still working in the bakery and living there. However, it was nice to be there. Finnick was talking excitedly as he looked with one of Peeta’s stylist crew, trying to findthe perfect suit to wear. Peeta was only there in silence and to comment on the one Finnick would try on. They made it seem like such a grand thing, like this was the only thing that mattered, the wedding. He was happy but in a way he worried about everything else. Others were not able share this nice time, others were dying at that moment.

When they returned to District Thirteen, Peeta was to follow some of the soldiers to the kitchen. Once in there, he looked around to see Greasy Sae and a bunch of ingredients lying around on various counters. Her only words to him was make us one of your cakes and gave a crooked smile and it felt somewhat heart warming. No, he did not technically know Greasy Sae very well, saw her various times and heard about her trade. Of course, his family was the only baker family so much was said of them-and he forgets, he is famous because of being a Victor and now, the Mockingjay. It was like beginning something that immediately grabbed the attention of your mind. He touched one ingredient and then everything came to him, all the steps to make the perfect cake, perfect cake for the wedding. Peeta worked with care, in the zone completely consumed. He did not even eat while he worked. This was so relaxing and it was able to get his mind off everything, this worked more than painting because he actually felt like he was at home.

Icing the cake was a more difficult task but he was up for it. Slowly taking the homemade icing he mixed up and squeezing it into swirls and flowers adding other aspects that he thought possibly would make Finnick and Annie think of home and have it seem that their wedding was not down in depths of District Thirteen but in District Four.

The night of the wedding. They had an hour set on their schedule for it and compared to others, he had another hour set for the reception where only the ones that actually knew the couple were invited to, whilst all the other individuals of District Thirteen went back to their daily routine. Everyone was wearing their same coloured, ugly uniforms of District Thirteen. It made the whole room seem duller than it already was. He stood in the front, though he wished to be more towards the back but everyone insisted he be there. He was happy for them, Finnick and Annie, they had been separated for so long, just as he and Katniss had and they finally got their moment to remember for ever, their happily ever after night. It made Peeta almost jealous, he might never get that, he knew it useless to worry about it but he had hoped just maybe Katniss and he could be something, even though there was Gale.

It was not until the reception did Peeta realize that Katniss had been able to join the crowd for the wedding. Maybe this was a step closer to her recovery. He watched as she moved closer to the cake he worked on the whole day yesterday. She seemed, amazed by it. Peeta licked his dry lips and took the chance to walked after her and meet her at the cake. He stood a few feet away at first but then took another step, his breathing seeming to stop. Instead of saying anything or looking at her, he looked at his cake instead, finally regaining the works of breathing, deep breaths as he waited for her to do something, attack him for all he knew. He took the chance and he was not going to be a coward and just walk away, leave her alone. She must have felt alone, and it made his heart crack because she did not deserve any of this, did not deserve to experience such trauma.

Nearly everything Katniss asked or said, took him by shock. He assumed he was expecting her to have been totally forgetful of everything he did in District Twelve and everything he spoke of to her. Either that, or Peeta felt as she might not have listened to him or what he said had no particular meaning and it was forgotten minutes after the conversation. Peeta turned his head to the side looking at her, loss of words, his mouth was ajar before he shook his head to regain his track of thought.

“I would if these people did not ration their food. Maybe I can talk some sense into them to let me make some…for you.”

          Every piece of armor has a soft spot that’s easier to break through. Each gun has a chance to stall or implode because of a mistake in the manufacturing. This humanized weapon was no different. The Capitol had been so precise in their creation of this war piece that they’d forgotten to change her heart. It was an impossible task, perhaps they should have just killed her instead. There was a problem with their masterpiece, the girl on fire still had a heart, a heart that beat solely to keep those she loved alive. That might not necessarily be a bad thing but Peeta was included in that bunch which made it extremely difficult for her not to believe he was only a mutt. There was something in those eyes that reached for her, trying to bring her back to the reality she used to lay within. Although, this nightmare was far from over.

          She smiled for a second, letting her eyes flicker over to him. There could be relief from her prison for a moment. Maybe she’d see the soft shimmer in his eyes this time, then everything would fall back into place. Hope was on the rise inside the dark-haired girl. President Snow once said it was stronger than fear but it was times like this where that was put to the test. Once she met his face her eyes started to shine ever so slightly, hope twinkling in them. He was still gentle as she hoped he would be. The innocence she now lacked was made up for by the look he gave her after she spoke. Katniss didn’t think he meant any harm that he could maybe keep her safe now instead, the Capitol hadn’t destroyed him as they convinced her they did.

          Her eyes got slightly less bright at his voice, even though she spoke to him she wasn’t expecting a reply which she knew was ridiculous. He still acted like he cared but she just couldn’t let herself believe that he truly did. With that thought still at the forefront of her brain she switched her gaze back to the edible painting that lay before her. It was still as stunning as before but this time she saw something red begin to seep out from the corners and run down the pure frosting. Blood. This caused her to shuffle back and look to Peeta who was now growing into a mutt that she’d seen in her darkest dreams. Her body began to shake while her wrists dug deeply into the bands that constricted her.

          The men who were stuck to her side during the ceremony noticed her panic, it was hard to ignore. Their figured appeared as white armored Peacekeepers in her head. Fear and anger electrocuted her while the bodies began to approach the girl who was once a symbol for something greater than the Capitol’s power. Their hands took hold of her deltoids with a grip that could suffocate someone. She began to yank away from them, trying her best to detach from the pictures the serum painted for her. Just as they started to drag her away, her heels clutching to the ground she once stood on, she saw Peeta shrink back to normal. The light was in his eyes, she could see him for a brief moment which is when she called to him.

          ❝ Peeta! Peeta, please don’t let them take me back there, please. Don’t let them take me. ❞

                               It was back to white walls, blood splatter, and loneliness. Weddings had never been her thing anyway.

          The doctors had placed her back into isolation after seeing her reaction to Finnick and Annie’s wedding. For a short time she held it together but then her fantasy vanished and a horror to rise from the ashes of the other. Her time at the Capitol had convinced her that being the girl on fire meant she burnt everything good, everything worth holding on to, and now she was truly starting to believe that. They’d convinced her of so many things but that was one she knew was real.  

          That game Boggs created to give her a sense of what is dream and what is actuality started to become more frequent after her last time out in public. He’d respond the best he could but eventually he ran out of answers. There were things that he didn’t see or experience like some others in District 13. The only problem was no one could see her anymore, she didn’t handle anyone well. Prim had tried visiting as well but most of the time Katniss would ask not to see her, in fear that something would happen to her. This room was one of dangers that could not be escaped. No matter how fast one ran or how strong one was they could not get away from this darkness that had consumed the once clean, bright walls around her. She couldn’t have anything like that near her sister, the only one she had left. It worried her that the Capitol might go after her next, the last weakness left to break.

                                Fear. Fear was much stronger than hope.

          As time continued to clock on she started to worry about what she’d seen at the reception. There was a second where she saw Peeta for what he used to be, not what she was convinced he’d become. It had been so long since she heard about him, Boggs didn’t answer any questions she had about him. She was clueless as to what happened after the wedding. The silence was beginning to eat her alive. Curiosity gnawing at her bones. That’s why she asked for him again, this time she requested time with him that they could even tie her down again. Her offer was promptly declined. Boggs ended up speaking on her behalf the next time she asked, saying she would not cease until she was able to have a conversation with Peeta Mellark. Finally, they agreed.

          She’d found herself strapped down once again, this time it only being her hands that were disabled. Katniss already knew the nightmares would begin when she saw him and began rubbing her wrists onto the material. The rope burn began before he even entered the room but it was distraction enough for her to fight off the hallucinations, at least to talk with him for more than a few seconds. As the handle on her door turned she sat upward, the restraints tugging her back down. The girl fidgeted uncomfortably as her eyes stayed locked on the movement in front of her. Something unexpected and unusual churned in her stomach as she blinked. A single dose of happiness had been given to her as she saw his face. He was safe, he was himself, and things could be okay for now.

          ❝ Peeta. ❞

          Her voice was hushed as she spoke, once again trying to move upward and closer to him. The ties kept a tight hold on her and held her tightly to the bed. A small smile on placed onto her lips as her hand twisted. She was reaching for him, the best she could anyway. An overseeing darkness had moved into the room the moment she did and hadn’t left since, but when he entered she saw a light glow fight through it. He was lighting her path back home, to reality. In a breathy tone she spoke, the words trying to cling to her cheek, and stay inside her mouth. She couldn’t be alone. This wasn’t Katniss, she wouldn’t do this, not unless things were really bad. Apparently, even without her knowing, she’d hit a point of fear that she couldn’t imagine. A nightmare that could not possibly be fathomed in any normal person’s mind.

          ❝ You let them do this to me, real or not real? ❞

Here was another moment in which Katniss seemed to come back to him. Her eyes lit up for being such a dull colour to others, but to him there was more to her unusual beautiful eyes, a light of fire rose in them. He was so close but still so far away from the girl he loved. Peeta stretched a hand out to her, wanting to possibly rest his fingers over her’s but he stopped. It was so sudden, she seemed fine, back to normal, a step towards recovery and then it was like watching someone extinguish their fire, smoke burrowing up and clouding her eyes.

“Kat–Katniss…?”

He took one step closer but was immediately pushed back, the guard had pushed him away, possibly afraid she may attack him, he now stood in between the two. Peeta could not take that, Katniss seemed as if she was going to cry, the worry that caught him so many other times came back and she seemed so scared. All Peeta wished to do was be by her side, calm her. He was going to protect her, he had always wanted to just protect her. They were taking her away again, taking Katniss Everdeen from her baker once again. With her screams for him, to save her, get the guards away from her, it sent him into a panic. He was frozen until now. Peeta quickly moved past others and rushed to get to them, get to Katniss. She needed to see that he was not going to leave her alone. However, he did not get far before another hand pressed against his chest, dragging him back in the mix of people. What good would that do? His shouts began to echo, more people turned their heads to look to Peeta. The mockingjay had gone mad because of a silly girl. Forcibly he removed himself from whomever’s grasp he was in, dashing to the doors but did not prevail to get past them, a hand yanking him back. Even though the action was harsh, words were not. “You can’t see her now. You can’t see her as a mess, trust me. You’ve seen enough.” It was Finnick’s voice that reached his ears. The hand grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the crowded area, to the staircase that looked down to so many other floors, all the way to the bottom, where cement sat staring back into Peeta’s eyes daring him to meet it.

Words that should have bneen meaningful came from Finnick as they stood there together. Words of the many stories of him and Annie, the ways he drew her back, coped with her being forever lost in the arena. Then Peeta had a turn in speaking, his words only focusing on apologizing about the scene they made, even if it could not be helped. This only received a laugh from Finnick who then began to explain how it was not what they wanted, in a wedding, the one they talked of and dreamed of when they were together but just seeing them there, it was enough for the two, seeing Katniss and Peeta having a moment, for it seemed Finnick knew out of many that they did, the lovebirds, truly loved each other whether they knew or not. Don’t give up on her. Those were Finnick’s last words to him before he left Peeta alone. It was something he only wished to laugh at. Peeta Mellark, the one who started the mess of love, give up on Katniss Everdeen? He could never give up on her, but it was different for himself. He could easily give up himself.

Peeta stopped doing what they wished of him to do. Stopped meeting with the President and everyone else he could possibly avoid. Haymitch would come in a few times, talk him into doing another Propo but Peeta always rejected it, gave is mentor the sarcastic answer that he was too unstable. That was what he heard from the whispers around him, when he went to eat with the other victors that were only ghosts of company, the mockingjay is crazy because of Katniss. Could he really lead them to victory of the rebellion?

No.

Peeta had even heard of the President saying that there was really no need of him anyways, he had done more than he already could, much of Panem rebelling. It was military action that was needed now. It was a good thing if this was true. Peeta had lost the outgoing, talkative side of him. Every word out of his mouth seemed to trail, there were no smiles, no smart words or quality in his sentences. The Peeta that had been seen on the screen, so good with his words and actions, he was gone, replaced by someone who had everything easily ripped from him.

So instead of doing what was on his schedule, he painted. There was no need to worry about someone coming in, taking his materials and threatening him to do as it instructed on his arm, they would not dare. His paintings filled up his room, mainly the eyes of Katniss followed him, along with Haymitch. A few of Finnick, Annie and, Johanna loomed in the corners but they did not stand out as much as Katniss. No one stood out as much as Katniss. Not even his family. That was newest addition to the pack. It was a family photo, by memory he painted his family. Darker shades being used on his mother, lighter shades on his father and brother, expressing the way Peeta had seen them. His father was very kind, Peeta got much of himself from his father but Mr. Mellark was weighed down by his wife much of the time. This causing his father not to really come visit Peeta in the new house. Of course, Peeta had said for them to stay but his mother did not want to move, wished to stay in the quaint place they lived in and so there was a lonely house filled with only Peeta. His family may not have appreciated him as much as the painter would have liked but–they were his family, he still loved them, still had pain in his heart as he realized they were never going to be seen again.

It was later that night, a missed meal of dinner when Hayitch came into his room again, silence came over him for a moment and then there was another voice, one he was not very familiar with–never was familiar with only heard maybe twice? It was Boggs who had come along with Haymitch to say that he was allowed to visit Katniss again. On the way there, the talk was of the questionable visit, thinking that she was not mentally prepared to see him again but Boggs said it was need. Peeta was needed to bring another spark of happiness to the girl.

There she was, through the the thick glass. Katniss seemed so lost and hopeless. His hand touched the glass as he looked on to her, even though he knew she could not see him. Peeta ducked his head and gave a shuddering sigh. He could not go in there, could not take anymore abuse from the Capitol having her see him as something else. He took a step away but Haymitch was in front of him, his hand on his shoulder. “She needs you.”

With those words, he took another moment and turned back to the door, turning the knob slowly before opening it. His eyes slowly looked up to Katniss, expecting to see anger or sadness but it was more of a saddened happiness. He lost his breath once again seeing her, messed up but still his Katniss again. He saw that she was struggling under her restraints, reaching for him. He could not step closer to her unless– His eyes shifted to see a chair was in the corner, most likely where a doctor sat. Peeta bit the inside of his lip as he went over to the chair, his hands gently resting on the back of it. He knew his next move, but act like you are going to sit down, just, in her view. He picked up the chair quickly placing it where the door was, blocking any entrance. It may have been dumb, he may have given him a better chance of dying but if he went close to Katniss they would pull him out. He was not allowed to be close to her, to touch her. Haymitch would keep them off of Peeta, keep them from trying to open the door. However, someone did check the door, and found it not to budge. It did not matter, though.

Peeta moved back right next to Katniss, his hand running over her cheek, the feel of her skin, something he missed. He missed being so close, having her there. He knelt down beside her, his fingers running over any accessible part of her, his lips pressing against her shoulder. He was lost without her and even though, he knew they were not real, he could not help the love for her to take over him. His eyes filling with tears and just looking at her with love, the way any woman would want the man she loved to look at her, the look of true love. When he was able to speak, it came out in a cracked voice, so soft but broken.

“I’m right here, Katniss. I’m here. Katniss—”

A hand of his went down to her wrist, wanting her to stop pulling on the restraints, stop from hurting herself. IT was not needed, was it? To put herself in pain more than she may already be in. His soft hands, covered with various colours of paint ran over her arm. Keep her calm, keep her here. Don’t let her slip from you so easily again. The hand on her arm slipped down to her hand, entwining their fingers.

“I wanted you back, I wanted to have you safe with me, but this–this is not what I wanted, to have you locked away. Katniss–it’s not real, I did not want this of you. I wanted to have you in my arms again–not alone, not alone in this empty room. You can blame me for this–it might be my fault this happened–I don’t know, it was not want I wanted but maybe it is my fault, but I hope–Katniss–I hope it’s not, I hope you don’t think that. You’re all I have left.”

Possibly more information than should have slipped from his lips. It was as if he was downing the Thirteenth District, their ways of helping. In a way he was but then, she was still in a state where she could kill at any moment. There was really no telling but to have her alone in an empty room as he had said, it did not feel right for him. Nothing felt right anymore when he saw the way Katniss was treated, had to be treated.

[kaylees-fandomworld]

Shot In The Dark

Fandom: Stranger Things

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Original Female Character

Summary: Claire Douglas is new to Hawkins, leaving her hometown in Ohio after the death of her uncle. She just wanted a fresh start, away from the tragedy of her life. However, when a little boy goes missing and her new friend Barbara disappears, she is forced into a world that she had no business being in. Throw in a boy who started out as the worst person, and a group of kids including her next-door neighbor, trying to save the world, her life couldn't get any more hectic.

Prelude

September 19, 1982

Her ears rang with the sound of crunching metal. Her lungs burned as they filled with the cool air of the summer night. Crimson liquid soaked her clothes and hair, as the world around her spun. She whimpered feeling pain shoot through her body as she tried to move. A loud blaring horn became clear through the ringing in her ears.

"Uncle J-Johnny." She coughed feeling her lungs constrict. A copper taste erupted on her tongue as she tried to catch her breath, causing tears to well in her eyes blurring her vision further. Her head pounded as the distant wail of sirens filled the air, her heart hammering in her chest. She felt heavy and tired, unable to move without feeling her muscles ache and tear.

Red and blue lights lit up the road and the woods, skidding to a stop too far away from the girl laying in the street. She cried trying to lift her hand to get someone's attention, but it didn’t seem to help.

“P-please…” Her voice caught in her throat as she coughed, choking on the taste of blood as it trickled from her lips. She couldn’t breathe, it was getting harder by the second as she coughed. Black spots flooded her vision and she began to panic. They can’t see me. I’m going to die. As her eyes began to close and her hearing began to fade a voice filled the cold night with urgency.

“We need a stretcher!��

***

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep

The women sat in the chair listening to the monotonous beeping of the heart monitor. Her heart ached, seeing the young girl whom she treated as her daughter laying underneath the white sterile bedsheets. Tears fell from her cheeks and her leg bounced as she waited for her beautiful niece to wake. This was a nightmare for the middle-aged woman. Losing her husband was bad enough, but if her niece didn’t wake soon she would lose her mind.

“Ms. Douglas, can we speak for a moment?” A young man in a white coat asked poking his head through the door. She wiped the stray tears from her face standing from her seat. Her hands and body shook as she walked from the room, trying to control her tears.

“What is it, is Claire going to… Oh god..” her composure fell and more tears sprung to the surface.

“No, no, Claire is doing well and I wouldn’t be surprised if she woke up soon. I wanted to go over a care plan with you for when she wakes.” The tired woman nodded giving her niece another glance.

Claire lay in the bed, the beeping filling her ears as she came to. Confusion flooded her mind, feeling warm soft fabric around her. She stirred at the feeling, her eyes fluttering open. Her chestnut eyes faltered at the bright intrusion, struggling to acclimate to the fluorescent lights. With blurred distorted vision, she looked around the room trying to figure out where she was. The cool off-white walls and the familiar single chair that she had sat in years ago. What happened?” She searched through the album of memories trying to figure out how she ended up here. When the door to her left opened and her Aunt walked in it all made sense. The crash.

“Oh sweetie, oh my god you’re awake, hold on let me get the doctor.” Her aunt rambled before she took off out the door. Claire’s eyes filled with tears of fear and pain as she tried to lift herself. Her aunt came back into the room along with a young doctor and a nurse.

“Hi Claire, I’m Dr. Thomas how are you feeling?”

“It hurts.” her voice came out hoarse from dryness and tears slipped down her cheeks. She didn’t want to be here, she wanted to go home.

“Okay, I’ll have them increase the pain medication. Your vitals are normal, but you are going to need to take it easy,” he spoke as he handed her a glass of water. The nurse held her head up, helping her drink.

“What happened?” Claire inquired. She knew they crashed but she wasn’t sure how or what happened after that. Where was uncle Johnny? Was he okay?

“Oh Claire Bear, um…” Her aunt spoke from her right, her warm hand resting on Claire’s.

“Well Hun, when your Uncle’s car was hit you were slung from the car, the paramedics found you about 40 feet from the crash sight. To be honest, they wouldn’t have found you if it weren’t for your uncle… he saved….” Claire choked out a sob as she looked at the doctor. His voice trailed as Claire retreated into her mind, trying her hardest to process his words. Her thoughts were thrown to the wind at the last thing he said. “Unfortunately, your uncle didn’t make it.”

“Wh-what?” Claire felt a new but familiar pain crushing her heart. Death of a loved one.

***

Six months. It had been six months since the accident, six months since Claire's life changed. She stared out the window of the moving truck, a mix of her aunt’s favorite singers capturing the silence. Claire clutched her necklace, the last thing she had of her mother. A sigh left her as she watched the trees fly past them as they drove. A sign standing on the side of the road caught her eye. Welcome to Hawkins.

“Why are we coming to Hawkins?” Claire whispered more to herself. However, her Aunt heard her.

“Actually this is where I grew up. I figured coming back to my hometown might be a good thing.” Claire nodded hoping for the same. If only they knew how wrong that statement was.

[saratogaroadwrites]

For King and Country (15/122)

For King and Country | saratogaroad rating: T total wordcount:  280,466 characters: Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, Roland Crane, Aranella, Batu, Tani, Lofty, Leander Aristidies, Bracken Meadows relationships: Roland Crane & Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, Aranella & Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum, Roland Crane & Aranella, Batu & Tani, Batu & Evan, Tani & Evan, Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum & Lofty, Rolander other tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Mother-Son Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Place Slowly Becomes Home People Slowly Become Family, Found Family, For Want of A Nail warnings: none

Pulled from his world by mysterious powers, former president Roland Crane finds himself caught in the middle of a coup meant to take the life of the young King Evan Pettiwhisker Tildrum. Joining forces with Aranella, the pair of them set out to aid Evan in making his dream of a kingdom where everyone can live happily ever after a reality.

But the road to peace is a long and treacherous one and there is no promise of success in a world where darkness spreads ever thicker with each passing day. If they are to stand a chance, they must stand together, for king and for country.

(A retelling.)

=

When Evan awoke, the last rays of the afternoon sunlight were streaming through red curtains. Silken sheets wrinkled beneath him as he raised his head from the soft pillow he’d been lying on and blinked into the sunlight. Lamps glowed a gentle golden color, lighting up a cozy room. Deep red covers were draped over a soft bed, an ornate tapestry hanging over the deep wood of the wall.

Was this an inn? Evan levered himself to sit up.

“…Where…”

This wasn’t where he’d gone to sleep. When had he fallen asleep? And where was—

“You’re up!” Tani’s voice caused him to turn. She was sitting on a stool not too far from the bed, grinning cheekily at him. “I was starting to wonder if you’d ever come ‘round. You slept all day!”

And yet he still felt tired! But then…maybe that was to be expected. He’d felt this drained once before. He’d never wanted to feel this way again, scraped raw on the inside. It was like watching everything through a foggy window, a step removed from the world outside. Like being empty as the world outside went on without him. He pulled his legs up and didn’t say a word. Tani made a concerned noise.

“…How’re you feeling?” She asked. He didn’t know how to answer that, not really. It felt like someone had pulled his heart from him, which was stupid since he could feel his pulse in his ears, but…maybe empty was the better word. He wrapped his arms around his knees and the silky duvet, hiding his face in the cloth.

“I’m…” his eyes itched fiercely, the salt of dried tears catching on silk. He sniffled. “I’m…alright. I think.”

He wanted to go back to sleep, go to a place where none of this was real. Where he could try to banish the image of Nella laying so lifeless to a place he’d never have to see it again, and to where she was still beside him. His throat tightened at the thought; Nella was gone now, wasn’t she? She had been so close to death there was no way even she could fight it off any longer. Eyes burning, Evan took a shaky breath.

“Where are the others?” He asked.

“Well—” Tani’s voice trailed as she stretched out, a quiet ‘whoof’ of lost air filling the space between them before she said, “Roland and Batu went out to check on Miss Nella. They should be back soon.”

The world shrank to those four words. Check on Miss Nella. Evan jerked his head up, staring at her. For a moment the words wouldn’t come, caught in his throat until he could finally croak, “Nella’s alive?!”

“Of course?” Tani blinked at him, startled. “You thought that she was—” Her face fell. “Oh, Evan….”

Everything blurred out as Evan started to cry again. Shame flushed his cheeks and he hid his face in the duvet. Hadn’t he cried enough already? Everything was fine! Everyone was alive and here he was, sobbing like a newborn kit! His shoulders hitched as he hiccuped. He was too old to cry like this everytime someone…he couldn’t even finish the thought. The mattress sagged beside him as Tani sat down. She laid a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s okay, Evan,” She said gently, “Lofty said she’s all better now. The curse is fixed up and everything!” She squeezed his shoulder. “She just needs a lot of rest, that’s all.”

Evan inhaled shakily, his breath trembling as he tried to force back the soft sobs that wanted to come out. Nella was alive, and okay, and he could really stop this at any time now! “I thought she…” He hiccuped. Tani wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him in close. Leaning her head on his, she nodded.

“We all did, I think,” She spoke softly, her breath making his ears flick back and forth. “But she made it, Evan. I promise, your Mum’s okay!”

His mum. Evan nodded, cheek slipping across Tani’s shoulder. Sometimes he still felt a little guilty about calling Nella his mother, even if they’d only said it aloud once. It felt almost like he’d replaced his birth mother, but she didn’t…it was an unkind thought, but he didn’t have much of Queen Felicity to replace as a mother. She had died when he was barely out of the nursery, and try as he might he couldn’t remember anything clear about her. His father had told him that she’d loved him dearly, and sometimes if he strained his memory he could just make out the refrain of an old lullaby, but when he thought about a mother the only image to come to mind was Nella.

“Tani?” He asked quietly, “Do you think…people can make new families?”

“Of course!” She reached out and flicked the tip of one ear. “Don’t be silly. People make new families all the time. There’s you and Miss Nella, and me and Batu, and a whole bunch of the pirates…” She shook her head. “Family isn’t just blood, Evan. Family is people who love you, even if you didn’t come from them.”

“I know that,” Evan said with a pout, “But sometimes I just…” His eyes fell to his lap. “I wonder if my mother and father would be sad that I…”

“They’d be bad parents if they were,” Tani huffed. He jerked his head back and she stared at him with serious eyes. “If your parents were any kind of real parent, they’d want you to be happy even if it wasn’t with them. I know mine would want me to be.” She paused for a second, then rolled her eyes and huffed, “Though I doubt they planned on Batu being such an idiot sometimes….”

“What?” Evan blinked, completely confused. She smiled gently, carefully reaching up to start untangling the knots in his hair.

“Batu’s not my father,” She said, “He’s actually my uncle. My mother and father died when I was really little and he took me in, so as long as I can remember it's been him, and he's my Dad, but he's not at the same time? Does that make sense?"

Like him and Nella. Evan couldn't nod with her hand in his hair. "Yes," he said softly, "It does."

“So,” She said with a nod, “I think that our birth parents would be glad there’s still people around to love us both, even if it’s not them. And besides, if I went and called him Dad all the time," Tani said with a laugh, "His head'd swell up like a balloon. Can't have him getting too proud."

"You still should, though! So he knows you care about him and he doesn't--you don't..." Evan clenched his fists. Nella knew how he felt, and he knew how she felt. It was a cold comfort when the image of her laying limp in Roland's arms was all that came when he closed his eyes. "...You don't want to...lose that chance..."

"Oh, Evan..." Tani sighed. "He knows. And I'm sure that Miss Nella does, too. And,” She stressed, gently poking his cheek. “What matters is everyone’s still alive, right?” She reached for his hand. “So cheer up. There’s no more point in crying.”

He smiled tightly at her because as true as her words were, it was still hard not to worry. He didn’t want to let his family down, but…maybe Tani was right. He knew his father and mother had both loved him dearly, and they would want him to be happy. In spite of all that had happened, he was happy with Nella. He loved her like she was his own blood, and knew the feeling was mutual. And then there was…well. There was the vague memory of warm arms around him last night. Roland had been there, trying to calm him down, to comfort him. Evan had been too distraught to really notice then, but....it had felt like his father’s embrace.

He shook his head to dislodge the thought. That was asking too much. Roland was a good, kind-hearted man, one who had taken it upon himself to aid and teach Evan what he could, but that? It was too much. Though he wouldn’t forget that warmth, wouldn’t forget that comfort, this wasn’t the time to ask about it. He sighed into Tani’s shoulder, ears twitching as footsteps sounded on the wooden floors outside. They were drawing near.

“I am fully capable of walking, Roland.” Evan’s ears went straight up. Nella! He threw back the covers and jumped off the bed, startling Tani.

“Which is why you fell over when you tried to stand.” Roland’s voice was light and amused. His chuckle was soft, but remained in his voice as the door to the room swung open. Roland was carrying a frowning Nella in his arms, a smile across his face. “Threatening to put me into the river doesn’t change that.”

Nella huffed. “Honestly you just enjoy this don’t you?”

“Do you really want to—”

“Nella!” Evan ran over, snapping their conversation to a close. “You’re alright!”

And she was. Or at least, she looked it. All signs of the curse were gone from her leg, and only a twist of scar tissue remained where it had been blackest. But even that had a healthier look to it because the near snow-white color of her skin was gone, replaced by her usual healthy color. Even the lines on her forehead had been smoothed away, and her arm no longer shook as she reached out to lay a hand on Evan’s cheek. He took in a shuddering gasp at her touch.

She was warm.

“Of course I am,” She said softly, gently brushing her thumb over his cheek. “I’d never leave you.”

Evan bit his lip to keep it from trembling, but he could still feel the quiver even as he nodded. He reached up, putting his hand on hers. He squeezed his burning eyes shut, sniffling, then pulled back to allow Roland to set Nella down on the bed he had just abandoned. Batu, coming in behind them, quietly shut the doors.

“Soon as ye’re feelin’ better, Miss Aranella,” he said in an oddly quiet tone, “We’d best be quittin’ this place. It’s right dangerous here.”

“No,” Roland said with a shake of his head, pulling up a pillow so Nella could sit up comfortably. Evan scrambled onto the other side of the bed and dove into her embrace. Her grip was still weak, but oh, how glad he was to still have this! He buried his face in her shoulder, just breathing in her familiar scent. “We’re not done here. We still need to get Niall’s deed back,” Roland stood up, crossing his arms over his chest. “And figure out what’s going on in this town.”

What was that supposed to mean? Though it took some serious force of will, Evan pulled out of Nella’s arms. Sitting back on his knees, he tilted his head in confusion at Roland. “”What’s going on?”” He asked, “What does that mean?”

“There’s something…” Roland grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck as if it pained him. “Off, in the city. I can’t really explain it, but it’s almost like the air’s too thick. It’s like trying to walk through molasses.”

Everyone short of Lofty and Aranella looked at him like he’d sprouted a second head. Aranella nodded slowly, but it was Lofty who spoke up.

“Ol’ Rolly-boy’s right, ya know,” he said, ignoring Roland’s soft ”Rolly-boy?” behind him as he jumped up to the foot of the bed. “There’s some awful thick dark stuff ‘round by yur. It’s what made Aranella’s curse take off so suddenly last night.” He crossed his arms over his chest with a huff. “And it’s spreadin’ awful fast. Won’t be long before the whole Calmlands is full of the gunk.”

“Is that why the monsters were so aggressive?” Tani asked with a frown, tapping her chin. “They weren’t like that in the Heartlands, or by the Canyon.”

“Aye,” Batu said, “I’d reckon that’d be it.” He gave Lofty a skeptical look. “But how is it that only Roland and Miss Aranella were affected? Why not the rest of us?”

Lofty gave a shrug and sat down. “Magic calls to magic. Whatever ruddy blighter cursed Aranella had the same magic as whatever’s makin’ this town darker than pitch. Ol’ Rolly-boy’s probably just sensitive is all.”

The Black Knight! Evan startled. Did that mean that Mausinger had something to do with this? Or was there something…else that could do that?

“Forbidden magic.” Nella said with a frown. She tried to sit up a little straighter, but slipped back down the pillow. “If there’s someone out there with that sort of magic, they have to be stopped.”

“Not by you!” Tani burst out, leaning on the bed, “You’re white as a sheet! You need your rest.”

“I’m perfectly—”

“Nella.” Evan took a breath. Heart racing, he looked her in the eye and said, “I need you to be honest with me. Are you alright?”

Nella opened her mouth…then slowly closed it. Hands fisting into the sheets, she closed her eyes.

“…No.” She said plainly. A sigh rippled through the room. “I’m better, but I can barely keep my head up. Fighting like this…I don’t think I could.”

Evan nodded. Though the stone in the pit of his stomach had gone nowhere at her honesty, he reached out and laid a hand on hers. He smiled when she looked up at him.

“Then get some rest. I promise, we’ll be alright.” He turned to the others, who all nodded. Tani beamed, and even Roland had a faint smile on his face. Evan turned back to his adopted mother and nodded. “So just rest. You deserve it.”

Nella smiled, reaching up to cup his face once more. He leaned into her touch, biting his lip to once again keep it steady as she said, “You’ve grown up so much already, Evan. I’m so grateful I’ve gotten to see it.”

“Me too,” he said in a quivering voice. How close he had come to losing her would stay with him for a long time, he knew, but she was here. As much as he wanted to stay here, in this safe little room with her, he knew he couldn’t. He couldn’t just sit by and let others be hurt by the same thing that had nearly orphaned him all over again. Even so…

He surged forward to hug her again, taking a deep breath. Her hand came to rest on the back of his head.

“Go on, sweetheart,” She whispered, soft enough that only he would hear. “Go be King.”

Evan sniffled as he pulled back. Nella would be alright, he told himself as he slipped off the bed. There were others that needed help more, and he had to be there for them now. If he was going to unite the world, he couldn’t hide away all day. With a final deep breath, he nodded firmly.

“Where do we start?” He asked the others, pulling on his cape and slippers. “This is a large city.”

“If Niall lost the deed in a game with Master Pugnacious, then we should start with him.” Roland headed for the doors. “The Grand High Roller’s Hall is in the main square.”

“Grand High Roller’s Hall,” Batu scoffed, heading out with Tani on his heels. “More like Hall of the Showoff.”

Evan trailed after his companions, but as he reached the doorway he stopped and turned around one last time. Nella smiled at him as he caught her eye, and that was all she needed to do. With a firm nod, he slipped through the door and pulled it gently shut behind him.

It was time, he thought, to go and be a King.